Welcome back!
We're gearing up for a busy week with Capcom Cup starting up and then next week the first League of Legends international tournament taking place.
This week, we start with an exclusive interview with Saul "MenaRD" Mena, as he prepares for his upcoming run at the Capcom Cup and Street Fighter League.
I met Mena last year at EVO, where we sat down and talked about Street Fighter and what it means to have more than one EVO. I hope you enjoy this deep dive!
Paul
Early Departure
Mena left for Japan nearly a month ago. It was a calculated decision.
Of the 48 competitors in Capcom Cup XI, 14 are from Japan — players who won't lose a step to travel or time zones. The other 34 are arriving from across the world, body clocks thrown off in varying degrees. Most will land just days before the bracket begins.
Mena arrived weeks early. He wanted to be on the same footing as the Japanese contingent — sleep-adjusted, settled into a training routine, and functioning at full capacity before competition even starts.
It's the product of a player who's stopped treating Capcom Cup like a tournament and started treating it like a destination.
"Your brain has to function correctly for five days of stressful competition. People are coming three days before. That's not going to cut it. At least not for me."
Capcom Cup XII begins March 11 at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo. Mena enters as one of the most dangerous players in the field — a multiple-time Capcom Cup champion and three-time EVO champion, including back-to-back EVO Japan victories. His individual tournament run begins March 14, his first since the Esports World Cup 2025 last August.
He spent the stretch between then and now rediscovering something he'd almost talked himself out of: that Street Fighter is supposed to be fun.