MenaRD Isn't Chasing History. He's Just Trying to Have Fun.

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

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.

The 2024 Capcom Cup didn't end the way Mena wanted. So, he made a decision that would quietly reshape his entire year.

No more cycling through M. Bison, Luke, and Zangief. It was going to be Blanka. It’s a character he loves, one that lets him play the game on his own terms. It was a reset. A reminder of why he started competing in the first place.

"I just really wanted to have fun. And I kept that mentality for the entire season."

The results followed. Two EVO titles. An 11-1 run helping Bandits Gaming through the Street Fighter League Pro-US. One of the most consistent seasons of his career, built on the simple decision to stop grinding out of obligation and start playing out of joy.

"I clicked on something really good mentally. I don't think it's going to fade away any time soon."

Even a top-16 finish at the Esports World Cup couldn't shake the foundation. If anything, it sharpened his focus heading into Capcom Cup XII.

Enjoying the read? Inside Esports publishes every Tuesday and Friday — subscribe below so you never miss an issue.

Mena isn't just competing in the Capcom Cup in Japan. He's also running alongside Bandits Gaming in the Street Fighter League, chasing a title on two fronts simultaneously.

The SFL demands something different from him. He's not just a competitor. He's a teammate, a leader, the player others look to when nerves start to show. That means reading the room, managing not just his own preparation but the emotional state of the people around him.

"This person doesn't think like me. This person might be nervous. You have to be more empathetic. Spread your mentality but also be open to learning from them."

He went through this exact juggling act at the 2024 Capcom Cup. He called it "insane." His team won the SFL that year. He finished top 16 individually. This time, he says, the balance is clearer in his head.

It still won't be easy. Championship-level focus across two elite formats in the same week tests everything: the physical grind of an open bracket and the precision-under-pressure of an invitational, back to back.

Like his Tekken contemporary Arslan "Arslan Ash" Siddique, Mena has had complicated experiences at the Esports World Cup, an invitational format requiring a different type of mental acuity and preparation

The mental difference between the two formats is real, and Mena breaks it down cleanly.

Open brackets are about you. Can you maintain your own gameplay quality for 12 straight hours? It's an endurance test. The opponent almost becomes secondary to the internal battle of staying sharp through round after round.

Invitationals flip that entirely.

"You have more time,” Mena said. “You know who you're going to fight. So now it's about studying their habits, their decision-making, their style."

The field is smaller, the stakes are higher, and preparation shifts from mental stamina to opponent-specific study. But there's one variable neither format eliminates: luck. Random bracket draws can mean the difference between a comfortable opening run and landing in the group of death with no time to find your footing. Mena has seen both. He doesn't dwell on it. He just prepares like the hardest bracket is the one he's getting.

EVO plans to expand to six more countries, joining EVO Japan, EVO Las Vegas, and EVO France. New cities. New continents. Brazil, Morocco, Mexico, and beyond. A Fighting Game World Championship is also on the horizon for 2027.

The community reacted immediately and predictably. Does expansion dilute what it means to win EVO? Does Las Vegas lose prestige when EVO becomes a worldwide franchise?

Mena's answer is straightforward.

"The goal is still winning all the EVOs. It doesn't matter if there's 10 or a hundred. It's just more Street Fighter to play,” he said.

He understands the pushback. But Mena grew up in the Dominican Republic, where access to global competition isn't automatic. Funds, visas, travel. These are real barriers for players in regions that have never hosted a major.

"There are many people who enjoy fighting games and can't travel, be it funds, be it visas. I know what that is,” Mena said. “I know what it means to these communities."

For him, the expansion isn't about diluting the original. It's about making room at the table for the players who never had a seat.

One of the more revealing moments in our conversation came when Mena talked about the retirement of Kakeru "Kakeru" Watanabe earlier this year due to a neurological condition.

The retirement hit hard. Mena described it as losing the deepest form of conversation he knows: two players building careers alongside each other, pushing one another forward toward something neither could reach alone.

"Not being able to have that with him again is very sad,” he said.

Kakeru was supposed to be his generational rival. The new guard, redefining what elite Street Fighter could look like. That chapter closed before it could be written.

But in the same stretch, Mena is watching the next wave arrive. Pak-yin "Mickey" Chan, 17, from Hong Kong. Derek "Blaz" Blaz, 16, from Chile. Teenagers are competing at a level that forces everyone to pay attention. It's made Mena reckon with his own place in the game's history. He sees a mirror of his younger self in both of them.

"I'm the Tokido now,” he said. “And they are who I was before."

He's not wistful about it. He's energized. Kids across the world are choosing Street Fighter out of every option available to them and putting in the work to become elite at it.

"It's such a beautiful thing to see,” Mena said. “And it's something I don't take for granted."

If someone forwarded this to you, welcome — subscribe below to get every issue delivered directly to your inbox.

Mena has won this tournament before. He knows what it takes to get there. He knows what it takes to stay there across five days of the highest-level Street Fighter on the planet.

But when I asked what a successful Capcom Cup would look like — outside of the obvious answer — his response wasn't about the trophy.

"Even more than winning, the most important thing is to perform well. To play in a way that I feel proud of. I want that feeling — I played well this time. If that gameplay allows me to win, that's even better. But I don't aim just for winning. I aim for the performance, and I feel like that performance should bring me the win."

A month in Tokyo. A brother in his corner as coach. A mentality he's been quietly building all season. The preparation is done.

Now it's just about playing the way he knows he can.

Thank you to Mena and the Red Bull team for making this interview happen! Hope you enjoyed it.

On Friday, we'll be looking at the physical and mental aspects of esports and why performing at the highest level requires more than just logging hours in the game.

Until then, enjoy Capcom Cup this week and keep gaming!

Paul

Thumbnail photo by Sarah Joy Sy