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iDom on Capcom Cup IX, Street Fighter 6, & the end of SF5 Competition

We spoke with top Capcom Cup IX contender and EVO 2022 2nd Place competitor iDom about the past, present, and future of Street Fighter.

TJ Denzer

February 10, 2023 12:15 PM

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Derek "iDom" Ruffin has made quite a name for himself in the Street Fighter competitive scene. A character specialist that plays Laura in Street Fighter 5: Champion Edition, iDom was already a fierce competitor in the scene, but he put on quite a run in 2022 with his second place finish at EVO 2022, pulling an upset on Daigo “The Beast” Umehara and very nearly taking it all before just barely falling to Kawano in the Grand Finals. Now, iDom has his sights set on Capcom Cup IX, and we recently got to talk to him about the current competition, his thoughts on the end of Street Fighter 5 competition as a whole, and his take on Street Fighter 6 so far.

iDom spoke to his abilities as a character specialist in Street Fighter 5, as well as the benefits he feels he has as a competitor who veers off from some of the favorites. He mentions that where he has a lot of players and examples to study on a lot of characters, they have less options to study when it comes to him and his way of playing Laura. He gave a shoutout to The4philzz and their abilities on Falke, recognizing them as another strong specialist in the Finals.

iDom goes on to share his thoughts on Street Fighter 6, which he’s feeling good about. Though many players felt the Drive Impact system may be too strong, iDom feels it’s actually pretty well balanced between reversals, corner game, exhausted state, and more. He goes on to share that players will likely figure out how it balances out as they have more time with the game.

Considering Laura isn’t in Street Fighter 6 yet, iDom also talked about his thoughts on the new roster so far. Manon and Orissa caught his interest. Manon’s stylish combat made him want to give her a try, where Orissa’s hard hitting offenses also impressed. He’s also been eyeing JP’s interesting zoning game.

Capcom Cup IX hosts its Last Chance Qualifier on February 12 before the Finals kick off on February 14, 2023. Be sure to check out our coverage of the event and watch as iDom and other competitors throw down next week! Want more videos? You can find more like this Street Fighter interview on our YouTube channels at Shacknews and GamerHubTV, where we keep all of our video reviews, gameplay, interviews, and more on the latest games, technology, and toys.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.