Should you haven’t watched the Avenue Fighter League Americas 2026 Finals, you’re lacking out. It’s — and I say this with full sincerity — a number of the greatest aggressive Avenue Fighter I’ve ever seen in my life, largely owing to a heart-stopping set between Derek ‘Blaz’ and Noah ‘NoahTheProdigy’ Solis.
Blaz, a 17-year-old Chilean phenom, broke into the scene with a bang when he was simply 14 years previous. At 15, he received second place at Capcom Cup — the world’s best Avenue Fighter match — and at 16, he secured third place. Throughout this time, Latin America as a area grew to become extraordinarily sturdy in Avenue Fighter 6, with figures like 15-year-old Chilean participant Craime making Prime 8 at Evo Las Vegas this yr and profitable the 2026 Esports World Cup for the sport.
LATAM’s power confirmed itself in spades on the Avenue Fighter League Americas Finals this yr. Blaz and his crew 2Game, made up of gamers from Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, plowed via the competitors, culminating in a wide ranging Grand Finals set that had viewers on the fringe of their seats. Blaz, utilizing Jamie (a wildly underrepresented character in aggressive Avenue Fighter) and NoahTheProdigy, utilizing Luke, duked it out in an exhilarating back-and-forth brawl that noticed Blaz good parry thrice in a row on only a sliver of well being towards Luke’s projectiles.
This set was one thing else 👀
#SFLAMERICAS2026 | https://t.co/QNfS4EB9gS https://t.co/UdgkQtx0JH
— Capcom Fighters (@CapcomFighters) November 9, 2026
It was nothing in need of jaw-dropping, and Blaz — refusing to modify to Ryu or Sagat, his standard picks — clutched out the win. After a brief break, Mexican participant Lugabo secured the victory, giving 2Game the comeback they’d been working so laborious for after their third place end final yr.
I received the prospect to talk with 2Game’s expertise backstage within the aftermath of their monumental achievement, the place I requested the plain query: Why is Latin America so good in Avenue Fighter proper now?
“I imply, we don’t take something with no consideration,” the crew’s coach advised me. “That’s why. We don’t have as many alternatives as anybody else, and that is why we’ve received to do no matter we are able to in any doable method to verify we play on the highest degree, it doesn’t matter what. That is why we’re doing every part we are able to with any alternative. Lugabo, for instance — that is the third time he is performed offline, and he is already that good. It exhibits we’ve got loads of hidden expertise in Latin America since eternally, not less than for the previous 15 years, however lots of them haven’t got the chance to journey. So what you are seeing proper now could be what occurs once we get the prospect.”
At 17 years previous, Blaz’s achievements remind me fondly of Victor ‘Punk’ Woodley’s first breakout into the scene again within the early days of Avenue Fighter V. Now greater than ever, Avenue Fighter 6 appears geared towards a era of youthful opponents — however for Blaz, it isn’t one’s age or ‘younger man reactions’ that matter.
“What’s necessary for Blaz shouldn’t be about age, however particularly about data, expertise, and the way a lot you will get from enjoying,” his coach mentioned, translating on Blaz’s behalf.
After all, I needed to ask him about that standout set towards NoahTheProdigy, which has since gone viral inside the combating recreation neighborhood and sparked inevitable comparisons to Daigo ‘TheBeast’ Umehara.
“I got here into the Noah match considering it was going to be somewhat bit simple, however I used to be somewhat bit shocked by how Noah performed,” Blaz defined. “He performed much more targeted on stress, and it caught me off guard, however one of many issues that you simply want to have the ability to do at these ranges is to by no means give up. So I did simply that.”
For now, 2Game goes dwelling to proceed their coaching in preparation for the Avenue Fighter League World Championships at Capcom Cup subsequent yr. I’ve to marvel how Blaz will fare as a person participant at this match; wildly, it makes me contemplate the very actual chance that he may win each Capcom Cup and Avenue Fighter League beneath 2Game’s banner. We’ll simply have to attend and see, however it appears that evidently Blaz’s expertise are solely rising stronger by the day. And if his newest efficiency is something to go by, it’s trying extra possible than ever that combating recreation followers are in for one hell of a deal with.