From BST|Daigo Umehara to Justin Wong, there are a handful of names etched into the annals of theoretical fighting game hall of fame. In almost every case of competitor we’re already sure belongs in this elite group, there’s a multi-decade career filled with incredible wins and impossible feats… then there’s the case of Bandits|MenaRD.
The young champion from the Dominican Republic only began capturing public attention in late 2016, but in the seven years since his resume has exploded with more ferocity and impressive achievements than most pros accomplish in a lifetime career. In his latest video Papa Lobster covers this meteoric rise.
Papa Lobster begins the story with the first real splash Mena made at NorthEast Championship in late 2016 wherein he defeated the likes of Justin Wong and NuckleDu en route to a second place finish in Street Fighter 5.
The building blocks would continue to mount from there as he’d go on to qualify for Capcom in 2017 via online Latin America qualifier. Very few fantasy brackets saw Mena make it beyond even the first round at Capcom Cup that year, but as name after known name fell to the young up and comer, the community would have no choice but to take notice.
Eliminating the likes of DNG|Itabashi Zangief, Saishunkan|Nemo, and eventually the mighty Rohto|Tokido in a grand finals reset, Mena claimed the Capcom Cup for the Dominican Republic.
Though there’d be some years of relative struggle afterwards, Mena would continue to stay in the top player conversation winning tournaments and placing in top eights until he achieved that which has never been done before or since in 2023: he won a second Capcom Cup.
This would mark the end of Street Fighter 5’s time in the competitive spotlight as Street Fighter 6 would bring with it all the challenges of adapting and performing in a brand new game. Though he’d fall just one place short as the runner up at Evo 2023, a few months later he’d claim full victory at Evo Japan.
In less than a decade Mena has broken records and established himself as one of the greatest Street Fighter players in the history of the business, and Papa Lobster offers a much more detailed version of the journey in the full video below: