Despite securing his fourth Evolution Championship Series win and his second consecutive victory at Evo Las Vegas, top Street Fighter 6 player Bryan "MenaRD" Cruz made headlines for a strategic deviation in the tournament's final matches. Throughout the competition, MenaRD showcased a dominant Blanka, but opted to switch to M. Bison for key encounters, even in the Grand Finals against another top Blanka player, Shigematsu.
MenaRD's decision to field M. Bison came under scrutiny during the Winners Semis against Shigematsu. After an initial 2-2 performance with Bison, MenaRD switched to Blanka to secure the set win. However, Shigematsu fought his way back to the Grand Finals, setting up a highly anticipated Blanka versus Blanka mirror match. Surprisingly, MenaRD once again started with M. Bison for the first set.
Shigematsu proved the switch was risky, resetting the bracket against MenaRD's Bison with a 3-1 victory. It was only after this reset that MenaRD brought out his signature Blanka, decisively winning the subsequent set 3-0 to claim the championship.
Following the tournament, MenaRD explained his reasoning for the Bison picks. He cited strategic considerations, including Shigematsu's close ties with another prominent Blanka player from Japan, Takagi. "My Bison actually produced better results against the Blanka players that I practiced with," MenaRD stated. He also noted a suspicion that Shigematsu's playstyle might be more aggressive and employ more varied tactics, for which he felt Bison was a better counter in practice.
While MenaRD felt confident in his Bison, he admitted that the close call in the Winners Semis, combined with the advantage of being in the Winners' side of the Grand Finals bracket, allowed him to take a risk. However, after losing the first set with Bison, he recognized the necessity of returning to his more familiar and effective character, Blanka, to secure the victory.
MenaRD also credited his recent training in Japan, where he is participating in the Street Fighter League with Zeta Division teammates Momochi, Higuchi, and Yamaguchi, for his continuous improvement as a player.