Adel 'Big Bird'
Anouche

Though born in Algeria, Adel 'Big Bird' Anouche has lived most of his life in the United Arab Emirates. The Middle Eastern nation has gradually become recognised as a hotbed of dedicated Street Fighter play thanks to a group of highly skilled locals and a tendency to fly in big names like Daigo 'The Beast' Umehara.

Big Bird grew up around fighting games. "I've always loved playing Street Fighter," he says. "I've most likely played every Street Fighter there is. I started playing competitively in 2012 with SFIV. At first, I was just playing with my friend Angrybird for fun. We went to our local arcade and got mopped by the local players there even though I thought I was 'good.' I learned that the game's much deeper than just learning how to do fireballs, shoryukens, supers and ultras – even though I was losing, I still enjoyed playing, and it only made me want to play more and more."