In some sense, the big dogs of Class 1-A are really competing against each other more than anything else.  By that measure Shouto and Tenya have already lost – they had a sizable power advantage over their opponents and failed to close the deal.  As Aizawa-sensei himself says, Class 1-B has been doing a lot more strategizing and planning.  As obnoxious as Vlad-sensei is (and Monoma) he’s right about his class getting more out of their abilities in these matches than the overhyped Class 1-A.

At first, it looks as if things are continue to follow the pattern in the fourth match.  Bakugo is being his usual obnoxious self and seemingly dispensing with teamwork.  No question Jiro, Sero and Sato are no match for Bakugo in the power department.  But Jiro is the best recon specialist in the school, and Bakugo is at least smart enough to see the value in that.  1-B’s team, under the leadership of Tokage Setsuna, once more has the more detailed plan.  Ignore the others, wait for Bakugo to make a mistake, and take advantage of 1-A’s lack of cohesion.  With Bakugo’s power and mobility, they’d certainly be nuts to take him on.

That all falls apart pretty quickly though, once reality sets in.  And this match is over almost before it starts.  Kacchan is still a raging A-hole, but he is maturing after a fashion.  He wants to win, and he wants to look good doing it.  If a little teamwork is the price to be paid for doing that, he’s now willing to pay it.  The truth is that this opponent has no answers for him, and he is right about one thing – the 1-A team’s best strategy is to act as his support and let him destroy everything in his path.  He’s totally a jerk about it, but he’s not stupid by his standards.

No question Kacchan lays down his marker here.  He does exactly what he declares he’ll do – win 4-0 and leave no room for doubt about his team’s dominance.  It’s too late for Todoroki to have anything to say about it, but All Might says watching it gave him “chills”.  Even Eraserhead offers a thumbs-up, which is effusive praise coming from him.  The result ensures that 1-A is dormie – the worst they can do is tie.  But the real battle here is between Kacchan and Deku, and anything less than a decisive win will leave him feeling as if he’s lost.

Once more, 1-A seems to have a big edge on paper.  Izuku is another kaibutsu, someone who shouldn’t be faced head-on.  But this is a tricky opponent – Shinsu is there, and he’s improved since his last run-in with Izuku.  Monoma has a dangerous quirk too, with “Copy”.  Midoriya’s teammates – Ochaco, Mina, and Minoru – are perfectly willing to act as his support, and of course he’s much nicer in the way he goes about it than Bakugo.  But without him this group’s firepower is extremely limited – their quirks are versatile but lack much direct thread.  We’ve seen Bakugo’s approach work surprisingly well in that scenario – now it’s time to see if Deku’s very different one fares as well