Berserk Button: Shadow punches Qrow's through his alcoholism. During their match, he steals Qrow's flask and dumps it all out in front of him as a taunt to him, which finally gets Qrow mad enough to take the fight seriously. After the match when Qrow complains about the expensive whiskey Shadow wasted, Shadow advises he give it up entirely since not only is alcohol for the weak, it could potentially influence his young niece Ruby to follow his example. This pisses off Qrow enough that he looks ready to tear Shadow a new one before Ozpin calls him off.
Foil: The author's notes make note of this between the members of the Ozluminati and Sonic's friends:
Tails and Qrow. Both were born with a sort of disability (Tails' namesake and Qrow's Misfortune Semblance), but whereas Tails managed to make his work for him, Qrow continues to see himself as Blessed with Suck. There's also the contrast of Tails' youth and optimism contrasted with Qrow's age and cynicism.
Knuckles and Ironwood. Both are The Lancer of their group, both hail from a landmass blessed with the power of flight from a divine artifact. The main difference is in their Character Development; Knuckles' adventures taught him to be more open-minded and friendly, whilst Ironwood would regress and double-down, leading him to a progressively darker path.
Graceful Loser: With the exception of Harriet, the rest of the Ace-Ops take their loses against Team Sonic well.
Guest-Star Party Member: Rouge joins Team Sonic for the exhibition match against the Ace-Ops so that both teams will have five members.
Secret Test of Character: Part of the reason Shadow says he wants to have a match with Qrow and Winter is not only so he can see their skills for himself, but also see how they react during and after the fight. From what he observes, he can tell that Winter is not part of Ozpin's inner circle, since after her loss she apologized to Ironwood, clearly seeking his approval, but determines that Qrow is involved since he seeks no approval from Ozpin and acts more like his equal.
Sore Loser: Harriet doesn’t take her loss against Sonic well.
What the Hell, Hero?: Shadow and the others call out Qrow and Winter for fighting in a public area where someone could get hurt, and he calls out Ruby and Weiss for encouraging them.
