Month: June 2016

Editor’s note: Some responses have been slightly altered for the sake of clarity.

With the inaugural season of Street Fighter Crash in the books, Team Topanga–consisting of Tokido, Mago, and Evil Geniuses’ Momochi–came out on top, besting Team Razer–consisting of Fuudo, Xian, and Infiltration–in a thrilling finale. After the lime light faded and with the euphoria of the championship wearing off, I was able to catch up with Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi, a man who really needs no introduction, at ArcadeStream in Seoul to discuss how he felt after clinching the trophy and the 30,000,000 KRW first prize purse.

Corey “Missing Person” Lanier: What were your initial impressions about Street Fighter Crash?

Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi: Crash is a very long tournament, with it being played over one day each week for two months.

Missing Person: With the spread out format, was it stressful or interesting coming back and forth from Japan to Korea just for this tournament?

Tokido: The distance between the two countries isn’t very great compared to going from Japan to the United States, where I’d have to have 10 hour or occasionally 15 hour flights. For Japan to Korea, it’s only 2 or 3 hours, so it was fine. I like coming to Korea, and love Korean food, so it was enjoyable. Coming to Korea was a reward in and of itself.

Missing Person: For your first two weeks on Street Fighter Crash, you never had to play, with Momochi and Mago taking care of teams in the top 16 and top 8. How did you feel watching your team play?

Tokido: Both of my teammates were playing really well. I felt really good about our chances at that point.

Missing Person: Then in top 4, you decided to step out of the background and start playing. What made you decide to make that move before the finals?

Tokido: It was likely that our next opponent would be Team Razer, so I wanted to be ready. This was a very special tournament. It was also on live TV, so it’s not normal. I wanted to play and adjust myself to playing in front of the bright stage lights.

Missing Person: Crash was very different than anything we’ve had before for sure, with the TV production and the stage presentations. Do you think this fits well with the Fighting Game Community?

Tokido: Yes, absolutely.

Missing Person: Between the western-style, community driven events, or these Korean high-production sponsored events, which do you prefer?

Tokido: I think one of the best points of playing this style of event was that I had lots of time to practice for my next opponents. On any given day, I only have to face one or two teams, so I only have to practice for their specific characters, so it’s easier for us to play this.

 

Missing Person: And what do you think about this event when compared to Super Battle Opera, the only format that’s really comparable to it?

Tokido: SBO was much more difficult, due to it only being single-elimination with one match. It was more like a festival than anything, and even if you weren’t the best, you had a chance to win. So the best players still had less time to figure out player tendencies, and we could lose off of that. For me, playing best-of-three games in double-elimination is much better than SBO.

Missing Person: Recently, you and Mad Catz parted ways. Is your loss of sponsorship affecting your travel plans at all?

Tokido: For now, I’m doing fine. In the future, it may be troublesome.

Missing Person: So on that note, are you in talks with any other teams?

Tokido: Right now, I have to keep that secret. But there are possibilities.

Missing Person: What tournaments can we see you at coming up?

Tokido: I’m planning on attending DreamHack Summer, and I will definitely be at Evolution, so look for me there.

Missing Person: At Evo, you’re likely to face Infiltration to make your way to championship in Street Fighter V. Currently, he has a dominant record over you, better than anyone so far. How are you preparing for him?

Tokido: I have actually been going over to yukadon and VX’s house in Japan. They’re currently the top two Nashes in Japan and also live together, so I’ve been playing them quite a lot, studying the matchup.

Missing Person: So you are definitely feeling more confident in the Nash matchup.

Tokido: Yes, but sadly I couldn’t prove it in Street Fighter Crash.

Missing Person: That was definitely the matchup everyone was waiting to see in the finals.

Tokido: In my opinion, Infiltration and I are similar in our progression in the game. We both got better at the same rate when Street Fighter V released. When we played at Final Round, NorCal Regionals, and Red Bull Kumite, we were most likely the top two in the world. But recently, other people, such as Momochi, Fuudo, and even Justin Wong are getting to the same level as us.

Missing Person: So do you feel like you have more than just Infiltration to worry about at Evolution?

Tokido: Of course! I think Infiltration has to be thinking the same thing as well.

Missing Person: So during the Crash finale, Momochi won five in a row, after you guys were down 0-3 to Team Razer on the strength of Fuudo’s play. How did you feel after watching that after the roller coaster you guys went through?

Tokido: It was hard during Fuudo’s streak, but we still believed we had a chance. Getting through Fuudo was key to winning, and we had prepared for that beforehand. Even though Fuudo had already beaten each of us once, it was fine. So I was able to beat Fuudo, but unfortunately, I lost to Xian. After that, I trusted that Momochi could beat Xian and Infiltration. After that, Fuudo became the pivotal moment. Once Momochi beat Fuudo, I knew we had the advantage.

Missing Person: The night before the Crash finale, I saw you guys at ArcadeStream training against R. Mika mixups. Do you think that helped you in beating Fuudo?

Tokido: Absolutely. Usually the tournaments we play in are singles events. So we usually don’t collaborate since we don’t want to share tech with an opponent. Because it was a team format, Momochi and I were going back and forth discussing how to play against Mika. It was super helpful for each of us in this event to be able to collaborate.

Missing Person: If Crash were to happen again, would you participate in the second season?

Tokido: Of course!

Missing Person: Do you think that between now and then, the Korean scene will build up to be a bigger challenge for you guys?

Tokido: Of course! In fact, I’m already seeing improvements. One month ago, while I was here, I played Sandbag from Team IsaCenter, and thought that he wasn’t a very good player. Today, I played him in a first-to-five at ArcadeStream, and I can tell that he’s improving and practicing hard. He is definitely a better player than he was before, and I have a feeling that the rest of the Korean players are only going to get better if they keep practicing like this.

Many Melee fans will be familiar with mirror matches. There’s a reason that the “Fox only, Final Destination” joke is so popular; it strikes a chord! What might not be so familiar however, is the Ice Climbers ditto. For a while there were only a few notable Ice Climbers players, and with only the likes of Fly Amanita, Chudat and Wobbles repping the character, there wasn’t much opportunity to see–or practice–the mirror match.

More players are flocking to Melee than ever before though, and we’re starting to see the Icies establish more of a presence in top 8s, though they’ve yet to win a major national tournament. Even so, the likes of DizzKidBoogie and Infinite Numbers have made waves recently and, now that it’s a match that you might see more often, Splyce’s resident Ice Climber, Nintendude, has put together a short tutorial that breaks down the dos and don’ts of the matchup.

One of the best parts of seeing two Ice Climber players going up against each other is the chaos going on with four characters causing havoc, and thanks to Nintendude it’s now a little easier to appreciate the skill in among the madness.

Source: Splyce