Month: November 2016

Comedian and actor Tom Arnold is older than most of us, and was alive to see the first wave of video gaming in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Now, he is exploring the modern era of gaming, and how far that has come from its predecessors in a documentary called Unlocked.

In this clip that will be sure to excite fans of the series to watch the rest of the documentary, Arnold talks to Capcom’s marketing manager Matt Dahlgren about the company’s most storied franchises. The topic then shifts to what is considered by most of us to be the most storied of all–Street Fighter.

The entire docu-series will be released on Decmeber 15th, and will feature celebrities such as Penn Jillette and Zelda Williams.

Source: Mediajuice Studios

Comedian and actor Tom Arnold is older than most of us, and was alive to see the first wave of video gaming in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Now, he is exploring the modern era of gaming, and how far that has come from its predecessors in a documentary called Unlocked.

In this clip that will be sure to excite fans of the series to watch the rest of the documentary, Arnold talks to Capcom’s marketing manager Matt Dahlgren about the company’s most storied franchises. The topic then shifts to what is considered by most of us to be the most storied of all–Street Fighter.

The entire docu-series will be released on Decmeber 15th, and will feature celebrities such as Penn Jillette and Zelda Williams.

Source: Mediajuice Studios

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not reflect Shoryuken.com as a whole.

When I checked the results for Dreamhack Summer and saw who won, my first reaction was “Who?”

BX3.TP-Link’s Arman “Phenom” Hanjani elicited that response from many people in the community, after he secured his berth to Anaheim this summer. A relative unknown despite his strong performances in 2015–falling just one match short of Capcom Cup qualification–Phenom had only won one weaker event in Italy prior to stamping his ticket to Capcom Cup in Sweden, and the Norwegian has now shown up on the circuit in a big way.

Now, what will it take for Phenom to bring the Capcom Cup championship to Europe?

Besting the Best

Phenom claimed his pass to Capcom Cup by beating some of the best in the world at Dreamhack Summer. Just a sampling of the players that he beat on his way to the title include fellow Capcom Cup qualifiers RZR|Fuudo, Daigo Umehara, and Mago. He is fully capable of taking anyone out at any time. There is no doubt about this.

Some of this can be attributed to the fact that Phenom is so newly a top-level threat on the circuit that many people do not have experience against him. However, to simply attribute it to this would imply that Phenom is a fluke. This implication would be dead wrong. Even at tournaments where he has not emerged the champion, he has defeated players like RB|Bonchan, /r/Kappa|John Takeuchi, and Daigo Umehara yet again, putting him up against the legend 2-1 in tournament sets since Dreamhack.

Make no mistake about it, Street Fighter V is Phenom’s game du jour, and he is making the most out of his abilities in this new title.

Character Picks

Phenom has a fine mix of character choices. He plays an obviously strong, high-tier character in Necalli, but also plays lesser-used Bison–his original and SFIV character of choice–as well. He has strong play with each character, and should be feared whichever he picks.

But this could also be to his detriment, as very little has been seen of his Bison since June, and he has said that Bison is not working to advantage at Canada Cup. This leaves him with Necalli. While a strong character, is he really the best Necalli out there? That’s a hot debate, as you could argue him over ZOWIE|GamerBee or YouDeal MJS|Haitani. But currently he’s barely sitting higher on the leaderboard than GamerBee–who has stronger recent results, so there’s arguments to be made either way.

Tournament Tested?

Probably the hardest case for Phenom leading up to Anaheim is how much tournament experience he has. Prior to Street Fighter V, Phenom had only seen himself tested within Europe, save for Summer Jam and Evolution in 2015. At Evolution that year, he just finished outside of top 16. When he came back to Evolution in 2016, he finished at the exact same spot. At Evo, he found himself losing to Hugo101 and Filipinoman– neither in the conversation for Capcom Cup.

His recents tournaments have found him back in the groove against top players. However, at ESL’s Brooklyn Beatdown he finished 17th again, losing to Humanbomb and RZR|Infiltration. One of said players is again not in the Capcom Cup conversation, and the other I have projected to not finish as highly as usual. It is also of note that his loss to Infiltration came during a downturn in Infiltration’s results. His high-pressure experience, and lack thereof, does not bode well for his placings at Capcom Cup.

Fearless

Phenom has borrowed some pages out of Daigo’s book, because he is one of the most fearless players when it comes to mind games on the circuit. He makes amazing reads on what the opponent will do, and make them pay for it. He puts them in situations where they are afraid to do anything, and makes them pay for it. If you want a specific example, harken back to Canada Cup, where he put Daigo Umehara himself into the corner and caught him with four command grabs in a row, leading to stun and the round.

Time and again, Phenom has proven himself grimy, and unafraid to do anything to get the wins. This bodes well for him to place high if players are not mentally prepared to bring the same griminess to the fight.

Final Thoughts

Yes, Phenom can beat anyone at any time. Yes, he has beaten some of the greats. But in high-pressure situations, he doesn’t appear ready. He has proven that.

I don’t expect this to happen any differently than Brooklyn Beatdown. He will go 1-2 or 2-2 most likely in this bracket, but should he travel more and put himself in more high-pressure situations next year, I’d mark him as one to watch.

Feature image: Bartosz Hołoszkiewicz