Month: November 2017

We’re back to a more regular schedule with Tension Pulse, an online exhibition series highlighting quality Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 gameplay. This time, we have a little bit of a West Coast vibe. Most of the fighters in the group are on the West Coast, so we’re going to see some NorCal and SoCal pride.

On deck, we have some returning warriors along new blood. We’re going to witness CATPION|daymendou show off his infamous Slayer against an equally well-known Kum from Foo. It’s going to be a great match! Before them, we’ll see a very interesting match-up: Venom vs. Faust. Hursh will face off against FFN|Kyoku in an FT7.

CATPION|daymendou

Do you think regional pride is important? “I don’t have much experience with regional pride, but I think it can be motivating as a player. At Anime Ascension, it was definitely a huge boost to have much of Norcal there in the audience. For the most part, though, I feel most motivated by trying to beat specific players rather than trying to beat a region. Of course, Japan is a major exception, and I see it as a matter of national pride to beat Japanese players in American tournaments.”

On his opponent: “Foo is a strong player and Haehyun suits his playstyle very well. We’ve played each quite a bit, usually when he and Julian (ITS|BeautifulDude) come up to our Norcal local or the few times I’ve gone to SoCal. In tournament, I’ve beaten him every time up until Anime Ascension this year, but he beat me in the Combo Breaker team exhibition and he won our local over Xcel|Bears and me last time he visited. There are two things I find interesting about this match. First, I went to Super TSB in March and got 2nd; Foo will be going to TSB Yabai this weekend, and I think he can definitely win the whole thing. Second, I’ll avenge NorCal by beating Foo. This set will be my blessing for Foo to win TSB and I’ll give him an L to pass on to them.

On changes he would like to see in the game: “I think a lot of people expected REV 2 to change more characters’ combos and add interesting moves, so I hope we’ll see that in the next Xrd. I would like to see air tech height and Blitz adjusted, but it also feels like characters are balanced around these mechanics being strong, so it wouldn’t be an easy change to add.”

Foo

On the match: “I’m excited to be on it, and it’s nice that I’m matched up with somebody closer in location over netplay. I think it’s going to be a good match and a fun one to watch in particular.”

On his opponent: “daymendou is a cool guy whom I saw grow into a powerful opponent from his earlier beginnings. I remember being surprised when he told me Xrd was his first fighting game! His Slayer is explosive, and he is a very knowledgeable player with great awareness and tech.”

On his style: “I have a pretty dynamic style, and I’m familiar with the whole cast minus a few, so I’m able to recognize situations my opponents will want to be in or particular patterns in their offense. I like playing characters that are exciting to look at and give me a lot of options or flexibility while being able to land a big hit or a high reward of a correct read. Defense and having good reads are some of my strong points.”

Hursh

On the match: “I’m a bit nervous, as I haven’t done anything like this before, but I’m looking forward to it and hope to represent the SoCal GG scene well. Outside of our top players like Kizzie Kay, Foo, Toki, and Beautifuldude, SoCal has been seen as kind of weak in general for GG, so one of my motivations for wanting to do well in the exhibition is to show that we have good players in SoCal besides just those guys and that our regular tournament players are capable as well.”

On his opponent: “I don’t know much about him as I’ve only seen him play a few matches at SCR recently and haven’t really been able to find much of him playing. From what I’ve seen he seems like he has solid neutral with Faust. He’s also good at pressing offense once he gets the advantage, so those are some things I’ve taken note of.”

On his own playstyle: “I would definitely say I’m a more aggressive Venom player than others. I try to focus on keeping up the pressure as long as I can to open people up. I also like to focus on chip damage and make my opponents decide whether they want to spend their meter to Faultless Defense or take the large amount of chip damage. I’m also very confident in my confirms and ability to convert most hits into full combos.”

FFN|Kyoku

Catch this upcoming episode of Tension Pulse live on Silva_hime’s Twitch channel. The first FT7 takes place between Hursh and FFN|Kyoku. That starts at 9:30 PM ET/8:30 PM CT/6:30 PM PT tonight (November 8th). Foo and daymendou are on after that. OkaySway and PepperySplash will grace the mic stations to discuss the action.

Looking to catch up on the last episode of Tension Pulse? Catch up below:

Sources: interviews; Silva