If ZJZ weren’t as humble, he would’ve walked around Esports Arena saying, “I don’t even play this game!” But The King of Fighters specialist just showed up to Las Vegas, and mowed through the competition at the Last Chance Qualifier to find his way into the main bracket of Capcom Cup.
He was able to go beast mode on fellow hopefuls, but will he be able to do so against the elite of the game?
Behold, the Future
If ZJZ was willing to change games to earn the big paydays, he’s off to a solid start. His Menat is an insane mixture of fundamentals, KOF-esque movement and defense, and combo abilities that really only compares to Sako. His play actually rivals one of his KOF rivals, Xiao Hai. He’s patient, but able to get so many stray hits that before you know it, half your health is gone. Even on those stray hits, he’s optimizing and finding ways to at least get an extra hit in for a combo.
One interesting aspect about his game is he’s the only Menat I’ve seen that feels comfortable playing from the corner. This is where he resided for so many rounds, that it was just insane. He wasn’t even really trying to use his V-Reversal to escape it, as one would expect, especially from a KOF player who is used to defensive rolls. He just simply took every bit of pressure and waited for an opportunity to make it his turn.
Master, I Really Did It!
But as if there was a doubt that he was for real after his top 8 at Tokyo Game Show, the LCQ just proved how good he truly is. While he had to claw his way through Losers after losing in pools to Samurai, he tore through the top 48 with relative ease. He even stopped off to get a salty runback on Samurai along the way.
But so often, he found himself playing through what were perceived to be bad match-ups by fellow Menat main Infiltration. While Infiltration switched to Juri to fight against Nemo’s Urien, ZJZ seemed to have no issues. He once again showed no issues against John Takeuchi’s Rashid, whereas Infiltration made the same switch at Evo Japan.
He got faced with so many different equations to solve during his run, including character unfamiliarity with Dankadillas going Blanka to throw him off in Grand Finals. While there were several issues in dealing with Blanka’s second V-Trigger, he finally caught on and began keeping his patience against it.
Final Thoughts
I can honestly say that if Nemo had momentum going his way last year, ZJZ has it in spades. If there were fears of him being exhausted after this marathon run, bear this in mind. He plays KOF, a game with far longer games in a set. He also has to deal with so many factors within a match of said game. Trust me, he has the mental stamina to keep going.
With the run he had in Tokyo Game Show and now at LCQ, there’s a decent amount of certainty that he could at least make top 8. Of course Phenom could spoil his chances of doing this through Winners Bracket, but it’s not as though he wouldn’t at least have GamerBee around to prepare him for the Necalli match-up.
If you’re not expecting much out of him today at Capcom Cup, you’re about to get blown away.
