Author: Marcos "El Cubano Loco" Blanco

Infexious gets technical about Street Fighter V!

One of the strongest albeit underrated players coming out of the United Kingdom, Cygames Beast’s DC “Infexious” Coleman has been making waves in the Capcom Pro Tour since the Street Fighters IV days and now really coming into his own and taking names in Street Fighter V for the past three years.

Finishing in 4th place in the European standings and most recently, placing himself 2nd at Kumite, Infexious might have seemed to come out of nowhere for some who are new to the scene, but if you’ve followed him for a while, one can find out that his fighting game roots go a bit deeper.

I sat down with Infexious the day before Evo 2019 to talk about his surprising humble beginnings in the fighting game community as well as his life outside of it. He also goes into detail about what kept him from traveling more to compete in his early days, his competitive mindset, the UK fighting game scene, and his thoughts going into Capcom Cup 2019.

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MB: First of all, I have been following your career since you first appeared on the CPT with Hugo in Ultra Street Fighter IV back in 2015. I just found out recently through the magic of YouTube that you’ve actually been playing competitively since Vanilla SF4 using Ryu, Sagat, and sometimes Akuma.

It seems like people are learning more and more about you lately but somehow you have been somewhat of an enigmatic player all this time. How long have you been playing fighting games?

Was Street Fighter IV your first competitive game and what drew you to it? Was there a specific moment or realization that made you decide to pursue a pro gaming career in competitive fighting games? If so what was it and why?

Infexious: Dead or Alive 4 got me started. Street Fighter IV was the game I started traveling for and diving into it. When I started playing Street Fighter IV, it was very different from Dead or Alive 4 since it was a 2D fighter. I never played 2D fighters competitively up to that point.

Applying frame data, spacing, pokes, and all types of things were quite tricky because to me, Dead or Alive is a rock-paper-scissor game, and Street Fighter seemed so much more complex than that. It was really interesting to get into…to put loads of times into understanding, learning it, reading loads of stuff online, and watching lots of videos.

I played a ton and I was beating people. I was winning a lot. Then I played players like Alioune from France. He was a guy who I just couldn’t beat like I would beat other people. I would play him for hours and hours.

All of that got me stronger again so I would play and play and I thought, You know what, I got to go to tournaments and see. I would go to my local tournaments and win those. Then I thought, I’ve got to travel out. I would go to London and play loads of people.

Whilst that was all going on, I was still doing the studying, but then as times developed and esports started to become a thing and there were opportunities because gaming was growing so fast, I thought, you know what, this is something that if I’ve been put my all into it. I could potentially do some great things in it. So I would give myself the opportunity when the stars aligned and things became available.

MB: What are some of your other hobbies and interests? Any other games you enjoy playing other than fighters?

Infexious: I used to play CVS2 when I was younger. I played the Tekken games when they first came out. Dead or Alive 4 was the first game that I played where I started to understand what frame data was–that there something deeper to fighting games than just doing special moves and pressing buttons. I’ve played a couple of shooters like Gears of War and Call of Duty, but never took them that seriously.

MB: What’s the meaning behind the “Infexious” handle?

Infexious: It’s a combination of my first and middle names. It’s shortened because people often butcher my first name.

MB: You have a very patient playstyle that seems to stem from your Hugo play in USF4. You are also very stoic with a stoneface look that rivals that of Momochi and Daigo from back in the day and you rarely, if ever, are fazed when you lose a game or a full set.

Was this level of patience self-taught or nurtured over time or have you always been like this?

Infexious: I think it actually stems from me observing how a lot of the top-level Japanese players played very early on in Street Fighter‘s lifespan when I first started to find out about tournaments and how long the series has been played at a competitive level.

So I watched those players and saw how focused they were, how calculated they were and the things that they were doing and so I thought that I need to implement this into how I play if I wanted to compete at a higher level.

MB: Who are some of your biggest rivals and gatekeepers in competition? Who or what do you see as your biggest obstacle at Evo 2019 and what’s your mindset and gameplan going into this tournament?

Infexious: There are many, many obstacles. This is one of the time periods where you really cannot underestimate anyone. There are top-level players who you know to look out for and then some of the dangerous players are the ones you don’t know who to look out for.

You don’t even know their name! (laughs) One of the great things about tournaments now is that you can see your path on Smash.gg as to who you may have to face.

Well when you come from Europe, the gatekeepers are the three kings of the region: Phenom, Problem X, and Luffy. They’ve been on top of the European scene for many years. So if you want to become one of the best players in Europe, you have to take on those three.

Luffy has been my demon for the past year. I’ve played Phenom and got the better of him a couple of times. Problem X as well….we played recently where he won one set, I won one set, and then he won one set. I’ve been able to compete with them, but they’re the main players that anybody should be focusing on in Europe if you want to compete at the top level.

On the world spectrum, you’ve got your Punks, the Tokidos, the Fujimuras, the Bonchans. There’s a whole host of different players, characters, and play styles that you’ve got to be ready for if you want to compete at a high level.

MB: What have been some of your biggest mental hurdles to improve on as a competitor? Was there a certain moment or match where a player mentally cracked you even if you don’t show it? What was your saltiest loss? You don’t seem fazed ever!

Infexious: I don’t know when the point was, but one hurdle that comes to mind is going into the losers bracket in a tournament and still playing to the best of your ability. When you go into the losers bracket, especially in this game, it can mentally shock you and take its toll. Being put in the losers bracket puts you at a significant disadvantage.

So being able to fight out of it is a hurdle. There have been times where I’ve been able to do that which I’m proud of. It’s an ongoing thing where you see some of the best players do it and climb out of it.

I try not to be (laughs). In the moment, I know that whatever happens, happens now, it’s time to review afterward. So there’s no point in getting emotional, getting thrown off-center during the match. Let it play out, apply what you prepared, and then after that, you go back and review and you see what was the right strategy and what were they doing in response. All the emotion comes out afterward when you sit down and review.

I’m very rarely salty after a loss. The one that sticks out in my mind was Evo 2018. I dropped a winning combo against Poongko’s Kolin last game and round and that’s how I got put into the losers bracket. That one was a bit frustrating, but it doesn’t play on me because I just think that happens. If you’re a competitor you will drop the winning combo.

Everyone is a human being. I just see it as part of the road, part of the journey. If you’re consistent in a tournament, those drops won’t even matter. The next tournament you’ll do well and the next one you’ll do well and maybe this one you got unfortunate. I just don’t dwell on it because it’s not going to make me better.

MB: Looking at your past results, you placed consistently in every tournament you’ve entered even though they are so few in number. What prevented you from traveling to other events outside of the UK and Europe earlier in your career?

Infexious: For years, I first studied for a law degree and that was back in 2008/2009 when Street Fighter IV was coming out. I then worked at a law firm for a few years. It wasn’t quite my thing so I went back to the university to get a teaching degree. So I was doing all of that alongside putting my all into gaming.

It was tough. They require a lot to get through those qualifications, but I managed to juggle both and still be able to compete at a good enough level to put my name out there.

MB: What is the competitive scene in the United Kingdom like now? Are you still able to get solid practice both offline and online? Who are some of your training partners other than your CYG teammates?

Infexious: It’s actually quite good. There are a lot of events situated in the south. I live in Manchester and a lot of the events are in London. So I don’t quite get the chance to go down and compete in as many as events as I’d like to.

But there is a thriving scene in the north where we have events starting around small scenes and sometimes people come together to compete there. In London, there are a lot of weekly events that go on so there’s a lot of competition.

I’m a strong advocate of online play. I’ve had an offline scene….back in the days of early Street Fighter IV, I used to go to my local and play in tournaments there. It was a good enough scene and it did improve my ability to compete in a tournament environment, but the vast majority of my experience, my knowledge, my skills have been acquired playing online.

Playing strong players online, grinding, playing battle lounges with a group of players…that has been the cornerstone of my development. If you train the right way and with the right opponents, online can be just as good as offline. Offline prepares you for tournaments. That’s the experience you can’t get online.

I play with Gunslinger and Hurricane. A lot of UK players play online. Thankfully, connections between certain regions in Europe are very stable. We get some good connections with people from France and anywhere in the UK.

MB: At the beginning of SFV, you were playing both Zangief and Necalli with great success. Now it seems you’re committed to maining Zeku and so far your tournament results in 2019 have not only been consistent, but it seems like you’re placing higher.

Why did you decide to switch to Zeku and which matchups do you think he’s the strongest and weakest in? Do you still keep Necalli or Zangief in your pocket just in case things don’t go well with Zeku?

Infexious: I’m slowly fazing Necalli out. I’ve played him in certain matchups where I felt a little bit more comfortable like F.A.N.G. and Dhalsim. Recently I’ve played Zeku for Dhalsim and so I’m learning a lot of the matches that I was comfortable with Necalli as Zeku. If you focus on one or two characters as Zeku and Necalli, it’s easier to learn matchups more intricately.

If you’ve got a whole host of characters, you have a benefit because you can change it up like a swiss army knife. The disadvantages are that you can’t know the matchups, the spacing, how people can respond to that character over thousands and thousands of games–that kind of instinct. You can’t have that with a big array of characters so I wanted to cut it down to just one or two characters.

At the start, I really enjoyed playing Zangief because it was a good transition from Hugo in USF4. As time went on, I understood a bit more about how this game worked. I realized that Zangief was in some ways he was fundamentally flawed in this game engine.

One of the main reasons is because since command grabs are five frames, has two active frames, and you’ve got variable wakeup on knockdowns–it’s extremely difficult to do a meaty command grab on someone in this game.

So if you play against a character like Dhalsim and they do a wakeup teleport which isn’t invincible to throws and you’re Zangief and you read that with a command grab, but you mistime it by a frame because you five frames to work with, he’s away from you even though you mad the right read! Things like that were frustrating to me.

I didn’t feel like I wasn’t able to make the correct reads consistently so I thought maybe that’s not the style that works for this game. In the old games you a had two-frame command grab where you could easily do meaty with it. So I thought I’m going to move away and play another character that has a command grab in Necalli. He’s a bit more mobile and doesn’t just rely on those hard read situations.

Thankfully that was a good choice and I saw some success with him as well.

MB: From what I’ve seen of your Zeku play, you tend to use old Zeku quite a bit. Does that pertain to particular matchups or certain players?

Infexious: When I first started using Zeku, I thought young Zeku was miles better than old. I would always play young and I basically learned young before I learned old. As time I went on, I started to understand the strengths of old Zeku and how to play the game–even after years and years of play you’re still learning new things–I realized old was a lot better than I thought. Using both old and young styles is the key to mastering Zeku and making him a top contender.

MB: Now with your new sponsorship under CYG, you will be able to travel a lot more and experience different parts of the world. With that said, where do you see yourself going say five years from now? What are some of your goals and aspirations both in your pro gamer career and your regular life?

Infexious: One of my main aspirations was to make sure I have a foundation, qualification, and a profession that would allow me to teach something that you can take around the world. I wanted to get something that would give me a foundation so that if I went and pursued a passion such as gaming which is what it has been for years and that doesn’t work out, I’ve always got that to fall back on.

Right now I’ve put that on the back burner and I’m focusing on my passion. Hopefully, I can win big tournaments, achieve big things, build a brand as the saying goes, and within five years be a member of the FGC that’s recognized as a great competitor. That’s my ultimate goal.

MB: You’re currently ranked 22nd on CPT Global Standings and second place in the European regional standings. What do you think it’s going to take for you to push through even further on in the CPT season to guarantee your spot in Capcom Cup 2019?

What do you feel you need to improve on in order to grow as a competitive threat to try and win it all? (Update: Now ranked 20th globally and finished in 4th in Europe).

Infexious: I think to get into Capcom Cup I need to maintain form. If I carry on the way that I am performing right now then I should be able to acquire enough points to get in and attend as many events as I can leading up to that. It’s been a good start so I think maintenance is one of the most important things to push myself to the point where I can start thinking about winning the whole thing.

I need to open up my game even further and open my knowledge of the top players. Now we’re getting into the realms where if you’re placing highly consistently, you’re going to be coming into contact with similar faces.

So you need to become aware of how these people play, what their tendencies are and how you can best exploit them to get the big wins out of it. Working on that is the next phase if I can keep up this type of momentum.

Sources: Capcom Fighters, Capcom Pro Tour (website)

Breaking down the barriers to entry for the Taiwanese FGC.

A long-time veteran in the fighting game community, Cygames Beast’s Bruce “GamerBee” Hsiang has been taking names and placing highly in fighting game competitions since he made his big top eight debut at Evolution 2010.

Even though he wasn’t able to qualify for Capcom Cup this year (finishing at 35th place in the global rankings), GamerBee will always be an established player to look out for in the brackets at any Street Fighter event he attends around the world.

I sat down with GamerBee the day before Evolution 2019 to discuss in length about various topics regarding Street Fighter V, the Capcom Pro Tour, and even reminisce a little about the Street Fighter IV days.

He also talks about his SFV character choices as well as his expanding his role as a member of the fighting game community by helping to organize tournaments and hopefully revitalize the scene in his homeland of Taiwan.

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Marcos Blanco: It is great to be able to meet with you, I have been following your career since your first Evo in 2010.

What is your current view on Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and the Capcom Pro Tour in general?

GamerBee: I think that Season 4 is a lot more solid. It doesn’t feel as unpredictable as it was before. I feel that the Capcom Pro Tour is the sexiest event in the fighting game industry. I really enjoy the way the CPT is handled right now. Even though it’s very difficult, it provides great opportunities for the FGC as a whole.

MB: Is there anything you think that can be improved about it?

GamerBee: Every individual player should be equal to enter a tournament, that is why there is a tournament every week or every month for the whole world. I don’t know if there is any better way to the point system, but it is giving an advantage to certain regions or to those with sponsors because you must enter a lot of tournaments to get enough points.

If you are just a non-pro player without a sponsor it’s difficult to qualify. Also compared to Europe or Asia, there are more tournaments in North America, so that is also a kind of advantage that those players have.

MB: How do you feel about your performance with Cammy so far in the CPT now that we are about halfway through the event? I know you use Necalli sometimes too. We know Cammy was weakened a little bit this season but that didn’t make you switch to another character like some other players have.

GamerBee: A lot of people are dropping Cammy. I try really hard to improve my skills to prove that I can make her effective in a different way. I am struggling right now because she has a tough time with top tier characters. To be honest, right now it’s hard. That being said, whenever she isn’t going up against a top tier character though, she is really strong.

I am thinking after Evo, if there is a balance change, I will study it, see if I should keep her as a main, or if I should change her out for another character.

MB: That leads me to my next question, with the three characters that were just announced. E. Honda, Poison, Lucia, based on the trailers what are your thoughts about them? What are your initial impressions?

GamerBee: I am actually very interested in these characters. First Lucia, then Honda. I want to try all three characters and I hope to find a character that has a lot of speed and can apply a lot of good pressure.

MB: Just from the trailer alone, it looks like Lucia might be that character, she seems very offensively focused!

GamerBee: Oh really? I will have to look more into her trailer!

MB: Were you surprised by Honda?

GamerBee: No! Of course not! We were all expecting Honda. (laughs)

MB: Did you know much about Lucia before her reveal trailer was released?

GamerBee: At first, I thought she was Cody’s girlfriend. He went to save his girlfriend in Final Fight, right?

MB: That was actually Jessica! Lucia is from Final Fight 3, she was a character from one of the console only sequels to Final Fight.

GamerBee: Oh! That’s why I didn’t know who she was!

MB: Right! I thought she was familiar at first. And then I remembered and thought, “Ah! That’s where she is from!”

GamerBee: It makes you wonder why they would choose such an obscure character and not someone everyone knows like Captain Commando. They could have even used Lieutenant Linn Kurosawa from the Capcom Alien vs Predator arcade game. I would be happy to see her in future DLC.

MB: That would have been awesome! We can still hold out hope for a couple of extra characters by the end of the year maybe!

Back to Necalli, when you use him, do you use him against certain players or certain characters that Cammy has issues with?

GamerBee: Yes. I am thinking of using Necalli against certain characters like Birdie, Zeku, or maybe Dictator. Cammy got nerfed with the V-Reversal. So when I’m in a corner and I have trouble getting out, with my V-Reversal I still take damage.

In those situations, Necalli has better health and better stun, so I have a greater opportunity to come back. Cammy might just die too fast, unfortunately.

MB: Yeah, she can be a little fragile. Are there any other characters you are interested in switching to?

GamerBee: If there is no balance change after Evo,  I will probably switch to Karin. She is really easy to deal damage with. Compared to Ibuki, Akuma, or Rashid, Karin will be the easiest character to get a lot of results quickly. I think everyone is thinking the same thing.

MB: It’s definitely important to see what strategy is working for other players. Now let’s talk about Street Fighter IV!

You made your name with Adon. You basically maxed out that character’s potential when you used him when Street Fighter IV was in its prime. If Adon ever comes to SFV or a future title, what do you think he would play like or how would you want him to play?

GamerBee: I played him in SFIV because his air juggle kick gave me a lot of freedom. It made me feel that if I can master that move, I could do pressure offense at any time.

That’s also why I like to play Cammy. It isn’t easy to deal with her Dive Kick. Every block will be up plus, I like characters like that. If Adon comes out, I wish they could make it to where some moves are really hard to master, but if you can pull them off consistently, you will be rewarded well for it.

MB: I’d love to see you play Adon again. When I played you at Evo years ago, I’m sure you don’t remember, but you were my first round out of pools in the quarter-finals, and you robbed me in that first round! (laughs)

I was so close and then you came back and took the win! I was using Vega and that’s a really tough matchup.

GamerBee: Oh, that’s definitely not easy for Vega.

MB: What was your first Evo like by the way?

GamerBee: I played fighting games for 25 years and I never had the same experience in Asia. I never saw as many people in the audience watching a fighting game competition as when I qualified for the Top 8 in Evo.

I have to thank Shoryuken and Evo for this opportunity too. That is how I got sponsored by AVerMedia, my first sponsor. It gives me a lot of exposure too. Without this platform, I wouldn’t have a chance of making it big in my local tournaments.

All those experiences led me to organize my own community tournament.

MB: How has it been organizing the Taiwan Major?

GamerBee: I didn’t do it this year, but I had been organizing that tournament for about five or six years. It is growing extraordinarily well.

Ordinarily, every game’s community is separate. But the FGC is different because we can be together. There is no, “You play your game and I will play my game.” That’s something I learned from Evo.

I want to bring that same feeling to Taiwan. All of the players from different titles come together and share the hype and feed into different games. They learn their strategies and implement them into their own style of play.

And so far, it has been working tremendously. Every year, the Taiwan Major gets bigger and bigger. We get more viewers and more participants. It is a really wonderful feeling knowing I contributed to that.

MB: Is it tough to balance being a TO and a competitor?

GamerBee: It is super hard, that’s why I could not do it this year. It is too distracting and takes so much effort when you are trying to do both at the same time. Especially if you want it to grow every year. It drains a lot of time and energy if you want to do both, so I couldn’t this year.

You only have 24 hours in a day to allocate to everything and I would rather give 100% to one thing than 50% to two.

MB: Right, there’s only so much you can do in a day and it seems like you are doing everything you can!

What’s your mentality going into Evo 2019? What’s your gameplan? Who do you think is the biggest obstacle for you?

GamerBee: There are so many players and it is so random. I don’t worry about specific players because there is no knowing who you will face. I always focus on making myself the best I can be.

I try to focus, get enough sleep, and get enough training in between my matches. That’s what I do every Evo. This time there are even more competitors. I try my best to not get nervous. I am looking forward to seeing who will make it into the Top 8!

MB: Certainly! Its Evo, so anything can happen! For you personally, who do you think is your gatekeeper? It can be a character, not just a player.

GamerBee: I’d have to say my biggest issue is with Dictator, that’s why I am considering using Necalli in that matchup. I can perform better pressure on him. Cammy’s low jab is +0 on block now, and the dive kick is not as powerful as it used to be, so it is hard to put pressure on Dictator, you lose too much health. With Necalli on the other hand, every knockdown you have a chance to come back, even when you’re down to your last bit of health.

MB: When I played Vega in that matchup, it was a nightmare! He puts me in the corner, and there’s not much I can do.

What are your feelings about Street Fighter V overall?

GamerBee: I like the opportunities that Street Fighter V offers. More players have a chance to participate with the fight money and the Capcom Pro Tour, but the game design is a little rough from a Street Fighter IV player’s perspective.

In Street Fighter IV, your hard work pays off. You can practice and the matchups weren’t as important. But in Street Fighter V, you can get a bad matchup, or people do crazy things, and you just lose and there’s not much you can do.

That being said, some of these balances make sense for the viewers. If they don’t do updates for a while, it gets boring for the viewers, so these consistent updates keep people entertained.

MB: I feel like right now we are at peak Street Fighter V with Season 4. People are starting to max out these characters and we are starting to see a lot of the same characters in tournaments.

You don’t see a lot of Vega out there, he seems like a very offensive character but his defense leaves a bit to be desired.

GamerBee: Vega used to be a zoning character, but he doesn’t do enough damage that way in this game. You have to get in closer to your opponent to do any real damage.

MB: Right, you have to make some characters work in different ways than you are used to.

Outside of fighting games, what is the day in the life of Bruce like?

GamerBee: I do a lot of streaming. I work a ton with Twitch. I enjoy talking to my audience while I am streaming and I share a lot of things like IRL streaming. I like to stream when I am traveling and experiencing life.

MB: What is the scene like in Taiwan?

GamerBee: Every year we continue to grow and get more talented players. We do a lot of really good streaming in Taiwan and more people are noticing that the fighting game community is a lot of fun to join. We have a lot of players, but not enough new players.

Right now, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore don’t have a lot of young, strong players. America has Punk, Europe has Takamura, AngryBird, BigBird, and even Japan has new young players. We don’t have that same experience right now.

MB: Why do you think that is?

GamerBee: We can’t promise that the younger generation will have enough of a future in fighting games. Other games have more of a sponsorship opportunity. If you play fighting games, in five years you can get what you want, but if you really want to live off the game you play, you might have to play something else.

I am a little nervous about it. Because they have to make a sacrifice to join fighting games. I have been playing them for so long, since before there was such a thing as a pro gamer. I got lucky and got sponsored in Taiwan. Before that, I had never dreamt of becoming a pro player. It was just my passion, and I had a regular job.

I can’t give them training to become a successful fighting gamer. I can’t promise them that they can make it. I can tell them, if they want to get into competitive fighting games, I will support them, but it will be very hard.

MB: You’ve been playing for quite a while, right? Are there any other games you like to play?

GamerBee: Yeah! I have been playing fighting games since I was nine. I played so many fighting games growing up. I played every fighting game I could.

When I was young, like ten or twelve, I played a lot of action games. Then when I got older, I played RPGs. After that, I played a lot of AVG. After that, I started playing online games like Ultima Online or Warcraft. But besides that, at every age, I have always played fighting games. Half of the games I would play would be fighting games and the other half changed over the years.

MB: Anything you want your fans to know about you that they don’t know about you?

GamerBee: I want to create some new online content in the future, like something new on YouTube or more IRL streaming for traveling I have been doing. I would really like to make it happen.

I want to thank my sponsors, Cygames and AVerMedia so I can continue my professional fighting game career, and also thank my wife. She has been incredibly supportive. She’s been helping me with Taiwan Major too! I am a lucky man!

Sources: Capcom Fighters

Daigo “The Beast” Umehara welcomes everyone in the FGC to make it “bigger and better” than ever before

Cygames Beast’s Daigo “The Beast” Umehara has had quite an interesting run in his Street Fighter V career for the past 3-4 years so far. Placing consistently high with Ryu in 2016, Daigo then switched to Guile in season two after his former main was weakened in the Season Two balance patch and hasn’t looked back since.

While in Season Two he still found some success with Guile, it seems like he has stumbled a bit in the past two seasons with lower and inconsistent placings. Regardless of whether he wins or loses, however, there’s no denying that “The Beast” is still respected and admired for not only his skills in fighting games but for his contributions to the community at large to this day.

In this interview that was conducted via email after Evo 2019, Daigo discusses his current views on the Capcom Pro Tour as well as his different playstyle with Guile. He also talks about his Evo 2019 performance as well as how he deals with critics who judge him based on whether he wins or loses.

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Marcos Blanco: What is your current view on competitive SFV: AE and the Capcom Pro Tour in 2019? How do you feel about the game’s future in the competitive circuit? Anything you would like to see changed or improved for future CPT events for the rest of the year and beyond?

Daigo Umehara: I think it depends on whose perspective you’re speaking from. If you look at the game’s recent updates, even though they’re supposedly targeting a more mainstream audience, they seem to be made specifically for the segment of users taking an active part in CPT. From the point of view of the myriad average players who don’t take part in the pro tour, I imagine the recent updates feel somewhat lacking in terms of what they’ve changed. I think you could say the game’s gotten away from its original form as a piece of entertainment.

On the other hand, for pro players participating in CPT, I think you could argue that the relative lack of extreme changes has made it easier to get through the season.

MB: Do you think everything going on with the CPT regarding the format, payouts, and point distribution is fine the way it is and why?

Daigo: I can’t speak to how reasonable the payouts are so I’ll put that one aside. Players spend all year struggling to earn the right to compete in Capcom Cup, and then it’s over in a blink.

Considering how long the road to qualifying is when it comes down to the main event you have no idea who’s going to win and it all ends so abruptly, and that’s kind of a drag. Players work so hard to get the chance to compete in the main event; I’m sure I’m not the only one who wishes the fun lasted a little longer.

MB: How do you feel about your overall performance in the CPT so far this season with Guile? Do you still consider him a strong character despite some setbacks to his move set? It seems like you’ve adopted a more aggressive playstyle with him in tournaments as of late. Why is that?

Daigo: I still haven’t entered that many tournaments this season, so I’d call it a so-so run as of now.

For us, a year is short. The game balance receives frequent adjustments within that time span, meaning we have to pick things up in a short amount of time while attending CPT tournaments. I feel that Guile is the most viable character among those with which I have a high mastery.

Guile has gotten weaker so if I stick to playing him the way people know, I won’t get anywhere. It’s not that I’m specifically focusing on an aggressive play style. Likely, I’ve become more aggressive as a result of trying to incorporate newness.

MB: So Honda, Lucia, and Poison have been added to SFV: AE‘s roster. What are your thoughts and impressions of these characters so far? Of the three, who stands out to you the most as a competitively viable character and why?

Daigo: I haven’t tried out Poison or seen anyone who’s using her. I tried the others. Lucia is fairly strong and interesting. As for Honda…

MB: You placed 33rd at Evo 2019. What was your mentality and game plan going into Evo 2019 and how do you feel about your performance in the tournament? What do you feel like you need to improve on in order to try and win the remaining tournaments for the rest of the year?

Daigo: I can say that I was well prepared for Evo and had my sights on the top eight. It’s really just too bad I didn’t get there. I haven’t had a strong showing at Evo in a while now so I was determined to make this the year I got back into the top eight.

My physical condition took a dive right after I got into Las Vegas and in hindsight, I think it was due to a lack of nervousness, which comes with experience. The right amount of nervousness is necessary. No excuse though, this is my own shortcoming.

MB: You are currently ranked 16th on the CPT Global Standings. What are your goals for the rest of the CPT season to make sure you qualify and to get a higher seeding for Capcom Cup 2019 and to hopefully win that event as well?

Daigo: I want to do well in the coming tournaments and secure my spot in the main event. I’ve reflected on Evo and reclaimed my determination. I’ve refocused my energies and I am training hard so please keep an eye on me over the coming months.

MB: At this point you’re a very well known player all over the world and with that comes not only a lot of fans who admire and respect you for what you’ve done throughout your career, but it also comes with a lot of backlash from people who criticize you when you don’t place high or win a major tournament especially on social media.

What are your thoughts on the subject of these types of fans holding you and other longtime pro players to this high standard where if you don’t win every tournament, you’re not good enough anymore? Do you pay attention to these sorts of things regarding your status as a player in the fighting game community? If so, why and if not, why not?

Daigo: As I see it, even when I was winning frequently, I still went through slumps. Looking back, even though there were specific moments or matches of great renown, it wasn’t always so glamorous in real-time. I’ve gradually amassed a list of those highlight moments over many years, so I think the difference between “then” and “now” appears more extreme than it is (“now” is shorter than “the past,” after all).

My drive has never waned and I’ve been competing continuously for twenty years. With each new version that comes out, I’ve studied hard and honed my skills from scratch as best I can. With no false modesty, I can say my drive and perseverance toward gaming are second to none.

MB: Which tournaments will you be competing in next before the year ends? Would you like to give and any final thoughts or thanks regarding Street Fighter V, the Capcom Pro Tour, and the fighting game community in general?

Daigo: I’ve been given an environment where I can play the games I love to my heart’s content and I’m grateful for that every day. It’s a reality I never would have dreamed possible twenty years ago and it’s all thanks to the amazing community. You can’t get here alone. I’m also thankful to the sponsors who support me—HyperX, Red Bull, Twitch, and Cygames.

Now and then I see top players who are seriously considering quitting. It’s not my place to speak to their situation, but I can say that I’m always looking ahead positively. I’m an exception—in my ten years as a pro, I’ve never questioned it. I enjoy the growth. It’s what motivates me each day. Not the prize money. In this sense, I feel that I’m unbeatable.

Little kernels of passion and perseverance are what have made the FGC so big today. I’m going to keep going. Please join me and let’s make it bigger and better than ever!

Sources: Capcom Fighters, Capcom Pro Tour

Fuudo offers his insight on mentality and the new fighters.

First making himself known to the world with his dominant win at Evo 2011 in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition with his explosive Fei Long play, Keita “Fuudo” Ai from Japan has become a household name in the fighting game community for the better part of almost a decade.

A former longtime Virtua Fighter 5 world champion, Fuudo has long been not only one of Japan’s best fighting game players alongside the likes of Daigo Umehara, Tokido, Momochi, Sako, and Haitani but one of the world’s best as well with multiple top eight placings and first place tournament victories.

That being said, while Fuudo has been currently one of the most consistent players in Street Fighter V since 2016 with his patient, but explosive R. Mika (currently ranked seventh on the Capcom Pro Tour 2019 Global Leader Board), he always seems to come up just a bit short when it comes to securing some first place Capcom Pro Tour wins that he is very capable of achieving.

I sat down with him the day before Evo 2019 to discuss this supposed “curse” he has when it comes to tournament placings as well as his thoughts on his CPT 2019 performance so far. the new DLC characters, picking up Birdie as a secondary, and his mindset going into Evo 2019. This interview was done through Shino, one of Cygames Beast’s translators.

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Marcos Blanco: You’ve been one of the most consistent players since season one of Street Fighter V. However, getting first place always seems to be just out of your grasp. What do you attribute that to? Do you feel “cursed” sometimes for coming so close?

Fuudo: Yes (laughs). That’s why I went to the waterfall if you saw on my Twitter. I went three times. It’s a cultural tradition but not a common practice.

MB: You’ve been using Birdie as a secondary character to compliment your R. Mika play. Which matchups and players do you feel Birdie is strong against as opposed to R. Mika? What’s your decision-making process when it comes to switching between these two characters?

Fuudo: Before I go into matches, I already know which character to use. Especially in top eight, the characters you see are mainly Ibuki, Akuma, and Rashid. I feel Birdie has the strongest chance against those characters.

MB: Do you consider Birdie your main over R. Mika now?

Fuudo: Conceptually, I try not to have him as my main character. I just feel more confident with Birdie against those top three characters.

MB: What’s your mentality and game plan going into Evo 2019? Which players do you consider your biggest obstacles to overcome to advance in the tournament?

Fuudo: To win Evo 2019, I have been practicing Birdie. I don’t want second or third place. I’ve had enough of that. I’m focused on winning Evo this year. As far as specific players, I can name Fujimura. Historically and statistically speaking, I have been losing against him and I definitely want to beat him.

MB: So the trailer for the three new characters Lucia, E. Honda, and Poison were leaked and then confirmed. What are your impressions of these characters based on the trailers so far?

Fuudo: The first impression I had of Lucia was, “Who is this (laughs)?” Honda, I have been waiting a long time for. In my view, it’s not so much about how your character stacks up against another character, but it’s more about how strong your character is overall. I hope Honda goes back to how he used to be in Street Fighter IV. Poison seems like a new character now. I’m looking forward to it.

MB: Does that mean you’re thinking of picking Honda up for serious tournament play?

Fuudo: Yeah I’d like to try him out. He’s really simple and straightforward. I like that about him. As you know I’ve been using Birdie so I don’t care how he looks (laughs).

MB: So it seems like you will qualify for Capcom Cup 2019 since you have enough points. As a player, what are some areas you need to improve on to win Capcom Cup 2019 finals?

Fuudo: I’ll just keep practicing what I’ve been doing. I want to focus on just winning. That is the burning desire that keeps me going.

Source: Capcom Fighters, Capcom Pro Tour

This Marvel vs Capcom pro brings his expertise to the Power Rangers fighter you should be playing!

Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid was released was released on March 26, 2019, across all current-gen consoles with a PC release on Steam coming next week on September 24, 2019. A 3v3 fighter in almost the same vein as the Marvel vs. Capcom series, Battle for the Grid has had a couple of substantial updates adding new modes, characters, and balance changes to improve the game’s replay value and fun factor.

At Evo 2019, I talked to former MvC pro, Daniel Maniago also better known in the FGC as “Clockwork” who is now currently the lead combat designer on Battle for the Grid, about his involvement in the game’s development and future. In this interview, Maniago also shares how he came to work on the project, his input from years of pro gamer experience, and why skeptical players should give this game a chance.

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Marcos Blanco: So first question: Are you a Power Rangers fan?

Clockwork: I was a huge Power Rangers fan when I was a kid. I think like a lot of people, I sort of fell off after the third season. I kind of grew out of it. The Green Ranger was my favorite before he turned good (laughs).

MB: I’ve read up on the storyline for the game and it seems to be centered around the Green Ranger. What went into deciding the Green Ranger turning evil and whatnot?

Clockwork: It’s based on the comic book story by Boom! Studios. Basically the idea is that there is a timeline in which the Green Ranger (Tommy) never turns good. He ends up becoming Lord Drakkon who is the main antagonist in Battle for the Grid.

MB: You’re the lead combat designer for this game. How did you get on board to work on this project? Did nWay Games approach you about it?

Clockwork: I got approached by a friend of mine that said that his friend was looking for a combat designer that specializes in fighting games. I applied, took the design test, and the rest is history.

MB: What was the experience like?

Clockwork: It was interesting. At the time I was interviewing at several places and it was really interesting to see the different sorts of design tests that these companies have their applicants go through. It’s interesting because usually, it’s under strict time constraints so I guess they’re trying to gauge how well you can work under pressure with a tight deadline. It really helped me to understand the pace that I was going to be moving at.

MB: Sounded like a good experience. So coming from the Marvel vs. Capcom series a seasoned competitor for many years, what sort of input did you have for the game’s development as the lead combat designer?

Clockwork: I’ll say that pretty much anything that has to do with the gameplay or the combat, I have touched everything. These days, Shady K takes care of a lot of housekeeping and janitorial work. Especially early on when we were gearing for release, we were pumping out characters and doing whatever we could to make the game as fun as possible. We’re continually improving on the game.

I will say that when I first got on board, the idea for their comeback mechanic was a bit stale. So I really pushed to have the Zords in the game.

MB: Oh, really? What was so stale about it?

Clockwork: It wasn’t really fleshed out. They were just thinking that we should have a mode where you power up or speed up–kind of like an X-Factor of sorts. We needed to do something a bit more on-brand.

MB: How did you decide which characters would be in the game? Also was there ever a point that maybe the game was going to be a regular 1v1 fighter instead of a 3v3 fighter? What was behind the decision to make it the latter?

Clockwork: I think by the time I had gotten on board, the ideas that they wanted it to be 3v3, but also accessible and something fun were there already. I think the idea for Power Rangers is that it’s constantly a team thing–the Power Rangers are always working together and all of that so it really makes sense to us that the game should be 3v3. Putting stuff in like Rangers who would never get to be on the show or Mega Force Yellow getting to team up with Jason. I feel like it was the right direction.

I can’t go too much into detail about how we choose characters, but I will say what’s really great about the Power Rangers IP is that there is so much to pull from as far as inspiration on how the characters should play. It’s almost as if some of the characters design themselves like oh that’s supposed to be a special move. That’s supposed to be a super. The Green Ranger should definitely have these attacks. He should be attacking with a sword most of the time and he can also use his blaster. It’s really fun to go through the source material and pick and choose what we want to use in the game.

MB: I might be prying a bit especially since the new DLC that includes Lord Zedd, one of the Gold Ranger, and one of the Pink Rangers is coming out soon but… is Rita Repulsa going to be in the game at some point (laughs)?

Clockwork: I can’t talk about any characters that aren’t in the game, but anything is possible (laughs).

MB: I mean Goldar is in the game so I have to expect Rita at some point, but I get it (laughs). So what is your team of choice to play as in Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid?

Clockwork: I really like Red Ranger, Zeo Gold Ranger, and Dragon Armor Yellow Ranger. I like how agile Gold and Red are. They feel really good to dash and jump around with. They feel very responsive. Trini’s assist is just so good with a laser beam which is easy to convert off and locks your opponents down. It’s sort of an all-purpose move. She’s a tank as well and works well as an anchor when she has her Zord out.

MB: For players that are on the fence about picking the game up, what would you say to them to convince them to give it a try and what to expect from it?

Clockwork: One of the biggest selling points of the game is that it’s $20, man! It comes at a discounted price, but I do feel the quality of the game as it keeps improving and improving, to me it’s worth way more than $20. So you can’t really beat that deal.

If you’re into fighting games, Power Rangers, and if you’re just into video games in general–I think the accessibility, frenetic pace, and action of the game–I think there’s something in it for everybody.

For more information on Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid, follow Clockwork and the game’s Twitter pages in the source links below.

Sources: Battle for the Grid (website), Level Up Series (YouTube), Clockwork (Twitter), Battle for the Grid (Twitter)