An honest team discussion about a winning mentality.
It has been over a month since NorCal Regionals 2018 concluded, but there is still plenty of video content pouring out of Capcom’s most recent premier event in North America. In this latest piece of content coming out of the NCR, Cygames Beast’ Chris Tatarian interviews his teammate, Daigo “The Beast” Umehara — with the help of the latter’s translator, Shino — about his tournament mindset and decision-making.
This interview is refreshing to watch, because it consists of one pro speaking to another, instead of a FGC journalist or personality. Also, since both players are teammates, the interview feels more like a discussion or lecture on improving one’s competitive mindset than a typical Q&A. Chris presents his questions by outlining what he himself has had trouble with and then asks Daigo what his thought process is behind those decisions. Overall, this is a very educational and informative interview for anyone looking to improve their mental game in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.
Some words on his game of choice from one of Dragon Ball FighterZ‘s rising stars!
NRG|HookGangGawd is rapidly becoming a household name in Dragon Ball FighterZ circles — while holding the top spot on the PSN online leaderboard, HookGangGawd is now far more than an online warrior. A regular second-place finisher to Echo Fox|Sonic Fox at NLBC, HookGangGawd is qualified for Summit of Power, and has rapidly gathered a strong following for his Dragon Ball FighterZ skills with his Piccolo-centered team.
In the interview, they discuss what HookGangGawd would like to see changed in DBFZ’s mechanics, the difficulty of running a team based around Piccolo (who is his favorite Dragon Ball Z character), and the differences between playing offline and in person.
If you enjoy BornFree’s interviews, why not check out his channel and subscribe to his content on YouTube?
This past weekend, Chicago kicked off the RED BULL CONQUEST series of events, announced earlier this year. The energy drink company is energizing various regions in the United States to show their regional pride and compete in Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2. Each of the regional tournaments challenges the players to form teams that will compete at the final event in Washington D.C. in November.
Chicago’s Ignite Gaming Lounge — a typical FGC venue for the community — hosted the event. Red Bull showed off their impressive event production by creating a stage with setups for each game. A swag station sold Red Bull-decorated hats, hoodies, t-shirts, and more, and a special drink bar offered non-alcoholic beverages. Each game’s pool progressed smoothly throughout the day, giving stream time to every title on Twitch. Persia and Vicious, well-known FGC personalities, hosted the event — speaking on camera to coordinate the show for viewers from around the world.
The Street Fighter V tournament had the most entrants, with 95 players throwing their hats into the ring. The action took most of the day, making endurance a factor in the fights. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Chicago’s star SFV player, BxA|THE COOL KID93 — Marcus Redmond — squared off against Rob “RobTV” Burney in Winners Finals. Redmond barely pulled off a win with his Abigail against RobTV’s very patient Guile.
“I love Red Bull events. Before, people really didn’t look to Chicago, because we didn’t have that Alex Valle, those kinds of people, who run those local events that people really look at,” Redmond told SRK. “People started learning about us because of events with Red Bull, they give us a reason to practice and get better. These events over the past years made everybody step up.”
Then, Redmond faced Chakotay “ElChakotay” Andrich in the Grand Finals, coming out on top after a bracket reset, and becoming Chicago’s SFV representative in the Red Bull Conquest series.
“I’m feeling good. It was a headache,” Redmond said. “Normally, these Red Bull events are about points. If you lose, it’s ok, you get some points, you’ll come back next month. But this time, there was more pressure; it was just one tournament. I told my wife, we are going to have to fly to every region if I lose!”
Redmond is looking forward to the release of Cody, his favorite character, and in the coming months he will focus on preparing for the November finals.
As for Bandai Namco’s 3D brawler, attendance came close to Capcom’s game, sitting at 80. While the competition was tight as well, many people favorited Marquis “vShadow_20z” Jordan to win, and he came through. He will team up with Redmond to represent the Chicago region.
Left: vShadow_20z (Tekken 7) Center: Mr. K (Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2) Right: THE COOL KID93 (Street Fighter V)
“People consider me the best in Tekken in the Midwest, so I feel pretty good,” Jordan said. “I feel I can represent well for Tekken and Chicago. We have some great players here. We’re also professional with it. Chicago has a certain image, and not everyone fits it. Most people consider Chicago violent [politically], but it’s not all that, but as far as the fighting game community, there are some great people.”
Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 didn’t have as many players, (33 entrants), but many of them took the effort to come from somewhat distant areas to compete in the event. The winner hailed from St. Louis, Missouri; Stephen “Mr. K” Shannon, Leo Whitefang player and pun aficionado, battled multiple Millia Rages on his way to victory and managed to best BlackSnake’s Venom.
“Everyone in Chicago is super nice. I appreciate everyone I played against, I’ve always been welcomed here,” Shannon told SRK. “This is one of my favorite places to travel to play. I know that if I wanted to drive up here for a tournament for a weekend to play, everyone has that kind of passion, they want to get their games in. I’m glad that Red Bull has Guilty Gear on the circuit, it’s the reason I’m here.”
“I think the GG community deserves a little more visibility,” Shannon added. “The people that play are very passionate about the game, they want to play the game for all the right reasons. And I think that the game is super sick. Guilty Gear is a game I can play for 30 years and never be dissatisfied with it.”
Any player can enter and win to represent any region in the United States. Not locking the rules down based on geographical location was a conscious decision on Red Bull’s part.
“We kept it open because we wanted to get maximum participation,” said Jimmy “ShinJN” Nguyen, the National Tournament Director for the Red Bull Conquest series. “We could have introduced a region lock, but we thought that maybe sometimes a person can’t play in their own region and they can compete elsewhere. I think the cool part about the FGC though is representing your region, so I mean, do you want to go play for California? If you win a qualifier? That’s up to the player, and whether they can live with that.”
This was only the first regional tournament, and there are 13 more to go. The next Red Bull Conquest tournament takes place in Seattle on May 19th. In addition, there will be an online qualifier as well as a last chance qualifier at Washington D.C. Every winner receives $500, a variety of small accessories by Red Bull, as well as a flight to the finals. What will the ultimate winner get? Each teammate competes for $1500, in addition to a flight to Evo Japan 2019.
1. Mr. K
2. kayloud
3. blackSNAKE
4. DBJoseph
5. TheArm
5. WhiteBeast
7. sweetxjam
7. Gekioh
9. M A D W A K
9. ShinSin
9. lizardman301
9. LGOD|Ken Griffey Jr.
View the full results and brackets over at smash.gg.
[Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool / Bryan Lamb]
dekillsage discusses his FGC past, present, and future after his win against Sonic Fox.
Jon “dekillsage” Coello remembers his first tournament — a Super Smash Bros. Brawl local — as his starting point in the FGC. He admits that he likely wouldn’t be in the FGC at all, frustrated by his skill level compared to his peers, were it not for a local player inviting him to play with them afterward. Those are humble beginnings for a player that would go on to be a Skullgirls Evo Champ and obtain a sponsorship from esports giants Echo Fox.
Given his recent victory over the nigh-invulnerable Sonic Fox in Dragon Ball FighterZ and his consistent tournament results, this interview with the FGC’s favorite interviewer, BornFree, is a must watch. Find out about dekillsage’s favorite games, his hopes for DBFZ’s incoming patch, his thoughts on the DLC leak, and more in the video above.
For any scene to survive and grow, diversity is the key!
As gaming communities go, the core FGC has generally been a positive example of diversity and acceptance — and that stems from a common philosophy: if you’ve got the guts to step into the ring and compete, you’re welcome to try. But elitism, sexism, and discrimination are far from eliminated in our community, and that’s where a group — or more accurately, a “movement” as described below — like the Combo Queens steps in. By providing a support network for women in an environment historically dominated by men, it helps ensure these gamers don’t get discouraged when they run into ignorance and “gating” from their male counterparts, while they’re out there to fight the same fight we all are.
[From left to right: gllty, Shinobee, Lindiejar, EXT0PD0LL, MamaDao, csgdevil, Akasha Lily, Sherry Jenix, Nightris, tokimekiemily]
I had the opportunity to ask a number of questions of both founders and members of the Combo Queens, on why such an organization is important in the FGC right now, and what it offers female fighting game fans. Check out the replies below from Carolyn Dao (founder), Emily Ginnona (co-founder), and supporting members Romanova (streamer and prominent FGC cosplayer), Tiffany Nazare (model and Chief Operating Officer of Syndicate eSports), and young up-and-coming competitor and commentator ThatToffee.
Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
mushin_Z: What inspired the “Combo Queens”?
Carolyn “MamaDao” Dao: I was inspired a few years ago in 2016 when “Smash Sisters” was created, and pitched the idea to a couple of people to see how it would do in the FGC. My main motivator was Lil “Milktea” Chen, who consulted me the entire time to execute Combo Queens without any backlash.
Emily (Jemmillion) Ginnona: Carolyn (MamaDao) was inspired by the Smash Sisters and wanted to implement something similar for the women of the FGC. I approached her soon after about wanting to establish meetups for Combo Queens on the East Coast, eventually across the country. I believe that every community has many talented and amazing women who deserved to be positively showcased. Combo Queens was created to help encourage female players to get out, get to know each other, and play the games they love through event meetups, sessions, and social media support/promotion.
Tiffany Nazare: In my opinion, Combo Queens was created as a safe haven for talented and passionate female gamers. It was a way to connect the ladies to fellow gamers, business owners, female team owners and sponsors. In the past, it was pretty difficult for women to have a platform, let alone a voice to be heard in a male-dominated field. Combo Queens is here to break the barrier that people failed to notice, while putting a shine on the up-and-coming talents that they’ve missed.
Romanova: I believe the lack of overall support for women as a whole in the FGC inspired this; giving a community for the women and their allies to meet up, hang out, and promote overall good vibes. This in turn I think helps balance the synergy between the men and women and everyone else in the FGC. Those who created it had a really good idea when coming up with it. I will say the one thing I did contribute was the name. I know originally the word femme was in it [a tentative first name for the group was “Femme Fighters”] and that can sometimes be deemed as a term some women do not identify with, so to keep it friendly to the message I suggested “Combo Queens” to MamaDao and she liked it a lot! (I admit I had also been watching the TV show Scream Queens around that time, and it kind of inspired that bit!)
ThatToffee: We felt we needed our own version of Smash Sisters in the TFGC, because there are so many women with interest in fighting games that simply fizzle out because they can never find their place in the community. Our goal is to help them feel welcome and encourage them to pursue their interest rather than fade away because of lack of female representation.
mushin_Z: What is your role in the group?
MamaDao: I am the original founder, but for an entire year, I was a one-person team. I did everything from basic graphic designer (everything except the logo), to marketer, and event planner. It wasn’t until recently that Sharpie and Jemmillion expressed interested towards helping on the East Coast projects where we actually became a team.
Jemmillion: I am one of the co-founders of Combo Queens along with Sheila (DaPurpleSharpie) and obviously Carolyn (MamaDao), the founder. We all equally work on various different aspects including, but not limited to: social media, planning events/sessions at tournaments, giveaways, promoting other women gamers, etc.
Nazare: I am a member, and COO of Syndicate eSports. My role is to help advertise announced Combo Queens events, give counsel to certain subjects, and network with those who attend/support the movement.
Romanova: My role is just that of a member. I am definitely very active in the NRS community, as well as now getting involved in the community forming with Dragon Ball FighterZ, so I give a perspective from a different end of the FGC. I dabble in the SF community as well, though just more of a casual player when it comes to it and a fan of watching matches. I think that helps give input to the group as a whole, and all the games we partake in — as well as helping recruit those interested in coming to meet-ups from this end as well.
ThatToffee: I’m simply an avid supporter, because I feel that this is what women joining the FGC need. If it weren’t for women like ChocoBlanka and Ricki Ortiz, I wouldn’t have decided to go competitive, and if it weren’t for women like JakyoManor — who I jokingly call my FGC mom — I wouldn’t have dared to venture outside my local FGC. These meet-ups are going to be where fledgling FGC women can find the people that make you feel welcome.
mushin_Z: Why does the FGC need a group like the Combo Queens?
MamaDao: Because events can be intimidating for everyone, but if you’re a girl, it’s downright uncomfortable. You can literally feel eyes on you when you walk into the venue — whether you’re being judged or ogled — and even if you’re just sitting in the crowd watching the main stage, chat will chew you apart with harassment. The discomfort alone might be enough to make a woman not want to associate with the FGC, so we’re trying to give newcomers an area to play in the safety in numbers, and to also maybe inspire those at home to come out for the very first time by showing them how fun majors can be. Who knows, maybe we might inspire the next biggest player to finally come out of her shell.
Jemmillion: The women of the FGC need a good support system, an organization to help women learn, grow, and get to know each other. It’s an opportunity to help women feel comfortable at tournaments, whether they are a player, commentator, spectator, or content creator.
Nazare: This is a way to inform and educate. This FGC needs to be informed on how women are important in tournaments, game development, streaming, and production. The more there is awareness, the more we can reach our goals of achieving unity in the scene.
Romanova: I truly believe it helps make the women involved feel more of a sense of sisterhood with each other, and gives those in it more visibility to all others in the scene for the talent that many of our community’s women have whether it’s playing, commentating, or writing, etc. I also think it helps break stereotypes that are given to all types of women gamers in our scene.
ThatToffee: Without meetups like Combo Queens, we might never actually get the representation that we need to pull more women in. Whenever people argue that women are worse at fighting games because there are so few female pro players, I argue that the amount of women we currently have pursuing the goal of becoming a top player is so minuscule in the comparison to the number of men. Eventually, a lot of them fizzle out because they don’t feel like its the place for them; having a community like Combo Queens can show them that women have a place in the FGC, despite what some idiots may say.
mushin_Z: What does the Combo Queens offer to women in competitive gaming?
MamaDao: In the beginning, we just provided a sisterhood and gave something women wanted to be part of, but lately I’ve been trying to promote them where I can to give them the exposure they deserve. I retweet their accomplishments, personal streams, and when they were playing in tournament. In the future I want to start producing merchandise to eventually send some players out to tournaments or purchase coaching sessions with professional players.
Jemmillion: Whether you’re a player, commentator, spectator, content creator, etc., we offer women the chance to get to know who the other women of the FGC are, to gain possible new opportunities, to showcase their talents, and the grow/expand in the community.
Nazare: I know there is some news to be announced soon, but in a nutshell: we are offering the women sessions to play with each other. Meet-ups to help newcomers feel welcome and shed light on how we can help them. Let’s not forget the podcasts and panels that we have to connect to our viewers to help answer questions — especially for the people that couldn’t make it to an event, but have interest in us.
Romanova: It offers equal playing fields. No Queen is treated as more important than another and it’s not an “exclusive” group. All of those who identify as women are welcome, and the ladies I’ve gotten to talk to and meet have always made me feel warm and welcome. I think it also shows us we are not alone — and we all are a very diverse bunch of ladies.
ThatToffee: It offers a space to explore your love of fighting games in an inclusive environment, and allows you to meet and connect with women just like you — who may be hard to meet otherwise.
mushin_Z: What sort of response has the Combo Queens seen from the FGC? Has there been support from male FGC members as well?
MamaDao: There has been overwhelming support from everyone! Last year was a really strong year for female empowerment (with the Women’s Marches and #MeToo movement), so we were able to see encouragement from men and women alike. I’ve even had some men come to me and tell me that the nieces, wives, girlfriends, etc. were all inspired by Combo Queens and started taking the game more seriously. We’ve also caught the eye from some organizations and businesses such as Red Bull, who has expressed great enthusiasm for future events.
Jemmillion: So far, Combo Queens has received primarily positive feedback from the FGC. Male FGC members have been very supportive from the start as well. In fact, some organizations/TOs have even given us merchandise to give out during our meet-ups here on the East Coast! I’ve been very happy with the support we’ve been receiving.
Nazare: We have seen a huge response from the FGC. More girls are excited to attend tournaments. People are reaching out in the inboxes on how to support us. The male FGC members are supporting us by liking our social media, and letting others know what events we have. For our meet-ups, they respect our space and cause… for the most part! [laughs]
Romanova: I feel reception of the name/group has mostly been positive. I think this is accomplished because it’s not just like a “HEY, GIRL GROUP!”… Combo Queens seems to be its own sub-community in the FGC. A lot of the members as well are also people respected in the community who I think the men in our community know mean business. There will always be naysayers who can’t accept any type of change or forward thinking when it comes to equality and being more inclusive, but for the most part I believe Combo Queens has been able to give more visibility to many of the women in the scene.
ThatToffee: From what I can see, there has been a ton of support all around for Combo Queens. I can only see the idea itself being offensive to the most nitpicky individual alive.
mushin_Z: How many members comprise the group currently?
MamaDao: We’re not really exclusive, so I think “movement” is a better term than group. I’ve had women asking if they could be a Combo Queen, but if you have the passion in your heart, you’re already a Combo Queen. <3
Jemmillion: Any woman can be a Combo Queen!
Nazare: I’m actually not sure about the number, but we have a great group and we are very welcoming of others.
Romanova: I think almost 200. I know that sounds like a lot, but we honestly have a lot of women in the FGC from all over, we just don’t get to see as much as others. I hope to see it keep growing, since it isn’t necessarily a commitment when you’re a part of it. Again, it’s a community, so if anything it’s a great way to share info with each other and have meet-ups at tournaments as well.
ThatToffee: Combo Queens is a very open community. Anyone is entitled to join and be a part of it.
mushin_Z: What games are the most popular in the group right now?
MamaDao: Right now I think it’s pretty even with Street Fighter, Tekken, and with the support of the “Sirens,” now NRS. We chose the name “Combo Queens” because I didn’t want to corner us into one game, and wanted to be inclusive to the FGC as a whole.
Jemmillion: Every woman is unique, and has their own game(s) that they enjoy playing. I’ve seen it range anywhere from Street Fighter V to Injustice 2 to Tekken 7 to Skullgirls. The nice thing about our diversity is that it gives other women to opportunity to learn about other games they might be on the fence about playing — which in turn, if they choose to play such game, will grow those communities even more.
Nazare: Mostly we’ve played SFV and Tekken 7, but we are seeing some new faces in DBFZ. We’ll keep you updated with all of that! Stay tuned!
Romanova: I feel like right now (and usually) Street Fighter is the most popular and most-played among the members. However, we have a variety of people also playing Dragon Ball FighterZ now that it’s out. It’ll be interesting to see if that starts to take over some of the hype that Street Fighter always seems to have.
ThatToffee: The game I can see being most popular is Street Fighter — but we support a variety of games from Tekken to Marvel.
mushin_Z: Are members more focused on competitive success, or having fun?
MamaDao: I’m sure everyone has the dream to making it big and becoming a professional player, but having fun is a great perk while doing it. We also have a good chunk of commentators, tournament organizers, and cosplayers who are Combo Queens.
Jemmillion: It depends on which woman you speak to. We have a little bit of everything in our community. Some women focus on competing, others go to play fighting games casually and socialize, and others work behind the scenes (whether commentating, working the event, or streaming, etc). We are a unique and diverse group of women!
Nazare: Honestly both. We help each other level up, but in a fun atmosphere.
Romanova: It honestly varies what members are most focused on. We have many women who are just about coming out to tournaments, playing casuals, and enjoying their time there. But we also have many who are competitors that train a lot! We are all so diverse in our interests so it’s beautiful to see us in one spot hanging out or contributing to this community. Many women are even very self-motivated in their own personal success. We have many who are journalists that write for different websites or their own blogs, and want to keep excelling at that while reporting on a scene that means the world to them.
ThatToffee: We support individuals who are here to compete and be the very best, and individuals who play to have a good time. At the meet-ups there is a focus on encouragement and inclusion, in addition to improvement.
mushin_Z: The group’s first big face-to-face gathering took place at Evo 2017; what was it like for everyone to meet up?
MamaDao: We talked a lot prior via social media, so it was a giant get-together where most of us met for the very first time in real life, or a reunion of friends who only see each other at majors. It really connected all of us for the very first time, and proved the passion that the women have for the scene.
Jemmillion: From what I saw and heard, the meet up was very successful and positive! We’re working on implementing some big and exciting ideas in 2018, so I’m looking forward on helping to make Evo 2018’s Combo Queens meet-up even bigger!
Nazare: It was amazing! Girls were so happy to connect. We exchanged stories and gave advice on how to get better with each game. Of course some girls were nervous, but that quickly changed after we’ve all shared personal interests.
Romanova: I was lucky to get to meet MamaDao in person, which absolutely made my time at Evo even better. It was beautiful, though, to see so many ladies hanging out together having fun. I look forward to every time there is a meet-up now because it’s just a fun time with women who have similar interests!
ThatToffee: (I wasn’t there. .-.)
mushin_Z: What do you want to see for the future of the Combo Queens?
MamaDao: I want to make Combo Queens bigger and better this year, with so many things already in the works to help us expand. We’ve been drafting merch ideas, and even want to have a booth up and running to have our own set-ups at majors.
Jemmillion: I hope to see Combo Queens expand in the future and attract more women into the scene. Each woman brings something unique and important to the FGC. Through Combo Queens, our meet ups, showcases via social media, and future partnerships with other organizations, I hope that we’re able to give more opportunities to the women of the FGC to grow and be successful.
Nazare: I would love to see Combo Queens holding tournaments and charities to help fellow women get further in the gaming world. We will definitely have a great impact in this scene and others — so look out! We are coming for you!
Romanova: I would like to see more meet-ups at tournaments, as well as us collaborating together to send some of our own out to tournaments they might not be able to afford on their own, so they can play more. I’d absolutely like to see this be something women coming into the scene — or looking in from the outside — get a peek at, and are encouraged to come in. We want you here, we want you to hang and play games with us. And if there are any women out there who ever want to ask questions about the community come talk to any of us, we got your back.
ThatToffee: I want to see Combo Queens meet-ups and ladies nights at every major and every city. Even if a chunk of the gaming community doesn’t think so, helping women foster their love of gaming is so important.
[From left to right: AnnimatedTay, Ohaifrancy, Pinkdiamond, EtherealJade, Jemmillion, NaughtynimbusZ, Sherry Jenix, LZA LITE, Queen Blaque, Tiffany Nazare, Pimpsc00by]
Tension Pulse, the online Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 exhibition series, is going strong. After resuming last week, we have more fighters on deck for this Thursday. Make sure to tune in for some exciting FT7 matches with skilled players and witty, insightful commentary. It’s a great event to watch for newcomers and veterans alike.
We’re seeing lots of new faces, with one returning participant. Dekline will once again show off his skills with Sin against… wait, Potemkin? Has ZotBuster been thrown to the wolves? Or will his iron will show that he can win the match-up despite a disadvantage? Before them, Maadhum and autodidact will warm up the stage with a showdown between the two Valentine sisters, Elphelt and Ramlethal. It’s bound to get explosive!
Dekline
On his growth since participating a year ago: “I think I’ve gotten a lot more match-up knowledge since the last time I played, though there are definitely still some characters I rarely play against (Answer, Jam, etc). I’ve also moved away from always going for character-specific or max damage combos in favor of more consistent confirms that still get the job done.”
On his opponent: “I don’t think I’ve ever met or played against ZotBuster, but he has solid placements, so I’m expecting some difficulty. Although the match-up is notoriously bad for Potemkin, I feel like it requires a lot of patience from the Sin player or it can fall apart very quickly.”
On his individual style: “I tend to be more of a reactive player. I usually try to feel my opponent out and then exploit their playstyle, as opposed to going in with a specific gameplan in mind.”
ZotBuster
On the match: “I’m excited to be part of it, there aren’t a lot of Potemkin players out there, so I’m happy to represent my character as well. I’m not usually one for netplay, but given how the US is distance-wise, it’s pretty tough to do exhibitions regularly any other way. I rely a lot on Instant Block, so I’m a bit worried about changing the timings for netplay.”
On his opponent: “I’ve heard of Dekline, but I’ve never gotten the chance to see him play. I fight Kizzie Kay a lot, but he definitely plays Sin in a really specific way, so I’m curious how Dekline will approach the match-up. It’s easily one of the worst in the game, probably around 7-3 in Sin’s favor? That being said, if I get in, he has to guess like everyone else. Nothing will be as bad as Kanji vs. Margaret in Persona, so at this point, I mostly just grit my teeth and try my best.”
On his individual style: “I’m not one for labbing, so I mostly just play on gut feelings. I kind of just try things that I feel will work, and if they do, I laugh about it, and if they don’t, I also laugh about it, just slightly less. A lot of the time I’ll try to find a gap in my opponent’s flow I can exploit since my character is strong at doing so.”
autodidact
On the match: “I’m excited to be a part of this exhibition! Thanks to Silva for inviting me on. I always enjoy an opportunity to take place in tournaments; but, I tend to get quite anxious when it’s time to play. Hopefully, this experience will help me, as I’m attending Texas Showdown and Combo Breaker in the upcoming weeks, and I’ll be able to draw from this when keeping calm. I hope my practice and improvement can be shown off Thursday!”
On his opponent: “I actually have not played or seen any footage of Maadhum, so his expertise and playstyle will be a mystery to me going in. This might help give him an edge; however, I am quite comfortable with the Ramlethal match-up as I have a couple friends in Texas that grind it with me. As long as I don’t overcommit and get caught being greedy, I think I have a great chance!”
On his individual style: “My playstyle from the moment I picked up Guilty Gear was crazy and aggressive; however, this has proven to be a fault of mine as I have strived to improve. Learning to reel myself in and play more calculated neutral and defense (as well as adapting to opponents’ tendencies) has been my focus these past few months. Still, sometimes I can be an absolute nut if I fall into autopilot… Elphelt as a character can definitely lend a hand in that.”
Maadhum
On the match: “I’m excited to be able to play in an exhibition, as I’ve never had an opportunity like this before. I’m definitely nervous, but this is a great opportunity for me to work on keeping my composure in a high-tension setting, something I’m usually pretty bad at.”
On his opponent: “I’m unfamiliar with autodidact, and we haven’t played at all, so it will definitely be an interesting match. I think Ram has a pretty good match-up against Elphelt. Ram has good answers to her grounded game and can also chase pretty well. I also feel like Elphelt’s anti-airs aren’t that great at dealing with Ram’s neutral game, which is great because Ram is a lot stronger in the air. Despite all that, Elphelt’s strong ability to consistently convert and deal damage and knockdowns off stray hits will be tough to deal with. I’m looking forward to it.”
On his individual style: “I think my style is pretty interesting as Ram. I like to focus on low commitment options, staying mobile, and building meter to make a big move. Even though Ram can run a very strong offense game in the corner, I always try to keep my options simple and safe. Because I hate being wrong.”
Help keep the Guilty Gear community going strong by supporting, sharing, and watching the stream on Silva_hime’s Twitch channel. Ryyudo and BxA|dot_Nova will play hosts on Thursday, commentating the action at 9:30 PM ET/8:30 PM CT/6:30 PM PT. In case you missed last week’s Tension Pulse, here’s a video:
Some more behind-the-scenes details on Noctis’ journey into the Tekken arena.
Following up on the prior interview video, Tekken’s Katsuhiro Harada and Square Enix’s Hajime Tabata are back to shed a little more light on how the feather-haired, Armiger-wielding Prince of Lucis from Final Fantasy XV became a selectable DLC fighter for Tekken 7. In this video, they discuss how development was delegated between the two companies — including how different parts of that crazy reveal trailer were prepared by Bandai Namco or Square Enix teams in a collaborative effort.
Noctis Lucis Caelum is available to sling swords and spells in Tekken 7 right now.
Crusaders of Light made a big splash when it debuted on mobile devices last year. Just last week, however, the mobile MMO made the jump to Steam. We chatted with Product Manager Stan Wang about the move and about CoL’s future.
In his series of video interviews with top and up-and-coming competitors, BornFree sat down with UYU|Cloud805. The conversation took place at NorCal Regionals 2018, and touches on the player’s past in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, and future with Dragon Ball FighterZ.
Cloud805 triumphed at the Battle for the Stones event, but that’s not his favorite moment in Marvel vs. Capcom — rather, it was beating FChamp at Evolution 2013 in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and making top 8. After some talk about his background in gaming, the conversation switches to DBFZ. Cloud805’s team is Kid Buu, Adult Gohan, and Goku Black because he feels his personality and style show in them. He has pretty strong feelings about Adult Gohan and Android 16, which he goes into about the 14:30 mark.
It’s been quite the long hiatus, but one of the best online exhibitions is back. Focusing exclusively on Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, Tension Pulse is coming back after about a five-month break. For those who are unfamiliar with it, it typically features four players paired up in sets of first-to-seven. Usually, one pair is rather less known, and the other features more famous players — though it’s not always a distinction. Famous or not, all the players display impressive skill at the venerated Arc System Works fighter. All this takes place on Steam’s servers, and features commentary duos for entertainment (and educational) purposes.
We’ve got fresh blood all around. We have a chance to see one of the best Baiken players in the United States, NitroNoodlez, face Strawberry’s Ky. That will be interesting to see, considering Baiken has received a healthy batch of upgrades in the 2.1 Guilty Gear patch. We will also see new I-no tricks from INOBOYZ against AverageJoe’s Johnny, who might not turn out so average. Let’s learn a little more about each participant and see what they have to say about their opponents.
NitroNoodlez
On the match: “I’m super excited and happy I was approached for this exhibition. There aren’t many Baiken players out there and not much footage of her as well, so I want to show what she can do as of the latest update. Most importantly, I want it to be a set where not only me and my opponent can learn and improve from, but also any Baiken and Ky players out there.”
On his opponent: “I know Stawberry is quite a good Ky player and overall solid, but we’ve never played each other before, so I don’t know exactly how my opponent plays. Ky is so open-ended as a character that every Ky plays pretty differently. As far as the match-up goes, Ky is certainly one of Baiken’s worst. It’s hard for her to get things started against him, and he can force situations and interactions on her that are very skewed in his favor. It got slightly better with the 2.1 update, but not by much. That said, I have been preparing with my local Ky players, zenzen and bafojig, as well as invading the Ky discord for matches so I can play against a variety of styles.”
On his individual style: “Compared to the other Baiken players such as LTL and Mystic, I play pretty lame and passive. I don’t mind even if every game ends in a time out, haha. I think it stems from my playing environment and the characters I play in other games, such as Nine in Blazblue, where I will play a slower-paced game until I get a knockdown or smell blood. That said, I’m a bit of a slow starter so I constantly try to research, analyze and study since I’m not the type of player who usually plays off feel, despite Baiken having a penchant for making reads.”
Strawberry
On the match: “I’m excited to finally be on Tension Pulse, I’ve watched the stream for a long time, and I feel like this a great opportunity for me to start my tournament training for Texas Showdown and Combo Breaker. I hope at least I can put on a good show for people watching, but I have to confess — I really want to win too!”
On his opponent: “Coincidentally, I just met NitroNoodlez on Twitter a couple weeks ago while I was looking for information on Baiken. Since then, a lot of people have spoken highly of his skill, so I’m a little scared but also a little excited to play him so soon. I don’t have much experience against Baiken at all, so I’m not quite sure how to interact with her using Ky, but I’m most worried about falling into patterns and making it easy for her to Guard Cancel my offense. I think I need to be especially careful setting up okizeme. Ky is a strong and solid character, so despite my unfamiliarity with this specific match-up, I think if I can stick to what I know and adapt it around Nitro’s gameplan, I should be okay.”
On his individual style: “I feel like my playstyle is still in an emergent state, but I’d say I tend towards trying to minimize risk by playing from a distance. I enjoy the mind games that are created when I can set a Grinder and threaten the opponent into making a bad move. Ky is a character that can do well at all ranges, so if I’m feeling aggressive, there’s always that option too. I’ve also been trying to emphasize “mental strength” recently; if I have even a pixel of life left I won’t give up! Ultimately I want to do what I need to in order to win!”
AverageJoe
On the match: “I’m very glad I have the opportunity to play in this exhibition. I don’t think I’m known outside of my circle of friends in the FGC, and this will help put me on the map and make a name for myself.”
On his opponent: “The only thing I know about INOBOYZ is that he thinks water is wack. Outside of jokes, I’ve only played him like six times at CEOtaku 2017. I do know that INOBOYZ travels for a lot for tournaments and also has a lot of Johnny experience from RIO, who is a Johnny player at his locals. I play the I-no match-up a bunch with my friends Spectryn, BeastChan23, and Havoc_Noah. So I feel very comfortable in the match-up. I think it will be a very exciting match, and hope to please everyone watching.”
On his individual style: “I like to play a very patient and calculated approach. I do have my fair share of crazy mashes and going ham, but every single time I do something in match, I do it with meaning and purpose.”
INOBOYZ
On the match: “Very excited, the exhibition will help me work on nerves and adjustment.”
On his opponent: “Though I’ve never seen my opponent in action before, I’m pretty familiar with the match-up, and I do feel like Johnny has a slight advantage on I-no, but it is doable.”
On his individual style: “My playstyle changes between patient and offensive. I wait and look for the best time to go in; mix-ups and knockdowns are a must.”
Don’t miss the reignition of Tension Pulse on its usual stream: Silva_hime’s Twitch channel. AverageJoe and INOBOYZ will kick off the action today at 9:30 PM ET/8:30 PM CT/6:30 PM PT. After that, we’ll see NitroNoodlez and his Baiken against Strawberry’s Ky. Hotashi and bafojig will commentate the sets.
NRG|HookGangGawd is rapidly becoming a household name in Dragon Ball FighterZ circles — while holding the top spot on the PSN online leaderboard, HookGangGawd is now far more than an online warrior. A regular second-place finisher to Echo Fox|Sonic Fox at NLBC, HookGangGawd is qualified for Summit of Power, and has rapidly gathered a strong following for his Dragon Ball FighterZ skills with his Piccolo-centered team.
