It’s hard to believe, but after many weeks of excellent FT7s, we are approaching the final Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- Super Steam Xrd Exhibition League match! As enjoyable as those sets have been, with the added opportunity of learning more about the players who participated, “it’s not over yet!” as the Guilty Gear announced would say. This weekend, a truly stacked set of Daredevils approaches the ring.
We have Fable|Kizzie Kay against Nakkiel, as well as SLP|DavidCue facing TS|NerdJosh. If you haven’t heard of those names before, not to worry–let’s learn a little more about each one and see how they feel about their competition.
Let’s get a better grasp at who’s who, and how they feel about the upcoming battles.
Fable|Kizzie Kay
On the match: “I would like to say thank you very much for the invite to SSXrdEL. I am very happy to have the chance to fight a player that I look up to in the scene.”
On his opponent: “He is a really strong player, very solid, and has a very good gameplan despite some people not understanding what he is doing. One of the things that I have to be very aware of is that when he has momentum, he is actually one of the hardest players that I have ever fought in Guilty Gear because you just don’t know what is going to happen next. It makes you feel like the next decision you make might be your last. Despite this matchup being in Sin’s favor, the player skill is so high that I feel like this matchup is even vs Nakkiel.”
On his own playstyle: “My style is very wall/read-based. One of the things I know I have as a player is once I get a complete understanding of what the opponent likes to do, I will start abusing the weaknesses of the opponent’s character. As that process happens mid-match, I will then begin to attack player habits. This will suffocate the opponent and make them feel like they have no options. With this, I am able to use non-advantageous situations to my advantage.
Nakkiel
On the match: “I’m happy to be involved with SSXrdEL! Kizzie Kay and I play each other often, so I hope we can put on a good show for the viewers and bring the REV 1 league to an exciting close.”
On his opponent: “I have a lot of respect for Kizzie Kay. A few years ago, I was feeling pretty demotivated about fighting games; I had met Kizzie Kay when he was still just getting into Guilty Gear and BlazBlue competitively (or rather, traveling out to events) and his eagerness to improve and attitude toward learning really refreshed my love for the games. It’s been a treat to watch him improve and see the difference in his skill each time we play.
“To me, Kizzie Kay has definitely proven he’s the best Sin in the States and one of the best players around. I’m expecting the match will be a difficult test of us as players, I’m looking forward to it!”
On his own playstyle: “I think my style as a player is pretty adaptive, as I’ve competed as a few different archetypes of characters. One of my strongest traits is taking any advantage I have and turning it into a victory. I work to make sure my opponent feels pressured and uneasy at all times possible. I’ve been consistent with this across zoners, rushdown and even mid-range styled characters.
“Our playstyles clash well together along with our character selection in Guilty Gear, look forward to it and good luck to Kizzie Kay!”
SJP|DavidCue
On the match: “I’m honored to have been picked to play. I hope we put on a good show.”
On his opponent: “Josh is one of my closest friends in the FGC. It’s crazy that we somehow always get matched up to play, but we typically have hype matches, so hopefully this one will be too. He’s a great dude and one of the best overall gamers I know.”
On his own playstyle: “My style is pretty unorthodox. I rely on my ability to beat you in the neutral rather than on big combos that lead into knockdowns.”
TS|NerdJosh
On the match: “Should be a fun way to end REV 1 netplay before the great journey ahead, known as REV 2 netplay.”
On his opponent: “I think he’s one of the most prehistoric savages in anime games, what kind of monster thrives off so many standing Dusts and airgrabs?”
On his own playstyle: “I think I play a very red-light, green-light style of no respect to full respect turtle, so it can be hard to call me out at times. Love frustrating an opponent into attacking me so I can counter punish. I think David vs. I will be full on haymakers. Lots of scrambles; there will be no honor in these killing fields.”
Wow, that’s quite the stacked Exhibition League match, isn’t it? These top players will surely send off -REVELATOR- in a memorable way! Clear your schedule and definitely mark your calendar now for this Sunday (May 21) on Silva_hime’s Twitch channel, starting at 9:00 PM EST/7:00 PM CST/6:00 PM PDT. HellaBrett and Ryyudo will grace the microphone stations.
In last week’s online Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- set, Mr. K’s witty Leo engaged with NC Jin’s Dizzy. We also had Killey’s Johnny test himself against braindead2000’s Venom. If you haven’t seen it live, take a look below!
Sources: interviews; Mdesilva
