Du Done Did: Shoryuken Interviews NuckleDu After His Canada Cup 2016 Victory

Canada Cup 2016 has come and gone, and with it we found the very first North American player to win a Capcom Pro Tour Premier event in Team Liquid’s Du “NuckleDu” Dang. The American player has been rising the ranks recently, and rode his R. Mika to victory against Qanba Douyu’s Zhuojun “Xiaohai” Zeng, who was en route to his third Premier title–prior to his loss.

After all the dust settled, and everyone made their way to the after party at Raiders Esports Bar in Toronto, I caught up with NuckleDu to have a brief chat about his feelings after the event.

Missing Person: First of all, congratulations. This has to be your biggest win to date.

NuckleDu: Yes, it most definitely is.

Missing Person: Take us back on the match with Xiaohai. First off, in Winners Finals, why did you choose Guile to start?

NuckleDu: I had been practicing Guile for the match-up the entire time. I was not prepared to go R. Mika against Xiaohai, but it was obvious that he was ready for the Guile match-up.

Missing Person: Do you think beating him with Mika in the 5-on-5 tournament allowed you an opportunity to get into his head prior to Winners and Grand Finals?

NuckleDu: It definitely gave me an understanding on how to approach him, but I don’t think that single game was able to give me enough advantage to think, “Oh, I’m definitely picking Mika.”

Du "NuckleDu" Dang (right) prepares to square off against Zhuojun "Xiaohai" Zeng at Canada Cup on October 31, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo courtesy Corey Lanier)
Du “NuckleDu” Dang (right) prepares to square off against Zhuojun “Xiaohai” Zeng at Canada Cup on October 31, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Corey Lanier)

Missing Person: This month has given you some strong showings with SoCal Regionals, and now a win at Canada Cup. How do you feel going into Capcom Cup as an automatic qualifier?

NuckleDu: My first priority right now is winning the Red Bull regional finals, but winning Canada Cup definitely helped build my confidence up. I’m not normally a confident person, so this helped me a lot.

Missing Person: On that note, do you feel like that confidence helped carry you to this win, as opposed to other tournaments where you were just playing to get high finishes?

NuckleDu: The confidence factor was definitely a big asset in this win.

Missing Person: And do you feel like that confidence will help you in the long run, and help you shake off some nerves in the high profile matches?

NuckleDu: I think the confidence from this will be heavily beneficial. It’s easy for me to be confident in regionals, but usually I’m confident in one tournament and then the next I struggle, but I think this will help me to stay focused on my goals.

Missing Person: Going into Capcom Cup, is there anyone you’re looking forward to playing, and anyone that you’re scared of playing?

NuckleDu: I’m looking forward to playing Infiltration, but I’m not really afraid of him.

Missing Person: Any shout-outs that you’d like to give?

NuckleDu: Shout-outs to everyone that’s supported me this far, and big thanks to Team Liquid for bringing me here.


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