Kim1234 just jumped in on Arman “Phenom” Hanjani last week, and the interview couldn’t be any better. As always, Kim1234 brings the hard questions, and BX3.TP-Link|Phenom follows through with solid answers. In the interview, they discuss Phenom’s switch to Necalli from Bison, as well as his opinions on the changes in the input lag in Street Fighter V. They also discuss the Capcom Pro Tour’s qualification system, which many have agreed to be difficult to comprehend this year.
They also talk about how Phenom got his name, which may come from a source you wouldn’t necessarily expect. For more, please watch the video.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and do not reflect Shoryuken as a whole.
Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi. When I think of him, I think of the epitome of a fighting game player. This guy has played it all, and has done well at it all to boot. It would take me forever to list off every game that he has played and done well at, and Street Fighter V is no exception.
He is one of only a handful of players who has seen his name at the top rank of a Capcom Pro Tour Premier event, having won Southeast Asia Major and Community Effort Orlando. He has had one of his best years to date, but will that be enough to allow him to win Capcom Cup?
The Utility Player
One of the most impressive things about Tokido is his ability to play multiple games well. He had a brilliant mind for being able to switch games at the drop of a hat, and making top 8s in multiple games at multiple Evolutions. However, the result of doing so was that he was always viewed as the FGC’s equivalent to a utility role in baseball. He was great at everything, but excelled at nothing.
Only once, in 2007, has he made multiple top 8s at Evolution and won a title, taking the prize in Super Street Fighter II Turbo while making top 8 in Capcom vs. SNK 2, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Virtua Fighter 5, and Guilty Gear XX Λ Core. This is an impressive feat–no doubt–but when you struggle to close out events due to stretching yourself too thin over the course of a weekend, when the goal is to win tournaments, most people are going to overlook the otherworldly level of skill it takes to make multiple top 8s and ask, “Well, what have you actually won?”
This year, we have seen Tokido settle himself down as far as what is he is entering is concerned. We saw him focus on Street Fighter V alone. The results have been that he made more top 8s, and won 50% as many majors this year as he has in the prior three years combined. Further, he captained Team Topanga to a win in Street Fighter V Crash. This is most definitely Tokido’s banner year, and one can only assume he has his eyes fixed on Capcom Cup to crown it.
Art of Ryu
In Street Fighter V, Ryu is often played in a very scientific way, slow and straightforward. Tokido would love to show everyone that this is not the way to play him, and I believe he has over the course of the year. Whereas players like Daigo Umehara or XSK_Samurai tend to play Ryu more robotically and in a cookie-cutter manner of merely relying on their fundamentals, Tokido has turned Ryu into an art form. You’re more likely to see him in Oddshots and Twitch clips than any other Ryu, thanks to his artistic exchanges and crazy baits–and it’s tough not to love him for it.
If you were to play Tokido with nothing more than Ryu match-up knowledge, it would take him just a few sets to deconstruct every notion that you had, and send you back to the drawing board. That is how different his Ryu is. To top all of that off, he has some of the best execution in the world, and is one of few Ryus to be able to confirm standing short into Critical Art at will. The number of tools he has in his arsenal is amazing, and makes him a legitimate threat anywhere.
The Fear of the Unknown
If I was put one thing down as his biggest flaw, it is losing to something he is clueless about. One of the specific moments showcases this failing came at Never Give Up, in the final game against Jiewa. Near the end, Tokido used a V-Trigger cancel to bait out Jiewa’s V-Reversal, then parried the V-Reversal. He then tried to Shoryuken the V-Reversal. What Tokido didn’t plan for was the fact that Ken’s V-Reversal counts as airborne, thus causing the Shoryuken to reset Ken instead of do full damage. The result of that caused Jiewa to win. When the cameras panned to the players, Tokido looked visibly shocked that the air reset happened, which leads me to believe that for all the work Tokido puts in, there is still so much that he doesn’t know about the game–and when he is playing mostly by instinct, that can lead to his doom.
Preparedness
Tokido is always prepared to cruise through the bracket. However, there is one thing I’d like to point out from seeing and talking to him; he prepares more for situations than he does the long haul. Tokido tends to focus his preparation for beating specific players than general high-level match-up situations. When it works out for him, the results are great. He spent his time preparing for Infiltration by playing against Yukadon, and went on to beat him at CEO. He stated at Southeast Asia Major that his goal was to beat Momochi, and did just that on his way to a tournament victory.
This is just taking into account grand finals, of course. He does tend to cruise by in top 8 for the most part fairly well. At no point when he has made top 8 in Street Fighter V has he finished outside of the top 4.
Outside of Infiltration, though, look at those who have defeated him on his way to those lower finishes. NuckleDu. Jiewa. Xiaohai. Fuudo (whom Tokido had dispatched of in SFV Crash). Eita. Yukadon. Mago. Momochi. These are all strong players. However, given Tokido’s consistency in numbers compared to theirs, they simply should not be beating him on a regular basis. Yet, they are. Why? Partly because he overlooks what he views as smaller fish to go hunting for sharks. But there’s more to it than just this, or else it would merely be a matter of more effort on Tokido’s part to overcome this.
All Eyes on the Murderface
With Tokido’s consistent records over this season comes the attention of everyone looking to make their mark on the world of Street Fighter. If he’s not going to prepare for them, they’ll prepare for him. The lack of attention he gives to some players while they’re studying his tapes is deadly.
Tokido doesn’t give away much with his fluid play style, but the top players are obviously finding something to abuse, because they are beating him. Further, sometimes Tokido has unwittingly given away things without knowing it. For example, he trained against Yukadon to defeat Infiltration. While Tokido–in the short term–benefited from doing so to win CEO, Yukadon has certainly benefited equally–if not more–than Tokido by being able to send him to Losers Bracket on his way to top 8 at Evolution. While Tokido was allowed to prepare for Infiltration, Yukadon was far more prepared to dispatch Tokido because he simply knew how he would approach the match–and he knew that Tokido’s focus wasn’t totally on him.
While that sort of direct download doesn’t happen often, it does factor in to his ability to win Capcom Cup, since many of those players will be there to face him. He will have to contend with at least a few players from Japan, including those from the Topanga house that he trains at. This could stunt his progress in the bracket.
Is His Training Method Right?
He has most notably said to Yahoo! Esports that his new training method–which sees him playing less and studying videos more–is correct. He claims this off a first place finish at SEAM and now a second place finish at the North American Regional Finals. That is quite the small sample size to confirm his theories, albeit good results to show for his new training regimen.
Right after he won SEAM, he took an abbreviated break. This is not the Infiltration-style break, and he has certainly continued his business as usual training regimen. But what will truly prove that he has chosen the right path is his results at Capcom Cup.
Smaller Pool
One thing that does benefit Tokido is the fact that very soon, he will know every name that will be at the tournament. Unlike larger pools—where he won’t know who will make top 32 or above—he knows this time exactly who he will face. He will have some time to research each player. While he will likely focus on players he’s found himself to struggle against, he will at least have some grasp of each player before he reaches Anaheim. His careful scrutiny of players he wants to beat may actually guide him to victory.
Final Thoughts
The biggest X-factor with Tokido is how he spends this last month before Capcom Cup. If he goes deep into research, and doesn’t overlook anyone, he has to be the odds on favorite.
With that, I would easily bet that Tokido makes grand finals. How he does from there will depend on who ends up on the other side, and how much time he has spent preparing for them.
Previously covering how to optimize kunai usage as Ibuki, FGC Academy is back with another video dedicated to the young ninja. This time, they focus on pressuring as Ibuki, listing guaranteed pressure setups which can exploit your opponent mashing buttons to interrupt your attack.
FGC Academy shows different ways to pressure from different ranges, using moves like Ibuki’s far heavy kick to catch the recovery on an opponent’s move, or to cause a Crush Counter if they are throwing out buttons. Finally, they show off how to deal with people who are a little bit too patient, by racking up white life to build V-Trigger and force the opponent to hit buttons to wipe off that potential damage. These white life pressure strings are becoming a popular tactic in Japan, according to FGC Academy, so utilizing this specific pressure tool now may give you the leg up for when other top players start following suit.
Previously covering how to optimize kunai usage as Ibuki, FGC Academy is back with another video dedicated to the young ninja. This time, they focus on pressuring as Ibuki, listing guaranteed pressure setups which can exploit your opponent mashing buttons to interrupt your attack.
FGC Academy shows different ways to pressure from different ranges, using moves like Ibuki’s far heavy kick to catch the recovery on an opponent’s move, or to cause a Crush Counter if they are throwing out buttons. Finally, they show off how to deal with people who are a little bit too patient, by racking up white life to build V-Trigger and force the opponent to hit buttons to wipe off that potential damage. These white life pressure strings are becoming a popular tactic in Japan, according to FGC Academy, so utilizing this specific pressure tool now may give you the leg up for when other top players start following suit.
