Just a quick addition: The NM videos are up, for the most part (missing P4A Grand Finals and TTT2 Grand Finals as of writing this).
Full tournament playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuAH5nIuYtTSGTW-hwJuEhckNEYB4Ungg
My personal playlist (for own matches): http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF57A31E8039C30E9
Enjoy!
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Four Weeks, Four Tournaments.
This is the most exhausting month I've had. Especially when I'm exhausted from doing a normally fun activity: fighting game tournaments. My "Four Week, Four Tournaments" endurance test is over. I am TIRED, and looking forward to a weekend for myself. I'm proud of most of my performances; I completely botched Skullgirls in New Mexico. It isn't a huge deal, but with my perfectionist mentality, I'm still beating myself up over it pretty hard. Despite disappointments, I feel as a tournament player I grew this past month.
Below is placing list of at tournaments that I attended. Quotations around ranking used for very few (4 or less) entrants:
Sept. 1 - Colorado Cutthroat Connection's CutthroatCon
Sept. 8 - Extra Fresh League Safe House's Tekken You for a Ride
Persona 4 Arena - 1st
King of Fighters XIII - 2nd
Sept. 15 - Nan Desu Kan's Video Game Room Tournaments
Persona 4 Arena - Single-Elimination;1st
BlazBlue - Single-Elimination; won 1
Sept. 22 - NM-ISM & DKO's Tekken Tag 2 Launch Tournament
Persona 4 Arena - 1st
King of Fighters XIII - 2nd
Skullgirls - "2nd"
Virtua Fighter 5 - "3rd"
4 Tournaments, 4 Weeks, 4 Persona 4 Arena wins. Maybe I'm enjoying the game more than everyone else. Maybe I just wanted to type the number "4" four times in a sentence!
This tournament was a lot more fun, a lot more exciting, and much cheaper than anything Colorado Cutthroat could put together. It was a very refreshing tournament to attend especially after the wallet raider CutthroatCon was. This is why I love EFL: They do it for the players, and not forwarding any sort of business or advertising agenda. I hope EFL returns to its former glory soon, and with a large-scale tournament November 17, it looks plausible that we can have just that.
Now that I have time to update this, I expect to get a regular schedule like Fiber!
Below is placing list of at tournaments that I attended. Quotations around ranking used for very few (4 or less) entrants:
Sept. 1 - Colorado Cutthroat Connection's CutthroatCon
Persona 4 Arena - 1st
Virtua Fighter 5 - 4th
King of Fighters XIII - "1st"
Skullgirls - "1st"
Persona 4 Arena - 1st
King of Fighters XIII - 2nd
Sept. 15 - Nan Desu Kan's Video Game Room Tournaments
Persona 4 Arena - Single-Elimination;1st
BlazBlue - Single-Elimination; won 1
Sept. 22 - NM-ISM & DKO's Tekken Tag 2 Launch Tournament
Persona 4 Arena - 1st
King of Fighters XIII - 2nd
Skullgirls - "2nd"
Virtua Fighter 5 - "3rd"
4 Tournaments, 4 Weeks, 4 Persona 4 Arena wins. Maybe I'm enjoying the game more than everyone else. Maybe I just wanted to type the number "4" four times in a sentence!
The world may never know!
Persona 4 Arena brings very few difficulties so far, competition wise:
At Tekken You For a Ride I had some issues against Dash's Labrys in Grand Finals. Which only amounted to one round lost when I fought from Winner's side in the Grand Finals, so there was little risk involved there.
I was in Winner's side during the Grand Finals in New Mexico. Zman came back from a 2 game deficit and reset the bracket against me, 3-2, with his Kanji. I was frustrated. I took off my shades and, in a UMvC Wesker X-Factor comeback, 3-0'd him in the final set. I think the pressure in my head from my, not intelligently done, hangover was getting to me. Shades were on.
Spent most of my day looking like Lord Knight.
I don't understand why I'm ranking so well in King of Fighters XIII. I have not practiced what-so-ever since Persona 4 Arena released to consoles, and very little time is spent playing friendlies with the KoF crew at gatherings. I'm using a mediocre team (Kyo, Kula, King; low damage, usually starting characters) and I seem to be able to get the KoF guys, minus Pedro, to play to my rhythm. They still practice twice a week. Maybe I'm succeeding better as a tournament player, learning to keep my cool in tournament situations. It's something to consider, but I have no complains.
Skullgirls occurred in New Mexico. Three people entered, and I got second. Not even because the guy who got first was good, but because I didn't give myself any time to switch from P4A to Skullgirls. I went straight into Skullgirls right after P4A grand finals. As a better tournament player, I needed to ask for maybe 5-10 minutes, either casuals or training mode, then played in the tournament. I feel so stupid. I got in on his Peacock innumerable times, and couldn't remember how to do my combos. It was only a three man tournament, yes, but I'm still beating myself up over such a simple thing to correct.
I just need to remember to take breaks and ask for things as necessary. Not just for me, but as a tournament player. I know what I need to do to succeed; I'm the one who knows what's best for myself. I need to use that more to my advantage. I didn't do it at Devastation, after playing 4 tournament matches in a row into Grand Finals. I just continued to plow through and my mentality faded quickly during the last push. I don't know if I necessarily had Devastation in the bag if I took my breaks as needed, but I'm sure it would allow me to think more clearly. I just need to use these opportunities and stop being so impatient. It is an extremely important lesson to learn as a mutli-game tournament competitor.
Virtua Fighter is still "lol" and I really don't have any answers or further knowledge in that game. I'm mostly playing like an idiot and hoping to land wild hits. I'm so motivated, but not, to learn the game. Considering Colorado's amazing efforts to bring to the game to life, and players interested in learning, everything the "OG" Virtua Fighter players asked for, it died off in a week.
That's just plain silly...
This is a short entry. I plan to make an extended entry on my trip to New Mexico once videos are posted. I am also interested in covering some of the anime convention trip, too. Both from the tournament/video game room to the fighting game panel itself. I will most likely not cover anything from Tekken You For a Ride tournament, so instead I will say what I want to say here:
Now that I have time to update this, I expect to get a regular schedule like Fiber!
Friday, September 7, 2012
A Different After-Tournament Mindset
One September tournament done, three more to go.
Another tournament this weekend
The week after is a sort-of tournament at the anime convention
A trip to New Mexico the weekend after where Colorado takes their money again.
And as a bonus, there's a gathering at the end of the month. Oh boy!
My weekends are as busy as the McCallisters in Home Alone. Only focused on traveling while slightly important things may be left behind.
Another tournament this weekend
The week after is a sort-of tournament at the anime convention
A trip to New Mexico the weekend after where Colorado takes their money again.
And as a bonus, there's a gathering at the end of the month. Oh boy!
My weekends are as busy as the McCallisters in Home Alone. Only focused on traveling while slightly important things may be left behind.
Stop forgetting your kid in comical situations!
I'm making sure to keep up on my important things though: School, studying, and homework.
To quickly recap this past weekend:
Persona 4 Arena - 1st
Virtua Fighter 5 - 4th
King of Fighters XIII - "1st"
Skullgirls - "1st"
In this post, I will explain my thoughts in each match. Not only to get into my own mind, but to give my honest thoughts back to you...the people!
When you finish reading this blog post, you have my permission to cry.
Persona 4 Arena
Casual matches begin at 53:00; Tournament begins at 1:31:50
Vs Jedi Mind Trick 1:06:50 (Casuals)
Vs Mini Matt 1:31:50
Vs Femoral 1:53:50
Vs NarNar 2:31:30 (Winner's Finals)
Vs NarNar 2:51:30 (Grand Finals)
Vs Mini Matt 3:20:50 (Casuals)
Vs Jedi Mind Trick 1:06:50 (Casuals)
Vs Mini Matt 1:31:50
Vs Femoral 1:53:50
Vs NarNar 2:31:30 (Winner's Finals)
Vs NarNar 2:51:30 (Grand Finals)
Vs Mini Matt 3:20:50 (Casuals)
In the games I competed in, this was the second largest at eight people. If I went on the streets and coerced random people to join, I would get more than this self-proclaimed "major" got. This is one of many reasons why I don't hold Colorado Cutthroat in even moderate positive regard. Furthermore more, the match recording they did was low quality and the sound is always off-sync.
But I digress.
The tournament began Friday evening. Like any good tournament attendee, I began watching games to see what characters I could expect to face, and the level of play.
I did not feel threatened by anyone or thing I watched. Even Jedi Mind Trick, the one person there who I thought could me trouble, did not level up enough for me to feel threatened. I was disappointed. Still, practice is practice and no one gets off easy because of my high confidence and ego.
I played some matches before the tournament began. I needed this so I could get used to the offline timing. It felt great to be offline; to visually time my attacks and combos instead of guessing the timing based on the amount of lag.
Vs Jedi Mind Trick (Casuals) 1:06:50
All my warm-up matches were against JMT. It was a nice warm-up, and I got to see his new Yu stuff. It wasn't much more than what my other Yu-playing friends already did. I played around with Chie's R.Action Counter on wake up. I wanted to test the various outcomes of using it and what his responses were to a successful counter.
His mix-ups became repetitive while I caught him with a lot of the same stuff. From the other side of the double-screen set up I could hear things about "Fucking online tactics".
Lol.
Vs Mini Matt 1:31:50
This match was overwhelming for Mini Matt. Lack of decent Chie experience, I assume. I did get lazy at one point where he caught me with a mid-screen Fatal Counter combo that did half my life. I didn't know Kanji had that sort of technology! It was impressive to watch, and good to know it exists for future matches.
I told myself "I'm not going to get hit by that again", and I didn't. It's interesting what a self-issued command can do for you, mentally.
Vs Femoral 1:53:50
My Naoto experience is limited. Furthermore, my Naoto experience is the opponent doing a block string into a sweep into the double kicks special move. So when Femoral began jumping away and zoning, I ate a lot of the traps in the first half of the first round. I didn't know how to respond right away. I needed to learn how to fight that tactic as quickly as possible. Fortunately, I was able to catch up to Femoral and keep him locked down. I didn't want him to escape like I did in the first round. It's a pain in the ass to chase!
When my Fate Counter reached zero, I told myself "I will not get insta-killed". I kicked up my rush down against Femoral while avoiding getting grabbed, as it leads into an easy set-up for the insta-kill.
Vs NarNar (Winner's Finals) 2:31:30
NarNar LOVES his gimmick grabs. He grabbed me with a variety of set-ups I have never seen before. I already have enough trouble with the Kanji match up as is! It wasn't difficult to adapt to, though. When NarNar tried to land certain gimmicks a second time, I dodged and punished them.
NarNar's combos were strong. Namely, the one he finished me with at the end of the second round. I did NOT know it was possible to continue a combo with a One More Cancel into command grab. Learning all sorts of things about Kanji in this tournament!
Vs NarNar (Grand Finals) 2:51:30
If I've kept track correctly, I lose my first match in this set. I, mentally, slapped myself in the face and said "I know I'm better than him", "stop being scared of his shit", and "I know everything he can do already!". With that inspiring talk, I take the next rounds convincingly to win the tournament.
The most interesting part was around 2:55:45 where I KNEW that my mentality was stronger than his. I abused it, along with my life lead, by jumping three times in a row.
I knew he would continue to try and guess in a 50:50 situation with his grabs instead of giving himself better positioning and lock-down with other moves.
I knew that he would stop guessing I would jump on either the third or fourth repetition. More fortunate for me, it was the third.
Lastly, I knew that whenever the jump went through, my counter hit combo would be extremely worth itand would do a lot of damage....
...Well...two for three ain't bad, haha!
While I did win the tournament, I know there's a number of people in Colorado who can beat me convincingly. Hopefully, they will show up to some of the next tournaments.
Virtua Fighter 5
Tournament begins at 3:34:45
Vs Charbon 3:58:45
Vs Jedi Mind Trick 4:14:20
Vs Sowen 4:39:00
Vs Nar Nar 4:59:55
I wasn't going to enter VF5 because I hadn't touched it in a month. Later, they decided to make it free entry and run it on Saturday instead of Friday. This got 10 people to enter, even a few were entering for the hell of it. Might as well see how far I can bring myself!
I felt I was going to get 0-2'd when I entered because C3T has a grip on 3D fighting game players. Namely, Soul Caliber players. With Virtua Fighter 5 being my first real 3D fighting game experience, I felt worlds behind.
While I would LOVE to give more insight into my play for this game, like I did with similiar to P4A, it's impossible. My tactics were nearly non-existent and mostly guesswork due to a lack of match-up experience. I really only have experience against Wolf, Lion, and Taka somewhat. My match-up knowledge is severely lacking in this game...
Vs Charbon
I just watched this girl get 2nd in Soul Caliber, and now I have to face her in the first match. "Well great, I'll win this when bears fly", I think to myself. I figured, with how surprised some people were acting about me being a "good" Eileen player, they have not seen any Eileen players. My only chance to win this, and any other, match is by the element of surprise. With some luck and no real tactics, as I've only played against a single Aoi player, I'm able to pull out a win. Even with some awesome clutch play.
OH COME ON! I CAN SEE THE FUCKING PHOTOSHOP! HE'S NOT EVEN AIRBORNE!
Vs Jedi Mind Trick
I had no answers. I've seldom played against Goh and remembered he was in the game when I played against JMT. I tried to out random him, but he knew the game to well to allow that to happen, and he took the victory very convincingly.
Vs Sowen
She was playing VF5 casual matches for a long period of time on Friday AND Saturday. "Well great, I'll win this when Pringles flies."
No. Really. This shit's gotta stop.
I've never SEEN Jeffery fight in this game aside from her Friday and Saturday friendlies. I did not know what to expect from Jeffery, nor did I have time to learn. I took my best guesses, hoping my experience as a 2D fighter would overwhelm her 3D senses. She seemed to have some issues with the Quick Recovery mechanic, but I had no advice to respond with as I barely understand the game myself. I take it somewhat cleanly.
Vs NarNar
We're back full circle again, facing NarNar. It's loser's semi-finals and I'm facing a Shun player. It's like the Jeffery situation, where I've never seen Shun played except once or twice. Furthermore, Shun seems 50 times more confusing to fight than Jeffery. The video shows it: I ate a LOT of the same stuff over and over. I was unable to adapt, or even show respect, to his moves. "Well great, I'll win this when pigs fly" I think to myself in the final match.
Stay on the ground you fucking adorable pig at tea time!
King of Fighters XIII
"1st" in this game is a weird way of putting it.
The tournament needed to get rid of their low-quality trophy labeled for KoF. Because Jedi Mind Trick and I were the only two people who signed up that were there on Saturday night, they wanted us to play a first to three to decide who got the trophy.
Fair enough!
Vs Jedi Mind Trick
My mindset was simple going into this set. I knew there was no way he was ready to play, at least any more than I was. I wanted to overwhelm him with Kyo and Kula before he could get his bearings back. Also, I was not ready with a third character. I wanted to avoid fighting with King, my third character, as much as possible.
This tactic worked great! Kyo was doing work! As he got his bearings, he pushed further into my characters each round. Finally, he reached my King in the third match, the situation I wanted to avoid.
I believed I was screwed. I was not feeling comfortable with King at all, even while I was playing friendlies the day before. I resorted to poking and fireball zoning to do damage before he could remember the do's and don'ts against King. I tried to start combos, but I failed at nearly all attempts. Fortunately, he made enough bad plays for his life to deplete until it ended on a bad jump in.
I take it against JMT, 3-0.
Skullgirls
I was the only entrant. I win! I'm the best!
---
In retrospect, I was expecting too much considering it was a C3T event. I was disappointed in the lack of competition that showed and the lack of chance to really try to force myself through multiple games.
On the bright side, I met a new face and got him connected to the EFL. :) New players are always hype!
Well...the lack of competition last weekend gives me something to look forward to at this weekend's tournament. Let's see how this one goes!
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