I was getting burned out on fighting games for a bit. KOFXIII had already started to get a bit old even though I hadn't even entered a tournament yet, and Guilty Gear had turned into a rhythm game as far as I was concerned. I couldn't bring myself to want to play anything with two life bars. Sad times, I know.
So, I did what any sensible person would do and built a PC. Now, I was able to play Counter-Strike day and night like I did back when I was in middle school. Except now I had decent internet, a computer that could run it above 800x600, and a mouse that didn't suck. I got accused of hacking (more than once, lol), I defused some fucking bombs, but most importantly, I had fun. All was well.
Then one day, around the time I made my last post, I got a text from a guy I knew from a friend in high school asking if I wanted to play KOFXIII with him and a friend in Cupertino. Well, what better things was I going to do? Not fully knowing what to expect, I went along.
Little did I know, I was soon going to be a member of a fledgling South Bay fighting game community. One that wasn't tainted with false egos, bad attitudes or people that generally rub you the wrong way. Where people can be brutally honest all the time and it can be appreciated- met with laughter, even.
Recently, we've come up with a name for ourselves: The South Bay Cult.
It's just some guys in some guy's living room, but that's exactly what it needs to be. On the big screen, people get mad at Marvel 3 (and sometimes Marvel 2). At the kitchen table, KOFXIII and NGBC are holding it down. And last, but not least, the corner of the room has a four player SSBM setup, where "lag" means recovery.
The guy that hosts it is just the kind of guy that would host something like this; laid back but entertaining. Make no mistake though: even though it's a relaxed environment, everyone here is looking to improve and expand their horizons. Marvel/Smash players are now picking up KOF (thanks in no small part to yours truly), and I'm even thinking of putting more than ten minutes into Marvel 3 one of these days. Maybe.
If our idea for a stream takes off, I'll be sure to link it on the sidebar. You won't be disappointed, trust me.
This is all fine and dandy, but we're just getting started. The meat of this post has to do with my experience at two tournaments that were only a week apart from each other: Super Norcal Install and Norcal Regionals.
This is the part where I remember why I love fighting games and regain my motivation.
For me, SNCI was a test. I had to get as many wins as I possibly could in Guilty Gear against the best player in the room. Little did I know, the one and only Mike Z was there to promote his Suicide Girls fighting game. He seemed far more interested in playing GG, however; especially so once he started playing me.
Playing Mike Z showed me a few things. First and foremost, that American Potemkins are nothing to be afraid of, which I had already started to suspect awhile ago. None of them know the Johnny matchup (how it's supposed to be played, at least), and many of them take huge risks that they think are safe as a result. Secondly, that even the best American players lack defense in unfamiliar situations. Lastly, that you should never, ever, assume your opponent will respect you unless you have good reason to. Half of the reason I gave away as many rounds as I did was because I assumed he'd be afraid to press buttons after blocking a coin. Hah! In any case, I've learned my lesson, and I'll be ready the next time I play him.
In one of our later matches, I was able to get a reaction out of an otherwise stoic Mike Z. I had hit him with a counter hit 5K and I had full meter, so I just kept doing 5K 5HS MSDJ on him. Then, at the end, I did a Low Level 2 into TK Enkasu for corner knockdown. As soon as this happened:
Mike Z: "Was that intentional?"
Me: "Uh, yeah."
Mike Z: "That was cool as hell!"
Here I am, some fucking nobody that never leaves his house, being complimented on his Guilty Gear play by internet fanboy fap fodder Mike Z. Worse yet, for the easy part of an otherwise "match impractical" combo. What is this world coming to?
Once we sat down for dinner on Sunday night, we were able to talk for a bit. He's a cool guy; very passionate about his work yet unassuming. I had hoped for and expected as much.
Still, we weren't quite done with our hilarious exchanges just yet. Once I told him who I was on Dustloop:
Mike Z: "You're qwerty?"
Me: "Yeah."
Mike Z: "Oh God."
Me: *laughs* "What, have I made you mad before?"
Mike Z: "No, it's just that you post like an idiot on purpose."
At that point, I lost it.
There were other strong players at SNCI, but doing as well against Mike Z as I did was a rite of passage, especially considering how ridiculously hard I used to struggle in that matchup. I hope I get to play him again soon. Maybe at Frosty Faustings?
I arrived at NCR around 3PM on Saturday, not being registered for anything, just wanting to get some casuals in. I knew there would be VF5:FS there in some form, but I didn't expect five (!) setups open for casuals.
I went right in to FS having spotty memory as to how the system's changed from Ver. C. I remembered my good friend from NYC told me FS was essentially VF4's offense with VF5's defense, so I just pretended I was playing VF4 at first. And hey, it worked! I did a lot better than I thought I would, and ended up winning my first match against Dennis, who, make no mistake about it, is damn good at the game.
And I thought I was going to do bad.
It may have helped that my main, Jacky, isn't much different than how he was in Ver. C, and is in fact a bit stronger (people are saying he's high tier, which he already kind of was before). Regardless, that wasn't the only win I manged to get- far from it, in fact. The same people that were destroying me the last time I played them (which was literally four years ago, yikes) were now losing to my absolutely ruthless offense. However, the matches I lost were lost for one reason, and it's a fundamental weakness I have in every fighting game right now: defense.
Everyone that plays against me in VF tells me the same thing: "You fuzzy too much". Well, yeah, I don't wanna get thrown, dummy. I also don't want to eat a mid. So, why wouldn't I fuzzy?
Well, because if they choose to not do either of those things, you're kind of giving them a free opportunity to position themselves and at the very least put you back on the defensive. At most, they'll hit you with one of those stupid 16 frame throws that does 100 damage. Luckily, I only got hit by Wolftemkin Buster once or twice, but still.
Overall, I'm loving FS. Throws are still strong, just not in the stupid way they were in Ver. C. Low throws are way more threatening now, too. I was getting especially wrecked by Taka, who is genuinely infuriating to fight against because no canned strings score knockdown on him. I'm sure I'll get used to it once I have my hands on the game, but, you know, obligatory new game bitching.
As if I haven't already written enough, I still have to talk about KOF. I finally met and hung out with Laban, who is seriously one of the coolest people on the planet. We played some KOF98 on his absolutely shit-tastic laptop, in which he extensively bullied me with alt guard and O. Chris.
When we played KOFXIII, however, it was a different story. As he put it, I was making better decisions. I told him it was because KOFXIII is easy. And, honestly, it is. You don't have to have anywhere near the kind of knowledge to play footsies in XIII as you do in 98, simply because the hitboxes don't extend you as far (at least, that's what I suspect). Nothing against XIII, because both myself and Laban agree that it's a great game, but it really isn't as close to older KOF titles as many people seem to think it is.
During Top 8, I invited the Team Chaos guys to come downstairs and play casuals with us once the tournament was over. They came down at some point, but they didn't play as far as I know. Shame, because I would've loved to play against them all. Maybe they were tired and really wanted to go home. Maybe they didn't want to waste their time on scrubs. I'm glad they came; I just wish I had a chance to play against them. Oh well.
As for the immediate future, I'm afraid all I can say is that I will probably be attending Frosty Faustings (or, as I like to call it, Guilty Gear Christmas) since there's a good chance I'll be living in Chicago later this year. I may or may not make another post between now and when I leave. As always, I'm taking a wait-and-see approach. If I do, though, expect it to be an article about my single favorite mechanic in all of fighting games. I'll give you a hint: Guilty Gear and Virtua Fighter are the only games that have it.
