Hopeless Fighter; The Life and Times of 40%Flashkick (Formerly Shinku Gadoken)

The point of this writer thread I’m making is more of a cataloging of events and thoughts that run through my head as I play Street Fighter, Tekken, MvC, or any other fighting game, weather it’s online or in tournaments. I guess it’s like a Blog or a Journal, but hey, read it if you want, or laugh at it. I don’t care~

~May 15th Edition~
Your Logic Is Broken

“Ha Ha! Ha Ha! Ha Ha! Ha Ha!” Cody’s laugh reminds me of how much time is done doing little to nothing, hoping for a reaction from an oppositional force that could potentially lead you down the path of victory or open the gateway to defeat. Holding Zangief away from me while simultaneously throwing Quarter Circle Forward Punches lets me have enough time to think and formulate a plan of action. Cody’s a prisoner, Zangief’s a wrestler, and both have huge egos about their abilities. The problem is that Zangief can, for whatever reason, shoot green fire out of his hands, while Cody can only make small Tornadoes, the former of which can punch through a Tornado and leave me stuck watching Cody’s head go into the dirt at an angle that would kill a normal man.

Though, being stuck in this position and lamenting how victory and defeat are equally unknown to me, I almost failed to see that Zangief was baiting my stones, and I forgot to fake one out. He came charging in with Double Ex versions of his Green, Radioactive Russian Nuke hands. I reacted by Jumping Straight above him, hoping that-- “FOR MOTHER RUSSIA!” Too late. In comes Zangief’s back breaking super attack and Cody’s dropped down for the count. That’s when I realize that I’m gonna get bodied. Literally.

Zangief jumped high in an attempt to cross-up Cody, but Cody wouldn’t have it, standing up almost immediately and hopping to the side. Nuclear Fire was imminent, I knew this, but Cody was determined to let me know that it wasn’t over. As far as he was concerned, Zangief wasn’t even fighting for real.

I set down the controller, smiling somewhat, Watching as Cody showed Zangief why this was going to his final fight. Jackpot was the word I was waiting for, and seeing Zangief sailing away in that particular moment was almost as tear jerking as realizing that Cody ‘Had the crap bored out of him’ and he wanted more. The Announcer had ‘never seen anything like that’ and I just shook my head, smiling somewhat. I picked the controller back up and typed in a message.

“Hey, you wanna rematch?”

My reply:

“Scrub.”

So with that, I shrugged, and went looking for the next opponent. Lucky for me, the amount of Insomniacs roaming around at the wee hours of the morning is plenty, and before I knew it, Chun-Li and her Thunder Thighs had stepped into the ring. Cody just smiled though, cracking his knuckles, and looking like he was just getting started.

“You ready to start fighting for real?”

~May 16th Edition~
Shinku… BUTTON MASH!

“Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!” As many times as I try to jump in or cross up with that move, he’s blocking it, but he can’t punish it. At least not with the way he plays. Wesker just pushes him back, or shoots him on the way down. It’s a losing battle, but I gotta try. “Dante!” Ryu has to get out of there, and Dante needed some play time anyway. “Alright!” As he came descending down I spoke into the Microphone. “Whatcha gonna do?” He just laughed and said ‘This’ and just as I came in for an attack, Wesker changed his stance. “You don’t stand a chance!” And, as soon as Dante had entered, he was caught in Wesker’s counter attack, and before I knew it, Dante was on the ground, the announcer yelling out ‘Down!’ and I only shook my head.

Ryu is my clutch character. If he can’t beat someone, then I’ve lost the game already. Admitting this tells my enemies what to expect, surely, but I have no regrets in sharing my play with others. As he comes back in, Wesker immediately ports behind him, and my first instinct is, as usual…

“Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!” Luckily I can manage to knock him away, and I speak into the microphone again. “Thought you had me, didn’t you?” With that I only smiled and started the match again, mashing down all four of the attack buttons, listening as Ryu yelled ‘This is it!’ And the battle was once again renewed. Wesker came at me the way he usually does, some gunfire, and above me he flew, the man ready to strike me down! But I knew better, And so did Ryu. Just as Wesker could play the counter game, I could as well. “Shin…” When that first strike landed, I could hear myself saying it with him. “SHO-RYU-KEN!” And with that, the announcer yelled ‘Down!’ and Wesker was defeated.

In that moment before the next character came out, I was thinking about the accomplishment that defeating this man was all in itself. I mean, a martial artist just smashed Wesker, the megalomaniac ass hole, that was only previously defeated by a pair of rockets and a volcano. I felt pretty good about myself. So I voiced this feeling. “Hey Kurenai, you mad?” Though, all I got was more laughing. “Are you?”

As he said that, Akuma jumped into the battle, and proceeded to tell me how Weak I was. X-Factor was running out, and Level 3 was on his side.

Guess I’ve got a lot more training to do…

~May 20th Edition~
Undergraduate Majoring in Linked Combos

“THERE’S NO ESCAPE!” Balrog came at Cody hard and fast, the Blonde Haired man barely able to bring his fists up to block each one of the strikes that had bashed into his arms, the feeling of the grinded out punches from an angry and cocky boxer almost as if he was pulling the trigger on a gun. The fight had dragged on into the latter half of the final round, not much time was still on the Clock, and as the last Hit landed, Cody knew he didn’t have much energy left to fight this battle out with. Though as that last attack left Balrog Winded, the man cracked his knuckles.

“You ready to start fighting for real?” Cody turned, and brought down his fist hard on the Black Boxer’s face.

“Andrew! Come on!” I cursed silently as he looked away from the screen, grabbing my cap as I tried desperately to affix it to my head, the bobby pins helping keep it on, but the overall look of it seeming pretty god damn goofy. I couldn’t believe I was graduating today. Just as I finished putting it on, I grabbed up my controller again. “ANDREW!” I held down the light punch button as I looked back. “I’m coming Mom!” My chair swiveled back around just as I looked at the screen and released the punch. Balrog still had energy left after Cody had nailed him with Final Destruction, and just as I released the punch, he came charging at Cody. By a mere accident, Cody had smashed Balrog’s attack with his Zonk Knuckle.

I smiled. I didn’t even stop to exit the match, Cody had won and Balrog was down for the count. As I turned and left the room, heading down the stairs in my Cap and Gown, I thought about how I’m still learning things despite the fact I was graduating High School. It was an amazing, scary, and yet, accomplished feeling. I smiled to Mom as we headed out the door. “I decided I’m not going to Chicago for that tournament.” I told her, feeling my jean pocket through my Graduates Gown. “I’m gonna wait for the one in Vegas.” She just laughed at me. “If you can get to Vegas.” She reminded. I only shook my head. I can make it there. Learning how to fight once I’m there was the real challenge.

“I’ll get there. And I’ll probably learn something new along the way.”

~May 23rd Edition~
For every bullet I had…

Dante has always captivated me in how well he plays in any situation. If you need a good defense, he’s your man. A solid rushdown? Look no further. A guy who can control the very outcome of the game simply by connecting one measly combo? You don’t get any better than this. Yet I always wonder about the guy under the trench coat. Is Dante always only motivated by the idea of being this ultra destructive demon killer who’s sense of fashion and style leave many a fanboy gasping for breath because they can’t keep up?

That’s when I realized I’d just defeated another opponent using this very same man. Sure, Deadpool and Ryu had their own helping hand in the outcome, but when you gotta go point, you go hard with someone like Dante. Phoenix can’t catch him, Sentinel can’t douse him in Salt, and quite frankly, Doom can’t hide any missiles from him. If I had a million dollars for every time this Devil Must Die in order to lose, I’d be a rich, rich man.

And yet, despite this, Dante has even more room for growth. Such an amazingly well built character that no match ever has to be the same with his style. A style that, admittedly, I would love to replicate in real life.

Ah well, guess I’m stuck fanboying it up for now. Bring it On!

~May 31st Edition~
Summing it up, I’m a few dollars short

Oh my god. The idea of owning my own official Madcatz Fightstick was something I practically went to bed fantasizing about. Simply having something that gave me the original arcade experience in the palm of my hands was such an exciting endeavor simply because of how well I know I would train with it, day in and out, despite all of my previous knowledge in using my regular modified PS3 Controller. Specifically speaking, this would finally let me learn how all of the professional super stars handle their gaming. I went to bed that night, smiling ear to ear…

“… And it’s Shinku Gadoken coming back strong in the third round with his Cody, having performed an FADC into Crack Kick with a Criminal Upper to follow cost Mike Ross a large chunk of his health bar! By the way, tell us more about Shinku, Keits.”

"Well Tom, I don’t want to sound like I’m kissing ass, but ever since Shinku showed up here to Evolution, I’ve been skeptical since he intentionally skipped out on my UFGT7 Tournament, but now, seeing him in action here in Vegas, I’m almost glad he took the time off to train himself further in his games! Now we see him here in the final 8, tearing it up like he owns it!

“Hang on Keits, it seems Ross is mounting an offensive! Oh no, He won’t let up, he keeps FADCing into a long combo string, but Cody blocks every hit! Oh! And Shinku Techs the Throw at the end, and EX Ruffian Kick Takes it! Shinku Gadoken moves on to the next round, Mike Ross has been eliminated! I think it’s safe to say that Shinku’s new controller has seen him through one of the toughest times in Evo’s history, wouldn’t you agree Keits?”

“Damn straight Tom Brady, I think I’m gonna invite him to next year’s tournament if he keeps this up!”

Although the dreams never last too long and don’t get out of the one fight, I still find it amusing that I can wake up the next day, be pleased as punch, and still find the willpower to keep on practicing in Marvel and Street Fighter to the extent that I do. There’s only one problem with all my hopes and dreams… It seems I lack the funding to make it to Evo this year, that and my Fight Stick is still on the website, seeing as I haven’t even ordered it yet… Ah well, Dreamers Gonna Dream~

Random Side update. 15 Views? Cool, I’m glad someone’s actually reading these.

~June 12th Edition~
Violence… Is kind of cool

Ever since the Arcade Edition has been unleashed on the market place, I’ve been pondering the effectiveness of all of the new characters. Oni being a form of Akuma with no control of the Satsui No Hado doesn’t sit well with me, since Akuma’s entire design before was that he was so incredibly strong willed that there was no way he could ever lose control of the power he drew upon. Akuma was, for lack of a better term, a bad ass both spiritually and physically. I’ll have to ponder this some more later. Yun and Yang are easily shaping up to be some of the stronger match-ups in this game, but by far have nothing to do with the meta that’s taking place. Like any other battle, one just has to learn what they’re capable of, and adapt against it. Though the ability to totally neutralize fireballs or roll under them does create a massive advantage for them both…

Then there’s Evil Ryu. As I can picture it in my head, Evil Ryu is one bad ass dude, despite the lessened Vitality in comparison to regular Ryu. Though the increase in power, more functionality in his Ultra Combos, and the fact that Evil Ryu has more options than regular Ryu, well, the trade off is palpable. Though seeing Ryu in this decrepit state only furthers the confusion I get from Oni. How did Akuma lose control? And further more, did he go nuts on Ryu when he did? That would explain how he got that hole in his chest… Is Akuma losing control directly related to the unleashing of Evil Ryu?

Scary thoughts man, scary thoughts…

I’m surprised no one has replied. You write in an interesting fashion and I like your witty little references. +1 for SF jokes!

Thank you for the reply Chibi. It helps that someone’s actually reading these and shows some support.

~June 26th Edition~
Faith And Fighting Games

The more I look around the community for fighting games these days, the less I feel the same vibe that I’d like to coming from my fellow competitors. For me, Fighting games are more than a game, they’re kind of like a lifestyle. There’s very few things that I’ve put forth more of my time and effort towards learning about or better understanding than the community as a whole. In a way, I want to better my own understanding simply because I have faith in the game. I guess this is kind of a Ryu-Esque Mindset, but when you’re Down-Right-Fierce, why not get a little bit more involved in something you love?

I’ll be honest with all of you, I’m not champion material yet. Though I like to pride myself in being better than your average competitor. Afterall, I’m here, trying to learn more, aren’t I? And I’ve faced members of the SRK Community, learning what I can, and fighting harder than ever before to get every win. When I played Street Fighter 4 Vanilla, I had no idea what I was doing, to the point that I was maining Dan Hibiki in every battle. Hilarious, right? I mean, I was purposely using the worst character because I had absolutely no idea what the hell I was doing! But here I am now, trying hard to become some… Great player, I guess, and seeing to it that everyone can see that I know what’s up, I’ve got my head on straight, and when it comes tournament time, I’m the guy you gotta struggle to beat!

But I aspire to be more than that. I wanna be someone people come to respect and desire matches with all the time. Am I aiming for the Mike Ross, or Gootecks, or Justin Wong or even Daigo level? Maybe, but not now. I’m not ready for that level of play. And I can admit that. What I want is to be a player where someone can go ‘Oh, Shinku Gadoken? That guy’s great!’ or something. Ya know?

Fighting games will always be a community of hate and self-improvement, simply because you can’t have a game where somebody loses and expect there to be friendly handshakes and smiles the whole time. Life isn’t built like that. More importantly, life encourages dominance. So, mark my words SRK, one day, you’re all gonna regret ever facing off with the most ineffectively amazing player known as Shinku Gadoken.

~July 9th Edition~
With God as my witness

I spent some time training last night with EvilKevin3 Last night in Street Fighter. Kevin is an amazing player, I saw him shoot up from 0 PP To 3000 in Less than 24 Hours. And I have to say, seeing him using Cody in a match against Dudley has opened my eyes to several new techniques that I’d never even thought possible with Cody before. Guy has become a recent favorite of mine in recent times, so I was trying to train both Guy and Cody. Fighting with Kevin told me some very interesting things.

The most interesting thing was that I could compete with someone who was so good.

I don’t normally like talking myself up unless I’m shit talking in order to get someone to fight me or to show off my accomplishments. But watching as Cody went from Haymaker to Haymaker to a Tornado Blast on someone who’s so good at this game (And was using Yun), just made me feel like ‘Ya know, Maybe I’m actually good at this game’ and I’ve got renewed hope for a Tournament I wanna go to tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be able to go, but I know for sure that I’ll place well in such an atmosphere.

what does this mean

I don’t understand what you’re asking.

~July 30th Edition~
It’s Time to Show Off or Shut Up

The Bi-Weekly Tournament Season thrown by P1aying T0 W1N in the Console Combat wars is something I’m so excited for it’s not even funny. But what really excites me is this is the first real tournament I’ll be going to in which I can be part of an actual scoring and seeding set up. The prizes are gonna be kind of weak for awhile, but I’m not too worried. Quite frankly, this is an excellent time to test my abilities to the fullest, seeing if I can become some kind of Guru in the art of Street Fighter. I want to help write the combat data for Cody V.S. any opponent that he goes up against. I’ve written some of the data so far, but I need to keep learning or else I’ll be sharing false information. It’s a burden I don’t take lightly…

Though, what really worries me is the fact that I’ll have to put as much as I can forward towards defeating everyone I fight tomorrow. Every inch of my abilities, every power at my disposal, and every kick ass maneuver I can whip up in my head, all of it just so I can get past the preliminary rounds. Back when I first started relearning Street Fighter, I got smashed because I had so little experience in the game itself. Sure, I played with Dan in Vanilla, but I never truly comprehended what he was actually capable of because I wasn’t even aware of the metagame involved in Dan’s abilities. Or in Street Fighter. But I’ve gotten better, put a lot of time and devotion towards becoming as good as I can with Cody, and even have my peers sharing in their appreciation of my abilities. It’s… It feels good to know people accept me as a good player. But as an Online Warrior, one can only get so far. I have to actually beat some people, and show off just how god damn amazing I am, or eternally be regarded as a good online player and nothing more.

Tomorrow, I’ll find out if I have what it takes, or if I’m just another pretender.

~August 2nd Edition~
Did I really even fight for real?

I was disappointed. Gouken dropped Cody in the fifth round of the tournament, and sent the criminal packing early on.

Thing is, it’s not that I was disappointed in the results, just in myself for missing obvious answers to the fight. Buffering Option-Select Ruffian Kicks would have helped tremendously, and Zonk Knuckle would have stuffed so many of his glide-punches. Though, I did meet a lot of interesting players, and gathered up a lot of data that I’ll be transposing over to the matchup section in the guide. Much to edit, much to learn, and I’m only gonna get better from here…

But was surprising though was the fact that I got so far with Stryker in the Mortal Kombat tournament. 3rd Place was quite a… Surprise! I defeated some top level competitors with him using basic counter strategies that were more than enough for most anyone I went up against. Guns, Bombs, and Rolling Thunder were all very important to my game, plus the occasional combo that resulted in a nice knock down or two. Extra damage is always nice, after all. Maybe in 3 weeks when I go back, I’ll be able to step up my game a bit more. Only time will tell, and I can’t wait to go back.

~August 15th Edition~
Akuma Mokoto-- Hakuna Matata?

Recently I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m stuck on Guy and Cody. Like, literally stuck on using them. I can’t even pick up Ryu anymore and comfortably play a zoning game because it’s because Me against the World. I need to remedy that by finding a new play style and playing it well. So I’m trying to test the waters with Akuma, the Raging Demon, and Makoto, The Rindoukan Queen. On one hand, I have the game’s best mix-up options. On the other hand, I have a nice Rushdown player, who’s mixups can be down right fierce if you know what I’m saying. At any rate, this has left me in a state of unbalance, which I’m pretty sure is wrecking my meta game as well. I’m not thinking about what I can do with any character, I’m only thinking ‘Cody this, Cody that, Guy this, Guy that’ which, as I said, it totally throwing off my game.

Also, I’ve come to notice that I have hit a similar streak in Marvel V.S. Capcom 3. I can’t get comfortable with a character that isn’t Ryu, Dante, or Deadpool. I tried Wesker, but he just feels too clunky, and Chun-Li doesn’t hit hard enough for my tastes. On top of all that, Dormammu moves too slow, and I feel Dr. Doom is just too damn complicated for me. But I have to learn more, because if I don’t, I can’t step up my game. And if that happens, I’m wrecked.

~September 6th Edition~
College Education and I Still Can’t FADC

College started for me just yesterday. My first classes were like a breath of fresh air, not only because I was in a smarter environment, but it was such a nice break from a daily pattern of waking up, training, and going to bed. Some balance had been restored to my life. And I can safely say it felt good. I’m gonna focus more on my artistic ventures, and make an attempt at creating some really nice pictures.

Speaking of working on things, FADCs are finally starting to fall within my grasp. They’re such an integral part of the game plan that I often times over look them in cases where they would have won me the game. Other times, I just don’t know how to execute it properly when it comes time to show off my superior skills. Cody especially. It’s hard enough getting a Bread and Butter Super Combo to come out just right, and I know I can so do so much more with Ryu or E.Ryu if I would just take the time to learn the phases needed to perform the moves. Such a drag…

September 10th is the First Big Money Tournament at my local scene, and I’m tired of always getting second place. This time, I’m going for the gold, and this is where it gets serious. Cody’s ready to start fighting for real, And I’ve got a bit of a surprise for everyone who doubts the power of the Saikyo-Ryu…

~September 13th Edition~
Reset The Tier Lists, Koryuken Moves Up!

First off, Can I say how ecstatic I am? I won the tournament I went to last Saturday! I faced off with some of the best in my Community, ORDEP and his Sagat proved to be my biggest challenge in the whole tournament, But ultimately I was able to defeat him in some interesting matches. I still only placed second in the Marvel tournament, but I don’t even mind. A much better player got that position anyway, and I couldn’t be happier for him.

At any rate, I’ve been contemplating the Saikyo-Ryu for some time now. During the previously mentioned tournament, I used a lot of Dan in my preliminary matches, mostly against Ryu players, and once against a Thunder Hawk. FADCs have been a more important part of my game; I can’t hit them without fail yet, but Light Koryuken Cancelled into FADC meant I could pull off the Haoh Gadoken to clinch some matches. Another interesting aspect was that Taunting made the game change in several ways; Dan’s taunts make players do strange things, and they charge in on you with renewed vigor and reckless abandon. This of course worked to my favor countless times, as the Gadoken or the Koryuken was always waiting in the wing for them to screw up.

I’m going to explore my rush down game with Dan and Cody some more, and see if I can come up with some new tactics. I have a bad tendency to play the waiting game with both of them, and they’re both just too aggressive for that method of play. Until then, you better be ready to start fighting for real, because if not, then I hope you’re ready for a beating!

~October 25th Edition~
Top Tier Metagame, Counter Picking Your Brain

A quick apology to everyone who does read this, I haven’t been updating as often as I should be. Here’s a Recap of what I’ve been doing.

*College, Life has been forcing me to focus on my education. I have a lot of work to do these days.
*Finding a Job, Being 18 with no job is demoralizing.
*Becoming a Writer, I want to focus on getting a writing career going.
*Winning a Tournament, I placed 1st in a Local Street Fighter tournament, as well as 2nd in a Marvel vs Capcom 3 tournament.
*Traveling, Been trying to get to tournaments in other states, hasn’t been working

Anyway…

I’ve been studying more top tier players ever since combat compilations have been coming out like clockwork, trying to get a feel for better playstyles and methods of taking on new opponents. The way some of my games go, I can see that those studies are drastically increasing my own game. In Street Fighter, my Player Points are settling around the 2300 area constantly, while my Battle Points are sky rocketing with Ryu and Cody. Moreso with Cody. As I’ve come to notice, my Cody is top forty on the PSN lists, which means I’m steadily becoming better and better with his playstyle. And my Ryu has been defeating some very high tier players lately. I just need to focus more on my core gameplay and remembering that Combos are one thing, Metagame is another.

Speaking of Metagame, I’d like to share my findings on the topic itself. As it stands, I’ve almost perfected the metagame. I’m not saying this to be arrogant, I’m saying this because I think I have a deeply rooted enough standing within the fighting game community and how things work to out smart, out play, and out last many opponents. And because I’m Down Right Fierce (Ha Ha!). Sometimes when faced with an enemy who’s got twice as many player points and at least three times the battle points I do, I wind up pulling out victories because I pressure them into just the right spot. Imagine a gauge, if you will, where the opponent is feeling pressure to perform well. If they punish your mistakes, your gauge goes up, and their gauge will go down. Vice versa for you to them. I found that if you punish enough mistakes, without them getting off a reversal, they’ll hit the ‘Sweet Spot’ on their gauge called ‘Panic Room’ in which they’ll start to play completely different, but usually deplorably bad, to which you can act to finish them off. I’ve had Dhalsim players against my Cody who, if they had continued to play defensively, would have beaten me, but because I pressured them into that Sweet Spot, they suddenly tried to play ultra-aggressive, something you shouldn’t do against Cody, who’s counter-aggression is practically top tier material. I wound up defeating the player (who was consequently salty) at least two more times in Ranked battles.

Hopefully, using this information to my advantage, I can continue to become a better player, maybe not in my execution, but in the way I play to get inside my opponent’s head. I don’t have to be flashy (though it’s certainly a plus) I just have to be smart.

If this helps anyone, let me know.