Heya, there seems to be some sort of misconception regarding Infiltration’s approach to SF. I’ve been lurking these boards for a while but coming from someone who has played against him in Korea I’d like to set the record straight on a number of misconceptions here.
First off, regarding Infil’s iphone notes. He doesn’t put down “player research”. There’s a lot of characters in SF4, there’s many setups that works differently for different characters. He basically makes a summary of what works best vs X character in terms of vortex setups, key frame data advantage vs X character’s bread and butter, and w/e misc ambiguous setups he can use on a specific character. His notes are designed as a quick Cliff note summary to remind him of what works best vs X character, NOT about what Daigo tends to do after he whiffs a sweep or what JWong does after having lunch. His research is character centric, his phone is a specialized wikipedia for SF4. Having said that, he has played in quite a number of tournaments over the years. So yes, he will remember the tendencies of the usual suspects he meets in the top8 etc… To suggest however that he downloads specific players and will do poorly against random scrub he’s never faced is really asinine.
Any random pro going up against any random player may or may not have a tough time. It’s got nothing to do with Infiltration or his stylistic tendencies. Some like to bring up how he got “blown up” vs Brueno guy recently, he certainly had a rough time during 1 set but also came back and defeated him in a different set. That had nothing to do with Brueno being a “random guy” but everything to do with him being a cheesy Cammy player.
Second, regarding Akuma being an op S tier character. Akuma is certainly a top tier character but to suggest he’s S tier because 1 player has dominated a lot of recent tournaments is also ludicrous. Aside from the fact that Tokido does not achieve the same level of success or any other famous Gouki players for that matter, did people forget how Infiltration was a run of the mill pro player with his Akuma pre 2012? He only achieved his current recent streak through sheer work at the lab and perseverance through various tournaments. Players in the FGC community tend to peak like any other sports athlete. Infiltration right now is entering his prime and to put it lamely has achieved S tier on his gameplay/execution, the fact he’s using Gouki to demonstrate this new found skill is what seems to confuse people as to who really is OP here (Akuma or Infiltration). Akuma despite his “easy to use” misconception is not a secondary character. It takes a LOT of work to be successful at a decent calibre tourney (where your ghetto vortex setups won’t work against the average opponent of that tourney).
Third, the man put in his time at the lab, had impeccable research to back up his fundamentally sound style and now people are accusing him of being a tier whore? What crack have you guys been smoking? Where was the hate when Daigo used Guile/Sagat/Yun? Even the current posterboy Xian used Yun when he was top tier and quickly dropped him post nerf towards Gen. Pros will pick a character that suits their playstyle best once they figure it out. The whole Tier debate is what happens after when these pros achieve random success/failures at these tournaments. This is why Kazunoko is sticking it out with Yun despite the nerfs and a guy like Fuudo will never come out of his Fei Long (because that character complements his insane reaction speed / counter attack playstyle). While others are still searching for their character soulmates and will rent a character based on “tier listing” like PR Rog testing out Fei Long or Bonchan contemplating a gouki switch.
Lastly, can we please not go into hypothetical about the supposed hidden masters at random tournament who refuse to travel BS. If they’re worth anything as a player they’ll get sponsored. If they get sponsored they will have the means to travel to various international competitions. I just can’t see how a local fish at a pond can level up on his own to the extent of a true world traveling player. Do I suspect there’s some real hidden killers in Japan we’ve never heard from? Sure. Just because someone is really good at their local arcade however awesome they are does not mean they’ll do well at a large scale tourney. Just look at Floe, despite his piss poor performances at the big stage, he is a skilled player who will probably face roll every random scrub who posts in these forums. Being good at the game is different than being great in tournaments. Evo might not have the average skill level of a typical Japanese tournament but to suggest someone had an “easier time getting to top 16” and won the event on a fluke is retarded.
Infiltration dominated Evo, SF25, Lost at the GF in Canada Cup, won dreamhacks, SCR, FR?, NCR etc… not only in SF4 AE but also in SFXT. Do you seriously think he gives a @#$@ about who he’s “hoping” to face for an easier time to win the tourney? This is the same dude who got shat on by the crowd, who got mentally molested in a brutal 0-3 set against fanboy favorite Daigo only to come back from losers and taming the beast 6-0. Infiltration is not winning because of sketchy shenanigan vortex setups (you only need to see Tokido play to really understand what “cheap” is), he’s winning on fundamental footsies, calculated risks, near flawless execution and above all a mental fortitude that Floe would jizz for.
So I’d like to be on the record here and state that no matter what Capcom does with the 2013 changes, Infiltration is still going to dominate the scene. Not because of his Akuma but because he’s infiltration, the master of adaptation. If you’re sick of seeing him with tournaments then instead of praying on Akuma nerfs (which will affect 99.9% of the random scrubby akumas), hope that the Korean gvt does you a favor and calls Infiltration towards his 2 year mandatory service. Cause unless he’s shipped to the army, I don’t see him relinquishing his title against these mentally weaker opponents.