SNAKE EYEZ!!!
Tell me you guys saw that. That was crazy.
Snake Eyez said fuck your timer scam.
SnakeEyez and Itabashi take out Xian.
Gief power.
Apparently Itabashi just eliminated Xian so he’s still in too. No idea if he’s been going with Hawk or Gief though. Unfortunately he hasn’t been on stream either but I’m happy he’s still in.
snake eyez top 8 son!
Snake Eyez in top 8 in winners all we need is Itabashi to make it out in losers.
Good stuff from Itabashi beating Filipnoman. Can’t stand that guy and we all know that mu is ridiculously annoying. One more win and he’s in top 8 too.
I don’t find it ridiculously annoying, I do think there’s a ton Itabashi can get out of it considering that FilipinoMan plays with SnakeEyez every week. But, if I’m correct, Ninomae plays in Itabashi’s arcade.
Wow. Snake Eyez is the man.
So many interesting factors in this years EVO. New Game and All, with not much time to iron things out.
I sure hope, Snake Eyez wins, and makes all the non-believers choke it 
I’m just gonna say, the draws are a HUGE lottery. Sure you face better opponents, as you progress.
But that’s the unstable nature of coin flips. Xian and Snake’s match was indeed a coin flip. Could have went either way, but we’re thankful Snake took it.
And good to see Itazan reprepping hard also (despite the Mexican influence).
If somebody knocks out Bonchan for him, Snake Eyez could do it.
SnakeEyez’s biggest problem is that both Fuudo and Bonchan are big threats to him. Fuudo practices the Fei matchup with Itabashi and last time they met (25th anniversary) Fuudo wrecked him twice, I hope he’ll spend the entire day today grinding that matchup or that he’s been really studying that stuff (which I must imagine he has). Getting Bonchan is worst case scenario, let’s hope Gackt is studying the Sagat matchup too.
Either way, top 8 winners at EVO with Zangief is such a huge achievement, he’s already done amazingly well. Kudos.
Honestly surprised Grapplers did amazing this evo.
Lets hope in the next update Capcom doesn’t use this as an excuse to nerf them.
Just goes to show the you, it’s the player, not the character. And this is not the first time Gief has made into top 8 at EVO. I love me some Zangief.
Okay, lets say he loses to Fuudo then Momochi or Sako would also be tough as hell in losers. Ken is a tough mu despite what some say and he could also go with Juri and that would probably be worse for Snake. Sako could go with E.Ryu or Ibuki and that’s not fun either. Also if Ricky beats Momochi(not likely imo) he could be tough. Rufus is not free for Gief, people need to stop saying that. That Itabashi match was not pretty.
Whatever happens he’s done amazing getting this far. People that don’t play grapplers just have no idea how much work it takes to do what he’s doing. It’s pretty amazing. The patience and spacing required to play this character at the highest level is ridiculous and then the bad mu’s you have to traverse in a field this huge is crazy. Lets hope things work out Sunday but it’s gonna be really hard.
Ken is 5-5, neither E.Ryu or Ibuki are impossible matchups and considering that Ricky beat SnakeEyez last time they played and Wong used the exact same gameplan at CEO 2 weeks ago I hope he has a new gameplan for that matchup.
His biggest threat is Bonchan, if Bonchan beats Gackt then it’ll be tough as hell for him to take this tournament.
But Itabashi is not Snake Eyez. And they aren’t Cantona either. The problem with match-ups and tiers, is that they don’t account for play styles, different approaches and strategies. Itabashi is the most different of all the Giefs. Plus, that outing shows that Fuudo knows Itabashi more than Itabashi knows Fuudo. Which begs the question, does EVO’s format of Best of 3 rounds, and Best of 3 matches, give players enough time to formulate a read on the opponent? Clearly one must change gears to remain viable.
The Double Elimination Concept used in EVO, is a really amazing format.
He needs to go one up. He needs to study the Sagat match-up AND the BONCHAN match-up. They all do.
Thing is, last time they played Fuudo showed a really deep understanding of the matchup. Itabashi and SnakeEyez have truly different styles (FilipinoMan got stuck trying to play vs Itabashi like he was Snake Eyez in the last game, for an example of this being bad for the player with the experience), but knowing the matchup’s intrincancies to that extent is definetly an advantage for Fuudo since I’d say Itabashi is closer to SnakeEyez’s level than Driftwood to Fuudo.
I’d also say SnakeEyez and Cantona play clearly similar styles, with each other being better in different matchups thanks to their scenes.
I imagine he’s preparing his Oni counterpick for Bonchan, for the worst case scenario.
Driftwood doesn’t belong in the same sentence as Fuudo. Come on now lets not get carried away.
Congrats to Snake Eyez on his amazing run. I know we were all pulling for him here and that last match was just heartbreaking. He had it but that second round was so uncharacteristic. Damn, I keep thinking “what if” he just pulled it out.
On another note-Fuck Rose. That backdash is flat out retarded. I think she may be Giefs most annoying mu other than maybe Juri and Fuerte.