there is nobody in VA/MD, except for Derrick Perez, who can push Khang and Eric any further.
I guess that, since they are at such a high level that, execution isnt just the only thing that you need to win. Execution is key but you will never win if you dont have any mind games or the ability to exploit the opp.'s weakpoints.
I guess what I am trying to say is that there is a huge difference from mediocracy and high level play. Which is what many players are trying to do, but will never reach because their competition is no way near high level.
Competition can reach higher levels without outside forces. How do you think areas like Cali and NY got so good to begin with? They got good on their own. Players had to rise to new levels to win in their area. It really only takes one player to raise his thinking and everyone else should follow. Really, NY is a perfect example of this. NY had Eddie Fucking Lee, and nobody else. The whole city grew because of him. To this day, every noteworty player out of NY has a style very reminiscent of him.
People just need to play more, and play more focused. From the little bit of time I’ve been going to the tournaments around here, one thing I’ve noticed is that there’s very little competitive fire. Casuals are just fuck-around time, and tournaments are almost too damn friendly. If you really want to get better, you need to put a little more pressure on the fighters. Everything’s on PS2 now, so there’s no money lost on losing, and even when people do lose, they seem to stay on the game for at least three games. There’s next to no reason to really try to win and improve.
One thing I’ve noticed about the Baltimore players is that they’re a lot more competitive than the NOVA players. Always up for money matches, almost always playing their best characters. It’s no wonder they seem to be the best SF players in the area overall.
It definitely helps a lot to travel to different areas and learn how they play and incorporate part of their style into yours. I know some people have played in more places than I have, but outside of the best of the best, not many. I’ve played in Northern California, different arcades throughout Los Angeles (each of which has its own style), MD/VA/DC, Paris, London, New York, Las Vegas, and Florida, and I’ve also met and played against people from Texas, Germany, and the Netherlands, and I’ve learned a lot. Right now, for instance, the guys in London play a super risky style, lots of parrying all over the place, and I’m learning to deal with that so that I’ll be able to incorporate it into my game and deal with it if I encounter it somewhere else.
That said, I don’t know what the pessimism is about. I don’t know how the scene was before last August, but just in the past year it’s gotten incredibly better. There are two regular tournament venues, occasional large tournaments in the area, an arcade up and working again, players either moving into or picking up the game in the area, and enough dedicated players to support everything. Guys like Kimmick and DevilJin have upped their game a huge amount in the last year and can now compete with anyone, and other players are getting better too. You don’t need to travel to get better, and those guys prove that. Do you need to travel to be the best, well, there’s an argument for that, but the scene in the area is doing fine right now. Believe me, the guys in London would love to have a scene as strong as yours.
for those who are wondering, eric and i hardly ever play 3S. granted, we’ve been in the scene for a good 4-5 years now…but 3S’s growth spurt didn’t start til about 1-2 years ago. and the influx of multimedia didn’t occur til last year, maybe the year before at most.
eric and i hardly ever play. i occasionally beat on people here and there every few months, and a tournament once every few months at most…3S is a lot more mental than what people are aware of. who do i have to play with that will make me better? eric lee…? eric kim…? how often do i play them? almost never. mentality guys…even now, i pale in comparison to the veterans of top level play…i have the skills to be there, but my surfacing as a nationally known player has been very slow. forget no good players to play with. no one to play with period. when people play each other, they get better. it’s as simple as that. so make this scene happen. i’ll continue to push forward, and you guys should to. don’t use the “we don’t have a scene” excuse…make it.
Which is correct DevilJin didnt get good by traveling he just loves the game to another level, such as I. location dsent matter and constant comp only matters to a certain degree. If you want it bad nough you are going to take it.
I’m with you guys. It’s nice to travel but it’s constant evolving of competition within your area that makes you what you are. The Japanese didn’t travel to Europe or Australia to perfect their game. They are where they are now because they put the effort into the game. Just like what US did with MVC2. We liked the game and they didn’t and for years they’ve pretty much never been able to compete with us in it. It’s not because MVC2 hurts the Japaneses’ hands when they play…it’s because we have a passion for the game over here (cuz Spideys in it lol) and we wanted to perfect the game (or break it…whichever works for you). Hell…I hate MVC2 but I still give respect to the peepz that put the time into that game. It’s a very taxing game to play at high level play and execution is extremely important.
Xbox Live is pretty much the reason I started getting into the competitive fighting game scene and now with the growing tournament scene for 3S in our area…I can say that I don’t have to rely on online sources anymore to get competitive 3S gaming. Back in the day (like 2002) I was a big 3S fan (I loved it from the first day I played it) but back then everyone was still gung ho about A3 and MVC2. 3S was just the sequel to the 2 crap SF3 games that were already out in the arcades. Everyone had their own fucked up reason for why SF3 was either broken or not as good as other SF games. Now every other person you ask will tell you that 3S is a rather balanced game and anyone can win when they put their mind to it (cuz a LOT of 3S is mind games).
My favorite character was always Ibuki and people used to tell me back in the day that she just wasn’t worth using in tournaments and you’d do better with this and that character but in the end…when you do your own research and put your mind to it…you can overcome the odds of the tiers and win matches. Even when I was continuing to get better…characters like Ken, Chun and Makoto seemed scary as hell for the ninja. Yet now with the experience I have gained I’ve learned how to utilize what Ibuki has to her advantage against the top tiers instead of wondering if I should pick a “better” character. Ibuki has advantages herself that other better characters simply don’t have. It’s figuring out how to utilize such advantages that will bring you success in 3S.
Real talk though, DJ, if I were you, I wouldn’t get too comfortable. The reality is that you’ve won one local tournament. Not to take away from that accomplishment, but there are players all over the world that you’ve never heard of (and never will) that can claim that distinction. The way Valle peaced you out yesterday should show you that you’ve still got a ways to go, and you should embrace that. The tone of your last post kinda sounds like you’re happy where you’re at. Fuck that man. Get better. Get a lot better.
Well…that’s me. I never really look at the bad side of things to begin with. Otherwise I wouldn’t be picking a character like Ibuki. I’d be messing around with the shotos or Yun like everyone else. In all truthfulness…there’s no reason for me to not feel comfortable because that’s basically IMO what loses you tournaments. When you’re always in fear that your shit may get fucked in the tournament. You have to have a certain level of confidence and that’s what I aim to achieve throughout all of my tournaments. A clear mind despite the odds. That’s the only way I’m going to win against other top players who I otherwise don’t have much experience against. It’s up to me to step up my game and make it harder for them to win matches.
I choose to be happy where I’m at cuz I know there’s a lot of other upcoming 3S players that can only dream of that shit. They’re stuck at a point where they don’t know where to go in their game and not sure if moving up will even be worth it when there’s always someone better than you to take you out. I choose to be above that and that and that’s what helped me to get to where I’m at now. I haven’t won any large scale tournaments yet but that’s where I look to be at eventually. I just need to step my game up and with a character like Ibuki…it all comes with the unpredictability of your play style and poke strings. It’s just something I obviously have to work on against players that generally just have a thing for reacting to shit (hence Valle).
Hell…I’m one of the few people that’s actually willing to throw out money matches during tournaments. I’m always ready to money match anyone in 3S/CVS2 and I did a 20 dollar money match vs. Valle after the tournament. Most people would say that’s just free money for a guy who’s flat out better than you but if you wanna improve…you have to make an effort to get out there and rough it up with the best to step your game up.
I believe that people are intimadated to move forwards in the 3s scene. I know I was people usually give up and sell themselves short and opycat other players because they think thats what works, I am speaking from exp, I played against two Chun players that played excatly alike it was mad annoying, also I get ridculed from most of my fiends because I play Alex in tournaments. Third Strike to me is about inividuality and being random look at some of the top jap players or look at combofeind he plays elena in tournaments to me thats random.
im ready to push whoever wants to be pushed, including myself. because school doesnt start for me till like september, im gonna be in the lab. all my sf career i feel like i could be a top player if i simply played with people who wanna be the best they can be. im already good enough to hang with mostly anyone, but i wanna be better than that. if ur willing kang/eric or anyone else who wants to be top, i think we can do it, cuz im not scared of shit, and aint nothing stopping me now.
aight yo peeps. heres the situation for the room at Evo. i already booked one room, for Fri, Sat, and Sun at red rock. as of right now the rate for thursday night is 299, and wed is 199. the rate for thurs night is fairly high so i decided to get a room elsewhere for thurs night, check out then head to red rock fri for the tourney. it’ll be at the hOOters casino and hotel:wgrin: . and it will be a lot cheaper. and eveyone is welcome to stay. i will have the room for wed and thurs night. anyone is welcome to stay as you arrive. as well as the evo room. everyone is welcome to stay. the people who have contacted me about a room are as follows:
n-ken + two friends
jason(rugalb) + some(i forgot who, im thinking christian, reljin, steve, mabe james)??
elee
khang
phil d
grant
deviljin and bro
shawn
kimmicks
if i forgot anyone just post up or if you wanna go just post up.
again all are welcome. i believe robin billy H. and project pat are getting another room. we can split up the. hopefully the list will get bigger. md/va needs to rep big this year as always. the more the merrier(cheaper):wgrin:
as far as plane tickets. i booked through jetblue and i got my round trip flight for about 250. and thats leaving from dulles around 745pm east coast time on tues night and arriving 1005pm west coast time tues night. and then leaving from vegas the following monday night at 11pm west coast time and arriving in dulles 635 am tues morning east coast time
just got back from texas, good to see that everyone showed up for vtyme. and lmao at dj breakdancing with my boy eddel, that has to set a new random standard:rofl:
