Hey everybody i know im probably going to get flammed hard for this, but i was just going to give my thoughts about SB:R as i have alot of things to say about it. First and Foremost, there will be a lot of shout outs in this as i have tons of people to thank for everything this event.
So from Philadelphia to Ohio, the drive took about a good 8 to 9 hours as me, Big E(Runs Summerjam, NEC, and Winterbrawl), Bryheem(Mvc2 player) had to wait for Dr Chaos(SSF4 player of course) to get off the train which wasn’t to bad to be honest. Ride there was pretty funny as well as relaxing. By the time we got there, everything was set up(as far as ST anyways)but there were a couple problems with the sticks there. On the Head to Head setup, the left side had alot of button drops it seemed to me, and the right side had a very loose stick and felt very unstable. The American Setup there were some problems too triggering motion inputs. It was good reuniting with my good friends Krost and Corrosive again since evo and zanadu monthlies, as well as thelo, fudd, and zerodotjander again. I then finally had the chance to meet Mr Frank Bisel(Roybisel) and it was great to meet and talk to him that day. I was sort of worried cause on ggpo he sort of seemed pretty ruthless, but he is a very awesome guy. It sort of shows you that online player atittudes aren’t the same as offline and that people are indeed very cool. I also met jimmybones(famous for using Boxer)and he was very and pretty chill. Pretty Swaggered up i’d say. Bad news that day was that we all had found out that Daigo may not be able to play ST unless he received 2 bi’s which really sucked, but we didn’t know for sure.
Day 2
So, I get to the venue of SB:R and they werent letting anybody in until First couple pools were started in SSF4. I then went to krost room and had a chance to meet the legend known as Gamerbee. I had a blast hanging with him and just being in his pressence. I then walked back to the venue and my mentor, Damdai the god had arrived and i was very happy to see him. We were all wondering when ST would be set up but they were saying around 5 o clock or after. So we all managed to find a super gun and play in one of the karoke rooms. Alot of great players were in there such as Damdai, Krost, Corrosive, Jimmybones, Fudd, a Zangief player by the name of ravaii i believe, Wildestroya, The legendary Brent Immortal, and Mightymar(I’m sure there were more, but thats all I can remember right now lol). Thelo also had a setup with HDR and I had a chance to meet koop, who was very cool and chill too.
ST Teams
So Teams signups was announced around 9 or 10 o clockish, and I heard it was going to be a 3v3. Of course i wanted to team with Damdai cause he’s a mentor to me, but I thought it would be an honor as well if I could team with Roybisel too, and surprisingly we all teamed. I was very excited but nervous because i didnt want to do bad and make these guys go like what were we thinking picking him lol. So imo, we had alot of good comp such as Team canada with Thelo, Wildestroya, and Jimmy. Also Stevetren, keits and another honda player(he was really good) were another team to worry about. A team I would have loved to see participate in this tourney was team maryland with Krost, Steve H, and Corrosive, but the tourney was ran on the head to head which had sanwa and not american, and it wouldnt have been right for players to play on setups there not used to as there were no converters. Also Flash G(og st player) was very scary as well. So the tourney as a whole was very awesome and extremly well ran in my opinion, not because we won, but because for me, i like doing teams more then anything so it was a good experience. It was an honor for me to team with Roy and Damdai, and i thank them for giving me the chance to team with them.
ST Tourney(as well as HDR)
So the big tourney is about a couple hours away, and i wanted to train with krost and eric so that we were refreshed and ready to go. I was extremly nervous as i knew this time, justin wong was entering, as well as the possiblity that the BEAST would still enter. As pretty much everybody is here and ready to go, but during causals, we see daigo watching only ST and smiling. Basically, we all knew he was thriving to play. So THE Beast entered with no bi’s and had a casual match against damdai which was amazing to watch. So the tourney began, and I had to play a very tough ken player by the name of sir pimp richard. I got very lucky and pulled through i dont know how. Also I was extremely happy Krost, Corrosive, and Damdai all pulled through. So my 2nd match was against Jimmy Bones, and i knew this would be to hell and back for me as Boxer is very scary for me, but i just had to play my best and pray i could do it. I don’t know how i pulled this off but i managed to take the game and advance. My next match was probably a dream come true for me as Roy told me i was up against the Beast. Now usually i would look at this as OMG im done, but instead, i was actually happy i was up against him as this was a chance i could prove something to myself. I didnt know who he would have picked seeing as he picked boxer most of the time, so i picked guile(Muteki color)of course and he surprisingly picked ryu. Unfortunately I lost 3 to 1 but I was extremly happy to play him, and see how amazing the japanese are at ST. Now this is where all the bad events happen. I had to play my friend Krost and Damdai. Now I dont know how i was able to pull these off but i won but was not happy about winning either as i felt they deserved it as much as i wanted it but I had trained with both almost every week or 2. I’m not ashamed to say this but i actually had to step out the venue as i became pretty emotional(yes shed tears lol) about the outcome of both games. I want to thank krost so much for helping me calm down and man up to finish the tourney as it was a hard time for me. Even though I was down, my friend Corrosive was able to outplay Sanford Kelly and his O.Sagat and I was very proud he was able to do so well in his match. So next i had to play Ghaleon(not Ganelon) who had a pretty scary sagat and luckily i was able to make it to top 4th spot. I then played Roybisel and I wasn’t able to close it out. I was however extremely happy how i played in that match as it showed me what i can do to improve in that match(Guile/O Guile vs O Sagat). After the match, I wanted to thank roy so much for everything in the tourney and what he had done for me this weekend such as calming me down and giving me excellent tips to improve my game. Roy went on to beat Arturo in losers, which led to him vs Daigo in the Finals. It was very disappointing that the stream was not working properly as this was grand finals. Roy came up short, but gave an outstanding effort against Daigo.
HDR was started up by thelo, and even thought turnout was small, it was a really fun tourney and still tough competition all around(Fudd and DJ, Krost of course, and Thelo as well as jimmy bones).
I have tons of people to thank for this experience as i dont think it would have been great without you guys.
Roybisel: Thank you for everything again throughout this tourney and whole experience. You are a legend in my book and have taught me so much this weekend. I now have the drive to play even harder next time, and that in tourney and in general, you taught me to have an even more love for the game and competition, win or lose. It also proves my point as there will never be a time where i feel i have learned everything. I now feel every other tourney, whether its I make first place or last, I have to play 10x better then the previous. From the Teachings as well as the stories of the old days, I thank you so much. Can’t wait to meet you again next time. Godbless sir and Thanks again.
Krost, Ganelon, Steve H and Corrosive: You guys are godlike, I don’t what i would have done without you guys. I thank you guys for everything. GO TEAM MD!!! You guys are incredible.
Damdai the god: I thank you for everything as well as having me hang out with you, king rambo, howard, chris and dave, and dsp. You are in my eyes my mentor and i dont think i could have seen anybody else be that. I just hope i didnt disappoint you and that i can make you proud. P.S. I would be honored to have gave you some of my payout money as i dont think I could have done this without training with you weekend after weekend.
King Rambo, Howard, Chris and Dave Doyle, Tecmo Super Bowl, NH2 and DSP: I feel so honored to have meet you guys and invited me to train with you legends. All the sessions we have we only level up and became even closer. I thank you so much for everything youve done for me. I wish i could have supported you guys at SBO but im not up that level yet lol. I thank god to have met all of you guys and have you guys as amazing friends to have made throughout everything.
DGV: I felt so honored to have you keep in touch with me throughout the tourney. I also thank you as well as Damdai for having me play the ryu match alot as it helped me alot with my match against Daigo. Your too Godlike, and I hope if there is anything i can help you with, I would be honored to, even though with your incredible abilities, i dont think you would need it lol. Hope to see you very soon.
Mad Possum: Even though you couldn’t make it, I would have been extremely grateful to have finally met you in person sir. I know one day we will and we will have a great time.
Josh(The Prodigy), Nlp Ou, Jiggly Norris, KevGeez, Kyle Comeback, Hombot, Zack Kattamaru, Zass, and Bhop, : Thanks for everything and inviting me to play with you legends, it has helped me inprove so much and for that, im greatful to have outstanding friends such as yourselves.
Team Canada: Thelo, Everytime i see you, your always positive and have high spirits. The Community needs more players such as yourself. Your amazing. Jimmy Bones Swaggerific, you are too awesome sir. I got ultra lucky against you at tourney. It was great to meet Wildestroya too. Great stuff.
SteveTren, Flash G and Immortal: 3 of the nicest people i met at this event, also 3 of the scariest players in the tourney as well. I had a blast meeting you guys and look forward to next time.
Ghaleon: Thank you SOOOO much for having this event, as well as the complements and also for supporting the SBO US team at SBO. Also to mention that your Sagat is NASTTTY!!! Awesome stuff and I hope we meet again soon.
Keits: Great Chun Sir, and It was great to meet you. Thank you for the complements as well as the interview. P.S yes i was nervous during the interview lol sorry.
InerdJosh: Great to meet you sir, The CT legends would mention you from time to time, and it was great to meet an awesome player such as yourself.
GAMERBEE: GODLIKE AND AN HONOR TO BE IN YOUR PRESSENCE!!
James Chen: The Man, The Legend lol. It was great to meet you sir. Sorry i was pretty bummed out when i talked to you. It was good to hear you tell me a story similar to my situation. I hope you liked my answer as which game i like better. Insane Cammy BTW. Can’t wait to meet you again.
Mightymar: Great to talk to you sir and great vega you have there. Its pretty awesome how you used some of your skills from vampire savior to adapt to ST. Great stuff sir.
Graf: Awesome to meet and talk to you sir. Your Ryu is noooo joke at all sir. Look forward to hang with ya next time bud. Thank you.
Sir Pimp Richard: Insane ken sir, lets play again soon. It was a pleasure.
Arturo: Congrats on getting 3rd, and its great to see you play ST again. Great Showing!!
Fudd and Zerodotjander: Always a pleasure to hang and talk with you guys, and i hope you both continue to keep the ST scene alive with not only both of you guys awesome skill and videos but drive to play and learn about the scene like i am doing.
The Next person i will just say Im at sort of a loss for words but I think the picture here will show how honored i was to play and meet this person. I know he wouldnt read on this forum but thank you.
http://twitpic.com/2ys3oa (Special Thanks to King Rambo for putting this up.)
BIG E, Dr.Chaos, Bryheem, and C: I had tons of fun with you guys on the trip, and i would love to head places with you guys again. Thank you for everything.
My Friends and Family at home of course.
The Guile influences I have mentioned in my interview with keits.
Edit: Im out of class now and i have mentioned pretty much everything i had wanted to say. Shout outs to any one I forgot to mention.
As Far as ST vs HDR: Im not going to lie I think ST is better and just a more complete game. HDR is good for what it is, but then again I dont feel there should be an HDR because if you take the time to learn your character and the game, you will realize anything can happen. HDR to me is basically a game saying “I can’t do it so i need this and that to get buff and nerfed”. If ST dies, then HDR will do for me, but I just feel ST is so much more fun. And I will say, Guile is fine the way he is, he doesn’t need a buff. I feel if you can take the time to learn a character(especially If i scrub like me could do it and is still trying to learn more) then anyone can. Sorry to hdr heads but thats what i think. I spoke more with James Chen about it but this is how i feel really.
As far as me thinking im good, ehhhh dont know honestly(naaaahhhhhhhhhhh im not)lol but I feel i have improved just by this experience.
Godbless to all. Peace, Love, and Blessings.
I’ll have to hone my anti-Guile tricks for next time! :karate: