SBO Team Write-Ups and Information w/ Last Chance Qualifier Hopefuls

With SBO coming up this week, I thought it’d be cool if people gave a bit of information about their favorite teams. Doesn’t have to be a whole lot, but some basic information, who they beat to qualify, why their team has potential, etc. etc. would all be cool to write about. A lot of the community is in the dark about certain teams because everybody plays a different character or watches different vids, so now would be the time to rep who you’re rooting for.

I’ll try to condense the team write-ups so that people can view it all on the first page. If you can only write about half of a team, do it anyway and I’ll try to leave some open room for future edits. I’ll of course give credit to the authors.

Try to keep the dickrider, nuthugger shit to urself. It’s just like reppin your favorite basketball/baseball/football/soccer team before FIFA, Finals, the Superbowl so don’t be a dumbass.

Oichi of Versus City did a Power Players analysis on the 31st so when writing up about your team, try to put a bp count next to their name. You can find the latest bp here. If you can’t find the player on that list, just give a general BP ballpark number. Also write their block number so I can keep it in order.

I’m a Honda player so I’ll try to give some info about the honda teams.

B-1 Block - Umeso (EH~65k) / Dashio (VI)
Umeso: a.k.a. Namameso, is a Honda player that only became popular recently during the start of SBO quals. Kim1234, one of Japan’s best dictators happened to post some videos of a SBO qual where Namameso was spamming jab xx handslaps constantly. He’s probably the one who set off the HHS crazy train that all the worlds Honda’s jumped on including Akimo, Eduardo and Mike Ross to name a few. He is also probably Japan’s best Honda at fighting Sagat, Honda’s worst match-up. Very offensive player who tried to qualify with FZ at first but is now qual’d with Dashio (are they the same viper?). This guy has given Shiro/Iyo’s team a lot of grief as he knocked them out local finals in the past.

B-2 Block - Itabashi Zangief (ZA-91,166) / Fudo (RY)
Itabashi Zangief: When you speak about Zangief in America, the first thing you hear is what a retarded character and the second thing you hear is he loses to Sagat for free and just sucks at high levels (unless your name is UD in which case you go on and on about how you’re fcking dead on knockdown, which is true). But, when the Japanese talk about Zangief, they treat him like the devil in big mother fcking Russian form that resides at the top of the tier list. The reason for this big difference is America doesn?t have any solid giefs while Japan has Zangitan, Bouya and Itabashi. The key difference between the US gief and the Japanese gief is that the Japanese giefs are content with slapping the shit out of you with normals, making you guess until you shit your pants with cross-ups and lariat, and could care less about SPD most of the time. They realized a long time ago that SPD is just a once in a while utility (much like oicho and TT) while beating you down with a big hairy dude with powerful ass normals is better, especially when your hand lights on damn fire and glows green. At GodsGarden, Itabashi almost never SPD?d and was content with doing shortx3 xx ex greenhand and just milking the OKI until everybody just broke down and started crying. Some other big accomplishments he has are winning a ton of Nakano TRF?s and probably a lot of other local Japanese tournaments. He is(was?) also a grand master and a VF5 champ with his partner Fuudo and won a fairly big invitational tournament a month or two back, eliminating a Sagat in the grand finals. It?s pretty apparent though that Ojisan, Daigo, Mago and probably Bonchan beat him down for free, and Akimo hasn?t lost to him for a very long time now either, but if the bracket goes his way, he could be on the stage or in the finals. For sure.
Nohoho says:
Itabashi Zangief (“Itazan”)
Evo 04 VF4: 1st
SBO 05 VF4: Top 8 (Shun)
Evo 07 VF5: 1st
SBO 08 VF5R: 1st (w/ Fudo, Joe)

B-3 Block - Bon chan (SG) / Togawa (RY)
Bon Chan: While I was in my nerd trance and typing this dictionary known as a team information thread, a friend asked me who were the underdogs of SBO this year. Immediately, I thought of three names: Eita, Maeda, Bon Chan. When people talk about Sagat, they usually only mention Mago, Ojisan and maybe RF, but honestly, Bon Chan deserves a mention as well. I remember 2 or 3 months back when I saw Namameso, Japan’s best Honda at taking down Sagats, take on Bonchan, and get worked. Namameso usually shats on even above average Sagats so clearly, I was impressed when I saw him struggling against Bon Chan. After examining Bon Chan’s play a little more, I realized he did a lot of things right including holding his ground (he didn’t do that jump back all day nub shit a lot of bad Sagats do), he zoned with high tiger shots extremely well, and only used relatively safe block strings and combos. After reading about Bon Chan on IPlayWinner.com, getting 20 win streaks at Big Box, my assumption that he was a top tier Sagat was confirmed. Now I’m not sure Bon Chan will win SBO, even though it’s definitely possible, but expect a lot of upsets caused by this guy cause he’s definitely looking to prove that he’s one of the best. He’s jumped to rank 6 in all of Japan as of 8/12/09 so look out.

B-4 Block - Mago (SG-340,676) / Nemo (CH-207,457)
**Mago:**Mago, like Daigo, needs no introduction. He is one of the most solid 2d fighting game players on the planet and has been to EVO countless times to show the world how Japan plays CvS2. This time around, he’s repping Sagat, who he used in CvS2 as well and has a firm grasp of the top BP spot (55,000 bp more than anybody else). This guy wins more tournaments than I have fingers and toes including very competitive Nakano TRF’s and just won GodsGarden pre-sbo tournament in convincing fashion, taking out Daigo and Akimo easily. Things he does well that US sagats still don’t have a good grasp of are fireball trapping with f+rh, kara-cancel tiger uppercut/knee/shot, light attack links (dirty ass short and jab combos) and solid ass spacing (he does whiff a lot which Uryo punished hard). This is the guy to beat this SBO.

B-5 Block - Iyo (DH-121,252) / Shiro (AB-148,592)
Iyo: Anybody whose played CvS2 probably knows who Iyo is. He is the only competitive dhalsim/maki player and one of the most patient players in existence. He, like Yoshio, would rather time out than give you the chance to get extra meter with a blind rush-in. A very calculating player, he put Dhalsim on the map with his 1st place finish at Japan’s Nationals and ridiculous ultra setups. Since then, he hasn’t made much noise, but don’t count him out or you’re gonna pay. A few noteworthy characteristics about his playstyle are he is fantastic at playing up-close and can tech throws extremely well (most japanese players can). During Japan nats he took out two of the worlds best giefs despite the fact that everybody said the match-up was unwinnable or stupidly stacked. One of the last to qualify for SBO, he’s got things to prove considering he attempted 12 sbo quals and lost 2 block finals before he could finally clench a spot. Has a tendency to fall to Chun-li and Viper due to their nasty up-close mix-up. Lost to Nuki/Daigo in a huge sbl qual finals upset match where nuki comes back with a focus attack against a far fierce and goes straight into a full damage ultra.

Shiro: Shiro has always been a big name in the fighting game scene and has amazing execution. It really shines through with his Abel play as he is the highest ranked Abel in all of Japan(ranked 7th overall!). It?s no surprise he?s Iyo?s partner because he can definitely hang. Some noteworthy accomplishments are numerous high placements in Nakano TRF tournaments, 2-1 record against Daigo in the latest Kumite, and a very good placing in the Japan National Tournaments. [media=youtube]xNrEvfXfFgU"[/media] Despite an average performance at GodsGarden, all it takes is a good day for him to make it to the finals stage at SBO, guaranteed.
Nohoho says:
Shiro
SBO 03 CVS2: out 2nd round
SBO 04 CVS2: out 2nd round (w/ Dan, Daigo)
SBO 05 CFJ: Top 4 (Jedah/Yun) (w/ Iyo)
SBO 06 HnK: out 2nd round (Toki)
SBO 08 HnK: Top 4 (Raoh)
Dream Fighters Festival 2007 HnK: 1st (Raoh)

B-6 Block - Gosho (RU) / Kyabetsu (VI) - AcedicEnema
Gosho (RU): A.k.a., Oogosho or Sweat Sweat. Itabashi calls him “The strongest Rufus in Tokyo” so why haven’t people been hearing about this guy? Hell if I know, but the lack of videos hasn’t helped. SBO achievements include winning KOF 2002 at SBO 2003 and being the only person to get into top 8 in 98UM at SBO 2008 without using Krauser. Known for using grapplers in KOF (Daimon, O.Yashiro, Ralf), characters which typically require a strong sense of spacing and good yomi, which might explain why SF4 was a relatively easy transition for him.

Kyabetsu (VI): Don’t know much about him except that he uses rushdown characters in KOF 98 (Kyo, Iori, Orochi Chris, Chizuru)… which doesn’t say much. (Emil could probably jump in here and write a wiki entry). Won KOF Neowave for SBO 2005. Managed to qualify for the Godsgarden tournament, which is no mean feat by itself, then got peaced out by Mago in the first match and Gasshuku in losers.
He eliminated Kim1234, the famous US CvS2 player in block a finals. -pieguy

B-7 Block - Mizoteru (BL-15k new card) / Ichi (SG)
Mizoteru: Every morning, Mizoteru probably wakes up and says to himself, “Today, I’m going to be as annoying as humanly possible with Blanka.” That said, he makes good on this promise to himself cause he’s a beast with Blanka. If you haven’t figured it out already, realize now that Blanka is just one really annoying son of a _____ and everybody hates fighting him. Mizoteru is in fact so annoying, that he’s been deemed the Green Devil. Siiiick name bro. Things Mizoteru does well? He’s the most patient blanka in the world and [media=youtube]CJj64hRcYhA"[/media] He will spend the whole damn round pressing d+PPP in order to not give up his life advantage and will poke at you with blanka’s weak and annoying ass offense until you rush in blindly and get murdered. True story. Because of this, characters with really solid/safe offense give him a bit of trouble while characters like Chun-li/Abel (not shiro so much) are food for him. Heaven forbid that he ever knocks you down, expect to piss your pants blocking that meaty cross-up ultra or the cross-up blanka ball. Did I mention he also spams electricity to build meter if you don’t go after him? Seriously, I envy Mizoteru’s extreme annoyingness and patience cause nobody in the world can piss off that many people without playing guile.

Ichi: Writing this description, I’m assuming Ichi is the same Ichi that plays virtually every fighting game on the planet well and who flies across the entire eastern hemisphere playing random players like Yamazaki93. Ichi is a bit of an oddball player because he, like Dragon Boy, can’t make up his mind. He plays Ken one day, Sagat the next day, uses Ken at GodsGarden and tournaments but qualifies with Sagat. WHAT!? Honestly, he just confuses me because he is a very solid player who can definitely hang (he’s beaten shiro/[media=youtube]RCENiQR6r_g"]ojisan/[URL=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMUNNbCIZZ0”[/media] at Nakano TRF’s w/ ken) yet he qual’d with the character I’ve never seen him play. Maybe it’s a different Ichi? Either way, the guy’s solid but a bit inconsistent (Bonchan and Gasshuku destroyed him at Godsgarden), but everybody has a bad day.

B-8 Block - Daigo (RY-263,609) / Nuki (CH-138,900)
Daigo: I really did not want to write about Daigo because everybody already knows about him, but here it goes anyway. The guy flies over the Pacific Ocean, plays in a 1040 man tournament and doesn’t lose a single match. He has the most legendary street fighter comeback ever recorded in history. When he was a teenager and played Vampire Savior, he was in the arcade and racked up a 150 win streak. After finally giving up due to being tired (not losing), on the way out he mentions to the manager that the middle punch is broken. He’s ranked top 3 in BP and could crush you with his monstrous ego fronted by his emotionless face, if he wanted to. At GodsGarden you saw what he was capable of.(strong, strong, strong, sweep… WTF!!!) He gets mad messed up by Viper mix-up apparently, but it’s Daigo, so I expect some bullshit out of no where followed by a victory.(seems like Uryo beasted everybody tho…)
Nohoho says:
Vampire Savior Nationals: 1st (Bishamon)
1st SFA3 Nationals: 1st (V Akuma)
2nd SFA3 National Team Tourney: 2nd
3rd SFA3 Nationals: 1st
Beat Live Cup Third Strike 3on3: 2nd
CVS1 Nationals: 1st
SBO 03 CVS2: 2nd
SBO 03 GGXX: Top 4
Evo 03 GGXX: 1st (Sol)
Evo 03 3S: 2nd (Ken)
Evo 03 CVS2: 2nd
Evo 04 GGXX: 1st
Evo 04 3S: 2nd
SBO 04 CVS2: out 2nd round (w/ Dan, Shiro)
SBO 05 3S: 1st (w/ Nuki)
SBO 05 Capcom Fighting Jam: 2nd (w/ Dan)
Evo 06 GGXX Slash: 2nd (w/ RF, Kindevu)
4th Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 1st
Vampire Hunter DCC2: 1st (Pyron)

**Nuki:**One of my favorite players of all time to spectate is Nuki. He has undoubtedly, the best execution in the friggin world. One frame links are an afterthought to him and he pulls ridiculous 20-hit combos out of his ass with Chun-Li! He’s also a winner in my book because he has his own style. He just doesn’t look at the the tier list and pick from top 3. Everybody knows Chun-Li sucks in this game, yet he still plays her and wins. He wins a lot! Honestly though, I expect Nuki to do well, but don’t think he’ll take it all, at least not by himself. He seems to have problems with certain match-ups, although the Chun’s dodged the El Fuerte bullet this time around. Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if EVO’s 3s Champ pulls out an SBO win, simply because he’s THAT good. At EVERYTHING. To this day, it still surprises me that Nuki did so well with Chun and Akuma in CvS2, since the team is literally built with paper mache’.
Nohoho says:
Vampire Savior Nationals: 2nd (Bishamon)
SFA2 Nationals: 1st (Chun)
1st SFA3 Nationals: 2nd (V Akuma)
CVS1 Nationals: 3rd
CVS2 Nationals: 1st (N Ryu, Blanka, Sagat)
Evo 02 CVS2: 2nd
SBO 04 3S: Top 4 (Chun) (w/ Boss, K.O)
SBO 04 CVS2: Top 4 (w/ Inoue, Tokido)
SBO 05 3S: 1st (w/ Daigo)
Evo 05 ST: 2nd
Evo 05 3S: 1st
SBO 06 3S: Top 4 (w/ K.O, Kokujin)
SBO 06 VF4FT: 2nd (Aoi) (w/ Chibita, Osu Akira)
Evo 06 3S: 1st
SBO 07 HSF2: 1st (Chun) (w/ Kurahashi)
Evo 07 3S: 1st
Evo 07 VF5: 2nd
Evo 08 ST: 2nd
Evo 08 3S: 1st
SBO 08 ST: Top 8 (w/ Tokido)
1st Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 1st (w/ Joe, Tokido, Shao, Match)
5th Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 2nd

B-9 Block - Akimo (HO-99,968) / Kirisuto (RU)
Akimo: Without a doubt, the most solid Honda in the world. He was the first, and only Grand Master Honda in Japan. Back in May, this guy was a no-name and only in these past few months has his reputation taken off. His specialty is ultra eagle eyeing through fireballs w/ ultra and if memory serves me right, he’s won 3 Nakano TRF’s, which is a crazy feat for a Honda (mago, daigo, nemo, shiro, etc. all go to TRF tournaments). This guy is probably the reason why all of Japan thinks Honda is upper mid-tier cause he dukes it out constantly with the best at BIG BOX and wins. He placed 4th at GodsGarden taking out Momochi, Tokido and TKD. Like all Honda’s, he has mad problems against mago, ojisan and bonchan, all of which have taken a few top placings from him in the past.

Kirisuto: Probably the youngest player to qualify at age 16(15?), he is one of Japan’s most aggressive Rufus’s. AcidicEnema has this to say about him: “Kirisuto’s videos all show more offense than I’m comfortable with, and lot of the things he does looks hideously unsafe on video. He is a top player though, so he’s definitely doing something right. Rather than assume than he lucked out, it makes sense to assume that he’s knows what he’s doing and learn from it…” Or that his success so far is a testament to how important audacity is in playing Rufus. I mean, gawd, this man does dive kick> s.LKX2>s.HP> Tornado against Daigo when one LK will do- there’s no fear of screwing up and throwing the match there." He took first place in a recent TRF tournament and has beaten big names such as Yoshio, Itabashi, Akimo and Shiro.

B-10 Block - Ojisan Boy (SG-285,145) / Tokido (AK-120,485)
Ojisan: Ojisan currently holds the 2nd spot of japan’s bp list and its definitely well earned. The guy is just solid with good footsies, godly execution and experience out the wazoo. He’s been top 3 in BP since the game came out and honestly, people don’t give him enough credit. He has not made huge noise in the tournament scene but he does win a lot of Nakano TRF’s and places well in countless other tourneys. People think he rides the coattails of Sagat being overpowered, but if you’ve seen him play Abel, you know he’s just got a ton of talent. It would not surprise me at all if he was on the stage at SBO cause it’s what he’s used to, duking it out everyday with the big boys at BIG BOX (no pun intended).

Tokido: If you were to ask me who the dirtiest street fighter player on the entire face of the earth is, I would instantly say Tokido. Why? He’s always the first to figure out what’s game breaking and effective, and abuses the hell out of it to his advantage. Shoshosho? He’s on it. Vega wall splash bullshit in ST that makes you want to vomit? No problem. Ridiculously overpowered ambiguous psycho crusher bison cheese in CE? Already there. What’s this netted him? A shitload of tournament wins including a handful of EVO 1st places. Despite the dirty tactics and cheesiness, Tokido is a solid player and he understands games better then 99.999% of other players, as can be seen at SBO(04?) where he’s carrying around a CvS2 bible before playing. If you watched him during GodsGarden, you saw a ton of potentially lethal setups with his Akuma that will definitely shine through in the best of 1 setting at SBO. Expect great things come crunch-time as long as he doesn’t run into Hondas. Did I mention he’s ridiculously dirty?
Nohoho says:
Evo 02 CVS2: 1st
SBO 03 CVS2: 1st (A Sakura, Bison, Blanka)
SBO 04 CVS2: Top 4 (w/ Nuki, Inoue)
SBO 05 CFJ: 1st (Jedah, Urien) (w/ Mago)
Evo 06 HSF2: 3rd (CE Bison)
SBO 06 Samurai Shodown 6: Top 4 (Mina) (w/ Reoth)
Evo 07 ST: 1st (Vega)
Evo 07 3S: 3rd (Chun)
1st Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 1st (Urien) (w/ Nuki, Joe, Shao, Match)
6th Cooperation Cup 3S Teams: 2nd

C-1 Block - Yoshio (GU~40k) / Ii Desu Ketsu Bat (EH~35k)
Yoshio: The famous ST guile, Yoshio is repping guile once again in SFIV. He was one of the first SBO qualifiers and won his spot by taking down Vega Curry (sagat that eliminated daigo in japan nats) in convincing fashion. Extremely good at charging, this guy never misses booms and makes the Guile/Sagat match-up actually seem winnable, while in reality, it’s retardedly stacked. The definition of patient, this guy would rather time out and lose than give you meter by blindly rushing in. The prime example of proper spacing, he uses bazooka knee, f/b+mk and b+fp like a champion (b+fp, b+fp links all day).

Ii Desu Ketsu Bat: Back during January and February, I remember seeing IDKB for the first time and being completely amazed. He was fantastic at punishing fireballs with ultras and was probably one of the first recorded instances of HHS in tournament. He’s always been a solid player and consistently placed top 3 in nakano TRF’s. He hasn’t made a whole bunch of noise since qualifying for SBO, but qualified with an [media=youtube]0lvQDlggkSI"[/media] against one of Japan’s best boxers, Aojiru Guile. He seemed to have pioneered the counter-hit s.fp xx super that a lot of Hondas use now and can tech throws like a champion. Don’t sleep on this guy’s abilities or you’ll be dead before you know it.

C-3 Block - Momochi (AK-137,897) / Kindevu (RU-139,017)
Momochi: When people mention Akuma, the first person they always talk about is Momochi. The guy is just solid. Perfect footsies, 20-hit combos like they’re BnB’s, dirty ass demon flip setups and he buffers SGS into every damn normal he does. Back in January, everybody was sleeping on Akuma while this guy was beasting fools left and right. Nobody could understand why Akuma was considered high or top tier until videos of Momochi came out. Half a year later, the guy is still solid, and considered one of Japan’s best. He hasn’t won a whole lot of tournaments but the potential is always there, especially teamed up with the equally dirty Kindevu. This guy beats Sagat for free but has trouble against Akimo’s Honda. Watch for the notorious s.rh, s.lp, s.rh, s.lp, s.rh, s.lp, c.rh combo of free meter.

Kindevu: Sometimes, you just gotta realize that some people are born with it while others just practice a shitload. Kindevu, translated into king pig(golden fatty?) I believe (hope my friend wasn’t lying), was born with it and plays a shitload. The guy has won a crapload of EVO titles and dominates SFIV with high level rufus play and viper play. Both his cards are grand master level and he plays an incredibly dirty Rufus. He’s always fishing for the messiah kick baits, spams a lot of rh messiah kick and lands more ultras in a day than a Guile player can land in a lifetime. He did somewhat averagely at Godsgarden, but consistent is this guy’s middle name as he places well at almost every big tournament he enters (top 8 japan nats as an example). Expect great things from Kindevu as long as he doesn’t run into the top 3 sagats Mago, Ojisan and Bonchan.

D-4 Block - Umezono (BI) / Uryo (VI-142,141)
Uryo: On August 7th, 3/4 of the US’s Viper community collectively jizzed their pants when they saw Uryo play at GodsGarden. And honestly, it’s warranted because that night, Uryo literally took a symbolic dump on most of Japan’s best players. The amount of incredibly ridiculous ultra setups he pulled off in those few matches had everybody, including the mc, screaming, “OMG WTF!!!1!!!,” Now Uryo, obviously an incredible Viper, qualified for SBO fairly early on, but apparently, it was a rocky road to get there as he had to enter 5 local qualifiers before him and Umezono his partner finally earned an SBO spot. So he might be the best Viper in Japan, but consistency is a big part of winning SBO. One thing of interest I heard about Uryo is that he does not practice at Big Box with the “big boys” (Japanese top 10) meaning a lot of the setups that fooled everybody during GodsGarden had never been seen before. Essentially, he pulled a JWong where the “big boys” is the United States as a whole. Moving on, some other accomplishments by Uryo are he scored 2nd place at NSB7 Block A. Don’t be surprised if Viper jumps two tiers on the tier list again, much like what happened when Joe blew everybody away with his Viper play, earlier this year. Tiers lists should be based on the character not the player, but clearly, that doesn’t always happen considering Joe and Akimo are living proof.

D-5 Block - Eita (AK-107,503) / Maeda Taison (BA-65k)
**Eita: **Most of SRK usually talk about Momochi and Tokido when Akuma comes up and really don’t give Eita enough credit. While not the most consistent gouki, Eita, a showman, is one of the most offensive gouki’s in Japan and convincingly holds a grand master spot. In a [media=youtube]n25aOTDCNrQ"[/media], he was able to take out Kindevu’s team in semis with the help of his partner Maeda. Also, Eita had a very good showing at Nagoya Street Battle 7 held in June where his team won block a finals. Definitely don’t root this guy out for appearing on SBO’s stage. He took one of the last two sbo qualifying spots I believe.

Maeda Taison: Out of the four famous Japanese boxers, Cab, MT, Aojiru Guile and BBJ, Maeda was the only one who was able to qualify for SBO. Not enough recognition goes to this guy imo and few know what he’s capable of. A lot of players, especially the US players, say Japan’s balrogs are all very linear players who do nothing but spam specials, but honestly, they just haven’t seen this guy play. He’s got solid ass ground game and anti-airs like a champion. He’s always in that perfect range and never wastes his meter like you often see other boxers do. In the same sbo qual where eita beats kindevu, Maeda takes out Momochi (payback for a NSB6 loss). Also, in the recent nagoya street battle 7, maeda REVERSE OCV’s Uryo’s team in block-a finals ([media=youtube]psnynv74tXc"]part1, [). Don’t sleep on this guy’s abilities. SBO stage is a very big possibility for this team.

Denjin Block - CaliPower (RY) / Combofiend (VI)
Calipower Alex Valle: Nearly a decade has gone by, and Valle is once again back in Japan, trying to rep the states in another incarnation of SF. This time it’s a team tournament however, but he’s sticking with the same character he used in Alpha Series. Of course no stranger to the tourney scene, Valle has been doing well in US tournaments, scoring numerous top 3 placings in Socal tournaments. Having not placed top 8 at EVO, he’s definitely got something to prove, but does he have what it takes to hang with the Japanese who have had 4 months more experience with the game? I hope so, but to rain on everybody’s parade, not a single US team has ever made top 3 at SBO (i’m not even sure they’ve made it past 2 rounds since marvel isn’t in the line-up), and not a single country EXCEPT for Korea has ever won an SBO championship (Korea won Tekken 5 I believe).

Combofiend Peter Rosas: During SBO quals @ Denjin, the most consistent player throughout the entire event was undoubtedly, Combofiend. America was and is still rather unfamiliar with Viper, and this unfamiliarity combined with Combofiend’s amazing execution (this guy plays a ridiculous A-Rolento, my god) and experience helped him clinch one of two US qualifier spots. Some background info about Combofiend is he’s placed top 8 @ EVO in almost every game he plays and has a MvC2 team named after himself. He also looks like he could punch your damn head off if he wanted too. Now familiarity with Viper is something the Japanese definitely have so it will be difficult to win, but anybody whose played SF for more than a few years will tell you that OG Street Fighter players can do some ridiculous shit, when you least expect it, any and every time they play.

Stunfest Block - Justin Wong (BA) / Marn (RU)
Justin Wong: Justin Wong: Considering there seems to be a general trend that Marvel players do well in SFIV, Justin Wong is definitely no exception to this rule. JWong, since America received SF4, has had a lock on the competitive scene. Maybe he’s born with a knack for fighting games, or maybe he just practices more than everybody? Maybe both? But either way, after a convincing 2nd place finish at EVO, 1st place finishes at Devastation and Final Round, and numerous wins at small PnT and CTF tournaments, JWong is definitely somebody to look out for. A few things to keep in mind however are JWong is not used to best of 1 format, he did poorly at Nakano TRF tournaments and is not used to fighting extremely high caliber Sagats, especially not with Balrog. It?s a bit unsettling at times to realize that while Justin is America?s best, America?s best might not stand a chance come SBO. But I hope he proves me, and many non-believers (not haters, just non-believers) wrong.

Marn: Now personally, I have not played anybody on the SBO qual list other than Marn. And, from a purely objective AMERICAN standpoint, I think he deserves to be on it. He?s a fairly consistent Rufus player who did some things I?d never seen before (I have the feeling him and JWong hide a lot of useful shit the US would benefit from knowing), and sent me to losers semi?s at EVO. JWong commented that Marn has improved exponentially since he started playing with him and I?m sure that?s the case, but he also said Marn still has room for improvement and that?s understandable too. The US and World still have many years of improvement ahead of us. After his performances at Nakano TRF tournaments (made it past first round) and GodsGarden (didn?t get curb stomped), you can tell he?s definitely a contender, but is being a contender good enough to make it onto the SBO stage? I hope so because in my opinion JWong and Marn have my vote as the foreign team to make it the farthest this SBO. Hopefully, that?s more than just 1-2 wins, but historically, it?s not looking so good.

LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER WILDCARDS
Taking place bright and early on the day of SBO is the last chance qualifiers. It’s a all or nothing single elimination tournament just like SBO, where you duke it out with everybody and their mom in order to get into the last spot(s?) for SBO because you couldn’t qualify in any of the other 26 (damn that’s a lot) qualifiers. But honestly, there’s nothing to be ashamed of because Japan’s competition for SFIV (7th most popular game) is mf fierce.

So, who didn’t make it but still has a big chance of dominating the last chance qualifier to get one of those pretty blue tickets? Well, the top 10 players of Japan:

1 Mago ?? SG 362,857 (+66,546!!!)
2 Ojisanboy ??? SG 296,311
3 Umehara ??? RY 274,396
4 RF ??? SG 247,076
5 Nemo ?? CH 212,075
6 Bonchan ??? SG 153,472
7 Shiro ?? AB 152,520
8 Radiowave Radiowave (Denpa) SG 151,253
9 Kindevu ??? RU 151,083
10 Uryo ??? VI 142,141

all did work and ended up qualifying, showing everybody in the world, why they’re top 10. Good shit. Now whose left?

Beah(RU)/Aojiru Guile(BX-97,840)
Beah: A respectable Rufus whose quite well versed in CvS2 if memory serves me right that’s been around the block (whore!). He(she?) has teamed up with Cruz, Cross, Akimo and as of late, Aojiru Guile. I first saw Beah play at a Nakano TRF and I was pretty impressed. He did all the right things including proper punishing (fp xx fp galactic), good spacing, good dive kicks, ultra setups, and enough mix-up with throws to cause a panic. Honestly though, there’s a lot of good Rufus’ in Japan (Kindevu, Kirisuto, Naiki) so it’s hard to set yourself apart, but really, Beah’s good and deserves to compete in SBO.
Aojiru Guile: Aojiru Guile is the first name that should pop into your head when the words Japan and Boxer are mentioned. He has been playin Boxer since the game came out a year ago and has always been a force. He placed top 8 at Japan Nationals and has a fairly nice collection of tournament wins. In fact, he probably holds the most tourney wins in Japan with boxer. Lately he’s kind of in a slump though as he’s tried 6 times to qualify for SBO with no luck. He did win two local finals however with the help of his old teammate Vega Curry (took out daigo in jap nats) and Beah. Honestly, I think Aojiru is a solid player, but the reason he hasn’t has success is cause Boxer just ain’t that good in Japan. They all figured out how to abuse normals against him and see ex moves coming from a mile away. For a good watch, look up the series between Zangitan and Aojiru cause unlike 75% of the US’s Balrogs, he actually knows how to fight gief :xeye:.

TKD/Shibuya Sports Alliance (Kikanbou max (AK),Mashimashin (RY), Shungoku Noiroze (DIC), Chometarou (BX), Chuashi
TKD: When I first saw TKD play at a Nakano TRF, I was like GTFO screen you 27k bp waste of space (IM SORRY!). But then, after 2 rounds, I had to pick my jaw up off the table and slap myself a few times to realize the most epic el fuerte in Japan just took a huge shit on everybody at Nakano TRF. This guy is beyond what words can describe. He’s all over the place with the sexiest mix-up you ever seen, effortless RSF and Shining Star bait like he was reading minds. I always knew Tetsu was a badass ELF, but honestly, I think TKD’s got him beat. The other hilarious part about TKD is he runs through top 20 players like its nobody’s business. If you don’t have a good invincible reversal, consider yourself butt____ed, especially if your name is [media=youtube]zhT_HTGNZ80"]Nemo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeamuKssO20"[/media)/Kindevu << >>. I have never seen anybody consistently thrash Chun-li’s (nemo/[URL=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7s3Ed_ruOU”[/media]) so badly until this guy hit the scene. I have no clue who his teammate is, but guessing by his team name at Shiozawa, it’ll be a Shibuya Sportsland homie. Oh yeah, daigo thinks elf is a 5-5 match-up with ryu cause of TKD and Tetsu probably.

AC Revenger (AB-111,355)/Kuroken (SG)
AC Revenger: I’m just puttin this out there right now and going to save “I told you so” for later. America is REALLY sleeping on Abel. AC Revenger and Shiro are living proof that the Frenchy has potential and can dish it out like crazy. While not quite as crazy as Shiro, AC imo can hang with the top 10 easily considering he’s beaten [media=youtube]CeoL084Ycts&feature=PlayList&p=7E01B651983927BA&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1"[/media] in tournament before. He plays at Big Box with the rest of the SFIV greats and the fact that he still has a BP count of 110k+ shows that he deserves to be in SBO just like everybody else in the top 10 (he’s ranked 19). The guy always does well in Nakano TRF tournaments and imo, if he got a better partner, would easily make it onto the stage at SBO (Kuroken is not bad tho). This guy has gotten to

w 4/29
lb 5/3
w 5/9
lb 5/10
w 5/23
lb 5/24
l 6/6
lb 6/7

four, that’s right, four block finals which is the qualifying match for SBO. Poor dude.

Dragon Boy(KE-108,176)/Brief Boy(BX)
The 2nd most famous player in the Boy group (I should start a group with guy at the end of each name to be cool…), Dragon Boy is the most popular Ken in Japan from an American standpoint. The guy has really crazy ground game, unpredictable mix-up and a randomness factor that just makes you chuckle sometimes (random ultras). His most famous video is on youtube and can be seen [media=youtube]I97usSt0eaI"[/media]. I haven’t seen much of any of the Boys lately hold Ojisan, but I imagine by his high bp ken card that he’s still pretty good. He’s fiddled around with Akuma and Ryu on the side and currently has 3-4 sbo qualifier attempts:

l 5/17, 5/24
w 5/31
lb 6/7

Well being a pretty much exclusive Viper player I’m rooting for Dashio (who’s teaming with some Honda I’ve never heard of) and Uryo who’s teaming with Umezono’s dictator (who I don’t care for and apparently no one else does).

I don’t remember exactly who Uryo had to beat to qualify for SBO but I think I remember seeing the matches. I think Uryo is good for beating anyone though and he’s basically the Komoda Blanka of the Viper players. He’s good for beating anybody no matter how good or bad the matchup is. He’s got his matchups down pat. Dashio I’m looking forward to see doing well also since his Viper is more reminiscent of my eccentric feint heavy playstyle. Except he makes it work and I get hit by stuff.

Try to list out some accomplishments or reasons why they’re good. Just saying their good doesn’t tell people much cause they already qualified. Like other than godsgarden, barely anybody knows about Uryo and I only don’t know how good Dashio even is, despite him teaming up with one of Japan’s top hondas.

nice read there

Go Go Dashio and Uryo. I agree Vipers Dittos for SBO finals.

Iyo and Shiro… nuff said

I watched one of the online streams from Japan a while ago where Eita annihilated Momochi’s Ryu in the finals(I think it was Finals). That really opened my eyes to the guy. He’s definitely not your typical runaway Akuma like you said.

I despise Guile in SF4. I love to play as him but he cant handle it in this game. If Yoshio wins. I’m maining him.

Cheering for Honda’s, Dictators, Chun’s, and Guiles.

Just know that Nemo is so fucking good he’s winning this.

Guess I’ll talk a little about one of the most slept on teams out there- Team KOF

B-6 Block - Gosho (RU) / Kyabetsu (VI)

Gosho (RU): A.k.a., Oogosho or Sweat Sweat. Itabashi calls him “The strongest Rufus in Tokyo” so why haven’t people been hearing about this guy? Hell if I know, but the lack of videos hasn’t helped. SBO achievements include winning KOF 2002 at SBO 2003 and being the only person to get into top 8 in 98UM at SBO 2008 without using Krauser. Known for using grapplers in KOF (Daimon, O.Yashiro, Ralf), characters which typically require a strong sense of spacing and good yomi, which might explain why SF4 was a relatively easy transition for him.

Kyabetsu (VI): Don’t know much about him except that he uses rushdown characters in KOF 98 (Kyo, Iori, Orochi Chris, Chizuru)… which doesn’t say much. (Emil could probably jump in here and write a wiki entry). Won KOF Neowave for SBO 2005. Managed to qualify for the Godsgarden tournament, which is no mean feat by itself, then got peaced out by Mago in the first match and Gasshuku in losers.

More about nemo and nuki IMO. Nemo has a blog but I can’t read/speak Japanese and google translator sucks.

very nice thread going here. Keep the info going, and thanks.

Did you watch the Tokyo Game Night battles on Ustream? That’s all you need to know about Uryo. He’s ALL OVER the 2nd half of the stream. He beat Daigo and Mago in the winners bracket. Uryo is basically the new Joe…except even better as far as fundamentals. Dashio also beat Mago in another national event that I can post later. It was a sick match and he must have feinted 093328 times. If you don’t know who they are…by SBO I guarantee you will find out. Uryo especially. He’s not just a good Viper he’s one of the best players period.

Makes sense that Kyabetsu uses Viper since Viper is basically a KOF character in a SF game. She has super hop and super short hop and feints and all that other good SNK stuff.

Everybody and their mom saw those matches, but we need more info about him. What’d he play before, when did he get good, any other accomplishments other than Godsgarden? I’m trying to make this thread detailed so just here and there information isn’t that helpful.

No writeup for Kirisuto?

Dudes only 16 and has one of the best Rufuss on the planet. I dont know if hes won any tournaments or not, but the dude`s solid.

Well I don’t live in Japan so I don’t know Uryo’s achievements outside of qualifying for SBO and winning an A-Cho tournament. I’m sure he’s won plenty more tourneys. Dashio I’m sure has won or placed extremely well in tourneys but again…I don’t live in Japan and spend all my time following the little info an American player possibly could on these players. Especially when a lot of these players aren’t even getting much footage. If Uryo and Dashio were in the NBA…maybe.

I’m not from Japan so all the info I pick up is from he said, she said posts. Do a write up if you know enough about him. I know in the past he’s beaten Yoshio, Itabashi, Akimo and Shiro in trf tournaments. Kinda pissed me off actually xD. I believe Akimo teamed up with him right after he lost to him at a TRF tourney which is pretty funny. Can’t beat em, join em.

I’m in the same boat, location wise. I’ll try to do an Uryo write-up because I vaguely remember some stuff nohoho mentioned about him.

Not much known:

  • He’s 16 (15?)
  • Has won at least one TRF tournament. [media=youtube]xw53oikQMiQ&feature=channel_page[/media]
  • This is how I described his playstyle in the Rufus forums w/ additions “Kirisuto’s videos all show more offense than I’m comfortable with, and lot of the things he does looks hideously unsafe on video. He is a top player though, so he’s definitely doing something right. Rather than assume than he lucked out, it makes sense to assume that he’s knows what he’s doing and learn from it…” Or that his success so far is a testament to how important audacity is in playing Rufus. I mean, gawd, this man does dive kick> s.LKX2>s.HP> Tornado against Daigo when one LK will do- there’s no fear of screwing up and throwing the match there.

very good writeups

Props with the research man!

And can you elaborate more about what Mago’s fireball trapping with f-rh? Like…he forces them to jump into rh with fireballs?