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
