Actually, that’s an urban legend as far as I know.
You haven’t faced More Vega. 
He’s one of the biggest turtles I’ve played against anywhere. There’s plenty of turtling going on in Japan but the difference is that there are many more players there than here who are also effective with an aggressive style of play (I can only think of a handful of players here who fit that description, whereas in Japan you would see a number of players like that in any arcade you walk into).
Bob - I’m assuming you’re talking about the Claw player? (More Balrog?) That guy turtles HELLA…
Also, Muteki Guile usually turtles pretty hard too.
God I miss More…
Let’s drop the “if they pick low-tier they aren’t playing to win” discussion. You are getting into semantics which is a terrific time waster. I could say “doing whatever it takes” means grabbing someone by the balls so they can’t block while you unleash final TAP. 
“Doing your best” is so ambiguous that it’s not even worth discussing since everyone has their own interpretations.
next topic.
the “no turtling sign” is an urban legend. So is the “japanese people don’t throw because they are honorable.” Or “japanese people don’t do anything cheap because they are honorable.”
Talk about a broad generalization. Japanese people are the ones who feel comfortable holding d/b for 50% of the match (ah hem Mago, Kuroda). Even Americans don’t turtle that much.
In Tekken we had video evidence of this (no backdashing, no d+LP, LK for a series of TTT vids) but that was for a specific video set.
I can testify from first-hand experience. The Japs are the CHEAPEST mofo’s I have ever played ST against. They won’t even think twice about doing you dirty.
I’ve watched Noguchi win entire rounds with nothing but Claw wall dives. I am not exaggerating at all. He literally did NOTHING BUT WALL DIVES…so hard to block when done ambiguously.
This is the same fellow who always slaughtered my Chun in the corner with st.Fierce xx Chicken Wing. I’m starting to have horrible flashbacks…:sad:
At Evo2003 (I think), I was playing casuals with Daigo. My Boxer vs. his Ryu. (This was before I exclusively used Chun.) He knocked me down and did meaty fireball, walk up throw (which I didn’t tech), then another meaty fireball, walked up again, and I was like, “Whoa buddy, you’re not throwing me again”, so I stood up to reversal throw. Nigga hit me with cr.Short->cr.Short xx super. :wasted:
Anyone remember the CVS Honda (Tokido?) who just held D/B the entire match and RC-headbutted everything…yeah. I agree, next topic!
margalis - Wasn’t that Mago?
I’m not getting into semantics. If you aren’t doing everything you can to win you aren’t doing your best. Punching the other guy is street fighting, not street fighter. There are (unwritten) rules about that. If you aren’t playing by the rules, you aren’t playing street fighter, thus you can’t win at street fighter if you aren’t playing it.
Of course i agree that top tier hate is stupid (thx s-kill for showing us the way) and low-tier tournaments are a dumb idea, but at the same time it would be awfully boring if everyone stayed strictly within top tier all the time. If A2 was all Chun/Ryu/Ken/Rose, if 3S was all Yun/Chun/Ken, if ST was all Dhalsim/Vega/Sagat/Balrog. Who wants to see that? Plus some characters just “click” with certain people and they do way better with Cammy and Zangief than they could ever do with Dhalsim. It’s ok to slap some sense into someone who thinks it’s cheap when Ryu throws more than two fireballs in a row, but that whole group doesn’t really exist anymore within this community.
Yes, More Balrog is correct. We were calling him More Vega.
Yeah, now that I think about it, that guy had to be the biggest hardcore turtle I’ve ever faced. More was definitely SF heaven!
I do! Once I learn how to fight against all the top tier characters, all thats left is that one random mid tier counter character that two people in the country use. Every other character is a 7/3, so worst case it becomes a 5/5 against someone who mastered that matchup, which I can improve upon later.
Ok, so the people who have been playing for years and already know the top tier matchups probably would enjoy some variety and learning those rare mid tier matchups, but it isn’t something you are going to come across often unless you play one of those characters regularly(either yourself or a close friend).
I also don’t mean to use a tier list to pick your character(but if you do, at least do it right and pick from the top). I mean make your own tier list and pick who YOU think is best. If you think a character is better than the one you want to use, but you simply can’t get that character to work or you just understand your character better, then go ahead, you’ll have a better chance of winning playing a character you are comfortable with and know how to use than a better character that you have no clue how to use.
There is also selecting based on characters that you like because of their story or whatever, which while I support, I don’t feel it is competitive in nature. If you can make it work, then go for it, but don’t complain when said character loses to random scrubs playing top tier because abuseable move that combos into 60% damage beats out all of your moves. I basically feel pick whoever you want, just don’t complain when you lose because your character sucks. Either make it work or get a new character.
Ok ill make this stupid simple since people are going off on tons of tangents. How the fuck does a thawk player who never wins the tournament get an invitation to a pro only tournament?
^ because he’s a beast with T.Hawk!
I guessing because they want variety? I dunno.
Got your number. Are you still looking for a place? When are you thinking of moving out?
Because the organizers are trying to host an entertaining event and trying to sell DVDs. Inviting the famous T.Hawk player helps accomplish both goals.
Plus, doesn’t it make more sense to invite the best Hawk player than to invite the fourth best Ryu player?
Didn’t Toutanki make the semi finals in the 3v3 tournament a SBO? Id say thats pretty good for a Hawk, i know its a team effort, but teams don’t make it semi finals if your players are crap.
Pretty much.
EVO took a lot of shit for its 3S finals being all Chun VS Ken/Yun last year.
My suspicion is that this is like the All-Star Game, where you have to pick at least 1 player from each team. Maybe these tournies do the same thing with all characters.
[I’m not trying to be mean in this post, just trying to make a point.]
If the fourth best ryu player is better than the best thawk player, than he deserves the spot more.
A lot of top players could just switch to thawk and then they would be the best thawk, so its more like the best thawk players whos dumb enough to use thawk.
“Didn’t Toutanki make the semi finals in the 3v3 tournament a SBO?”
Semi finals in a single elimination team tournament means shit(on its own). Did he even win any games, or did his partners carry him?
He would probably get the invite because of the diversity, which gains popularity, which the producers probably thought would sell better. Inviting 20th best overall who plays ryu or 50th best overall who plays thawk, both of them are probably going to go out first game if 1-15 are there in a single elimination, highly unlikely either will make it past the second round. So for publicity have thawk in there instead of a better ryu. If its teams, put him with some good people(but not the best) so they get a couple wins, but save the best of the best for a good finals. Basic marketing I presume. Not fair for competition though.
This comment is way out of line and has no logical foundation.
^ does it work in reverse? Can a really good T.Hawk switch to Sim and become Uber-Sim???
That would be dope.