after reading this page of the thread I had to colaborate lol, cuz again things are being taken the wrong way few things to highlight:
this tournament feauturing hummer was made because hummer was sort of the ggpo Japanese god which the Mexicans wouldn’t have a chance to defeat, and after the results of the tournament, suddendly he is a Japanese washed out player lol be consistent with what you say.
the tournament fundamental purpose imo was not to proove if the Mexicans are the number one players in the world right now( it still doesn’t right now), it was to proove to some people ( and I don’t think there was a neccesity to proove something to that uninformed people but oh well…) that Mexico had great level of skill and that no random Japanese or Asian player could come here and have a day at the park playing Mexican players.
*Based on this I could answer to the question of : where were they back in 2005 when there was more hype about 0G 2002 and the Japanese players supposedly were in their prime? well they were also in their prime and in the same level you just watched on DG’s videos, some players like Esteban where actually better, I watched them, so back then the Mexican players could have competed as good as they did a couple of weeks ago to either ogoshoo another god, playing with a begginer character like ralf or any other japanese player. It’s just than back then DG’s wasn’t there uploading you to see or taking Asians to Mexico.
*About Kula being Mike Tyson, (I would pick a more dominant boxer to compare it not that &^% that eats ears) He isn’t… he’s just arrogant, part of the show or not, those are things a person shouldn’t ever say about another serious competitor, and “trainning it” in 98, 98 um, xi, 2002 um, etc etc would not reflect the Mexican metagame , it would be just a picked up person and make him practice in order to compete in what is out of his home meta.
This guy speaks the truth, seriously in Mexico in 2005 Esteban was in his prime too, Esteban, Khannibal, all those players Emil put on his channel and got all those views from that one video Esteban vs. Khannibal guess what? THAT WAS IN JUAREZ. In the Battle 4 Mexico 2010 interview with Esteban he even talks about that!
We thought about calling Kula Muhammad Ali (That was Lecter’s suggestion first lol), but the way he obliterates people in 2002 in such quick fashion makes me think about Mike Tyson. Also let me motivate Kula for the tournament in 2002 UM etc in July…I will motivate him so much he will have a supreme chip on his shoulder, just you wait…I will motivate him to crush all of his opponents in the NEWER KOFS…=)
Also I am certain Mexico will thrive on the newer games, things will shape up in due time so that people can’t say anything about Mexicans playing games that the rest of the world/Japan etc. is “not playing anymore.” =)
Next videos part 6.0 and 6.1 of the North vs. South:
[media=youtube]IIkjn3Qt3u8[/media]
[media=youtube]lhBrFSI-R20[/media]
The thing is, I fully understand what you are trying to do by showing that the Mexican style of play is just as superior as any of the other styles that we have seen. So far, you have been correct. Problem is from what I’ve seen, is that you have been fighting against a small minority of players who happen to have motor mouths. I think a lot of players have known for a long time that there is high level skill in every country and only want to antagonize you just because of your attitude towards the USA players and how you carry yourself.
Frankly, I’m not going to argue because I’m not a high level player. I appreciate what you are doing and I’m sure a lot that minority of players appreciate what you are doing as-well because high level KOF play is the best. Again, I think the problem is that they just find your attitude towards things to be annoying. And I’m also under the impression that they really don’t give a damn about the whole Japan vs. Mexico stuff because it’s a waste of time and what matters is the high level play that you have presented us in the KOF games.
I understand what you are saying, but I feel the attitude towards the USA is justified (Do what I have been doing for 5 years, and I am sure many of you would feel very similar to the way I do about it, see Oscar, Webster they already feel about the same way as I do!!!), especially when you’ve put as much time and effort as I have only to basically get stomped on in return. Now who in their right mind would want to be associated with that? Especially if as I said before, this is a trend with promoting SNK in the USA? (Remember started with Giby, then to THE ANSWER, then to me, same results same treatment people!) Until many of you can put yourself in either myself, Oscar or Giby’s shoes, than you cannot possibly understand why we feel the way we do in regards to the USA SNK scene (Remember Oscar stopped doing this for a reason too guys…you think that/those reason/s is/are about the same as mine?).
So as much as some of you love to make this about ME ME ME ME ME…this is more than just about ME…
In regards to them finding me annoying, well guess what, I find them to be just equally as annoying.
In regards to them antagonizing me, they are going to have to try much harder, because everything they try I take pleasure in shooting it down (Hence there are quite less of them even in this thread why? They don’t have anything to toss at me anymore be it Mexico vs. Japan, GGPO argument/jokes, none of that, I’ve silenced all of that!).
Now all they have left is simply just to be a hater…=)
Again though you may not agree with my views on the USA, you probably won’t understand it unless you’ve done what me Oscar etc have tried to do for at LEAST as long as we have tried to do it…Oscar was even telling me he was surprised I lasted 5 years, and looking back on it, I am pretty surprised myself!!! lol.
But of course, the whole USA thing to me in another topic entirely, but if people want not only my perception of the USA to change, but from most of the world, there is one thing in particular the USA needs to do that would solve this rather fast:
Start travelling abroad and getting 100x better in general in KOF
If more players did this, the skill level in the USA would rise dramatically, the perception that the USA is free in KOF around the world would begin to change over time, and people would not be as materialistic as they are in the USA. In addition to this, people would not be expecting ONLY ONE PERSON to take care of their needs and travel around running tournaments, people would take initiative to develop their own scenes instead of depending and some demanding that people like me, Oscar, Giby, Webster go to their events to run them!
There are only a certain amount of us organizers guys, we can’t be everywhere all the time! In regards to me, I tell everyone 1st and foremost, my #1 priority is no longer the USA, it is now Mexico and international tournaments, so people cannot be expecting me to run tournaments in the USA ala 2009 and before anymore.
Travelling abroad would solve most of the issues I have been talking about in the USA. But until this happens, **well again things are going to forever remain status quo. **
In order for me to practically return like I used to to the USA that needs to happen basically. Okay back to the videos!
I’d say the answer is not to travel but rather for people to start playing in general. What got me into KOF two years ago wasn’t all the tournaments being held by your likes nor by other people, but because DandyJ made his guide in actually teaching people basic KOF Theory. How I got much better was being able to play intermediate players with good enough connections on GGPO, noting that I started as a beginner.
Sure, for intermediate players to step up and move on to be on that higher level, they would need to travel more or attend more majors but I wouldn’t say that traveling is the answer to start a scene in the US. Certainly for Melty Blood, the reason why they were successful and not KOF certainly wasn’t because they traveled; it’s because those people played within their regions. Where did most people start off playing? They played online with MBCaster. What resources did they have to learn the game? Watching Japanese match videos and creating wikis and guides. Why are they successful? Because their scene is filled with weeaboos and nerds that actually are smart and not filled with people with grandiose or ridiculous ideas (no offense because in a sense I have the same roots.)
For me, if I were to cultivate a small KOF scene in my area, I’d first increase my game knowledge. There are already some basic resources to learn games like 98 and 02. Then I would need to apply what I learned in actual play, since traveling isn’t such a cost effective way of learning a game, I have to do my best with online play. GGPO runs the Neogeo games well enough with people under 200 ms ping. As I am able to build a better perspective of the game, then I could translate that into my own structured, and detailed guide and be able to help other players get started playing. Then as people generally get better and have a better understanding, the group of people that play would expand and the number of competent players locally will gradually increase to the point we could play against each other and be able to get better offline.
The main factor that’s hindering KOF in the US is just merely a lack of a “good” and “new” game, emphasis on new. Personally, I’m just preparing myself as a player so when KOFXIII does hit the US and people are interested, I would be able to give them the necessary information to get started. In that way, when they play they would grasp the game better rather than being discouraged and quitting without understanding anything. So for now, I look like I might be doing nothing but it’s all in preparation for the long run. If anything, what little I have done so far is finish the Benimaru, Yamazaki, Shermie, and O.Mai articles on SRK’s 98 Slugfest wiki; and I plan to increase my knowledge for the incoming arrival of new players when KOFXIII is out.
People such as Tatsujinki nor AndyOCR didn’t really travel a lot nor have the means to do so, but they are able to hang with some of the best players in the US in SFIV. What they had as resources were knowledgeable and disciplined players such as Alex Valle living in their area to refine they way they play and to become better. What I am trying to do is to become a knowledgeable enough player to be able to help others get started as well when XIII touches down.
To be frank, all the other KOF communities just seem to be filled with casuals that happened to play KOF because they found it in some bargain bin in Gamestop and liked it for the presentation and fabulous characters and just spend their days fanwanking and doing cosplays. Otherwise, the people that are interested in KOF don’t have the resources as structured or easily available to them and aren’t able to learn well. Others don’t give a damn because there is simply no new, flashy game out yet (which will be XIII.) Traveling and putting tons of revenue, time, and effort won’t create a scene or interest for the individual. That is only for top players to play each other and test each other at majors.
What the beginner and intermediate need are knowledge, structure, and an available means of play; even if it means online that is decent. For there to even be beginners, there needs to be an interest in the game. Simply, that game hasn’t even come out yet so that’s why it seems like nothing is happening right now. It’s been how many years since XI, XII failed, and 98um/02um are technically not new games.
Running tournaments blindly and traveling won’t solve a damn thing.
But with that being said, do you think 13 will truly captivate these new beginners and keep them around? I am not too sure about that! In the podcast I did with Gunsmith today he asked me if I thought they should “release KOF13 now to take advantage of the hype” or wait to get it right.
As I told Gunsmith, I think that those that don’t want to wait any longer for 13 will just go onto another game, but I don’t think SNkp can afford to mess this game up so I say they need to take their time and get it right!!
I said they should wait because that way they can test the game thoroughly to make sure it isis bug free and as balanced as it could be in addition to the netcode.
I agree with you that for beginners they need to start somewhere, and that would be online or local casuals etc to build their confidence. But for the intermediate player or the player bored of doing the same thing and wondering why they aren’t making a lot of progression, they need to step outside of their comfort zone and challenge themselves.
Look at it like lifting weights, for the beginner sure lifting with the NFL pros may or may not do that much unless they have a basic understanding of HOW to lift weights, but for the people that do have a basic understanding if they want to go to the next level they have to keep pushing themselves lifting weights, challenging themselves. They cannot allow themselves to get into a routine, because then their body will plateau and they will not get much stronger.
Same thing here, but I do take in mind different people have different goals. While some people may say “It’s just a game”, I say tell that to Justin Wong, who pays all his bills with this stuff. If someone wants to be the best and is willing to make the sacrifice necessary to do so, I say go for it!
But also another side of the coin let’s take a look at SSF4/SF in general in the USA:
People play it because it’s a new game.
People still overall lose to the same people over and over (Justin Wong and Daigo)
What would help more people compete with the top players overall? Travelling. Sure if you have access to a local very competitive skilled played like Alex Valle that would help, but if someone wants to be the very best that simply will not be enough. If they want to defeat players like Justin and Daigo on a consistent basis they have to play people like that (Justin Wong and Daigo).
Sure is it cost effective? No it may not be, but if someone really wants to be the best I say sacrifices must be made.
If I want to compete with the Kulas and Zeus’s of Mexico guess who I need to be playing against? KULA AND ZEUS. (Hence you see me jumping on the opportunity to play vs. Kula whenever I can in anything, it’s only gonna make me stronger!)
Everyone has different goals, circumstances and stuff like that understand, but for me simply being "good’ or a top player isn’t good enough…
Imagine how much stronger I will become playing Kula on a consistent basis, playing the strongest in Peru when I travel, playing the strongest in Japan when I travel, and then players in Tijuana!
I will have a combination of experience from not just Juarez and those that come to Juarez, but from Japan, Peru, AND West Mexico, so that will make me MUCH stronger than I already am now! (I’ll probably by the end of this year be about 70x stronger than I am now no joke!)
Imagine how much stronger Alex Valle would be IF he travelled like that? Who travels like that in the Capcom world?
J-U-S-T-I-N W-O-N-G.
Thus you see where he is too in regards to skill and why it seems people can’t beat him consistently either!! He’s got a combination of experience from Japan, California, New York, France, Canada, and other places people like Alex Valle or those that stay put in the USA simply aren’t seeing, and trust me those little things make up a BIG DIFFERENCE (It’s why Justin ranks higher than Alex Valle or these players MOST of the time, there is a reason for this see!!! It’s not just because he’s Justin Wong, putting some mythical factor around him as I’ve heard before has NOTHING to do with it people, here I am telling you the exact science to this!).
The thing is that the KOF scene in the US doesn’t have intermediate or pro players. If anything there are under 20 intermediate players. So talks about traveling in regards to scene building is irrelevant. Your point is correct, the top players need to travel if they want to get better. But that point is irrelevant in regards to the topic of: Building a Scene. So I respect that you’re going to bring Kula around the world and such or you traveling to Mexico; but what we’re talking about is people actually getting interested in KOF and starting off.
Alex Valle doesn’t travel, but all the work he has done with Wednesday Night Fights, Level|Up stream, and everything else is in cultivation of the scene. In this sense if we’re discussing in building a scene from scratch, he’s doing quite the opposite from you DG. Alex Valle is stationary in socal but with his vast SF knowledge and general fighting game knowledge, is raising up beginner and intermediate players that are becoming ready to start traveling. Recently AndyOCR and Tatsu got signed and that pretty much says that they’ll be ready to travel out to majors more easily. Filipino Champ was helped by and trained by guys like Ricky Ortiz and John Choi in Norcal and he was able to get signed and be able to travel a bit more (although I think he’s done with BLG right now.) Even Justin Wong was taught in NY by guys like Eddie Lee and Henry Cen whom don’t really travel outside of East Coast anymore.
My focus is in regards to the scene are those beginning players, and that’s where the discussion lies. I think you’re trying to argue about top players trying to become better, and yes the answer is traveling; but that is irrelevant to scene building. For those to even get near Justin Wong’s level or the level under it, one needs to first understand the game and play the game often. From there it’s to the player’s discipline and will to play solid and not dumb and clutch it out against better players. Even players that didn’t travel often previously such as Filipino Champ took on Daigo, AndyOCR over Justin Wong, even an experienced player that didn’t travel much being Combofiend took it over Justin in MVC3.
Traveling is the end game for top players. What the scene needs is a good foundational support. What we’re trying to build is that foundation by making video’s like DandyJ’s guide or the wikis. That’s what Keits, James Chen, and the rest of SRK did for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 when it came out. A great primer of information for people to get started on the game hitting the ground running.
In regards to XIII, the thing is that it’s a “new game” be it released last year, now, or next year. It still has that fresh look rather than what 98um or 02um had. Will it captivate new players to keep the around? That’s not the issue, the issue is getting them interested in the first place. What will keep them around is liking the game, and to appreciate the game they would need to know how to play the game. How will they know how to play the game? We will have videos and guides ready by then when it does hit console. That’s what DandyJ tried to do before XII hit and get people to understand the game. The sad story is that XII was simply a bad game that even toss away even simple KOF mechanics and metagame by messing around with stuff such as throws. So it wasn’t even a simple, basic game; it was bad.
Thus, the best that we in “the scene” could do is just become more knowledgeable and create a structured means of learning the game. When the opportunity comes, those that do have interest will be educated enough to enjoy the game and keep at it. Getting better is inevitable yet pragmatic and based on the individual, and if he or she gets to that point that he or she wants to travel and get better, it’s up to that individual.
Good points Laban, agree with what you say, if there are no intermediate players even in the USA, then everything is at square one, which is scene building!!! Wisely said!
After the scene has been built, then they can branch into intermediate level players, and then eventually into top and decide whether to take that next step in regards to travelling!
I don’t know I wouldn’t have such high hopes for kof xiii. unlike capcom going the safe route with sfiv, snk is trying new things with this one. Hope it turns out ok though i’m willing to pay $60 cover price for that game alone.
and for those people that really want to get into kof and kof xiii they should be playing the 98,2k2 and um versions, there’s no objection to that. You will get better knowledge and how the meta game of kof works by the time xiii comes out you’re going to have an advantage if not at the least you won’t get that much behind because i’m sure there’re going to be experienced players from day one.
I am very happy that we understand each other well, Dark Geese. So for now, I’ll focus on my personal efforts. Good luck with Kula and traveling in November!
In regard to Rukawa, I’d say KOFXIII is relatively solid game compared to past efforts. If anything, XIII “is” playing it safe since it’s like 02/02um, Hyper Drive and Drive Meter is like Max Mode. In this case, doing DMs and Cancels are two separate subsystems rather than a singular one, which leads to huge damage (a la 100%).
The main beef with XIII other than the typical SNK bugs is balance. The thing with Raiden was that SNKP intentionally imba’d him to artificially boost character popularity since internal SNKP staff loves Raiden. Otherwise it’s just K’ and Kula being too/very fundamentally easy and good for the damage they do. So if they decide to not be derps anymore, SNKP could purposely balance XIII. They competently handled 98umfe. How 02 was upgraded to 02um, the balance is well made.
the juggles is what worries me and the game looks too fast paced ala kof xi. I don’t see many defensive options either but either way I haven’t checked videos in a while.
I have faith too, snk is taking their time in releasing this game to consoles, that’s a good sign. Let’s hope for the best.
Said it before and I’ll say it again, the problem with 3 is how long the Hyper Drive meter lasts when activated. It’s the reason behind the many juggles you see during matches. If you think about it, the juggling almost resembles something out of Tekken 6 but in a 2D plane. If they would just reduce it a bit, I think people would find it more balanced already.
And I gotta say, for some reason I just can’t stand Kula. Why the hell does she practically have to be high tier in every game she has been in?
Isn’t this in the same respect as Kula and the majority of the Mexican KOF players? Do they travel country to country to get better? It seems to me that they just understand the game more than USA players because they simply just play it more often and are able to play with those that understand and know the game inside out as well. Same goes with other countries that have high level players (Japan, China, Korea, etc. etc.).
Didn’t really think of it on that magnitude but yeah it applies. There are more factors in regards to improvement though, such as regional scale, the basis of a play style and its refinement, the social/mental culture of an area.
On regional scale, one needs to question what is traveling. Is it to the next city, province, state, country, continent, or even to another’s house or neighborhood? What does traveling accomplish? One could say it’s exposure to play style diversity. What if a smaller, singular region such as a city theoretically had a player of “each relevant playstyle” that existed in the world? If one could find at home what one could find abroad, then traveling wouldn’t be as relevant. One, though, could never really know that though so “travel” is still a very relevant aspect when it comes to playing people.
This brings us to another issue, play styles. Due to the nature of an arcade setting, one is encouraged not to lose at all costs or else he or she will have to pay more money for more time to play. So how does one cope with playing a different person each time, each with his or her own specific style and modus operandi? Either one could fully understand the game (or his or her character/s in and out) and play against/adapt to the person, or one could know know his or her own character and play against the opponent’s character in all of the character’s entirety. Either way, the player has to know the game and the game’s system and tools to fully grasp what the player can and could do. From there, the player could observe the opponent (a person) and use the tools to play against the person’s habits, with some character knowledge in mind. This of course requires keen judgment and understanding of how another person thinks and gaining information of that other person. One needs to test responses and reactions quite similar how Daigo kept on jumping against Justin Wong in EVO 2009 SFIV Finals to gain information about the player, in this case it was Justin’s readiness to anti-air. It’s being able to abuse knowledge on a player and testing whether or not the player can respond or adapt to it and knowing the counters and responses to those adaptions.
The other play style where a player learns the game and plays against the character rather than the person. The player completely rules out the person’s style and plays the kind of game where he or she understands what the opponent’s character is fully capable of and creates a game plan that completely shuts down that character. This makes it for a good player to consistently beat others without having to exercise too much observation and adaption each match and mentally wearing oneself out. If a character loses to something or somethings flat outright, then just do it. If the character isn’t played optimally, then the character would still be shut down anyways. In situations such as arcades or SBO where there is only one chance and a person loses, one should be able to play best against how a character is optimally played. The reason why adapting to individuals though is still relevant is because no one really could play a character 100% to the character’s potential; humans still have limitations of analysis, thought, and judgment.
How I see it is that the best players are able to play with both styles in this regard to make some sort of one true style. It is to simply yet completely know the entire game inside and out, character capabilities and match ups, and testing what exactly your opponent knows and how you could manipulate that. At some point, the game will be figured out. Games such as Third Strike have been figured out.
So that goes back to regional scale, what kind of ecosystem do we need to have players completely understand and breakdown a game? With Third Strike it didn’t need to be on a global scale. In Japan, Third Strike was/is a popular game that was readily accessible, and being able to travel within the entirety of Japan is easier than traveling within the entirety of the United States of America. Japan had enough competent people and enough of a player base to be able to figure out and break down the game/characters on its own.
When it comes to King of Fighters, I’d say the only game that matters on a global scale due to popular would be King of Fighters 2002. In terms of King of Fighters 98, I wouldn’t say it has had the equal amount of popularity around the world as 2002 had. 2002 is a good example of how people break down a game. We know that Japan and Mexico don’t really play against each other, yet the “tier lists” are very similar for each region. It shows that the player bases broke down the game and came to very similar conclusions. Athena, Billy, Choi, Iori, Kim, and other characters are generally regarded as very strong. So what about characters such as Angel? I’d say that has to deal with my third point, social/mental culture of a region.
From my general observations, how a player is started could reflect part of the “end game” of how a game is broken down and how the top players are playing. As I see with general Mexicans, note that doesn’t necessarily reflect the top players, is that they have a tendency to spend a vast amount of time learning big combos and infinites and abusing silly gimmicks without learning too much basics and just sloppily fish for the combo or infinite. In this sense, Angel was/is that technical character to play and Mexican people understand her. Top, smart players are able to weed out and beat those sloppy, fishing players since they’re able to create solid styles based on adaptation and character understanding (beat dumb stuff and know all the gimmicks that are generally unsafe.) Still, those players still play Angel and still know the ins and outs. For Japanese people I’ve noticed, they like to abuse easy characters that do a lot of damage and really play to win with minimal effort. It’s like how back for Street Fighter IV, a majority of the top 50 players in Japan were predominantly Sagat players. It shows as well in 2002, Athena, Billy, Choi, Kim, Iori, and such are commonly played yet characters such as Angel and May Lee are practically untouched.
Overall though, both regions more or less came to the same conclusions without even playing each other for the longest time regardless of cultural differences. Top players will be top players, and the game will still be the game. So within ecosystems smaller than a global scale, a game could be figured out even without “travel.” It just depends though on the scale of travel that is needed to have a sizable player base to refine the players and to be able to break down a game. That’s why it’d be nice to make a single fighting game city or something and everyone moves in to play. Idealistic yet unrealistic and kind of dumb, it would eliminate the need for “travel” though.
In the United States for KOF, we as players technically need to travel within the United States to play others since all the people that actually care about the game live so far apart. So rather than exhaust too much time and resources traveling, what we could do is get ready for a sudden surge in local player bases within our own scaled regions, such as when interest in KOF blows up if XIII comes out to console and there is a vast interest in the game. From there we’d have larger, numerous scaled player bases filled with beginner players. With enough information and guidance, naturally good players will be able to rise to intermediate and perhaps top players given the right factors.
Luckily, thanks to the internet we are able to watch more experienced players play and be able to play online with minimal discrepancies so there is still a means to improve one’s self and build upon game knowledge. Sure one might not become the best of the best, but it’s enough to gather and be able to teach new players what is what and what is expected. Then when there are enough people interested offline, we could naturally be able to figure out and break down the game on our own and later down the line travel or gather players from around the world the reflect our findings with theirs. That’s why Evolution Championship Series exists to my understanding, it’s a global tournament. This is much unlike SBO, which is a national tournament mainly for Japan with a few “international exceptions.”
A player base on a global scale isn’t necessarily needed to break down a game and reach the same conclusions. The game just needs to be played and played often and by people that have the discipline to improve and to think. Traveling or gathering on a global scale just tests and reassures what we learned or have yet to learn due to our human limitations and cultural differences.
also desmond made a good point imo. in sf terms, if daigo played sako to train, he would be playing people at the highest level of the game and thus learn it to the max. traveling is nice and all, but it doesnt make you a better player. facing good players makes you a better player. personally i didnt have many people to fight and practice with. but the people i did play, played at the highest level as well thus improving my game as well back in the days. hence the reason the jpn player or players from guang zhou are good in lets say kof. they have very high level players where they play at. same reason the mexicans are good, they got other good players to play with.
This is true, but imagine if you take that theory and multiply it…if I have high level players from Mexico, China, and Japan to play, I think I’d be better off in the long run than someone that has just high level players from say one region!!!
So yes it’s all about having access to high level players, but beyond that high level experience is high level exposure!
Take a look at Hummer…he has access to Tatsuya in Osaka and other stuff available to him, but the Mexican style of play threw him off.
Thus again exposure becomes huge!
Someone could play vs. Justin Wong all day long in SF, but lose to another good/top Japanese player/average or even scrubby player or even Canadian etc. because they are not accustomed to their style of play. Whereas on the other hand, Justin Wong would beat most of these people because he has travelled and played against people of this particular style.
Trust me this happens all the time! For example, when I first played Kula in 98UM in Battle 4 Mexico, he was destroying me, his Krauser style was new to me, his EX Geese style was new to me, the way he played EX Kyo was new, the way he played Saisyu was new, his Orochi Chris style was new, so it didn’t matter if I had played vs. Mr. KOF at EVO before or vs. Zeus or Kane9999 or whoever, those characters still tripped me up because I hadn’t seen them played that way before!
Fast forward to our rematch at The KOF Cup, well when you see the videos you will see Saisyu didn’t really give me problems, Krauser not really as much, and neither did EX Geese (nor EX Kyo nor really Mr. Big)…but Iori did because again I havent played an Iori of that caliber where I am!
So take Hummer for example…since Laban said and something I’ve noticed is that the Japanese don’t really push the limits of the game as far as picking the widest variety of characters (I’ve been noticed all they do is stick to the simpler characters, never even trying for the most part the tougher ones like Angel/May Lee), if Hummer wanted to do better in Mexico or in a world tournament vs. Angels and May Lees he needs to spend more time in Mexico playing KOF 2002 than in Japan. Playing in Japan won’t do him any good because there are very few Angel and May Lees whereas in Mexico 80% of players know how to play Angel to SOME degree (Hell even I KNOW HOW TO PLAY HER TO SOME DEGREE SERIOUS!).
Thus the top 3 factors in someone becoming strong at a given game are:
High Level Experience
High Level Exposure
Drive
The more High Level Experience and High Level Exposure you have (from various cities, tournaments, regions, COUNTRIES) the better off you will be.
The higher your Drive or actual desire to be strong or the best is, the more creative you will become and find ways to turn a negative situation into a positive one and you won’t just be a “stereotypical American cookie cutter”, copycatting other styles that you just see on youtube.
Also 3 cannot be underestimated, you can have all the high level experience and exposure you can handle just from being someone that travels, but if you don’t know how to take advantage of it/do not care, then it doesn’t matter.
The reason I average getting 10-15x better EACH TIME when I come back from Mexico is because I have gotten it down to an art what to do.
I record every match I can get my hands on. Thus I am playing gaining experience you guys watching the videos on youtube aren’t getting, then I get to watch them all BEFORE you guys see them on youtube so by the time again you guys see them on youtube I’ve taken everything I need from them and they are OLD VIDEOS!!!
So I know exactly what works for me and I apply what I learn in one game to EVERY GAME.
The end of Part 8:
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