VIDA
Focused Grace and Intensity
Oh boy I got a LOT to post. Here are the official top 16:
1. Sabin $410 (Reptile/Kenshi)
2. Archmagus $120 (Scorpion)
3. NeoRussell $60 (Kitana/Mileena)
4. W1nterwarz (Cyrax)
5. asdf (Ermac)
5. Ernovaku (Kitana/Ermac)
6. k-frog (Ermac)
6. MTLJer (Mileena)
7. exMinger
7. Fluri
7. DanX (Sub Zero/Scorpion/Cage)
7. Rossdaboss
8. @Casselman (Sektor)
8. Tae
8. Zako (Sheeva)
8.TTT Azure Fighting (Cyrax)
Ok so k-Frog ran the tournament, which had 39 entrants. The whole event was run by NeoRussel and with help from the TTT guys. Brackets began on Saturday.
I'll start with my personal journey in the tournament. For a little bit I was back and forth between BlazBlue and MK. I actually played first in BlazBlue and won my match there before losing my next two to the 3rd place finisher and a litchi player who i had a decent series with. I had time for this since I got a by in the 1st round of MK.
My first actual match in MK was against an ermac player, and due to SEVERAL reasons he took literally 10 mins to start our match. If you guys want details just ask. Its pretty fucking hilarious actually. No hard feelings towards him but it was annoying shit tbh. I finally played him and tbh I beat him decisively since his Ermac could not handle my kit's pressure. He caught a couple TKP's but thats it.
Then in my second match I already had to face w1nter, whose Cyrax is a fucking obstacle course. we practiced the whole month leading up to this event but his cy always gives my Kit troubles. Its because I like playing rush considerably more with the edenian princess. I rolled ermac first since it has given his Cyrax some trouble in causals but it proved costly as he took the first decisively. Then I reinsert confidence in my kitana for this and take a nice second game.
Third and final comes around and I take the first round. Then he gets a lead and while I start making a comeback his Cy gets a wakeup attack that ends the round if I recall correctly. Third and final and our chars have both 50-60 health left. He goes for a 3 into a net, and I cant belive it I let go of block so that kit took the net and the ensuing combo. It proved costly and i lost the match. If I hadnt fucked up I could have punished his net with a cutter into a safe jump or even a full combo and things prob would have been diff. It was a great match that attracted a crowd and we both gave each other props after ward. w1nter was hype lol. I thought he'd trash talk me but he was cool actually.
So with that I was in losers and had to win my next 5 to make top 4. I got tastetherainbow next who everyone has said has a great NW. He was sent to loser's by Archmagus. First match he's got the tick throws off jps going and takes the first. He does the tournament's ACTUAL first fatality (not sabin's in grand finals) and in the heat of the moment I get mad lol. It was cool tho, i was just tourney tense. Second game comes around and my Kit doesnt turtle as much. she goes more on the offensive and even does her own tick throws a couple times. I take the second and Kut performs her splitting headache fatality lol in response.
Third game comes and he switches to SZ. My kit zones all day while Sz doesnt duck fans, but blocking alot. Fan service + some combos off f2,1 and tastetherainbow was eliminated. He claimed the matchup was 6-4 Kitana but I corrected him. He still didnt agree but sunday he came around. Good match to him and based on what i hear I should feel good about beating him. He's got a good NW but for w/e reason I feel comfortable playing against that char. I dont even play against him much since I stopped playing online completely.
I got some lunch after and my next match was KL player. I got KL xp and I feel great playing against him with Kit. No disrespect to the player but I beat him decisively to move on to my practice partner DanX4.
It sucked cause as Ive said we practice alot and feed off each other. Ever since he stopped online play he's lvled up alot just in time for this tourney. He was in losers b/c he lost the Scorpion mirror with archmagus 2-1. We had some banter about who we were gonna pick lol. How we should do it because I said I would roll ermac against SZ, and he would roll SZ against Kit lol. Neither wanted to drop that first game to have to switch. So i just said fuck it, my main is always Kitana and tho she's at a disadvantage the SZ matchup is still winnable so I tell him Im just gonna pick her.
He goes with SZ and know my kit cant rush him. So she throws fans all day. I baited out openings for full combos a couple of times tho amidts the iafs and took the first game. My iafs were by far the best and most consistent theyve been, my overall game rose in this tourney. So now zoning was more of a problem for DanX than it was in casuals.
But second game comes along and tho the zone is going on he regrouped a bit and was more careful not to give up full combo opportunities when coming in (he stuck with sub btw). It was another closely contested intense game but he took it this time.
I stick with Kit and same story for the 3rd and final. It went to a third round and our chars both had 20-30 health left. But in the last action he throws an ice clone expecting a rush in close and gets fanned out of it. Then his sub jumps and my kit counters with an air fan for the close, close win. Great match.
The match was so slow and tense that two of the rounds ended by time outs. We knew each other's games well and it showed. We did our best not to make mistakes and neither of us made many.
Then it was onto the next match. A mileena player named jer from MTL was tearing shit up and getting praise, but he was in losers due to a nice match with Russel, who alts Mileena and has beaten high level Mileenas before. I used to despise playing this char but I realized even as Kit u just have to be careful and be ready to block when things are to open for a roll or TK. He was doing d4 all day but i just waited it out for the safe attacks and the openings, also punishing TK's with a simple d1~cutter like Russel did.
The match was great and tied 1-1. The whole time W1nter was cheering me on cause the winner had to face him next, and he was uncomfortable with the Mil matchup while he knew my playstyle and felt more comfortable against me. So the third comes around and i start noticing that his Mil is not blocking overhead in Kit's f4,1~cutter off jps, ie she's not blocking the full string. So I take adv and even input bigger combos off it cause Im expecting the overhead to land. So this keeps the momentum in my favour and allows me to take the third more easily. I dont think its the only reason I won the third game but it did make it a little more comfortable.
Jer realized his mistake and we gave each other props. He came along with Zaf who also competed.
And onto my rematch with w1nter, and this is where my tournament ends. The obstacle closer seems more tighter for w/e reason and for some reasons bombs are catching my Kitana "incidentally" like theyve never done in our play sessions together. He even breaker'd a combo into a bomb ffs lmfao! So he wins convincingly 2-0 (same stage too lol) and I fell just short of top 4, my only losses to this Cyrax playing bastard from waterloo.
What hurts is that I spoke to russel (who sent him to losers) after this and he told me he lost the first game cause he was rushing, then he found a way to zone and I was hitting myself cause I could have asked him for advice after he beat me the first time (w1nter lost to russel after our first match). It was unfortunate but hoepfully I can have an easier time with his Cyrax in the future. For now this was my second tourney and first major and Im satisfied with my 5th place finish in a tourney that had quite a lot of talent. Even if I made top 4 and beat sabin I would have lost to Russel, he's just got my number in the Kit mirror, esp in a tourney where he really raises his game naturally.
Oh btw after the second loss to w1nter he hugged me so hard he pinched me lmfao b/c he knew Jer had a great chance to beat him, and he did beat him in 1st-to-4 money match on sunday. We went to watch kfrog's awesome band performance after the brackets on Sat and it was a very fun night.
Ive said alot but I havent even scratched the service of this crazy fantastic weekend, still more to come in a bit lmao.
1. Sabin $410 (Reptile/Kenshi)
2. Archmagus $120 (Scorpion)
3. NeoRussell $60 (Kitana/Mileena)
4. W1nterwarz (Cyrax)
5. asdf (Ermac)
5. Ernovaku (Kitana/Ermac)
6. k-frog (Ermac)
6. MTLJer (Mileena)
7. exMinger
7. Fluri
7. DanX (Sub Zero/Scorpion/Cage)
7. Rossdaboss
8. @Casselman (Sektor)
8. Tae
8. Zako (Sheeva)
8.TTT Azure Fighting (Cyrax)
Ok so k-Frog ran the tournament, which had 39 entrants. The whole event was run by NeoRussel and with help from the TTT guys. Brackets began on Saturday.
I'll start with my personal journey in the tournament. For a little bit I was back and forth between BlazBlue and MK. I actually played first in BlazBlue and won my match there before losing my next two to the 3rd place finisher and a litchi player who i had a decent series with. I had time for this since I got a by in the 1st round of MK.
My first actual match in MK was against an ermac player, and due to SEVERAL reasons he took literally 10 mins to start our match. If you guys want details just ask. Its pretty fucking hilarious actually. No hard feelings towards him but it was annoying shit tbh. I finally played him and tbh I beat him decisively since his Ermac could not handle my kit's pressure. He caught a couple TKP's but thats it.
Then in my second match I already had to face w1nter, whose Cyrax is a fucking obstacle course. we practiced the whole month leading up to this event but his cy always gives my Kit troubles. Its because I like playing rush considerably more with the edenian princess. I rolled ermac first since it has given his Cyrax some trouble in causals but it proved costly as he took the first decisively. Then I reinsert confidence in my kitana for this and take a nice second game.
Third and final comes around and I take the first round. Then he gets a lead and while I start making a comeback his Cy gets a wakeup attack that ends the round if I recall correctly. Third and final and our chars have both 50-60 health left. He goes for a 3 into a net, and I cant belive it I let go of block so that kit took the net and the ensuing combo. It proved costly and i lost the match. If I hadnt fucked up I could have punished his net with a cutter into a safe jump or even a full combo and things prob would have been diff. It was a great match that attracted a crowd and we both gave each other props after ward. w1nter was hype lol. I thought he'd trash talk me but he was cool actually.
So with that I was in losers and had to win my next 5 to make top 4. I got tastetherainbow next who everyone has said has a great NW. He was sent to loser's by Archmagus. First match he's got the tick throws off jps going and takes the first. He does the tournament's ACTUAL first fatality (not sabin's in grand finals) and in the heat of the moment I get mad lol. It was cool tho, i was just tourney tense. Second game comes around and my Kit doesnt turtle as much. she goes more on the offensive and even does her own tick throws a couple times. I take the second and Kut performs her splitting headache fatality lol in response.
Third game comes and he switches to SZ. My kit zones all day while Sz doesnt duck fans, but blocking alot. Fan service + some combos off f2,1 and tastetherainbow was eliminated. He claimed the matchup was 6-4 Kitana but I corrected him. He still didnt agree but sunday he came around. Good match to him and based on what i hear I should feel good about beating him. He's got a good NW but for w/e reason I feel comfortable playing against that char. I dont even play against him much since I stopped playing online completely.
I got some lunch after and my next match was KL player. I got KL xp and I feel great playing against him with Kit. No disrespect to the player but I beat him decisively to move on to my practice partner DanX4.
It sucked cause as Ive said we practice alot and feed off each other. Ever since he stopped online play he's lvled up alot just in time for this tourney. He was in losers b/c he lost the Scorpion mirror with archmagus 2-1. We had some banter about who we were gonna pick lol. How we should do it because I said I would roll ermac against SZ, and he would roll SZ against Kit lol. Neither wanted to drop that first game to have to switch. So i just said fuck it, my main is always Kitana and tho she's at a disadvantage the SZ matchup is still winnable so I tell him Im just gonna pick her.
He goes with SZ and know my kit cant rush him. So she throws fans all day. I baited out openings for full combos a couple of times tho amidts the iafs and took the first game. My iafs were by far the best and most consistent theyve been, my overall game rose in this tourney. So now zoning was more of a problem for DanX than it was in casuals.
But second game comes along and tho the zone is going on he regrouped a bit and was more careful not to give up full combo opportunities when coming in (he stuck with sub btw). It was another closely contested intense game but he took it this time.
I stick with Kit and same story for the 3rd and final. It went to a third round and our chars both had 20-30 health left. But in the last action he throws an ice clone expecting a rush in close and gets fanned out of it. Then his sub jumps and my kit counters with an air fan for the close, close win. Great match.
The match was so slow and tense that two of the rounds ended by time outs. We knew each other's games well and it showed. We did our best not to make mistakes and neither of us made many.
Then it was onto the next match. A mileena player named jer from MTL was tearing shit up and getting praise, but he was in losers due to a nice match with Russel, who alts Mileena and has beaten high level Mileenas before. I used to despise playing this char but I realized even as Kit u just have to be careful and be ready to block when things are to open for a roll or TK. He was doing d4 all day but i just waited it out for the safe attacks and the openings, also punishing TK's with a simple d1~cutter like Russel did.
The match was great and tied 1-1. The whole time W1nter was cheering me on cause the winner had to face him next, and he was uncomfortable with the Mil matchup while he knew my playstyle and felt more comfortable against me. So the third comes around and i start noticing that his Mil is not blocking overhead in Kit's f4,1~cutter off jps, ie she's not blocking the full string. So I take adv and even input bigger combos off it cause Im expecting the overhead to land. So this keeps the momentum in my favour and allows me to take the third more easily. I dont think its the only reason I won the third game but it did make it a little more comfortable.
Jer realized his mistake and we gave each other props. He came along with Zaf who also competed.
And onto my rematch with w1nter, and this is where my tournament ends. The obstacle closer seems more tighter for w/e reason and for some reasons bombs are catching my Kitana "incidentally" like theyve never done in our play sessions together. He even breaker'd a combo into a bomb ffs lmfao! So he wins convincingly 2-0 (same stage too lol) and I fell just short of top 4, my only losses to this Cyrax playing bastard from waterloo.
What hurts is that I spoke to russel (who sent him to losers) after this and he told me he lost the first game cause he was rushing, then he found a way to zone and I was hitting myself cause I could have asked him for advice after he beat me the first time (w1nter lost to russel after our first match). It was unfortunate but hoepfully I can have an easier time with his Cyrax in the future. For now this was my second tourney and first major and Im satisfied with my 5th place finish in a tourney that had quite a lot of talent. Even if I made top 4 and beat sabin I would have lost to Russel, he's just got my number in the Kit mirror, esp in a tourney where he really raises his game naturally.
Oh btw after the second loss to w1nter he hugged me so hard he pinched me lmfao b/c he knew Jer had a great chance to beat him, and he did beat him in 1st-to-4 money match on sunday. We went to watch kfrog's awesome band performance after the brackets on Sat and it was a very fun night.
Ive said alot but I havent even scratched the service of this crazy fantastic weekend, still more to come in a bit lmao.
(EDIT he also beat Zaf's Ermac if im not mistaken. props to both him and asdf who also had a very strong showing. From what i heard his match with sabin for top 4 came down to the wire.)