I started this blog writing about a certain SF4 forum online but have decided just to delete any reference to them since it's not really helping my situation at all. :-p Here's what's up with SF4.
I've been practicing hard since I started last week and have made significant progress. I still have YET to play with gootecks in person, we have only talked on the phone a bit and via aim and text. He's been too busy to really do much w/me yet. A few days ago I got some rounds in with the person who got 7th place at AI at the tourney last Saturday and I kept him on his toes. His quote: "Holy crap! You're good! I seriously think that if you put the time in you will be better then me." Yeah, now he took it easy on me at first as he underestimated me then he had to step his game up it went from us back and forth 2-1 then him 3-0. Once he unleashed hell on my ass I was happy if I could even get 1 round out of the best of 3. haha I also had a chance to practice with Joel Gourdin who has an 80% win rate for total online ranked matches... this guy is GOOD! I had a tough time with him on best of 5 matches and he definitely taught me some good techniques vs Dhalsim (his character of choice). With Dhalsim I lost every time... I could only keep up when he played other characters, even then I only got one round ... maybe 2 tops I think once? for best of 5.
Dhalsim is a character I've been having a hard time with... while he's easily hurt, it's hard to get close to him. I've learned the hard way about his damn knee (no jumping at him :p) slow fireballs and annoying ass Ultra. GRRRRRR! I've found that the EX-Tiger Knee Crush is def. my best friend when against most opponents, but I'm trying not to over use it so it doesn't get predictable. I just like how that particular move voids out a lot of other character's attacks.
Progress: I've played well over 120 or so matches now... not a whole lot for a week but I'll do more as the weeks go on. This saturday is yet another SF4 tourney at Nucleus in Alhambra. I will not be competing but will be attending, watching, and learning from the pros. I have found that watching videos and attending tournaments is another way of learning how people play with the characters, what moves are most commen, and what moves a player can use to counter attacks as well as learning which moves can enable a character to pass through fireballs or stop a characters Ultra from connecting. Today I basically got bitch smacked by Dhalism by Joel and it totally stopped my Ultra and I just stood there like WTF was THAT?!?! We both laughed about it and Joel said he had never seen anything like that before. Glitch or not, that was weird, and something new that I learned to watch out for.
I think gootecks' forum is probably my best bet for getting hardcore SF4 players that are actually nice. And because some people keep TROLLING MY BLOG Trolls to post random comments on my blog. To my friends, feel free to post, I will approve all comments that have helpful tips or have something kind to say.
UPDATE: 4/24/09 10:06am
My SFIV regular edition Madcatz stick is supposed to arrive today. I hope that they deliver it even though there's no one home to accept the package. :p I originally wanted to go home, play with the new fight stick and see how different it is, then go to Arcade Infinity and meet up with the guys for some SFIV action... but now I'm deciding to stop by, pick up the package then go to Arcade Infinity immediately after. I won't be able to head out there til around 7:30ish so I want to make sure I can still catch Jack and them there. :D Jack has agreed to help me with Sagat since he's one of the best Sagat players there. I'm pretty excited because all I know how to do is all the basic moves, supers and Ultras... I can do EVERY move he has but don't know how to string them together for deadly combos yet... that is why I need help from someone who is familiar with the character.
Well... back to work I go. Break isn't over yet but I want to get to answering some emails! Thanks to everyone for asking me advice on all your gaming needs and for all the fan mail about the WCG Ultimate Gamer show. Yeah it sucked to lose on episode 6 but I'm still proud of myself. Mark being in first place and me being last in NBA Live and only having maybe 8 full hours of practice time and running a 14-20 game... I think that's pretty damn bad ass especially since it was REALLY 14-17 and he threw a 3 pt shot from half court last second (yeah I keep talking about that because it was an amazing final shot that seemed impossible). The fact that I picked up a game I NEVER played before and learned it well enough in 8 hours to compete against someone who had been playing since the game was released and actually keep him on his toes until the 4th quarter. It's things like this that make me believe I can do this with SFIV. Dedication+Time+Skill= pure pwnage... Can't wait to learn some moves from the guys!
Oh and events I'll be attending this year so far: Evo (workin on it) E3, E For All, PAX 09, QuakeCon and the Iron Man of Gaming. I will also be attending a WCG event or two if they're local, but not to compete as I stated earlier... I left the GH competitive scene. :D See you all this Summer/Fall!
Posted by
StarSlay3r
9 comments:
LOL Okay, I was totally in the wrong account before, so you can delete the Kata comment! :P What I said was that I really admire your dedication to getting better. Sorry the SRK forums were a bust!
to be honest, when i first saw your topic on srk, i thought you might be someone who's just trying to dabble in fighting games. there don't seem to be many girls who stick with fighting games. its like most of them aren't willing to put in that effort to get good. after reading your blog though, it seems like you have a genuine will to compete, and i respect that. you have the potential to be a monster if you put the same dedication you put into GH into fighting games.
Unfortunately the formula Anonymity+Audience=Total Smacktard still holds true for a great deal of the internet (and especially forums.)
SFII was the first game I ever got "Nintendo Thumb" from and I recently picked up SFIV myself. It's great and I'm enjoying learning the new system. So a big sore thumbs up to you, I'm sure you'll be laying the smackdown in no time!
Saw you from /v/...
The problem with SRK right now is that, with the recent release of SFIV, we've been having a HUGE increase in numbers. Back in teh day, you probably would have gotten help, but now we have all these new members who like to talk trash, so the older members grew kinda stingy with new members, and the new members like to flame randomly.
I can play you for some practice, I use Vega. You can reach me via AIM, I suppose... if you want.
Hey there! I saw you on tv and became an instant fan. I love your style! And your love for jrock earns you extra kudos!!! Also, good luck with Street Fighter 4. There's a lot of competition out there, but I'll be rooting for you. Just keep trying to achieve and nothing will stop you!
I think you drew more ire from the fact that you wanted sponsors to support your 70+ hour a week training sessions to reach top 8. 99% of gamers, good and bad, can never afford that, and it just sounded like you were taking advantage of your 15 minutes, instead of it sounding like you had any interest in actual fighting games.
Dubious claims of "SC2 state finals" in your profile also made me, personally, wonder. As someone that's been a member of the SC community since SC2, and as a current moderator at 8wayrun.com, I can be totally honest when I say that I've never heard of you until now, and I've definitely met a fair number of solid west coast players.
But hey, if you have the drive, go for it. I'm all for seeing the community get shaken up, and if you can do it, I want to see it happen. I just hope it's earnest.
I read what you said before the edit so well...I say ignore the idiots there on that site...most of the haters are actually noobs themselves but the real players are pretty cool and helpful. Been on the site for 5 years and I'm slightly better than how I was when I started out then at Evo 2k4. (I'd like to have more devotion but I have other priorities)
Gootecks is damn good...I recall watching vids with him playing in SF3 3rd strike. (never met him but I spar with a buddy of mine who goes by Duralath, he knows gootecks)
Good luck to you in SF4...
Play in the tournaments as much as you can. Even getting beat's an important learning tool. nothing gets you learning faster at a fighting game.
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