Videos from Dubuque Weekly 12/27/11

Winners Finals

Losers Finals

Grand Finals

Stuck in a Rut

My outlook towards my development in all fighting games has turned south over the past few days. I feel like I am at a place in my skill at which I cannot improve without constant quality practice. This is not your average halt in development where one is unable to diagnose problems and holes in their gameplay. I have always been able to do that, and I feel like I know of a lot of things I can do to become better gameplay wise across all games. However, for someone like me who constantly needs repetition in order to really learn something as advanced and complex like proper footsies and game sense- my current practice and training are not adequate.

Long story short, I need to seek out better competition. However, this is a universal problem affecting me and everyone else in this state and in the midwest for that matter. Due to our smaller pool of players, we cannot expect to have as much exceptional competition as many other regions. I can definitely feel the burden now unlike ever before.  There's not much point for me to continue on when I feel like I can become better yet lack the means to do so. If the greatest potential cannot be reached, why torture myself by looking up at what could be. As such, I have seriously considered giving up competition altogether. I do plan on going to events in the immediate future. My performance and attitude at these said events will shape my future in fighting games.

Full Results- Pixels' Child's Play Tournament, Ames, IA, 12/3/11

All venue fees went to support Child's Play.

UMvC3


1. Joker (Vergil/Task/Wesker) (Wesker/Task/Trish)
2. MURPHAGATOR! (Spencer/Sentinel/Wesker)
3. Bo Lo (Captain America/Spencer/Arthur)
4. BlankM
5. Klaige
5. Kevin Wang
7. Kuares
7. Cory
9. Tony
9. Darra Beng
9. NGamer3k
9. Justin Hines
13. Tristan Hines
13. Souvanny Sisouvan
13. Connor Gerdes
17. Hayden Gey
17. SomKith P
17. Soran
17. Kay
17. Figgy
17. Kamig
17. Kevin Lovan
17. Nealand R
25. AKE
25. Vinnie

KOFXIII


1. MURPHAGATOR! (Raiden/?/Ryo)
2. Grog (Female Ryu- Athena/Remi- Ash/Male Ryus- Kyo or Ryo)
3. pbj_mixxa (Athena/Elisabeth/Kula)
4. BlankM
5. NGamer3k
5. Kevin Lovan
7. Souvanny Sisouvan
7. Figgy
9. Darra Beng
9. AKE
9. Justin Hines
9. Nealand R
13. Tristan Hines

3s


1. MURPHAGATOR! (Oro)
2. Brian Baccam (Urien, Ken)
3. NGamer3k (Ken, Chun)
4. Connor Gerdes
5. Souvanny Sisouvan
5. Figgy
7. Justin Hines
7. Grog
9. Darra
9. AKE
9. Bo Lo
9. Nealand R
13. Kevin Lovan

HDR


1. Grog (Sim, Claw, Honda)
2. Klaige (Claw, Chun, Dee Jay)
3. MURPHAGATOR! (Boxer)
4. NGamer3k
5. Figgy
5. Connor Gerdes
7. AKE
7. Kevin Lovan
9. Kamig

Mystery (Killer Instinct Gold - N64)


1. AKE
2. Justin
3. SomKith P
4. Grog
5. Vinnie
5. Kevin
7. Bo Lo
7. Souvanny Sisouvan
9. NGamer3k
9. Kamig
9. Soran
9. Nealand R
13. Figgy
13. Darra
13. Cory

Results- Marvelous Street Kombat - Omaha, NE, 12/2/11

SSF4 AE

1. Jamarr (Blanka)
2. NGamer3k (Sakura)
3. Chris H (Cody, Ryu)
4. GoodSpeed
5. Simon
5. Datrick
7. BlankM
7. Ken
9. WP
9. Dub
9. Uli
9. Travis

UMvC3

1. Joe (Vergil/Zero/Sentinel) (Zero/Wolvie/Sentinel)
2. Joker (Vergil/Task/Wesker)
3. Jamarr (Ghost Rider/Dorm/Doom)
4. Simon
5. NGamer3k
5. Uli
7. JBM
7. Chris H
9. Dekline
9. BlankM
9. Kevin Wang
13. Soran

KOFXIII

1. Chris H
2. Datrick
3. Jamarr
4. Ken
5. GoodSpeed
5. Dub
7. BlankM
7. NGamer3k
9. Austin
9. Ty

Back from Skyrim Land (temporarily) with an update

I did it. I actually completely forgot about this blog due to the bomb that dropped that was Skyrim. Yes, I've even neglected fighting games during this time. I did purchase Ultimate Marvel and KOFXIII and have been practicing off and on, but nothing like I did before-- until today. I had crack down, hardcore training session in all current games to prepare for two tournaments coming up.

If you are wondering what happened at F4, let me say that the tournament was a slight disappointment. It had a very low turnout overall, letting an amazing venue go to waste. Nevertheless a tournament did happen, and if someone requests the full results- I'll track them down and post them, but for now, I'll report my placings.

SSF4 AE had an abysmal 4 entrants. I easily took it. 3s had seven with Alex "Raging Keela" taking first. I placed a surprising 2nd-- one round away from winning. In Marvel "MysticBill" took it using team Viscant against the "Floe Killa" aka Sean "Murphagator" Murphy. Let's not discuss my performance. MysticBill in a slight upset took Tekken 6 as well. Good stuff to him as he took down the biggest two tournaments at the event.

Now tomorrow I set off for another tournament weekend. Friday, I'll be Omaha once again for their monthly. The next day, Ames, for a charity tournament with Iowa's Des Moines crew. I'll (try to) report back with the results and more in the following week.

Donate to Blank!

One of our friends is in great need! If you're reading this, you probably already know the situation. I've added a donate button to the right that will directly benefit Blank. Go to it!

Tournaments, Tournaments, Tournaments...

Yes, I have been neglecting this space for some time, so in this post I'll update you on my tournament placings over the last few weeks. There have been many. Over the course of the month I made no updates. Here we go.

Middle of Knowhere - Cedar Rapids - September - SSF4 AE

3rd Place

Marvelous Street Kombat - Omaha - October - SSF4 AE

3rd Place

Marvelous Street Kombat - Omaha - October - SSF4 AE Teams (Teammate: Yulai)

2nd Place

Marvelous Street Kombat - Omaha - October - Marvel Teams (Teammate: Joker)

2nd Place

Marvelous Street Kombat - Omaha - November - SSF4 AE

2nd Place

Final Place in the DBQ Versus Cup - MvC3

3rd Place in both series. I won $15 Gamestop gift card and some the Udon Sakura comics. In the past two weeks, the ranbat has ended but I have won the last two MvC3 tournaments there while Carpooling with Jackie "Kintr."

I have done pretty well for someone without any wins in the month. There's going to be a hopefully decent sized tournament held in Dubuque this coming weekend. Five Flags Fighting Frenzy (F4). I'm a heavy favorite to place high in SSF4 and even Marvel. We'll see though.

Good Luck to BPow at SiiS6!

Today, Iowa's own Brandon "BPow" is in Cincinnati, Ohio to compete in one of Smash's major tournaments-- School is in Session 6. Alone in his endeavor, he will have a tougher time competing with virtually no in-person support. Let's all wish him good luck and safe travels home. Make Iowa proud!

Salt Receding from FxS...

If you follow my twitter, then you know the shorthand of what went down a couple of weeks ago in Chicago at Fighter x Shooter. In SSF4 AE, I lost in the loser's finals of my pool, going 4-2. I had to play EG FloE the first round and lost. I beat a terrible Fei Long player, and then three straight-- yes, three straight Balrog (boxer) players. Finally, I made it to loser's finals against "Tukk," a Seth player I knew I would meet up against in this pool. Jay "Jayford" knew him from their fighting game club at Purdue. To keep things short, all I can say is that I didn't play well enough to get the win.

I was extremely disappointed with myself. I should have made top 16-- I have all the ability. To me, there's no reason why I should have failed. Still, there was good to take away from this. I didn't do horrible, an all too real possibility at proven by my past performances at bigger tournaments. In that way, I succeeded in progressing as a player, which is always an underlying goal.

This tournament was somewhat of big low for me. I was so sure that I would make top 16, not making it was a huge shock. It took me a while to get out of it, but I'm slowly getting back as this post indicates. Next week is "Middle of Knowhere," a tournament hosted by perennial Iowa TO Scott "Xiang." This looks to be a bigger tournament than the usual monthlies that Scott hosts. I should be able to do well in all games. We'll see.

Onward to Fighter x Shooter!

I'm super excited to be going to this tourney. Another chance to prove myself as one of the best in the Midwest, so hopefully I don't choke. Also, I don't have to drive this time! Too good. I'll be riding with Sean "Murphagator" aka the Floe Killa and Curtis "Top Hat." Other Iowa players will also be there including Kevin "K Dot Lo". Jay "Indianaz Finest" will also be making an appearance. Wish us luck and watch the stream.

http://www.twitch.tv/focusfirefighters

3SO Videos Featuring Week 1 Ken

Screw the Xbox Youtube connectivity with 3rd Strike Online Edition. My ghetto way of recording FG vids is better than having to upload to a mothership channel of endless fluff and scrubbery. I want to look like a scrub where someone can actually find and see the evidence!

Tourney Updates: DBQ Weeklies, Fighter X Shooter

Mike "Hogosha" has changed the Dubuque MvC3 Weeklies into the Dubuque Versus Cup (format below), a ranbat of sorts that will be going on every week leading up to the release of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. The winner of the ranbat will receive a free copy. The weekly tournaments also feature a different "mystery" game each week that will have its own ranbat. Top placers in this ranbat will receive a bunch of cool stuff like comic books and other collectibles. There has already been 3 weeks worth of tournaments, I placed 1st and 2nd respectively in the first two weeks in MvC3. I was unable to attend the  third week.

Points format - Dubuque Versus Cup

1st - 12
2nd - 8
3rd - 5
4th - 3
5th - 2
6th or lower - 1

Current Standings (After 3 weeks)

Marvel vs Capcom 3

1. Hogosha - 32
2. NGamer3k - 20
3. Olli - 15
4. Adam - 9
5. Keela - 8
6. Kintehr - 7
7. Stocks - 3
9. DTJB, Kuares - 2
11. Cory, Clark - 1

Grand Cup (different game every week)

1. Hogosha - 36
2. NGamer3k -13
3. DTJB, Olli, Keela -10
6. Kintehr - 7
7. Stocks - 5
8. Kuares - 3

This Labor Day weekend, SRK editor-in-chief Keits is putting on great tournament once again. Figher x Shooter will be held at the same venue that UFGT7 was at. Yours truly along with many other Iowa players including Sean "Murphagator", Curtis "Top Hat", and Mike "Hogosha." Jay "Indianaz Finest" will also be there. This is looking like it's going to be big. I can't wait.

3SO - Day 1 Summary

The short version is I had a lot of fun playing with my fighting game buddies during the first day of the release. I found out that I have some ability in this game and do not totally suck. In my matches with friends that had mounds more experience than me, I held my own with my day 1 Ken-- relying heavily on Daigo videos and general SF experience to earn hits. I was certainly not a free win by any means. With that said, I went 2-4 in my online ranked matches. I need the experience in the matchups to be able to easily counter the tactics I have seen so far. I'm confident if I had known just a bit more information, I could have won a lot more.

I've always been critical of this game in the past. I like the system and mechanics for the most part. There are two main problems the way I see it. First of all and most obvious is balance. This is one of the most imbalanced competitive fighters out there, but this isn't really a huge problem to me--- but a problem nonetheless. The other problem, a much bigger one in my mind, is the way the game tends to flow. It is mostly about poking and fishing for a 1-hit confirm into Super. The ease at which a character does this is what usually defines how good the character is and to me getting one hit into big damage shouldn't be the how a whole round is decided.

Third Strike is a game beloved by mostly those that only play 3S and not much else if anything and I'm beginning to see why. It is a game that is very unique that attracts a specialized kind of player. Sure, fighting gamers can be successful at it, but it usually far from their favorite game. I prefer ST or Alpha for my sprite based SF game.

3rd Strike Online Arrives Tomorrow on XBLA

One of the most common questions I receive nowadays being primarily a SF4 player, is whether or not I'm going to play 3SO. The answer is without a doubt, I am. I've always been interested in the game, I have two emulators that can play it already. The problem of course being that I can't proficiently practice this way. Not any longer. Be sure to look out for me online, scrubbing it up with the rest of the '09 class and uploading crappy youtube videos. Huzzahs all around, I'm sure.

Whenever I've played in the past, I've picked Denjin Ryu (lol unblockable fireball) and Ibuki, but I think I'm going to try my hand at either Ken or Chun-Li. I'll update the blog with my progress in the coming days and weeks.

Video: Self Commentated Matches 1- SSF4 AE

I'm going to be doing many of these for SSF4 so keep a look out.

Personal Development Log: MvC3 - In it For the Long Haul

People that have witnessed me playing this game in tournaments know I have a very simple style that isn't flashy but effective--not unlike my style in many other games. I also have not really deviated from my day 1 team of Wesker/Storm/Chun-Li. Truth be told, I have constantly thought about switching out one of these characters for a different one in hopes of giving me more of a chance to win than I already have. All this time, I have only entered tournament with one other team-- Wesker/Chun-Li/Phoenix. Although I won the tournament with that team, it didn't quite work the way I wanted to. Since I've invested so much time in my usual team, I think they work so well together, and I don't have much interest in the rest of the cast, I have decided to stick with them until Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3.

The purpose of the this post is to track my development of course, so right now I'll break down the team and the dynamics of how I play them and why I play them as a starting point.

Wesker- Good in nearly any spot on a team, he's my point character because he is my best character. Great zoning and runaway, decent mixup and damage, and I also take advantage of the DHC glitch with Storm. Easy character to use and play-- just my thing.

There's not much more I can do to improve other than combo execution and maneuvering.

Storm - Second position for the DHC glitch and a stronger character to come out when Wesker dies. She is my worst character as far as my ability to play her goes. This is why I have wrestled and fumbled with the idea of switching teams, but Storm has become a fundamental part of my team and overall style and strategy of how I play this game. I can't give her up. It's not all about the DHC glitch here, I can have plenty of success with this same team without the extra damage-- it's mostly about the other things she provides me. For one, an excellent DHC. Excellent damage in combos and a very safe option to tag out Wesker. Also, I use the DHC to counter virtually anything on reaction-- which I love to do, but mostly I love the safety this provides me. Her assist, while not great is still a good projectile that adds to my mixup with Wesker and provides with a boost in zoning. I play this game mostly defensively at a neutral position so I like the fact that her S move is such a great anti air.

Characters with 8-way dashes are everywhere in this game, so it wouldn't hard to replace her with say Magneto or Viper. However, I would lose the great damage on a DHC with Magneto and lose the assist with someone like Viper.

There's a lot that can be done with her. She's a good enough character that I shouldn't be struggling the way I am with her. I need to learn how to space her air normals a lot better, and confirm better as well. I often get counter hit mispacing one of her moves. I've have been getting better steadily over the course of my playing but she still needs work and is still my weakest link by far.

Chun-Li - Perhaps the most controversial and criticized component of my team among my peers. She is an assist character primarily-- something I feel I need in this game. The assist is not too great as far as pure assist characters go. The startup on legs is not invincible but it's fast and active enough to cause a real nuisance. The long active period is also a weakness that is easily punishable unlike many other assists. She has pretty good DHC synergy in combos with the other team members, but not phenomenal by any means. It's probably better than what I'd be getting with a Tron or Haggar. This brings me to my next point about her, I'm not bad with her and she isn't totally helpless. I don't have a huge comeback factor with her, but I've been known to weasel out some wins with level 3 X-Factor Chun-Li. That being said, she is no Dormammu or even Akuma. The only character I can see myself putting in her slot would be Sentinel so I don't lose DHC synergy and the character won't be helpless when fighting alone. The only problem is, I don't like Sentinel at all.

I need to do good meterless combos with her, which I don't do. Her damage isn't great even with meter. I still need to take full advantage of her speedy crossups and instant overheads. Combos is still the biggest thing I need to work on.

Video: Odd Rose Soul Satellite AE Property

I was playing Endless the other day when I ran into a Gen player using turbo. Really? You need turbo to play Gen? That enough would be reason to record a video, it has something else that's worth noting. In the second round, I activated Soul Satellite and something odd occurred. I was hit by Gen, but the orbs remained active. Apparently, there is 2 frames after the 5 frame initial startup where this can occur. Go figure-- this is the first time I've ever seen it.

I Have SSF4 3D Edition

Winning all those tournaments and the recent 3DS price drop has allowed me to purchase said device so I can do what... but play more SSF4! A little redundant? I don't know. Don't judge me. Anyway, you can find me online beasting-- now in the third dimension!

It's actually not as hard as you would expect, but definitely a challenge-- especially for someone accustomed to playing on an arcade stick such as myself. Make no mistake, this IS SSF4. Every link and every cancel is the same as its big brother console counterpart. I was unable to Dragon punch > FADC > Ultra in the 7 minutes or so I gave to trying. So it was off to Arcade mode to get more of feel for the controls. I was doing well until I was flash kicked to death by Guile. *In DSP voice* "THAT IS NOT GOOD GAME DESIGN. THE COMPUTER COUNTERS EVERYTHING!"

Day 1 Summary - We all knew Guile would be overpowered in this version, but the computer? Also, I can't do Ultras without the help of the touch screen panel that maps all three kicks or punches. Of course, I'm using Pro mode. I'm insulted that you would even wonder.

Iowa Smash Invades Kansas City- Results from Midwest Net WARZ, 8/13/11

Over the weekend, Iowa drove a caravan of 7 players to Kansas City for Midwest Net WARZ, a Smash tournament hosted by perennial Kansas tournament host, Delux. While unfortunately I was not among them, I find this worthy to report for two reasons. First, Iowa outnumbered every other state at this tournament. This fact is not only hilarious to me, but it also makes this tournament a de facto Joker's Monthly due to the August edition of said monthlies being canceled. Second, one of Iowa's players did very well-- taking first in Brawl doubles teaming with MJG. Results after the break.

Tourney Log: Marvelous Street Kombat 3, Omaha, NE, 8/6/11

I had been away from Omaha too long. When one of the organizers of this monthly tournament series and friend of mine, Yulai, put up the date on Facebook in mid-July, I immediately made plans to attend. The last time I had been to Omaha was way back in February for Nerdtron which featured a series of disappointingly lackluster tournaments. Even with the poor recent history, I always loved coming to Omaha to see some of my favorite people in the gaming community. Besides, I still felt the need to prove myself outside of Iowa and cement my gameplay as among the strongest in the Midwest. Omaha would provide an excellent gauge for me to do just that. I thought I could win. I knew I could win, but didn't think I would. The past failures of out of state performance still haunted me despite recent upswings in that category. Talking with a good gaming friend, Christian, "Joker" the day before the tournament, he encouraged me to think more positively. Still, I didn't get much sleep.

Good Luck to Iowa at EVO!

There are too many players to remember and name to give a shoutout to every last one. All you need to know is Iowa will be represented in Vegas very strongly including ST Master Charlie "Grog," Guilty Gear Anji specialist Travis "Klaige," Scott "Xiang" of the Video Gaming Federation, and many more!

Good luck guys.

What Happen?

If you're a follower of this blog, then you may have noticed I have been neglecting it for a couple of weeks.  It's true, I'm not sure where my apathy started but it is coming to an end right now. There has been interesting stuff going on that I have not reported. Some of these items will be accompanied by future posts, but let me sum up as best I can.

A few of weeks ago, the weekend of the 25th of June, myself, Indianaz Finest, Kuares, and Joker traveled to Kansas City for their monthly. I believe we all could have performed better in Marvel where in due to our less than stellar play forced us to knock each other out. Joker managed to get 7th but in my opinion he should have placed much higher if he was playing the way he does in casuals. My AE performance was good. I played well enough to place 5th and was a single correct guess away from placing higher (Zangief!). This was my third tournament in Kansas City and I hope to make it out to much more. The highlight for me however was when we returned, when St. Louis top player Rex0r praised me on SRK. Gettin' dat respect!

In much bigger news for the Iowa scene, Brainshock Beta was successfully put on two weeks ago by Yink with a bit of help from yours truly. With almost 70 entrants for Brawl singles, some of the hypest doubles matches to ever be witnessed, and a myriad of top players in attendance, it was a day to remember-- and that is a massive understatement.

This weekend features a double dose of tournament action. Iowa's Monthly Series returns today with the final tournament before EVO, and Kuares is hosting his third Smash tournament the next day.

Brainshock Beta in Two Days- Midwest Regional in Iowa-- Featuring Mew2King and Ally

Get hype for the sequel to Yink's Brainshock tournament held back in November. This one looks to be even bigger-- big enough to attract some of the world's best Smash players as mentioned in the title. I'll be running the brackets all day and trying not to get killed by all the hype. This modest post does not do it justice. See you when it's over.

Full Results- Iowa Monthly Series - Battlezone Games, Hiawatha, IA - 6/11/11

MvC3 Singles (25 Entrants, top 6 paid)

1. Ken (Dante/Sent/Phoenix)
2. IndianazFinest (Zero/Wolvie/Sent), (Zero/Sent/Felicia), (Arthur/Doom/Wolvie)
3. Figgy (Wesker/Skrull/Sent)
4. NGamer3k (Wesker/Storm/Chun)
5. TJ Mystic (Zero/Ammy/Phoenix)
5. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Morrigan)
7. Vamperial
7. Keela
9. Klaige
9. BlankM
9. theRobD
9. Jubatuba
[9] Joker*
13. Adam
13. Ether Lord
13. MysticBill
17. TopHat
17. Latino Link
17. Kingfan
17. Puffballa
17. Nugen
17. Xiang
17. Funk'd
17. Ted
25. Kint

*There was some sort of reporting issue resulting in Joker's place in the bracket to be screwed up.

SSF4 AE Singles (17 Entrants)

1. NGamer3k (Sakura, Ken)
2. Figgy (Honda, Yang)
3. Eggers (Dudley)
4. Hogosha
5. Grog
5. Adam
7. Jubatuba
7. Latino Link
9. Klaige
9. Ether Lord
9. Vamperial
9. TopHat
13. IndianzFinest
13. Nugen
13. BlankM
13. Diego
17. Schoop

Tekken 6 (8 Entrants)

1. Keela (Julia)
2. Jannakazama (Dragonov)
3. Esom
4. MysticBill
5. Xiang
5. TJ Mystic
7. Puffballa
7. Ted

Mortal Kombat 9 (6 Entrants)

1. IndianazFinest (Scorpion)
2. Kingfan (Quan-Chi)
3. Tony (Scorpion)
4. Vamperial
5. Figgy
5. NGamer3k

HDR side event (12 Entrants)

1. Grog (Sim, Honda)
2. Hogosha (Cammy, Claw)
3. Klaige (Dee Jay, Claw)
4. Figgy
5. Ken
5. TopHat
7. Vamperial
7. Kingfan
9. NGamer3k
9. Jubatuba
9. Latino Link
9. IndianazFinest

This was the biggest Iowa Monthly yet! Great tournament, great experience.

Thoughts on AE Sakura After 3 Days

I was more than excited for Arcade Edition to be released because Sakura was being buffed significantly, or so I initially thought. Indeed, she is buffed, but not to the extent myself and many other Sakura players had hoped-- even by modest standards. For reference, here is my post on the changes Capcom were to give her. Now I'm going to break down the harsh reality.

The biggest buff she would receive was undoubtedly a quicker recovery to her fireballs. Although Capcom made it sound like every version of her fireball (both charged and uncharged) would recover less, viewing the new frame data and playing the game reveals that only the charged versions have benefited. Although this makes the Uyro meaty fireball corner setup even safer, her zoning game (if you can even call it that) remains stagnant. Right off the bat, Sakura is still very much the same.

The other buff of note was the changes to cl.MP. Sakura can now combo from cl.MP into cr.MP or cr.MK. It is also a very good +3 on block now. I initially thought this move could be used very similarly to Cammy's cl.MP as a throw tech punish into an easy confirm. In practice, I have not had success with this usage. Even when I know they are option-selecting throw I could not land a clean hit. Further, unlike Cammy's cl.MP, Sakura does not have a lot of time to confirm. Although not a big deal, since any decent Sakura should be able to confirm from cr.MK (which would follow cl.MP), I would have liked to be able to confirm earlier. I'll continue to work with this, but as of right now, the best usage of cl.MP would be for frame traps.

The st.MK buff has proven useful. I haven't messed with it too much, but when I have I've had success. The other specific changes to her like air tatsu gaining more hits have been insignificant. St.MP being special cancelable is just a gimmick at this point. There is not much more to say than that.

As for what I can tell, she did not gain any buffs to her hitboxes (other than st.MK), as was also reported. Her ground normals are still pretty awful. Bison, Chun, and Rog are still tough matchups for this reason.

So what's the final verdict? She is better, but not amazingly so (see Makoto). However, she does move up the tier list significantly to a solid mid status, but mostly on the merits of nerfs coming to the other characters. Her damage is astronomical at this point relatively to the rest of the cast and she will still stun you with just a couple mixups. Overall, I am pretty disappointed. I have been mainly relying on my tried and true tactics in order to get my wins, so I can't say how much or at all the changes have benefited my gameplay. With that said, I can't complain. She was not nerfed (she even retains her runaway tatsu), and her gameplay remains generally untouched. Shoutouts to the Sakura mains out there.

Results- Dubuque MvC3 Weekly #10, 6/7/11

1. Keela (Mags/Tron/Doom)
2. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Morrigan)
3. Olli (Wolvie/Zero/Task)
4. Kint
5. DTJB

Mike (Hogosha) made mention that he has ordered the EVO Monitor. These tournaments have been a great success!

SSF4 AE Available for Consoles Today!

I would write more, but I have to go play! First tournament is this Saturday. I'll try to be back soon with E3 thoughts and my experience at UFGT7. For now, stay free-- play AE! (Wow, that was bad)

Wish Us Luck at UFGT7!

Charlie "Grog", Curtis "TopHat", Travis "Klaige", Thomas "BlankM", Mike "ShinHogosha", Sean "Murphagator", Scott "Xiang", and yours truly-- Blake "NGamer3k", will all be traveling to Chicago this weekend for one of the Midwest's premier tournaments, Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament 7. It is part of the Evo Tournament season with many top players from all over the country descending upon the city including EG Justin Wong, DMG PR Rog, Wolfkrone, TS NerdJosh, BLG Juicebox, and Alex Valle. The eight of us are entered into every event between us, so check out the stream powered by LevelUp and cheer us on!

Results- Dubuque MvC3 Weekly #9, 5/24/11

1. Murphagator (Spencer/Sent/Haggar)
2. NGamer3k (Wesker/Storm/Chun)
3. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Morrigan)
4. Indianaz Finest
5. Olli
7. Kuares
7. Kint
9. DTJB

Proposed Bill Upgrades Unauthorized Streaming to a Felony

It was reported by SRK last week that a new bill put forth by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Cornyn (R-TX) that would upgrade unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content to a felony. Specifically, the technical term is "public performance" which streaming would fall under. Previously, this was not considered a felony. The bill is gaining support from both sides of the aisle.

I actually wasn't going to comment on this, as I am far from fully understanding this, but one of my readers suggested I do. Ask, and thou shall receive!

What does this mean for the fighting game scene? Streaming has become a huge part of the community. There's always a stream you can watch out there, be it featuring top level pros or a humble local tournament somewhere. This bill will not affect the major stream runners like Team Sp00ky and LevelUp. These streams will easily obtain licenses in order to keep things on the straight and narrow. But what of the local streamer? Before you say that nothing will happen, think again. Over the last couple of years, YouTube has infracted and all-out closed accounts of "Let's Players"-- users who record themselves playing through video games, because technically they are recording copyrighted  intellectual property and sharing it. While no legal action has ever been taken as far as I know in this regard, I wouldn't underestimate the capability of our government to inhibit this sort of content.

I imagine these smaller streams will fall into an ambiguous gray area that will be difficult to enforce due to the wording of the bill as it is right now. Remember, fighting game companies are very involved with the community and are more than aware that this goes on. It would be up to the companies to enforce the law on their own behalf and I can't imagine them cracking down on the humble tournament streamer.

The thing I mostly take from this is that this is just another instance of how Capitol Hill still has no idea what they get themselves into when it comes to online content. What seems like a good natured bill in their heads, looks extremely dubious in ours. It'll be interested to see how it all plays out if and when the bill is passed and becomes law.

Results - Dubuque MvC3 Weekly #8 5/17/11

1. MysticBill (Sent/Dante/Task)
2. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Morrigan)
3. Olli (Wolverine/Zero/Task)
4. Keela
5. Kint
6. DTJB

"Kint" is the player formerly known as Jackie. An '11er? er... nevermind.

Full Results - Iowa Monthly 5/14/11, Hiawatha, IA (with videos)

MvC3 Singles (20 entrants, top 6 paid)


1. MURPHAGATOR (Spencer/Sent/Haggar, Joe/Doom/Wesker)
2. Ether Lord (She-Hulk/Task/Wesker)
3. Figgy (Wesker/Skrull/Sent)
4. Top Hat
5. NGamer3k
5. Keela
7. Vamperial 
7. Jubatuba 
9. Funked
9. Grog 
9. Xiang
9. Klaige
13. Skylar 
13. Kingfan 
13. James 
13. Kuares 
17. Chris 
17. Mark 
17. Latino Link 
17. Jackie

Winner's Finals Figgy vs MURPHAGATOR

Loser's Finals Ether Lord vs Figgy

Grand Finals Ether Lord vs MURPHAGATOR set 1

Grand Finals Ether Lord vs MURPHAGATOR set 2

Super Honda Fighter 4 Singles (8 entrants)


1. NGamer3k (Sakura)

2. Figgy (Honda, Guile)
3. Grog (Honda, Blanka, Dhalsim)
4. Kemps
5. Latino Link 
5. Top Hat
7. Jubatuba 
7. Vamperial

Loser's Finals Figgy (Honda) vs Grog (Honda, Dhalsim)

Grand Finals Figgy (Honda, Guile) vs NGamer3k (Sakura)

Results from Dubuque MvC3 Weekly # 7, 5/10/11

MvC3 (RR, KOH)

1. NGamer3k (Wesker/Storm/Chun)
2. Olli (Wolvy/Zero/Task)
3. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Haggar)
4. MysicBill
5. Keela
6. Soran
7. Jackie

I finally won one of these things. I had a lot of close matches, and I didn't have to play Mike (Hogosha) in the bracket round. People are still kind of baffled by Wesker and keep getting hit by the Chun-Li assist. I'll see you at the Iowa Monthly this Saturday.

Platinum the Trinity and CS2 Available Now! (For Xbox Users)

Good news to for Blazblue and loli fans this morning. Completing the triumvirate of DLC characters, Platinum the Trinity has arrived for 560 MS Points. She brings along with her the Continuum Shift 2 arcade update that has been long anticipated by console users allowing them to try out the new gameplay tweaks and character rebalances that have been available in Japanese arcades and the PSP for weeks. With PSN still being on the fritz until the end of the month, Platinum will have to wait a little longer to make her debut on PS3s. Owners of the embattled system can still grab the update patch though.

Although the Blazblue series is all but dead in this state, yours truly has regrettably signed up for this game for UFGT in Chicago in two weeks. I'm going to go practice and see what this loli can do.

Results - Event 52 (Midwest West Circuit Event 2.1), Lawrence, KS, 5/7/11

This tournament was the first event of season 2 of the Midwest West Circuit hosted by DeLux. Iowa had a good volume of players that attended. Yes, Mew2King was there. Why? I have no idea. 


FYI - Once again, I am unsure of the characters used. What I do have listed, I am guessing. Someone please contact me. I want/need to know! I've also taken the liberty of bolding the Iowans.


Melee Singles

1: Mew2king
2: Arc
3: Jace
4: Jbm
5: Cue
5: z
7: Tyser
7: dmac
9: Massive
9: Strong Bad
9: Sinister
9: Smeesh
13: Phat
13: Bert
13: Buddha Lova
13: Tempest
17: Quote
17: Ybmp
17: Honda
17: Duck
17: Joemotion
17: Zantetsu
17: Bolun
17: Rob
25: Sherman the Tank
25: Drewbear

Melee Doubles
1: Strong Bad & M2k
2: Arc & Jace
3: Barksdale Crew (z & dmac)
4: Cue & Jbm
5: Massive Phat
5: Smeesh & Tyser

Brawl Singles
1: Mew2king (MK)
2: Domo (MK)
3: Ensis (Toon Link)
4: Holms
5: raphael de la getto
5: Clel
7: Jalorda
7: Johnny Deadshot
9: Zeton
9: Trent
9: Nicole
9: Joker
13: Rockstar
13: Fource
13: Rob
13: Rick
17: Nom
17: Bpow 
17: Heyden
17: Stealth Raptor
17: Dillan
17: Luke
17: Aura
17: DeLux
25: Thugz
25: Wang
25: Tempest
25: Dream
25: Scrub
25: Quote
25: Daniel
25: Duck

Brawl Doubles
1: Ensis & Domo
2: M2k & Fino
3: Mr. Doom & Holmes
4: Zeton & Clel
5: Fource & Joker
5: Bpow & Nicole
7: Stealth & Scrub
7: Dillan & Daniel
9: Mitchell & Denton
9: Legalize it

Justin Wong Accused of Throwing Match - Disciplined by Evo

Big news went down yesterday, as Tom Cannon, one of the organizers of Evo, announced a ruling against Justin Wong regarding his dubious performance in the losers finals of the MvC3 Singles tournament at PowerUp this past weekend. He is being accused of intentionally underperforming in order to help his opponent and good friend, Noel Brown, place higher.

"In our judgment, by not making a good-faith effort to win, Justin intentionally underperformed. As a result, he forfeits the prize associated with the EVO 2011 Tournament Series portion of this event: his placement points. "

Justin was also issued a yellow card for this violation, meaning any further rule violations during the Evo tournament series this year will result in a full disqualification from the Evolution World Championships in July.

"Since we do not have any clear evidence of collaboration between players, we can only penalize the player whose performance reflects intentional underperformance. Noel Brown will still receive points for fighting his way into the Loser's Final match, as matches up to that point do not reflect evidence of any collusion or intentional under-performance. We feel the recorded evidence is clear, and internal action on this matter began immediately following the match."

On one hand, this decision is good for the spirit of competition. It shows that Evo will not tolerate this sort of action from anyone including top players like Justin. It sets a solid precedent for future occurrences.

On the whole however, I do not like this decision. They have no real proof besides the video of the match, which in my viewpoint is not enough to conclude that Justin was doing anything more than screwing around. Evo's case comes down to the strategy Justin chose to employ for the first match by putting Phoenix first and not even knowing how to properly combo with Skrull. However, Justin actually won the first match of the set with this moronic strategy. If anything at this point, Noel should be investigated for throwing this first game in order to make their match look closer than it should have been.

Without clear proof that Justin wanted to intentionally lose, how can you possibly fault a player for their actions in game? If Noel and Justin both wanted to pick Random for their entire set, what then? Where do you draw the line? Justin had been picking Adon throughout the SSF4 tournament at PowerUp, even during top 3. He clearly would have had a better chance with his other characters, but he chose to stick with Adon. In my estimation, Justin was not trying his hardest to win here, he was simply testing his Adon in a tournament situation. If Justin had not been playing Noel in the losers finals, I believe his actions would not be an issue. The closeness of their set should also be taken into consideration. If Justin was trying to lose on purpose, I find it hard to believe he could make it look so close.

Results from Dubuque MvC3 Weeklies #6, 5/3/11

1. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Haggar)
2. Keela (Mags/Tron/Chun)
3. Olli (Wolverine/Zero/Task)
4. MysticBill
5. Chevy
6. DTJB

Post Mortem: Missouri Gaming Championships and the Death Weekend

I realize this post is a little late, but bear with me. As you know, about two weeks ago, I endeavored to attend two tournaments in two days in two states while still working the night in between. Surely, I had a death wish, yet here I am-- still alive. As it turns out, the weekend was not as grueling as I and everyone had anticipated. It would have been different if I was the one doing the driving, but I was spared of this task (one I usually take on) by my good friend Bill. As such, I "caught up" on sleep in the car. However, I only ended up sleeping around a total of seven hours over the course of the weekend.

How did I fare? Hard to say. That's not just because of my performance on both days. The Missouri tournament, if it can even be called that, was truly pathetic. There I was, traveled over four hours, about to give up a kidney in order to pay for gas, only to participate in a "tournament" with less than ten entrants and still getting bodied! Two of Missouri's best players and in my opinion among the best in the Midwest, aks216 and Rex0r,  came to this event. They were expecting the same thing I was-- tons of Marvel scrubs from the University. Alas, no one was happy when the reality of the situation became apparent. I didn't get to play against a vast array of players, and aks216 and Rex0r didn't get to make good money. There was enough salt in the room to open a mine.

Although MvC3 was the only traditional fighter that was on the tournament schedule for the event. There was more interest in the air for SSF4, and not all of it was coming from me. A SSF4 Round Robin tournament paying the top 2 was thus spawned. It was decided that it would be run first because ironically it had more interest than Marvel. Seven people entered including myself. The guy that drove Rex0r to the event from St. Louis, a Rose player named "Peaceful" was the "more interest" I was talking about. Understandably, he thought his only obstacles to the money were Rex0r and aks216. We did 3/5 game sets. I beat Peaceful 3-1 with my Sakura and 3-0'd everyone else outside of Rex0r and aks. In my matches with those guys, I looked pretty free and failed to take a game off of either of them. I was of course disappointed, but it's good to be reminded of how far I still need to go.

Marvel went the pretty much the same way. Peaceful decided to sit it out, which made me question whether or not I wanted to donate to aks and Rex. I bit the bullet of course out of the spirit of competition or whatever, and proceeded to get touch of death comboed by aks' Magneto. I took a game off of Rex by zoning out his Wolverine, but was beaten pretty soundly in the other two games.

Although the tournaments were a wash at best, I did attract the attention of both Rex and aks with my Street Fighter play. They witnessed how well I did against the others and Rex would later say he enjoyed being challenged in an otherwise very weak field of players. After he had collected his  "prize money," I went up to aks and asked him if he still mained Ryu (I knew this from seeing him on SRK), because he counterpicked the entire Round Robin. He replied that he mains counterpick now and no longer plays one character. He added the addendum that he would play me again in a money match against any character of my choosing. I explained that if I didn't already know how good his Ryu was, I would quickly accept a Sakura vs Ryu money match. He was intrigued at my confidence, and thus a 2/3 $1 match was eventually forced out of me (I would have put up more, but had to still pay for food and gas). The match was close. I would eventually come out on top, drawing a response from aks during the match: "I don't think I like this." We played again and he would win his dollar back in another close match. I must have gained some respect because after that he said we could just play the matchup without money at stake.

I did end up having a lot of fun in Columbia, however I can't say it was worth all the money I spent to make the trip. As always I received a lot of compliments regarding my arcade stick and the people there are very sociable, perhaps more than any other place I've been out of state. If the community recruits some more players and I'll be back for sure.

Best Wishes to Iowans at PowerUp!

I guess I'm a tad late with this (Gosh, why are all the major tournaments 3 day affairs now?). Indeed, there is an Evo Qualifier tournament this weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio, PowerUp. Two Iowa players, Billy "Funked" and Scott "Xiang" are attending. Although bred out of 3D fighters, both of them have taken up MvC3. They are among the best supporters of the community on the eastern side of the state. Look for them on the stream today. Good luck, guys!

Video of Grand Finals Set From Brawl Doubles at Joker's Monthly 4/23/11

I recommend watching this on Youtube, PCity has provided nice time tags that take the video to the start of each game in the set.

Results from Dubuque MvC3 Weeklies #5, 4/26/11

1. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Haggar)
2. NGamer3k (Wesker/Storm/Chun)
3. Olli (Wolverine/Zero/Task)
4. MysticBill
5. Keela
6. DTJB
7. Jackie

I feel like I'm definitely getting better at this game. I like these tournaments, because I am able to get steady and consistent competition to the end of gauging my progress. I didn't have a chance to play Bill's main team (who beat me in Cedar Rapids) and Keela decided to run Hsien-Ko in his team this week (arguably the worst character in the game right now), so it's kind of difficult to say how much better I have gotten.

Full Results - Joker's Monthly #21, Des Moines, IA, 4/23/11

Brawl Singles (22 entrants)


1. Fino (Olimar)
2. Joker (Snake)
3. Future (MK, Marth, ICs)
4. Trent (Sonic)
5. FAE (Lucas, MK)
5. Razor (DDD, MK)
7. MetalMusicMan (Falco)
7. Tmacc (Diddy, MK, DDD, Rob)

Brawl Doubles (8 entrants) Bracket

1. Joker & PCity (Snake + Diddy)
2. MetalMusicMan & FAE (DDD + Lucas)
3. Bpow & Future (Wario + MK)
4. JLo & Becca
5. Thugz & MegaRobMan
5. CBK & BC
7. Yink & Wang
7. Tmacc & JoWii

MvC3 (6 entrants) Bracket

1. Joker (Wesker/Dante/Task)
2. Blank Mauser (Dante/Doom/Phoenix)
3. NGamer3k (Wesker/Storm/Chun)
4. Captain Love
5. Uli
5. CBK

I don't know my placing in singles because the bracket disappeared. Well, I do technically because I didn't win a single set for the second consecutive Smash tournament (Lost to Bpow and Tyser)! I received copious amounts of byes in losers bracket-- whatever that means.

Once again traditional fighters received no love, the future of this side tournament is not bright.

Someone Call the Authorities: Jayford Has a MvC3 Blog

It's true. My man, Jay Hartford aka "Indianaz Finest" has a blog to help out all of you Marvel scrubs out there. Very informative for beginners and even has some sprinkled gems for intermediate players. All this blog needs is credibility, win some tournaments and live up to that name, Jay!

Here's a taste:

"I should probably be finishing my homework right now, but I decided to start this blog instead. I’m not naturally good at many things. Honestly, MvC2 and MvC3 might be one of the few things I have some natural talent in. I know a ton of people who want to get better, but have no clue. I have a Dazzle video capture device that I bought for Smash, but I never play anymore. So I decided to make this blog to tell people how not to suck."

Results from Missouri Gaming Championships, Columbia, MO, 4/16/11

I'm reporting this last because I have another article relating to this event that will be a future post. Due to whatever reason (I'm going to chalk it up to Smasher absentmindedness), I was unable to acquire the full results from the melee tournament because I was too busy with other stuff to pay attention. At least list the characters, come on!

SSBM

Doubles (8 entrants?)

1. Jace and Strong Bad
2. Geno and Sam
3. Lixi and Sinister

Singles (20 entrants?)

1. Jace
2. Geno
3. Sinister

SSF4 + Marvel


Essentially canceled. More in that future post. ;)

Results from Dubuque MvC3 Weeklies #4

MvC3

1. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Haggar)
2. Keela (Tron/Mags/Chun)
3. Chevy (Dante/Chun/Shuma)
4. Olli
5. DTJB
5. Jackie

Apparently, due to equipment and time limitations, this week was run bracket style double elimination with matches best 3/5 games.

Here's a quick testimonial on the humorously precarious situation that went down from Alex "Keela":

"Well, we didn't do King of the Hill format. We did a double elim bracket that Mike rigged so that me, Mike and Olli were on one half and Chevy, James and Jackie were on the other half. Olli only lost to me and Mike. Basically one of us three was going to place lower than one person on the other half of the bracket, lol.

ps - Mike totally rigged it that way on purpose, I saw him re-roll the dice he used to figure bracket placement like a million times.  heeheehee"

Results - WMS V, Cedar Rapids, IA 4/17/11

I'm only reporting top 3 for each game this time. For one, I don't know everyone's tag and another, I still don't know the characters people are using in Tekken. Someone who plays this game, get at me!

Tekken 6 (9 entrants)

1. Dan
2. Esom
3. MysticBill

SSF4 (5 entrants)

1. Figgy (Honda)
2. Hogosha (Claw)
3. NGamer3k (Sakura/Ryu)

MvC3 (17 entrants)

1. Hogasha (Ryu/Storm/Haggar)
2. Keela (Tron/Mags/Chun)
3. MysticBill (She-Hulk/Dante/Taskmaster)
.
.
T5. NGamer3k ^^;

Yes, I was dethroned in SSF4 this month by Figgy and Mike. Honda jump strong is well too... strong. Was it just a matter of time? Maybe, but I'm going to make sure not to lose again in the future. On another note, the turnout for Street Fighter is so abysmal, I wouldn't be too heartbroken if it got scrapped. It's pretty much not even worth running at this point.

I'm doing better in Marvel. I was a hop and skip away from top three again, losing to Mystic Bill and the other Bill "Funk'd" both went to game 3's. I've been training a secret character all week (which is why I haven't updated until now), I'll see you at Joker's this Saturday.

UPDATE of UPDATE

In reality it seems the Omaha tournament is the same day as Joker's. This would actually be fine for me. I could easily go to both, however they won't be running SSF4. That's a deal breaker for me. Even though I am traveling four hours to play just Marvel this weekend, I won't do the same if I can easily avoid it.

By the way, the reason I didn't simply edit the last post again is because I like what I wrote and to update the post further seems silly to me. Stay free, me.

UPDATE: The Upcoming Tournament Weekends- The Rapture and Armageddon

What have I got myself into? In a clear effort to kill myself over the weekend, I will be attending two tournaments in two consecutive days in two different states. Additionally, I have to deliver the newspaper that Saturday night in between (not to mention the Friday night before we leave). How crazy am I, exactly? We'll find out afterwards if I happen to survive.

I'll be leaving with my friend and courteous driver, Bill aka "VaderSeven" around 6:00 AM on our way to the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia for The Missouri Gaming Championships. Bill will be displaying his tremendous skill as one of midwest's finest at Starcraft II, while I try to not embarass myself in Marvel vs Capcom 3. Four hours of driving and a $15 venue for one game is difficult, but I've never been one to turn down tournament experience, especially in a game I need it in.

I was IM'd by Bill weeks prior about this tournament. I had mentioned in our past communications that I would like to accompany him to a Starcraft event sometime, and this seemed to be the perfect fit. We made an arrangement to accommodate my working hours and it all looked good. Not a week later did I find out that Iowa's Monthly, "WMS" was happening the same weekend on that Sunday. Having had the unpleasant experience of people dropping out of tournaments on me too many times already, I didn't want to back out on Bill-- especially with gas prices the way they are. And so, here we are.

We plan to leave Columbia around 9:30 PM, allowing us to arrive back in Iowa City around 1:30 AM. I'll go through my paper route doing my best zombie impression, return home, grab around four hours of winks before I have to continue on with the second leg of my tournament gauntlet. I'm not sure how exactly all this will affect my performance in both competition and in my daily duties, but it will be one hell of a weekend. Two tournaments, two days, two states, and North Liberty will still receive their weekend papers on time. Catch you on the flip side.

UPDATE: It's come to my attention that Omaha's monthly (SSF4 and MvC3) will be held the following weekend at Family Fun. This wouldn't pose much of a problem except Joker's Monthly is the day before. I'm already committed to Joker's. I promised a ride to Chloe "Yink" aka Queen of the rainbow  colored names on Smashboards. At the moment, I am appealing to the SRK boards for people to accompany me to Omaha so I can make up some of the expense I'd be taking. Pray for me.

You may be wondering why can't I just skip out on these events and save copious amounts of money and trouble. A fair challenge to my seemingly insane ambition. To that I can only say that I'm hungry, hungry for victory.

Results from MvC3 Dubuque Weeklies #3 - 4/12/11

MvC3 (8 entrants, RR/KOH)


1st - Murhagator (Spencer/Sentinel/Haggar)
2nd - Olli
3rd - MysticBill
4th - Keela
5th - Hogasha
6th - Chevy
7th - DTJB
8th - Jackie


I don't have the other teams, because I was unable to attend this week and Mike :< couldn't remember. Can the Bionic ARRRRRM be stopped?

SSF4 AE Officially Announced For Consoles - Release Date, Price, New Features

After months of rumors and potential leak sources were combating SSF4 Producer Yoshinori Ono aka "Master Troll" and his continual denials that Arcade Edition would make it to consoles, it was announced today that AE would indeed be released to consoles as both a DLC update for current owners of SSF4 priced at $14.99 and a full retail disc for those who still haven't joined the SF4 legion priced at $40 according to Amazon.

Results from Dubuque MvC3 Weekly #2, 4/5/11

MvC3 (6 entrants, RR, KOH)

1. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Haggar)
2. Olli (Wolverine/Zero/Taskmaster)
3. NGamer3k (Wesker/Storm/Chun)
4. MysticBill (She-Hulk/Dante/Sentinel)
5. Keela (Magneto/Tron/Chun)
6. Chevy (Chun/Wesker/Shuma)

Results from Dubuque MvC3 Weeklies #1, 3/29/11

MvC3 Singles (6 entrants RR)

1. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Haggar)
2. MysticBill (She-Hulk/Dante/Taskmaster)
3. Olli (Wolverine/Zero/Taskmaster)
4. Alex (Magneto/Tron/Chun)
5. Chevy (Dante/Iron Man/Chun)
6. DTJB (Skrull/Chun/Ryu)

Hopefully, I'll be able to attend the next one.

Weekly MvC3 Tournaments in Dubuque

Starting today, Mike "Hogosha" of Dubuque will be organizing weekly MvC3 tournaments. Entry will be relatively small and the overall goal seems to foster the community which has seen a recent revival in the state with Marvel's release. Come out and support the cause! Details below.

Place: Comic World, 4031 Pennsylvania, Dubuque, IA 52002

Time: 6:00 every Tuesday night, please try to arrive by 5:30 for warm-ups and sign-ups.

Fee: $3, with $2 for prize money and $1 for venue/equipment fund.

Format: Double-elimination unless we get 5 or less, then we'll do round-robin/king of the hill. Best of 3 matches.

System: PS3. Bring your own controller, plz.

A note about the entry/venue fee/winnings: $1 of every entry fee will be put toward getting a monitor and eventually a dedicated setup for the tourney, as will my winnings if I place. If we end up with 6 or less people, it'll be winner take all. More than that and top 3 will pay out. If there end up being enough complaints about it, I'll change things, but that's the plan. Dubuque once had a dedicated tourney scene and I'd like to see that happen again.

Results from Quick Run upSmash! - Brawl Tournament, Marion, IA, 3/27/11

Brawl Singles (12 entrants)

1. PortCity (Diddy)
2. Joker (Snake)
3. Kuares (Fox)

Brawl Doubles (5 teams)

1. PortCity & BPow (Diddy + Wario)
2. Joker & CBK (Snake + MK/Pikachu)
3. Blank & NGamer3k (Kirby/MK + MK)

Full Results- WMS IV, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 3/20/11

Tekken 6

1. Ohesotasty (aka jannakazama)
2. Mr. Delicious
3. Esom
4. Jimmypikachu
5. Omac
5. Spam Guy
7. Xiang
7. Kokain
9. Mysticbill
9. Amit

SSF4

1. NGamer3k (Sakura)
2. Figgy (Honda)
3. Murphagator (Cody)
4. Hogosha
5. Grotsnik
5. Esom

MvC3

1. Murphagator (Spencer/Sentinel/Haggar)
2. Ken (Dante/Phoenix/Sentinel)
3. Hogosha (Ryu/Storm/Haggar)
4. Xiang
5. Funk'd
5. Kokain
7. Mysticbill
7. NGamer3k
9. Mark
9. Grostnik
9. Esom
9. Figgy
13. Jake

Sorry I don't have characters for Tekken, I was unable to find out. Plus, I know nothing about that game!
For those wondering, I went 2-2 (Beat Xiang and Esom, lost to Kokain and Hogosha) in MvC3 and played pretty well overall, I was happy with my performance overall. Of course, there were things I could have done a lot better, but I'm still gaining experience and have not reached a decent level I'm comfortable with just yet.

Second-Hand Reporting From Final Round

"Do you need to park or are you just dropping off the young lady?"

That's how the day started for Blank, Iowa's sole* representative at Final Round XIV. An inauspicious start to what would be a roller-coaster of a tournament. Easily being among Iowa's best in Marvel 3, Blank was aiming high, telling this blogger I would see him on Sunday in the finals. Although the remark that opened this entry probably did nothing to reinforce his confidence, Blank would receive other comments-- regarding his exceptional play.

"Best Ammy I've seen." "Fanciest Dante."

Unfortunately, confidence and compliments does not a top 8 finish make. As I wrote a week ago, Blank's major weakness at this point is his lack of tournament experience. To put things in perspective, Final Round XIV marked his second non-smash outing ever. A Major with over 300 entrants as one's second tournament presents a huge mountain to climb. Even though he may have had a great chance to make it out of his pool on paper, the tournament setting seemed to get to him. "I'm a scrub," Blank said after he was eliminated. He even went as far as denouncing himself as a tournament player. Officially, Blank finished the Marvel 3 tournament in 129th. Although the result was considered a disappointment, he would fare better than Jayford, aka "Indianaz Finest."

I already happen to know that tournament pressure definitely gets under Jay's skin and it showed in his performance. After receiving a bye, Jay would disappointedly go 0-2 from there. Jay texted me with this, "I dunno I played other zoning teams which I [don't] have a lot of exp with and then I dropped combos. Each game went to the third [game] tho." On a positive note, Jay would meet many fighting game icons including Mike Ross, IFC Yipes, and Ricky Ortiz.

No matter what the results were, I say no one can criticize these guys too harshly. They took the step and competed. They put themselves out there, and that's a step many "players" seem to not take. My hat is off to them. Hopefully what was learned from their experience will lead to more favorable results.

*Upon looking at the results, there was another person from Iowa at FR- Scot Peterson aka "Scotland." I have no idea who this is.

Battlezone Games MvC3 Tournament, Hiawatha, IA - 3/12/11 - Results

MvC3 Singles (12 entrants)

1. Icekid (Wolverine/Taskmaster/Sentinel)
2. Kilts (Wolverine/Doom/Sentinel)
3. Kokain (Sentinel/Wesker/Phoenix)

Yours truly got 9th, 1-2. Let it be known, I got bracket fucked and lost to the top two finishers who apparently are not even from Iowa. Oh well, I'll be the first one to tell you I'm not the best at this game. I'll have a chance at redemption next weekend at the Iowa monthly.

Iowa and Friends at Final Round XIV!

Final Round, a long running east coast major tournament and part of this year's Road to Evo Tournament Season is taking place in Atlanta, GA this weekend and Iowa has a single representative. Thomas "Blank Mauser" Luvan, will be competing in MvC3 singles and Melty Blood: Actress Again singles. Blank is definitely one of Iowa's strongest in Marvel and also a force in the midwest in Melty. However, he lacks tournament experience-- this will be his second tournament ever in non-Smash titles. Even so, I believe Blank is strong-willed enough for that not to be a factor. The only question is, will a complete lack of practice in both games leading up to the event be enough to inhibit him? I will try to keep you updated. This blogger and I'm sure all of Iowa, wish him luck!

But wait, there's more! My good friend and certified Marvel 2 scrub, Jay "Indianaz Finest" Hartford is also there to compete in Marvel. A solid player that relies on his Marvel 2 experience to out muscle his opponents, Jay still needs to work on core fundamentals. With that said, Jay is coming off a strong 2nd place finish at his local Purdue University Ranbat this past week. He's hungry for victory. We'll see how he does. Good luck Jay!

Look for them on the stream.

Update: Why No Updates?

Wheels have been turning in the real world this week, inhibiting my ability to write posts. I am also recuperating from a tournament in Omaha. I would make a post about that with results, if I had access to the official results for all the games. Maybe a tournament log will come out of it, as it was so much fun with so many story lines.

Anyway, another post I have been working on for a while is my complete breakdown and criticism of X-Factor in MvC3. Look forward to that.

In other news, a new face has shown up in the Iowa SRK thread and he plans to attend the next Iowa Monthly in Cedar Rapids which is now officially scheduled for the 20th of March. I'll try to keep up with all this in the coming weeks. Stay tuned, and stay free.

WMS3 (IA Monthly), Cedar Rapids, IA, 2/20/11-Full Results

Tekken 6 Singles


1. jannakazama (Drag)
2. O.M.A.C. (Feng, Yoshi)
3. Keela - (Hei)
4. sukkafoo
5. spam guy 
5. mystic bill
7. xiang 
7. olli 


SSF4 Singles


1. NGamer3k (Sakura, Rose)
2. Keela (Chun-Li)
3. figgy (Honda, Guile)
4. Kemps
5. Billy
5. mulder
7. Travis