I injured myself skateboarding in 2014. It took nearly a whole year to get an assigned date to get surgery. I could walk perfectly but anytime I tried to get more active than that, my knee would be in so much pain.
During that time, video games took up a lot of my time. I would play video games while listening to a tournament stream. One day, I decided to message my friend Alfredo about going to a tournament. Alfredo was a skateboarding buddy of mine and I knew he also went to Super Smash Bros. tournaments. I told Alfredo about my knee injury and why I wanted to go to a tournament. Alfredo informed me on the cost of entry and how things ran. Alfredo even asked to join on the ride there.
We arrived to Mothership Books and Games, a store in North Austin where the tournament was being ran. I was confident on my skill but as I watch other players, my stomach dropped. I signed up with the Tournament Organizer (T.O) named Joe (still a good friend of mine till this day) and I told him my tag was “Doombase” but he signed me up as “D00M” (and it went on like that for a couple of weeks).
“D00M Vs. ALEX!” was shouted out through the venue. The venue was loud and filled with a lot of people. The energy in the room was super competitive but everyone was talking to each other like friends. It felt right. I walked to my competitor and he greeted me with a handshake, we exchanged names and sat in front of a setup. I was in the zone and ready to win.
I will never forget how bad I was. ALEX showed no mercy, and I got “Two-stocked,” that’s when you lose both lives and you didn’t take any from your opponent.
After the loss, I started thinking to myself. I was trying to make amends with what just happened; trying to justify why I lost so badly. Alfredo was telling me what went wrong in my match and I was listening in disgrace.
The bracket was double elimination. “D00M Vs. Shiken on setup 3” was announced. I was walking to setup 3 and thinking about what I could’ve done better last match to help with this one. Again, handshake, name exchange, and a “Good luck, have fun!” We choose our characters/stage and the match begun.
I went toe-to-toe with Shiken but he took the win. I was super glad I did well against Shiken; No skill differences, our fighting game fundamentals were about the same at the time, and I’m pretty sure it was our first tournament.
For my first tournament, a lot happened in my mind. I came, I saw, and I didn’t conquer but I did think alot about how I could get better at this game. I loved it. The emotions all over the venue, all the people enjoying the same game, the good times being made during the tournaments, there was just hype moments in every square inch of the venue. I met a lot of new people that I’m still friends with.
A moment of curiosity and motivation changed my life since that first tournament.
When I went to my first fighting game tournament, I didn’t think I would be here for the next 5 years (and still going). The Fighting Game Community has so many positives to it; the experiences, the relationships, and the moments.
Personal experiences are what make a fighting game player stay in the FGC. The story of my first tournament was my beginning impression on the FGC. It hasn’t changed much, every tournament is almost the same. I’ve had my experience with weekly, regional, and major tournaments. With all that experience I can say this: The bigger the tournament, the better the experience.
Mark “Moist” Raquepo, one of my good friends, I met through Smash tournaments. Even though our first encounter was kind of awkward (due to Mark not liking people when he first meets them), I have the strongest bond with Mark. We both helped run Austin weeklies with Joe for a while before Mark stopped completely. Me and Mark would still hang out, even if Smash tournaments weren’t involved.
I attended Street Fighter V (SFV) tournaments for a while after I announced I would stop playing the Wii U iteration of Smash. I went to a couple of their get togethers before attending my first tournament for SFV. Everyone was welcoming. Playing SFV with the local scene was great and they helped me learn a lot. I went to Statcade69 in Round Rock and my first casual matches were with Magneto1080p, a top player in the local scene. As we played, he gave me tips and even said “We are all just here to make everyone better at this game.”
The FGC helped me make friends but also helped make connections with so many people. The FGC feels like a big family. Since the minute I walked into Mothership, I’ve never wanted to go back.
The FGC is one big group of competitive gamers that have so much love for the games they play, just like me.
This is a video of a match I had in 2018 against Austin’s top player (#1 in the city). Hakii is a really good friend of mine and I enjoy our matches a lot. This is a good video with the ability to see our gameplay and how focused we are in match (I know I need to close my mouth, I’ve had that problem for too long).
This video by @theScoreeSports is for legendary FGC moments outside of my local scene.
Follow my twitter for more FGC content: @doombase45
Doombase's Guide into the Fighting Game Community (FGC). 