Street Fighter 6, Capcom’s new entry into their popular fighting game series hit the streets June 2nd, 2023. SF6 hit the shelves with three main game modes: World Tour, Battle Hub, and Fighting Grounds. World Tour is the game’s story mode that also teaches you the mechanics of the game. Battle Hub is SF6’s online mode where you can take your created story mode character and enjoy activities by yourself or with friends online. Fighting Grounds is where you can play arcade mode, train, play the newly introduced Extreme Battle or compete in online ranked matches. SF6 includes some of the Street Fighter 2 cast and introduces a new generation of brawlers into the SF universe. You have classic characters such as Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li and Freshman fighters such as Manon, Jamie, and JP. The 7th main entry in the series introduces the Drive Gauge with mechanics such as Drive Rush, Drive Impact and parry; mechanics also based on previous mechanics from past Street Fighter titles. There is a lot packed into this game and there is still a ton of stuff to uncover. We’re still at the surface a month in. 

As of July 2nd, 2023, my profile on steam says I’ve clocked in 120 hours on SF6. If there’s anything I can say about this game, I could say that it’s one of the most enjoyable fighting games I’ve ever played. Yes, I can say that with my chest high n’ mighty knowing I won’t regret saying it. SF6 can be enjoyed at any level, casually or professionally, but it’s a difficult game to grasp. There’s even pros saying this game is difficult, even if they’re already doing decently at tournaments, they’re still learning new things in SF6. It has only been a month which is a very short amount of time but the way fighting games have been lately, it’s kinda surprising to see a fighting game with this many layers nowadays. We had DNF Duel, KOF XV, Guilty Gear Strive, and many more releases between SFV and SF6 but those games were already figured out by the first two months from what I’ve seen. The mechanics in SF6 will make the game’s learning process last a long time.

I have never seen the characters more alive than I have in this game. Yes, story mode actually has a story but story mode does have qualities that make the story/characters feel more in-depth than previous titles. In SF6, arcade mode and World Tour are your main sources for storyline. Complete arcade mode, unlock story for a character. Go through World Tour and see all the main storyline. The one thing I absolutely love about story mode is the “masters.” The “masters” are veteran and new fighters of SF6 that mentor your created character. With this, you unlock dialogue via in-game phone text and can get their personal storylines as you progress learning their fighting styles. For example, my character learned Ryu’s Shotokan Karate fighting style. I beat up baddies and level up that style. As I level up, I unlock new moves, dialogue, and unlock the chance to challenge Ryu in a fight. I leveled up enough to unlock in-game phone text dialogue with Ryu, and it is the FUNNIEST thing I’ve seen in a Street Fighter game. Like there’s funny (haha **small chuckle**) and then there’s, laughing at my seat, by myself, super loud. I did laugh loudly at my seat by myself. It was great.

Ryu, a master of his technique, someone who’s stay’s barefoot 24/7, and looks like he’s never used technology ever, uses a cell phone for the first time in a quest to be modern. It’s hilarious because long-time players of Street Fighter would never expect that from Ryu but it’s great to see him trying to improving himself outside of fighting. This is the deepest we’ve seen characters in a Street Fighter game, and we love to see it. 

Yeah, I could not stop laughing while reading this text chat. You can have interactions like this with all the playable characters. There is a ton of stuff to uncover in story mode. Honestly, with the way the story ended, I think we might get more story soon with DLC character releases but I’m just hoping right now. If more stories were to be added through DLC, that would be awesome, but what we have right now is satisfying. 

With those 120 hours I mentioned in a previous paragraph, I’ve managed to reach 3-star Diamond with Manon. Manon is officially also officially one of my favorite characters in the SF universe (with Dudley, Yun, Alex, and Sagat if you cared to know). I Just felt like giving Manon a shout-out in this review.

Ranked has been a challenge but with time, we learn. I went through my Ranked placement matches with Manon and landed in 5-star Platinum. Getting into 3-star Diamond was difficult but we ball hard in this household. I’ve fought my fair share of Deejays, Guile’s, and Ken’s. I definitely lost a-lot. Ken and Guile are monsters in this game. It feels like every button they press is plus and I don’t know when to press a button but we labbin’. With Manon, I do feel like I’m cheating with the medals you receive for grabbing an opponent but fuck it, we ball. A-lot of the characters is this game have qualities that are super busted, but Capcom will most likely bring nerfs and buffs with the next patch when Rashid releases at the end of June. An example of these ridiculous characters would be Marisa. You whiff in front of her, or you wake up DP, you’re actually going to lose 80% health against her. I’ve had that happen to me online. I saw it on stream once thinking “it’ll never happen to me,” and OH MAN let me tell you, it’s WILD. It’s an eye-opening, and humbling experience for sure. 

But me complaining about Marisa will be an essay for another day. Let me complain about online for a little bit.

Online connections in this game are also really good. I’ve only had one bad connection while playing this game. If you connect with someone with WiFi, it is a mystery until you’re actually in the match but again, it’s been fine so far. The only problem I have with online would be how the game matches you to fight other players. I feel like while in a lobby, I fight the same 5-6 people. So, I have to move to another lobby with a good connection and the same thing happens there. The connection is good if anything, but I hope that problem is fixed in the future.

In conclusion, you should play SF6. With everything packed into SF6, it’s going to be played for a long time. If you spam buttons or you’re a “pushes up glasses, ‘ACKCHYUALLY,’ proceeds to do a 70% damage punish combo” kind of person, play the game. I don’t think I will be doing scores for now on my reviews, but I hope my review persuades you to play if you haven’t already. 

Thanks for reading my review on SF6. Please leave a comment on my twitter post or down below if you feel like something in my review is off or just any criticism really. I will most likely be doing reviews of fighting games for this blog, if I play them. I might do older games too, who knows? I just want to get people to play fighting games and show how fun they can be. But again…

Thank you!

It’s been a long time since I’ve wrote an article for my blog and a lot has changed.

I finally graduated from Texas State University.
I’m about to be married to my fiancée in a few months.
I’ve “retired” from smash.
I’ve moved on and I’m playing more traditional 2D fighting games.
I’m currently looking for a job in writing.

Life was everywhere for a moment but I’m finally able to sit, focus, and write. Welp, being able to write again means I’m back to help more people understand and find their way into a world of fighting games. I’m glad to be back.

Around 2022, I was playing KOF XV. I have 375 hours clocked in on Steam and learned a good amount (since KOF XV is my first competitive KOF game). I met some new people, learned KOF fundamentals, and was able to win some locals. But Street Fighter 6 released a few weeks ago and I’m hooked on that now.

So, a new adventure starts with Street Fighter 6 and my main, Manon. Let’s learn some new stuff!

The blog theme is a bit outdated, and I will be working on it throughout the week before I go camping this weekend. Expect an article by next week!

Thank you 🙂

College students at Texas State are hitting the end of the semester. Sharing my insight of fighting games was a fun experience and I hope it helped some people.

One thing I wish I could have included more info graphic type videos. I wanted to share a more visual experience with my audience, and it would have been more helpful that way instead of explaining it in text. It is a video game, video games are better seen than heard.

Twitter was a great way to share my content to people who followed me. My twitter includes people I’ve met in life, personal friends, family, and a lot of FGC members. I should have tried to reach out to other types of social media other than twitter. I could have used Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr (if its still populated), and maybe even the Group Me’s I was in for each of my classes.

This semester long project was better than I expected. I didn’t expect to be very outgoing and focused as I was while writing each one of my blog posts. Even though it was sort of nerve-racking, my favorite experience of this semester long project was my “How to Find A Main” blog post. Making a video where I actually talk to audience was fun and new, I have some experience talking to big crowds but the internet makes me more nervous than large crowds for some reason. If I decide to keep this going, this experience helped me a lot. It taught me how to plan, adjust, and what not to do before making a video to post to YouTube.

My major is advertising and other than this project, I feel like the tools and things I learned in this class will help me a lot in the long run of things. Social media is a big platform to cover when it comes to advertising since its one of the most popular things used. There is a lot of individual time spent on social media by the people of the world. This class has taught me what people do like, what they don’t like, and how to adjust to the always changing format of social media.

STATS

My most popular week was May 4^th 2020. I got 51 views  and 31 visitors. My most popular post was my “How to find a Main” post posted on May 7^th. The post got 30 views and it was also retweeted by Hakii, a popular Smash Ultimate Player in Austin, TX. I have a feeling that helped my post a lot, and I really appreciated that.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Even though you didn’t have to, some of you guys read my posts. Thank you for helping me and even critiquing me in chats I’m in with you guys. This experience has helped me explain myself better when in conversations about this topic which is very important for me. Thank you everyone!

Let’s say you’ve been playing fighting games casually for years now. Pressing random buttons and knowing one special move is how you get by playing with friends. One day, you randomly meet someone at a friend’s birthday party while you guys play smash, you notice your not winning at all. You really want to beat this person and you can’t. You ask that person how they’re beating you and they say “you don’t know your fundamentals.”

Fundamentals are concepts beyond the game mechanics. Fighting game theory is crucial to becoming good at fighting games and to understand fighting games at a competitive level. When I started off in Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U, I never knew what fundamentals were. I just went up to my opponents and tried to hit them. I though specials were special moves that gave you a better chance of hitting your opponent. Once I met Hakii, he taught me a lot and gave me a deeper insight of the game.

Hakii is the Number 1 player in Austin, Texas for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Hakii has been number 1 since the beginning of the game and shows no sign of slowing down. I met him while playing friendlies at one of our first tournaments. Since we met, he taught me things like neutral, spacing, advantage/disadvantage, and some other terms we’ll take into account in the blog post. I appreciate him so much for that.

Before you start reading this next section, finding your main is a very important thing! If you haven’t, you could go back to my “How to Find a Main” blog post to have some help finding one!

A player starts up their switch, inserts Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, selects their character and goes into their first match.

3..

2..

1..

GO!

Neutral

Neutral is a term used to describe the space between both players. Nobody is taking damage or attacking; there is just a lot of space on the battlefield. This space is important because the player wants to make sure they don’t get hit/take damage from their opponent or anything on the battlefield. When in neutral, the players want to make sure they can hit their opponent. So they can either “break” neutral by approaching them directly, bait their opponent to make a move, zone the opponent out with projectiles, or poke them with the proper move.

Spacing

Keeping attacks spaced enough to use the max range on a moves hitbox to range out the opponent. Spacing also helps players keep their distance and make moves “safe” on shield. In the first photo, Simon Belmont is at max range with the whip but not hitting his opponent to show the range of the move. The second photo shows Simon Belmont hitting his opponent at max range with the same move.

Advantage/Disadvantage

Being in advantage is what a player wants to be in most of a game. Advantage state is when a player is performing a combo on the opponent or it can be when a player has stage control. As long as a player is hitting or not getting hit, that player is in advantage. Disadvantage is when the opposite side of advantage state. If a player is getting combo’d or a player is getting hit offstage and trying to recover, that player is in disadvantage. In the example, Snake has already positioned himself with his launcher and trying to hit Link with the projectile. Snake is in advantage while link, trying to get back to stage, is in disadvantage.

Baiting

When you try to make your opponent react a certain way so you can punish them for it; this is called a bait. Let’s say a opponent is hanging on ledge for the 10^th time, you kept hitting them with a move that will hit them even though they are hanging on the ledge. The 10^th time they hang on that ledge you start to notice they stay there and you know they are going to roll from ledge. So, this time, instead of doing that same attack, you dash back to the position they roll to and punish.  

Conditioning

When you create a pattern to make your opponent react a certain way is called conditioning. This fundamental can be hard to do, especially if you’re not keen to keeping track of your patterns. I’ve known this type of fundamental takes some time for people to develop but with hours of playtime,  people tend to understand it more.

Reads

When an opponent is playing in a very linear way, and the player can notice their patterns, they can punish it with a hard read. Hard reads are usually done with smash attacks (charged a good amount before doing so). The picture above has a Fox jumping over another. If the Fox below knew his opponent was going to do this, he could punish with a charged upsmash.

This video has more terminology that is said around the FGC and other basics to take into account.

Finding a main can be difficult. Depending on the games roster, there could be a lot of possibilities to find a character to use in your competitive career. Some people don’t just find one main, they co-main or tri-main, or have secondary’s for counter-picking.

The way a player finds their main depends on the player and their knowledge of the game.  Of course, in this case, we are talking about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

There are 4 basic archetypes of characters in Super Smash Bros Ultimate:

Rushdown

Zoners

Grapplers

Swordies

My personal favorite archetype of character is Rushdown. Rushdown characters must get close to the opponent to attack. Once a rushdown character gets in, they do a lot of damage and can keep their opponents busy trying to get out of disadvantage. Rushdown characters include Mario, Sheik, Joker, Fox, Greninja, and many others. Fox is the ultimate rushdown character. Fox’s job is to harass his opponent with super-fast moves that can be hard to punish. Fox also must call out a lot of whiffed moves from his opponent.

The Zoner archetype consists of characters that make it hard for the opponent to approach them with projectiles or moves that keep them at a distance; they also attack opponents this way.  Zoners include Samus, Banjo, Richter/Simon Belmont, Rob, Snake, and others. Richter and Simon Belmont are different characters with the same moves (these are called echo fighters). Both Richter and Simon keep the opponent at bay with moves that the opponent must maneuver to attack.

Grapplers have one thing in common: grabs are a major part of their neutral. Their grabs are considered some of the best in the game and are their best bet to rack up damage against their opponent. A majority of grapplers have grabs that can also take the stock pretty early. Some of the grapplers in Ultimate are Donkey Kong, Bowser, and Incineroar.

Swordies are a archetype in smash that wield swords in battle, but not every character that wields a sword is a swordie. Swordies have hitboxes that are intangible. Unlike most of the cast, those intangible hitboxes tend to be very powerful and longer than the normal hitbox size. Characters in the Swordies archetype are Marth, Lucina, Ike and more.

Now, there can be certain mixes of these archetypes. Some my even argue what archetype I placed certain characters. These mixes can go from Zoner/Grappler, Rushdown/Grappler, etc.

There are some archetypes of character that fall out of the norm when being placed. My favorite example would be Bait’n’Punish characters.

The Bait’n’Punish archetype plays exactly like it sounds, bait and then punish. These characters have an easier time getting into their opponents’ head and punishing them when they predict correct options. The main goal of these characters is to rack up damage once the opponent is baited into an option. Two characters that would perfectly fit this is Wario and Sonic. Wario has been taking the stock off an opponent from a bad option at 0 and it is a beautiful sight to see (a video clip I will never forget). I’ve also seen Sonic do this and it seemed to take less skill to do but I don’t play the character.

The archetypes described above are some of the many archetypes to choose from when choosing a main. It seem’s like a lot of thought but factors such as favorite series and favorite characters can shorten that thought process. If you like the character but don’t like the way the play, then that’s where you have to start thinking again.

There 3 ways I think finding a main could be made easier:

1. Playing random until you find a character that suits you.
2. Sticking to one character and that character only (learning the character).
3. Trying a whole archetype of characters and see what playstyle suits you.

1. Playing Random until you find a character that suits you

This way of finding a main is best suitable for people who haven’t really played the game and arent accustomed to every archetype of the game. This isn’t a secured way of finding a main, but it lets you try multiple characters, it makes your impromptu way of playing more skilled than it once was, and it has a surprise factor. That surprise factor being you don’t know who you might end up with as a main.

2. Sticking to one character and that character only.

This helped me find my main in Smash 4. After quitting mac, I devoted myself to playing Mario. Mario being an all-around character, I felt that it would help me as a player and help my fundamentals out to play anyone else I wanted (which it did). Sticking to one character depends on the dedication one is willing to give. Sticking to one character is hard but can be stressful, especially when there’s bad match ups for the character. The pro’s to finding a main this way are the tiny things you find with your character and learning how to get passed difficult match ups.

3. Trying a whole archetype of characters and see what playstyle suits you

This is somewhat a backup incase you find a character that somewhat suits you but not fully. Let’s say you play Link, and you like playing a Zoner playstyle but you don’t like everything Link has. R.O.B or Snake would better suit you then Link. Every Zoner (or whatever archetype you consider playing) plays differently so it would be best to try everyone in the archetype.

This is a short video on the archetypes of smash with clips of tournaments to show more of a physical representation of each one.

These are some of the best ways to find a main; from personal experiences and stories heard from other competitors. With these archetypes, the person trying to find their main is bound to find someone to dedicate time to.

A huge part of fighting games is the controller the player chooses to use. Controllers used by most of the FGC population are the “Fight Stick” and the “pad.”

 The fight stick has been around forever. The fight stick is the portion of the arcade cabinet that has the stick to move your character around and buttons to perform actions depending on the game; the fight stick is just a portable version that can connect to home consoles. These are popular in the FGC due to their legacy in the scene, moding capabilities, and it can sit comfortably on your lap.

The Pad is basically a regular controller. The most popular pad to use in the FGC is the PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 Wireless Controller, due to its comfortability in a player’s hand, simple design, and the D-Pad (the buttons on the left side of the controller).

These two types of controllers are used for traditional 2D fighting games. Smash not being a traditional fighting game has its own types of controllers.

Smash has a wide variety of controllers to choose from. The two most popular controllers used by players in smash are the GameCube Controller and the Switch Pro Controller.

The GameCube controller has been used by the smash scene since its introduction in 2001. With the controller’s legacy and its comfortable handling, it is chosen by a lot of players in the smash community.

The Switch Pro controller released alongside the switch; the newest generation of pro controllers from Nintendo. This controller is slimmer and (some would say) more comfortable than the GameCube controller. The Switch Pro Controller also has more buttons than the GameCube controller.

Even though these are the more popular controllers used in fighting games, there are still some oddities.

Yes, let me say it again, these are oddities. Some people find comfort in odd controllers.

The single Joy-Con, even though these controllers are used mainly to play games on the switch, for smash, these can be hard to get adjusted due to its very small size.  The single Joy-Con can be hard to handle but, if you add another one in the mix, this feels way better and more appropriate for a game such as smash.

When it comes to 2D Fighting games (Guilty Gear to be exact), there was once a guy named Initial T (reference to the anime Initial D) who beat top player Dogura with a controller in the shape of a steering wheel. Yes, a steering wheel.

So, when it comes down to controllers, play what you feel comfortable with. The selection of controllers is wide. There mods that can help you use any controller to compete with. Just make sure…

Its comfortable in your hands.

You spend time with it.

Adjust the controller for your needs.

And you should be set to play.  

I like to play video games with friends all the time (even outside of fighting games), its one of my favorite things to do. Even if it’s a game I dislike, if I’m playing it with friends, I’ll try to make it fun.

Once it starts to get competitive though, my mindset changes. My mind goes from “Aw man, that’s wild, don’t know how that happened” (letting whatever happened slide) to “okay, let me check out how this works (insert difficult math algorithms here).” Of course math algorithms don’t actually happen because I’m not good at math but I really start to think/practice more depending on how competitive I get.

Mentality is a key role in competing. Going into competition, during the competition, and the aftermath of the competition influences the mind. This influence can lead to positive or negative outcomes depending on the person.

Before I go into a tournament match, I always tend to clear my mind, think about my opponent (what character my opponent uses, how they play, what they like to do, etc.), how to counter play what my opponent does and get physically ready by stretching my fingers/arms. Then when the match starts, if goes into other fighting game specifics like, Neutral, spacing, mind games and other topics for another blog post.

As I play though, I always try to stay calm. I’ve always had a good experience staying collected instead thinking about everything mid match. I usually only think about what is happening at that very second. I don’t know how many personal situations I’ve heard of where people lose grip of the game mentally and lose the match because of it.

The mentality depends on the player; The way a player takes things and thinks them through. There are different perspectives of course but the player has to make sure the way he/she is thinking about it is helping them. I’ve also seen people complain outloud after lsing a match in the game, and they somehow progressively get better through that which I find odd, but if it works, it works.

This video here is something important thing everyone should learn. Even if your competitive or not, Click Here to watch it.

Also if you haven’t followed me on social media and you would like to, here you go:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

Fighting games are difficult. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard so many people tell me that as we’re playing or in random conversations about video games. There was even a time where I had this type of mentality.

When I started playing fighting game competitively, I was always thinking of new things to do. It was all imagination without know anything about fighting games. It’s like giving a baseball bat to someone and making them play in a baseball game without knowing the rules. I was desperate when it came to learning this new discipline. I had to go somewhere to start.

There is so much information when it comes to fighting games, it can be hard to cram it all in a short amount of time. There are so many people on the internet that can teach you about variables in fighting games. Point of view is very important when it goes down to who teaches you.

When it comes down to the logic of blogging/making videos about fighting games, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone do it as well as Core-A Gaming.

Core-A Gaming is a YouTube channel created by Gerald Lee dedicated to critical thinking and analysis in competitive fighting games.

This channel has helped me in the past. I once went through what is known in the FGC as a “character crisis.”

A character crisis is basically when a player can’t choose a character to play in tournament, a “main” character. Usually, this is caused from a player not being able to do well with a character in tournament so they try to find a new main to use (and the process can go on and on until locking in someone for the long run).

I went through this during my Super Smash Bros. Wii U tournament run. I wanted to switch from Little Mac because he was considered a bad character, with someone new. It was a learning curve but I eventually found Mario and Luigi to be characters I enjoyed and did well with in tournament. It was thanks to this video by Core-A Gaming that reminded me on what to do in a situation like this.

This channel helped me in one of my most critical moments in my competitive life. This channel is also filled with a lot of other videos that help people, influence ideals, and analyze certain things in the FGC.

This channel is filled with great expertise on the FGC and fighting games in general.

If you plan on following this blog, this is one of the channels that will be referenced a lot. If you are already in the FGC and haven’t heard about Core-A Gaming, I suggest watching his videos.

Here are Core-A Gaming’s Social Media links:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• YouTube

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