Kakutou Shinseiki 4: The Road to Qualification

Jan 21st, 2007

I lied when I told “I don't know if I want to go to the next tournament today†to Liz.

“Ohh you should go!†she responded.

“Yeah I want to but Rich isn't going to be able to make it up, and its far away†and other such were made.

I'm pretty good friends with Liz, and I convinced her that dinner at a restaurant up in 白山 (Hakusan, the town, not the mountain) and cheering me on in the VF tournament would be the best way to spend her Sunday night.

So we get to the arcade, called Cosmo Park, around 45 minutes before the tournament is scheduled to begin. There is -no one- there playing. I'm pretty sure that if no one shows up then I'd win by default.

People gradually start filing in. I started beating on some 4th dan Lion player and was going to rank up until the dude stopped playing...

Liz is happy to see me win anyway. Every other time shes watched me play VF ended with her saying something unintentionally insulting like “WAY TO GO!!! oh ... I thought you were the other guy... sorry.†At this point I ask her what she would be doing if I hadn't invited her to the tournament, and how it could possibly compare. If she wasn't in the dark arcade watching me play VF she'd be at home reading “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People†and planning the rest of her life. I think she made the right choices...

Only five people actually showed up for the tournament, one of whom didn't even have a card, so they decide to set the machine to free play and do a round robin style tournament. I'm actually liking that idea, it seemed really fair and wouldn't take too long.

I was up first against some 10th dan guy who I'll call “2 Credit Jeffry.†His ring name and PM were telling owners to change the game to 100 yen for two credits. I think his request has fallen on deaf ears.

He beat me 3-0. Not the best way to start the tournament, but I still had a chance if I won the rest of my matches and he lost.

One of those criteria held true as I won the rest of my matches. Unfortunately nobody beat the fucker and he went on to win the tournament without losing a round. Yet again, the only guy who beat me in the tournament was the guy who won it all. This is the third time in a row its happened. I think Nam is secretly wishing to go up against me early in the next tournament for good luck.

Anyway theres another tournament tomorrow Nammy and I are both going to attend... 楽しみに！

 

This weekend there were a total of 3 different tourneys, two in Fukui prefecture and one up in Ishikawa prefecture. There was a big party in Kanazawa, the capital of Ishikawa, that super and I were going to. It just so happened the VF5 tourney was right on the way. Or perhaps I should say it just so happened this big ass gaijin party just happened to be a few minutes away from the tournament.

Alex and I, along with the beautiful Liz, went to some ghetto ass arcade in Nonoichi, Nonoichi being a small suburb of Kanazawa. We got there early and started to warm up. Super and I traded matches, then he got up and I started to play this one Eileen player. We were both 7th dan, and he kicked my ass at the beginning, but then I started winning more and he quit playing me. Then some scrubby 5th dan Lei came and beat me and stomped me at the end of the last round. Grr... oh well, he'll get his soon enough.

There were a total of 8 people who signed up for the tournament. In something that was a bit suspicious there were two pairs of characters who had the same ringname. My first match was against a 30% shodan Jacky. He scrubbed it up hard to the point where I didn't know if he was being serious or not. I won 3-0. next.

Super wound up getting squashed by the 5th dan scrubby Lei Fei player. He pounced super at the end of the match. I was pissed not only at super for losing so early, but for such a scrubby scrub advancing in the tournament.

Next round I went up against the 7th dan Eileen player, who despite his decent showing against me before the tournament, choked hard. Maybe it was tourney nerves or something but I pwnd him up hard. 3-0. I'm on to the finals.

Now, in the other semi-final match, the scrubby 5th dan Lei was going against a less scrubby 8th dan Lei. I was actually rooting for the 5th dan to win so I could kick his ass in the finals. He went down 0-2, but then made a 3 round comeback in quite the nailbiter. After lucking out, winning the semi-finals in quite a close match, he raised his hands in victory, though he was slightly bent over due to his bad posture. The tournament was over. I was going to win.

I sat down, put my card in, and mimmiced El Blaze's "Start running... NOW!" The Japanese peeps watching me were like "Damn, that's cool." I started off the first round with a dodge attack -> dayjob. Backed off, waited till he stood up, and hit /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/uf.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/k.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/k.gif (stagger) -> /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/b.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/k.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif (floated) -> /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/f.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/k.gif. No tech roll, quick pounce. backdash, whiffed rising attack, /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/d.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/k.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/g.gif. First round was mine, excellent. I repeatedly jumped over his corpse with /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/uf.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/k.gif, my preferred post round celebration. During the round the peeps standing next to me cheered me on, saying things like "iizo!" whenever I'd hit a nice combo and pwn up the Lei Fei player like the scrub he was.

He almost made a comeback in the second round, till he tried to sweep me out of my tech roll but executed the sweep too late and ate a volcano knee for his troubles.

The third round was quick and anti-climatic. I won. gg no re. 3 opponets defeated, I didn't lose a single round. I'm going to the regionals! All the peeps watching the tourney gave me a round of applause. I also got a nice plaque pictured below. I'm only 6 or so more wins away from a one way ticket to Tokyo and VF fame! I filled out the winner's form, writing in my name, address, ring name, etc. Finally, at the bottom, there was a section for comments. I wrote, " - i pwn noobs - " /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

Nice... Tie...
White is right!

 

Thanks for the reports. I enjoyed reading all of it. I didn’t how hard it’s to play against japanese players.
Namflow can you show me a photo from Liz? Because you mentioned that she is beautiful, i am curios to know.

 

The tournament Nam won was held at Ougigaoka Leisure Center (扇ケ丘レジャーセンター) in Nonoichi, Ishikawa. This place actually has a storied history as far as VF tournaments go... Back in the VF3 days there was a really strong Taka Arashi player who used to work and play at that arcade... Kurita's journey to the top　began there... Will the arcade produce another champion in Namflow? /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

-Alex

 

I just read all that and all I can think about is your tie. But good job though, if you make it to KS4 that would be insane...

 

Tie pwned, qualifying pwned /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
Go get them in the regionals!

 

Awesome win! Congrats /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

I repeat: Is there or is there not some kind of special item ticket given for people who enter the tournaments?

 

Thanks guys! I'll be sure to represent in the regional tourney. Making it to the regionals was an accomplishment. The tournament I qualified in was a good 2.5~3 hour drive from my house, but a small price to pay for entry into the regionals. Just as long as I don't get pwnd 0-3 in the first match I'll be happy!

And although I had qualified, Super had yet to do so. There were two tourneys scheduled for Sunday, one at Sega Arena and one at a ghetto arcade called Eight-Man, both in Fukui City. We got to the Sega Arena tourney and about 12 people entered, including two 13 year old kids and some old lady who must have been in her late 30s.

In the first round I got the old lady. I had beaten her in a tournament before at Sega Arena, and it was time to do it again. Every time I play her it reminds me of a quote from the purepwnage.com song "teh noob song", which proudly states, "I pwn you like you're like somebody's mom trying to play the games." Except this actually was someone's mom, and she got pwnd as such.

Next round I fought some 30% Wolf named UruWolf. I won.

Next up was against a strong Kage, and watching his matches I knew he liked to throw a lot. I think I actually psyched myself out for this match and ended up losing hard. Sometimes I play really well, and sometimes I forget basic strategy like "You have to attack to win."

One of the 13 year old kids, who played Jacky, was surprisingly strong. He took out an above 10th dan Akira. I was cheering for him all the way and he did as well as he did.

Super lost to an Akira, who went on to beat the Jacky kid and the Kage that beat me to qualify. I was upset Super didn't win, but oh well - the Kage that beat me lost in the finals to a dblplm knocking him over a short fence. I'm going to the regionals and that Kage isn't. hahahahah

* * *

There was one more tournament left this weekend, at a ghetto arcade off of Route 8 called Eight Man. I had never been there before, but one girl I met dressed as Ariel (The Little Mermaid) at a Halloween party said that she worked there. Sunday was her day off, so she wouldn't be there to watch Super and I destroy what noobs dare show up.

I can't tell you how ghetto this arcade was. It had some karaoke boxes outside, near the road, that looked like a rundown trailer park. Inside wasn't any better, with all of their games in various states of disrepair.

The 30% Wolf player I beat in the second round, UruWolf, was there. After Super wiped the floor with him he came over and talked with us. He said he played VF3, skipped out on VF4, and started playing VF5 again. He said he likes to play, but he isn't good, and that it costs a lot of money.

Soon the two 13 year old kids showed up, and it turns out they brought a new 13 year old friend! Their friend played a wicked abare Sarah (0 wins, 10 losses!)

This tourney had 8 people. I beat a 13 year old Kage in the first round, and Super beat the 13 year old Jacky. UruWolf, our new found friend, was cheering us on. He beat his opponet. The only real decent other players were a Goh and an above 10th dan Lei Fei. The Lei Fei looked like he was gonna choke against the Goh going down 0-2, but came back.

Next round was me vs the Lei Fei, and Super vs UruWolf. I knew if I beat the above 10th dan Lei Fei super could put his new found friendship with UruWolf aside and kick his ass, and it'd be [Gx2] in the tournament finals!

Well, I carried out my half of the deal, taking out the Lei Fei fairly decisively. Somewhere in there I hit /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/uf.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/p.gif+/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/k.gif to jump over his downed corpse and hit a low throw after his low rising attack whiffed. That's always a demoralizer.

So now all Super had to do was beat the 30% 1st dan Wolf player who didn't even play VF4. Easy enough right? Well, I'd liken watching Super play this match to watching one of your trained AI characters from VF4 for the PS2 fight it out. You know everything he is supposed to do, but he just stands there like a noob getting pwnd. Before long it's 0-2 UruWolf. I was getting pissed. I took out the only form of competition in this tourney, and all Super has to do is beat some dude who doesn't even tech roll. If Super lost, even if I won the finals this noob might qualify since I had qualified the night before.

Thankfully, super made a comeback and it was 2-2. In the 5th round I kept telling Super "don't get rung out! don't get rung out!" Being a low wall super was always in danger of having his dreams of qualification being giant swung over the wall in an instant. Somewhere in the 5th round Wolf's back was to the wall, and he hit a KS. Not a giant swing, but a KS. It's a damned good thing he went for the 270 instead of the GS or else Super woulda been dead. Super ended up winning in the last moment of the 5th round (I forget exactly how it went down), and it was me vs super in the finals.

Now, playing Super in the finals was intense. I would win a round, I'd lose a round. Whatever advantage I got, for some reason I just couldn't put Super away. It was as if, subconsciously, I couldn't win! I wonder why that was...

In the 5th round I hit a volcano knee combo to even up the health, super tech rolled and I just stood there (without blocking) like an idiot. It was as if, for some reason, I wanted to lose! He attacked out of the tech roll and won. He got up and the crowd cheered, then gathered around to see his prize. I smiled in the background, knowing my job was complete. We were both going to the regionals!

In a surprising display of irony, they originally wrote "Namflow" in the winner's name of the tourney brackets. Did they dare suggest that the finals of the tournament, held between two pro wrestlers, El Blaze outfit A and El Blaze outfit C, was in any way stage or form fixed? The world will never know...



A picture of the tourney bracket after they replaced my name with Super's.

After the tourney the 13 year old kids said "Goodbye!" and "See you again!" as they rode away on their bikes, their dreams of qualification destroyed by super and myself. UruWolf asked for our numbers and said we should hang out or go to eat sometime. Super and I got in the car, and Super gave me 100yen to cover my tournament entrance fee. Humiliating old ladies, tooling your new found Japanese buddy, pwning up 13 year olds, and getting paid to throw matches - that's what qualification is all about!

 

You usually get tickets for entering tournaments (with bonus tickets for placing) but for some reason I haven't been getting tickets from the KSIV qualifiers...

-Alex

 

That's freakin awesome -- good luck to both of you in the regionals!

 

Don't Stop Believing!

 

Love that moral at the end of that last report Namflow.

Congrats to both.

Now get out there and pwn some more!

 

yes i loved that moral bit too

it almost seemed like an episode of friends materialised infront of me

 

Nice reports.

Props for willingly throwing away qualification chances by using Blaze, I guess. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

PS. http://www.uofr.net/~namflow/vf/NamflowTrophy.jpg - X_X

 

Grats for making it to the regionals and big thank you for write ups about eliminations, other players and "arcade part" of Japan in overal /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif

That would be awesome to see one or both of you in great final /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

good luck

 

北陸エリア 3/3（土） 15:00

セガアリーナ
福井県福井市丸山町1丁目410
0776-52-0806

The Hokuriku Regional Tournament
Sega Arena in Fukui City
Sat March 3rd at 3:00

Representatives from Ishikawa, Fukui and Toyama prefectures will participate with both the finalist and semi-finalist advancing to the national tournament in Tokyo...

You can see a list of people in the tournament here:
http://am.sega.jp/utop/news/vf5_kaku4/first_list.html#10

If I had known they were gonna put that information online I would have put a better message than "がんばる"... Also, Nam and my team name is listed as 6x2 (supposed to be Gx2 for Goldens X 2)... but we've changed it, we're now team 「NAVF*北アメリカ」... Like the US hockey team in the movie Miracle... we're no longer playing for just [Gx2]...

-Alex