Yesterday I went to the NYC qualifiers for Capcom's 25th anniversary global tournament celebration, I got there at 8am met up with my friend Krogenar. We were 22nd in line and by the time they opened the doors the line was almost back to 10th Ave. The event was held at Center 548, 548 West 22nd St, NYC. They started letting us in around 8:30, we headed upstairs and were told for on site registrations go to one table and for those pre-registered go to another table. I checked in and got my Statue of Chun Li...berty tee shirt! That alone made the trip worthwhile, as she is my main character and has been since Street Fighter II: The World Warriors and the shirt is very cool.
So Krog and I headed over to one of the PS3's and I started playing some casuals against some kid, sorry can't remember your name....:/
I got a few matches in and then I looked around and the venue had started filling up fast. I spotted a FNEX tee shirt and suddenly remembered one of the guys I play with from Capcom Unity was
coming from NJ. I found Doc Shadow and we talked about the ol' Unity tourney's Tongari Dan Vs BJ.....where did she disappear to? He talked a bit about traveling wit the FNEX team to all the east coast tourneys.
While we were shootin' the shit Big E announced that the first set of brackets for AE would be published at 1pm, and anyone competeing in SFXT who wanted to change their name could....but not SSFIVAE....so no XxSITHappensxX :(
Krog and I decide to go get early lunch and end up at NY Burger, it was a decent burger but it was no 5 Guys burger!
Krog and I headed back the venue thinking most folks would be out getting lunch so we could get some more casuals in....that never happened. We got back and the crowds around the SSFIVAE machines were still very crowded, Krog kept urging me to try and get in more casuals, I was like "it makes no difference...my skills aren't gonna magically escalate to S rank with a few casuals. So instead I hung out near the main screen and charged my phone....I've never seen my battery die faster than that day! So 1 pm rolls around and the announcement for the first round of SSFIVAE brackets is made, they also announce that because
there are som many registrants for SSFIVAE that there will be a second set of brackets announced at 3pm and a third set at 5pm! Once they post the brackets everyone registered for AE rushes the wall to see if they're listed....20 mins later I reach the wall and to my dismay I am not listed....now i have to wait till at the earliest 3 pm another 2 hours, as I was shuffling my way to the wall my friend BlueEyedDemon and his wife show up! I explain I have to wait till 3pm to see if I'm on the second bracket listing, they decide to go grab lunch. So Doc Shadow, Krog and I sit and wait over at the main screen while some Super Street Fighter II HDR casuals are going on....and I begin charging my phone again!
While I wait Big E and the other event organizers announce untethered PS3 DS3 controllers cannot be used during matches and that they have madcats fightpads to borrow....WHAT THE DEUCE!
I don't have a fight stick so I brought my PS3 DS3 controller...if I can't use it I'm screwed! My muscle memory is based on years and years of using Play Station dual shock controllers!
BlueEyedDemon and his wife returned and we checked out some of the matches going on from the first brackets.
At 2:45 I spotted the 3pm brackets being posted so I ran over and saw my name, THANK GOD, cause if I wasn't on the 3 I was not hanging around till 5!
I was in 2-B, against Amanda Rambo :/
I've played against some females...BJ, and underestimating female players is a quick way to the losers bracket!
So now I can't use my controller, I'm up against a girl and my nerves are starting to get the best of me...
At 3:45 I finally was called and Amanda Rambo looked like a no show, but some dude with a green Mohawk showed up asking if they called Rambo...
Turns out Amanda Rambo was a dood (Roboydo you were right!)
By the time I got called I was tired and I wasn't gonna be able to stay till 9PM or when ever the event was gonna end on Saturday, plus I had to be up at 5am the next day for work so I wasn't gonna be able to come back Sunday if by some miracle I made it to the top 8...
I explained to the guy supervising my table that win or lose I was leaving and he was cool and allowed me to use my controller!
The basic EVO rules were in effect best 2/3 rounds per match / best 2/3 matches @ 99 seconds per round. I ended up taking the matches 2-0 and 2-1.
I took my win and pulled a Ryu and walked away, had I stayed I most likely would've faced Aquasilk a Zangief player with plenty of tournament experience.
It was a great experience, I've always wanted to be in a Street Fighter Tournament since I played Street Fighter II in the Arcades back in 1991/1992! It's great to see the community is still strong, there were wives, girlfriends, daughters and I even spotted some old school players from the World Warrior
days that still have that fighting spirit.
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