Vampire Savior Ranking Battle -West- Vids 021707

Movies from the sixth Vampire Savior Ranking Battle -West- are up. Like I said in an earlier VS vids post: Oboro is the man!

http://www.filebank.co.jp/guest/vpsnc/38movie
password: vpsw

Filebank quick-start graphic

Here's the card:
vsrkbw06a.avi - bow (Aulbath) vs. Haitani (Sasquatch)
vsrkbw06b.avi - Mokkori (Morrigan) vs. Oboro (Victor)
vsrkbw06c.avi - 3rd Place: Mokkori vs. Haitani
vsrkbw06d.avi - Finals: bow vs. Oboro

Title showdown (Lord Byakko? no such luck)
vsrkbw06e.avi - Oboro vs. Shiimaro (Zabel)

Best bouts
vsrkbw06f.avi - Mano (Lilith) vs. Nan (Bulleta)
vsrkbw06g.avi - bow vs. Deka (Lei-Lei)

Mikado Ranbat 012007 Vids

Movies from the first of the Mikado ranbats are up. Mattsun is the man! (Even when he's getting worked over.) SPOILER: He got revenge on Hakase Dhalsim at the second ranking battle this past weekend.
http://blog.mi-ka-do.net/?eid=263680

Here's the card:
0120_01.zip - Mattsun (Ken) vs. Hakase (Dhalsim)
0120_02.zip - YuuVega (Dictator) vs. Gian (Dhalsim)
0120_03.zip - yuu* (Guile) vs. Kurahashi (Ryu)
0120_04.zip - Aben (Ryu) vs. Nakamura (Cammy)
0120_05.zip - Buzan (DeeJay) vs. PyonKichi (Ryu)
0120_06.zip - TZW-ART? (Guile) vs. Kusumondo (E.Honda)
0120_07.zip - Hakase vs. Taira (Dictator)
0120_08.zip - Hakase vs. Gotoh (Ryu)
0120_09.zip - KKY (Dhalsim) vs. Buzan
0120_10.zip - Finals: Hakase vs. Buzan

* Different players, similar nicknames:
Katakana Yuu: Dictator player
Romaji yuu: Guile player
Hiragana Yu-: Ryu player
Romaji YOU: Honda player
(Japanese Writing @ Answers.com)

a-cho Olympics 021007 & 021107

A-cho held their All CAPCOM Historical-vsgame Olympic tournament this past weekend. The ST and VS finalists were all usual suspects -- it doesn't look like any "2D Gods" shook things up. Very few Kanto area players showed up, anyway.

ShiroItachi didn't win anything, which is nice. (He used Akuma to beat Otochun in the Olympic ST finals a few years ago... Akuma has been banned since then.)

Super Street Fighter II Turbo
84 Entrants

1st: ARG (Claw)
2nd: Macky7 (Boxer)
3rd: Aniken
4th: Kimomaru (Dictator)

Vampire Savior
60 Entrants

1st: Shiimaro (Zabel)
2nd: T2ya (Zabel)
3rd: Dara (Demitri)
4th: bow (Aulbath)

Overall
(parentheses: games where they earned points)

1st: ARG (3S, ST)
2nd: Nakanishi (CVS2, 3S, ST, VS)
2nd: Ringo (3S)

Japanese SSF2T Player Report - Part 5

Akuma Players

Just kidding. The first part of this post features a few more excellent ST players that I wanted to highlight. The second part covers some all-time greats and past champions.

Note: I've updated the earlier posts in this series with some alternate english names. Also: added/fixed some home turf arcade data (many archaic), other minor changes.

Tsuji, YuuVega and Inro

Inro
Japanese: いんろ〜
Character: O.Chun
Region: Kansai (UFO)

X-Mania 2001 3on3: 1st

Inro got the nickname "Iron Woman" because of her serious demeanor when playing ST. Or maybe it was because she uses O.Chun's jumping short as an "Iron" wall of defense? And her game name is a play on the expression "In Low" referring to how well she uses the crouching forward. Or is it an intentional misspelling of "Iron?" So many rumors... One thing that's certain is that she plays a ferocious Chun-Li.

Inro played in the X-Mania III (2002) prelims on a team with Otochun and ShootingD called Inro Fan Club. She chouldn't make it to the main event, but her teammates went on to win with a two-person team.

At the 2002 Taikou event, Inro went on a rampage in the same fashion as Pony. I haven't come across video of that one on the net, unfortunately.

T.Akiba
T.Akiba's Site
Japanese: T.Akiba、タキバ
Character: Dhalsim, Blanka
Region: Kanto (Namiki)

T.Akiba's web page is the ultimate resource for ST information. Frame data, version changes, strategy, arcade locations, tournament dates, etc... it's no wonder it's got more than a million hits. NKI has been kindly translating it into english here.

T.Akiba also plays a mean Blanka and does some MC duties here and there.

Inoki
Japanese: イノキ、イノキ・イズ・バック
Character: Ryu
Region: Kansai (UFO)

Neyagawa ABC Championship (2000): 1st
X-Mania (2000) 3on3: 1st

Before he retired, Inoki was considered the #2 Ryu in Kansai. He entered the 3on3 event at X-Mania III with a one-man team... using Akuma... and got eliminated by team Inro Fan Club. (see above) (video)

Camera-ya
Camera-ya's Site
Japanese: カメラ屋
Character: Ken, Blanka
Region: Kanto

Working with Mori, Camera-ya produced a well known series of pamphlets called "Dragon Punch with Gratitude," that break down various minutia about fighting game strategy. He's an old-school player that, according to Daigo, has the best footsie action in ST.

Otochun, Kurahashi and ShinDhalsim

ShinDhalsim
Japanese: 真ダルシム
Character: Dhalsim
Region: Kansai

Star Cup 2: 2nd (Dhalsim, Dhalsim, Ryu)
X-Mania IV (2003) 3on3: 2nd

Part of the succession of top Dhalsim players, from Hammer* to Gian, ShinDhalsim is thought of as the King of Kings. It was in his hands that the comprehensive Dhalsim air defense really matured. Having myriad anti-air moves, including the funky down-back jab, ready to go depending on the situation was his speciality.

Even though he was more-or-less retired at the time, ShinDhal helped take his team to second place at X-Mania IV. Kansai has gone without an S-class (or even A-class) Dhalsim player since then.

* - YSB member (see below) & 2nd place @ SF2CE nationals 1992

Rikiya
Japanese: リキヤ
Character: Zangief
Region: Kanto

Rikiya is regarded as the best Zangief player ever. While he had the full arsenal, his crouching roundhouse footsie was especially nasty. People talk about 30 game win streaks against Kurahashi Guile and Daigo Ryu (though I haven't been able to find anything concrete about that.) A 2ch poster recently referred to Rikiya as the "Komoda of Zangief players." That's about the highest praise any player could receive.

Chief Mori and Master Foosuke

Foosuke
Japanese: FOO助、ふーすけ
Character: DeeJay
Region: Kanto (Sugamo Carrot)

Gamest Cup SSF2T (1994): 1st

Foosuke is referred to as "Danna" by the ST community. It's a term of respect that, roughly speaking, means "Master." He won the first national championship, and he continues to play a mean DeeJay here and there. For many years, Foosuke has been the go-to guy for MC'ing SuperTurbo events. Also, he wrote the copy for the Yoga Book Hyper that comes with The Starting Over (X-Mania Gaiden) DVD.

In addition to his Gamest cup win, Foosuke was well known in the early days as the head of an organization called The Yoga Strike Backers. Composed of various Street Fighter and Vampire champs, YSB* produced a pamphlet and video called "The 48 Killing Arts of Yoga"** (i.e., the original Yoga Book.) They did some work for Micom BASIC, too, including writing the 2p vs. strategy for the "All About Street Fighter Zero" mook.

* - No connection, as far as I can tell, with the 3S Hugo player
** - See links on the left.

Related post: Gamest Cup 1994

Ikuradon
Ikuradon's Web Page
Japanese: いくら丼、奥西
Character: Blanka

Gamest Cup SSF2T (1994): 2nd

Ikuradon scored a major coup by taking second place at nationals with oddball character Blanka. He managed to catch people off guard with hop antics that he himself pioneered, particularly headbutt (cancel first hit) -> forward hop -> bite.

Tachigawa
Japanese: 太刀川
Character: Claw, Ryu, Guile

Gamest Cup SF2CE (1992): 1st

I don't have a lot of concrete information (for that matter, I'm not even sure if I've got the name right,) but Tachigawa is often referred to as the greatest SF2 player ever. His trademarks included a mind-blowing combo ability as well as a ruthless corner trap.

Japanese SSF2T Player Report - Part 4

Boxer Players

Tsuji
Japanese: つーじー
Color: red
Sub-character: Fei-Long
Region: Kansai (UFO)
2006 Wins/Losses: 22 / 11 (67%)
W/L vs. top players: 15 / 11 (58%)

X-Mania 2001 3on3: 1st
Star Cup 5: 1st
Grand Master Challenge S1 FINAL: 3rd
Club Sega 5on5 (2006): 1st
Club Sega HSF 5on5 (2007): 1st
Neo Star Cup 2007: 1st (Box, Box, Fei)

Tamashima
Japanese:　タマシマ、たまちゃん
Color: blue(varies)
Sub-character: Chun-Li, DJ
Region: Kanto (More)
2006 Wins/Loses: N/A
W/L vs. top players: N/A

X-Mania (2000) 3on3: 3rd
Star Cup 3: 1st (Boxer, Boxer, DJ)
X-Mania IV (2003) 3on3: 1st
X-Mania VIII (2007) 3on3: 1st
Super Battle Opera '08 2on2: 3rd (tie)

One of the fiercest ST players, Tamashima doesn't enter many events, but when he does they tend to be more exciting. Tsuji and Tama both play merciless Boxer games, but Tama seems to have a bit of an edge when it comes to fighting against Guile and Dhalsim players, whereas Tsuji is tougher against Ryu and Ken.

Related post: Shiki/Tama interview

The SuperStar
The SuperStar Cup Results/BBS
Japanese: ザ☆スーパースター
Color: blue
Sub-character: DJ, T.Hawk
Region: Chubu (Kasugai 50)
2006 Wins/Losses: 29 / 15 (66%)
W/L vs. top players: 12 / 14 (46%)

Club Sega 5on5 (2006): 2nd
X-Mania VII (2006) HSF 3on3: 2nd
X-Mania VII (2006) SSF2T 3on3: 1st

The SuperStar's Star Cup series of tournaments helped to keep the Japanese ST tourney scene hot even at this late date. He's a champion of Street Fighter in more ways than one.

Makki-7
AKA: Macky7
Makki-7's Web Page
Japanese: まっきー７
Color:
Sub-character:
Region: Kansai (Leebros, UFO)
2006 Wins/Losses: 12 / 9 (57%)
W/L vs. top players: 7 / 7 (50%)

X-Mania V (2004) HSF 3on3: 3rd

postman
Japanese: postman
Color:
Sub-character:
Region: Kansai
2006 Wins/Loses: 3 / 2
W/L vs. top players: 1 / 2

Club Sega HSF 5on5 (2007): 2nd

Claw Players

ARG
Japanese: ＡＲＧ、ＡＲＧベアークロー
Color: light blue/dark green
Sub-character: Dictator, Ryu
Region: Chubu
2006 Wins/Losses: 33 / 16 (67%)
W/L vs. top players: 16 / 12 (57%)

Star Cup 4: 1st (Claw, Claw, Claw)
X-Mania VII (2006) HSF 3on3: 2nd
X-Mania VII (2006) SSF2T 3on3: 1st
X-Mania VIII (2007) 3on3: 1st
Super Battle Opera '08 2on2: 1st

ARG uses the most reviled character in the game, but he nevertheless manages to win people over with his enthusiasm. Also, he specializes in Claw's ground game as opposed to using the "hyou bal"* style. The highlight of ARG's fighting style is his corner trap. Like trapped birds, his opponents flutter fruitlessly as they are stabbed to death. Fear the horrible "Bird Cage of the Claw."

* - Derogatory Japanese slang for nothing-but-wall-dives Claw.
Hyou (the sound he makes) + Balrog (character name in asian version of SF)

Sagat Players

Otochun, YuuVega and yaya

yaya
yaya's Sagat/Blanka Strategy Page
Japanese: yaya
Color: white
Sub-character: DJ, Guile
Region: Kanto
2006 Wins/Losses: 8 / 6
W/L vs. top players: 2 / 4

X-Mania V (2004) HSF 3on3: 2nd
X-Mania VII (2006) SSF2T 3on3: 2nd

The key to yaya's game is the unpredictability of his Tiger Shots. Daigo is known for his unreadable Umehadou technique, but the Beast himself was once schooled by the FB-that-can't-be-anticipated from "white shorts" Sagat. When Daigo first faced yaya he was baffled by the amount of FBs yaya threw. And yet, "it was only when I jumped at him that he wouldn't be firing an FB," remarked Daigo.

Dictator Players

Taira
Japanese: 泰羅
Color: light grey
Sub-character: Sagat, Cammy
Region: Kanto
2006 Wins/Losses: 34 / 11 (76%)
W/L vs. top players: 7 / 6 (54%)

X-Mania VI (2005) HSF 3on3: 1st
Hyper Mania 4 HSF 3on3: 1st
Super Battle Opera '07 HSF 2on2: 2nd

Even though he started playing only recently, Taira progressed with unbelievable speed, catching up to Emperor YuuVega himself. His play style is incredibly polished and flexible: while he's got a shade less destructive power than Yuu, in exchange, he demonstrates a lot more stability. Has Taira transfigured Dictator, a "gambler's character," into a dependable winner? Pay attention to this bright new star.

Related post: Taira's Trickery

YuuVega
Japanese: ユウベガ
Color: blue
Sub-character: DJ, Claw
Region: Kansai
2006 Wins/Losses: 20 / 13 (61%)
W/L vs. top players: 8 / 10 (44%)

X-Mania 2001 3on3: 1st
X-Mania V (2004) HSF 3on3: 2nd
X-Mania VI (2005) SSF2T 3on3: 3rd
Club Sega 5on5 (2006): 1st
Club Sega HSF 5on5 (2007): 1st
Club Sega 5on5 (2008): 1st
Super Battle Opera '08 2on2: 3rd (tie)

"Who would you least like to face in a tournament?"
If there was a survey that posed that question, it's YuuVega's name that would likely get the most votes. He's the master of Dictator BS victories. His cross-up okiseme, in particular, is a nightmare:

bonk, bip, bip, whap, frrrrroosh -> woo woo woo woo
shhh, bip, bip, whap, thwak, thwak -> peace out

Kimomaru
Japanese: キモ丸
Color: blue
Sub-character:
Region: Kansai (UFO)
2006 Wins/Losses: 24 / 10 (71%)
W/L vs. top players: 2 / 6