Monday, June 22, 2009

Devastation recap, California dreamin'.

Man, I've been bouncing around the Southwest United States like a cannonball the last 96 hours, most of which were spent at the massive Devastation event in Phoenix. The event itself was a bit chaotic, with somewhat underwhelming attendance and kind of a mess for those who simply wanted to watch the action. The competition itself was quite tough though, as the overwhelming majority of California fighting game pros and some other notables (Justin Wong, Mad Dog Jin) were there to make an impact.

I myself played in the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix tournament. For those who don't know, Super Turbo was the last variation of the original Street Fighter II, and is still an immensely popular tournament game worldwide. My first match wasn't too difficult, and then I found myself matched up with a well-known California pro. His name was Ricky Ortiz. I actually didn't know precisely who he was when the match began, but I had a feeling he would be good because I saw him with some folks whom I had heard of.

The weird thing about these matches is that sometimes, something that happens really early can dictate the entire course of the bout. I picked Chun-Li, my favorite character since 1991. He picked Ryu, who is a very solid choice in that game. I decided to test him very early, pushing him back with a fireball and then attempting to jump in on the top of it. Now, Ryu should be able to easily uppercut Chun out of her flying forward kick, but Ortiz whiffed it, and I noticed him slap at the buttons on his stick angrily after missing what for him should have been a very easy counter. I got bold. I felt like I could run my pressure game with Chun-Li and keep him corner trapped. I beat him 2-0 (best out of 3) and felt really good. Unfortunately, that was short-lived, as I ended up playing another guy who executed very well and knocked me out with M. Bison. I got a win in the loser's bracket.

My buddy Sebastian, who earned the nickname The One-Handed Terror of Tucson by becoming perhaps the highest-profile Street Fighter player to ever come out of the Old Pueblo, came to play Street Fighter IV. However, he also played in my tournament and in fact was the one to end my run in the loser's bracket. Believe me, if I have to lose, there's no one on Earth I would rather fall to. He also did well in SFIV, finishing somewhere between 13-17th after getting knocked out by a very tough Dhalsim.

After this, we hit the road for California. When we arrived at his place, which is about a mile from the beach, I was blown away. The high was 70 degrees and I could smell the ocean on the breeze. Flat-out amazing after being cooped up for three days in the sweltering concrete basin of mediocrity that is Phoenix. I got up early this morning, got a fantastic breakfast burrito at a local taqueria and headed for the water and sand.

More later.

1 comment:

Ms. Angie said...

Breakfast burrito!