Being the king of Kingston is great, but on May 29th, 2016, I had the chance to become the Canadian Street Fighter V champion. It was a whirlwind weekend that that actually left me sick by the end of it, but it was so worth it.
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Watch Me Compete at The Cineplex WorldGaming Street Fighter V Canadian Championships
Today’s the big day! Months of practice and two tournaments later, I’ll now be competing against some of the best Street Fighter V players in the country. With bragging rights and a $10,000 grand prize on the line, I’m going to do everything I can to claim that title!
If you’re unable to make it out to Scotiabank Theatre to watch the event live, you can stream it at twitch.tv/worldgaming. The event starts at 2PM EST, so you’ve got a bit of time to plan your day around watching some of Canada’s finest throw down. Hope you can cheer me on from wherever you are!
My First Day of Being a Street Fighter V Sensei
A few days ago, I went to my friend’s house to teach him how to play Street Fighter V. I had no expectations of him turning into Daigo overnight, but I really wanted to use this opportunity to open his mind to how the game is played at a high level and how he too could someday reach that plateau. While it didn’t exactly go according to plan, I think the mission was accomplished.
The Training Plan for the WorldGaming Street Fighter V Canadian Championships
Winning the WorldGaming regional qualifiers in Kingston will forever be a highlight in my gaming career. However, in just a few weeks, I have the opportunity to build on that success when I compete at the Canadian championships on May 29th. It’s still trippy to me to think that I’m competing in the national championships of anything. Putting that into perspective, it’s an honour to be in this position and a testament to all I’ve done to get to this point. Having said that, I can’t get complacent now. With a shot at becoming a Canadian champion along with a ridiculous prize pool up for the taking, I need to be more focused than ever.
What does my road map to the finals look like? I’ll share as much as I can, without showing too much of my hand for any rivals that might be snooping around.
Mad Catz Fightstick Alpha Review
Best known for their popular TE line of premium arcade fightsticks, Mad Catz jumps into the entry-level market with the Fightstick Alpha. Contained in a small shell with a price tag to match, Mad Catz hopes that this product can provide fighting game players with the experience of using a fightstick without breaking the bank. Is this the starter fightstick for you?
Attempting to Be a Street Fighter V Sensei
I have a friend who is a huge fan of competitive Street Fighter. He watches all of the streams, knows the names of the pro players and has a general understanding of how the game works. His love for the scene has permeated beyond viewing other people play it, as he bought his first fightstick to get in on the action.
However, his actual abilities in the game to-date are limited. Aside from playing casual Street Fighter II as a kid and Street Fighter IV more recently, his overall skill-level is essentially ground zero.
So far, his journey into the FGC has been a brutal one. After suffering a number of defeats playing Street Fighter V online, his interest in playing the game has dropped dramatically. In an attempt to keep his interest alive, I’ve invited him to my house for a one-day training session in the dojo.
I Won the WorldGaming Street Fighter V Regional Finals in Kingston, Ontario!
Kingston was a long way from home, but the road trip was certainly worth it! By the end of the tournament, I was crowned the victor, earning a sweet Street Fighter V gi, a free movie pass and a spot in the Canadian finals at the end of the month!
Heading into this tournament, I was really nervous. So much so, that the waiters at the restaurant Steff and I were at just before the tournament asked me if I was okay due to how visibly shaken I was. Though I’ve never won a tournament before, I really wanted to do well at this one. We came from too far away for me to just lay an egg.
The theatre setup was awesome. Six slick gaming booths along with a commentator’s booth lined the front. It was surreal to see Street Fighter V on the big screen, though I spent most of my time playing the game on an Asus monitor below.
Despite the extended warm-up period we got, my jitters carried into my first match. It was a scatterbrained match where I couldn’t get a feel for my opponent. Luckily for me, I was able to win the set 2-0.
Didn’t really feel comfortable until the grand finals match. Facing off against a solid Vega player, I got into a comfortable zone and did what my Rashid does best. When the smoke cleared, I came away with the title!
From here, the next step is to compete with 31 other Street Fighter V competitors from across the country at the end of the month. The road hasn’t been easy and it’s only going to get tougher. For now though, I’m going to relish this first tournament victory before prepping for the biggest tourney of my life to-date!
Thoughts Going Into the WorldGaming Street Fighter V Regional Finals in Kingston, Ontario
In just a few days, Steff and I will be taking a weekend trip to Kingston, Ontario. Roughly a two-hour drive from Toronto, it’ll be host to one of the Street Fighter V regional finals tournaments taking place across Canada. Having earned my spot to compete at this event, I’m excited for the opportunity to throw down with the best that the city has to offer.
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Universal Fighting Game Guide: How to Improve Quickly by Training Intelligently
Learning how to become competent at fighting games was an agonizing process that was years in the making for me. In hindsight, my progress was extremely slow at the beginning, as I simply didn’t know how to get better. The biggest mistake I made during those early days, and one that I see online players fall into all the time, is having the mindset that the more you play, the better you get. That is a fallacious mentality to have, as I simply played poorly for a long time with no visible signs of improvement.
I now know that improvement in fighting games – while still a bumpy ride – doesn’t have to take nearly as long if you understand the process for improvement. In this edition of the Universal Fighting Game Guide, we cover the concept of training intelligently in order to improve at a faster rate.
Mark of the Ninja Review
(Originally posted on splitkick.com. Thank you to the Splitkick team for the edits!)
Perched atop a lamppost, I spot my targets. Directly below me are three gun-toting foes who have no idea what’s coming to them. I could simply grapple to the adjacent rooftop to continue my mission, but my bloodlust is running high. I ask myself, “Do I want to cloud their vision with a smoke bomb, then stab each of them in the back? Or can I come up with something more clever?” Scanning my inventory, I find just the thing to liven up this party. In an instant, a swarm of ravenous insects showers down on one of my enemies. As the insects make quick work of his flesh, his partners freak out, and accidentally shoot each other in the commotion. Recognizing that my work was done, I slip off into the darkness to continue my quest.
Though it’s a stretch to classify Mark of the Ninja as a simulation, this 2D stealth platformer makes me feel more like a real ninja than any other video game I’ve played before. Marrying concepts from the NES Ninja Gaiden games with the Arkham series of Batman titles, it’s also one of the coolest games I’ve played in 2012.
In Third Person 