I'm Gonna Take You For a Ride... at Mikado!

The previous week when I didnt write a blog post, I was pretty busy and it just wasnt very interesting of a weekend. Basically it was a 3 day weekend and 2 of those days I stayed in Gunma and drank at home with Ryoko and also went skiing with Ryoko, Andy, and Cameron. The Saturday I went to Tokyo but it was pretty standard and nothing really worth mentioned except basically Tokyo Loose sucks and I probably wont go back there anymore cuz the manager was being a dick.

Anyway, moving on to this past weekend....

Friday night I had an enkai so I just stayed and drank in Numata and after it was over I went home with Ryoko and we drank at my place.

Saturday I woke up and headed to Tokyo.

There was another Johnny-o cup singles qualifier at Mikado. I arrived about 15 minutes before the tournament was scheduled to start. Lots of people entered. I took a picture of the bracket and will upload it later. I got a few practice matches in before the tournament started and soon they called my first match.

My first match was against an I-no player. The funny thing was, I just happened to JUST beat him in casuals like RIGHT before they called our match. I didnt even know he was my opponent. I wonder if he challenged me knowing I was his next opponent or not. In any case, I beat him in the tournament as well.

Around this time, I noticed that they were hooking up an Xbox360 with MvC3 on it to a viewlix cabinet. They also had another setup just hooked up to a regular LCD with sticks next to it. I asked what the deal was and they said that after the GG tournament was over at around 5 pm they were going to take signups and run a MvC3 tournament for the hell of it.

Shortly after, my next match was called, and it was against "my favorite player in Japan" (please read with 120% sarcasm) the portly Ky player, Ain! I played pretty solid against him and won the first round. The 2nd round ended when he locked me down with an EX floating lightning ball over my head and I threw him right away but after the throw the ball hit me and I died from having like no life left. 3rd round I dont remember much about but I played well and I beat him! It felt very good to take him out since is isnt exactly the nicest guy... lol.

After that, my next match was against a HOS player. For round 1, I dizzied him and he was about to die. I could have killed him with a foward HS into pogo but I did the foward HS into random item to try and bait his burst. He didnt burst but I just ended up killing him like right after anyway. During the match, Satou, FAB, and Ain were like standing right behind me watchin. Satou gave me this like wtf look after I didnt kill him from the dizzy and I pointed to the guys burst and he just sorta like did this hand motion like "gtfo" implying that the guy probably wasnt gonna burst anyway but whatever. I lost round 2. It went down to round 3 and in the final round he was in the corner and I rushed him as meteors were coming out and he got hit and died.

I had now advanced to the semi finals and got top 4. My next opponent was Satou. The last time I played him in an SBO qual I beat him but lately in casuals he was beating me up. He pretty much just got in my head and stayed there the whole match and it was pretty damn ugly. He just read me well and hit me with brutal combos and put me into that damn corner mist loop and I lost both rounds.

The other semi finals match was FAB vs Roy. Roy won, so I had to fight FAB next for 3rd place.

The first round started out well and I was doing a good job keeping him out and picking away at his life. However, I was doing some FDC floats and I ran out of meter without realizing it and ended up doing a down kick drill move sorta near the ground, but it whiffed and FAB punished it pretty hard and I ended up losing the round. The other round wasnt as good and I did a bad burst when he had me in a ground chain. He predicted it (as he usually does, so I was better off not bursting but was just being stupid) and canceled into the mirror super just as I bursted and fucked me up hard.

The finals were Satou vs Roy and Satou won. So in the end I got 4th place which isnt that bad considering there were lots of big name players in this tournament, and beating Ain felt good, but I wish I did better vs Satou and FAB. 4th place gets some ranking points at least though so at least I have some sorta rank now and im not just another guy piled up on the bottom of the list.

There is another Johnny-o cup qualifier in 2 more weeks. If I do well at it I might even be able to make it on the Tokyo team (as thats what the Mikado tournaments are for).

They took all our pictures after the tournament ended and it will be on the Johnny-o cup website.

All the matches should have also been recorded so I will update this blog once all that is posted.

After the tournament, I chilled for a bit playing some GG and then I played like 3 casuals of MvC3. I won 2 and lost 1. I decided to enter the tournament for the hell of it since it was free to enter and it looked like fun.

A few GG players entered such as ABEGEN, but most of the big top GG players just kept playing GG and lots of other random guys entered as well. Im still not very good at the game and have only had it for a couple of days. Some guys there were already busting out tons of crazy combos though. Most of the people there seemed like they just played the game for the first time though or something. I entered with the team Hsien-ko / MODOK / Amaterasu.

First match I fought Wesker/Ironman/X-23. You can see the match here. I won. For my 2nd match I fought a team of Super Skrull / She Hulk / Dormammu. I lost. This guy already knew good combos and stuff (which I hadnt even had the time to learn yet lol) and he was pretty good with Super Skrull. I kept getting thrown out of all kinds of stuff from like half screen. You can watch the match here if you go to 13:25. The 2nd match was sorta close but I got screwed when I tried to tag out my character and got an assist attack instead. Holding that button down to tag out is sorta annoying.

Im quite aware I suck right now but once I have time to practice some stuff and play more matches im sure Ill get decent.

Once i lost I didnt stick around to watch the rest cuz I was low on money and needed to get money from the ATM at 7-11 before 8pm cuz my bank sucks and thats when it cuts my card off from being able to make cash withdrawls. I got the money and then headed back to Mikado. When I got back, they tournament was over but they were still letting people play casuals. I asked the guys running it if they were going to ever do it again and they said the cab wont be set up here all the time but they are going to run monthly MvC3 tournaments at Mikado, so who knows... maybe the Japanese will actually try to develop a competative tournament scene for this game. I havnt heard about any other arcades running MvC3 tournamets but there very well could be since I never even checked into it.

I stayed and played for a while until a little after 10, mostly playing GG casuals with a couple matches of SSFIV in there. I beat these 2 random foreigner guys there a couple times who were using Guile and DeeJay and then some random Blanka beat me. In GG I had a lot of good matches and gomes some small streaks and stuff. I also played a long set with En-Slayer and won about 40% of the matches which isnt bad considering its En-Slayer.

So after 10, I headed out and went to Shinjku to drink. I started off at GODZ where I drank with SPG Chris, Sachiko, Ian, and some other people. We stayed for like a drink or 2 and then headed to Current.

Current was pretty good tonight compared to how its been lately with lots of regulars. Unfortunately about half of the regulars that were there left before the last train but enough cool people stuck around to make it fun. The big dude, Ted, was there and he had this dude and this chick who he met at some show earlier and brought them to Current. The girl was pretty hot and was pretty amusing. I guess the dude was like her ex but she was still sorta like making out and snuggling with him but then she was being all flirty with Ted too. Also, i was sitting with these 2 Swedish chicks I know and the girl comes up to the table and says how like she goes both ways and things the Swedish chicks are hot and then she like runs off all shy right away and just starts dancing with a bunch of people. It was pretty funny. Other than that, I drank with several other regulars and had fun.

At around 3 something, a bunch of us went to PSY. PSY was pretty packed considering its size so it was fun as well. I only stayed till about 5 though cuz I decided to be responsible this time about making it to tomorrows tournament at Magmax in Kawagoe (the same place where I was 5 mins late 2 weeks ago and couldnt enter).

I went to the manga kissa and checked for a good train time and then went to sleep.

The next day I got some 100 yen filet-o-fish (cuz they were running the deal this weekend) but sorta regreted it cuz they tasted kinda shitty. I got em to go and took the train down to Kawagoe. This time, I made it there about 20 minutes before the tournament so I had plenty of time to register and got a couple practice games in.

All the usual guys who show up to the Kawagoe ones were there but this time Limekey, Kawin, and Ka2 also came. Maruken was there too but he didnt enter for whatever reason. Also, like half the signup sheet was Eddie players and Testament players

My first match was against... wait for it... an Eddie player! *gasp*
Im not sure who he was but I beat him up pretty bad getting a perfect and not losing any rounds.

My next match was vs Limekey. Im honestly not very good or confident against good Anji players and Limekey is arguably the very best Anji player. Despite that, I played really solid and won the first round. The 2nd round wasnt that bad either but I sorta fucked up when I didnt capitalize on a hit I scored that could have turned into a big combo which instead sorta disoriented me and he came back agaisnt me. 3rd round I lost as well, but I felt like I put up a decent fight at least. I gotta get better vs Anji.

I dont remember all the details for the rest of the tournament but the finals ended up being Melon (ED) vs Takare (ED). Takare is that young kid who really likes Latif's ED. The finals wernt very exciting since I dont really like watching Eddie mirror matches but in the end, Melon won. Congrats to him. I thought Takare would win but Melon brought the hurt.

Sometime during the tournament, Woody asked me why I entered both the Saitama qual (this one) and the Tokyo qual (Mikado). I told him cuz Johnny-o said it was ok when I asked him and I just like competing. Plus I said since I live in Gunma I cant really rep my own prefecture (since it has no team, its just Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa) so I just figured I play for whichever one I can get on. Woody said he was in the same situation sorta since he lives in Tochigi. Plus, Melon was at the one yesterday, too so its not like I was the only one who entered more than one.

I spent the rest of the day just chilling, playing lots of GG casuals and some SSFIV casuals. I played against Limekey in SSFIV as well and he has a Master rank Adon! He is pretty beastly at that game and beat me up. I did well for the most part in GG casuals though. I took a game on Takare and also took a few games on Hayashi (though he beat me more than I beat him).

I got the last train back home and thats about it.

This coming weekend there is another Final Roundbats tournament at the skylounge. I will probably go since I have nothing else planned and it will be fun to play some Marvel with those guys. Hopefully by then I will get a bit better of a grasp on the game. I heard Tokido is gonna pick the game up so I look forward to seeing what kind of shenanigans he busts out. Getting drunk will be fun as always, too.

Until next time.

Too Late

Just gonna sum this one up kinda quick cuz I dont feel like typing right now.

It's been 2 weeks since I last wrote. Matt is back in the US again now. Last weekend we just stayed and drank in Gunma so I didnt bother typing cuz there was nothing really interesting to mention.

Friday I headed to Tokyo. I was expecting Emmet to get on at his stop but he didnt and instead Bloodbath got on. He was heading to Tokyo to visit his girlfriend so he rode the rest of the way with me. Emmet mailed me saying he just missed the train and would catch the next one. On the way there Bloodbath's girl mailed him asking if he wanted to go to a yakiniku tabehodai and nomihodai. He asked if Emmet and I would be down. After a bunch of confusion about schedules, we all finally agreed that the 4 of us would go.

We waited for Emmet to arrive in Ikebukuro at a bar and got a beer. Then when he arrived I went to get him and we met up with the others at the restaurant. The food was good. I had a lot of beer. It was a 2 hour package.

After we left there, Emmet and I went to Current, which ended up being dead. Then we went to PSY and it was a little better. We stayed till closing. I wasnt planning to stay out any later but Mandy and the Indian Guy wanted to go to Tokyo Loose and Emmet hadnt been there in a while so they convinced me to go for one beer.

Loose was pretty lame as always. Full of skanks and people I probably wouldnt like. After that we went to sleep at the manga kissa.

I didnt get much sleep at woke up JUST in time to make it to Mikado in time for today's Johnny-o cup singles tournament. Emmet went with. Lots of the big name heavy hitters were there today. I got a couple practice games in and shortly after, they called my match. My first match was against some Dizzy player I dont know. I beat him up and advanced to round 2.

I played a few more practice games against various people. I was doing pretty well but felt a bit rusty. My 2nd match ended up being against Taku's SL. We were gonna play RPS to determine sides but then he just told me to pick a side cuz he didnt care. The first round was going well and i had a lead starting out. I got him down to about less than half life and was zoning pretty good but eventually he got in and I died to some big combos. 2nd round I pulled out a win. 3rd round I just got raped after he started the round out with a connected gold burst and I ate some huge combos.

I think in the end, Mitsurugi ended up winning the tournament with his Zappa.

After that, I just played more casuals. Emmet left to go meet his girlfriend in Shibuya. I played more casuals and then suddenly Emmet showed up like an hour or 2 later. I asked him why he was back and he said he just broke up with his girlfriend. I dont know all the details but I guess he wasnt too happy with her and she said she would be really busy from now on and wouldnt get to see him much so they broke up. After a little more casuals, Emmet left for Roppongi to go to an international party. I played some more casuals of GG and like a total of 3 games of SSFIV. I fought Ririko a bunch and was doing well vs her. I fought Satou like 3 times and couldnt beat him.

Eventually Bloodbath messaged me saying he wanted to go drinking with us and his girl. Around 9 pm I headed out and waited for them in front of Tokyo station. They were taking a while to get there and I ended up drinking a whole 180 ml bottle of whiskey while I waited. I also grabbed an Idaho burger from McDonalds (this burger is legit as fuck, you should try it if you get a chance). I met up with them and then we headed to Current.

Current was dead as hell. We stayed for like 2 beers and then went to PSY. At PSY it was packed all night cuz it was Yukio's birthday party. They were playing AKB48 music videos with the sound off on the big screen most of the night on loop, lol. Bloodbath and his girl stayed till about 11:30 or 12 and then decided to go home before the last train. Emmet showed up a bit after that after I told him there were girls at the bar lol. Pachi also showed up to drink with us for the night.

PSY was fun times. However, Emmet wanted to go back to Tokyo Loose to try to pick up chicks and Pachi agreed so I just tagged along. This was pretty early (maybe around 3 am). Loose wasnt as bad as some nights, and we discovered the fact that they have hookahs there! I love smooking hookahs so we got one (it was only like 2000 yen so split 3 ways thats not bad) with some apple tobacco. I was buzzing pretty hard off of it.

Eventually after we all agreed that Loose sorta sucked, we went to some izakaya which ended up also being dead. Pachi went home at like 5:00 or something and then Emmet decided he wanted to give PSY another try. I went back with him and was only planning so stay till the usual closing time of 6. There were still TONS of people there and they ended up staying open till passed 7. I lost track of time and by the time I ended up going to sleep at the manga kissa it was like almost 8 or something.

This resulted in me not getting much sleep and I also didnt feel very good. I was sorta hungover and had a bad stomach ache. The problem was that today's Johnny-o cup tournament was in Kawagoe which is like an hour train ride away. I timed it so that I figured I would pretty much make it just on time. As I was on the train about one stop away with 5 minutes to spare, I decided to mail Woody the TE player cuz hes always there. I asked him if he could sign up for me. Then, when I got to Kawagoe I ran from the station to the arcade. I got inside and the tournament had JUST started. I tried checked the signup sheet and my name was not on it. Then I tried to sign up but the staff dude said I was too late. Then Woody came up to me apolagizing saying he tried but that by the time I mailed him they just stopped taking sign ups and he said next time I should mail him sooner. Hes probably right. I just figured they would be more lenient on the time since Mikado always starts shit like 10-15 minutes late. I guess I have no one to blame but myself, but the fact that I came all that way and missed the tournament and was already feeling like shit left me feeling pretty salty. I tried to play a single game of SSFIVAE against some Chun-Li player. I took him down to the last round and lost by like one hit and then I suddenly just lost all desire to play anything. I decided I might as well just go home early.

I tried to email Ryoko to see if she could meet up with me. She didnt reply till I was already on the way home but it turned out shes having a sort of family emergency and her father is very ill, so she couldnt meet up with me. So, I just got home around 8 pm, ate dinner, and went to bed early cuz I still felt like shit.

Ive had a bad cold all week and even had a minor fever on Monday. As of now (Wednesday) my cold is getting better and I think I should be back to normal by the weekend. I still have no actual plans for the coming 3 day weekend so I guess Ill see how it turns out. I just wish I could have entered that one tournament, and I need to stop staying out so damn late drinking when I know I have stuff to do the next day.