Super Battle Opera (TOUGEKI 2012) took place outside of Tokyo, in the same place of a Summer Festival. Before the tournament, I had an exhibition match against the EVOLUTION 2012 SOULCALIBUR V  champion Shining Decopon (Tira) (I talked about him already in my previous post). After, we had an interview for Famitsu, which is online HERE !

I wanted to play Dead or Alive 5, but I didn’t have the time I did have a chance to meet a gorgeous Ayane cosplayer from Dead or Alive 5  at the Tecmo Koei booth though !

Concerning the tournament, I am sorry I didn’t rank in the TOP for SOULCALIBUR V  at SBO, I lost to an Ezio player I can’t name because cannot read Japanese, but other players told me he’s the best Ezio in Japan. It was 2-2 and I lost the last round, he anticipated my backstep and hit a Critical Edge. Very impressive. I couldn’t adapt fast enough. It was my fault that I didn’t get any experience matches against Ezio at all. I trained on practice mode when I discovered I would play against him but it’s not enough, and unfortunately he’s too rarely used to have experience against him. You can know frame data, punishments, and think about a strategy, but if you don’t have experience in matches it’s useless.

I am accustomed to playing First to 3 wins, so only 1 match was too hard for me to know how to manage this match up with Ezio. Whereas he already knew how to fight against Viola and did not have to create new tactics. I definitely have to change my style when I’m playing in my next tournament, and take inspiration from Japanese players who always think “First to 1.” Changing my thinking is something I wasn’t able to do at TOUGEKI. I often lose my first match, and come back for the next two matches. I am angry at myself for not being able to adapt in one match.

Before TOUGEKI, I trained on how to think and play like this, but in the tournament it’s unnatural for me to play this way, so I forget and play like normal. This is not good; I really want to change. I’ve discussed the First to 1 style with Shen Chan (EVOLUTION 2012 SOULCALIBUR V  2nd Place), and he said “This tournament is not for us (foreigners), only for Japan.” While the American SBO qualifier I played in was First to 3, all of the Japanese qualifier tourneys were played under TOUGEKI (First to 1) rules. I think all qualifier tournaments should follow the TOUGEKI rules to prepare all players equally.

Hopefully, I can change my thinking and be strong enough for this kind of tournament in the future! I thank everybody who supported me for this opportunity, and my experience at SBO will change my thinking for sure, and make me a better player!

Tags: Dead or Alive 5, Kayane, Marie-Laure Norindr, SOULCALIBUR V, Super Battle Opera, TOUGEKI 2012