ikodomo
Well-Known Member
"I can care less whether I win or lose, cause I treat every tournament like a vacation. Because if you’re not having fun before or after matches with fellow players, and also enjoying the city/town where the event is, you missing out on a lot of possible fun at the tournaments."
- BBoyDragon
Whether he is competitively playing DOA at the biggest tournaments in the US circuit or lighting up the dance floor with his Break dancing, BBoyDragon always wants to put on a show for everyone involved. As he steadily progresses to become one of the top echelon players in the US, he plans to bring Phase-4 into the mix and bring his insane and highly offensive mindset to NEC.
Name? Gaming Alias?
Kadeem Collins. BBoy Dragon
Country of Origin?
USA
How did you come up with the name, BBoy Dragon?
Well long story short; in high school before I started BBoying/BreakDance, I kind of looked like Bruce Leeroy The last dragon especially with my hair cut short so that it went from hey the last dragon to just “Dragon”. When I started dancing, I just used my original nickname as my BBoy name. I said why not just use that as my gamer tag since i'm already called that a lot in real life. However, most people in real life just say Dragon.
Who are your main characters in DOA5LR?
Well my number 1 main is of course Phase-4. I do have an ok Christie, but i only use her online cause I can’t play Phase-4 online since it ruins my timing and I just drop combos everywhere. My secondary now or attempting to learn is Momiji as i'm hoping to have her ready just in case a scenario pops up at NEC.
What would be Phase-4's pros and cons?
For phase-4, I feel like one of her pros is her mix up game that happens so quickly. Like for example, once you get into a stun all of sudden, all you hear is a poof sound of her teleporting and all of her options happen kind of fast giving you only a split second to decide how you are going to defend against it. I also like her shenanigans that are made possible because of that. Her cons; I wouldn't consider her unsafe as a con since i'm used to it with Kasumi back in doa5 vanilla etc. I feel the biggest con is how little of a move set she has and how she doesn’t have a sit down stun except for 66k and her side step punch. They are both good, but don’t give you much of award. However, I think she fine. Some might say she needs buffs, but I think she is perfectly fine and her balance is good. Like the pros and cons negate each other when it comes down to being in right hands.
Favorite Phase 4 Costume?
I got to say from top 3:
1st) Being grim reaper the Halloween 2014 costume
2nd) I like the falcom one which basically the Cat Girl costume
3rd) I'm really liking the new school girl strikers costume
If you were to describe your play style in 3 words; What would they be?
hhmmmmm "Aggressive, trolly, shenanigans"
Any weaknesses in your game you trying to improve upon on?
I think my biggest struggle right now is that I'm actually bad and still kind bad at defense and being patient. It still got way better back from 2013. I feel like if someone makes me counter or start to hold block longer than a second or so, I would lose that round. I mean yes, I think i'm known for my offensive shenanigan style, but I need to learn patience and defense. Cause of this, I feel like players such as Hoodless are people that I won’t be able to beat since he has an iron wall defense. So what happens when someone blocks all my offense and shenanigans, it opens me up. I normally lose badly so i'm trying to work on that.
What's your typical routine when preparing for an upcoming tournament? Do you have any players you train with for an upcoming tournament?
Well me not using Phase-4 online is one of them cause we normally have bi weekly local tournaments. So if I try to use her online seriously, which i have in the past, I do really bad offline. I'm lucky to live in New England cause I feel like as a whole, which is about 6 states, we have a lot of DOA players less than 50 miles away from each other. So some of our locals get good double digits sometimes. Because of that, I always get to play some real good offline sets. That includes my fellow teammate, UGS Gill Hustle. Also one of my good friends and my biggest rival in 2015, which I came out of my summer retirement, is Lord Xavier. He forces me to learn new tech cause he studied me a lot lol. That’s a good thing cause I needed to reach new heights. There are also a good handful of players and i'm thankful for that.
Are you the type of person who listens to music or chats with friends right before a tournament starts? What kind of music would that be?
I'm a bit of both for sure, but more to chatty side. I'm pretty sure a lot of people that see me at tournaments go, "oh bboy dragon! it’s that guy that randomly gets hype and brings a good vibe". I try to crack sarcastic jokes like that one time when Master vs Eman played when Master won the first set. You can hear me from the crowd saying, "you still suck Master" as a joke obviously lol. Sometimes I yell that I got a bald head. I try my best to remind people to just have fun. Yeah it’s a tournament and players are serious, but that doesn't mean you can’t have fun joking with friends or other fellow players while at the event. As for music, I listen to almost everything from JoJo Opening theme songs, Break Beats, EDM, K-Pop, Persona and almost everything else lol! The list goes on and on.
What are the tournaments you have attended? What were those results you had on those tournaments?
That’s an actually LONG LONG list if we count locals. So i'm just going to cover Majors starting from DOA5U till now.
GUTS 2 (Gaming Underground Tournament Spectacular) - 1st place
D.I.D 9 - 4th place
NEC 2013 - 7th place
Winter Brawl 2014 - 5th place
A Kon D.I.D 10th anniversary - 7th place
Summer Jam 2014 (I don’t remember. I believe it was top 16 or really close to it)
GUTS 3 - 3rd place
Absolute Battle 2014 - 5th place
NEC 2014 - 7th place
Winter Brawl 2015 - 9th place
D.I.D 11 - 4th place
Defend the North 2015 - 3rd place
That’s all I can remember correctly
Foreigners such as Netherland's own Gehaktbal, Japan's own Teru Rock and JC Akira will be participating in this year's NEC. What do you think about this? Good for the community? How do you think they will do in this tournament especially the Japanese players who haven't really ventured outside their comfort zone and into the US territory besides Mochi-A?
More players always means good for community. I think it’s awesome that we are going have foreigners. It gives NEC more of a world championship kind of feel. I don't know how they will they do. These tournaments these days are so unpredictable. If I remember correctly, 2014 TFC Sweet Revenge didn’t make top 8 and he was a favorite to win. Than you also had, not saying he is bad, Eman win a tournament with Kwiggles brothers and Sweet Revenge up in there. All I said was american players in this, but what i'm getting at is these tournaments are unpredictable. It’s easy for someone to have a bad day and someone to be on fire. Who knows, JC Akira might be on fire and do what he did at the team tournament which he did beat a lot of top players. Even though it was just one set each, you still got to respect the fact that he single handedly beat a couple of top dogs. So it’s just one thing I feel as though no one can truly predict the outcome.
Do you think Team Ninja did a good job implementing a Capcom Cup tour like event like Battle Royale? What can they improve on this? Can you consider this a success?
I think they are doing a really good job especially for how small the company is compared to Capcom and most other bigger studios. People got remember not only do they take the time out and put matches on team ninja webpage and listen to us etc; they are also working on several other titles like new Disidia Final Fantasy. So I just feel like if it is possible,I hope they try to keep it going same way for next year. I don’t know how it can improve, but maybe try adding tournaments for middle north of the country (US). It would be cool to have places Ohio, Michigan, Iowa cause I feel like there are players in that area. However, the closest tournaments is plus thousand and thousands miles away. That’s how it feels to me. Also I hope they add tournaments in the south east coast like Florida CEO.
What do you think are ways Team Ninja could do a better job in bringing every player from all parts of the world together?
That’s really hard question to answer cause at the same time they already doing a lot. Not everyone can travel to every tournament at every time across the world. It takes planning for that. So maybe, It would be good to implement early advertisements or more of them because want to bring more players across the world to these tournaments. You don’t see Daigo at every SF tournament in the USA nor do you see snake eyes at every SF tournament in Japan. So kind of advertise and do what they are doing with NEC. I think outside of EVO or something of that scale like capcom cup. It’s really rare to have anyone from outside the country come over here.
Which versions of DOA do you like and hate the most? Why?
DOA5LR is my favorite and DOA4 is which I hate the most lol. I like the DOA5 series. I feel like this game is the closest to perfect balance or at least one of the closest. Because I feel there is no real bad match up or if you pick this character there no way in hell you going to win. Take for example, Injustice or Mortal Kombat 9. We all know that if you played those games especially at launch, it was you that would pick these top 5 or such and such that guarantee a win. If don't pick them, you would lose. With DOA5 I was never surprised when I heard Elliot win a Major.
Now DOA4..... Oh god, that game... idk wth was going on. You can counter after being wall splat. My main character Kasumi and all of the other ninjas were OP as hell. I mean why the hell would Kasumi have a 9 frame jab and a offensive hold?????? I can go on and on. I think everyone gets the point why DOA4 is the most hated version of the series.
Is there anything you would like to see changed, added or deleted in DOA5LR such as character balances, more characters or stages?
I think for stages; I still wish there were more cliff hanger stages. I still remember the DOA5 launch trailer. They made me go, "OMG that's kool hanging of the cliff and having a 50 50 to save yourself from death or to finish your opponent.” I played the game to find out that out of all the stages just 2 had cliffhangers. Now there are 3 of them in the game. IDK about character balances. I feel like the game is actually like I said, pretty balanced compared to a lot other fighting games.
Any players you enjoy watching or would like to play against?
Master! I love watching the stuff he does which I think is amazing. I feel like he pushes his character to the limit and then some. I like watching Sweet Revenge just to see his broken tech lol. I also like watching players grow like Fyre Necromancer. He is becoming a really great player compared to 2014. Also T Boy has shown improvement as well as ms hoodless. I like watching a lot I guess lol.
My top favorite player I like to play against is sonic fox. He reminds me that it’s just a game lol. By that, I mean I find it funny when he t bags and taunts. I feel like we just playing to have fun.
How is the East Coast scene? Can you tell us more about your scene and the players you have over there? Are there any ways you can think of improving your scene and its growth?
From my scene which I like to call New England. I feel like we actually have a wide variety of characters being used which helps me with a lot match ups. We have Jian who plays Tina from C.T. We also have one in R.I that plays Tina. Also my teammate UGS Gill Hustle plays Mila and Ayane. Blackburry, which i need to somehow get my lazy butt and play offline with, plays a good handful of characters too. We have a Nyo Tengu and his G.T is Link. We got Lord X Hitomi. There’s also a Leon Player, a Helena player and the list goes on. I don't have to worry about studying match ups too much cause I play a lot of different ones on a weekly basis.
Now to make our scene grow, I think we got good amount of our locals hit double digits. I think what we need to do is get together and travel. Let’s say go to New York once a month, so that we can get used to playing players outside our element. Don’t get me wrong, more players yeah is better. However I feel that in order for us to improve our skills is to travel and NY isn’t that far for us since it is really only about a 5 hour drive.
Who are the upcoming players we need to be aware of in the East Coast that people haven't heard about yet?
I think our three biggest underestimated players in New England will have to be Jian. There is also Judas who won a couple locals in our scene this year. Yes I was in those tournaments that he won. Also Lord Xavier, but i feel like a lot people know him cause he puts himself out there a lot lol
Are you interested in DOA6 coming out soon? Any predictions on the release date of the game?
No not interested in DOA6. But what I mean by that is I'm still enjoying DOA5LR and bunch of other games that came out. I can wait a while longer since there is no reason for me to get all super excited right now for a DOA6 game when DOA5LR came out this year. I think they should give it little while longer and gather more feedback from our thoughts on the DOA 5 series to make DOA6 a better game. My predictions on DOA6 being released, giving fact team ninja worked on a lot of different projects such as Dissidia Final Fantasy and DOAX3, hhmm maybe 2018 during the summer time. I think we will have trailers by end of 2017.
What's your take on DOAX3?
hhmmmm I'm not going to get it. I'm not that much into sports game and I actually don't care for a whole yay of female characters in sexy bathing suits. I have nothing against people who buy and play it. I'm not saying, “oh you bad for playing it blah blah.” I'm just saying it’s not my cup of tea. That and I got the power of the internet. (I will leave it to everyone’s imagination and have them figure what I mean by that, Kappa!)
If you were to pick one moment that defines you in DOA, what would that be and why?
One moment huh. Me charging a Power Blow against Kwiggles and him doing the same thing. I pick that moment because I feel as though that it is half joke and you only see something like that because I was playing. I even made lil one minute goofy video about that lol
Any other games you play for fun or competitively?
I play a lot of different games from almost all genres except sports game. I play racing games like Drive Club to NFS to Moto GP. Action adventure games like Devil May Cry, Sunset overdrive, Tomb Raider. Survival Horror even tho I get scared easy in those video games lol. Like the P.T demo (yes i'm counting that), Evil WIthin, Resident evil Series. RPG games from Elder scrolls to Tales of Series to persona to Dragon Age. MMORPGS like PSO2 and Blade and Soul. Can’t forgot FPS Halo, Destiny, Rainbow Six. Third Person shooters like GOW and The Order 1886, star wars battlefront ( I need pick up the new one). Stealth based games ranging from Metal Gear Solid(more arcadey feel) to Splinter Cell. Goes on and on. As for fighting games, I play Guilty Gear, Persona 4 ultimax, BlazBlue and I enter in Persona when I can. I like playing anime fighters cause they are so flashy and kool. Also feel like it helps my reflexes for DOA. I'm ok at MKX and Injustice. I don’t go 0-2 LOL most of the time at tournaments so i'm ok.
If you could create a DOA character from scratch for DOA6, How would you make that character? Gender? Martial Arts? Default Costume?
I would make a Male Character. I feel like we got enough female characters. I don’t know much about Martial Arts, but I think it be kool to have to have some kind of martial artist monk or something. Costume idk… I guess a monk one lol
If you could give an advice for the aspiring competitive DOA player, what would you say?
I say never give up, plan ahead and reach out to players that are already going so you can room together. Try your best to introduce yourself. We (Offline Community) are a lot more friendlier than people think. Treat a tournament like a vacation AND you get the opportunity to play DOA offline. That’s what and why I go to offline tournaments. Really! Just have a vacation, a good time, make new friends, meet old friends, and explore the city with your DOA friends. I feel like newcomers take it a little too serious and forget to ENJOY the event. I can go 0-2 and still have a great time at a tournament. Because it’s just so much fun if you go there to enjoy it vs going there to win or set a goal. Don't get me wrong. It’s also fun to compete and put your skills to the test, but it’s also fun to just hang around.
Any cool, interesting or funny stories you would like to share?
Got one! There’s too many for me to share. I will share this one.... In 2014 summer jam, I will never forget all of us going on this journey. I kid you not that it was a journey to find a food place. Where we wanted to go too was not close so we just walked to another place. We had Tom Lee with us too and we went under this tunnel. I forgot who said it, but dude said, “Why we going through a rape tunnel.” Tom Lee had his awesome little laugh. On our way back eating, I don,t drink alcohol, but one of the players... SLY BASS lol had to pee really badly. Let’s just say he went to go handle business in a public area. Hey! Many guys have done that plenty of times. Don’t judge! ROFL
Who are the DOA commentators you enjoy listening to?
Master. I like the way he commentates. Rabies. I miss his commentary. I think Fyre Necromancer does a really good job. I like listening to his commentary. We got a new one, Shazzmatazz (omg did i spell her GT right). Her first tournament commentary was good.
Favorite Food? Drinks?
Ramen. I mean like from a restaurant lol. Drink... MILKSHAKES! Strawberry especially lol
What are the best places to visit or dine at your local area?
In my hometown, there are a lot of diverse places to eat that are really good.
Porter square hosts the best (imo) japanese and Korean Food. There is an awesome market called H mart that sells Japanese and Korean groceries and has a Ramen shop with really good chefs. There’s a Middle east restaurant that has good food. Boston, there’s a lot to visit from history books like the Boston Harbor where the famous tea party happened. Prudential mall, during the summer time if you go to Harvard sq or faneuil hall, you can see various street performances. Also some of the dancers are my friends and they are really good.
So not only do you excel in DOA, but you are also known for your break dancing. Can you tell me how you first started b-boying and your history with it? Is it a hobby or a profession?
Oh man! Well for B-Boying, I started and got into it thanks to my Tennis Coach. Back when I was playing tennis seriously, I asked my tennis coach half jokely I wish I knew how to dance. He was like, "I can teach you a thing or two and show some people that will teach you.” So I said yeah and basically long story short, that’s how I got into it and fell in love with that dance style. As for the question, is it a hobby or profession? I say both. I love dancing and I go to clubs and dance normally in circles form.
I also do teaching it at various dance studios
I also go to gigs/shows here and there. I do battle. It’s rare I go since they always happen when I have a gig lol. Here couple links for people that want to see me battle
Do you have a Twitter, Facebook or Youtube channel people can follow you on?
I'm not kool enough for twitter, but my facebook is https://www.facebook.com/BBoyDragon13
As for YouTube I use my team YouTube that we share https://www.youtube.com/user/UGSLive
On the YouTube page, Gill Hustle handles more of the serious stuffs such as interviews and tournament experiences. I on the other hand have a gaming series with a bunch of goofy stuff on it lol.
Here’s the latest episode https://youtu.be/qtNZLh6eOQI
Any last messages? Shoutouts?
REALLY SPECIALLY THANK YOU TO MATT PONTON!!! lol the reason why is cause during the 2012 otakon before the DOA5 release, he had the test build of the game he told me about at the tournaments. I couldn’t make the one he told me about which was summer jam 2012, but it led me to GUTS 1. Which leads me to my second shoutout to Gill Hustle. Also I would like to call him my coach. He is the one that taught me the foundation and how to play this game from 2012 to 2013. I still today call him coach lol. Also to my good gaming buddy, Royalman and good Friend ShinMaruku. Also to my first student Sora Dora. Shot outs to my local scene in R.I otherwise I would not have nowhere as close to practice offline sets. Of course to everyone (I wouldn’t say fans cause no one wants to be my fan) that says your Phase-4 is fun to watch. It keeps the fire lit under my lazy butt lol. Also PanicItsTylor who is there to listen to me boast about something I did. Also my two clans; my xbox live B.A.N Clan members even tho we are not that active online. 2nd is my DM clan on PSN.
Also is my original Kasumi Teacher, H20 Evil and the person who helping me with my new character, Momiji, Hajin Shinobi.
- BBoyDragon
Whether he is competitively playing DOA at the biggest tournaments in the US circuit or lighting up the dance floor with his Break dancing, BBoyDragon always wants to put on a show for everyone involved. As he steadily progresses to become one of the top echelon players in the US, he plans to bring Phase-4 into the mix and bring his insane and highly offensive mindset to NEC.
Name? Gaming Alias?
Kadeem Collins. BBoy Dragon
Country of Origin?
USA
How did you come up with the name, BBoy Dragon?
Well long story short; in high school before I started BBoying/BreakDance, I kind of looked like Bruce Leeroy The last dragon especially with my hair cut short so that it went from hey the last dragon to just “Dragon”. When I started dancing, I just used my original nickname as my BBoy name. I said why not just use that as my gamer tag since i'm already called that a lot in real life. However, most people in real life just say Dragon.
Who are your main characters in DOA5LR?
Well my number 1 main is of course Phase-4. I do have an ok Christie, but i only use her online cause I can’t play Phase-4 online since it ruins my timing and I just drop combos everywhere. My secondary now or attempting to learn is Momiji as i'm hoping to have her ready just in case a scenario pops up at NEC.
What would be Phase-4's pros and cons?
For phase-4, I feel like one of her pros is her mix up game that happens so quickly. Like for example, once you get into a stun all of sudden, all you hear is a poof sound of her teleporting and all of her options happen kind of fast giving you only a split second to decide how you are going to defend against it. I also like her shenanigans that are made possible because of that. Her cons; I wouldn't consider her unsafe as a con since i'm used to it with Kasumi back in doa5 vanilla etc. I feel the biggest con is how little of a move set she has and how she doesn’t have a sit down stun except for 66k and her side step punch. They are both good, but don’t give you much of award. However, I think she fine. Some might say she needs buffs, but I think she is perfectly fine and her balance is good. Like the pros and cons negate each other when it comes down to being in right hands.
Favorite Phase 4 Costume?
I got to say from top 3:
1st) Being grim reaper the Halloween 2014 costume
2nd) I like the falcom one which basically the Cat Girl costume
3rd) I'm really liking the new school girl strikers costume
If you were to describe your play style in 3 words; What would they be?
hhmmmmm "Aggressive, trolly, shenanigans"
Any weaknesses in your game you trying to improve upon on?
I think my biggest struggle right now is that I'm actually bad and still kind bad at defense and being patient. It still got way better back from 2013. I feel like if someone makes me counter or start to hold block longer than a second or so, I would lose that round. I mean yes, I think i'm known for my offensive shenanigan style, but I need to learn patience and defense. Cause of this, I feel like players such as Hoodless are people that I won’t be able to beat since he has an iron wall defense. So what happens when someone blocks all my offense and shenanigans, it opens me up. I normally lose badly so i'm trying to work on that.
What's your typical routine when preparing for an upcoming tournament? Do you have any players you train with for an upcoming tournament?
Well me not using Phase-4 online is one of them cause we normally have bi weekly local tournaments. So if I try to use her online seriously, which i have in the past, I do really bad offline. I'm lucky to live in New England cause I feel like as a whole, which is about 6 states, we have a lot of DOA players less than 50 miles away from each other. So some of our locals get good double digits sometimes. Because of that, I always get to play some real good offline sets. That includes my fellow teammate, UGS Gill Hustle. Also one of my good friends and my biggest rival in 2015, which I came out of my summer retirement, is Lord Xavier. He forces me to learn new tech cause he studied me a lot lol. That’s a good thing cause I needed to reach new heights. There are also a good handful of players and i'm thankful for that.
Are you the type of person who listens to music or chats with friends right before a tournament starts? What kind of music would that be?
I'm a bit of both for sure, but more to chatty side. I'm pretty sure a lot of people that see me at tournaments go, "oh bboy dragon! it’s that guy that randomly gets hype and brings a good vibe". I try to crack sarcastic jokes like that one time when Master vs Eman played when Master won the first set. You can hear me from the crowd saying, "you still suck Master" as a joke obviously lol. Sometimes I yell that I got a bald head. I try my best to remind people to just have fun. Yeah it’s a tournament and players are serious, but that doesn't mean you can’t have fun joking with friends or other fellow players while at the event. As for music, I listen to almost everything from JoJo Opening theme songs, Break Beats, EDM, K-Pop, Persona and almost everything else lol! The list goes on and on.
What are the tournaments you have attended? What were those results you had on those tournaments?
That’s an actually LONG LONG list if we count locals. So i'm just going to cover Majors starting from DOA5U till now.
GUTS 2 (Gaming Underground Tournament Spectacular) - 1st place
D.I.D 9 - 4th place
NEC 2013 - 7th place
Winter Brawl 2014 - 5th place
A Kon D.I.D 10th anniversary - 7th place
Summer Jam 2014 (I don’t remember. I believe it was top 16 or really close to it)
GUTS 3 - 3rd place
Absolute Battle 2014 - 5th place
NEC 2014 - 7th place
Winter Brawl 2015 - 9th place
D.I.D 11 - 4th place
Defend the North 2015 - 3rd place
That’s all I can remember correctly
BBoyDragon vs NashFan
BBoyDragon vs Kwiggles
Foreigners such as Netherland's own Gehaktbal, Japan's own Teru Rock and JC Akira will be participating in this year's NEC. What do you think about this? Good for the community? How do you think they will do in this tournament especially the Japanese players who haven't really ventured outside their comfort zone and into the US territory besides Mochi-A?
More players always means good for community. I think it’s awesome that we are going have foreigners. It gives NEC more of a world championship kind of feel. I don't know how they will they do. These tournaments these days are so unpredictable. If I remember correctly, 2014 TFC Sweet Revenge didn’t make top 8 and he was a favorite to win. Than you also had, not saying he is bad, Eman win a tournament with Kwiggles brothers and Sweet Revenge up in there. All I said was american players in this, but what i'm getting at is these tournaments are unpredictable. It’s easy for someone to have a bad day and someone to be on fire. Who knows, JC Akira might be on fire and do what he did at the team tournament which he did beat a lot of top players. Even though it was just one set each, you still got to respect the fact that he single handedly beat a couple of top dogs. So it’s just one thing I feel as though no one can truly predict the outcome.
Do you think Team Ninja did a good job implementing a Capcom Cup tour like event like Battle Royale? What can they improve on this? Can you consider this a success?
I think they are doing a really good job especially for how small the company is compared to Capcom and most other bigger studios. People got remember not only do they take the time out and put matches on team ninja webpage and listen to us etc; they are also working on several other titles like new Disidia Final Fantasy. So I just feel like if it is possible,I hope they try to keep it going same way for next year. I don’t know how it can improve, but maybe try adding tournaments for middle north of the country (US). It would be cool to have places Ohio, Michigan, Iowa cause I feel like there are players in that area. However, the closest tournaments is plus thousand and thousands miles away. That’s how it feels to me. Also I hope they add tournaments in the south east coast like Florida CEO.
What do you think are ways Team Ninja could do a better job in bringing every player from all parts of the world together?
That’s really hard question to answer cause at the same time they already doing a lot. Not everyone can travel to every tournament at every time across the world. It takes planning for that. So maybe, It would be good to implement early advertisements or more of them because want to bring more players across the world to these tournaments. You don’t see Daigo at every SF tournament in the USA nor do you see snake eyes at every SF tournament in Japan. So kind of advertise and do what they are doing with NEC. I think outside of EVO or something of that scale like capcom cup. It’s really rare to have anyone from outside the country come over here.
Which versions of DOA do you like and hate the most? Why?
DOA5LR is my favorite and DOA4 is which I hate the most lol. I like the DOA5 series. I feel like this game is the closest to perfect balance or at least one of the closest. Because I feel there is no real bad match up or if you pick this character there no way in hell you going to win. Take for example, Injustice or Mortal Kombat 9. We all know that if you played those games especially at launch, it was you that would pick these top 5 or such and such that guarantee a win. If don't pick them, you would lose. With DOA5 I was never surprised when I heard Elliot win a Major.
Now DOA4..... Oh god, that game... idk wth was going on. You can counter after being wall splat. My main character Kasumi and all of the other ninjas were OP as hell. I mean why the hell would Kasumi have a 9 frame jab and a offensive hold?????? I can go on and on. I think everyone gets the point why DOA4 is the most hated version of the series.
Is there anything you would like to see changed, added or deleted in DOA5LR such as character balances, more characters or stages?
I think for stages; I still wish there were more cliff hanger stages. I still remember the DOA5 launch trailer. They made me go, "OMG that's kool hanging of the cliff and having a 50 50 to save yourself from death or to finish your opponent.” I played the game to find out that out of all the stages just 2 had cliffhangers. Now there are 3 of them in the game. IDK about character balances. I feel like the game is actually like I said, pretty balanced compared to a lot other fighting games.
Any players you enjoy watching or would like to play against?
Master! I love watching the stuff he does which I think is amazing. I feel like he pushes his character to the limit and then some. I like watching Sweet Revenge just to see his broken tech lol. I also like watching players grow like Fyre Necromancer. He is becoming a really great player compared to 2014. Also T Boy has shown improvement as well as ms hoodless. I like watching a lot I guess lol.
My top favorite player I like to play against is sonic fox. He reminds me that it’s just a game lol. By that, I mean I find it funny when he t bags and taunts. I feel like we just playing to have fun.
How is the East Coast scene? Can you tell us more about your scene and the players you have over there? Are there any ways you can think of improving your scene and its growth?
From my scene which I like to call New England. I feel like we actually have a wide variety of characters being used which helps me with a lot match ups. We have Jian who plays Tina from C.T. We also have one in R.I that plays Tina. Also my teammate UGS Gill Hustle plays Mila and Ayane. Blackburry, which i need to somehow get my lazy butt and play offline with, plays a good handful of characters too. We have a Nyo Tengu and his G.T is Link. We got Lord X Hitomi. There’s also a Leon Player, a Helena player and the list goes on. I don't have to worry about studying match ups too much cause I play a lot of different ones on a weekly basis.
Now to make our scene grow, I think we got good amount of our locals hit double digits. I think what we need to do is get together and travel. Let’s say go to New York once a month, so that we can get used to playing players outside our element. Don’t get me wrong, more players yeah is better. However I feel that in order for us to improve our skills is to travel and NY isn’t that far for us since it is really only about a 5 hour drive.
Who are the upcoming players we need to be aware of in the East Coast that people haven't heard about yet?
I think our three biggest underestimated players in New England will have to be Jian. There is also Judas who won a couple locals in our scene this year. Yes I was in those tournaments that he won. Also Lord Xavier, but i feel like a lot people know him cause he puts himself out there a lot lol
Are you interested in DOA6 coming out soon? Any predictions on the release date of the game?
No not interested in DOA6. But what I mean by that is I'm still enjoying DOA5LR and bunch of other games that came out. I can wait a while longer since there is no reason for me to get all super excited right now for a DOA6 game when DOA5LR came out this year. I think they should give it little while longer and gather more feedback from our thoughts on the DOA 5 series to make DOA6 a better game. My predictions on DOA6 being released, giving fact team ninja worked on a lot of different projects such as Dissidia Final Fantasy and DOAX3, hhmm maybe 2018 during the summer time. I think we will have trailers by end of 2017.
What's your take on DOAX3?
hhmmmm I'm not going to get it. I'm not that much into sports game and I actually don't care for a whole yay of female characters in sexy bathing suits. I have nothing against people who buy and play it. I'm not saying, “oh you bad for playing it blah blah.” I'm just saying it’s not my cup of tea. That and I got the power of the internet. (I will leave it to everyone’s imagination and have them figure what I mean by that, Kappa!)
If you were to pick one moment that defines you in DOA, what would that be and why?
One moment huh. Me charging a Power Blow against Kwiggles and him doing the same thing. I pick that moment because I feel as though that it is half joke and you only see something like that because I was playing. I even made lil one minute goofy video about that lol
Any other games you play for fun or competitively?
I play a lot of different games from almost all genres except sports game. I play racing games like Drive Club to NFS to Moto GP. Action adventure games like Devil May Cry, Sunset overdrive, Tomb Raider. Survival Horror even tho I get scared easy in those video games lol. Like the P.T demo (yes i'm counting that), Evil WIthin, Resident evil Series. RPG games from Elder scrolls to Tales of Series to persona to Dragon Age. MMORPGS like PSO2 and Blade and Soul. Can’t forgot FPS Halo, Destiny, Rainbow Six. Third Person shooters like GOW and The Order 1886, star wars battlefront ( I need pick up the new one). Stealth based games ranging from Metal Gear Solid(more arcadey feel) to Splinter Cell. Goes on and on. As for fighting games, I play Guilty Gear, Persona 4 ultimax, BlazBlue and I enter in Persona when I can. I like playing anime fighters cause they are so flashy and kool. Also feel like it helps my reflexes for DOA. I'm ok at MKX and Injustice. I don’t go 0-2 LOL most of the time at tournaments so i'm ok.
If you could create a DOA character from scratch for DOA6, How would you make that character? Gender? Martial Arts? Default Costume?
I would make a Male Character. I feel like we got enough female characters. I don’t know much about Martial Arts, but I think it be kool to have to have some kind of martial artist monk or something. Costume idk… I guess a monk one lol
If you could give an advice for the aspiring competitive DOA player, what would you say?
I say never give up, plan ahead and reach out to players that are already going so you can room together. Try your best to introduce yourself. We (Offline Community) are a lot more friendlier than people think. Treat a tournament like a vacation AND you get the opportunity to play DOA offline. That’s what and why I go to offline tournaments. Really! Just have a vacation, a good time, make new friends, meet old friends, and explore the city with your DOA friends. I feel like newcomers take it a little too serious and forget to ENJOY the event. I can go 0-2 and still have a great time at a tournament. Because it’s just so much fun if you go there to enjoy it vs going there to win or set a goal. Don't get me wrong. It’s also fun to compete and put your skills to the test, but it’s also fun to just hang around.
Any cool, interesting or funny stories you would like to share?
Got one! There’s too many for me to share. I will share this one.... In 2014 summer jam, I will never forget all of us going on this journey. I kid you not that it was a journey to find a food place. Where we wanted to go too was not close so we just walked to another place. We had Tom Lee with us too and we went under this tunnel. I forgot who said it, but dude said, “Why we going through a rape tunnel.” Tom Lee had his awesome little laugh. On our way back eating, I don,t drink alcohol, but one of the players... SLY BASS lol had to pee really badly. Let’s just say he went to go handle business in a public area. Hey! Many guys have done that plenty of times. Don’t judge! ROFL
Who are the DOA commentators you enjoy listening to?
Master. I like the way he commentates. Rabies. I miss his commentary. I think Fyre Necromancer does a really good job. I like listening to his commentary. We got a new one, Shazzmatazz (omg did i spell her GT right). Her first tournament commentary was good.
Favorite Food? Drinks?
Ramen. I mean like from a restaurant lol. Drink... MILKSHAKES! Strawberry especially lol
What are the best places to visit or dine at your local area?
In my hometown, there are a lot of diverse places to eat that are really good.
Porter square hosts the best (imo) japanese and Korean Food. There is an awesome market called H mart that sells Japanese and Korean groceries and has a Ramen shop with really good chefs. There’s a Middle east restaurant that has good food. Boston, there’s a lot to visit from history books like the Boston Harbor where the famous tea party happened. Prudential mall, during the summer time if you go to Harvard sq or faneuil hall, you can see various street performances. Also some of the dancers are my friends and they are really good.
So not only do you excel in DOA, but you are also known for your break dancing. Can you tell me how you first started b-boying and your history with it? Is it a hobby or a profession?
Oh man! Well for B-Boying, I started and got into it thanks to my Tennis Coach. Back when I was playing tennis seriously, I asked my tennis coach half jokely I wish I knew how to dance. He was like, "I can teach you a thing or two and show some people that will teach you.” So I said yeah and basically long story short, that’s how I got into it and fell in love with that dance style. As for the question, is it a hobby or profession? I say both. I love dancing and I go to clubs and dance normally in circles form.
I also do teaching it at various dance studios
Do you have a Twitter, Facebook or Youtube channel people can follow you on?
I'm not kool enough for twitter, but my facebook is https://www.facebook.com/BBoyDragon13
As for YouTube I use my team YouTube that we share https://www.youtube.com/user/UGSLive
On the YouTube page, Gill Hustle handles more of the serious stuffs such as interviews and tournament experiences. I on the other hand have a gaming series with a bunch of goofy stuff on it lol.
Here’s the latest episode https://youtu.be/qtNZLh6eOQI
Any last messages? Shoutouts?
REALLY SPECIALLY THANK YOU TO MATT PONTON!!! lol the reason why is cause during the 2012 otakon before the DOA5 release, he had the test build of the game he told me about at the tournaments. I couldn’t make the one he told me about which was summer jam 2012, but it led me to GUTS 1. Which leads me to my second shoutout to Gill Hustle. Also I would like to call him my coach. He is the one that taught me the foundation and how to play this game from 2012 to 2013. I still today call him coach lol. Also to my good gaming buddy, Royalman and good Friend ShinMaruku. Also to my first student Sora Dora. Shot outs to my local scene in R.I otherwise I would not have nowhere as close to practice offline sets. Of course to everyone (I wouldn’t say fans cause no one wants to be my fan) that says your Phase-4 is fun to watch. It keeps the fire lit under my lazy butt lol. Also PanicItsTylor who is there to listen to me boast about something I did. Also my two clans; my xbox live B.A.N Clan members even tho we are not that active online. 2nd is my DM clan on PSN.
Also is my original Kasumi Teacher, H20 Evil and the person who helping me with my new character, Momiji, Hajin Shinobi.
-- sidenote: if I were with you and it was foggy I would have probably asked you to do some "thriller" moves lmao! Good luck to you, 