Julius Rage
Well-Known Member
Crazysteady vs SonicFoxx
Oh, and the crowd participation for this match was something I’ve never seen in a DOA match – ever. It took a few rounds but, once the crowd caught on, every Jacky Bryant mid punch hold successfully landed by Steady elicited an in unison, perfectly timed; “YEAH!” from the crowd that would make WWE management take notice. So catchy was the chant that commentator Tom Brady, in a moment of pure elation for what was witnessed, joined in on the final successful hold for a speaker popping “YEAH!” of his own.
Master vs Sweet Revenge
There was this vignette on the Cartoon Network’s old Toonami block about anger versus rage – the message being that anger drives and rage consumes. This series was an example how of anger can be used as a motivational tool, a way to channel your abilities in a positive direction. Watching as the situation became more desperate for Master you could see the expression on his face begin to become dark and as it became so too did the scales even. Ultimately, the surge of emotion was not enough to augment Master’s Busa play, however it did turn a rather pedestrian drubbing into a spirited back and forth.This match also illustrated the profound stylistic differences between individual characters. At his best, Master was able to nullify any semblance of a spacing game by Sweet Revenge with Hayabusa’s superior mobility – utilizing lots of teleportation techniques - and fast, powerful attacks to quickly close the distance. On the other side of the screen, Sweet Revenge was content to allow Master to play Houdini, capitalizing on his mistakes and punishing openings in the torrent when they became visible. Dead or Alive as a series is fundamentally different because reaction is the more desired attribute versus execution but what makes 5 and 5U different are that, like almost every other competitive fighter, a characters strengths and weaknesses are visible to the naked eye – and this match proves that.
Julius Rage vs Sweet Revenge
This one was a beat down, plain and simple. (I) Julius Rage, took one of the most through ass whippings ever witnessed this side of the Mason Dixon line. There was never – and I do mean never – a point where anyone could have viewed this match and saw it going anywhere but where Sweet Revenge wanted it to go. However, it was a fun/painful ride that produced a flipped over chair, a bunch of taunts, some funny faces and two button presses that helped to eliminate future disqualifications of the same type.This is because both players lost rounds due to start button presses – Sweet Revenge in the middle of a match, Julius Rage to eliminate himself from the tournament. It was, in no small part, because of this set that Team Ninja implemented a delay to activate the pause menu, which made the prospect of dropping a round in that fashion a near impossibility. Also, Julius Rage landed four Zack beams, retired and cried in the parking lot.
Lopedo vs Mr Wah
Heres a fun fact: There is only one tournament level Bass practitioner in the United States – his name is Mr. Wah. Being that TFC was an event dominated by two characters, Rachel and Alpha, both top tier characters; both who would go on to be featured in the finals - you’d imagine that their only foils would be the two themselves. In this match Mr. Wah proved, if only for a few rounds, that knowing your character, no matter where they sit on the tier list, is often times more important than how powerful the avatar on the opposite side of the screen may be.Oh and the commentary, the commentary! As pointed out in Steady v. Fox match, a good call can make a match special and Chosen1 certainly helped to lay down something special.
In lieu of another few sentences of me waxing philosophic about the subject, I’ll just fire off a few of C1’s better quotables from the fight.
- “Matt Ponton has come to play ladies and gentlemen!”
- “Bass is HERE!”…..” DOA IS HERE!”
- “ IT’S THE SHOWDOWN! IT’S THE SHOWDOWN!” (Ok, he didn’t say that but you know he wanted to)
Want more? Go watch the fight.
EMP Mamba vs Master
Morris summed up Master’s predicament in this match with one simple quote “[Fighting Helena] It’s like boxing with a hurricane.” And yet, once again, Master proved that he has a second gear and once he hits the throttle, no matter how far ahead you may be, he can catch you – and if he can catch you, you better be completely locked in or he will lap you.
This fight also showed off a lot of what makes DOA “DOA”. There was a ton of strategic use of the environments. See: Mamba’s presence of mind to keep his back to the wall on the Sakura stage – in almost every instance, having your back to the wall is the last thing you want but mamba knew that Masters best chance of winning the set on this particular stage was to keep it in doors, so the risk/reward of eating a large chunk of the life bar became an acceptable means to drag Master’s Hayabusa outside where Helena is most effective at “blending” people up.
There are so many more instances of this kind and I could keep typing till the tips of my fingers fall of.
But that’s no fun for either of us – watching this match certainly is though. So why not do that instead?
Last edited:
