highlights:
SF4V Yun midscreen criss-cross super at 2:25 and Vega full-screen wall dive takedown at 3:17

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gameplay and editing by Nashberry

soundtrack: Drowning Pool – Bodies

released on February 16th, 2013

players: Bonchan (Sagat-U2) vs Daigo (Ryu-U1)

observations:
I could teach someone all of Daigo’s combos and option selects in about 2-3 weeks, but learning how to walk forward like Daigo would probably take me at least two years of practicing every day. Check out the round at 34:20. Daigo corners a world-class Sagat without even losing a quarter of his lifebar, keeps him cornered for the rest of the round, and knows how to make it count. Just look at how much time he spends not blocking right in front of Sagat. That shit is terrifying!

He ends that round by walking a mile and then DP-FADC-Ultra'ing some random button that Sagat must have pressed. Ryu’s uppercut hits on frame 3, and Sagat was blocking that entire time until he touched a button. Which means Daigo had to know exactly when Bonchan was going to flinch, accurate to within 1/20th of a second. And he only knew that because he spent the entire round walking right at him and learning his tendencies – even though every time he walks forward, he’s wagering 40% of his lifebar and potentially letting Sagat out of the corner. Gutsy!

And it’s not just being brash and reckless either. It’s precision too. At 34:29, Sagat gets an opportunity to push Ryu away with an LK Tiger Knee, which is safe on block from that range. There’s nothing Ryu can do about it. At 34:44, Daigo somehow miraculously reads that another Tiger Knee is coming, steps forward like 3 pixels and immediately blocks to make the Tiger Knee connect slightly earlier than Bonchan wanted – which worsens its frame disadvantage and makes it punishable. And Sagat gets sent right back in the corner.

game: Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition 2012 (Arcade)

venue: Taito Station, Tokyo

recorded on May 9th, 2012

players: Filipino Champ (Dormammu/Magneto/Phoenix) vs Viscant (Wesker/Iron Man/Phoenix)

observations:
The grand finals set begins at around the 53-minute mark. At this point, the strangest thing about MvC3 is how much of an equalizer Phoenix can be. It seems like no matter how far ahead one player gets, the game always ends with Phoenix vs Phoenix sans assists. My favorite moment happens at 1:03:07, when Wesker manages to convert the midscreen air bullet into a full combo against Magneto’s tag. That probably decided the final match.

game: Marvel vs Capcom 3 (Console)

venue: ReveLAtions – Grand Finals

recorded on June 12th, 2011

The Road to the 2002 Midwest Championships Mini-Trailer

2002 Midwest Championships SSF2T Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

The tournament itself was held on June 21-23, 2002 and most of this footage was shot by David Spence aka dublo7. The last installment contains some CvS2 action as well, but unfortunately the player names are unknown and there’s no sound. Still, it’s always fun to watch some N-Groove footage from the run-jab era.

highlights:
SSF4 Guy futile escape attempt at 0:44, Ken fireball sparks at 3:30, Ken hurricane trails at 3:58, Honda “unblockable” mixups at 6:10, and Guile vs Blanka at 6:28

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gameplay and editing by Kadeybaybe

soundtrack: Scott Bells – Deep In My Heart

originally released on December 3rd, 2010

players: VDO (Ken/Colossus/Rogue) vs Robust (Sentinel/Storm/CapCom & Storm/Sent/Cable)

observations:
It’s hard to believe this actually happened and ended the way it did – a literal death race against the clock. For anyone who complains about top players playing safe with top tiers, this is why they have to do it. Because this only has to happen once; then you never live it down.

game: Marvel vs Capcom 2 (Console)

venue: Evolution 2009

recorded on July 18th, 2009

players: D44-Bas (A-Vega/Blanka/Bison-2) vs Pinokio (K-Hibiki/Sagat/Cammy-2)

observations:
It starts off as kind of a slow match between two long-range poking characters, but gets somewhat interesting as Hibiki refuses to die. Finishing off Vega is no easy task either, and it’s pretty impressive how it actually happens. A-Blanka is a bully as always, but two wasted CC activations and a couple of clutch uppercuts later, he finally goes to sleep. Pinokio starts off the Cammy round well, but Bas finally lands a CC (in the most ghetto way imaginable) and that’s the end of that.

game: Capcom vs SNK 2 (Arcade)

venue: Mikado CvS2 Singles Tournament

recorded on July 22nd, 2007

players: ??? (Dudley-SA3) vs ??? (Elena-SA2)

observations:
Neither of these characters has much of anything resembling a defense, so the entire match is totally all-or-nothing in both directions. In the very first round you can see Elena in full control, until Dudley lands a single sweep and then it’s a complete 180° turn! And you have to like the confidence Dudley shows at the end of the round, utterly owning up her reversal super. It’s tiring just watching these two go at it. In fact, Dudley himself looks exhausted at 9:20!

game: Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (Arcade)

venue: a-cho 3on3 Ranbat Match

recorded on April 10th, 2010

players: Tokido (Akuma-U1) vs ClakeyD (Ibuki-U2)

observations:
ClakeyD puts in a good performance, but ultimately runs out of tricks. Who would ever expect to see time expire in an Akuma vs Ibuki match? Not only does Tokido make that happen at 6:00, but he somehow extends for another 5 seconds. That dude is a turtle!

game: Super Street Fighter IV (Console)

venue: SoCal Regionals – Top 8 Losers Bracket

recorded yesterday, November 7th, 2010

players: Tokido (Sean-SA1) vs Tottori (Alex-SA2/Makoto-SA1/Ryu-SA1)

observations:
“Tokido uses Sean, and Tottori uses Alex. After match 1, Tottori goes back to his Ryu, but Tokido sticks it out with a beastly Sean. My favorite moment is at 0:58 when Sean backthrows Alex into the corner, but Tokido, realizing he has 0 vital AND 0 pressure possibility with Sean, backs away slowly…” – onreload

game: Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike (Arcade)

venue: Gamer’s Vision Ranbat 9-3 – Final

recorded on October 25th, 2008