NYC Frolic - Reports

Figure we could use a new thread for the reports (so Blonde One, go ahead and repost here if you think it's necessary, but the old thread is fine too).

HOPEFULLY, I'll post a more detailed report later. My official statement is:

-NYC Frolic was a blast! I believe this gathering to be a pure training gathering because EVERYBODY was always learning something new, or dealing with the huge variety of characters that were represented--each player using different things with the characters they played.

I would hate to rank people at this gathering, because virtually all of the time was adjusting to various characters. I think everybody represented many good things too.

To Rodney, Adam, and Andy--THANKS SO MUCH. More reports to come (I hope)!

-Chanchai

Roster:

New York
-Adam Yuki
-Charles
-Crew NYC
-Erik
-GhettoSHUN (aka Nelson)
-Hiro
-Rodney

New Jersey
-NXW (aka Nan)

Massachusetts
-Cody Wood
-Hyun
-Mason Wood
-Shang

Pittsburgh
-J_Chuang (aka Mike; formerly known as Sumeragi)

Florida
-Blonde One
-Iron Monkey Fist

St. Louis
-Kaminari Oyaji
-Shou Sama

Oregon
-Chanchai

Special Thanks (for patience) Goes To:
-Elise
-Julie
-Mike's GF

 

Well I'm home from an UNBELIEVABLE weekend. The $265 I spent on the NYC trip was well worth it!! Meeting all the east coast players was something I'm not going to forget. While there was no tournament or way of keeping score so to speak, I liked the way it was set up. Everyone shared info got to put names to faces and best of all play VF to there hearts content. The NYC guys were probably the coolest guys I've ever met. From the time they picked Me and IMF up at the JFK airport I felt like I'd known them for a long time. Very easy to get along with and most of all very good VF players. I do this in our Hydra thread and I'll do the same for the guys I played this weekend (give props).

AdamYuki- "YOU WIN". Your play style is unbelievably effective and a bit different from the rest of the players I must admit, very methodical, and the fuzzy guarding king. =) good games.............................. He invented the chicken step with Jeffrey you'll have to come to NYC to see it

CrewNYC- Andy was a buddy from the start, he's such a nice guy, you'd really have to meet him. His lau is "NO" joke. while I didn't play Andy that much, watching him and IMF go back and forth always put a smile on my face.

Omaha_Jeffrey- Rodney you've got a serious knowledge of everyone that plays the game up there in NYC, not to mention on what trains and routes to take . Your Jeffrey and "Vanessa?" are solid like the rest, don't take a break rodney, Just keep pluggin away. It's funny in the beginning you played Jeffrey and Akira, but when placed against Hiro you opted for Vanessa, I didn't even know you played Vanessa. Your a great pal, and if you ever want to come to Fl. let us know, you've got a place to stay.

GhettoShun- +90 hahahahaha, too funny man!! You've seriously got the sickest shun I've ever seen. I hope to see you at another NYC gathering. Good games =).

Shang- Your Akira is most dominant, and I really like your Jacky!! I hope you don't mind if I borrow some things from your Jacky game .


Hyun- I think I played you the most out of everyone at this gathering, Your Jeffrey is a tough opponent my wolf had your # for a while then you just changed it up and turned the tables on me =). good games.

Sumeragi- Didn't get to play you unfortunately, Now that I think about it I'm quite upset over it. I should have played everyone there? Sorry =).

Shou_sama- From what I saw your Akira was topping everyone other than the other Akira players......................then it was even . Good games. Next time we'll get more matches Akira vs Jacky.

Tim(cause I can't say or spell your online name)- Also sorry, I didn't take the time to play you, I should have =(.

Chanchai- You sure you don't play more than you say you do? =) j/k. Your Lion is hard to get used to, Maybe cause I'm used to fighting a much slower Lion(The_Dude). You are but another VFer I will not forget and hope to see in the future. Like soon!! Oh and lemme know about the guy in Tampa who also plays VF, I need contacts. Gathering at my place this Sunday!!

Nan or nxw- I played you only a few times but from what I was hit with you deserve a lot of respect, not too mention you went 3-0 on Hiro . Awesome!!

Hiro- Back from Japan and 8th or 9th dan ranked. Sitting on the floor listening to you and Ghettoshun talk sparked an idea!! You should make a Tape set of you talking about all the VF characters!! I would buy them!!! Good games if you could call them games? More like Rapes .

I hope I haven't left anyone out, I can't seem to express what this gathering has done for me. It was the single most coolest thing I've ever done in my life. You guys ROCK!! See you at the next gathering. Blondie out!! =)

Yes I reposted, If i'm going to write that much its gonna be at least in the right spot. later =).

 

I love VF!

A special thanks to Andy and Adam for taking the chance and inviting us FL scrubs /versus/images/icons/wink.gif And also for making everyone feel so welcome!

I think I learned something from everyone I played every time I played them. It was truly awesome. The way I look at the game has completely changed since last thu. I had so much fun playing everyone that I'll have to apologize in advance because I don't feel that I'll be able to recall all of it in this post.

I'll start with the other Akira players there. Shang and Shou Sama, at one point we were all playing on one machine sat and that was a blast. I liked how we all played so differently with Akira, it made it very fun to watch I think.

Andy and Adam, I never stoped stop learning from you guys. Every time I played either of you the game became so much clearer it was amazing. Thanks for being wonderful hosts =)

Chanchai, we had some really fun matches late sat night. I think we must have played for 2hrs almost! Lots of cool fights. It's a good thing you saved just about every one of them /versus/images/icons/smile.gif

Rodney, you're the man. You made sure we didn't get lost in the city =P Your Jeffry is very impressive and intimidating indeed. I had the most fun listening and talking with you abuot the game and other people's styles. You always had something interesting to take note of when you were talking /versus/images/icons/smile.gif

I'm looking at Chanchai's list now and realizing how many people I actually met and played! I'm going to have to post again later ^_^

This was my first gathering and my head is still swimming. I can't wait for the next one.

 

The first word that comes to my mind when I recall this gathering in NYC is pure talent. From start to finish, I enjoyed the experience, thankyou. Before I start this, I would like to say that each player has specific talents that I learned from and judging who is better than the other would be useless since playing changed all through the weekend.

(New York)
Adam Yuki: First and foremost, thankyou for the sacrafice of letting us use your pad and putting your woman through hell at the sametime. Although we didn't play each other too much, I did enjoy the experience of what your Jeffery delt out to me, ouch! /versus/images/icons/smile.gif Seriously, great games and I will be back for another 48 hours "the wall" tour.

CrewNYC: Another great thankyou goes out to you and your woman for being patient and understanding (4am?? GO TO SLEEP!) /versus/images/icons/smile.gif I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to play you. I wanted to, but some mini sessions with the others led me a stray, sorry! I will not pass up the opportunity next time.

Ghetto Shun: From the bottom of my heart thankyou for exposing my virgin mind to what shun di really has to offer!!! From beginng to end, I was in amazement. If you do have the time please make a video, so I can show all my friends back here of what you truely consist of in play.

Omaha Jeffery: Thankyou for guiding us through the jungles of New York and safely to Andy's apartment. Otherwise, if you didn't I would be probably be somebody's wall ornament today! /versus/images/icons/smile.gif I really felt bad for you, because you had to go back and forth all day. Once again, I'm sorry I didn't get to play you that much, but I was kinda disappointed that you didn't use Jeffery against me. I believe you used Lion, but it still was some tight matches. I will look forward to meeting your Jeffery next time.

Eric & Charles: I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you. I think we got there to late or I was so oblivious to the fact that anyone was there, because so much vf4 craziness was going on. I hope to meet you at the next gathering.

(Florida)
Iron Monkey Fist: I really had some fun playing against your akira, because I had to adjust my style of play to a slow defensive one. Thanks for giving me some tips on how, when and what to do in certain situations. /versus/images/icons/smile.gif I think we played until our brains died and all motor functions stopped. /versus/images/icons/smile.gif

Blonde One: Even though I didn't get to play you, I did get to see your wolf and he is pretty sick! I will most likely start out at the next gathering playing all the people I didn't. I will be down in florida during mid summer, so I will definitely look you guys up!!

(Boston)
Hyun: Another Jeffery player that has some good timing and crazy talent. You really handed me my ass sometimes and then I would come back a little and back and forth. It seemed though that your Kagemaru was stronger? Was he your first character? Anyway, it was a most enjoyable lesson, thanks.

Shang: I was glad to meet you and your nasty akira. I wasn't expecting anything different from what akira's were up here, but you proved me wrong. Can anyone one say SPOD!! /versus/images/icons/smile.gif I had lots of fun playing against you and it seemed to help my play through the night. Hope to see you again in the future.

Mason: Yet another Jeffery player. Do you think there is a theme going on here like, "The assult of Jeffery in NYC." Just kidding, I had a great time playing against you and hope to see you at the next gathering.

Cody: Wow! I seemed to play you the most out of anyone there and had a ball! Our matches went back and forth and I think we both were increasing in trickery trying to adapt to each others play style. Oh yeah, I think we should avoid sunlight matches from now on, heh! I look forward to our next meeting.

(Portland)
Chanchai: Another great player I didn't get a chance to play, sorry!! I did enjoy conversing about ideas for games and thoughts about vf though. It seems your very dedicated towards vf. Maybe someday I will be hit with that bug, heh. Thanks for the mailing list and good luck at E3! Hope to see you at the next gathering.

(Old stl resident)
J Chaung: Well sumeragi, I finally got to see you again after all this time and it felt good to see an old friend. I enjoyed the experience of playing against your lei fei breakdance canceling trickery and from not having any human competition you still are number #1 in my book! I'm sorry, but I won't have a chance to see you when you come back in town. /versus/images/icons/frown.gif Maybe at the next NYC gathering we can play more? Thanks for coming!

(Japan/NYC)
Hiro: You seemed like the celebrity of the day, but I didn't feel like fighting off the traffic just to get a chance to play you, no offense. Hopefully nextime, I will get an equal opportunity? You seemed to have some well timed reading and exacution of wolf. Look forward to seeing you in the future.

(New Jersey)
Nan: Thanks for coming out, because I had a great time trying to understand your Kagemaru. It seems, I really need to work on my cancel crumbles in order to break through your defense,lesson learned. I will be preparing for our next battle.

Well, that about raps it up for me. I just wanted to say thankyou again to all for making me feel welcome and making this a positive learning experience. Everyone was more than friendly and cool to hangout and joke with. I really look froward to spending more time with this crew and hopefully in the near future stl will have a gathering out here, so you all are invited. Well, I'm off to Japan to experience what a loser's streak feels like, wish me luck!
Late,
Tim
P.S. Beware of the NYC scooter gang!! They will hunt you down and blow your ears off with those pipes!
Comment of the weekend,lunchtime: Excuse me! Excuse me! What's your zodiac sign?

 

Is it me? Or did it seem like there were more people at the NYC Frolic? I always thought it was customary to post something after a gathering i.e."your thoughts".....oh well =P.

 

Ok I'll say something then

The gathering was great. I appreciate you guys from other areas who made the long trip all the way to NYC just to play VF4. Thank Shang and Hyun went over Saturday night to my place and continued VF4 till Sunday /versus/images/icons/smile.gif

Being my first time at this kind of large-sized gathering I can only say it improved my game a lot. I don't want to put too much my own opinion on each individual player I had played with -- to me we all did well. But Adam's Jeffery is ....aaaahhhh. Just thought I had figured out how to handle his Akira, now here comes something else! His Jeffery is so different from Rodney's. I definitely want to play more against his Jeffery though. Another player I hope I could play more with is Hiro -- even though I am sure he will turn the table around and start to beat the sh!t out of me had we played more. /versus/images/icons/smile.gif

After the gathering, however, the NYC crew got so quiet -- again! What is going on babies?

I need more VF!

 

Hey guys!

I had a great time at NYC, but I rarely actually visit VFDC so I haven't posted anything. It was fun to play everyone and get a little rust kicked off. Adam, thanks a ton for putting that together. The setup was excellent, and so were the people. Sadly, I had to leave early enough that I didn't get to play many people. That will have to wait until next time.

Catch you all later,

Mason

 

Chanchai's Frolic Report #1 - Florida

I hope I finish this series of reports.... but I plan on writing reports based on region of players. Anyways, this post is about the Florida players since they are the "new kids on the block" and many were curious about their performance.

Overall
The two Florida representatives, Blonde One and Iron Monkey Fist, left very favorable impressions on everyone.

Their lack of VF experience was the only major drawback in their play in general, but they still had great knowledge and good understanding of the game--MOST IMPRESSIVE when you consider their background and how long they've been playing this game, not to mention their resources.

Equally impressive is their control in the forms of dexterity and precision. Natural advantages that will carry on and further extend their mindgames in the future and make them a true force to be reckoned with--probably even by the time of the big gatherings this summer. For the step-lovers out there, these two guys are excellent at the chicken steps and other input-joys in the game.

The knowledge these two possess as frame stats, various situation conditions, and damage potential for their characters is really good. These two DO THEIR RESEARCH. Their understanding is good, and it will truly be scary when they come to fully understand the situations and aspects of the game. They understand so much already, but VF is a sort of game where your understanding is constantly challenged, altered, and eventually you find that there's some deeper understanding necessary that often comes with experience.

I can't wait to see the Florida scene within the next year as it grows, molds, or gets stronger.

Blonde One
Blonde One was the more aggressive player between him and IMF. This posed good intimidation in matchups he was used to, such as Akira and probably Wolf and what not. Strong play overall, backed by a quick learning process as time progressed--Blonde One was quickly learning from his mistakes in small periods of time. By the end of the gathering, Blonde One seemed to be quite a force to everyone. I give props to his Jacky and his Wolf. Watching his Lei Fei get better and better was great as well, and I'm looking forward to where it will be in a few months.

Iron Monkey Fist
IMF was the more passive player between the two. A passive, but very strong player. IMF's defensive abilities were backed by his strong patience as well as his ability to control his character so well (proper use of Chicken Step for instance). IMF also impressed me with his ability to watch everything that's going on, not to over-commit to risky attacks that would leave him open. Most of the time, IMF will be able to properly adjust to the attack that's coming and block it appropriately almost on reflex. In fact, at first I thought it was 100% pure reflex until I started toying around with some traps to make sure if it was reflex or a combination of reflex and predicting. However, I cannot deny that this guy (as well as Blonde One) have some pretty darn good reflexes. As for his character usage, IMF's Akira is certainly impressive with proper use of df+P+K+G and excellent control over combos and precision play. I played his Wolf a lot and there were a lot of fun matches there, though I felt it was more or less him practicing how to defend against my Lion.

Thoughts going forward
As I've said, I'm looking forward to seeing how these two progress--even in as little as 3 months.

Great knowledge, great reflexes, great control--these are what make them already scary.

Greater experience and understanding, proper balance and decision making between aggression and passiveness--these are what I fear will make these two amazingly strong, even in the very near future. And it's a promising future for these two.

-Chanchai

 

Chanchai's Frolic Report #2 - St. Louis & New Jersey

Well... way overdue, but still in the works... And after my final exams no less (but I still have projects to finish before week's end). On with part 2 of the Chanchai Frolic Reports....

St. Louis
The St. Louis guys left a good impression on me--as guys I enjoyed talking with as well as in their VF abilities. These guys love games; have finally sunken their teeths into VF4; have done their fair share of traveling; fought the likes of Shota and Harold from Chicago; and trained with Sumeragi. And overall, I was very happy to see what they had in store for everyone else at the Frolic.

Shou Sama
Shou has one of the fiercest Akira's I've ever seen. He strictly played Akira, but I never got bored watching it or fighting it. Very aggressive, but also quite careful. For the record, Shou's Akira gives me a harder time than any other Akira player in the US by far (at both the NYC Frolic and the E3 Gathering where it knocked me into the loser's bracket). I don't want this to be interpreted to say that he is the best Akira in the US (to be quite honest, all the different Akira players play quite differently and I see various, but consistent results depending on who they are matched up with). But imo, he's definitely one of them--at least from what I've seen.

In terms of personal matches with Shou--the guy knows or at least has a very good sense of how I play and where I'm open. He's like the living proof that my Lion is actually easy to throw (contrary to the experiences of various players). Regarding opponents that I fear, Shou is actually in the top 5 when his Akira is pitted against my Lion or Aoi. On to the more general details....

From what I observed in NY (as well as watching some replays of our matches), Shou's Akira is pretty safe in that it won't commit to anything horribly risky except in some cases. Here's a breakdown of what I saw and remember:

-From mid-range, it was common to see Shou's Akira carefully use single palm, dashing elbow, and super dashing elbow.

-The throws I saw most from Shou were b,f+P+G; b, df+P+G; and df+P+G.

-I hardly saw shoulder ram, but I did see consistant knees at times and very well placed double palms. In addition, I saw some excellent moments where Shou would apply b,f+P+K+G and Dodge Attack upon proper reaction.

-Shou didn't abuse df+P+K, but in nearly every case I saw that moving come out from him, it was a MC causing crumple followed by Double Jump Kicks.

-Quite a bit of Crouch Dashing. Some moments where Shou perfectly slid under high attacks, particularly P(G).

-Quite a bit of reversals.

-Common quick-okizeme (anti-Quick Recovery options) move of choice was the modified b,f+P+K with the occasional modified double palm and even a hop or hop attack on occasion.

-At the end of many rounds, I would also see Shou body cross and go for a wall jump. A calling card or trademark so to speak

-Often goes for back stagger setups and combos. You don't want to tech roll too much against Shou, but at times, you don't want to Quick Rise either--he sets up the face down, feet towards position quite a bit too.

That's about as much as I can break down Shou's Akira within the experiences of our matches. I assume that against some other opponents, he plays quite differently--but it certainly was hard enough for me to deal with.

With a shrinking scene in St. Louis, I really hope Shou does keep with the game and even making more trips out for it. I really have enjoyed his company and challenges (though I'm generally the one issuing the challenges) in NY and LA. GREAT TIMES!

Kaminari Oyaji
As stated above, I enjoyed talking to the St. Louis guys. Good conversations with Kaminari after "trying to sleep amidst loud as hell mopeds roaming the streets all morning, Saturday." Good conversations when I wasn't consumed by the game. I also hope to see him stick to the game and also see how his Aoi develops as well as the fruits of his recent trip to Japan.

I never got the opportunity to play against Kaminari, but we both wanted to play Aoi vs. Aoi since both of us play Aoi quite a bit. I hope next time will be real soon (getting hard to tell what my chances of going to NY this summer is with summer school running around the same time).

I did however watch some matches of Kaminari's Aoi as well as recorded a fun and interesting matche between him and NY's Nelson (Ghetto-Shun).

From what I saw, I remember mostly double elbows, low kick, df+P, G-cancelled sweeps, and df+P+K. I did also catch some nice moments of low throws, b,b+P+K(G), f,f+P, and P+KPP.

It looks like Kaminari's Oyaji's Aoi was still coming to terms with the full arsenal, but he certainly showed a lot more flexibility and experimentation than most Aoi's I've seen by far in the US (sounds like I say this about every Aoi player in retrospect--but I always really mean it). He also made some really nice setups for b, df+P (MC) with good success.

It's too bad we didn't get to have our Aoi vs. Aoi matches, but they're on my priority list for the next time we have any chance of hanging out and playing some games.

Keep up the good work with Aoi, your Aoi looked pretty intimidating! Also, great chats!

New Jersey

nxw
It was a very pleasant surprise to see Nan. Especially after the last two years trying to get him to go to a NY Gathering in the VF3tb (DC) days. He finally arrived for a VF gathering and he's obviously been playing a lot of VF4 which is great. In addition, he's a very nice and cool guy in my book. Good humor too.

As for Nan's Kage... It was far beyond my expectations--especially with extremely consistant TFT combos. Nan's repertoire of combos (including non-TFT) is great. His consistency inflicts lots of damage and his game is quite good.

I had a wonderful time playing against Nan, though we didn't have all that much time to play each other. I also didn't get to show him my Lion nor my Aoi, I just showed him my Kage.

Nan also gets the special credit of being the guy who consistantly beat Hiro with a small streak from the first try that night.

Keep it up, Nan! That Kage is bloody consistant and with a bit more mindgames--will be scary as hell. And a lot of the mindgames are already there. It was great to finally meet you and I'll be greatly looking forward to seeing you again. Also, thanks for offering a place for the MA guys to stay on Saturday--I think things would have gone crazy at Andy's if it wasn't for that.

Wrap Up
Well, that about raps it up for this edition of the Chanchai Frolic Reports. Who knows what region or city will be discussed next...

-Chanchai