"Meet Your Mod" Episode 20: NickExtreme1

This Week: NickExtreme1

Why did you choose that particular handle, is there a story or reference you'd like to explain?

I got my name originally when trying to come up with my first e-mail address when I turned 13. My younger brother suggested adding "Extreme" to my "Nick" name, "1" was required for completion's sake. Buddies always call me Nick when they refer to me though.

What is your background with fighting games...Did you start with BB or are you OG like SFII?

I have been playing fighting games since before I could talk with the SNES version of SFII and have played nearly every major series there is since sans Arcana Heart & King Of Fighters. Sad, I know.

I started playing fighting games more seriously in 2008 when I started my first semester of college and discovered the haven that was the game room lounge area with GGAC on blast. That plus the launch of BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger on consoles in 2009, bodying my college buddies sealed my fate as an Aksys Games/ Arcsystem Works fighting game fanboy.

What competitive scene are you involved with? (Ranbats, Arcades, XBL, PSN, Reload Online etc.) Would you elaborate the benefits of this particular scene?

Since I’m a poverty tier college student, most of my time is spent on Training Mode & Xbox Live whenever I have free time. The best thing about online is gaining match up experience, or at least the basics of it. Thanks to the obvious occurrence of lag and lack of communication against randoms you can never achieve your max potential through online play, which is why I am attending GVN Summer Jam 5 August 27th. I think it is better anyway to witness trash talk and hype in person as well as playing those who share the same passion as I do.

How strong do you feel your nation is as a whole, what is the next step to strengthening it?

I believe America is doing pretty well for itself following EVO 2K11, but honestly, the only way to strengthen our scene further is simple: turnout. The regulars will always do well in tournaments, but if you don't have a scene, new blood to give the regulars a run for their money, you don't have a tournament.

Which player(s) give you the most trouble and why?

Anyone has the capacity to best someone at any given point in time, but it is those who adapt well under pressure and capitalize on bad habits and mistakes that test me to my limits and beyond. General online players lack this (with exceptions, obviously), which is another reason offline play reigns supreme.

What has been the most helpful tool while growing stronger in GG, BB, etc.?

The combo of studying offline match videos and Training Mode is epic. Anything weird or amazing I see, of course I try to replicate it, but I also try to improve upon it or seek alternate options given a number of situations. It is pretty good to have several options at your disposal rather than only one which you copy and don’t take the time to study more.

For Valkenhayn, I recommend watching Hima and Masashi.

Hima has without question the best overall Valkenhayn in Japan; it’s always fun watching him play.

Watch Masashi and the way he moves about the screen with human and wolf form and you will be blown away by how well he can control seemingly random movement and hitconfirm off hits resulting from him mindblowing his opponents.

Is there anything you'd like to share regarding your respective character or Dustloop in general?

Valkenhayn in my Top 3 of the most difficult characters to learn (which attracted me to him, besides being a werewolf obviously ). However, when you grasp his attack patterns and movement options, you wield a deadly weapon in your hands. That and it is fun to hear people cry “OP” when they can’t predict wolf mix-up, command grab resets, and fuzzy guards for over half your life bar