"Meet Your Mod" Episode 3: Yuushiro

A big welcome to Dustloop's newest moderators! Here, we are committed to the competitive scene with organized information and active discussion to further everyone's game play. We feel these newest additions will elevate character boards and reflect active members who consistently contribute. Some may be familiar, while some of these users aren't "celebrities" (yet). We are going trough a QnA process to help our Dustloop community get more acquainted with our newest moderators.

Yuushiro (souseta)

[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

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

My handle? Which one are you referring to? In tournaments I just go by my real name for the most part, and use Yuushiro on PSN, I just randomly chose it because it’s white/ice related in Japanese and my main is Jin Kisaragi. I used souseta before because I like Soujiro Seta from Rurouni Kenshin, I think I can relate to him a lot. But that name is usually taken on forums.

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

I definitely started with BB, specifically BBCS I. I never really played CT, the day I was introduced with BB was the last day Arcade UFO had that machine and they exchanged it for BBCS the next day or something. I was fascinated by the black Jin color scheme with the white hair and black apparel. Also all his moves looked so cool. I was just mashing around with my friend Brian, he chose nu and mashed D, I used Jin and mostly mashed C but also tried to understand what was going on and I won all the way lol. Later some unknown bangs kick me out of the arcade machine with FRKZ (I think that was probably Hoang). After that I decided to learn Jin and try to be a good player. If I recall correctly, I think I get to see pozerwolf black jin too playing casually that night and he looked so cool, so different than me who was just mashing/fooling around. So that also contributed on why I wanted to main Jin, I wanted to be able to do those cool combos and stuff. This happened around December last year. At that time, I didn’t know anyone at the arcade at all at that time, but now I know a lot of people there. So, it’s not even a year yet since I started taking my fighting games seriously. Thanks to everyone who helped my growth and development especially Pozerwolf who gives me countless advice and did not give up on me.

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

I go to Arcade UFO almost every weekend to play Blazblue. I have a PSN but I barely play that since the netcode is crappy. I was at the SBO qualifiers too at UFO this past summer, I ended up placing 5th. Our team lost to Team Canada (Dacidbro and Render), I think my lack of experience in tournament play led to my loss but I was not disappointed. I did the best that I could and this experience will be a valuable one for me to be able to do better next time. Arcade UFO in general is a good scene to learn since it’s an arcade (doh). I can talk to the players after I am done playing and asked them what are my mistakes and bad habits and how to go about fixing them. The inverse works as well, I can talk to newer players and tell them what to do or not do.

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

I think American players need to have more confidence in themselves. Yes, Japan has more players in general and their arcade scene is still alive but we can still be strong despite that. Don’t always get intimidated when you have to play big names players, don’t ever think you’ll lose before even you play (this mindset would kill you in a longrun). Think about the best way to win the competition and try to see what makes the big name player so good, remember they are human too. Try to understand the skill gap, always study why you got hit and how to fix that. Study also what kind of offense that works and makes people impatient / make you hit them / lead to long combos etc..., frame trap / throw / overheads / crossups. Learn your tools and learn the best timing to use them. I actually am always excited when I get to fight new people does not matter if they are stronger than me or not. ( I sometimes jokingly said to the people I want to fight “My Saiyan blood is boiling, can’t wait to fight you/them” ). Furthermore remember to play to win, whatever it takes, study the frame data, be patient don't do stupid risky moves and most importantly do NOT mash. We as Americans like to fool around when we play our fighting games thinking that's it's funny, look at all those homo genius videos..mostly american made, right? There are times when you want to joke around but in arcade scene people usually will try their best not to lose because if they do that means they have to spend more money to play another round. Study the best combo too which will lead to the best oki, I heard the japanese commentator laughing at us american because we don’t know the best combo and we drop stuff everywhere. Try to practice your execution too. Playing everyday is not a necessity but at least try to touch the game at least once a week or so. On another note..., don't be cocky..., I still take advice from all the players even though I might beat them more, remember it's always useful to talk about the game with any players. Never think that you already mastered or are too good at this game. That’s the worst mindset a fighting gamer can have.

Specific to Austin TX:

Some people don't want to go to the arcade since they are afraid to get destroyed.

I still get destroyed by all the top players but I try to learn..., persistence is my life slogan. If you really like the game you will try to learn and strive and in the arcade scene you can always ask and be social. Most players will want you to improve to give them better challenge in the game.

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

Most of the regulars at UFO are not easy to beat. One of the hardest players to beat is definitely Hsien Chang. Blazblue is not even his main game but he feels so overwhelming whenever I have to fight him. His fundamentals are so good and he also is good at reading me and what I would usually do in a certain situation. It feels like he could download you after a while and could tell what you will do in most situations. I win sometimes by being totally random and unpredictable against him but that’s not enough. This is my current goal right now, to be able to hold my own against him in most of the matches.

- What has been the most helpful tool while growing stronger in BB?

A lot of stuff will help you if you want to grow stronger in BB. Dustloop and Japanese BBS are very helpful for combos and normals and just understanding the game in general. Videos are helpful too especially for combos and other stuff. If you just starting the game though don’t just focus in the long combos or flashy combos but focus on how the players defend and attack. What makes their defense strong, when to use or not to use FD/barrier block. When to use overhead, throw, crossup etc. This would lead to strong fundamentals which are far more important in fighting games in general. I am not saying that combo is not important; I said earlier that you need to study the best combo for the best situation. Despite that combo is not everything though when it comes about the game overall. Learn when is the best time to use IB>DP or counter assault, CA is really good in this game and much safer than DP, it’s worth the meter. The community would also help a lot because you could ask for a direct advice from your sparring partner or enemy or whatnot. Experiment on your own in training mode also can be very helpful. One of the top Jin players in Japan (Ren), does that a lot. He studied a lot of character specific common normals and try to find what Jin move will beat what the other character move. It will go a long way by studying the game like that; you will know what to do in a match if you know that specific player will use those specific moves.

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

At first Jin seems to be the simplest character in the whole Blazblue cast but he has

a lot of hidden strength and potential. Look at Hiroshi/Tetsuwo jin in this year SBO managed to go all the way to be the 2nd place along with Satoshi Bang and he wasn’t being carried all the way too. Jin jB is not as strong as CT anymore but it still very strong. With the right timing it is still a very dangerous tool. Know when to use j2C and jC too. Also remember Jin has the slowest jump startup along with tager if I recall correctly so don’t be too jump happy with Jin. Jin also has a lot of different normals for anti Air tools. In short for high level play, Jin is not simple at all. Part of the cause is because all the other characters are unique and not simple too. Be creative and don’t forget all the tools that Jin have, I rarely see people use the EX fireball while it’s actually a very good mixup tool if your enemy defense is strong.

Don’t just copy what top players do, develop your own style and adapt to your enemy. That is the best way you can grow stronger as a player. Fundamentally don’t forget to enjoy the game. The main reason I am still playing blazblue is because I enjoy it. I enjoy the mechanic and the freedom this game gives me. I also enjoy the scene and I get to meet a lot of new people and make new friends because of this game. The point is play as a character you enjoy the most. I enjoy playing as Jin Kisaragi therefore I strive to be as strong as possible with him.