Congrats Flux! Wasn't able to tune in for the rest of the tourney today but I'm sure it was sick (judging from the bracket, it went to a reset?)

@Hadoken101 said:

Congrats Flux! Wasn't able to tune in for the rest of the tourney today but I'm sure it was sick (judging from the bracket, it went to a reset?)

There was indeed a reset. I was fairly confident in the first best of 5 in the grand finals, which is probably why I ended up getting screwed over by @aznjon12's fantastic Mitsuru DP abilities. The final matches of me versus him can be seen here:

@FluxWaveZ: Team Tournament? You have my interest, tell me more. And it's possible I'll change my mind anyway, I do really like this game, but at this point I feel like I might as well go compete in an SC 2 tournament with MVP, DRG, and Taeja. We'll see what wins out, my desire to keep playing or my hatred of getting stomped.

@aznjon12: Bah, I didn't like MItsuru when I first tried her. And that's not me just being stubborn since Yosuke wasn't even on my radar when I got the game(I was thinking Chie, Akihiko, and Yu would be my top 3). Behind him are Teddie and Yukiko, and I really want to like Kanji, but slow grappler types have never really been my thing.

I've just never been good at learning fighting games.

@YI_Orange said:

This was a ton of fun, and I enjoyed hanging out and doing casual matches, but I don't know if I'll be participating in future in tournaments. I think I've hit my skill ceiling that I inevitably hit with all fighting games and it's really irritating.

@YI_Orange said:

@FluxWaveZ: Team Tournament? You have my interest, tell me more. And it's possible I'll change my mind anyway, I do really like this game, but at this point I feel like I might as well go compete in an SC 2 tournament with MVP, DRG, and Taeja. We'll see what wins out, my desire to keep playing or my hatred of getting stomped.

@aznjon12: Bah, I didn't like MItsuru when I first tried her. And that's not me just being stubborn since Yosuke wasn't even on my radar when I got the game(I was thinking Chie, Akihiko, and Yu would be my top 3). Behind him are Teddie and Yukiko, and I really want to like Kanji, but slow grappler types have never really been my thing.

I've just never been good at learning fighting games.

Never say never (can't believe I just said that).

If you just watch some high level play videos and just do a bit of experimenting in training mode and do some execution practices, you'll be fine. Everyone can be good at fighting games, at least to a high level, if they put in some time, but the time each person puts in will be different for how fast they reach a level of skill.

I remember back when I was a kid, I hated fighting games and I couldn't even do a hadoken or dash. But look at me now. =)

Anyways, if you're up to some sparring and need some practices and advice, feel free to hit me up.

Thanks for holding the tourney Flux and congrats on winning! Really enjoyed being involved this time around and had fun sparring with fellow competitors in between tourney matches on Saturday.

I also have to stop chicken jumping whenever i get under pressure. 30% of the time I can get up and hit with an air B (the downward stab move), but 70% I just get juggled.

That's my list for getting better

Learn to hit low
Make better use of air C
Stop chicken jumping
Convince Arc that they don't have to nerf Mitsuru

@arkkkkkkk: Unfortunately I don't learn much from watching people better than me play, it just doesn't click as easily as it does with Starcraft. That said, if you have any advice for playing as Yosuke and any of his matchups I would gladly accept and appreciate it.

Gosh why do I always miss these?!

@Brodehouse said:

(and naoto is just no good at all)

:(

Also: Of course the day after the end of the tournament is the day the ports get unblocked. C'est la vie, I guess. Catch you guys next tourney.

@YI_Orange: For Yosuke, you have to take advantage of his super-fast mobility. He doesn't exactly have good mixups, but he's got a lot of options on how to get in. The basic BnBs that most Yosuke players use are these two:

5A->5B->5C->2C->236A->236D and 5A->5C->2C->236B->236A (crescent slash x 2)->236D (and super cancel if you have enough SP).

As for the first combo, you can replace 236A with the B version to combo in the crescent slash since the distance is shorter in the corner that allows you to combo. But yea, just take these two combos first, learn to execute them precisely in training mode, and try using them practically against CPUs in arcade mode. Then you can try mixing it up with some low jabs or AoA's added in there and whatnot.

The point of watching other people play is to see how they exactly use the character, so that you can copy some of the things they do.

Also, don't always try getting in from the front. Try jumping around and go for crossups, or even bait the reversal DPs.

@arkkkkkkk: Yeah, I watch pros in Starcraft an copy them, I just don't know enough about fighting games to pick stuff up by watching right now.

Also, it occurs to me that I have no clue what those strings mean. I've always talked about fighting games in terms of the button you use(Square, X, etc). And thanks for any coaching, I appreciate it.

@YI_Orange: As far as what those strings mean. A and B would be the light and heavy button respectively. While C and D are the persona light and heavy. where as D for Yosuke would be the move where Jiraiya dashes over at someone.

The Number notation goes like this

789

456

123

So the numbers would be the direction. (i.e. 4 is back, 2 is down and 5 is neutral. so 5A would be square while not holding any direction.)

@aznjon12: Ok, that all makes sense, thanks for the explanation.

I've just discovered today that crouching B is air unblockable. Now I just wonder what it has priority over, probably not specials (Double Fangs, Yu's stab thing) but maybe other normals?

Me and TFP sparred 50 matches yesterday. I think I'm going to learn Teddie as a sub. He doesn't have a lot of mixup potential, but he has really good normals and that's important for me coming off Mitsuru.

@Brodehouse said:

I've just discovered today that crouching B is air unblockable. Now I just wonder what it has priority over, probably not specials (Double Fangs, Yu's stab thing) but maybe other normals? Me and TFP sparred 50 matches yesterday. I think I'm going to learn Teddie as a sub. He doesn't have a lot of mixup potential, but he has really good normals and that's important for me coming off Mitsuru.

You can 2B whatever in the air but the timing can be really difficult for some moves. Mitsu, Yu, Teddie 2B's are great, something like Naoto's 2B requires a lot better timing.

Also Teddie's cheap, I recommend him. I've played the Naoto vs Teddie matchup quite a bit and I really need to be on point to make something out of it.

A Team tournament, great idea! Gotta find a partner lol Had a lot of fun playing casuals and the tourney matches, just wished my connection had been better against Yuut :( Also aznjon Labrys was damn scary haha

I'm practicing and learning AIgis right now.

Flux, Jon, and I can form the "Super Robot Girl Moe~" team.

That team would totally not win haha

@arkkkkkkk said:

I'm practicing and learning AIgis right now.

Flux, Jon, and I can form the "Super Robot Girl Moe~" team.

I can totally see Jon agreeing on forming this team. XD

Been sparring this week with TFP, Servantey and Spark. Probably got 130 matches in in the last few days. Awes.

Anyone around intermediate level want to spar?

I'm always up for some matches Brodehouse

@MDYu: Absolutely! (though from what I've seen you're a demon with Yu).

I've been trying to learn Teddie. Like his range, miss having a reliable projectile though.

@arkkkkkkk: Finally got around to playing with those combos. I feel ok about them after a little bit in training mode. I might not be able to do them perfectly on command yet, but it's gonna take some sparring for me to really get used to them. If I can execute them consistently and tweak them around here and there depending on the situation it'll increase my damage output for sure. Thanks for the help! Got anything else for me?

@YI_Orange: Congratz man.

Well I think the most important thing in a fighting game is getting a hitconfirm to do a combo that you are familiar with and execute very well without getting hit myself. I would just encourage you to focus more on mixups and being able to block blockstrings more reliably and be more keen about grab techs. This is not just for Yosuke, but in any fighting game in general with any characters. Fundamentals are important.

If you need to know more about Yosuke tech., go here:

http://www.dustloop.com/wiki/index.php?title=Yosuke_Hanamura_(P4Arena)

http://www.dustloop.com/wiki/index.php?title=Frame_Data_(Yosuke_P4Arena)

Has everything you need.

I'm gonna need some serious practice this week. If anyone is willing to lend me their shoulder every time they beat me I'll be hanging out in IRC as much as I can.

@YI_Orange: Cool, I should hopefully be there often enough during the evenings of this upcoming week. Maybe we could have some matches then.

Tournament #3 has started. Brackets posted here: http://challonge.com/gbp4aps33

@FluxWaveZ said:

Tournament #3 has started. Brackets posted here: http://challonge.com/gbp4aps33

Yes! I'm as humanly far from Flux as possible.

Tired. Hate getting up early. Do we start matches now?

@solidoutlaw: Yes. You've got until 10:00 PM EDT to complete your first round match.

@aznjon12: But you've still got me to contend with!

...

Agh, I wasn't signed in so I missed the PM.

Sorry for being "one of those guys".

Just wanna say that some of the best moments happen when the tournament day has long been finished.

http://pastebin.com/xXBiBMHC

Persona 4 Arena: After Dark (safe for work.)

Finals for tourney #3 are happening right now. Stream's on the first page.

A wild Grand Finals appears! In glorious 720p!

EDIT: I just noticed something while editing the Team Finals and would like to take this opportunity now to apologize for any random/weird noise, phone calls or swearing in the videos. Didn't realize my mic was on :P

@IrrelevantJohn: I did pretty bad in the Teddie fight starting at 8:00. Weirdest grand finals of our three tournaments yet.

@FluxWaveZ: It was weird but you have to admit it made it kind of interesting for the viewers. One day we will see an all-out fight... one day.

I'll add this here too for convenience.

Team Grand Finals.

Me and TFP are throwing down. Come to the IRC if you want in.

Got a casual lobby going on tonight. Feel free to join us for some sparring ahead of GB P4A tourney 4 and chat with us in the IRC #p4a chat!

The 4th GB P4A PS3 tournament has started. Stream is on the first page, brackets posted here: http://challonge.com/gbp4aps34

Ah shit, I totally spaced on that after dinner yesterday.

Ah well, bunch of stuff is coming up anyway. Good luck y'all personas.

Well I had a hilarious time participating in the Livestream chat...thanks for not kicking me out!

@ZombiePie: Pfff, Believe me, I would have been putting puns overlaid on the stream if I hadn't blown most of my good ones in tourney one.

It was great having you!

A GB lobby has been set up and we're playing in the chat right now.

Alright, GB vs. GameFAQs tourney will be starting soon (at 4:00 PM EST) and there'll be a stream up when it starts.