Behind the Sticks - BH|Thompxson

Yeah… I wouldn’t say the facts are with you on this one. It’s a somewhat ambiguous comment, but I don’t think you can interpret it as “The S3 changes mean nothing to anyone.” What he’s saying is the tournament results are indicative of the players effort/skill/hunger.

Regardless, I think some of the things you say are kind of arguing against your own point. Besides UA MyGod, who are the top tier Wulf players? Because there aren’t any, does that mean MyGod doesn’t have a chance to win it all? If he wins does that mean S3 Wulf is overpowered? Bass has played a lot of Cinder for a long time. But Cinder isn’t on your list. So because Bass lost with Cinder that means Cinder is not viable? The dude made it to top 8. He was put in losers by a Riptor, who is also not on your list (and who made top 8 at CEO). The point is the character selections are pretty freakin’ wide open as far as I can see.

I don’t believe Glacius is non-viable. He has some unfavorable matchups, and there are some great Glacius players out there so don’t get me wrong - but I wouldn’t be shocked to see someone just “get” the character and start winning tournaments. Remember, up until Thompxson Jago was considered not really a viable character at high level - that was one reason Grimzzz was so popular in S1. Where are the Jagos winning during S2? And Jago hardly changed between S2 and S3, and I don’t really think you can argue he got buffed. Maybe you can, but I don’t see it. You’ve got Shago listed as a “must have” for EVO and what tournaments has Shago won in S3?

I totally agree with you on this:

Interesting discussion on the “hunger”.

I am not on anyone’s side but I do think losing confidence could be a reason for that fire in some players to be missing. The reason for that lack of confidence has IMO a lot to do with not being able to overcome changes to their mains despite trying. Because I do believe some have tried but apparently failed (bass’ spinal, sleep’s Kan Ra). I think on this board ppl argue how much pros or high level players are actually “trying” and assuming they haven’t been labbing or something. Anyway, great discussion.

Heck, if Joey Chestnut can claim his girlfriend leaving him made him eat fewer hotdogs last year, and then come back and eat 75 this year that proves two things. Anything can throw you off when you are competing at a high level - and it’s possible to get over it and get back in the game.

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Haha, great way to kill my argument.

As an aside, lots of people keep saying that Bass’s Spinal is “dead” but Bass isn’t one of them. He’s busy tweeting that he still uses Spinal.

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I was there, in person, and saw it just fine. He doesn’t like Spinal for the Maya MU. People do have pocket characters, and they do pull them out when there’s a MU they don’t like. Bass made it into Top 8 (against me) playing Spinal, because Cinder v Hisako is mildly crappy for Cinder. He picked the more favorable match-up. Just because Bass didn’t choose to go Spinal v Maya does not mean Spinal is somehow incapable of competing to win a tournament. That’s like saying that because Sleep didn’t pull out Aria in Top 8 that means Aria can’t win a tournament. She’s already proven that she can.

Aganos was “abandoned” because Maya/Aganos is a sucky fight for Aganos. If he’d run across Nicky’s Fulgore, it’s possible he’d have done the same. If he’d played Thompxson and his Jago, who knows what Mister J would’ve done? Switching off a bad fight doesn’t make a character unviable or prove that he can’t win a major - it means sometimes counterpicking is the easier and “safer” option than trying to clutch it out in a struggle MU. Rico only uses Glacius when he runs across a Wulf; that doesn’t mean Fulgore can’t win a tournament or that Glacius is a tournament beast - it means that Wulf v Glacius is a bad fight for Wulf, and Rico is grabbing every advantage he can.

I haven’t seen enough of Kan-Ra in S3 to make an informed opinion on him about viability. I do know that Fubuki’s Kan is ridiculous though, and I know that Kan took the Hypespotting tournament a few weeks back. It was a small tournament though, so I’m willing to simply let this one lie until we see those players compete in larger settings.

This is such a terrible argument that I’m genuinely amazed people still use it. If Nicky wasn’t playing Fulgore, you would not have seen a single Fulgore competing at high level in S3, period. That does not therefore mean that Fulgore is a bad character or that he is unviable at high level. Whether a character is “good” or not isn’t determined by whether or not x number of players play them - if a character has tools that are viable at high level then they are viable at high level, period. American players avoided S2 Omen and routinely him at the bottom of the KI tier list; in Japan they thought he was Top 3 all along. It doesn’t matter if no one does damage with TJ at a tournament; the character is defined by his tools, not by whether or not a bunch of players who may be playing him suboptimally to begin with manage to get 1st place, as if getting first is the only thing that matters when discussing how good a character is.

You’re throwing out random characters that you’ve never seen played at high level in S3 as characters that you can’t see anyone winning without, when there’s ample evidence that there are several strong contenders who’ve done fantastic in tournament. Arbiter has placed as high as Fulgore ever has in an offline tournament, and Kim Wu has placed higher when you add in the Japanese scene, or at the least ties with him if you only want to look at domestic. And that was before she was buffed. The bottom line is that KI has a swath of tournament-viable characters, and making some sweeping claim about how no one will win “without a top Shago, Fulgore, Sadira, Wulf, Jago, or MAYBE Rash” is nonsense. Only two of those characters are even generally considered Top 5 in the game.

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Im still awaiting for the true Shadow Jago to show up and have Rico Suave unleash his inner tiger spirit. Heres hoping.

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Yeah I totally did not say that. I believe that the players that are winning are the ones not complaining and the players that are loosing are complaining about “Its S3!..its all messed up” when they could be adapting like the current winners.

Losers are always going to find something or someone to blame besides themselves.

Every person that has made big posts and complained have literally been duped out of the last few tourneys very early or even got swept. And all of a sudden its S3s fault…I just cant agree with that.
But what do I know huh?? Its just my opinion on the matter… you dont have to agree… and thats totally fine.

Go Thompson ! 1st triple crown winner??

Same here! Her matches are always hype and her turn has gotta come soon! (not to take anything from all of the great players out there) If only people saw Pink Diamond and Guttermagic throw down at the world cup … it was amazing! Still the most hype KI match ever IMO. But … the stream unfortunately didn’t capture all of the match.

It’s always cool to see other players putting their characters in the spotlight whether it’s Diamond with Maya or Thompson triple crowning with Jago!

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I actually think she already proved that.

You had front row seats? I was rooming with him.

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Proved what? What are you replying too?

Good article! I like watching him playing Jago and his style.

I’m so eager watching this EVO tournament!! I would love to be there to watch the show live, but living so, soooo far away…Not possible u.u. I’ll watch the stream and enjoy the gameplays n_n

.#KanRaBadReversal

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That whole sequence had me DYING :joy:

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This was an interesting read, as I said to the man himself. Also, for those who might be interested, I’ve been in talks with Thompxsonn and we might have a fight or several in the near future. Who would be interested in some footage of that if I can get it?

Also, thanks for reviving the Killer Insight style segments, though under a different name. Glad to see that even with Jebailey’s departure, traditional elements that are liked by the community haven’t died with his leaving.

“like to see Pink Diamond win with Maya just to show the Maya so called nerfs arent a factor.”

Dat BH Fam

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In a general sense of what the other big names are complaining about…no she hasn’t…becasue in there minds if you dont win it all the character isnt strong enough. I dont personally agree with them… but to get it through there hard heads… she has to win it all. Just like Thompson shut everyone up about Jago.
She doesnt have to convince you and I… we understand… but the majority of the “I got nerfed and its not fair bandwagon cronies” need more convincing.

Ppl said JAGO WASNT VIABLE HAHAHAHA

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