Iron Man

Thanks to GIGA, I was able to view some of the recorded matches from this event. Though I must, unfortunately, admit that the overall level there was fairly low due the absence of a lot of the stronger players (IMX, 1up, Evil Guy, Hani), there were quite a few good matches on the disk.

I'll give a run through my V-Cammy matches. At the time of Iron Man, I had not yet learned Cammy's far standing Strong-> whiffed Short Spiral Arrow VC-> standing Fierce-> Roundhouse Cannon Spike, or at the least, learned well it enough for it to be my primary use of the V-gauge; so for my main VC, I would used the Cannon Spike-> far Strong-> whiffed standing Roundhouse-> Spiral Arrow etc.

middlekick VS Psi 1:



In general, I am far less confident doing moves and combos on my personal joystick than I am on an arcade cabinet. The discourse on playing with a personal joystick and playing on an arcade cabinet is worthy of a whole other diary entry, but for now, I just wanted to admit my lack of complete competence when playing with a console controller. Anyway, I was not impressed with my play; nothing really outstanding or noteworthy, just simple, safe controlling, with a few minor errors of judgement. This match does, however, manage to highlight what I've suspected for some time: A significant reduction of invincibility occurs after VC activation if followed by a Spiral Arrow. Recent attempts in Training Mode to activate - with a 100% full gauge - and Spiral Arrow through say, Ryu's Hadouken, have all ended with Cammy getting hit in every case. At time-frame 00:08, I albeit quite late, counter-activate and attempt to follow with an Arrow, ut end up trading against the Karin's Gurenken.


middlekick VS Psi 2:




More of my luck and Psi's VC execution problems determining the outcome of this match.
Perhaps more use of the Cannon Spike as anti-air and more ground pressure, as opposed to jumping in, after a knock-down, would have made the match a lot more decisive.


middlekick VS Inspector:



I've played Inspector's A-Akuma in the arcade for years, so I was quite confident when I saw that he would be my opponent. However, what threw me, was Inspector's unusually defensive style. This is not to be mistaken for cowardice or a lack of confidence in his own ability, but a deliberate change in play-style, which for all intents and purposes amounts to a more calculating method of play. After realising this, I become a lot more nervous and unsure of myself, where few a embarrassing VC misses here and there, made the match a lot more tense and close.


middlekick VS Alan:



Another arcade veteran, though in the last few years his attendance has been non-existant so seeing him at Iron Man was yet another surprise. Turns out that he still plays occasionally on his PS2.
My lack of anti-Claw strategies and general experience really show here, with Cammy walking straight into nearly everything the Spaniard attacks with.
I did not try to counter his crouching Strong, which I now know loses to Cammy's far standing Fierce. The VC misses did not help either. First at 00:27, where a poorly judged Arrow shoots Cammy farther than I would have liked (I had not learned the cross-up Cannon Spike juggle, nor did I have the wits and reflexes to instead start the VC with a Cannon Spike) and causes the VC to fail; and then at 01:57, where I was sure that Alan would poke as I land from a jump, I misjudged the Spiral Arrow (Short Arrow-> Forward Arrow-> Cannon Spike would have done it) and ended up breaking the VC. Finally, after taking a gamble and deciding to stand up and Sac-hit Claw's (02:02) crouching Roundhouse barrage, I miss the wake-up Cannon Spike. Loser.


middlekick VS Vega V-ism:



For all intents an purposes, VV (Vivi?) has a deeper knowlege of Claw's VCs than Alan. However, conversely, Alan's Claw has years of experience, tournament experience at that, on his side. Anyway, some mediocre play here by me that slowly gets worse. Frustrating to watch.