Interview With Singapore Road to Evo's Winner Gackt

Players who have been keeping track of the fighting game scene in Singapore may have witnessed the Road to Evo Championship held last April, with the winner heading down to a sponsored trip to compete in the upcoming Evolution 2011 tournament. GameSpot Asia recently conducted an interview with the winner of the contest, 'Gackt' Eng Ghim Kee, who will be one of the representatives of Singapore for the fighting game tournament held in Las Vegas from July 29 to 31.

GameSpot Asia: How long have you played fighting games? What was the first one you picked up and played on a competitive level?

Gackt: I've played fighting since I was seven years old, but the one franchise I started with competitively was the King of Fighters series. Back in the day, I loved the series more than Street Fighter because it's faster and there was a lot of character variety. The first entry, which made me play competitively, was King of Fighters '97.

Fast-forward to when Street Fighter IV came out for the arcades in Singapore. As the scene was getting bigger in places like Bugis Junction due to the lively art style and the game's ultras looking stylish in 3D, it was my nature to switch to something advanced and evolved. This was also in large part to the huge community flocking to play the game.

GSA: How does it feel being one of the representatives for Singapore?

Gackt: It's really a big honor, yet at the same time, there's a lot of pressure. Everyone's putting a lot of hope on [Xian and me].

GSA: Who are your sponsors?

Gackt: The Singapore 's Cybersports and Online Gaming Association are helping a great deal in seeing this through ever since my victory in the recent Road to Evo tournament in Singapore.

GSA: What's your current training like?

Gackt: I didn't have an Xbox 360 to practice at first for Evo, but local organizers SG Finest loaned me one last week just for this purpose. I needed to go onto Xbox Live to compete with the Japanese players. Yes, there is lag, but I can tolerate it since the matchup knowledge is all I need. Also, you'll find more skilled people picking unorthodox characters like Hakan and Gouken over in Japan, unlike in Singapore.

I restrict my training to four hours a day, as well as checking out high-level replays. Street Fighter requires a high level of reaction. If you play once a week, your reactions will be dulled. Seeing players with quick reflexes like Daigo Umehara and Mago made me come to the conclusion that I needed to stimulate my muscle memory to perform such feats. If you play consistently, you can react. Buffering commands and "plinking" (an input method of increasing the chances of correctly hitting the intended input via double-tapping) are also a must to complement your reactions.

GSA: Who is your main character in this version of the game?

Gackt: My main character used to be Ryu. However, I switched to Fei Long because I prefer his rushdown and aggressive play style, which also required a huge degree of patience to use. I'm a huge fan of Bruce Lee, thus I've taken a shine to the character on an aesthetic level.

I like to use his EX tenshin command grab because it's a great move to punish your opponent with follow-up combos for big damage, as well as setups when he/she is knocked down. It doesn't have high priority like other command grabs, but the move can be cancelled from either a standing light punch or crouching light punch. It's a great surprise move when doing block pressure strings.

GSA: What are Fei Long's best/worst matchups?

Gackt: Generally, Fei Long fights best against Ryu, Sagat, and Rufus. For the first two, Fei Long's rekkukyaku (or chicken wing) can go over fireballs, so Ryu and Sagat players will have to mindful of spacing unless they want to eat a full combo. After a normal throw, most of Fei Long's setups can't be punished by a random shoryuken/tiger uppercut.

Rufus may be a rushdown character, but he does not have an effective three-frame move, which would punish any rekkakens I pull out. In fact, any character without an effective three-frame move will lose out to a good Fei Long player.

The worst match-ups for Fei Long are against M.Bison and Vega. Even if the online stats say that the match is even, I still have trouble dealing with pro-level M.Bison players when they play defensively (that is, turtling). The only surefire way to win against an M.Bison player is having a huge amount of patience. Getting through M.Bison is tough enough, thanks to his standing medium and heavy kick. At most, the chicken wings and rekkakens I pull off will trade hits with M.Bison's attacks if spaced correctly.

When an M.Bison player is knocked down and has an EX bar left, he can either wake up with an EX psycho crusher or devil reverse. If I guess with a counterattack wrong, he gets out of the corner, and I'll have to fight him in the open again. Vega can easily punish Fei Long's rekkakens, and he has longer reach for spacing/footsie games.

Even though Yun and Yang are considered top-tier characters at this point in time, the matchup is usually dependant on the player using either of these characters, as well as their play style.

GSA: What are your thoughts on the character balances in the Arcade Edition?

Gackt: If you've been checking out the forums, you will hear very often that Yun, Yang, and Fei Long are top tier. Yes, that is true to an extent for casual players, but they're really hard to master on a pro level. The top three characters have low stamina to balance out their usual aggressive play style, so an average player will definitely get beaten really bad and fast if they don't know what they're doing.

GSA: Which of the new characters in the Arcade Edition have you taken a shining to?

Gackt: Well, I've been using Yun casually. His setups after scoring a knockdown are really good even with his low health and have a lot of tools to get in. However, if my opponent manages to poke through Yun's attack successfully, it would be really hard to recover back. Still, in the hands of someone like Japanese player Daigo, he's still a force to be reckoned with provided you're cautious.

GSA: Who do you think will be your biggest roadblock(s) in Evo this July?

Gackt: Daigo Umehara would be the obvious choice because I've always watched his videos and idolize him. He's very, very patient even when he's at low life and a few seconds on the clock. I've been learning a lot of Yun matchups mostly from Xian since he's also been using the character (recently on Shadowloo Showdown in Australia). I'm not sure if Sako is going, but I do fear his Ibuki. The character he uses has a lot of ambiguous setups that are hard to judge and block.

From the American's side, Wolfkrone's C. Viper is really explosive and rushes you down when you least expect it. The match between him and Mago at Revelations 2011 in Los Angeles was really tense.

GSA: What are your current thoughts on the local fighting game scene?

Gackt: Compared to the past, the scene is much better and friendlier. People take Street Fighter seriously; people gathering around to play in the arcade are willing to give feedback and mix around while watching fights going on as well. Ten years ago, the old generation used to think that the arcades had gangsters and bad people hanging around in them. Now, a five year old feels safe walking around such a place.

GSA: Between the US and Japan players, who do you think would have the upper hand given the current scenario of the fighting game scene worldwide?

Gackt: Definitely Japan and its players because of the community. From what I know, Japanese players are more open in sharing their feedback and tactics with other people. They also play at a high level and basically have general adoration for Street Fighter's legacy.

GSA: You did mention earlier about playing KOF a lot. What are your thoughts on the recent entry, The King of Fighters XIII?

Gackt: To be honest, I haven't touched it yet since my current commitments to Street Fighter prevent me from doing so. I stopped playing at King of Fighters XI.

GSA: Concerning upcoming fighting games, what are you looking forward most to?

Gackt: Even though it's already out, I really want to check out Marvel vs. Capcom 3 because it looks really fun. But sticking to the question, I'm looking forward to Street Fighter X Tekken because it's almost similar to Street Fighter IV. If there's a high chance people will play this competitively, I'll definitely join in.

GSA: Any advice you wish to give to anyone wanting to enter the fighting game scene competitively?

Gackt: Watch a lot of YouTube videos and check out the hardcore fighting game forums to learn up the characters you wish to use for tournaments. Learn to love training mode since you'll need to practice executions. Don't be afraid to ask top players for feedback on your play methods.