WinterBrawl Thoughts (Shoutouts & Salt)

[ForeverKing]

I have a ton of shoutouts, played way too many casuals to remember everyone I played. Definitely one of my favorites tournaments I have been to, had an awesome time.

CURBOLICOUS awesome you finally won your first major, way past overdue. I need to win one before MK9 dies lmao. We def helped eachother alot with all the casuals we played. I bodied the shit out of your Lao with Cage tho, stop saying that matchup is 5-5 it's not. Friday night you bodied the shit out of me because I wasn't sober, but you seen what happen in our casuals the next day at the venue haha

Noobe EGP_TYRANT Kitana Prime SomeCubanGuy and everyone else in that room thanks for inviting me to play with you, had awesome casuals with all of you. great games

Revolver nice matches man, money match and tournament match. I may as well stop counter-picking Kitanas with Kenshi, I do better vs most Kitanas with Lao anyways lol

gross buenos juegos bro, definitely best Sektor I have ever played and best Sektor out there for sure. Nice money match, I'll get you next time. You won't have the title "Kung Lao killer" forever lol

Goldfish thanks for the good time always fun, especially this weekend lol

7L and everyone else that was in my hotel room, ggs everyone. It was cool stayin with you guys. Idk who it was, but somebody in our room was snoring loud as fuck lol it was kinda hard to pass out, still a good time tho. Mikemetroid aka baby dizzy your a funny dude. When I first seen you from far away I was seriously like "woah Dizzy is here? I thought gga wasn't comin to WB" haha

@cdjr ggs bro as always, that was seriously like the closest match of my life man. We still didn't get to play casuals at all, we have to that next tourney

Maxter ggs in Noobe's room man. I can't count my wins because I knew you were already drunk and not playin at your best your hilarious bro, always cool seeing you at every tournament

xKhaoTikx ggs in casuals, we finally got to play. Next tournament we can actually play with our mains tho instead of our side characters lol. And good shit placing top 3

SonicFox5000 ggs in tournament lil man. I should have had you that first match Lao vs Mil but oh well shit happens. Your a great player. I have to respect your counter pick, I do it to people all the time haha

Lulzlou ggs in casuals man nice Kabal. Your execution with him is pretty great, a little more work and I think you might be becoming a top player soon

 

[rev0lver]

Edit:
I also want to add that I feel we're going to need to get stricter on what defines a team, and who should and shouldn't be seeded within the same pools. For example, anyone can train with anyone online, or call themselves an online team. I really cannot condone seeding out based on this, and you guys can all it Shock basing online play, but it's bullshit. Training partners are in the same region, if not the same same state and get together in person to play each other on a regular basis, like...VSM and GGA for example. Players rounded up from around the country to represent a brand are NOT qualified teams that need to be seeded out to avoid conflicts. For example, while we did the KN sponsorship program, we were fortunate enough to have our players spaced out, but in essence, that is a luxury at best. Any 2 of the 3 players we sponsored did not play each other on a regular basis or live anywhere near each other. I do thank the TOs for doing that for us.

If you're referring to PTH at all, I'm the only PTH player from NY (not really counting Hito since he barely plays anymore) but I've probably trained with PTH more than VSM in the past few months.

For online teams, like C88 or Emperors, it's situational but sometimes SHOULD be separated, so I kinda disagree with that. From my understanding, online fg clans are kinda a uniquely MK thing so I can see where you're coming from though. Take Khaotik and Sonic Fox for example. Fortunately those guys didn't have to play each other until top 8, but they're online training partners and it's represented in their tag. They don't just train online to fuck around. A lot of it is for the purpose of going to these tournaments so they can both do well, which is the reason offline teams are separated. To be honest I'd be just as pissed if I was matched up with one of my online C88 partners as I would if I was matched against someone like Winter Warz who I trained with regularly offline.

But then, there's situations like if I was matched against Sonic Fox. We're both 88's, but he's mainly on the ps3 side while I'm only on xbox. So it could go either way.

 

[NoDoubt]

havent been out in over a year : 0 but GGS and matches. nice meeting some mk9 players

Shock @CDjr Maxter FOREVER KING @iloveu 9.95 Noobe CURBOLICOUS

 

[ForeverKing]

havent been out in over a year : 0 but GGS and matches. nice meeting some mk9 players

Shock @CDjr Maxter FOREVER KING @iloveu 9.95 Noobe @CURBOLICIOUS

Hope you liked watching those godlike tag matches in Noobe's room lol

 

[NoDoubt]

Hope you liked watching those godlike tag matches in Noobe's room lol

I did funny as shit. i was gonna say props 2 my friend DoubleT for hangin with online OGs then gettin messed up and eliminated at the tourny cuz of the laggy moniters lol. then he got destroyed in DoA not a good day but at least I was a winner XD

and forever king ur so cool no 1 should be scared of u lmao

 

[Shock]

If you're referring to PTH at all, I'm the only PTH player from NY (not really counting Hito since he barely plays anymore) but I've probably trained with PTH more than VSM in the past few months.

For online teams, like C88 or Emperors, it's situational but sometimes SHOULD be separated, so I kinda disagree with that. From my understanding, online fg clans are kinda a uniquely MK thing so I can see where you're coming from though. Take Khaotik and Sonic Fox for example. Fortunately those guys didn't have to play each other until top 8, but they're online training partners and it's represented in their tag. They don't just train online to fuck around. A lot of it is for the purpose of going to these tournaments so they can both do well, which is the reason offline teams are separated. To be honest I'd be just as pissed if I was matched up with one of my online C88 partners as I would if I was matched against someone like Winter Warz who I trained with regularly offline.

But then, there's situations like if I was matched against Sonic Fox. We're both 88's, but he's mainly on the ps3 side while I'm only on xbox. So it could go either way.

I'm in no way singling out any conglomerate teams and in all honesty, PTH didn't even come to mind but for someone like you who knows all the clans it would be a great help to sort them out with me sometime. It's a blanket statement and I honestly don't know what prefix = what all the time, but I did notice at this event that it's the beginnings of what's going to become an issue real quick.

I want to address it beforehand. I would also say that there's a difference between a company sponsoring players (paying their way) and a bunch of random players who unite and just attend on their own. But in any event, I'm going to have a talk with Phil, Summoning, Storms, Big E, John Gallagher etc and establish what constitutes an official team that deserves TLC in pools.

Again, to make it clear, anyone can play anyone online and call themselves training partners, and tags are going to start becoming a way to avoid playing friends in tournaments even if that's not the intention. There are also people who probably don't play each other online...ever...or in person other than tournaments. Those players cannot be a team that gets pool seeding. Remember, I don't even particularly like pool seeding based on anything other than body of work but I get it.

 

[Relaxedstate]

to clear up a couple
Any other questions, feel free to ask, and again, I apologize because I made the brackets with Phil and we absolutely made certain no one else was involved, even though I personally think SwiftTomHanks and Troy would have done a better job.

Thanks for taking the time for the response shock. I do know oversights like this happen, I am just a bit salty that the guy who put me in losers and then knocked me out was transferred to my pool (and my side first round) at the last minute. I felt like I couldn't approach anyone because the kombat nazi made it very clear that " he doesn't give a fuck". I was pretty shocked at his unwillingness to even discuss the matter. It wasn't fair to either of us players, and I know that mine and gross' past performances were not taken into account. IE: we have both gotten 17 th at mlg, I've gotten top 2-3 at many of my locals with high caliber players like Khaotik, Tom Brady, Blackula, etc... 9 th at ECT... Then I look at say Khaotiks pool, where the second seeded player is Emp out world. He has only been to one offline local( the ones I go to) where he performed semi decently. ( great guy by the way and sick quan). I just can't understand why myself Gross and Maxter were all playing each other first and second round... But no one really addressed it for me until your response.

There were other examples as well, but I just bring it up for futures sake. I do think guys like STH and Soup could be great aides and should definitely be used in the future, at least for minor things like last minute players floating. You all did a phenomenal job this tournament and I am certain the next one will be even better. I look forward to it.

Thanks again Shock, I do agree with you on most things there actually, I just wanted some validation haha

 

[Lulzlou]

To be honest I really even care that I had to go up against 2 PTH members in a row during top 16. I was a bit upset that I had to knock my friends out but honestly the better player that day should win regardless. I wanted to win against astronout to get a chance at khaotik in tournament again. He wanted that run back and I pushed friendship aside to win in order to make that happen. Unfortunately I wasn't playing my best and khaotik was on fire. He deserved that win 110%

Am I the only one who doesn't care who they go up against in tournament? lol

 

[CrimsonShadow]

I kind of wanted to spur this a month ago, but there needs to be a very large discussion about seeding in general in this community. These tournaments are technically grassroots, but as they affect placements and points for other majors with a lot of attention and very high dollar amounts, it's critical for everyone to take a hard look at a set of standards that will help the community solidify as it grows.

I understand Phil better, and I can assure you that he has only the best motivations -- but I only gained this through talking to him man-to-man about why he makes certain decisions, to see the bigger picture.

At any rate, I think it'd be really constructive to have people come together and talk about some of the finer points of seeding, regional/family separation, and rankings.

 

[Relaxedstate]

Am I the only one who doesn't care who they go up against in tournament? lol

Lol, I wish. I let it get to me like a mind game. I thought one thing then I learn another....which had me freaked and changed my gameplan

But next time I won't let it get to me...EVER. Idc who's in my pool next time...they gonna get bodied

 

[Relaxedstate]

A

I kind of wanted to spur this a month ago, but there needs to be a very large discussion about seeding in general in this community. These tournaments are technically grassroots, but as they affect placements and points for other majors with a lot of attention and very high dollar amounts, it's critical for everyone to take a hard look at a set of standards that will help the community solidify as it grows.

I understand Phil better, and I can assure you that he has only the best motivations -- but I only gained this through talking to him man-to-man about why he makes certain decisions, to see the bigger picture.

At any rate, I think it'd be really constructive to have people come together and talk about some of the finer points of seeding, regional/family separation, and rankings.

Yeah. I'd like for something like that to happen rather than extreme reaction changes back and forth.

I suppose another reason I am so salty is because yes I did go to this tournament to get seeding points for EVO. Yes I have already spent over $1k on my flight and room etc.. So I can go to Vegas.
I normally don't care what pool I am in, I go for fun and friends. I have been to many tournaments this past year and worked hard and done well. I came to WB with a different purpose: Win. Not only were there EVO points on the line, but a trip to VxG...

Just for the record, 9.95 Phil I think you do one of THE most professional jobs ever. I have ALOT of respect for you. I just think that with this kind of stuff on the line, there is still have room for improvement. With only 64 players I am certain we could have made every single pool near prefect. These things are becoming more than just grass roots. E-spots! I will of course be more than willing to have any kind of constructive dialogue to address any issues regarding these topics of seeding.

Well here is to hoping I don't get stuck in some death pool at EVO....JK put me in PLs pool I don't need to be seeded

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

The only interaction I will ever have with brackets ever again is at events that I run and do not enter.

Relaxedstate I'm glad to see you handled the issue with class rather than setting of a domino effect similar to what 16bit did. His planning to scheme brackets in order for GGA to succeed and see specific players ousted has forever opened doors that allows players to voice their complaints until demands are met.

Instead of taking advantage of this, you simply played it out to the best your abilities; albeit shooken up due to the unexpected challenge. Gross and Maxter are easily pool leaders and never should have been placed in the same pool, let alone on the same side, let alone with that side containing someone like yourself who deserves the second highest place in a pool. While players such as 16bit had no room what so ever to make a valid argument, he chose to cling to whatever he could. You had substantial reasons to complain, yet you only voiced your opinion to Phase3 and myself after elimination... in a joking matter. 0 minutes of the tournament were held up at WinterBrawl for any reasons. Over 5 hours were wasted due to 16bit's disgusting scheming.

Dispite other imbalances in pools such as myself being seated (I shouldn't have what-so-ever; I even went to the extent of registering with a mystery name so Phil and Shock would mark me as the random I should have been) and a few other weaker pools, every single player at Winter Brawl 2013 was the definition of class. Rather than trash talk during matches, players cheered for their friends/partners. Hands were shook before and after matches. Things ran on time with players respecting the schedule. And help was offered by almost everyone I spoke to. The organization of Mortal Kombat during this year's Winter Brawl was top notch. A huge thanks is deserved to Shock 9.95 summoning Mikemetroid @big-e @phil's brother and every single player who entered MK9.

In the next few weeks I will be announcing an event I plan on running in the summer. I can only hope a similar crowd at Winter Brawl 2013 can show up; you're all sure as hell invited!

With the absence of players such as 16bit, the north east can host and run near flawless tournaments as we have for years.

 

[Kitana Prime]

@EGP_TYRANT - My new 2nd favorite player and honestly, I was extremely comfortable being around you - It felt like you were one of us.
@Maxter - Good to finally play you. Watched for so long and always respected you as a player. Not to mention you're a cool dude personally.
FOREVER KING - I really thought you were gonna win. You were on fire throughout all casuals all weekend. Good to see you handling business offline continually.
@CURBOLICOUS - Tagging with the champ was awesome. So is your game. Congrats on closing the deal.
SonicFox5000 - There was a time when I felt you were somewhat random. Never again. Legit one of the BEST players we have. Big time respect. Btw I babied peeps in the tourney too lol

@xKhaoTikx / rev0lver .... Army. That's how you do it.

 

[SwiftTomHanks]

Another rather depressing note is how Relaxed State was the one who fell victim to the kombat nazi. After 16bit brought into question the integrity of north east tournaments when it was actually his integrity that needed to be questions, the community demanded for an outside figure who gave no fucks to run brackets.

Now a kind and classy player such as relaxed state had a less than perfect tournament experience. Not due to the combat nazi, but due to 16bit convincing the community that we needed this.

I for one thought kombat nazi did a phenomenal job running brackets. Everything ran on time and there was not one issue that held anyone up. If only he could have been at nec when a player actually needed to be told gtfo rather than having a player who needed to be heard out.

At least this serves as an example of who the respectful players are and who the dirty ones are.

 

[EVB SomeCubanGuy]

Man Winter Brawl was awesome and so fuckin hype. One of the best and most fun tournaments I've ever been to.

First huge shoutouts and props to 9.95 Shock summoning Mikemetroid Phil's bro and everyone else who helped make this tournaments run as smoothly and timely as possible. Without you, none of this would've been possible.

Kitana Prime Noobe gross my brothers in arms. Couldn't have pictured goin to this tourney without you guys. FLORIDA BABY!

EMPEROR_OF_OUTWORLD dude you're a trip man lol. Awesome Quan and leader providing hype for all EMPEROR matches. Thanks so much for recruiting me as well, I won't let EMPRs down. Hopefully I can be there when EMP vs EMPR finally goes down.

EGP_TYRANT quite possibly the coolest guy in the community (minus Maxter). It was awesome as hell hanging with you all weekend bro. I hope to go to NCR and see the rest of the WC guys. Spread the word...Baraka is legit

FOREVER KING , or CD Jr if you ask Justin Wong lol. No lie you were my pick to take the tourney man. You were playing amazing allll weekend. Sorry you had to run into big bad Ozzie lol. Seriously though our games were fun as hell and I definitely feel like I leveled up after playing your Kabal/Sonya. Hope to see you again man.

CURBOLICOUS dude thank you soooo much for helping me out in the Cage MU, even if it was for like 5 minutes it helped a ton. I wish I could've gotten more casuals in with you, you're one hell of a player and grats for taking the whole thing.

SonicFox5000 maaaaaan I wanted to play your Mileena so bad lol. Damn your and your tier whoring for fighting against Baraka! But seriously I've always known you were good, but after playing you I can say without a doubt you are one of the best players bar none. Your reactions are insane and your knowledge of the game is scary good. Congrats for proving your dominance yet again.

xKhaoTikx rev0lver astronout Relaxedstate and the rest of the PTH crew, you guys were awesome. Thanks for having me come to your room for the casuals stream Saturday night. Khaotik your Kitana is godlike, as usual, and you're welcome for the Baraka XP. I wish I couldve stayed for longer but I was dead ass tired. And stay free rev0lver. Baraka owns you.

TheTetraSpirit and FlipinFlava awesome finally meeting my Tarkatan brethren! You guys were cool people and hope to see you guys again (no casuals because Raka mirrors are ass lol)

Sorry if I missed anyone, but I met too many awesome people this weekend I couldn't keep track. Hope to see you all again! ( STB Chongo ...DAT BIB)

 

[Shock]

Thanks for taking the time for the response shock. I do know oversights like this happen, I am just a bit salty that the guy who put me in losers and then knocked me out was transferred to my pool (and my side first round) at the last minute. I felt like I couldn't approach anyone because the kombat nazi made it very clear that " he doesn't give a fuck".

Always come to me or Phil about anything like that. As usual, problems are brought to my attention after they can be fixed, and it's harder to deal with. Rob is tough because he's not part of the community on a personal level, his job is to run the brackets on time and not care about "Diva" behavior. Your concerns, however, are entirely justified and I would have done something along with Phil about it. Again, I apologize.

 

[gross]

I love the all people in winterbrawl thks for all.

 

[Goldi]

gross






It was so great to meet you! And so much fun to play with! <3

 

[DeathAndHealing]

Hover hands alert^

 

[DJ L Toro]

CURBOLICOUS you bodied the shit out of me because I wasn't sober,
gross buenos juegos bro, definitely best Sektor I have ever played and best Sektor out there for sure. Nice money match, I'll get you next time.

Your excuse against curbo is illegal therefore it doest count #stayfee #holddat #peweesplayhouse #origami #23 #countit #number
Daaaamn, pimpimjim on blast?

 

[PPJ]

Your excuse against curbo is illegal therefore it doest count #stayfee #holddat #peweesplayhouse #origami #23 #countit #number
Daaaamn, pimpimjim on blast?

nah not yet.. right now I don't have enough tourney placings to be ranked imo

 

[DJ L Toro]

nah not yet.. right now I don't have enough tourney placings to be ranked imo

i was just saying king posted that gross was hands down the best sektor he ever played all the other sektors are free and noone's name is ever worth mentioning
(slight paraphrase)

 

[BlackBryan]

Let me start off by saying thank you for all the props and love, everybody. Next time I hope to change that 16 to an 8.
Knives all day.

@Claude VonStroke - I have 0 excuses for losing to you man. 100% outplayed and it was an honor to get shut down by you. You're spacing is gdlk and you are a great player. I wish you all the best in the future. But that doesn't mean I won't have an answer for you the next time we meet up . Vggs Bro.

@astronout
@Lulzlou
@xKhaoTikx
@Revolver
@FlipinFlave
@Relaxedstate

You're all free.

But seriously, great games to all of you. It was a blast getting bodied by you all. Except @Revolver. We never played, but i don't think i could handle the beat down you would have thrown on me anyway. One day in the near future my mind will be able to take it and we'll have to get some games in. Congrats on breaking top 8.

@xKhaoTikx Good shit breaking top 3. I definitely don't feel bad that you sent me to losers in pools after a performance like that. Also, thank you for this.

<3 you guys.

Edit:
pherleece - Ggs man. I had to come back and add you because i totally forgot.
I'm sure you understand why.
vggs there too.

 

[G4S Claude VonStroke]

Let me start off by saying thank you for all the props and love, everybody. Next time I hope to change that 16 to an 8.
Knives all day.

@Claude VonStroke - I have 0 excuses for losing to you man. 100% outplayed and it was an honor to get shut down by you. You're spacing is gdlk and you are a great player. I wish you all the best in the future. But that doesn't mean I won't have an answer for you the next time we meet up . Vggs Bro.

It was a lot of fun playing you. Very close matches. Thanks for the compliments. You are a really cool guy and hope to hang out with you at future events.

 

[STB Shujinkydink]

Edit:
I also want to add that I feel we're going to need to get stricter on what defines a team, and who should and shouldn't be seeded within the same pools. For example, anyone can train with anyone online, or call themselves an online team. I really cannot condone seeding out based on this, and you guys can all it Shock bashing online play, but it's bullshit. Training partners are in the same region, if not the same same state and get together in person to play each other on a regular basis, like...VSM and GGA for example. Players rounded up from around the country to represent a brand are NOT qualified teams that need to be seeded out to avoid conflicts.

I disagree with this wholeheartedly. STB prides itself on giving people who dont have a scene the opportunity to train with a group of people consistantly online. I take it as you totally bashing online. Your basically saying, if you dont live in the same area, you cant be considered as a team. I dont understand why that would make us for example different than GGA or VSM.