Interview with Ari "Floe" Weintraub Discussing Killer Instinct, Injustice, MLG Anaheim, and more

[CRUM]

After expressing interest in MLG Anaheim I decided to get in a few words with Floe regarding his thoughts on Injustice and Killer Instinct. We also discuss his tournament history, what he's been up to lately, and his future as a professional fighting game player. Check it out!

http://makeplaysnotexcuses.com/2014/05/01/q-a-with-ari-floe-weintraub-discussing-mlg-anaheim-and-more/

 

[Justice]

Good interview! I hope our NRS guys can educate him about both MMH and where Capcom players will place in Injustice at MLG

 

[Eric The Scruffy]

I will give this to some of the top capcom players: they're really good at leveling up and figuring out the early meta as compared to people in the NRS scene. Chrisg probably shouldn't really count considering he was a tester, but Jwong and to a much greater extent PR Rog were definitely a threat before everyone else caught up and they quit. I wouldn't be surprised if a similar progression happened in MK10 again. I doubt Fchamp is going to be calling anyone out this time though.

 

[Prinz]

I don't understand why he says Wong and Champ are better than Injustice players since they hardly played or did anything in Injustice to prove it, as for PR Rog, he got bodied some time ago didn't he?

 

[Qwark28]

I will give this to some of the top capcom players: they're really good at leveling up and figuring out the early meta as compared to people in the NRS scene. Chrisg probably shouldn't really count considering he was a tester, but Jwong and to a much greater extent PR Rog were definitely a threat before everyone else caught up and they quit. I wouldn't be surprised if a similar progression happened in MK10 again. I doubt Fchamp is going to be calling anyone out this time though.

They weren't a threat because they were good, they were a threat because people went to EVO without knowing shit about matchups.

 

[Zyphox]

here we go again with the capcom players saying they are better than NRS players.

i guarantee no new capcom players playing injustice will make top 8 at MLG anehiem, too many MU's to learn and if you run into me you best believe they will never block all my shit in a FT3.

 

[Eric The Scruffy]

I don't understand why he says Wong and Champ are better than Injustice players since they hardly played or did anything in Injustice to prove it, as for PR Rog, he got bodied some time ago didn't he?

Yup, a fairly infamous hawkgirl match that was such a blow up it made him quit. Still during the time when a lot of people were arguing that she was the worst in the game (fools, damned fools).

To be fair, he did not say Jwong or FChamp are better injustice players specifically...just that they are better players in general. Personally, I go back and forth with how I feel about this sentiment. Sometimes I see the logic that a player like Jwong and ChrisG are a tier above normal human beings and if they actually put real effort into the game they would be unstoppable (I wont extend the same courtesy to Fchamp).
On the flipside though I think about a guy like Daigo and his brief affair with competitive Marvel. That guy is probably the best Street Fighter player in the world and he made a huge video calling out US players saying he was coming to take their own game away from them.....and it didn't turn out so well for him. Sometimes I think that much like how it takes the right player with the right mindset to unleash a top tiers potential, it takes the right game to reveal a top player.

They weren't a threat because they were good, they were a threat because people went to EVO without knowing shit about matchups.

That's kind of my point.

 

[Qwark28]

Yup, a fairly infamous hawkgirl match that was such a blow up it made him quit. Still during the time when a lot of people were arguing that she was the worst in the game (fools, damned fools).

To be fair, he did not say Jwong or FChamp are better injustice players specifically...just that they are better players in general. Personally, I go back and forth with how I feel about this sentiment. Sometimes I see the logic that a player like Jwong and ChrisG are a tier above normal human beings and if they actually put real effort into the game they would be unstoppable (I wont extend the same courtesy to Fchamp).
On the flipside though I think about a guy like Daigo and his brief affair with competitive Marvel. That guy is probably the best Street Fighter player in the world and he made a huge video calling out US players saying he was coming to take their own game away from them.....and it didn't turn out so well for him. Sometimes I think that much like how it takes the right player with the right mindset to unleash a top tiers potential, it takes the right game to reveal a top player.


That's kind of my point.

They didn't figure out anything. Evo 2013 was basically a battle of bullshit vs bullshit in a game where if you don't know a matchup you can lose to ANYONE.

 

[Eric The Scruffy]

They didn't figure out anything. Evo 2013 was basically a battle of bullshit vs bullshit in a game where if you don't know a matchup you can lose to ANYONE.

Every game for the first few tournaments is going to be a battle of bullshit versus bullshit. They still usually figure out their bullshit and how to make it work just a little bit faster than most people do.

 

[@MylesWright_]

The only good 'capcom player' I've seen at Injustice is Insaynne so what is he talking about. It's not even some kind of call out he's just wrong

 

[Zyphox]

The only good 'capcom player' I've seen at Injustice is Insaynne so what is he talking about. It's not even some kind of call out he's just wrong

rico also.

 

[DarthArma]

 

[Eric The Scruffy]

here we go again with the capcom players saying they are better than NRS players.


i guarantee no new capcom players playing injustice will make top 8 at MLG anehiem, too many MU's to learn and if you run into me you best believe they will never block all my shit in a FT3.

I agree. Anyone else think its funny how deceptive the barrier of entry into the game is? I mean...you can learn most of a characters optimized combos and setups in like an hour or so tops...but thats when the hard part starts and you start grinding out matchups.

 

[Sultan]

Good players are good players. If REO picked up Ultra seriously he'd body top players. If LordKnight picked up Ultra seriously he'd body top players. If Sanford or Justin or PR Rog picked up Injustice they'd body top players.

It's a non-statement. Good players are good players, despite the game. Reactions, execution, reads, focus, mental strength, etc. All this stuff transfers over to other games.

The difference between Justin/Rog/etc. and top NRS players is the one element I didn't mention: passion.

If you don't have that you'll never be the best at this game.

 

[DarthArma]

The only good 'capcom player' I've seen at Injustice is Insaynne so what is he talking about. It's not even some kind of call out he's just wrong

Rico started with Street fighter 4, and Although KDZ did start in soul calibur, he was considered a very strong player at street fighter 4. Those are the only two I can think of, one of them being the EVO champ with two more major wins under his belt, and the other beings a very dominating player with a major win under his belt.

But it doesnt matter where they came from, the point is that they've been playing the game since the first month and have both put in alot of time and effort into becoming strong players.

 

[Vulcan Hades]

Different games require different skills. Having great footsies or being a strong zoner in SF doesn't mean you'll be able to control space well in Injustice since it's pretty different. The concept of frametraps and whiff punishing also can't be applied in the same way. Not to mention you don't have any real comeback mechanics in Injustice while Capcom players have been spoiled with FADC/Ultra/Super/Red focus/X-factor.

You could also argue that you need to make much more reads in Injustice. Since AE is so option-select heavy.

 

[RM Jonnitti]

idk why nobody can spell soul calibur right. the fuck is this "soul caliber" nonsense .

there are actually a couple of SF players i can see doing really well in injustice actually. if justin plays the game for 2 months i wouldnt be surprised if he makes some upsets. i also wouldnt put it past someone like valle with all the fighting game experience in the world to be able to do the same thing. there are just some amazing all around fighting game players out there that are associated with capcom but in ANY game i feel like they can do well if they tried.

 

[Gesture Required Ahead]

Aren't you CAPCOM or NAMCO though?

 

[Eric The Scruffy]

idk why nobody can spell soul calibur right. the fuck is this "soul caliber" nonsense .

there are actually a couple of SF players i can see doing really well in injustice actually. if justin plays the game for 2 months i wouldnt be surprised if he makes some upsets. i also wouldnt put it past someone like valle with all the fighting game experience in the world to be able to do the same thing. there are just some amazing all around fighting game players out there that are associated with capcom but in ANY game i feel like they can do well if they tried.

Valle is a great player with nothing to prove, and I will probably never understand footsies or streetfighter anywhere near the level that he does....but I pray to god, allah, and the winds that he never ever gets a wild urge to play injustice again. That Batman.....yeesh.....

 

[Immortal Kombat]

Typical capcom bullshit.

 

[RNLDRGN]

I will give this to some of the top capcom players: they're really good at leveling up and figuring out the early meta as compared to people in the NRS scene. Chrisg probably shouldn't really count considering he was a tester, but Jwong and to a much greater extent PR Rog were definitely a threat before everyone else caught up and they quit. I wouldn't be surprised if a similar progression happened in MK10 again. I doubt Fchamp is going to be calling anyone out this time though.

I agree... kind of. I think that Capcom players WOULD stomp NRS players if they played this game more. I think NRS players are more used to adapting to characters with broken sh*t (unblockables, full screen overhead teleports, really safe strings, etc) but Capcom players have the best neutral game and start delving into the metagame much earlier. Sure Chris G was a tester, but he seriously NEVER plays this game and still stomps a lot of ppl at majors--ppl who play this game every single day. A lot of the stuff that NRS players just deem normal seems really whack to Capcom players since the two developers balance their game very differently. A lot of this stuff pushes Capcom players away and they fail to stick with the game long enough to see that every character usually has broken sh*t.

I've always said that if Justin Wong or PR Rog reaalllllly took Injustice seriously--the community would be f*cked. Not just because they're Capcom players, but b/c they're also on another level. That said--with the way the game is now, I doubt any Capcom player could catch up.

 

[Chakk dizzle]

Different games require different skills. Having great footsies or being a strong zoner in SF doesn't mean you'll be able to control space well in Injustice since it's pretty different. The concept of frametraps and whiff punishing also can't be applied in the same way. Not to mention you don't have any real comeback mechanics in Injustice while Capcom players have been spoiled with FADC/Ultra/Super/Red focus/X-factor.

You could also argue that you need to make much more reads in Injustice. Since AE is so option-select heavy.

Lol what?

 

[REDRUM]

if the argument is that justin and pr rog are better than NRS players than they kind of are lol (which I dont like saying)

Im Not saying all of capcom is better than nrs players (not at all) ... But just look at what Rog did at EVO.. Top 8 and there is no way in HELL he played the game more than guys like @GGA 16 Bit or @EGP Wonder_Chef (i mean the amount of hours he spent compared to just these guys im mentioning isnt even comparable. The "Time spent playing" differential is gigantic).

 

[Euphoric]

Lol, did people not read the interview, he said overall Capcom players are better players which is true.

I haven't seen a single NRS player succeed in other FGs beside Jr.

If Capcom can play games they "don't like" (NRS games), than NRS players can play games they don't like either, so don't say you don't play you don't play because you don't like it, it's just harder to compete in Capcom games.

 

[16 Bit]

if the argument is that justin and pr rog are better than NRS players than they kind of are lol (which I dont like saying)

Im Not saying all of capcom is better than nrs players (not at all) ... But just look at what Rog did at EVO.. Top 8 and there is no way in HELL he played the game more than guys like @GGA 16 Bit or @EGP Wonder_Chef (i mean the amount of hours he spent compared to just these guys im mentioning isnt even comparable. The "Time spent playing" differential is gigantic).

Two weeks before EVO at CEO I out placed PR Balrog and beat him in the KF mirror in the process. Props to him for getting top 8 at EVO but I think results before and after show how much bracketology played in that. I mean, at that tournament I was double eliminated by Black Adam. A matchup no KF at the time could overcome.

That said, I have a lot of respect for guys like Justin, Rog and Chris G and the multiple game gods like Tokido. It's awesome and something I couldn't do. However when it comes to one game, they're just human. If there's a new game and I have the GGA crew to break down the game with I'm confident I could hang with these guys.