So the first match in top 4 was between Sabin and w1nter. It was a decent series with w1nter taking the second game but he made some errors in the last game and that put the nail in the coffin. One of these was an input error in that last round of game 3 where he threw out a 4 instead of a special and got hit with an acid ball. He talked to us about this afterward but he seemed genuinely pleased with his performance run and obviously he put in a great effort.
Next was winers finals between Russel and Magus. This match was unfortunately not streamed due to internet issues at the hotel but it turned out to be a total thriller. Russel took the first two games rather convincibgly. Magus' nerves showed and he wasnt playing like he normally does or did on sat. Russel was on point and faking jps with air fans which was a neat trick to bait out whiffed uppercuts, so that kit was in sweep range in scorp's face, a distance she likes to blow it up from with f2 and 2. Unfortnately the pushback of AF prevents Kit from landing straight in front which if it did could lead to great mixup opportunities.
Onto the third game and its come down to the last round. Magus has found his rhythm a bit but still struggling. Russel as Sabin said was up 20% and looked on his way to grand finals, but apparently conrtoller 2 (not 3 like Magus was using) had hit the home button. Sum1 didnt desync. It sucked it had to go down that way but it did. When the issue was resolved (sort of, still dont know whose controller it was) Russel announced they would replay a whole round from the beginning and that would determine the winner.
magus seemed much more clear headed now and he did a great job taking this replayed round. Then game 4 and I unfortunately cant remember the specifics but it was comepletely back and forth, and went down to the wire. It was reminiscient of Konqrr/Slips at evo with Kitana trying to calculate and get her executions off with scorp staying unpredictable and catching things frequently. It was close but Magus took the 4th and they both had nerves painted all over their faces when the game was done lol. It was intense to say the least.
Magus made the full come back in the final game in a game that was almost as awesome and moved on while Russel was left to face Sabin in losers final.
As u guys saw on the stream it was good match but Sabin played his Kenshi very well and started finding a way to punish that EX TK as I said on stream. I messed up my statment of the Rep/Mil matchup and I wanna apologise again for that. Idk why but i always get that mixed up. Dont worry lol, it doesnt look like Im getting to commentate on a spooky stream again. :/
Kfrog mentioned the jps fakes Russel would have Mil do like he did with kitana against Magus. It was really interesting way of baiting out a shoulder charge or upslash to get in, and worked better with Mil b/c she can drop neutrally instead of getting pushed back like Kitana. This makes it really interesting with ermac and his air force blast that not only gets him in but gives him dmg as well.
Idk if this wouldve worked better but I wonder if instead of doing the b4~roll into bnb he could have had her just do the trip and cross up on wakeup? Since Kenshi is weak against them and b4, f4 (I think it is) wouldnt be that negative on hit or even block to do this consistently. One of the reasons he lost was b/c that b4~roll was getting punished in the later rounds.
But despite it ending 3-1 it was a good match by both players, Russel talked about how hard it was getting in on kenshi, which Im sure we all know.
Onto Grand finals and it was the rematch. This time Sabin only went Reppy and demonstrably adapted. The d4 really beat out the TP's and again Sabin was on his game. But the nerves once again noticeably got to Magus and he wasnt able to do his combos when he hit. Some of the rounds were close but sabin took it decisively and that was the end of the tourney.
I do sincerely mean it when i say props to sabin for his performance. I also mean it when i do appreaciate what team spooky does for the community but I stand by what I said. Im gonna sleep on whether or on not to delete my posts cause ultimately I couldve just pmed him and not brought negativity to this thread which I admit I didnt need to do. Im glad he at least apologised about the accusation thing and at least paying attention to the issues i brought up. I do not expect any love from him in the future, and i do not care what trouble this puts me with the community as awhole, if any. I didnt say what i said to his face cause of reasons i already explained, and even out of respect for the organizers who i consider good ppl.
That being said i do think sabin does good for the community as does team spooky. I am not ding this to get back in good graces with any1 cause I know its too late for that. I am simply trying to be as sincere and reasonable as i possibly can.
GGs to everyone at T12 and hope to see you all next major or even minor.
. soon... Much respect.
