What's the haps, it's Dieminion. ask me anything about....anything

was all the money people donated for you to go EVO returned?

I spent all of the money on Vegas prostitutes and I'm proud . . . . . J/K

Some of the people got their money back from donating for me to get to EVO. Most insisted that they didn't want the money back. Some I gave back to them when I saw them personally.

I got a lot of false claims that said they were owed money, so I'm just waiting for the rest of the people that want their money back to provide to me with their info with proof so I know it's them.

Can you answer exactly what EMP does for you given they are not a sponsor? Do you regret leaving BT the way you did?

I don't live in regrets. I left Brokentier because I feel that I have more to gain with Empire in the future. Sick stuff happening in 2014 for me and EMP!

But like..what does EMP do for you?

EMP does the same thing it's been doing for years amalgamating strong players into 1 brand, taking this brand and attempting t get corporate sponsorship. EMP is a coalition of people, it is not a sponsor, it's an entity that attempts to get a sponsor.

Its the same thing as any "eSports" team its a bunch of players and 1 dude behind the scenes trying to market the players, the only difference is well no companies have really showed an interest in the FGC yet, this may change idk and idc to be quite honest.

Long story short it's a symbiotic relationship, an entire team/brand is easier to market than 1 player and the success of the players benefit the entire brand. Whether you consider EMP successful at this is another thing but that's what EMP "does".

Good answer LordScoffington!

I feel that sponsorship in the FGC is overrated at this point in time. People have a misconception that players are getting sponsorships left & right, but that's not the case. There are many teams trying to acquire sponsors to help them attend events, but they don't have proper management and/or representation to help them the way they want.

Brokentier was a good sponsor for me personally. I left because I felt that I have more to gain in the future of EMP. I had a long talk with Triforce, who I've known for a long time and he assured me ththat things would be different if I came back and I trust his word.

Yea, all I hear about EMP is their shady ways of doing things.

And that Triforce is a very, very strange man.

Triforce is a cool person, you just have to get to know him personally as opposed to hearsay.

how are you able to sleep in any position, any where, any time. this is like a magical ability

Yes Koogster, this is one of the many mysteries that I have no idea how I acquired lol

Are you fed up with all the "jokes" ppl make about your skin color? Or are you cool with it and don't really care?

I've grown past the point where I don't really care anymore. I look at celebrities and say to myself "There is a lot more messed up shit going than what I'm going through"

Do you still work at foot locker?

I've never worked at footlocker lol

When are you going to expose ChrisG?

thanks for putting my proof for the mod, i'm new to this lol. I came up with a new strategy for Morrigan & Doom w/ my original team. If I get the chance to play him in the future i'll show it.

Yo Dieminion, who do you think are the Top 5 SF4 players in the world? How about your top5 favorite sf4 players to watch (you like their character, style, etc.)?

Fun questions: favorite food? music? fav game that's not a fighter?

Thanks for doing this!

At this moment who I think the top 5 players are: Infiltration, Daigo, Sako, Xian & Tokido

My top 5 fav players to watch would be: Momochi's Ken because his footsies are very careful and he waits for the right moment to attack

Daigo because it's fun to see how different players approach him

Luffy because it's good to see Rose played at high level and be consistent. Also fun to watch how different players approach his character

Filipino Champ because he is still able to keep up considering the current metagame destroys Dhalsim. And he is entertaining to watch

Alioune because he knows a lot that no one does and it's interesting to see unusual, new stuff being implemented mid-match that make you go Ohhh!!!

Fav food: I have a weakness for bbq ribs and potato salad, though I don't eat it often

Music: Anything that sounds good/has a message

I'd have to say Star Ocean 2 for Playstation

Great questions! Thanks again

When's Marvel?

When's CvS3?

Do you feel as if a top player should be actively involved in making those players around him/her better in their local scenes?

I feel that anyone should be entitled to do what they want, but as everything, there is reaction to every action.

Non-involvement of the best players slows the process of scene & vice versa

I personally feel that the best players should be active within the scene whenever they get the chance

Do you have any SF pocket characters we haven't seen yet? What are your expectations on Ultra? When did you start playing? How do I not jump in AE?

I have a good number of other characters that I can play at a decent level, Honda/Rose/Guy to name a few.

USF4 will be exciting for a few reasons. The main reason is because It's bringing a something new to the table with the double ultra & red focus. Everyone will have to figure it out so essentially it might seem as if everyone has an even start.

I starting playing competitively since 2008

Don't move the stick up, up-back or up-forward

Hey Dieminion in December stop by the Defend the North Qualifier at Queens College! Get them seeding points!

Shameless plug.

If I have free time to spare i'd like to stop by

"What's the haps"... is your name Sam or sumthing

lol I might change it. it's so 80's

What do you do for a living? How do you balance that with being a competitive gamer?

I work and play games. I try and find jobs that best compliment what I like to do because I don't want to work 9-5's. I'd rather build on something that I enjoy doing. I play video games, I cook, and also big into model/fashion so I am trying to succeed in one of those aspects.

Has your interest in fighting gaming encouraged you to take up any martial art??

I did Karate in high school for 2 years so I know a few moves haha

Thoughts on some of the changes in USF4 and some of the characters being introduced?

I think the USF4 changes is what we the community needs right now. The new characters are from SFXTK but it'll be cool to see their transition into SF4 with focus attacks, ultras and such although I would like Karin in there personally

Dieminion!

I was in the hotel room this EVO when you played that super close set against Super Santarou Man. Awesome stuff.

Question; how should I approach the guile matchup as a rose player. My friend and main training partner plays guile and consistently beats me, just looking for tips and insight to change up my game plan against him. Any recommendations?

yeah that was a close set, brings back some memories!

Rose/Guile is a completely even matchup. I say work on playing a solid ground game using more pokes like st.HK, slide, cr.MP while reflecting/absorbing booms whenever you get the chance. Those are the only tools you need at a basic intermediate level

It goes more into detail at higher levels but if you want to know i'll be happy to share what I can

Awesome advice, thanks. :)

It would be awesome if you could share some stuff beyond the intermediate level. I feel like my friend and I are just on the cusp of breaking into that higher level, we notice our improvements every week playing the best players here in Vancouver.

So on that note, are there any really specific match-up situations you look for when playing against Rose? How can she press or create advantageous situations against Guile?

This is me vs Luffy from earlier this year in France http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6q2VMqCnA4 start at 24:56

Tomorrow i'll go more into detail of the matchup my hands are tired lol

Hey Dieminion! I'm a huge fan! Anyway, what is your opinion on some of the FGC going eSports? Like, if mlg were to pick up the main capcom fighters, would you compete, how would you feel, etc.? Also, what exactly is your job at the moment?

I think the FGC going eSports would be a huge move for the better of the FGC and I would most definitely play if a league picks the game up.

And I work in a french bakery called Financier Patisserie in Manhattan

What do you think of double Ultra? Is Red Focus good for Guile?

I think the option to choose both ultras is cool, i'm not sure if it'll be useful for every character. Red focus will probably be the same as regular focus for Guile, I don't see it benefiting him

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I plan to stay in Europe extensively in 2014! specifically the UK then travel everywhere else.

You ever gonna use that Thor/Strange/Doom team again?

Also you'll probably get more replies if you post this over in /r/sf4 or /r/mvc3.

That's a good question. Almost any character works with Strange/Doom as assists. It was fun to play the team I just wanted to prove a point at that time

Any tips for a guy wanting to jump in and learn how to play sf4 before the USF4 update? Any help would be appreciated!

If you don't have a local scene or a groups of buddies to play against, go in training mode and practice your moves and combos again and again. Watching match videos gives good a idea on where to start.

Do you enjoy playing a slightly 'lamer' style in fighting games? What would you say the benefits of this style are over others?

I think I lean more toward a lamer style or look for those types of characters in new games. I'd say my benefit for playing this way is that I make decisions based on what my opponent does. The better my opponent is the better I play

What is your most memorable loss in tournament? What did you learn? What is your most memorable win?

My first memorable win was winning my first major in Montreal, Canada. I played against the Guile player Rebelo in the finals so it was a mirror match. I learned that money matches and sets doesn't mean much if you can't do the same in tourney, because I beat him countless money matches the night before and then he beat me in winners finals. I managed to clutch it out and go on to win the tourney.

My most memorable loss was losing against Infiltration recently at SoCal Regionals 2013 because I learned a lot about fighting Akuma that I didn't before. I am veeery confident the next time we meet.

Whatever happened to the news about you picking up Fei Long as your main? Did you feel it wasnt worth it with the announcement of Ultra?

I played Fei Long for a while, but my heart just didn't let me stay with him. I don't think he'll be bad in Ultra, but rather more excited for Guile in the new iteration.

Hi Dieminion,

First of all hi from the Irish FGC, and thanks for your time at WGC, that was very cool of you.

If you're in the UK in 2014, maybe you could pop over to us for a tournament while you're there? Worstgiefever did and he always says what a great time he had :)

What's up Brian. I had a great time at WGC as always and plan on coming back again next year. I'll most definitely stop by Ireland when I visit the UK and I would absolutely love to play the Irish scene! I'm already familiar with some of your more known players like Coblecog (whom I've met in WGC2010) and Lythero. Dreddybas is a cool guy also!

To you, what does playing "lame" mean? I ask because I occasionally meet people who differentiate between "run away" and "turtling", when to me it's all lame play in the end.

Also, have you ever gotten any shit for playing the way you do? It's always fun when I get hassled as a pussy and coward for choosing to chuck plasma instead of walking into the other guy's fists.

"Lame" is just a slang term for "keep-away", it's the same thing.

I get shit all the time for playing the way I do. I can play offensively if I want to but mostly choose to be calculative instead of mindlessly running into danger. There is a time for pressing the offense though

Hey Dieminion, I am wondering what you thing of the East Coast Street Fighter players, what players do you think are up and coming or think they are really good but not yet as well known yet?

Also what is your opinion of PIE|SmugDaBeast?

I think East Coast players have gotten better tremendously recently, but they don't travel to majors, regionals or out of state locals.

From what I've seen from Smug I think he is good. He's one of the many good players out there that doesn't travel.

What did you think of that last Naruto chapter

Naruto this week was ASS!

why do so many american top players discredit successfull top players for playing characters that are rated good and blaming their losses to lower tier characters? shouldn't if your competing for something always play at what you are best at and respect that kind of attitude?

I honestly don't know. I believe that wth the right mentality, time, dedication and training that any character can win. Kuroda (Japanese 3rd Strike master) has shown this in the past.

You should always play what you think will work for you to win

Any chance of you having PC love for SF4, and perhaps...i dont know...showing up for a reddit online tourney?

I still have my AE PC code from 2011 EVO! Hmmm

Yo thanks for doing an ama! I got a couple queations for you.Who do you think are the best sf4 players on the east coast now? If you could change one thing about the fgc what would it be. What do you think of the red focus, and what do you hope the unannounced mechanic is going to be.

Not a problem! I think something like this would give people a better understanding of who I am and how I think when I play.

Top 5 for the East currently in terms of results would be:

Myself, ChrisG, Sanford Kelly, KBrad & KnuckleDu

If I could change 1 thing about the FGC right now it would be to get the mainstream involved for viewership so that the community can grow.

I think red focus will bring a whole new dynamic to the game. It's something the SF4 really needs.

From what I heard, Ono mentioned that it's something completely new so can't even guess.

What got you into playing competitively? how much longer do you see yourself competing?

also, your guile is fun as hell to watch.

Fighting games flooded the arcades where I'm from in New York so I pretty much grew up playing them. I'll probably be competing for the next 3 years.

Thanks I'll keep playing for the love

Do you ever consider dropping Morrigan for another character that would fit better with Joe and Strange?

I've practiced Wesker to sub for Morrigan, but I haven't played in tourney or sessions to refine him.

Which specific Street Fighter 4 skills do you think translates to the other games you play? I assume it gives you an edge in terms of spacing, and patience.

You're pretty much right, I incorporate what I use heavily in SF4 into other games I play. Basic fundamentals overall but I tend to get into the deeper more technical side of things because I know down the line that basics won't get you everywhere

When are you gonna switch to Joe/Doom/Morrigan?

I play that as one of my alternate teams. If I have to I'll play it in tourney

you vs. du in a ft10 guile mirror.. who will reign victorious?

Pretty confident I would take it. Du is great though

Hey, you are my favorite player in the FGC as a fellow guile player. What buffs you think he needs in Ultra?

Thanks! Always makes my day to hear that from someone.

I'll be generous and keep what I want him to have for myself but in USF4 Guile should have cr.MK slightly more range and FADC/super cancellable/upside-down kick completely fixed as Capcom has so far failed to do so with every iteration of SF4/sonic hurricane faster startup and slightly more damage

That's just me being generous

• How did you like Europe?
• What is your favorite country in Europe and why is it Germany?

I became a better player after Red Fight District so you really gave it magic powers, thank you for that man. ;)

Haha what's up man. I was kidding about the magic power thing but the stick was really good.

I always love Europe and I like how you want my favorite country to be Germany lol

My favorite county in Europe so far would have to be

DRUMROLL PLZ

wow, this is a hard question

con't drumroll

Ok, I can't answer that right now lol but I think i'll have a definite answer when I come back :)

Any tips on how to play the Ryu vs Guile matchup?

Thanks

It's just a classic SF matchup. cr.MK is your best friend, so are backfist and st.HP. Throw sonic booms to press the advantage, keep up with the fireball war. Only thing to watch out for is his focus attack because Guile is very weak to focus games with or without charge.

I'll be creating matchup videos for USF4 to get into the more advanced aspects and my perspective on matchups. The forums on shoryuken.com are a good place to check out whats others think.

Here's a good place to start:

http://forums.shoryuken.com/discussion/173463/ryu-my-worst-matchup-as-guile

What's your take on the confirmed changes for Ultra?

I'm pretty excited to see what the new version will bring to the table in terms of competition and exposure and the changes is attributed to that.

Everyone will have to learn how to fight against the new characters and find out what new changes their characters received plus find a way to implement red focus into their game.

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Hmmm, this matchup is very hard for Guile intermediate to advanced level. As Dhalsim you should use st.MP and cr.LP a lot. Also when you're past midscreen distance away, yoga fire is completely safe.

So the key to this matchup is not actually playing the matchup, more like getting your opponent tired of playing your game so that they run into stuff. After that it's up to the opponent to get past your tactics and until then you both actually start to learn how to play the matchup properly.

Hey man, thanks for doing this AMA. Earlier this year at EVO, my first match in pools was against Nuckledu, and I felt okay in the guile matchup as ryu, but after getting bodied within minutes I realized I really don't know how to play that match. Any tips?

After playing against a lot of Ryu players, they tell me that they have to play the matchup very slow or they don't win. What I mean by slow is that Ryu can't bulldog his way in. He has to throw fireball after fireball until he finds a pattern in the Guile players' gameplay. Take calculated risks using hurricane kick or jump fierce/roundhouse or empty jump based on the pattern. If Ryu gets in he has a better time than zoning because he can frametrap/throw into knockdown.

How does a honda get in on you?

Honda has to be really patient against Guile but with the right jump reads and different buttons Honda just needs one good read to get in

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I've never really thought about playing shadow blade assist because I don't put much thought into the game. I feel like if I changed that attitude and actually go to sessions + practice more I'd be much better

What do you think of 3D fighters? Ever think of picking up VF or Tekken?

I think 3D fighters are cool. I like VF > Tekken but I've never got the chance to pick one up. If I could go back I would probably play Tekken because I know a lot of people that started Tekken and they are really good now so if I played with them I would be a top Tekken player now.

Hi, I'm a big fan of your Guile and as a '12er I would like to know how you got started with fighting games and its community.

Welcome to the community!

I started playing fighting games in arcades around NYC since I was 4. SF2 obviously being the only fighting game out at the time I just remember mashing on the buttons & stick cool things happened on the screen. Mind you I did have a sense of how to play video games but this kind game was new to everyone at the time.

Many events happened between then and when I first went to Chinatown Fair in '99 (another story in itself) which then I became completely involved with the community eventually. Been an interesting journey so far

Did you and Mike Ross ever settle who has the best honda? That trash talk video of you back in the day is too gdlk

Nah we never played a that mirror from 5 years ago lol. He declined when I asked him at EVO of that year. Smart move

How do you choose a character?

I choose a character based on versatility but leaning toward calculation, critical thinking and space control.

What's your diet/favorite foods to eat? What's your favorite fashion brands/designers?

My diet and my favorite foods are night and day.

My diet consists of fruits/veggies/brown rice (all organic and mixed with natural healing herbs) and kosher meats, but my favorite foods are BBQ pork ribs, potato salad & any italian or latin dishes even though it's not healthy to eat.

I have a lot of favorite brands. If I have to choose 1 it'd be Diesel.

Hello Dieminhyon! I remember watching you play Chi-Rithy in a tournament, and you had to face him in the grand finals, maybe even in winners finals. I was really rooting for you, and when you lost, I got so angry that I almost stopped playing the game. It was so annoying watching you play so well, only to lose to one stray EX cannon strike.

So my question is, which toothpaste do you use? Just kidding, how do you suppress your frustration when playing "cheap" characters? Doesn't it bother you ever while playing?

Hey whats' up. Well I would like to start by saying that Chi-Rithy is a good player, and I do remember those matches I played him. It was a tough time for me because I've never lost 2 grand finals in a row before then and to the same player at that.

When I lose to unbalanced tactics/strategies, I just go into training and focus on how to beat said tactic be it with an attack, a defensive maneuver or a series of both. Then I focus on how "X" player gets to use the tactic and find ways to prevent him them from putting me in the position to begin with. Lastly I further study the opponents style to try and prevent the situation from happening to begin with the next time we may meet.

Hope this makes any sense and thanks for the support

And I use Tom's natural flouride-free toothpaste recently, sold in organic stores

Have you ever thought of becoming more of a coach and mentor for the game?

I've thought about it a lot recently actually but I still feel like I have more to offer in terms of quality gameplay for the viewers. It's gonna happen eventually though

No clue if you're still on or if this has been asked but... I'm pretty sure you've gone to Japan and played there, how much different is the gaming culture there? or if you haven't gone, guys like fuudo/mago/Infl ect how is their thought style differ from American FGCers?

The game culture in Japan is completely different than America. It's probably because they emphasize on so much because they make the games, like how America emphasize on sports.

The top players in Japan still have the luxury of playing in arcades and from what I take from being in Japan is that since they spend money in the arcades, their mindset is to play the game like it's their last. It forced them to do what they have to do to stay on the arcade.

Since in America we only play on console where we spend no $0 per game, we tend to play mindless, meaningless games, rematch after rematch, learning the games at a slower pace.

Whens mahvel?

Also what do you think it takes to beat Chris G at UMvC3?

whenever I'm at a major.

I think beating ChrisG is more mental than actual playing the game. In terms of SSF4 this is what I gather from playing him but I don't know yet if it's the same for UMVC3.

KlubbaKev! I still remember the times we ran into each other at the L train before I knew you played fighters competitively. Thanks for always being a homey, and I'd love to get a Marvel sit down with ya sometime! Cheers!

-D1

I'll put a question mark at the end to make this seem like an inquiry.

?

See you at APEX2014, hopefully sooner!!

What do you think of Joe/Dorm/Sent as a team? If you had to sub out one member of this team for someone else (except for strange) to improve it, who and with whom would it be?

The team sounds cool, but it wouldn't benefit Joe or Dorm on point even with drones assist. I'd swap Joe for a good point character like Wolv or Wesker.

Dieminion, I've watched plenty of your matches and tournaments you've played in over on Spooky's channel. Gotta say, Spooky and Sabin are some of my favorite SSF4 commentators.

Who are your favorite Guile players from Japan and have you ever played against Muteki in Super Turbo?

I've had a huge admiration for Guile players in Japan when SF4 released. I would always compare my style to theirs and take things that I've never use to make my overall better.

I've never played any Guile players from Japan, it' would be cool though.

And Muteki is tooo good in ST

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What casual racism?

I'm probably gonna start answering questions over here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/SF4/comments/1q237z/whats_the_haps_its_dieminion_ask_me_anything/

Upon creating an AMA I submitted 2 threads by accident lol. If only there was a way to merge the 2..

Or I can just answer questions between the 2 it's not a problem

Dieminion, as a fellow Guile player, keep on chucking those 'booms. The way you played in last year's Evo was amazing, especially against Fuudo and Uryo.

Few questions: a. From SSFIV to AE, Guile's meter gain was nerfed. Do you think this impacted the viability of the character in any way?

b. Although everyone and their mothers have told me that Guile vs. Dictator/Boxer is in Guile's favor, I just get blown up from them. Any tips other than chucking booms?

c. The way I see it, there's different ways to play Guile. You play in a more keep-away/lame game (which is perfectly alright), and then there's players like Knuckledu and Warahk (haven't seen him since SSFIV though) that play a somewhat offensive Guile. Which type do you think Guile is most viable in?

Thanks!

Hello fellow Guile! I watched those matches again recently and they've reminded me of how well I played in 2012 in general.

a. Yes it certainly has changed the way Guile plays. I feel that not solely the meter buikd decrease affected his viability, but combined with other nerfs made him less viable than most characters.

b. Yeah, actually only throwing booms vs those characters isn't a long term strategy. You have to use booms to provoke a reaction which you can then counteract with oneof your options. Guile vs Bison is definitely favorable for Guile. Guile vs Balrog is only slightly favorable for Guile contrary to popular belief

c. I think I play more defensive not only because it's my style, but I've stayed with Guile since the early days where he had no offensive stability, so I did evolve with the character but keeping his main style of play as my staple. I think some players want Guile to be a rushdown based character so they haven't had much success with him yet.

What does "Dieminion" means?

Sorta like telling a minion to "DIE!"

If I didn't know a lot about your fighting style, what matches would you show me that you think best show off your talents?

Where do you hope the FGC is headed, and where do you think it is actually headed?

Obviously the FGC needs to become more mature, but do you have any ideas on how this could happen?

As someone who is new to SF4 but has been playing other fighters, primarily marvel, what advice would you give to help transfer some skills, and what characters do you think most compliment the "Marvel-esque" rushdown style of gameplay?

Any match between me and Sanford Kelly/Alex Valle/or Ryan Hart.

I'd like to think that the FGC is gravitating towards the more professional side of things. Obviously a lot of key things has to change like people being more presentable when in sight or speaking to larger audiences.

The difference about UMVC3 and SF is that marvel has a lot of safe rushdown that players transitioning to SF won't get used to at first. You have to be more calculative with your approaches even with the higher tiered characters. Purely rushdown based characters are Abel, Makoto, Dudley, Guy, Cody, Cammy, Yun, Yang & Hakan with oil

Will you play me right now in SSFIV?

that's impossible lol

What's your favorite movie/book?

Do you have any other teams that don't use joe morrrigan or strange?

Fav book hmmm difficult question. The last book I've read recently was "Old World Secrets: The Omega Project Codes" it's some pretty deep stuff if you're into those types of things.

Fav movie might be The Matrix Trilogy

Yes I have alternate teams that I play but the characters aren't too good at high level lol

What was your most memorable match and why?

I've played a lot of matches so I'd say my most memorable one was when I played Infiltration at SoCal Regionals.

I have never learned as much in a SF match as I have playing him and I feel super confident against him the next time we meet.

Would you ever consider dropping guile for a higher teer character if it means you can increase your chance of wining more tournaments ? What is the strongest character in sf4 at the moment and what other character would you play besides guile ?

I would never completely drop Guile unless I felt he was completely unplayable in tourney. I think the best character overall in SF4 is Cammy and if I had to start over I'd probably play Honda or Chun-Li full time

How did you get so good at Guile? Who is your 2ndary? Do you have a job? Are you in school? What is your degree in? How much money have you made from playing SF4? How did you come up with your screen name? Do you get angry when people call Deejay the black guile or vice versa? Do you think you are better than the big Japanese Guiles like ACE E RIN or the guy with the name starting with a T? You are awesome! Keep up the good work.

I started playing Guile seriously in the middle of vanilla SF4 ad just stuck with him My secondary is Honda. I have a job currently. I'm not in school and have no plan currently to go back. I have an associates in English. I can a say I've made a little something playing over the years, makes wish I had a total amount earned lol. I was playing Phantasy Star Onlne for Dreamcast and I just thought of "Dieminion". Seriously. Since ST days people always called DeeJay "black Guile" . I've never played those guys before but from what I'm hearing from Japan players is that I'm better. Thanks for the questions and I will always play for what I stand for!

I love that you play Honda as a secondary. So much love for the big guy.

Thanks for doing the AMA! Big fan of your play.

thanks! glad to do it

How did you play for those couple months where you had no glasses? Did you at least get a 15% damage and speed boost?

How do I activate Dieminion Mode?

Surprisingly I'm not too blind without glasses just can't see in detail about 1 foot away from me but I can still see. I got some new ones though so hopefully the eye training pays off in the next tourney lol

Everytime you close your eyes, you see me ~ Dieminion 2013

Hey Dieminion. Love the way you play. Got some questions.

• What did you do before you went pro?

• What was the moment you realized you can play fighting games professionally?

• Does sponsorship deal like arcade sticks help you pay your monthly bills?

Sup and thanks.

I worked at Dave & Buster's as a game technician before I decided to take competitive gaming seriously.

I didn't know if I thought fighting games could become professional until I saw Justin Wong land his first 5 figure deal with Evil Controllers in 2009

For fighting games it can happen if the right people/companies get involved. But for now you have to market yourself to companies.

Is there a story behind you choosing the name Dieminion? I've always liked it.

I just thought of it randomly while playing Phantasy Star Online remake for Gamecube back in 2002 and just stuck with it

Do you have a neckbeard and wear a fedora?

I currently have a neckbeard, and I wear fedoras sometimes

Greetings from the Ottawa Scene.

Opinions on who is going to benefit the most from Red Focus? Hakan...

Also, I didn't know that GF v. Rebelo in Montreal was so important! I actually show that to pals when I want to demo what can happen with bizarre matchups like Guile-Guile. Truly awesome stuff.

I play as Dan exclusively in SFIV. Any advice for the Dan vs. Guile matchup, or rather, what you look out for in a matchup like that?

Shoutouts to Ottawa!

Actually Hakan w/ oil might benefit the most from red focus or any character that already has good focus attack range.

Yeah, that match was really memorable. It was my first major win internationally. Also since that tourney had a lot of sponsors I won a lot of money to boot!

With Dan you always want to jump and do the LK dan kick to screw around with Guile's anti air ranges. And whenever you get the chance put him in the 50/50 with MK/HK dan kick. His fireball neutralizes booms pretty good

hope this helps some

What was the game that provoked you into playing fighting games on a competitive level? Did Chris G ever get a slice of Humble Pie after you said you'd break down his Morrigan on stream? Also, I remember Yipes once saying in an interview that he didn't take fighting games seriously till you came, and humbled him out. Do you remember what game you played him in, and seeing a change in his attitude?

Keep it up dude, you're an awesome player.

I've played fighting prior to SF4 but it's the game I started completely competitive. Next time I play Chris i'll show off my new strategy against his team.

I met Yipes in an arcade around his house in early 2003. We used to play Alpha 3 & Marvel 2 until one day he invited me to his house. After I saw how good he was in marvel on Dreamcast, I brought him down to Chinatown Fair and the rest is his story.

Thanks for the compliment!

Care to post a personal tier list for ssf4?

I hate tier lists but i'll do one for USF4 when it drops.

Hey there Dieminion,

I've always had the luck of playing you every single tourney I went to at next level and still have yet to beat you. It will happen man. :)

My question is: When you have the opportunity to travel to so many places far from home does that make you less likely to attend a tournament that is closer?

Hi! Don't remember who you are I hope you'll beat me sometime in the future I enjoy/respect a good loss. I've traveled a lot playing fighting games so I think now I tend to get attracted to the foreign tournaments more. May change in the future though

What made you want to play the characters you do?

In SF4 I chose a character that no one in the arcades in NYC played, Guile was one of the weakest characters, but I made him look good.

In Marvel, I kinda just took characters that had a similar playstyle to Guile and put them on a team due to lack of interest and time restraints. I'm sure there are other teams that can fit the bill better though

How exactly does your relation with your sponsor, Empire Arcadia, works? Do you believe that an eventual interest of larger sponsors that aren't linked exclusively with the fgc would be better or worse for the community?

My relation with my team EMP is really good as I've grown up with these people since I was 12 and we all have the same dream and goal. Which is to turn what we love to do into something we can continue to do and make a living from it some how some way.

I absolutely believe that the involvement of investors and sponsors would be for the better of the community as a whole.

Hey Dieminion, I met you at GUTS2 in Cambridge about 5 months ago, just wanted to say thanks for being a super cool down to earth dude and for taking time to talk to me about the Boxer-Guile match.

Thanks for doing this and hopefully you can make it out to MA again soon!

Not a problem. Hopefully I can come back to Mass soon!

What you did to get to Evo rubbed me the wrong way. That's all.

Everyone has their differences and everyone won't be pleased at everything someone does. No one is a saint and there are way worse things being done unimaginable in this world. Not saying that I did anything bad at all btw

Sup?

Suuuuppp!!

why are asians so good at ssf

Which asians?