http://goparagon.net Latest news from http://goparagon.net uk-uk Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:50:09 -0500 [break]
Tigers: Sagat
Ninjas: Geki, Vega, Guy, Ibuki
Hot Chicks: Pretty much everybody (except Rose, never really liked how she looked)
As for monster trucks? I got nothin' Sorry.

So I'm going to run it back to Friday where I got a call from the PGN All-Star known as Curaga that went a little something like this:
-Hey you busy tonight?
-Nah what's up?
-We're going to Daytona... and I'm already on my way to your house.
-What?
Wasn't quite like that, but you get the idea. On a whim, we headed out to Daytona to get some hours against the fine folks over at B-Kin and I've got to say, those were some quality hours. I got some time against characters and playstyles I don't normally face off against and spotted some holes in my game that I plan to resolve in the near future. I did pull down some very solid victories, and I did have some of the B-Kin boys stun surfin, so overall, it was a good day.
Big-ups to Huggy Bear for letting us use your place, and to Huggy and Everyday Legend for some great games. Be on the lookout for these guys in the near future.

On Saturday I played in the Street Fighter tournament at the GK 6th Anniversary Overnighter where I fought Curaga 's new Ken. That match was a trial of patience and quite possibly the most taxing series of matches I've played thus far. Fortunately for me, I have played Kens that use a similar style (though not since launch), and I was able to pull out some strats to steal a victory, and by beating Curaga's Ken, I've earned bike money for the second week in a row taking $25 for the gold in Street Fighter.

Now for such an eventful week, it ended rather dully. As you may know, I run labs every Wednesday, and this article is usually a breakdown of what went down that night, plus a little extra. Unfortunately, none of the usual suspects were able to come out, however GK Hero Lita did come out to the show. Lately I've been working with her and we'll see what kind of impact she'll be making in the comming months. Needless to say, I'm excited at the possibility of more greats coming out of the 386 area.

That caps off this week, but be sure to tune in next week where I cosplay Sakura (yeah, now you're thinking about it. Deal with it.), build on what I learned these past few weeks, beat Daigo and Wong in a first to 10, and Sanford in a first to 5 for good measure, and maybe a couple more people show up to the lab. We got big things coming up folks, be sure to keep it locked on theParagon Gaming Nation to get it first.]]> gk_canadian@hotmail.com (Chris Princler) [break]
I did however manage to attend B-Kin Round 3, and if you've been keeping up with the news over here, I did take 3rd with Ryu/Spidey/Socks. The comp didn't really pick up untill the second round, but with a little effort, I was able to send my opponent into the loser's bracket. Come winner's finals, I was out of my league. It got a little ugly, and while I'm not proud to admit it, I might have even cried a little . But seriously folks, I don't pretend Marvel is my main game, so I'm pretty pleased I was able to even clutch out a podium.

Later that night I got to play a fair assortment of fighters with GK's very own Lita, Mortal Kombat, Rival Schools, ect. Nothing particularly competitive, but with talk of old school events in the near future, it couldn't hurt to take a look at a few of the other games out there.

Now last I checked, this segment was called SF-Canadian, and my first mention of the game comes four paragraphs in. As previously stated, I didn't get any time at all in this week, though I'm not too worried about the tournament Saturday. I can put in some hours Friday and be plenty prepared for the GK Overnighter, which will likely feature SF in some form. But just because I didn't play doesn't mean I didn't learn something new about the game. If you may recall, I've been known to call Sagat, "Vinny," thinking his name was Vincent Sagat. As it turns out it's actually Victor. Boy do I feel silly, this drastically changes how I view the Sagat match-up, and while it's still near un-winnable for Sakura, he's not as invincible as I had originally believed him to be.

Well, that's all I got for this week, and thanks for bearing with the staggering void where my content's supposed to be. That'll most definitely be better next week.
Speaking of next week...
Be sure to tune in next week, where there will be monster trucks, ninjas, tigers, and hot chicks, oh and probably some Street Fighter too, but who cares, we both know I had you at hot chicks.]]> gk_canadian@hotmail.com (Chris Princler) [break]
Throughout the years of Paragon being in the multi-gaming scene, Frankie Battle has put forth 100% of his effort to help keeping Paragon in the best shape possible. Even today we see him displaying the love and enthusiasm in gaming by bringing more and more people to help and get Paragon to its full potential. Many people have different jobs under the Paragon name. We've got teams from SF4, SSBB, Tekken, & H3. With our sponsors, and management we will help our divisions needs to accomplish their goals under the Paragon name.

Teams & Players for the Paragon Family:

Halo 3 (Known As: Shut it Down) - GunSmok3d , Havok , PlayaJoe , Skullkid 
While a new team, Shut it Down consists of the same group have players that have competed against as well as with each other for years. Ranging from amateur to seasoned veterans, Shut it Down will be taking 2010 by force.

Halo 3 FFA - ZyoN 
This is a player that has always been on top of his game in Halo Free for All. He made his debut in Halo 2 at MLG and has since, continued to show is pure dominance in slaying capabilities. In the end of 2009, ZyoN re-entered the world of Halo FFA as he competed in Play N Trade's National Tournament and took home the gold of $1,000. He is currently the National Champion and looks to pursue any challenging game where his name will hover at the top of the scoreboard.

Tekken 6 - Curaga 
Tekken 6 is not a new game in Japanese arcades, but it's relatively new the USA. As a game with much promise as well as a high enjoyment for giving a beatdown, Curaga decided to step back into the Tekken world with it's latest release. Shaking off the cobwebs seemed difficult at first to this seasoned Tekken Tag/Tekken 4 veteran, however, he has already started to make his mark by taking down some of the best players that the USA has to offer.

Super Smash Brothers Brawl - HRNut , GDX 
Brawl is huge. Much more so than most people probably realize. There's a reason MLG wants their hands all over the official community portal believe it or not. Out of the 50 states, each has Professionals that play Brawl for a living. Florida is one of the top states as of now and the mix of HRNut and GDX make the best team Florida can offer. While HRNut is more-so known for his individual skills, you can't leave out GDX; the person known for taking M2K arguably the best player in the world, from 0% to Death. Yeah, it really happened.

Street Fighter 4 - Curaga , Fezz , Canadian , Battle 
Not much is to be said about this squad other than their dedication and high level of win.All four players have the drive and dedication to make major upsets within the Street Fighter community. Look forward to it as they not only take over Florida, but the USA. Quote me on it.

Who makes the Paragon Family happen:

Chief Executive Officer - Battle
General Manager - shAggy
Tournament Organizer - Curaga
Community Leader - Canadian
Halo 3 Writer - Mattyg93


I'd like to personally say thank you for all the help and commitment everybody has put into PARAGON. We will continue to grow, and doing so I can say that we can become a top contender against multi-gaming organizations around the world.

Thank you everybody,
Andrew Tsionas! ]]> andr3w_T@live.com (Andrew Tsionas) [break]
Round 3 featured Tatsunoko vs Capcom and Marvel vs Capcom 2, with PGN All-Stars Canadian attending Marvel and Fezz attending both games. Team Paragon put on a fine show with both players getting fairly deep in to their respective brackets. Canadian got The Nations only podium finish of the day taking 3rd in Marvel, but Fezz wasn't far behind taking 4th in TvC.

Congratulations are in order to Team Paragon for keeping up a perfect track record of a podium finish at every B-Kin event thus far, and major congratulations are in order to B-Kin for putting together another great event.

In case you don't know, B-Kin is a Tournament/Event Organizer in the Daytona Beach area. If you're looking for some great competition, check out their site:

http://www.bkin-ubf.com
B-KIN: Go Play Outside.]]> gk_canadian@hotmail.com (Chris Princler)
Now this past weekend was Valentine's weekend, and I got to treat Sakura to the one thing she likes as much as Ryu, a couple good fights. I ended up at GK on Sunday and while the comp wasn't that great, I got a chance to dial in some combos. At this point, I'm completely confident in my ability to hit two-frame links at game speed, one-framers could still use some work though.

I got some better comp on Wednesday when PGN All-Star Fezz came out to play, along with a new challenger in Viper player Charlene, who has some potential (though I maintain that that could possibly be the worst possible first character you could pick in this game). We had the usual slugfest with me ending up on top 13-12 in a very close final game. Fezz' Blanka has some new toys you guys might need to be on the lookout for, and while I won't spoil anything for you, I was suprised myself when I saw shades of a "rushdown Blanka."

As an aside, with a MvC2 tournament on the way and the anouncement of the 3rd Strikers, Fezz, Charlene and I screwed around with some other games Wednesday night and I got to say, I'm mad hype for Makoto right now. And while I'll never drop Socks (yes, you can quote me on that), I kind of want to see how The Mak plays out in the SF:IV engine. Also, Fezz and I are terribad at MvC2, with me being only slightly less terribad at it than he is, should be a fun event on Saturday.

Regarding my XBL comp. I've been taking notes of who I've fought, whether I won or lost, and what I learned. I only played 16 matches this week with an asterisk (I'll explain that one in just a second). I went 9-7* in total with the asterisk representing one lagswitcher. I could rage about how pointless it is to cheat online, but that's for another day, as there is nothing that would come from that that could improve my game. Some of the highlights of my notes include, "work on execution," "play better against rushdown," "space jumps better," "learn the X matchup," and "VINNY!" in one Sagat match. I really hate that guy. Also, Ken's Fierce DP + Online Lag ~ Unpunishable, this wasn't the lagswitch game, but really? That recovers THAT fast?

How I act on those notes is another story though. Right now I have them, and that's good enough for the time being.

Tune in next week where I write a heartfelt love song to Sakura, try to get a little more time on Live, show you how to get rich off money matches, and write a brief report about how I got plowed at MvC2.
P.S. the tacos were delicious.]]> gk_canadian@hotmail.com (Chris Princler)
My goal at the moment is to learn as much as I can with the Little Sister of Shotokan. So before I really get into XBL, I want to refine my game as much as possible. Then I'll get into the matchup specific stuff that I can find in Champ Mode. In the past two weeks, I've learned a great deal that will help me achieve that goal. I'm hitting links a lot better, and I've got four solid options to reset after EX Shunpu. [break]That was last week, from there I went on a trip, a trip to Japan to get some brand new ish. I came back with Hadoken, FADC, overhead/c.mk mixup. The idea is that it would crack turtles. Unfortunately the theory wasn't quite in line with the practice, as without using EX fireball, if my opponent takes the hit or uses SRK, I've wasted a lot of meter and there's the possibility of Trade SRK eat Ultra. I'm going to go back to the lab with that one and see what I can cook up without burning 3 bars.

Now it wouldn't be a proper week in review without a proper breakdown of the fights I've had this week. Primarily, I've been playing against Paragon T6 All-Star Curaga, with a little XBL comp here and there.

Against Curaga, I went only slightly positive against his team of Chun-Li, Ken, Rose, and Sagat, with his Chun taking the most victories for his squad. There were some great matches to be had and I did learn a thing or two from the experience. Don't. Be. Predictable. As it turns out, I've got a pretty bland style that needs to get squashed if I plan to go anywhere in this game. Sakura's risk/reward isn't all that bad, but by minimising risk, I'm losing out on the reward. In some of my stronger showings in our many sets we had this week, I had to get creative, take some chances, and generally avoid flowcharting.

On XBL, I had a decent couple weeks. There were times where I was on a pretty good roll, and there were other times I couldn't buy a win. Battle told me I have trouble adapting, and this is partly true. When I fight someone for the first time, I don't usually have a particularly good fight. The thing is, I step into the ring with too many prejudices, I expect somthing from the character across from me, and when I don't get it, it takes me a good minute to retool my playstyle to counter. Knowing this, I'm trying to enter these anonomus XBL matches with "no mind," and just play the matches out. When I can shut out those prejudices, I'm at my best, but there are times when I backslide and fall to that random G-2 Ryu we've all lost to at some point in our lives. Now the idea here is to ultimately take something I learn from these matches and add it to those "prejudices," so once I've accumulated enough battle experience, prejudice turns to knowledge, and knowledge turns to strategy, so I can walk into a match, regardless of my opponent, and play my game.

I suppose that was a bit too much philosophy and not enough Street Fighter, but that's where my game is now. In the coming weeks, there's going to be a more traditional account of my XBL matches, plus any new stuff I might have picked up along the way.

Be sure to tune in next week when I defeat Ryu in real life, add one frame links to my regular combos, eat some tacos, and possibly add a new reset to my repertoire. It's going to be a big deal.]]> gk_canadian@hotmail.com (Chris Princler)