His character, Marduk, is one of the trickier to use in Tekken 6's cast but he had a tactic in place. Marduk has a move where he rears back, then charges forward and slams his opponent to the ground. From here, he can punch his opponent, snap their arm, break their leg... it's a tricky tactic to defend against. Michael based his game around this move and got plenty of “ooooh!” noises from the crowd when he landed it. Even so, it proved to be his undoing, as Marduk is vulnerable during the move which makes him easy prey for combos. After shutting down the tackle a couple of times, I gained the momentum and eventually the win.
Above: The tournament was held in London at Namco Station
Just four players remained. Myself, Claydon, Imran (one of the Law players I noticed earlier) and Robin, owner of the custom arcade stick. I'd be up against Claydon's Baek while the other two battled for the remaining spot in the grand finals.
Like Hwoarang, Baek is a tricky character to play against because of his various kicks. One mistake will see you kicked high into the air, where you’re then at the mercy of further kicks as you try to scramble back to a decent defensive position. Claydon kept the early pressure up and took the first match without too many problems.
By this point, the entire room was watching and the pressure was on. For the second match, I decided to keep my distance and block high if Baek got close, figuring he couldn’t do much damage with low attacks. My hunch proved right but Claydon also switched up his gameplan for the final match, as he held back himself. It came right down to the last bit of energy in the last round, we both went for a kick and… Raven’s kick won! Claydon jumped up, turned around to the crowd and shouted “I can’t believe it!” and then watched the replay in disbelief. A close match but those are the kind of margins we’re talking about in tournaments…
Now it was down to the final. Robin eliminated Imran in a semi-final that went right down to the wire and seemed confident. His Devil Jin (pictured left) had been cleaning up the opposition and I knew I was in for a tough match. So it proved – despite my best efforts to make the finals at least competitive, Robin was never really knocked out of his comfort zone.
He realised I didn’t know how to deal with Devil Jin’s flying attacks – he can either throw or kick from that position – and using that as the main building block for his attacks. When I was knocked down, he did a good job of covering my attempts to get back to my feet. When I charged in, he kicked me away. When I blocked, he threw. Everything I guessed, everything I tried, everything I thought of, he was one step ahead. And that’s why after winning 2-0, he was crowned the grand champion and raised the Heihachi trophy aloft.
Here's my path through the tournament - and my attempt at graciousness in defeat in the final.
Afterwards, Robin gave some useful advice. He said that some characters can hit Devil Jin in the air when he takes off for the throw/kick mix-up, which leads to a combo. He said it was a risk the first time he tried it but when Robin saw I didn’t know how to deal with it, he kept on using the move. He also said learning the basic moves and general movement is more important than learning combos. It’s the basics that will get you far in Tekken 6.
Robin also won a place to the main event - the finals of the National Tekken Tournament on the same day, which this tournament served as the final qualifier for. That tournament had the top Tekken players from across the UK – known names like Ryan ‘Prodigal Son’ Hart, Dinosaur, Starscream, Cobra Commander and others. And it was Ryan Hart, winner of Tekken tournaments on the international stage in Las Vegas, whose Kazuya triumphed in London over Luna’s Alisa in the finals.
Above: Overall winner Ryan Hart with his Heihachi trophy
Two champions crowned on the end of a day that ended with lots of virtual fighting but lots of laughter and stories to tell. And for those of you who weren’t there, there’s only one question we can ask you – what will YOU fight for?
12 Nov, 2009
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