[Tournament] NFTT - Top 8 finals! Now with dates and times!

[neigutten]

So, after having concluded the last fast timer tournament for the year, we have this list of top 8 who made it. (Original Document with all the results)

The time and date for this finals will be:
Saturday 4th of november

World Clock & Time Converter

Sunday 5th of november

World Clock & Time Converter

So, mark it in your calendar, and create some hype in the chat while they play!

Top 8 is

1. 448 points @Fluffiness with a lead so large that it is as close to being literally off the charts. Winning 3 out of 7 and finishing second place on a fourth. What makes it even more impressive, is that it was mostly on the back (knees?) of Persephone.
2. 192 points @Attilian. Good to see eu representing strong. Also showing that you can do very well with a low participation rate.
3. 176 points @Caralad also representing eu!
4. 168 points @FourLiberties after winning the first tournament, he has yet to end up in top 2 for any of the other ones, is he able to show his skills in the finals?!
5. 132 points @Zejety showing that you don’t need to win a tournament to end up qualifying, just getting strong results while representing often gets you there as well!
6. 128 points @Fusxfaranto getting second place both times he has entered, he must be fiending for that first place spot by now?!
7. 128 points @Niijima-san with the lowest participation rate, but if you win the one you enter, you can just barely end up qualifying too!
8. 116 points @BD_Corro steals the last place qualifier with a strong showing throughout!

These people will be fighting for a pot of 200$!

First place winner will end up getting away with 100$
Second place winner ends up witn 60$
Third place winner ends up with 30$
Fourth place winner ends up with 10$

First there will be a round robin, where everyone gets to play everyone. The top 4 of that round robin will play in a double elimination tournament for the money.

Now we just need to figure out dates that work with everyone, which I will start doing tomorrow through PM’s. Hopefully this will work well on a date in november. Keep tuned peeps!

[Niijima-san]

Skating by with minimal effort? I feel like I’m back in high school again.

[neigutten]

That is what happens when you ace the one you enter

EDIT: We are very close to getting the time and date settled, so keep the eyes peeled

[neigutten]

Good people! Time and date is set! These fine players have found a date and time to get this show on the road, and that time and date is

Saturday 4th of november

World Clock & Time Converter

Sunday 5th of november

World Clock & Time Converter

So mark your calendars! Lets show these competitors some love by being hype in the lobbies, place your bets on the results in the challonge link! http://challonge.com/NFTTplayoff

[MR75]

Hmmm,
it seems that worldtimebuddy links don’t work properly…

[Bryce_The_Rice]

Yeah those links aren’t working

Hopefully I can stream.

[neigutten]

worldtimebuddy links are updated! Sorry about that, and thanks @Bryce_The_Rice, if you stream, that would be nice! I have already asked @Leontes if he is able, so this way we could document different matches as well ^^

[neigutten]

I asked the top 8 a few questions about their previous tournament accomplishments, their historical matchup data, some predictions and if they had a special message to any doubters, about their chances. I was planning on doing this from bottom to top, but I havent gotten an answer back from two of the contestants, so we’ll do it as best as we can with what we have.

So first one up is Niijima-san!

What tournaments have you won, or done well in?

I have come in top 8 of all three Summer Smashes I’ve entered. In fact I come in top 8 in almost every tournament I enter. I’ve had crapola results on the IYLs I’ve done though, losing two in play-ins and this year being the first time I’ve gotten to playoffs losing first round to someone I 3-0ed in league. I win a lot of single day tournaments, winning like 3 or 4 or CKR’s when he ran them and of course the one of yours I actually had the day off to enter. I have won some of the weirder format tournaments, like Dietz’s Persephone’s Pick Your Poison. I won plenty when V1 was still early, before I left and Friiik/deluks became household names. I also won a few back when V2 was still in flux, but as far as winning “majors” I have a hard time closing them out. I usually dominate until late in the bracket and then just fold. I think that’s why I do so well in these single day ones because I don’t have the time to get in my own head.

You only participated in one of these fast timer tournaments, but you are the player with the most tournament matches on record, with an astounding 678 recorded matches in the historical matchup chart. Not only that, you have a 6.1 winrate to boot! With that in mind, you might be the player people would imagine ends up winning this tournament. How do you feel going into this?

I feel like I always do going into every tournament: doom and gloom. I am a very negative person when it comes to my own skills/strengths, so even if I was the best player in the top 8 I still always assume something will come and ruin my day. In fact, the better I feel about winning the worse I do. When I first entered the game I dominated, then I steadily lost more and more, then I took a long hiatus. When I came back in V2 I dominated, then steadily lost more and more. Then I took a hiatus when the forums broke down and came back and once again dominated. I won like 10 tournament matches in a row. And now I’m losing again.

Your most played character, Vendetta, is considered to be one of the worst characters in the game, but you still have a 6.3 winrate with that character. Your only bad record with Vendetta is against, DeGrey, Zane, BBB and Gloria. Outside of Attilian, there arent many who main Zane here, and I don’t know if I have even seen a DeGrey in this [tournament series]. Will we see Vendetta do well in this top 8?

Vendetta will probably make an appearance, and I’ll probably have at least an even if not positive winrate with him. I usually do. I don’t start matches with him is why. I hardly ever start matches with my best characters, I bring them out for advantageous CPs and clutch points. That’s how I have such a great winrate with Rook (and Vendetta). If I just led with him every match I would get G1 cped all the time and my Rook would look like everyone else’s. So I wait until someone picks someone who is soft to my low tier mains then bring them out to capitalize, and I’m good enough with them to sometimes win the counter CP afterward. Hence positive winrate. This all being said I predict a lot of Rook and Gwen and Setsuki and I’m not going to play Ven against any of them (though he can still be a pretty good skullbreaker against Gwen), so maybe he won’t come out after all.

What are your predictions for top 4?

Predictions for top 4? Fluffiness almost definitely: he has been playing so well since I’ve come back, I can’t imagine he won’t make it. Fusxfaranto probably: he is very solid and plays an explosive character. Caralad probably: seems pretty good. Then maybe me for #4? If not then prob BD Corro.

Do you have any message to anyone who might not think you are able to win this?

You’re probably right.

---

So, the player with the most matches recorded in the historical chart and arguably the most consistent highest placer in tournaments in general comes out not feeling all that favored. There might also be some tips in here too the people playing “low tiers” as well, don’t lead with them, but try and force your opponent to counter pick into a matchup that is favorable to that character.

Next up, in a day or two, we get to see what Fusxfaranto has to say ^^

This top 8 is going to be nuts!

[neigutten]

A bit late, but here is the inverview with Fusxfaranto!

What tournaments have you won, or done well in?

My first real tournament success was winning the double-blind single elimination test that ran right before the death of the old forums, then I stopped playing much until this summer. Most of my recent success has been in IYL5, winning first in my division (which had some pretty stiff competition, if I say so myself), and I’m currently sitting in playoff semifinals.

From the historical matchup chart, I see that you have a 5.6 winrate in general, and that that goes even higher when we look at your Gwen with 6.0. You have only bad matchup numbers against Onimaru, Lum, Rook and Grave. None of which are usually picked by any of your opponents, do you feel confident that Gwen can win you this on her own?

One day, people will figure out Gwen. But as it stands, even a lot of players that play Gwen fairly often don’t quite have it down. After this tournament and IYL wrap up, I think I might work on a character guide and give away all my secrets . Also, individual character pair matchup rates have a small sample size and can be pretty misleading. In fact, I’m not really concerned about any of those characters. Granted, I’d be pretty surprised if I never ended up counterpicking (or starting) with any other character in this tournament.

What are your predictions for the top 4?

My extremely approximate ordering:
_Niijima-san = Fusxfaranto = Fluffiness > Caralad > Attilian = BD_Corro > FourLiberties = Zejety

Do you have any message to anyone who might not think you are able to win this?

At this point, I think it’s fair to say that I’ve earned a reputation as a half decent player. Most probably won’t peg me for first, but I don’t think anyone would say it’s out of the question. If they do, it’s because they haven’t realized that GWENMETA is already here…

---

Is Fusxfaranto correct? Is the GWENMETA already here? I seem to remember people saying Gwen was bottom 5 guaranteed, especially in the old forums. Has Fusxfaranto found something to make her relevant in the carousel?

I guess we have to wait and see!

Next up is another ice queen representative, with Zejety!

[Zejety]

I am sincerely looking forward to @Fusxfaranto’s Gwen guide! I feel like there is a lot I can still learn about Gwenplay, despite somehow making top 8.

[neigutten]

Definitely! I hope it just consists of “Relentless strike for 11 damage each turn you can”. That would be nice.

[Niijima-san]

Gwen is a character, like Setsuki, that doesn’t really have to be relevant to the carousel because she just has fast draw and consistent high damage. She isn’t as good as Setsuki of course, but in general the same threat still exists: fast combo starters that lead into hellacious combos. I also agree with Fusx that people play her “wrong” (and I say that as the person with the best relevant Gwen record in tournament, 38-21, 64%). I have seen Fusx play her many times though, and he plays her exactly right IMO.

[Zejety]

If I wasn’t so self-critical I’d feel a little condescended to in recent posts. ^^

[Niijima-san]

Nowadays everybody wanna talk like they got something to say but nothing comes out when they move their lips it’s just a bunch of gibberish muthafuckas act like they forgot about Zejety.

Or to put it in prose, that wasn’t my intention, but words are wind.

[neigutten]

I was only tried to say that I really like the relentless strikes ability nothing about you in the slightest! <3

[neigutten]

So, over to my personal “I want this person to win” pick, one of the E U E L D E R S on the site (including the old one), Zejety.

What tournaments have you won, or done well in?

I have no amazing tournament results to show but I’ve placed 2nd in a few one-day events and made play-offs in at least one IYL.
One of my earliest one-day-tournament memories is playing against WaterD’s Grave in v1. The tournament was super long and it must have been 3 am for me when the finals started. He beat me pretty hard over two sets (he came from the loser’s bracket) and even offered to delay the match, as it was probably obvious how tired I was.

From the historical matchup chart, we see that you have an 5.0 winrate, and that your character choices are less about “picking a top tier”, but more about playing someone you enjoy. Gwen and BBB are your most picked characters, with 5.0 and 4.8 winrates both, how do you feel coming into this top 8 with your experience being most on those two characters?

It’s not that I am consciously avoiding high-tier characters, although I do like standing out a little bit with my character choices if not my playstyle; like you’ve said I just like playing what I enjoy. BBB was fun to figure out when barely anyone played him, and Gwen is just exciting: Landing naked Chains is a great feeling!
Unfortunately, the show share a couple counterpicks, so I cannot really cover one’s weaknesses with the other.

It does, however, seem like you could bust out a Geiger, Rook or Arargarg at any point tho, and with Arargarg and Geiger, you have a pretty respectable winrate. Do you see yourself going to any of these characters if you end up on the back foot?

Ha ha, yeah it’s a little disappointing that their winrates are higher than my mains’ ones, but I suppose that’s a natural consequence of only using them as counterpicks. I used to main Geiger in v1 and Rook at the start of v2, so I am still somewhat familiar with them, although I have to admit that I have to consciously remind myself to stick to Rook’s correct gameplan when I play him - I rarely block enough.
As for Arg, he’s just a great counter pick, especially against some characters that give Gwen trouble. I don’t think I’m particularly proficient with him, but his good MUs are lopsided enough to be a better pick for me in those than Gwen.

What are your predictions for the top 4?

Fluffiness has been killing it in this series and has been responsible for kicking me out of the qualifier tournaments more than once. Caralad has beaten them at least once and also kicked me out of NFTT7’s winner’s bracket.
Niijima-san has always been known as a strong player (and represents best waifu!).
I can’t decide between the others, who are all respectable players, so I’ll put myself in there, too.

So my top 4 would be somewhat like this:
1. Fluffiness
2. Caralad
3. Niijima-san
4. Zejety

Do you have any message to anyone who might not think you are able to win this?

I’m with you!
I sometimes suffer a bit of imposter syndrome when I do well in a tournament. We have a bunch of great players in our community and I feel humbled to do well among them.
Regardless, I’ll give my best and try to ride the train that is Gwen variance and win this.

---

So, the second Gwenplayer in the top 8, is that proof that the GWENMETA is real!? Is Zejetys proficiency with BBB enough to make the Troq players stay away from our favorite grappler? Or will Zejety represent a dominant Geiger/Arg counterpick that other players might not be ready for?

I know I am looking forward to these matches at least!

Next up we have Caralad, unless FourLiberties gives back a reply within a few days ^^

[Niijima-san]

Best waifu?

EDIT: Oh, you must mean Makoto Niijima, not Vendetta.

[neigutten]

Then we have another E U representative, who has flown under my radar until I started with this tournament series, Caralad!

What tournaments have you won, or done well in?

In terms of Tournament victories, my first ever tournament win was in a monthly single elminiation tournament. Other than that I also won Snoc’s Single Character Showdown, Onimaru edition, as well as obviously one of your own NFTTs.

I’ve traditionally had my best results in single day fast timer tournament, and haven’t managed to pull a top 8 in a major yet, but I’m confident that one day my time will come.

From your historical matchup chart, it seems to me that you enjoy the big bodies, firstly in Troq, then it seems like you enjoy playing Rook and Orange Rook equally. All of which sports a winrate of over 6.0. Seeing that there is no dedicated Geiger player in the top 8, but plenty of small squishy low health characters instead, how do you feel about your chances?

I definitely have a love for Troq and Rook, as anyone who knows me well will tell you. The Onimaru numbers are slightly misleading though, as the majority of those are from the Single Character Showdown Tournament. In fact, before that tournament I believe I had no competitive matches with that character.

While there are no Geiger specialists, I’m certain that one or two people in the Top 8 are willing to make that switch. However, I feel comfortable with a large portion of the roster. I have a personal affinity for Gwen, and feel like she is slightly underrated by a lot of people. I could be tempted to bring her out for certain opponents…

What are your predictions for the top 4?

I think any smart money has to go on Fluffy making top 4. He has been on an absolute tear recently, between dominating this format, and winning Summer Smash.

I think Nijima-san is someone else to watch out for. His position is the top 8 results does not show his true skill, and is always a strong opponent.

I feel I can steal a top 4 slot by hook or crook. The last spot is the toughest for me to predict though. I’m going to say Attilian.

Do you have any message to anyone who might not think you are able to win this?

You can never count me out. I play a lot from my gut, and feel when I follow it I usually get rewarded. I was forged in the fire of a fast timer tournament (Sippery Spag Sundays) and I feel when I am on form, I can beat almost anyone who plays this game. It’s all going to come down to which me turns up. The me who gets frustrated, or the me who believes that reads ARE real, and enjoys proofing it.

---

Wait wait … a player who believes reads are real!? What is this subversive thought process, I thought reads don’t real. Jokes aside, big bodies are often seen as read heavy in lots of other fighting games too, so I agree that reads can indeed happen in Yomi too.

Next up we have Attilian, before we end up dealing with the scourge that has been plaguing the E U for the last months.

[neigutten]

What tournaments have you won, or done well in?
NFTT8 is my only tournament win to date.

When I look at your historic matchup chart, I see someone who knows what playing to win means. The most played characters are Zane, Troq and Grave, in that order. Is your competativeness trancendent to other games, or is there something in Yomi that brings it out of you? Or have I read you completely wrong, and you just like those characters?

Yeah I like to approach most competitive games in a play-to-win sort of way, so I’ll usually go with strong characters, tactics and so on.

In Yomi I do like some lower tier characters a lot too, but when it comes to tournament matches I find it too frustrating to play with them for long, just because I end up blaming the characters for my losses rather than my play.

There are more than enough characters that I like playing in the higher tiers to keep me interested in tournament play, so I’ll be sticking with them for a while yet.

Do you feel like you have an edge against your competition because of these characters in your arsenal?

Not particularly, all the NFTT finalists know what they’re doing when it comes to the character select screen. Even when the lower tiers come out there are reasons. And who knows, maybe the fast timer meta is different anyway.

What are your predictions for the top 4?

I’ll pass on that one. I’m not into predicting my opponents’ performances.

Do you have any message to anyone who might not think you are able to win this?

Nah.

---

It took the humbleness of Attilian to be the first player not to predict Fluffieness in top 4! And I think he is on to something here, predict all you like, but there are plenty of killers in this top 8. Lots of sharks, and there is blood in the water. No matter who ends up in top 8, there is no doubt in my mind that they have deserved to be there ^^ Attilian is definitely not holding anything back, full on humbleness in the streets, full on top tiers in the sheets!

[neigutten]

Not since the bubonic plague has such a scourge ravaged the EU, I am of course talking about Fluffieness “The E U K I L L E R”, and with 3 out of 4 possible wins, and a second palce in this tournament series, we need no further introduction.

What tournaments have you won, or done well in?

I’ve recently won Summer Smash IV. I’ve also won Team Draft 2 (hi mi-go!) and placed top 3 in Lum’s Lucky Lottery. I’ve placed top 8 in various other tournaments too.

So, you are quite possibly the truest definition of a low tier hero on this top 8 list. Winning 3 out of the 4 tournaments you entered here, all where Persephone has done the majority of the work, what do you think of your chances going forward? Are you afraid that your opponents will have done their homework and practiced against Persephone on fast timer to beat you? Will you then end up leaning on your Setsuki?

I still like my chances going forwards, to be quite honest. It used to be that I had no real Setsuki counterpick, and would either have to mash Troq or Perse at Sets until I got lucky, but I’ve recently been testing out Gwen as an alternative, and she’s found her place in my roster as my Setsuki CP, so I feel confident that I’ve patched up a huge weakness against today’s meta. I also don’t really fear people counterpicking my Perse, because I’m the only top tier Perse left on the site, so there’s no one to practice beating Perse against. Additionally, as some of you might recall, I used to mono Perse, and would have spreadsheets to precisely calculate the odds of each card being in my opponent’s hand at all times. Well, I’m glad to say that this tournament will mark the return of the Spreadsheets, or at least their simpler cousin, the Index Card. I don’t know if I’ll manage to keep up in fast timer, but it’ll at least be interesting. As to Setsuki, I have to admit that I’ve also been less of a fan of my Sets recently, and pretty much only take her out as a CP to specific characters.

What are your predictions for the top 4?

Well, I predict myself reaching top four. Out of the remaining seven people, I’d have to say I believe that Attilian will make it, since he has a good stable of characters, and is just good at the game in general. There’s a reason he ended 2nd in prelims. As for the other two, I’m gonna go against the rankings here and say Corro and IamNobody [Niijima-san] will round out the top four. They’re just the ones I find most scary, and I think they’ll make it out.

Do you have any message to anyone who might not think you are able to win this?

You’re all non believers, and the Speadsheets will carry me straight to the top.

---

I wanted to italics something that was in italics already, but I was unable. An actual “hidden tech”? Spreadsheets? I am getting flashbacks of Infiltration checking his cellphone for matchup notes before a match. Is there anyone who can stop this man?! Will Caralad bring the antidote again? Being the only one who has beat Fluffieness before in this tournamentseries, this might be the case. However, we can only hope he has also vaccinated the rest of top 8.