Young Ladies Don't Play Fighting Games

Cafeore goes in, using his projectile for cover.

Gekido techs the throw. His defense is on point!

You piss me off, Gekido.

Gekido!

He cancels a crouching medium kick, pressing home his advantage!

I know that combo.

Hakkei into Tenku Kick only works if the opponent is crouching for the first hit,

meaning he chose the perfect combo route after hit confirming.

That situational awareness and rushdown relying on the crouching MK...

are key to Cafeore's signature "all-in" playstyle!

Meanwhile, Emperor Gekido is playing a defensive neutral game for now.

How will the match develop from here?

Aya-san.

Teya-senpai.

How has your day gone?

I made it out of my first pool as a winner.

If I can win my next pool, I'll be through to tomorrow.

What about you?

I got matched against this scary-looking guy,

but he was nervous, too, and I scraped a win.

By some miracle, I managed to advance as a winner, too.

There's nothing miraculous about it.

You spent forever in the lab and took SF6 seriously.

I've seen all the effort you put in.

Uh, you getting embarrassed is making this awkward.

Oh, um, I mean...

Thank you, Aya-san.

Oh, I know.

Don't you think we should go eat lunch while we have time?

Well, I guess so, but I wanna watch at least this match first.

It's certainly attracting a lot of attention.

Those players are well-known pros, aren't they?

The thing is, I checked the brackets, and it looks like...

My next match is against whoever wins this.

He sticks the landing!

Cafeore takes the first game!

YOUNG LADIES DON'T PLAY FIGHTING GAMES

By the way, Aya-san, did you check Discord?

My phone's not getting any signal. Maybe there's just too many people here.

Did I miss something?

Mio-san ended up in the losers bracket after her first match.

It's just like the first time I played against her.

She has wild ups and downs.

This girl just won't die.

She's down to the magic pixel and trapped in the corner,

but she's freakishly determined to stick it out.

Who is this gaming rich girl?

Whoa. For real?

She walked in with a throw then?

She's just plain good.

Players whose matches have finished, please come here to report.

Good game.

G-Good game.

Man, I got you down to one pixel of health in the corner.

I can't believe you hung in there.

And that last throw.

Who just walks in like that when one light punch will kill them?

If there's a reason you thought that would work, I'd love to hear it.

Well, when I'm playing someone...

I focus, then all of a sudden, I instinctively feel like, "Oh, I can land a throw now."

This will hit.

He was down to the magic pixel and trapped in the corner,

but Gekido stuck it out with freakish determination.

He's just too good at staying alive.

The game count is now 1-1!

Gekido.

Since that day...

I've never stopped being pissed at you.

Move it, old-timer.

That's my spot you're sitting in.

Oh, yeah?

Well, then...

Why don't you make me move, kid?

Who the hell...

is this guy?

Cafeore finishes with a Spinning Bird Kick.

That combo can also go into an SA, but Cafeore chose to save his meter.

If either player gets caught out now,

this match is over!

H-Here we go! That's Gekido's...

killer "gamer smile"!

He's known for it overseas, and it proves he means business!

What the...

Gekido started poking with crouching MK.

It's like he wants to meet Cafeore on his home turf.

You tryin' to tempt me?

Bring it the hell on!

And they're both in burnout!

I don't believe it!

Any hit means a super! Any touch still means chip damage!

Every one of these kicks flying back and forth spells certain death!

He got in my head.

What a waste of time.

Boring-ass losers.

Full Combo!

Full Combo!

Taiko no Tetsujin

Nothing's worth my effort.

Ryoya!

Is it true you crushed it at another SF5 tournament?

You kick ass at running and gaming, man.

I bet you could even go pro.

That day, you made me think...

that maybe these things...

these fighting games were deep enough to be worth going all in on.

They're both timing their crouching medium kicks to whiff punish,

and still closing in, pixel by pixel.

It's almost like...

...they're playing chicken.

That's why you piss me off, Gekido!

They both just stepped on the gas!

They're racing into death's domain!

What's wrong? Is that all you've got...

Gekido?

Hey, Cafe. Think we can go all the way, you and me?

All the way to the other side of that screen?

I'm coming for you.

A forward...

...walk!

You really think I'll fall for that...

a second time?!

He whiffed his Super Art.

He blew the hit confirm?

No. He didn't make a mistake.

He was led into it.

He played me.

A Critical Art punish!

This hotly anticipated match between teammates goes to Gekido!

Blue Lightning

White Lily

To pool 93

Cafeore

To pool 93

Okay!

To us all making it out of our first pools...

Cheers!

I was honestly nervous about entering at first.

I kept thinking, "Am I good enough?" and

"What if people don't want me there?"

I mean, it's open-bracket. Beginners and people entering just 'cause are welcome.

Still, taming the nerves is tough.

My jumping medium kicks keep coming out early today.

Oh, same. Today, of all days, I keep making mistakes with my dash inputs.

It happens to everybody.

What sort of mistakes have you made?

Well...

I mean, I don't really get stressed.

You don't?

Is that even possible?

Are you human?

I've been that way since SF4.

Well, I stopped stressing out when I got to my second match.

Maybe we're both just good with stress.

You still ugly-cried when you lost your first match.

Why would you tell everyone that? What's wrong with you?

You'll ruin my image as the cool one.