Tuesday
Dec212010
Avoiding the Puddle Episode #12 featuring Mr. Naps!
BY 
Aris ON Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 8:06PM
Aris ON Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 8:06PM 
This episode of the podcast features one of the best fighting game players in the US, Mr. Naps AKA Emphy. Naps is an expert player in multiple fighting games such as 3S, SSF4 and Tekken 6. He is without a doubt the best Bryan player in the Western World.
Before we get to our interview with Naps, MYK and I cover topics such as tournament confidence and what the actual meaning of "being good" is. Give it a listen and see what you think. If you have any suggestions for guests, the podcast or the web site in general, please send those to Aris@avoidingthepuddle.com.
Listen:
Podcast
Download:
MP3 - 01:17:34 - 71.0 MB
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To see Mr. Naps in action, check out some of the vids below:
Reader Comments (68)
Disagree on the good player thing. Just because a player isn't able to show his true colors in tournament doesn't mean he's not good. Dan Marino broke nearly every passing record in the books but never won a Super Bowl. That doesn't mean he's not good. Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl. Who is he? Yea...exactly. He's not better than Dan Marino. Don't get me wrong, winning a tournament automatically puts you in the category of a 'good player', but that doesn't mean you can't get recognized for other achievements.
@Slips, This is not a team sport though. Even if Marino was the best player to walk the earth, he can't win without a team. That's not the case in fighting games however.
Also, I'm working on getting the podcast on itunes. Should be done by tomorrow.
Whatup FoxSteve! Going off memory here so I might be slightly off, but an interesting thing about that Bronson vs Great Ivyn match is that I think IN THAT SET, Bronson LOST ft2 and ft3, but won ft5, LOST ft7, then won ft10. Who is better? Its hard to say, it went down to the wire 10-9, and going by the set its extra hard to tell who won because the pressure for ft2/3/5/7 isnt really there. The pressure for Bronson to win didn't kick in until he was down 9-6. I would say that Bronson is better and if they had JUST played a ft2 or ft3, Bronson would've won those as well, simple because the pressure would've been different and Bronson would've responded differently than he did in the ft10. My opinion, I think consistent tournament placers (top 8) are best and the higher the consistent placing the better.
@Ars, I suppose my point is just because you don't win tournaments it doesn't mean you have no chance of getting recognition as a good player. You have to do things in the extreme of course to get that recognition, like Marino breaking all records. But if someone jumped in and started regulatig Anakin, Bronson, Mr. Naps, Nin, ect. over and over again in casuals and money matches but doesn't do well in tournies doesn't mean they can't get recognition for being good.
i think slips is just talking about overall perspective.
if you look at any major sport, once you get to the highest level, whether it be nba, nfl, mlb... each one of those players spent their junior high, high school, and college years as the cream of the crop winners. no one makes it pro without putting in tons of hours of straight up winning. and there are tons of players who are amazing but can't cut it as pro's. doesn't mean they suck, its just means that there was always someone better.
and while i totally agree with slips, i also understand where aris is coming from. at the end of the day, you won't be remembered or recognized as a good player if you don't win when it counts. casuals don't go into the books. its damn near impossible to be recognized as a good player just through casuals, because that's a one-on-one thing between you and the person you're playing.
a tourney win factors in winning against all odds when it counts, and i believe that's all that matters in terms of what people will remember. but there have been some of the most amazing players that could never cut it in tournaments because of those factors. doesn't mean they're bad players, but in the end what's the point of being a good player if you aren't getting acknowledged for it? the only way you can get that nod is in tourney,when shit goes down in the history books.
Hell yes! Let's get some good Tekken apparel / merch going on! All of these SF4 shirts are SO ugly and stupid looking. I'd buy one that didn't suck, but I can't find one.
And props to me for commenting on the most random thing from the podcast hahaha.
Hi guys. I know a lot of people want this on iTunes. I'm working on that and it's our top priority. I *think* it's ready to go. The problem is that our podcast is definitely explicit content but our host hardcodes it to, "clean". We definitely need to fix that before we submit the podcast or else it could be banned. I'm talking to our host about how to configure this... probably more info than you cared about.
TL;DR: iTunes: We're working on it.
PS: This *might* not be done tomorrow. It probably will be, though.
Sup RIP - yeah man totally agree about Bronson - he's that old school SSJ, brings it out last round like Goku just to keep those kids hooked on the crack.
Know what you mean about the 1st to 2 or 3 xn match up as well and agree.
Big Ups on NorCal8 badman.
Speaking of which on topic, RIP - every time I see your name in a Tournament these days you're hitting Top 8 - Top 4 like a little battiman.
Over this year - taking all the tournaments into account - EVO, TrashDay, MLG, StrongStyle xn xn
Who is the US Player that has performed the best in lets say American Tournaments over the 2K10 period (cause you did really well in France last month RIP but I'm not sure it's fair to add those achievements into this calc).
Also - Aris/anyone, if you have the resources to dig up this information and do manage to make a calculation on who the Top Placer and spot holder for winning/placing high in American Tournaments over 2K10 would be - would you deem that guy as the best US Player 2010 for his tournament achievements?
Slips - badman
ATP on iTunes - bad
Hey Aris, you forgot to ask Mr. Naps to talk about his 'delaying tactics' after losing a match (like what he did when he lost a match to Rip last EVO).
Good job Aris and MYK. Here's hoping you can put out new podcasts on a weekly basis!
this was a great motherfreakin episode! i'm glad you talked about the topics you discussed especially since i particpated in my first tekken tournament last weekend. i got whooped, but it drives me to practice even harder, especially after hearing this episode. jimmy was a great guest. i wish i could hear him talk more about tekken because he knows what's up. after hearing some of the things he said about the game, he has now become one of my favorite players.
it was anice episode but I must admit I was a bit disappointed being a bryan player myself.
I downloaded the podcast thinking I MIGHT get some strats for bryan from "the best bryan player in the US" but all i got was stuff about mr. naps. Now I dont have anything against mr. naps, but aris, some Bryan Fury fans are not a fan of mr. naps, so i myself was not interested if mr naps will join the next tournament or not or who he thinks are the best korean players. but more on his strats about bryan. I was hoping you could ask him about what are bryan's top5 moves are and why, I know he is not supposed to relay his strats from bryan, but giving some wouldnt hurt his gameplay.
I really enjoy the episode with RIP and JFJ where they talk about some strats about law they talked more about law than themselves
again i have nothing against you or mr naps and i really enjoy listening to your podcast but at the same time,im not sure if its just me, I want to learn more about tekken and not about the players
Bar none the best fighting game (best anything??) podcast out there! This was a really good interview. I'm really impressed by Jimmy's knowledge. One comment to Aris though, you say the phrase "I complete agree/disagree" soooo damn much...like every other sentence. Just something I noticed over the course of your podcast oeuvre.
@ bitkid - I think it's cool when Aris says: "I completely agree/disagree" - it gives me a very good indication of how Aris feels about whatever particular topic. Aris' opinion to me is pretty important, so having him agree or disagree with something that I might have thought differently gives me something good to think about.
@ buddy - I personally don't use a PodCast as a method for training or pulling up hints on my character/s. For that I would use match footage and something like Tekken Zaibatsu Bryan Forums, pull up some frame data and that kind of stuff. Granted we've had James, Rip and Geese throw some shit around with Aris... but I wouldn't say character strats is the main focus.
Why I love the casts is simply to hear what's happening in the community and also the back stories and future plans of most of the guests that are featured. JOP's cast was blaytantly cool... sure they touched on Jack for a minute, but I don't think it's anything you couldn't have gotten from a forum or from watching matches.
I definitely want casts to be 90% about what's happening within the community and to boost the status and get the thoughts of players that are recognised as good players by the community.
I hear you on the character chat - but Aris' debate on 'what makes a good player' can come across better on a cast like this than on a general discussion board. ~ although - that's where it kinda ends up... on a discussion board... lol
Great guest again. An interview with JOP would be worthy.
@hdshadow. JOP was already a guest on our podcast. Check it out here.
http://www.avoidingthepuddle.com/news/2010/11/21/avoiding-the-puddle-episode-7-featuring-jop.html
Love the podcast Aris & MYK, keep them coming. I gotta say I also disagree that 2/3 in a tournament is the best measure of who the better tekken player is. 2/3 is such a small sample of one's skill set, and tournaments are tough in general because you have to fight a lot of different opponents who each play a different style you're probably unfamiliar with. You can get away with a lot of scrubby tactics in a few matches that wouldnt hold up against someone better than you in an extended set.
That said, I fully agree that there is no shame in taking the win no matter how it was won. You can't expect everyone to have experience in all character matchups. Even if you do know the enemy character's moves and such, you're going to have varying levels of expertise in each matchup ALWAYS. You may be an expert at fighting against Steve, you may know Feng's moves and fought against a few of them but you're just not as used to dealing with his setups and strats as you are with Steve.
Finally, if someone loses to you mostly because of their unfamiliarity with your chartacter, don't feel bad because it could be your turn to be in their shoes next match against a character you're unfamiliar with. You both entered the same tournament and its on you as a player to do your best to come prepared. I liken this idea to poker, do you feel bad when you suck out on someone on the river? Some people do, but I say these people have somehow forgotten all the times in the past where they had bad beats and they were the ones to get sucked out on: shouldn't you enjoy your benefit when it's your turn to be the winner?
Aris you covered so many things in this episode. After I downloaded it, I set it to play on a loop over and over on VLC media player while I play Tekken. I thried to think about what I wanted to comment on, but your discussion with MYK was so deep in thought that I do not know what to say except for, wow, keep up the great work. Mr. Naps saying Bruce is #3 in Tk6 really makes me happy too. Or, maybe unhappy in the long run in they decide to nerf him. Psst, we all know he is a good character, leave my Bruce alone please, thanks!
Wanted to let you guys know that I have an update on the iTunes situation. Check it out in the site news section on the right. Or, you can go there directly via this link: http://www.avoidingthepuddle.com/site-news/2010/12/24/an-update-on-the-itunes-situation.html
To me comparing a player who plays better at tourneys, with a player who's better at MM or FT10...is like comparing a 100m sprinter to a marathon runner. They're different, and they're good at different things..
So, a good player is someone that can consistently place 3rd...and win FT10 or so matches. IMO
The reason is to be that player you must have both the skills to win tournies...and the strong mental endurance.
And to me mental endurance, is a significant thing.. because when you play tournies..especially when you're playing at one that has more than 64 entrants... you're going to be exhausted.
I remember one day..I played at a small tourney, a very small one..
I reached the grand finals from the winners bracket.... then my opp. from loser bracket won the 1st best of 5...after a pretty even match.
Then at the 2nd match(best of 5)...he completely destroyed me..
0-3...3 times...
I didn't know exactly why it happened...
I only vaguely remember I felt tired....and I couldn't focus...that was it.
Then after reading s-kill's article on mental toughness..
I realised I needed to play in longer sets more often.. So that I can have better mental endurance.
And fortunately I went back to arcade scene, since T6 & BR was only at the arcades at the time.. And that has helped me to play longer.... I stil suck though, because the longest streak is 19 wins.