TheMIXUP is one of the largest European tournaments that presents SoulCalibur as mainstage game. Hence it should be no surprise there is an interview with the top 3 players from there – and these being Incediante, Sams, and Jazair!
Can you briefly introduce yourself as SoulCalibur competitor:
Incendiate: I’m Incendiate. I’ve been a Soul Calibur Competitor for 6 years and have been playing SC6 since release. I’ve won various events including EVO and most recently an international event called The Mixup Lyon.
Sams: Je m’appelle Samba , comme la danse, ça fait maintenant quelques années que je fais de la compétition sur Soulcalibur, mais ce que j’aime par-dessus tout , c’est danser avec mon personnage et être créatif.
My name is Samba, just like the dance. I’ve been competing in Soulcalibur tournaments for a few years now, but what I love doing the most is dancing with my character and being creative.
Jazair: Salut, je m’appelle Sami, je viens du sud de la France , j’ai toujours eu le goût pour les jeux et sports de combat depuis petit. Je ne me lasse jamais quand mon pirate fait parler la poudre en match, hahaha !
Hi, my name is Sami, I’m from the South of France. I’ve always liked fighting games and fighting sports since I’m a child. I never get tired of my pirate when he lets his gunsword do the talking during a match, hahaha!
The MIXUP is one of the largest European tournaments. What were your thoughts when heading there to compete in SC6?
Incendiate: I’ve prepared for this tournament for several months, originally I was helping another player named Sozou Lion prepare as well, by training with him constantly as he was intended to be the other half of the American forces attempting to take the belt. I also practiced with some of the players in France to get a feel for what kind of things they’d bring to the table.
Sams: Je pensais à une chose : représenter au maximum la France et faire de mon mieux pour défendre nos couleurs et empêcher les étrangers de récupérer le trophée 🏆, malheureusement le jeune prodige nous a pris la ceinture, hahaha.
I was thinking about one thing only: representing France, doing my best to stand for our country and preventing foreign players from taking the trophy. Unfortunately, the young prodigy took the belt from us, hahaha.
Jazair: Honnêtement mon objectif était de freeplay avec les amis Soul de tout pays ; on a jamais trop l’occasion de faire de l’offline et ça fait plaisir. Au niveau compétition, je ne me prends pas trop la tête car c’est un frein pour performer mais je me suis toujours dit que je suis capable de sortir n’importe quel joueur, j’en suis convaincu.
Honestly, my goal was to freeplay with my friends from Soul who came from all over the country. We don’t have that many opportunities to play offline, so that was fun. About the competition, I try to not overthink because it can prevent you from performing well, but I’ve always said to myself I can out any player, I’m convinced of it.
What was your personal most memorable play, or game moment, of the tournament?
Incendiate: The most memorable moment was probably walking in to the hotel lobby where I’d find Zero, Valhanya, Jason and several others waiting to meet for the first time.
Sams: Tous mes matches sont un bon souvenir, tous les joueurs ont fait de leur mieux , en particulier la finale qui restera un très bon souvenir. Après ma défaite au premier tour contre la Taki de Drunky (un nouveau joueur français avec du potentiel), je me suis juré de faire le maximum pour revenir d’entre les morts et prendre ma revanche, haha.
All of my own matches were good memories, every player did their best. The finals in particular will stay with me as a great memory. In the first bracket, after I lost against Drunky’s (a new French player with potential) Taki, I swore to myself I would do my best to come back from hell and get my revenge, haha.
Jazair: Je pense que c’est mon deuxième match contre Skeiider, dernier round ; whiff punish CE qui glisse mdr, ça met un bon coup au moral. Après c’était des super moments avec tous les joueurs que j’ai pu affronter.
I think it was my second match against Skeiider, final round. My CE whiff punish literally slided lol, that was tough. I’ve spent a lot of great moments with all the players I’ve faced.
I have to ask: Given the opportunity to somehow directly compare EU and US SoulCalibur, did you saw any differences in the general approach, or in meta?
Incendiate: The European players have a very different Meta as they value defense much higher than American players. They tend to wait for a definitive moment to push their advantage and are generally quite patient. Many players stood out to me due to this, I was most impressed with Sams’ ability to control space and willingness to not take space where it may have been ambiguous in our tournament set.
Sams: Le style de jeu américain est différent des européens, c’est le ressenti que j’ai eu.
The American playstyle is different from the European one, that’s what I felt.
Jazair: La différence entre le style français et celui d’Incendiate en tout cas ; le mec est hyper solide sur tous les plans de jeu, je lui tire mon chapeau et j’espère que nos top FR le stopperont la prochaine fois. Mais globalement les Américains maîtrisent souvent plusieurs personnages et n’hésitent pas à les utiliser en tournoi. C’est ce qui a payé pour Incenciate contre l’ami Sams.
I mainly saw the difference between the French playstyle and Incendiate’s. This guy is very solid in every aspect of the game. Hats off to him and I hope that our French top players will manage to stop him next time.
Generally speaking, American players play several characters and don’t hesitate to use them during tournaments. That paid dividends for Incendiate against my friend Sams.
Any closing words or shootouts?
Incendiate: Closing words just being I had an amazing time in Lyon. I hope I will get the chance to fight more players from these and other regions and even though some fierce competitors who are here couldn’t make it, I still enjoyed the tournament from a fun and competitive standpoint.
Sams: Félicitations à tous les joueurs présents d’avoir fait le déplacement au Mixup, quel que soit le résultat que vous avez fait au tournoi, vous méritez tous éloge car vous êtes venus soutenir le jeu que nous aimons tous, plus particulièrement Incendiate. Et surtout merci à la France de m’avoir encouragé en Grand Finals, ça m’a touché, merci à Valhanya et Zer0.
Congratulations to all the players who made it to the Mixup. No matter where you placed in the tournament, you all deserve praise because you came and supported the game we all love, especially Incendiate. Also, thank you France for cheering me on during Grand Finals, it was touching. Thank you Valhanya and Zer0.
Jazair: Une grosse dédicace à Drunky qui m’a battu 2-1 et qui méritait son top 8.
Valhanya et Zer0 vous m’avez régalé aux commentaires ; ça donne de la force.
Un gros merci à tous les joueurs présents pour leur gentillesse et qui font vivre le jeu, surtout aux joueurs étrangers venus de loin , vous êtes au top ; respect.
On va taffer et revenir plus fort, c’est sûr!
Big dedication for Drunky who beat me 2-1 and he deserved his top 8.
Valhanya and Zer0, I got a kick out of your commentary, it gives strength.
Big thanks to all the players who were at the tournament for their kindness and their support of the game, especially the players from overseas, you are the best, big respect. We are going to work and we will come back stronger for sure!
BONUS: If you will get a chance to tell your past self a single sentence on SC6 release day, what will you say?
Incendiate: If I could tell myself one thing on SCVI’s release it would be “Play Geralt as a secondary”. I think I would’ve maybe performed worse on average for a bit, but I likely would’ve improved much faster and maybe been able to reach milestones sooner. It also would’ve given me a different perspective on the game that wasn’t just Ivy and teach me those new things faster.
Sams: En une seule phrase : Sams, deviens plus fort et arrête de te plaindre, seul le travail paie, entraîne-toi et deviens un meilleur joueur et surtout une meilleure personne.
In a single sentence: Sams, become stronger and stop complaining. Only hard work pays. Practice and become a better player and most importantly a better person.
Jazair: Optimise ton temps de jeu et bosse ton gameplan et les matchups ; c’est fastidieux mais ça vaut vraiment le coup 🙂
You need to optimize your game time and work on your gameplans and the matchups. It’s tedious but it’s completely worth it.
Thanks a lot for the interview!
Also, big thanks to awesome Valhanya who translated questions and answers to Sams and Jazair!
