There is a player in the USA who is known both for playing great Hilde, and for playing Yoshitmitsu differently than the rest… Let’s meet Signia!

Twitter: @signiahakkar
Twitch: sc_signia
Youtube: Signia Hakkar
Birth Year: 1990
Country: USA

If you had to introduce yourself in three sentences to some SoulCalibur player who didn’t know you, what would you say?

I’m a high level US West player that has reputation for being theoretical and methodical (but in game I’m really not). I’m one of the few strong US players that still actively helps character-specific communities and beginner-intermediate players. I hit the lab so myself and other players can get the game-specific knowledge out of the way and focus on strategy and reading the opponent.

What is the origin or meaning of your nickname?

It’s based an old World of Warcraft character of mine, that stayed at a low level to fight in low level pvp.
One of the few accessible trinket items to use was the Insignia of the Horde, which could break you out of stun or fear.

The name “Signia” is a homage to being fearless and unstoppable.

How did it happen that you ended up playing fighting games?

I always liked the original SC growing up, and playing SCII with friends, and was looking to get into some competitive gaming scene, and when SCIV came out, I saw my chance. David Sirlin’s Playing to Win, which was popular at the time, was a big influence.

Who do you main in SC6 and why?

I play Yoshimitsu and Hilde.

Yoshimitsu in SCV satisfied my aggressive execution-heavy style which I wanted to change to from my original style in SCIV, with Sophitia, which encouraged defensive skill that covered Yoshimitsu’s weaknesses. I eventually settled on a more balanced style that changes depending on the matchup, which works great in SCVI. Unlike most Yoshimitsu players that play him for the wackyness or surprise factor, I always enjoyed the erratic, lightning-fast attacks and movements that rewarded precise and zealous play that still could be executed online.

In SCVI, I still struggled against long-ranged characters, and I thought a Hilde secondary character was the answer to that. Instead, Hilde became a second main that played more to my original defensive strengths, controlling the match through careful spacing, movement and whiff punishment, and the threat of it that allows me to go wild while the opponent must be wary.

What is your opinion regarding SC6?

SC6 is the best game in the series, and as someone that has looked deep into the game theory and design of the game, it really is a masterpiece, cleaning up the many flaws and natural imbalances inherent in the design of the previous games. No basic, one-dimensional, or degenerate style of play is too overbearing in SC6, and high skill level does not invalidate characters nor large portions of their move lists.

If you could change one single thing about SC6 what would that be?

I would remove meter from the game and give every character unique resources to do similar but weaker things, like many of them already have.

What do you consider to be your greatest SC6 achievement and why?

I don’t have a single crowning achievement, but winning the Socal Regionals SC6 demo tourney against SonicFox, getting 13th at EVO 2019 (defeating Lolo, Partywolf, Draethion, KDZ, and Myloes)
and winning a couple of the bigger national online tournaments are my best wins.

Please answer a single question that you were not asked but you would like to answer!

When’s your mixup solver coming out?

I’m glad you asked! For those that don’t know, I am developing a “solver” of sorts where you input you and your opponent’s options of a mixup and the outcome of each possibility into a table, and the web app calculates the optimal % frequency that you and your opponent should do each option. This can help answer questions like “how often do I duck against a character with weak lows and a safe launcher?” in Soulcalibur, or even in 2D fighting games like Street Fighter it can tell you “how often should I Dragon Punch?” — really, any sort of mixup situation in any game, even RTSes and FPSes, provided you can list all viable options and accurately quantify reward. It can’t win the game for you, but it can give you a picture of what the most non-exploitable play looks like. I recently started a new software job so it was delayed for a bit, but I will go ahead and launch the website in its early state soon.

Follow my Twitter @signiahakkar for the link in my profile when it’s up!

Thank you for the interview!