Here Comes a New Challenger: An Interview with Davao’s World Warriors

In my journey as a world warrior, I am always looking for new challengers. Like my idol Ryu, I search the world for the next opponent. In my quest for the next challenge, I came across a documentary about the Ultra Street Fighter 4 scene from Davao, one of the most quickly progressing cities in the southern part of the Philippines.

Leading the charge from Davao happened to be the Arthur Malgalpo aka Drjimmy and Julius Suizo Jr aka Scoobidot/Bidot.

After watching the video and finding Drjimmy on Facebook, I was able to set up an interview and pick the brains of two of the top fighters in Davao.

How do you think Davao’s SF community is compared to other parts of the country?

Bidot: I think Davao’s Street Fighter Scene is more “hyped” when you would compare it to the other parts of the Philippines.

Drjimmy: In all honesty, the Davao SF4 community in terms of skill is a little far behind. We have not had a lot of chances to play against people from outside the city. Bidot had the chance to go to Cebu and he finished top 8 in the eSports Festival Tournament which was pretty stacked in terms of Cebu talent.

Bidot: Our player base here in Davao needs more experience like that as well.

When you say “hype”, what do you mean? Is the player base in Davao more excited about the game? Or do you guys put more passion into your game compared to everyone else?

Drjimmy: I think what Bidot means is the excitement behind the game and the excitement the community generates. In terms of player base, we are currently at about 27 players. We recently had some players coming over from the other fighting games because of the excitement we generate in the scene.

In terms of passion, we have a lot of players that have it. They play every single day trying to improve their game. Recently, the players have stepped up their games with all the tournaments and exhibition games happening. All thanks, of course, goes to Bidot and how he handles the community.

Bidot and his brother Mox run a shop called Option Select Gaming where we all gather and play.

eSports Inquirer (EI): I like the name, it’s quite clever.

Why do you think that Davao’s community is as competitive as it is today?

Drjimmy: I think the Davao Community has always been competitive. They have tournaments or events almost every month.

Bidot: We also have a mini tournament called SF Crash.

EI: SF Crash?

Drjimmy: It’s like a last man standing kind of tournament. Everyone draws a number and we play a best of 1 by the order of the number we get until only one person remains.

EI: Sounds like fun!

Drjimmy: Not fun if you are number 1. If you want to win, you have to beat everyone, but if you pick the last number, you just have to win one game.

Bidot: Jabel did it once. I did it once by picking the last number.

Do you guys have teams of your own? Like a team Davao that you add to your gamer tags?

Drjimmy: When Bidot played in the eSports Festival tournament, his team tag was OS.Bidot.

EI: OS?

Drjimmy: Option Select.

EI: So you guys are officially team Option Select?

Drjimmy: I carry my gaming organization tag Gamevolution, GVe. We’ve worked for PeSO during the eSports Festivals.

So you are officially part of the GVe Team, Jimmy?

Drjimmy: GVe isn’t necessarily a team per se; we are event organizers based in Cebu. But yes, you could say we are team Option Select. But it’s not an official team, since Bidot doesn’t pay us yet.

Bidot: If they can beat me then I’ll consider paying them! Hehehe.

How often do you guys hold tournaments? And when is your next tournament?

Bidot: We try and have at least one tournament per month.

Is the tournament just at your shop, Bidot, or is at other venues? (malls, event centers, etc.)?

Bidot: We also have tournaments outside OS. For example, this month at Abreeza Ayala Mall, we will hold the Elite 8 Street Fighter tournament. We have also held tournaments like Davao Toycon held in SM or Mindanao Cyber Expo.

How many players would you have in an average tournament?

Bidot: It depends. If it’s based on class, more like 8 to 10. But when it’s open class, more like 20+.

During Major SF4 Tournaments, what advantages would the Team from Davao have over say a team from Manila or Cebu?

Drjimmy: I would think that most of our players are more patient in playing, especially the ones who played SF Ex3 a lot. Other than that, I have no clue. Haha.

SF EX series? You guys don’t think that that is one of the weakest SF series?

Drjimmy: I can’t speak for them. I personally never played it.

Bidot: Here in Davao, SF EX is one of the most played Street Fighters, from 1997-2008.

Drjimmy: Bidot brought his SF EX patient style to USF4. He currently is the #1 player in Davao.

Bidot: We saw Team Spooky playing Street Fighter EX casuals. So I can’t say if it was a weak game in the series.

(For those of you who are not familiar with Street Fighter EX, it is the first 3D version of Street Fighter. For more information on the game, please visit the Wikipedia page.)

Who do you consider as the “Heart” of the Davao SF community?

DrJimmy: Bidot, Mox and Sean Braga. Sean is one other guy who couldn’t join us. He does most of the PR I think for the group and Mox is Bidot’s brother who also runs Option Select Gaming Station. Collectively, they are known to the OS people as “The Authority” ala WWE!

So let me pick your brains for a bit with regards to USF4.

With the all the changes in Ultra SF4 (delayed wake up, frame rate changes, damage and life changes), what do you think was the biggest change in your mind?

Drjimmy: I would say delayed wake up. That has never been in any SF game and it changed the way a lot of players approach the game. Cammy and Akuma aren’t as effective anymore since their vortex game has changed a lot.

Bidot: For me, it’s that Bison’s unblockable set-up has been removed.

So what do you guys think of the recent rise of Mid-tier characters like Rose and El-Fuerte?

Drjimmy: I think it adds variety to the game. Before, all we saw in EVO top 8s were Akuma, Fei Long and Cammy. It also makes it more appealing to other players who don’t pick top tier.

In your opinion, who is the Top character currently in the game?

Drjimmy & Bidot: Evil Ryu!

Why Evil Ryu?

Drjimmy: Because of hop kick, tight low forward into fireball block string, dragon punch and zero frame super.

Bidot: He just can punish anyone.

Drjimmy: Plus his Dive kick and standing forward kick is just unfair.

Who is the most underrated character in the game?

Drjimmy: Hugo.

Bidot: Bison. Haha.

EI: Why am I not surprised about your answer?

Do you follow any FGC international players (Justin Wong, Diago etc)?

Drjimmy: Humanbomb and Xiaohai.

Bidot: Snake Eyes.

If you had your choice of a dream match against a “pro fighter”, who would you want to play against and why?

Drjimmy: Diago. I want a shot at the Beast!

Bidot: Gagapa, he’s one of the best Bison players from Europe, and of course Diago and Snake Eyez.

Do you have a Twitch, YouTube or any other kind of social media profiles our readers can visit and learn more?

Bidot: twitch.tv/scoobidot and youtube.com/scoobidot1982.

Drjimmy: youtube.com/drjimmy128 but I upload most tournaments to youtube.com/PeSO.

Any words of wisdom for any up-and-coming SF4 players?

Bidot: Don’t play the game if you don’t want to compete.

Drjimmy: Don’t be afraid of losing. Learn the basics, learn defense and always record your games win or lose.

Last Question for the day: What is your favorite Street Fighter Quote?

Bidot: “Kneel Before my Psycho Power”

Drjimmy: “That was fun! Get up so I can smack you again!”

And with those words of wisdom still fresh in my memory I thank the two world warriors from Davao and wish them well on their future conquests. I even left with an invite to join the world bosses with Bidot; perhaps I should start practicing my Sagat again.

Till next week World Warriors! Keep Hitting those buttons!

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