Today we’re bringing you the latest episode of our Tekken 6 interview! Having interviewed Rain, Aris and GM we’re coming back to Europe where lives our guest, Malekith! You can find the interview in the rest of the entry.

Di
From what I remember you used to play Paul in DR. Why aren’t you playing him anymore?
I still play him, but my main focus is now Asuka. Last time I played with him seriously it was at a 2 vs 2 Tournament on 1st may 2010.

L_Z_N
How did you prepare yourself for SVB 20-X?
Before I took my flight to London I played some games with the Dutch players. When we arrived in London I tried my best to sleep, but unfortunately I randomly woke up 3 times in the middle of the night. First day at SVB 20-X I didn’t performed that well. 2nd day I’ve slept better and performed way better. So basically sleeping is the best preparation for me.

RKE
What do you think is Asuka’s placement in the tier list (upper, mid, lower)? And could you
elaborate on why you think she is places as such.
I would say she is a mid tier. Asuka ‘s low/mid pokes is good but not great. Her damage output is low compared to many characters and her real weakness is her punishment. Her real strength in this game are her defensive tools.

Devil Kazuya
what is asuka advantage and weakness? when did you start playing Tekken?
Asuka’s advantage are her defensive tools like d+3+4, d/b+1, b+1+3 (b+2+4), ss+2 etc..And her weakness is punishment. I started playing Tekken since Tekken 2 era and first Tekken I bought was Tekken 1 (Platinum).

KramTheRapist
what is your strong side in tekken; Combos , spacing, okizeme, guessing game…. what?
All the combinations you mentioned. Or at least I’m trying to =) My strongest side in Tekken is trying to adjust my play style against different players.

Furb
If you could play in Tekken Crash, which european players would you like to team up with? Do you think the european top players could stand just a little chance against Korean players?
I would like to team up with my training partner Wogus who is also a good friend of Nin (he actually plays on Nin’s stick). He visits Korea regular, so he can show me some nice places over there. The other team member I like to team up with is Gen1us. As most of you guys know he is now in Korea. Both Wogus and Gen1us can play on Korean sticks which is essential for Tekken Crash. Korea and Japan are on a whole different level compared to any other country.

Lestat-Valentine
Would you like to see Jun Kazama return in future TEKKEN iterations? And if so, would you use her?
I rather hope they make Asuka better in the next installment. But if Jun returns it depends of her fighting style if I will use her.

XelNaga
From the other tekken players who play the same character as you, have you seen any that you have any respect for and would like to team with/play against.
I have much respect for Addung (Korea) and Kujinshee (Japan).I personally don’t like mirror matches so I want to team up with them. Asuka madness!!

Kaiser
Did you know the asuka forums at TZ crashed just as you won? (yeah, like the adon forum at srk) Are you planning on winning more tournaments before the end of the world? What would you like to say to all asuka scrubs playing online?
I didn’t know it crashed, you must be joking? I will do my best to win more tournaments and Asuka players shouldn’t play online.

AAK
What’s the community like in the Netherlands for Tekken and how does it fare against other fighting games? + Very impressive Asuka you got there
Since the release of Tekken 6 there are some new players here, but most of them aren’t that competitive. There are usually one Tekken session a week where like between 4-8 players are participating. Also there are around 4 tournaments a year in Holland with sometimes guest from Belgium and German. Since SVB 20-X more Dutch Tekken players are motivated, so I hope they will do their best to become better. Thanks for the props^^

Tekkenlover
tell me about your training, how you prepare yourself for tournament?
I’ve mentioned earlier sleeping and playing some games. But also I like to watch Japanese and Korean videos for inspiration before going to a tournament.

Tekkenlover
also if i may add to that, if i go to holland whats the best way to ask a dutch girl out?
I’m a good Tekken player.

weakling(ph)
how do you deal with opponents who spam alot of moves?
Then I spam Asuka’s reversal. Spamming moves against Asuka is not a good idea.

weakling(ph)
follow up. in a tournament do you grab much?
I assumed you have only watched my SVB20-X videos. If you watch my other videos from damagermany, Tekken mash and even older Tekken DR matches then you know I rarely grab. But Asuka’s throws are really good especially from her FC mixups. So I like to put more pressure with her throws now. I usually throw from different situations like when not finishing my strings with 1,1 or 1+4..Also I’m trying to focus more on Counterthrows for people who actually can break throws very good. Asuka has small arms so it’s harder to break her throws.

wogus
Why do you eat so much?
So I can play Tekken better.

Bati
… and stay so slim?
Because I play Tekken.

Sharog
Why do u pretend to be the most humble player alive and yet talk trash behind ppl’s backs whenever u get the chance ? :D
Who are you? And why do you hate me? =(

DaeDraug
Maan… I’ve got so many questions :D I’ve seen you are using Asuka’s P3 outfit a lot in the tourneys though P2 default
hakama is said to make low kicks less visible. What is your opinion on this? Which characters are the worst match-ups for Asuka in you opinion and why? Lets say you’ve launched opp quite far from the wall, will you go for the most damaging
juggle, or will you rather sacrifice some dmg pts and go for a spike B! ender and oki afterwards?
I personally don’t think it really matters when you use her P2 outfit to make low kicks less visible. Most of her lows can’t be ducked on reaction. I don’t like to play Asuka when she is customized by other players ,that’s why I usually use her P3 outfits.
Her worst matchups are Lars and Bruce. Lars outclasses every way compared to Asuka. He can Lock Asuka down with db+4 or b+1 so lot of my options are cancelled from sidesteps. Also Lars has better reach than Asuka. Same goes for bruce he gets better reward with b+2, cd+2, cd+3 etc..and most of his unsafe moves are really hard to punish for Asuka. But in my opinion Asuka has many bad matchups.
I rather go for oki than for damage, but it depends of my opponent’s knowledge.

MrIkari
Do you feel accomplished in sticking to Asuka throughout your time in Tekken at last? Do you feel that in spite of tier placement that different characters have unique strengths? What do you think are the unique strengths of Asuka? Does your strategy revolve around playing to her strengths such as setting them up to want to attack so you can counter them with crush moves like b3/cancans or whiff punish them with f2? When they’re feeling defensive chip them with 1,3/1,2/2,1/db3/f2 fake~Falling Rain or sidestep 1+2?
I have trained her many years and finally it paid off. But I’m always looking for new ways to improve her. I have yet still much to learn, because she can be played in many different styles. Yes, I think every character have their unique strength. Every character can compete, but you need the dedication to train the characters you like.
It depends of my opponent and especially which character I play against to show Asuka’s real strength. As a Asuka player I need to know most of my matchups or she will be toasted. I f I know my matchup then I will poke my opponent and bait them for a launch or a CH. It can be anything like crushing moves with b+3, whiff punish with f+2, counter their moves with CH 4 etc..

MrIkari
It’s been known that Tekken places a strong emphasis on playing your opponent. However, there must be some aspects of Asuka’s game that keeps you attached to her? What are they?
Simply because of her style. She got nice looking moves and also hard-hitting power moves. Also I like to cancel her moves from f+2, f+3, ws+1+2..

Yassir
do you believe in the tier list characters? if so, what is the tier list characters based on in your idea?
In Tekken 6 most characters can compete however still the tier list exists. Simply because some characters are better than others. So yes!!! Top 10 (random order) I would say Lars, Bruce, Bryan, Bob, Lili, Alisa, Law, Nina, Julia and Jack.

Florence
Yes, I still play her but not at tournaments.

LiShengshun
What do you think is the most important thing you need to focus in tekken? Setups/Mixup or Turtling?
Reading your opponent’s mind. But you need to know the basics first like Framedata, spacing, punishing, oki/wallgame, character matchups etc..all factors are very important for Tekken.

LiShengshun
Which country do you think is next to Korea and Japan in terms of skill level? Why do you think so? Your favorite player korean/japanese player? Who are/is your favorite tekken player outside korea and japan?
After Korea and Japan I would say Europe. Knee and Nin came to damagermany and they beat all the EU players and one week later they beat all the US players. Also Since the release of Tekken 6 the only time they were in Europe. They told us that the skill level between USA and Europe are about the same. I have much respect for USA players, but they are really underestimating Europe. In fact they know very little about Europe Tekken scene from what I’ve heard/read by top USA players. I really would like to play against some of USA best players like Mr. Naps, JFJ, Fighting GM.
Knee (Korea), Tongbal Love (Korea), Nin(Korea), Addung(Korea), Kujinshee(Japan), Furumizu(Japan) Fukushu (Japan)..
Gen1us (France), Stevefox88 (Italy), Dinosaur (UK), Starscream (UK). Ryan Hart (UK) is also one of my favorite but since damagermany he haven’t played much Tekken 6.

Anirban
How old are you? Where do you see yourself five years from now? Would it be fair to say you are a tekken player by profession? Is it good enough for you?
I’m 26 years old. Over 5 years I’m still playing Tekken. No, I’m not a Tekken player by profession. But I will do always my best =)

Aris and MYK are bringing us the seventh episode of their podcast. This time they cover things like playing multiple games and the upcoming new Mortal Kombat game. Moreover, this time Avoiding the Puddle’s guest is the American Tekken Tag Tournament legend, JOP!

• IAMTEKKEN.COM – Avoiding the Puddle Episode #7

After a long break we’re back to updating our Frame Data Section. It has just been updated with Leo’s Frame Data compiled by DaeDraug. Information on some of the other characters will be posted soon. Stay tuned!

Have you been having problems understanding how the Frame Data works? If so you may find noodalls’ latest video helpful. It gives you quite an introduction to it, actually showing how it works.

Text version of the FAQ can be found HERE.

We’re only a step away from the 5th Tekken Crash Season Grand Finals! Watch videos of the best four teams courtesy of Jon747 featuring 마녀삼총사, What Can You Do?!, Specialist and Resurrection!

Maxi Milian is supporting the Tekken community with South Korean news as well as Bloodline Rebellion videos. David agreed to be interview by you, our readers. As usual you have 7 days to submit your questions to our guest. Go to the comments and post!

Our friends at Tekken Nation have released the very first volume of their Tekken Comic named Jin Saga, which is based on one of the users’ fanfic. The story tells us Jin Kazama’s past events and how he became the man he is today.

• Tekken Comic (Jin Saga) By Tekken Nation

sithlord, the famous Tekken combo movie maker, has made interviews with two members of the worldwide known team KYSG which has been providing the fighting game communities with various fantastic combo acts with programmable controllers. Click one of the links below to start reading.

• sithlord’s Combo QnA: Deep Theater
• sithlord’s Combo QnA: 538

GEN1US from France, who was interviewed by SDTEKKEN.COM went to Korea and has been playing Tekken 6 in the arcades. During one of the latest Tekken Crash episodes a special match was organised between the European Paul player and Jisang whom you may recognize from the current season of the South Korean TV show. Wondering how GEN1US is doing in Asia? Check the rest of the entry for some videos.

August has brought us the first Tekken Zaibatsu Combo Video Competition with lots of great combo videos submitted. An extra poll was needed because of a draw between The Main Man and ZeroX03. The former received more votes from our forum users and we are happy to announce that The Main Man has become the first Tekken Zaibatsu Combo Video Competition Champion! If you haven’t yet seen his great video then be sure to watch Kazuya Combo ACT 11 down below. DORYAH!