Pre-MLG Dallas Interview with GGA Dizzy

Name - Aaron Davis aka GGA Dizzy

Age - 24

Fighting Out Of - Chicago, IL

Years Competitively Gaming - 6 

Character(s) of Choice - Johnny Cage

Major Accomplishments - Top 8 at MLG Anaheim, 2nd at MLG Summer Arena, 1st at Seasons Beatings: Ascension, 3rd at UFGT8

Good to talk to you again Aaron, how is your preparation for MLG Dallas going?

Glad to have another interview with you. My training is going well, in fact at the time of writing this I am looking forward to a local at GGA tomorrow called Fright Fight. It should be good warm-up for last minute Dallas preparations.

Is it just a coincidence that the first tournament you played in after our interview you took first place?

That was pretty funny. If I do well at Dallas I will have to consider your NRC interviews my good luck charm.

Considering you won Mortal Kombat at Seasons Beatings, did you see any problems from your tournament play that you wish you could’ve done differently?

At the very beginning of the tournament I went in to my first match playing a bit too respectful. I was over-thinking my opponents options. Luckily, I made the adjustment after only a few games in the first match. Other than that, I felt as though I played very well in terms of punishment, spacing, and adaptation.

Talk about your set with Perfect Legend.  What did you capitalize on that he didn’t seem to have any answer for?

First off, let me say that the games were very close. It could have gone either way, and if we played again it could go either way. There were many things he did well that were taking advantage of his strong suits, and good setups. I was dealing with his EX teleport well, I normally was able to get away and reset the situation instead of giving him a free hit or block string. He was using Kung Lao’s mobility very well too; it is how you beat Johnny with KL. He can contend up close but making Johnny whiff attacks due to his mobility with dive kick and teleport is very important. Overall, I think I was just able to get the upper hand that day.

What did it feel like to when he reset the series? Did you change up your game plan at all after that took place?

In the Grand Finals, around the 3^rd game, when it was 1-1, I noticed he changed his play style to be very aggressive and risky. I was getting hit by a lot of his riskier options. Once I lost the 3^rd game and it was 1-2 in Perfect Legend’s favor I decided to continue using the same aggressive play style and continuous pressure, then if it was reset I would go more defensive and respectful. If I changed my play style right then, and then proceeded to win one game and lose the next, he would have been able to reset the bracket 2-3 and have those extra games to adapt to how I was changing my style. Instead, I continued to be very aggressive until the bracket reset. In the end, it paid off and being on the Winner’s side of the grand finals was very helpful. If I did not have the extra games of flexibility I would have had to change my style immediately and he may have caught on for the last few games. If you remember, in Winner’s Finals I was up 2-0 then PL adapted and ran it back to 2-2 before I was able to clutch out the last game. In that set, I could tell that PL was definitely paying attention to my tendencies and adapting accordingly.

Were you surprised to see him not make the switch to Kabal after how much success you had against his Kung Lao?

I wouldn’t say my performance was dominant over him. If you look at the game count, it was only 7-5 in my favor. It could have easily gone his way with Kung Lao. I also did well against CD Jr’s Kabal earlier in tournament, so he might have felt that I was doing well against Kabal that day and decided that he should just go with his best character. I have played many of PL’s characters and his Kung Lao is definitely his best character as well as the best Kung Lao I have played. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried Kabal if we faced in tournament again though.

Talk about your set prior to top 8 against CD Jr.  How did it feel to decisively defeat one of the favorites to win the whole tournament?

CD Jr has bested me in tournament twice prior to SB:A so I would say he was likely the favorite to beat me. I had to fight him fairly early in the tournament as well, 2^nd round Winners. I was able to beat his Kabal just by playing extremely solid, taking advantage of any opportunity he gave me to get in and deal damage. It was a great win though; a year ago I popped on the radar by nearly beating CD Jr with Cage at SB:V, and fast-forward a year it ends up Season’s Beatings the tournament where I get a win over him. It can be funny how things work out like that sometimes.

At what point in your tournament play do you channel your inner-Omega Dizzy? It really seems as if you are unstoppable at some points in competition.

Haha, I suppose I should start off with a story about how that name came to be. When playing 16 bit one day, I was extremely on point with counter-poking and he said he felt as though I was punishing his d3 on block, which I said was impossible. He claimed that it was possible for Omega Johnny. He then went on to say that there needs to be separate matchup numbers for Johnny and Omega Johnny. That is how Omega Johnny was born. When Tom Brady, the MK community’s bard, visited GGA and heard about Omega Johnny, it then entered the nomenclature of the MK community. Omega Dizzy is actually a misnomer, the actual term is Omega Johnny, but it has become Omega Dizzy as a result of it being associated with some of my tournament performances.

To actually answer your question, I don’t really ever feel as though I am the fabled “Omega Dizzy”. I think it’s just a term for when I have downloaded or figured out my opponent in that certain instance. When this happens, the opponent may look helpless as whatever option they are trying is getting beaten or avoided, when in fact they are just choosing the incorrect response to whatever situation they may be in.

How did it feel to finally win your first major?

Not to downplay my win, but SB was what would more likely be considered a regional. Majors are usually given that title if they have out-of-region competition. Although, SB:A did have CD Jr and Winter Warz, which is definitely nothing to downplay. Either way, I had to beat some absolutely top quality players to win. Regardless of its classification as far as regional/major/whatever, I feel as though the competition there was very good and winning the tournament felt great.

How much confidence did your win at Seasons Beatings give you heading into MLG Dallas?

I am pretty confident about my abilities going into MLG Dallas, but it all depends on how people are playing that day, and how the bracket ends up.

MLG Dallas is looking to be the most intense competition for Mortal Kombat, how are you feeling going into the tournament?

I feel good going into it, I can just hope for the external factors of tournament play to go my way.

Are there any players who will be in attendance at MLG Dallas that you want to go head-to-head with?

There are so many different players I would love to get games with it’s too many to name. I especially want to get games in people I have never had the chance to before as I don’t know when there will be another time I’ll be at an event with this large collection of players.

Based on your previous MLG tournament appearances, it looks like you have the most problems going up against Kenshi. How do you plan to deal with Kenshi’s strong zoning ability?

I would definitely say that Kenshi is Cage’s hardest match. There are very little options for the Cage player. Cage only can try to out play the Kenshi player in whatever way that presents itself. Kenshi beats Cage everywhere on the screen, in nearly every situation. Unfortunately, the matchup is quite lopsided and there isn’t much that can be done about it. I will try my best, and maybe use an alternate if I have to.

Where do you expect to place when MLG Dallas is all said and done?

So much relies on the player layout in the brackets. I hope to get top 8 but it relies almost entirely on how the tournament paths work out.

Do you think you will ever come to terms with the fact that you are the best Johnny Cage player?

No.

Do you see Mortal Kombat making another run at EVO 2013?

It depends. I feel like an NRS game being at EVO 2013 is almost a lock. One would presume that would be Injustice. I don’t count out MK9 and Injustice both being there though until the games are announced.

Do you think MLG Dallas could be the last time we see eSports-type money on the line for Mortal Kombat?

It could possibly be, but if NRS games are on MLG’s tournament circuit next year, we could possibly see MK9 at MLG Columbus 2013 as that will be before Injustice is out. I would think that or EVO 2013 are the only possible times that thousands would be on the line for MK9 after MLG Dallas.

What tournaments do you plan on attending after MLG Dallas?

After MLG Dallas I will be taking a break from traveling to tournaments for a while. That said, I will still go to whatever tournaments that are in nearby. My next tournament after Dallas will be Frosty Faustings V on December 29^th.

Have you been keeping up with the news on Injustice? If so, do you see it as a game that will fit your playstyle?

I have yet play any of the Injustice builds at the Comic-con and such events, however it looks definitely interesting. I will almost certainly get into it when it comes out, and then from there I will see how the game is, as to whether or not I stick with it. I think it’s too early on to make assumptions as to what kind of strategy will be the best and if it will suit me well.

What songs are you loading the iPod with for MLG Dallas weekend?

I actually haven’t put anything new on it in a while. I had to reformat my computer a while ago and never got around to getting iTunes again and switching around what’s on it. It’s already completely full as it is so I would have to delete some of my old music from it to add new stuff; I normally put new music I want to listen to on my phone and use my iPod to hold my old collection that I lost when my hard drive was corrupted. I think I will just ride out the tournament year with whatever I have on it then re-evaluate in 2013.

Before we wrap this up, is there anything you would like to add to this interview? Any final words of hype or shout-outs?

I want to say thanks to everyone who has supported me. I want to especially thank GGA and the local players who give me great games and are generally just really awesome people to hang out with. Also, thanks to everyone that also sent their congratulations to me after SB.

One last note Crum, you should know I am incapable of adding words of hype.

Best of luck at MLG Dallas Aaron and thanks for the time, I know you will be placing top 8 and will be representing the Johnny Cage community through and through.

Thanks, great questions as always and I hope this interview is my lucky charm so I can do you proud again!