Pre-MLG Dallas Interview with TFA|RZR Pig of the Hut

Name - Brant McCaskill aka TFA|RZR Pig of the Hut (Twitter - @bambamguitar)

Age - 30

Fighting Out Of - Atlanta, GA

Years Competitively Gaming - 1

Character(s) of Choice - Kenshi

Major Accomplishments - Winner of the MLG Spring Fighting Arena, 3rd at EVO 2012, 2nd at Final Round 2012, 3rd at MLG Anaheim

Well we meet again Mr. Pig of the Hut, how are you doing my friend?

Heavily caffeinated and doing well, hope everything is great with you too!

You haven’t attended a major since MLG Raleigh; will this have any effect on your overall game when MLG Dallas rolls around?

I think it will have an extremely little to no effect. I wanted to attend Seasons Beatings in Late September but I went through hell to get off work for the elusive “MLG ARENA” So after much trudging through I got off the weekend only to have nothing to do because Arena was cancelled and instead of having the SB weekend off I was left at home working instead watching it on stream. I’ve been playing quite a ton lately Offline, Online, All lines staying loose and focused.

Explain the difference between going to a local tournament and going to a major where the stakes are as high as can be.

In Atlanta we have a great group of guys, we’re extremely lucky, who are as much fun to hang out with as they are to train/play/compete with. My main focus at locals is learning, kind of like the calm before the storm and an opportunity to clear any cob webs as well as try out new backup characters, match ups and possible new mains. This Thursday’s local ATL BNB I plan on using no Kenshi and try out some newbies some more. Freddy has been going very well for me.

Have you ever been affected by the dreaded “tournament nerves”?

100% no, I could probably attribute this to playing 70-85 shows a year with various bands for 6-7 years straight. Being in front of a lot of people in a high stakes environment in no way bothers me, it gives me adrenaline if anything that I’ve learned to channel into a certain type of focus. I feel like mostly I play the best in tournament situations because of this. I get much focused in times of competition.

Kenshi seems to finally be solidified as your main and only character, is it safe to say we will see nothing but Kenshi out of you at MLG Dallas?

Kenshi is unquestionably my heart and soul in MK and my main. The way 16 bit is obsessed with Kitana I’m quickly becoming more and more day but day with Kenshi. I just kind of feel that inner connection with the character.

But will he be my only character? Don’t Bet on it, I’m looking forward to bringing a character back from the past as well as putting my name on the Freddy ranks as well right next to m2dave, Scar, Natas, CD and Clint. I no longer enjoy playing as Mileena, I’m not sure why.

After losing to REO at MLG Raleigh, have you taken the time to go back and watch your matches with him to see if there’s anything you can notice about REO or yourself?

At anytime of my day you could call me and say “Brant tell me step by step what happened in match 4” and I could probably nail it move by move, bad decision by bad decision. I’m thoroughly disgusted at the way I approached the MU, way I executed in it and the overall performance I had in the MU that day. Needless to say I watched it to the point I no longer can stand it. Its way behind me now and looking forward to another opportunity.

Are there any other Kabal players that pose a legitimate threat to you? Or is REO just one of those players who you will always have trouble playing against?

In tournament play I’m 2-12 on the losing side vs. REO.  I’ve fared much better in casuals against him but who cares about filthy casuals (Shout outs to GuamoKun).  I don’t know how to answer this question anymore because I now look at Kabal EXTREMELY different now knowing what I know.  At this point I’m probably more comfortable vs. Kabal than Kitana due to the excessive amount of time I’ve put in.  This is not a joke. With that being said every player with any character poses a threat but let me tell you how it REALLY is. People might say when the bracket is released “Oh man Pig has to play ________’s Kabal” My answer to that is, you’re dead wrong……….That Kabal player has to play me.

I think it’s pretty clear that no one shows as much of a dedication to this game as you do, what is it about this game that makes you go above and beyond to ensure that you place high in competition?

In anything I do in life, as long as I love it, I see no quit and I see no way I can allow myself to go in half-assed. When I do something, I do it…nuff said.

I love this game and I’ve said it before that it’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing a video game and I never want it to end. Long Live MK9 and all that it is!

In short I love FGs because it’s a mental chess match at a high pace that requires your reactions, knowledge and intelligence vs. your opponents.

Other than Kabal, are there any matchups that give you trouble?

The only Kabals I’ve lost to in tourney are Reo and Kevo so I think it’s a lot more about the player than anything. I went 1-1 w Kenshi against Jr’s Kabal and Mileena is trash against Kabal. No MU gives me worries or the chills and that’s including but not limited to Lao, Freddy, Kenshi, Cyrax, Cyblax, Kabal, Scarlet, Kano or Shang.

Is it possible that you have focused too much on Kabal, and thus you have overlooked some other matchups?

This is an outstanding question and the answer is yes, lol. I realized this about 3 weeks ago and since have been going equal on every MU in the game and what I found out is that I'm 100% prepared and ready for every matchup and I was freaking myself out for no reason. I mean there were some things related to Cyblax I had forgotten and other tidbits but it quickly went away when I reaffirmed myself what to do. Around the end of September is when I had these random worries but then they quickly went away. I’ve made a list already of every player there and their characters and I feel very good about every MU.

What do you have to say to the people who believe that you are “free” to Kabal?

Well on questions of this nature I refer to statistics so let us take a look and decide for ourselves.

4-0 vs. Soonk in tournament

2-0  vs. Insuperable

2-1 vs. CD Jr (wasted a game with Mileena)

2-12 vs. Reo

1-6 vs. Kevo

3-3 vs. Clint

0-5 vs. CAT at Final Round Casuals

8-3 vs. CAT at Anaheim MLG Casuals

I beat Detroit in some serious after MLG casuals Kenshi vs. Kabal

Went equal with PL in Kabal casuals

I win 95% against Lord of the Fly’s Kabal

And I ask you to ask any online Kabal in the past 2 months how those games have gone for them vs. me on both systems. I’ve played against every Kabal known to man. If you look at the above you’ll notice I’ve had few opportunities very far apart to  have a shot against Kabals in tourney and when you look at the scores you really have Reo and Kevo who stick out and to me that’s a combo of them being outstanding and using a character I don’t get to play very often at the highest level. I no longer fear the Asthma fu**** known as Kabal. It’s interesting to me I mained him in EVERY MK game as well as Cyrax and when MK9 came out I said to myself “Let’s try something new for once” Worst game ever to make that executive decision.

How do you feel about the Kenshi mirror-match?

In general I hate mirrors and this mirror in particular lmao but I’ve since fixed the issues I had where Pokchop blew me up in September 3-1. First game I used Mileena and won, lost 2^nd w her. 3^rd game was UBER f ing close with my Freddy vs. his Kenshi and I missed an AA cross up in the corner losing by about 2% health in third round. So being down 2-1 I went to Kenshi for the mirror and won first round, he won second then he dominated the third round.

Now let’s be serious here – PokChop is outstanding and will break a lot of necks at Dallas – and at the same time WHEN DO I EVER get to play a Kenshi? Lol….I probably have the least amount of Kenshi exp being a dominant Kenshi main but that since has changed and my game plan and backup game plans are ready. I mean seriously how much practice does Wafflez (aka Toilet) have against top tier Smoke players? Or Dizzy against top Cage players. This was an issue for me but again like I stated above – this is why we go to locals. We Learn!

Name some players that are being overlooked coming into MLG Dallas that you are confident will place top 16 if not top 8.

This is easy! Dab, Wound Cowboy and PokChop but I wanna focus on DAB for a second.

Dab could win Dallas hands down. I’m going to be dead serious here and you are free to quote me on this, DAB is unseeded so he will play a top 16 MLG player from past events probably first round and I guarantee you he will win and cause a major upset and shake up in the bracket. I can’t name you one top player that I could guarantee them they will win against DAB. This is my 2^nd warning I just hope it isn’t me for his sake :-) <3 You Dab

What is your opinion on DR Gross? Do you see him placing among the heavy hitters of the Mortal Kombat Community at MLG Dallas?

I think DR Gross is a top player and quite possibly the best Sektor out there, I can say this because he’s done something few have done….He’s taken out the 2 time EVO champion in a grand finals. #Respect to that

But to quote Mr. McDowell from Coming to America………Wait never mind I can’t do that, it’ll come off weird lmao. (Scene where he tells off Akeem’s dad for talking down to his daughter near the end)

Ok instead Ill quote a Rage Against The Machine Song “Know your Enemy” in terms of him making his trip to U.S.A.

Quote: “What?!?!, the Land of the Free? Whoever told you that is your enemy”

I feel he will do well and place top 16 possibly top 8 but I’d be happy to defend my country and take him out for PL.

Maybe while Gross and PL are playing we can all storm the stage during the match as well and constantly yell in his ear taunting him as PL was. Ehh Who Knows, we’ll probably be classier. The better question is …..P1 or P2 :-)

What would a first place finish mean for you at MLG Dallas?

It’d be huge in ways I can’t describe. I’m not sure how I’d react but I know I would react in some form or fashion. It’d either be tears of joy uncontrollable or I’d scream like a madman running around the arena for miles and miles. Chances are Id cry and then later expect a pic to be made into a meme and it’d be terrible lol, for this reason I might shoot for 2^nd :-)

Will MLG Dallas be the last stand for competitive Mortal Kombat at this level?

I feel we’re far far from the end. I suspect MLG 2013 as well as NEC, SCR, FR, UFGT and Power Up to all have excellent top level competition and turn outs. Morty Seinfeld made the best and most logical post ever. If Injustice does well and 100-200 players go out to these Majors for Injustice then who is to say those Injustice players (mostly from our scene) won’t sign up for MK as well for the hell of it. I think Injustice could be the best thing to happen to MK9 if anything keeping it life line in existence longer in a different way. Plus I fully expect MLG 2013 to use MK9 if they continue the MLG Fighters as a whole.

Do you think Injustice will be a healthy replacement for Mortal Kombat? Or will Mortal Kombat always be a game that you feel can never be replaced?

^See Above^

They will complement each other beautifully

Will you be as active as you are now in the MK Community after Injustice releases?

100% yes if not more

The list of characters for Injustice has grown significantly since it was first announced, which character are you most fond of so far?

So far I'm leaning towards Batman but I have a healthy suspicion that when its all revealed said and done I’ll be all over Joker, Lex Luther and PRAYING for General Zod who’d be my #1 main from day 1. I am a huge Lex Luther and Joker fan though.

Of course Im going to try out Green Arrow but I don’t know yet if he is truly for me.

Why do you think Mortal Kombat has drawn so much hate from other Fighting Game Communities?

1. Jealousy

2. Because they feel threatened

There’s Capcom and then there are a lot of scenes who are trying to be as lucrative as Capcom but none have come close but MK has achieved monumental success and I feel your usual Capcom fan boys feel threatened by this or a lot of them are jealous by the financial opportunities we are given not to mention Marketing opportunities we are given.

4.7 MILLION PEOPLE watched MLG Anaheim on their computers for 3 days straight where as in comparison 900,000 people watch HD televised NHL Championship hockey. This is why NBC is partnering with MLG come 2013 but it’ll mostly be for LoL and Starcraft 2 but we can only hope it’ll be extended to us as well. This market is growing and the potential is highly untapped. I can’t begin to name you the amount of people that have no clue about MLG yet it still pulls in hella numbers.

I feel NRS and WB haven’t yet learned how to properly market these opportunities into their titles. They would be hella smart in listening to me on this. I recommend when Injustice comes out if they know that it will be at EVO or MLG to PUT THAT SHIT ON THE BOX RIGHT NOW. If I’m a 13 year old kid, I love comics and batman and all that Jazz and I see on the freaking box or TV commercial that I can compete at national tournaments for up to $12,000 prize or minimum prize $750 I’m buying that without even knowing what the hell it is. MLG has got to work with game companies in this regard. Use their tournaments as marketing tools for the game developers product. I honestly might have bought LoL or starcraft 2 had I known it was going to be this huge at MLG. I use to play Starcraft, Warcraft 1-3, etc etc growing up and was damn good at it.

I have more about the Capcom and TTT2 fanboys. LET US BE SERIOUS HERE!!!!!!!! The Capcom community came in on day1 in our community for the money and took it all because we were at the time an extremely uneducated community in terms of skill and knowledge of high level FGC Fundamentals (Shout outs to Maxter) so guys like J Wong, JOP, EP, Chris G, Floe, etc etc came in and won all our tourneys and took the money.

Things are way different now – I don’t think those guys have a god’s f ing chance of coming close to us now. This is our game and those capcom boys have no chance in coming and beating any one of us anymore. J Wong told Winter Barz to come see him at Street Fighter at Canada Cup…….I say to Justin Wong and all mentioned above “Come see me in Mortal Kombat”

Jop and EP are now currently disgracing themselves and showing how ignorant they are by downing Reo’s EVO 2011 win against JOP when in fact they just are too stupid and ignorant to understand what actually happened. JOP is a fundamentally disappointing human and EP greatest tool in FGs is his mouth. I’ve seen his Kitana and it is free-er than SHIT! So yea JOP and EP come see me in MK9

Also I heard JOP hates TTT2 – This is expected because people like JOP always have to complain and whine and cry and bitch about things because it all comes down to one thing……They hate  themselves. And yes if you know JOP or EP then have them come and discuss this with me at Dallas or on their stream shows. I have no problem discussing this with them and in fact I’d love to.

Oh and to all the MK top players who say MK9 is balls and other fighting games are so much better, GTFO and you know who you are. If you don’t like MK9 so much then get off our boards, get out of our tournaments and get the hell out of our streams. Stop making excuses for why you’re balls in MK9, the same fundamental problems you have in MK9 will show up in TTT2 and you’ll be back and it’ll be vicious cycle over and over.

But there are other MK9 players who are top players in our scene that talk the same garbage but yep……they keep playing and signing up for tournaments. Hypocrites spare me

Sorry for the long tangent but it just kinda came out and I don’t believe in deleting in interviews plus the coffee has officially kicked in. :-)

If NRS were to consult you about just one more patch for Mortal Kombat, what would you instruct them to adjust?

Hmm My Gut says leave it exactly the way it is but then after minutes of sitting here I would suggest the following.

Bye bye input bug, invincibility and other weird stuff

Jade needs a teleport and Instant air Boomerangs.

Kano needs faster normals and Cage’s walk speed

Smoke reset stays but only allowed to do one

Cyrax – If you truly want to fix Cyrax here is what needs to happen. Normal bombs don’t juggle but ex bombs do. THIS FIXES 100% OF ALL CYRAX’S COMPLAINTS and you will still be able to get 50%+ combos.

Rain needs Raiden teleport and 9 frame RH

CSZ needs armor on ex dive and Cyrax teleport properties either this or he needs to be completely removed from the game

Shang needs more players that don’t downplay him

Sindel should be able to link scream from all strings

Scorpion needs + on d3 and less recovery on spear as well as B2 can be linkable to ex tele to make safe

NW needs a wake-up that works on cross up

Noob needs slightly less recovery on ONE of the shadows.

Kabal IABG needs to be hella tone down, needs to be like Mileena IAS

Kabal Saw needs to be reflectable

Kabal needs to not be + on 2ndc and 111 jailed

WHY IS KENSHI’S F3 LOW PARRYABLE???

Kenshi EX sc needs to be toned down to +4 or +5

Kenshi Reflect needs more active frames and not broken on wakeup

Kenshi sc needs to be -10 or -12

Kenshi ex overhead needs to be -3 not -30

Kung Lao spin needs to be 7-8 frames

Stryker needs faster Gun cancels off normals and less recovery on grenades

Scarlet IAD needs to stop being so impossible to do when everyone else’s isn’t impossible to do.

Kratos needs to be allowed in tourneys now - It’s been long enough

Who should everyone kneel before?

***GENERAL ZOD***

Seriously I need him in Injustice like yesterday, after defeating the evil of Reo, Tom Brady or Wafflez (Toilet) It’d be hype commanding them to kneel.

If there were a finishing move in Injustice Zod would just tell them to kneel and that’s it. Nothing more or less, they would just kneel and praise him and the opponent would have to sit there for 5 straight minutes before being asked to continue or rematch.

Do you truly believe that Mortal Kombat can make yet another EVO appearance next year?

Without question yes.  TTT2, Persona4, DOA5 and others are just NOT coming out of the gate fast and are not showing the numbers we have showed for 2 years. It’d be a dream scenario to have MK9 and Injustice at EVO 2013.

What tournaments to you plan on attending after MLG Dallas?

All MLGs with Injustice and MK9, NEC, FR, UFGT, CEO, EVO and all locals.

Who do you predict to place top 8 at MLG Dallas?

Myself and 7 others who come most prepared – I can’t list a top 8 but after the bracket is released Its easier to try to make assumptions.

It’s fair to say Myself, Reo, 16 Bit, PL, Jr, Maxter, Scar, Showtime, Cat have tremendous chances at top 8.  Anything less than top 8 is a massive disappointment but I’m gunning for 1^st. This major is NOT the time to break my streak of consecutive top 8s since EVO 2011.

Lastly, is there anything that I didn’t cover that you would like to? Any last words of hype or shout-outs?

I know all the top regions and players are working hard on preparing for the Kenshi MU and to knock me down. #Cool

Good Luck to all of you because if you think I’ve slowed down or that I’m unaware of how you are prepping or who you are prepping with or what your game plans are then you’re completely discrediting my determination. I pray for my pool to be filled w Kabals and Laos because those are my 2 most comfortable MUs then followed by Cyrax, Cage, Sektor, Jax, Smoke, Kitana, Skarlet etc. But LBSH I have a lot to prove in terms of Kabal MUs. You Lao players have a lot to prove in general against me.   

But yea………Sorry for talking so much and having a 10 page interview lmao.

One Last Note is in a perfect world I’d prefer Grand Finals at MLG Dallas to be either of the following:

Pig vs. Reo

Pig vs. Maxter

Pig vs. CD JR

Or Pig vs. 16 Bit where 16 Bit dethrones me and takes the blindfold out of my hand to wipe the joyfully tears of success and then passes out on stage unconscious where then Dizzy/Wafflez (Toilet) has to revive him w mouth to mouth and at this point the ceremony is just completely uncomfortable and we all wanna go home. 16 Bit then is forced to move out of Dizzy’s Apartment and in with Slips and Sista’s place.

Thanks a lot for the time Brant, best of luck to you at MLG Dallas and I will be speaking with you after the event.

It’s been a pleasure – I look forward to showing what I’m capable of at full potential

Follow me on Twitter @NRC_CRUM for more Pre-MLG Dallas coverage.

Video credit to FGC2012 on YouTube.