By James Chen

December 15, 2000 - Note: I cannot speak for Alex, necessarily, because obviously I don't know what he's thinking all the time (if I did, I wouldn't lose to him so much!! ^_^). However, anytime I refer to what he's thinking, I'll try and preface it with a "I'm guessing he's thinking..." or "I'm pretty sure he intends to..." If at any point I fail to do so, please make sure that it is understood that I do not speak for Alex, nor do I pretend to know his mind. I can only determine, from watching these fights again, what I think he's trying to do, and it is merely an educated guess. Okay, having said that...

My character choices:
-Capcom Groove-

• EX-Yuri
• EX-Benimaru
• EX-Vice
• Cammy

EX-Yuri is an EXCELLENT first character. She's VERY annoying and can easily set the tone for a fight. By using her first, my intention is mainly to frustrate the opponent early on, and hopefully get a lot of damage with her as a Ratio 1 character. Also, more importantly, her trap is very "non-player" specific, and using her is a great way to warm up, gauge your enemy's skill level, and understand what they tend to try and do. She's a very "safe" character, because of her playing style, and thus is a great way to start off the match.

EX-Benimaru is a "clean-up crew" character. He's REALLY good, and can easily defeat the rest of whatever team is left on his own. He's got everything you need: good combos, good attack, good Cross-Up, and special Throws. Thus, he's an excellent second character. Now that Yuri has helped you figure out your opponent a little bit, you can play much more aggressively with great rewards.

EX-Vice is a DEADLY character, but not very "fluid". She's sorta one-track minded, but her Jump Short into Super Grab is an EXCELLENT tactic, and very effective to finish off whomever is left after fighting Beni and Yuri. She's also really defensive, which is opposite of Beni, which makes the change in game pace to your advantage. If attacking the enemy didn't work for Beni, Vice's defensive nature should be able to overcome the enemy. Beni and Vice balance each other pretty well.

Cammy is just a personal favorite of mine. I am VERY confident with her, and I feel like she's probably the best Ratio 1 character. Without a doubt, she is MY best Ratio 1 character. Thus, I place her last, confident I can take out even Ratio 2 characters with just her. She is my "Confidence character", so I always know no matter how badly the characters above get squashed, I'll ALWAYS stand a chance with Cammy. Her attacks are great and she is the only Ratio 1 character (besides normal Yuri) to have a real, limb-hitting, anti-air Uppercut. And that, to me, makes her perfect for the end, to finish off whomever is left.

Alex's character choices:
-Capcom Groove-

• King
• Yamazaki

Alex is VERY good with the two characters. I'm pretty sure his order is chosen based on the fact that Supers make Yamazaki deadly. King only really uses Level 1 Supers, so after King is defeated, Yamazaki is sure to have a nice storage of Supers to unleash. Plus, Ratio 1 characters tend to be defeated by "lucky supers" or only a couple of Psychic DPs. It's better, in general, to have your Ratio 3 character at the end.

On to the the battle...