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E-Sport“There have never been as many opportunities as today”
In the running on “Street Fighter 6” at Esports World Cup, the French Kusanagi evokes his journey and the scene of the famous fighting game.
Recruited by Team Falcons this year, the Frenchman advises to be “assiduous, patient and disciplined” to succeed in the fighting games.
Christophe LemaîtreGlobal size of “Street Fighter 6”, Maivine “Kusanagi” Touitou is preparing to face the best players in Capcom’s fighting game, on Wednesday at Esports World Cup. On the sidelines of the Riyadh tournament, the 26 -year -old Frenchman returns to his extraordinary trajectory.
Kusanagi, you have a rather atypical course on “Street Fighter” …
Yes, I started playing “SF4” very young, at the age of 9, thanks to my father. He is passionate about combat games, and he transmitted this to me. Little by little, we started to make tournaments, to travel, by performing at the Dreamhack or at Stunfest. But around my 14th birthday, I then stopped competition for almost eight years, because I did not like the 5th game of the series. Then, with “SF6”, I had a crush, and it’s been two years since I started to fully invest myself.
Was it difficult to return to the highest level after such a long break?
I have always kept good contacts with French pros players, so it helped me quickly get back into it. But it was also a bit complicated at the beginning, because I had this reputation of “prodigy child”, with the pressure of the results and the fear of not being up to par. Then, I returned to the level, make good matches, and the rest was done naturally.
What do you think of the current dynamism of the competitive scene of the game?
Compared to before, it’s day and night! There have never been as many opportunities as today for players. I knew people who were very strong in the early 2010s, but at the time, it was impossible to live. Now we have tournaments like Esports World Cup or the Red Bull Kumite, it’s incredible.
You play the character of Ryu as a fighter. Why this choice?
Because when I was young, I was overwhelmed by the Japanese player Daigo. And then it was also the person that my father played. Finally, Ryu is the basis in combat games, but it is not given everyone to succeed in playing a “shoto” (see below) at very high level.
In combat games like “Street Fighter”, a “shoto” is a fighter who has a projectile style attack and an uppercut style attack in his repertoire. Typically, the character of Ryu, with his famous Hadoken and Shoryuken attacks, enters this category.
