We’re continuing interviewing Tekken players from abroad (this is already 7th, 4th in English). This time I’ve interviewed the last Evolution champion, the famous Law of America – Rip! How does he feel after winning Evolution 2009 first Tekken 6 console tournament? What does he do in private? How does his main character, Law looks in the newest game in Namco’s Tekken series? Find out by reading this exclusive interview!

PS. If you want to follow Tekken news with Backdash, be sure to visit my twitter at twitter.com/backdash_pl. I try to update it very often with links to news and you’ll be able to translate them (check the right sidebar).

Di: First of all, congratulations on winning Evolution 2009 Tekken 6 tournament! How do you feel?
Rip: Well its been over week since I won, but I still feel great! It was the first ever console tournament for Tekken 6 so its great to be the first crowned champion for the game in that sense. Just playing on that stage for the finals in front of the crowd at Evolution is amazing enough, so to do that and then win the tournament is just an amazing feeling.

Di: How did you feel playing on a console instead of arcade? Was there any difference?
Rip: As far as the actual game, there were no noticable differences. The main difference was that I got to play on a Playstation pad instead of an arcade stick. I’m originally a pad player, so my movement on the pad was a lot better than it is at the arcades.

Di: Which fight during the T6 Evo tournament was the toughest for you? In the finals you seemed to be dominating.
Rip: I’d have to say that my toughest match was probably against MYK. He was another player I play with regularly at our arcade so we knew each other well going into the fight. Every match was down to the last round and there were a few places in the matches where things could’ve went either way.

Di: During the interview after the finals I heard that you hadn’t played pad for a long time, although you used it during the tournament. What Arcade Stick do you usually use?
Rip: I basically hadn’t really practiced on a pad since the previous years Evolution tournament. At the arcades here we have the international Tekken 6 cabinets with japanese sticks installed. The stick and buttons are all Sanwa parts. I’ll probably be getting a MadCatz Tournament Edition stick in the future so I can play Tekken 6 tournaments on Xbox360. The components are great, and I love its size, cable length, and how they have the start/select button on the side.

Di: What had been your biggest Tekken success before you won Evo?
Rip: Last year at Evolution 2008 I made Top 8 for Tekken 5: Dark Ressurection and got to play on the stage at Evolution for the first time. Playing on that stage had been a goal of mine for awhile, so to finally do that was a great accomplishment for myself. Before that I placed 2nd at Evolution North 2007, 3rd at Newegg’s LANFest tournament, and 5th at Electric Cancel 6.

Di: For how long have you been playing the Tekken series?
Rip: A friend of mine taught me Law in Tekken 1 when Tekken 2 had just come out at the arcade. Since then I’ve pretty much stuck with Law through every Tekken. Around Tekken Tag Tournament/Tekken 4 is when I started playing at Southern Hills Golfland regularly with players I didn’t know were top players ( Alex Valle, Shauno, Tomhilfiger, MIC, TieTYT). My friends got me to enter a couple tournaments for fun, so when Tekken 5 came out in the arcade with controller ports, I decided I’d actually have a shot at getting good at the game so I started taking it seriously and now here I am!

Di: What do you do in private? Do you work or study?
Rip: I graduated with a degree in Computer Science a couple years ago. Currently I’m working part time doing IT work, but I plan on going back to full time work programming in the next couple of months. Hopefully I’ll release another combo video…

Di: ‘Another’ combo video? It seems that I missed the previous one Any link?
Rip: Hehe, I made it way back when I was first getting serious about playing Tekken. I think it was the first console Tekken 5 Law combo video released. I’ll also update my Tekken Throw Break Trainer (*LINK*) before I go back to full time work!

Di: I remember seeing it a long time ago, however, I didn’t know it was yours! From what I remember people could cheat using 1+2 to break both 1, 2 and 1+2 throws. Was it fixed later?
Rip: Hehe, yes, it was definitely fixed later. People still use it regularly so I’m sure the all time high score board would be overrun if that was still possible.

Di: What’s your nickname’s origin? Rest in Peace?
Rip: It is DEFINITELY NOT Rest In Peace! My nickname actually came about in high school when a teacher couldn’t pronounce my first name (Reepal) and decided he would just call me Rip. I was totally fine with it and its stuck with me ever since.

Di: Hehe, ok. Let’s come back to Tekken. Do you prefer BR to DR?
Rip: I definitely prefer BR to DR. While DR may have been slightly more balanced, it was in my opinion a boring game. BR is exciting from both a spectator and player standpoint and it looks great. Also, Law is a much more versatile character in BR than DR, so that by itself makes me prefer BR.

Di: How do you feel about Tekken 6 (BR) tiers?
Rip: I think its actually still too early to clearly define the tiers. When the game originally came out people were saying Lars was at the top, and now I think people can barely fit him in the top 10. There are characters that can deal ridiculous amounts of damage (Bryan, Lili) that people don’t necessarily rank up high which I don’t understand. Characters that I know are good in this game (in no particular order): Lee, Steve, Bryan, Lili, Law, Paul, Jack, etc

When it comes down to it though, the tiers don’t matter as much in Tekken 6 BR as they do in say Street Fighter 4 because character matchups aren’t as important. In SF4 if I’m a Sagat and you’re a Zangief you better know a way around Sagat’s standing roundhouse or the match is over. Matchups in Tekken 6 BR come down to the player skill much more than their character matchups.

Di: Do you play SF4? Any other fighting games?
Rip: I play a little bit of SF4. Entered at Evolution this year just because I had nothing else to enter and didn’t even get out of my pool! Hopefully next year I’ll be a bit better, but I’d much rather just focus on Tekken 6 BR. I’ve touched a couple fighting games other than the Tekken series but its not even worth mentioning.

Di: What do you think of this game? It seems that US players are very excited with the game – over 1000 people attended the Evo tournament… wow.
Rip: The game is very popular here. It looks good, its easy to learn and people can relate to the old cast of characters. I have fun playing my friends, but I don’t have fun playing it in tournaments. Watching Daigo vs Justin Wong in the grand finals of Evolution was pretty exciting though.

Di: Which character do you use in SF4?
Rip: Currently Sagat. I knew I wasn’t good in the game, so I dropped Ryu in the first couple days, and took the easy road haha. Same general moveset, but way more damage and more health. Now though, I’m thinking about going back to Ryu since Sagat’s big hitbox and slow walking speed are beginning to bother me.

Di: A few words about Law in Bloodline Rebellion? How’s he changed since DR? What are his new tools and top moves?
Rip: Law in BR is a lot better than he was in DR. They added ws+1,2 (m,h) which is hit confirmable, so his crouch dash game is improved. He also has a new move ff+2,3 (m,h) which is also hit confirmable and causes wall splats.

Di: Are the WS+1,2 and f,f+2,3 hard to HC?
Rip: Both definitely require some practice, but I’d say that ff+2,3 isn’t very hard to HC. WS+1,2 on the other hand is much harder to HC.

His db+3 is safer, so no character gets a launcher on it anymore, so he finally has a decent low (-11 or -12). His 10 and 12 frame punishers were also strengthened, so hes a lot stronger as a turtle than before. Other than that, they totally re-did his animations in the Tekken 6 series, so old moves look different and are a little harder for opponents to block!

Di: Talking about 10f punishers – is it hard to switch from 8f punches to 10f with characters like Law? Does it affect the game a lot?
Rip: I thought it was going to affect the game greatly, but I honestly don’t feel the difference anymore. Going back to DR now, I feel like Law is super fast, but playing T6 I use the punches the same way I do in DR.

Di: What turtle tools did he get?
Rip: I would say that his punishers in this game greatly help him when turtling. 2,f+2,2 as a 10frame punisher is awesome. 3,4 as a 12frame punisher that gives KND and wallsplat is awesome. ws+1,2 for 13frame low punishing, gives KND as well. Plus they strengthened his long range whiff punishing with b+2,2 NC and b+1,2 NC.

Di: How much time did it take you to switch from DR Law to BR Law?
Rip: I would say that I’m still not fully switched over since I still don’t punish everything with the new punishers. I have old habits to punish -10 with 1,1,2 and punish -12 with 4,3 and those old habits are hard to break. Overall I’d say it took a good couple months to adjust and will take a couple more before I’m playing BR Law to his full potential.

Di: You’ve got a very fancy Law custom in your avatar on TekkenZaibatsu. Honestly, I had thought for a long time that it’s Sakura from the Street Fighter series, lol. Do you like customising characters?
Rip: LOL, DEFINITELY NOT Sakura! In general I do enjoy customizing the character. Law has some great customizations in this game like a tshirt that says “GIVE ME MONEY” and of course his nunchuks so its good fun.

Di: Can you say someting about California’s Tekken scene?
Rip: California’s Tekken scene has actually shrunk dramatically since there was no USA release of the arcade machine. The few machines we have were imported and do not have controller ports. A lot of the players here do not prefer the Japanese sticks or are located too far from the 4 or 5 machines we have spread across this 1000 miles of California. Everyone here is really looking forward to the console release of Tekken 6 though since we know our scene is going to explode again.

Di: I think this concerns thousands – if not millions – of Tekken fans. Are you planning playing online? If yes, then on which console?
Rip: If the lag issues are addressed I will play online. I couldn’t stand Tekken 5DR Online’s lag, so I’d rather not play online if its going to be similar to that. Most likely I’ll be on PS3, but I may get it on 360 as well if the community gets big there.

Di: Who are the best CAL and USA players in general in your opinion?
Rip: From the active players right now, I’d have to say that the best players in California (in no particular order) are myself, Kane, Mr. Naps, ChetChetty, MYK, Suiken, and Bronson Tran. Across the country I know fightinggm has done well for himself on the east coast and that Kor is holding it down in Texas.

Di: Do you want to say something more to our readers?
Rip: Practice pays off. Put in the time and effort and the results will speak for itself. If you’re interested in learning Tekken then focus on the basics first. Blocking, movement (sidestepping/sidewalking/backdash cancelling), standing up off the ground correctly, and learning your best punishers are more important than learning long juggles. Be sure to check out iamtekken.com, tekkenzaibatsu.com and sdtekken.com. You’ll learn a lot about the game and become a part of this awesome community that is sure to explode in the near future.

Di: Thank you very much.