One-on-One With…Felipe!

One on One

Felipe has been a game master for over 26 years and offers a fresh perspective on the idea, including such games Yu-Gi-Oh and video games in his repertoire. Plus, I love his philosophy of “simplicity complicated”. I think that describes a lot of what all of us do as GMs.

I’m going to deviate a bit from my usual interview format here and let Felipe speak in his own words, without the questions, letting his text speak for itself. So, without further ado, here’s Felipe!

My name is Felipe Sustaita 3 (Butchersknight for my online persona). I am of Hispanic descent, I just turn 31 this past Friday. As far I where I am from is the Rio Grand Valley, Donna TX that where i was born, I currently working for a plastic injection mold company. I have been gaming and game mastering for 26+ years.

That first question was a very hard question I had to really think about it for a few weeks because when I read this question it kinda reflected my thoughts on both of my scenes, there are those that master top tier deck or characters, and those that master the low tiers and those that master in between, but in my honest opinion masters are those that set the pace for themselves in whatever style, and always trying to improve their own unique style.

As far as explaining what a game master does to outsiders that depends on what game and so forth, a game master should explain the very basics of any game and how to win, and then explain how the game master plays and wins, I.E as for me my friends the phrase (simplicity complicated) is coined for my play style for either anything I play. My style of table top games have always been keep it simple, well rounded and look at all option and don’t always go for something flashy, or simplicity complicated. Fighting games is the same but requires hand and eye coordination my technique is simplicity complicated, example A move can counter B move but has a 90% chance of not hitting but if move A hits move B has a high reward, that lead to mix up (Mix up is a strategy or technique of making one’s attacks more difficult to predict. In 2D fighting games such as Street Fighter or The King Of Fighters, it typically involves using Low attacks, Overhead attacks, Throw attacks, and generally any assortment of attacks which require different actions from the opponent in order to defend against them. Mix ups become more effective as the variety and complexity of the required defenses increases, and as the amount of time available to react decreases. When used in a pressure string, mix up can allow a player to connect a combo or score a knockdown to continue the pressure if his opponent fails to correctly guess what to do, how to evade/counterattack or where to block.

Certain mixups are so effective that they are frequently considered impossible to defend against except by luck or knowledge of your opponent’s tactics; in this case, they are sometimes called ‘resets.’

Mix up can also refer to the strategy of entering poses or stances which have multiple moves with different attack properties available to them) that lead to mind games (Mind games are described as the use of psychology to maximize one’s chances of winning). A big part of mind games is archetyping, dissecting the way an opponent plays and then immediately gearing oneself to prepare an effective counter strategy, as well as a great deal of other tactics that take advantage of the amount of predictability present within an opponent.

Mind games generally used within fighting games can include:

• Training an opponent into doing a certain move in response to something, then baiting that response to punish.
• Putting forward an incredible rush-down game and then suddenly shifting gears at the least expected moment, and vice-versa.
• Deliberately showing a pattern and then changing it part way through once your opponent catches on. For example, one could jump at the opponent and perform a low attack repeatedly throughout the match, then jump at them and perform an overhead attack when they try to block low.)

I got started GM from a very young age, but got serious in fighting because of my cousins and the arcade, up till my high school days I had friends trying to get me to play magic but the fighting game scene was bigger than Magic, I was and still am a big anime fan that is how I got into Yu Gi Oh, and now I play 3 different table top games, and play different video games.

This answers 2 question. GM has in my opinion have given me a drive and be competitive in gaming and in real life, but some family members did not always like when I did that. I tried to get sponsored but my mother always got mad at me and said it would amount to nothing and there is more but that way too long, but in a twist of irony I showed one of my cousins the gaming life when she was very little and now she is a sponsored player and my mom talks about her but say things about me when I play now that I have my own place but no where near fighting game scene and no car, but still when I can go out I do my best to get my name out there and have fun.

As far as what inspire me to be a GM I guess would be other players, I once tried to retire but other players said don’t because I inspire a lot of other GM, and I love doing it.

My philosophy to GM is don’t rush and take this one step at a time in detail, because if you rush you might forget the little things, and that can be a bad habit.

Playing other GM that are at my level of play if not higher, it levels up my game play. I guess impatient players or people that want to learn everything in a hurry.

Being predictable.  After a while trying to be original can get hard even when u know that’s all u can do.

Good sportsmanship. And understand there will always be some bit of randomness.

Thanks Felipe, for the interesting perspective and the low down on fighting-style gaming. This is an genre I know very little about, personally.

So, what about you? Do you have an interesting perspective on game mastering? I want to hear from you! Check the “How to Participate” link above or hit the Contact button and shoot me an email.