Tokido
| Tokido | |
|---|---|
| Hajime Taniguchi | |
|
Tokido at Evo 2016 | |
| Status | Active |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Games | King of Fighters and Street Fighter |
| Professional career | |
| 2011 | The Traveling Circus |
| 2011-2016 | Mad Catz |
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Hajime Taniguchi, better known as Tokido, as a Japanese fighting game player. Active in the King of Fighters and Street Fighter franchises, Tokido has a unique play style.
Career
Tokido was introduced to fighting games in the 1990s, when he played The King of Fighters '94 on the Neo Geo MVS. The first Street Fighter game Tokido came in contact with was Street Fighter 2 on the Super Famicom.[1]
Sponsored by Madcatz, Tokido was a highly successful King of Fighters XIII player in 2014.[2][3] Tokido got into Street Fighter IV late compared to other high-level players. When he did, teammate Daigo Umehara suggested him to pick the character Akuma, as a character like Ryu would be too difficult for him. Playing as Akuma, Tokido invented the "Tokido Vortex", a move that guarantees an opponent character will get damage.[1]
Shortly before Street Fighter V was released in 2016, Tokido expressed a desire to make a change in his playstyle. Playing with a "more fundamental, grounded style" didn't work out well at the 2015 Tokyo Game Show tournament, but he won the Canada Cup 2015 a month later. The change in style prepared Tokido to use Ryu in Street FIghter V, as the game doesn't include Akuma. Tokido reached second place multiple times during the 2016 Capcom Pro Tour, losing only to Infiltration at Final Round 19 and NorCal Regionals 2016. Tokido would eventually defeat Infiltration at the 2016 Community Effort Orlando in order to qualify for the Capcom Cup.[4][5]
In 2016, Tokido was released from Mad Catz as the company was having financial trouble due to the sales of Rock Band 4. [6]
Persona
"If he uses Ryu, I body him. If he uses Sagat, I body him."
–Tokido on his opponent Bonchan in 2015.
Writing for Red Bull, Michael Martin stated that Tokido has taken on a somewhat eccentric persona on stage. Footage exists of Tokido imitating some of Akuma's taunts, and trash-talking his opponent Bonchan shortly before a tournament in 2015 became highly discussed among the fighting game community. More recently, Tokido stated that he is meaning to leave such behavior behind him because, as a professional gamer, he wants "to show that entertainment in game, not out of it."[1]
Legacy
In 2016, Michael Martin of Yahoo Esports described Tokido as a "fighting game legend," as a veteran of numerous battles spanning over a decade.[4] Tokido is considered to be one of Japan's five fighting game gods, a title he shares with Daigo Umehara, Shinya Onuki, Tatsuya Haitani, and Naoto Sako.[7]
References
- 1 2 3 Martin, Michael (2015-10-08). "Casuals: Tokido, Looking Beyond the Raging Demon". Red Bull.
- ↑ Baseel, Casey (2014-05-03). "Japanese gamers dominate tournament, win back portion of money they've pumped into arcades". RocketNews24.
- ↑ Fahey, Mike (2014-07-13). "I Really Wanted The Other Guy To Win EVO's King Of Fighters Tournament". Kotaku Australia.
- 1 2 Martin, Michael (2016-07-01). "Tokido's transformation: How a style change helped him win CEO 2016". Yahoo Esports.
- ↑ Steiner, Dustin (2016-06-27). "The Immortal Defeated at CEO: Tokido Takes his Crown". PVP Live.
- ↑ Lazaro, Gab. "Mago and Tokido No Longer with Team Mad Catz". Esports Inquirer. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
- ↑ Nordmark, Sam. "All of Japan's 'Five Gods' of fighting games will attend EVO 2k14". GameSpot. Retrieved 2016-10-31.