Reed has emerged as a key player for the Mesa offense this season, showcasing his skills and leadership on the field. This article highlights his impressive performances, crucial plays, and the impact he’s had on the team’s dynamics. As Mesa aims for a successful season, Reed’s contributions will be essential in driving the team forward. Discover the athlete's journey and what lies ahead for the Mesa football program!

Name: E. Joshua “JP” White Handle(s): Sweet JP Current City and State: Charlotte NC Games You Play: Primarily Dragon Ball FighterZ now. In the past, I played games like BlazBlue, Guilty Gear, Persona 4 Arena, and SFIII: 3rd Strike.

Tell us about yourself. How did you get your start into fighting games? I’m 24 now, a full-time student seeking his B.A. in Japanese studies. If that “JP” wasn’t a hint, I have a large interest in the country, language, and culture. Although, the handle comes from a movie character I felt like I really identified with. I have vague recollections of playing Killer Instinct on SNES with my friends growing up, and remembering how much cooler I thought it was than Street Fighter II (despite still liking both). Didn’t really get started in a competitive sense until I met some people who got me into BlazBlue Calamity Trigger in 2010 and they turned me on to the idea of tournaments and such. Fell off a couple years later when I noticed how some people acted in the overall community didn’t necessarily align with what I was alright with, but as of 2016, I met some good-hearted guys who showed me it wasn’t just grown men fighting over or taking video games too seriously. In your game of choice, which character(s) do you play and why specifically those characters? In Dragon Ball, my main team consists of Bardock, Yamcha, and Super Saiyan Vegeta. When the beta came out in January of 2018, I decided to try it out on a nostalgic whim for DBZ and attempted to pick my favorite characters hoping they could work together as a team. Originally, Goku Black was in Bardock’s place as point character before we all knew DLC was coming; but when I heard my favorite character from Tenkaichi 3 was coming to the game I had to say ‘goodbye’ to Black since he didn’t contribute hardly anything to my childhood with him being such a relatively new character. Haha. Luckily each of these characters matched aspects of my playstyle from different games I’ve played before.

What is your approach to the way you play your game? It depends on who I’m playing against and what kind of team they’re running, usually. If I think I can overwhelm someone with my offense, I’ll try to get away with it. If they seem like they want to be the aggressive one, I’ll try to get them to waste their resources before they touch me.

What do you tend to go for and what do you tend to look for in your opponents? A lot of the time when I start my offense, I’ll attempt to take advantage of people who aren’t comfortable with blocking. I think that’s why people have problems with my team, as it’s pretty oppressive if you let me get started.

What do you like the most about being a part of your fighting game scene? The friends I’ve made since my return to playing these types of games regularly. I’m not a huge fan of the concept of the FGC still, but they proved to me that there are good, genuine people out there who will support you and ask little in return. These people I want to support in return.

What are some things you wish could change? Unfortunately, Dragon Ball isn’t huge in NC, and Charlotte is one of the places where it’s smaller than you’d expect. I understand people have justifiable problems with the game, or that it’s just not their cup of tea, but I do wish we had more to players to speak of in that regard. What is the match you remember the most and what made it so memorable? I remember playing my friend KnowKami at The Fall Classic in September 2018 (only the past weekend as of this interview) [Editor’s note: Sorry I couldn’t get this out sooner!]

(With David Hayter on left)

Name: David Mark

Handle(s): Dark Mavid

Current City and State: West Jordan, Utah (Formerly Charlotte, NC)

Games You Play: Blazblue Central Fiction

Match Highlight:

Tell us about yourself. How did you get your start into fighting games?

When I was about 7 or so, my brother got a game called Rival Schools for the PS1 and I really liked the pacing of that kind of game. 

A few years later, I found myself a copy of Bloody Roar 3 and was able to play a character that reminded me of Dante from Devil May Cry (Xion the Unborn). 

After an extremely long hiatus, I found Blazblue Calamity Trigger and messed around with it on PSP (Playstation Portable), and finally found some people a few years later to actually play the game with, which brought me back into the series and genre with Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend. 

In your game of choice, which character(s) do you play and why specifically those characters?

“It doesn’t matter the game, I only fuck with characters that got that ninja shit” - Sasuke Uchiha. 

But no, I really like high mobility characters. I’ve always been one that favored movement over damage in all types of things. It’s especially good for me if the character has counters and deep mixups, as well as high execution. 

I like having to work for my style.

What is your approach to the way you play your game? What do you tend to go for and what do you tend to look for in your opponents?

“How many bullshit ideas can I get away with?”

That is to say, I like doing a lot of things that either don’t look like they should work or things that make people wonder “how do I block that???”  

I also just like doing things that makes the crowd get excited. I’m still not 100% sure what exactly I go for in a match, but I know I tend to look at how my opponent adapts to my setups and pressure so I know how to change it the next time I try. 

Whether or not I actually do change it up is a completely different story.

I like doing things like this. And making combos like this. 

What are some of the things that you that you liked about the North Carolina FGC when you were here? What are some things you wish could change? What about your current fighting game scene?

From my time in NC, I really liked how the anime community stuck together and just like, enjoyed playing games with people. There wasn’t any dickriding, no exclusion, no one that made people roll their eyes when they showed up to events, none of that.  I loved the Charlotte anime scene - as small as it was.  

That’s not to say there isn’t anything I’d change about the NC FGC. No, no, there’s a lot, actually, but that’s all mostly on personal levels with people I haven’t spoken to in over 2 years, so it’s really not my place to even mention anything. 

I haven’t been in Utah for very long, but I do love how the entire FGC here isn’t afraid to cross the streams. That is to say, Tekken players also play anime and are proud of it, and there’s even a cross between with Smash players. That is, Smash events and FGC events happen in the same room at the same time, encouraging broadening horizons and crushing stigmas.

The only thing I would want to change is that I’ve been told that there’s plenty of good Blazblue players out here, but none of them show up anymore or they dropped the game for BBTag. I wish I could make those players show up and enter locals again, but I’m about a year too late for that, sadly.

What is the match you remember the most and what made it so memorable?

It’s a series of matches, really, and none of them my own. The casual matches between Prototype (now known as Zonk) and IAmSimba at UNCC (The University of North Carolina at Charlotte) in USF4 (Ultra Street Fighter 4) were some of the most entertaining matches I have ever seen. 

I was confident in my thought that if USF4 had lasted another few years, Zonk could have easily gone pro - and watching his performances in V, I’m still seeing that potential. The guy plays at a level I honestly don’t see a lot of in NC and he’ll always have my respect for that because honestly, it’s so damn fun to watch.

Finally, any advice for any of the newer players looking to join their local scene?

It doesn’t matter what your skill level is; come out to your locals and meet some people, shake some hands, play some casuals. That being said, don’t be deterred from entering a bracket if you lost a lot in casuals. Enter for the fun and the experience of it. If you really enjoy your game, even losses can help you grow as a player. Trust me on this.

Name: Jordan Drake

Handle(s): JDrake

Current City and State: Charlotte, NC (was based in the RDU area)

Games You Play: Blazblue Central Fiction, UNIST, BBTAG

Match Highlight:

Tell us about yourself. How did you get your start into fighting games?

So I’m originally from Chicago, Illinois but I’ve lived in about 11 different cities growing up. I got my start in fighting games with MVC2 at my local arcade as a kid. I didn’t know there was a competitive scene for it until I saw some footage from Evo 2008.

In your game of choice, which character(s) do you play and why specifically those characters?

I usually gravitate towards characters that thrive at controlling space, and annoying/overwhelming the opponent from any range. Most recently I’ve taken a liking to Chaos in UNIST so we will see how that goes!

Other than that as long as the character looks cool and I enjoy playing them, I’ll play whoever!

What is your approach to the way you play your game? What do you tend to go for and what do you tend to look for in your opponents?

I tend to go for heavy baits to see if my opponent will do something. From there I can throw in a few mind games in various ways. I also like to go for really wild things even if I have the lack of resources, which is definitely a weakness of mine.

What is something you like the most about being a part of your fighting game scene? What are some things you wish could change?

The NC FGC overall has been a second family to me, and really helped me get through some dark times. I don’t know what I would do without them!

As far as what could change, I think it would be cool for people to try out other games outside of their comfort zone here in the state.

What is the match you remember the most and what made it so memorable?

I remember my match in  Grand Finals of the Blazblue tournament I had ever played in. I was so incredibly nervous and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking! I ended up winning but man I thought I was going to pass out!