CEO 2012

Back when I made my post on Dustloop about how the BB scene needs to "step it's shit up", there was a point in the thread where some jackasses started to fight about something very trivial (I think it was over a stolen or modded stick). It turns out one of them was CEO Jebailey. After learning a little more about him I found out that he can come off as a little arrogant, and from the quality of what he says he can be compared to an angry 10 year old that just won't eat his vegetables. Despite some people thinking he is a total prick, some of the Florida scene gave him a lot of respect. This made me want to go to CEO this year to find out exactly what the tournament was all about and to meet some new faces.I was really looking forward to this event.

Hit the break if you're interested in my adventures and what I thought of CEO2012!


Dean, or "white LK" as I call him, was going to CEO as well so we decided to split a room. M. Song (a Robo-Ky player from Orlando that I had met before) offered to pick me up from the airport Thursday night when my flight got in. All the planning for this went really smoothly. I took that Friday off from work and flew out late Thursday night. This all went like clockwork and M. Song picked me up then dropped me off at about 1 AM. Dean had already been there a couple days so I just moved my stuff up to the room and we both passed out. I wanted to wake up early so that I could get in some casuals and chill. BB wasn't until Saturday so I had a whole free day of nothing. The only real plan I had for Friday was Brazilian BBQ!

Friday, June 15th (Day 1)


I woke up at about 10AM with Dean and I skipped breakfast. He volunteered to help out Jebailey so I decided to walk around and try to find a copier and computer so I could send a final to my professor that I finished at the airport the day before. The nice lady in the hotel's "office center" was nice enough to help me out even though it took her about an hour to do so. By the time I had finished e-mailing my exam the doors were open to the venue, so I decided to go in and walk around a bit.

The venue was very big with lots of walking space. In the front of the ballroom there was a wrestling ring that was going to be used at the main stage (it was pretty awesome), with a projector screen behind it. Next to that was where Sp00ky was setting up. All around the front left of the room there were also tables set up for the different sponsors of CEO. There was a videogame store and AVerMedia just to name a few, but there were also ones selling merchandise such as video game dolls, necklaces, trinkets, and the like. As you worked around the right of the room, some guy had a hacked version of SF4. I tried playing it once but I had no idea what he did to it so I just got bodied. Next to him was DIVEKICK. This game is ridiculously fun. Next there was the Brokentier booth where I saw Koogy laying out his t-shirts. I went up and said hi and asked if it would be cool to set up GG near or in his booth. He said it was cool so I planned to come back later with M. Song's setup. After that there was the Madcatz both where they were selling sticks and headsets. There were also a few setups around the booth where you could play Daigo at certain times. In the center of the room in front of all the tournament console setups was the second stream, and randomly scattered through the room were screens that would roll through all the tweets with the #CEO2012 hashtag. Once the stream monsters learned about this there was some pretty funny shit showing up on the twitter feed. In the back left corner of the room was a DDR machine and a Rockband setup. Next to the Rockband setup was the NOS booth where they were giving out small drinks of NOS and had a couple consoles setup with random games.

In the back of the room they had all the stations set up for every game that was at the tournament. They had two tables pushed together with a setup on each side, so there were four setups with lots of elbow room per station. I saw some guy in BB practice mode playing by himself, and there were a couple Florida guys playing on another setup. I didn't have a stick and I didn't want to top player swag on them so I decided to watch for a bit. The two guys playing ended up being DC (Noel) and Feux (the Bang that ended up winning), but I wouldn't find this out until later. After a while they asked me if I was Eshi, the Georgia Makoto player. I laughed and told them no. I should've called them racist fucks but I decided that since I didn't know them yet that I would chill out with talking shit to people. Yes, I won't tell you to EAD until at least know you won't get offended first (contrary to popular belief).

I was starting to get hungry and I thought we weren't planning on getting Brazilian BBQ until later so I decided to grab some lunch to hold me off. I went across the street to Popeye's to grab some good old spicy fried chicken and Hawaiian Punch. As soon as I sat down I got a call from M Song asking me where I was, so I told him I was eating lunch. It turns out everyone wanted to go eat earlier than I had anticipated, so I met him back at my room so that M Song and I could get the equipment to setup GG at the Brokentier booth and then go out to eat.

After we had finished setting up we started to round up people that were interested in going to BBQ. I grabbed BlueLink (the Brazilian Lambda player), Dean and then I just followed M Song around as we tried to locate NerdJosh and Min. Zerp also wanted to come with his bro from AVerMedia so our group was steadily growing. I also think Andrew (TheGreatReptar) came as well with a couple people in his car.

After some shitty driving by M. Song we arrived and I was hungry as shit by this point. For those of you who don't know what Brazilian BBQ is, it's pretty much all you can eat. They give you a small carboard coin with a red and green side. If you have th green side up it means: YEAH NIGGA I WANT SOME MORE MEAT. If you have the red side up it means: Not thank you sir, I will kindly pass. Waiters walk around with different types of meant, and if you have the green side up they ask if you'd like some. Everything was fucking delicious. They also had caramelized bananas to cleanse your pallet after each type of meat. This place was pretty godlike.

I can't remember what we talked about, but it was probably about eSports and past tournaments. I never really get to see Min, NerdJosh and Zerp that often so it was cool to chill with them again.

After we were done eating we headed back to the venue. I went straight for the GG setup and played a ton of casuals against M Song, Koogy, Senkei, and an Eddie I forget the name of. It's amazing what you learn when you play against good people. They open you up and punish you for being either too obvious or too careless. Last time I had played Koogy was at FR and I maybe took one game off of his Potemkin. His Slayer bodied me, and I'm sure if he picked Sol he bodied me as well. Even during short casual settings like this it's easy for me to figure out what I need work on, or what I need to concentrate on in certain matches. This time around I went pretty even with Koogy, and it took me a while before I started going even with M Song. Senkei, even though he was really rusty, put me in place with his Faust. This is still a match-up that gives me trouble since he has a lot of ways to deal with Jam's bullshit. I wish Nerdjosh or Mr. Quotes played more, as I could really use the experience.

After sitting in the Brokentier booth for a while I decided to check out the DIVEKICK line and then go meet up with some of the BB guys. There was a group around the BB setups and people were getting matches in. I think I played some casuals but I played like ass (as usual). My defense is good, but I usually have problems dealing with neutral. Honestly, I don't play BB enough to complain, so I usually just hold that L and move on.

At night everyone wanted to go out to eat, so we decided that we should go to a chain restaurant like Chili's or TGI Friday's. The wait was about an hour for each place so we decided to walk around until we found a place that looked decent. There was a lot with a Chinese buffet in it so we decided that it would do. It turns out the food was terrible: all of it was really dry like it had been sitting out for a while. We all felt like we got ripped off and left after eating a little bit. We all walked back to the venue and I found out in the process that I have a horrible sense of direction.

After we got back we all split up to do our own thing. I went back to the Brokentier booth while some went back to play BB. After playing for a little bit I decided it was time to pass out. BB and the pool party were tomorrow. I had to rest up.

Saturday, June 16th (Day 2)

I woke up and grabbed a Gatorade and energy bar from the hotel shop. I never like playing on an empty stomach, but I never like to have too big of a breakfast either. This is what I used to have before every swim practice so that I wouldn't starve to death.

I was in pool one so I needed to be there as soon as the venue opened so that I could report to the person running my bracket ASAP. Everyone should do this, as it makes the TO's life a lot easier and helps the tournament run along faster. Apparently a 4th pool had been added because there were so many late entrants. I was surprised that they actually allowed this since it was stated before that there would only be a limited amount of last minute slots (and I think there were only a couple left the day before). Apparently a lot of Florida people showed up last minute, which made the last BB pool very lopsided in terms of region.

The console area was packed and it was hard to move around. We were up against the wall in the back of the room, so one of the setups was hard to watch. I would find my spot on the ground in between my games so I could stay out of the way and watch two games at once.

I can't remember who I played first round, but he didn't seem that familiar with the Relius match-up so I ran his confusing stuff and didn't really pay attention to my meter. I won pretty easily and I had to play Azure Revolver next, a Florida Noel player. I never like playing against Noel because I feel like I'm always shut down and it's easy for her to get in random hits. If you ever want to shut a Relius down just get rid of the doll, as he's a terrible stand-alone character. I never really got started and if I did I probably backed off because I was scared of 2D and 4D. I got throw reset and I think I burst during Noel jD twice like an idiot (shoutouts to Dacidbro). No one plays Noel anymore in NY/NJ so all I really had was what I saw in videos and on streams. I got bodied 2-0 pretty fast and re-took my spot on the floor. I waited around for a bit before I found out I had to play BlueLink. We went 1-1 and it came down to the last round but I got really impatient and didn't punish him for doing stupid stuff against Relius. He beat me and that was that: top player eliminated. From this point on I would float between watching BB and playing GG at the Brokentier booth.

Dean and I were hungry so we went to a Perkin's across the street. I got a chicken pot-pie and he got some pancakes. We talked about eSports some more, which seems to be the topic we stick to most. He comes from more of an MLG background so I always ask him how the events are run and what the differences are between them and the FGC events. I'm glad he got to go to EVO because that is the pinnacle of what the FGC stands for. He needed to experience the hype for himself so he can make a fair comparison. I plan on going to MLG Dallas this year, even if it's just to watch, so that I can make a fair judgement as well. As of right now though I still think that the FGC is fine where it is and that we don't need MLG at all, but who knows, that could change within the next year.

After we were done eating  we headed back to the venue. I went to go watch the rest of BB pools and relax. Eshi and Lockhart were both playing really well so I just cheered for them. The most surprising match to me was DC eliminating Guardian. Guardian got a little cocky and picked Relius against his Noel and lost. He did some corner OS that blows up 2D/4D (which he explained to me later) but DC didn't bite. After he lost he switched to Valk and lost either 2-1 or 2-0. DC made top8 and what I consider one of Florida's strongest players didn't even make it out of pools.

Since there was downtime between pools and top8, M Song, Dean, NerdJosh and I decided to go get smoothies down the road. We asked Koogy if he wanted one and he started drooling at the mouth. Later we would dub smoothies "smoobies" in honor of Spooby.

It took us about 30 minutes to drive a mile since the theme parks were letting out. The whole way there we were trying to figure out why we weren't moving, and it just turns out that it was rush hour and we were apparently really close to Universal. O well, shit happens. Once we got there we ordered our smoobies and headed back to the venue, which ended up being a much faster drive. GG casuals were played and then I decided to go check up on BB. It looked like the original top8 stream decision was changed to just top6, so a couple more matches had to be played before going on stream. A quick youtube search of "CEO 2012 BlazBlue" will bring up the matches. The finals were alright. I was hoping Eshi or Lockhart would win but they both choked pretty hard when it mattered most.

After everything was done people wanted to go eat. In order to have my runback from FR, I decided that I HAD to go to a Titlted Kilt, and guess what? There was one within walking distance... fuck yes. We got a group together and headed out.

For those of you who don't know what a Tilted Kilt is, let's just call it a Hooters with... "higher standards". At Hooters there's a chance that you can get a sub-par waitress. I feel like the TK isn't afraid to tell someone that they don't meet their criteria. All the waitresses have tight bodies and wear short skirts with a mid-drift button-up to expose their stomach and cleavage. I can't remember if they were wearing thigh-highs or not. It was like heaven.

We all sat down and ordered food and drinks. I only think one of us wasn't of age, but our waitress didn't have a problem with letting us order beer towers which was cool. Our waitress was a cute Asian with a pretty sick tattoo on her side. We didn't see her much but she did come around occasionally. At one point she pulled up a chair and talked to us for a bit, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was paid to do so (or she just wanted better tips). Since almost everyone at the table had drivers licenses from different states she was curious what we were all in Orlando for. It didn't hit me until just now, but the same damn thing happened at the BBR qualifier in California: we all went to a Chili's and I bet some women at the bar that they couldn't guess what we were all in California for (she ended up guessing a chess tournament, stay free). Everyone was too scared to tell our TK waitress that we were there for a FG tournament, so I was the one to break it to her. I'm not scared to admit this anymore, hell, I even flew to Japan to arcade hop. She said she used to play Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct and we all laughed. She asked if any of us won and Eshi and Lockhart just looked depressed. We proceeded to get Eshi wasted and then we walked back to the hotel.

Back in my room Eshi started to burst so we started to take care of him. He passed out on Dean's bed and we started to gear up for the pool party.

Dean and I were some of the first people out there. As soon as we walked to the pool, a group with two girls walked by and Dean started talking to them. He walked off with them and that was the last I saw of him all night. Good shit Dean. Later the Florida crew started to show up and that's when things started to get fun. I started talking shit and challenged people to swimming money matches. Some poor soul challenged me and I took his dollar. Hold that L nigga.

No one else wanted to swim me so I decided to go relax in the hot tub for a bit. Fubarduck was there so I started to talk to him about random stuff. Fubar is one of the people I respect most in the FGC because he's easy to talk to and is very honest (and not to mention he runs an arcade in Austin). I talked to him about Nesica and the FGC tournaments for a bit, it was a good time. Keits joined the party and I started to talk to him about DIVEKICK. He said that it started out as a joke originally but noticed that it could be fairly competitive so he started to balance and add things. He can come off pretty arrogant at times but he means well. I told him I really enjoyed Divekick and that I hoped that he would try to release it. He explained to me what he wanted to do with the game and how much it would cost to do so. I know nothing about game development so I could only agree with him.

After talking for a bit we all decided the water was getting too hot so we went our separate ways. I went back to my room where Eshi was still passed out. Deans was still gone so I just went to bed. Finals for other games were tomorrow and my flight was in the early evening so I needed to get some sleep.

Sunday, June 17th (Day 2)

Finals day for games I don't play, godlike. What's even better is Koogy's stand was still up with GG so some of us just stayed there and mashed while watching the main stage. M. Song planned to take me back to the airport around 4 so that left me with a bit of time to do whatever the hell I wanted. I walked back and forth between the BB setups and the Brokentier booth. At one point I challenged BlueLink to a runback and the same damn thing happened, I got really antsy and made lots of mistakes. I also tried to bait his bursts too hard and didn't break throws. Fuuuuuck me.

Back at GG M. Song and I had a really fun set. It went back and forth and he was pulling out some really good reads and punishes. His command throw setups were good and they made me realize that I really need to work on 1F jumps and IB'ing.

Overall finals day was pretty fun. It was sad saying bye to people because I wouldn't see them again for a while, but there were a lot of hype matches on the main stage. Yiipe's entrance for Marvel was amazing. Before he walked out he came over to Koogy and told him he wanted to hit someone. Marvel players are fucking hungry.

We eventually went for another smoobie run and then I went back to my room to pack up. No traffic or delay on my flight made traveling easy and I got back home between 11 and midnight. My last tournament of the season was finally over!

Wrap-up

CEO was by far one of the best tournaments I had ever been to. Even though BB wasn't hype as shit (because of the shoddy play), the way the tournament was run was spectacular.

1). Registration. Every tournament needs to do what CEO did with their registration. They had preregistration online and had a limited amount of last minute sign-up slots. This made making pools and brackets easy as hell, allowing the tournament to start on time and run smoothly. I'll say it again: every tournament needs to do this.

2). Space. The only real gripe I had about BB was space. We were pushed back up against the wall on our only table. At some point a guy running brackets for another game was yelling at us to get out of his area. Are you kidding me? Everything was packed so close together and there were plenty of people in each pool to make it over crowded. There was a lot of space between the last set of tables and the Rockband/DDR machine (from what I can remember), so making a little more space between the tables would be nice for next year.

3). Stream Time. I'm not sure why we weren't allowed to do the original top 8, but it looked like they wanted to start other games a little earlier (or maybe they were just running behind). I'm not sure why we couldn't run 2 more matches on stream but O well, shit happens. This stopped bothering me after Seasons Beatings.

4). Pool Party. Every tournament needs one of these so I can MM people more often.

Thanks again for everything Florida scene, and thank you Jebailey for running such an awesome event. I'll definitely be back next year, and this time with an extra day so I can go to a theme park! Stay godlike people. I know I'll be seeing some of you at Summer Jam and NEC!