David-paul “JiBbo/Automattock” Mattock Interview

Here is some footage of JiBbo’s unbelievable Gen:

Here is a link to his youtube page with his advanced Gen tutorials: http://www.youtube.com/user/JiBbo

1.We all know you as a Gen player so, was Gen your choice before the game even came out of what is the main reason along with little reasons that you use him?

I was pretty interested in the character during a short time where I was playing alpha 3 with an old school friend of mine, Kevin Micheal. He got me interested in that game even though nobody was really playing it at the time and I picked up V-Cody. It was a lot of fun especially when I was doing the CC combo’s, . Later in my A3 “career” he suggested I pick up Gen cause he told me this story about some Japanese Gen player who really worked him on GGPO. I never did, but I saw he was gonna be in console SF4 so I decided to pick him up. Before I knew about him though, I was dead set on picking El Fuerte and then Fei Long because I played Yang in 3rd strike. I guess Gen being Yang’s teacher is sort of a plus so I can hang on to my roots in some way. Basically though, I really wanted a character that I could put a lot of work into so I could put my full thinking and playing potential to work. I love to develop myself, so this type of challenge plays on that. I always knew Gen was good, people weren’t just seeing his tools immediately like I was. Even before what is now his BnB, I saw that standing forward button and was like Shieeeeeet, THATS the button to press! But with Gen’s complexity in mind, I wanted to play a character that I could pick up easily and compete with at first, so I started playing Sakura.

2. What do you think about people not sticking true to their character and counter picking?

I don’t care. I do what I do and I don’t really worry about what other people do as far as counter picking. My whole thing is I want people to witness the work I’ve put in my character through my performance and thinking. If I counter pick its like cheating myself out of that principle. I don’t find anything wrong with it, cause some people find that more convenient in their goals of winning. Winning in these games in subjective — it’s all about what you want and how you want to do it. I want to win a certain way that satisfies my own personal goals and I find it to be much more rewarding this way.

3. Tell me a little bit about the North Carolina community and why they’re so godlike

YO REAL TALK NC IS GDLK . We were hot shit in 3rd strike before it died down. Always placing well in majors, we got 1st in teams last Final Round, Myself Cajunstrike and Commonsense. Carolina 3rd strike was sooo serious and competitive. Cut throat I tell you! But yeah, in my eyes we were really breaking through the scene in that game and Matt Frank with GGAC. Once SF4 came out, it sorta reset our status in the SF world which is kind of a good thing with the increased player base. It started off pretty rough but I think now we’re at the point where we can compete with the nations best. I’m really proud to be a part of where I’m from.

4. Angriest moment in your gaming life, hands down.

Playing SF4 when it first came out. I’m really not one to get upset over the games. I get frustrated, maybe a little held back if I’m annoyed, but never angry. I’ve never ever cursed at a game, ever. Buuuut, I vividly remember getting hit with a green hand at Final Round and the guy spammed out a 720 and it hit me and I screamed out “FUCK!!!”. Lol. SF4 is terrible when you first play it IMO, but it’s pretty solid once you get all the bugs out.

5. In all honesty, who do you think is the best Gen player is why?

Well my usual “excuse” for saying me is because I’m me, so why would I say anybody else? But to give reason, I don’t think Yeb is better than me because of who I get to play against, and my 3rd strike experiences. When I see Yeb play I see that impressive first glance Gen who has yet to have been challenged — destroyed for all it’s worth. I’ve suffered many many losses before I could get my Gen to where it is now. I think Yeb will be more of an amazing player once he’s experienced that. Needless to say I have infinite amount of respect for anybody who tries to take such a difficult character seriously, especially when there is no means to x-copy anybody else.

6. Where did Jibbo/Automattock come from?

JiBbo – Basically a made up word. I was in middle school looking for a cool alias, cause I was addicted to this first person shooter at the time, Rainbow 6. Yes, the very first one, . But yeah, I was in NC History class looking for a cool looking word, and I saw this word “Jubba”. I was like WORD IMA USE THAT. Went home, forgot how to spell it. Made up some shit. Here I am stuck with it.

AutoMattock – My last name is Mattock. I have good reactions. It’s said “Automatic”. It’s a pun, it fits. Puns are cool, right?

7. Except for your stick and stuff being stolen, what was Evo like for you, predictions?

I thought I’d do pretty well at Evo, but it ended up being sort of a bad experience for me — a lot more minuses than pluses. The grey hound trip was ASS. Four days up there with a friend (stories galore) and the second time around I was basically alone for 3 days. Barely any sleep for that time, so come Las Vegas I was pretty cranky. I specifically remember waking up from an exhausted nap and the first thing I wake-up to is some strange man staring at me. Yeah… so when I got there I was excitied but very held back financially, so that was tough. It was great meeting a lot of people though, that’s one thing I’ll never forget. As far as the tournament, on top of my stick being out of commission (had to use a friends) I was disappointed with the TV’s. Everytime I would do Gen’s Gekiro, the game would skip due to the trophy notification and it would throw off my timing, so I was losing out on damage, meter and knockdown opportunity. I didn’t do as well as I would have liked, so hopefully next year I can do a lot better.

I think most everything happened as expected though, diago vs justin in finals. It was a great event, no doubt. I just had an unfortunate experience.

8. What is something that most people don’t know about you?

I’m actually a really nervous person. I’m comfortable while I’m nervous though, so it doesn’t really show in my gameplay and I sort of mask it in my appearance with real controlled movements. I feel like this is one of those questions off of playboy magazine now… haha. “What’s your sign? What REALLY turns you on?” lol…

I don’t think most people know I play piano, at high level haha.

JiBbo vs Sabre at Evo2k9

9. What is the most amazing thing you have done in Street Fighter 4?

Probably would be beating Steve H at the last C3 tournament. I’m really happy with how I approached his Sagat this time around. He pretty much wrecked me last time at Civil War. I really implemented EVERYTHING I developed up to that point and really interacted with his high reaction, turtle play-style.

10. What is the craziest thing you’ve seen happen at a tournament?

Easily the Liston moment. No further details necessary.

11. Why is Gen’s combo called the “home” combo?

It’s an old joke about combo’s that you can’t really do when you’re playing somebody, but you can do them at home when nobody is watching. The Gen home combo is now bnb combo though.

12. “Analytical thinking is a hobby of mine, which is why I like to play fighting games.” Explain what you mean by Analytical thinking and how it factors into fighting games for you.

Analytical thinking it fighting games to me is understanding options and why things happen. In other words, what are my opponents deepest motivations with respect to his options? It is necessary at high levels of play to know what exactly your opponent can do at every point in time, and to believe what he is willing to do. I use the terms know and believe separately, because I feel you can’t “know” something until it actually happens, which then calls upon reactions. But in order to react optimally, you should know what is possible, what to expect, what to anticipate. Outside of the way I gain knowledge, that’s my whole philosophy and approach to these fighting games.

13. I read on your SRK page that you like music/performing piano jazz and producing, Could you tell me a little bit about your experiences with that?

I’ve played in a couple jazz bands and I do a lot of work and studying on my own, but I’m far from a professional musician as I would like to be. I’ve also done a few tracks with some friends of more hip-hop/jazz type feel. It’s actually pretty good stuff we’ve just never found the time to really sit down and make something out of it.

14. What brought you to make the unbelievable Gen tutorials on your youtube page?

I wanted to show people how I was progressing/approaching Gen and hoping that people would learn from it or get ideas. My aim was/is always development and performance.

15. What was your first tournament like and what’s the highest you have placed at a tournament?

My first tournament back in the arcade in Fayetteville was bad. I was playing CvS2 at the time and I was a total scrub. I entered 3rd strike also just because and I didn’t go two and out like I did CvS2. It wasn’t until I started playing with a guy Kevin Micheal that I truly developed a fighting mentality and from there I just went beast mode. I won quite a few NC 3rd strike tournaments and I usually placed top 5 at majors with Yang. So far I’ve won two SF4 tournaments with a couple team tournament victories and 2nd places in singles.

Although this interview was done before SB4, this picture is of Daigo Umehara vs JiBbo in a tournament match

16. Who are your choices for Top 8 at Evo2k10?

In no order, Justin Wong, Alex Valle (I think Bar Fights 2 woke him up), Arturo, Daigo, Sanford, Marn, and probably two randoms like Twisted Jago or Myself. Probably another japanese player in there somewhere. I’m really bad with guessing btw.

17. Is there someone that you have always wanted to play?

Honestly, not really and if I did have an answer there would be way too many to name. I like to play everyone that’s good that I can learn from and enjoy the game with. I remember playing Issei online, I never had some sort of pursuing desire to play him, but I’ve never had so much fun playing SF4 online. Those kinds of experiences are what make playing these games worth while.

There is, however, a lot of people I want to beat. I can say that much.

18. What games did you play professionally before SF4 and was it hard transitioning from one to the other?

Only “pro” level game I played was 3rd strike. It was different but I wasn’t so stuck on 3rd strike mindset that it was especially difficult to adjust. I never relied on a certain game play mechanic to win, rather the mechanics of that particular game is what I relied on. That is not to say I don’t apply things from one game to another, because there’s definitely universals, or as we call them fundamentals. I learned strong fundamentals in 3rd strike and those carried over in SF4.

I already sense people say PSH NO FUNDAMENTALS IN 3RD STRIKE!!

19. Why fighting games and not FPS’s or RTS’s?

I’d probably do both if there was more time in a day. I just love to use my head. I like fighting games though because there’s so much development involved and up close and personal people sitting right next to you. There’s so much character on and off the screen. The experience in fighting games is much more interacting I think. Traveling to tournaments, meeting new people, being among friends, putting the hard work to the test — it’s just so rewarding in my opinion.

20. What can we expect from Jibbo in the future? Also give any shoutouts or upcoming events that you’ll be attending.

I’ll always be bringing the new stuff to light and doing my best to win these tournaments. I’ll be at SB4 this weekend, reppin that Gen. Shoutouts to all the NC players, they know who they are.