Sting Ray: “Now I know that I have the potential to win anything”

Winning a fighting tournament is quite an achievement. On the surface, we see tough fights, full of amazing tricks. And we see some bare results — that guy won that number of matches and got the champion title. But what’s beyond that? How does it feel to prepare, compete, and finally celebrate the victory?

To glance behind this curtain, we at DashFight regularly annoy fighting esports champions with our various questions. This time, we reached out to Sting Ray, who recently won the Brawlhalla SteelSeries Invitational.

The player looked so powerful during this event! In the Top 8 part, Sting Ray had only 3:0 and 3:1 victories — with such a level of competition in North America, it’s definitely something remarkable. So, let’s jump directly to the questions-answers section!

DashFight Interview: Sting Ray

- How does it feel to get this victory? What are your general impressions of the tournament?

- It feels unreal that I won. I think it was a matter of me being confident against everyone.

- Who among the opponents created the most difficulties for you?

- I think Snowy was the hardest for me to fight against because he ran away the whole time.

- Is there someone among all the players you are glad you did not meet in the brackets?

- I didn't really wanna fight Cosolix because he's been beating me recently.

- You were in one team with Java at the Doubles event. Does such an experience help you play against the guy in Singles?

- I think what helped me against Java was the fact that I coached him. I used to train against him all the time because I was teaching him how to play, so I kind of just understand how he thinks about the game.

- Where would you put Orion in a general Brawlhalla tier list? Why do you play this Legend?

- I'd put Orion at a high A-Tier. I play him because I like his Sigs, and he looks really cool.

- That Dark Knight skin is pretty cool. Do you like the original game, or do you just enjoy how the character looks?

- I've never actually played Shovel Knight, but I'm really into platformers, so I'd probably like the game. The skin just looks really cool to me!

- Does having such a victory in your “portfolio” apply additional pressure on you at the following events? Or is that an additional source of confidence?

- Having a win for sure pressures me to get more wins because I want to start a winning streak. But it also gives me confidence because now I know that I have the potential to win anything.

Thank you, Sting Ray, for your time and these answers! We look forward to seeing you playing at other tournaments.

And yeah, the Brawlhalla esports schedule for 2022 doesn’t make us wait for the next event for too long. The Spring Championship Doubles is already over, and the Singles section is coming on May 6-8.

Arguably, the most anticipated event of the year is the Midseason Invitational, on June 10-12 — as it’s the first offline Brawlhalla tournament for quite a long time.