Tetsu: "I really love the way GamerLegion supports me!"

There is no uniform measure of success in any sphere. For an up-and-coming footballer, getting subbed in at the 89th minute of an already decided match is something they will remember for years while scoring less than 30 goals and not winning every competition is a failure for the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Likewise, people like Arslan Ash, Knee, Chikurin, and JDCR will hardly be ever satisfied with anything other than a victory on their terms. But they all once were just new guys with aspirations. They grinded for results, constantly tried to get better, and, most importantly, never took any kind of success for granted. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have reached the heights they did reach.

So from this point of view, fourth place at the recently concluded Evo 2021 Online for Tekken 7 is nothing but success for talented Tetsu. Furthermore, his dedication and hard work landed him a contract with the major esports organization GamerLegion. What is this other than a confirmation of success? With this in mind, we reached out and asked a couple of questions about Evo, Claudio, and the team.

Hello! You reached Top 4 at Evo Online, congratulations! What were your expectations coming into this tournament? 

Thanks! Since it was such a big tournament and my pool was filled with good players, my primary goal was to reach Top 24. Once I came that far, I was really going in for the win! 

You haven’t been actively competing for that long. How does it feel to reach these heights in a relatively short time? 

It feels amazing! I really grinded, and the results are coming in slowly, but they're coming. However, more importantly, I hope I can be a good example for people trying to get into the FGC but are scared of the barrier which comes with it. When I can do that, you can too! 

Now people will have more expectations from you. Will this be a help to you? Do you thrive under pressure? Or will this place an unnecessary burden upon you? 

Everyone can have good and bad days. People expecting more from me won't change my strive for the win. I just do my thing, but it really warms my heart seeing the growing support on Twitch and people rooting for me in chat. 

At this Evo, you were the only one to defeat Super Akouma, and even though he beat you the second time, he really had to earn it. Tell me about the matchup against him and his famous Akuma. 

In my opinion, people complain too much. Akuma this, Akuma that, 2Ds are broken, etc. It's in the game, and we have to learn how to fight it. I started learning the matchup relatively early because I knew someday I would have to fight a good Akuma. I also like to play him myself to get a feeling of him and how to play against him. Super Akouma, in general, is known to be an absolute machine, so I just told myself to keep a cool head and try to make little to no mistakes. Give him an inch, and he'll take a mile, so I tried to really slow it down and punish his mistakes instead of overextending and being open to Akuma’s strengths. With that in mind, I tried to outplay him.

"Even most Akuma haters still respect me": Super Akouma Interview

You demonstrated very solid Claudio play at this Evo. What led to you picking him as your primary character? 

Haha, yes, there is a story to it. At first, I started with Hwoarang, and my best friend played Claudio at that time. One day I just wanted to try him out and reached my peak rank In just a short amount of time. I improved so quickly with him that I dropped Hwoarang and started going for Claudio. Then in 2018 at DamagermanY, my first offline tournament, I had Jopelix in my pool, who helped me out a lot with Claudio, so I decided to stick with him and ultimately to look up to Jopelix as a player. My friend dropped Claudio, though, since he was sad that I had a higher rank now. Am I a bad friend? :(

Are there any Claudio players you look up to? What sets you apart from them? 

As stated before, I look up to Jopelix since he was the guy who kind of set the stone for my road as a Claudio player. Another one was Shadow 20z when I saw him competing in E-League and almost finishing off the complete opposite team on his own with Claudio. Since then, I look up to him and love seeing him competing in any tournaments.

You’ve been signed by GamerLegion, a major professional esports organization. Can you tell us how did this happen? Did they approach you? 

I think that sometimes in life, luck will get you pretty far. I did a tweet some time ago about searching for a team. Shortly after that, I got approached by GamerLegion. After some talks, we found a mutual ground, and I’m happy about being able to call myself GL I Tetsu! 

What are the biggest benefits of being under the wing of the big esports team compared to just being sponsored by someone?. 

I really love the way they support me! Have you seen their Twitter account? The announcement made for me when I joined the team, the clips taken from my Evo run, and the graphics done for my placements and tournament participations! I love the work they put in for their players!

Are there any expectations placed on you by the team, or do you have the freedom to grow and gradually become better at the game? 

Luckily, I have my freedom. I think they know that putting pressure on a player won't help him improve. With the freedom and trust they give me, I was able to hit 4th place at Evo! 

What are your plans for the immediate future? More tournaments, more training, more preparation? 

I will try to attend every tournament in the future. I think participating in tournaments is a good way to improve your general mindset of FT2s and skill. Other than that, I want to grow my Twitch channel and stream more of my tournament runs and training sessions. Lastly, I want to train more offline with my friends for the (hopefully) upcoming offline tournaments! 

Success in every sphere comes to those who work for it. Tetsu has everything he needs – tons of talent, dedication, and support. Let’s hope there’s much more to come for him in the future! For more Evo 2021 Online coverage, take a look at the special page will all the materials.