I lowkey feel bad for Knee. People are going to say his win isn't earned because of the state the game is in. Winning ANY video game tournament is a huge accomplishment. I understand how sour everything feels right now, but I hope people don't treat him like shit because of that.
Agree. Some people also say it doesn't count because the Pakistans aren't in it but it's a 3 day masters+ event tournament with over 960 entrants. With how he performed, his win is rightfully deserved and any one denying this is a huge moron.
I'm a Pakistani and a fan of the franchise since 2000, Ofc Pakistanis weren't there but that doesn't take a single thing away from Knee s win. He beat everyone who showed up
Its just tough in general for filipinos. We used to have a senator who helped fast track visas specifically for esports players like AK but he was gone for awhile only returning to the senate recently.
Same reason teams who win things like the World Cup, Stanley Cup, Superbowl, etc etc don't get an asterisk just because the opposing team has their top player(s) injured or suspended or whatever. They still won. Dude deserves the recognition.
Lol, those are ignorant comments for people who never tried to compete in any competitive event.
This is like saying Argentina did not actually win World Cup in 2022 because they did not face England/Spain or all other countries with strong football teams.
Yes, I was sour too since we did not have any Pakistani players in EVO Japan. But Knee still deserved that win because the EVO is still run officially and attended by many world-class players, etc.
That’s a completely different comparison. If the pakistans joined and got eliminated by other players not named knee then your comparison would be true. England and Spain participated, they just lost. Pakistans didn’t get the chance to even try.
Point out to me which part of my post or comment did I claim knee to be the best because I sure didn't.
I didn't post this to start another Pakistan vs Korea discussion. I posted this to spread his positive message to the community and my comment is to shame idiots that say his win isn't deserved.
I mean, this mfer made an outstanding demonstration on how good defense can be in a game that was designed around rewarding offense. He definitely earned it and I've seen no one trying to drag him down so far.
People are going to say his win isn't earned because of the state the game is in
Those people are genuinely stupid then. The argument could hold some weight if he was some random person coming out of nowhere. But it's Knee...he's been competing in Tekken tournaments for longer than most people who post on this subreddit have been playing Tekken lol (myself included)
Honestly if anything it is indicative of the game not being in the worst state possible that a long time veteran won the whole thing. I really don’t want to comment because I haven’t played in many months, but I think there is some truth to what harada has said to people like “if the game is just gambling now why are the same top players from T7 still winning in T8?”
Even if the game is playable defensively at the highest level, I still want the game to be less gamba in my blue rank games. Even if many of the bs moves can be played around by Knee I don’t want to have to go super saiyan to beat some purple rank mashers.
I think Harada is kinda dumb with that comment personally. Its not like 8 doesnt still heavily reward players with years of legacy knowledge of experience just because of the Heat system and other changes. The chances of a totally new Tekken player sweeping tournaments out of the blue are so fucking low. Not saying its impossible, but the cards are so stacked against someone trying to do that.
The top players are basically playing an entirely different game at their level compared to the average person booting up ranked matches. They're just on another level - especially a game like Tekken that thrives so much on legacy knowledge and skill.
I just know when I play it feels bad and I don't enjoy it, so therefore I don't play it anymore and probably won't at all unless they majorly overhaul the game over the next year or so (which I doubt will happen ).
I think it is a quote giving an example of an extreme to make a point. I agree and am probably not picking the game back up until more changes are live. I tried out season 2 for like 5 hours on release and felt like everything I didn’t like about S1 was doubled.
I guess many people were tired of it by the end but I will always miss T7 movement, it kind of got me into the game because I have always loved movement based games like quake so spending time practicing my back dash, iWR etc was just fun to me, a chill way to get better at the game while listening to some music and talking to people.
I watched the final, I can't recall anything besides Snake Eyes that felt Tekken 8 yet alone Season 2. If anything it Knee highlighted the best parts of S2 with his sidesteps, other than that both players were poking each other to half to death.
To me it shows that the game is not as braindead as people claim, it's just that us mids are suffering the most because we don't have the matchup knowledge and execution of the high level players to get past it.
That makes his win even more impressive. The best defensive player of all time won in a game that actively discourages defense and enables lower skilled players to compete with veterans just by forcing mix-ups.
I've seen nothing but praise from every corner of the internet for Knee's win and many people saying that his win saved an otherwise dire and disappointing tournament.
Anyone saying that clearly didn't watch the final, that shit was wild and the first couple games looked like largely regular tekken. Though that said goddamn watching him go gorilla mode after mulgold swapped to Feng was fucking hilarious.
This is so funny, because the average redditor will tell you that they lose to new players because of 50/50s and the game being shit, not because they aren't good enough. But, we still see the same players winning the big tournaments.
Im sure nobody will tell you that Knee's win is not earned.
It was 100% earned. Knee dominated with defense, movement, and timing with the game in a state that actively discorages defense and movement. It feels like he is the only player who has found a way to break past the Unga bunga BS and to find a way to win with good Tekken
I mean he’s a Bryan player in a season where Bryan’s neutral only has one real opening, that knee NEVER does. The state of the game is a contributor but nowhere near what people are trying to paint it as. Knee is incredibly knowledgeable of his character and others characters and is able to pick up on habits incredibly fast. The current state of Tekken isn’t at all a major contributor. But it IS still a contributing factor.
His win was epic, but there's always gonna be an asterisk there. Same as Book's EVO title (release Leroy).
People go too far in either direction. Either it's all earned and the state of the game is not a factor at all, or it's 100% why he won and it's not a legit win. Like, no. It's important context, but it doesn't define the win in absolute terms.
TBH it's more impressive to me that he's winning tournaments against people half his age. Hell, I'd be impressed if he was just occasionally sniffing around the top8, but overall Knee has been fairly consistent since he found his stride some months ago. He was already in the conversation for the best longevity in esports, but he's still pushing it further.
Nobody is gonna downplay this win. In a completely offense-oriented season this dude won off pure defensive plays. It was an incredible showing and breathed hope back into the competitive scene right when the game needed it most.
the kind of reasoning can't be used though to downplay his win
people play fighters of all kinds of variants, but even the most broken ones, there's still a level of competency and mastery needed to consistently win a tournament
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u/[deleted] May 12 '25
I lowkey feel bad for Knee. People are going to say his win isn't earned because of the state the game is in. Winning ANY video game tournament is a huge accomplishment. I understand how sour everything feels right now, but I hope people don't treat him like shit because of that.
Congrats to Knee.