Fighting games are tough even in the best of conditions, but what about competing in one during an earthquake?
Friday night, the Los Angeles area was hit by a tremor that, while not huge, was enough to interrupt an important match during a Guilty Gear Strive exhibition between Japan and the United States.
Reynald Tacsuan, an Evo champion with roots in the King of Fighters series, found himself battling not only his opponent but also Mother Nature herself when the 4.3 magnitude earthquake shook his Long Beach home, located just a few miles from the epicentre near Carson, California. And the whole thing was caught live on stream.
“Oh shit, there’s an earthquake?” Tacsuan asks in the clip, his webcam visibly shaking. He crouches out of view as someone offscreen giggles, eventually answering his own question: “Oh my, there’s a fuckin’ earthquake!”
Despite these distractions, Tacsuan still managed to take the round against his Japanese opponent, fellow veteran Kei “BNBBN” Komada.
“Dude, for real?” Tacsuan said as the shaking subsided. “I just won that during a fuckin’ earthquake! Ain’t nothin’ stoppin’ me right now. Fuck that earthquake!”
Here’s another angle on the whole incident, showing Tacsuan’s attempt to both protect himself and keep playing Guilty Gear Strive:
Whatever it takes to win bro. I’m either dying in this earthquake or I’m winning. https://t.co/8gi8kEU1TN pic.twitter.com/qSl2ouwjRz
— Reynald Tacsuan @Home (@ReynaldJT) September 18, 2021
Fortunately, the minor quake appears to have caused no major damage or injuries, both in Tacsuan’s home and the greater Los Angeles area. Such events are common in California due to the numerous fault lines running through the state, and most residents simply treat them as brief diversions worthy of a quick Twitter update and not much else.
In Tacsuan’s case, this meant going on to win his match against BNBBN by a score of 3-1, providing a rare highlight in his team’s overall demolishment by the Japanese squad. I guess when you’ve been on the Evo finals stage as many times as he has, a relatively tiny tremor isn’t going to shake your concentration for very long.
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