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OG Story Time: STSFN
Save That Shit For Nationals is 90s lingo for saving tech. Some people today believe arcade players were ridden with this type of ideology which held back skill in that era. There is some truth to players not sharing tech, but they were figured out (cont...)
Save That Shit For Nationals is 90s lingo for saving tech. Some people today believe arcade players were ridden with this type of ideology which held back skill in that era. There is some truth to players not sharing tech, but they were figured out (cont...)
In the beginning players withheld info to get an edge when fighters were brand new to the scene. For example, SF2 without movelists on cabinets and MK fatalities (cont...)
As fighting games became more popular, movelists were readily available on most deluxe machines so the next step was to withhold strategies. This is where community circles had different combos and cheap tactics flourished at local arcade hot spots. (cont...)
Early fighters did not have deep system mechanics yet so holding back information would only score wins vs new players. As players understood how to play by late SF2 - CE era, skill dictated the terms and eventually beat out hidden tech unless it was gamebreaking (cont...)
Of course there were groups of arcade goers that would horde most of the information and rack up winstreaks on their favorite games. However, those interactions were short lived by the time tournaments popped up in every town (cont...)
Tournament players had their circle of friends that would travel to every arcade to find the best players & potential tech they can learn from. They would learn the local "hidden" tech by losing a few games then take it as their own & innovate a new winning strategy (cont...)
Tournaments became more popular & grew to national status (majors in the arcade era) over the years. Players had to be more creative to get an edge by then so the elite practiced within themselves and with any new strategy they coined it STSFN (cont...)
Any tech saved by this time was revealed & shared to the community upon every major tournament. One of the most infamous strategies saved by yours truly was displayed at B3 vs @JohnChoiBoy . He adapted to the strategy and used it against me to reset Grand Finals (cont...)
After B3, yours truly and the highest profile tournament players got together to create the SFA2 Versus Guide. We showed the world all the tech so everyone can learn and innovate their own strategies (cont..)
STSFN didn't hold the Arcade Scene back, it was just simply a term we used for going into the lab & finding tech. Today, our most prominent players scrim/train with each other & do the same thing. Yes they stream/upload their findings, but they also save some for finals 
