Translated Highlights from LowHigh's Self-Analysis Stream of Beast Arena Hong Kong

Fresh off his recent Tekken World Tour win, LowHigh went home to Korea to quickly do a post-tournament analysis stream where he goes in depth into his decision making during his matches. Since the stream was primarily Korean discussion, we have Yoshikki over on r/Tekken to thank for translating most of the notable bits from the stream. It's an elaborate piece of work that goes into the strategy of the matches so it makes for a really good read if you want to delve deeper into LowHigh's mind and what he thought about his opponents during the tournament. An archive of the stream can be found below but here's a link to the full post by Yoshikki over on r/Tekken.

Yoshikki's Translation of LowHigh's Stream ≫ https://www.reddit.com/r/Tekken/comments/8b0c80/translated_highlights_lowhighs_beast_arena_hk_vod/

▌LowHigh's BAHK Analysis VOD
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Watch Fursan LowHigh - Beast Arena HongKong 1st Place !! from 철권로하이 on www.twitch.tv

▌Yoshikki's Translated Highlights
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LowHigh just had a stream where he watched VODs of his own matches at Beast Arena Hong Kong and broke down his decision making and what was going through his mind during the matches. It was a super informative stream and I thought the content was pure gold. It's rare that we have such in-depth analysis of high-level Tekken, so I want to translate some of the most entertaining points to share with the English-speaking community. Frankly, the fine decision-making within the matches are missed by the casters and I can't blame them because it's actually impossible to catch these small details just by watching the games. But it's eye-opening when we can see into a high-level Tekken-player's mind.

Here is the VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/248396199

I will give translations with the timestamps on the VOD for specific moments.

Apologies for lots of text, I haven't really organized the points or made them very concise.

Disclaimer: I can speak Korean, but it's not particularly high-level so I hope nothing is horribly mistranslated. I also learned a lot of Korean Tekken jargon based on context as I was doing this, I hope it's accurate.

Match against Saint:

• He never expected to win the tournament.
• Felt uncomfortable at the start of the match against Saint because he lost the paper-scissors-rock.
• Shaheen is a good character against Jack, he has a df2 and a hopkick, but I (as a player) am scared of Jack.
• 17:00 - I'd pretty much won this round, then it was really funny, because I couldn't take off that last bit of health. I'm really stupid. I just kept getting hit because I couldn't finish it off. [Rage art] Ding! laughs I was really embarrassed at that moment, honestly. What the hell was I doing after I'd pretty much won the match? I was thinking that using the Rage Art was a mistake. I wanted to hit my own face.
• I couldn't think of a way to beat jack other than keep low parrying. Low parry, hopkick and df2.
• If you input two low parries in a row as shaheen, you sometimes get a slide, so you can't input multiple low parries in a row. This is a bit of a disadvantage in the jack matchup.
• 22:38: Even after I messed up in this round and Saint made a comeback, I thought to myself that I can do this. I didn't give up and I stopped throwing, spaced my hopkicks and df2.
• 24:20: I'm applying df2s to prevent him from coming up to me and using machine gun (presumably Jack's low punches)
• 25:25: I won this by using df2 after blocking sledge. I had the feeling that I had to use df2 well, more so than hopkick.

Match against Kkokkoma:

• Kkokkoma didn't say anything after the match. Just sighed.
• Some of you might notice that the pace of my attacks increases when I'm up two rounds. Tournaments are like that. Tournaments have that kind of flow. If I ride that flow and attack faster, things go well.
• My deathmatches with Knee helped a lot.
• When I feel danger, I bring out the Law.
• 32:08: When the Dragon's Nest map came up, I put my hands together. I really like this map. It's bright at first, and I like bright maps. I don't like dark maps. Honestly, the arena was dark and this made it harder for me.
• 34:05: You see me do this often. After I hit a wall combo, I whiff a jab and then press b3. Whiffing the jab makes the timing on the b3 perfect. If I do this, I win any trade (Even beats dickjab). But if they respect it and block, I don't lose anything. Since it's 0~+1, it doesn't matter. It's a very good, advantageous situation for me. I have a Shaheen mentor, and he taught me this. (He names the mentor, but I don't know who he is. Later mentions that he has multiple mentors.) [He also catches Qudans with this at 40:35 and describes it in more detail there, which I've included in this bullet point. Pretty nice piece of tech for Shaheen players. He also mentions that it shouldn't be used against Yoshimitsu, presumably because of flash]
• 35:40: If this wasn't a low kick... This low kick put me into rage. If that didn't hit, the result might have been completely different. These kinds of moments are what make tournaments difficult. (He used Rage Art to win that round shortly after where he paused the VOD)

Match against Qudans:

• I use a lot of 1+2 throws during tournaments. From my experience, I can't break them well. I think nerves make it harder to press the break input. So I apply 1+2 throws to my opponents as well.
• Honestly, all of the matches were difficult.
• Fursan's owner was so happy that LowHigh won that the terms of his contract changed a little, for the better. Details are a secret.
• 44:25: If this was an uf4 instead of electric, I couldn't have known. Honestly, ducking here was dangerous. I was really scared. I was relieved, but if it was a different move...
• 45:22: Qudans started using more low kicks here. He had no choice, because he needed to make a comeback.

Match against Take (Winner's finals):

• I was actually very worried, because Shaheen vs Kazumi is hard, or at least, I felt that way.
• Donation message: I'll donate 300,000W ($280usd) if you win a tournament with Lars. Is it possible? Lowhigh: I'd love to, but if I pick Lars and try to go for this 300,000W donation, I might lose 300,000W in prize money laughs
• 50:22: I'm mental. Why would I use a Rage Art there? (In English) I'm crazy. But I knew it hit. Just as I pressed it, I heard Kazumi make a sound.
• I was really focusing on punishing whiffs.
• 55:30: I shouldn't have lost this match. At this point, I had a good understanding of when Take likes to duck, but the rage drive killed me. If I pretend to slide for long enough, he ducks, and when I interrupt his movement in the neutral with a jab, he ducks as well. In order to block lows.
• I was talking to Knee and Chanel on KakaoTalk before the match. I was saying, "Kazumi is such a hard matchup," and Chanel told me, "Watch closely for Take's weaknesses." So I did. I watched very carefully.
• 57:00: Everyone, watch this. I do something really stupid. Take a look. One. Two. (Counting his slides.) pauses Now at this point, I was just waiting for Take to stand up. Like I said, when I delay the slide, he ducks to try and block it. That's all I was thinking. While I'm faking the slide, stand up. Stand up. Stand up. Stand up. He stood up, and I got it. My fingers were already on the buttons, waiting for the exact moment he stood up.
• 57:53: Did you see that? When Take's movement is interrupted by a jab, he crouches. He crouched once here (when Take crouched for a moment then did ws4,4.) See here? The jab hit. He crouches. This is a habit of his, so I was 100% certain that he would crouch again. Jab hits, then he crouches and eats the hopkick. As I hit it, I was thinking, "Stop crouching." But there are a lot of people who have habits like this. (Later points out that Take even crouches after eating a mid kick, and points out more instances of Take crouching after eating jabs in later matches. He goes on to say that he utilizes this habit of Take's even in the grand finals.) There are a lot of people who just crouch when they get hit.
• 59:19: At this moment, I had no thoughts other than when I was going to use my Rage Art. Seriously, this was the only thing I was calculating. Lower my health, lower my health. I thought that it would be a low kick or a jab. But it was a df1.
• 1:00:50: (The gameplay clip starts here, he pauses it but then is interrupted by a donation.) I did a lot of delayed slides earlier. I delayed most of them. When I'm doing this, I'm crouching and defenseless. I was thinking of hitting him here, regardless of what move came out from him. But I didn't know it would come out at that timing. I guess I'm kind of using the sliding step to invite my opponent to attack.

Match against Take (Grand finals pre-reset):

• Honestly, Take's play was different in the grand finals. He was using more small attacks. He moved more, and chipped at me more with more lows.
• Take is a good player. He's a famous player, and you can't ever take him lightly. (Later mentions that his play is almost Korean-style.)
• His movement is like an iron defense. He hits, crouches, stands up, hits, low parries, hits, blocks. Only uses completely safe stuff. Honestly, my mind wasn't working (during the first match). I could only think to myself, "What do I need to do?"
• Before the bracket reset, I was feeling that I couldn't win with Shaheen. But it feels different if I bring the Law out before the bracket reset, doesn't it? If I brought out Law while Take was up 2-1, I can see the score with my eyes and see that I'm losing. If I change character after the reset, it's 0-0. It's a different feeling. It's a worse score for me overall, but the feeling is different. That was why I waited for the reset and intended to switch to Law if it happened.
• I've never practiced with Law. [wtf LOL] But because he was my main character in the past, I don't have any difficulties controlling the character or anything, because I've played him a lot.
• 1:07:53: Here, I was expecting jab into df1 or homing move (b2), so I got the counter hit.
• Take came to the finals in a really robust state after winning the lower bracket finals.
• 1:11:18: Wow, look at the way he punishes with a low kick because it's too far for the regular punish. He's really good. (Take does this again towards the end of the next round) Look, the low kick punish because it's too far. That's not easy to do.
• Towards the end of the third match: I already knew at this point that Shaheen doesn't have the answer for this. I was already thinking that, but like I said before, I thought that picking Law when down 1:2 would be different from picking him at 0:0, so I picked Shaheen despite thinking that I would lose.
• Donator question: How did you feel after losing one game after picking Law? Wasn't there some hesitation or doubt? LowHigh: I messed up a match that I had won. I'd messed up, so I thought, "This is good enough. I lost this one, but there are still three or four games left, so I think I can win." So I continued, and thankfully things turned out well. (Later) Rather than thinking that I lost despite picking Law, I thought about how I'd essentially won and then messed up. I can still win.
• I had no thoughts of picking Steve. My Steve isn't that strong.
• 1:14:53: This is so suffocating. This pisses me off. Kazumi really pisses me off. Kazumi really makes one angry. How did they make her like that?
• I was absolutely not considering Lars.
• 1:15:23: Ah, when I ate this launcher, I thought, Ok. I'll probably get reset, and then I'll pick Law after the reset.

Match against Take (Grand finals post-reset):

• Once I picked Law, I had nowhere else left to go. Take's patterns and things that I'd memorized... I thought I had to use everything I knew about Take. Jab into df1 - I would put the counter-hit for this straight away. That kind of stuff, I used it all.
• In the situation where you have to think about whether to low parry (lethal low kick), I go crazy. It creates a lot of problems.
• I used hammer (Assuming he means law's punch that swings towards) sparingly at first, because kazumi has a good counter-hit magic 4. So I was careful, but when I thought about it, Take wasn't applying many magic 4s. I thought about that and then started using a lot of hammers.
• 1:20:15: This one! I missed this punish, and that's why I lost.
• I wasn't deliberately missing the hit after the slide (Guaranteed wakeup low kick after Law's slide, I think). Shaheen doesn't have the guaranteed hit after the slide. I'd use the slide, then get up immediately. Then I'd think, "Oh, shit, I'm not Shaheen."
• 1:22:05: Ah, look at these low kicks. This pisses me off. Ah, it pisses me off. Something needs to be done about Kazumi's wrists. Aren't her hands cheating? [Gets launched] laughs Ah, Kazumi really pisses me off!
• As for Lars... Later. When I become more skillful. I might give it a try.
• 1:23:42: (Talking about why Dragon Tail is guaranteed here) If he doesn't get up, he will eat it grounded. He gets up, but he's facing away. Look carefully at how he gets up. He stands up backwards. Because he gets up backwards, Dragon Tail is guaranteed. (Later) I only used the first hit because if he doesn't get up, the first hit lands and then the second hit whiffs. That puts me in a bad position.
• 1:24:14: After this homing move, I was like "Should I low parry?" then again, "Should I low parry?" then one more time, and I parried! A low kick came.
• 1:25:08: [Misses the low kick that would have killed Take, making the mistake mentioned earlier]Shaheen! Shaheen! Actually, attacking here was quite dangerous, but I still think it was a good move.
• 1:25:27: When this throw landed, I thought, I can do it. It was at that moment. But then I failed the combo and I wanted to hit myself in the head.
• 1:27:51: My movements will probably be different this round. I mentioned earlier that I move and attack faster when I have momentum. I suddenly jab and attack much more. Ah, Take's habit that I mentioned earlier. When his move is interrupted by a jab, he crouches. (Take blocks) He didn't crouch here. The jab wasn't a counter hit. But here, a counter hit. I hopkick. He crouched, which is why he got hit. This kind of ended up being a fatal habit for Take. The reason I was able to win this tournament, I think that was it. That was the biggest thing. The reason I could win.
• 1:28:47: Ah, this one. Freaking idiot. Freaking idiot. I really am a freaking idiot. Chanel messaged me and said "even the Lowhigh of your previous life cursed you after seeing that low-kick-somersault. Sorry."
• Donation message: I'm amazed at your reaction times that let you see whether your jab is a counter hit or not and immediately react with a hopkick. [So am I.] Lowhigh: If you have enough experience, you can do it to some extent, though not 100% of the time.
• 1:30:09: This was probably what I mentioned earlier. He did a jab and then something else. Ah, it was a df1. Jabs and df1s are followed by other moves, so I picked Law to counter it with his magic 4. And there's no way this rage art hits.
• 1:30:34: This! laughs This... My hands slipped and I did a dragon uppercut. This wasn't a dragon uppercut. I was... what was I doing? I can't remember, but my hands slipped and I did a dragon uppercut. I pressed 2, so I think I was doing a dickjab. I was going to do a right-hand dickjab and then go into a slide, probably. But... I suppose some people are destined. Now, hammer and demon's foot started working well.
• 1:31:37: I parried this, and then I didn't hit the guaranteed follow-up. With that much life left, he dies to a slide. If I hit there, Take gets thrown backwards, and Take has Rage Drive. Kazumi's Rage Drive deals damage against the wall, too. So I was thinking, what should I do? Then, the moment I parried, I thought, "Ah, I'll just put the first hit in. I'll just do that, leave him in front of me and then end it with a slide." You all thought I screwed up here, didn't you? The dragon uppercut was the real screw-up. [This instantaneous decision-making seems completely insane to me.]

Bonus:

1:41:12: (Back to the winner's bracket final, where he did the double slide into ws2 on Take.) This is a showcase of scum Tekken. If you played like this at an arcade, you could get beaten up. [Korean Twitch chat fills up with ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ, Korean equivalent to LUL] Even I ended up using this. I really wanted to win, so I used everything.

Just want to add that he is a really humble guy. He kept saying that he got lucky, and probably wouldn't be able to replicate this result in another tournament. He was also super genuinely thankful to the people donating to him.