'My competition isn't women, it's anybody' - Cuddlecore talks Tekken with BornFree
We have yet another wonderful interview from BornFree's talks at Combo Breaker 2019, this time featuring Tekken aficionado Jeannail "EQNX|Cuddlecore" Carter.
The two get into Carter's fighting game career going as far back as her first challenger, (her father) moving into more modern times, (her notable performance and eventual win at ELEAGUE in 2018) and plenty more.
Being one of the few women to reach such a high level of success in fighting game competition, Carter is very often prompted to talk on this point. When asked how she feels about being one of the strongest female competitors around, she had the following to say.
"If I solely thought of myself as the best female fighting game player in the States, well that's not really saying much because my competition isn't women, it's anybody who is a top player. It's anybody who is strong, anybody who can take our points away from us."
She goes on to further detail her personal philosophy, which focuses a lot on not putting oneself into too much of a box and remembering that there's always someone better than you there. As such, there's always a reason to continue to train and get better, no matter how many hurdles you've already overcome.
You can view the full interview right here, and we've included some timestamps below the embed so that you can jump around to the questions you find most intriguing first.
00:00 Context: Cuddle Core extending her fantastic run in the Tekken World Tour LCQ!
00:39 BornFree Intro
01:40 Question: Introductions!
02:19 Question: Where did the gamertag Cuddle Core come from?
03:24 Question: How is it with EQNX gaming?
05:00 Question: Xioayu and Alisa mains?
06:38 Question: Tell me about the Eleague Tekken team tournament experience? Cuddle Core as captain, Jimmy Tran calling his own team “weakest”?
12:40 Question: You are arguably, currently, the strongest female fighting game player in the states. Do you think about that at all? Particularly being a public figure.
15:08 Question: Do you feel extra/added pressure? I.e. do you feel like you are representing women, beyond just yourself?
17:35 Question: History in fighting games? Playing against her Dad. Playing T6 online. Learning from losses.
22:37 Question: Is Tekken 6 your favorite Tekken game? The importance of stories, characters, stages, music - the whole experience.
24:41 Question: When did you start to discover FGC and play competitively?
27:06 Question: Hard worker or born with talent?
27:04 Question: When did you realize you were good at Tekken 7? When did you feel that realization?
28:23 Question: Are you doing this full time? Or illustration? Or both?
29:22 Question: Proudest moment in Tekken? Such supportive moment. She felt the love!
32:20 Question: How do you feel about Tekken 7 at the moment? Likes? Future improvements?
33:53 Question: Thoughts on guest characters? Evo reveals.
36:34 Question: Rangchu TWT with Panda. How do you feel about that? And how do you feel about balance?
38:19 Question: Any players who give you a really hard time?
39:11 Question: Favorite players?
40:05 Question: Training routine details?
41:42 Question: Tournament strategy?
42:36 Question: Advice for people learning Tekken?
44:51 Question: Do you feel pressure/nerves - how do you deal with it?
46:28 Question: Mind games in Tekken?
48:14 Question: Do you play any other fighting games?
49:42 Question: Have fighting games taught you anything about life?
51:50 Question: What’s the biggest sacrifice you’ve made for gaming?
53:38 Question: What general video games do you play?
55:20 Question: What kind of illustration do you do? What else outside of gaming?
59:32 Question: Anything else you wanted to touch on?
01:02:11 BornFree Outro
