Fighting games like Street Fighter V require a lot of attention from a competitive player: spatial awareness, movement queues, opponent patterns, framerate reaction, etc. Imagine for a second that you cannot see any of those while going up against the best players in your region? That is exactly what a blind player called Sven did this weekend at the Sonic Boom IV Tournament in Madrid, Spain.
The Street Fighter V Capcom Pro Tour event was attended by some of the biggest names in competitive Street Fighter such as Justin Wong, Ricki Ortiz, and more. Sven caught everyone’s attention however since he did very well in the early part of the pools despite his lack of sight. Since Sven cannot see, he has to rely a lot on audio cues, positioning via stereo sounds, and had to be very aggressive with his attacks. He mains Ken so he has some leverage with damage priority and he does use wake-up and opening dragon punches liberally that caught many of his opponents off-guard. What is amazing is how he can gauge the distance from the sound, measured from the moment he initiates an attack to the moment it lands or whiffs. Obviously, not having sight opens him up to some vulnerabilities that an audio cue cannot help him with such as cross-ups or if the player decides to play safe with footsies, but it is quite impressive nonetheless. Watch his match against a player named Musashi who is using Akuma: https://clips.twitch.tv/PlainDaintyPuffinNerfBlueBlaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJwe7uOmPJ0
In an interview after the match, Sven gives a bit of a backstory to his fighting game career. He lost his sight to cancer at a young age but that has not discouraged him. He started with Street Fighter II on the Super Nintendo and has been a fighting game fan ever since.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNLzsRI5WZM&feature=youtu.be
