Sherryjenix: Street Fighter Player & Import Car Lover

Sherryjenix was a name I saw a couple of times during live streams and I had really no idea who she was.  You see a lot of “randoms” on streams, and thus, not much attention was initially given to her.  However, I kept seeing Sherry’s name pop-up and I began to question the attention I had payed, people seemed to know her alias but said little else in regards to WHO she was.

With the release of Super Street Fighter IV, I got to see many players in action like: Daigo Umehara, Justin Wong, Alex Valle, and many others that are considered veterans in the community.  However, I got to see the rise of other people who I had never heard of but that I had come to know after repeatedly seeing them on stream and competing at A-Ranked tournaments, such as: Online Tony, Wolfkrone, and Vangief.  After interviewing the mystery known as “desk” (Check it out Here), I decided the next person on my agenda was Sherryjenix.

Sending an inquiry for an interview to her through means of her contact information on her website, www.Sherryjenix.com.  She accepted said request and gave swift replies to which I can know happily deliver to you, the Street Fighter community.  Check below for the full, 19-question interview with Sherryjenix.

1. I always like to start off by asking how players got their alias. So, how did you come up with the name Sherryjenix?When I first started playing there was a C. Viper player named Kryojenix, he taught me the fundamental Viper combos. When my friend signed me up for the Arcade Infinity’s Ladies of Street Fighter Tournament, he signed me up as Sherryjenix and I just stuck with the name since then!
2. Interesting! So, before Arcade Infinity closed its doors (R.I.P.) was that your main fighting game hangout? Any fond memories to share with us?Yes actually. I went to Arcade Infinity from the time that I woke up to the time that I slept everyday in the summer when I first started playing. A pretty funny memory was the first time I actually played in the arcade. I was too scared to play on the cabs because there was always a big crowd watching. My friend forced me to go up there by saying he wasn’t going to go home until I played. When I did, I lost horribly and was pretty embarrassed. However, it was a fun experience playing with the crowd cheering for me.
3. I have mainly seen you playing Street Fighter IV, is this the first fighting game you have taken seriously?This is actually my first fighting game ever. I never thought in my life I would get involved in something like this, but ever since I started playing it just became really addicting! Street Fighter IV won’t be the only game I take seriously though. I plan on learning Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, TEKKEN Tag Tournament 2, and possibly Soul Calibur and The King of Fighters XIII.
   
   
4. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, TEKKEN Tag Tournament 2, Soul Calibur V, and The King of Fighters XIII are all excellent choices. What about the upcoming Street Fighter X TEKKEN or maybe BlazBlue: Continuum Shift EXTEND? Not to mention Mike Z’s “Skull Girls” on the horizon.I want to definitely check out Skull Girls. Everyone has been talking about that lately and I haven’t been able to see or play it. I actually played Street Fighter X Tekken at Comic Con and got third at one of their daily tournaments. It wasn’t really my type of game, but watching Justin and Floe play it at a higher level made me more interested about the potential of the game. I have never actually played BlazBlue either, but I might try it out because of the cool graphics!
5. Tell us about your gaming origins, how did you get into gaming?My gaming origins actually started from my other hobby, import cars. I ran into a friend (SHGLBMX) at Arcade Infinity when I went to play Initial D and he told me about the Ladies of Street Fighter tournament. I looked at him as if he was crazy because I’ve never touched Street Fighter in my life. After a little training from SHGLBMX and Kryojenix, I entered the tournament but I placed last. I asked myself if I wanted to continue on with Street Fighter because it would take a lot of time and dedication or should I just move on. I decided to stick with it and I’ve been playing competitively since then.
6. Pretty cool that you stuck with it even though you placed last, a lot of people get “wrecked” at their first tournament and immediately give up!  Are SHGLBMX and Kryojenix your regular training partners? Do you plan to compete at Evolution 2012?I plan on going to every single Evolution for the rest of my life! Haha. I don’t play much with SHGLBMX or Kryojenix anymore because they seemed to have moved on to different hobbies. SHGLBMX started participating in tournaments again but I haven’t gotten a chance to train with him. Lately, I’ve just been playing on XBOX Live or having sessions at Justin’s place when everyone comes over.
   
   
7. So far, what is your opinion of the fighting game scene as of now, where do you rank yourself? Casual, Hardcore, or Competitive?I’d say I’m pretty competitive. For the past year, I’ve been traveling to major tournaments around the U.S., even Canada.   However, I am not as hardcore as I’d like to be. I feel like I don’t practice enough to get where I want to be. Hopefully I’ll step my game up and start trying as hard as I can.
8. So, you believe that hard work will eventually pay off?Definitely. People never get far in life without putting hard work in.
9. You actually have your own website, Sherryjenix.com, could you explain what we can find on here?My website was actually something I came up with people who don’t really know much about the fighting game scene or import scene in mind. Its more of a blogging site of my experience at major tournaments and car shows. Most of my posts recently have been about my experience at major tournaments such as CEO, Seasons Beatings, and Devastation. It has a calendar of events for anyone who wants to know about upcoming tournaments and is linked to my twitter for live updates.

   It is still a somewhat new site, so expect more features coming soon!

10. Import car scene, eh? I have a friend that is really into fighting games and cars (RaS the “Riot Trigger”), tell me a bit about how this love for cars came about.I always loved cars ever since I was a young kid. However, growing up in Philadelphia didn’t really give me a chance for that love to grow because there is practically no imports scene there. When I moved to Southern California, who has the biggest imports car scene in the US, my love for it grew because I was able to attend all these legit car shows and weekly local car meets.
11. Have you found it tough being a female in the male dominated fighting game scene?I would say it is a little tougher than being a male that enters the community. It is much easier to get attention whether it is positive or negative. There will be a lot of bumps on the road but I encourage any female who wants to play to stay strong because that strength and dedication could get them far if they want to really take the game seriously.
12. Is there any specific piece of advice you can give to help those women that seemed overwhelmed by the amount of attention they get from playing? I know a few who have quit simply because they can never get personal space on the tournament floor.Whether or not they are female or male, anyone who dreams of becoming a top player must understand the pros and cons that come with it. If something crosses your path when you’re trying to reach your goal that you aren’t happy about, you need to see if your goal outweighs any negative affects it has. To sum it up, if you want to get far, stay strong!
    
    
13. At Northeast Championships 12, it showed you came in 2nd in the 3v3 Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition Tournament with PR Balrog and MRN Wolfkrone, plan on teaming up with them again?I would definitely team up with them again. I was just a little disappointed that I had to play E. Honda because I had originally thought that the team tournament was not character locked. Either way, I had a blast teaming up with them.
14. Ah! So you chose E.Honda for a specific match-up and then tried to switch to Viper and found it was not allowed? Do you think your Honda held its own in the end?Oh no, I chose E. Honda from the very start because I wasn’t allowed to choose Viper to begin with due to the tournament rules. I actually think my E. Honda put in some work. I almost OCV’d the first team we played and took out some players. It was actually very fun trying out a new character in tournament.
15. Of all the new games coming out, what are you most looking forward to?I’m looking forward to UMVC3 the most I’d say. I wanted to get into MVC3 but never had the time to. Now that UMVC3 is out, I still want to try out C. Viper in that game. It just looks too fun!
16. That is pretty cool, my favorite U. Marvel vs Capcom 3 player right now is probably Fanatiq because he stuck with his team and made them viable. Who is your favorite player right now? Any interest in other characters besides Crimson Viper?I have a lot of favorite players. Justin, Floe, Clockwork, Noel, Puerto Rican Balrog, and a couple of others are players I love to watch play. They all have stuck to their team whether they were low tier or nerfed and have all consistently placed top 8 at majors. Much props to them. The team that I have in mind for UMVC3 that I want to play is Viper, Vergil, Strider. However, watching Flocker play made me want to play Zero as well because of how flashy he looks.
    
    
17. What is your proudest accomplishment thus far?My proudest accomplishment would be the way I played at Canada Cup. I feel like that was the best performance I have displayed so far, even though I only got 33rd. I was one match away from qualifying for top 32 in probably the most stacked tournament besides EVO. I hope to be consistent and keep it up.
    
    
18. That is a pretty grand accomplishment, do you think the changes in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition version 2012 will help aid your strengths?The changes in 2012 shouldn’t affect me as much as it affects others. I just have to get used to the fact that ex seismo isn’t throw invincible anymore, but Viper still has all her tools that make her very viable and top tier. I would only have to work on match-ups with the certain tweaks Capcom did to the other characters to know my options.
19. As far as gaming is concerned, what are your goals and future plans?My goal right now is to become one of the best in Street Fighter. This is the game that started it all for me and I would be disappointed in myself if I did not get where I want to be. I’m not sure what I have planned for the future. For the near future, I still plan on participating in everything that’s going on in the fighting game community. Who knows where it will take me!

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There is always something exciting about finding new things about players in our community, especially those that are on the rise.  Going from dead last in her first tournament to 33^rd in the Canada Cup is a huge feat; not to mention her taking 2^nd with PR Balrog and Wolfkrone in the 3 vs. 3 Super Street Fighter IV at the NEC 12 tournament.

Hanging out with top level players as well as having determination can be a scary thing, it can help provide the tools to shape you into a top tier beast and bring out potential that may not have come out otherwise.  I think it is safe to say that Sherryjenix is well on her way to becoming a top player if she continues down this path and continues to sharpen her fangs.  I am looking forward to her future endeavors and how she will fair in other fighting games.  Thank you for reading this interview on www.RoKtheReaper.com, please leave a comment below!

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In order to better keep up with myself, RoK the Reaper, and Sherryjenix, you can use any of the following mediums to keep track of our activities, Thank you!

Sherryjenix’s Website
RoK the Reaper’s FaceBook Page
RoK the Reaper’s YouTube