MenaRD's true feelings about Street Fighter 6, becoming the champ, dealing with haters | Trash Talk

[@SA-so9qs]

One thing that sticks out to me is how intelligent Mena is. Not just how he articulates himself but also his understanding of life in general. And his understanding of self. Knowing and admitting to himself that he was an inconsistent/ streaky player definitely contributed to his consistency now. Really the face of the Street Fighter scene in my opinion.

[@ismaeljrp1]

Great parenting and positive support system along with his own intelligence and maturity. You can tell he spends lots of time with older folks.

[@leob4403]

​@@ismaeljrp1good point, he has clear vision when others in his age are just out getting drunk lost in life

[@symphonycguy9935]

Brian ive been enjoying Trash Talk so much, i started watching SFV around 2018-2019 and i had no idea of the history of the scene and the history the players have been through. These sessions have been super insightful and has gotten me more active on SF6, keep the good content rolling and i hope i get to see you on some tournament!!! P.S. This episode being 3h long felt like nothing, great insight from both you and Mena, its always great to see the person behind "the player"

[@duckyworthy]

This might be said a lot, and Mena said it too, but your efforts are insanely appreciated Mr. Brian_F. I would've never gotten into the fgc if it weren't for you!

[@gabrielhernandez5249]

As a dominican, MenaRD means so much for our community, he has inspired us to improve in Street Fighter and get more involved with the FGC. Some may see it as an exaggeration but Mena has earned the title of the main figure in the Dominican FGC. Great video as always, Brian

[@Darth_Misa]

Not just the FGC but gaming in general in the DR tbh

[@Mr0mart]

Pressure is something that you earn because you are expected to win. Fuck man, that changed my perspective around it.

[@kiwidante1347]

Bro i feel the same. I UNDERSTAND IT NOW

[@cubone285]

Gotta echo the sentiment that we're lucky to have Mena in the FGC. Him and the DR community bring so much spirit, that's what always keeps me coming back. Not just seeing my flag, but to see people who look like me up on stage kicking ass and thriving alongside others is a special kind of magic. Thank you for giving these players the spotlight they deserve!

[@xkoan-yy7lg]

Brian these podcasts are awesome. I just got into fighting games in the past 6 months and getting to know top players gives the competitive aspect of this game much more depth. Menard is a great competitor.

[@DiscipleOfYahusha]

MenaRD is one of them ones fam. Like real deal 1of1. We needed to hear this story fam. You really a ninja 🥷🏾 bro. Im Rooting for MenaRD everytime

[@snootlongbottom]

This is the best fighting game podcast period. Hope down the line you can get KBR on 🤞

[@leob4403]

K-BRad definitely

[@JetSabel]

i would love to see sonicfox. the goat of goats tbh

[@User-pu3lc]

I LOVE these long form sessions. Thank you both for this.

[@LikexWater]

Fuck the haters 3 hr Trash Talk is what i need in my life!

[@problemsnearyou8899]

Trust people aren’t hating . It’s just not easy to fit 3 hours in your day that’s all . I’m going to keep coming back to this until I’m done !!

[@Marshall__Farmer]

3 hours trash talk AKA my favorite coworker

[@misterkeebler]

The last hour or so in particular of Mena explaining his studying of both the game and fellow competitors reminds me of prep time Batman, lol. He's an interesting guy to listen to. I'm looking forward to see what he brings to Capcom Cup. Awesome episode, Brian!

[@dsc5957]

This is an incredible episode. We’re so lucky as a community to have Mena. Brian is not too bad as well haha

[@nunyabizwacks6711]

yea ole Brian is alright, even if he does talk for way to long at times

[@TEKFROLOGIC]

"Pressure is something that you earn" Jeez, such a life lesson

[@johnnymo4000]

I appreciate that people like Mena are part of the FGC. He's one of the few bombastic people and we need that back.

[@joshrobinson9960]

You should interview Broski next!

[@Raxyz_0]

I think Brian did said he was looking to document mainly NA FGC, but I agree. Broski should definitely feature an episode one of these days.

[@rinoyujin]

Ppz

[@chad8813]

Why

[@makbreaker]

Interview FChamp 💪

[@demonicious_]

@@Raxyz_0 I dont think he said anything about NA specifically, he even said he'd bring in non-SF people if its a success.

[@koreyg8552]

Thanks for this interview. “Pressure is something you earn” that’s a dope line, not sure if originated it but dope

[@108Fire]

The way Mena described the chaos that is SF6 really rang true to me, when he said that not the best player would win, but someone “good enough”. Clearly there’s a threshold of skill that you must have to be a top player, but trying to distinguish yourself amongst them and pull ahead is just not what this game allows. Brian you spoke of there being very thin margins due to everyone being so good, but what I believe and I believe Mena was saying is that the those margins actually do exist and are perhaps larger than we might think, but the chaos of the game masks that. The game allows for matches with a larger variance of results despite what could be considered significant margins of skill differential. Those smaller differences between player skill are flattened out when you get drive rush full screen into corner carry into throw loop city guess for game

[@leob4403]

There's some pretty obvious skill tiers though. Take some random matchup for example, Shine vs Punk, would you expect Shine to win maybe 1 out of 20 matches in that matchup

[@gochuckyourself1892]

Brian, I just wanna say thank you for this type of content. And encourage you to do more!

[@Stross8]

need a episode 2 with mena that was soo good

[@graveaxel3607]

Fantastic interview. The moment I heard that Mena put his first Capcom Cup winnings back into his community, he became one of my favorite fighting game players. Great job Brian, and to Mena Im glad you had support and didnt give up!

[@Teddy-k5y]

Thanks for even including tournament clips. Had no idea about the Counterhit pushback tech, and it makes me appreciate Mena even more for how he pushes tech, like with jump cancel SPD in SF6.

[@michaellawrence9922]

Fantastic interview. Mena is so much more thoughtful and empathetic than his tournament pop offs and smack talk would indicate. Please FIND A WAY TO PAY INCROSS

[@nathanhizon6175]

I love how much gratitude he shows. What an inspiration not just in street fighter, but life in general. Great interview.

[@bobbyfrost7573]

Man, I totally can relate to the feeling of not earning the victory you get because of the challenge. Ive been to evo for 3 years now and for the first time this year, i got out of my pools in sf6. But the first guy i would have fought didnt show up, the second guy was better than me but his controller disconnected twice during our set and that last guy was a modern zangief player wearing a wrestling mask and a tuxedo playing for the crowd and just command grabbing and playing wild (great guy btw). Even for someone like me who's a nobody, getting out of pools would have meant a lot to me if I had a more normal "journey" to get there :(

[@BritzBlitz]

nah bro you still deserved it. things happen, but dont let yourself convince yourself that you didnt deserve it.

[@bobbyfrost7573]

@ it's not so much of a "i didnt deserve this" kind of feeling but more of a "that should have been harder and it wasn't as satisfying as it should have been". But thanks bro✌🏻

[@BritzBlitz]

@@bobbyfrost7573 no worries man well next year id better see you in top 100 XD. i believe

[@bobbyfrost7573]

@ ♥️

[@Optii87]

Bro why did you swap sides with the guest? This is unacceptable . Brian F left side, guest right side

[@theuzi8516]

The podcast vortex.

[@HolySok]

He's looking Camera Left throughout. Can't be breaking that 180⁰ rule!

[@Raxyz_0]

Hit'em with the side switch.

[@briansmith5120]

he's making the guest "player 1" to signify the video is about their story not him as an interviewer

[@Trigun_Bebop]

​@@briansmith5120dang that's deep.

[@danimaryam3908]

yo wtf college at 15??? this guys a fuckin born genius, no wonder he's so well spoken

[@sardjack]

90% of the players say the same things that Mena says from 2:21:20 to 2:22:52 since the game released, but the answer is always "stop complaining, the game is good"

[@leob4403]

To be fair, people complain about every single fighting game in existence

[@flamoctapus4445]

This episode made me wanna go grind ranked, it's so cool to hear about Mena's mentality like this.

[@schoolwork3716]

Menas anecdote at 18:40 brought a tear to my eye. I’ve never heard someone so beautifully and eloquently capture what makes the FGC so great. Incredible episode.

[@riszaperdhana]

Wow, Mena is very mature for a man his age

[@vinn4780]

Such a relaxing interview...very genuine and heart felt...it didn't feel like 3 hours 😁😁 respect 🇹🇹🇹🇹

[@VirtuousContract]

I was at the Kumite in New York, and that day NYC became Menas hometown. It was nice to see.

[@PAPALIKO]

Tremendously insightful interview and the fact that you guys spoke about the game base on love for it definitely makes this a great podcast to listen to and watch. Good shit señor Brian 👏🏽

[@KhMaIBQ]

Brian, you are killing it with these Trash Talk episodes. This is amazing content. Keep it up and thank you!

[@Platanov]

I started rooting for Mena because he was playing Blanka, I love seeing people represent the deeper roster (and thereby represent more unique playstyles), but seeing this video made me realize I really didn't know anything about him as a player.

[@luhdee9952]

MenaBR 🇧🇷

[@Kusanagikaiser999]

The STRONEST BULL, el Toro, Mena is our hero here in DR and so happy he is getting the recognition he earn, as he have prove time and time again he is one of the greatest players in the current era, along with Punk, Knuckledu, Nephew, Kakeru, Kawano and many new era greats, he is quickly becoming a SF god, so cool to see an episode of Talk Trash with him, again Brian putting the good work.

[@leob4403]

Is Mena almost like mainstream in DR? Like would you see him on tv and stuff?

[@CVE]

Excellent video and interview! I always enjoy the 'behind the curtains' of it all, not just the main show and performance side of things.

[@Tonefoni]

brian your recap / setup for the podcast in the beginning was really great. Love to see you leverage your recap skills to help inform those who aren't in the know. Great stuff man

[@IRONSILVER22]

Excelent interview on FGC and life in general. I would be very interested in an interview with SMUG, since I think his story is largely untold.

[@Howl_3DN]

My appreciation for both of these guys got a lot bigger

[@demonicious_]

2:02:00 About this entire part. This is exactly the role that HLTV fills for Counter-Strike. Now Counter-Strike is probably a lot bigger than SF in terms of competition, but still, HLTV for CS is pretty much the equivalent to ESPN for other sports. They hold award shows, interview players, have their own sponsors, report on every matches, hire journalists for them and all that. I feel like something like this COULD also exist for SF, maybe not for SF specifically but Fighting Games as a whole.

[@vinsmoke2865]

I remember getting back into CS recently a couple years back and remember how seriously in-depth their stats were and how it’s essentially the central hub for professional CS

[@sojoba3521]

Super enjoyable video. Love your content. As someone who always enjoys your interviews, please consider giving the guest more time to talk.

[@despitewisdom]

The advice Mena gave me right before I competed at my very 1st EVO (2022) helped me to make it to 193rd. I will never forget that.

[@JordanDGAF]

A bull and a goat - still an inspiration for me to this day. Great episode, great work - UpChainLord

[@AB-tb7bt]

I second what a commentator mentioned about how intelligent and observant Mena is. He definitely always strikes as wise above his years, it's always super interesting to hear him express himself in formats like these. Never change Mena! Gotta admit you're one of the main reasons I got into the FGC....Brian is also not bad ;D jk! Brian this content is great, please keep it rolling! Oh and I totally think you should be a commentator btw.

[@le0nz]

Great interview, love it. Please don't change sides with the guest, you left guess right

[@KenM_1987]

Interview Daigo if possible. Get a professional translator. Also I love this interview. MenaRD is a true KING.

[@xhinen8526]

The comments about the format of the competition and the state of the game on a competitive level have been devastating, and the worst thing is that capcom doesn't care.

[@leob4403]

Any way they do it people are going to complain, they can't win. Comparing an individual e-sport fighting game to a team based event like counter strike makes no sense at all.

[@kekklesbekkles]

Get my boy Broski on! You're both my favourite SF content creators!

[@Okletsrumble]

Really appreciate the efforts for these type of videos.

[@yippo]

damn!! the editing for the intro got so much better! keep up the good work wormlord

[@florianfischer5593]

I never looked at player interviews or so om cuz im new to the fgc but my god i love mena. He is so nice, humble and honest. He deserves the world. I will never get how grown men can hate a 17 year old

[@leob4403]

They are grown men only on paper

[@Erzito-gg]

Hey Bryan thank you for putting these interviews out. I'm not sure if you are doing this already but the top podcasters in Spain are not putting time stamps in their long videos. Instead they do smaller videos out of what the time stamps would be. Not sure if this would work with you but it's getting lots of views where I live. Peace

[@MrFraiche]

Mena RD style and reads are one of the most exciting to watch. It’s got that spark of creativity that’s different. Not just aiming for optimal/mistake free play style that Japanese players employ.

[@nunyabizwacks6711]

yea and hes aggressive and takes risks, but its like the risks he takes are actually less risky for him than for other people because hes so accustomed to his style and it also throws ppl off...you can really throw some of these super safe pros off, who also expect their pro opponents to play the same way, by goin ham on they ass sometimes. Its also like with Punk, what makes him the best in the world is that although hes not as studied as these other pro nerds, doesnt analyze every little thing as much as the others, he just has this natural ability for whatever reason that the universe bestowed upon him that makes him amazing at fighting games. Who else can pick up a new characrer and take them to rank 1 in a day or 2 like Punk lol. Most ppl would be labbing for weeks, studying every last aspect, etc.

[@bobbyfrost7573]

Loved this Brian, just wondering if you ever plan to interview people outside of street fighter. I mostly play street fighter too but i love this format and would love to hear someone like Arslan Ash talk about their journey

[@realest_JoJo]

I have really loved the podcasts, thanks Brian!

[@LexusTheArtist]

This is the one Brian F! 3 hours long? we locking in with the popcorn! Look forward to these pods now man good work orchestrating these.

[@Industry207]

51:00 the uncle daigo comment hed me rolling

[@patosemsapato1470]

menabr the goat

[@blue_go]

100% the community was way too harsh for his Daigo teabag. Like Mena said he was young and young players often have a very competitive mindset. Looking back now, I actually think it was funny as hell. this young kid appears, beats Daigo and ends up tea bagging him. DAIGO of all people. Come on... that's history right there

[@JCNOTGG]

The reality is if everyone online teabagged and did things like that the FGC would be toxic as hell. He deserved the toxicity he got, funny or not. Like Noah popping off on a 13 year old, he is going to go through the same thing.

[@adilky]

@@JCNOTGG kid popping off on a grown man != grown man popping off on a kid

[@reksaba7580]

@@JCNOTGGyou are mad dumb the fgc its arready boring enough because there is nothing to spice it up and people like mena and punk and noah all bring those funny and trash talking moments and if you take those things to heart you are just mad delicate

[@josquinlanglois2554]

2:21:35 that felt so good to hear from Mena of all people

[@FinalbossLin_Street_fighter]

Shows you the power of determination and purpose

[@NineEight_Nine]

I miss Mena's Birdie..man I MISS BIRDIE

[@FinalbossLin_Street_fighter]

Both these guys are categorically legends to be honest ✊🏽

[@elijahoneill5228]

thia was a beautiful episode, Mena is so intelligent.

[@adamhart2020]

Man great podcast! I hope this podcast will not just focus on SF pro player only but extend it to other FG as well, would love to see BrianF interview Phidx, Arslan and maybe who knows Harada himself or Maximilian!

[@twoshirts1842]

Why did the thumbnail make me realize his name is Menard. SAVE MORE MONEY AT MENARDS.

[@soapsatellite]

Okay, so it wasn't just me

[@MrMixtape]

I think Booce would make a fantastic guest. Given his age and the manner in which he made his competitive debut, I'd absolutely love to hear his story.

[@cellP8]

i am with Mena on this one, this year the SF6 EWC top 8 was a first to 5 and it was awesome af, it should become the standard for a game like SF6

[@Squiddy00]

This was a genuinely good talk. Like beyond just street fighter. It's a good talk.

[@spudboy007]

Ok, so Mena is a child genius, entering university at 15 for software engineering. Makes sense that he can breakdown games and compete at that level.

[@Lujeca]

As a casual/low level player, playing SFV was so unfun but it was so exciting as a spectator, SF6 is the opposite for me, love playing it but the spectator experience just doesn’t feel the same

[@Mas1erCJ]

17:56 OmegaDR to this day is one of the best Soulcalibur I've played against. I don't think there is anyone in the scene that comes close to how well he plays Zasalamel. He's also well respected by everyone in the SC scene. I can't think of anyone who talks badly about OmegaDR he's just a really cool guy.

[@mikaeladeel1268]

These podcasts are amazing

[@luisbaerga]

Again an awesome podcast these don't miss. I think one with Mono from PR would be awesome.

[@Lannseax]

It'd be hard for it all to come together but an honorary "Capcom Cup 2021" held in DR would be so sick to see

[@Raxyz_0]

I loved endgame SFV. But I also love the high-octane madness of SF6. There's things to be improved upon and I've no doubt that endgame SF6 will also shape up to be incredibly solid. I think what trips a lot of players over though, it's control. You _cannot_ have control of the match in SF6. It's always out there, you can temporarily have it like a buff, but you can't take it for granted. Mena mentioned gauging Ryukichi's reaction, that's one moment where you can wrestle control for a while. But it wouldn't last had that not been the last set. The game's insanely high mental-stack requirement makes it so that it's almost humanly impossible to always make the optimal decision. And I've no doubt that's exceedingly frustrating, especially for a player like Mena who aims for perfection. *Studying* a game is pretty high effort. Achieving excellence isn't easy and very often isn't fun. The things the game does for it to be fun can be very annoying for the competitive level. Anyways, banger episode as usual! I'm loving these far more than I expected tbh. It's great to hear players' perspectives in both how they make ends meet as how they train to achieve the level they get at. I think it gives a certain human element that has certainly been lacking since 2020.

[@nobodyexceptme7794]

Great conversation, we need one with u two and Rob next

[@Brian_F]

Thanks for watching. Already did one with Rob! kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKqZnGiwZ7SNic0 You can checkout the Trash Talk Playlist to see all the episodes already out

[@nobodyexceptme7794]

@Brian_F this man's promo game is on point LOL I already saw the Rob episodes I'm talking about all three of y'all together like when y'all do the little fgc summit's almost

[@zeywop]

“I don’t think a lot about oh I’m going to be critiqued but I will think about how I critique others publicly”

[@JohnDoe42069]

We ate good with this one 💯

[@fsgjafgja]

Just the string of names /ears from who he defeated his first capcom cup run is insane af

[@andyboy624]

I never went online and seriously played any fighting game until Mena won capcup and put my country on the map

[@lunarteam9003]

mena is PREACHING at 2:22:27. this was a fire episode, i was rolling when he said he's fighting the devs too lmao

[@MantisCrawl]

Excellent interview Brian

[@sinisterrain2079]

Not exactly done, but that's a freaking banger.

[@frangeek90]

Another banger of an episode. Looking forward to seeing commentators, TOs and other members of the FGC in the future :)

[@colevanhoogenstyn9322]

Excellent video and Brian is so good at being a podcast host

[@TrevorEriksen]

I would never had said it online but I wasn't the biggest fan of Menas play style when he first was up and coming but there was never a chance you could deny he was a legend in the making. He's already that legend in game but this interview has given me so much more respect for him. Love to him, and the DR. They're incredible for the community.

[@lukeblaker8009]

This is gonna be a good one

[@Bkzflyest0823]

Crazy how far he’s come, i remember he made a reddit post before his first CC win asking for advice.

[@JimmiePitts]

these podcast are giving me what the protour cannot

[@DarthJean]

Loved this! Thank you Brian for all the hard work you put into these videos. Please come to Respawn 2025, it's in July. We in the DR will welcome you with open arms :) Also please interview Sajam at some point. Would love to hear his origin story in the FGC especially how he transitioned from COD to FGC content and also about how Capcom fired him during SFV lol

[@TonatiuhLopez-no1qz]

Brooo, this is my favorite ep so far. Excellent series, better than anything from disney plu haha

[@gabrielhishida]

good interview. keep it going

[@misplaydave]

Very inspirational video

[@jonathanjoestar9430]

Mena is a nice guy.

[@ricardomiles6826]

Briiine does it again ❤

[@beam5655]

Great interview, it was cool seeing how well he prepares, down to his opponents' body language. He's a true pro. Also I completely agree with you about formats, the FGC as a whole is way behind pretty much every sport or esport in terms of actually finding and rewarding the best players. FT2 just does not cut it anymore. Back in the day, maybe it was good enough, but there are simply too many top level players now, and the game itself is more volatile. And then you have stuff like random seeding in asian tournaments or Capcom Cup and all or nothing rewards and it is clearly just not a good system. FT3 should be the norm for this game, but I still don't think that is enough. I went back and looked at the game length of FT5s from RB Kumite and EWC, even when they went all 9 games, the sets were only between 20-30 minutes, including downtime. This pales in comparison to many other esports, or stuff like chess and table tennis, yet to the FGC it is unacceptably long. I really hope more long form tournaments are made, cause right now it seems like both the devs and TOs are fighting against competitive integrity.