A community is made up of many individuals who all work hard to bring something unique to the table, whether that be high-level play, exciting commentary, fan-art or tournament organisation. So it was a real privilege to get one of the hardest working guys in the ARMS community right now to take part in The Big 10. You can find his insights into the game after the page break!
Question 1
APC: Please tell us a little about yourself?
DB: Tja! My name’s Dennis Bagstevold, or Defur as is my online nickname. Some also know me in the ARMS community as komeDefur as well. I’m a Swedish Twitch streamer and the host of the live ARMS talk show “Fellows in ARMS”. Besides that I have a background working with design and games as I just recently came back to Sweden after working at a Japanese game company in Tokyo.
Question 2
APC: When would you say you fell in love with competitive fighting games/eSports?
DB: I think ever since I got a hold of a stable internet connection around 9 years ago. It shortly after I started playing Team Fortress 2 in which I would lead and play in a lot of competitive teams. As for eSports in itself it has to be when I went to my first event alone back in 2011, where 8 top Starcraft players were invited to Stockholm to compete for 100 000 SEK (around 12 235 USD). The production and hype, along with all the friendly people there, just made me want to get more involved with it.
Question 3
APC: What gaming achievement are you most proud of in your career so far?
DB: As I’ve played a lot of different games competitively for a long time, it’s really hard to pick out just one of the memories. One of the more satisfying ones though is from when I played Starcraft 2 and won the lower division of the Swedish University Starcraft League. I had just reset my knowledge of the game by switching the race I was playing some months before it began, but went into it with the mindset of that I was going to win the entire thing. So with the help of my friend who coached me, I practiced almost everyday for months, planned strategies, looked up and studied my opponents which in the end led me to winning. Unfortunately it also led me to get carpal tunnel in both of my wrists.
Question 4
APC: What was it about ARMS that made you decide to take it seriously on a competitive level?
DB: Initially it was the stylish aesthetics and the different mechanics that caught my attention. Then after looking at a lot of gameplay I just feel in love with it. Everything from the designs of the characters and arms to more abstract microscopic mind games that take place within matches. The small reads and the footsies in the game reminded me of the martial art Jeet Kune Do which I practiced as a teenager. So everything just felt really solid. Then after that I just decided that it was the game I wanted to base my stream of on as well as to help build a community for.
Question 5
APC: What made you pick your main over the other characters in the game?
DB: I actually played Helix mostly in the Global Test Punch because of his interesting movement set, but after trying everyone out I sort of naturally gravitated towards Spring Man. I believe this to be because I often like playing as the “clean slate” kind of characters in games. I’m more into reading into and adapting to my opponents and their teleplays rather than forcing them to adapt to me. I think Spring Man is optimal for this as he is a middle ground in a lot of ways, but also has that crucial dash deflect. Something which I now almost can’t play without when dabbing into other characters and trying out their skill-sets.
Question 6
APC: What is your favourite arm load-out & stage. (Please explain why)
DB: My favourite arms are definitely the toaster on the left and tribolt on the right. The tribolt is super fast and is good for chip damage while the toaster works great as a good damage dealing follow up. It’s also really nice if you can get the stun from the tribolt into a grab too, but it’s not something I’ve been too successful with as of yet. As for the third arm I’m experimenting with a lot right now. I’ve noted that versus MinMin, Toaster/Roaster works really well to negate the long side dashes, while Toaster/Hydra works good against characters who tend to be airborne a lot like Ribbon Girl and in some cases Byte & Barq and Twintelle, depending on playstyles. I’ve still yet to found a favourite third arm though.
Question 7
DB: It’s a very difficult topic where both sides have it’s ups and downs. Many of which we’ve discussed on Fellows in ARMS (*wink nudge*). Personally, as someone coming with background in Team Fortress 2 and Starcraft 2, where countering opponents with specific builds or switching out weapons are a common occurrence, I am in favour for custom arms in tournaments. My optimal scenario in ARMS would be when I’ve played enough to know players and their styles and load-outs well enough in a way that you can play around with switching up your load-outs yourself. Then eventually, have mind-games in just the phase before the match where you pick different ARMS.
Question 8
APC: What advice would you give to someone just getting into the game?
DB: Play the game and when you fee like it, join the ARMS Facebook group and ask away! There are tons of people both casual and competitive in all ranks who can help you out. After that you can join the official ARMS discord and watch streams of other players playing the game. Then when you feel comfortable can just ask anyone in the community, we all want this game to become big, and helping new players is one way to do it so just go ahead!
Oh and if you’re Swedish, please feel free to join the Swedish ARMS group on Facebook as well, we need more people in it to help the local scene grow!
Question 9
APC: What are your hopes for the future of ARMS?
DB: I’m hoping that sponsors will get in on the action soon so we can have real pro players for the game and ramp up the size and amounts of tournaments in the scene.
Question 10
APC: Where can people find out more about you?
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