The last time I had local FGC tournament experience was SF4 a decade ago. Time has gone and so I decided to try my first local tournament at the local FGC.
One thing I forgot was just how nerves impact your play such an incredible amount. And having not played in a tournament or even at the local group, I was definitely shaking at each match.
My last double-elimination match, I had a lot of mistakes on combos that I know I am consistent on in ranked matches. I sensed my opponent was in the same situation and dropping his combos too. On Game 3 Round 3, both in CA stage, he dropped a combo that would have finished me and I then dropped the punish combo that would have finished him. He deserved that win.
I still had a great time. If you haven't looked up your local FGC yet, they're starting to come back up again after the pandemic and I would encourage you check them out. The only thing that will calm tournament nerves is more local practice.
Fighting games live and die by its playerbase. This isn't some RPG you put 40 hrs in and then move on. The DLC model greatly improved Street Fighter. It allows existing players to keep playing their game and not be forced to rebuy the $60 "Super" version every few years. SF4 I had to buy 3 times just to keep playing with my one character online. Modern Fighting games are updated and new players can join with all the DLC by buying the latest version while old players can keep using their existing game and upgrade when they feel it's appropriate at a moderate price, all while playing with the same player base.
I'd love to see Capcoms deal with Nick. But even if they're paying it's bringing in players who are interested. A lot of SF players grew up in arcades and TMNT was another popular arcade game, this is a good market overlap for a completely optional cosmetic DLC. It's bringing in more players and continuing to fund a game with continuous updates, I haven't seen a single SF player upset about these collab cosmetics.