NuckleDu

Gaming career

NuckleDu is one of the best players in the United States, and has multiple major tournaments victories. In 2012 he qualified for the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Grand Finals through the New York City qualifier while netting 13th place being sponsored by Empire Arcadia at the time. He was invited for 2013's Capcom Cup for the Street Fighter X Tekken event in which he received fifth place, being defeated by Justin Wong in Winners and Dexter "Tampa Bison" James in Losers. In August 2014, NuckleDu announced his departure from Empire Arcadia following several other players during the few months. A few months after his EMP departure, he would be signed by professional eSports company Team Curse. NuckleDu would later qualify into 2014's Capcom Cup through the points leaderboards, being ranked at 6th out of the non-qualified players. He would proceed to get 9th place notably upsetting Darryl "Snake Eyez" Lewis in the process.

In 2015, Team Curse merged into Team Liquid which resulted in NuckleDu being acquired by the latter. NuckleDu notably won both Apex 2015 and Combo Breaker in dominant fashion, defeating Snake Eyez and Ricki Ortiz in their respective grand finals. At EVO 2015, NuckleDu placed 7th out of ~2200 people in Ultra Street Fighter IV, bowing out to Bruce "GamerBee" Hsiang. However, during the summer, there was some controversy regarding the EGL Dallas tournament, which NuckleDu won the Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament and was promised $5,000 in prize winnings. However EGL failed to pay him as well as other tournament winners, which resulted in the company going bankrupt. NuckleDu was one of the 32 players in the 2015 Capcom Cup in which he placed 13th, also being the second highest placing American in the tournament. He qualified once again through points leaderboards.

NuckleDu would later pick up Street Fighter V, notably taking 2nd at DreamHack Austin over Justin Wong. Alex Valle commented saying that players like NuckleDu need to have a superior neutral game in order to beat Wong.

He made an impressive run through the most-prized tournament of 2016, Capcom Cup 2016, without losing a set and won the competition, landing the big prize of $230,000 USD for the 1st place. He played a strong mix of Guile and R. Mika throughout the Pro Tour season, and his hard reads and feisty gameplay made him a fan favorite.

e-Sports Earnings estimates that NuckleDu has earned a career total of US$11,821.75 from tournaments.

Playstyle

In Ultra Street Fighter IV, NuckleDu is known as a master of charge characters (holding one direction, releasing the other). His offensive playstyle with Guile is considered unorthodox and attracts viewers. While playing as Decapre, he is known for having a tricky yet unpredictable playstyle which adds to his character selection. NuckleDu is also known for his excessive taunting during matches in the form of Guile's shades, which players find offensive and have labelled him as a villain because of it.

In Street Fighter V, NuckleDu's Nash is considered offensive usually beginning with fast paced movement later turning into a slugfest, a playstyle he is familiar with when playing as the character.

Personal life

NuckleDu has a pet dog named Tofu that he cares for and helps him avoid depression. NuckleDu is of Vietnamese ancestry, and his family is from there. In an interview with Chris Bahn of PVP Live, NuckleDu stated he has a fear of flying which is why he rarely travels outside of the United States, but desires to visit Australia and Vietnam.