Nitrobros is relatively new to fighting games, but not achievements. The East Coast rookie rose to the top of Dragon Ball FighterZ locals at the House of Chaos and has even won majors like the DBFZ National Championship. He now regularly top 8’s Guilty Gear Strive tournaments. His plan for the future is to focus on FighterZ again. We caught up with Nitro in the meantime to talk about his amazing growth in the community.

Where did your old handle, “Nitrobros” come from?

It takes me way back to the PS3 days. Me and my bro had this PS3 we shared and in Black Ops you could play split-screen but you’d need another account. His name was “Nitroflash” and I had no idea what to put for mine. He was like, “Aight, I got you,” and put “Nitrobros.” So it became our thing.

What was your first competitive fighting game?

Dragon Ball FighterZ was actually my first and only one for a while.

What made you come out to the House of Chaos?

HOC wasn’t my first offline actually, but it was my first consecutive offline. My first was this event that Randomfiend hosted in season 1 of the game.

I went to it and realized that offline was the real game but I couldn’t go a lot because of school. So I had to find somewhere that was good for me to go which was HOC because Bum would host on Saturdays. It just worked out for me.

Were you just curious or did you go out with the intent to stick with it (DBFZ) and get where you are now?

Of course I was gonna stick with it. I remember the first time I went out I lost in top 8. As soon as I was out I was thinking, “These guys are just better than me so I gotta figure out what to do.”

Speaking of where you are now, when was that point that you noticed that you really hit that threshold of getting REALLY good?

The point of getting super good was like the start of season 3, but getting to the point of winning was the end of season 2.

How did you get to that point so relatively fast?

You know LegendaryPredd? When PS4 online tournaments started happening he started playing PS4 a lot more. So whenever we both felt like playing the game or streaming he became my training partner.

Once that happened we both kinda just got really good and started learning from each other.

How long do you find yourself practicing?

When I used to practice like Dragon Ball, I’d say I practiced and played maybe 5 or 6 hours at a time. Occasionally we’d even play 8 hours since it’d be me and friends like Coach Steve and Predd.

I’d just be like, “Ok we kinda gamin right now,” you know what I’m saying?

*Laughs*

Are there any specific things in training mode you do that you feel a lot of people sleep on?

When I’m doing training sessions I’m always looking to try the things I labbed prior to or test a situation I found when playing. I try to force that situation to see what kind of answers I can come up with.

I know that on stream a lot of times you’ll cut the fighting games and throw some variety in. Do you feel that taking breaks from fighting games is important?

For me, I don’t wanna play too much and get burnt out. A lot of people don’t get that sometimes you need to take a break before the burnout hits instead of when you get burned.

Moving on to Guilty Gear Strive, how do you feel about the balance of the game?

I don’t think the balance is bad besides Sol, who is definitively the best, no contest.

Yeah, I’m hoping he gets buffed like Johnny did in Xrd just so I can see the reaction to it.

*Laughs*

You’re a demon. You know how many people would quit this game bro? Like, “Aight imma head out.”

But I do think that Sol isn’t as bad as people say he is. People say he’s unbeatable and he makes bad players better, but I don’t think that’s how it really works. You can tell a wack Sol from a good Sol and you can beat them if you’re aware of the mistakes they’re making. Cause it’s hard to make a mistake with the character, but it can happen.

Some people can definitely get carried by him though. He’s got the backpack attached and they’re just hanging on.

When you went into the game did you intend to jump straight to the best character?

Oh, when I started the game as soon as I saw Sol I understood where I was gonna go with this game already. I knew I was just going to use him but I tried Ramlethal for a little bit too.

Do you have eyes on any other upcoming fighting games?

My friend actually showed me some Melty Blood stuff and the game looks interesting. Very fast-paced, a lot of mix, that’s what I like. But I don’t know if I’m gonna play it, I’ll have to look into it a little bit more. I will try it out if I have time though.

Any last words you want to leave with?

When you’re new to the FGC and you want to watch your matches on YouTube or Twitch, don’t look at the comments. Sometimes they go a little ham [he laughs]. I like it, it’s funny to me, but you may not take it the same way.

If you want to compete in fighting games, go to locals and try to ask for help. Try not to be awkward about it like asking what can you do better after a first-to-2, because they probably won’t be able to tell you much off a set that small. But don’t be scared to interact and ask for long sets and stuff. That’s why people go to locals in the first place.

Nitro is one face that won’t be going anywhere for a long time. Follow him on Twitter @NitroNY_, Twitch @NitroNY01, and YouTube @Nitro NY as he continues to do work in both Dragon Ball FighterZ and Guilty Gear Strive.