Abdullatif Alhmili, better known as Latif, is a

Saudi Arabian Saudis ( ar, سعوديون, Suʿūdiyyūn) are people identified with the country of Saudi Arabia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. The Saudis are composed mainly of Arabs and primarily speak a regional dialect ...

electronic sports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

player. Primarily a ''

Guilty Gear is a series of fighting games by Arc System Works, created and designed by artist Daisuke Ishiwatari. The first game was published in 1998, and has spawned several sequels. It has also adapted to other media such as manga and drama CD. ''Guilt ...

'' and ''

King of Fighters ''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') is a series of fighting games by SNK that began with the release of ''The King of Fighters '94'' in 1994. The series was developed originally for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware. This served as the main plat ...

'' player, Latif competed in the ''

Street Fighter IV is a 2008 fighting game published by Capcom, who also co-developed the game with Dimps. It was the first original main entry in the series since ''Street Fighter III'' in 1997, a hiatus of eleven years. The coin-operated arcade game version was ...

'' tournament at EVO 2011, coming out of nowhere to claim second place. Latif is known for his skill with ''Street Fighter'' character Crimson Viper.

Career

Latif grew up in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

playing games such as ''Guilty Gear'' using a

gamepad A gamepad is a type of video game controller held in two hands, where the fingers (especially thumbs) are used to provide input. They are typically the main input device for video game consoles. Features Gamepads generally feature a set of ...

. He moved to Austin,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

in 2007 at the age of 17 in order to study

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

for a year, before moving to

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2019, the city's estimated population was 75,038. Flagstaff's combined metropolitan area has an estimated population ...

to attend

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

. Here he found an arcade hall where he managed to beat other players easily despite it being his first time playing with an

arcade stick An arcade controller is a collective set of input devices designed primarily for use in an arcade cabinet. A typical control set consists of a joystick and a number of push-buttons. Less common setups include devices such as trackballs or steer ...

. Latif became more involved with the local fighting game community over time and by 2008, he competed in Final Round 11 despite his parents' disapproval and won the "Guilty Gear Accent Core" tournament. With his parents' approval after his initial success Latif competed at

Super Battle Opera Super may refer to: Computing * SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player * Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages * Super key (keyboard butto ...

in 2009. Latif didn't like the gameplay of ''

'' when the game was released in 2009, preferring the speed-oriented play style of game franchises like ''Guilty Gear'' and ''

''. Latif took a hiatus from competing in fighting games, but while watching

EVO 2010 The Evolution Championship Series, commonly known as Evo, is an annual esports event that focuses exclusively on fighting games. The tournaments are completely open and use the double elimination format. As with Super Battle Opera, contesta ...

, he saw Dashio and Uryo play with Crimson Viper and became invested in practicing the character. In an interview with ''

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwide, inc ...

'', Latif stated that "in 2011, I remember playing eight to nine hours a day. Wake up. Eat. Play, play and play. Sleep. I was still in school so I did this training routine during summers." Latif made a splash in the ''Street Fighter'' scene at Evolution Championship 2011 when, as an

underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, th ...

, he beat

Daigo Umehara is a Japanese arcade fighting video game player. He specializes in 2D arcade fighting games, mainly those released by Capcom. Known as "Daigo" or "The Beast" in the West and or "Ume" in Japan, Daigo is one of the world's most famous ''Street Fi ...

and Poongko to claim second place in the tournament. Playing with Crimson Viper, Latif faced off against Fuudo's

Fei Long is a fictional character in the '' Street Fighter'' series. He made his first appearance in '' Super Street Fighter II'' in 1993 as one of the four new characters introduced in the game. In the series, he is a martial artist and action movie st ...

in the finale, but lost all three matches. In 2012, Latif joined Razer Inc.'s "Razer Academy" project, which was designed to provide an interactive and in-depth learning experience for esports fans. Since the 2011 Evolution Championships, Latif has been able to get into the top 16 twice. He wasn't able to qualify for the

2015 Capcom Cup Capcom Cup 2015 was a professional ''Ultra Street Fighter IV'' video game tournament that was held at Moscone Center in San Francisco on December 6, 2015. 32 players qualified for the tournament by winning one of the 16 Capcom Pro Tour Premier Even ...

after losing against Fuudo again in the KO Fighting Game Festival in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...

. Latif left Team Razer in late 2013 and remained a free agent until his break in 2015. In July 2021, Latif announced his return to competition with

Guilty Gear Strive is a fighting video game developed and published by Arc System Works. It is the seventh mainline installment of the ''Guilty Gear'' series, and the 25th overall. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and Windows in June 2021, a ...

Acknowledgements

Christian Davis of ''Device Magazine'' stated that Latif is known for his "insane" skill at playing with the character Crimson Viper.

Tournament results

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus

* 1st - EVO 2009

Street Fighter IV

* 2nd - EVO 2011 * 13th - EVO 2015

References

{{Fighting game community Living people Saudi Arabian esports players Fighting game players Northern Arizona University alumni Saudi Arabian emigrants to the United States People from Austin, Texas People from Flagstaff, Arizona Jubail Team Razer players Street Fighter players Year of birth missing (living people)