Machina X Flayon in RFN x Sajam Slam: “Going against Daigo’s team was scary”

Machina X Flayon, a Virtual YouTuber under holostars' TEMPUS generation, recently competed in the Reject Fight Night x Sajam Slam International Championship 2025. This Street Fighter 6 competition saw a lot of prominent names in fighting game history, like Daigo Umehara and Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi, but it also included content creators.

Can you introduce yourself for those who may not know you yet?

Yo, everyone! I’m Machina X Flayon, Ace Mecha Pilot from HOLOSTARS English. I love visual novels. I, of course, love fighting games. And yeah, I just like a lot of things.  I like anime a lot, too, if you can’t tell. Yeah, nice to meet you!

First off, how do you feel after the Reject Fight Night x Sajam Slam event?

It felt good! I want to fight more, though. I always feel like when I do a match, pretty much even if it's ranked or a big tournament like this, I feel that I can do more. Or if I lose it, I'm like, I would have taken it if we did another two out of three. But then maybe I'll lose again, and then I'll still think that. When I play Street Fighter ranked, I will keep pressing rematch until five hours.

So I felt pretty good about the whole thing. Capcom was very nice to me. My management team was very nice to me. I got to play with my friends for a little bit. It was good. And then, to be in that competitive environment also felt really good. It was nice!

What was your initial reaction to Team Nephew?

Honestly, I was kind of scared because I have lots of energy. I think I'll still be this way even when I'm like 90 years old in human years. Nephew (Alan Sun) is very stoic. (Imitates Nephew) “Hey, yeah, what's up? Yeah, cool. No, you don't want to do that. You don't want to Drive Impact. No, no, you caught that. Yeah, you got punished for that.”  We have two different energies. So at first I was nervous, but then I realized how chill he was.

And then Eskay, KarQ, Sykkuno - we all vibe together pretty well. I didn't know how I would take coaching because before the Sajam Slam, the initial one with the round robin, I never used Drive Rush much. Drive Impact, yeah, but Drive Rush, not really. So I always compared it to like I was playing Street Fighter 5 while playing 6. But then Nephew actually got me to learn Drive Rush. So here we are. But it's cool. It was cool.

You already mentioned the initial Sajam Slam. So how was that experience for you, you know, striving to qualify for something?

Honestly, let's see. Okay, I got placed on [the] lowest seed, right? And I was like, okay, that's good. But then I climbed up from Silver, I think I climbed up from Silver 2 to Gold 3. And I went, oh, that's a bit of a change. But I still had a lot to work on, right? Initially, after Nephew coached me a bit, I went, "Okay, I could do this." But I don't know if I'll get up there. But I think the more calm you stay during the matches, the easier it goes. Honestly, when we first did the first round-robin, I didn't know if I would take a match or not.

Because my one thing is I never underestimate anyone. Even if they're like 12 or something. Who knows? They could smoke me, right? So I always try to be very, very, very, very careful. But I think as long as you keep your head empty and then just keep adapting to things, that's when I got the wins. And it was fun. It was really good because I got to play Ed’s Theme from Street Fighter 6, which is one of my favorite themes. And that gets you really hyped. So lots of fun.

Are you also a fan of the Esports side of fighting games?

Now I am! I think I always was, especially when it came to other fighting games. For example, with Street Fighter 6, I like when you're on the versus screen and it goes, Yeah! Yeah! And then the crowd will also go along with it. Also really good. I think when I was younger, I was like, huh, esports, huh? I thought it was cool. But then once you get the whole crowd and then all the jerseys of everything, just in general, that's when the hype really gets to you.

I think it's nice, too, because as someone growing up when I played even fighters on the PS Vita or PSP, maybe there might not have been a chance for Wi-Fi or connection. So, usually, ironically, I was playing fighters alone. So I get addicted, or I remember characters' intros, but then I'd have no one to really bounce off of it. But then, in those events, you can bounce off everyone with it. So it's nice. It kind of reminds me of why I like locals for fighting games. It's a bunch of people who are there for the love of the game, nothing else. You just vibe, and then you play.

There were some pretty big names in that tournament, from both the content creation and esports sides. So how was competing with and against them?

Oh my God. Even going against Daigo's (Daigo Umehara) team was scary. While I don't know everything [about Daigo], I've seen his early Street Fighter plays. The footsies go insane. I think even the footsies he does with Akuma would scare the hell out of me because I don't know what he's going to do. The minute I start planning to do a reversal, he's going to somehow dodge it. Or if I try to grab, he's going to tech it. And then it freaks me out, actually. I guess it matches that kind of calmness I said that you need when you're playing fighting games. So if I got a chance to fight Daigo, it would be great, even though I know I'd be destroyed.

Tokido (Hajime Taniguchi) was really cool, too! I think what I really like, especially when you're doing an international competition on the Western sphere, people are more aggressive when they play. And then maybe even they'll do an American reset where you drop the combo on purpose just to throw them off. And then you hit them with a mix-up.

But when I fought on the Japanese side, they're very calm. They play very safe. I think over time, if you underestimate that, you're going to get blown up. And so at the tournament itself, with Daigo really showcasing that, I was like, OK, I can't just run in here and jump in all the time like I usually do, maybe when I'm on autopilot. And if I do something like that, then I'll get screwed over. But it's just really cool seeing the difference between the two, I guess, like that. And then you feel the nerves when you're on stage, or at least my cutout was on stage.

Then you'll feel the nerves. I always think it's like when people say, oh, are you nervous? Are you nervous? I never get nervous until the day of. And it's always something I don't expect. Or if I go, oh, I didn't have enough food today. Or, oh, wow, I didn't expect to see them in the crowd like that. So for me, there are like a couple of my fans there in the crowd, at least like I think five, who knows, even six more. But a lot of them were dressed up. I think when I saw them, that's when it really hit me. I went, oh, I'm up there. I'm up there. Oh, wow. And I think that's when it really scares you. The nerves always sit in late for me.

How important do you think it is that VTubers get to compete in these kinds of competitions?

Yeah, there was Amaki Pururu, Shibuya Hal, and then a couple of others, but they can show their face. For me, I'm just a beautiful old mecha pilot, right?

I think it was honestly important. Because, I was always rambling about fighting games. For some reason, it didn't really hit them until they saw all the [tournament] like, “Oh my god, this is serious.”

Even my own fans... I'm like, "Hey, play Street Fighter 6 with me." And then I go check on them, and they actually bought Street Fighter 6. I know that before, it would have scared them.

Having something you associate positively, like me, with an event like this or just fighting games in general, it actually gets [people] to try it.

I'm hoping more VTubers participate. I know a lot of the [holostars members] are more interested now. I'm telling them, like, it's not as hard.

So I think participating as a VTuber... It's great for the fans. It's great for people that are indie, and it's great for your coworkers. Also, I think it's really funny to catch someone who doesn't know anything about it to be taken off guard!

Did Eskay massaging your cutout's shoulders help with your nerves?

Yes, because, okay. Unfortunately, on the day of, I couldn't really see my teammates much, but Capcom and my team did everything they could.

Even on the spot, they're like, “Okay, let's get Machina x Flayon connected to his team.” Because it's something you, when there's so much going on, you might not like, think about it. And even I forgot about it. I was like, "Wait, how do I talk to my team?" Because that's a really big morale booster when you're fighting. And then they're like cheering you on. Or if you lose one match, but then you had a nephew whispering in your ear going, hey, you're doing fine. Just don't focus on that, right?

I had a lot of that during the initial Sajam Slam. For [Reject Fight Night x Sajam Slam], I was on my own. I think seeing Eskay and then KarQ patting my head really helped. Because even though I was like, it's a stand-in for me, I felt like they were giving me some reassurance. And I think actually that goes hard when fighting in tournaments. Because if you're on your own, it's hard. It's sort of like an anime thing where you have the power of friendship.

And if you're doing it for more people than yourself, the stakes are higher, and the pressure is higher. But then you also feel that sense of connectivity, and it pushes you even further. So yeah, seeing Eskay pat, pat shoulders, KarQ pat, pat. Or just like whenever Maeno-san (Maeno Tomoaki), the save for Luke in Japanese. When he did the bow before my cut-out, I was like, oh wow. Or when Frodan (Dan Chou) tried to shake my hand. It really helps and makes you feel a lot harder there, so I'm glad.

How did you prepare for the competition?

When it comes to [fighting games], my experience helped me a lot. But I think it gave me a lot of bad habits from anime fighters that don't transition well. So I even look at my earlier clips, and I'm jumping up. Or even on the day of the Eternal Championship, and I'm jumping up. I'm like, "Oh god, I'm going to get blown up for that." And you do! So it was good.

I also think it's nice to talk to Nephew about it. He knows how to play every Street Fighter 6 character. Or I can mention a simple thing. I never knew the name for it, but there's a name for okizeme. I can mention okizeme, and he knows what that is, which is nice. It's pretty simple, but it's nice to see or hear someone actually verbally say it.

Do you want to participate in more competitions?

Yes, yes, I'll do more! See, I think one of my favorite things ever is championships because usually, even if someone says it's for fun, there's like a personal amount of pride on the line. But also your fans will be watching, and also you don't want to let down your team. So I think when I'm fighting games normally, if I'm just doing ranked online or I'm playing on my fans, I'll go into autopilot maybe every now and then. Just having fun. But then when it comes to tournaments like these, or when your teammates are on the line, then that's when you lock in.

But I think a lot of games, even Street Fighter 6, the Drive Rush initially was scary to me because there's just so much going on. And ironically, while Drive Rush is similar to a neutral skip or an anime game, and they have similar features, I think it was overwhelming for me. But then, when Nephew just took his time to really do a little boot camp and show me how it works and was patient, it suddenly became a whole lot of fun.

And then I started thinking, what other games could I be doing that with? Because esports is a whole big thing. Could I do FPS with that? Could I slowly learn that? There's just a lot of games that scare me. But then I go, wait, now it doesn't seem as scary. It doesn't seem as confusing. So I'd love to participate in tournaments.

Also, the fun part is that I think with how [nice] everything is and then the coverage of this. So thank you, esports.gg! With the Sajam Slam, how well produced it was, and Capcom flying me out.

Some of my "coworkers," when it comes to fighting games, they get overwhelmed, I guess. And they go, "I don't know, I'm bad at it." But then after they saw the promotional and how well produced it is and then me going in there, now they're interested, which is nice.

Because on my own before, I'm like, "Hey, dude, you want to play BlazBlue?" And they're like, "What?" "Hey, you want to play Street Fighter?" "What?" "Hey, you want to play Melty Blood?" "What?"

But now, once they see it, now they're interested. So now when I speak to them, I'm like, you want to play Street Fighter 6? Like, "Okay, yeah." So Josuiji Shinri, I spoke to him about it before. And he's like, "Yeah, it's interesting!" I got (Gavis) Bettel to stream Street Fighter 6. And unfortunately, he turned the Bison into the JP. So we'll deal with that. But it's nice. And then also, Banzoin Hakka wants to try it. Then, even more of my gen-mates and just coworkers in general. So it's nice. It's like what I said before. With the hype of the events, it really gets you going and gets you interested.

Are you just turning TEMPUS into fighting game fans?

Yes, please! Okay. They're all very good. I would say they're better gamers, and they learn faster. I'm like a jack of all trades. I know lots of things. But because I know so much, it takes me a while to focus on one thing. A lot of them, they can focus on one thing and they think I'm pro at it.

Regis Altare... give him a game, give him like 24 hours, and he will learn all of it. So when I try to get him to play fighting games, he'll be like, no, no, no. If he puts his mind to it, he could. So I'm trying to get them all into it because they're already so good at games. I'm like, just take that here. Take all your League. Take all your FPS. Take all your hero shooters. Bring it to fighting games. Because the thing is, they're all very good. But, like, when you're playing those games, I'm going to be honest, they're all team-based. So you could be so good. But then maybe, like, unfortunately, two, three people on your team, if they're not matching your energy, the entire match goes down.

It's like if you're playing a team and your healers aren't good, everyone is getting blown up. If your tank isn't good, your healer is getting backlined. So and so.

They're so skilled, but they can't help if, like, their teammate is, you know, just not cutting it out. But, with fighting games, even if people say, oh, it's not as balanced. For them to functionally work, they have to be balanced. And it's one-on-one. So there's no, like, "Oh, dude, the matchup sucks." Or, "Oh, man, this character is broken." Yeah, there are characters like that. But for the most part, it's still skill-based. Even if I lose, like, if, for example, in Street Fighter 6, if I get throw-looped, and I guess wrong, yeah, that sucks. But I still lost.

If you use the rewind feature in SF6, I can go back and see, oh, I could have done this instead. And I would have survived. So that's what I really like. And I think they'd like it too. Because in fighting games, only yourself is to blame. But I think that's what's so addictive. Because you know that you can actively change it. That's everything.

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