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Hololive VTuber Machina X Flayon was one of the players selected for the Reject Fight Night x Sajam Slam: Street Fighter 6 International Championship. Taking place on March 15, 2025, some of the greatest fighting game players in the world — Tokido, Diaphone, Daigo, and Nephew — selected squads of other content creators, and battled in Capcom’s latest fighting game hit. I had the distinct pleasure of chatting with the Ace Mecha Pilot for Holostars-English’s Guild TEMPUS. This is one of the few interviews I’ve done I wish were via voice chat.
As I read over the answers Machina X Flayon sent back, I realized we could’ve easily talked for hours — mostly over how great BlazBlue is. Not to mention, I do have a very deep love of mecha and mobile suits, just in general. The VTuber has a love of anime fighting games, in general, which are frankly, my favorite way to take part in the medium.
A fascinating and talented content creator, I learned a lot about Machina X Flayon during my interview, and while Team Nephew didn’t win, it was one hell of a performance. If you missed out on the stream, I highly recommend going back to watch Sajam’s stream of the competition.
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Machina X Flayon opens up about the Street Fighter 6 International Championship, music, favorite video games, and more
Q. First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! For those who might not be familiar with your content, could you please introduce yourself?
Machina X Flayon: Yo, I’m Machina X Flayon. Ace Mecha Pilot for Guild TEMPUS of HOLOSTARS-ENGLISH. I pilot the R-TRUS, he’s possibly an ancient weapon that most people would refer to as a mech, that I use to fight the Corruption Beasts! Other than that day job, I do streaming on the side which includes Chatting, Visual Novels, Voice Over, Fighting Games & More!
Q. You’re a member of Team Nephew in the Street Fighter 6 International Championship — an FGC player for Team Liquid/PUNK WORKSHOP. How did the drafting process work? Were you picked by Nephew specifically?
Machina X Flayon: Even hearing the term “Team Nephew” fills me with pride because of how quickly I got attached to the team! I do not think Nephew picked me specifically but if he did of all people, honestly, I would be insanely flattered! Last time I checked, the Sajam Slam is based upon your skill level? I’ve had experience with many fighting games from anime fighters to more traditional ones such as Street Fighter.
Yet, Street Fighter is a different type of game where the general fighting is more grounded and you encounter “footsies” a lot which is where you have to space yourself and see how far you can hit and how easily you might be able to get hit. So it was a bit difficult bringing all the wacky antics you might find in anime fighters such as Air Blocking, Push Blocks & more!
So correct me if I’m wrong, but my initial rank for Street Fighter 6 was Silver III or Silver II, so that initially got me placed in the lowest ranking seed then overtime I went up to Platinum 1 and then Diamond I by the time of the Sajam Slam Grand Finals in Japan!
The drafting process itself was kind of first come first serve as you have to express your love for the game and just honestly show that you play and understand Street Fighter. I think my passion for the game and just fighters in general was really picked up on by Sajam, Nyx & crew so everything went smooth sailing when they saw I applied! I’m very grateful for their patience and also my manager’s (LOL) cuz I had to keep poking them asking if I could get in.
Q. Other than the team leaders, each squad appear to be made up of players who come from other content creation disciplines. Other than preparing for this tournament, what’s your fighting game experience?
Machina X Flayon: My fighting game experience weighs heavily on the side of anime fighters, I would say! My first ever fighting game that I remember was Melty Blood, specifically Melty Blood Act Cadenza, which was an indie fighting game spin off based on Tsukihime, the 2000’s visual novel from TYPE MOON that went on to get popular not only because of that but also because of Fate Stay Night.
At the time, I just finished Tsukihime and like any young kid finishing one of their favorite games I was hungry for more and eventually came across Melty Blood! Then I started to recognize other games that I’ve played in Arcades/specifically Chuckie Cheese (LOL) such as Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, Marvel Super Heroes, Arcana Heart Max & more.
Eventually, I got really into fighting games around the time I found Blazblue: Calamity Trigger on the PSP, then I played the whole series. Then I played Under Night In Birth (same creators as Melty Blood) and then it was just anime fighter after anime fighter.
Q. On that note, how have you been preparing for the Street Fighter 6 International Championship? Do you have a character or control preference that has been working for you?
Machina X Flayon: For me, I prefer Classic Luke! In Street Fighter, there are three control types, but the main two would be Classic & Modern. Classic uses all of your six buttons, three for your light, medium, heavy punch and the other three for your light,, medium, heavy kick. I’m more familiar with that as I’ve played on the stick at various arcades and just fighting games in general. Modern on the other hand, minimizes the focus on inputs, imo, and helps it so you can focus on the neutral of the game.
Modern honestly would probably help me better or would have helped at this championship, but I’m so set in my ways and have played fighters so long that anything other than Classic feels foreign!
Classic Luke just works for me because not only of the six buttons, but Luke is also a Shoto like character so he should have tools for almost any situation. Advancing Normals, a Solid DP (Dragon Punch/Reversal Option), Throw Loops, Fireballs (Sand Blasts), etc. So I specifically like those types of characters in particular because I can’t really complain about a match up too often since (as always imo in Street Fighter) it just comes down to skill.
Q. Is there anyone among these teams that you’re especially nervous or excited playing against in the Street Fighter 6 International Championship?
Machine X Flayon: I was really nervous to fight Shibuya Hal! He’s an FPS GOD (LOL) essentially and I told this on stream but I’ll reiterate. When it comes to events like these, I actually prefer not to research the opponent tooo much. One, so it doesn’t get in my head and two because I want the surprise of fighting a strong opponent and having to adapt on the fly. So, anyways, I decided to take a little peek because some knowledge is better than nothing and when I did I saw that this wonderful guy had all his bases essentially covered playing Rashid.
In general, I don’t get nervous before the championship or for events like these, but I WILL get nervous during the thing. During those times, I’d rely on my teammates because no matter how strong and confident I can be, I can get very anxious at times and people giving support around me, especially those who have been with me up close and personal, it just really hits different. So, I’d say I get nervous not only from fighting opponents the day of, but also from possibly disappointing those who put their full faith in me!
Q. What does it mean to you to be invited to the Street Fighter 6 International Championship, as the only VTuber on your roster?
Machina X Flayon: HAHAHAHA, It feels surreal! There are other Vtubers, such as Amaki Pururu (amazing voice and very charismatic) and Shibuya Hal (FPS GOD/vtuber hybrid, goat) and others who have dipped their toes into the whole thing, but I guess as a member associated with HOLOSTARS-English, I do feel a bit unique!
It felt pretty awesome to be invited because when I’m associated with such a big company, it can understandably take time to get permission or work/events finalized because there are multiple moving parts. I have my managers to rely on, and then they have entire teams to rely on and then they have other legal departments to rely on and so forth.
So when I was able to get invited to this and work during the initial Sajam Slam to earn my way to Japan, it felt exhilarating! Honestly, it didn’t feel real until I got to Japan itself and I’m glad I could have put my foot down as much as possible!
Q. Do you plan on continuing to practice and work on your Street Fighter 6 skills after the tournament has come to an end?
Machina X Flayon: Absolutely! I want to participate in the next Sajam Slam and honestly any fighting game tournaments if Capcom will have me! (CAPCOM I LOVE YOU I LOVE MEGAMAN STARFORCE AND STREET FIGHTER AND ACE ATTORNEY)
I also don’t want to let my skills rot per se? Street Fighter is so traditional too as a fighter, so I actually feel I’ve improved a lot as a fighting game player as there won’t be too much “cheese” or “neutral-skips” that I usually rely on.
When I’m playing Street Fighter, I need to focus on beating my opponent by out-playing them and not really getting lucky via neutral skips. Not that I do, but I do feel sometimes when I’m playing fighting games that sometimes when I win a match, yeah there is skill involved by something in the back of my head goes
“Oh, yeah they just aren’t familiar with the matchup against my character yet”
And you’d think that “oh you’re being too modest/hard on yourself” but in fighting games where it’s 1 on 1 and directly skill based for the most part, I think you can tell when you just win by the skin of your teeth or only because your opponent has a particular tough time against your character in general and not because of overall skill.
Q. As a content creator, you put out a wide array of streams and videos based on an assortment of genres, but what would you say are your top three favorite games and why?
Machina X Flayon: Top Three Favorite Games? HMMM Difficult, but Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Lies of P, annnd Blazblue Continuum Shift II.
Wind Waker has also been a favorite part of my childhood and its graphics are timeless. I like to think it shares something in common with Lies of P and Blazblue as all their protagonists essentially had their childhood stripped away from them. Link in Wind Waker was just a happy boy on an island enjoying his life until forces from the outside upset that, so it can be pretty daunting to go on an adventure to try and bring everything back to normal (if it even will)
Lies of P and Blazblue also feature protagonists like that, as I said, who had everything stripped away from them and are trying to survive in this world and get back as much as they can.
Wind Waker and Blazblue are games that featured characters I related with heavily and Lies of P recently came out which is just the icing on the cake.
If I had to add a fourth, and if we’re talking about traditional fighters I honestly would add Street Fighter 6. Not only because Drive Rush feels often, but now I associate the game with Team Nephew and everyone there means a lot to me too, so the game just brings good vibes of the Sajam Slam.
Q. You’re also a part of HOLOSTARS’ english group, and are well known for your music videos - how do you find yourself as a streamer in general?
Machina X Flayon: As a streamer? I find myself pretty eccentric and back and forth! I tend to only be interested in certain things or video games, so often I will ignore a streaming trend even if everyone else is playing it. As my favorite things to stream are always the following; Visual Novels, Fighting Games, RPG MAKER Horror & Souls-like games. All of which can be difficult to stream, especially the former ones such as Visual Novels.
I feel that for me, my streamer strengths are not only messing around with my audience (yeah i love you lmao) but also just connecting with everyone about things I really enjoy and being passionate about that. When I was growing up, I believe that if it wasn’t for specific forms of art, whether it be video games/TV/anime/books, that I would have turned out a lot differently. A lot more mean in fact even. But all of those forms of art hold people’s souls in it, their ideals, their passions, their beliefs and all of those pass onto me.
So I would say I learned a lot about the world from not only interacting in it, but also from media that would challenge my brain and make me think outside the box. What if I’m wrong? What if I’m right? What about people who aren’t me, what do they feel? What’s it like to be someone not like me? What about understanding someone I don’t like? All those feelings I get from various video games and even fighting games have those stories too.
I think people tend to sleep on fighting games, especially their stories. I understand since not all fighting games will have story modes that you can dive into. At most you might get just an Arcade mode with some quotes here and there. But I also disagree because there is so much subtext and writing/ideals/passion put into those small segments, even if they can’t be dissected as a full blown essay or 100 hour JRPG would.
Fighting Games don’t have the most bombastic stories. They don’t have super narrative stuff with all meta written extremely well and packaged super air tight. But the one thing I believe a lot of fighting game stories and characters have are narratives associated with emotions. Even stuff like wanting to be the strongest may seem dim on paper, but to certain people strength can mean everything so suddenly it adds a whole new world and way of looking at characters and story.
Q. On the topic of your music videos, what is your musical background outside of content creation? Have you always been interested in singing/creating music?
Machina X Flayon: I’ve always been interested in singing/creating music! LOTS EVEN! I hum a lot of songs or will hum original tunes, but have trouble putting everything together. I’ve even opened up things such as UNITY or RPG Maker just to see if I could make ideas from my head into a reality. At the same time, singing and creation in general has always been a bit scary for me.
One not only because of how you’re raised and what beliefs you have about what you can and can’t do, but also because of physical issues (initially). So at first it was daunting to step into a world where you don’t have natural “talent” and have to work from the ground up like everyone else, but with a perceived “debuff.” It took a while to get out of that thinking, but now here I am singing for various covers for the future. Recording vocals for original projects,singing at karaoke, taking lessons. l even bought my piano and I practice from time to time!
So I recommend for anyone reading this and feeling similar vibes to just give it a shot. Same with fighting games too. If you really want to, just ignore the extra noise created by your brain and even those around you if they have anything to say. Just get into it and if you don’t like it? Quit because you don’t like it. Don’t quit just because you don’t think you can’t do it or don’t deserve it. Don’t do that to yourself!
Q. There have been some VTubers doing some remarkable things over the last couple of years, giving great credence to that style of live streaming. Do you have any major goals for the year that you’d like to invest time into?
Machina X Flayon: Honestly, I would prefer to take time off in the future to get more organized! That can be a bit scary for streamers regardless if people go “Oh yeah, it’s okay go ahead!”
You have your career to worry about, future prospects, your fans being alright, your co-workers and just your own personal goals. So, I think as a streamer, you’ll just have to poke your head in there and figure out the right direction
For me? I want to learn more singing, create more music, draw better, etc so I can create something I’m proud of and something I want to do with my career. Not what people tell me to do. Not what people want me to do. Not what people say I should stick to. Not what people pressure me to be like or not be like. I think that type of thing with something personal, as streaming is very important!
So here’s to that in the future! I’m already working on a bunch of things and figuring out a flow over the years, so keep rooting for me okay!
Thanks for the interview! Hopefully these aren’t too many words (LOL) but seriously thanks and take it easy, okay?
You can find Machina X Flayon on YouTube and Twitter, creating a wide array of content from music videos, and incredibly entertaining streams based on games such as Street Fighter 6, Super Mario Sunshine, and much more.
