It's hard to tell what Phil's level really was back then because info is so sparse. 4th place in a flawed EVO, he won EVO East, etc... but I can't imagine these tournaments were deep back then, like you say. There are a few videos from Phil at EVO East and you have to admit he was at least competitive against good players.
IMO, he was presumably better than the uber casual crowd, who played fighting games just like any other video game, and could likely beat them 9/10 times. However he was probably that guy who'd typically lose and/or break even to entry-level competitive players, while also being able to sneak a W every once in a while. While obviously not a 1:1, I can somewhat relate to competitive vidy around 2004-2009, in that I played Madden.
You generally had 4 tiers of skill:
Tier 1) Random dudes who just like playing Madden, but weren't remotely aware of basically any of the competive mechanics, strategy, or nuance that competive players did. (i.e., there were playing a football game like a football game! How silly is that?)
- Skill Level: Could only beat other players at this tier. Would lose to all other tiers 99.9999% of the time.
Tier 2) People who were vaguely aware of said mechanics and whatnot, but only incorporated relatively few aspects of it into their gameplay. They might have used some of the more egregiously ridiculous, potentially broken, and cheesy things that were simple to execute. (i.e., These are generally people who had friends that played competively, but didn't take the game nearly as serious because they liked playing FOOTBALL!)
- Skill Level: Could consistently beat Tier 1, but lose to Tiers 3 & 4 about 95% of the time. Although they could potentially steal a W from Tiers 3 & 4 if stars aligned.
Tier 3) Generally the up-and-comer and were aware of basically every competitive aspect of the game. They were comprehensive incorporating a competitive playstyle into their game, but wasn't
established yet.
- Skill Level: Easily beat Tiers 1 & 2, and easy uncommon to beat Tier 4.
Tier 4) Essentially just a Tier 3 who's played longer. There's not much of a difference otherwise.
- Skill Level: Easily beat Tiers 1 & 2. While expected to beat Tier 3, it wasn't shocking if they lost.
Again, that's essentially how it was for a completely different genre, but competive vidya is competitive vidy at the end of the day. I imagine there's a lot of overlap based on my observational era alone.
As far as Phil, I picture him in between the Tier 2 and Tier 3 category, and it feels like that gap highlights one of the difference between competing fighting games and other genres. No idea, but you'd think players have to comprehensively tailor their playstyle completely towards the competive mechanics of the game once they enter 'Competive Player' territory, to even have a chance of success. I just can't
see Joe Schmo, who casually plays the game because he liked Street Fighter as a kid, is capable of stealing a win from someone who knows frame counts, competive nuance, and shit like that.
I was actually looking up the prices of GLP-1 awhile go. Most insurances cover them now - even Medicaid covers GLP-1s, so he's probably paying next to nothing for it.
Otherwise according to Good RX the price is $349 for the pens, at least in my area. That was the exact cost literally everywhere.
Any idea if that was one pen, or a 90 day prescription type thing? If I wasn't lazy, I'd look it up myself, but that generally begs the question how many pens someone cycles and how fast. Not that it really matters because now it's a matter of whether his insurance covers it.
However that is an interesting question in itself for sure. No idea what i insurance plans are available to self-employed
beggers individuals, but you just have to expect he's got the cheapest one imaginable.
