Month: March 2016

While many of Final Round 19’s official rules are still unclear (clicking the appropriate link on their website simply downloads a document with a ‘Coming Soon!’ message), one in particular regarding Mortal Kombat X has caused quite a stir as of late.

According to organizer David Richardson, the tournament will be allowing the use of the game’s newest downloadable characters, just two weeks after their release. For comparison, the Evolution Championship Series ruleset, which most tournaments adopt to keep parity throughout the year, makes characters released within three weeks of their events illegal during competition.

Apart from the unfortunate Kung Lao bug caused by Kombat Pack 2 fighter Alien, this decision raises numerous questions about viability and fairness. Is two weeks enough to time to learn how to counter these new characters at a high level? Furthermore, can players master using them at a high-level, so much so that it would throw a wrench in an otherwise level playing field?

We caught up with Razer’s Carl “Perfect Legend” White for his thoughts on the matter. As a longtime tournament competitor, he doesn’t agree with the decision, saying that there hasn’t been enough time to learn the massive amount of matchups the Kombat Pack 2 characters added to Mortal Kombat X.

This sentiment is shared by NetherRealm Studios’ Ed Boon. “Players need time to learn new character matchups, so to include new characters that are less than three weeks old doesn’t make a lot of sense,” the creative director explained on Twitter, stating that it’s less about promotion and more about giving competitors ample time to practice. “It’s more important that all players have a fair shot at winning,” he concluded.

Attempts to contact head tournament organizer Larry “ShinBlanka” Dixon for his unique insight went unanswered, but we will be sure to update this article as soon as we receive a response.

We also want to hear from you, our readers, on this matter. Below, you’ll find a poll with a simple question: do you agree with this decision? Feel free to follow up with specifics in the comments.

Final Round 19 is scheduled for March 18-20 in Atlanta, Georgia. More details can be found here.

Sources: David Richardson, Kitana Prime

While many of Final Round 19’s official rules are still unclear (clicking the appropriate link on their website simply downloads a document with a ‘Coming Soon!’ message), one in particular regarding Mortal Kombat X has caused quite a stir as of late.

According to organizer David Richardson, the tournament will be allowing the use of the game’s newest downloadable characters, just two weeks after their release. For comparison, the Evolution Championship Series ruleset, which most tournaments adopt to keep parity throughout the year, makes characters released within three weeks of their events illegal during competition.

Apart from the unfortunate Kung Lao bug caused by Kombat Pack 2 fighter Alien, this decision raises numerous questions about viability and fairness. Is two weeks enough to time to learn how to counter these new characters at a high level? Furthermore, can players master using them at a high-level, so much so that it would throw a wrench in an otherwise level playing field?

We caught up with Razer’s Carl “Perfect Legend” White for his thoughts on the matter. As a longtime tournament competitor, he doesn’t agree with the decision, saying that there hasn’t been enough time to learn the massive amount of matchups the Kombat Pack 2 characters added to Mortal Kombat X.

This sentiment is shared by NetherRealm Studios’ Ed Boon. “Players need time to learn new character matchups, so to include new characters that are less than three weeks old doesn’t make a lot of sense,” the creative director explained on Twitter, stating that it’s less about promotion and more about giving competitors ample time to practice. “It’s more important that all players have a fair shot at winning,” he concluded.

Attempts to contact head tournament organizer Larry “ShinBlanka” Dixon for his unique insight went unanswered, but we will be sure to update this article as soon as we receive a response.

We also want to hear from you, our readers, on this matter. Below, you’ll find a poll with a simple question: do you agree with this decision? Feel free to follow up with specifics in the comments.

Final Round 19 is scheduled for March 18-20 in Atlanta, Georgia. More details can be found here.

Sources: David Richardson, Kitana Prime