Month: August 2016

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The King of Fighters XIV Day One Roundup: Combos for Zarina, Robert, Geese, Meitenkun, Kyo, & Shun’ei

It’s finally launch day for The King of Fighters XIV in North America, and players at last can (officially) dig into the full game and the complete character roster. If you’re new to the King of Fighters series, start by having a look at this primer guide breaking down the basics! Next, to kick off SNK’s latest, here’s a roundup of a few of the combo videos that are popping up online–surely only the beginning. Note that some of these videos were recorded prior to the release day patch (using the PSN demo version, or early-obtained copies), so combo mileage may vary.

Here’s a combo exhibition video for Zarina, from Opsclerk:

DarkWingZEROX has provided a few combo videos, firstly their favorite stylish combo for Robert, and then a dash combo for K’.

A3Religion has started digging into the new KOF and offers us these two videos of basic bread ‘n’ butter combos for Meitenkun and Geese.

Lastly, finishing off their series of combo exhibitions from the PSN demo playable cast, COMBONAUTS brings us these videos showcasing Kyo and Shun’ei.

Sources: Opsclerk; DarkwingZEROX; A3Religion; COMBONAUTS

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Daigo Umehara, Tomo Ohira Named in Top Ten Players of Esports History by Daily Dot

Like it or not, we’re esports now; it is always amazing to see fighting game players named among top players of other games that receive bigger mainstream exposure. Today, Daily Dot eSports has done so in a big way, in naming what they believe to be the top ten players in esports history. Not surprisingly, they included fighting game players in the mix–Daily Dot named two people who are hard to argue against in their list–Tomo Ohira and Daigo Umehara, who are ranked 7th and 4th respectively.

Ohira, for those new to the scene, is considered the first powerhouse of competitive Street Fighter. Cutting his teeth in the original iterations of Street Fighter II–The World Warrior, Champion Edition, and Hyper Fighting–around arcades across Southern California, Ohira’s legendary status includes people such as Mike Watson and Jeff Schaefer corroborating stories of Ohira being “unbeatable” in the game. Playing in a time without internet or even recorded footage–let alone sponsorships and ESPN-broadcasted tournaments–Ohira laid the groundwork in the competitive FGC before walking off into the sunset at the old age of 17 to focus on things like college and the opposite sex.

Umehara, on the other hand, needs little to no introduction. The Japanese titan for multiple decades began by making a name for himself in Vampire Savior, before winning multiple titles at Evolution across multiple games, such as Guilty Gear, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Street Fighter IV. Umehara first became truly famous worldwide after the landmark Evo Moment #37 went viral.

With claims from Schaefer that Umehara could not have beat Ohira, and the higher rank of Daigo on this list, it still remains to be unseen who is the better player. While Daigo’s placing is attributed to his success at high level competitions over his career, Ohira making the list off his iconic–and at times, mythological–status in the FGC is still a credit to his play.

If you are curious who else made their list outside of our world of frame advantages and hitboxes, click here.

Source: Daily Dot eSports (Twitter)

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Watch a High Level Killer Instinct Set, Broken Down and Analyzed by Infil

Famous for his extensive and helpful Complete Killer Instinct Guide, Infil is also known for analyzing sets from some of KI’s best so that lower level players can start to parse through high level sets in order to improve their game and notice their own mistakes. This time, Infil has chosen to analyze one of UA Bass’ Rough Sets, showing the Spinal master facing off against fellow top KI players in first to 10 sets.

As Infil says in the introduction to his analysis, most of these Rough Sets are blowouts with Bass usually winning in a landslide but the particular set he has chosen to pick apart is a little different. First off, Bass is playing Mira instead of either Spinal or Cinder, and the set isn’t a straight 10-0, with OmegaZas (who is primarily a 3D fighter player) getting four games on Bass’ Mira. The analysis is about an hour long, so settle in with a notepad and a drink if you’re looking to learn! Make sure to tune into Infil’s stream for future set analysis and subscribe to Bass’ YouTube channel if you want to watch the Rough Sets as soon as they come out.

Source: Infil