A classic matchup, as played by experts in these World Warriors.
Xuses continues to compile matches from some of the world’s top Street Fighter V players; this time, Daigo Umehara faces OR|Nuki in three 2/3 Ranked Match sets–providing a great chance to see these competitors fight it out with the characters that they are famous for specializing in. Will Ryu follow his fist to victory over the strongest woman in the world? Check out the video below to find out.
For more Street Fighter V action as compiled by Xuses, check out his fourth volume of Crazy Comebacks.
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not reflect Shoryuken.com as a whole.
For much of the last two decades, Justin Wong of Evil Geniuses has been synonymous with American tournament success. If Daigo Umehara is the embodiment of the winning spirit (being the winningest player in tournament history), Justin is right behind him.
So with Justin making his way to Anaheim, what can we expect from America’s greatest player?
One of America’s Greatest Treasures
Justin has a hard time being stopped. He is one of the fastest players to learn the mechanics and what works in fighting games. The results do not lie on this. He has won multiple titles through the years in games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter V, Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal Kombat X, Skullgirls, and Pokkén Tournament. He’s even a dab hand at games that he doesn’t actively compete in, like Tekken 7.
Part of this is due to his ability to take solid fundamentals across games. Another thing to note is that Justin looks for the characters or strategy that look overpowered in a game, and uses it to his advantage. This allows Justin to adapt fast and find success, even while still learning how to function within the game. By doing this, Justin usually draws first blood in regards to tournament wins, while others are still trying to get comfortable.
Back to Roots
Justin has always had a reputation of playing the very stereotypical East Coast turtle style: defensively and reacting, instead of making opponents react. He has always trusted his defensive prowess more than offensive oppression, and the results prove that it has served him well.
In Street Fighter IV, we saw a deliberate change of pace when Justin chose to play more aggressive characters in Rufus and–for a time–Yang. These characters take a much more offensive approach, and Justin made it work for the most part–at least early in the lifespan of Street Fighter IV.
However, as the game matured, so did players’ abilities to outdo Justin on the aggression front. This saw Justin pull back to his comfort zone, and begin using characters that could be played in a more balanced or completely defensive style, such as Elena and Rose. This mostly worked to Justin’s advantage, as it played on what he was most comfortable with.
In Street Fighter X Tekken, he did likewise, playing a very defensive-oriented Hwoarang and Chun-Li. And in Street Fighter V, Justin has used a very turtley Karin to gain his early success.
While this is not as exciting or flashy to the spectator, this is great news for Justin fans. Simply put, this is Justin playing to his advantages, preying on his opponents’ flaws, and playing at his best.
How Good is Karin Defensively?
Honestly, while Karin is strong while on rush down, she also makes sense for Justin’s turtle style. She has good footsies, which always plays to a defensive style’s advantage–and echoes Justin’s famous 3rd Strike Chun-Li in style. She also has good normal anti-airs, and deals good damage when she can get a solid punish.
With some weak reversal tools, Karin is not the greatest defensive character in the game, and some flaws–such as only having a DP-style move with an EX stock–stick out like a sore thumb, but the way Justin plays her has been as successful as a rush down-oriented player such as Mago.
The Late Game
Here’s the thing that is worrying about Justin. Justin always does well early in a game’s lifespan. Outside of Marvel games, however, his effectiveness in these games down the stretch are questionable at best. It may be that he plays too linear, or that he relies on old tech that worked when everyone was new. But once players begin to figure out the game, he invariably becomes less of a threat.
This has been happening for as long as I can remember. If you look at his tournament results, you can tell that the meta has passed him by when he stops entering tournaments for that game. While these are usually the titles he views as fringe games in comparison to his main titles, Marvel and Street Fighter, the fact is that relying on what he views as “broken” tech stops ensuring results. Players adapt and figure out how to counter what he is throwing in their face. This always proves whether Wong is serious about the title he plays, or if he was just in it to get a few titles before everyone else catches on.
It doesn’t mean that Justin can’t put up results in these games. But his wins become fewer and further between. He was winning nearly everything in the west prior to 2011 in Street Fighter IV, but with time it became increasingly harder for him to do so. Part of this could be attributed to an influx of international players at American events thanks to the Capcom Pro Tour. Part of this could also be attributed to his focus on Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. But given the fact that American players were also starting to defeat Justin, his own personal play has to be a factor.
The question is this; has everyone else had the time to catch up? With less than a full year of play under SFV’s belt, the meta is still far from completely developed. Justin may still have something up his sleeve that others have yet to work out, despite the unmatched level of scrutiny gameplay now comes under. There’s still likely to be a goldmine of undeveloped tech that lies underneath the surface of this young game, and if Justin finds it first and fast, then he will hold an ace under his sleeve.
Primary Focus
Furthermore, this year is different. Justin is focused primarily on Street Fighter V. He has seen the writing on the wall as far as Marvel’s health. He is enjoying the game. He is playing well, and making it no secret that he takes Street Fighter V very seriously.
While this has helped his results, he has still had a hard road to success. If we view narrow success down to solely tournament wins, he has won 12 events in Street Fighter V. Those wins came from 24 tournaments–a 50% success rate. A decent number of these were in events that were not on the Capcom Pro Tour, or were mere ranking events. In Premier events, the very top level of competition, he has not fared as well. Where he’s winning ranking events such as Manila Cup, he finished 25th at Canada Cup. If he’s not winning or at least doing well in these events, then it calls into question whether he can pull it off in Anaheim.
Final Thoughts
Justin is a player I always want to root for. He does it his way, he has great sense on how to play these games, and always has his share of hype moments–he was, after all, part of the very best moment of them all. But right now Justin has a way to go to catch up to the cream of the crop.
I’m expecting Justin to go 1-2 at Capcom Cup. Perhaps 2-2, but he will not come close to the top 8 unless he’s been hiding his final form–a very real possibility. We’ve Justin working at SFV with a focus that he rarely displays, so it would be no surprise if he has a few tricks hidden up his sleeve. Only time will tell, but you’d have to be crazy to count out the Wong Factor.
In the world of The King of Fighters XIV, Alice is fairly unique. Similar to Street Fighter’s Sakura, she idolizes other characters of her franchise and models her self-taught fighting style after them. Alice internalizes the techniques of her Fatal Fury idols, crafting her own unique moves out of them.
If you like the thought of that, then we have here a guide to help you learn this pachinko idol. This guide comes courtesy of Coliflowerz, who has been consistently producing useful guides for his game of choice, covering everything from the best applications for normals in neutral, to exactly how to craft your combos.
If you enjoyed that guide, be sure to check out this YouTuber’s other content, compiled in this playlist here. Roughly half of the cast has been covered, so you’re sure to find something to help your build your team.
Some great news for DC Universe Online players has been revealed by the devs: Episodes 1-26 are open for all players through December 31st. The membership and purchase requirements have been lifted for the duration of the event.
The latest Crowfall archetype is ready to be introduced to the world, this time the Templar. The article begins with a bit of lore behind the Templar and the “holy backstory of the church and the interaction with the Confessors”.
Derek “Nakkiel” Bruscas is no stranger to the highest level of competition in the BlazBlue series. From top 8 at Evolution 2015 to two-time representative at ArcRevo, Nakkiel has known his way around the anime fighter.
Now he–like many airdashers–are finding their way through the plethora of changes that came to the series with the release of its newest installment, BlazBlue: Central Fiction. The changes to the Overdrive system as well as the addition of Exceed Accel and Active Flow mechanics has completely set the game apart from the system in place in Chronophantasma, let alone the relatively simple system found in Calamity Trigger eight years ago.
With all three mechanics adding more incentive for offense into the game, Nakkiel talked with Red Bull eSports about the changes, his attempts at adjusting to them, and which characters he thinks benefits from the changes most. Read the interview here.
NCSoft will be kicking off the next Master X Master (MXM) play test event beginning at 1:00 pm Pacific / 4:00 pm Eastern today. During the event, players will be running the Titan Ruins and participating in Ranked Mode with level requirements for both lifted and all Masters unlocked for testing.
