If you speak French — and even if you don’t — the Overwatch video leaked today gives us plenty of new information about the Insurrection event that will be (we think) starting tomorrow. It will take place in the early days of the Overwatch organization during one of Tracer’s first missions to King’s Row in London. The event will be similar to the Halloween event and a cooperative experience. It will come with new sprays, emotes, skins such as those seen in the new comic and more.
Romance talks to Shoryuken about his passion for The King of Fighters and his partnership with Justin Wong
Jose “Romance” Navarrete’s trip to Indianapolis was born out of a friendship in the FGC with one of the top players in the world. Several weeks before the event, it was announced the Echo Fox|Justin Wong was sending him out for Naptown Clutch 6 to test his mettle in Street Fighter V and The King of Fighters XIV–the two titles he has been training in recently.
The result of that partnership showed potential, as Romance took 1st in KOF and 5th in SFV, showing that he’s a force to be reckoned with in both titles. While at Naptown Clutch, I sat down with him to talk about his progress with the games, and how his partnership with Justin came to fruition.
Corey “Missing Person” Lanier: Congratulations on your win at Naptown Clutch. You looked like the man to beat during the top 4. How did you feel going into it?
Jose “Romance” Navarrete: I have to admit I felt a bit of nerves at first. I had to play against my teammate, TCYoshi, who is a really strong player. It could have went either way.
Missing Person: At the start of Grand Finals, you made a switch off of Nakoruru to Leona. What prompted that change?
Romance: I actually put Benimaru as battery and put Leona in the middle, and wanted to test out Leona. I don’t really like the character, or play her a lot. However, she’s really strong and I felt like it was worth it to try her out as a pocket character.
Missing Person: When you brought Nakoruru back in, you put her as anchor, as opposed to battery in winners finals. Was there a specific reason for this?
Romance: I feel like Nakoruru is one of my best characters. When I play someone who isn’t used to her, I try to use it as a strategy. If they’re not ready for my style of Nakoruru, they’ll be in trouble with her as my battery. In the case of TCYoshi, he knows the way I play her. But since she is my best character, I can leave her as an anchor to finish off what’s left.
Missing Person: With the recent patch to The King of Fighters XIV, how do you feel about the game?
Romance: I am super excited about all the work that SNK Playmore has put into the game. Everyone has noticed how active the company has been in patching the game. They have been giving a lot of support, including into esports. They’ve also been assisting various tournaments, including giving pot bonuses. I’m still looking forward to one more patch prior to Evo. If they release another balance patch, it’ll be helpful.
Missing Person: I actually had talked to Xiaohai in Canada, and he had talked about preferring KOF XIII to KOF XIV. Do you have a preference?
Romance: To be honest, KOF XIII was where I first got my name out there. I traveled a lot for the game and won a few tournaments and made top 8 at Evo twice. So KOF XIII definitely has a special place in my heart. At the same time, I want to play KOF XIV. I really want to support SNK Playmore for doing a good job in working on the game. It’s about adapting to the new mechanics rather than saying, “I don’t like this game. I would rather play KOF XIII.”
I actually like the mechanics that KOF XIV has to offer. I know it requires different strategies than KOF XIII, but I’m just putting in the time to adjust and enjoying the game. I want there to be more titles in the franchise. Especially with all the promotional effort they’re putting forth, including the KOF World Cup.
Missing Person: What would be the biggest adjustment you’ve had to make coming from KOF XIII?
Romance: I feel like the damage you get is different. With Max Mode in KOF XIV, you can get 30-40% damage from one bar of meter. You can get more damage with one bar in KOF XIV than with KOF XIII.
Missing Person: You actually got sponsored by Justin Wong personally to come out here to play. How did that deal come about?
Romance: Justin actually invited me to go to Canada Cup 2016. But because of work and other commitments, I was unable to make it out. But a few weeks ago, he texted me and said that he still wanted to send me out to an event to show me and King of Fighters some love. So I told him I wanted to go to Naptown Clutch because I had never been to Indianapolis, and I have a few friends that live here. He told me he believed I could take it down, and thanks to the effort, I proved him right.
Missing Person: With this win, do you believe he’ll be showing more support down the road?
Romance: I am more than thankful for what he’s already done, and he’s helped me a lot. Even in Street Fighter V, we both play Karin, so he always gives me advice on my play. I would never put my hand out asking for him to give me more than what he already willingly gave.
I’m actually moving to Las Vegas very soon to start a new job. So I’m going to try to manage my time and resources and try to do it on my own. I will be keeping my eye out for sponsorships, but regardless, I will be doing my best in KOF no matter what.
Missing Person: With Street Fighter V, how much time are you putting into Street Fighter with your main focus being KOF?
Romance: For the two weeks leading up to Naptown Clutch, I was at least playing a couple hours a night online.
Missing Person: And it paid off, as you made it to top 8 on the winner’s side. But you have Wolfkrone and NYChrisG still in the bracket. How do you feel about your chances?
Romance: I’ll be honest that I’m still a bit nervous. I’m just focusing on doing my best. I actually sent Wolfkrone to losers bracket. The hardest match on winner’s side is NYChrisG, and I have him to start things off. It’s no disrespect to anyone else in the bracket, but he’s well-known and I know his playstyle. I’ve played him a lot in many games. He’s a really smart guy and a smart player. I’m going to be trying my best.
Note: Romance lost to NYChrisG in winners semi-finals, then was eliminated by Wolfkrone—whom he had put into losers bracket—in the very next match.
Missing Person: With Evo coming up, given your experience, you’d be a favorite to make Top 8. But you also have to deal with the world’s best coming out, including Xiaohai. How do you prepare?
Romance: I’ll just keep practicing with the people around me. I play a lot with some of the best in the region, including TCYoshi and Luis Cha. I’ll be playing as much as I can to gain experience.
Missing Person: Who do you feel is your biggest demon in KOF?
Romance: The player who has been getting the best of me the most lately has been Reynald. But at the same time, I feel like he’s my teammate in trying to defend the US in the game. So while he’s my demon, I feel like it’s more of a friendly rivalry.
[Feature image by Corey Lanier]
AJ Lee On How Much CM Punk Made For His UFC Bout, Lana Welcomes Kurt Angle To WWE RAW, Jack Swagger
AJ Lee On How Much CM Punk Made For His UFC Bout, Lana Welcomes Kurt Angle To WWE RAW, Jack Swagger
Update On WWE Contacting Alberto Del Rio About Return, WWE Announces Partnership In Japan, WWE Shop
Update On WWE Contacting Alberto Del Rio About Return, WWE Announces Partnership In Japan, WWE Shop
ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational: Group A quarter finals/semi-finals replays, Infiltration interview
The ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Invitational continued on Twitch and TBS this past Friday with the quarter finals and semi-finals for the players in Group A–which consisted of PIE|Smug, PG|Punk, F3|Brolynho, Echo Fox|Julio, Echo Fox|Momochi, and RZR|Infiltration. You can watch the replays below to see which players advanced, as well as the ones who were eliminated from this high-stakes competition.
ELEAGUE also has conducted a player profile interview with Seonwoo “Infiltration” Lee. In this four-minute segment, he briefly talks about his first experience with the Street Fighter series at the arcades in South Korea, his debut at Evolution 2010, and why he has switched to Juri in SFV. Lee’s parents and fiancee are also interviewed in this video, and they share their thoughts and feelings concerning his pro-fighting game career. It’s worth a watch to see a side of Infiltration we rarely get to see.
Source: ELEAGUE
Audio Emerges of Chris Weidman’s UFC 210 Corner; Weidman Thought it Was February
Audio of former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman‘s corner during the critical moments of his April 8 TKO loss to Gegard Mousasi at UFC 210 has come out and it helps to shed light on cageside physicians’ decision to not allow Weidman to continue.
Path of Exile – Devs Tackle Another Round of Questions
The Path of Exile team was a bit quiet this week — after all, they’re ramping up for an expansion, right? But they sent along some nifty little tidbits including a retrospective look at how the game’s trailers were made and how item mods are described. It’s another fun peek to look inside the development of PoE.
Looking for online Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 competition? Check out reddit’s player database
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3’s re-release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC has undeniably sparked a revival for the franchise–with players new and old coming back to the title in earnest. However, some players may not be able to make it out to locals, instead having to rely on online play for their competitive fix. Finding a consistent source of online competition in a 6-year old title, with its players spread across a whopping five platforms, can prove challenging.
In an attempt to remedy this, trahh has created an online player database on the /r/MvC3 subreddit, allowing players to indicate their system(s) of preference, location, degrees of availability, and any other details they wish to provide in service of expanding their range of potential opponents. He has also provided a link to the Steam group for UMvC3, for any users who may want to join there.
You can fill out the form to join the list here, and can also view the spreadsheet, which has around 90 players listed at the time of this writing, here.
Source: r/MvC3
WWE Announces Injury To RAW Star
WWE Announces Injury To RAW Star
Anthony Johnson Sheds ‘Rumble’ Persona, Reaffirms Retirement in Monday Instagram Post
After calling his MMA career quits at 33 years old, after over a decade as a pro fighter and establishing a reputation as perhaps the most devastating hitter in the sport’s history, you’d think Anthony Johnson would be keen to remain “Rumble.” Instead, he says he’s happy to just be Anthony Johnson again.