Month: January 2018

While the Genesis tournament series has been first and foremost a Super Smash Bros. event, the staff has been adding more games to its lineup since last year’s event. For Genesis 5 in Oakland, CA, in addition to Smash 64, Melee, and SSB4, there will be tournaments for Rivals of Aether, Splatoon 2, Dance Dance Revolution Extreme, and last but not least, Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.

Genesis 4 did feature SFV last year with 130 entrants from both Northern and Southern California. So far, this year’s event doesn’t have quite as many competitors as last year (only 57 as of this writing, but there is still on-site registration the day of the tournament), there is an added $1,000 pot bonus that some of NorCal’s players will be playing for this weekend, with the likes of Evil Genius’ Ricki Ortiz, Rommel “ROM” Macatangay, Miky “XSK_Samurai” Chea, Long “LPN” Nguyen, and Pavo “Pavocado” Miskic in attendance.

Since SFV: Arcade Edition is only a few days old, the results may vary this weekend due to the cast having access to brand new V-Triggers, Sakura being tournament legal, and huge character balance changes. I caught up with Miky, Long, and Pavo to get their early Arcade Edition impressions and their competitive mindsets going into Genesis 5, and beyond.

Kolin is ridiculously cool and powerful now! Expect it to be a cold year.

“I think the single player content is fantastic and the reworked UI is hella sick. I get excited just watching the matches queue up,” said Pavo.

LPN shared the same enthusiasm for the new update: “Playing it for the last few days, it has sparked my interest in many different avenues. With the plethora of tech and info shared across Twitter and YouTube the past few days, I’m overjoyed at how fast people are picking things up in this rediscovery stage. It’s a good look for SFV and seeing other people happy about the game makes me happy as well.”

As far as the character balance changes were concerned, all three players had varied opinions.

“If we’re talking balance, it seems like the gap between low and mid tier is closer than before, but the gap between high tier and everyone else is even bigger than before. A lot of people are going to have to pick up secondaries this year if they want to win big tournaments,” Pavo said. He also adds, “It’s hard to tell how everything will shake out, but the early tech for Abigail is already incredible. Getting hard knockdown on the first hit of his Abigail Punches special move into the new V-Trigger 2 for free unblockables is kind of mind-blowing, considering Akuma just lost his hard knockdown sets ups.

“I’m also slightly worried about Guile considering his bad match-ups seem to have gotten worse, but the system changes benefit Guile more than ever. Mika was mostly given positive changes that go hand-in-hand with her current playstyle, but none of it seems to be that extra cheap stuff that the potential top tiers have. The system changes to throws aren’t in her favor either. She’ll still work, but her bad match ups will require back up for competition. I’m hoping that Blanka will fix all my problems!”

In contrast to Pavo’s enthusiasm, LPN seems unconvinced: “Some characters got over-buffed, [Rashid and Laura] are prime examples. Great characters who are now even greater for no sensible reason in my opinion. New mix ups of Laura have been floating around the internet and Rashid flying in every video as well. The idea behind the game becoming more “neutral” must have been a rumor that’s been circulating the internet for some time now, because it isn’t apparent in AE.”

LPN also seemed confused about the way that characters had been changed: “Some other characters like Alex and Vega can use some more buffs, and some characters like Ken and Akuma got nerfed in a weird direction. The characters aren’t destroyed or unplayable. Just minor adjustments will make them ‘complete.’ Oh yeah, Kolin is ridiculously cool and powerful now! Expect it to be a cold year.”

Seeing other people happy about the game makes me happy as well.

He added: “Some people are happy. Others are not. But the bottom line is, if you enjoy playing the game, then continue to do so. Overall I still love the game and with Arcade Edition out now, I’m ready to jump back into the lab.”

Miky said that he thinks the changes will lead to a more neutral-based experience, even though some characters will have strong 50/50 setups and one-touch kills. He said that even though he will have to work harder, he feels that it will make him play better overall. “Season 3 will bring a new direction in terms of development for players. It’ll be up to the player to realize that and take it into consideration when looking to improve for this year.”

As for the mindsets of all three players going into competing at Genesis 5 and future tournaments, they all seemed optimistic and focused, despite the drastic changes in season three.

“My mindset going into Genesis is to not make the tournament special,” Pavo said. “No extra pressure, no expectations. If I show up and can stay focused throughout the tournament I’ll be happy. I’m not worried about anyone in particular, but all the new options people have means anyone has the potential to surprise me with some dirty tech I haven’t seen before. I hope to be ready to adjust on the fly. My future plans for Season Three are to hit up everything I can. I haven’t seen the East Coast yet and would love to go out there and play with everyone.”

A lot of people are going to have to pick up secondaries this year if they want to win big tournaments.

LPN said, “My mindset going into Genesis is to show the people what AE is all about. It’s a fresh start for many people and I feel so for myself I’m not worried about any particular player as I’m confident in my ability to take the whole thing. As for future tournaments, I plan on going to as many CPT tournaments as possible to compete in SFVAE.”

Lastly, Miky adds emphatically, “I am going there to win with my new style. I don’t care who I play against, or which character. Season 3 in terms of future tournaments? I’m not sure, since I am not sponsored for this season. I will most likely compete in California majors and locals.”

It should be an exciting time for both players and spectators this weekend at Genesis 5 in Oakland, CA. SFVAE takes place this Saturday at around 2:00 PM PT, and is being streamed by IPLAYWINNER.

Sources: smash.gg, Genesis Gaming