Everyone has a fighting chance
The last few updates were part of BioWare’s attempt to put the genie back in the bottle by knocking the Eternal Alliance down a few pegs. Jedi Under Siege is the first real step towards a full course correction and return to the game’s roots as a story of conflict between the Sith Empire and Galactic Republic. The problem is that, at least so far, it’s about as awkward as I expected it to be.
One of the big features of the new Epic Store is that it promises developers it will take a significantly smaller chunk of change from game sales profits. Currently, Epic takes 12% for distributing games rather than the 30% that Steam currently does. According to Bulkhead Interactive CEO Joe Brammer, his studio’s game, Battalion 1944, would have seen the company earn an additional $350,000 if it could have launched on Epic instead of Steam.
Lord of the Rings Online will be getting a big update today that brings a pair of Yuletide Festival instances into the game and a number of big changes to both the Beorning and Burglar classes among other, smaller, tweaks to others.
Kamaru Usman is putting the pressure on Tyron Woodley.
Wednesday Night Fights is a hotbed for fierce competition in a variety of fighting games, ranging from the current hottest titles to some less-prominent gems. Tune in to see the best of the best in California strive to up their game in these weekly battles at Esports Arena, brought to you by Level|Up Series!
WNF x Orange County features weekly tournaments in the following titles: Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Tekken 7, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, and Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2. They also feature monthly events for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, Pokkén Tournament DX, and ARMS. Other games appear seasonally or for special events. For more information on the events and schedule (or to register, if you’d like to attend), check out the smash.gg event page, or Level|Up Series on their Facebook page or Twitter.
This week you can check out Wednesday Night Fights x Orange County 4.5. Casuals kick off by 7:00 PM PT, while the main tournaments start at 9:30 PM PT. Tonight sees Super Smash Bros. Ultimate arrive at WNF!
Don't forget to sign up for today's #WNF x Orange County in advance! We will be capping our Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament at 128 entrants! You snooze, you lose! #SSBU https://t.co/ppokIRxrMF pic.twitter.com/zGk2w7ZNSc
— Level | Up Series (@levelupseries) December 12, 2018
#WNF x @ESA_OC Stream Schedule:
Bracket Play
9:30pm-11pmhttps://t.co/DIFoAprVlVDBFZ
9:30pm-closehttps://t.co/7txbl1grOiVariety
9:30pm-close https://t.co/TF80aapFElTK7
9:30pm-closehttps://t.co/KZzWjSfrQ2Anime
9:30pm-closehttps://t.co/1Yd6qUuDCr https://t.co/9bqWc2Lu4V— Level | Up Series (@levelupseries) October 9, 2018
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Sources: Level|Up Series (Twitter); Wednesday Night Fights (smash.gg)
Capcom releases official patch notes for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition Version 03.110
Version 1.2.0 update coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate next week
Everyone knows Mago is one of the 2D gods of fighting games. He has always been one of the men to beat in any bracket he puts himself in. From Street Fighter IV to Street Fighter V, Mago continually finds himself in the highest echelons of competitive play. And it’s no surprise that he once again finds himself in Capcom Cup. With him being on the lower end of the seeding, how does he fare?
When you look at Mago’s competitive history in Street Fighter V, you see results upon results of him using Karin, with a couple of Rashid counter-picks littered in there. But that all changed in 2018 as Mago metaphorically hit the brakes and went to Cammy full-time.
Opting to go the route of using the inarguable highest-tier characters, Mago has done well playing catch up with dedicated Cammy mains. He has the pressure down, the spacings, the usage of every tool she has nearly perfect. He is one that is capable of picking up new characters fast, and it shows. Even in the instances where he has picked Rashid — typically as a counter for Birdie — he has shown a great sense of understanding of the character, his tools, and exactly why it’s a good counter for the characters he uses him to counter.
But this shift is exactly the problem I have with Mago, and exactly why I can’t see him doing as well. I understand full well that character balance is always ebbing and flowing in Street Fighter V with seasonal patches. But truth be told, Karin never fell far enough in the tiers to warrant Mago to knee-jerk into changing to Cammy. Yet, he did so anyway.
What I view this is as textbook Mago, who typically shifts to whatever the highest tier is in any revision of a game without stopping to look at his previous character to see if they still hold any merit in the competitive meta. Often, they do, and yet he still switches to what’s the highest tier at any given moment. In Street Fighter IV, he started with Sagat, then switched to Fei-Long as soon as he started looking strong in Super. As soon as Ultra released, we saw him abandon Fei-Long in search of success with Yang. There was even a point within the arcade release of Ultra where we saw him play Chun-Li as rumors swirled that she might be top tier in the revision, only for him to ultimately choose Yang when it wasn’t the case.
And this is where Mago finds himself again. Karin was definitely a strong character through the first two seasons, and because she wasn’t top 5, Mago found himself a new character in Cammy. And the problem with that is he has had to play catch-up, and while he has done well with that, he isn’t able to fall back on mounds of experience that dedicated Cammy mains have had. This is why you see players like NL and Xiao Hai doing better than him on the circuit. It’s because all the situations that Mago struggles in, they’ve been there and know the answers. Mago doesn’t.
It’s hard truth time. Mago has been Tokido’s long time training partner, but there’s no secret that he’s not the last boss everyone hoped for. With his fear of commitment to a character that he doesn’t deem stronger than the rest, he actually suffers more than he benefits.
Do not get me wrong, I don’t oppose someone switching mains completely when it fits them better — or when their main gets nerfed into the ground. But I feel like neither one of these situations fit Mago. With him going up against the polar opposite in Luffy first round, someone who has tons of experience against better, more-experienced Cammys, I don’t see him doing well at all.
With that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mago go 0-2. While I would personally advise Mago to stick with Cammy or go back to Karin for Season 4, I’m not going to be surprised to see him switch to whatever character tops the tier list yet again.
Wednesday Night Fights is a hotbed for fierce competition in a variety of fighting games, ranging from the current hottest titles to some less-prominent gems. Tune in to see the best of the best in California strive to up their game in these weekly battles at Esports Arena, brought to you by Level|Up Series!
WNF x Oakland features weekly tournaments in the following titles: Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Tekken 7, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st], Fighting EX Layer, Street Fighter X Tekken, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. They also feature monthly events for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, Pokkén Tournament DX, ARMS, and Injustice 2 [TBD]. Other games appear seasonally or for special events. For more information on the events and schedule (or to register, if you’d like to attend), check out the smash.gg event page, or Level|Up Series on their Facebook page or Twitter.
This week you can check out Wednesday Night Fights x Oakland 2018 Episode 19. Fighting EX Layer is back:
It is #WNF x @ESAOakland tomorrow and we're back with #FEXL It's free entry and $50+ prize pool! Click the sponsor links on the @matcherino_
campaign to add a FREE dollar to the pot!Campaign: https://t.co/whB1scXHgF
Reg: https://t.co/3Kq2AFjEeZ pic.twitter.com/1ZZ5D6uCTb— CapsuleEntertainment (@CapsuleEnt) December 12, 2018
Introducing our new #WNF stream schedule! We will now be showcasing both NorCal and SoCal talent on https://t.co/Bp9pzQLPdN starting this week!
8:00pm-11:00pm – @ESAOakland
11:00pm-1:30am- @ESA_OCDon't miss out! Register here:https://t.co/ppokIRxrMFhttps://t.co/uo7r8oqyl8 pic.twitter.com/8ixwVoBaiI
— Level | Up Series (@levelupseries) October 9, 2018
Schedule (as posted on smash.gg):
Watch live video from leveluplive2 on www.twitch.tv
Watch live video from THEPANDORAHOUSE on www.twitch.tv
Watch live video from esedu on www.twitch.tv
Watch live video from Yowanehaku on www.twitch.tv
Watch live video from windforceesports on www.twitch.tv
Watch live video from Shangles on www.twitch.tv
Sources: Level|Up Series (Twitter); Wednesday Night Fights (smash.gg)
Capcom releases official patch notes for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition Version 03.110
Revisiting Fighting EX Layer: New characters, arcade mode, and a new Steam version!
SikShot Gaming breaks down all of Maxi’s stances in SoulCalibur VI
Over in Japan, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown’s scene remains strong, largely thanks to the popularity of multiple 3v3 tournaments held in the country. 45 die-hard VF players showed up for Railway Series Volume 9, and VirtuaFighter.com admin Mike Abdow has put together an excellent highlight reel for the tournament, which you can watch below. He also put together a breakdown of character usage, which you can check out here.
If you like what you saw, you can watch the full 4-hour tournament VOD, too:
Source: Mike Abdow
One thing that could easily be said about Punk is that he’s not the player he was before Evo 2017. Prior to that moment, people could only speculate on who would finally topple him. After Evo’s devastating loss to Tokido, he definitely began to struggle. Nothing could be more evident of that than Capcom Cup. While he avoided being the number one seed — much like Infiltration in 2016 — and going 0-2, he did self-fulfill a prophecy he laid out at Wednesday Night Fights prior to Capcom Cup, where he lost to the Last Chance Qualifer winner, Nemo.
This year, he doesn’t have to worry about this. But what he has to do, as a lower seed, is prove that he still has what it takes to win in the most-stacked brackets.
So much about Punk’s approach — and lack of results — in the game can be attributed to his experimentation this year. This can’t really be anything to fault him for. He’s young, and he needed to work out his own identity within fighting games.
This approach saw him not only switching characters (using Cammy and Cody, to name a couple) but toying around with different games, as we saw him playing more Dragon Ball FighterZ and BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle. While many could allude to this Punk not caring, nothing could be further from the truth. It was him being able to get a breath of fresh air to hit the reset button on his psyche.
When the chips have fallen, he has brought out his Karin where it counts, and proven that she is still just as deadly, if not more so, than she was last year. Whereas very few Karins exist on the Pro Tour at this point, he has still done everything nearly immaculate with the character to this date.
Last year saw Punk string together Premier win after Premier win. He also earned a smooth payday at ELEAGUE, showing he was the man to beat last year. This year… not so much. While he was able to nail down a few ranking events, he was unable to capture the magic he had last season.
This was of course, until he reprised his role as champion in North America Regional Finals, where he beat a streaking CJ Truth twice on his way to the title. This was a far bigger test than last year, where Punk seemed to skate through the top 8 bracket with relative ease. This means that although many felt that Punk had been caught up to, he is still on pace.
But one of the biggest problems I have with Punk right now is not only the fact that there are things he hasn’t figured out, but his visible signs of frustration in that fact. Even before the CPT season begun, Punk found himself visually tilted at THE COOL KID93 at Frosty Faustings upon being eliminated by his Abigail.
When you fast forward, not much has changed in that exact match-up. NorCal Regionals saw the same look when he fell to Problem X. Come DreamHack Montréal, nothing had changed. The ironic thing is, at the latter event, he counter picked Chun-Li against Itabashi Zangief’s Abigail to great success. So you have to think his frustration is ultimately at his own doing.
Punk just needs to trust his instincts. They’re very strong, and while his second-guessing may stem from his loss at Evo to Tokido, he ultimately needs to finally shake it off and not be stubborn. He has a great blend of characters that can counter nearly every player in the tournament.
Even if he’s afraid of Problem X, he needs to buckle down, ask for blind picks, and do his thing. Whether he has to play catch up or not in the score, he is ever capable, he just needs to be prepared to leave everything out on the table this year.
Following yesterday’s server maintenance, Capcom released a patch that updated Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition to Version 03.110. Most notably, this update added Sponsored Content to the game, that will allow players to receive up to 12 additional Fight Money per Ranked and Casual match played — provided they are sporting the new Ad Style Costumes (which currently splatter each fighter’s outfit with the Capcom Pro Tour logo), are viewing ads for DLC Costume bundles and sales, and are playing on one of the three CPT stages, which are advertising this weekend’s Capcom Cup.
In addition to the 11 new DLC bundles that are now available, as well as the commencement of a free trial weekend, Capcom has also added two new stage themes for “The Grid” training stage, giving us three themes to choose from while we lab.
Finally, to celebrate the holidays and advertise the new Christmas content, Capcom has begun a new series of Extra Battles, “Happy Holidays Fortune Tickets for You!” which will occur every two days from December 11th-23rd. These allow us to challenge Sakura, Falke, Cody, Blanka, Alex, Cammy, Kolin, and Menat, all clad in their Holiday attires, for Fortune Tickets. Each battle will have a 100 FM entry fee, and will allow a total of 5 attempts, providing a single Fortune Ticket upon initial competition. However, these notes do not specify how Capcom have rebalanced Extra Battle in regards to the Shadaloo Soldiers or Crossover Costume pieces. You can view the full patch notes below.
Following server maintenance on December 11, 2018, Street Fighter V has been updated to Version 03.110.
• Street Fighter V Free Trial Demo
A free trial demo of Street Fighter V will be available for a limited time. During the trial period, Guile, Akuma, and Sagat will be unlocked free of charge, and can be used in the following gameplay modes.
– Ranked Match
– Casual Match
– Battle Lounge
– Training
– Challenges (Trials, Demonstrations)
Free Trial Demo Period – 3 Character Full Unlock: December 11 – 18
• Implementation of Partner Content
Partner Content Functionality has been implemented, which will introduce advertisements on the loading screen after online matching, and in the background of stages. Please visit (CAPCOM UNITY) for more details.
• DLC
The following DLC is now available.
— Capcom Legends Pack
— 2017 Holiday Pack
— Season 1-3 Story Costume Pack
— Season 1-3 Stage Pack
— Professional Costume Pack
— Sporty Costume Pack
— School Uniform Costume Pack
— 2017 Halloween and Holiday Costume Pack Set – Store Bundle
— Season 1-3 Nostalgia Costume Pack
— Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Costume Pack
— Akiman Designed Chun-Li 7 Variations Pack
The following DLC has been re-released.
— Additional Costume (“Holiday”): Alex
— Additional Costume (“Holiday”): Cammy
— Additional Costume (“Holiday”): Kolin
— Additional Costume (“Holiday”): Menat
— Stage: Frosty Boulevard
— Stage: Ring of Destiny
— Stage: Ring of Pride
• Other
Two new songs have been added to The Grid training stage. Together with the existing one, that makes a total of 3 songs you can choose from. To set your preferred song, go to Battle Settings -> Battle BGM Settings -> The Grid Stage BGM Settings.
We hope you continue to enjoy playing Street Fighter V.
Source: Shadaloo C.R.I.