Author: Casey "Waveflame" Rinaldi

With the initial launch of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and the Season 3 balance patch in mid-January, there was one character who seemed to draw much more attention and scrutiny from the community following the release of the patch notes: the monstrous Mad Gear auto enthusiast Abigail. Receiving easily the largest number of changes of any of the 28 veteran cast members — most notably including faster Light attacks — the giant gearhead appeared to be vroom-vrooming himself straight into the fast lane of competitive play, even if his trophy case at the Metro City Bay Area wasn’t full yet.

With the surprising arrival of the Season 3.5 rebalance, Abi has been given massive lumps on the head by the nerf bat: seeing reduced health, his Light attack speed reverted to Season 2.5, removing his new combos, a massive reduction in his overall damage and stun output across the board, and increased pushback on moves (rendering throw loops and previous oki situations obsolete). Though, he was compensated with an increase in his already high stun value, as well as notable improvements to his V-Trigger II’s additional attack Hybrid Charge.

Taking all of these factors — and a discussion about what made him so powerful previously — into consideration, VesperArcade’s Mir ponders if the gargantuan brawler (who just got third at Brussels Challenge: Major Edition, in the hands of Problem X) is still viable enough to be a contender in SFV’s new climate. You can hear his full arguments in the video below.

You can also check out Vesper’s thoughts on the surprising Cammy buffs, as well as SonicSol’s overiew of Nash’s changes if you’re looking for further character analysis.

What are your thoughts on the current standing of Abigail? Do you believe Capcom went a bit overboard in toning him down, or do you believe his nerfs were completely justified and handled extremely well? Provide your own perspective in the comments section below.

Source: VesperArcade

With the initial launch of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and the Season 3 balance patch in mid-January, there was one character who seemed to draw much more attention and scrutiny from the community following the release of the patch notes: the monstrous Mad Gear auto enthusiast Abigail. Receiving easily the largest number of changes of any of the 28 veteran cast members — most notably including faster Light attacks — the giant gearhead appeared to be vroom-vrooming himself straight into the fast lane of competitive play, even if his trophy case at the Metro City Bay Area wasn’t full yet.

With the surprising arrival of the Season 3.5 rebalance, Abi has been given massive lumps on the head by the nerf bat: seeing reduced health, his Light attack speed reverted to Season 2.5, removing his new combos, a massive reduction in his overall damage and stun output across the board, and increased pushback on moves (rendering throw loops and previous oki situations obsolete). Though, he was compensated with an increase in his already high stun value, as well as notable improvements to his V-Trigger II’s additional attack Hybrid Charge.

Taking all of these factors — and a discussion about what made him so powerful previously — into consideration, VesperArcade’s Mir ponders if the gargantuan brawler (who just got third at Brussels Challenge: Major Edition, in the hands of Problem X) is still viable enough to be a contender in SFV’s new climate. You can hear his full arguments in the video below.

You can also check out Vesper’s thoughts on the surprising Cammy buffs, as well as SonicSol’s overiew of Nash’s changes if you’re looking for further character analysis.

What are your thoughts on the current standing of Abigail? Do you believe Capcom went a bit overboard in toning him down, or do you believe his nerfs were completely justified and handled extremely well? Provide your own perspective in the comments section below.

Source: VesperArcade

With the freshly-released Season 3.5 balance patch for Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition hitting us like a wake-up Shoryuken (the kind with invincibility) this week, World Warriors all across the globe are scrambling to see what the latest round of alterations for the entire 30-character roster mean for their favorite fighters. We’ve compiled a series of analysis videos, from covering a variety of the cast in these early days.

First off, VesperArcade takes a look at the controversial buffs and quality-of-life improvements to Cammy White — despite the Delta Red member already being considered a top 5 character in the previous version of the game, and how this could seem questionable in comparison to other tenets of Capcom’s patching philosophy with the game.

TheRedGambit provides us with great pre and post-patch breakdowns for Juri Han (clad in her new Lilith Darkstalkers Crossover Costume) as many seemed confused on what the patch’s full implications were for the Poison Spider.

HDJammerz shows us the fruit’s of R. Mika’s wrestling training, as well as an interesting stealth change to her “Steel Chair” V-Trigger II that was left out of the official notes.

Thu Yaj and DeadAceBS analyze the interesting modifications to the Wandering Warrior himself: Ryu.

DeadAceBS also takes a look at everyone’s favorite boxer, Balrog, who received huge buffs to his B3 V-Trigger II.

BGCallisto looks at the improvements to Season 3’s first new challenger, Sakura Kasugano.

Rush G takes a look at the practical buff applications for the fiery Ken Masters, who received great improvements to his Step Kick V-Skill.

BlackPantherN7 looks at the changes for the trio of Menat, Laura Matsuda, and the recently-released Blanka.

Being Vice-President of the Secret Society has its benefits, as changes to the recovery of some normals have allowed Urien to regain his Dangerous Headbutt loops, as demonstrated by Dragon Soul.

Finally, Rainacide looks at what’s different for Shadaloo’s Dictator, M. Bison.

There’s surely going to be more tech and discoveries coming in the weeks and months ahead, but hopefully these overviews will give you a good idea of where most of the cast currently stands, and how you can adapt to or best utilize the changes to your fighters of choice. You can also check out SonicSol’s thoughts on Nash for more.

Sources: VesperArcade; TheRedGambit; HDJammerz; Thu Yaj; DeadAceBS; TheSassageKing; Rush G; BlackPantherN7; Dragon Soul; Rainacide

One of the most praised parts of Dragon Ball FighterZ has been the implementation of the Dramatic Finish sequences that are triggered when certain conditions are met, depending on match-ending blows between certain characters on certain stages. Specific combinations trigger special pre and post-match cutscenes that re-enact some of the most famous and iconic scenes from the original manga and anime, using the in-game models! Though a myriad of these were already in the base game, the addition of new DLC characters Bardock and Broly has brought four new ones to enjoy, as both of the Legendary Super Saiyan’s defeats at the hands of Super Saiyan Goku and Adult Gohan in Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan and Second Coming are recreated nearly shot-for-shot.

Meanwhile, we can also remember Bardock’s death and the destruction of Planet Vegeta at Frieza’s hands (only in his Final Form this time), as well as a Reverse Dramatic Finish that sees Bardock channel his rage and Saiyan pride into a Super Saiyan transformation to dispatch of the Emperor of the Universe.

IKevinX has returned once again to compare and document all of the references these scenes make to their source material — which you can see below, along with his reference video for the base game’s Finishes.

Which Dramatic Finish is your favorite? Feel free to tell us in the comments below. You can also find links to IKevinX’s previous coverage below:

• Goku & Frieza
• Teen Gohan & Vegeta
• Perfect Cell & Majin Buu
• Future Trunks
• Piccolo & Krillin
• SSGSS Goku & Vegeta
• Androids 17 & 18
• Android 16
• Yamcha
• Character Concepts for Hit, Beerus, Goku Black & Zamasu
• Nappa
• Missed References Part 1
• Captain Ginyu
• Tien
• Gotenks
• Kid Buu
• Adult Gohan
• Hit, Beerus, and Goku Black
• Bardock and Broly

Source: IKevinX

After covering several pre-release breakdowns for Broly, it’s time to shine the spotlight on the other DLC character just-arrived to Dragon Ball FighterZ: the father of Goku and Raditz, Bardock. As before with Broly, the likes of Maximilian, PND|Ketchup and Mustard, Hellpockets, Rhymestyle, and AfroSenju XL were able to travel to the Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Europe offices to capture some pre-release footage of this character, ahead of his official release today.

The most notable thing about Bardock at first glance is that aside from a regular, single-shot Ki Blast, the low-class Saiyan is purely focused on rushdown — with a variety of specials that move him forward, allowing him to quickly close in on foes and enter his ideal attack range.

Maximilian notes that he feels like an amalgamation of several characters currently on the roster, such as Super Saiyan Goku, Goku Black, Yamcha, Piccolo and Adult Gohan, as unlike Broly, “everything flows and just works.”

Rebellion Spear, like all of Bardock’s specials, can be done on both the ground and the air, with the Heavy/EX version having either a launching or knockdown follow-up with an additional button press depending on the version used — but it will not come out on block. Though Bardock does seem to get more aerial actions than most characters. The Raging Meteor provides Bardock with meterless hard knockdowns, and can also be performed whether you’re grounded or airborne. Tyrant Lancer is a Chargeable strike that provides a fullscreen wallbounce. The Light version also serves as his Assist.

Moving on to his three supers, Riot Javelin is standard projectile fare, but Saiyan Spirit uniquely stands out as “the Bionic Lancer of Dragon Ball FighterZ,” as it’s currently the only Level 1 with startup invincibility, giving Bardock an extremely cheap and dangerous reversal option that demands respect whenever his team has any Ki whatsoever. Revenge Assault is a standard cinematic Level 3, and like everything else, can be used grounded or airborne. For additional footage and impressions, see the videos below!

Bardock and Broly are available in Dragon Ball FighterZ tomorrow, and can be purchased, along with 6 additional DLC characters, as part of the FighterZ Pass (and are included in the FighterZ and Ultimate Editions) or can be bought individually.

Sources: Maximilian Dood; PNDK&M; Bandai Namco Entertainment America; GameSpot Gameplay