Author: Casey "Waveflame" Rinaldi

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VesperArcade discusses the latest leaks and rumors surrounding Abigail in Street Fighter V

With Evo now upon us and Capcom set to make several announcements, despite their canceled panel, VesperArcade takes a look at all of the latest leaks and speculation surrounding the likely third Season 2 character for Street Fighter V, Final Fight’s Abigail.

Noting that Capcom has recently changed the profile picture and cover photo for the Official Street Fighter Facebook Page–something the company did when Kolin and Ed’s reveals approached–Vesper points out that the new background looks very 80s and Final Fight-esque, with its neon lights and brick wall. He also points out the recent leak on the CFN Portal site of what appears to be a Character Data page for Abigail, with the initials, “abg,” that has since been taken down. The larger silhouette reveals that the new fighter will be absolutely massive, with a Mohawk and spiked collar, further pointing to the Canadian Mad Gear lieutenant.

Vesper also discusses his thoughts on how the towering Canadian will play, as well as the potential announcement of a Super Street Fighter V and more, below.

You can see his original speculation video about Abigail here.

A recent Tweet from Capcom France is a huge hint toward Abigail’s inclusion in Street Fighter V, showing off a stage on the New York City waterfront. It may not be Metro City, but the lighting and grimy atmosphere fits Abigail’s ’80s aesthetic. The Street Fighter Twitter has also confirmed that the next Season 2 character will be revealed during SFV Top 8 on Sunday, so expect Abigail to appear then.

Are you excited about another Mad Gear member coming into the Street Fighter universe, and do you have any hopes about Capcom’s other announcements this weekend? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.

Sources: Capcom_France; Street Fighter; VesperArcade

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The Ring Of Pride stage and Guile’s “Champion’s Choice” costume coming to Street Fighter V on July 25th

Hot of the heels of the announcement that Alex, Ibuki and Juri would finally be getting their long-awaited Nostalgic Costumes, alongside Ryu’s Suzaku Castle stage on July 25th, Capcom announced that Street Fighter V will be getting even more content that day with the arrival of the Ring Of Pride and Guile’s “Champion’s Choice” costume.

As part of the 2017 Capcom Pro Tour Premier Pass, the Kanzuki Family Stadium will serve as this year’s official CPT stage. A sumo stadium owned by the Kanzukis, the lavish arena is decked out with a myriad of banners, a golden statue of Karin in the back, a lively crowd of spectators looking to watch the action and–of course–the hype bear you can see enjoying the battles in the Ring Of Destiny. It remains to be seen whether its banners will change to reflect current major tournaments like the ring did.

Ring-Of-Pride-CPT-Stage

Additionally, like GGP|Kazunoko did with Necalli, Capcom Cup 2016 champion Liquid|Du “NuckleDu” Dang was allowed to create a special “Champion’s Choice” costume as a reward for his victory. Despite putting in a lot of work with R. Mika, Du will always be most closely associated with Guile. As such, he’s chosen to give the “Air Slasher” a tactical officer-inspired outfit, complete with a patch that bears his name, immortalizing him within the game.

Guile-Champion's-Choice-Costume

Guile-NuckleDu-Patch

The CPT stage will be available standalone for $9.99, with Guile’s “Champion’s Choice” threads going for $5.99. They are both included in the Capcom Pro Tour Premier Pass, alongside Ryu and Ken’s CPT costumes, “Capcom Cup 2017” and “Capcom Pro Tour 2017” exclusive titles, CPT colors for all 28 characters, and monthly exclusive Fight Money Missions, for $24.99. The Pass will be removed from the in-game shop towards the end of November, so act fast if interested! For more information on this content, as well as the CPT DLC, check out Capcom-Unity’s blog post.

Are you excited about this new content coming to SFV? Has this convinced you to pick up the Premier Pass if you were on the fence before? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Source: Capcom-Unity

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Evolution 2017 preview: Who will claim the Azure in BlazBlue: Central Fiction?

The wheel of Fate is turning once again. For the third time in its history, BlazBlue returns to the Evo main stage this year, with BlazBlue: Central Fiction. Though a lot of eyes are turned to Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, Team Blue’s title has been given a spot in the Sunday finals, and has also increased activity through the Burst League and the Japan E-Sports League. Though it is lower on the entrant list compared to other titles, the quality of competition will certainly make up for it. Nearly 500 warriors have journeyed from around the world to Las Vegas in their quest to obtain the Azure. With so many competitors, and many top players from Japan making the journey out, it could prove to be anyone’s game.

blazblue-s-latest-entry-makes-significant-changes

The American Contingent

Panda Global’s SKD is arguably in the driver’s seat, coming off of back-to-back victories at Combo Breaker and CEO, which include a huge victory over one of his biggest rivals, Cyclops Osaka’s Dogura, who’s no doubt hungry for redemption after getting 2nd place at Evo 2014. Fable|Kizzie Kay has also proven himself a multi-game threat, with victories at Texas Showdown and Northwest Majors XI.

However, they’re not the only two threats from the USA. Players like InC|Flux, TheArm, BetaDood, 482|Mastastef, 482|Doza, who upset Dogura at Final Round 20, the BeautifulDude, Nakkiel, Grover, IxR|BurgerMcNasty, Anime Ascension 2017 champion BrkrDave, Jona, Havoc_Noah and the Evo 2011 champion Spark will look to defend their home turf.

Blazblue Central Fiction

The Internationals

With 72 Japanese players descending upon Las Vegas, this will be the strongest level of  competition we’ve seen in Central Fiction to date, with many gods of the arcades coming to America for the very first time, alongside frequent travelers and former champions. Cyclops Osaka’s Dogura began the year with victories at Frosty Faustings XI and Final Round 20, before finally falling to SKD at Combo Breaker, but his Azrael remains as vicious as ever. Evo 2014 champion PONOS|Garireo, who left the game following the release of CPEX, has returned in an attempt to claim a second title with his Litchi. The legendary Jin player, IO|Fenrich, will be making his first appearance on American soil. Widely considered to be Japan’s strongest BB player, his status is comparable to Ogawa in Guilty Gear. He is undeniably a favorite to win it all, but he’ll certainly have his work cut out for him, after falling to Monster at KVOXTSB 2017.

The likes of Dora_Bang, Evo 2016 Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- runner-up Machabo, Tiku, Kiyoshi, Tochigin, Fumi, Fumo, KVOXTSB 2017 champion iGS|Monster, Poropiccho, TOKYO VERDY|Souji, Yoshiki, Ryuusei, Kogatan, Matoi and Koike will also be looking to make their mark. It’s not all about the Land of the Rising Sun though, as Canada’s Psykotik, and MVA|Pochp will represent the Great White North, while the U.K.’s Kiba’s Valkenhayn will certainly be on the prowl, along with many more.

Though there is a lot of talk about the current state of the game’s balance and the power of the top tiers, there should be plenty of character variety throughout the weekend, though Izayoi, Nine, Arakune and Izanami certainly have the potential to go pretty far in the bracket.

With the series’ main story seemingly concluded with CF, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 in full-swing, along with rumors of Toshimichi Mori wanting to work on an RWBY fighting game that could be announced at the event, the future of BlazBlue following this event seems a bit uncertain — barring a surprise announcement at the Sunday finals. Though if this is indeed the final time the Wheel of Fate turns, these competitors will be sure to make the game go out with a glorious Astral Finish.

If you’re new to the series, check out Ebonic Plague’s spectator guide to better familiarize yourself with the characters and mechanics of the game before you watch the action this weekend. Can America close the gap between us and Japan, or will someone make an impact from out of nowhere? Let us know who you expect to see in top 8 in the comments below. REBEL 1! ACTION!

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PND|Ketchup looks at “What’s Changed” in Injustice 2’s July update

After doing a series of videos covering the changes of some of the Injustice: Gods Among Us veterans heading into Injustice 2, PND|Ketchup and Mustard have decided to make videos looking at any patch changes that come to the game, starting with the title’s most recent update.

Though it was more about fixing bugs and providing some quality-of-life improvements to the game, the patch did impact several characters by fixing a bug that allowed several heroes and villains to get full combos off of throw techs while there traits were active. These included the likes of Atrocitus, Batman, Dr. Fate and Brainiac.

In the case of Atrocitus and Batman, this removes some extremely high-damaging combos that they could get off of restands and certain Interactables that was unintentional. However the one seemingly hit the hardest by this change is Dr. Fate, who can no longer combo off of his throw midscreen with his Traited ankhs, though he can still combo off of Final Judgment and Final Punishment in the corner as intended.

Brainac’s Beta Strike will now be destroyed if it is out after a Throw Escape, but the Collector Of Worlds can still combo off of drone calls with some tight execution. You can see the full video below and read the full list of patch changes here.

What do you think of these changes? Do you appreciate NetherRealm’s more conservative approach to patching as we head into Evo? Let us know in the comments.

Source: PNDK&M

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Majorboy boxes his way to Master Rank with Ed in XusesGB’s latest Street Fighter V compilation

Since his initial release alongside the new Capcom Fighters Network and the Season 2.5 balance patch at the end of May, Street Fighter V‘s newest character, Ed, hasn’t proven to be that popular at higher levels of play. However, that hasn’t stopped PRIZM-NANA, a.k.a. Majorboy, from keeping his gloves sharp. Though he began Season 2 with Ibuki, he has become the first player to reach Master Rank with “The Young Commander.”

XusesGB’s latest compilation shows off a brief highlight reel displaying great usage of Ed’s V-Skill to reel in foes for continued pressure, as well as consistent pianos from crouching Medium Kick and some solid Psycho Flicker corner pressure. Things then transition into a FT2 set against Red Bull|Bonchan’s Nash that’s quite the back-and-forth showdown. You can see the full montage, and find out who emerged victorious, below.

Source: XusesGB

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Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late [st] version 3.20 balance changes translated by Sourenga

The arcade version of Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late [st] was recently updated with a variety of balance changes ahead of its upcoming console release in Japan on July 20th. Fortunately for those of us who can’t read Japanese, Sourenga has kindly translated the eight pages of notes. Some of the developers stated goals for this update were to “conduct adjustments to increase the variations in playing without any intentional nerfs.” They’ve also strengthened Assault and jumping overheads to make it easier to break an opponent’s guard, as well as introducing attribute invincibility to certain specials to make them more effective when used as anti-airs.

Every single cast member received changes, with several gaining new moves and increased health. This will likely bring the arcade and console versions into parity, though Enkidu and Erika Wagner will remain console-exclusive for the time being. You can see Sourenga’s full translation of the notes below, or view the original Japanese change list at the UNIST website.

Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late [st] will be released on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in Japan on July 20th, and will come to North America in late 2017. Let us know your thoughts on these changes in the comments below.  Are you ready to step back into the Hollow Night? You can also check out our own Jazz’s hands-on experience at the “Over The World -Continuation-” National Tournament in Tokyo.

Source: Sourenga (Twitter) via IPLAYWINNER

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theScoreEsports explores the history of pop-offs on “The Most Iconic Esports Moments”

“What are you standing up for!?” A phrase that has become iconic over the years in the fighting game community during post-match popoffs following an intense, high-stakes showdown during tournament play. Whether it takes the form of jumping out of a chair in jubilation, an emotional display of tears or even a heated confrontation between two rivals, these moments are unquestionably memorable for anyone who experiences them.

In the latest episode of “The Most ICONIC Esports Moments,” theScore esports takes a look at two of the most memorable streamed early celebrations, beginning with EG|Ricki Ortiz and Joshua “Wolfkrone” Philpot’s battle in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition 2012 at Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament 8: Infinity.

Of course, the most famous recent instance of this has to be the legendary mishap by Ryuichi “Woshige” Shigeno during the Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- Top 8 at Evo 2015, when he forgot there was still one round left to play in his match against Ogawa, and the Zato-1 player ruthlessly capitalized like a shark smelling blood. The blunder was so monumental it was even covered by ESPN SportsCenter.

Relieve both of these moments with the video below.

What are some of your favorite pop-offs? Were there any others you were surprised didn’t make this video? We’d love to hear your stories in the comments.

Source: theScore Esports

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Meteorito Jr. and Antler Inoki hit the ring in the latest CFN Portal profiles

After taking a detailed look at Hakan’s family, the Shadaloo Activity Report takes us inside the squared circle today, as we look at a pair of wrestling legends. One holds a deep connection with a pair of luchadores from both Street Fighter and Saturday Night Slam Masters, and the other paying homage to one of the true Japanese legends of the sport. Today, Private Nakagawa introduces us to Meteorito Jr. and Antler Inoki.

Private Nakagawa: “¡Viva Mexico! The God of Lucha Libre, born in Mexico. The master of El Fuerte and El Stingray. As his name implies, he has a very cool meteor shining in his mask’s forehead.

Meteorito Jr. CFN Profile

Basic Info:

Name: Meteorito Jr.
Height: 177cm
Weight: 90kg
Blood type: Unknown
Birthday: April 20th
Country of Origin: Mexico
Likes: Movies (he acts in them) [That sounds a lot like El Santo], Baseball
Dislikes: Airplanes

Private Nakagawa: “He was originally a superb high-flyer, who used as his special move, a modified Moonsault Press named “Yucatán Tornado.” [This references Último Dragón‘s move Cancún Tornado, a Twisting Moonsault (that Último Dragón mainly did springboarding outside the ring). The inventor of the Twisting Moonsault was Chaparrita ASARI, who named it Skytwister Press, and for this reason it’s considered mainly a female wrestler move in Japan: think DOA’s Tina, or Tekken’s Jaycee for instance, both equipped with the move.] When he came to Japan for a fight, (he went by ship because he’s afraid of planes) he injured his neck after being caught in Antler Inoki’s Abdominal Stretch. From then on, he started using a spinebuster named Kukulkán as a finisher. He’s known as an excellent trainer and has opened his dōjō in Mexico, where he’s raising many promising young wrestlers.” [Exactly as Último Dragón himself has done with his Toryumon]

For the 280th Profile, we meet (the likeness of) one of the top Japanese professional wrestlers in history, Antler Inoki.

Private Nakagawa: “The worthy rival of SASHA Nishiki and Meteorito Jr. He even fought against the macho mayor Mike Haggar, a true wrestling legend! The image below depicts him when he was still active.” [Antonio Inoki is currently retired and is a wrestling promoter and politician, well known in Japan for his meetings with Saddam Hussein before the Gulf War and, more recently, with North Korean officers, in an effort to improve the relationship between North Korea and Japan.]

Antler Inoki CFN Profile

Basic Info:

Name: Antler Inoki
Height: 191cm
Weight: 100kg
Blood type: AB
Birthday: February 20th
Country of Origin: Japan [All copied straight from Antonio Inoki’s real stats. Yup, even his blood type.]
Likes: Sunflower Seeds [Antonio Inoki actually sells his own brand of sunflower seeds.]
Dislikes: Egg Dishes

Private Nakagawa: “With his unique talent for sports, he was active as a big name killer. [Among others, Antonio Inoki beat Andre the Giant and Vader during his career.] He had friendly relationships with various federations in the whole world, [Even with the then WWF, in which he was an unrecognized champ, having beaten Bob Backlund in a controversial match] and several wrestlers came to Japan to wrestle him in famous matches. He has a fan club, who every month receives cool Antler Goods.”

What do you think of these two legendary grapplers? Would you like to see either of them in a future season of Street Fighter V? Give us your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to check back here on the front page as more CFN profiles are released!

Special thanks once again to Midgardsorn for the translations and footnotes.

Source: CFN Portal

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Learn more about Hakan’s family in the latest CFN Portal profiles

After a three-month period of covering fan-made characters created in the Street Fighter Laboratory Corner of the IJWPW Broadcast Station, the Shadaloo Combat Research Institute has finally reopened its data banks to create more CFN profiles on canon characters. Private Nakagawa has also returned to resume his narration duties. This time, we take a closer look at Hakan’s beloved family, starting with his extremely attractive wife: Melike!

Private Nakagawa: “She’s the wife of Hakan, yağli güreş champion. A stunning beauty who was actually elected Miss Turkey once… And she’s terrible when angered, apparently.”

Hakan's-Wife-CFN-Profile-Artwork

Basic Info:

Name: Melike [From the Semitic root mlk, “king,” and obviously “queen” when in feminine form.]
Height: 175cm
Weight: 49kg
Blood type: A
Birthday: April 20th
Country of Origin: Turkey
Likes: Hakan, Her Daughters
Dislikes: Liars

Private Nakagawa: “She’s a hugely successful businesswoman who supports her husband. Among her many activities, she sponsors the yağli güreş great tournament [I guess they’re referring to the annual Kırkpınar tournament in Edirne.] and owns a football team. Hakan has such a soft spot for his daughters, that he always buys them whatever they want on the spot. Melike always scolds him for being too indulgent. He never dares to contradict her.”

Finally, we move on to Hakan’s seven daughters:

Private Nakagawa: “They are the daughters of Hakan and Melike. Seven sisters full of energy and vitality. A large family that gets along pretty well, anyway. It seems their father buys them whatever they want.”

Hakan's-Daugters-CFN-Profile

Basic Info:

Name: Hakan’s daughters
Country of Origin: Turkey
Likes: Daddy and Mommy
Dislikes: Daddy’s songs

Private Nakagawa: “Their special trait is undoubtedly their incredibly unruly hair. It seems it’s a bit of a sore spot for them, too…

Their names are…

The first: Abla [“Elder sister,” literally. They don’t have actual Turkish names, taking them mainly from oil-related Turkish terms. With “Abla” they even played with the Japanese term 油 abura, aka “oil”, the Turkish “abla” being written the same in katakana.]

128cm / 29kg / July 7th

The second: Susam [ “Sesame”]

125cm / 25kg / October 2nd

The third: Hurması [“Persimmon, date“, but incorrect as it should be simply hurma. Hurması is the third person possessive form, so it’s actually “her persimmon/date.”. The Turkish ı (without the dot) is like the English short e in open.]

124cm / 25kg / October 2nd

The fourth: Tereyağı [ “Butter”. The Japanese 照れ屋 tereya means “shy”, so they played with its meaning by having Tereyağı in her turbulent phase instead. The Turkish ğ doesn’t have a real sound, actually lengthening the preceding vowel. So it’s like it was written “Tereyah-i.” It’s the remnant of an old intervocalic g that lost its sound fairly recently, and it’s because of this that now we pronounce the “g” in “yogurt” (a word that came from the Turkish yoğurmak, “to knead”) and they don’t anymore.]

121cm / 20kg / December 7th (now in her rebellious phase)

The fifth: Kanola [“Canola”]

122cm / 21kg / December 7th

The sixth: Zeytin [“Olive”]

122cm / 21kg / December 7th

The seventh: Ayçiçeği [“Sunflower”. The Japanese “aichichi” can mean “Love daddy.” The Turkish ç is the English ch.]

117cm / 17kg / October 16th

“All are blood type A. Their order is visible from the number of blocks in their hair. They like a type of Hakan doll that oozes oil if you squeeze it strongly.”

Here’s a look at Hakan’s arcade mode ending, where his family originally appeared.

That wraps up another round of CFN profiles. Are you excited to see them return? Did you enjoy finally learning more about Hakan’s family, particularly if you play him? Let us know in the comments, and be on the look out for more profiles on the front page, as they appear to now be back in full swing.

Special thanks to Midgardsorn for translations and footnotes.

Sources: CFN Portal; onebyonetv

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Today’s Injustice 2 Watchtower livestream to feature Sub-Zero character breakdown

With Sub-Zero set to bring his icy style of kombat to Injustice 2 next Tuesday, July 11th, NetherRealm studios is look at a pretty chilly watchtower livestream. After viewing his gameplay trailer, we can see that the Lin Kuei Grandmaster has retained the majority of his toolset from Mortal Kombat XL, with his iconic Ice Klone serving as his Trait. Though the frosty ninja releases too close to Evo to be tournament legal, it will still be interesting to see how well he has translated into the world of the DC fighter. Additionally, NRS’s Steve “16-Bit” Brownback will be answering gameplay questions from Twitter during the broadcast, so if you’re looking to step up any part of your Injustice 2 game, particularly when it comes to matchup-specific tips, be sure to ask away.

You can view the announcement Tweets below, and catch the stream at 3:00 PM CST (1:00 PM PST) at twitch.tv/netherrealm.

Source: InjusticeGame (Twitter)