Author: Casey "Waveflame" Rinaldi

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Brush up on Tekken’s lore: Part 1 of the “Tekken Retro Recap”

With Tekken 7 promising to conclude the series-long Mishima Saga, Bandai Namco Entertainment America is looking to help players brush up on the franchise’s overall lore–with part 1 of the Tekken Retro Recap.

Created with help from Dutton Films Animation, This comical video goes through a brief summary of the Mishima’s history within the first three games, recapping scenes of Tekken 1-3 in an 8-bit, sprite-based, RPG-style format–complete with some remixed themes. Moments such as Heihachi throwing Kazuya off of a cliff (and then into a volcano), Paul’s battles with Kazuya and Ogre, Kazuya walking out after Jun’s pregnancy, and Heihachi’s grandparenting skills have never been more hilarious. If you’re looking to brush up on your history–or if you’re just in the mood for a quick laugh–this recap is a great watch!

Stay tuned to their channel, as a Part 2 focusing on Tekken 4-6 is likely coming soon. What are some of your favorite moments from the first 3 Tekken games? Share them with us in the comments below!

Tekken 7 is set to be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam on June 2nd.

Source: Bandai Namco Entertainment America

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YogaFlame24 looks at the top 10 saltiest Street Fighter V moments of the week in Episode 5 of his series

YogaFlame24 is back with Episode 5 of his Top 10 Street Fighter V Plays of the Week series. This week, for your viewing pleasure, he’s decided to shine a spotlight on the top 10 saltiest and funniest moments from the most recent clips, because who doesn’t love a good dose of sodium chloride to start the day?

This week’s highlights include OddBlaze’s hilarious reaction to Alex suddenly getting swoll after KOing Zangief with an EX Air Knee Smash, Twitch.Hx.CYG BST|Daigo Umehara killing himself with an Aegis-Reflected Sonic Boom against Cyclops Osaka’s Dogura, while Team Infused’s Imstilldadaddy has an NSFW meltdown over an Ibuki player. Sooa blows off a handshake during the Battle Arena Melbourne 9 team tournament, Phoxx redefines the term “scoops” against Nick Tanella, and more. You can catch the full round of highlights below.

That wraps up another episode of Top 10 Plays of the Week–did you have any particular favorites? Let us know down in the comments. If you’re looking for more SFV compilations, you can check out last week’s episode here. If you’d like to see your own clips featured on a future episode, don’t forget to hit him up on Twitter.

Source: YogaFlame24

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LiangHUBBB returns with Episode 101 of his “Funny & Cool Moments” series

After hitting the milestone of his 100th episode back in March, LiangHUBB continues the march into triple digits with Episode 101 of his “Funny & Cool Moments” series, which compiles some of the most hilarious and impressive fighting game clips from a variety of different titles. This episode’s selections contain footage of Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, Injustice 2, Street Fighter V, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, ARIKA’s in-development Fighting Layer sequel/spin-off, For Honor, Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late [st], Ultra Street Fighter II, Street Fighter III Third Strike, Ultra Street Fighter IV, The King of Fighters XIV, Mortal Kombat XL, and more.

Highlights include Akuma sentencing Bryan Fury to “die 1,000 deaths” (while decked out in ridiculous customization), Alex flying off into space after getting overly pumped from a victory, Akuma scoring a Time Out victory in SFV before his Raging Demon animation can even begin, a crazy Garuda combo from Gods Garden Pro’s Kazunoko during ARIKA’s stream, along with various stuttering glitches. Ed’s Psycho Cannon bounces Ibuki’s bomb like a beach ball, a pair of Lauras seemingly have a headbutting contest, a Rock Howard player will not stop waking up with Raging Storm, and poor Rainbow Mika gets tormented by an invisible Dhalsim.

We also have a look back at Shaq and Eva Marie’s epic battle at the ELEAGUE Street Fighter V Celebrity Invitational, a Juri player V-reversing Ibuki’s bomb (only to die when it explodes), VesperArcade getting into a hilarious throw tech war with a Urien player, stylish Ibuki sequences, Poongko getting angry in USFIV, Krullex’s NSFW salty rant against Cammy, and Defend The North’s Smug getting way too into some pre-match nachos at Next Level Battle Circuit. You can see the entire compilation below.

Source: LiangHUBBB

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Method steps into the FGC by signing Sylverrye, REO, & Mikeand1ke12 for Injustice 2 and Street Fighter V

With Injustice 2 on the horizon and the competition in Street Fighter V‘s 2017 Capcom Pro Tour season heating up to a fever pitch, it seems more players are catching the eyes of sponsors and finding new homes. With YOMI and GutToughGaming recently closing down, three of their former members have just risen from the ashes, as Team Method has made its initial foray into the fighting game community by acquiring the trio of Slyverrye, REO, and Mikeand1ke12 to comprise their initial roster. The trio will be making their debuts under their new banner at Combo Breaker later this month, as well as Evo, both Premier events on the CPT, as well as part of the Injustice 2 Pro Series.

Slyverrye has recently risen to prominence over the last year with his impeccable Liu Kang play in Mortal Kombat XL, particularly with the Shaolin Monk’s Dragon’s Fire variation. Some of his recent placings include getting 5th at Northeast Championships XVII, 9th at Kumite In Tennessee 2017, 3rd at Winter Brawl XI, as well as coming in 7th at the Kombat Cup Season 1 finale.

Formerly of YOMI, REO needs no introduction to followers of the NRS scene, as he is known as the “mad scientist” of their games, due to his extensive tech creation. Though his tournament resume is too extensive to list, he is most known for gracing a trio of Evolution top 8s, placing 2nd in 2011 and 2013 for Mortal Kombat 9 and 7th in 2013 for Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Lastly is Mikeand1ke12, formerly of GTG, who has proven himself to be one of the fiercest American Lauras in Street Fighter V‘s second season, due to his success at the Red Bull Proving Grounds events–where he qualified for last year’s finals, coming in 3rd. Riding the momentum of Laura’s buffs–netting 25th at Final Round 20–as well as this new sponsorship, he should be a force to be reckoned with in the coming months of the CPT. He will also be learning Injustice 2 as well.

Method has also signed a new team manager, Nick “Spammy” Pelter, who will oversee the FGC trio’s activities, while also acquiring new players to the fold, by providing them with a top class experience.

You can see some of their reactions, via Twitter, below.

We here at Shoryuken would like to wish this new team and their manager all the best in their future endeavors, and we can’t come out with a stylish impact at Combo Breaker on May 26-28!

Source: Test Your Might via StreamMe; MethodGG (Twitter); MK_REO; SylverRye; Mikeand1keFGC

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Prepare for every battle to define you with the Injustice 2 launch trailer

After nearly a year of anticipation, the sequel to NetherRealm Studios’ DC comics fighter, Injustice 2, finally drops tomorrow for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. In celebration, NRS has released the game’s official launch trailer!

In it, we see a few more glimpses of Story mode; as Brainiac’s invasion of Earth begins, The Society–as well as the Regime and Insurgency remnants–wage a 3-way battle for power, control, and supremacy. With the largest roster in NRS history, an expansive Story mode with multiple branching pathways, the endless customization options of the Gear System, as well as the ever-changing Multiverse mode… there’s certainly plenty to unpack with this latest title. In addition, NRS and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have announced several competitive initiatives, to push the game heavily as an esport, with the GameStop Hometown Heroes circuit, the Injustice 2 Championship Series, and Stream.Me’s online “War of the Gods,” there are plenty of chances worldwide for heroes and villains to suit up and join the fight.

In addition, GameStop has released a hilarious “Tag Out” trailer to promote pre-order bonus character Darkseid, showing that many members of the cast want absolutely nothing to do with the God of Apokolips.

If playing on the go is more your speed, the Mobile version of Injustice 2 is out now for both iOS and Android devices. How will “every battle define you” once Injustice 2 releases? Let us know in the comments.

Sources: Injustice; illahstrait

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PND|Ketchup and Mustard look at “What’s Changed” with Green Arrow in Injustice 2

Arriving at the end of their pre-release coverage for Injustice 2, PND|Ketchup and Mustard complete their “What’s Changed?” mini-series by looking at another veteran hero, Oliver Queen, otherwise known as the Green Arrow.

Though he was recently broken down on an Injustice Watchtower live stream, this video is a great supplement to that breakdown, as the PND brothers touch on specific property changes on his strings, such as his 2,2,3 string now launching opponents, instead of his 1,1,3–as the former string starts off as a mid, making it much more reliable punishing tool. B23 is now a mid-hitting hard knockdown, and his Injustice: Gods Among Us corner combos are no longer possible. Gaining the ability to meter burn his Hurricane Bow has resulted in the Hero of Star City having much greater damage output, in addition to possessing a reliable mid-screen opener for a bar. The Ice Arrow has also been nerfed to simply suspend foes in the air, as opposed to always restanding them on the spot, in an attempt to encourage diverse usage of all types of arrows. Though since Ollie deals more damage overall, this shouldn’t prove to be much of a problem, particularly when factoring in Shock arrow and Straight arrow extensions.

Finally, after briefly covering his new Boxing Glove arrow and the ability to hold them while moving, Ketchup notes that the Emerald Archer’s new Super is no longer an unblockable, like its predecessor. However, despite losing the inescapable resets and guaranteed damage, this could be seen as a buff; as now his super can be used normally, as he deals greater damage across the board–as opposed to being forced to rely on those reset situations. Players won’t have to fear immediately losing a clash after going for max damage, since they won’t always have to spend an entire meter to gain a life lead, only for adversaries to immediately heal it all back with you being helpless to stop them.

Catch their other “What’s Changed?” video, focusing on Cyborg, here.

Will these changes convince you to take up the quiver this time around? Tell us in the comments section.

Injustice 2 will be released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next Tuesday, May 16th.

Source: PNDK&M

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Relive Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 and BlazBlue: Central Fiction pool play from KVO x TSB 2017, courtesy of Team Spooky

Though the spotlight and many curious eyes were on the Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 tournament at this past weekend’s KVO x TSB 2017, BlazBlue: Central Fiction–which will also be an official part of the Evo 2017 lineup–was on display as well. A myriad of top players from all over Japan were in attendance to wage war over the Azure, ranging from the likes of Rikutoe, Monster (competing under the name Kaibutsukun), Souji, Yoshiki, Makki, BE TSB|Dora, Shino, Koike, Iwashi, Murishin, Barell, Naoto, the legendary Fenrich, and more. You can see the full qualifying rounds, as well as the top 4, with English commentary, in the videos below.

While we previously posted the top 8, majority of top 16, and team tournament, we also have pools action from Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, featuring names such as Cyclops Osaka’s Dogura, Ogawa, Omito, Dei, LOX, Nage, Rion, 2rio, Samitto, Kuni, Hasegawa, Anco, TopGaren, Saryu, Takehara, Spike, Nakamura, Zadi, DC, Tomo, TheArm, Ryan Hunter, Sabamiso, ET, Kedako, Zettai REID, Isamu, and even Stickbug himself. You can enjoy even more anime fighter action below.

If you’re still craving even more action from KVO x TSB 2017, you can catch the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 top 4, featuring Mabusin, RF, the Black Eye’s Takumi, and TMP|Cross here.

Source: Team Spooky

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Mr. Freeze, Jay Garrick as The Flash, & Vixen Premiere Skins emerge in Injustice 2

With Injustice 2‘s release date merely four days away, many eager players are scoring early access to the final version of the game–via mom-and-pop retailers breaking the street date, generally. While we already know about the Power Girl, Reverse-Flash and John Stewart Premiere Skins that are included in the game’s Ultimate Edition, it seems the eagle-eyed Bruno del Vilar has discovered some additional characters moonlighting as costumes in the Gear Customization menu. Though we caught a brief glimpse of him in the “Your Battles, Your Way” we now have our first look at Captain Cold’s Mr. Freeze Premiere Skin, based off of his New 52 design, though it lacks his iconic helmet (likely for hitbox-related reasons). We also get our first looks at a Jay Garrick Premiere Skin for The Flash that pays homage to the original Speedster from the Golden Age. We also surprisingly have a Vixen Premiere Skin for Cheetah, who technically possesses a completely different power set, due to her Tantu Totem allowing her to channel the full powers of the animal kingdom. We also get another look at Power Girl, Reverse-Flash, and John Stewart from the perspective of the customization menus. You can view all 6 Premiere Skins, which appear to be the only ones currently in the game (save for Cyborg’s Grid Skin, which can only be unlocked by syncing up the console and mobile versions of Injustice 2, via your WB Play account) in the gallery below.

Click to view slideshow.

What are your thoughts on these Premiere Skin character choices? Will you be using any of them, or perhaps picking up additional characters, just to play with a specific Skin? Are there any more Premiere Skins you’d like to see added to the game in the future? Let us know in the Comments below!

Injustice 2 will be released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on May 16th.

Source: Bruno del Villar (Twitter); via Test Your Might

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PND|Ketchup and Mustard look at “What’s Changed” with Cyborg in Injustice 2

After creating a series of “Getting Started” guides for Injustice 2 newcomers Scarecrow, Dr. Fate, Gorilla Grodd, and Deadshot, PND|Ketchup and PND|Mustard have decided to round out their pre-release coverage with a pair of “What’s Changed?” videos, looking at a pair of returning Injustice: Gods Among Us veterans that haven’t seen much of the spotlight, in order to see what new tricks they may have up their sleeves in the sequel.

The first subject of this brief series is Cyborg, one of the three characters who has yet to receive an official breakdown from the Injustice Watchtower. Unfortunately for the cybernetic Justice League member, Victor Stone found himself among the worst characters in the original Injustice, to the point that he barely saw any competitive play whatsoever. He is fundamentally the same character in Injustice 2, following the path of his fellow legacy characters in retaining large amounts of his previous playstyle, but he’s received several technological upgrades.

For starters, he has a new upward version of Nova Blaster, mapped to DB1, that can be charged and dash-canceled like his regular fireball. Using this in the sky provides him with an air fireball, similar to Akuma’s, which can be meter burned to fire a second air projectile in a straight line. “Think of it as like a reverse of what the old projectile does,” Ketchup advises.

His uppercut, Power Fist, has been remapped to DB2 to make room for his diagonal fireball, and the meter burn extension has been adjusted to now strike enemies back down to the ground as an overhead strike, as opposed to launching foes upwards like it did previously. This affords Cyborg new mid-screen follow-ups and greater damage, but at the cost of forcing him to readjust his corner combos to compensate for the reduced launch height. He also couldn’t meter burn on block in this pre-release build, so he may not have mixups with it. Target Acquired has been changed from an unblockable projectile to an overhead, potentially giving him hard-to-blockables with his low-hitting B2.

Cyborg’s most notable change is his completely-new Trait. Gone is the health-replenishing Repair Circuit, as it’s been replaced with a pair of summonable droids: an air bot that tracks the opponent before dive-bombing them, and what’s essentially a Roomba that slides across the ground for OTGs. These should prove invaluable supplements to his zoning, setup and offensive games. You can catch the full video below, and check back soon for their coverage of Green Arrow.

Are you excited for these Cyborg changes? Will you be trying him out with these new tools if you avoided him the first time around? Tell us in the comments.

Injustice 2 will release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this Tuesday, May 16th.

Source: PNDK&M

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Team No Surrender Gaming signs DJT and MIT to compete in Injustice 2

In the wake of YOMI Gaming’s demise, and with Injustice 2 just over the horizon, many of the original team members are being signed by various Esports organizations. Forever King was recently signed by Circa eSports, while his younger brother, Forever King Jr. was picked up by BxA Gaming. Last week, it was confirmed that another top pair of former YOMI players have inked contracts–as the Terry brothers, best known as DJT and MIT, have been signed by Team No Surrender Gaming.

Denzell’s resume includes a 2nd place finish at Evo 2013 and a 5th place finish at Evo 2014 for Injustice: Gods Among Us, as well as becoming the Evo 2013 champion for Mortal Kombat 9, on top of countless placings in Mortal Kombat XL. By comparison, Malik placed 13th at Evo 2013 and 3rd at Evo 2014 for Injustice, as well as getting 9th at MLG Anaheim and 4th at Evo 2015 for MKX, among other accomplishments. These two join an already impressive stable of players that includes Footwurk, Saltface, Cupcake, and Ludovic.

It’s certainly an exciting time for Injustice 2 players with the announcements of the GameStop Hometown Heroes circuit, the Injustice 2 Championship Series and Stream.Me’s “War of the Gods” online circuit. You can see an official announcement tweet from Team NS below–as well as MIT’s declaration that he and DJT are going to “MMMMOOOOPPP fools”–below.

All of us here are Shoryuken would like to congratulate both the Terry brothers and Team No Surrender on this fantastic signing, and wish them all the best as they enter the super-powered battlefield.

Injustice 2 will be released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on May 16th.

Sources: NoSurrenderNS (Twitter) & NS_MIT1996 (Twitter) via Test Your Might