Author: Casey "Waveflame" Rinaldi

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REO Explains New Unblockable Setup for Tremor in Mortal Kombat XL

Taking a break from his “Learning The Game” series, YOMI|REO recently made a video demonstrating new unblockable setups for Tremor’s Up Rock in Mortal Kombat XL. In the XL patch, the Earth ninja received increased startup and recovery nerfs on both his Rock Shower and Rock Drop special moves. In the following update, an additional 5 frames of recovery were added to Rock Shower, for 11 frames in total. This allows him to time his B3 so that it either hits one frame before Rock Shower or on the same frame. This setup can be repeated until you either run out of meter, or win the round.

This technique beats tech rolls, as well as most armored wakeup attacks, as many have only a single hit of armor. You will need either a fast armored move, a multi-hit armored move, or invincibility, which varies by character, with the only universal escape option being an X-Ray attack. Short delayed wakeup will also be ineffective, however, long delayed wakeup will allow you to avoid the unblockable. However–yes, there’s more–if the Tremor player reads this correctly, they can delay the unblockable slightly to also beat this option.

This is certainly a powerful technique for the rocky former Black Dragon member, and it will be interesting to see if this is utilized in high-level play in the future, or if NRS will remove it entirely in a future patch.

Source: MK_REO via Test Your Might

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Learn about Attack Direction in MKXL with Episode 3 of Master Of Kombat

After covering the concepts of meter management and frame data in previous episodes, PND Ketchup and Mustard tackle the concept of attack direction and how it is handled in Mortal Kombat XL.

They begin with Highs, which are generally used for anti-airing due to their fast startup. However, they can be neutral crouched, which could lead to full-combo punishes if not used carefully. They suggest only using these attacks for pokes when outside of the opponent’s range, as AAs or as punishes.

Next up, they tackle Mids. These normals can hit crouching opponents, but can be blocked both standing and ducking. This makes them dangerous in the neutral game, due to the respect they demand, but they should primarily be used for special canceling and combo extension.

Ketchup and Mustard note that Overheads must be blocked standing, while Lows must be blocked crouching, which is the basis for basic 50/50 mixups. In this game, most of these attacks are slow, single-hitting or are in the middle of certain strings, but such attacks can also come in the form of special moves.

While we’ve seen a lot about Fuzzy Guarding in Street Fighter and the Arc System Works games, in MKXL, you can avoid certain mixups, such as Scorpion’s B3/F2 Overhead/Low mixup, by first crouch blocking the low and standing up on reaction to the overhead’s animation.

Unblockables include attacks such as throws, command throws and certain special moves, such as Shinnok’s Scepter Strike and Scepter Quake in the Bone Shaper variation.

Though the information contained here is likely second-nature to the majority of our readers, it is crucial knowledge for any beginning player looking to improve their game.

Source: ESL

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Discover the Art of Street Fighter V’s “Unmoving Shimmy” in this Tutorial from PAN

Anyone who’s clocked some hours in Street Fighter V is likely familiar with a technique known as the “shimmy.” This maneuver involves a player first walking forward to visually bait a throw attempt from their opponent, before moving back a few steps to get just out of their range, causing the throw to whiff and giving them a large punish for their correct read.

During DreamHack Austin, Ultra Arcade’s Saionide was utilizing a new variation of this technique with his Ken that is being referred to as “The Unmoving Shimmy.” PAN decided to look into this technique further and has discovered that it leads to a safer and more damaging method of baiting throw attempts by using a character’s normals to space their body perfectly outside of throw range. This method is also safe against low checks, unlike the regular shimmy, and can be utilized by all characters.

The majority of the setups shown here will work on everyone, though a few of them will prove ineffective against M. Bison, as the Psycho-Powered Dictator possesses the largest throw range of any character currently in the game, coming in at a whopping 9.0, a whole two pixels longer than the shortest in the game, Rashid’s 7.0 pixels. Necalli and F.A.N.G were inadvertently left out of the video, but their setups have been documented in the video’s annotations.

If you’d like to see more SFV content, you can check out PAN’s YouTube Channel for bits of tech for various members of the cast.

Source: PAN

 

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Circa eSports Signs Hoa “Anakin” Luu as First Tekken Player

Just two weeks after signing Street Fighter V player LPN, Cica eSports has added another fighting game representative to their growing roster.  This time, they’ve ventured into the 3D subgenre by acquiring Hoa “Anakin” Luu, one of Atlanta’s top Tekken players.  Known for his signature Jack play, Anakin placed 1st at Final Round XV for Tekken 6, 1st at Kumite In Tennessee 14, 1st at CEO 2014, and 5th at Evolution 2014 for Tekken Tag Tournament 2, among numerous other achievements.

With Tekken 7 Fated Retribution being part of the main lineup at this year’s Evo, as well as a forthcoming console release, there is no doubt that Anakin will be looking to make quite an impact in the future.

You can see the official announcement Tweets below:

We here at Shoryuken would like to congratulate both parties, and we hope to see Anakin at more events in the future!

Source: Avoiding The Puddle, tip via GamerDWreck

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Learn the Art of Meter Management in Episode 2 of ESL’s Master of Kombat Series

After covering the inner workings of frame data in Mortal Kombat XL in a previous video, PND|Ketchup & Mustard move on to another crucial topic in the game: managing your Super Meter.

The duo begin this new video by explaining the game’s First Hit Bonus, which rewards the player who lands the first hit of a match with a free bar of meter, allowing them to start the round with two, which is a huge advantage. Next, they move on to discuss building meter by taking damage, performing specials, as well as by having attacks make contact with opponents, either on hit or block.

Once they’ve covered the ways to build meter, they go on to explain the myriad of ways kombatants have to spend it. The duo highlight the pros and cons of each of these options, such as X-Rays being unbreakable, but highly expensive, whereas Breakers themselves can save you from big damage combos, but cost your stamina, locking you out of runs, back dashes, interactable usage, and even some teleports, for a brief moment.

Though these concepts are seen through the lens of the NRS fighter, the basic principles shown here have some merit in nearly every single title out in the wild today. So regardless of your game of choice, this video will likely be worth a moment of your time.

Source: ESL

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Strange Glitch in Mortal Kombat XL Allows Mystic Ermac to Infinitely Regain Health

Anyone who’s been playing fighting games for long enough knows that our favorite competitive titles are not above having a few bugs emerge every now and then.  From the entertaining, to the literal game-breaking, they’ve been a part of countless titles over the years.  Now it seems a new one has surfaced in Mortal Kombat XL involving Ermac’s Mystic Variation.

During a Casual Set between Noble Gaming teammates Beyond Toxin and Red Raptor, it was discovered that when Mystic Ermac trades with his Meter Burn Tele-Choke, he will continue regenerating life if he is hit only once just as he begins folding his hands, which is where he normally begins regaining life if the move hits.   The recovery will continue until either his health is 100% replenished, or he is hit a second time during that folding animation, or at any point during the healing, causing it to cease.  During this time, Ermac is free to continue attacking, running, backdashing or levitating while his health regenerates.

Upon further investigation by Test Your Might member and Ermac enthusiast, Ruthless Mayhem’s Ragnarok, it is confirmed that this glitch is not limited to being solely triggered by Shirai Ryu Takeda, but can also occur against other kombatants, such as Tremor, Reptile, Cyrax or Sektor, if timed correctly.

Though this is not something that will necessarily be banned in competitive play, due to it being extremely situational and requiring the Mystic player to trade with a single-hitting move that is slow enough to be reacted to, in order to be used intentionally.

However, with Combo Breaker, the Season 3 ESL MKX Pro League Finals, CEO and EVO drawing near in the next two months, this could prove to be something NetherRealm Studios may see fit to issue a hotfix for in the near future.

Source: Noble_Toxin, Ragnarok, via Test Your Might

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EG|Justin Wong Discusses Karin in Street Fighter V, Teammates and Stream Viewer Motivation with Daily Dot Esports

Shortly after winning Dreamhack Austin this past weekend, EG Justin Wong spoke with Daily Dot’s Efren Salinas about a variety of topics, including why he’s chosen to play Karin in Street Fighter V.

“I’ve been playing Karin in Alpha 3 and in Capcom Fighting Jam.  It’s been ten years since Karin came out, so I wanted to play her as my main no matter what.   Even if she was bad or good, but it just worked out.  In my opinion, I think she’s top three.”

Wong also feels that his fellow Karin players are not using her V-Skill, Meioken, which is as safe poke when Charged, and is plus on block when used during V-Trigger, as often as they should, adding that he usually can get 2 V-Triggers per round, since he uses it so much in the neutral game.

When asked what’s most responsible for  his recent success, Wong feels like it lies within his stream community.

“I think the reason why I’m doing so well is because of my stream.  I stream every day after work   I feel like I put so much time into playing, just because I’m playing with my Followers, my Subscribers, and I’m trying to help them, [and] while I’m helping them, I’m also learning more about the game.  So because I always have a strong community when I stream, it just pretty much always makes me want to come back.  Who doesn’t get tired after a day of work?  But I keep the grind going because I want everyone to get better in this community.”

The topic then shifted to Justin’s thoughts on the performances of his fellow Evil Geniuses.

“I think they’re doing pretty good,” he said.  “K-Brad has 64 Points, PR Balrog 128, probably more now like 130 or something?  So he’s doing really good.  Ricki obviously hasn’t been doing the best that she wants to perform, but me and F. Champ were telling her, “You should play Nash the whole tournament, so you can get used to playing Nash as a secondary, or as a main in the future, because her Nash is really good, but there’s no confidence in it because of tournament setting being 2 out of 3.  So she focused on that, and she made Top 8.  I think do think, in the future, that PR Balrog and Ricki will break that threshold of making 1st place sooner or later.”

Wong also gives his thoughts on Black Eye KaneBlueRiver being declared “The First of Marvel’s New Gods” by Red Bull earlier this week, after winning EVO last year, Street Fighter V sharing the same stage with Super Smash Bros. Melee and other e-Sports titles like Hearthstone and Heroes Of The Storm, SFV’s monthly DLC character releases and updates, as well as his thoughts on Invitational events, such as the recently-completed Red Bull Kumite, compared to our traditional open-bracket tournament formats.

You can see the full interview below.

Source: Daily Dot Esports

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Pig Of The Hut Explains How to Handle Tarkatan Alien’s Rekka Pressure in Mortal Kombat XL

In his latest episode of The Armory, Pig Of The Hut explains how to deal with a character who’s caused quite a large amount of discussion in the NRS community as of late, Tarkatan Alien.  Though he was nerfed in the game’s last balance patch back in March, with players like cR Dragon winning nine consecutive ESL tournaments with him, the Xenomorph is still considered a problem by many.

Using what he calls “The Rule of 13,” which means using Armored attacks that have 13 frames of startup or less, you can perform an Option Select on the F134 string canceled  into Rekkas, if the Alien player chooses to delay them in an attempt to make them safer, which will guarantee you a full-combo punish against them every time you block correctly, regardless if they stagger the first or the second hit of the Tarkatan Rush.

Pig then demonstrates how to exploit the gap between his Tail Flip, which is generally safe at -7 on block, but can immediately be canceled into his Tail Slam, which is punishable at -17 on block, but has Armor on it.  Using Kenjutsu Kenshi, Pig is able to consistently full-combo punish with the 13-frame Double Slap.

If you find yourself lacking Meter however, Pig suggests Backdashing the initial Rekka, blocking the follow-ups on reaction.  Though it is a risk for someone like Kenshi, if your character has a faster backdash, such as Kano, Sub-Zero or Quan Chi, this is a much more effective tactic against him.

In closing, Pig mentions Tarkatan’s near-half-screen mixup with his Low-hitting Tail Snag and Tail Flip, as well as his Low Kut Command Normal that can lead into his Tarkatan Rush mixups.  Unfortunately, dealing with this will require a hard read of just jumping in for an attempted punish, or a full-screen punish if your character possesses the tools to do so.  You can also head over to his thread on Test Your Might, which has a list of character-specific punishes against Tarkatan for a wide variety of cast members that can utilize the “Rule of 13.”

Pig also promises a second video outlining how to deal with the “Dragon Serpent’s” Acidic and Konjurer Variations.

Source: Pig of the Hut via Test Your Might

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Pig Of The Hut Explains How to Handle Tarkatan Alien’s Rekka Pressure in Mortal Kombat XL

In his latest episode of The Armory, Pig Of The Hut explains how to deal with a character who’s caused quite a large amount of discussion in the NRS community as of late, Tarkatan Alien.  Though he was nerfed in the game’s last balance patch back in March, with players like cR Dragon winning nine consecutive ESL tournaments with him, the Xenomorph is still considered a problem by many.

Using what he calls “The Rule of 13,” which means using Armored attacks that have 13 frames of startup or less, you can perform an Option Select on the F134 string canceled  into Rekkas, if the Alien player chooses to delay them in an attempt to make them safer, which will guarantee you a full-combo punish against them every time you block correctly, regardless if they stagger the first or the second hit of the Tarkatan Rush.

Pig then demonstrates how to exploit the gap between his Tail Flip, which is generally safe at -7 on block, but can immediately be canceled into his Tail Slam, which is punishable at -17 on block, but has Armor on it.  Using Kenjutsu Kenshi, Pig is able to consistently full-combo punish with the 13-frame Double Slap.

If you find yourself lacking Meter however, Pig suggests Backdashing the initial Rekka, blocking the follow-ups on reaction.  Though it is a risk for someone like Kenshi, if your character has a faster backdash, such as Kano, Sub-Zero or Quan Chi, this is a much more effective tactic against him.

In closing, Pig mentions Tarkatan’s near-half-screen mixup with his Low-hitting Tail Snag and Tail Flip, as well as his Low Kut Command Normal that can lead into his Tarkatan Rush mixups.  Unfortunately, dealing with this will require a hard read of just jumping in for an attempted punish, or a full-screen punish if your character possesses the tools to do so.  You can also head over to his thread on Test Your Might, which has a list of character-specific punishes against Tarkatan for a wide variety of cast members that can utilize the “Rule of 13.”

Pig also promises a second video outlining how to deal with the “Dragon Serpent’s” Acidic and Konjurer Variations.

Source: Pig of the Hut via Test Your Might

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Pig Of The Hut Explains How to Handle Tarkatan Alien’s Rekka Pressure in Mortal Kombat XL

In his latest episode of The Armory, Pig Of The Hut explains how to deal with a character who’s caused quite a large amount of discussion in the NRS community as of late, Tarkatan Alien.  Though he was nerfed in the game’s last balance patch back in March, with players like cR Dragon winning nine consecutive ESL tournaments with him, the Xenomorph is still considered a problem by many.

Using what he calls “The Rule of 13,” which means using Armored attacks that have 13 frames of startup or less, you can perform an Option Select on the F134 string canceled  into Rekkas, if the Alien player chooses to delay them in an attempt to make them safer, which will guarantee you a full-combo punish against them every time you block correctly, regardless if they stagger the first or the second hit of the Tarkatan Rush.

Pig then demonstrates how to exploit the gap between his Tail Flip, which is generally safe at -7 on block, but can immediately be canceled into his Tail Slam, which is punishable at -17 on block, but has Armor on it.  Using Kenjutsu Kenshi, Pig is able to consistently full-combo punish with the 13-frame Double Slap.

If you find yourself lacking Meter however, Pig suggests Backdashing the initial Rekka, blocking the follow-ups on reaction.  Though it is a risk for someone like Kenshi, if your character has a faster backdash, such as Kano, Sub-Zero or Quan Chi, this is a much more effective tactic against him.

In closing, Pig mentions Tarkatan’s near-half-screen mixup with his Low-hitting Tail Snag and Tail Flip, as well as his Low Kut Command Normal that can lead into his Tarkatan Rush mixups.  Unfortunately, dealing with this will require a hard read of just jumping in for an attempted punish, or a full-screen punish if your character possesses the tools to do so.  You can also head over to his thread on Test Your Might, which has a list of character-specific punishes against Tarkatan for a wide variety of cast members that can utilize the “Rule of 13.”

Pig also promises a second video outlining how to deal with the “Dragon Serpent’s” Acidic and Konjurer Variations.

Source: Pig of the Hut via Test Your Might