Author: Corey "Missing Person" Lanier

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Shoryuken interview: Teemo teems with success and humility after his win at Canada Cup 2017

Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, you know by now of the Cinderella story that emerged from the controversial Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite bracket at Canada Cup 2017. 20-year-old Kitchener, Ontario native Luis “Teemo” Gomez shocked the world with his Nova/Dormammu combination to take out three entrants in the Battle of the Stones finale to find his way into the event himself, capturing the Mind Stone along the way. He is the first Canadian in a number of years to take a Canada Cup event, and left the whole venue in a collective euphoria with his victory.

After the trophy ceremony, I spoke with Teemo about his big win.

Corey “Missing Person” Lanier: Congratulations on your win. Having just happened, have you had any time to process the win? How are you feeling right now?

TeemoLuis “Teemo” Gomez: I still can’t believe it. I just tried to make sure not to think about it [while I was playing]. I didn’t want to think about if I would win, or anything about the future. I just took it one game at a time, and that was it. I won. I haven’t been able to process it, to be honest. [laughs]

Missing Person: You came on strong in this tournament, beating the likes of Justin Wong and NYChrisG on the way to the finals. When in all of this did you start thinking victory was a legitimate possibility?

Teemo: Going into the tournament, I did feel pretty good overall. I felt like I could beat almost anyone. After beating Chris, I felt pretty good. Going into the Justin Wong match — seeing his team, I knew that I could beat him with mine. After beating him and playing Richard Nguyen, I choked on a lot of things. I couldn’t be mad about that — it was completely my fault, and he capitalized on all of my mistakes. But I knew I could beat him. Seeing how the loser’s bracket progressed — and Justin beating Filipino Champ — I knew I could beat both him and Richard, and that winning was a possibility.

Missing Person: You had a lot of mental toughness. When I watched you, you were completely stone-faced. How were you able to maintain your composure?

Teemo: I just did my best to try and play the way I play at home. If I make a mistake, I just laugh at myself, or tell myself it’s alright, that I’ll do better next time. In previous tournaments I choked a lot. There’s something about this game that I just understand. Even though it’s crazy and a lot of crazy things can happen, I just try to keep a good mentality that I just need to not mistakes and outplay my opponents.

Missing Person: With your team of Dormammu and Nova, how long have you been in the lab? How much are you grinding it out right now?

Teemo: When I do play, it’s at least 3-4 hours per day, which is a combination of training mode and ranked. Some days, I won’t do ranked and just stay in training mode, trying to find something. Sometimes I’ll play a lot of ranked just to play as many players as I can. It’s full of good players, like Noel Brown, Fchamp, Justin, and RyanLV. Some days I’ll also take breaks, and tell myself not to play. At most, I’ll think about the game and clear my head, especially if it’s after a day where I lost a lot.

Missing Person: Toronto has a strong community for the game; including yourself, there’s also SJ, and Broshadian here. How do you feel the local community has helped you?

Teemo: SJ and I were friendly rivals in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. We’ve always played with each other. I’d go to his house to play even though I’m from Kitchener, which is kind of far from Toronto. He’s an amazing training partner. He’s a player who is so strong, and has had success in anime titles, Marvel, and Street Fighter. He’s also super strong in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. He got second place at our monthly to me. It’s a community that supports each other so much, especially at majors. They just love to cheer each other on. They stick together in losses and wins. I love playing with these guys. Even if there’s a tournament where I know I won’t be competing, I will still show up to support them.

Missing Person: This is the first time — since Bee Ball won a number of years ago — that a Canadian has won a Canada Cup title. How does that feel?

Teemo: I do feel really good about that, because all the killers were here. No pool was free. Everyone struggled just to get out of their pools. I am just proud that I was able to represent Canada and win. I was even happy that NickCam was able to get fifth and do so well.

mvci_dormammu

Missing Person: Heading into Battle for the Stones, how excited are you to head to California to try and repeat your success here?

Teemo: I haven’t even thought about that. Even going into top 8, I told myself to not even think of the stone, to just play each game and not even think about what comes next. But now, I’m excited. It’s going to be a great tournament and a great experience, and I can’t wait to represent Canada there.

Missing Person: You don’t have to tell me specifics — but have you given any thoughts as to what team you’d force your opponent to use with the Mind Stone?

Teemo: I have some ideas, but I still want to see what I can pick that will really mess with the opponent. I want it to be something that even if they play basic, they can’t do anything.

Missing Person: Are there any shout-outs you’d like to give?

Teemo: Shout-outs to the Toronto community and NickCam for making top 8 and playing amazing. Shout-outs to SJ for being such an amazing training partner and such a good friend, always supporting me in tournaments and training. Shout-outs to all the Americans that came; it made this tournament really amazing to watch and play in. I was happy that even though teams were super early on Friday, they still joined and had a great time playing. I also want to give one last shout-out to Bison’s Auto Shop. It was a place where I lived that used to have weeklies, but unfortunately they can’t do it anymore. The people that I met there even when I was young as 12 learning to play Street Fighter IV have all been so important to my growth as a player.

MvCI Battle for the Stones

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Cowabunga! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Atom, and Enchantress are part of Injustice 2’s third fighter pack

In case you missed ELEAGUE’s finale for Injustice 2, there was a whopper of an announcement. While it was expected that the members of the third fighter pack would be revealed, no one would have expected who actually would turn out to be included, so this trailer has caused some shell shock — pun intended.

Featured in the third fighter pack will be DC Characters Atom and Enchantress, with the guest character — or characters, rightly — being the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The heroes in a half shell appear to be fighting together, as alluded to by the trailer, and thus will be effectively one selectable character. How this will work in the game system has yet to be seen, but that will surely make for another interesting character trailer to come, before they are released into the game.

Source: Injustice

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theScore chronicles Mew2King’s rise to stardom in this mini-bio

Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman has long been considered one of the five gods of Melee. But prior to that, he was one of thousands of nameless low-level players who struggled to achieve tournament success.

In this mini-biography, theScore chronicles his rise in the ranks and how he got there: by studying every tedious nuance of the Super Smash Bros. series. They also discuss the low points of his career, including the bracket issues which led to his banishment from play for a year.

Source: theScore esports

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Shoryuken interview: Brutus flexes his Muscle Power for the world to see

While it’s easy to label Kyle “Brutus” Gallant as one of Canada’s brightest young players in Street Fighter V, it would be a disservice to him. It would be fairer to call him one of the brightest young players in the world. At age 16, Brutus walked into the Toronto weekly “Stun City” event — formerly held at A&C Games in Chinatown — a complete unknown. He walked out with a top 3 finish.

He hasn’t stopped leveling up since. He was part of a team Toronto that finished just outside of finals at Red Bull Proving Grounds Finals in the fall season, and also took three of Japan’s best in Dogura, Momochi, and Itabashi Zangief out of the team tournaments at Canada Cup 2017. While there, I sat down with Brutus to talk about his rise to stardom.

Brutus Momochi

Corey “Missing Person” Lanier: How was your Canada Cup this year?

Kyle “Brutus” Gallant: It was good. I played in the 5-on-5 team tournament, and our first opponent was Japan 2. I was able to beat both Momochi and Itabashi Zangief before losing to Moke. In losers bracket we fought Japan 3, and I was able to defeat Dogura before losing to Daikoku_GO. In singles, I didn’t do as well — I went 3-2, losing to Nephew and Sako.

Missing Person: Those aren’t bad losses — Nephew went very far in the bracket, and Sako is a legend.

Brutus: While they’re respectable losses, I didn’t have any notable wins in singles either.

Missing Person: Let’s walk through the team battles first. Take me through the wins over Momochi and Itazan — especially the Itazan win where you defeated the best Zangief on the planet, in the mirror.

Brutus: With Momochi, after Orangeman lost to him, we decided to put me up next. We feel that Zangief beats Ken. At first, it looked bad. Momochi was whiff-punishing my standing fierce for 300+ damage. At that point I was at 10% life to his 95%. Then I was able to get one jump-in into EX SPD. And he just died from there. After that, I don’t remember too many specifics because it happened so quickly, but I was able to clutch it out. I was thinking it was something he would do to me, so I was really happy about that.

Against Itazan, I had played him in casuals just before the team tournament. He beat me 5-0. After I played him, I asked him what I needed to do better, and when we came to the team tournament, I applied what he told me to do immediately. I was happy that I was able to adapt that quickly and take the game when it mattered the most.

Missing Person: What were those things that he told you?

Brutus: He told me that my defense was way too predictable. He was able to understand my defense way too perfectly. He also said my offense was way too predictable. At that point I realized that because I watch Itazan play so much, that when I played against him, I was playing it like he would. This was why it was so easy for him to understand. When I played him in the team tournament, I tried to play more like myself, as well as other Zangiefs like DrDannyPham. This threw Itazan off.

Missing Person: You mentioned Itazan and DrDannyPham as two of your inspirations. Who are some other Zangiefs that you look up to?

Brutus: I’d say the top 5 Zangief players in the world are Itazan, Snake Eyez, Kichipa-mu, DrDannyPham and Stupendous.

Missing Person: You were 16 years old when you first entered a tournament at A&C Games in Toronto, and I believe you got third place there. Since then, your progress has only been phenomenal. How much are you grinding lately?

Brutus: I’ve actually been grinding a lot less than I used to. In terms of execution and general game plans, I have most of those down. It was just that my mental state was really bad before. That’s mainly the thing that I’ve been working on. That’s sort of an out-of-game thing that you don’t necessarily need to be playing the game to develop.

Missing Person: Those adjustments have been paying off, as you found your way to Red Bull Proving Grounds Finals. How was the experience for you?

Red Bull Proving Grounds 2017 Details Featured ImageBrutus: I was able to go 11-3 in sets. I took two sets from Houston. I OCV’d Atlanta and Orlando. I took two games from Philadelphia and one game from Montreal. My most notable wins were against Philadelphia where I beat JB and Ludovic. I was pretty happy with my performance in the event. We worked together to deliberate on who should go first. I’m not fully happy with how we did that, because that’s what caused us to lose to Philadelphia. If we had more thoroughly thought out our gameplan, we could’ve went 5-0 instead of 4-1, which would have put us in the finals.

Missing Person: With events like Red Bull Proving Grounds in North America and Gfinity in Europe, how do you feel about the team format for Street Fighter?

Brutus: I like it a lot. It’s more dynamic and requires a lot more thinking in terms of gameplan. What I like about it too is that it separates itself from team games somewhat — which I don’t like team games. In team games like DOTA, you can be a really good player but still have to rely on your teammates. If they’re not good, then the game is a lost cause. In Street Fighter, you can still win by yourself in team tournaments. That’s part of why I like fighting games is I don’t have to rely on someone else to win. In team tournaments, you can rely on your team, but you don’t have to either, because at times you may have to carry them to victory — or vice versa.

It also brings a lot of energy to this to say “Team Canada,” or “Team Japan,” as opposed to just saying it’s a Canadian player against a Japanese player.

Missing Person: You’re still studying, and with the season winding down, there’s less chances of this happening this year, but are you planning on doing any travelling to events in 2018?

Brutus: I’m considering going to Combo Breaker and Summer Jam. I’m also thinking about SoCal Regionals. I just want to get out there as much as possible.

Missing Person: How do you feel about Zangief as far as Season 2 is concerned?

Brutus: I actually believe he is top 10. He may be in the lower part of that, but he’s really strong.

sfv_zangief_v-trigger_activation_crop

Missing Person: What are your thoughts going into Arcade Edition? Are there any changes you’d like to see made, or have you put any thought into what you’d like his second V-Trigger to be?

Brutus: I have a feeling they’re going to give him Green Hand for his V-Trigger. If they do, I would like for them not to make it projectile invincible — because that would make his current one worthless — but make it similar to Karin’s V-Trigger, where he has access to multiples of it.

Missing Person: You’ve shown the world how capable your Zangief is. Do you have any pocket characters you’re working on?

Brutus: I’m just rocking Zangief the whole way.

Missing Person: How do you mitigate your bad matchups?

Brutus: You just play them more, so that you understand them more. That’s how I mitigate my bad matchups.

Missing Person: Any shout-outs you’d like to give?

Brutus: I would like to give a shoutout to two people that have been helping me level up my mental game which has improving recently, and those are L.E.S and Andrew “Drewface” Nguyen.

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Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis: Will Fuudo exorcise his demons?

Keita “Fuudo” Ai has a bittersweet history in Street Fighter V. When it has come to the biggest titles in the game — Evolution and Capcom Cup — he is always the bridesmaid and never the bride. He finished second to Infiltration at Evo 2016, then finished fifth at Capcom Cup 2016. He has come so close to taking it all — but hasn’t.

2017 has proven the same. The Evo 2011 champion of Street Fighter IV has all the chances in the world to take it all again. The question becomes: will he?

True Muscle Spirit

sfv-rmika-criticalart-750When you look at GRPT|Fuudo’s play in 2017, not much has changed. This is a good thing, though — as his R. Mika is just as deadly as last year.

While I commented last year that his Mika was one of the most in-depth characters in terms of setups, many of those became nullified at the end of the season when her wall bounce on Irish Whip midscreen was removed. Fuudo just simply took it upon himself to recreate the character with a whole new style, and the result is an equally deep character that removes all doubt that even her nerfs didn’t change her position in the tiers.

One of the biggest adjustments he made was within the footsies game. This is something that isn’t talked about much with R. Mika players, but is so vital to their play — especially in Season 2. Your setups only get you so far with this character, and one of the biggest problems on getting those setups going is that everyone expects the usual approaches of dropkicks, splashes, and crouching fierces. This is what sets Fuudo apart, is the fact that he has taken a page out of his old, stable Fei Long play book from Street Fighter IV and injected it into Street Fighter V.

Fuudo controls every bit of space on the screen well. However, once he gets you to the corner—and he will—it’s light’s out. He’s a player that makes so many strong players hit the panic button in that corner, and one of only a handful that does it so masterfully. While some of that should be attributed to the strength of the character, it’s Fuudo’s understanding of every pixel of space that makes him a constant threat.

Still Not the Bride

The problem I find myself always having with Fuudo is that he simply cannot close it out. If you look at his results at Capcom Pro Tour events this season, you’ll find that he’s the highest-ranked player that hasn’t won a single event. In 2017, the only event he has won was a non-CPT event at the RAGE series.

He has thrice had chances to close out premier events in 2017. He was poised to take Final Round XX, only to be put on blast by Xian’s newly-found Ibuki. He was later in a good spot to take Japan Cup, to be defeated by Haitani. He was also on a path to success at Dueling Dragons Dojo, only to be thwarted by yet another Ibuki in Yukadon.

If you look away from the CPT, he was also close to a championship at Brooklyn Beatdown, only to lose to a dominating performance by Tokido. Haitani notwithstanding, Fuudo has struggled against characters with solid mix-up games. Tokido has shown the capacity to work Akuma into that realm, and Yukadon and Xian have that kind of game by default with Ibuki. While Mika can mix up strongly as well, in match-ups such as against Ibuki and Akuma, she has a much harder time setting this up given the fact that the former characters have a strong zoning game to complement their mix-up potential.

The Road There

Let’s just look at the tape here. Fuudo has a hard road. He has to play a gamble-heavy character in MenaRD’s Birdie right out of the gate. While this match doesn’t necessarily favor Birdie — and Fuudo eliminated Mena 3-1 at Brooklyn Beatdown this year — on can only imagine how much focus the Dominican will be placing on Fuudo as he prepares for the opening round of Capcom Cup.

But let’s just say — in both theory and practice — Fuudo beats everyone he has to face in the lower half of the bracket. At some point, he will have to shift to play the upper half of the seeding. Just based off of the above problematic players, Fuudo is likely going to struggle in the latter phases of the event more than anyone else.

SFV R. Mika cheerleader outfit 1

Final Thoughts

Never say never, but the likelihood of Fuudo taking down — based off his results this season and his performances against players who are netting better results than he is — looks grim. He could easily make top 8; his performance at Brooklyn Beatdown proves this emphatically. The worry then becomes if he has the chutzpah to make a run to the trophy. If he hasn’t yet this year, I find it hard to believe he will in Anaheim.

Check out our prior articles in the Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis series!

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gentle_step showcases some amazing Ultra Street Fighter IV combos

If you remember the Street Fighter IV series for anything, elaborate combos is definitely one of its hallmarks. Most people first heard of desk from his amazing displays of execution through the game, and now not to be outdone is Toronto player gentle_step.

In his most recent combo video for Ultra Street Fighter IV, he showcases some long and execution-laden combos for Blanka, Poison, Sakura, Makoto, Decapre, Cody, Oni, Dan, Ibuki, Seth, Deejay, Akuma, Rufus, and Evil Ryu. While some of these may have some more optimal variants for tournament play, gentle_step is merely showing off how rich this game is for its combo system.

Source: james

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Problem X talks to BornFree about the state of Street Fighter in the UK, and his preparations for Capcom Cup

Problem X has been on fire this season, with four Capcom Pro Tour wins this year and a number 6 seed in the upcoming Capcom Cup. He also finished off his CPT regular season with a respectable fifth place finish at Canada Cup 2017.

At the aforementioned event, BornFree sat down with Mouseports|Problem X to talk about his preparations for Capcom Cup. He also discusses his past in first-person shooters before changing gears with Street Fighter IV, and his concern about how the new V-Triggers in Street Fighter V will be implemented. He also states that despite the UK’s success on the Capcom Pro Tour in Street Fighter V, he felt like the scene in general was stronger in Street Fighter IV.

Source: BornFree

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Injustice 2 November Update released, removes unblockable stage interactions

NetherRealm Studios has released their November updateforInjustice 2 on Xbox One, with the PlayStation 4 version of the patch soon to follow. While one of the main things changed within the game itself were to ensure compatibility on the Xbox One X, a lot has changed, including the removal of unblockable stage interactions. To account for their blockable status, base damage on the interactions have been increased.

Here are the full patch notes:

General Gameplay fixes

  • Patch is live on Xbox will arrive on PS4 early next week.
  • General and Online stability improvements
  • Added support for Xbox One X (including improved shadow quality, enhanced motion blur, better depth of field, overall higher quality post-processing, increased character detail, higher resolution, and HDR support)
  • Improved rewards for completing Guild Multiverse Tiers
  • Various Movelist corrections and improvements to AI logic
  • Legendary Multiverse Portals are now available for Captain Cold, Cyborg, Dr. Fate, Firestorm, Green Arrow, Poison Ivy, and Robin
  • Fixed some Credits / Mother Box / Multiverse exploits
  • The Meta Challenge “Don’t spend any meter during the match” is no longer affected by an opponent’s meter draining attacks
  • Multiverse Sidekicks now have a 3 ⅔ second cooldown (was 7 seconds)
  • Fixed many instances of the indicator incorrectly displaying “Counter” instead of “Punish”
  • Fixed a bug which was causing Down + Medium attacks to not be invulnerable to High Attacks during some of their recovery frames when continuing to hold Down
  • Background Bounce Environmental Interactions are now more consistent for all character regardless of facing and stance
  • Fixed an issue with Alternate Controls that allowed some special moves to be executed with shortcuts during pre-jump frames while Input Shortcuts option was turned off
  • Acrobat & Gadget Character’s Bomb Environmental Interactions now Jump/Plant the bombs 6 frames faster, have 14 fewer startup frames, hit mid (was unblockable), and the Jumps travel a shorter distance
  • New Nth Metal shaders are available for some characters.
Stage Specific Fixes
  • Arkham Asylum – Bench Throw Environmental Interaction now hits mid (was unblockable), and does 15 base damage (up from 10)
  • Atlantis – Big Globe Throw & Globe Cluster Throw Environmental Interaction now hit overhead (was unblockable), and do 15 base damage (up from 10)
  • Atlantis – Aquarium Bomb Environmental Interaction now hits mid (was unblockable), and does 15 base damage (up from 10)
  • Brainiac’s Ship – Drone Throw Environmental Interaction now hits overhead (was unblockable), and does 15 base damage (up from 10)
  • Fortress of Solitude – Ice Wall Punch Environmental Interaction now hits overhead (was unblockable), and does 15 base damage (up from 10)
  • Gorilla City – Dinosaur Skull Throw Environmental Interaction & Kudu Slam Environmental Interaction now hit overhead (was unblockable), and do 15 base damage (up from 10)
  • Gotham City – Anubis Statue Slam Environmental Interaction now hits overhead (was unblockable), and does 15 base damage (up from 10)
  • Joker’s Playground – Fortune Teller throw Environmental Interaction now hits overhead (was unblockable), and does 15 base damage (up from 10)
  • Joker’s Playground – Barrel Throw & Barrel Roll Environmental Interactions now hit mid (was unblockable), and do 15 base damage (up from 10)
  • Kahndaq – Gargoyle Throw Environmental Interaction now hits mid (was unblockable), and does 15 base damage (from 10%)
  • Kahndaq – Tablet Slam Environmental Interaction now hits overhead (was unblockable), and does 15 base damage (from 10%)
  • Kahndaq – Pyramid Punch Environmental Interaction starts up 4 frames slower, had its hit region adjusted and can no longer hit opponents in the air
  • Metropolis – Hitting opponent with the Diving Helmet Environmental Interaction causes a different reaction
  • Metropolis – Fixed visual issue with some super moves showing floating kegs during their cinematics
  • Red Sun Prison – Hanging Core Swing Environmental Interaction hit reaction has been changed, is now mid (was unblockable), and recovers faster
Character Specific Fixes
  • Aquaman – Fixed an issue where Aquaman’s trident could disappear if From The Deep Gear Ability was interrupted
  • Bane – Fixed a bug causing Legendary Straight Damage Augment to use the default cooldown timer instead of its own (1 second at level 1, 2 seconds at level 2, and 3 seconds at level 3)
  • Batman – Greatly reduced meter build when executing Batarang Toss & Up Batarang Toss
  • Batman – Release Bat, Bat Spin, and Bat Spawn Gear Ability no longer build meter on use
  • Batman – Fixed lingering visual effect on 122 if practice mode reset is performed at a specific time
  • Batman – Straight Kick (Jump + Medium) has it’s hit region slightly adjusted and has 5 less hit advantage
  • Batman – The hit advantage on Straight Grapple on an airborne opponent now more closely matches the hit advantage of hitting a grounded opponent
  • Batman – The cooldown on Mechanical Bats has been increased to 12 secs (up from 9 secs)
  • Black Canary – Low Parry and High Parry are now available in Practice Mode Reversal and Wakeup options
  • Black Manta – Victim region near the head slightly adjusted
  • Black Manta – The 2nd hit of Speared And Seared (Super move) will no longer sometimes cross up the opponent if the first hit is blocked while standing in the corner
  • Blue Beetle – Adjusted hit regions on several normal attacks
  • Blue Beetle – Slightly reduced combo damage scaling on Seeking Reach (Towards + Medium, Hard) & Flying Scarab
  • Blue Beetle – Reduced combo damage scaling on Blade Stab Meter Burn & Blade Barrage Meter Burn
  • Blue Beetle – Shield Slam has 17 less recovery frames on miss & Mandible Strike has 6 less recovery frames on miss
  • Blue Beetle – Blue Beetle’s wings no longer sometimes appear during moves while the Alien Cloak Gear Ability is active
  • Blue Beetle – Fixed view being obstructed when performing Mandible Strike Meter Burn in the left corner of Arkham Asylum Cell Blocks
  • Blue Beetle – Fixed a bug causing Legendary Character Power meter to sometimes stop recharging after an Arena Transition occurs
  • Captain Cold – Big Freeze Meter Burn duration reduced to 3 seconds (down from 5)
  • Captain Cold – Fixed a bug causing Glacier Grenade’s 14 recovery animation frames to be skipped
  • Captain Cold – Glacier Grenade duration reduced to 5 ⅓ seconds (down from 6 ⅔)
  • Captain Cold – Greatly reduced combo damage scaling on Cryogenic Blast
  • Captain Cold – Fixed bug which could cause Darkseid’s Punishment (Medium, Light) combo to sometimes destroy the Glacier Grenade’s collision
  • Catwoman – Slightly reduced forward walk speed
  • Catwoman – Low Evade is now much easier to execute with Input Shortcuts off
  • Catwoman – Fixed a bug that prevented Cat Dash from being able to be parried
  • Catwoman – The airborne 2nd and 3rd hit of Rising Claw can no longer be parried
  • Cheetah – Legendary Claws of Death now appears in Practice Mode reversal/wakeup options
  • Cyborg – Added new Cybernetic Sweep special move (Down, Away + Hard Attack)
  • Cyborg – Cyber Attack (Medium, Hard) now attacks with the weaponized big arm, has its hit region adjusted, has 2 more active frames, 1 less recovery frame on miss, and 1 more recovery frame on hit / block
  • Cyborg – Power Fist has 10 more block stun frames, 10 more block recovery frames, and can now be Meter Burned on block / miss
  • Cyborg – Power Fist Meter Burn now has increased pushback on block, 15 more block stun frames, 15 more block recovery frames, and recovers 5 frames faster on miss
  • Cyborg – Increased base damage of Techno Tackle and Techno Tackle Meter Burn by 2
  • Darkseid – Fixed a bug which could cause the Character Power Demon Blast to be pre-maturely destroyed when used on the right side of Slaughter Swamp
  • Deadshot – Reduced the meter gain when executing all Wrist Shot and Rifle special moves
  • Deadshot – Increased combo damage scaling on Assassin Knee
  • Deadshot – Wrist Cannon now has 14 startup frames (up from 11), 10 more recovery frames on block / miss, 6 less recovery frames on hit, and 6 less hit advantage
  • Deadshot – Deadly Assault Meter Burn can now be clashed.
  • Dr Fate – Can no longer Meter Burn Displacer Orb while Backdashing, during hit stun / block stun, knocked down, or performing a block escape
  • Dr Fate – Sharidum’s Lock Meter Burn is no longer immune to throws
  • Firestorm – Added new Heat Flux special move (Down, Away, Medium) which will gain Character Power meter while being charged
  • Firestorm – Atom Bomb gear ability input is now Down, Back, Hard and It now replaces Atomic Burst
  • Firestorm – Reduced the hit advantage of Molten Trap Meter Burn by 24 frames
  • Firestorm – Character Power fully charged time is now 12 secs (down from 12.5)
  • Firestorm – Eternal Flame now has 37 recovery frames (down from 58)
  • Firestorm – Heat Wave (Away + Hard) has 5 less hit recovery and can now be directed forward for increased range while adding 5 more recovery frames on block / miss
  • Firestorm – Vapor Jab (Jump + Light) now has 5 startup frames (down from 9)
  • Firestorm – Double Burst (Jump + Medium) had its hit region adjusted
  • Flash – Flip stance no longer slightly moves Flash forward or back and no longer causes visual issues when used repeatedly
  • Flash – Visual effects for Speed Zone Character Power no longer conflicts with “Unrivaled Speed” Epic Gear bonus when Quick Cooldown is active in practice mode
  • Flash – Fixed visual effects for Super move lingering on miss in certain circumstances
  • Flash – Fists of Fury’s follow up attacks have had their hit regions adjusted to hit more consistently
  • Gorilla Grodd – Straight Paw (Down + Light) has had its hit region adjusted
  • Green Lantern – Armor on Mechanized Assault (Super move) increased to 30 frames (up from 20)
  • Joker – Added new Death Spin special move (Down, Back + Hard)
  • Joker – Added new Stab-Aroo normal attack (Away + Medium)
  • Joker – The input for Chattering Teeth and Surprise Box Gear Ability is now Down, Down + Hard
  • Joker – Adjusted hit regions on several normal attacks
  • Joker – Crowbar Slam (Away + Hard) now recovers 5 frames faster on hit
  • Joker – BANG! has increased pushback on hit with +5 hit advantage (up from 0)
  • Joker – Side Order of Pie Gear Ability now has 20 frames of recovery on miss after the armor wears off and recovers 40 frames faster on block
  • Poison Ivy – Added New Chompy and Bitey Bash special move (Down, Towards + Medium)
  • Raiden – Victim region near the head adjusted slightly
  • Raiden – Fixed lingering FX from Power Bolt Gear Ability in certain situations
  • Raiden – Fixed Raiden’s victory cinematic blue dragon sometimes appearing one frame too early
  • Raiden – Character Power startup is now 1 frame faster, recovers 3 frames faster, has 1 sec longer duration, and the cooldown is 1 sec shorter
  • Raiden – Raiden’s throw now does additional damage if Character Power is active
  • Raiden – Raiden’s Lightning Trap Meter Burn Gear Ability no longer builds meter on block
  • Raiden – Fixed issue with the camera sometimes quickly moving when the Thunder Cloud (Light, Light, Medium, Away + Hard) combo is done in some corners
  • Red Hood – Victim region near the head adjusted slightly
  • Red Hood – Lethal Lunge Meter Burn base damage reduced by 1
  • Red Hood – Lethal Lunge has 5 more recovery frames on block and 5 less block stun frames
  • Red Hood – Lethal Lunge Meter Burn has its hit region adjusted, has 5 less recovery frames, 5 less block stun frames with reduced pushback, and 2 less hit advantage
  • Red Hood – Ground Mine base damage reduced by 2
  • Red Hood – Air Akimbo Blaze & Air Akimbo Blaze Meter Burn can now be clashed
  • Scarecrow – Character power base damage is increased to 1.5 (up from 1 per hit, with damage ticking every 90 frames (up from 60)
  • Scarecrow – Character power does reduced damage (2/3) while scarecrow is in hit stun
  • Scarecrow – Panic-Port startup is now 14 frames (down from 21), has 27 recovery frames (down from 29) and becomes projectile invulnerable after 6 frames
  • Scarecrow – Fixed Panic-Port smoke visual effects sometimes being misaligned if performed immediately following a jump
  • Scarecrow – Panic-Port can now be special canceled into Death Bed (Super move) after he teleports
  • Scarecrow – Ground Shaker (Hard) now has 15 startup frames (down from 17) and 1 less active frame
  • Scarecrow – Fixed issue with the view becoming obstructed during a forward throw in the corner of some Arenas
  • Scarecrow – Legendary Traumatize Meter Burn attack is now unblockable
  • Scarecrow – Fully holding Toxin Breath while Black Adam hits Scarecrow with his Character Power no longer sometimes causes Scarecrow to become unresponsive in some instances
  • Sub-Zero – Max base stat attributes changed to Health – 1150, Defense – 1450, Strength – 1600, Ability – 1650 (from Health – 1050, Defense – 1500, Strength – 1700, Ability – 1600)
  • Supergirl – Legendary Kryptonian Laser cancels no longer auto correct her facing
  • Supergirl – Fixed a bug where Air Straight Laser could sometimes auto correct her facing as it completed
  • Supergirl – Fully holding Frost Breath while Black Adam hits Supergirl with his character power no longer sometimes causes Supergirl to become unresponsive in some instances
  • Starfire – Max base stat attributes changed to Health – 1100, Defense – 1450, Strength – 1600, Ability – 1700 (from Health – 1050, Defense – 1500, Strength – 1700, Ability – 1600)
  • Swamp Thing – Refoliation & Trunk Punch (Hard) now have armor when executed while Swamp Thing is standing in Abigail’s Garden Character Power
  • Swamp Thing – Refoliation startup is now 16 frames (down from 17), active frames increased to 8 frames (up from 4), 7 less miss recovery frames, 3 less hit / block recovery frames
  • Swamp Thing – Refoliation Meter Burn startup is now 5 frames (down from 12) and has 1 more hit recovery frame
  • Swamp Thing – Log Kick startup is now 20 frames (down from 22) and has 10 less miss / block recovery frames
  • Swamp Thing – Bayou Bash can now be held to increased its range, when then results in longer recovery on block /miss depending on held time up to an additional 7 frames
  • Wonder Woman – Fixed Lasso Grab and Lasso Grab Meter Burn visual placement on Starfire
  • Wonder Woman – Adjusted input buffer window for doing a jump attack from Hermes’ Blessing (Air) Dash
  • Wonder Woman – Fixed Wonder Woman sometimes being hit by Poison Ivy’s Up Rooted (Down + Medium) or Quick Bloom (Away + Hard) after successfully parrying them

Source: WB Games

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Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis: Kazunoko aims for becoming a two-time champion

If you’re looking for a player who has “been there, done that” as far as the Capcom Pro Tour is concerned, Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue is definitely someone to keep your eyes on. Having already been to the event twice before — including a championship in Ultra Street Fighter IV in 2015 — Kazunoko will again be making his way to Anaheim to reclaim his throne.

Last year saw him bow out with a third-place finish in a valiant attempt to become not only a back-to-back champion, but one who claimed the title in the two most recent numbered entries to the Street Fighter franchise. While the former is no longer possible, the latter achievement is still something that he could make happen. The question is, will he?

Stability in Play

CammyOne look at his place on the leaderboard tells you that his Cammy is the one to watch. While chased in the standings by fellow Killer Bees such as Verloren, NL, Xiao Hai, and K-Brad, GGP|Kazunoko has still managed to hold the #1 Cammy rank over the course of the season. But what is it about his Cammy play that makes him reign supreme?

If you were to look at the tape, you’d probably think there isn’t anything special — and I think that’s the key. You’ll see a wild variance in how other Cammy players approach the play, and while all are successful, Kazunoko at times either embodies all of it or none of it. When you watch Verloren and NL, they play a very aggressive game, using frame traps and meaty light confirms to keep their opponents in relentless pressure. You’ll see players like Xiao Hai and K-Brad using more shimmies and reactions to seal their games. Kazunoko seems to encapsulate all of this at some points, and then at other times he does none of this, and it works well.

The thing about Kazunoko — as well as a large swath of Japanese players in general — is their understanding of risk and reward. This is something that sets him apart, as shimmies, frame traps, and meaties are all risks. If you are getting blown up for these, then your reward for attempting them shrinks. This is why when he does pull back, it makes it even tougher for players to expect the risks he takes. This ultimately results in better rewards when he does take those risks.

Stability Pays

It’s this more-stable approach that has netted Kazunoko his four-spot gap over the next closest Cammy: Verloren. It has also rewarded him with a better position going into Capcom Cup than he enjoyed last year. He was able to hit eight top 8s out of fifteen events last year, but managed to just scrape by into the bracket on points due to his failure to clinch a Premier event. This secured him a #22 seed in the bracket, and yet he proved capable of making top 3 of the event itself.

While this year only saw him make five top 8s out of thirteen events, he got points where it counted, including a third-place finish at Evo 2017. This speaks to the clutch factor of his play, where when it matters, he is able to show a level of skill that few players dare to venture. To further emphasize this, two other tournaments that he finished top 8 in were Premier events, and all of his top 8s outside of Evo were held in the veritable minefields of Asia.

This is strikingly similar to last year’s performance, where literally every single tournament he scored a top 8 in was in Asia. In fact, it could be worth noting that while at Capcom Cup, his chance to repeat as champion was derailed by Ricki Ortiz, signifying quite possibility that Kazunoko was underestimating Western players over the course of the season. That seems to be an issue he has addressed, as at Evo he was able to take down Americans like NuckleDu and Chris Tatarian on his way to third place — neither of those players being slouches.

Can He Close?

This is the question that I feel implored to ask, as Kazunoko faces some of the same struggles that Fuudo has this year. While Kazunoko has one tournament win over Fuudo, that win comes during an online regional qualifier. While it’s worth noting that the top 8 of the event features killers such as Moke, Momochi, Bonchan, and Poongko, it simply pales in comparison to other tournament wins — even in the Asia online qualifiers — for a number of reasons.

First, this was one of the weaker fields in the online qualifiers. If you compare the top 8 of this qualifier to the final one, you’ll see a top 8 that featured Momochi, Mago, Haitani, NL, Dogura, Poongko, Tokido, and Fuudo. All but one player in this top 8 is in the top 32 of the Capcom Pro Tour standings. It is also worth noting that in this field, Kazunoko finished ninth.

Second, it’s much easier for him to win literally at home than it is to go out to a venue and replicate that success. While Kazunoko is consistent, is his lack of results offline a hint that he cracks under pressure? It’s worth paying attention to.

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Final Thoughts

He is certainly the best Cammy out there, but his stability only gets him so far. Cammy is relatively popular on the tournament circuit, so saying that nobody is ready for him would be foolish. They get bits and bobbles of his play style across the circuit — all they have to do is combine it to the bigger picture and they can beat him.

For this reason, I believe Kazunoko has every bit of potential to top 8. Beyond that, it is imperative that he opens his play style up to take more risks. He has to do something that is completely uncharacteristic of him to throw his opponents — who likely will have miles of experience against him — off their game. If he cannot do this, it’s likely that he’ll be waiting another year to become the boss of this game.

Check out our prior articles in the Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis series!

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Chi-Rithy talks to BornFree about the Canadian FGC and his competitive history

Montréal’s Henri “Chi-Rithy” Oung has been long known as one of Canada’s best players, dating back to a tournament win over legendary Justin Wong in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike at Northeast Championships. Fast forward to now, and not much has changed, with just over the past weekend Oung securing a roster spot on Georges St. Pierre’s Grizzlys esports team.

Prior to his sponsorship, Chi-Rithy sat down with BornFree at Canada Cup 2017 to discuss his time in the scene. He also discussed his switch from Chun-Li to Karin in Street Fighter V, calling the characters similar, outside of fireballs. He also discussed his hope that Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition will bring more Japanese players into the game with a move to arcade cabinets.

Source: BornFree