Author: Crow_Spaceboy

“Super Street Fighter Carnival 2017” is the regularly-occurring tournament series of Japan’s famous Mikado Arcade, featuring a revolving selection of arcade titles for its patrons to compete in. If you missed the first few tournaments from SSFC2017, you’ve got some catching up to do!

First up is the Technōs Japan-developed Double Dragon fighting game from 1995. It was the last Double Dragon game Technōs made before filing for bankruptcy, and now the rights are owned by none other then Arc System Works. It (probably) won’t happen, but now the thought of a ArcSys-developed Double Dragon fighter is in your head now, isn’t it?

Next we have Samurai Shodown 64 (Or, just Samurai Spirits in Japan). This was SNK’s first foray into 3D fighters. This initial attempt never made its way to home consoles, but its sequel (Samurai Shodown 64: Warrior’s Rage) did. Samurai Shodown 64 drifts pretty far from the core elements of the Shodown series, with duck-able grabs, longer combos, and powerful jumping.

You can preview this seasons’ games and player scores with Mikado’s public Drive document. You can also follow the action by subscribing to Mikado’s official YouTube channel, or try to catch the action in real time when they livestream.

Source: Mikado

Time is running out for Street Fighter V players to collect CPT points. Canada Cup 2017 is the very last Premier open-bracket tournament on the Capcom Pro Tour, and after its points are awarded this weekend, many top-level players will no longer be in the running to qualify.

With 31 of the top 40 CPT-ranked players attending Canada Cup, there’s a lot of ways for players currently in the top 32 to have their Capcom Cup dreams crushed at the last minute. Check out Brian_F’s video to see how we got to this point, and what these pros need to do to mathematically survive this volatile weekend.

Source: Brian_F

Don’t think you can get away from the Electric Wind God Fist just by switching away from Tekken 7. Hit a frame-perfect Pikachu 6Y and you get the tiniest version of the Mishima clan’s defining launcher. Pikachu’s version has all the positive attributes of EWGF (+4 on block, safe launch, jab speed), but also has a quality that would be broken were it transported over to Tekken: it’s a mid.

And that’s just one of the reasons why Pikachu’s damage output off MillerTime‘s optimal combos is fantastic. Pikachu is strangely underrepresented in the Pokkén community, despite a versatile moveset, fast Synergy gauge and big damage. If you wanted a place to start with this undeniably strong character, you can’t go wrong with these high-damage optimals.

Source: MillerTime

When your opponent created their blockstring in the practice mode of Street Fighter V, did they test the string on both standing and crouching opponents? Depending on the answer to this, you can potentially ruin your opponent’s day by just standing back up near the end of their block string.

As Echo Fox’s Julio Fuentes demonstrates, the hurtbox of your character is wider when they crouch, than when they stand. Most blockstrings are built around a crouching opponent, since crouch blocking is the safest default option. By standing at the right time, you can create a big whiff in what your opponent thought was a safe pressure string…

Source: FOX JULIO FUENTES

Korean Tekken Legend “Help Me” has been rocking Lee Chaolan in the toughest Tekken scene on earth for over a decade. If anyone could be considered an authority on Lee gameplay, it’d certainly be him. So if you want your Lee to be as excellent as his, you’ll be happy to know that Help Me has given a 2-hour seminar on the character.

Yes, it is in Korean. But thanks to the efforts of TZ Discord user rice_eel, we have a full translation of Help Me’s opinions and advice for one of Tekken’s most notoriously difficult characters to play.

Sources: Avoiding The Puddle; rice_eel

We’re on our second roundup of videos for Street Fighter V‘s Ever-Changing Ninja! Thus far, Zeku seems to be well-received. At least, one can expect so from all the work pouring out of the Zeku lab. Let’s jump in and see what other tricks Bushinryu disciples around the world have crafted.

VesperArcade starts us off with some basic combos for the more zoning-oriented Old Zeku.

Gamewisk also has some basics for you to try out, but also lays out the groundwork for basic Young Zeku combos.

If you want to see how well the pros have taken to the Bushinryu master, RektScrub has a uploaded a compilation of Tokido, RB, and Kazunoko’s play:

OrangeManPC shows off a gimmicky 50/50 crossup with Old Zeku — you should learn how to deal with it right away.

Here's your basic gimmicky set-play for if you want to make people mad online with Zeku.

Just know that you disgust me. #ZekuLab pic.twitter.com/WSCJgemWy9

— BLMRBL | OrangeMan (@OrangeManPC) October 25, 2017

And if that didn’t irritate you, this corner variation from FrameDataV probably will.

Zeku corner mixup. You can cross up but land in front (or back, you can choose). Early = front, late = back #ZekuLab pic.twitter.com/aDvSaeXR0i

— Frame Data V (@FrameDataV) October 25, 2017

MagicMoste comes with a PSA: Old Zeku’s DP dosen’t play by the current Season 2 rules. Is this possibly a premonition of changes to come?

O.Zeku's DP doesn't follow the same rules as other S2.5 DPs #ZekuLab #SFV pic.twitter.com/fzVyRkzRPC

— Magic Moste (@MagicMoste) October 25, 2017

World Warrior FGC shows off a wide variety of interesting meaties, many of which involving post-transformation combos.

rooflemonger‘s guide focuses exclusively on Zeku’s wakeup game, and all the places you can force Scythe Kicks to be blocked.

And last but certainly not least, desk has the flashiest, goofiest, and most fun combos on the block. Check out how he fits 5 st.MKs in one combo with Old Zeku!

How are you liking Zeku thus far? Are both forms of the Bushinryu Boss working out for you?

Sources: World Warrior FGC; rooflemonger; desk; RektScrub; VesperArcade; Gamewisk; FrameDataV; OrangeManPC; MagicMoste 

Street Fighter players likely won’t need a guide to Pokkén Tournament DX‘s Duel Phase: its 2D footsie-centered action harkens back to Street Fighter IV (It even has Focus Attacks, in the shape of Pokkén’s Counter Attacks and “Counter Attack Dash Cancels”). But the 3D “Field Phase” will likely be completely unfamiliar, its fundamentals rooted in the arena fighter sub-genre.

Tournament pro BadIntent has been making some of the very best tech discoveries in Pokkén Tournament, so there’s few people more qualified to break down the meta of one of Pokkén’s most defining system mechanics. Covered here are Ranged Attacks, projectile priority, Homing Attacks, and some of the drawbacks of movelists within Field Phase.

Source: BadIntent

The “shockingly” technical Pikachu in Super Smash Brothers Wii U has low representation in tournament play. But that doesn’t have to be the case: one of the very best Pikachus on the circuit is PG|ESAM, and he’s giving a master class on how the popular Pokémon plays.

This video covers Pikachu’s main combo tools, and is part 5 of a larger, year-long project of ESAM’s to define this electric type’s playstyle and meta. Not sure if Pikachu is right for you? ESAM also has an excellent match-up series breaking down how Pikachu fairs against the rest of the cast; check it out and see if this character covers some of your current main’s bad match-ups!

Source: imESAM