Author: Keegan "Interrobang!?" Spindler

Dealing with zoning is one of the most important steps in becoming strong in any fighting game, and King of Fighters XIV is no exception. In fact, strong zoners are a constant threat in the first spot of most teams, so being able to bypass their pressure is vital.

Combonauts have explored just that, looking into options for avoiding projectiles without having to commit to a jump. They’ve found a fair few and have put together a brilliant video that showcases all of them.

Combonauts have definitely been doing their homework; they’ve found a couple of bugs that allow characters like Kukri and Billy to do some neat tricks that other characters can’t:

Source: Combonauts

Beefy Aether Doods have plenty of pedigree behind them–after all, their sister channel is one of the most respected Smash resources around. They’ve teamed up with notable Orcane player DolphinBrick–who taught us How to Train Our Whaledog a few months ago–to focus on making the most of one of Orcane’s most arcane techniques: Pulse Dashing.

In the video below, DolphinBrick explains just how useful and flexible Orcane’s side special can be–illuminating some very unusual property the move has in the process.

Source: Beefy Aether Doods, image c/o Rivals of Aether

When it comes to Pikachu Libre, Slippingbug is at the very front of the pack. At Absolute Battle 7 he became the first Pikachu Libre player to win a major Pokkén Tournament event and, as one of the strongest players in his region, he’s a consistent threat at whatever event he’s attending.

He also has a great mind for the game, as his his widely accepted tier list and our interview with him after his AB7 victory show.

Now he’s showing everyone else just how to get the most out of Pokkén’s electrifying wrestler with detailed overviews of how to approach every aspect of her game. Check out the first couple of installments below, and keep an eye on his channel for more in the series.

Source: Slippingbug

Although Street Fighter V has left behind more complex and extended setups after a knockdown, there are still some okizeme options to put the pressure on once your opponent is on the ground.

For Nash, his command normal Bazooka Knee can be a very valuable tool when it comes to timing your options. Sam M has broken down exactly how useful this can be in the video below, including showing off the timing for various options, so you can be on top of whatever your opponent is trying to do.

Source: Sam M

Although Eliza was originally meant to be the main antagonist in a Skullgirls sequel, she proved so popular that she was added to the first installment. Now, she’s wreaking all sorts of havoc, bringing untold years of fighting experience to the fray and leaving the other girls looking rather worse for the wear.

Check out a little of what she can do in the video below, which shows off more than just her devastating combo game–it also gives a little snapshot into just how strong an antagonist the ageless diva can be.

Source: Autism Inc.

Now that King of Fighters XIV has been out for a two weeks, we’re starting to see the really disgusting stuff–like this Joe Higashi Combo Exhibition from Opsclerk:

Also from Opsclerk comes a little something for Benimaru–as long as you have a couple of bars handy!

And now that we’ve had some time, some people are really getting down to the nitty-gritty with some detailed character guides. Check out this guide to newcomer Alice from TrueUnderDawgGaming:

And if that whet your appetite, well, Coliflowerz has fantastic breakdowns of fellow debutant Luong…

…and returning fighter Andy Bogard:

Superbrawl98 shares a nasty trick to pull if you ever find that your Chin has five bars on hand:

And to polish it all off, here’s an awkward revelation for anyone who was hoping to do work with big baddy Verse, courtesy of James Weaver:

Sources: Opsclerk; TrueUnderDawgGaming; Coliflowerz; Superbrawl98; James Weaver

We’ve talked about MKX’s Ketchup and Mustard before–a commentating duo that are leading lights in the Mortal Kombat kommunity. They’re more than just wordsmiths though, as results like fifth at Evo 2015 show.

After some insight into the upcoming Injustice 2, they’re back to digging through Mortal Kombat X and, this time, are exploring something familiar to the wider FGC: Option Selects. After a patch that removed some of the more notorious Option Selects in the game *cough* Raiden *cough*, there hasn’t been much exploration of what might remain. Now however, Ketchup and Mustard are challenging the kommunity to do a little more digging, and have kicked things off with some OS tech of their own. Check out the video below to be inspired, then it might be time to hit the lab!

Source: PNDK&M

Sometimes it can be hard to work out how to get better. When grinding out matches just isn’t enough, it’s time to hit training mode to work out what’s going wrong, but even that isn’t as simple as it may sound. Luckily, you can learn how to improve your training, just like you can learn exactly what it takes to win in a certain match-up. Just check out the video below if you’re not sure what I mean–in it, training yourself to react in the right way is covered in detail, and it really lays a great foundation for the sort of work that you should be doing while aiming to improve. Follow the steps, and it’s only a matter of time before you’re doing work in ranked mode or beating your friends to a pulp.

Source: SF4Tutorials

When the news broke that Akuma was going to be in Tekken 7, there were a lot of people who were worried that he might not be a good fit for Tekken’s game engine. After he debuted, there were a whole lot more people complaining about what he could do, which led to the news that there would be a nerf so that he was a little less ridiculous. If you were wondering how he was looking at the moment though, Shudy_Jinlee has you covered. He’s put together some sample combos for the raging demon, and though they’re all in Japanese, those familiar with Tekken will have no problems in understanding the annotations.

Oh, and if that weren’t enough, Shudy has even broken down his entire movelist from start to finish. Check them out below if you were wondering exactly how Akuma fits together in his Tekken debut.

Source: Shudy_Jinlee