Author: Keegan "Interrobang!?" Spindler

One of the most important parts of finding success in Super Smash Brothers–and fighting games in general–is the idea of conditioning your opponent to react in certain ways to a given situation. Once they start reacting how you expect them to, it becomes easy to get big damage or even an easy win.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that your opponent is going to be doing the exact same thing to you–conditioning you to react in specific ways and adapting to quirks in your gameplay. But how can you counter that?

Well, that’s where counting mix-ups come in. As explained in the video below, they’ll not only help you escape your opponents’ nefarious plans, but also keep you from falling into predictable patterns. Check it out.

Source: SSBM Tutorials

When Mr. R went to Mexico in July 2015 for Smash Factor 4, everyone was expecting the best Sheik in the world–who had just come second to ZeRo at Evo–to win the tournament without much difficulty.

Instead, everyone watched in awe as MK Leo, a 14 year-old Meta Knight player, systematically dismantled one of the best players in the world–with a character that no one thought was much good.

One year on, MK Leo is often bandied about as the sleeping giant of Mexico; unable to travel to the U.S.A. due to visa problems, his only opportunities to battle against the best in the world since his breakout appearance have been GOML and Smash Factor 5–the latter giving us an extra snapshot into the young man himself.

Rush Hour Smash have put together a short documentary on the Mr. R slayer from their time in Mexico: check it out below, to learn more about one of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U’s youngest top players.

Source: Rush Hour Smash

When it comes to landing that all important first hit in a Mortal Kombat X match, there are many people who choose to start their strings with a jump. If you’re having problems with opponents who are doing just that, Mortal Kombat X has a host of options for dealing with it–though they might not be immediately apparent.

Ragnarok has put together a great tutorial explaining how to find your best anti-air options, and showing off some of the strongest techniques for characters like Ermac and Erron Black. He also goes a bit further: breaking down cross-ups and how to deal with them, alongside showing off a bit of trip guarding tech to deal with long distance jump-ins. Check it out below.

Source: Ragnarok

Despite playing a character that was generally considered middling at best, Kamemushi’s brilliant run at Evo 2016 with Mega Man opened a lot of eyes to some of the nasty tricks that the super fighting robot has at his disposal. One string that appeared multiple times in Kamemushi’s victories over players like Void, Mr. R and ZeRo stemmed from his ability to consistently land footstools, which led into a devastating combo that has become almost synonymous with his play.

As we reported earlier this week, Beefy Smash Doods have explored the idea of footstooling out of shield–which should make landing such combos even easier–but My Smash Corner has taken it even further and explored exactly how to land the combo, how to extend it, and even looked into exactly when it kills. If you’re a Blue Bomber in the making, you should definitely check it out.

Source: My Smash Corner

Now that the dust is settling from Evo’s record-breaking 2016 installment, there’s time to look back at some of the moments from throughout the busy weekend we may have missed. With so many games being fought out at the same time, there’s just not enough time to be on top of everything–but thankfully Bandai Namco’s Fight Channel has our backs. In conjunction with the fantastic Hold Back to Block team, they’ve put together a recap of the Tekken 7: Fated Retribution experience at Evo this year.

The focus is on the North American scene–who haven’t yet had the same extensive opportunities to play Tekken 7 that other communities have–and the challenge that American players faced in making their way to a top 8 finish. Including interviews with some of the best Tekken players in the scene like Circa|Anakin, alongside the top placing American players Circa|Speedkicks and Geesemaster, the video crafts a superb narrative that might not have been immediately apparent to those of us watching from home. Check it out below–and watch for the list of upcoming 2016 Tekken Tour locations at the end.

Source: Bandai Namco Official Fight Channel

It almost seems that every time that you turn over a rock in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, someone has figured out a way to kill even earlier–even when you’re not taking Dabuz killing Mr. R at below 20% into account, you’ve still got Ryu slaying foes with the true SRK at almost every turn. It’s an arms race to catch up, and it seems this time it’s Mario’s chance to show off his guns: by taking a leaf out of his rival Sonic’s book and spinning to win.

Most Mario mains have taken to using down-air in the early game–it has great combo potential after all. It hits harder than you might think, though. In the video below, SSB Fons explains just how to go about landing down-air at the best possible moment to catch your opponent off guard and snag an early kill–a very early kill in fact: in the tutorial he knocks Kirby off screen despite starting the setup at just 45%. This is must-have tech for Smash 4 Mario mains.

Source: SSB Fons

Killing with Marth can sometimes be a lesson in frustration: even if you land that sweet tipper forward smash to end the first stock early, his variety of sour spots and slow start-up moves could mean that the next stock lasts forever. It’s made all the more irritating by the knowledge that, if you could just land the move, the stock would be over in a flash. That’s where VeXx comes in. The Venezuelan Marth main has put together a video that tips you off to some of the simplest and most confirm-able ways to find a kill with Marth.

He also pulls out some of the flashy stuff later in the video, so even if the setups that he covers early in the video seem like no-brainers, it’s well worth sticking around to see some of the more complicated ones. Plus, if you can incorporate them into your game you’ll never be forced to resort to fishing for f-smashes, since your opponent will be long dead.

Source: Rising VeXx

When it comes to Pokkén Tournament, you shouldn’t be taken in by the colorful Pokémon flavored camouflage. It’s a game with surprising depth, and though it might seem like little more than sophisticated rock, paper, scissors at first, there’s plenty to get to grips with when it comes to playing your character of choice to the best of your ability. When playing Blaziken, for example, you’ll have to learn how to balance scoring maximum damage (with the flashiest combos) against the toll it takes on your own life points. One way to get loads of damage is to mix your opponents up, thanks his High Jump Kick Cancel.

As Youtuber DeadlyShoc explains, by cancelling Blaziken’s High Jump Kick into an air dash, you can land right next to the opponent with no landing lag, allowing to put pressure on the enemy right away. Since you’re on the ground, you can react with any option that you have available, including stringing right back into another big damage combo. To see it in action, learn what it’s useful for and a breakdown of exactly how to add it to your own firechicken game, check out the tutorial below.

Source: DeadlyShoc