If you’ve been having problems dealing with the Abel matchup in Ultra Street Fighter IV, this breakdown from SOA Team will equip you with the tools necessary to make the match much more bearable.
As an example of the tactics offered in the video, take into consideration that Abel’s step kick affords him excellent positioning and helps him keep the pressure high with a handful of options that can follow it up, the best being throw, Tornado Throw, or a standing fierce. What may not be as well-known to those fighting against Abel is that this situation can easily be escaped by most of the cast through a simple back dash, which then allows plenty of time for a beefy punish.
For more information surrounding the above strategy, as well as loads more tactics to help take down the grappler, check out the video below.
The addition of Ultra Street Fighter IV’s Red Focus mechanic afforded most characters a method to stylishly blow a full super meter without having to resort to actually using supers. In many cases, the combos that resulted from this heavy meter expenditure were rather underwhelming thanks to the way damage scaling works within the Street Fighter IV engine. There were, of course, exceptions to this rule, like Yun, who became even more heavily cemented among the top echelon of cast members thanks to the damage that he gained from proper use of the mechanic.
As Ultra has matured, viable Red Focus technology has started to surface for several more members of the cast. Thanks to players like Nishikin and CCG|Lap Chi, as well as this video from Indo Imran, Blanka now counts himself among the characters harnessing the power of this shiny new mechanic. It seems that the Brazilian fighter can net some pretty impressive numbers by using EX Red Focus cancels off of his Rolling Attack special, Vertical Roll special as well as his standing roundhouse. While some of these options are more practical than others, many of the combos that lead into them can be initiated immediately after performing a hop so Blanka players don’t have to sacrifice shenanigans for the sake of damage output, which is always nice.
Anyone who has put time into online matches for the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. 4 has likely seen the throngs of Little Mac players itching to land his signature Knock Out Punch for easy kills. In spite of what this may suggest about the boxer, there’s much more packed into those green gloves and that excellent pink jogging suit than may first meet the eye.
As with Dezmu’s previous Mega Man breakdown, his latest tutorial video covers options for approaching the neutral game, the sorts of combos that you should be looking to land as Little Mac and, of course, when to actually go for those KO Punches. Dezmu offers up an interesting option for recovery, too, which involves using Mac’s counter on approach to keep him safe as he makes his way back to the edge. On the opposite side of the coin, Mac’s edge guard tactics are covered as well and look to be quite formidable when in the right hands–or gloves, I guess.
If you’re looking to don those green gloves for the first time or if you’re just looking to incorporate more of Mac’s kit to your game play, this tutorial is a great place to pick up some tactics before stepping through the ropes.
Tonight marks the second installment of Super Arcade’s new weekly tournament series to take over where Level|Up Series’ Wednesday Night Fights left off, continuing their tradition of providing the Southern California area a competitive hub to congregate in. The event will feature brackets for Ultra Street Fighter IV and Tekken Tag Tournament 2.
If you’re interested in watching, be sure to tune in live below or head on over to Twitch to join the chat. Brackets for all the games have been made available through Challonge.
The folks over at VG Bootcamp recently went live with another installment of Smash @ Xanadu from Xanadu Games in Baltimore, Maryland. These weekly broadcasts provide a great look at the region’s Smash community. Tonight’s stream features matches in both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. 64.
If you’re interested in some Smash Bros. action, be sure to tune in. The stream is live below, but you can also head on over to Twitch to join the chat.
Aspiring Juri players, rejoice! In a new series that recently hit YouTube, a Juri player who goes by the name Triox offers up huge chunks of information that will come in handy to players looking to master this wielder of the Tanden Engine. As the titles of the videos suggest, there’s a lot to take in here–each bit of footage weighs in at right around an hour in length.
The videos cover various concepts to help make the most of every situation with Juri. While it may seem obvious that making each connected hit count, it takes some creativity to actually apply this concept when the fists start flying. Triox suggests tactics like switching from a hit confirmation string consisting of three crouching shorts to one made up of a single crouching short and two standing shorts–a trade which adds about thirty damage to the combos that follow. Another concept that Triox covers is swapping in a sweep instead of a different combo ender after scoring an anti-air juggle to take advantage of the positioning and hard knockdown that the sweep offers.
There is, of course, a wealth of other important information in these reels such as how to properly make the switch from Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition ver. 2012, how to handle footsies, and plenty more.
While Ultra Street Fighter IV’s Rose is known for her incredible normals, strong footsies game, and ridiculous chip output, she doesn’t often come up in talks about lengthy combos. But just because she doesn’t often show up to combo-related discussions doesn’t mean that the potential for big damage isn’t there. In fact, she can put out some pretty impressive numbers under the right circumstances.
Freeno0b recently cut together a quick compilation of some damaging options at Rose’s disposal that will help her get rid of any extra meter that she might find herself sitting on and look good while doing so. You’ll see some interesting corner loops, some ways to combo into her Ultras and some devastating abuse of E. Honda’s unusually wide hurtbox. Sorry, big guy.
Earlier today, the version 1.0.4 update for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS hit the Nintendo eShop. Now that players have had their hands on the new version of the game for a good portion of the day, we’ve got a better idea of exactly what sort of changes have been applied.
The folks at CLASH Tournament sat down and put together a side-by-side comparison of the new version of the game with the previous iteration to see if “some of the crazier glitches and exploits have been removed,” as they put it. The changes that the team have confirmed so far include Greninja’s inability to cancel his landing lag with his Shadow Sneak special, an increased respawn time for Rosalina’s Luma (roughly 13 seconds now, up from the previous 8), the removal of toss cancels for Peach, Link, and Toon Link, and several other small changes.
To see these as well as many more changes in action, check out the video below. For a full list of the changes that they have discovered so far, hit the spoiler box beneath the video.
And, as a friendly reminder, do keep in mind that updating to this version of the game will render any previously saved replays useless, so be sure to capture and upload those before updating!
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS ver.1.0.4 Changes
Greninja can no longer cancel landing lag with his Shadow Sneak attack.
Diddy Kong can no longer cancel hitstun with his Peanut Popgun.
Mega Man can no longer cancel hitstun with Rush Coil.
Pikachu’s Thunder now only fills up Mr. Game and Watch’s bucket by one block.
Luma can still attack while Rosalina is grabbed, and when her shield is broken (can not confirm if Luma can attack if Rosalina is in hit stun).
Luma takes roughly 13 seconds to respawn, compared to 8 seconds previously.
Falco can shoot subsequent lasers quicker while standing (not featured in the video).
Toss Canceling with Peach, Link, and Toon Link is removed.
Yoshi no longer has teleporting glitches related to his Egg Toss.
Roll canceled pivot grabs have been removed (appears to be the case, but not 100% confirmed).
When Daniel “Clockw0rk” Maniago and Kyohei “Marlinpie” Lehr, both of Brokentier, first started showing off stylish combos for Doctor Doom, including what were the most brutal TAC combos that players had seen at the time, Doom became synonymous with style. But years after these combos were first discovered, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has become a game in which many of the characters are capable of re-creating the level of style that only Doom could previously conjure up. Has Doom’s time in the spotlight ended?
This video from finisherofwar answers that question with a resounding, “No,” and follows with a, “Not even a little.” While Doom can easily and efficiently put an end to any opponent placed in front of him through the use of optimized combos, it’s also possible to kick things up a few notches by adding in unnecessary hits and air dashes to not only drain a life bar, but to also strike fear in the heart of opponents while doing so.
There’s something to be said about the momentum gained from resorting to stylish strings when a simple corner loop would have done the job just as well. This footage from finisherofwar is a love letter to those sorts of combos.
In their most recent entry in the Spotlight series, Olympic Gaming caught up with Master Bloothy, an Ultra Street Fighter IV player hailing from Mexico City. In the video below, you’ll find footage of this masterful Makoto taking the battle online against top players for their respective characters.
Makoto is known for her explosive damage and the often-unusual mixups afforded by her revamped EX Fukiage. Master Bloothy demonstrates character mastery through a deep understanding of this, combined with a wealth of matchup knowledge that turns would-be uphill battles into a walk in the park.
As always, Olympic Gaming has included a brief interview in the video’s details which covers Master Bloothy’s favorite top players, other characters that they play, and plenty more.
