Author: Lance "Tarnot" Hood

We don’t often see much attention paid exclusively to Ultra Street Fighter IV’s now-titular mechanic. Even so, a successful Ultra Combo’s impact on a match is hard to ignore, thanks to its ability to serve as a comeback mechanic or simply close out an otherwise even match with a single read.

To celebrate this meter-based option, the folks at Capcom Fighters picked their favorite Ultra Combo applications from last year’s Capcom Pro Tour. Understandably, these moments include plenty of big name players including Evil Geniuses’ Momochi (twice!) and MOV, among others.

Source: Capcom Fighters

LiangHuBBB has been busy over the last couple of months. Not only have they provided viewers with a best of 2015 video roundup and a compilation dedicated entirely to Street Fighter V, they’ve already released the first Funny & Cool Moments of 2016.

If you’ve seen LiangHuBBB’s work in the past, you know exactly what to expect from this 93rd episode of the series. In this reel, Mike Ross falls victim to a tool-assisted infinite, Street Fighter V’s Dhalsim can’t cork his Yoga Flame, Razer’s Infiltration encounters one-sided lag issues, and much, much more.

If you’ve got fifteen minutes to spare, be sure to check out the video below.

Source: LiangHuBBB

Just over a month separates us from V-Triggers, Crush Counters, and the triumphant return of Birdie, and while we’re closer now than we’ve ever been to Street Fighter V’s release, that doesn’t make the wait any easier. To help prepare us for the upcoming title, Bafael uploaded combo guides for both Nash and Cammy.

The combos include all of the standard fare–anti-airs, punishes, and more–so if you’re looking to jump right into the game on launch day, these reels offer an excellent starting point.

The footage provided comes from the third beta phase, but that doesn’t necessarily mean everything presented in the videos will remain in the final release. Be sure to look for Bafael’s updated combo guides once the game hits store shelves on February 16.

Source: Bafael

After a brief break over the holidays, the Marvelous Essentials team returns to Twitch tonight with another episode of their Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 roundtable discussion podcast. For this evening’s broadcast, the regular crew will be joined by Jonathan “Cloud805” Morales.

They’ve got quite a show lined up tonight, beginning with a discussion on the next installment of Kumite in Tennessee followed by a look at the rest of the competitive season for all you Marvel heads out there. They’ll also be discussing challenges the community faces in 2016 and, as always, they’ll wrap things up with a Q&A session.

We’ve embedded the stream below for convenience, or you can head over to Twitch to join the chat.

Watch live video from TeamSp00ky on www.twitch.tv

Source: Team Spooky

There’s no denying Sheik’s power in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Her stellar movement options and lengthy combos allow her to bring serious pain to any character who opposes her, but she’s got serious issues when it comes to finishing her plate. In order to arm Sheik players with the knowledge they’ll need to properly dispose of their opponents’ stocks, Deku Tree teamed up with Absol 359 to bring us the video you’ll find embedded below.

In addition to addressing Sheik’s issues with killing, the video also offers insights into how knockback growth works. While this isn’t an overly technical mechanic, it’s one that could be rather evasive to players just starting out, so give their guide some of your time and see what you can learn.

Source: Deku Tree

Combo video mastermind cjbqulix made a triumphant return to the scene this week with a grappler-focused reel featuring three of the best huggers in all of Ultra Street Fighter IV: Zangief, T. Hawk, and Hugo.

In the footage below, you’ll see a handful of practical options, but once things get rolling, the combos become less and less likely to appear in a proper match. Thanks to plenty of Dhalsim limb abuse and just enough Psycho Stream manipulation, these lab-only offerings are sure to entertain.

Source: cjbqulix

Street Fighter V, like any fighting game, brings with it a host of unique mechanics. While some of these mechanics exist in other games, they may not be treated exactly the same as you’d expect within the upcoming title’s engine. With this in mind, Bafael, the creator of the Street Fighter IV Primer series, recently released a video describing everything that players will need to know before stepping into the game and selecting their character.

In the footage below, you’ll learn about meter building, V-Skills and V-Triggers, cancel options, stun meters, and plenty more. All of the footage included comes from the third beta phase, so it’s as up-to-date as anything else out there. But, as with anything Street Fighter V, we can’t be certain that all of this information will remain true through to release, so keep that in mind as you watch.

For a closer look at some of these mechanics, as well as plenty of other information surrounding Street Fighter V, take a look at Bafael’s complete tutorial playlist.

Source: Bafael

Last Sunday marked the first BlazBlue: Central Fiction tournament to take place on American soil. Thanks to the new NESiCA cabinets at City of Industry, California’s Round 1, eager players from around the states (or just around Southern California) were able to get their hands on this most recent addition to the BlazBlue series.

Below, we’ve embedded footage provided by Jyosua, who handled streaming for the event. Clocking in at over six hours, there’s plenty of action to see from this 42-person tournament.

If you’re looking to take a swing at Central Fiction yourself, the cabinets for the game won’t be going anywhere any time soon, so be sure to head out to Round 1 and give them a go.

Source: Jyosua

LiangHuBBB already released their final Funny & Cool Moments entry–which contains a massive selection of games–for the year back in November, so their most recent reel comes as a pleasant (and certainly welcome) surprise. This end-of-year gift to the fighting game community contains nothing but recent footage from Street Fighter V, so it’s sure to contain some things that you’ve not seen before.

As LiangHuBBB notes, and as you’ll certainly see for yourself, the skill level in the highlighted segments shows a definite upward momentum. The game won’t even exist in full for another couple of months and we’re already seeing insane reaction times, pressure strings that border on frustrating to watch (seriously), and plenty of unexpected mixups. It’s exciting to think of what the future will hold for the title.

Source: LiangHuBBB via EventHubs