Author: Lance "Tarnot" Hood

If there’s one thing that Vergil is good at doing, it’s spending meter. If there are five more things he’s good at doing, it’s making those level three X-Factor runbacks, combo loops that seem to never end, and–

Well, you get the idea; Vergil is pretty good. In the video below, Heru Lightdasher360 focuses primarily on all of the devastating things that Vergil can do when he’s sitting on a full stock of meter and is willing to spend every bit of it to put his opponent in the ground. Thanks to this, we get to see several combos that make use of the additional properties of his Spiral Swords super, Sword Storm, and Blistering Sword, as well as all sorts of other unnecessary expenditures.

Of course, these combos are merely excellent ways to stylishly close out a match, since Vergil players can typically spend much less meter to get the same effects, but that doesn’t make this video and less entertaining.

Source: Heru Lightdasher360

Brant “Pig of the Hut” McCaskill is back with the third episode of The Armory, a video podcast dedicated to bringing fans of Mortal Kombat X the most important information surrounding the game.

In this episode, Pig of the Hut discusses a broad spectrum of important tech that every player who takes Mortal Kombat X seriously should look at incorporating into their game plan. This includes a lengthy section that breaks down the option selects discovered and popularized by David “UltraDavid” Graham, a segment about properly punishing (or even interrupting) all sorts of strings, and a fun corner option for newcomer Jason Voorhees.

The rest of the episode is filled with contest announcements, more contact information for various Mortal Kombat scenes around the globe, tournament recaps, and more, so be sure to give it a watch.

If you missed the first or second episodes, you can check those out by following their respective links.

Source: Pig of the Hut via Test Your Might

A can has never been scarier than the one that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U’s Duck Hunt brings to the fight. Whether its waiting patiently near the edge for the perfect moment to strike or spinning wildly through the air followed by a trail of smoke, all who oppose this animal duo would be smart to leave it alone, which is easier said than done.

In Alpharad’s newest How to Play 101 video, he takes Duck Hunt up against the online masses and shows how a well-placed explosive can make for some stylish and hilarious kills. Of course, he also takes full advantage of the rest of Duck Hunt’s zone-heavy toolkit, so look forward to plenty of clay pigeons.

Source: Alpharad

Bafael and Cross Counter TV are back with the final episode of their Mortal Kombat X tutorial series, which covers how to handle mixups. The most obvious and important thing to have when fishing for an opening is a variety of strings and other attacks that hit as overheads and lows.

This knowledge extends to the defensive game as well, and helps to drive home just how important knowing matchups can be in a game so heavily-influenced by strings with overhead and low options that come at the same place every time.

Though it may sound grim for those fighting against a knowledgeable opponent, mixup opportunities do exist outside of these mid-string options as well. Bafael discusses these at length and mentions canceling early hits into overhead or low attacks in order to gain small chunks of damage as an option–though this isn’t always the best idea depending on the safety of these attacks. He also stresses the importance of adding throws to the mix thanks to the fact that a throw tech cannot be performed while holding the block button.

If you’re having trouble landing hits, be sure to check out this video as well as one of their previous videos dedicated to pressure.

Source: Bafael and Cross Counter TV

This week’s Olympic Gaming player spotlight is dedicated to ISM|Osiris242’s Gouken. Gouken is one of those characters that can play an up close game or an annoying ranged game successfully depending on the character that he’s facing. He’s also equipped with some of the most explosive combo damage out there if he can get the right sort of hits going, and Osiris shows competence in all of these areas, making his Gouken an exciting one to watch.

In the footage below, you’ll see Osiris face off against a handful of high-ranking online warriors including a special appearance by the crowd-pleasing PIE|Smug. If you only watch a single fight from this reel, be sure to check out how Osiris handles what Dudley throws at him.

As with all Olympic Gaming spotlights, you can also check out the video’s description to learn more about the player.

Source: Olympic Gaming

Proper directional influence can help keep characters alive a little longer than normal in the Smash series, but the way in which this life-saving technique works in the Wii U iteration has been the subject of much debate. Thanks to the inclusion of “vectoring” in the 3DS version, followed by its supposed removal from the game and various patches affecting gameplay in rather vague ways, it’s easy to see why there has been so much confusion about exactly which way to hold the stick in the event of being knocked away from the stage.

To help folks out, VaBengal has set out to clear up how to properly use directional influence in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. The video covers how to properly use directional influence to avoid blast zones as well as what not to do, as certain inputs can cause characters to die earlier than they would have if no direction had been pressed.

Source: VaBengal via Smash Boards