Author: Luke "Woocash" Siuty

The latest “esports are real” proof may not be a new game, team, or patch, but is nonetheless a milestone for the industry as a whole. The first-ever dedicated esports law firm has officially launched. Although there already exist video-game dedicated lawyers and firms who have worked in esports, Bryce Blum’s Electronic Sports & Gaming Law is the first one to specifically dedicate itself to this branch of competitive gaming.

“My primary focus with this firm is to go beyond the typical attorney‑client relationship,” Blum told ESPN in a statement. “I’ve always tried to not just be an external service provider, but an engaged member of the esports community. Under the ESG Law banner, I will build a culture of engagement that will allow us to continue creating legal solutions for a constantly evolving set of challenges throughout the esports space.”

As the mission statement on the ESG Law website says, the firm’s intent is to “offer unique insight into client’s plans” to further the industry as a whole. Among the many clients that Blum has worked with figure notables such as Team Liquid, Team SoloMid, Fnatic, and more.

You can follow the founder, Bryce Blum, @esportslaw.

Source: ESG Law via ESPN

Maybe Machaboo’s name doesn’t carry the same weight as Daigo Umehara’s around the world, but the Evolution 2016 Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- champion is a household name in GG circles. While he not only dominates with Sin and Ky Kiske and a few other characters, he also frequently streams and teaches others how to get better at Guilty Gear.

Some of his guides have been floating around for a while, like on his eSports Runner page, or on the Godsgarden streams, but now there’s an English translation of his text that covers certain fundamentals. While some beginner knowledge of Guilty Gear is welcome, Machaboo’s guide to getting good at Guilty Gear covers a lot of theoretical thinking and approaches to improve neutral.

The guide starts by covering basic aspects, such as anti-airing, and a “three-structure” gameplay, which includes pre-emptively attacking opponents, punishing, or hitting them while they wait. The latter parts talk about decision-making while keeping resources in mind, how to cover your bases with various defensive tools, and how mindgames work with the opponent.

Originally translated from Japanese to Swedish by Shinjin and collaborators, the guide is available in English thanks to Zake.

Sources: eSports Runner; Guilty Gear Sweden; Shinjin; Zake

As the Holiday season dissipates into 2017, the deals will run out shortly as well. PlayStation Network posted the last of their discounted games, which include markdowns on a variety of titles on the PlayStation 4, PS3, PS Vita, and video content. PlayStation Plus members can get up to 85% off on certain titles, and the sale ends on January 3rd, 2017.

Fighting game notables include:

• The King of Fighters XIV — $47.99 (down from $59.99, and an additional 15% off for Plus members)
• Street Fighter V — $29.99 (down from $59.99 and a 17% extra discount for Plus members)
• SENRAN KAGURA ESTIVAL VERSUS — $23.99 (discounted from $39.99, extra 10% with Plus, and there’s a Vita version as well)
• The King of Fighters 2000 — $4.99 (originally $9.99, additional 10% with Plus)
• The Last Blade 2 — $7.49 (from $14.99, extra 10% with Plus, there’s also a Vita version)
• XBlaze: Lost Memories — $19.99 (down from $39.99, extra 20% off for Plus members, available on Vita)

These are the last chances to swipe those games at lower prices for yourself or as a gift.

Don’t forget that the massive Steam Winter Sale goes on until January 2nd, 2017, and includes lots of fighting games.

Source: PlayStation Store via Gamespot

Leo Whitefang is one of those characters in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- that particularly preys on a lack of knowledge from his opponents. Leo has many options to mix up and outplay the foe with cross-ups, a countering stance, and a guard-crushing move. To keep abreast on strategies from the Lion’s Den, top Japanese players began scribing a comprehensive guide, that now has an English translation.

Ruu, Takehara, and T5M7’s guide to Leo Whitefang begins by breaking down normals, explaining the frama data on each and its specific functions. What’s more, they give advice on countermeasures to those attacks, detailing what happens if you jump, backdash, or press buttons. The second part explains Leo’s special moves and takes a similar approach.

Part 1 is translated by BloodWolf and Part 2 by LordKnight. Additional clarification and collaboration comes from Mr. K and Bears.

For some Leo footage in action, here’s a long set between Ain (Ky Kiske) and Muumen (Leo Whitefang).

Sources: Evernote Part 1, Part 2; Ruu’s original blog post; Mdesilva

While every character in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- has the same value of hit points — 420 — calculating exact damage and overall health is much more complicated than that. The RISC gauge scales attacks after blocking, everyone has an individual defense modifier, and there’s also the Guts mechanic, which decreases damage further the closer a player is to defeat.

Reddit user dhamster brought those values under a scope to statistically calculate just how much effective hit points each character has. The first chart, made on Dustloop, has the Guts and defense modifier values for characters (0 being the worst, 5 the best):

Guts Rating	Character	<50% Life	<40% Life	<30% Life	<20% Life	<10% Life
0	Bedman, Elphelt, Faust, Zato	90%	76%	60%	50%	40%
1	Axl, I-No, Ramlethal, Sin, Slayer, Sol, Venom, Dizzy	87%	72%	58%	48%	40%
2	Ky, Haehyun, Jack-O’	84%	68%	56%	46%	38%
3	Johnny, Leo, May, Millia, Potemkin, Jam	81%	66%	54%	44%	38%
4	Chipp	78%	64%	50%	42%	38%
5	Raven	75%	60%	48%	40%	36%

With a few assumptions, dhamster made a formula that incorporates Guts to see an estimation of what a character’s actual health comes out to:

HP	Defense Modifier	Effective HP – No Guts	Guts Rating	EHP – With Guts	EHP (% of median)
Chipp	420	1.3	323	4	480	84%
Millia	420	1.21	347	3	504	88%
Zato	420	1.09	385	0	524	91%
Axl	420	1.06	396	1	549	95%
I-No	420	1.06	396	1	549	95%
Ramlethal	420	1.06	396	1	549	95%
Dizzy	420	1.06	396	1	549	95%
Sin	420	1.04	404	1	559	97%
Venom	420	1.03	408	1	565	98%
Elphelt	420	1	420	0	571	99%
Faust	420	1	420	0	571	99%
May	420	1.06	396	3	575	100%
Jam	420	1.06	396	3	575	100%
Ky	420	1.03	408	2	581	101%
Jack-O’	420	1.03	408	2	581	101%
Sol	420	1	420	1	582	101%
Raven	420	1.1	382	5	587	102%
Slayer	420	0.96	438	1	606	105%
Johnny	420	1	420	3	609	106%
Leo	420	1	420	3	609	106%
Bedman	420	0.93	452	0	614	107%
Haehyun	420	0.96	438	2	624	108%
Potemkin	420	0.93	452	3	655	114%
				MEAN	572.3
				MEDIAN	574.8
				STD DEV	38.2

“Most characters have effective HP that falls within a few percentage points of the median, but some characters are notably more or less resilient than the rest, by up to 15%,” dhamster points out in his post. “That’s not much different than the scale of hit points in Street Fighter IV, where Akuma had 850 HP and Zangief had 1100-1200 HP (depending on the version). Raven’s high Guts rating more or less balances his bad defense rating (1.1), but for the most part, the defense rating seems to be a bigger factor overall. Millia and Chipp have good Guts ratings, but their abysmal defense ratings send them to the bottom of the charts.”

Aside from these detailed numbers, it’s important to keep in mind that Guts doesn’t work on poison and chip damage, and that damage cannot be reduced below one. This was covered in the last Guilty Gear Crash Course.

Source: r/guiltygear

While every character in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- has the same value of hit points — 420 — calculating exact damage and overall health is much more complicated than that. The RISC gauge scales attacks after blocking, everyone has an individual defense modifier, and there’s also the Guts mechanic, which decreases damage further the closer a player is to defeat.

Reddit user dhamster brought those values under a scope to statistically calculate just how much effective hit points each character has. The first chart, made on Dustloop, has the Guts and defense modifier values for characters (0 being the worst, 5 the best):

Guts Rating	Character	<50% Life	<40% Life	<30% Life	<20% Life	<10% Life
0	Bedman, Elphelt, Faust, Zato	90%	76%	60%	50%	40%
1	Axl, I-No, Ramlethal, Sin, Slayer, Sol, Venom, Dizzy	87%	72%	58%	48%	40%
2	Ky, Haehyun, Jack-O’	84%	68%	56%	46%	38%
3	Johnny, Leo, May, Millia, Potemkin, Jam	81%	66%	54%	44%	38%
4	Chipp	78%	64%	50%	42%	38%
5	Raven	75%	60%	48%	40%	36%

With a few assumptions, dhamster made a formula that incorporates Guts to see an estimation of what a character’s actual health comes out to:

HP	Defense Modifier	Effective HP – No Guts	Guts Rating	EHP – With Guts	EHP (% of median)
Chipp	420	1.3	323	4	480	84%
Millia	420	1.21	347	3	504	88%
Zato	420	1.09	385	0	524	91%
Axl	420	1.06	396	1	549	95%
I-No	420	1.06	396	1	549	95%
Ramlethal	420	1.06	396	1	549	95%
Dizzy	420	1.06	396	1	549	95%
Sin	420	1.04	404	1	559	97%
Venom	420	1.03	408	1	565	98%
Elphelt	420	1	420	0	571	99%
Faust	420	1	420	0	571	99%
May	420	1.06	396	3	575	100%
Jam	420	1.06	396	3	575	100%
Ky	420	1.03	408	2	581	101%
Jack-O’	420	1.03	408	2	581	101%
Sol	420	1	420	1	582	101%
Raven	420	1.1	382	5	587	102%
Slayer	420	0.96	438	1	606	105%
Johnny	420	1	420	3	609	106%
Leo	420	1	420	3	609	106%
Bedman	420	0.93	452	0	614	107%
Haehyun	420	0.96	438	2	624	108%
Potemkin	420	0.93	452	3	655	114%
				MEAN	572.3
				MEDIAN	574.8
				STD DEV	38.2

“Most characters have effective HP that falls within a few percentage points of the median, but some characters are notably more or less resilient than the rest, by up to 15%,” dhamster points out in his post. “That’s not much different than the scale of hit points in Street Fighter IV, where Akuma had 850 HP and Zangief had 1100-1200 HP (depending on the version). Raven’s high Guts rating more or less balances his bad defense rating (1.1), but for the most part, the defense rating seems to be a bigger factor overall. Millia and Chipp have good Guts ratings, but their abysmal defense ratings send them to the bottom of the charts.”

Aside from these detailed numbers, it’s important to keep in mind that Guts doesn’t work on poison and chip damage, and that damage cannot be reduced below one. This was covered in the last Guilty Gear Crash Course.

Source: r/guiltygear

The Tenkaichi Budokai Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- league in the Japanese Mikado Arcade is well on its way in determining all of its participants. Four players have been determined by a popularity vote, and they are as follows:

1. Roi — Sol Badguy
2. FAB — Potemkin
3. Kazuki — Dizzy
4. Zadi — Raven

Those four players join Karinchu for spots in the upcoming league matches.

The last three spots will be determined through battle, in a tournament this weekend. Mikado will host a two out of three double elimination competition and the first three places win spots in the Tenkaichi Budokai League.

As usual, tune in to Jonio-san’s Twitch stream to catch the action. It will take place Sunday, December 11th, 2:00 p.m. JST (for PST, that’s December 10th 9 p.m., midnight EST).

Read up on our Guide to Tenkaichi Budokai for a thorough overview on the league as well as players who participated in the voting contest.

Sources: Jonio-san; 2dJazz

“Transcending history and the world, a tale of soul and swords, eternally retold…” Bandai Namco are celebrating the Soul Calibur series’ 20th anniversary this year. The company released a new trailer that showcases games starting all the way from the PSone Soul Blade/Soul Edge in 1996, and continuing through the latest releases.

The trailer mysteriously ends with “The Legend Will Never Die.”

Furthermore, a new Project Soul website (only in Japanese) commemorates the series with a release timeline and fan comments.

The most recent Soul Calibur-themed release from Bandai Namco is a pachinko slot machine.

Could this possibly mean the series’ soul will rekindle for the current generation? Stay tuned for more leads as they come up.

Source: Project Soul via Siliconera

The rumor mill leading up to the PlayStation Experience this weekend isn’t stopping when it comes to Capcom’s Marvel vs. Capcom 4: a new image appeared on 4chan boards and was posted on a NeoGAF thread, appearing at first glance to be a screenshot from the game.

Aligning with the previous rumors on Marvel vs. Capcom 4, the shot has two characters per team; Ant-Man and Gwenpool are facing off against Street Fighter V’s Rashid and Resident Evil’s Ada Wong. While it’s clear that the image looks a little dubious, this Twitter conversation reveals the source of the Ant-Man model, which is lifted from Marvel: Contest of Champions.

@MrBisonopolis @iantothemax Yep. False alarm lol pic.twitter.com/FiGDNTxMPo

— DatManOvaDer (@_DNOD_) December 2, 2016

Marvel: Contest of Champions is a mobile game that included Ant-Man in an update.

Recently, the early-circulating logo images of Marvel vs. Capcom 4 also turned out to be fake. Maybe it’s time for fans to just make their own Marvel vs. Capcom 4–they seem to have started already. Stay tuned to SRK as the PlayStation Experience unfolds.

Sources: NeoGAF; @_DNOD_