Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

Posted on

James “Duck” Ma Becomes First Super Smash Bros. Melee Player for Denial eSports

After a very short time with Melee It On Me, Samus player James “Duck” Ma has been picked up by Denial eSports as their first Super Smash Bros. Melee player. This is Denial’s first foray into Smash, as they are primarily known for fielding teams for shooters like Halo, Call of Duty and Rainbow Six: Siege, as well as for MOBAs like Smite and Heroes of the Storm. With that shooter pedigree, it makes sense they pick a player who known to be a crack shot with Samus’ Charge Shot.

Duck is currently ranked 17th in the world on the MIOM Global Rankings, but his placings have been getting better and better the last few tournaments, placing just shy of top 8 at this year’s Evo and getting 7th at WTFox 2 before that. With Shine being his next tournament, Duck now has the might of the Denial Wolf Pack on his side–which should lead him to bigger and better things in the near future. This duck is running with the wolves now.

Source: Denial eSports

 

Posted on

Beware Urien’s “Secret Shimmy” in Street Fighter V

The man isn’t technically out, yet people are discovering new tech for the master of the Aegis Reflector. Not only does Urien have a plethora of oki setups off of his heavy punch headbutt, but his standing heavy kick shrinks his grab box by 50%, making it easy to bait a wake-up throw and then punish with a big combo.

This tech works on all wake-up grabs and most command grabs, as shown in the video. The creator of the video Hatson calls this the “Secret Shimmy” and–as long as it doesn’t get changed before Urien’s official release–it looks like a great way to bait opponents into an unsafe wake-up option.

After demonstrating the Secret Shimmy, Hatson goes on to show several oki setups off of heavy headbutt. He also shows how Urien’s can beat wake-up jabs, delayed wake-up jabs, and back rolls. This is quite the extensive PSA for an unreleased character, showing just how powerful Urien may be when he graces Street Fighter V in the not too distant future.

Source: Hatson

Posted on

Beware of These Devious Situations as the Beefy Smash Doods Run Down Their Top Five Ledge Traps in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Being on the ledge in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U can be a dangerous thing. While you may be invincible for a short time when grabbing onto it, lingering on it for too long allows your opponent to set up a vicious trap which can end up with you losing your stock. As sticking on the ledge can be hazardous to your health, the Beefy Smash Doods have made a handy list of their top five ledge traps in Smash 4 to act as both guide and warning to anyone who is prone to clinging on the ledge for too long.

First off, let’s define exactly what a ledge trap is: a ledge trap is a situation where a player can punish the opponent returning to stage by either guaranteeing a combo or outright killing someone that chooses the wrong get-up option. This is different to an edgeguard, which is where a player stops the opponent from grabbing the ledge all together. As the first example in the video, cFive of the Beefy Smash Doods shows how King Dedede’s Gordos can force the opponent to get hit and possibly stage spiked by a Gordo if they stay on the ledge, while rolling onto the ledge makes them an easy target for a down-smash. While there are ways to avoid the trap all together by simply dropping down and regrabbing the ledge, doing so removes your ledge invincibility and sets you up to get dunked into the abyss by Dedede’s down-air.

The video lists another four of these devious traps, showing how a player can force an opponent to the ledge in order to set up the trap, as well as ways to either mitigate damage or avoid the trap completely. With ledge and edge play being so crucial in Smash 4, this video is a must watch for players who often end up hanging on for dear life.

Source: Beefy Smash Doods

Posted on

See Super Smash Bros. Brawl Rise from Its Ashes this November at Revival of Brawl

With Super Smash Con briefly resurrecting Super Smash Bros. Brawl for its regular legacy tournament, CLASH Tournaments are attempting to bring the game back into the limelight with a dedicated Brawl event later this year. Titled Revival of Brawl, this two day event in Philadelphia from November 26-27th will show spectators the game which spawned so many of Super Smash Bros.for Wii U’s greats. Nairo, ANTi, Ally, Dabuz, ZeRo–these are just some of the players that were forged in the fires of Brawl and this tournament will act as a glance back in time, to an era that many current Smash players may have missed out on.

The tournament will be divided up into three major events; Singles, Doubles and a special Mid-Tier event. Singles will have Meta Knight and Ice Climbers legal so everyone can be reminded of the terror they inflicted upon the masses. Doubles will have double Meta Knight banned to allow for more diverse teams while the Mid-Tier event will allow the lower end of the cast to shine–without the fear of Meta Knights, Snakes and Ice Climbers dominating the bracket. A full legal character list for Mid Tiers will be revealed in due course over on the official Revival of Brawl website, as well as details on which old school Brawl players and commentators are attending.

With Smash 64 staging a grand comeback over the past few years, this tournament may signal a small rebirth for Brawl by enticing new players to pick up this game, which is so influential on the current state of Smash. If you are at all interested in this grand Smash history lesson, follow the Revival of Brawl Twitter page and keep your eyes peeled for its smash.gg page for details on registration in the near future.

Sources: Revival of Brawl; CLASH Tournaments

Posted on

Notable German Fox Main David “Sodrek” Radobenko Joins Team Prismatic

With regular top 8 placements at big European tournaments including this summer’s PPT and BEAST 6 back in January, David “Sodrek” Radobenko has been signed as Team Prismatic’s latest Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player. He joins fellow German player cvye under Team Prismatic’s banner, and is also acting as Germany’s representative at the Rio eGames event, going up against international threats like Canada’s Ally, Mexico’s MK Leo and the UK’s J Miller.

While Sodrek is mainly known for his lightning fast Fox, Sodrek has a Link and Shulk in his back pocket whenever the time seems right to call upon a blonde-haired swordsman. You can see Sodrek’s Link in action in the montage below for DMG Alliance, of which he is also a member. As Europe gradually levels up in skill to hopefully rival that of the USA and Japan, hopefully more European players will be considered for big teams and organizations interested in getting into the Smash scene.

Sources: Team Prismatic; DMG Alliance

Posted on

Watch 14 Minutes of Electrifying Captain Falcon Play in This Super Smash Bros. Melee Combo Video, featuring EMG|n0ne

There is somewhat of a Captain Falcon renaissance going on in Super Smash Bros. Melee at the moment, with three different players leading the charge with the crowd-pleasing brawler. On one end of the spectrum, you have COG|Wizzrobe of the 20GX school of Falcon, focusing on optimizing Falcon’s punishes off of reading tech rolls, and less on the character’s explosive speed. Meanwhile, you have players like Tempo Storm|S2J, who is known for playing the Falcon that crowds go mad for, harnessing his ability to turn on the jets, go hard and decimate someone’s stock in a matter of seconds.

Somewhere in the middle is EMG|n0ne, who seems to take the punish-heavy playstyle of 20GX and the innate nuttiness of Falcon to create some amazing Melee moments. To commemorate his Falcon, The Portland Pilot has compiled a 14-minute montage of n0ne’s play from the past 12 months, taking clips from both big tournaments like Get On My Level 2016 and smaller events. What results is a Falcon masterclass, showing just how creative n0ne is, as well as how spectacular Falcon can be when put in the hands of a player is able to balance both Falcon styles.

Source: The Portland Pilot

Posted on

SNK Confirms Legacy Controller Support for King of Fighters XIV Via Day One Patch

Good news for those who have yet to shell out for a shiny new stick or pad: SNK has confirmed that King of Fighters XIV will receive a day one patch adding PS3 legacy controller support. This means that all you dedicated King of Fighters XIII players can continue to fight the good fight on your battle-hardened controllers, without the need to put down potentially hundreds of dollars for a brand new stick.

This patch will also apply to the King of Fighters XIV demo which is currently available on PSN, so those on the fence about this new edition of KOF can test out the input latency on their legacy controller before buying the full game. As with Street Fighter V, it is probable players will need to have a DualShock 4 connected to their PS4 in order for their legacy controller to be recognized, but that is not yet confirmed.

It remains to be seen whether legacy controllers will be allowed for KOF tournament play. Big tournaments like Evo have previously banned their usage due to the inconvenience of connecting and disconnecting for games like Street Fighter V, and discrepancies in input latancy, so this addition may only really benefit casual players and online warriors.

Source: SNK Official

 

Posted on

DreamHack Opens Registration for the DreamHack Winter ’16 Smash Championship

Building off their successes with previous Smash Championships, DreamHack has just opened registration for the Winter Smash Championship, which boasts a sizeable prize pool of $30,000 for any Melee players wishing to make the journey to Sweden. The tournament will take place between November 24-27th at Elmia, Jönköping, Sweden, with players needing to buy a general DreamHack ticket in order to enter the event. The actual Super Smash Bros. Melee brackets will be played on the 25th and 26th, so entrants can spend the other two days time enjoying the rest of this massive gaming festival.

You can now register over on the DreamHack website, with further details of the actual bracket timings becoming available in early November. Last year’s DreamHack Winter was quite the event for Melee, with Liquid|Hungrybox achieving a landmark victory over Alliance|Armada on the PAL version of Melee and in Armada’s home country. After the incredibly close set at this year’s Evo between Hungrybox and Armada, DreamHack Winter ’16 may be the place where Armada can redress the balance of power. It also provides TSM|Leffen with a large tournament within Europe where there will be competition that will truly test his mettle, as American players will no doubt make the journey to Sweden to win this coveted trophy.

DreamHack is not just home to Melee, as Street Fighter is used to having a big presence at DreamHack events in the past. Street Fighter players may want to keep their eyes on tickets for DreamHack Winter, as it could be the possible location for the European Regional Finals of this year’s Capcom Pro Tour.

Source: DreamHack

Posted on

MagicScrumpy Creates the Perfect “Spacie” in This Super Smash Bros. Melee Theory Video

Famous for his “What If?” series where he changes attributes of certain characters in Super Smash Bros. Melee, MagicScrumpy has now created a more theoretical heavy video, concerning how someone would make the perfect “Spacie.” For those of you who aren’t aware, Spacie is a shortened form of ‘Space Animal’, referring to the characters Fox and Falco in Melee. In the video, Scrumpy runs down how someone would create the ultimate hybrid of these two characters–by carefully taking moves from each character to make a space animal better than the sum of its parts.

He starts off by singling out what makes a character good in Melee: having multiple options. Fox’s shine is the best example of this, as it’s a move which can be used at almost any time and still be useful, it beats out many other character options–and it can set up kills easily. However, this kit must flow into one another so that the combination of moves results in optimal option coverage, rather than just having a sampling of the best moves which don’t necessarily link into one another. As such, MagicScrumpy’s ultimate Spacie takes Falco’s easy juggle capability with moves like up-tilt, down-air, and shine, and combines it with Fox’s ability to get easy kills off the top with moves like up-air and up-smash.

What results is an absolute monster of a character, one that can send opponents into the stratosphere in a matter of seconds. The only suitable costume for such a creature would be a texture of Slippy Toad plastered over Fox’s model to create something truly horrifying. While the end product may be something that inspires nightmares for Melee players everywhere, this theory video is a great analysis of what makes a good character in Melee and how designers create a character’s moveset in order to fulfill a specific job.

Source: MagicScrumpy

Posted on

Esports Arena to Open New Location in Oakland, Thanks to Investment by Allied Esports

Thanks to an large cash injection from Chinese company Allied Esports, Esports Arena is planning to renovate their current Santa Ana location, as well as open a new Oakland branch by the end of 2016. This multi-million dollar investment comes as Allied Esports attempts to start up a worldwide gaming league, using these arenas around the world as bases for their events.

The new venue is set to be built in Oakland’s Jack London Square, using the building model pioneered at the Santa Ana Esports Arena. This means a fully stocked bar, a packed weekly schedule of games, a modular gaming area as well as a production studio and green room for event streaming. Allied Esports plans to announce a similar gaming arena to be built in Europe during next week’s Gamescom event, acting as the company’s first foray onto the continent.

The Santa Ana Esports Arena is famous among the FGC as the regular host for Wednesday Night Fights, as well as the home for 2GGaming’s Smash Sagas, so expect these style of events to be coming to NorCal by the end of the year. With the European announcement coming next week and Allied Esports planning to open up similar arenas in the Middle East, Korea, and Russia in the not too distant future, FGC members the world over could possibly expect regular, high-quality tournaments within the walls of an Esports Arena near you.

Sources: Arena Digest; LA Times; feature image c/o Esports Arena