Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

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C9|Ally wins the day at 2GGC: Greninja Saga

Chalking up his first major win for 2017, C9|Ally has taken the gold at 2GGC: Greninja Saga. Triumphing from Winners’ side, the Canadian Mario was able to assure his place at the 2GG Championship Finals at the end of 2017–and win with enough time to catch his flight back home.

The bracket gods seemed to favor Ally for this event, as he was able to avoid his bracket demons and make it all the way to Winners’ side of Grand Finals by only dropping two games. Taking out Japanese Brawl legend Edge, 2GG|komorikiri and second in line to the US Rosalina crown falln on his way to Winners’ Finals, Ally’s final two matches were against MSF|Larry Lurr. With the tournament running over and the clock ticking down to Ally’s flight, he would have to defeat Larry in two sets if he were to get home in time. Luckily, Ally made quick work of Larry, beating him 3-0 in Winners’ Finals and then 3-1 in Grand Finals. Clearly his Mario didn’t want to work any unpaid overtime.

Larry’s luck just seems to be against him at Saga events, as he is able to make it to Grands in spectacular fashion before falling at the final obstacle. The main upside to this Saga was that he managed to stay in Winners’ for the majority of the tournament, defeating his demon LG|Abadango in the first round of bracket and racking up victories over IMT|ANTi and Mr. R. Larry’s still got time to secure that Saga victory and I hope we’ll see his lightning fast Fox at the 2GG Championship Finals.

Someone must have been handing out 1-ups at Esports Arena, as Greninja Saga saw the glorious return of another notable Mario main. Struggling to hit his stride during early 2017, ANTi looked back in his prime during bracket. After dropping down to Losers following a loss to Larry Lurr, ANTi managed to eliminate both TSM|ZeRo and Mr. R during his trip through the lower bracket. He would eventually bow out after losing a tight five game set to komorikiri in Losers’ Semis, but the fire looks to be back for this Brawl veteran. No longer washed, this man is looking crisp and dry going into the Summer of Smash.

Falln’s Greninja Saga performance definitely forced people to sit up and remember this SoCal Rosalina player. His opening match in bracket would see him defeating TSM|ZeRo 3-2, to the shock of everyone. Taking game 1 and 2 against his Diddy, falln forced ZeRo to pull Cloud out of his pocket to get past his Rosalina. The switch seemed to be working, with ZeRo regaining his composure and taking falln all the way to game 5. Despite the pressure and the bad matchup, falln was able to hold his nerve and win the final game with a 2-stock. This victory allows falln to join RNG|Dabuz and Kirihara in the exclusive club of Rosalina players who have taken down the world number one. Falln would manage one more win, defeating Canadian Ryu and world’s nicest man UBCEA|Locus 3-1 before future champion Ally sent him into Losers’. From there, it would be the turn of fellow Mario ANTi to deliver the final blow, sending him out at fifth place.

As for the contingent of ninja frogs who had been flown out to Greninja Saga, Losers’ bracket would see several of them fighting against each other to stay alive. One of the first matches of Losers’ would see the two European Greninjas–orKs|Elexiao and iStudying–battling for their tournament life, just to have the winner face off against Japanese Greninja some. Some’s victory over Elexiao lead him to face fellow Japanese Greninja Lea for 17th place, bringing the streak of frog on frog violence to an end. Lea would be the highest placing Greninja, taking 13th place after losing 3-0 to ZeRo.

Following this event, ZeRo has surged back up to the top of the 2GGC leaderboard, with Dabuz in second and komorikiri in third. Nairo Saga is the next scheduled event on the tour, with it also acting as the Summer season finale, so expect some fierce competition as players try to snap up those remaining auto-qualifier spots.

RESULTS:

1. C9|Ally (Mario/Canada)
2. MSF|Larry Lurr (Fox/USA)
3. 2GG|komorikiri (Cloud, Sonic, Lucina/Japan)
4. IMT|ANTi (Mario, Zero Suit Samus/USA)
5. falln (Rosalina and Luma/USA)
5. P1|Tweek (Cloud, DK/USA)
7. Mr. R (Sheik/Netherlands)
7. UBCEA|Locus (Ryu/Canada)

Sources: smash.gg; 2GGaming; Tetra_76

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Lunar Hare Studios release the first teaser for platform fighter Earth Romancer

Melding traditional fighting game and platform fighter mechanics, Lunar Hare Studios have unveiled the first proper gameplay teaser for their new game, Earth Romancer.

The main character in the trailer should have elements familiar to any long-time Super Smash Bros. player, with moves similar to Marth’s Dolphin Slash and down air. Named Palante, this electric swordsman also takes a bit of inspiration from Guilty Gear’s Ky Kiske in there, with moves that have a resemblance to his Greed Sever and Vapor Thrust. The huge difference comes with Palante’s ability to throw out various small projectiles to control enemy movement.

Overall, the combat system looks super quick, with characters dashing all over the place to dodge projectiles and continue combos. Lunar Hare is planning to launch a Kickstarter for Earth Romancer in the not too distant future, along with a developer diary series to explain the game’s mechanics, animation and art style.

Source: Lunar Hare Studios

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Injustice 2 weekend round up: Brainiac combos, Gorilla Grodd setups, Cyborg 50/50s and more

It’s the first weekend of Injustice 2 and the videos keep flying in. We’ve got a bumper edition for you today with some Brainiac combos, a whole bunch of Gorilla Grodd tech, a possible infinite for Blue Beetle and more. Don the cape and cowl and let’s jump right in.

Following up on his previous Flash videos, desk is back with some “stupid” Brainiac combos. It seems to get the most out of his 12th level intellect, you may have to shut your brain off.

For those who like putting their opponents on ice, MK_REO has found a guaranteed reset using Captain Cold’s Glacial Grenade. If done properly, you guarantee a freeze on the opponent.

Ketchup has been beavering in the way in the lab and has not only discovered a particularly devious 50/50 in the corner with Cyborg’s grapple, but a way to activate Gorilla Grodd’s trait mid combo.

Speaking of Gorilla Grodd, rooflemonger has compiled three videos covering general tips and tricks, advanced combos and a guide on how to set up Grodd’s deadly simian vortex.

Finally, Cody Jackson has some combos for the young hero Blue Beetle. He also has footage what could possibly be a Blue Beetle infinite in the corner, but it requires further testing.

Sources: MK_REO; PNDK&M; desk; Cody Dickson; rooflemonger

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Find out who is at the top of the Rivals of Aether tree with its top 50 player rankings

With the second season of the Rivals Championship Series coming up, you’re probably wondering who to look out for when entering those online monthlies and offline tournaments. Well, the Rivals of Aether team have helpfully compiled a list of the top 50 players, mainly sourced from North American tournament results.

The ranking process is similar to the SSBMRank, with each player getting a short bio and a breakdown of their major tournament placings. All 50 players have now been ranked, with Genesis 4 champion FS|Fullstream taking the top spot. If you’re interested in seeing the methodology for each player pick, the Rivals of Aether team have released a short blog post outlining how players made it onto the ranking.

As there will be online monthlies and events across all three regions in RCS Season 2, expect more players not from the USA making onto next season’s rankings. If you are interested in trying to get on the ranking yourself, sign up for one of the RCS’ free monthly tournaments.

Source: Rivals of Aether

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Team YP re-enters the Smash scene by signing Griffin “Fatality” Miller

After a short hiatus from the Super Smash Bros. scene, Team YP are coming back with a bang, by signing the world’s best Captain Falcon player, Griffin “Fatality” Miller. Currently ranked 28th on the Panda Global Rankings, Fatality really shot to stardom after his landmark performance at 2GG: Civil War, where he managed to come second in the most stacked Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament in history.

In a statement released by Team YP, vice-president Brad Burns stated that “Fatality brings a new kind of energy to the organization,” with his stylish playstyle reminding the team of previous signing and fan-favorite Jason “Bizzarro Flame” Yoon. Fatality will be wearing the pink and black at MomoCon next weekend, and then at CEO in June.

Team YP has had quite the tumultuous relationship with esports in general, with Capcom refusing any of its Street Fighter players from wearing the YP tag during the Capcom Pro Tour. The ESL has also banned Team YP from competing in its events, due to the organization’s links with adult entertainment. Hopefully, Fatality should experience no such restrictions when competing in future Smash events.

Source: TeamYP

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Nintendo is hosting a special ARMS Direct tomorrow night

Ahead of the special ARMS tournament that is being held at E3 this year–and its release in about a month–Nintendo is hosting a special ARMS Direct stream tomorrow night. Starting at 3;00 PM PT/6:00 PM ET, this Direct promises a “deep dive” into the world of ARMS, showing off its single-player and multiplayer modes, as well as potentially some new characters.

If you need to find out more about ARMS in the mean time, you can read this article here, which talks about the game’s control schemes. While there is the option to play without using the Switch’s motion controls, it does look like it will put players at a disadvantage compared to those using the JoyCons like boxing gloves. We’ll hopefully see these alternate control methods in action during the Direct.

Source: Nintendo of America

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Downloading combos.doc: ROB’s combos & neutral game in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

While having strong aerials, a decent kill confirm off of a grab, and some super gimmicky combos using footstools and his Gyro, ROB is a character you don’t often see in competitive Smash 4 play. Hoping to show players some of the tools ROB has stored in its memory banks, MySmashCorner has created a comprehensive combo guide, showing off some of the tricks this robot can pull off. He has also teamed up the best ROB in the USA, Fable|8BitMan to get some insight on ROB’s strengths and weaknesses at the highest levels of play.

ROB is best played defensively according to 8BitMan, as all of ROB’s aerials are unsafe on shield. Approaching with ROB requires to players to act as a constantly moving wall of projectiles, mixing in lasers and Gyros to break down an enemy’s defenses so you can land a grab or an aerial. ROB’s n-air is the best option for landing, due to its large hitbox, but beware that it does leave ROB open if it hits on shield. You generally need to play ROB as a bait-and-punish character, as going in will just see him thrown on the scrap heap.

Source: MySmashCorner

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The Big House 7 moves from Dearborn to the Cobo Center in Detroit, running from October 6th-8th

As the premier autumn event in the Super Smash Bros. calendar, The Big House 7 is going large for this year’s event. Announced via a trailer at Royal Flush this past weekend, the Midwestern tournament is moving from its usual venue in Dearborn, Michigan to the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit. That’s right, The Big House is truly going big for 2017.

Registration isn’t available just yet, but expect singles and doubles for both Melee and Smash 4, along with some regional crew battles to settle some international scores. For Melee, Mango is the current Big House champion, taking three titles compared to Armada’s two. In Smash 4, ZeRo reigns supreme, having won both Big Houses where Smash 4 has been present. With the amount of talent nipping at his heels nowadays, we may see someone stopping his Big House three-peat.

Sources: MeleeItOnMe; Cobo Center

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Get On My Level returns for 2017, running from July 28th-30th at the International Center in Mississauga

Last year’s Get On My Level was full of landmark moments. None being the first Captain Falcon in a decade to defeat Mew2King, Ally winning his first Super Smash Bros. for Wii U major and defeating ZeRo in the process, and Leffen reminding the world of his talent by winning Melee singles. It was a fantastic opener for the 2016 Summer of Smash and one tournament that people won’t soon forget.

Hoping to build on that hype, Get On My Level is returning in 2017 with events for Super Smash Bros. 64, Melee, Smash 4 and Brawl. Rather than opening the Summer of Smash, GOML 2017 is now appearing during the height of the season, running from July 28th to 30th at the International Center in Mississauga, Ontario. Held two weeks after Evo, it looks to be one stacked event.

Registration is now open on the GOML 2017 smash.gg page, with early bird pricing running until May 31st. After that point, venue fee will go up from $45 to $55 until June 30th. There will be more announcements as we get closer to the event, so stay tuned to the tournament page for more info.

Sources: EvenMatchupGaming; smash.gg

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The_Cool_Kid_93 analyzes Alex’s changes from the second CFN beta for Street Fighter V

With everyone getting a chance to mess around with the long awaited balance changes coming to Street Fighter V with the second CFN beta, character specialists have been working hard to see if their character will improve with the upcoming patch. Dedicated Alex main The_Cool_Kid_93 has been toiling away in the lab over this past weekend, gathering all the data he can about the New York grappler.

Overall, Cool_Kid determines that Alex is indeed better following the proposed balance changes. Alex’s health has been buffed to 1025, his V-Skill is faster so you can potentially get two arm spins in after a stun and his Slash Elbow is now safe on block. The elbow is also quicker, meaning Alex can essentially loop his Slash Elbow on opponents trying to jump away.

Many of his medium normals are faster too, but Cool_Kid is still concerned about Alex’s ability to deal with pressure once someone gains momentum. His sub-par V-Reversal and lack of a three frame jab means he struggles to shake someone off once they get in his face. While his oki game is still weak according to Cool_Kid, he feels that it is much more enjoyable version of the character compared to at the start of Season 2.

Source: THE COOL KID 93