In a surprise announcement, Winterfox have released both Gustavo “801_Strider” Romero and Miky “Samurai” Chea from their roster. First reported by Yahoo Esports, both players have “allegedly received better offers” from other teams and Winterfox can no longer hold onto both of them.
In a statement given to Yahoo Esports, 801_Strider said that it was a “pleasure of working side by side with some of the most honest, trustworthy individuals” at Winterfox and he wishes “them the best in their future”. He is now “looking forward to the rest of the CPT season as he pursues other options”. As a bit of a late bloomer for Street Fighter V, 801_Strider has seen greater success in 2017, gaining fifth at both Final Round and West Coast Warzone with his Laura.
As for Samurai, he joined Winterfox following Red Bull Battle Grounds and his success in the NA Online Qualifiers for the Capcom Pro Tour. In regards to his departure, Samurai stated that “it has been a great opportunity” to be a part of Winterfox and that he wanted “to thank [the team] from the bottom of [his] heart” for their support”.
It is unclear whether Winterfox will add more players to their fighting game division in the near future. Both Samurai and 801_Strider are scheduled to attend Combo Breaker later in May, so expect details of their new teams to come out ahead of the tournament.
Scotland’s seasonal Super Smash Bros. for Wii U event is back for its first anniversary, returning to the Drygate Brewery in Glasgow on July 22nd. Along with Smash 4, BIG Summer 2017 will also feature Tekken 7 and Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 as part of its game line-up.
Along with its regular singles event, BIG Summer will be also running Super Smash Bros. for Wii U doubles for the first very time, so grab a teammate and see if you can take this inaugural tournament. Do note that to avoid bracket hold-ups, players cannot enter both Smash 4 doubles and Guilty Gear so choose your event accordingly.
— Battlefield Glasgow (@BattlefieldGG) May 11, 2017
PQube and Nintendo UK are sponsoring the event, so expect some additional prizes for winners of the Smash and Guilty Gear tournaments. Registration is live on the BIG Summer smash.gg page, so sort your tickets now if you 100% on attending one of Scotland’s largest Smash 4 events.
Following in the path of Cloud 9 and Team Liquid, Splyce have hired a coach specifically to guide their Super Smash Bros. Melee players. A familiar face in the Melee scene, old training partner of Echo Fox|MVG|Mew2King and current rank 60 on the 2016 SSBM Rank, Charles “Cactuar” Meighen has joined Splyce as their dedicated Melee coach.
Hoping to bring his years of experience as both a high-level player and an analyst, his guidance should help continue the success of Splyce’s current Melee players, McCain “MacD” LaVelle and Michael “Nintendude” Brancato. Cactuar is no stranger to helping Melee players improve, having created the YouTube channel Smash Practice alongside boxr|Zhu.
He will be making his debut for Splyce at Royal Flush this weekend, both as a player and a coach.
Focusing their efforts on the remaining villains in Injustice 2, NetherRealm Studios have devoted their latest Watchtower stream to showing off Black Adam, Brainiac, and the Joker. As Injustice 2 releases in the US next Tuesday, there was plenty of stuff to run through.
Newcomer Brainiac is the big bad for Injustice 2, descending on Earth to catalog its inhabitants and eradicate the last remnants of Krypton. His tentacles make him the perfect fighter for someone who loves playing the neutral game, but beware of the long recovery on most of his normals and specials. While a master of whiff punishing, he is also prone to being whiff punished himself.
Black Adam retains much of his toolkit from the original Injustice, keeping his role as a defensive powerhouse that excels at punishing the slightest misstep. His new special Riddle of the Sphinx is a three-hit rekka that ends with a powerful lightning blast, which is great for hitting opponents who over-extend. Many of his strings are still the same, so old Black Adam players should be right at home with this new iteration. He hits super hard, so beware of challenging this Egyptian champion.
Finally, the Clown Prince of Crime has indeed returned in Injustice 2, bringing with him a bag full of various lethal gags and pranks. While his normals have stayed the same, many of Joker’s specials have received a noticeable rework. His Gun Shot now has a meter-burn option, with Joker firing out a Bang! flag which sticks in the enemy and explodes after a short delay. Joker can now run full screen with his Crowbar, similar to Leatherface’s chainsaw charges in Mortal Kombat X, with it turning into an unblockable once he breaks into a run. It can even be meter-burned to gain a hit of armor. His character trait no longer requires him to land a parry, Joker can just start laughing to speed himself up. As long as Joker keeps laughing, he’ll retain his speed boost but continuous laughs do decay the meter faster.
After the success of its first season last year, the Rivals Championship Series is back for a new season. With its first major offline event being at Shine 2017 in August, the Rivals of Aether team have announced some of the changes they are making to the overall tournament circuit for this year.
First off, the tournament circuit is being expanded from two regions to three regions. Alongside Europe and North America, Australia is now joining the Rivals Championship Series. Alongside the top four players from North America, the top player from both Australia and Europe will get travel vouchers to attend the season finale in early 2018. The finals location has yet to be confirmed but it is promised to be “the biggest Rivals event ever.”
Alongside offline events, RCS Season Two will host regular online monthlies running up until December. If you are unable to make it out to big offline events, this monthlies will be your best bet for grinding out RCS points and potentially winning that travel voucher out to the season finale.
Hoping to raise the stakes for its first two monthlies, the RCS have teamed up with Big Blue Esports to make their first two online events qualifiers for Shine 2017. Alongside additional goodies, the top 8 from each of these qualifiers will enter a special 16-man bracket, where the overall winner will win a trip to Shine 2017. These qualifiers are only available to those in North America, so Australian and European players will have to wait for their respective monthlies.
The hype around Injustice 2 is reaching a fever pitch, as its launch is just over a week away. Hoping to prepare fans for May 19th, DC Entertainment have released a special video, telling fans everything they need to know about Injustice 2 ahead of next Friday.
Providing an overview of the game’s Story Mode, as well the Multiverse, Gear, and Guilds features, this video hints at some elements of Injustice 2 that fans may not necessarily be aware of. Based on the wording in the Story Mode segment, it sounds like players can actually pick the faction they ally with, rather than playing through the game as every character like in the original Injustice, or Mortal Kombat X. Based on a previous achievement leak, we already know that there are alternate paths through Injustice 2’s Story Mode, but they may actually be larger than previously thought.
As for the Guilds feature, they function much like the Factions in Mortal Kombat X. Rather than being forced to pick between five pre-made Factions, Injustice 2 players can now create their own Guilds. You will now receive Guild-specific rewards based on your achievements as a group, and you can even challenge other Guilds to special Group Battles. These Group Battles have two players fighting a traditional Injustice match, while teammates fire off special buffs and attacks to help their ally win.
It looks like a fun distraction, but I doubt we’ll see Group Battles on the Evo main stage anytime soon.
MomoCon is coming back for 2017, returning to the Georgia World Congress Center for another packed weekend of fighting game tournaments alongside its regular panels and events for various games, anime and comics. As well as tournaments for non-fighting games like Overwatch and League of Legends, MomoCon will be running events for:
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Pokkén Tournament (complete with $1,000 pot bonus, courtesy of Evo)
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
BlazBlue: Central Fiction
Mortal Kombat X
Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-
For Smash 4 alone, top players like TSM|ZeRo, NRG|Nairo, C9|Ally, Fatality, Ranai, 2GG|komorikiri, CaptainZack, MSF|Larry Lurr, CLG|VoiD are already confirmed to attend, so MomoCon is already set to be one exciting tournament. Registration is still open over on MomoCon’s official website if you are looking to attend. Don’t worry if you cannot make it out to Atlanta though, as all of the action will be streamed over on MomoCon’s Twitch channels.
The wait for Noctis continues! Teasing a new character announcement last week, Square Enix have confirmed that the latest character coming to Dissidia Final Fantasy Arcade is the evil warlock Exdeath. Much like his Dissidia 012 incarnation, Exdeath mainly fights using his mastery of magic, only occasionally using his sword to swat away foes so he can continue his magical onslaught.
Exdeath also brings a new stage to Dissidia, based off the crystalline Castle Exdeath seen in Final Fantasy V. For a sentient tree demon living inside a blue suit of armor, Exdeath has done pretty well for himself. The villain and his stage will be added in Dissidia’s early May update. For those waiting on the console announcement, the best bet is to keep your fingers crossed for E3 in June.
Last weekend saw players from all around Japan gather in Tokyo for the country’s largest ever Smash 4 event. Acting as the first A-Tier tournament outside of the USA, Umebura Japan Major was set to act as a true show of home-grown Japanese talent. With only two non-native players making it into Top 64, it was truly Japan’s time to shine.
The King of Evil Rises
With several players unable to make it to mid-sized tournaments due to work or school commitments, Umebura Japan Major acted as the place for many of Japan’s seldom-seen character specialists to finally take to the stage. One of these players was the Japanese Ganondorf main Gungnir, who is somewhat of a living legend among Ganon mains. While hardly seen at tournaments, Gungnir’s streams and Ganon tech have earned him the title of world’s best Ganon, despite his low attendance. When his name appeared on the sign-ups, expectations were sky-high for this reclusive King of Evil.
His path to Top 96 was not exactly easy, as he was placed up against a Villager and a Rosalina to qualify on Winners Side. If you’ve ever seen a Ganon in action, you’ll know that these two match-ups are some of Ganon’s absolute worst, due to his slow ground speed and inability to deal with projectiles. However, this was no ordinary Ganon. Scoffing in the face of bad match-ups, Gungnir was able to power through his pool to come out Winners’ Side for Top 96, defeating Japan rank 43 Yuzu and rank 46 kept.
Gungnir’s first game in Winners’ Side was to be against LG|Abadango. Now, even with all of his legendary skill and technology, Gungnir would have had to wish on the Triforce to clinch this victory. Falling into Losers’, Gungnir was able to defeat notable Japanese Pac-Man and Mewtwo player Ginko, before facing off against the world’s best Pit player Earth. It would be the King of Evil versus a righteous angel, with the loser going out at 25th place.
On paper, Ganon does not fare well against Pit. His bow is perfect for sniping Ganon while he is off stage and Ganon’s heaviness turns him into easy combo food. However, Pit’s lack of reliable kill options allows Ganon to live well past 100% and receive the full power boost from Rage. Game 1 would go to Gungnir, with him surviving to 153% and using Ganon’s immense strength to take out the angel. Earth would fire back in game 2, abusing Ganon’s sub-par recovery to edgeguard him before the wizard could gain the full benefit of Rage. While the two seemed level going into game 3, Gungnir tapped into the Triforce of Power and obliterated Earth in game 3, winning with a two stock thanks the character’s infamous Ganoncide. As someone who originally mained Ganon, Gungnir’s victory put a tear in this old Gerudo’s eye.
Unfortunately, Gungnir’s Losers’ bracket life would come to the end in his next match, against the Villager god Ranai. While he may have been victorious against kept’s Villager earlier in the tournament, Ranai is another class of player entirely. Overwhelmed by Ranai’s masterful projectile control, Gungnir was eliminated at 17th place. Make no mistake, this placing is probably the highest placing for a Ganon player at any major tournament and is an absolute marvel considering how much difficulty the character has in the current meta. I hope we’ll see more of Gungnir at future tournaments and his performance will inspire more players to take up the mantle of the King of Evil.
The Lion of Mexico
With both CLG|VoiD and CLG|Nakat unable to make Umebura Japan Major, it fell to Echo Fox and MVG to act as the major overseas threat in the tournament. While Echo Fox|MVG|Mew2King did not drop out as he is wontto do in Smash 4 events, he only managed to reach 33rd place alongside players like DNG|Rain and the old school Melee player Masashi. With his teammate falling early, it was up to the Lion of Mexico Echo Fox|MVG|MKLeo to carry the torch for the West.
Unlike his eventual Grand Finals rival KEN, MKLeo took a few losses on his way to Grand Finals against foes like Masashi and Kirihara. Following a 3-0 victory over Choco in Winners’ Semis, MKLeo finally faced KEN in what turned into a blowout victory for the Japanese Sonic. With his Cloud losing both game 1 and 2, Leo was forced to switch to his original main of Meta-Knight to try and defeat the Blue Blur. This character switch did not come off as planned, with KEN spin-dashing into Winners’ side of Grand Finals.
Leo would face an agonising climb back into Grand Finals, with Choco recollecting himself as his 3-0 loss in Winners’ Semis and taking Leo all the way to game 5 in Losers’ Finals. The two traded games right until Game 5, with neither Choco’s Zero Suit nor Leo’s Cloud giving an inch. Thanks to both characters’ burst damage potential, every game was a nail-biter but Leo eventually won the day, sealing out Game 5 with a crucial up air.
In the reverse of Tokaigi 2017 where KEN came from Losers’ to fight a foreign player for the crown, it was the foreign players turn to wrest control from KEN. Choosing to go Meta-Knight for the whole set, Leo was able to narrowly overcome KEN’s Sonic 3-2 in the first set. KEN was poised to take the first set, having Leo at over 100% going into his final stock in game 5. However, the combination of Lylat’s low ceiling and a rage boosted ladder combo from Leo’s Meta-Knight killed KEN at 55%. With KEN clearly rattled by that loss and with two sets of knowledge now under his belt, Leo turned the tables and defeated KEN with a clean 3-0 in the second set. It seems KEN is cursed to lose to foreign players in the Grand Finals of domestic tournaments. Let’s see if he can reverse his luck at an overseas tournament during the Summer of Smash.
Takera the hometown hero
As seems to be the case with most Japanese tournaments, Umebura Japan Major saw another local legend come to the fore. While unranked on the Japanese Smash rankings, takera is celebrated in Kanto for his stellar Ryu and for hosting regular Smashfests with players like Abadango and Choco in attendance. Despite his fame at home, he has yet to really make a name for himself on the national level. His performance at Umebura Japan Major quickly rectified that issue. Earning first in his pool by beating ZeRo slayer Brood and Japan’s best Lucas taiheita, takera would then go on to defeat Japan’s second best Rosalina atelier before eventually losing to 9B in top 96.
Takera continued on his path though, defeating the man of a thousand characters Rizeasu and causing a huge upset by beating Edge 2-0 to reach Losers’ side of Top 8. Unfortunately, this Ryu’s path would end at the hands of Japan’s best Rosalina Kirihara in a convincing 3-0 victory to the cosmic princess.
Takera would earn seventh place, outplacing the possible candidate for Japan’s best Ryu Chanshu by five places. In a weird twist of fate, both would end up losing to Kirihara, with Chashu’s deathblow being eventually struck by top Japanese Falcon pichi. Takera is planned to compete at this year’s Evo, so expect this Japanese Ryu to earn some Fight Money in Las Vegas.
The Land of Character Variety
As Japanese tournaments usually lack prize pots and with players usually sticking to a main once they find one they like, Japan has become the country known for its diverse character representation. Rather than simply picking the best character to win prize money, players end up gravitating to characters they most enjoy and then push them to their limit. One only needs to look at the Japanese Duck Hunt trio, Kameme’s Megaman or Hikaru’s DK to see how this character devotion has eventually translated into tournament success.
With so many character specialists coming out of the woodwork for this tournament, the Top 64 for Umebura Japan Major is up there as one of the most diverse in the game’s almost two and a half year history. Top 8 lacked any Diddy representation and the only repeating character was Sheik, played by both Kameme and Nietono. If you look further down the list at Top 64, some of the character stats are truly wild. Not only was there a Ganon and a Zelda present, but there was Rizeasu and his pocket full of characters, three Greninjas, two Pits, two Donkey Kongs, two Bowsers, a Duck Hunt, a Charizard, a Link, and a Pac-Man. However, for all of these lesser known characters, there were a grand total of seven Cloud players in Top 64 to make quite the overcast affair.
With the recent announcement of 2GG Greninja Saga, some of the Japanese Greninjas like Lea and Shiki are potentially coming to show their skills in the West, shining a greater spotlight on Japan’s deep pool of character specialists. Hopefully, the great performances of players like Gungnir, Onpu, Kisha and Tosshi at the event will see them creep onto future compendiums.
For anyone who stayed up to watch all of the matches, Umebura Japan Major was a fantastic display of not only Japanese talent, but the enthusiasm of the scene. With so many players turning out to compete, I hope events will continue to grow in Smash’s home nation and more will make the long journey stateside to compete at tournaments like CEO and Evo 2017.
Building on the success of Mortal Kombat X’s Pro League, Injustice 2 is getting its own international championship series. Run in partnership between ESL, PlayStation 4, GameStop and Gamelta esports, this program will offer chance for both pro and amateur players in North America, Latin America, and Europe to compete for a prize pool of $600,000.
The main event in the Championship will be the Injustice 2 Pro Series, which will kick off at Combo Breaker on May 26th. This series will comprise of both online and offline events, with pro players from all regions fighting to reach that final 16-man bracket. At the end of the season, the 16 finalists will advance to the Injustice Pro Series Finals, taking place on September 17th in Los Angeles. There will also be a Global Grand Finals in October, but details have yet to be confirmed about this event. For more details on all events in the Pro Series, click here.
For those who don’t wish to compete in the Pro Series, each region will be holding its own tournament series for players who might not be quite ready to hit the big time. In North America, GameStop and the ESL will hold the Hometown Heroes series, starting on June 4th. Beginning with open online qualifiers, the top placers from these events will then progress to one of eight Regional Finals on August 12th, held at various GameStop locations around the country. The eight victors from those Regional Finals will then meet at the Hometown Heroes Finals, held at the GameStop Consumer Expo in Las Vegas on August 27th.
In Europe, players from France, Spain, the UK, Germany, Italy, the Benelux Union, and the Nordic territories will compete in the Path to Pro Series. Online tournaments start on May 20th, leading up to the Path to Pro Finals on August 19th between 12 finalists from the various countries.
For Injustice 2 players in Chile, Argentina, Mexico, and Peru, there is the Injustice 2 Liga Latina. Beginning in May, each region will get its own series of online and offline qualifiers. The best players from each region will then go onto compete in the Liga Latina finals on August 13th. Don’t worry, Brazilian Injustice player–a tournament is in the works and will be announced soon.
