The Pokémon Company International have at last revealed more information on this year’s Pokkén Championship Series: with the finals taking place as part of the Pokémon World Championships in August, competition will be fierce to decide the 16 players that will make up the final bracket. With a prize pool of $20,000 on the line at the World Championships, expect trainers of all stripes to be hitting the gym.
North America’s qualifier will be at CEO 2017, with the top four players going through to attend Worlds. Unlike VGC tournaments, there is only one age division for Pokkén, meaning players of all ages can compete for one of those coveted spots. There will be a $5000 prize pool at CEO 2017, with the top four all receiving flights to attend Worlds in Anaheim. Do not fret if you do not qualify at CEO, there will be a last chance qualifier held at Worlds to give four more players a chance to get into the finals.
There is currently a 256 player cap in place for Pokkén at CEO due to the overwhelming popularity of the event. However, if there is substantial support from the Pokkén community before mid-May, there is a possibility that this cap will be lifted so get out and sign up.
Europe will be getting its own qualifier where four players will gain a spot in the finals, with the remaining four invites being given to Japanese Pokkén players. TPCI have yet to announce the details of the European qualifier, but stay tuned for more information.
Editor’s note: as reported previously, the Championship in Anaheim will run on the Wii U version of Pokkén Tournament–not the updated arcade version; no news has been released confirming (or outright denying) an update to the console version to bring the two versions into parity, but as we move closer to the Series season itself, that is seeming increasingly unlikely.
With the first rounds of competition starting next Monday, Turner Studios and ELEAGUE have begun to release tickets for ELEAGUE’s Street Fighter V Invitational. Along with seeing the action unfold live in the studio, attendees of the Invitational will also be able to compete in special “Amateur Showdowns.” ELEAGUE have also announced the talent lineup for the event: with Sajam, Tasty Steve, Zhi and Rip commentating.
So far, tickets are available for each of the Group stages of the Invitational, with Group A starting off on April 7th, and finishing with Group D on May 12th. Tickets are free, but expect them to be snapped up quick, so get ordering now. All the information regarding getting to the ELEAGUE Arena is available on the official ELEAGUE website.
As for the Amateur Showdowns, these will be 32-player, best-of-one single elimination brackets for a grand prize of $250. With the main action happening on the stage, these small tournaments may be the perfect way to raise some pocket change for a night out in Atlanta.
The ELEAGUE preliminaries kick off on March 27th and are running till March 30th, whittling down the initial 32 players to four groups of six. You can catch all of the matches either on TBS or ELEAGUE’s Twitch channel from 10:00 PM Eastern time.
Continuing his series of matchup guides for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Zinoto has turned his attention to the psychic Pokémon Mewtwo. With strong true combos, a great projectile to camp with, the best air dodge in the game and his odd jump trajectory, Mewtwo can be quite the roadblock for many players. By breaking down his neutral game, his advantage and disadvantage state, this episode of Cram School should help those who are struggling to defeat the psychic cat.
Seeing as Mewtwo is a pseudo-floaty character, Zinoto suggests that your combos should be focused around keeping Mewtwo in the air, rather than going for the most damage. He uses the analogy of passing a beach ball around; your goal is not to spike the beach ball, but to keep it in the air for as long as possible. As Mewtwo’s neutral can be so frustrating to deal with, thanks to Shadow Ball and down tilt, you need to maximize the character’s disadvantage state by continuing juggles whenever possible.
The Mewtwo player will most likely spam air dodge once in the air, so your goal should be punishing their landings rather than pursuing them relentlessly. Remember the beach ball and knock them back into the skies.
With the forces of Team Ally and Team ZeRo making their last-minute preparations and players flying into SoCal from all around the world, 2GGC: Civil War is almost upon us. Acting as the first seasonal finisher for the 2GG Championship Series, Civil War is required viewing for anyone interested in Smash 4.
Almost everyone from the PGR v2 is attending Civil War, making getting out of pools as difficult as winning a large regional. Esports Arena and 2GG better be handing out life-jackets at the door, as these pools will be deadly. The brackets will be released at around 9:00 PM ET tonight, so watch out for the resulting explosion on Twitter shortly after their release.
As for the stream schedule for anyone not attending, Friday will solely be devoted to doubles with pools starting at 10:00 AM PST. At 2:00 PM, there will be the special character round robin to determine April’s 2GGC Saga, with top 12 doubles set to begin at 4:00 PM.
Saturday will see singles pools going up to top 96, with top 32 starting on Sunday at 10:00 AM. If all goes to plan, top 8 is set to begin at 2:00 PM with the actual Civil War crew battle kicking off at 6:00 PM. The placement of the Civil War crew battle seems a bit unfair to players, as people will be tired and no doubt a little salty after the conclusion of the event. Let’s hope the crew battle does live up to the huge fanfare it has been given over the past few months.
Revealed in a compilation trailer for many of Injustice 2’s female fighters and shown off in one of NetherRealm’s Watchtower streams, Cheetah has finally received her own introductory trailer. As you can imagine, Cheetah is one of the faster fighters on the Injustice roster, using her superior speed to savage her enemies with combos that rapidly switch between high and low strikes.
Mixups and resets look like Cheetah’s bread and butter, with throws that allow her to switch sides or leave her at an advantage when the opponent gets up from the ground. She has a short range crawl that hits low, alongside a huge leap which can be meter-burned to have Cheetah drop from the sky and pin her opponent to the ground with a series of brutal slashes. Like her other throws, this then gives her ample opportunity to plan a meaty setup on her opponent. Her super is quite familiar to long time fighting fans–looking a lot like Spiderman’s Maximum Spider from the Marvel series.
If you’re a fan of characters like Sabrewulf, Cheetah should be right up your street. This trailer also shows off the second screen transition for the Batcave stage, as well as a new stage which seems to be set in a museum in Wonder Woman’s homeland of Themyscira. Injustice 2 will launch for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on May 16th.
Sheik is already quite the technical character in Smash 4, with plenty of precise perfect pivot combos and 50/50 setups which can lead into big damage or a kill. However, there is still room for Sheik to become even more technical. The Beefy Smash Doods have outlined just three difficult Sheik techs which are underused in competitive play but have untapped potential. They vary in usefulness, but they all have some utility in battle.
The first is the intangible ledge grab, where Sheik can refresh her ledge intangibility with an aerial Up B. It is somewhat similar to Shino stalling in Super Smash Bros. Melee, where Sheik can continually Up B at the ledge to slow the pace of the match. It is pretty useful, as it is a possible kill option but you need to have some precise aim to regrab the ledge, or else Sheik falls to her death.
The second is instant needle cancelling which allows Sheik players to cancel their momentum out of a dash with their neutral B, before instantly using a jab or tilt attack. To perform this, players must do the opposite of a regular needle cancel by inputting their select attack before tapping the shield button. The timing is super tight but if done correctly, it’s a great way to catch people on the ground.
Finally, the third technique is the defused grenade, where Sheik can pick up and throw the projectile without it exploding. This requires Sheik to take damage just as she begins the attack animation, dropping the grenade and allowing anyone to pick it up. You can also drop the grenade by slipping on Diddy’s banana. It isn’t particularly useful in a match but it can lead to some super situational setups which may catch your opponent off-guard.
If you tuned into the finals of Frostbite 2017, you got to see a Grand Finals which many have heralded as the greatest in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U’s history. Seeing the world number one hanging on for dear life against a Japanese player on his first trip outside of his home country was like something out of a TV show: commentators could barely catch their breath, there were constant gasps from the in-house audience, while online spectators were setting Twitch chat and Twitter ablaze. People who don’t even play Smash 4 were getting swept up in the excitement, showing just how engaging Smash 4 can be at the highest level.
But for all that positivity, there is a glowing blue elephant in the room. For those who aren’t clued up on tsu’s character of Lucario, he has a mechanic called Aura which makes him more powerful based on how much damage he has taken. As he goes past the 100% mark, Lucario’s damage output skyrockets. When combined with Smash 4’s Rage mechanic, which increases the knockback of attacks as you accrue damage, Lucario enters a super-powered state where he can kill enemies with a single move, from as low as 30%. You put a talented player like tsu behind the controls, and you’ve got something truly terrifying. While this makes for tense viewing, it creates a one-sided interaction between players, as Lucario can essentially punish the opponent for gaining a lead. Anyone who has played a decent Lucario knows how toxic Aura and Rage are when combined, as players can feel like they hardly ever have control of a match.
Comeback mechanics are nothing new for fighting games though, as players have had to deal with the threat of X-Factor and Ultra Combos in over the past eight or so years. Ultras in Street Fighter IV are probably the closest thing to Aura mechanically, as both fill up as players take damage in the match. However, you can actively waste your Ultra by dropping a combo, and you will not always get the best bang for your buck, due to combo damage scaling. While it did essentially reward players for getting hit—we all remember the influx of constantly-healing Elenas—there was active counterplay involved with Ultras, as both players had access to them, and you often had to change your Ultra pick based on the matchup.
Compare this to Aura, which essentially has no counterplay besides zero-to-deathing your opponent for both stocks. Even then, when Lucario loses a stock, his Aura attack multiplier increases if he is behind in the match. When you consider that Smash 4 is played with 2 stock, this creates a situation where Lucario is almost always in a powered-up state following a stock loss. He is either in front and at high percent, sitting on a nice fat stack of Aura and Rage, or he is on a fresh stock with an increased attack multiplier, with the chance to build up into his high-powered state even faster.
Furthermore, only Lucario has this Aura mechanic. Unless you are playing a mirror match, the Lucario will naturally control the pace of the game, as you constantly have to account for Aura. Combine this with Lucario’s great ability to hold onto a stock at high percent due to a powerful projectile, and you have a situation where the opponent is never safe. As a result, you create a stressful and one-sided player interaction, where the non-Lucario player is under constant pressure due to the threat of Aura. You only have to listen to ZeRo’s post-tournament interview, where he states that he had to have a five-minute break just to stop his hands from shaking. Playing against Lucario is not an enjoyable experience.
Yet it is that innate stressfulness which made the set so thrilling to watch. Knowing that tsu could come back at any moment makes for action you can’t draw your eyes away from. Factor in the narrative going into the match, and you have the perfect storm for what many have called the greatest Smash 4 set of all time. Obviously, the players do themselves factor into why the set was so well received–but the constant danger of Aura does hook spectators into the action. Comeback mechanics are going to liven up the spectator experience, by showing a player quickly regaining ground, but in the majority of cases both players have access to these mechanics regardless of their character choice. Aura is toxic to the player experience, yet it heightens the drama of matches and automatically create tension, regardless of player rivalries or outside story factors.
You can class Aura as a sort of “spectator mechanic,” then: an element of the game which offers more to players watching, as opposed to the players playing. Comeback mechanics generally fall under this umbrella, as they allow for those backs-against-the-wall, magic-pixel-style comebacks which get the crowd on their feet, but certain characters can fall under this umbrella too. While Lucario may be an extreme example, a character like Captain Falcon is a great example of a well-made spectator character. He is designed to be a flashy character with fast movement, and moves like the knee and the Falcon Punch which are satisfying to hit for both spectator and player. All of Captain Falcon’s moves are simple for a spectator to understand after a minute of watching, with animations that exude power and style. With there being a greater focus on esports and a growing audience of people who just watching fighting games, it’s fair to expect more of these spectator mechanics going forward.
It doesn’t mean that haven’t been done right already. Just look at what Capcom did with the change from Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V. The Ultra system was stripped out and replaced with the V-System, which vastly increases character options and individuality. As each character has their own V-Trigger, V-Reversal and V-Skill, it creates a system where the spectator is intrigued by seeing how each of these systems interact, while feeling less contrived to the players. While many of the effects of V-Trigger give players a fighting chance, by buffing their damage or giving them a way out of a bad situation, it never feels like you’re constantly fighting the mechanic, like it does with Aura. While something like Aegis Reflector can be annoying to deal with, you can fight against it. Moreover, the V-System still keeps some of the coolness of an Ultra—which Ono sees as something that brought a lot of hype that had previously not been in Street Fighter—while being more active and strategic than simply getting wailed on and then expending your Ultra.
Tekken 7’s Rage system is getting there, and it is a sight better than Smash 4’s Rage, but they are essentially Ultras by another name. You cannot generate them any other way besides getting hit, so there is still a situation where one player will never get to use their Rage Art, while the other is relying on it to make a comeback. It is certainly better than the old system and does create some strategy as to whether you gamble all of your Rage on a single move, but it’s not quite there yet. The important thing is creating systems where all parties are engaged, rather than creating one-sided situations that allows one player to set the pace of a match, regardless if they are winning or losing.
As spectatorship and viewing figures start to become a pressing issue for big budget studios trying to make a fighting game, there needs to be some thought given to designing systems which benefit all fans. While the play experience is the most important, I can’t help feel that there will be situations where mechanics may be added in that are geared more towards enlivening the spectator’s experience alone. As such, we should try to learn from Aura and consider how to make games exciting without relying on such divisive mechanics to add tension.
Get ready to hit the sticks and the tables as Super Smash Bros. heads to Atlantic City this May. With a $10,000 combined pot for both Melee and Smash 4 and hosted at the Tropicana Resort and Casino, Royal Flush is set to be one for the high rollers. Both games will have their finals in the grand Tropicana Showroom Theater, so expect quite the show if you choose to attend this event.
Going with the casino theme and as a result of discussions about the length of Melee’s in-game timer, Royal Flush will be trialing a seven minute timer instead of the usual eight minutes. I doubt it will cause that many changes to normal games but it is worth an experiment at a large event like this.
If you are interested in heading to Atlantic City this May, early bird registration is available till the end of March where prices will increase from $40 to $50. Spectator passes will also be available and the Royal Flush TO team are planning to have a hotel promo code on their smash.gg page post-haste.
With TSM|Leffen, Liquid|Hungrybox, CLG|SFAT, Hax$ and more already signed up to attend, Royal Flush is looking like an event worth attending near the beginning of this year’s summer of Smash.
Last weekend saw the conclusion of the Killer Instinct Ultra Tour and my, what a tournament it was. With players coming from North America, Europe and Asia to compete for the title of Killer Instinct World Cup champion, it was a stellar showing of both high level Killer Instinct play and of the community’s drive and devotion to their game.
The overall winner was Darnell “F3|Sleep” Waller, earning himself the KIWC Champion title to go alongside with his Evo 2016 trophy. Sleep’s run through Winners was mighty impressive, only dropping a single game to UA|Bass before Winners’ Finals. From there, he had his work cut out for him with a heart-in-the-mouth five game set with BH|Thompxson, before squaring off against Storm179 with another game 5 situation. Sleep’s nerve held, with his ARIA triumphing over Storm’s Hisako and earning him that double crown.
Storm’s second place is not to be overlooked however, as he defeated top level threats like Thompxson, UA|Wheels and even double eliminating first seed for the tournament Circa|Nicky. His Hisako is one dangerous spirit and with the upcoming release of Shin Hisako next week (possibly earlier), be prepared for more of this ghost girl at future KI tournaments. Thompxson’s third place is nothing to sneeze at either, with it taking the combined force of Sleep and Storm to stop his streak of 3-0 victories. Even then, Thompxson’s Jago took them both to game 5 so expect this tiger warrior to be hungry for more at Combo Breaker.
Elsewhere in bracket, MT|LetalisVenator pumped up the crowd with his rock solid Aganos play, earning a seventh place finish with a character dwelling in the doldrums of low tier. Some of his setups using Aganos’ walls were a sight to behold, dealing upwards of 60% damage with a single combo. His match against RavenIsRaw was particularly brutal, looking like a stone-cold killer against Raven’s poor Spinal.
While actually getting sent into bracket via DQ–and possibly due to oversleeping thanks to Daylight Savings Time– last year’s winner Rico Suave was able to make it all the way to seventh place as well, eventually falling to Nicky in a tense 3-2 set. Sleep actually follows in Suave’s footsteps with his victory at KIWC, becoming the second KI player to win both Evo and Killer Instinct World Cup.
Wheels’ vast character knowledge did him justice in top 64, with his revolving door of characters earning him victories against Selfless|Fiyah Liger, LCD and LetalisVenator before eventually falling to Storm and earning fifth. While Tusk lead the charge for a large portion of his tournament life, Sabrewulf, Orchid and even Gargos got their licks in during KIWC.
Puddle punching his way to fifth place and earning his rank as the world’s best Glacius, BH|Waterhorses defeated players like the UK’s HW|Valoraxe, France’s TDB|LeChatNoir as well as Wheels, before being sent to Losers’ by Thompxson. His final match versus Nicky was yet another close call, with the Ultratech killing machine just clutching it out over the alien iceman 3-2. For the full results and standings, make sure to look through the KIWC 2017 Challonge page for all of the action in top 64.
Overall, Killer Instinct World Cup was a phenomenal event in terms of action, production and excitement, so congrats to everyone involved for making it such a stellar event. KIWC will be returning in 2018, with the third round of the Ultra Tour starting with Combo Breaker and CEO 2017. You can watch relive all the top 8 matches by watching the videos below, with all of top 32 also available on Team Spooky’s YouTube channel. Fight on!
In an announcement from Bandai Namco earlier today, the company has set out its post-launch plans for Tekken 7, following its release on June 2nd. It comes in the form of three DLC packs: one in Summer 2017, another in Winter 2017, and a final pack in Spring 2018.
The first pack will include over 50 new costumes for fighters in the Tekken 7 cast, alongside a brand new game mode. Packs two and three will contain exclusive guest characters from other game franchises, along with a special stage and unique costumes for these visiting fighters. By the sounds of it, this could mean that the guests aren’t necessarily from other fighting games, so start speculating now.
Learn more about the post launch content! And prepare for two guest characters from other game series! More details to come in the future. pic.twitter.com/QRJbE30h9s
These three pieces of add-on content can be bought separately, or as part of Tekken 7’s season pass, which will also grant buyers access to 35 Metallic costumes. Bandai Namco have also promised fans that free character panels will be released throughout 2017, designed by a wide variety of artists.
