Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

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New skin packs, Ultimates and Killer Instinct merchandise revealed at Killer Instinct World Cup

Alongside the big Shin Hisako reveal, the special presentation at Killer Instinct World Cup released a whole bunch of news about new content packs coming to Microsoft and Iron Galaxy’s fighter. First off is the announcement of the new Rash statue, which is coming courtesy of Project Triforce. Pre-orders of this will be starting in a month’s time, with orders of the cheeky Battletoad set to be fulfilled later this year.

Next up is the next set of Ultimates, which were actually leaked via Killer Instinct’s in-game store. This new pack of Ultimates will be for Kilgore, Fulgore, ARIA, Sadira and Riptor, with the panel showing off Fulgore’s Ultimate. Let’s just say Fulgore’s Devastation Beam got a bit of an upgrade. As with the last Ultimate pack, this will be free for everyone.

On the skins front, there are two new Gold skin packs coming in the near future. Gold Skin Pack 3 will release on March 21st with golden skins for Mira, Sadira and Glacius. Gold Skin Pack 4 will release on April 11th, with golden skins for Spinal, Kan-Ra and Hisako. There are plans for every character to get a gold skin, with there also being a Platinum skin hidden within there, to possibly compliment the pre-existing Platinum Gargos skin.

As for exclusive character skins, Gargos’ herald Omen will finally be getting a color pack later this summer. It’s taken a long old time, but the old glowing blue demon will at last get some color variation.

Finally, besides the obvious Shin Hisako announcement, Kilgore will return to the KI Store on April 4th at the lower price point of $4.99. Iron Galaxy are set to reveal how much the Kilgore Community Fund has made later this weekend, so stay tuned for that figure sometime tomorrow.

Source: Killer Instinct (Twitter)

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Shin Hisako is set to launch on March 21st, with patch 3.7 for Killer Instinct coming out March 14th

Besides all of the intense competition of Killer Instinct World Cup, Killer Instinct fans were looking forward to the full gameplay reveal of the latest remixed character for KI, Shin Hisako. Acting as the redeemed version of the vengeful spirit, Shin Hisako is simple to pick up, but has some tools which will make her extremely tricky to fight against.

Alongside her change in aura and weapon, Hisako’s purification has massively increased her speed. Gone in the super slow walk speed, Shin Hisako’s walk and backdash are now among the fastest in the game. What’s most drastically changed is her forward dash, which now sees Shin Hisako teleporting diagonally forwards, almost like a shortened forward jump. Combined with her new Spirit Orbs and her tweaked specials, Shin Hisako can get around the screen faster than almost any other fighter.

While her rekkas have stayed mostly the same, Shin Hisako has lost her counter and Possession grapple, but she has gained a DP in the process. She has also gained a new move called Spirit Slice, which has her dashing through the opponent and leaving a glowing trail behind her. The glowing slash does leave a hitbox and you can juggle using the heavy version, so be prepared for some crazy recaptures with Shin Hisako.

As she is now purged of her anger and hate, Shin Hisako no longer has her Wrath meter. It is now replaced with her Spirit Orbs, which are orbs of spiritual fire which travel around the screen. Whenever Shin Hisako dashes forward when a Spirit Orb is on the screen, she will actually teleport to that orb. If you grab someone, you stick a Spirit Orb on them, meaning you have a way to always get in on your opponent.

If you attack these Spirit Orbs, Shin Hisako fires off a projectile similar to Leo Whitefang’s in Guilty Gear Xrd. If you land a hard knockdown and have a Spirit Orb up, you can set up some trick mixups which will keep the opponent guessing as which way to block. The projectiles created from Spirit Orbs clash with all other fireballs, besides Shadow or charged fireballs.

These Spirit Orbs also interact with all of Shin Hisako’s heavy specials, with all of them actively tracking a Spirit Orb. Players will have to keep a close eye on Shin Hisako’s Spirit Orbs but they should not be completely feared. Aganos can actually flick away Shin Hisako’s Spirit Orbs before she can establish any cool setplays, so be careful of the stone golem.

Her Instinct has also changed, as she now summons the spectral hands from the Village of Whispers to drag her opponent to Hell. The hands travel in a puddle along the ground, slowly approaching the opponent. If a player stands in the puddle for too long, they are dragged down beneath the earth and take a large chunk of damage. Shin Hisako players can resummon the puddle by pressing heavy punch and heavy kick and their Instinct will completely drain if they drag the opponent to Hell.

As said in the presentation, Shin Hisako is much easier to pick up and play when compared to normal Hisako, but her amazing mobility and Spirit Orbs offer huge depth for veteran players.

Shin Hisako is set to definitely launch on March 21st for $4.99, but this is considered a ‘worst case scenario’ by Iron Galaxy and Microsoft. As part of a special “Beam Plays Killer Instinct” promotion which begins on March 14th, the Killer Instinct community will be able to unlock Shin Hisako early, if they manage to beat Shadow Lords mode with the character, using the special stream commands. It will be tough going but if a dedicated team of stream viewers bands together, it can be done.

Shin Hisako Early Unlock

Check out the entire Shin Hisako breakdown in the Twitch VOD below, along with the following Shin Hisako gameplay videos in the mean time, courtesy of Iron Galaxy. Patch 3.7 of Killer Instinct is also available on March 14th, so expect all the juicy balance changes very soon.

 

Sources: TeamSp00ky; Killer Instinct

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Anime Licensing and Streaming Company Funimation Becomes New Sponsor for Panda Global

One of the USA’s largest anime licensing and distribution companies, Funimation, has just announced that it will be sponsoring esports organization Panda Global. This comes fresh off the back of Panda Global’s anime fighter sponsorship announcements: signing BlazBlue player SuperKawaiiDesu and renewing MarlinPie’s contract for 2017.

In a statement given to ESPN Esports, Funimation’s COO Mike DuBoise said that Funimation are “thrilled to be entering into the competitive world of esports with our sponsorship of Panda Global. We’ve invested heavily in streaming to expand both the reach of and accessibility to our FunimationNow anime service and the streaming-centric nature of esports aligns well with our strategic vision and our audience.” Funimation are most well-known for their distribution of the Dragon Ball series, among many others.

Funimation now join competitor Crunchyroll as the two main anime distributors in the world of esports. With fighting games appearing in multiple anime, we can only hope that this continued collaboration leads to an actual anime about the FGC itself… There’s certainly enough action and drama for at least a few good arcs.

Sources: ESPN Esports; Panda Global

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Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe is Coming to PlayStation 4 and Steam on March 15th

It has been bubbling away in the background for a while now, but FK Digital and Arc System Works have finally announced a US release date for Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe. Acting as an enhanced port of the original Chaos Code from the last generation of consoles, this fast-paced anime fighter adds two brand new fighters, Lupinus and Ray, a color change mode, and probably the most important feature: online play.

The lack of online play for the original Chaos Code really stifled the growth of its community, so this enhanced rerelease should garner a larger following. Plus, it’s only $19.99, so it’s one of the cheaper fighting games set to come out in 2017. FK Digital are currently working on the arcade sequel to Chaos Code, so potentially expect a port of that if Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe does well.

Chaos Code: New Sign of Catastrophe launches on both Steam and PS4 March 15th.

Source: Arc System Works

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Panda Global Are Getting Back into Street Fighter V with the Signing of Victor “Punk” Woodley

Following the departure of Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez as their main Street Fighter player, Panda Global have jumped right back into the fight by signing Victor “Punk” Woodley to the organization. Making a splash at last year’s Red Bull Battlegrounds–where he gained third after defeating heavy hitters like Echo Fox|Justin Wong and the aforementioned FChamp–Punk has gone from strength to strength with first place finishes at both NEC ’17 and Winter Brawl 11.

At only 18-years-old and a master of multiple characters, Punk represents the growing number of younger players who are really starting to shake up the old order of Street Fighter. In a statement to ESPN Esports, Panda Global CEO Alan Bunney M.D. said that “Punk is going to be one of the dark horses of 2017” and that Panda Global is “excited to support the new blood in the scene.”

The signing is ahead of the ELEAGUE Street Fighter V invitational, where Punk has to fight powerhouses like Echo Fox|Momochi, RZR|Infiltration, Echo Fox|Julio Fuentes, and Smug, to name but a few. Punk certainly has no shortage of chutzpah, so let’s see if the young buck from Philadelphia can make it through to the next round of the competition.

Sources: Panda Global; ESPN Esports; BasedMonster

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French Esports Team Millenium Signs Jean-Baptiste “Will2Pac” Wilfred for Street Fighter V

Marking one of the first major European esports teams to get into fighting games, French esports organization Millenium has just signed Jean-Baptiste “Will2Pac” Wilfred as their first Street Fighter player. Known for their presence in other major esports like League of Legends, Starcraft 2, CS:GO, Hearthstone and Halo, Millenium is finally jumping on the FGC train.

Known for his electrifying Laura, Will2Pac is one of France’s top players and a force to be reckoned within Europe. With second place at both Furia Tica and Moscow Fighting Arena, fifth at EGX 2016, and seventh at DreamHack Austin, Will2Pac is primed to finally get a place within the Capcom Cup finals for 2017 and fly the flag for France.

Source: Millenium

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Street Fighter V Joins the Gfinity Challenger Series

Joining CS:GO in Gfinity’s new open tournament series, Street Fighter V has been selected as one of the three playable games in Gfinity’s Challenger Series. Designed for players of all skill levels, the Gfinity Challenger Series allows world warriors to compete in special Community Cups, climb the leaderboard and eventually win a place in the Gfinity Elite Draft.

At the end of the season, the top ranked players from the Challenger Series will be invited to the Gfinity Arena in London as part of the Elite Draft. Eight pro teams will then pick from these top ranked players to form part of their team to compete in the Gfinity Elite Series.

If you’re someone who is looking to try and make it in the world of esports, or are just looking for a new competitive league to play in, you can go sign up on Gfinity’s website.

Source: Gfinity

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Bandai Namco and ESL Announce a Tekken 7 UK and Ireland Championship

Ahead of Tekken 7’s launch on June 2nd, Bandai Namco UK has teamed up with the ESL to host a series of tournaments to crown the first UK and Ireland Tekken 7 champion. Starting at Hypespotting 6 in Glasgow from April 15th-16th, Bandai Namco will host five qualifying tournaments at five different cities in the UK and Ireland. The dates and cities are as follows:

  • April 15th/16th – Glasgow
  • April 22nd – Dublin
  • April 29th – Manchester
  • May 6th – Birmingham
  • May 13th – London

The top three players from each qualifier will win a place in the grand finals, to be held at MCM London Comic Con on May 26th-28th. This final matches will take place on the ESL Arena stage, with one participant leaving with a shiny new championship belt.

For full details on how to sign up for each event, go to Bandai Namco’s official championship website for more.

Source: Bandai Namco

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The Beefy Smash Doods Run Through Diddy Kong’s “Ge0” Combo in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

As if Diddy needs to be any stronger. Created by Super Smash Bros. for Wii U player Ge0 and popularized by Zinoto, the Ge0 combo is a potential 0 to death combo with Diddy Kong, which uses multiple footstools, neutral and down airs to rack up damage, before dunking your opponent into the abyss. Looking to optimize and find possible escapes for this devastating combo, the Beefy Smash Doods have gone into the lab to further investigate the Ge0 combo.

While it looks flashy and is certainly devastating when optimized properly, the Ge0 combo is not a guaranteed kill by any means. Gravity, weight and fall speed massively factor into combo follow ups and when you combine Rage and move stalling, it becomes a huge guessing game as to what follow ups you can use. Luckily, the Beefy Smash Doods go through their current combo optimizations to show you what works on a variety of characters.

The main things to note is that the Ge0 combo is much harder to hit on fastfallers and that floatier characters must be at low percent for the combo to work. Get practicing and see how powerful the Ge0 combo can be.

Source: Beefy Smash Doods

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Marvel Gets Its Own Year Long Community Circuit, Titled The Curleh Circuit

In a huge, nationwide collaboration with Marvel community leaders like IFC Yipes, Persia_xo, AZAngelic, kbkinderparty and ThaGaGaGuy and with help from smash.gg and Bear, Marvel is getting its very first year long community circuit. Titled the Curleh Circuit, it will track results from weeklies, regionals and major events across North America, with the hopes of crowning a grand Marvel champion after a year’s worth of competition.

Players can track their progress on the Curleh Circuit leaderboard, with the top placers at the end of the season being invited to the Curleh Mustache Finale to decide the overall victor. While most players will qualify for the Finale via leaderboard points, special exhibition events, social media contests and other activities will award players with spots at the Curleh Mustache Finale.

Points allocation will be determined by the size of the event, with events ranking from C Tier to S Tier. S Tier events have 1000 points to share out between the Top 8 placers, while C Tier events having just 200 points to parcel out. You can find all of the information concerning events, including how to make your local or regional a Curleh Circuit sanctioned event over on its dedicated smash.gg page. From there, you can also check upcoming tournaments and the current standings on the Curleh Circuit leaderboard. Marvel is more than just living, it’s thriving.

Source: smash.gg