Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

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Get better acquainted with Sakura via her Street Fighter V character introduction

Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition has finally arrived, meaning Sakura the Exuberant Youth is ready to battle. Having graduated from high school and gained a new outlook on life, the Sakura playable in SFV:AE is a little different to her previous incarnations. To help players get up to speed with Ryu’s number one fan, Capcom Fighters have just released Sakura’s character introduction trailer.

Sakura’s V-Skill is a command jump, which can lead into a divekick, command grab or her trademark triple smash juggle. Her V-Trigger I focuses energy into her fists, powering up her fireballs and giving her access to a powerful palm thrust move. Her V-Trigger II beefs up her Shouoken and Shunpukyaku, granting her extra damage and increased combo potential.

If you want a look at all the new V-Triggers before you jump into Arcade Edition, check out the special video showcase right here.

Source: Capcom Fighters

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The Dragon Ball FighterZ open beta will have another round of testing

Your wish is granted. After numerous technical issues on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Bandai Namco have confirmed that they will be hosting a final 24-hour open beta test for Dragon Ball FighterZ in the future. A date has not been decided just yet, so keep your open beta client on your console for when details are released soon.

It’s fair to say that the open beta didn’t exactly go smoothly, with the servers being down for several hours, presumably due to so many people wanting to play ahead of next week’s launch. While a server update was pushed out and many players were able to get online again, there were still long waits to get a match. It was even worse on Xbox One, with a majority of players not being able to play after the initial early access day. When you consider that Dragon Ball FighterZ was first revealed at Microsoft’s press conference at E3, it’s poor form to abandon that group of players during this test.

Expect more information later this week — I could see Bandai Namco leaving it till the weekend as many players will be busy playing Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition during the week.

Source: Bandai Namco US

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Unleash the Wolf Fang Fist with this Yamcha Dragon Ball FighterZ breakdown from Maximilian

While we didn’t get to bask in the glory of Lord Yamcha during the open beta, Maximilian luckily got the chance to play the former desert bandit at a Bandai Namco event for Dragon Ball FighterZ last year. While we got a brief look at him via Hellpockets’ breakdown, Max’s video is a more in-depth look at what Yamcha can pull off in battle.

Primarily a rushdown character, Yamcha only has two main special moves: the Wolf Fang Fist and the Gale Claws. Wolf Fang Fist will be the main move you’ll be using as Yamcha, being a multi-hitting physical attack than can be followed up in a variety of ways. Along with a knockdown which is super-cancellable, Yamcha can perform a Wolf Fang Fist Flash by pressing Heavy at any during a WFF string. This takes one stock of meter and knocks the opponent into the air, allowing Yamcha to switch sides and continue the combo.

By pressing the Ki button during WFF, Yamcha can dash through his opponent and appear on the other side, so he can continue his pressure. You can also press Back + Ki to have Yamcha backdash away from the opponent. As for Gale Claws, you’ll mainly want to use this move as your aerial combo ender, as Yamcha has no aerial super.

Source: Maximilian Dood

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Sagat has become the ambassador of Japan’s Saga Prefecture, in celebration of Street Fighter’s 30th anniversary

If you thought the commemorative stamps were odd, you ain’t seen nothing yet. As part of the continuing celebrations of Street Fighter’s 30th anniversary, Capcom have partnered with the tourism board of Japan’s Saga Prefecture to temporarily make Sagat the region’s “sightseeing ambassador”.

The main goal of this collaboration is to advertise the local wares and produce that are made in Saga Prefecture like ginjo sake, locally grown rice, green tea and saltwater cider — with special Street Fighter II branding. As a result, you got “Wave Motion Fist” sake, E. Honda’s special rice, a Blanka ice cream and Dhalsim’s own chai tea blend, to name but a few of the products on offer. You can even buy a commemorative plate, showing all of the Street Fighter II characters chowing down on some of the food from Saga Prefecture.

Sagat commemorative plate

If you want to buy any of these items, Sagat will opening up his very own pop-up shop in Tokyo’s Ginza Place, running from January 22nd-28th. Not only can you buy things like the aforementioned commemorative plate and a special “Sagat Shouten” cooking apron, but you’ll be able to try some of Saga Prefecture’s local produce at the nearby RAMO FRUTAS cafe, which is having a special Sagat-themed menu to celebrate.

For those actually in Saga Prefecture, you can pick up any of the branded Street Fighter items by heading to the Balloon Museum in Saga City from February 13th to March 31st. For all the information about this regional collaboration, head over to the official Saga Prefecture site — which has been taken over by the king of Muay Thai.

Source: Sagaprise

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Team Dignitas grows its new Super Smash Bros. roster by signing Jose “Lucky” Aldama

Not content with signing one Super Smash Bros. Melee player, Team Dignitas has also announced that top SoCal Fox player, Jose “Lucky” Aldama has joined their growing FGC roster. Currently ranked 17th in the world and 4th in SoCal, Lucky’s 2017 was a bit of a rollercoaster, getting top 8 finishes at big events like Evo 2017, The Bigger Balc, Low Tier City 5 and Flatiron 2, while placing lower than expected at events like Shine, GT-X 2017 and The Big House 7.

Hopefully, his signing to Team Dignitas will see Lucky returning to form and getting back to regular top 8 placings. Both HugS and Lucky were previously signed to Selfless Gaming, whose women’s CS:GO team now play for Dignitas — I suspect the link between these organizations played a part in getting both players noticed by Dignitas.

Like HugS, Lucky will be sporting the black and yellow at Genesis 5 this weekend, hoping to set the pace for another year’s worth of intense competitive Melee.

Source: Team Dignitas

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Dissidia Final Fantasy NT has got Cup Noodles DLC

Yes, you have read that right. Continuing an odd partnership that started in Final Fantasy XV, Dissidia Final Fantasy NT has got a special Noctis costume which can only be acquired by buying limited edition packs of Nissin’s Cup Noodles.

The costume in question is Noctis’ Royal Raiment — a sharp black suit that was itself pre-order DLC for Final Fantasy XV. To acquire this costume, players need to buy one of the Dissidia-branded Cup Noodles, take a picture of their receipt and text it to a special Cup Noodles promo number. Should the receipt be read correctly, you’ll be sent a text back with your download code for the Royal Raiment DLC.

It’s certainly a novel way of locking off costumes, but it’s no different to Street Fighter V‘s Red Bull costumes. At least Cup Noodles are marginally better for you than a can of Red Bull. For all the details on this promotion, head on over to Nissin’s Dissidia website.

Source: Nissin

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Team Dignitas returns to the FGC by signing Hugo “HugS” Gonzalez

After an extended hiatus from the FGC, European esports organization Dignitas has signed Hugo “HugS” Gonzales to signal their return to the scene, and their entry into the world of Super Smash Bros. HugS is a true veteran in the world of Super Smash Bros. Melee, having competed at tournaments since 2004. During his career, he’s become one of the best Samus players in the world, inspiring many players to don the Varia Suit and fire off some charge shots.

A constant presence in the top 30, HugS is currently ranked 23rd in the world, with high placings at events like GT-X 2017, Low Tier City 5 and The Bigger Balc proving that this old man can still keep up with the new generation. HugS will sport the black and yellow at Genesis 5 next weekend.

The last fighting game player Dignitas had under their banner was Ryan Hart, who was released from the team in February of 2015 as Digntias focused their energies into PC esports. With successful teams in games like CS:GO, Smite, Heroes of the Storm and PUBG, we may see Dignitas expanding into further fighting games in 2018.

Source: Team Dignitas

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Prepare for the Dragon Ball FighterZ open beta with these translated movelists

We’ve got less than 24 hours until the Dragon Ball FighterZ open beta begins, so naturally everyone is theorycrafting and planning the teams that they want to try out during this weekend’s test. While some characters in the beta have previously been playable, fighters like Adult Gohan, Beerus, and Nappa are going to be brand new to most people.

So you aren’t desperately button mashing to find out what each special move is, reliable Twitter translator Hicchan has translated the Japanese movelists into English for each character in the DBFZ beta. These lists include special moves, command normals and supers — so you should be well-equipped for when the beta kicks off tomorrow!

Keep in mind that the Shenron mechanic will be active during this beta, so players will be fighting to take control of the Dragon Balls and make a wish on the eternal dragon.

Who will you be trying out in the beta? Will you be giving new characters like Beerus, Kid Buu, and Nappa a try, or will you be perfecting strategies with familiar faces like Cell and Vegeta?

Sources: PlayStation Blog; hiago_XYZ

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Undefeated 2018 comes to Phoenix, Arizona from June 16th-17th

We’re only 10 days into 2018 and the calendar is already filling up with big FGC events to attend. If you’re trying to plan out your travel expenses, you’ve got another event to add to the list, as Undefeated 2018 has just been announced for this June. Hosted by Yipes and Persia, this two-day event will see the best of the Southwest battling it out over eight main games — from Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 to Dragon Ball FighterZ. The exact games line-up is as follows:

  • Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
  • Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
  • Dragon Ball FighterZ
  • Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition
  • Tekken 7
  • Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2
  • Super Smash Bros. Melee
  • Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

If that’s not enough, there is also going to be a Curleh Battle Royale — which will no doubt see Marvel’s finest facing off in both UMvC3 and MvC:I. Early registration for Undefeated 2018 is live over on smash.gg, with normal registration prices coming into effect on February 2nd. For details about the Undefeated venue, along with hotels in the area and a preliminary schedule, check out the official Undefeated Events website.

Source: smash.gg via AZAngelic

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Scarz are running a special Street Fighter V mentoring scheme to train a new Japanese pro player

With the recent announcement of the esports pro licenses in Japan, along with other teams starting up mentoring initiatives, Japanese esports organization Scarz have begun their own Street Fighter V training scheme. Titled the “Scarz Youth Project,” the program will have one player training under Scarz|Sako to become a pro player.

The first phase of the audition process was an online bracket, where 19 Japanese players between the ages of 18 and 25 fought against each other with Sako spectating. From that initial 19, Scarz whittled the candidates down to six finalists, who will then compete in an offline audition on Saturday to determine who will become Sako’s pupil. The six finalists are as follows:

Seeing as the online audition was streamed, it stands to reason that the offline portion will be streamed as well — most likely on Sako’s Twitch channel. With more and more Japanese organizations running these schemes to train up the next generation of Street Fighter players, I wonder who will be the first Western esports organization to run a similar training program.

Source: Scarz via HiFight