Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

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NeoGAF Leak Reveals HORI Fight Sticks and Pads Are Potentially Coming to the Nintendo Switch

We’re coming up to the big Nintendo Switch reveal on Thursday, and it’s only likely that leaks and rumors are going to come out. In a post by user yoonshik on NeoGAF, which has gathered screenshots from the Twitter account DroidXAce, documents have apparently leaked from HORI’s European division which show off multiple accessories coming to the Switch.

While the majority of these leaked accessories are things like decals for the JoyCon, charging stands, a LAN adapter, and even a charger that plugs into a car’s cigarette lighter, the main two peripherals that are important to members of the FGC are a Switch edition of the Real Arcade Pro stick, as well as a new HORI pad. In the NeoGAF thread, yoonshik posted what looks like official marketing renders of some of these products, including the HORI fight pad.

Now, if this is real, it possibly confirms two major things for the Switch. One: that fighting games are coming to the Switch in a big way, so much so that they are releasing the RAP stick especially for the system. As HORI previously made a special version of the RAP for the Wii U to play Tekken Tag Tournament 2, this could mean that Tekken 7 could be on its way as a possible Switch launch title. Two: it potentially confirms that a Pokkén remaster is coming to Switch, seeing as HORI made the special Pokkén fight pads and these new controllers are to replace the old ones. Especially since the DLC fighters from Pokkén have yet to arrive on the Wii U, it makes the most sense that these characters would arive in a brand new version for the Nintendo Switch.

Of course, there is the strong possibility that the internal documents acquired by DroidXAce are fake, but the marketing renders posted by yoonshik do look authentic. All will no doubt be revealed on Thursday night, so keep an eye on Shoryuken as more develops.

Sources: NeoGAF; DroidXAce

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Don’t Get Thrown for a Loop! PugilistPenguin Covers How to Deal with Street Fighter V’s Throws in This Two Minute Tutorial

While his last defensive episode dealt with blocking incoming attacks, PugilistPenguin’s latest Two Minute Tutorial covers how to combat throws in Street Fighter V. This tutorial covers dealing with techable throws, but the lessons about spacing and looking for your opponent’s movement patterns are also helpful for determining when someone is going for a command throw.

Throw teching, tick throws and shimmies are all covered in these informative two minutes, so this is definitely a tutorial to watch if you struggle with constantly being thrown. With tick throws and shimmies, it’s mainly a matter of proving to an opponent that you know what they are doing and making them realize that the option will not work. From there, defending actually becomes that little bit easier, as you’ve mentally shut down one of an option that an opponent may be using to open you up.

Source: PugilistPenguin

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Immortals Gains Major Investment from Lionsgate, While the Miami HEAT Partners with Misfits

The race to get into esports continues as two major teams receive investments from well-known companies and sports teams. In a statement released today, Immortals has received a major cash injection from broadcasting company Lionsgate, while the Miami HEAT have announced a “strategic partnership” with Misfits.

Lionsgate is no stranger to the world of esports, as they are currently partnered with the ESL and Microsoft to help with the future of competitive Halo, and have previously invested in mobile streaming platform Mobcrush. Talking about the investment, Immortals chairman Clinton Foy said that “what we’re doing today in eSports is like the early days of building the NFL and NBA. It’s not the evolution of games–it’s the evolution of sports, technology and media.” Immortals CEO Noah Whinston added that “Immortals and Lionsgate are both focused on developing new entertainment formats, and we’re thrilled to collaborate with them at the cutting edge of eSports media.”

The Miami HEAT are following the new trend of figures and teams from the NBA-backing esports organizations, with Shaq being a joint owner of NRG Esports, Rick Fox owning Echo Fox–who recently launched a massive FGC offensive–and Renegades being managed by Jonas Jerebko of the Boston Celtics. In a statement released by the Miami HEAT today, the NBA team will assist “in all duties including marketing, branding, promotion, retail, digital and sponsorship activation on behalf of the franchise, and to cross-promote the HEAT and Misfits.” Speaking about this partnership, Misfits CEO Ben Spoont said that “this partnership will be the catalyst and foundation to our continued expansion of the Misfits organization into a global esports brand and company.”

With both Immortals and Misfits currently having a stake in Super Smash Bros. Melee, it stands to reason that both teams will be looking to expand into the greater FGC in the coming months, as seen by the massive landgrabs made by Echo Fox. As the esports landscape becomes full of these household names, you can expect to see more players breaking off from traditional FGC sponsors to ally behind the big bucks and brand recognition of teams like Echo Fox, Immortals and so on.

Sources: Variety; The Miami HEAT

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It’s the USA vs. Japan vs. the Rest of the World: Genesis 4’s Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Crew Battles

With representatives from all around the world converging on San Jose next week for the beginning of 2017’s Smash season, international pride is on the line as countries compete to see who is the best Smash playing nation. With USA and Japan acting as the two juggernauts going into Genesis 4, the rest of the world has banded together to form one super team, made up of players from Mexico, Canada, and Europe to take down the forces of East and West.

This world crew battle will start as a 10vs10 round robin, with the top two teams going through to face off against each other in a final 12vs12 show match, where all 12 players from the winning region get paid out. If it is anything like the crew battles that took place at The Big House 6, it will make for absolutely essential viewing.

Each crew is stacked with killers and with Japan competing as its own nation, rather than just being counted as “the World,” the event will be closer than ever. While I should back my fellow Europeans–gutted I’m not on the reserve list–my gut feeling is the finals will be Japan vs. the USA. You can check out the entire team rosters on smash.gg and prepare to wave your country’s flag next weekend.

Sources: BearUNLV; smash.gg

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The Midwest Rallies Its Troops for 2GGC: Midwest Mayhem Saga in February

The 2GG Championship Circuit is starting to form up, as 2GGaming and Events2Compete announce the February Saga to be held at the Esports Arena in Santa Ana, California. Titled Midwest Mayhem Saga, this event will see the Midwest’s finest invading SoCal to defend their honor against the rest of the USA. Winners of previous Midwest Mayhem events–C9|Ally, Zinoto, False and Circa|6WX–will be in attendance, with other Midwest players being able to nominate themselves to the 2GG Shop, in order to get funding for the event.

Galvanized by their previous clash at The Big House 6, SoCal are demanding a crew battle rematch with the Midwest, gathering its best players to prove their dominance on home turf. If you don’t want to nominate yourself for the 2GG Shop but still want to attending Midwest Mayhem Saga, there will be three separate qualifying tournaments to win a trip to the event. FTS: The Wreckpublic and Kingslayer 2 on January 28th will be qualifying events, as well as Midwest Mayhem 7 on February 4th.

Midwest Mayhem 7 will be special in itself, as it will see various Mexican players coming to compete in Chicago. So far, Cloud main Javi, world’s best Mr. Game & Watch SF|Regi and Lucario main SF|Richi are confirmed to attend Midwest Mayhem 7, with more to be announced in the coming weeks.

Registration for Midwest Mayhem 7 should now be available over on smash.gg and the confirmed date for Midwest Mayhem Saga will be decided later this week, as 2GG are trying to avoid clashes with international events like BEAST 7.

Sources: Events2Compete; smash.gg

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Warm Up Those Chain Guns with This Kilgore Tech Roundup for Killer Instinct

With Kilgore’s recent release, dedicated lab monsters have been putting in some serious work with this decaying robot, trying to make the most out of his unique kit. Most are finding Kilgore to be unintuitive at first, as his damage is not fantastic and his Overheat mechanic requires players to adapt quickly to the reduced range of his gun shots and missiles. However, people are persevering and starting to formulate some clever combos and setplays with this robot.

Japanese Killer Instinct player OGTY has collated a series of unbreakable combos, which make heavy use of Kilgore’s juggle potential, as well as using Light Chain Gun Barrage as an OTG to keep the hits going. All of these combos do require Kilgore to be in Overheat, as well as two bars of Shadow meter, so they may not be the most optimal sequences out there.

Rolly2891 has been experimenting with Kilgore’s Missile setups following a hard knockdown, as well as juggles following an Overheat throw.

LeoFerreis has been experimenting into Kilgore’s ability to punish Shadow moves, by using an Exhaust cancel to buffer a Heavy Chain Gun Assault during the freeze frame. While this does result in not being able to start an Overheat combo, you start a short juggle sequence by following up with Light into Shadow Chain Gun Assault, or even a Shadow Metal Ball recapture at higher spin speeds.

If you have any Kilgore tech to share or want to keep up to date with character discoveries, peruse the Kilgore tech and strategy thread over on Ultra-Combo.

Sources: OGTY; Rolly2891; Leo Ferreis; Ultra-Combo

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Bass Chills His Opponents to the Bone with This Frosty Spinal Montage

As his name suggests, Ultra Arcade’s Bass is quite the fan of the Mega Man series. So much so that his latest Spinal montage is all set to the music from Frost Man’s stage from Mega Man 8, adding to the retro flavor of these clips. The editor of this montage, UA|Kalypso, has even added in the special “Jump!” and “Slide!” icons from Frost Man’s stage, to line up with whenever Bass starts a combo with Spinal’s slide or a jump in.

With any Bass compilation, expect some devastating corner combos, extensive use of Spinal’s bouncing Skulls and more than a few mindgames which will send a chill up your spine. If you are looking for something to heat you up, Bass has promised that he will be starting up a special Cinder gauntlet, similar to his previous Spinal gauntlet once he returns from KiT.

Cinder is now apparently the bane of Killer Instinct, due to the recent changes to potential damage, so Bass is calling on all Cinder players to try and best him in a first to ten to prove the character’s power. It might be just the thing to warm us all up in the depth of the January chill.

Source: XiBassiX

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Bass Chills His Opponents to the Bone with This Frosty Spinal Montage

As his name suggests, Ultra Arcade’s Bass is quite the fan of the Mega Man series. So much so that his latest Spinal montage is all set to the music from Frost Man’s stage from Mega Man 8, adding to the retro flavor of these clips. The editor of this montage, UA|Kalypso, has even added in the special “Jump!” and “Slide!” icons from Frost Man’s stage, to line up with whenever Bass starts a combo with Spinal’s slide or a jump in.

With any Bass compilation, expect some devastating corner combos, extensive use of Spinal’s bouncing Skulls and more than a few mindgames which will send a chill up your spine. If you are looking for something to heat you up, Bass has promised that he will be starting up a special Cinder gauntlet, similar to his previous Spinal gauntlet once he returns from KiT.

Cinder is now apparently the bane of Killer Instinct, due to the recent changes to potential damage, so Bass is calling on all Cinder players to try and best him in a first to ten to prove the character’s power. It might be just the thing to warm us all up in the depth of the January chill.

Source: XiBassiX

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Follow Mango’s Path to Genesis 4 in This Hype Trailer for the Smash Supermajor

It’s less than two weeks away and the excitement is palpable. Acting as the event to truly kick off 2017, Genesis 4 is the place where many Smash storylines will gain new chapters, thanks to mass gathering of talent at one tournament. One of the pivotal narratives of Genesis has been the rivalry between C9|Mango and Alliance|Armada, who seem fated to duel in the Grand Finals of each tournament.

The set count currently stands at 2-1 to Armada, with the world number one taking victory at Genesis 3 last year. This year acts as Mango’s chance to draw even, or the place where Armada put this rivalry to rest. With Liquid|Hungrybox somewhat sidelined by a fractured finger, this fated finals is looking ever more likely, if the two contenders perform to their best.

To brief fans on Mango’s history going into this event, videomaker finallyjames has created a potted history of Mango, showing the successes and failures which have lead him to Genesis 4. It makes for a compelling watch, as the GOAT of Melee has remained a fan favorite ever since he burst onto the scene. Keep an eye on finallyjames’ channel in the next week or so, as he may release a companion trailer showing Armada’s journey to Genesis.

Source: finallyjames

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The Moon and Arturo Sanchez to Appear in CBS Drama “Elementary” [EDIT]

Edit: Just as this story went live, another Smasher was announced as a cameo, with fellow New Yorker DJ Nintendo joining Arturo and The Moon as extras in this Elementary episode.

Original story: Forget your ESPN, esports players are branching out into acting. As part of the CBS drama series Elementary, Super Smash Bros. Melee player MSF|The Moon and Street Fighter player TS|Arturo “Sabin” Sanchez are set to feature in an upcoming episode in February. Now I know what you are thinking, what does a modern day adaptation of Sherlock Holmes set in New York have to do with fighting games?

Talking to theScore eSports, writer and producer on Elementary Jeffrey Paul King stated that the episode in question involves a streamer being murdered during one of his streams. As the case continues, Holmes and Watson eventually end up at a gaming house, where The Moon, Arturo and other esports players will cameo as the duo investigate. Let’s hope neither of them are involved in plotting the murder.

With King being a big Melee fan and the two players being New York natives, the planets have perfectly aligned for these cameos. While this may be the first time esports players have appeared on network TV, it is not the first time that fighting games have appeared on Elementary. King previously inserted an Smash Bros. related Easter egg into an episode of Elementary back in November, with “Silent Wolf” and “Hungrybox” being two Post-It notes on a wall of potential evidence. The Elementary episode is set to air on CBS at 10pm on February 19th, so set your recorders for then and look out for the highly improbable buddy cop spin-off, starring Arturo and The Moon sometime in 20XX.

Sources: ElementarySTAFF; theScore eSports; Jeffrey Paul King