Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

While everyone loves a flashy combo video, you sometimes just want pure optimization. In the spirit of the refined Ms. Kanzuki, HitBox Sora has compiled a list of Karin’s most damaging and optimal combos, collected from tournaments throughout 2016. These 10 combos are designed to be as powerful as possible, and very hard to drop in a high-pressure environment. If you are looking to main Karin, these are the combos you should go about learning ahead of all else.

This list is by no means exhaustive and you should try to learn as many combos as possible, but this selection is designed to be as reliable as can be, so prioritize memorizing these inputs first before you start getting creative. As the name suggests, all of these combos are performed on a HitBox controller, but Sora has left the notation on screen so you can replicate these sequences, no matter your input method.

Source: HB Sora

Outside of maybe Super Smash Bros., very few fighting games use the environment as a way to extend or start off certain combos. Thanks to the interactables present in the backgrounds of stages in Mortal Kombat X, certain characters can use the brief invincibility created by jump interactables to create situational combo opportunities.

Expanding on his initial video discussing how to armor launch opponents with certain interactables, MK_REO has created a video to display how characters can use these jump interactables to escape strings and start their own combo, providing they have enough stamina. Using Kung Jin as an example, REO is able to mash out the interactable while blocking a pressure string, then use the first few frames of invincibility gained from jumping off the interactable to instantly input a divekick and start his own combo. Characters with divekicks like Sonya and Kung Lao, as well as fighters with aerial specials like Alien’s EX Flip or Tremor’s instant air Earthquake, are able to utilize this tactic to get round enemy pressure and lead into a combo.

This tactic is stage specific, but plenty of stages to have jump interactables like:

• Dead Woods with the tree stump
• Refugee Camp with the truck
• Outworld Marketplace with the lion
• Destroyed City with the car
• Krossroads with the right side rock
• The Kove with its two posts
• Quan Chi Fortress with the chest
• Lin Kuei Temple with the upright coffins
• The Pit with the two lanterns

Source: MK_REO

One of the current rising stars with Super Smash Bros. Melee, James “Swedish Delight” Liu has been climbing up the ranks of the Melee mountain, earning consistent top 10 placings for the latter half of this year at major Melee events. For all of this hard work, Swedish was recently signed to esports team, Renegades, acting as their first Melee player on their growing roster.

To celebrate his recent growth as a player and to show off some of his slick Sheik play, Tooni has created a combo video which shows some of Swedish’s greatest performances from his Melee career, ranging from early 2014 to now. Showing off battles against TSM|Leffen, G2|Westballz, Secret|Silent Wolf and many more, this montage acts as a masterclass of what top-level Sheik looks like in motion.

Source: Tooni

With the Switch launching in early 2017 and remasters for games like Splatoon and Mario Kart 8 all but confirmed, Smash fans have naturally been theorizing about an updated version of Smash 4 for the Switch. With a recent report suggesting that a Switch port is in development, as well as the Switch’s presence at Tokaigi 2017–which also hosts the NicoNico Smash 4 Championships–it’s fair to assume that a port is coming. As such, people are polishing their crystal balls and bringing out the tea leaves to predict what will be in this Switch version of Smash 4. In the spirit of healthy speculation, here is a sampling of our favorite possible additions–and some wishful thinking–as to what could be in a potential Smash 4 for the Switch.

A Unification of the Wii U and 3DS Versions

With the Switch inhabiting the space of both a portable and home console, it makes sense that a Smash 4 port for the system would bring together both the 3DS and Wii U versions into a single package. This means Smash Run, along with all of the 3DS stages and its trophies, would be available in one unified game. It doesn’t mean a whole lot for the competitive scene–besides adding Yoshi’s Island Brawl to the legal stage list–but it means a hell of a lot for those who are just looking to play more Smash Bros.

Some Old Faces and Places

Adding in missing characters like the Ice Climbers and Wolf seems to be one of the main expectations for the Smash Switch port. The 3DS version of Smash 4 is cited as the reason for the Ice Climbers’ rejection from the game’s roster, so the increased power of the Switch as a portable machine should mean that the mountain-climbing duo will return, right? I’m hopeful, but I wouldn’t go into this update of Smash 4 expecting it. By all accounts, Sakurai has moved onto his next project so I doubt he would have cut his break from Smash short just to update some old fighters. Even if he has done so, fighters like the Ice Climbers would little resemble their Brawl counterparts in Smash 4, where chaingrabs are outlawed and characters like Cloud exist.

If we are going to receive anything from older Smash games with this port, I feel more stages will be the most likely addition. Modders have already succeeded in bringing stages like Yoshi’s Story and Fountain of Dreams from Melee into Smash 4, so adding extra legacy stages should be no problem. A healthy mix of fun and competitive stages would be welcome, as long as infuriating stages like Icicle Mountain and Mushroomy Kingdom aren’t added.

Long Live the GameCube Controller

With Switch’s new “Joy-Con” modular controllers, there have been numerous mock-ups of special Joy-Con pieces, with different colours and button layouts for specific games. One that has been circulating is a GameCube-style Joy Con, where the two parts of the controller clip to either side of the Switch tablet or Joy-Con hub. Combine this with the two USB ports on the front of the Switch housing, and you have the ability for GameCube support to live on for this iteration of Smash.

The Gamecube adapter acted as a license to print money, so a GameCube-style Joy Con is only inevitable, especially when you consider the possibility of GameCube games finally coming to Virtual Console. Seeing as there are still tons of generation four GameCube controllers floating around–thanks to the release of Smash 4–it would be silly for Nintendo to not have a reason for newer players to buy up this surplus of controllers. If they brought out a new generation of GameCube controllers with improved triggers and control sticks, that would be even better.

Smash as an Esports Platform

During the initial Switch reveal, the final section showed Nintendo attempting to tap into the esports crowd, with shots of a stadium full of spectators watching a Splatoon tournament final. Nintendo has three franchises–Splatoon, Pokkén Tournament and Smash– that are positioned within the esports sphere, so the Switch is the perfect platform to make that push into competitive gaming. With Smash 4 already having a large install base and healthy tournament attendance, a Switch version allows Nintendo to get off the mark with a brand new console and a fresh strategy based on the data collected from the Wii U version.

However, this esports push would require a drastic change in how Nintendo communicates with the fighting game community, as well as a reformed balance policy–remember, there has never been any form of official patch notes for Smash 4. I believe Nintendo would have to establish some kind of community management/balance team, similar to what Iron Galaxy has done with Killer Instinct or what Capcom has with Street Fighter V, and actively hire knowledgeable members of the community to help Smash evolve. This version of Smash will probably be with us for a fair while, so I believe Nintendo will go the route of Street Fighter, where Smash 4 is simply added to with regular updates to keep it fresh.

With nearly 60 playable fighters, a Switch edition of Smash 4 needs to focus on rebalancing those characters who are stuck in the doldrums first, before adding new fighters just to keep the hype train rolling. Reworking characters like Mewtwo, Marth, Ike, Bowser, and DK has proved very successful in giving them distinct tools which allow them to compete at tournament level, when they had previously been consigned to low or mid-tier. At the moment the top tiers are in a stable position, with no one character dominating the upper echelons, so any future balance changes need to focus on giving the lower third of the roster meaningful buffs and even possible kit reworks.

Other things will need to be altered, like creating a Ranked Match system and improving Training Mode to keep competitive fans invested. It will be those players that will keep the game chugging along after the initial surge of sales. Smash 4 is already replete with modes, collectibles, and features for players who just want a fun party game to play, so extra competitive bells and whistles are needed to keep tournament players engaged. It’s almost the reverse of Street Fighter V: Smash has tons of single player features, but drastically needs more competitive options.

Nintendo could link up with tournament organizers as well, providing bulk buy discounts or even complimentary Switches to help run events. This would no doubt come into effect if a pro Smash 4 circuit ever materializes–but even so, openly working with tournament organizers would help make the transition period from Wii U to Switch easier. Nintendo has helped TOs in the past at events like Genesis and Apex, but I feel a public display of assistance to the tournament scene would do a lot to improve relations between the Big N and its competitive community.

Ultimately, a Smash port for the Switch needs to incite players with enough new features to force them to “switch” off the Wii U and onto the new system. If it could act as the single unifying Smash system, by having the best version of Smash 4 alongside the holy grail of a Melee HD, the Switch will be flying off shelves and into the hands of Smashers everywhere. Nintendo really has the opportunity to channel all of the fervor and passion for Smash with this new system, with a definitive version of Smash 4 for both casual and competitive players acting as a step towards a massive esports presence.

Additional Source: Source Gaming

Famous for reinventing Yoshi in Super Smash Bros. Melee and proving the dinosaur’s potential at tournament level, VGBootCamp’s aMSa has been fairly absent from the American tournament scene, with his last Stateside appearance being at Super Smash Con back in August. As such, people have been looking to Japanese tournament streams to see a glimpse of the red Yoshi in action.

At the recent Battle Gate Way 13, aMSa finally took first place, marking his fourth Japanese tournament win and his third general tournament victory since August 2015. His victory at BGW 13 saw him defeat other top Japanese Melee players like Shippu, Tapioka and S-Royal, as well as top Mexican Falco Yu, who has returned to Japan after spending the summer back home in Mexico.

If you are hankering to see more Japanese Melee, as well as more of aMSa’s amazing Yoshi, this highlight reel is definitely one to watch.

Source: Smasha

While trying to crack the Guile matchup alongside fellow Ryu researchers Kuroda and Tokido, the Beast has been in the wilds of Street Fighter V online by himself, attempting to master the Urien matchup. With RB’s Urien giving Daigo the business back at Red Bull Battle Grounds, he is now trying to plug any holes in his character knowledge ahead of Capcom Cup next month.

To catalogue this training process, XusesGB has been on the case to compile all of these Urien matches into a single video. Some notable Japaneses Uriens do make an appearance in this video, including Angry Ojisan and Yu5ririn, who even received his own prior montage from Xuses. Let’s hope Daigo is now prepared to face the wrath of the Aegis Reflector come December 3rd.

Source: XusesGB