Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

As part of NicoNico’s special Ultimate Battles event — which saw players with a score to settle facing off in special first to ten sets — Tokido and Punk had a special Evo 2017 runback to determine the better player. With Punk never getting the chance to get his revenge on Tokido at Capcom Cup, this special exhibition gave the Alpha the chance to redeem himself, and the Demon the opportunity to assert his dominance.

I won’t spoil the outcome here, but the final score was 10-5, with the winner finishing off this long set with a perfect. If you are looking to study the Karin/Akuma match-up ahead of the release of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, this set is the one to watch. With a new year and a big update to Street Fighter V coming very soon, I imagine this rivalry is only going to get more intense in 2018.

Source: NicoNico via XusesGB

Following up from his review for 2016, reslived has returned to sum up another year’s worth of high quality Project M play. With Junebug and Lunchables retiring from the PM scene, much of the action in 2017 centered around the new top three, ThundeRzReign, Sosa and Malachi.

The Project M Championship Circuit returned for 2017, assuring a steady stream of tournaments where players could strut their stuff. A new class of player started to emerge in 2017, with players like Switch, Hyperflame, Fuzz and Flipp threatening the dominance of the top three at several events.

True to his name, ThundeRzReign still reigns supreme, having won two of three events where the top three were in attendance. His Losers’ run at The Bigger Balc stands as the greatest tournament run in Project M history, where the SoCal DK managed to beat Hyperflame, Sosa, Fuzz, Switch and Flipp — to win the entire event. At the final PM major of the year, ThundeRz triumphed over both Sosa and Malachi, even defeating Malachi 3-0 in the final set of Grand Finals.

The PM community is still showing signs of growth — both in terms of its meta and its community — so expect reslived’s 2018 recap to be even better.

Source: reslived

Thanks to the work of players like StormKubo, THE COOL KID93 and Infexious, more people have been seeing the potential of the Mad Gear motorhead, Abigail. With Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition on the way and no doubt some new players taking Abigail for a spin, top UK Abigail xL|Infexious has put together a short video, giving players some top tips for learning this mountain of a man.

Despite his size, Abigail has multiple ways of approaching his opponent, whether it’s via his Nitro Charge run, his Giant Flip, his jump, dash or his grounded roll. Mixing up these options and conditioning your opponent into expecting a particular approach is key to playing Abigail, as it only takes one opening to wipe out most of your opponent’s health bar.

You will need to spending some time in Training Mode to maximize Abigail’s damage though, as his combos are quite tricky to pull off — especially when in V-Trigger. Infexious advises that you prioritize learning one V-Trigger combo and a handful of setups, so you can make the most of any gap in your opponent’s defenses.

Finally, Infexious imparts the importance of match-up knowledge when playing Abigail. As the largest character in Street Fighter V, Abigail has real trouble dealing with projectile-heavy characters like Dhalsim and F.A.N.G. However, his plethora of command normals and specials mean that he does have the tools to fight against these characters, provided you have done your homework.

Source: exceL Esports

Continuing their Dragon Ball FighterZ video series, Bandai Namco Entertainment America have released a character breakdown dedicated to the Crane School triclops, Tien. With Hellpockets behind the controls, this breakdown goes over Tien’s Volleyball Attack, some of Chiaotzu’s assists, as well as how to combo into his Shin Kikoho super.

His Volleyball Attack (QCF + Light, Medium or Heavy) hits low, punts the opponent up into the air and then has Tien spiking them back down to the ground. You don’t always have to finish with the spike; you can stop the string in mid-air, allowing Tien to follow up with an air combo, a Kikoho or even a Z-Change. The Heavy version of the Volleyball Attack is actually a command grab, making it useful for finishing off a grounded string or as a hard read.

As for Chiaotzu’s assists, he has a command grab which is great for catching overly aggressive opponents, along with a special which puts opponents in a brief stun state. When stunned, you can start a combo or close the gap between you and your opponent. This attack can hit from full screen, making it perfect for re-positioning or catching a gap in your opponent’s zoning.

Finally, Hellpockets shows off Tien’s Shin Kikoho and my my, does it do a lot of damage. Similar to other Level 3 supers like Teen Gohan’s Father Son Kamehameha, you can hold down the attack button to have Tien fire multiple blasts of the Shin Kikoho. A full Level 7 Shin Kikoho is guaranteed to take 70% of your enemy’s health bar, while straight up killing any assist characters caught in the blast. Beware that like in the anime, Tien will take damage if he fires repeated Shin Kikoho shots, so only go for the full Level 7 super if you’ve got health to play with.

Source: Bandai Namco Entertainment America