Author: Sam "Trilby" Foxall

With the previous episode dealing with his underwhelming performance at EGLX, the final episode of Red Bull TV’s Cultivation Leffen: Resurrection has him returning to his position in the upper echelon of Super Smash Bros. Melee. This episode shows how Leffen earned the title of Godslayer, running through Alliance|Armada, Liquid|Hungrybox and finally, C9|Mango to finally take Get On My Level 2016 after a long absence from that top spot.

While we know that the following months have left Leffen locked out of the USA, the recent news of his visa approval means that the other amazing Swedish Melee player can return to the homeland of Melee to wreck havoc. Check out the final episode “Reclaim” below–and look forward to another possible Red Bull TV series in the future, dedicated to another of their sponsored players.

Source: Red Bull TV

With the recent patch for Mortal Kombat X, Kung Lao received noticeable frame data changes, mostly for the better. As such, lab monsters have been quick to jump into Training Mode and see what this new version of the Shaolin Monk can do.

ETC McFly has put together quite the compilation of day one combos, with ones that work across all versions of Kung Lao to specific combos for Tempest and Buzzsaw Variations. There are some pretty beastly combos in this collection, with a 57% combo in Tempest and a 58% combo for Buzzsaw. Expect at this early stage for the combos to be quite costly meter-wise, but with additional lab time and optimization, you’ll be seeing powerful stuff from Kung Lao players soon.

Source: ETC Chile

With the recent patch for Mortal Kombat X, Kung Lao received noticeable frame data changes, mostly for the better. As such, lab monsters have been quick to jump into Training Mode and see what this new version of the Shaolin Monk can do.

ETC McFly has put together quite the compilation of day one combos, with ones that work across all versions of Kung Lao to specific combos for Tempest and Buzzsaw Variations. There are some pretty beastly combos in this collection, with a 57% combo in Tempest and a 58% combo for Buzzsaw. Expect at this early stage for the combos to be quite costly meter-wise, but with additional lab time and optimization, you’ll be seeing powerful stuff from Kung Lao players soon.

Source: ETC Chile

While setplays came to dominate Street Fighter IV, Capcom actively tried to stop setplays entirely in Street Fighter V, by introducing different wakeup and rise options off of a knockdown. Without the obvious “Technical” visual pop-up to indicate a delayed wakeup, the combination of quick rising, back rising and normal get up make it almost impossible to create a setplay. I say almost impossible, as PugilistPenguin has found a way to create setplay-like setups in Street Fighter V by correctly using framekilling in certain situations.

If you are not aware, framekilling is the act of deliberately whiffing moves to automatically time a setup. Using his main F.A.N.G, PugilistPenguin is able to cover every single wakeup timing by using knowledge of framekilling to guarantee damage from a knockdown. However, using these setups does create an obvious visual cue for your opponent, meaning they can counter your attempt at a setplay with an invincible reversal. But, this does mean you can even double bluff your opponent, make them whiff an invincible reversal and guarantee even more damage.

Check out this Gief’s Gym supplement below, and watch out for F.A.N.G players using this setup in the future.

Source: PugilistPenguin

Known as one of the best tournament organizers out there for any Super Smash Bros. game, 2GGaming’s Champ has decided to start a new series of “2GGuides,” where he plans to pass on information he has learned during his time as a TO to other budding players and event organizers who want to grow their scenes. While Champ’s background is in Smash, this information is really applicable to anyone who wants to see their particular scene grow, whether it is Street Fighter, Killer Instinct, Guilty Gear, Smash or so on.

First off, it’s best to check if your school or college already has a pre-established scene. Check local Facebook groups, ask in game-specific Reddits and check if your school has a general gaming club or society set up already, before you start building your own scene. As someone who did help start a small Smash scene within my own university, working with your local esports society to share room space and cross promote events is great for getting people to try your game for the first time or to help establish your own group of players. If not, collaborating with a local group of players outside of your school and using university rooms or spaces as places to hold your events can be super helpful in kickstarting the growth of your scene.

If you are really dedicated to starting your own scene for whatever game you play, make sure to watch the whole video and take some notes. Champ is planning to make more guides and improve his microphone quality for future videos so if you want him to cover a specific topic, let him know!

Source: 2GGaming

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not reflect Shoryuken.com as a whole.

This weekend sees Super Smash Bros. for Wii U players gathering in Michigan for the final supermajor of the year. It would be an understatement to say a lot is riding on this tournament; The Big House 6 acts as the final big stage for players to prove themselves before Genesis 4. With players like ZeRo and Nairo settling back into their dominating positions, Japanese killers coming to take revenge after Evo and top 20 players struggling to hold their ground against the constant surge of new talent beneath them, there will be blood on The Big House stage.

Once again, I will try to steer clear of blatantly obvious picks like Ally, Dabuz, Mr R. etc. and focus on those players who have the potential to either make The Big House 6 their breakout tournament, or the tournament which silences any doubters of their ability. I will also be looking at their pools and rating how hard their path to top 32 will be, based on current projections. At time of writing, these pools are not 100% locked in so there may be changes in the final bracket, but the players I have picked should reach round 2 of pools with no real issue. Just from cursory glance at pools, things start to heat up in the second round so expect some upsets at that stage of the bracket. Everyone in Smash 4 is still mortal and the spirit of Smash 4 has no doubt oiled its roulette wheel to make someone’s trip through bracket an absolute nightmare. The only certainty is upsets at supermajors like this.

Rich Brown – The All American Mewtwo

With Mewtwo’s surge in power over recent patches, Rich Brown has picked up some real steam over the past few tournaments. Achieving second at Syndicate in Europe, getting fifth at Abadango Saga and winning the Mewtwo round robin at that event, defeating other notable Mewtwos like WaDi and Abadango. Combine those results with fourth place rank on the SoCal Power Ranking and Rich Brown is in contention for the best Mewtwo in the US. While his round 1 pool looks relatively easy, his first round of round 2 likely puts him against notable Japanese Peach Kie, before facing off against Shogun or CLG|Nakat to qualify for top 32. With the Mewtwo/Fox matchup apparently in Mewtwo’s favor, as seen through Abadango’s wins over Larry Lurr’s Fox, Rich Brown should be clear for top 32, with his match against fellow floaty Kie likely the pivotal match in his run.

SS|Mr E – Master of the Falchion

With his recent victory at Glitch 2 and wins over ZeRo, 6WX, Dabuz and Salem, to name but a few, the New York Marth is coming in hot for The Big House 6. His recent win over Pink Fresh–where he took the set to game 10–shows that Mr E has the stamina and mental fortitude to reach the later stages of this stacked bracket. Like Rich Brown, Mr E’s run through round 1 should be fairly uneventful, but projections for round 2 have him facing off against and Zero Suit Samus main Nick Riddle, before yet another runback with C9|Ally to reach top 32. While he does have a victory over Ally, it was back when he mained Sheik and he has yet to best Ally’s Mario as Marth. He has come close, going to last stock and very nearly last hit in game 3 at Endgame, so Mr E does have the potential to send Ally into Losers and cause quite an upset.

FILIP – Kyushu’s Mario

The first Japanese contender on this list, FILIP has been rising up through the ranks of Japanese Smash 4, gaining regular top 8 finishes at Sumabato events with his Mario and Cloud. While he often travels to the mainland to compete at Sumabato, FILIP recently took fourth place at Kyushu’s biggest Smash 4 event, Shulla-bra VIII, and is continuing to grow as a player. Based on current projections, FILIP is destined to meet a later entrant on this list, EVB|Dath in Winners’ Finals of pool C212. With there being very few notable Robins in Japan, this match up could catch FILIP by surprise and send him tumbling into Losers’ but with two characters at his disposal which do pretty well against the Fire Emblem tactician, he could make it into round 2 on Winners’ side.

CT|Salem – A Brawl Legend Returns

The current talk of the town, Salem’s Bayonetta has been on an absolute rampage at the past few tournaments, winning Collision XIV, Smashadelphia II and Smash Conference LXVII. At Collision, he was the first person in Smash 4 history to double eliminate TSM|ZeRo before Grand Finals, also defeating Nairo and Tweek to take the whole event. Smashadelphia saw him 3-0 both 6WX and Mr E, and while at Smash Conference he defeated Mew2King in a game 10 situation. Salem’s Bayonetta seems unrivaled at the moment and if he continues the pace, he does have the potential to win The Big House 6. The main roadblock for Salem is Dabuz, who he likely has to face to qualify for top 32 Winners’ side. The last meeting between the two was at Do or DI back in March, where Dabuz claimed victory but with Salem’s massive growth in the past few months, Dabuz may be taking a trip to the Losers’ bracket.

Komorikiri – Will He Finally Break His Limits?

Winner of the Sumabato qualifier for The Big House 6 and a fifth place finish at Abadango Saga places Komorikiri as one of the Japanese favourites going into this weekend. In contention for being the best Cloud and the best Sonic in the world, Komorikiri does have the potential to push through his final barrier and reach a top 3 or a potential victory on an American stage. However, based on current projections, Round 2 of pools sees him against a string of top level Foxes in pM|Sodrek and eLv|Larry Lurr in order to qualify for top 32. Larry does have the upper hand in games, recently beating Komorikiri 3-1 at Abadango Saga so he will have to really dig deep if he wishes to reach that later stage of the bracket. If he does manage to beat Larry, he may possibly face either SuperGirlKels or Seagull Joe for a trans-Pacific Sonic showdown.

EVB|Dath – The Floridian Tactician

As a Top 3 finisher at Shine 2016, EVB|Dath showed the world that Robin can put in some serious work in high level tournament play. His recent performance at Smash Conference LXVII was not quite up to Shine standard however, losing to Tampa’s resident Palutena Prince Ramen before going out to Eden’s Fox at 17th place. Still, Dath has probably been hitting the books and will no doubt be going into The Big House 6 with the tactics he needs to reach top 32. If he does triumph over FILIP in Winners’ Finals of round 1 pools, he has to face down MD/VA ZSS main Remzi before then potentially fighting either fellow Floridian Spark–aka Static Manny–or SoCal Sheik K9 to qualify for top 32. Dath’s run will definitely be a dicey one but if he can channel the power that got him to third place at Shine, he can make top 32.

pM|Sodrek – Pride of Germany

One of Germany’s top players and their country’s representative at the eGames in Rio this summer, Sodrek has been turning some heads recently with his fierce Fox play and impressive combo videos. With a fifth place finish at PPT Summer and a recent pick up by Team Prismatic, Sodrek is on course to make some waves during the Big House 6. While he should make it to round 2 pools with no major hiccups, he is in a very threatening pool alongside Larry Lurry, Komorikiri and top Japanese Toon Link Ri-ma. Making it out in Winners’ will be a herculean task for one of Europe’s few representatives at The Big House 6 but there is still hope for a Losers’ run. However, with a recent second at GGSW where he placed ahead of Ryuga, SETHsational and Craftis, Sodrek is coming in hot to The Big House 6.

Zinoto – Michigan’s Diddy Defender

With all of these threats coming from out of state or even out of country, Zinoto is one of Michigan’s best hopes for defending The Big House from invading opponents. After getting a landmark second place at CEO 2016, Zinoto looked a little shaky at both Evo and Super Smash Con, not quite hitting the heights that this Midwestern Diddy is used to. Luckily, his fourth place at Endgame and victory at Zero Fox Given over C9|Ally does show that Zinoto could be the man to defend Michigan’s honour. Again, round 1 should be a cakewalk but round 2 has him up against the leading contender for world’s best Corrin, Cosmos, before potentially fighting master ZSS NRG|Nairo to qualify for top 32. Their last meeting was during Zinoto’s amazing CEO run which resulted in victory for the Diddy but with Nairo’s recent return to form, it could honestly go either way.

Some of these matches may be subject to change, thanks to pool changes and probable wildcard results so it will be interesting to see if my attempts at bracket predictions will match not only the smash.gg predicted bracket, but the actual results of this weekend. Everything past round 1 pools will be absolutely worth watching so keep your eyes glued to The Big House 6 stream, when it kicks off this Friday.

Source: smash.gg

For Cloud’s many strengths in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, getting back to stage safely is not one of them. While the Limit version of his up-B is good for recovery, standard Climhazzard is very easy to exploit, due to it not autosnapping to the ledge and how easy it is to challenge off stage, as Cloud players are forced to recover in set trajectories. With some extra digging and research, the Beefy Smash Doods have discovered another way to exploit Cloud’s up-B, which results in an untechable stage spike and a dead Midgar swordsman.

After frame 17 of Cloud’s up-B and until the freefall animation begins on frame 26, Cloud cannot tech any surface after being hit by a move. So, if you are able to hit Cloud in this window of opportunity, he cannot tech the stage and avoid being stage spiked. Combine this with the fact that Cloud only snaps to the ledge on frame 28 of his up-B, you have a sizable window of opportunity to punish a Cloud that is recovering low.

Multi-hit moves and command grabs do cancel out this property and funnily enough, if Cloud gets the spin animation that occurs 25% of the time once your character goes past 100% damage, you can actually wall tech even if you are hit during this window on his up-B. While it won’t have Cloud shooting down the tier list, this tidbit of information does make coming back to stage even harder for Cloud players. As if it wasn’t fun enough already.

Source: Beefy Smash Doods

While many people had their eyes glued to 2GGT: Abadango Saga last weekend, another big Smash 4 regional was happening in MD/VA. Hosted by VGBootCamp at Xanadu Games, the home of the biggest Smash 4 weekly in the world, Glitch 2 saw East Coast players come together to compete in various Smash 4 tournaments including singles, doubles, Customs and even low tier singles. Although some big names were competing over in the Esports Arena, there was no shortage of top level talent at Glitch 2, as seen through this top 8 highlight video.

Top 8 saw New York’s John Numbers putting in major work with Wii Fit Trainer, VGBC’s own Pink Fresh showing that his Bayonetta is still amazing even after the 1.1.6 nerf and Smash Studios’ Mr. E proving why he is the best Marth in the US. The great play is only made better by the great commentary provided by the Blastzone crew of Coney, EE and TKBreezy, adding some much needed humor and hype to the proceedings.

Source: VGBootCamp Highlights