Category: Fighting Games

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Some Tips on Improving at Rivals of Aether, from the Beefy Aether Doods

Bettering one’s gameplay and climbing the skill ladder is undoubtedly challenging in any fighting game. The abstract nature of “improvement” and the fear of being “bad” hold a lot of players back. While the topic has been tread time and again, it’s an ever-present necessary talking point–especially with the influx of players into the community, keeping up dialogue on improvement is essential.

Today, the problem is tackled again–this time the Beefy Aether Doods discuss how to get better at Rivals of Aether. They include talking points on recognizing when you are no longer improving, when to know you should take a breather, and how to find mentors to help improve your game.

Source: Beefy Aether Doods

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Some Tips on Improving at Rivals of Aether, from the Beefy Aether Doods

Bettering one’s gameplay and climbing the skill ladder is undoubtedly challenging in any fighting game. The abstract nature of “improvement” and the fear of being “bad” hold a lot of players back. While the topic has been tread time and again, it’s an ever-present necessary talking point–especially with the influx of players into the community, keeping up dialogue on improvement is essential.

Today, the problem is tackled again–this time the Beefy Aether Doods discuss how to get better at Rivals of Aether. They include talking points on recognizing when you are no longer improving, when to know you should take a breather, and how to find mentors to help improve your game.

Source: Beefy Aether Doods

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Ultra Combo Chats to F3 HollywoodSleep about His Victory at Evo 2016

The dust has well and truly settled after that crazy weekend in July. Riding high off of his victory in Killer Instinct, the team over at Ultra Combo caught up with Evo champion F3 HollywoodSleep to talk about his history with KI, his character choice, and plans going forward.

His switch from Kan-Ra and Aria to Gargos and Arbiter was one that naturally fit Sleep’s playstyle as he likes “characters that play keep away, or that can trap you.” With Arbiter’s reset capabilities off grenades, and Gargos’ mental pressure with the minions and his almost unlimited armor, this character combination seemed like the perfect pick for Sleep. As for the Gargos pick in Grands, this choice was to exploit UA|Bass’ lack of match-up experience, seeing as Gargos was still a great unknown going into Evo. According to Sleep, Gargos is “a fun character but not really a great character on paper,“ so this tactical counterpick was to mess with Bass’ familiarity with Sleep’s Arbiter. Clearly it paid off.

Sleep’s next goal is to take the big prize by winning the KI World Cup in March, cementing his place as the true master of Killer Instinct.

Sources: Ultra Combo; evo2kvids

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Ultra Combo Chats to F3 HollywoodSleep about His Victory at Evo 2016

The dust has well and truly settled after that crazy weekend in July. Riding high off of his victory in Killer Instinct, the team over at Ultra Combo caught up with Evo champion F3 HollywoodSleep to talk about his history with KI, his character choice, and plans going forward.

His switch from Kan-Ra and Aria to Gargos and Arbiter was one that naturally fit Sleep’s playstyle as he likes “characters that play keep away, or that can trap you.” With Arbiter’s reset capabilities off grenades, and Gargos’ mental pressure with the minions and his almost unlimited armor, this character combination seemed like the perfect pick for Sleep. As for the Gargos pick in Grands, this choice was to exploit UA|Bass’ lack of match-up experience, seeing as Gargos was still a great unknown going into Evo. According to Sleep, Gargos is “a fun character but not really a great character on paper,“ so this tactical counterpick was to mess with Bass’ familiarity with Sleep’s Arbiter. Clearly it paid off.

Sleep’s next goal is to take the big prize by winning the KI World Cup in March, cementing his place as the true master of Killer Instinct.

Sources: Ultra Combo; evo2kvids

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The Impossible Made Possible in These Street Fighter V Combos from desk

Call it a glitch, or a quirk, or even an exploit: something unusual that Street Fighter V shares with some of its classic predecessors is the ability to remove the knockdown property of certain attacks by connecting another attack in the same frame. This allows combos that should be “impossible”–because of the opponent’s impending knockdown state–to become possible to perform.

In his latest video, desk demonstrates and explains this aspect of the game’s mechanics in detail, showing off such combos from M. Bison, Juri, Guile, Dhalsim–and one from Ibuki that pushed him to his limits!

On the more musical side, desk also recently remixed Juri’s Street Fighter V theme.

Source: desk

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Gods and Champions: PG|Filipino Champ Lists His Top 7 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Players of All Time

One of the most influential players when it comes to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is none other than one of its “gods”: Panda Global’s Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez. Aside from being one of the game’s best players, FChamp is also quick to give his opinions on various topics regarding the game and its community.

Now, FChamp has tweeted a list of who he thinks are the top 7 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 players of all time. The list features some of the game’s greatest players, including the 3 “gods”–himself, Evil Geniuses’ Justin Wong, and newly-crowned Evo 2016 champion Christopher “NYChrisG” Gonzales–and other players who’ve been threats in and out of Evo such as Kane Blue River, EG|PR Balrog, and Rayray.

More interesting, however, is his follow-up list of 7 more players who could all be contenders for the 8th, 9th, and 10th spots–if he were to make a top ten list.

This list is interesting in showing that despite the game having stratified at the top, there are still enough great players in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, waiting in the wings, just below the upper pantheon.

Source: PG|Filipino Champ (Twitter)

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The Demon, Chained: Balance Changes Coming Alongside Tekken 7: Fated Retribution’s Version C Update

Tekken 7: Fated Retribution is receiving an arcade update tomorrow: called the “Version C” update, this new patch will see the return of heavyweight fighter Bob. In addition to Bob however, Version C will also bring with it more than a few balance changes. These changes affect a number of the existing cast members, most notably Street Fighter guest character Akuma, who sees more than a new nerfs–including damage reductions and frame data adjustments.

Avoiding the Puddle’s Flying Wonkey has translated these changes which you can read below or on their site.

Tekken 7 Fated Retribution Version C Patch Notes

System Changes

  • Adjustments made to how the counter hits are shown in-game when they occur. (No idea what this means.)
  • Property of Feng’s ch ws+4 on all opponents is now changed.
  • All Rage Arts have their damage reduced.
  • Rage Drives resetting the combo scaling in combos has been fixed.
  • Instances of when the camera would change during a Rage Drive on hit or block has been fixed.
  • Various little system and game bug fixes.

Character Specific Changes

Law

  • After a Rage Art (1+2) on hit, the opponent can now react quicker after it. (frames on wake-up improved.)
  • After a successful parry, 3+4,4 is made slower. (Probably no longer guaranteed?)

King

  • Strong Knee (wr+3) frames on block made more worse, tracking on the move reduced.
  • Golden Headbutt (d/b+1+3) damage has been decreased.

Yoshimitsu

  • Shrine (BT 2) hitbox has been made bigger. (Can now combo from ff+4 into BT 2)
  • Electric Misfortune (d/f+1,2) no longer naturally combos on hit, 2nd hit has been made slightly slower.

Hwoarang

  • Loose Shuffle & Rifle Shuffle (u/b+3,3 & u/b+3,4) can now be done from different stances.
  • Double Screw (RFF d/b+3,3) on an airborne opponent will now cause a Screw!
  • Cactus Shot (RFS d+4,3) timing for the input for the 2nd hit has been reduced. (As in, there’s less time for you to input it for it to come out)

Xiaoyu

  • Shooting Star (u/f+3+4) hitbox for the 3rd hit made bigger on block. (Previously, Jack and Gigas could easily launch her because the 3rd hit of this would often whiff on block for them.)

Bryan

  • Slash Kick (ff+3 HOLD) damage off a full charge is decreased.
  • Hatchet Kick (qcb+3) plus frames on hit reduced.
  • Northern Cross (fc d/f+4) damage has been reduced.

Heihachi

  • 2nd hit of d+1,2 has been made slower.

Kazuya

  • Rage Drive (cd+1+4) damage reduced.
  • Devil’s Steel Petal (ff+4) frames on block improved.
  • Twin Pistons (ws+1,2) frames on block made more worse. (No longer -11?)

Steve

  • Rage Drive (f+3+4,1+2) made slower from out of all the stances.
  • Skyscraper (Duck 2) frames on block made more worse.
  • Fox Hunt (Duck 1) damage reduced, frames on whiff and on block made more worse.
  • Extended Duck Skyscraper (f+3,f+3 2) frames on whiff and on block made more worse.

Asuka

  • Demon Slayer (f+2) now launches the opponent further away on hit. (Makes the f+2, f+4 combo more consistant)

Devil Jin

  • Demon Steel Pedal (b+4) hitbox improved. (Back to T7.0 status?)
  • Uppercut (ws+2) on an airborne opponent will now cause a Screw!

Feng

  • Damage on the new fc d/f+2 move is increased.

Leo

  • Dual Rising Fists (1+2) property on hit changed. (Knocksdown now?)
  • Startled Crane (BOK 3) on an airborne opponent will now cause a Screw!
  • Lei Zhang (qcf+1) properties on counter hit has been changed.

Lars

  • Spiral Kick (DE 3) property on hit changed, plus frames on block improved, damage increased.
  • Magnetic Knee (b+4) start-up frames improved, damage increased.
  • Shadow Cutter (d/b+4) plus frames on hit improved.
  • Double Pulse (ff+4,3) frames on hit improved.
  • Double Smack (fc d/f+1+2) damage increased.

Katarina

  • Rage Drive (HAR 1+2) damage on an airborne opponent decreased.
  • Feather Chop (d+1) plus frames on hit improved.
  • Plover Kick (ff+4) pushback on both on block and hit increased.

Josie

  • Sapu Switch (SWS 3) property on counter hit changed. (Opponent faces towards you for better pick-up combo now)
  • Low Angle Straight (d/b+2) property on hit changed and damage increased. (Now wallsplats on normal hit)
  • Slide In Low Kick (cd+3) frames on both block and hit reduced. (Now -13)

Kazumi

  • Rolling Tiger (1+4) frames on block improved.
  • Lunging Tiger (2+3) frames on block improved.
  • Lightning God’s Rage (FLY 1) frames on block improved.
  • Oroshi (FLY 3) properties on counter hit have been changed, plus frames on block improved.
  • Hellfire Burst (FLY 4) damage has been increased.
  • FLY Grab (FLY b+1+2) frames on whiff reduced, throw will now cause a wallsplat.
  • Crimson Dawn (d/f+1) frames on block more worse, damage decreased and tracking reduced.
  • Deadly Crescent (d/b+1+2) properties on hit has been changed, frames on block improved.
  • Dragon Slice (b+1) frames on block improved.
  • Diamond Tiger Strike (ff+2) is now a Power Crush, frames on block improved.
  • Demon Uppercut (ws+2) pushback on block reduced.
  • Castle Tower (b+1+2) frames on block improved, hitbox made bigger.

Nina

  • Rage Drive (d+1+2) now has jump status, cannot be reversed/parried now.
  • Left Right to Spider Knee (1,2,3) frames on block improved if you push 1+2 after it.
  • Double Smash (2,3) frames on block improved if you push 1+2 after it.
  • Cleek Attack Step (d/f+3,2~f) input timing has been shortened. (As in, there’s less time for you to input it for it to come out)
  • Creeping Snake to Geyser Cannon (d/f+3,2,3) frames on block and on whiff improved.
  • Bad Habit (ff+3) fixed the hitbox so it will now hit Bryan on the ground.
  • Spider Knee (ws+3) frames on block improved if you push 1+2 after it.
  • Twisted Mind (KND d+3+4) frames on hit improved, damage also increased.

Akuma

  • All of Akuma’s specials now all do 1 chip damage on block.
  • Hadouken (qcf+1 / qcf+2) damage decreased.
  • Shoryuken (f,d,d/f+1 / f,d,d/f+2) changed properties on hit when colliding with a power crush, damage on the move is also decreased.
  • Demon Flip 1 damage decreased.
  • Demon Flip 4 damage decreased.
  • Demon Flip 1+3 / Demon Flip 2+4 frames after it were made worse.
  • Air Tatsus (Air qcb+3 / Air qcb+4) plus frames on block made worse.
  • Standing (2) damage decreased.
  • Standing (4) damage decreased.
  • Standing (f+4) damage decreased.
  • Standing (d/f+1,2) pushback on block shortened.
  • Standing (d/f+2,1) 1st hit damage decreased, 2nd hit plus frames on block improved.
  • Standing (d/b+2 / d+2 / fc 2) damage decreased.
  • Standing (d+3) properties on hit at the tip with an opponent changed, damage decreased.
  • Sweep (d+4) on hit knocks down the opponent further away.
  • Standing (b+1) damage decreased.
  • forward,forward 4 (ff+4) frames on block made worse.
  • While Running 1 (fff+1) bug where it becomes unblockable on an opponent already guarding a different move is now fixed.
  • While Standing 2 (ws+2) frames on block made worse.
  • Tsunami Kicks (ws+4,4) frames on block made worse.
  • Neutral jump 2 damage decreased.
  • Neutral jump 4 damage decreased.
  • Forward jump 2 damage decreased.
  • Forward jump 4 damage decreased.
  • Fixed a bug where Akuma’s sidethrows will not come out during sidestepping/sidewalking.

Source: Tekken Official via Avoiding the Puddle

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Hitbox Bugs, Glitches, Strange Interactions: 12 Things You Didn’t Know about Ryu in Street Fighter V

With Ryu–possibly the most-picked character in Street Fighter V–you’d expect that people would know almost everything about him. However, there are some strange interactions and character-specific glitches that are so unique, most players probably aren’t aware of them.

In his latest video, LiangHuBBB takes a look at twelve of these strange things that can occur with Ryu–such as his standing roundhouse going through Dhalsim in the corner, his EX Hurricane Kick glitching out to allow an opponent already hit by it to perform a move, and many more. Check these out and more in the video below–but please note that it does feature music with some explicit language.

Source: LiangHuBBB

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Final Skullgirls 2nd Encore Patch on the Horizon: New Animations, Balance Changes, and Lobbies

In what is perhaps the biggest news for Skullgirls 2nd Encore since the release of physical copies in Japan, Lab Zero has announced what appears to be the final update to their flagship game.

This patch–promised to bring the lobbies found on Steam to consoles–is said to “come with a number of general bug fixes, as well as minor gameplay fixes, tweaks, and balance adjustments.” Some of these bugs and tweaks have been shown off in the Steam version of the game, such as the best-of-five function to quick match, as well as improved replay functions. The replay feature has not been stated to be coming to consoles, however.

As far as the new animations are concerned, it was stated that there were “new intro animations being created” for Skullgirls Mobile, the mobile fighting game that uses Skullgirls sprites. There was new art spotted in the trailer for that game, and some new palettes, but only time will tell which assets will make their way over from the mobile game.

Improvements to the Vita version of the game were also mentioned. There are a few issues with blurry text and textures, due to the small screen; Lab Zero stated “we can’t promise that this will be improved in the lobbies patch, but please know that we’re considering every option at our disposal.”

The mention of balance changes is particularly interesting: there haven’t been any balance changes since the Robo-Fortune patch over a year ago, so there’s been a lot of time for Lab Zero to think about rebalancing. While it is stated that the changes will be minor, Skullgirls is known for massive patch notes. The Endless Beta–which has been in place for Skullgirls since the beginning–is currently being used to test out the aforementioned changes. You can read the whole patch notes here, which contain ten pages of incoming updates. These changes are said to be simply experimental at this point, so none of them are definite–and there are said to be even more changes coming soon.

The final bombshell was the announcement of an English physical release for Skullgirls. Thanks to Arc System Works, it’s already happened for our friends in Japan–but it would be great to have a stateside version. It went unsaid whether or not a collector’s edition was planned, like Japan’s Skullbox.

Source: Skullgirls; ArcSys

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Vanguard Episode 2: Street Fighter V Replays, Results and Interview with EVB|Chris T. and ROM

Vanguard, the second qualifying stop for Red Bull Proving Grounds: Street Fighter V, took place at California’s Orange County Esports Arena on the last weekend of July; it featured top SoCal talent EVB|Chris Tatarian, DS|Stupendous, Brenttiscool, Romance, and many others. Notable players who traveled to compete were ROM, Circa|LPN and PH|Jame from NorCal, and Velociraptor and Driftwood from Arizona.

Even though the second Vanguard monthly had less entrants than the first event, the competition was fiercer than ever with some of the returning Street Fighter veterans ROM and Romfinite, as well as new blood like TatsuShoryu–with his tricky Dhalsim–and Daily Tayne’s unorthodox Birdie, sending to losers (or outright eliminating) some of the currently established players such as Filipinoman, LPN and even Tatarian. You can check out some of these upsets in the videos below.

After the tournament ended, James Chen and Jeremy “Vicious” Lopez interviewed Tatarian and ROM about their grand finals set, their thoughts on where their main characters reside on the tier list so far, and the comparative player skill level between NorCal and SoCal.

Vanguard 2 Street Fighter V Top 16 Results

1st: EVB|Chris Tatarian (Ken)
2nd: ROM (Vega)
3rd: Charlie (Necalli)
4th: Daily Tayne (Birdie)
5th: Brenttiscool (Ken)
5th: DS|Stupendous (Zangief)
7th: Romance (Karin)
7th: Circa|LPN (Alex, Birdie)

9th: Ohf****nuts (Ken)
9th: Romfinite (Ken)
9th: Futile (Laura)
9th: HellFyre (Ken)
13th: TatsuShoryu (Dhalsim)
13th: Driftwood (Karin)
13th: Filipinoman (Chun-Li)
13th: BushinStyle (Rashid)

Sources: Levelupseries; smash.gg; Red Bull