Category: Fighting Games

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Get Your Head(s) Round Eyedol in This Killer Instinct Developer Breakdown

Following his reveal during Killer Instinct Top 8 at Evo 2016,  Adam “Keits” Heart and Issac “Delriach” Torres ran one of Iron Galaxy’s trademark developer streams, running through everything Eyedol has to offer in Killer Instinct Season 3. They run through Eyedol’s two stances, the Warrior and Mage forms which are denoted by the colour of his mace. The Warrior has some of the best rushdown in the game while the Mage has some of the best zoning but you cannot actively switch between the two forms. Eyedol can randomly switch forms after using an Medium or Heavy attack, along with after performing a Special Move, Shadow Move or Ender. Staying in a certain form for an extended period will increase the chance of switching to the other and using Eyedol’s special Wake Up move will also increase the chance of a form switch. At most, it will take four punches to wake the sleeping head but be wary that overzealous face punching can actually kill Eyedol.

As such, Eyedol players will have to react on the fly and change their fighting style to fit the head which is currently awake. On top of the fun of form switching, Eyedol can gain Cosmic Charges which are governed by a special meter above the Shadow meter. Each head can have up to three Cosmic Charges on deck at once. The Warrior form gains Control Charges and the Mage gains Rage Charges but just to make things that little bit more complicated, the Warrior generates Rage Charges by using his Crushing Roar command grab while the Mage generates Control Charges using his Tele-Strike teleport. Control Charges allow Warrior Eyedol to cancel most attacks on either hit or block by jumping or dashing, while Rage Charges powers up Mage Eyedol’s Specials by double tapping the input. If this is all getting too much, you can always pop Instinct to awaken both Eyedol heads and combine both Mage and Warrior movesets, resulting into an incredibly powerful ogre. You can check out the full explanation of all of Eyedol’s moves over on his command list. You can also see all of Eyedol’s costume colours, as well as his accessories over on Ultra Combo.

Source: Maximilian Dood, Ultra Combo

 

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Entrance Your MKXL Opponents with ‘The Tile Vortex’ for Summoner Quan Chi

Last March, one of the biggest changes to Quan Chi in Mortal Kombat X’s XL update was the massive reduction of the hit advantage on his Trance. This advantage was reduced from being +80 to merely +46, with increased combo damage scaling after a Ground Burst, with the Meter Burn version going from +14 to -1 on Block, unless Quan leaves a Delayable Gap between the Hits that can be Armored or Backdashed out of, in addition to increased Damage Scaling on all of Summoner’s Bat attacks, with his faithful Neterrealm Demon Spawn Puggles, which is the defining Trait of the Variation.

Widely hated and feared throughout the NRS Community for his glass cannon nature and touch of death playstyle, he was considered to be an S+ Tier character, by both Team YOMI and top United Kingdom players like PND’s Ketchup and Mustard. However, YOMI|REO recently noted that Summoner has fallen to merely an A Tier, below his sorcerer variation, which now resides in A+ after its massive redesign in XL.

In summation, all of these changes were explicitly done to make Quan, particularly Summoner, a more Meter-dependent character, as now Trance would only give him enough Hit Advantage to Summon the Bat with his 1-Frame Demon Spawn Special, but would leave him unable to run his 1-Frame “Hard-To-Blockable” Overhead-Low Setups that would previously lead into upwards of 70-80% Meterless damage and leave the opponent in a Hard Knockdown state for another guaranteed Bat Call, allowing the Oni Sorcerer to have arguably the greatest Offensive game of the entire cast. Previously, he was forced to spend a Bar on Deep Trance, which remained +86 on Hit, to guaranteed his Vortex, that would ultimately do less damage, due to the increased Scaling on Ground Bursts and Puggles, until now.

Last week, top Quan Chi enthusiast and “The Quan Father,” Shujinkydink, posted a video about some new Technology for Quan known as, “The Tile Vortex,” named after the EU player who first discovered this Setup, allows Summoner to regain a Meterless Vortex off of regular Trance, by calling the Bat, then Launching the opponent as high as you can, before Tranceing them in Mid-Air, similar to how Quan would Recapture his adversaries in Mortal Kombat 9 to optimize his Meter Building in the previous title. If the Trances hits them out of the air, after you’ve launched them up as high as possible, Quan can use the extra Frames of them coming down to the ground, to assume the Restand, Forward-walking Trance animation, will allow him to get a Demon Spawn out, after confirming either a F4/Krescent Kick or a Standing 4/Demon Kick, before normally going into the Reset situation of your choice. The version displayed in Dink’s first video is the Setup that The Tile has dubbed, “The Easy Version,” but there is an “optimal version” that requires a bit more execution. However, Dink did manage to find a Midscreen Setup that, while lacking in overall Damage, will provide Quan a good source of Meterless damage to close out Rounds when needed, in addition to overcoming his new Scaling issues. This is performed by hitting a Neutral Jump Punch, into a Standing 1/Quick Backhand to manipulate the Gravity, then doing a Trance into Demon Spawn before using a D1/Low Chop to Jail them, which will always leave the Sorcerer at +2 on Hit, but the option should still be respected due to the uncommon nature of this particular Setup.

Next, Dink shows how practical this Setup can be in “real match” situations by using it in online against a Hellfire Scorpion player.

Finally, here a series of videos from The Tile himself, showing off both the “Easy” and the “optimized” versions of this Setup, as well as some other Variations of it, involving a Midscreen Meterless Setup, a version utilizing the MB Ground Burst, in addition to one off of a Corner Low Starter, as well as some Fullscreen 50/50s and Risk-free ways to punish an opponent’s Armor attempts, just for good measure.

Though his damage is still reduced form what it once was, perhaps this will be the tech that brings Summoner back into the competitive conversation.

Sources: Shujinkydink, The Tile, Eventhubs

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Evolution Championship Series Celebrates It’s 20th Anniversary

20 years ago, the Cannon Brothers ran a tournament called “Battle by the Bay”, a 64-man Super Street Fighter II and Street Fighter Alpha 2 Sunnyvale, California. 64-man tournaments sometimes sneak by without notice these days, but at the time it was probably a jaw-dropping success.

Let’s put this in perspective: Evo is not just older then some of it’s entrants. It’s older then one of it’s most celebrated multi-champions, SonicFox.

I can imagine the Cannon’s did indeed dream of the sparkling spectacle that Evo is now, but I suspect they may not have believed they would see it happen in their lifetime. It’s one thing to see the place in your dreams. It’s another to get there.

Well, congratulations! We should all be so lucky to see our work grow up like you have, Evo. If you consider Battle by the Bay Evo’s official birth, then in one more year, Evo can legally drink. Given the spot the community is in with it’s recent televised success on ESPN2, it feels apropos, yeah?

Of course, it wasn’t actually “Evo” until it’s name change in 2002. But that’s semantics. The spirit and concept have been there since the beginning, and we are all more advanced, organized, and unified because of it. I’m not much for predictions, but it certainly doesn’t feel like we’re going away anytime soon.

Happy Birthday, Evo. Happy Birthday, FGC. Here’s to 20 more.

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King of Fighters XIV Demo Video Round Up

The King of Fighters XIV’s playable demo is out now on PlayStation Store in all regions and players are free to give the game a spin. More than a few of these players have also shared some videos over YouTube and Twitter, videos which we’ve now shared below.

First up, Gatoray streamed himself going over the demo’s modes, including the tutorial mode and training mode, showing off all the options available in the latter.

In addition to this, we’ve also got more than a few combo videos from the demo. First up is benbender339 with a 2-part video demonstrating an 830 damage combo for Sylvie.

Meanwhile SoleChris focuses on Mai with a couple of combos for her.

Noted fighting game video maker Dandy J on the other hand demonstrates how Nelson can set up a mix up situation off a flip reset.

Meanwhile, TSnooze shared a video demonstrating how hitting characters at just the right time after a blowback wallbounce puts them in a standing state, allowing players to continue with a combo.

Antinomy also focuses on Mai with a couple of combos for her.

Additionally, they also do some combos for Kyo and Iori.

Finally, Antinomy also shared this impressive if impractical 100% combo for new protagonist Shun’ei.

Next up, Persona has shared this short combo video for Kyo. Persona did a lot of work with combo videos for the King of Fighters XIII, so it’s nice to see him continuing onto the new game.

Last, but definitely not the least, we have this Sylvie Paula Paula combo video from none other than Desk showing some interesting stuff that she can pull off with her kit.

The King of Fighters XIV is coming on August 23 to PlayStation 4.

Source: GatoRay, benbender339 (1, 2),SoleChris (1, 2), Dandy J, TSnooze, Antinomy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Persona, Desk

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Watch the Street Fighter V Top 8 Battle at Mandalay Bay in The Evo 2016 Finals

Evo 2016‘s Street Fighter V finals took hype for a fighting game to soaring new heights, giving spectators a fierce battle on a scale never before seen; the matches were an intense struggle between eight of the world’s best players of Street Fighter V–tricky, tense matches showcasing what the upper level of SFV looks like so far in 2016: RZR|Fuudo’s whirlwind of an R. Mika; HM|GO1-3151’s and MOV’s battle of the Lightning Legs; HM|Eita’s fiery Ken and AW|Nemo’s slippery Vega; and Yukadon, crowd-favorite LI Joe, and eventual champion RZR|INFILTRATION putting their Nash games to the ultimate test.

Capcom Fighters has uploaded the full video set of these fights, to relive the intensity or see it for the first time if you happened to miss it.

Source: Capcom Fighters

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Learn The Basics of King of Fighters with This Old-School Guide From Dandy J

With The King of Fighters XIV demo releasing worldwide over the next few days, many people will be making their first strides into SNK’s fighting game series. Quite a few of them will try, have trouble adapting to the mechanical differences KOF has compared to other fighting games like Street Fighter and then quit. While it may have been made back when King of Fighters XIII was about to come out, this general beginner’s guide to KOF by Dandy J proves very helpful for those trying to learn the ins and outs of KOF’s systems.

It goes over elements like the different jump heights and how to use them, how to set up a good offense and defense during a KOF match, how rolls work as well as the basic combo flow, similar to the Magic Series in a game like Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. While by no means extensive or complete, this beginner’s guide is perfect for those who still aren’t fully au fait with the basics of King of Fighters, but still want to try the demo out and know that they aren’t just button mashing.

Source: rogueyoshi

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Unlockable Street Fighter V Colors Coming to In-Game Shop

Up until now, the only method to unlock additional colors in Street Fighter V has been to complete Survival mode on varying difficulties (color 3 for easy mode, colors 4, 5 and 6 for normal mode, and colors 7, 8, 9, and 10 for hard mode). On paper it sounds harmless enough, but in application the grueling CPU difficulty in later stages, inconsistent stat bonuses between rounds, and the fact that you’re required to play through all three difficulty settings to get all the colors (and do it over again for each alternate costume) meant that a lot of the playerbase has just been sticking to options 1 and 2.

The official Street Fighter Twitter recently dropped some news that’s sure to have players, spectators and tournament organizers alike celebrating–there’s an alternative in the works! Bundles of colors 3-10 for each character will be for sale on the PSN and Steam stores. You’ll also be able to pick them up in the in-game shop with your hard-earned fight money. There are no details regarding a release date, pricing, or the ability to pick and choose which colors you’d like to buy at the moment, but we may hear something during the Street Fighter V panel at San Diego Comic Con this weekend.

Source: Capcom

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Two Wednesday Night Fights Regulars Were Involved in an Accident on the Way to Evo, Here’s How You Can Help

While this year’s Evo was the biggest and most hype one yet, for a part of our community, it was one marred in tragedy. On the early hours of July 15, Southern California players Bobby Garcia and Jordan Bryan were on their way to Evo when they were involved in a collision with a drunk driver on Interstate 15.

Bobby lost his life in the accident while Bryan is currently in critical, but stable condition. Specifically, Jordan suffered a broken arm and jaw, as well as severe head trauma. As a result of all this, he is in need several surgeries.

Both Bobby and Jordan were Wednesday Night Fights regulars and good friends of many in the Southern California scene. Bobby was a kind soul with a humble heart who loved multiple fighting games. Jordan is a part-time student who also works a full-time job to help his mother, yet always finds time to play fighting games with his friends. Both were looking forward to playing Street Fighter V at Evo 2016 when the accident occurred.

For those interested in helping out Bobby and Jordan’s families in this time of need, GoFundMe drives have been set up for both of them. You can help Bobby’s family cover his funeral costs here. Meanwhile, those who want to help Jordan’s family cover the costs of the medical procedures he needs can go here.

We here at Shoryuken offer our condolences to Bobby’s family and hope that Jordan recovers from this.

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Street Fighter V’s Dolls Strut Their Stuff in desk’s Latest Combo Video

Shadaloo’s Dolls are the Street Fighter V General Story Mode‘s breakout stars and fierce opponents (at least, on the Extra playthrough), built with almost complete movesets–and desk’s latest combo video features what they are capable of. Now, the Dolls aren’t technically playable, and desk doesn’t use hacks in his videos, so what he shows off in this video isn’t based on his inputs specifically–these combos are what the Dolls do on their own, with SFV’s CPU AI, with a little encouragement. Enero is very aggressive with her megaphone, and Marz is definitely violating her laptop’s warranty.

Seeing what the Dolls can do–even in their current state, seems such a shame to leave them as mere AI opponents in General Story Mode. Here’s hoping we see more of them in the future of the game.

See the CFN Portal profile pictures for the full cast of Dolls here.

Source: desk

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Watch Japan’s Finest Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Players at Umebura 24 This Weekend

High off their stellar performance at Evo 2016, Japan’s finest Smash 4 players are returning home to compete at their monthly national, Umebura in Tokyo this weekend. Players like Kamemushi, Rain, Nietono and Ranai should be in attendance, as well as those who did not make the journey to travel like FILIP, Japan’s main Mario, and Brood, one of Japan’s main three Duck Hunt players.

The whole event will be streamed on Twitch by SHI-Gaming so make sure to tune in to watch how the Japanese home guard fare against those who competed abroad. Note that Umebura 24 will be starting around 9:30 AM JST on Sunday so it will be showing around 5:30 PM PDT for reference. Umebura is known for some wacky results, with noted Japanese players like Earth and Abadango placing as low as 33rd at Umebura 23 so expect upsets on par with American majors. This is also the place to start scouting talent for Evo Japan so look out for hidden bosses and players with potential for when Japan has its own mega-major sometime in the near future.

Source: SHI-G