Category: Fighting Games

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DreamHack Austin Runner-Up DTN8|Cat Fight Aims for Pokkén World Championships

Coming off his second place finish in Pokkén Tournament at DreamHack Austin, Team Detonate’s  Wesley “Cat Fight” Garland is planning to continue dominating this year’s Pokkén Championship Series. DreamHack was the first of six events in the Championship Series, which boasts a prize pool of more than $100,000.

Using only his Chandelure, DTN8|Cat Fight fought his way to the end of the bracket before losing to Bim?’s Sceptile 3-2 in Winners Finals and again by a score of 3-1 in Grand Finals. With the win, Bim? qualified for the Pokkén World Championships, which will be held in San Francisco on Aug. 19-20. 

While he may not have been the weekend’s champion, the result was still satisfying for Garland. The 26-year-old player began his fighting game career around age 10, learning infinites in the arcade version of X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Having run the gamut from Marvel Super Heroes to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Cat Fight is a fan of fighters in general, but has narrowed his competitive focus to Pokkén alone.

Competitive Pokkén continues to grow, building on an influx of new players while drawing more and more attention from the larger fighting game community. Based on pre-registration numbers, CEO 2016’s Pokkén tournament will be more than twice the size of DreamHack Austin, and is the fourth most popular game overall.

“There is an overlap from [other] games for sure, mostly from the Smash side of things, but then you have Coach Steve and Chris G who’ve been entering tournaments as well,” DTN8| Cat Fight said of the burgeoning community. “It’s pretty awesome to see people from all over the FGC pick up the game.”

He added, “the Pokkén scene itself is growing every day with players who consider this their first venture into competitive gaming. I think we’re gonna see a lot of dedicated, solo Pokkén players pop up in the near future.”

DTN8| Cat Fight has certainly dedicated himself to learning the game, having played Chandelure since the game’s release. The ghost pokemon is considered to be one of the stronger among the cast, but is not without its flaws. Garland said he was concerned about Suicune going into DreamHack, but managed to find a new assist (Electrode) to develop a new zoning pattern in the matchup. He managed to overcome DreamHack’s fourth place finisher, Circa|Suicune Master, on the way to top eight.

“I feel like this game is so balanced that I can’t say there is any singular dominant character currently. Tourney results are everywhere, even in Japan it seems,” DTN8| Cat Fight said. “There are some matchups that I shake my head at, but nothing that can’t be overcome.”

Garland was the first in North America to achieve S-Rank online in Pokkén, but his Chandelure was not built on netplay alone. As a New York-based player with roots in New Jersey, Garland has no shortage of live competition in his area, and he works to make the most of it. Within the tri-state area, Pokkén has grown enough to have an event almost every day. Cat Fight told Shoryuken that he attended a dozen tournaments in the month before DreamHack.

“Grassroots tournaments are still just as exciting and motivating to win in,” Cat Fight said. “ As long as there’s good people and I get to play, I’m happy.”

Prior to being sponsored, DTN8| Cat Fight was affiliated with ESE Gaming, a group that runs weekly tournaments for Smash and Pokkén in Middletown, N.Y. He also attends local weeklies at Hitbox Arena in Kinnelon N.J., No Pause Tournaments in Stroudsburg, PA and Bros. Calamity in Hatboro, PA.

In preparation for the Pokkén Tournament World Championship DTN8|Cat Fight plans to attend CEO 2016, Evo 2016 and the Pokémon US National Championships. The top two finishers at Evo and the nationals will automatically qualify for the 64-man bracket at the World Championships in August.

Source: DreamHack, and you can keep up with Cat Fight on Twitter @DTN8_CatFight

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Add Some More Setups to Your Rainbow Mika’s Repertoire

Through the use of her unique assist calling V-Trigger, R. Mika has access to some of the dirtiest setups in Street Fighter V, including a style of “unblockable.” This nearly unavoidable setup involves Nadeshiko covering one end with a hit, while Mika goes for a command throw. The timing is such that if the defender chooses to block, the throw catches them before they are actually in blockstun. If they try to back dash or jump out (with some exceptions), Mika’s tag team partner hits them before they can escape. Characters without invincible reversals will find themselves with particularly limited options here.

Whether you play R. Mika or just want to be able to recognize the setups when facing off against her in the ring, below are some video examples, which include tips for escaping as well as applying these powerful setups.

First up, here’s a reset off of Passion Press, her irish whip wall bounce (f+mp):

Here’s a setup off of a knockdown, from various command grabs:

How about a blocked crouching fierce?

Last but not least, we see the same reset situation as the first video, but utilizing Critical Art as the command grab to deal some insane damage:

Due to the fact that command grab Critical Arts can be used in combos–a new concept to SFV–you can’t just take the hit from Nadeshiko in an effort to avoid the grab for less damage.

Sources: zeroaxion, Sixfortyfive, TheSassageKing

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Battle Arena Melbourne 8 Streaming Live From Melbourne, Australia!

This weekend is Battle Arena Melbourne 8, the second of 14 qualifier events for Capcom Pro Tour Asia. The event will take place at the CQ hotel in the Melbourne CBD in Melbourne, Australia. BAM8 is a Street Fighter V Capcom Pro Tour 2016 ranking tournament so in addition to Australia’s best SFV players, you can expect to see strong international players like RZR|Xian, EG|Momochi, MJS|Haitani, and Mago attending to try and earn ranking points and qualify for the Asia regional finals. Along with SFV, BAM8 is also a Worldwide Tournament Qualifier for Team Ninja’s global DOA5LR event, Battle Royal 2016! Team Ninja are supporting the tournament with a $1,000 Prize Bonus and the 1st place winner of Dead or Alive 5 will receive travel and accommodation at December’s NEC XVIII finals in the USA.

With a $1000 pot bonus for DOA5LR, $500 pot bonus for SFV, $500 pot bonus for Smash 4 and Melee for top 3 Australian players, $1000 pot bonus for T7, and $300 pot bonus for BBCPEX, we can expect to see many heavy hitters joining each of these tournaments. For Smash 4, you can expect to see international players like Umeki, 9B, Abadango and Mr. R appearing thanks to a community funding drive.

New Game Plus will be providing the main stream for the event. Along with New Game Plus, you can also find streams from GooGieGaminG, ZeroX_FGC, SASMelbourneSmash, and MelbourneMelee.

You can find the brackets for the event here.

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Latest “Smash History” Video Details the Origins of Sonic’s Moveset

The Game Theorists have added a new video to their ongoing Smash History series that demonstrates how each of Sonic’s Super Smash Bros. moves have been modeled after animations from his many prior video game appearances–usually from similar attacks and situations.

While much of what we see in Brawl and Smash 4 is based on his moves from the mostly forgotten Sonic the Fighters arcade game, some can be traced back to the possibly even more obscure Game Boy Advance title Sonic Battle. The designers’ strong attention to detail shows clearly in how faithfully the Smash Bros. version of Sonic recreates visual elements from as far back as the original Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games. This video also discusses how Sonic almost made it into Melee’s roster, and the suspicious resemblance between Super Sonic and Dragon Ball Z’s Super Saiyans.

The Game Theorists have also recently featured Corrin and Bayonetta in their Smash History series. If Sonic is your fighter of choice in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, brush up on your techniques here and here.

Source: The Game Theorists

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Learn to Protect the Russian Skies of Street Fighter V with these Zangief Strategies

If you’ve been following Street Fighter V over its first three months of life, you’ve likely heard that some consider Zangief to be one of the worst characters currently in the game. Red Bull’s Snake Eyez has even considered giving up the character because he feels ‘Gief has no competitive future. However, if you still believe that good training involves wrestling bears in the snow-covered Artic and you want to spread the good word of Muscle Power, these two videos will help make sure you’re the best wrestler you can be.

After covering the basics of Karin and Rashid last week, Evil Geniuses’ Momochi released Episode 14 of his SFV Lecture series, highlighting the original grappler of the series.

While the loss of his Banishing Flat and the increased startup on his Double Lariat have altered his gameplan from previous entries in the series, Momochi believes that the grappler’s new tools, such as his V-Skill, V-Trigger, command normals, faster dash, downward hitboxes on his air normals and Borscht Dynamite, more than make up for the losses.

After running through his normals, specials, the new purpose of his slower Double Lariats and large SPD ranges, as well as how his dash can serve as a sort of replacement for Banishing Flat, he moves on to discuss ‘Gief’s V-Skill and V-Trigger. These moves allow ‘Gief to armor through projectiles, punish blockstring gaps, in addition to moving forward slowly with his armor, similar to Guile being able to retain his Flash Kick charges with his Faultless Move.

Momochi closes by noting that, “Getting in to pressure opponents is the fun aspect of SFV Zangief.  [He] is a bit sad with the loss of Green Hand. However, you have moves to replace it, such as the V-Skill and the V-Trigger. There is much new interesting stuff as well, so you can fight without the Green Hand.”

Up next, RandomHighFives offers a number of matchup-based tips for the grappler, including ways to deal with Ryu’s crouching forward to Hadoken blockstring, Laura’s Bolt Charge pressure, Rashid’s run and Ysaar shenanigans, R. Mika’s Nadeshiko calls and charged dropkick, Nash’s three-way mixup with his Sonic Move V-Trigger, M. Bison’s Shadow Axe target combo, and F.A.N.G’s tricky Ryobenda setups.

Even if you’re not a Zangeif player, this video could still be worth your time in terms of anticipating how the Cyclones you encounter may react to these strategies.

Sources: Momochi & Chocoblanka TV, RandomHighFives

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Playable King of Fighters XIV Demo Making a Stop at Community Effort Orlando 2016

A playable demo of The King of Fighters XIV has been making it’s way around the global tournament circuit, with new planned stops popping up regularly. We recently learned that CEO 2016–which takes place just two months before the launch of the game–now counts itself among the growing list of upcoming events to host a playable version of the title. If you live in the US and weren’t able to make PAX East or won’t be attending Combo Breaker, this might be one of your only chances to learn the game before the rest of the competition.

While the demo will not be a tournament title, it has been confirmed that CEOtaku in October will be one of the earliest major events to carry the game. Be sure to register and book your stay early, if that interests you.

Community Effort Orlando 2016 is happening June 24-26 in Orlando, Florida. More information can be found here. CEOtaku takes place October 1st-2nd in Orlando as well. Get a head start on preparing for that event here.

Source: CEO Gaming

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Filipino Champ Talks About His Nomination for the Bud Light All-Stars and More in Interview with Daily Dot Esports

Daily Dot Esports caught up with Panda Global’s Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez at DreamHack Austin to ask him how he felt about being nominated for Bud Light’s new foray into the fighting game community, the Bud Light All-Stars: a vote to name a representative for each eSport genre. F Champ speaks at length about how he’s the likeliest candidate, what it means for a brand as big as Bud Light to get involved with the FGC, and what traits a player needs to land a sponsorship.

Additionally, Filipino Champ discusses his thoughts on BE|Kane Blueriver being called “a new god of Marvel,” and his feeling that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is “dying” on the tournament scene, while Street Fighter V rises. He also mentions Panda Global’s new additions, and his thoughts on how the Capcom Pro Tour is going this year–particularly EG|Justin Wong’s ongoing success, and RB|Snake Eyez’s troubles playing Zangief.

Want to cast a vote for a Bud Light All-Star? Find more information here.

Source: Daily Dot Esports

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PlayStation and Aksys Games Release Character Primer for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

Ahead of the game’s release on the 7th of June in North America, the publisher for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- has partnered with PlayStation to release a short character primer to get everyone up to speed on the two brand new fighters that are being introduced in the updated version of the game. This primer includes a loose breakdown of Raven’s mid-range, normal-heavy style and Kum Haehyun’s link-based approach to combos. Both characters will be available on the PlayStation Store for free between the 7th and 21st of June, so make sure to download them both before the deal ends.

Do note that Raven can actually be purchased via the in-game currency system, very similar to Sin Kiske from the original Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- while Kum Haehyun can be bought from the PlayStation Store after the initial 7th-21st June window of him being free. Along with the two new characters, you can also download the Eclipse color pack from PSN from the 7th to the 21st, giving all characters a new color set based on a solar eclipse. Again, like with Raven and Kum Haehyun, you will be able to purchase this palette set after the initial free period.

If you’ve yet to see Raven and Kum Haehyun in action, be sure to check out this footage from MBA GAMING.

Source: PlayStation Blog

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PlayStation and Aksys Games Release Character Primer for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

Ahead of the game’s release on the 7th of June in North America, the publisher for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- has partnered with PlayStation to release a short character primer to get everyone up to speed on the two brand new fighters that are being introduced in the updated version of the game. This primer includes a loose breakdown of Raven’s mid-range, normal-heavy style and Kum Haehyun’s link-based approach to combos. Both characters will be available on the PlayStation Store for free between the 7th and 21st of June, so make sure to download them both before the deal ends.

Do note that Raven can actually be purchased via the in-game currency system, very similar to Sin Kiske from the original Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- while Kum Haehyun can be bought from the PlayStation Store after the initial 7th-21st June window of him being free. Along with the two new characters, you can also download the Eclipse color pack from PSN from the 7th to the 21st, giving all characters a new color set based on a solar eclipse. Again, like with Raven and Kum Haehyun, you will be able to purchase this palette set after the initial free period.

If you’ve yet to see Raven and Kum Haehyun in action, be sure to check out this footage from MBA GAMING.

Source: PlayStation Blog

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Pokkén Tournament Championship Series Masters and Seniors Divisions Detailed

As some of you may already know, Nintendo and the Pokémon Company are backing Pokkén Tournament with a dedicated Pokkén Tournament Championship Series. Currently, a $100,000 prize pool is on the line for those who plan to compete in the series.

Now, more details on the Pokkén Tournament Championship Series have been revealed. The biggest new piece of information we have is that the series will be split into 2 divisions: Masters and Seniors. Players born after 2001 will compete in the Masters division. Meanwhile, those born before 2001 will be part of the Seniors division.

These divisions will have different numbers of players at the world championships later this year. The Masters division will have 64 players while the Seniors Division will only have 16.

Players from both divisions will compete in major and minor PTCS events. For the Masters Division, major events will see the top 32 receive points, while minor events will only have them for the top 16. For the Seniors, only the top 2 will receive points.

The Pokkén Tournament Championship Series starts this weekend in Europe with the Pokémon UK National Championship. It ends with the World Championship in August.

Source: Pokkén Tournament via IPLAYWINNER