Not content to stick with just Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, TSM|ZeRo has decided to branch out into doing more Melee content, starting off with a new video series in which he runs through his opinion on the Melee tier list. Just in case you are skeptical that ZeRo will be talking rubbish because he is primarily a Smash for Wii U player, fret not, as one of the Five Gods, Evil Geniuses’ own PPMD, is helping out and advising ZeRo on his tier placements.
This first episode concerns the first 8 spots on the tier list, starting off with the normal pick of Fox before spinning off into a list that plays around with the typical tier order, having quite a few differences to the last official tier list which was released in December of last year. It’s not amazingly radical though; don’t expect someone like Kirby or Pichu to make a surprise appearance in the high tiers. Also note that this is a NTSC tier list, so PAL players will have to wait for an eventual bonus episode for ZeRo’s opinion on the continental tier list.
Check out the first episode in the series below and tell us what you think of ZeRo’s decisions in the comments.
Aside from running streams as part of Team Spooky, Arturo “Sabin” Sanchez has made a name for himself as one of the top-ranked Dhalsim players in Street Fighter V. As such, during a recent trip to Japan, he took time out to play against two of the country’s best players to see how his skills measure up.
Specifically, he played some first-to-five sets against both Keita “Fuudo” Ai from team Razer, as well as the Beast himself, Daigo Umehara, from team Mad Catz.
For those wondering how the sets went down, the replays of these are now up on Umehara’s YouTube channel. Check them out below.
With games like Street Fighter V and Mortal Kombat X gaining more traction competitively, more and more eSports organizations are looking into signing fighting game players. Just recently, eLevate picked up Carl “Perfect Legend” White while Circa eSports signed Long “LPN” Nguyen.
Now, another well known fighting game player has been signed by yet another eSports team looking to get into the genre. Ronin eSports has announced that they have signed Alex Myers to represent them in Street Fighter V.
Originally making a name for himself in Street Fighter IV, Myers has had some strong showings in Street Fighter V, including finishing in the top 8 of the recently concluded Northwest Majors 8.
Ronin eSports currently fields teams in shooters such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, and Paladins. Alex Myers represents their first foray into competitive fighting games.
We here are Shoryuken with both Alex Myers and Ronin eSports the best in their new relationship.
Fans of the Tekken series aren’t strangers to waiting a while for console ports to land. To help ease the pain of waiting for the most recent entry in the series to make its way into our homes, Bandai Namco have made a big effort to travel the world with Tekken 7, allowing international players to get the chance to experience the newest installment firsthand at events like Wizard World. The game is even making an appearance at Evolution 2016 as a fully-fledged tournament game in full arcade cabinet style.
Tekken enthusiasts in the UK, however, have had to resign themselves to the long, lonely wait for the Tekken 7 console edition to be realized while gazing across the pond in envy. That’s all about to change though; Bandai Namco have announced that, for the first time in the UK, Tekken 7 will be playable at MCM London Comic-Con–set to take place May 27 to May 29–in all its arcade glory. Eager challengers for the King of Iron Fist title will finally be able to try it out for themselves, which should do something to ease the pain of knowing that a date has still not yet been announced for Tekken 7’s console release.
While there, players can also try out less traditional fighting game experiences including One Piece Burning Blood and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4.
As many of our readers know by now, Team SoloMid’s William “Leffen” Hjelte (a Swedish citizen) recently applied for a P-1 visa through the United States Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) for entry into the United States to compete in a few upcoming Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments, but was rejected. The P-1 visa permits athletes to enter and stay in the United States for up to five years to compete in a sports competition or performance. Following a second application, the USCIS granted Leffen a short-term P-1 visa allowing him to stay in the United States through July. Melee fans can rest easy for now, as Team SoloMid have reassured followers that Leffen will make Evo this summer for what is certain to be another hype tournament.
But the main problem with Leffen’s temporary P-1 visa is just that–it’s temporary. Not to mention that it took him two bites at the apple for approval.
As the fighting game community grows and more eSports organizations and companies become interested in the competitive fighting game scene, the FGC should think about Leffen’s recent situation and take a moment for self-evaluation: what standards or guidelines does it have in place to hedge against the discretion of a USCIS government official deciding on a P-1 application for a foreign fighting game player in the future? In other words, what can the FGC do to minimize the chances that foreign fighting game players do not run into the same trouble that Leffen did down the road, if anything?
Answering that question involves an examination of what the USCIS requires in a P-1 visa, how the FGC has responded since last week, and the issues that it needs to consider going forward. The bottom line is that the FGC should do what it can so that American eSports teams and organizations are not deterred from sponsoring foreign players as our community grows.
For the most part, other communities in the competitive eSports scene have successfully obtained visas for their foreign competitors, but this is a definite first for the FGC at large.
The P-1 Application Process
Leffen’s need to enter the United States by way of the P-1 visa is directly connected to his sponsorship team. Team SoloMid is an American company, incorporated under the laws of California as “Team Solomid LLC.” Because Leffen would be in the United States as an employee earning wages from an American employer, he is not eligible to enter the United States through the temporary, ninety-day USCIS visa waiver program. If he wanted to enter under the waiver program, he would have to forfeit his ability to earn an income from his team while in the United States.
On the other hand, players like Team Secret’s (a European-based organization) Poongko would not need to jump through the P-1 hoop because Poongko qualifies for entry through the waiver program. Smash commentators have already noted that UGS Armada will enter the United States through the waiver program because his sponsor is also a non-American based organization.
That’s the important distinction. If a foreign fighting game player is sponsored by an American eSports organization and wants to make money while they are here (for a period up to five years), the P-1 visa is the only way to go.
The USCIS offers the following guideline on an applicant’s P-1 eligibility:
“You must be coming to the United States to participate in individual event, competition or performance in which you are internationally recognized with a high level of achievement; evidenced by a degree of skill and recognition substantially above that ordinarily encountered so that the achievement is renowned, leading or well known in more than one country.”
An organization seeking P-1 status for one of their employees would have to provide, among other things, the documentation of two of the following:
Evidence of having participated to a significant extent in a prior season with a major United States sports league.
Evidence of having participated to a significant extent in international competition with a national team.
Evidence of having participated to a significant extent in a prior season for a U.S. college or university in intercollegiate competition.
A written statement from an official of a major U.S. sports league or an official of the governing body of the sport which details how you or your team is internationally recognized.
A written statement from a member of the sports media or a recognized expert in the sport which details how you or your team is internationally recognized.
Evidence that you or your team is ranked, if the sport has international rankings.
Evidence that you or your team has received a significant honor or award in the sport.
While the Smash community has already launched a campaign to petition the White House to direct the USCIS to recognize Melee as a “legitimate” sport, the best way the FGC can solve the problem is by looking at what it has in place to help an applicant provide evidence of what the applications calls for.
If we analyze the FGC in terms of what the guidelines require, we would have to ask questions like what parts of the FGC could be considered a “league”? Who in the FGC would count as “sports media”? Or a “recognized expert”? Do we have official “international rankings” in place? Could winning a weekly tournament qualify as a “significant honor” or “award”?
Today’s FGC Infrastructure
Ever wonder why League of Legends and Dota 2 competitive play is structured in a “season” format? It’s because of the language of the P-1 standards. That’s also why League of Legends calls its competition the “league championship series.” These scenes are tracking the language of what the USCIS would require for a P-1 applicant, helping future members prove their “athlete status.” These competitive scenes also have an official form of ranking teams and athletes in their competitive scenes.
To its credit, the FGC does a great job of ranking the top players in the wide array of fighting games out there. This site keeps an ongoing, updated list of the top ten players of popular fighting games weighted by tournament results, and the Capcom Pro Tour also keeps its rankings up-to-date following results from Street Fighter V tournaments. The Smash scene also tracks the success of its competitors in a ranked list. But these scattered lists throughout the community only undermine the scene legitimacy instead of enforcing it in the eyes of the USCIS.
Think of the NBA. Fans know that there is one governing body. They know that there is one set of rankings. They know that prior seasons are clearly defined. And they know what qualifies as a “significant honor” or “award” in the sport. Answering those questions in the FGC is a bit harder.
The debate about a governing body for the FGC has been going on for at least a decade (here is one example of SRK discussing the issue). And while structuring the competitive scene like League of Legends leagues and seasons for each fighting game could work well for some games, it might interfere with lesser-played games that rely on multi-game tournaments across the country.
And that’s the hard part. Should the FGC—from Smash to Guilty Gear to Street Fighter—think about organizing itself like League of Legends or some other eSports game so that government officials making the call on a fighting game player’s P-1 visa have an easier time approving it?
Having the Debate
The focus of the White House petition described above is only focused on determining that Melee is a legitimate competitive sport. But that was not the only reason Leffen’s first application was denied. There were problems meeting the rest of the standards too.
The pertinent issue facing the FGC is no longer whether the public sees competitive fighting games (or competitive games in general) as a legitimate sport. The eSports section of ESPN and Yahoo! shows that the debate over that issue is mostly over. The number–in terms of winnings and viewership–do too. The issue is whether the FGC is willing to adapt to the competitive structure of League of Legends or the NBA so that USCIS decision makers can clearly see that it meets the P-1 requirements.
And, if it is not, is it willing to take the chance that a player like Leffen might not be able to compete in the United States on a P-1 visa in the future in order to keep things the way they are now?
The Capcom Pro Tour’s rankings and tournament system is a good start, but it would help if they could do the same for other competitive fighting games. Evo’s old “Road to Evo” system was also a good start at coming up with a formal structure. And the solution to this problem might not even lie with members of the FGC at all—it could be a responsibility developers of the game should be charged with. There is not one clear or correct answer.
It is great that members of the Smash community like ZeRo and members of r/smashbros have started a campaign to direct the attention of federal lawmakers to the issue, but altering the P-1 visa standards is just not on Washington DC’s radar right now. On top of that, the most a White House petition will ever get the community is a letter from its policy members recognizing the issue (if at all). For those readers unfamiliar with immigration and administrative law, the actual way federal agencies get input from the public is through a long, slow, and onerous process known as “notice and comment,” not White House petitions.
Nobody is against the proposition that FGC members should do everything in their power to fight for and spread the idea that competitive gaming is a legitimate sport. But if we want to make it easier for foreign fighting game players to be sponsored by American eSports teams and organizations and make a living off of it, we have to decide whether we want to adopt the structure that the P-1 guidelines contemplate, or if we can find a simpler solution.
There is not an issue that the FGC has not overcome yet, and this one is not any different.
As always, we can expect Desk to break down every intricate mechanic of a game at an alarming pace, and Street Fighter V is no exception. With his sights set on Guile, he now has a video giving us a side-by-side comparison of Guile’s Street Fighter IV iteration with what the character is currently in Street Fighter V. The results, when considering how different many characters are from their SFIV versions, may actually be surprising.
Several of Guile’s combos between the games remain barely untouched, with a few minor differences, such as substituting V-Trigger cancels for EX FADCs, and crush counters for Focus Attacks. Even the damage of each combo remains relatively unchanged, with the key differences being individual move damage. While not bothering to do full comparisons of his normals–which could be discovered by checking each move’s individual frame data on your own–Desk did take special note to compare the travel speed of all versions of his Sonic Booms, which again showed very little change.
If you are a Street Fighter IV Guile player on the fence about whether you should return to your favorite family man after a brief sojourn to other characters, the video below may influence your decision.
Red Bull’s Darryl “Snake Eyez” Lewis is strongly associated with Zangief, his classic main since he started to play Street Fighter. However, according to an interview performed by Daily Dot Esports at DreamHack Austin, he has found competing with Street Fighter V’s version of the Red Cyclone too difficult, and is now deciding on a new fighter to rely on for upcoming tournaments.
“It’s not working out at all right now…the character’s kinda dead,” he claims, citing that his recent matchups with Zangief have been far less successful than before. He expresses concern that Zangief will be unable to compete against Street Fighter V’s inevitable newcomers as they are introduced, and also hints that we may see him bring out Ryu as his main for SFV in the future.
In the interview, RB|Snake Eyez also discusses his thoughts on Street Fighter V’s reported 8-frame latency on PlayStation 4, the growth of Street Fighter and the FGC, and how unsponsored players can provide a challenge.
Ask any Super Street Fighter II Turbo enthusiast and they will tell you the ideal way to play the game at a competitive level is on native arcade hardware. While formats such as FightCade, GGPO, and even the classic modes of HD Remix can provide some practice in the interim, nothing can replace playing at full speed on CPS2 hardware.
However, one of the hangups of that very hardware was the fact that the battery and security chip on CPS2 game boards could fail without warning, rendering the entire board inoperable. With no support from Capcom in repairing archaic boards that they no longer have the means or the financial need to repair–doubly so with the addition of CPS2 games on the NESICA arcade distribution method–hobbyists and arcade enthusiasts had to rely on a risky hardware-based method of resurrecting these boards, which could still result in the board never being operable again if incorrectly performed.
However, a recent announcement by the Arcade Hacker Project has presented some amazing news. The group has successfully reverse-engineered the security protocol on CPS2 boards. While to the everyman fighting game player this may seem inconsequential, this means that boards that were already dead can be resurrected through a software process, which implies far less risk in regards to destroying the board.
While details are currently not available on the how, they are preparing to not only release the details, but make their findings open source and free so that anyone can use their code to resurrect any dead CPS2 board they might have.
With a dwindling supply of ST and even Vampire Savior boards–two of the most famous titles on the arcade platform–a need for these boards to keep the passionate communities they have, and means such as Superguns and undamned’s UD-CPS2 consolized player to make them readily usable by the masses, this is great and exciting news for not only all arcade enthusiasts, but fans of older fighters.
Given the wealth of defensive options in Guilty Gear Xrd, choosing the right defense for each situation can prove overwhelming to newer players. When your opponent is Potemkin, a grappler who eats fear for breakfast, making even one suboptimal defensive choice may wind up costing you the match.
Thankfully, Sway brought to our attention a new video from ProblemSkaterr that details how to best escape several of Potemkin’s offensive options, including his tricky safe jump setups.
The real star of the video is ProblemSkaterr’s focus on Instant Blocking. By blocking at the last possible moment, Instant Blocking allows your character to recover several frames earlier than a standard block would. As shown in the video, several of Potemkin’s frame traps, such as 6K canceled into a Hammer Fall Break, become much easier to defend against, or even punish, with smart use of Instant Blocking.
Honorable mention goes to the entire section on Hammer Fall, which ProblemSkaterr notes is always punishable on block. More interesting, Roman Canceling a normal that hits the super armor featured on this move results in a yellow cancel, not a red cancel–a crucial piece of information if you can’t land a second hit in time, but have the meter to spare.
Take a look at the video for more information and start practicing your Instant Block timing.
Sources: ProblemSkaterr, with tips from Sway and an anonymous tipster
Around the same time America was having its largest post-launch Pokkén Tournament event to date, courtesy of DreamHack Austin, Japan’s Kanto region held a large, talent-drawing event as well. Pokkén Kanto Tournament shows off some of the finest play from across the ocean with several surprising characters. The level of play is fairly high across the board, offering a look at the gap of technique and thought that the much younger scene here in the states is working to close.
Don’t miss Azazel’s impressively patient Machamp, GengarOuji’s slippery reactions, or the jump cancel-heavy technical prowess of Shiruo and his Charizard. Nay, Lizardon! We’ve embedded the grand finals below, but you can find many more matches in the playlist here.
If you’d rather watch the event in its entirety, you can find archived stream footage here.
To its credit, the FGC does a great job of ranking the top players in the wide array of fighting games out there. This site keeps an ongoing, updated