Earlier today, a Japanese player by the name of ino (remember his previous contribution?) jumped on Twitter with an interesting observation. Apparently, an option select exists within Street Fighter V that determines hit confirmation, allowing Ken’s jab to cancel into a special on hit and do nothing on block. His demonstration was short, sweet, and to the point.
This technique may look familiar if you’re a Mortal Kombat X player, as that game features a similar option select due to the differing cancel windows attacks have on hit and block. We won’t make any grand statements as to why this is happening in Street Fighter V of all places, but some are theorizing it might be for the same reason.
UPDATE – Shortly after this article was published, we were made aware that Geoff the Hero found this option select late last month. His video, included below, shows that it’s possible to take advantage of these separate cancel windows with R. Mika’s Passion Press as well. He even put together a nifty image showing why it works. What a guy!
Of course, as fighting game players are wont to do, BananaKen took this information and ran with it. His first video was put together in an attempt to show that a single jab will do in place of the groups ino was pumping out while also highlighting other specials that can take advantage of the option select.
His second offering, however, is where things get interesting. By utilizing a medium Tatsu and quickly following it up with a throw input, you can create a situation where, on hit, Ken cancels into the special, but on block, he goes for a tick throw.
Here's another example on how to use the auto-confirm OS: blocked jab into tick throw, hit jab into MK tatsu #SFVpic.twitter.com/fKRQ580AMC
Although the above examples involve Ken and R. Mika, we’re sure some industrious players out there will find ways to incorporate it elsewhere, so stay tuned.
With so many new players giving fighting games a try for the first time, it’s likely that some of them will go the extra mile and invest in an input device specifically designed for use within the genre. Or, perhaps you’re a longtime competitor looking for a new arcade stick to add to your collection.
If you’re looking for some great fighting game action to watch as we enter the weekend, HackerFight 5.0 is now streaming live from Facebook HQ in Menlo Park, California.
Out of the loop? Well, HackerFight is a nifty event that sees employees of the Bay Area’s numerous tech companies compete in a series of team tournaments. In the past, businesses like Google, Apple, Capcom, and Twitch have fielded teams, and you can expect to see many of those same faces show up tonight to take part in events for Street Fighter V, Ultra Street Fighter IV, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Notable players in attendance include Long “LPN” Nguyen (Google); Mike Ross, Victor “Vic the Slik” Denchartphan, and Bobby “Scar” Scarduzio (Twitch); Peter “Combofiend” Rosas, Neidel “Haunts” Crisan, Harrison Young, and Matt Dahlgren (Capcom); Adeel “FourWude” Soomro (Nvidia), Anthony “Crackfiend” Nguyen (Cisco); Kelvin Jeon (ASUS); Graham Wolfe (Zynga); Nacer “Almakashi” Garga (eBay); and Brian “bjUNCHAINED” Jeon (Everything Location), among others.
Be sure to tune into the live stream below or head on over to Twitch if you prefer to chat.
Today’s roundup is light on combos and heavy on smaller random morsels of technology. If you’re looking to gain an edge over the competition, this information may be just what you need!
This first tidbit from jmcrofts is an excellent piece of information for those new to basic option selects. Using Ryu’s target combo, jmcrofts demonmstrates how a delayed roundhouse press can help cover a successful counter-hit with the preceding fierce as well as a block. This prevents Ryu from throwing this second attack under unsafe circumstances.
The option select takes advantage of the hitstop incurred by a Crush Counter to allow the second button to cancel off the first after the delay. As shown at the end of the video, any character capable of canceling their Crush Counter buttons can take advantage of this, so get creative!
SpabRog offers our next piece of advice, which should help Birdie players keep their pressure high. This option select takes advantage of the screen freeze from a V-Reversal to let Birdie pressure with normals, or unleash an EX Bull Horn in the event his opponent decides to try and put a stop to the onslaught.
If those massive donuts, bananas, and cans of soda have tantalized you but you’re not sure where to get started, this Birdie guide from GLHFtv will set you on the right track. Rather than throwing a list of combos at you, this lengthy tutorial offers insights into all aspects of this returning fighter’s gameplan. Of course, there are some combos, too, but they’re far from the highlight.
The folks at Wave eSports offer up a handful of Karin counter-hit confirmations in this next clip. Whether working your way out of enemy strings, playing footsies, or applying pressure of your own, these options should score you plenty of damage.
If you’re in the market for Yoga mastery, but find the instant air Yoga Gale difficult to perform, this quick clip from HT MrFlubbs may help. The video suggests that an optimal input method for this move should begin at down and see the stick rotated around the back through up-toward–a slightly extended, inverted tiger knee input. This input should allow time for your Dhalsim to hit the minimum height requirement for the Gale to come out, so give it a try if your preferred method isn’t working as intended.
Next, Sebastian Rikk takes a look at an interesting F.A.N.G option. This isn’t the sort of tactic that will come up all that often, but in the rare circumstance that F.A.N.G has a full super stocked and lands a sweep that leaves his opponent mere pixels from death, he can lob some poison skyward, then jump into the air with his super to create an awkward side-swap scenario that will likely result in clipping his target and finishing off that last portion of their health.
Granted, in this situation, the Critical Art itself could potentially chip (though it whiffs in this particular setup), but folks may be more likely to react to a raw Critical Art aimed at chipping than something as strange as this. Like we said before, this isn’t an every-match tool, but it is interesting.
By now we’ve all run into a Rashid player who drops their V-Trigger and then starts wildly flopping around with V-Skills, jumps, overheads, roundhouses, and whatever else they can think of to try and force an opening. In this next short demonstration, drekerrr provides a look at some less common options through the application of special attack properties to push opponents around.
On the lighter side of things, ArtificialStar fell victim to the impressive input-reading skills of AI Cammy on the 37th stage of Street Fighter V’s dreaded Survival Mode. We’ve all experienced something like this by now, but it’s somewhat cathartic to watch it happening to someone else. Hang in there, everyone, we’ll unlock those colors soon enough.
If you’ve got something of your own to show off, drop us a line! Your video may be included in our next Street Fighter V community roundup!
Earlier this year, budget constraints forced Mad Catz to restructure with a 37% decrease in staff. One of these cuts, unfortunate enough, was Mark “MarkMan” Julio, who had served as the company’s community and sponsorships manager since 2011.
As one of the foremost ambassadors of the fighting game community, it was sad to see MarkMan leave Mad Catz. During his tenure, the organization produced countless arcade sticks for the competitive scene, making the peripherals affordable and readily available in markets that typically went without. His constant presence at events across the globe showed his willingness to improve the community, and it was only a matter of time before that passion and talent found itself another home.
Funny enough, it’s actually found two homes.
In a pair of recent announcements, MarkMan revealed that, moving forward, he will be working with both the Evolution Championship Series and the Tekken team at Bandai Namco Entertainment America. His roles will be similar to those he managed at Mad Catz: promoting brands, working with the community, and expanding the presence of fighting games worldwide.
“We are glad to have Mark on the Evo team. He is a valuable asset and brings a multitude of relationships and professionalism to the table,” Evo organizer Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar relayed. “His work ethic is unmatched, as we look forward to working together to make Evo bigger and better!”
Speaking with us previously, MarkMan mentioned that the Evo position won’t be his “main” job, and that sentiment was expressed again today when he announced his position at Bandai Namco. We look forward to hearing more about his latest adventure in the future, and are overjoyed to see that he will remain close to the fighting game community in these professional capacities.
You may recall the recent release of a limited edition Shadow Jago figure which resulted from a partnership between the Killer Instinct team and the folks at Ultimate Source. Well, it looks like that Shago statue will soon have a pal to stand beside on bookshelves and coffee tables everywhere thanks to a similar collectible release for series top-bot Fulgore.
Just like the possessed ninja before him, this miniature Fulgore comes equipped with an exclusive code to unlock a snazzy alternate color for the character in Killer Instinct. This palette, pictured below, won’t be available anywhere else.
We don’t currently have a launch date for the figure, but it’s due to release “very, very soon.” While the Ultimate Source Killer Instinct site says several of these statues, including additional models for Sabrewulf, Hisako, Jago, and Spinal, will be available for purchase this month, we can’t say for sure exactly when that will be.
In the meantime, check out the gallery below and let us know what you think of this upcoming collectible.
Daily Dot’s Best of III is back with another installment of their weekly talk show, this time with special guest Darryl “Snake Eyez” Lewis, who joins the crew for the entire episode.
The Red Bull competitor has been tearing up Wednesday Night Fights as of late, taking first place three weeks in a row. They discuss this winning streak, as well as Lewis’ thoughts on Zangief in Street Fighter V and the Capcom Pro Tour, in the archive below.
It’s been a pretty exciting couple days for Street Fighter V players thanks to Capcom providing us our first look at Street Fighter III protagonist Alex, but apart from screens of him clotheslining Ryu, we also received a very interesting set of patch notes.
Amid a few bug fixes(I’ll miss you flying Vega), the developers also plan to introduce major changes to the game’s throw tech system. Defensive throw option selects are specifically being targeted in the first major balance patch, and in a pretty decisive manner. Let’s take a look at how all this worked and what the patch is most likely to change for players currently using this technique.
For as long as breakable throws have existed, defensive throw option selects have thrived alongside them. Option selects themselves are usually considered as one of the more advanced techniques in fighting games, but in this case they’re actually pretty simple. I mean, who wasn’t using crouch teching in Street Fighter IV?
The way they work remains consistent throughout numerous franchises. When a character is thrown, they enter a state where they can do nothing but tech the throw or be thrown; let’s call this a throw tech state. During this throw tech state, players can input whatever inputs they want, but as long as the throw tech input is present during that state they will tech the grab. Since they can input whatever they want, players will typically input throw tech combined with another input that will come out instead should they not enter the throw tech state. This is how it worked in Street Fighter IV and many other games.
Returning to Street Fighter IV, you’ll see two specific outcomes by inputting LP+LK (throw) while crouching: either a crouching LK or a throw tech. Players took this to the extreme by hiding this input behind blockstun, by inputting larger buttons along with the tech, or even inputting dragon punch and throw tech at the same time.
Capcom intended to address these techniques with the release of Street Fighter V, designing the game in such a way that they would be difficult to utilize and not have a strong impact. They made the throw buffer large and the input’s priority extremely high so it’s hard to hide the input behind something. They made the throw tech window rather small in order to limit the time in which these option selects could be used. They introduced Crush Counters to add another layer of risk to option select attempts.
Still, at the end of the day, these techniques remain and are still fairly strong, perhaps most apparent in the recent discovery of the Ino tech. The throw input’s priority can be circumvented by delaying the tech by a couple frames. Players are still capable of inputting special moves and normals during throw tech state, and they’ve even gone so far as to start jumping in the same time frame.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at how Capcom plans to rectify the situation.
“If you push buttons during the normal throw delayed tech window you are unable to escape throws for 2 frames.”
(Editor’s note: We were recently informed that this detail may have been mistranslated in Capcom-Unity’s patch notes and are currently investigating the true nature of this change.)
Remember when I said you can input whatever you want during throw tech state and still get a throw tech as long that specific input existed? This new rule completely changes that. Capcom expanded on the bullet point by saying “this removes teching using lights,” but it also heavily restricts the timing window in which players can option select using a stronger button.
While performing the technique with mediums shouldn’t be impossible, it may now be extremely difficult and inconsistent based on the timing you are thrown. Throw teching with mediums is a strong tactic; a tech with crouching medium kick can call out an opponent baiting by walking backwards, and a crouching medium punch can lead to a combo if it pokes out, but it’s uncertain whether or not it will still be viable to perform consistently in matches. But with these added restrictions and greater risk, it may at least be less prevalent.
“If you execute specific special moves during the normal throw delayed tech window you are unable to immediately escape throws. Each character’s V-Skills, V-Triggers, V-Reversals, Critical Arts, and moves have been set individually.”
In addition to the two-frame throw tech lockout, Capcom wants to completely erase the ability to incorporate special moves as well. Momochi’s uppercut tech? Gone. Teching throws with Chun-Li’s EX Spinning Bird Kick? Probably gone. Players were also option selecting using V-Reversal so that if they were thrown, they’d tech, and if they blocked, they’d V Reversal out to safety. I’m going to assume that is mostly gone as well. This is the most aggressive change to the throw teching state itself, and one that completely and utterly blocks players from option selecting using certain special moves. As it is adjusted on a per move basis, we don’t know the full extent of this change, but we can safely assume invincible reversals are affected across the board. This is clearly something Capcom did not want to exist in this state, and it seems as if they will get their wish
While both of these adjustments address the throw tech state specifically, there was one more aspect Capcom wasn’t happy about, and it caused them to invoke what could possibly be the most puzzling change in this patch.
“Vertical and back jump frames for all characters except Birdie and Zangief have changed from 3f to 4f.”
This is aimed towards a more specific throw option select, one that involves (you guessed it) jumping. It works so that, in throw tech state, a player can input a jump and tech at the same time and tech the throw. They time it so that if they were to be in blockstun, they just block, and if they are in neither blockstun or throw tech state, they jump.
Changing throw tech state to cause a lockout from a jump input is too extreme, so they didn’t touch that. As such, this option select will still work with the same input post-patch. What they did was add another pre-jump frame across the board to make it riskier. Previously, players could get hit out of the pre-jump frames on the ground and be open to a full combo for their troubles. But if they got hit while already airborne, they would flip out and take much less damage, and in some cases even score a punish on a canceled move.
By adding one frame to jump startup, it’s more likely for somebody to get caught on the ground and take a lot of damage versus the silly flip out situation described above. That’s really the best change Capcom can make here; altering jump startup even further is a huge balance issue waiting to happen, and making directional inputs cause a lockout on throw teching is absolutely ludicrous.
So, in the grand scheme of things, what do these changes mean? Well, throws just got a very significant buff and throw tech option selects have been liberally trimmed to a smaller pool of techniques. Although Capcom didn’t provide any additional reasoning for these changes, they were likely made as to reaffirm a commitment to options and preserve gameflow.
At the same time, defensive throw option selects were already weaker than in previous installments and carried a lot of risk. But Capcom obviously didn’t want to have that element in Street Fighter V, and as such put their foot down really hard to stomp out what they didn’t like. This matches many of the game’s other design choices, and gives players a precedent to look back on while moving forward. That said, they haven’t addressed other silly options like mashed button timings and other fun hidden defensive techniques, showing that their priorities were on throws.
In closing, I want to make it clear that Street Fighter V’s throw teching system will be fundamentally changed with this patch. The printed guide will not list this information (though the eGuide will likely be updated), and we don’t know if the game itself will relay these details. That would, of course, be a huge oversight, as a system like this should be explained so that players don’t get confused as to whether or not their techs are working. This could be especially frustrating for players new to the Street Fighter series who may not know this change was applied. A new tutorial is being added with this patch as well, so it is possible this information can be found there, but I remain skeptical.
Furthermore, I’m assuming there will be no in-game indicator signaling that a player has triggered the new throw tech lockout. This could lead to players unjustly blaming the game for their own missed throw techs, or could leave players wondering if they were unable to tech. You don’t want somebody accidentally getting a special move input out of the buffer while teching without understanding what happened to them. Street Fighter V already features cross-up indicators, so having one for these situations might not be such a stretch. All in all, I think we can all agree that depriving players of critical information is something they should avoid.
On the flipside, seeing a lockout indicator could let the other player know the person being thrown was mashing, which might be more information than Capcom believes you should receive. It’s an argument that I’m interested in seeing play out, and is a point worth addressing when looking at such a major change.
That’s pretty much the crux of what these Street Fighter V changes have to offer. Like always, there are other subtleties in play here, but that would move the discussion into more advanced territory. The major point to remember is that Capcom saw strong throw tech options and immediately shut them down with the first patch, which sets a precedent for future updates. While this could have been planned to some degree beforehand, these changes show that the developers were willing to change an entire game system to accomplish their goals.
Regardless, players should keep their eyes open to how this affects the game moving forward, as I’m sure Capcom will be in the weeks ahead.
Glitches are often the spice of a fighting game meal, providing a surprising kick that can turn even the most mundane situations into an entertaining experience. And despite being developed in this modern age, Street Fighter V isn’t without its own quirky bugs. We’ve seen Vega fly, we’ve seen the character select screen become a battlefield, and, now, we’ve learned Nash is capable of sending opponents to the Shadow Realm.
This knowledge comes courtesy of ShowdownGG’s Spenser Cheung, who captured the following glitch at last night’s Churning the Butter during a match between Pandora House teammates LPN and HooDaMan.
While we weren’t able to independently recreate this situation, what appears to happen is this: M. Bison, upon blocking a command normal, attempts a V-Reversal at the same time Nash activates V-Trigger. The resulting chaos jumbles the screen into a hilarious mess that’s only amplified by HellPocket’s stunned outbursts. Amusement aside, this does have the potential to affect the outcome of a match, depending on each player’s knowledge of the bug itself, so we hope to see it rectified soon.
Have you encountered this glitch before? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
We recently received some early information on Alex, the first of the six post-release characters for Street Fighter V, and today, 4Gamer has more details on how the Street Fighter III protagonist is shaping up in his glorious return.
A youthful fighter who lives in a mobile home in New York. Pursuing strength, he continues to train, but he has never left NY before and has no interest in doing so, to the worry of his father’s close friend Tom. Alex is a man of little words but says exactly what he means.
Profile
Height: 195 cm Weight: 111 kg Job/Affiliation: Martial Artist Likes: Training, His Family
V-Trigger: Rage Shift
Alex becomes steaming hot and gains access to the powerful lariat Sledgehammer. During the start-up, Sledgehammer can power through the opponent’s attack, making it a strong offensive and defensive maneuver suiting of Alex.
When Sledgehammer hits Alex passes through the opponent.
From there he can land additional attacks.
V-Skill: Overhaul
Alex stretches his shoulders and charges up. If his next attack hits it will be considered a “hard hit” with the same effect as a counter-hit! The V-Skill’s motion is quick, so use it proactively when you have space or after downing the opponent.
Special Move: Flash Chop
Alex unleashes a mighty chop. After the H version he can follow with the throw move Power Drop.
Special Move: Air Knee Smash
Alex performs a flying knee strike that drops the opponent on hit!
Special Move: Power Bomb
Alex grabs the opponent and slams them into the ground in this throw technique. It’s highly damaging, so use it frequently when you close in.
Special Move: Head Crush
Alex approaches with a small leap, grabs the opponent and releases a fierce headbutt! This attack has incredibly high stun!
Critical Art: Heavy Hammer
After a series of chops, Alex seizes the opponent, leaps into the air and smashes them into the ground. If the attack leads to a KO, the opponent stays stuck in the ground!
Alex will join the Street Fighter V cast later this month. Additional information on the update can be found here.
