Just two short days ago, fighting game players who prefer to throw punches through the power of their PCs received some seriously unexpected news: the time has finally come for the biggest airdashers to make their way to Steam. Appropriately, this series of releases begins with Arc System Works’ Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-.
As of this posting, you can pick up a copy of this title and all of its downloadable content through Steam for a discounted price. If you’re feeling lucky, be sure to keep an eye on Twitter, this evening as we’ll be giving away a Steam code there as well.
If you’ve not had a chance to play Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- before and don’t know where to begin once jumping into the game, it can be tough to figure out exactly where to look to find the best information on burst baiting, dust loops, and all the other things that make the franchise what it is. In order to combat that, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best beginner resources out there.
The best place to begin when it comes to this part of the fighting game community is the Dustloop forums. There, you’ll find well-known players from within the scene sharing their thoughts on matchups, setups, combos, you name it. But, as is the nature of forums, things can get a little cluttered as time passes. Luckily, the folks at Dustloop have also compiled a handy wiki page with key information for each member of the cast, broken apart into sections on frame data, move lists, general strategies, combos, and anything else you could possibly want to know about your chosen fighter.
If you prefer to absorb information in the form of video content, Novril and the Chemical Lovers team’s Guilty Gear Crash Course is also a great starting point. These videos break the game into small chunks that can be easily digested, focusing on a single aspect of gameplay and how it can be used as opposed to throwing everything at viewers at once with a heartfelt, “Have fun!” to close things out. In the drop down box below, we’ve included links to all of the current episodes.
Finally, James Chen of UltraChen TV began a series of beginner videos back in May with some help from Henry “Choysauce” Choi. In addition to taking an in-depth look at the mechanics of the game, the duo also provide important introductory information for every character. These details include general strategies, best buttons, basic combos, gimmicks, and more.
We’ve included video links in the spoiler box below, but Henry Choi also prepared a Dropbox with text versions.
After taking last week off, the folks over at VGBootCamp recently went live with another installment of Smash @ Xanadu from Xanadu Games in Baltimore, Maryland. These weekly broadcasts provide a great look at the region’s Smash community, and tonight’s installment will feature competition in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
If you’re interested in some Smash Bros. action, be sure to tune in. The stream is live below, but you can also head on over to Twitch to join the chat.
This week’s installment of Next Level Battle Circuit is now streaming live courtesy of Team Spooky. As usual, the event is being broadcast from its namesake, Next Level Arcade, in New York City. Tonight, they’ll be running Ultra Street Fighter IV and Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-, featuring some of the best players on the east coast.
If you would like to check out these weekly tournaments, be sure to head on over to Next Level Arcade and take part every Wednesday. The address has been included below.
4013 8th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11232
The stream is currently live below, but you can also visit Twitch to join the chat. Full brackets will be made available through Challonge.
Earlier this week, a couple of images surfaced that seemed to point towards Sceptile’s inclusion in Pokkén Tournament. While these shots certainly didn’t appear to be fake, we now have official confirmation from Bandai Namco Entertainment that, yes, the grass-type Pokemon will be joining the game’s playable roster.
In addition to the playable character reveal, Sceptile’s trailer goes on to confirm that the anticipated support characters, Farfetch’d and Electrode, will also be making appearances. If you’d like to see these new Pokémon in action, be sure to check out the official trailer below.
Pokkén Tournament is scheduled to launch for Wii U in Japan on March 18, with an expected spring release window planned for North America and Europe.
If you’ve followed me on Twitter, you know that I’ve been posting long reads on Tuesdays about fighting games. They’ve ranged from how-to guides to strategy and philosophy. This column is a continuation of that.
I want to share my experiences with both new and intermediate players who might be stuck. If you read one of these and think, “Well, that was obvious,” then good! If you take something away from these articles, then that’s good too.
For those of you who have been following these, I’ll occasionally add a section for action items at the end of the article. These are a bit like homework – it’s something you can try immediately. Let me know what you think in the comments!
If you have any questions or suggestions for topics, feel free to ask me on Twitter at @LordKnightBB. Previous articles in this series can be found here.
Over the years, a lot of people ask me how I deal with nerves. I think people are hoping that there’s some sort of magic bullet or trick to calming down and playing your best.
Nerves, to me, are one of the many personal things you have to learn how to deal with for yourself. Fighting games, in general, have a lot of these things, but nerves comes up super early – I’ve talked to people who have gotten nervous playing in an online lobby that they knew was being streamed. While I can’t speak for everyone, at this point I know how to handle my nerves, and have things in place in my play to deal with it.
Recognizing and not fighting the feeling
First of all, I personally recognize that I get nervous. Actually, I’m anxious even before my first match of the day. It’s an unavoidable fact, and I let the feeling run its course. I also recognize that for the most part, my opponent probably feels the same way. That doesn’t really put me at ease in the moment, but it’s more of a feeling that we’re both walking into this situation at a similar level.
A big thing that personally works for me is to take a couple of slow breaths before the match. It doesn’t remove the overall feeling of being nervous, but it helps me center myself and become more mindful of the situation I’m in.
Mindfulness has been a very important focus for me as a tournament player in the past couple of months. When I say “mindfulness,” I mean staying in the present situation – in this case, preparing and playing for a tournament match. To be honest, if I pulled up some tournament play, I could point out the exact times where I would go through negative mental dialogue during an important match. Not only is that removing myself from a situation where I need high-level focus, but it also wastes mental resources that I need for the match at hand. The main point of mindfulness, for me, is to mentally stay within the match and avoid any unnecessary waste of mental resources.
Rituals
I have a lot of little rituals I do during a set, with the main goal being to feel as comfortable as possible in a set. I used to dress really casually so that it felt like I was at home. My favorite thing to do is to get stage and song pick (when available) – sometimes the stage pick is matchup based, but for the most part I like having the same amount of control as I have at home. Think of how many players you’ve seen take their wallets out of their pockets, turn their phones on silent, etc – these both have practical functions, but also, over time, become rituals that become a part of you.
Breaks between matches
Praise be to any game that requires both players to confirm that they are ready to play the next match. Personally, I use the time between games to release whatever stress I’ve accumulated while playing, especially if the end of the game was close, very tense, or went poorly.
Before, while I was taking a break, I’d try to give myself a little reinforcement. I’d think things like “one more game” if I was on set point, or “don’t worry about it” if I got rolled over. I don’t think this is bad, per se – but these days, outside of a quick review of something that happened in the last game, I try to take each game individually. That time between games helps me keep them apart.
Focus on the plan
You might think this goes without saying, but you would be surprised how many people (myself included) act differently in tournament.
For example, back at Evo 2013, I made it to grand finals in Persona 4 Arena against the best Japanese player, Yume. Aigis had actually given me problems when the game initially released, but I focused on building a strategy for her, and came out on top against the strongest Aigis players in the United States.
One important thing I noted about the matchup was that Aigis could, under certain conditions, escape Mitsuru’s corner setups, so I came up with a different way of preparing them so that I could keep her locked down. I played Aigis players on the road to Evo, and successfully used this setup against them. But for some reason, in grand finals, when I knocked Yume down, I didn’t use the setup – and to the surprise of no one, he punished me.
Even though I honed my play throughout the year at smaller events, I still reverted to doing something I would never do in any other situation at the big one. But at the time, there was so many thoughts going through my mind, along with the stress and pressure of playing in the finals, that some of the decisions I made were far from optimal. I remember watching the set and thinking, “What am I even doing in this match?”
The benefit of a solid matchup strategy is that you know how to handle all aspects of the possible interactions between your character and your opponent’s – this, obviously, is great for tournaments. Again, the less time you can spend worrying about other things, the better.
Stability
Finally, remember that it’s always better to go for the thing you won’t mess up than the thing that you’re only “pretty good” at. When you’re in a win or lose situation, the worst feeling is losing because of an execution error in a tense moment. When it gets tense, I fall back on things that I know I won’t drop. There are innumerable examples of this happening in tournament if you pay attention.
Every strong player I’ve talked to has different feeling about nervousness, but I hope this helps.
If you’ve followed me on Twitter, you know that I’ve been posting long reads on Tuesdays about fighting games. They’ve ranged from how-to guides to strategy and philosophy. This column is a continuation of that.
I want to share my experiences with both new and intermediate players who might be stuck. If you read one of these and think, “Well, that was obvious,” then good! If you take something away from these articles, then that’s good too.
For those of you who have been following these, I’ll occasionally add a section for action items at the end of the article. These are a bit like homework – it’s something you can try immediately. Let me know what you think in the comments!
If you have any questions or suggestions for topics, feel free to ask me on Twitter at @LordKnightBB. Previous articles in this series can be found here.
Over the years, a lot of people ask me how I deal with nerves. I think people are hoping that there’s some sort of magic bullet or trick to calming down and playing your best.
Nerves, to me, are one of the many personal things you have to learn how to deal with for yourself. Fighting games, in general, have a lot of these things, but nerves comes up super early – I’ve talked to people who have gotten nervous playing in an online lobby that they knew was being streamed. While I can’t speak for everyone, at this point I know how to handle my nerves, and have things in place in my play to deal with it.
Recognizing and not fighting the feeling
First of all, I personally recognize that I get nervous. Actually, I’m anxious even before my first match of the day. It’s an unavoidable fact, and I let the feeling run its course. I also recognize that for the most part, my opponent probably feels the same way. That doesn’t really put me at ease in the moment, but it’s more of a feeling that we’re both walking into this situation at a similar level.
A big thing that personally works for me is to take a couple of slow breaths before the match. It doesn’t remove the overall feeling of being nervous, but it helps me center myself and become more mindful of the situation I’m in.
Mindfulness has been a very important focus for me as a tournament player in the past couple of months. When I say “mindfulness,” I mean staying in the present situation – in this case, preparing and playing for a tournament match. To be honest, if I pulled up some tournament play, I could point out the exact times where I would go through negative mental dialogue during an important match. Not only is that removing myself from a situation where I need high-level focus, but it also wastes mental resources that I need for the match at hand. The main point of mindfulness, for me, is to mentally stay within the match and avoid any unnecessary waste of mental resources.
Rituals
I have a lot of little rituals I do during a set, with the main goal being to feel as comfortable as possible in a set. I used to dress really casually so that it felt like I was at home. My favorite thing to do is to get stage and song pick (when available) – sometimes the stage pick is matchup based, but for the most part I like having the same amount of control as I have at home. Think of how many players you’ve seen take their wallets out of their pockets, turn their phones on silent, etc – these both have practical functions, but also, over time, become rituals that become a part of you.
Breaks between matches
Praise be to any game that requires both players to confirm that they are ready to play the next match. Personally, I use the time between games to release whatever stress I’ve accumulated while playing, especially if the end of the game was close, very tense, or went poorly.
Before, while I was taking a break, I’d try to give myself a little reinforcement. I’d think things like “one more game” if I was on set point, or “don’t worry about it” if I got rolled over. I don’t think this is bad, per se – but these days, outside of a quick review of something that happened in the last game, I try to take each game individually. That time between games helps me keep them apart.
Focus on the plan
You might think this goes without saying, but you would be surprised how many people (myself included) act differently in tournament.
For example, back at Evo 2013, I made it to grand finals in Persona 4 Arena against the best Japanese player, Yume. Aigis had actually given me problems when the game initially released, but I focused on building a strategy for her, and came out on top against the strongest Aigis players in the United States.
One important thing I noted about the matchup was that Aigis could, under certain conditions, escape Mitsuru’s corner setups, so I came up with a different way of preparing them so that I could keep her locked down. I played Aigis players on the road to Evo, and successfully used this setup against them. But for some reason, in grand finals, when I knocked Yume down, I didn’t use the setup – and to the surprise of no one, he punished me.
Even though I honed my play throughout the year at smaller events, I still reverted to doing something I would never do in any other situation at the big one. But at the time, there was so many thoughts going through my mind, along with the stress and pressure of playing in the finals, that some of the decisions I made were far from optimal. I remember watching the set and thinking, “What am I even doing in this match?”
The benefit of a solid matchup strategy is that you know how to handle all aspects of the possible interactions between your character and your opponent’s – this, obviously, is great for tournaments. Again, the less time you can spend worrying about other things, the better.
Stability
Finally, remember that it’s always better to go for the thing you won’t mess up than the thing that you’re only “pretty good” at. When you’re in a win or lose situation, the worst feeling is losing because of an execution error in a tense moment. When it gets tense, I fall back on things that I know I won’t drop. There are innumerable examples of this happening in tournament if you pay attention.
Every strong player I’ve talked to has different feeling about nervousness, but I hope this helps.
Airdasher adepts have even more to look forward to this February thanks to a recent announcement from the folks at Aksys Games. In addition to providing tournament brackets with respectable prize pools for popular titles in the subgenre, Anime Ascension will feature access to an exclusive playable demo of Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st].
This newest version of the game hit Japanese arcades back in July, but those of us stuck oceans away from those cabinets have yet to take a crack at the updated game. If you fancy yourself an avid anim fan, be sure to head out to California in February to check it out.
What are your thoughts on collectible figures? How about collectible figures that come bundled with exclusive content? If you’ve booked your ticket for the hype train that is Nintendo’s Amiibo line, you’ll be familiar with this business model, and it’s set to extend into the world of Killer Instinct.
Ultimate Source recently announced a brand new series of Killer Instinct figures, the first of which is a detailed model of the game’s latest addition, Shadow Jago. Limited to 5,000 units, this collectible includes an exclusive code that unlocks the spooky fighter’s tenth color palette (highlighted in the gallery below).
Shadow Jago stands 6″ tall and retails for $34.99. He will be followed by similar figures for Jago, Sabrewulf, Hisako, and Fulgore, as well as light-up models of Jago and Spinal, in March.
Pre-orders are now open and expected to ship the week of December 28. More details can be found here.
Editor’s note: Due to various circumstances, North America is currently one week behind Europe, while the Commonwealth of Independent States are one week ahead.
ESL’s Mortal Kombat X competition returns for another installment of its second season. Similar to the previous season, the first few rounds of this online tournament have narrowed the playing field down to eight competitors in each region, who will be going at each other’s throats today to earn their way towards the grand finals event next year and its $100,000 prize pool.
Some of the more notable players you’ll see participate this week include cR|Sonic Fox, KiT|ForeverKing, RZR|Perfect Legend, A F0xy Grampa, Xarakamaka, Harry NightMare, and FLET, among others.
The stream is live below, but you can also visit Twitch if you prefer to chat with fellow viewers. You’ll also find a table of start times for each of the three regions involved further down.
A F0xy Grampa (Tempest Kung Lao) vs. DurpeyMosquito (Balanced Kenshi, Kobu Jutsu Tanya) – 3-0 The_Tile (Hat Trick Kung Lao, Summoner Quan Chi) vs. st9rm (Shirai Ryu Takeda) – 3-2
Xarakamaka vs. KTOPHDOPE
Mr. Zatara vs. Lankyshakes
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – Week 6
1. FLET (A-List Johnny Cage, Grandmaster Sub-Zero)
2. xReseTx (Aftershock Tremor, Crystalline Tremor)
3. Harry NightMare (Covert Ops Sonya Blade)
3. Dangos (Bone Shaper Shinnok)
5. MaXWelL (Shirai Ryu Takeda)
5. Nolak (Tempest Kung Lao)
5. Dock (Shirai Ryu Takeda)
5. ZorN (Summoner Quan Chi)
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – Week 7
1. FLET (A-List Johnny Cage, Grandmaster Sub-Zero)
2. Lar (Hollywood Cassie Cage, Swarm Queen D’Vorah)
3. MaXWelL (Shirai Ryu Takeda, Noxious Scorpion)
3. Arzu (Royal Storm Kitana, Hollywood Cassie Cage, Kobu Jutsu Tanya)
5. Harry NightMare (Covert Ops Sonya Blade)
5. Sakr0n (Royal Storm Kitana, Tempest Kung Lao, Outlaw Erron Black)
5. Nomad100 (Outlaw Erron Black)
5. Dangos (Bone Shaper Shinnok, War God Kotal Kahn)
After hearing that next year’s Capcom Pro Tour will be built around Street Fighter V, many in the community were curious if its predecessor would still have a place in the competitive circuit. Unfortunately for all you Street Fighter IV players out there, Capcom senior marketing manager Matt Dahlgren put the kibosh on that discussion during the most recent episode of Best of III.
“Right now, we plan on just focusing on Street Fighter V,” Dahlgren explained. “We have a pretty lean team, and to double up our production capabilities is pretty tough for us. We’ve got a lot riding on the success of Street Fighter V, so that’s where our focus is going to be moving forward.”
While that’s a pretty concrete answer, it would appear that other details of the tour are still being hammered out. When the subject of the “baseline” $500,000 prize pool was brought up, Dahlgren said they are still looking into ways to expand that figure. Additionally, they are working towards including some sort of online component in the Capcom Pro Tour again, making their continued Street Fighter V beta testing all the more important in terms of next year’s competition.
For more of their discussion with Dahlgren as well as Capcom Cup’s breakout star Keoma Pacheco, be sure to check out the full archive below.
