Category: Fighting Games

While Cyclops Osaka’s Goichi “GO1” Kishida may have been a surprise to people in his success last year, no one could be surprised at further success this year. Having reached top 8 in both Evo and Capcom Cup, he made a name for himself within the FGC as one of the most-respected new players in the circuit.

Despite character changes over the course of the year, GO1 again finds himself in the thick of things. While he missed out on a repeat Evo top 8 performance, he has a chance to reach top 8 once again at Capcom Cup. Will he be able to cap off his season with the biggest prize?

Changes in Programming

GO1 was well known for being a highly-technical player last year. Using surgical precision with his Chun-Li, he rarely missed a confirm or a combo. This could be owed to his play in anime fighters, where that sort of precision must be possessed to be competent.

With the changes in Chun-Li in Season 2, GO1 sought out other characters that fit the mold. While Ibuki was an easy fit, there was one Season 2 character that caught his eye. We have seen flashes of his Menat on the circuit — as well as in his online matches — and it looks solid. With the character having precise combos and mix-ups, GO1 makes her look easy.

This is a character that is not only able to stonewall characters, but also able to tear down walls that other characters present. GO1 does this well, and switches between both mentalities quickly. This is a character that fits him well, but that’s not to say his Ibuki is a slouch. He possesses every single solid trait that an Ibuki player needs to have, which also falls in line with his strength with Menat.

Running the Gauntlet

I’ve talked a lot of about players who have traveled extensively this season, but when I looked at GO1’s results, my jaw dropped. This man has played a staggering 21 events over the course of 2017 on the CPT — not even counting the Red Bull: Tower of Pride event he just recently competed in. In these events, he was able to make the top 8 seven times. He was also in the top 16 an additional 10 times. These are huge results, given the amount of time he’s spent traveling.

It’s also worth noting that during this exact same time span, he also made top 8 in five Guilty Gear Xrd tournaments, winning one, and three Blazblue top 8s. This shows some amazing focus that despite playing multiple games, he has been on when it counts in all three games he’s been playing. While some players who split their focus between games falter, he hasn’t.

Desire

One story I’d like to relay, that I don’t think was touched on after Canada Cup, was that after he fell in second place to Dogura in Street Fighter V, Goichi was near inconsolable. He was actually hunched over on the stage tearfully. People were confused by his display of emotions, and without looking at the list, were remarking erroneously that they thought he was out of Capcom Cup with second place.

Obviously, this wasn’t the case. But if you look back on his results, you can probably guess why he was so upset. He had a string of top 8s, but never anything higher than fourth place to hang his hat on. When he made Grand Finals, you could tell he wanted to win. That loss hit him hard, and it showed.

When you look back further, outside of smaller local events in Japan, he has yet to win anything. You can tell the pressure is on for him to win something, and he has fallen short every time. It’s grating on his confidence, and this is a cause for concern going into Capcom Cup.

Final Thoughts

GO1 is going to get there one day, but things are going to have to change. One of the things I mentioned about Tokido last year that he rectified, was his diversification into other games affecting his performances. While he was making top 8s, he wasn’t winning. This is also something GO1 is falling victim to.

If he wants to be a winner and truly call himself a champion, and Capcom Cup truly means this much to him, he’ll have to shy away from his other games to really focus on SFV. If he is in it to have fun — then by all means, keep playing what he wants. But when your focus is to win, you need to do whatever it takes to get there.

Right now, he wants to win, but isn’t going all out to get there. If he makes top 8 again, expect his road to end there until he makes a decision about which game deserves all his attention.

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Check out our prior articles in the Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis series!

We’re on our third video roundup of videos for Tekken 7‘s DLC2 character, Geese. The previous two roundups have been largely centered around combos and options, predictably so.  But any new character in any game is going to have a bug or two, and if glitches are your favorite things in fighting games, this post if for you.

Let’s just go ahead and get the biggest one out of the way, from Sodusthepock. Devil Jin, you no longer rule the skies of Tekken 7:

Geese became a burd. And something more.https://t.co/BjoTAqN7St pic.twitter.com/HZRWPUWGlv

— Seltekh (@Sodusthepock) December 1, 2017

You may remember that Akuma can trap opponents on the ground by FADCing his Red Fireball over their body, then sweeping them OTG into the fireball. Well, Geese thinks that’s too much work, and just opts for his EX Fireball to pick up grounded opponents in this video from Peter Souvannarath. No other tricks required!

Also from Peter, we have an impressive wall-to-wall combo:

Louis Lee found out that there’s no electrical activity in Geese’s Raging Storm. It makes sense that Geese didn’t get hit, but how did Kazuya survive? Is there a dead spot in the eye of Geese’s storm?

From ShiningFace, here’s a 3-bar death combo that, though it requires the Rage damage buff, does not use any Rage Arts.

Just like Akuma, Geese is able to throw a fireball from upstairs, then juggling into it post-balcony break. art_adriano says it’s his first Geese combo: it’s a good one.

My first Geese Combo #tekken7 #snk #bamco pic.twitter.com/0NwXs8smev

— Adriano Lopes (@art_adriano) December 4, 2017

And last but not least, cutcc has some quick educational Geese tips, both for playing as and against SNK’s most famous big-bad.

Sources: Sodusthepock; Peter Souvannarath; Louis Lee; art_adriano; shiningface; cutcc

Following on from his Venom character breakdown, Maximilian has set his sights on the Winter Soldier for his next Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite DLC character preview. Playing like a hybrid of Captain America and Chris Redfield, Winter Soldier’s strength lies in his ability to soak through enemy attacks with his Metal Shield stance — rather than in his zoning.

While the Metal Shield stance sounds overpowered at first, it does have some noticeable drawbacks. It can be beaten by low attacks and Winter Soldier is forced to walk when using it. However, Winter Soldier can attack when in the stance, either with his pistol, his rifle or a variety of punches, and still keep the damage nullification active. One great strength of Winter Soldier will be being able to walk straight through lockdown Supers like Dante’s Million Dollars, and start up a counter-attack. The Tag combo potential from Metal Shield looks equally appealing, as Winter Soldier can keep an opponent occupied while your teammate goes for a mix-up.

His zoning is still effective — especially his jumping Rifle and Pistol shots — but the utility of Winter Soldier’s Metal Shield will be where Max reckons the character will shine. With Winter Soldier, Black Widow and Venom all coming out tomorrow, you won’t have to wait long before you can put this soldier through his paces.

Source: Maximilian Dood

Rashid has been a popular character for breakout stars in Street Fighter V this season. Kanemori “Gachikun” Tsunehiro — despite being known for his Sagat play in Street Fighter IV — has been one such breakout star. Currently, he sits as the highest-ranked player in the CPT standings without a sponsorship.

Obviously, one can’t expect him to remain unsponsored for long — and doubly so, if he performs well at his first Capcom Cup appearance. What are the odds of that happening?

The Wind Always Blows in Your Face

One of the first things you notice about Gachikun is how aggressive his Rashid is. From moment one, he starts out with aggression. If you are not prepared for a relentless assault, Gachikun is simply going to shake you to your core.

This would almost seem like a stark contrast from play Street Fighter IV, given his character choices. However, if you look at his Sagat in the game, he put himself in far more aggressive ranges than Sagat players typically do. Whereas most players would rely on the zoning game and reactionary play from that, Gachikun was prone to playing a solid footsies game on top of the fireball game. He always likes to be in your face,  within reason — obviously point blank doesn’t work with Sagat in SFIV, but it’s a range that Rashid thrives in. This character rewards his aggression well, and allows him to win a lot on rattling his opponents who would rather him be further away.

Rolling in the Thick of Things

In his breakout year, Gachikun has put together an impressive string of results. In a matter of seven Premier events, he placed in the top 8 four times, with two second place finishes. All of these strong finishes have put him in a great spot for his seeding at #15, after NuckleDu dropped out.

Further, he has done well off the circuit, with a second-place finish at Red Bull Kumite. He has consistently been near the top of the heap, and his results show that.

The Ceiling

But his consistency is also his sign of having difficulties winning it all. Second place is the best he has done in any event. Even during Esports Festival Hong Kong, Zhi remarked that Daigo said that he struggled against Gachikun, only to beat him twice on the way to the title. He was further toppled by Nemo at Red Bull Kumite, Infiltration at Manila Cup, and Problem X at EGX. He also lost to Yukadon and Fuudo at D3.

Several of these characters show a pattern. With Urien, Guile, and Ibuki, they have the ability to zone him out and keep him away from that range he loves to utilize throughout the duration of a round. Even if they aren’t able to, they have options to push him off relatively well.

With a character like Bison in Problem X, Bison loves to do the exact things Gachikun likes, but has even better spacing, which makes it more difficult to push him away. This forces Gachikun to be even more careful in his approach, and makes every knockdown difficult to deal with for him. Infiltration’s Juri provided much of the same frustration for him, including more mix-ups.

But while these individual matches can make life a veritable hell for Gachikun’s Rashid, the problem also stems from within Gachikun. His limited tournament experience on the international stage has definitely been the empty space in his toolbox, and it will take some time for him to adjust. Doing well in Topanga league is a far different experience than doing well in double-elimination tournaments. He’s finding that out, and will need to adapt to this in order to see his stock rise.

Final Thoughts

Gachikun is going to wow some people. His aggression is something that will blow some people’s minds. But the problem is he’s facing players who already know this — his first round is against GO1, who will know full well what he’ll see from Gachikun.

Western players will be far more taken aback, and for this reason, he stands to possibly make top 8. I just wouldn’t place money on him come Grand Finals, if he gets that far.

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Check out our prior articles in the Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis series!