Category: Fighting Games

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Injustice 2 undergoing an hour of server maintenance today

Though we’ve become used to seeing long periods of downtime for the severs of Street Fighter V due to routine maintenance periods, it appears that NetherRealm Studio’s Injustice 2 will be getting in on the action to kick off December.

Gameplay programmer Brian Keschinger recently noted on Twitter that the Injustice 2 servers will be down for exactly one hour tomorrow — Friday, December 1st — from 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM CT (8:30-9:30 AM PT, 11:30-12:30 PM ET).

“All online services, including Matchmaking, Guilds and AI Battles will be unavailable due to server maintenance,” according to his Twitter. So if you were looking to grab a few online matches or tackle a Guild Multiverse before lunch, you’ll have to table them until you get back — though thankfully only for a short time. You can see the tweet below.

In the meantime, you can check out the full patch notes for the recently-released December update while you wait for the servers to return. This will hopefully ensure a more stable online experience for all players going forward.

Injustice 2 is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam PC.

Source: BrianWritesCode (Twitter)

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RoKtheReaper interviews Holy Order-Troll, discussing the Canada Cup 2017 double-entry incident, and more

Some words from one of the individuals behind the controversy.

canadacup-headerCanada Cup’s first Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite event ran into some serious troubles when it was discovered that a player known as PCMarvelGod (a.k.a. Quackbot) had entered the fray twice, taking up a position in Holy Order-Troll’s pool after she backed out. The result was a replayed bracket, much anger from various players, and a lifetime ban from Canada Cup for PCMarvelGod and Holy Order-Troll.

To learn more about the event and the people involved, RoKtheReaper approached Lina “Holy Order-Troll” Crawford to hear her side of the story, and get a better idea of the player behind the scandal. In the 20-question written interview, they discuss her past volunteer involvement in the fighting game community, the origin of her gamer tag, and trolling (“I honestly feel that trolling should never sound personal or hateful, such as attacking one’s character or appearance…”). They discuss a little about whether she feels the lifetime bans were fair (“For me, yes I suppose, and I will always feel very guilty about the whole thing. But for him? No.”), and reference some other controversial incidents and possible inconsistencies in the consequences… “But everyone deserves a second chance, and the FGC is not always fair, sadly.”

They also discuss gender in the FGC, Crawford’s non-FGC hobbies, other game genres, and more. Read the full interview here.

Source: RoKtheReaper

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Virtual Storm has signed Claudio pro Changbin “Binchang” Moon to their roster

Virtual Storm has announced the expansion of its already strong Tekken 7 roster with the acquisition of Changbin “Binchang” Moon. Binchang will be joining the likes of Pokchop, Kodee, Trungy, and Spero Gin as Virtual Storm enters the 2018 Tekken season.

This Claudio pro is a strong player with a somewhat unrepresented character in the highest levels of Tekken. He dominated Canada Cup Vancouver 2017, and placed 7th recently at SoCal Regionals. With the power afforded by a sponsorship, it’ll be exciting to see how he can capitalize on the 2018 tournament season.

Source: VirtualStormLLC

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Mikado Arcade’s Super Street Fighter Carnival 2017 returns with Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix 2

“Super Street Fighter Carnival 2017” marches on! SSFC2017 is the currently-ongoing Japanese tournament series at Mikado Arcade for a wide variety of classic (and sometimes, obscure) arcade titles. If you missed the first few tournaments from SSFC2017, there’s a lot to catch up on!

Mikado’s most recent SSFC2017 challenge is one of my favorite gems: the surprisingly competitive (and fantastically busted) Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix 2.

Based off the wrestling-themed Manga series Kinnikuman, this AKI Corporation (now known as Syn Sophia) fighter was published by Namco and played quite differently from anything else on the market at the time. It’s a guard-button based 3D fighter with no crouching state, instead opting for high/mid/low crush states similar to Pokkén Tournament.

It also has a Rock/Paper/Scissor system between Attacks/Throws/Parries, but Parries work quite differently from you might expect: instead of guaranteeing a free hit, they simply halt your opponent’s string. That’s more important then you might think: positioning is huge in this game, because if your opponent forces you to block an attack that pushes you into the ropes, they get a guaranteed corner combo. This is important, because there’s a lot of absurd high damage and potential infinites in the game, even for seemingly low tier characters.

The most important thing to pick up while watching KMGP2 is meter-use — nearly every throw and special move in the game costs meter, and there’s three different types of meter in the game. Depending upon what meter the player chooses, they get access to a once-per-round burst that grants different effects for a limited amount of time: Custom Combos, Super Armor, or Infinite Specials.

Enjoying SSFC2017? You can follow the action by subscribing to Mikado’s official YouTube channel, or you can even try to catch Mikado Arcade when they livestream!

Source: Mikado

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Mastercup 9 results

Though the 2017 Tekken World Tour finished up a few short weeks ago, this past weekend saw the return of Japan’s largest Tekken tournament with the 9th iteration of the Mastercup. This “5 on 5 Team Battle Grand Prix” saw over 190 teams — comprised of nearly 1,000 or more players — converge on the Tokyo Big Sight TFT Hall in order to determine which Team could lay claim to being the Kings of Iron Fist in Tekken 7. With the likes of 2017 TWT Champion Qudans, Evo 2015 Champion Yamasa|Nobi, ROX|Knee, COOASGAMES|Noroma, ITS|Channel, Yamasa|Take and Yuu, KuroKuro, LowHigh, HelpMe, CO|Tanukana, GetNews|Pekos, and many more in attendance, this would undoubtedly be an event for the ages.

Results

tk7fr-tournament

Tekken 7

1. Team Anti-Benkei – Amigo (Jin), Kowashiya Shiro (Steve), BKC (Bryan), Manba (Katarina), Kagemaru (Josie)
2. Team Yamasa – Batsu (Hwoarang), Nishi-Shinjuku (Feng), Yamasa|Nobi (Dragunov), Yamasa|Take (Kazumi), Yamasa|Yuu (Feng)
3. Global Glory – COOASGAMES|Noroma (JACK-7), Chikurin (Jin), Mafuyu (Feng), Keisuke (Kazuya), Thai Curry (Feng)
3. Miitanzu – Chirichiri (Shaheen), Takashi (Steve), Miitan (Alisa), Keei (Alisa), Honchuu (JACK-7)
5. Same no Esa – Nana Eiyuu Kujinshii (Asuka), Raumu (Kazumi), Niimi (Steve), Shocchan (Lili), Loki (Lars)
5. Akicha Hallmen Brothers – Ken (Miguel), Tarisu Cutter (Kasumi), Gugumatz (Feng), Kami (Asuka), S.H.O.W (Alisa)
5. Shin Taisei Children G – Taisei (Steve), SFD|AC (Yoshimitsu), Gen (Bob), Kurikun (Lili), Shana (Devil Jin)
5. Team Well Played – ROX|Knee (Bryan), ITS|Chanel (Alisa), LowHigh (Shaheen), Kelthu (Hwoarang), Senu (Kazuya)

Source: Tekken

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A new The King of Fighters manga is coming to Japan in January

While SNK has done a great job putting out a number of supplemental media — such as comics and animation — for The King of Fighters franchise, most of these have come from and are focused towards the Chinese market. That’s about to change however, as a new The King of Fighters manga is set to debut early next year in Japan.

The new manga, called The King of Fighters ~ A New Beginning is set to make its debut in the January 1 issue of Kodansha’s Monthly Shonen Sirius magazine. No details on what the plot of the manga will be about, however the released art seems to indicate that it somehow ties into or is based on the events of The King of Fighters XIV.

Check out the announcement from Monthly Shonen Sirius below:

kof_new_manga

Source: Natalie

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Check out the planned brackets for Capcom Cup 2017

Here are the preliminary brackets for December’s big Street Fighter V showdown.

As first revealed yesterday on Capcom Fighters’ Wake Up Wednesdays YouTube show, here are the planned brackets for Capcom Cup 2017. These brackets reflect the withdrawal of 2016’s Champion Liquid|NuckleDu, with his auto-qualification spot transferred to and accepted by last year’s runner-up EG|Ricki Ortiz. The only remaining open spot is reserved for the winner of the Last Chance Qualifier.

Capcom Cup 2017 bracket 1 (upper half)

Capcom Cup 2017 bracket 1 (bottom half)

Naturally, any other last-minute withdrawals (or travel visa issues) could result in these brackets being adjusted again, so stay tuned; but unforeseen changes aside, this is how the battles in Anaheim will begin on December 9th!

Learn more about the competitors in our ongoing Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis series!

Capcom Fighters (Twitter)

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7th TOPANGA Charity Cup results

This past weekend, the 7th TOPANGA Charity Cup took place in Tokyo, Japan. A Street Fighter V 5V5 Team event, this unique battleground saw over 750 of the game’s strongest warriors wage war in order to raise money for the Japanese Red Cross Society. Participants included the likes of Evo Champion Echo Fox|Tokido and teammate Momochi, Team GRPT’s Haitani, Fuudo, MOV, and Infiltration, YouDeal|Yukadon, GodsGardenPro’s Kazunoko, Cyclops Osaka’s Dogura and GO1, Gamework’s Eita, Hx.Twitch.CYG BST|Daigo Umehara, Mago, Poongko, PONOS|Moke, RB|Bonchan, AW|Nemo, Kuroda, DNG|Itabashi Zangief and Tachikawa, Ryuusei, DouyuTV|Xiao Hai, Scarz|Sako, Kindevu, YHC-Mochi, Gachikun, Nuki and countless others — which promised an unforgettable evening of competition.

Results

sfv-tournament

Street Fighter V

1. TOPANGA – Mago (Karin), DBKoopa (Ken), Scarz|Sako (Akuma), Gachikun (Rashid), YHC-Mochi (Dhalsim)
2. Kindevu Gurentai – Andou (Urien), Mizuha (Chun-Li), DNG|Itabashi Zangief (Zangief), DouyuTV|Xiao Hai (Cammy), Kindevu (Akuma)
3. BeasTV – Hx.Twitch.CYG BST|Daigo Umehara (Guile), Orikasa (Akuma), Machaboo (Necalli), PONOS|Moke (Rashid), AW|Nemo (Urien)
3. Hail Mary y.k.a. GOD – YBK|Daikokugo (Birdie), GW|Eita (Ken), YouDeal|Yukadon (Ibuki), CO|Dogura (Urien), CO|GO1 (Menat)
5. Osayu~ JAPAN – Acqua (Ibuki), Reiketsu (Menat), GAMEtoHITO (Dhalsim), Inoue (Urien), Ryuusei (Urien)
5. LP 30,000 Powers – Anman (Urien), Nazo no Chankoya (R. Mika), Trashbox (Birdie), Raburenji (Rashid), Dasuku (F.A.N.G)
5. Hikari no Senshi – Kichipa-mu (Zangief), StormKubo (Abigail), Crusher (Birdie), Initial Kyouso (Laura), Inuchiyo (M. Bison)
5. Kachitagari – RB|Bonchan (Karin), GRPT|Fuudo (R. Mika), GRPT|Haitani (Necalli), Nyanshi (Necalli), Jyobin (Necalli)

Source: TOPANGA TV

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Day one Tekken 7 Geese Howard roundup: Frame data, Kousuke’s Geese, Howard Estate combos, and more!

Tekken 7‘s DLC2 — SNK’s iconic Southtown Boss, Geese Howard — has been out for approximately five seconds. Despite that, the footage that’s already been released for Mr. Howard shows a consistent high-damage output, and strong toolset. Let’s take a look at some of the very early tech that’s been found for our favorite Goose:

Although, before we begin, I will throw a bone to anyone unable to access Geese for the moment, but wants to see his movelist. BLUELINKBR has you covered:

KURO KURO has got the goods on Geese’s on-block frame data. It’s a real mixed bag, but there’s still some surprisingly safe stuff, like F+1+2.

Geese’s wall damage is a really beautiful thing in this game. This will be a theme we return to often in this post, starting with the counter-hit low combo from RoboDuck.

It’s going to be really important to know what your wall splat options are with Geese, and Rikk has that information nice and compartmentalized for you:

You don’t necessarily have to be at the wall to start your big damage combos: as long as you can get there by the end and you have meter, you are a Reppuken away from laying on the hurt.

Neltharak Idrissil has put together a great starter combo guide for the new Geese apprentice.

Something that wasn’t quite apparent during Geese’s initial trailer was the fact that there’s several wall breaks on Geese’s stage. This, combined with Geese’s natural wall-destructive ability, makes it easy to see from 101shiki OBGM‘s video that Geese is going to enjoy having home field advantage.

Japanese player Kousuke has some early matches vs. Shudy‘s Heihachi that are absolutely worth checking out, just to see how the two Japanese players adapt to the new character.

LiangHuBBB has some early wall-carry ideas that show considerable promise.

But most importantly, famed Tekken combo video maker STL1119 seems to have already taken a shine to the SNK boss. Here’s his early exploration of Geese combos:

Sources: BLUELINKBR; KURO KURO; RoboDuck; Thorasskicker; Neltharak Idrissil; 101shiki OBGM; SHUDY_JINLEE; LiangHuBBB; Rikk; STL1119

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Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis: Will Daigo Umehara run wild?

ryuisdeadHx.CYG BST|Daigo Umehara has walked a tough road this year. Having started off the season attempting to stay the course on his tried and tested Ryu play, he realized that the character nerfs were not conducive to getting the results he needed.

He thus made a difficult choice to switch to Guile. When he switches away from his most beloved character, you can tell he means business. Well, business is booming, as his Guile play has put him into Capcom Cup yet again. Now will the Beast finally claim the title he came so close to grabbing in 2015?

Booming

While Daigo’s switch to Guile may have come as a shock to many in the FGC, deep down it makes sense. If you look back to even the origins of competitive play, Guile and Ryu are classic contemporaries. Despite the difference in controls, the two characters aren’t so different, fundamentally. Both play solid footsies, both control the ground and the air very well.

Essentially, Daigo was able to take what he already does well with Ryu, and amplify that with Guile. He has always had a great zoning game, and throws fireballs well. He also has great reads and reactions, and Guile has great tools for countering jumps. But he takes some of Ryu’s difficulties, including pressure, and mitigates them. This allows Daigo to play every aspect of the game in his own terms, which gives him control of matches.

Sending People Home to be Family Men

Despite having to adapt to a new character — with his admission that he learns slowly — Daigo has not slowed down this year. It is true that he won one fewer tournament this season, three victories instead of four. It’s also true that he attended the same number of tournaments this year. However, it is his list of notable wins that suggests he is still on song.

Esports Festival Hong Kong featured wins over Gachikun, Kazunoko and NL. Abuget Cup saw him beat GO1 and Oil King. Fight Club NRW might have been his weakest win, but saw him defeating European qualifiers Phenom and Problem X. This makes him a dangerous man, beating some of the best in the Capcom Cup field.

It’s also worth noting that every single tournament win he’s posted this year has been from the winner’s bracket. It’s obvious that when Daigo is focused, there is no one that can really stand against him.

sfv_guile_sonic_boom

The Break Principle

I mentioned this last year in reference to Infiltration, and this is something that worried me about Daigo. After he had ensured his entry into Capcom Cup, he announced that he would pulling away from tournaments for a while. When we next saw him at a bloodthirsty bracket at Canada Cup, he finished 25th, losing to LPN and 801 Strider. Especially given that Laura can struggle to get in on Guile if executed properly, this shows that although Daigo has continued to train online, he is struggling right now.

It’s often shown that if you take a break like this, your tournament prowess could deteriorate. Despite decades of experience, it seems that Daigo waned some over the course of a couple months. This can’t be any more true in a volatile game such as Street Fighter V, where you must keep sharp or get caught off guard.

The Beast Masters

sfv_urien_scaryThe question then becomes when Daigo loses during a full tournament schedule, who is he losing to? At TWFighter Major, he lost to Dogura and Kichipa-mu. At Japan Cup, he lost to Nemo and NL. At Battle Arena Melbourne, he lost to Marn and yet again to Dogura. He lost to Mo-joe and MenaRD at CEO.

The first three tournaments mentioned showed a glaring hole: Urien. Having struggled against both Nemo and Dogura shows this matchup to be a weakness. We haven’t had any questions answered on his capabilities in this matchup lately. But given that Dogura is currently the hot player going into Capcom Cup, should they face off in Anaheim, my money would be on Dogura.

Final Thoughts

Daigo Umehara is always capable, and his switch to Guile has put him into a good position. With the departure of NuckleDu, he is the strongest Guile in the mix.

With that said, he’s a little off his game as of late, so we’re now waiting to see whether he shows up to California with full focus. If he does, expect him to make a serious run at the tournament.

GuileThumb3

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