DreamHack Austin 2017 was an eventful tournament, especially for Street Fighter and Smash Bros. fans. However, there is some big news from Guilty Gear as well: the event’s big upset in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- happened at the Grand Finals.
From the video below, at the 3:05:00 mark, KidViper begins a grueling match against CO|Dogura, one of the best Japanese Guilty Gear players. Ultimately, KidViper manages to triumph and puts down both of Dogura’s characters, Raven and Sin, with his Johnny.
Now, whether KidViper was in the talks with esports team Fable already is unknown, but this victory couldn’t have hurt; he is now part of their fighting game roster, which includes Smash, Counter Strike, and Rainbow Six.
Secrets out! I am now representing @FableGG as their GG player!!!! #BeLegendary.
This week in Japan, there’s a special holiday for everyone: Golden Week. As Nihon celebrates, there obviously has to be some kind of video game connection… PlayStation owners can thus look forward to large sales on Japanese-themed selections from the PlayStation Store. Here’s what you can find on the PSN Golden Week sale, when it comes to fighting games (amounts shown are the slightly cheaper PlayStation Plus prices):
PlayStation 4
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road to Boruto ($37.49)
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 ($17.99)
BlazBlue: Central Fiction ($23.99)
BlazBlue: Chronophantasma Extend ($14.99, also on Vita)
The King of Fighters XIV ($35.99)
Samurai Shodown VI ($7.49)
Dead or Alive 5: Last Round ($15.99)
Garou: Mark of the Wolves ($5.99, bundled with Vita version)
The Last Blade 2 ($5.99, bundled with Vita version)
Arcane Heart 3: LOVE MAX!!!!!! ($4.99, also on Vita)
Aquapazza ($11.99)
Other notable, non-FG titles include NieR: Automata, Final Fantasy XV, Gravity Rush 2, God Eater 2: Rage Burst, and many more. The sale ends at 8:00 AM PDT on May 9th.
YogaFlame24 is back with Episode 3 of his “Top Plays of the Week” series for Street Fighter V. With Dreamhack Austin providing so many hype moments this past weekend, he’s decided to chronicle the top ten Street Fighter V plays this week.
Some of the highlights include Dr. DannyPham landing a perfect with his eyes closed, a Ken scoring a win while holding his baby, Protunic replicating Evo Moment #37, and some moments from DreamHack that will take your breath away.
You can catch the full video below; be warned there is some NSFW language. You also might not want to be wearing headphones for Moment #6, involving Chris Hu celebrating another crazy Raging Demon setup.
Let us know which of these hype moments was your favorite down in the comments below! If you’d like to see your own clips featured on next week’s episode, feel free to contact him via Twitter at YTYogaFlame24.
Capcom announced via Twitter last night that there will be a brief period of “urgent maintenance” for the Street Fighter V servers today–so if you had planned to fight for some League Points today, you’ll have to wait until after lunch.
We will perform urgent server maintenance from 11am to 1pm on 5/3 PDT. Thank you for your patience and support.
The reason is unspecified; there is a possibility this may be to apply modified background music to the Temple Hideout stage, after the concerns about the religious references in its original theme prompted its removal from the Shop and a quick fix of replacing the initial music with M. Bison’s theme. Hopefully, we see the stage returned to full working order today. Of course, this particular maintenance bout may also be for something completely different–we’ll see.
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 is one of the FGC’s most beloved old school fighters. If you’ve been meaning to get a copy of this classic on the PlayStation 3 and haven’t gotten around to it yet, now’s a pretty good time to make a decision.
For the next week, Sony’s PlayStation Store has marked down the Ps2 Classics version of CvS2 (playable on PS3) to 65% off–$3.49, down from $9.99–with an additional 10% off for PlayStation Plus subscribers. The sale ends on the 9th, so if you want to get this at a really low price, don’t let this deal roll cancel away!
We’re still waiting on that balance patch… but the Capcom Pro Tour is already in full swing!
April was a hot month for the Capcom Pro Tour in North America, with two big Premier events: first NorCal Regionals, and then last weekend’s DreamHack Austin–and Panda Global’s Punk won them both! In the video below, you can see Capcom Fighters’ picks for DreamHack Austin’s top five moments; check out Punk’s oppressive corner pressure against Echo Fox|Justin Wong, Qanba.Douyu|Xiaohai taking a perfect off TS|Sabin’s Dhalsim, Grpt|Haitani rushing down Punk in Grand Finals, and more.
If you missed NorCal Regionals, Capcom Fighters has compiled their top five moments from that event as well. See Grpt|Fuudo drop the mic on F3|Alucard’s Birdie, RB|Bonchan showing off his Nash skills under pressure, and more–including a double K.O. between Fuudo and Liquid|NuckleDu!
For King players, the screw attack system in Tekken 7 is something for rejoicing. In the past, King players had to end their combos with the difficult instant Shining Wizard, or iSW, for max damage. Now, in most combos, SW is now very easy to execute due to the distance which Screw Attacks create. However! As BoxeR-King demonstrates, that doesn’t mean you should ignore the high-execution technique of iSW completely.
Not only does iSW still give you the pressure of King’s exceptional grab mixup game, but it’s also a valuable combo ender off of King’s counterhit FF+1, a new property to Tekken 7 for the masked wrestler. So maybe you don’t need iSW to end your hopkick juggles anymore, but the benefits of iSW are still great, and BoxeR-King’s tutorial will help make the input much easier for you.
Once Bison gets V-Trigger, his wakeup game becomes uniquely terrifying. His ability to teleport on either side of your character’s downed state is enough to cause anyone panic, especially when it seems like he has something that covers every option you have.
Emphasis on “seems”: Ominous_’s incredibly detailed “Dealing With: Dictator V-Trigger Knockdown Oki [Universal]” should help dispel some of the smoke and mirrors of Bison’s options.
Ominous_ breaks down every knockdown and wakeup option Bison has, and what you can do versus each setup optimally. This 11+ minute guide is exhaustive, and critical to defeating the Dictator’s V-Trigger momentum.
It’s May, and even though Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 releases this month, we still have some great Super Steam Xrd Exhibition League matches to get through. This time, we’re going to see the “Potemkin Traitors” face each other in a FT7. That’s DaEvaBeato and BxA|dotNova, now Sol Badguy and Jack-O’ mains, while the other match is between Dead Spike and LTL.
Let’s learn a little about each candidate, and see what they think of their respective opponents.
DEB
On the match: “I’m very excited to play in an exhibition like this, as I don’t really go out that much for tournaments, so opportunities like this are really, really appreciated. I hope to put on a really good show for any Sol players as well! The matchup is pretty interesting, and the presence of her minions can change everything from neutral interactions to the pace of the match, but Sol’s reward off intelligent decisions is something that will keep the match going back and forth for sure. It’ll be a lot of pressure on both of us to keep consistent and clean, but I’ll do my best!”
On his opponent: “Me and Nova actually have a pretty long history! We both used to be Potemkin players, and funny enough, when I was new to Potemkin, he gave me quite a lot of help with getting stronger both as a player and as Potemkin. Additionally, we were both on the Potemkin team for CEOtaku 2016’s team tournament! Our playstyles are very different, but I can always see the genius in aspects of his style whenever I see him play. He is for sure one of the strongest Jack-O’ players in North America, and it’s impressive to see him channel his talents from Potemkin to a character like Jack-O’. Overall, I think he’s a very strong player, and definitely not one to sleep on–not that most people would with his tournament placings!”
On his own playstyle: “I would personally describe my own playstyle as “boring,” ha ha. I am not one of the Sol players who does a lot of flashy or cool things, and I try to avoid taking risks unless I feel like I must. I really look towards risk-reward for a majority of the things I do, and I try to structure my gameplan off that. I would probably describe my greatest strength with Sol as my neutral, although I am generally leaning towards a defensive playstyle, which I consider a strength! Above all, I really try being clean with my play. My time as a Potemkin player has for sure helped influence my decision-making and mindset, and I hope to show some strong patience and decision-making through the set.”
dotNova
On the match: “I feel it can go either way. Regarding the match-up, Jack-O’ can definitely excel in neutral as she can give Sol a difficult time when he tries to approach. However, Sol’s grounded buttons can definitely compete with Jack-O’s and the reward he gets on trades and counter-pokes is insanely high. I feel it’ll all depend on who adapts quicker and stays on top in neutral as either character can definitely run the other one down. Hopefully, my decision-making and reactions on defense are on point.”
On his opponent: “He’s definitely a solid player. Very good ground game and is more patient compared to most others I have played. As expected of a former Potemkin player! I fought him several times online since getting Steam and as long as both our connections stay stable (Northern Canada to Georgia) this should be a very enjoyable set.”
On his own playstyle: “Since picking up Jack-O’, I’ve been adjusting from a read-heavy style (thanks, netplay) to a much more reactive and controlled playstyle. Since she has much less health than Potemkin and even trades will spell the end of the character, I’ve been trying to maintain a proactive approach while taking as few risks as possible. I still have very bad habits I’m aware of and my execution needs a lot of work, but, win or lose, I’m positive this set will further improve my gameplay.”
Dead Spike
On the match: “I’m excited about the match, no strong feelings otherwise.”
On his opponent: “Don’t know him personally, and I don’t hear too much about Canadian players either. He seems like a genuinely nice guy though.”
On his own playstyle: “Not sure. Frequently been told I’m patient/defensive (with Ky).”
LTL
On the match: “I’m feeling confident that I’ll do well, I’ve done a lot of matchup and player studying to help me, and I do feel confident that I’ll win.”
On his opponent: “I talked to him a couple times, he’s a really cool dude and I plan on placating him a lot more after the exhibition. He plays a really solid/respectful gameplay style which I like.”
On his own playstyle: “I’d like to think of myself as aggressive, with a fair amount of reads, and a good understanding of blockstrings the opponent will do, and good matchup knowledge.”
Now that we know a little about our Daredevils, the stage is set for more hype FT7s. Later tonight, tune in to Silva_hime’s Twitch channel starting at 9:30 PM EST/8:30 PM CST/6:30 PM PDT. Silva and Havoc_Noah will get on the mic this time.
Now that the Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 free demo is out, the world has full access to the most immediately appealing part of a fighting game: the visuals. Guilty Gear, particularly Xrd, has always oozed flashy, over-the-top style, and these supers and instant kills are no exception. Xrd is already lauded for being a very pretty game, and the new characters certainly capitalize on its revolutionary cell shading-like rendering.
If you haven’t been convinced yet to try out the Demo of Xrd Rev 2, perhaps Answer’s Self Shuriken, or Baiken’s cinematic instant kill will bring you on board!
