If you know anything about Marvel lore, you know that one of the most entertaining players to watch has always been Clockw0rk. Having cut his teeth on a team of Strider/Sentinel/Doctor Doom in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, he transitioned himself into a similar team with Vergil/Doctor Doom/Strider in Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 with the same exciting results.
In this compilation, you get to see Clockw0rk in his element. Watch as he sets up some miraculously amazing mixups and comebacks with his staple team, including some amazing setups with Strider assists.
Urien’s become even more of a force to be reckoned with in Street Ftghter V Season 2, widely becoming considered high on the tier list–if not outright broken! His Illuminati comrade (rival?) Kolin will soon be joining the fight, but there’s still much to explore with SFV’s first warrior from the Secret Society. If you’re thinking of trying the tyrant out, check out the selection of tech below to get you started as an Illuminati disciple–or if you’re already an adept, you may still find something new…
Evil Canadian has prepared these two introduction videos to Urien: first addressing his okizeme game, and then offering a look at his Aegis Reflector combos:
He also has a Urien bread ‘n’ butter combo guide on his YouTube channel:
Jacked23 has put together this highlight reel of nasty Aegis Reflector combos:
Domination! Check out this Urien highlight CMV from CrossUPDP:
Red Gambit professes that Urien is outright busted (after this salty loss from a wakeup Critical Art):
Olympic Gaming offers this look at ADTerminal’s Urien, with in-fight footage and an exclusive interview:
HapkidoRed has lots of Urien tech on their YouTube channel; here’s some samples of some nasty Urien combos (after the Master of the Fist has his turn):
Crazy stuff. Thanks to everyone that sent in tips!
Cloud is unarguably one of the highest-tiered characters in Super Smash Bros for Wii U: he has a great neutral game, strong combos, and amazing kill potential. You can hardly go to a tournament without seeing one in the top 8.
However, you rarely see him actually emerge the victor at an event, and never at a major. TSM|ZeRo–who has a strong pocket Cloud–explains why this is. He discusses Cloud’s one glaring flaw–his recovery. Because he has weaker recovery than the rest of the top tiers, he is able to be gimped easily. An increasing amount of players are learning how to kill Cloud early, which makes his late tournament viability lower.
ZeRo does also extrapolate on why Cloud is not only strong in doubles, but almost necessary for any chance at winning an event.
Continuing to look at the changes to the original cast in Season 2 of Street Fighter V, VesperArcade turns his attention to the Psycho Power-fueled dictator and leader of Shadaloo, M. Bison. Considered by many to be among the bottom three in the game’s freshman Season, he received quite a few changes in the patch.
Some of the dictator’s most notable changes include his Stun Meter being increased from 950 to 1,000. His forward throw, Psycho Impact, now gives 4 more frames of hit advantage, granting him a throw loop when his opponents are cornered. Bison finally has a 3-frame normal in St.LK, but its hit advantage has been reduced to +2, stopping Counter Hit conversions into mediums. Cr.MP is now +1 on block to grant new frame traps with St.LK. Psycho Axe is 2 frames slower, but now juggles knocked-back opponents, adds 50 more stun, and now knocks downs on an air hit. Shadow Axe’s second hit has been sped up to 14 frames, and its stun output doubled to 120–but it is now only +2 on hit, preventing follow-ups.
His V-Skill, Psycho Reflect, can now store a projectile after absorbing an attack (released by inputting the command again), along with increased juggle potential on hit with the secondary attack. His V-Trigger, Psycho Power, has a longer timer–but specials now consume more of it. All three versions of Psycho Blast have reduced pushback on block, while the EX is faster–with reduced V-Trigger damage and speed–and now goes full screen. EX Head Press has 9 less recovery frames on ground hits, with reduced damage and quick recovery on air hits. The V-Trigger EX version is now fully invincible, but negative on block. All versions of Psycho Inferno have reduced damage, but increased stun, with the heavy being able to juggle with light Psycho Blast on hit. V-Trigger Double Knee Press is 3 frames faster, with the normal versions getting more damage, stun, and meter gain; EX Double Knee Press has 6 less recovery frames on hit, with reduced throw invincibility and damage in V-Trigger.
Vesper gave his opinions on these changes:
The final verdict on M. Bison is: buffed. His St. LK is now 3 frames, V-Skill got buffed, more oki options, more meter gain across the board. His EX Psycho Blast now allows pressure. More damage and stun across a lot of his specials, and of course more combo potential, because he can juggle from his Psycho Axe. Even though I’m listing so many buffs, there’s nothing really extreme for M. Bison on these notes. I would say that Bison is one of the most safely buffed characters so far. It seems like Capcom just kept him viable for Season 2, but not to the point where I would say he’s “greatly buffed,” just “buffed.” They did nerf some of his normals to make him easier to whiff punish, but they didn’t improve Bison’s movement speed. Most of his oki options can only start from light attacks, so you don’t get much damage. EX Psycho Blast offers more pressure, but he still doesn’t have good options, like an overhead or a throw bait. That’s the issue with Bison, I feel. Cammy’s similar to Bison, in that they have a lot of plus normals, but Cammy has a much easier time opening players up, because she has the walkspeed to back up that advantage.
You can see the video of his detailed changes below:
You can also see here a visual guide of some of his changes, and new setups.
While the Japan E-Sports League is a great source for a variety of competitive games, from time to time the organization features top-level Japanese BlazBlue: Central Fiction players. This clip compilation focuses on CYCLOPS OSAKA|Dogura’s Azrael, who did several first-to-five sets with some big names in Japan.
The Maneater faces Souji’s Arakune in the first clip above. Souji is on the defensive at first, as he has trouble completing the Curse without Overdrive. Dogura’s confidence easily shows in Azrael’s rushdown. Souji almost loses the battle in the next match, but then turns things around with a perfect win. They do a longer FT10, but it looks like Dogura started with one point by mistake.
In this shorter FT5 set, Dogura faces none other than Fenrich’s Jin Kisaragi. Fenrich seems a little nervous or caught off-guard, as he doesn’t do that well in the first match. Jin catches up to Azrael’s tactics and brings the score to an even 2-2, and continues to find his element as he starts pulling off some unburstable Overdrive finishes.
Lastly, Dogura fights Gackt’s Hakumen in a FT5. Despite using Overdrive a lot to easily gain resources, Gackt falls to Dogura’s baits and relentless strikes in the first match. It’s tough for Gackt to surprise Dogura, but when he confirms an Overdrive combo, he pulls off over 6000 damage. It’s a very head-to-head battle as the players both reach four wins before the deciding match.
All the clips are a great way to study those matchups! Note that in similar sets from Japan E-Sports League–featured yesterday–Fenrich also fought Souji and Gackt.
Another four killers are set to enter the arena at Red Bull Kumite in Paris.
As previously announced, sixteen top players–fourteen invited, two determined by a “wild card” event on the 27th–will throw down in Street Fighter V at this year’s Red Bull Kumite, taking place May 27-28 at the Salle Wagram auditorium in Paris, France. Four more players have been announced to joining the event: Alienware’s Nemo, now known for his deadly Urien; Rize|Infexious, maining the Red Cyclone; Meltdown’s Mister Crimson, enjoying Laura’s Season 2 buffs; and Red Bull’s own dangerous Bonchan.
These competitors join Echo Fox|Tokido, Qanba Douyu’s Xiao Hai, PR Balrog, and RZR|RB, leaving six invitational slots still open, not to mention the wild cards! Stay tuned to Red Bull eSports and Shoryuken for more details on Red Bull Kumite 2017 as they appear.
Head over to Red Bull’s Kumite site to get spectator tickets for this event (available March 18th, 3:00 pM CET), or try your shot at the open qualifier on May 27th (registration opening at March 12th, 8:00 PM CET)!
Every once in a while in the Street Fighter series, you will see a well-timed air throw be the determining factor in a match. A smart player knows how to use this move properly: by utilizing it sparingly, they give their opponents an illusion of security in the air, often making them even forget that the air throw is even an option.
Despite instances of connecting an air throw being rare, it is worth it to know your options off of one with Chun-Li–as it can lead into a serious amount of damage. Thus, this NurseLee tutorial on how to properly meaty after her air throw is beneficial: it not only covers when your opponent quick rises, but also when they delay their recovery. This makes Chun a proverbial Great Wall, keeping your opponents on the ground at all times.
This medieval-style online brawler has made quite the impact on the fighting game community–enough, evidently, to warrant its very own event at Final Round 20. For Honor will run on PlayStation 4 at this event. Online pre-registration was set to end today, but has been extended to February 27th:
WE LISTENED TO YOUR REQUEST & HAVE GOOD NEWS!!! Pre-Reg for #FR20 has been extended to Monday 27th 11:59pm est https://t.co/4Bc6qXyYD4
Fighting game action is heating up this weekend in Japan, thanks to the official Japan eSports Association. The organization is throwing the Japan Esports Championships 2017 tournament for a variety of games over two days. Among the fighting game titles figure Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- and Dead or Alive 5: Last Round.
The double-elimination tournament has had many qualifiers for spots; CO|Dogura, who won last year, automatically qualifies as a title defender. There are eight spots in the finals, so other than Dogura and winners from three qualifying tournaments (the online one captured on video below), the last four spots will be decided on Saturday. The finals take place on Sunday. As for the other three competitors, they are Fumo, Omito, and Tomo.
According to the JeSPA site, the last chance qualifier for DoA and GG are on Sunday, February 26th, right before the finals that will happen on later that day for both games. (Keep in mind this means that this is happening on the previous day in the United States).
DoA last chance: 12:30 PM JST (9:30 PM on Saturday, the 25th in CST/10:30 PM EST/7:30 PM PST)
DoA finals: 2:00 PM JST (11:00 PM on Saturday, the 25th in CST/0:00 AM EST/9:00 PM PST)
GG last chance: 3:30 PM JST (0:30 AM Sunday, the 26th in CST/1:30 AM EST/10:30 PM PST)
GG finals: 5:00 PM JST (2:00 AM Sunday, the 26th in CST/3:00 AM EST/0:00 AM PST)
Unfortunately, the website doesn’t yet verify where the event will be streamed. It could be a NicoNico channel, the GodsGarden Twitch, or one of the JeSPA Twitch accounts, JeSPA or JeSPA2. You can follow the channels ahead of time to get notified.
The footage below is of the online qualifier (originally streamed at the GodsGarden Twitch), which allowed one of the players to enter the top 8.
Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley of Evil Geniuses just had a breakout year: making Capcom Cup 2016, he was able to send fan-favorite Daigo Umehara of HyperX into losers bracket in a stunning upset, and continues to show his prowess in Street Fighter V. He also notably stayed put in the major shuffling of players between Evil Geniuses and Echo Fox.
When I caught up with him at Frosty Faustings IX, he had a lot to say about his feelings regarding Cammy in SFV Season 2, among other topics–including the changing of the guard in EG.
Corey “Missing Person” Lanier: K-Brad, you did well at Frosty Faustings. You had a good performance in Street Fighter V this time around.
Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley: Yeah, but I didn’t do great in Marvel. I made to Winners Semis in my pool, then lost to RyanLV, who eventually won the tournament. But I did pretty good in Street Fighter.
Missing Person: How are you feeling with Season 2 so far?
K-Brad: I’m honestly not sure. It’s one of those things where I’m not exactly sure what direction Capcom was trying to go. I think they’re trying to make it a crazy rushdown game where defense isn’t really rewarded. I don’t know. I’m not really an offensive player anymore. When I look at the changes, I think, “They have to do something to make defense a little bit better.” And with Cammy, you have to be able to play at least some defense.
Overall, they made Cammy weaker in Season 2 because her divekick was a big deal; she could do it whenever she wanted. But on the ground, she has gotten better. Her frame traps are really good and her buttons are better. They made standing medium kick and back medium punch better. They did a lot of stuff on the ground that’s good, but a lot of her game play revolved around divekick. Her whole plan was to bully you on the ground, then after she has done that, then she can take to the air. She is just one of those characters where divekick really does matter.
You could still be risky and do EX divekick into EX dragon punch, but I don’t play like that. I would say that if she was S-tier in Season 1, she’s probably A+-tier in Season 2. She’s still amazing, but there was a minor drop.
Missing Person: You not only made it to Capcom Cup last year, but you had a great start, putting Daigo Umehara into losers bracket to start things off. Go through that with me.
K-Brad: I love playing players like Daigo because there is so much thought involved. There’s a lot of mind games involved when we play. I knew his fireball game is amazing. I knew he was going to be able to read a lot of things that I was going to do. I started off losing the first two games off of bad mistakes on my part. He was able to DP through a couple of my block strings. In the third game, I decided to play a little safer. In the latter half, I was able to block a lot of those DPs and just punished accordingly.
But the whole time, I was thinking, “I’m down 0-2. There’s no way I’m going to win three straight on Daigo. Nobody wins three straight on Daigo.” It was a pretty great experience being able to put him into losers bracket.
Missing Person: After that, do you feel like your confidence has improved going into Season 2, having pulled an upset on someone that people were betting on, against you?
K-Brad: That’s the thing. It doesn’t matter who I’m playing, people are betting against me. Even when I played Infiltration at Canada Cup, nobody expected me to beat him there, and I did. When I beat NuckleDu at SoCal Regionals, nobody expected that either, because he was beating me the entire season. I’m used to being the underdog. As long as I believe in myself, that’s all that matters.
Missing Person: What are your feelings on the big free agency season that saw PR Balrog, Momochi, ChocoBlanka, and Justin Wong all leave Evil Geniuses?
K-Brad: I knew something was coming up. But when PR Balrog left, then Justin and Momochi, I had no clue what was going on. I knew that PR Balrog wanted to leave and do his own thing. But when Justin, Momochi, and Choco all got signed to Echo Fox, I was pretty happy. However, I was more upset at Echo Fox buying out all the talent. I’m happy for my friends getting a nice deal. Who knows how long gaming is going to be relevant or how big it can actually get, so these guys should get rewarded for their success. It’s just that Echo Fox didn’t need to buy out so many players. But I got over it. I know that to be the best, you have to get the best players, so it was a smart move on their part.
Missing Person: But now you guys have NYChrisG. How does that fit with you and Ricki on the team, and do you feel positive about it going forward?
K-Brad: It’s going pretty well. Chris just got second in Street Fighter V at Frosty, and honestly it was one of the best picks on the free agent market. He’s a dominant player in Marvel, he’s good at Street Fighter V and was good at Street Fighter IV. I’m very happy that Chris got signed. It was the smartest choice that Evil Geniuses could’ve made out of all the free agents available.
Missing Person: You’re known as one of the biggest foodies on the tournament scene. What tournaments do you look forward to going to just based on food alone?
K-Brad: Australian tournaments are the best, because you can get literally anything in Australia, and it’s good. They have a bit of everything that I love. When I go to Japan, the things that are usually out of this world are the typical sushi and ramen. But you can get Italian, burgers, sushi, and it’s all amazing. But domestically, I love to go to Texas for events. I love barbecue, and they have amazing briskets there. They definitely have the best barbecue there.
Missing Person: In 2016, we saw you hit the four corners of the Earth for tournaments. Are we going to see that much travel out of you this year?
K-Brad: For sure. At the end of 2016, I started to think, “I did so much travel this year. I’m not sure if I want to subject myself to that again.” I went to a lot of these events alone, and it made me feel a certain way. When I was at all these international events, I was usually the lone American.
But all in all, I think I’m going to do it all over again this season.
Missing Person: Do you feel like jet lag affects you when you play?
K-Brad: If I fly in the day before the event, absolutely. But typically when I fly in for an international event, I do it a couple of days in advance. That way the first day I’m there, I can do whatever I want. Then on the second day, I can sleep as much as I want. By the time the tournament starts, I’m ready.
Missing Person: Do you have any advice for Cammy players that are struggling in Season 2, after doing well in Season 1?
K-Brad: If you were a Cammy player in Season 1, you have to let go of going to the air. I would focus more on the ground. If you can do that, then you can start to pressure. If you’re only focused on the ground, sooner or later, your opponent will forget about the air game. Then you can sneak in a few EX divekicks. But for the most part, you should be more focused on establishing a strong ground game this season.
