Ryo Sakazaki may not be the most difficult character to learn in The King of Fighters XIV, but that doesn’t mean beginners can’t benefit from a little bit of help, even with a more simplistic character like him. When you’re just starting out in the game, the control scheme and the mechanics may prove to be more cumbersome than what you’re used to, and thus any guide for a character you’re trying to learn could come in handy.
This quick and easy guide for Ryo goes over his best buttons for pokes, anti-airs, and air-to-airs. It also looks at some of his best mixup options, as well as his most optimal combos.
Smug has trained over the year–Rocky Balboa-style–and it shows. With that, and a few handy buffs to Balrog, Dr. Smuggles has found himself consistently sitting on the top of the CFN leaderboard. Once we see him making his way to tournaments, we should see some real fireworks across the board.
For the time being, we get a glimpse at his prowess from online match replays: and this one is insane. This shows some of Smug’s best plays, and some of the most amazing tech and decision-making Balrog has to offer, including some amazingly deceptive shimmies.
Are you a newcomer to the scene and nervous about heading out to your first event? Are you thinking of clicking the button to register for your first major but unsure whether to do it? Do you just simply want to know what goes into the production of a major event?
Tafokints has you covered. While he was at Genesis 4, he gave full guided tour of the event. This goes over everything from check-in, to pools stations, to streaming and practice stations. He also goes through every little thing you could encounter at an event, and what kind of team it takes to run a Major.
One of the biggest mistakes of people who are down in life on a round is to just simply give up. They believe the round is already lost, so why bother trying to mount a comeback? While in some circumstances, saving meter for a better round is optimal, you should still at least try to win!
Thus, in this compilation video, you are going to see exactly why you should never give up: featured in this video are the likes of Huomao|HumanBomb, HyperX|Daigo Umehara, Echo Fox|Tokido, Razer|Infiltration, Nuki, HORI|Sako, and ANBU|Punk–showing all the grit and determination that you need to be a winner.
Potemkin is a plus-sized character in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- that doesn’t see a lot of play. Given that he is the resident archetypal grappler in the series, he struggles in the mobility department–whereas every other character gets an air dash, he lacks this.
That doesn’t mean that he’s dead in the water. Once he gets a touch, it can turn lethal. In this combo video, we see such an example of his capabilities, with several touch-of-death combos being on display here.
Mago and Echo Fox|Tokido are two of Japan’s names most synonymous with high level Street Fighter. Mago is currently the highest-ranked player on the circuit, yet to find a sponsor after the loss of his MadCatz deal last year. He still made an indelible mark on the Capcom Pro Tour last year, making his way to Capcom Cup by way of a dominating performance with his Karin in the Asia Regional Finals.
Tokido has been, without question, the best Akuma that we’ve seen so far in Season 2. So when these two face off in a series of epic online matches, who prevails?
While the rest of the world is gearing up for the long awaited release of Tekken 7, even Mikado Arcade wants to get in on the hype. Of course, Mikado has their own way of celebrating: known for running tournaments for nearly anything you can imagine (and somehow finding great players for every game they feature), Mikado Arcade worked their magic with a Tekken tournament of their own.
Tekken 1 is fascinating to me. This sidestep-less entry point for the series has only a few recognizable features shared with its modern-day counterpart. Though I personally wouldn’t trade in 7 for 1, there’s a certain charm to the era of short juggles and raw, patient footsies. There’s also a lot of very strange quirks in the system that are probably best left in the past–I had no idea grabs had damage-less hitboxes that could hit airborne opponents, for example!
I really hope this is a hint that Mikado is about to power through the whole Tekken series.
Ever thought that health bars in fighting games just aren’t… realistic? Fans of Divekick will surely appreciate this philosophy, but older players–who were active in the PSOne era–might feel some nostalgia stir up.
Slice Dice & Rice recently surfaced on Steam Greenlight. The stylized, dark aesthetic conveys the main mechanic of the game: quick and decisive duels that can end in one strike. Those who played Bushido Blade won’t be surprised that the classic SquareSoft fighting game is what exactly inspired the two-man team behind the project, Dojo Games.
“I played Bushido Blade a ton in the PSX era,” Marek Ziarko, game designer and programmer on the team, told SRK. “That’s where the inspiration came from, but the idea was also to see how indie fighting games can fare, and whether it’s possible to stir things up among 2D fighters.”
The Steam Greenlight page currently displays seven characters, though eight are planned. There’s a diverse selection of fighters with different weights and weapon types, from katanas, to fans, and a scythe. Across six stages, the cast will duke it out in Story, Versus, and Training Mode.
Slice Dice & Rice will offer a more approachable gameplay style where the player doesn’t have to memorize a command list. Rather, the game has a system of feints, and blows can interact in a variety of ways, with clashes and parries. There’s also dodging and air movement.
Refer to the Slice Dice & Rice Steam Greenlight page for more information, and view the trailer below to witness the bloody action.
In dominating fashion, TSM|ZeRo racked up another Saga win over the weekend by taking first at 2GGC: Midwest Mayhem Saga. His run saw him defeat players like the recently sponsored P1|Tweek, MSF|Larry Lurr, Ac and UCBEA|Locus, to cement his place at the 2GG Championship Finals at the end of 2017. Besides a close call with Larry Lurr–who has a history for taking down ZeRo during Sagas–ZeRo looked unstoppable throughout the tournament. Tweek only managed to take one stock in his Grand Finals set against ZeRo, with the world number one locking Tweek down on the ledge and never letting him get back on stage. Even Tweek’s DK could not discipline ZeRo’s Diddy, resulting in one of the most one-sided Grands Finals I’ve seen for a long while.
Tweek did have to fight for his life to get to Grand Finals, having super close sets with CLG|VoiD and two intense Cloud dittos against fellow Buster Sword wielder, komorikiri. It was quite the overcast Losers side actually, with three Clouds facing off against each other to try to make Losers side of Grands. While Tweek and komorikiri were on form, the man with the silver lining was Chicago’s best player Ned, who racked up some amazing wins against players in the top 20 of the Panda Global Rankings. With wins over VoiD (rank 6), Larry Lurr (rank 5), Zinoto (rank 16) and fourth place finisher at Genesis 4 CaptainZack (rank 20), Ned cleared showed that his position at rank 50 is well need of some further evaluation.
Speaking of players causing upsets, one must mention the California Falco and Meta Knight player Ac, who stunned pretty much everyone with his performance at Midwest Mayhem Saga. Starting off with a 2-0 victory against Circa|6WX with Falco, a character many consider as low tier, Ac turned more heads in top 48. Inching out a 3-2 win over Ned before losing to ZeRo, Ac managed a 3-1 win over the USA’s best Peach Samsora, before losing to PG|Rich Brown 3-1, sending him out at seventh place. Definitely keep an eye on this bird at future California events.
With much of the Smash 4 world being scattered to the four winds this weekend, with players at other events like Tokaigi 2017 in Japan and ARFI in Austin, Midwest Mayhem Saga was truly a SoCal/Midwest showdown, with SoCal holding its ground against the Midwestern invaders. Let’s see if the Midwest can defend their territory when the world comes calling at both Frostbite and Midwest Mayhem 8 in the coming months.
As ZeRo has already qualified for the 2GG Championship Finals, points from Midwest Mayhem Saga have been split among the rest of top 8. The current standings have ZeRo out in front with 256 points, with komorikiri in second with 96 points, Tweek in third with 80 points and VoiD in fourth with 30 points.
RESULTS:
1. TSM|ZeRo (Diddy Kong, Sheik/USA)
2. P1|Tweek (Cloud, DK/USA)
3. 2GG|komorikiri (Cloud, Sonic/Japan)
4. Ned (Cloud/USA)
5. PG|Rich Brown (Mewtwo/USA)
5. MSF|Larry Lurr (Fox/USA)
7. AC (Falco, Meta Knight/USA)
7. CLG|VoiD (Sheik/USA)
The next Saga on the card is the much awaited Civil War Saga, where Team Ally and Team ZeRo will clash to see which side is the best. The final teams have been decided and you can check out who is rallying behind who in the video below. At the moment, many reckon that ZeRo’s team will blow Ally and friends out of the water, but careful counterpicking and strategy may see Ally seize the day. Much of the PGR top 20 will be attending Civil War and with both pride and precious 2GGC points on the line, expect no mercy from anyone in bracket.
Registration is still open for the Capcom Pro Tour’s first 2017 Premier Event!
While previously confirmed as a Capcom Pro Tour stop, it turns out that Final Round 20–March 10-12 in Atlanta, Georgia–will also be 2017’s first Premier Event on the Tour. Online registration for this event is open for eleven more days, closing on February 24th. Check out smash.gg for the full details on the event, fees, and venue.
It’s not just all about Street Fighter, of course; here’s the full list of games officially on the fight card for Final Round 20:
