Category: Fighting Games

Welcome to the Rollback: a frame-by-frame look back at our past week’s most notable news and our favorite SRK articles from November 18 to November 24, 2016!

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Zavian “mushin_Z” Sildra, Editor-in-Chief:

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Rising Up: Ryu Character Tutorial–Optimal Combos, Setups, & Frame Traps

Our Rising Up tutorial series continues, this time focusing on Street Fighter V’s poster-boy and model of all core mechanics–Ryu. Essential viewing for players new to SFV, or are just starting out with the wandering warrior.

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Street Fighter V’s Capcom Pro Tour DLC Has Contributed Over $100,000 to Capcom Cup’s Prize Pot

Looks like the CPT DLC bundle announced back at Evo has done quite well topping up the Capcom Cup pot. If you haven’t picked up that content–or the Halloween costumes, for that matter–this is your last week to grab it.

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Famitsu Interview with Yoshinori Ono Suggests Akuma’s Street Fighter V Reveal Was Not What It Seemed

Oh, Yoshinori Ono… what ARE you guys up to? Teasing Akuma to the already somewhat annoyed Street Fighter fanbase, and then say stuff like this… Capcom Japan is risking SFV’s already tarnished reputation. We only hope that whatever PR game is being played here, we see something impressive at PlayStation Experience.

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Sam “Trilby” Foxall, Assistant Editor:

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Guide to Tenkaichi Budokai, the Mikado Guilty Gear League in Japan

If you are looking for some top-level Guilty Gear action, make sure to check out the Tenkaichi Budokai held by Mikado. This guide will tell you all you need to know about the potential players attending this round robin event.

Frame 2:
SNK Announces The King of Fighters XIV Esports Support Program

SNK is going all out to make sure The King of Fighters XIV is a success, and this esports program is a real step in the right direction. If you are a TO looking to bolster your KOF event, get applying to this program.

Frame 3:
Ed Boon Asks Fans If They Want to See Watchmen Characters in Injustice 2

With Ed Boon already polling fans about other guest superheroes to appear in Injustice 2, the Watchmen seem like a perfect fit for potential guest fighters. While Dr. Manhattan may be a tad too powerful, I’d love to play as Nite Owl or Rorschach.

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Keegan “Interrobang!?” Spindler, Features Editor:

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Flashy New Samurai Shodown VI Trailer Promotes Recent PlayStation 4 Release

Samurai Shodown was one of the mainstays of my early fighting game days, so watching this trailer brings back all sorts of feelings, both good and bad. It’s definitely worth checking out the game now that it’s out on PS4.

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SKD Shares His Thoughts on BlazBlue: Central Fiction’s Balance and Tier List

Since BlazBlue: Central Fiction is my current game of choice, it’s fascinating to see some analysis go into the metagame already. This is one of the most in-depth and interesting tier lists I’ve seen put together for any game, and it’s well worth a read just for SKD’s thoughts on what makes a character strong in the BlazBlue series, let alone the actual rankings. He doesn’t rate my one true love Susano’o very high, but I’ll give him a pass on that, just this once.

Frame 3:
Capcom Pro Tour Player Analysis: What Can DR Ray Bring from the Dominican Republic?

One of my favorite things about the Capcom Pro Tour analysis that we have done here at SRK is that it highlights players who aren’t so well-known as Daigo and Justin Wong. DR Ray is one the players I personally don’t know much about, so getting a little bit more insight into his style and background is what makes this piece stand out to me–though the whole series is definitely worth looking at, through!

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Bonus Frame:
Capcom Cup 2016: Official Trailer for the Upcoming Battle in Anaheim

Street Fighter V’s ultimate battle is almost upon us–here’s Capcom’s official trailer for the event. You can read up on the fighters that will be competing in Anaheim through Corey “Missing Person” Lanier’s ongoing Capcom Pro Tour Player Analysis series.

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Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article and the selected posts are solely those of the writers, and do not reflect Shoryuken.com as a whole.

Last week we reported on the Samurai Shodown VI coming to PlayStation Network, which arrived this past Tuesday. This SNK franchise has been limited to appearing within The King of Fighters series as of late, with the last “true” Samurai Shodown game being released on the Xbox 360 back in 2008. Hopefully, this re-release will connect new players with the earlier entries in this landmark 2D fighter.

Now that it’s available for purchase, SNK has seen fit to release a trailer for their refurbished PS2 fighter. This trailer shows off the beautiful gameplay, several super moves and some slick combos to entice people into picking Samurai Shodown VI up.

Source: snkplaymoreGame

Cloud has cemented himself as one of the top tiers in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, thanks to his amazing neutral game, great mobility and his Limit mechanic which can result in kills at around 50% with certain setups. While almost everyone can agree that Cloud is a top tier, there is a quite a bit more discussion on who is the best Cloud player.

Komorikiri, Tweek, MKLeo, Mew2King; all are in contention for being the best Cloud player, but how would they do in Cloud mirrors? Well, as MKLeo is currently staying on the East Coast, he was able to get in a first to seven set against Tweek, where they both played Cloud. What results is a great display of how powerful Cloud’s Limit can be and how going down a stock as Cloud may actually be benefit in a 2-stock scenario, as you get extra Limit to play with as the opponent goes into their final stock.

Source: Rush Hour Smash

Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-‘s newest roster addition, Dizzy, has been a part of the overall franchise for a long time. She’s a very stunning character visually, making her presence in an already diverse roster very distinct. Her presence–tournament wise–has been a bit hot and cold however, potentially due in part to just how recently she’s been released.

Part of improving play is sharing tech, and this CMV, created by Y.Xiao, delves into some practical combos to help on this front. While it does offer widely usable scenarios, it isn’t afraid to show off some fancy and situational stuff. There are notations in the video description as well, in case you’re interested in assimilating this into your game.

Source: Y.Xiao

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not reflect Shoryuken.com as a whole.

Kenryo “Mago” Hayashi has long been referred to as the 2D God. Always one of the highest ranked players in both arcade and console play, whatever the game, and always having been a threat in Topanga A League in Street Fighter IV, he has already proven himself one of the strongest Karins in Street Fighter V.

But how strong is the deity heading into Anaheim?

Less Than a God

Mago’s reign was not decisive at the start of SFV’s life span. My first real glimpse of Mago’s play was at Street Fighter V Crash. One of the first things I recognized was how he seemed to be the weakest link of Team Topanga. With Tokido and EG|Momochi sporting the best records of the team, Mago seemed to be an afterthought on the championship team.

That’s not to say Mago was bad. Around the same time, the only tournament where he had lackluster results was at Stunfest, where he finished 25th, when he finished 3^rd at Battle Arena Melbourne the week before, and 1^st at TWFighter Major two weeks after. His below-par play continued when it came down to rise to his throne at Evo and prove himself the best Karin in the world; he fell short of top 32.

It’s clear that he had some transition problems going into Street Fighter V. But once he worked them out, he began his ascension.

But More Than a Man

Mago hasn’t traveled much, but what he has done in Asia has truly proven him a force to be reckoned with. Outside of Southeast Asia Majors and G-League, Mago has not once missed a top 8 in Asia.

Further, he capped his season by winning the Asia Regional Finals. Of all the events to directly qualify, he had one of the hardest roads. The bracket was stacked with more killers than you could imagine. Just to win, he had to run through MOV, YouDeal MJS|Haitani, and GGP|Kazunoko, among others.  If anyone has any doubts that he can be at the top of the heap in Anaheim, all they have to do is just look at the Asia Finals for proof.

Straight to the Point

In Street Fighter IV was known for his Fei Long. A straightforward character through and through, he just oppressed you with relentless offense.

After years of sticking it out with Fei, Mago’s pick of Karin makes sense in this game. He puts Miss Kanzuki to work in much the same vein. He doesn’t need fancy mixups. He just needs pressure. Mago is not daunted repeating the same thing endlessly, because at some point, it will work.

He did so much of this during Asia Regional Finals, just picking his spots until he can continue the same relentless offense that scored him wins in the previous rounds. It’s not that his opponents don’t know what’s coming, but that they have difficulty anticipating when Mago will reach in for that strike. That’s what makes him dangerous, round after round.

Coming to America

Here’s the biggest flaw I see in Mago. He has an impeccable record in the East. In the West? Not so much. Sure, he hasn’t been here a lot, but that may be to his detriment.

Early on, he struggled to find footing, barely even coming close at NorCal Regionals and Stunfest. While he just breached top 8 at CEO and Dreamhack, he fell short of top 32 at Evo.

His results in America improved with 9th at Brooklyn Beatdown, and making top 4 at SoCal Regionals. However, losing to names like EG|K-Brad, Commander Jesse, and NVT|Flash suggests that Mago has not studied the American scene. He has not prepared for a Western style of play, so if he goes up against K-Brad, MC|XsK_Samurai, or Liquid|NuckleDu come Capcom Cup, is he going to be ready?

Final Thoughts

Mago is playing out of his mind right now and is peaking at just the right time. American players at the event are minimum, but he is going to likely struggle should he have to face them.

I like Mago to go top 12. Depending on his road there, he could go a lot farther. I’d truly fear this man come Anaheim. After all, what are mere mortals to a 2D God?

Feature image: Bartosz Hołoszkiewicz

Super Smash Brothers Melee was released in Japan on November 21, 2001, with its release in North America being a few weeks later. The game was a huge success, having sold over seven million copies and cementing itself as the best-selling GameCube game ever. Among the critical reception, the sales figures, and the legacy, a fanbase was bound to form around the title. A competitive community, however, was the last thing most of the gaming world expected.

Over the years since its release, countless memories and exciting moments have transpired for the Melee community, never mind Super Smash Bros. as a whole. Hardships, triumphs, upsets, turnarounds, the rise of Smash gods, donation drives–there is too much that has transpired to even summarize. So, in celebration of the anniversary, YouTuber Smasha has compiled some of the most memorable moments from the game’s history. It’s a bit long, but well worth the watch.

Source: Smasha

Gaston “zZInsaneZz” Reid found something new in the lab yesterday. Previously, due to the initial active frames on forward medium punch, it was impossible to link standing medium punch or light punch after. But, thanks to the power of Mika’s Irish Whip, he found a way to make it work, and in the process, make R. Mika’s mixup game even more devastating.

He found that if you reset the Irish Whip immediately after a standing medium punch, the initial active frames of forward medium punch will whiff. This allows the forward medium punch to hit on its last active frames, causing the hitstun to take effect much later than normal. This delay in hitstun allows both aforementioned normals to link from forward medium punch.

He made note to mention that obviously, the standing light punch would be the easiest and most practical link to perform, but in both neutral and the corner, this adds yet another dangerous mixup to Mika’s arsenal.

Source: zZInsaneZz

EVO is getting into the spirit of Black Friday with steep discounts on their remaining 2016 merchandise! Starting NOW you can get up to 50% on shirts, hats, pins, glass-wear, and even the EVO hockey jersey! Whether you missed out on something at EVO this year or are just looking to stock up for the Holiday season this looks like the week to do so! Hurry, items will start selling out fast and will not be restocked!

Head on over to the Evo Merchandise website and place an order now!