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 11 to November 17, 2016!

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

Frame 1:
Rising Up, Part Two: Street Fighter V’s Basic Combo Mechanics, feat. Bafael

After a bit of a hiatus, I’m happy to say Bafael’s “Rising Up” series returns, to help newcomers get a grip on Street Fighter V’s sometimes daunting mechanics. Practice makes perfect.

Frame 2:
Fantasy Strike Is Coming to PlayStation 4, Playable at the PlayStation Experience

The concept of low-execution-threshold fighters is one I hold interest in; with its development pedigree and the positive buzz I’m hearing, I am very curious as to what final product this project will deliver.

Frame 3:
Time for a Switch: Thoughts on a Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Port for the Nintendo Switch

Even after the Nintendo Switch’s reveal, we’re left with more questions than answers as to what’s in store for the console–particularly what role it’ll play in the fighting game community. But a Super Smash Bros. port is all-but confirmed, so it bears thinking about what form it’ll take.

Frame 4:
CPT Player Analysis: What Are Daigo Umehara’s Chances?

Umehara’s legendary status in the FGC puts a brighter spotlight on him than any other player–and greater expectations. Will he live up to his reputation at Capcom Cup, or disappoint his fans?

Sam “Trilby” Foxall, Assistant Editor:

Frame 1:
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown in Yakuza 6 Can Be Played Online via Share Play

It’s an incredibly roundabout way to finally play Virtua Fighter 5 online, but PS4 users can exploit the console’s Share Play feature to get in some competitive games. The only penalty is you have to wait until Yakuza 6 is available.

Frame 2:
Street Fighter V, Catherine, Rivals of Aether and Towerfall Are Now Part of the Genesis 4 Lineup

It’s not just Smash anymore! Genesis 4 is adding quite the eclectic mix of side events to its roster, including Street Fighter V with a $1,000 pot bonus.

Frame 3:
Enter the Dragon: Qanba Dragon Fightstick Now Available for Pre-Order

Qanba’s new fightstick is certainly pretty, complete with accent lightning, dragon scale design and headphone jack. If you have $300(!) to plop down on a new stick, the Dragon looks like a winner.

Frame 4:
#1 Japanese Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Player Komorikiri Signed by 2GGaming

As one of my favorite Japanese players, and the best Cloud in the world in my opinion, it’s great to see Komorikiri join up with such a well regarded team like 2GG. I wish Komorikiri and 2GG the best of luck at ZeRo Saga in December.

Bonus Frame:
Another Fight is Coming Our Way: The Official Evo 2017 Trailer is Here

It’s official: Evo will return to Las Vegas–and Mandalay Bay–in mid-July 2017. Check out the announcement trailer and get fired up! 

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.

It’s hard to believe that the BlazBlue series started on the PlayStation 3. About eight years ago, Arc System Works started a new intellectual property that at the time, seemed to replace Guilty Gear as the company’s 2D fighter.

Maximilian may have felt similar nostalgia when he fired up the latest edition, Central Fiction, with his crew. One thing that’s carried through with most of the cast are their signature Astral Heat attacks, that effectively instant kill the opponent in the match point round, showcasing a unique animation.

Maximilian and the squad decide to look into the finishers of the cast, including newcomers like Hibiki, Naoto, Nine, and Susano’o. While they don’t dive into each and every Astral Heat of the game’s robust 35-character roster, they show multiple victims of Relius and Amane’s ultimate moves, which change animation every time.

Which Astral Heat is your favorite to watch?

Source: Maximilian Dood

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

Keita “Fuudo” Ai was on a tear in the beginning of the season. At Street Fighter Crash, he was the player on Team Razer to beat. He then took his teammate Infiltration to the limits during the Grand Finals of Evolution 2016.

With him getting into Capcom Cup on points, what will become of Fuudo when he hits Anaheim?

The True Pro Wrestler

Fuudo has made huge changes in style between Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V. In the former game, the 2011 Evolution champion was almost boring to watch, with a very rigid and straightforward Fei Long. He was a great player, but it was almost too difficult to watch–unless you were looking for a masterclass in spacing and stage control.

In Street Fighter V he has proven his versatility by switching to a very mix-up heavy character in R. Mika and not just making it work, but becoming one of the most successful proponents of the character. While Liquid|NuckleDu may be the Mika taking the titles, Fuudo was the originator of many of the setups and mix-ups and traps that all R. Mika players are working with now.

The man is the walking compendium of Mika play, and can hit you with anything out of his arsenal at any given moment. Just as an example, during one salty suite at ArcadeStream after Street Fighter V Crash, Hyunkyu “Nin” Park (Yes, the Nin from Tekken fame) was sitting behind him the entire night, taking notes on his play as an aspiring Mika player. By hour two, Nin had taken at least ten pages of notes regarding Fuudo’s play.

That is the amount of approaches and match-up dependent plays that Fuudo has and makes on a regular basis. When you have that sort of depth of understanding, you are going to see solid results.

The Infiltration Influence

Much like Infiltration, Fuudo has taken it easy since his crazy performance at Evo. Although he has played more tournaments than Infiltration has since July, he has only played four, and three of them were smaller Japanese events. While one of those, he won, the players he had to face are players such as Itabashi Zangief, and GGP|Kazunoko–both great players, but only one of them has a shot of making Capcom Cup, and is the lowest seed in the bracket currently.

One thing that Fuudo has got going for him is his respectable 5th place finish at ESL’s Brooklyn Beatdown. This bodes better for him than Infiltration’s results at the same tournament. However, beating players like YouDeal MJS|Haitani and Arturo Sanchez–who aren’t in the playoff picture–and dropping games to EG|Momochi, and losing in the runback against Haitani–does not instill confidence in Fuudo going into December.

Further, he has been noticeably absent in the tournament scene since that very tournament, which occurred at the beginning of October. If this continues until Capcom Cup, there is a very real risk of rust going into the tournament.

Never a Long Shot

Here’s the thing though; Fuudo is never the odd one out. He came out of virtually nowhere (though players that followed the Japanese scene in SFIV closely would beg to differ) to win Evo 2011 when he was more known for his Virtua Fighter play. He was always on the cusp of a top placement after that win, staying within the top 32 every year before getting third place during RB|Luffy’s warpath to the championship at Evolution 2014. These results came despite the waning strength of Fei Long in the SFIV series after the 2012 and Ultra updates. Fuudo, unlike some other Fei Long players, simply adapted.

At this point, as everyone is getting force-fed their collective dosage of Mika match-up experience from NuckleDu, one thing cannot be discounted: Fuudo does not care how much you understand about his character. He does not care whether the character stays popular or high in the tiers. If there’s a way to make it work, he will make it work. While Mika may be under fierce scrutiny thanks to her mix-up oriented style, Fuudo will go into Capcom Cup confident that he has the tools, and understanding of the tools at his disposal, to make them work.

Download Complete?

How much has Fuudo been tooling his game since Evolution? Obviously he has not on the tournament circuit as much, but this is a player who will no doubt be in the lab practicing. He knows how Infiltration got into his head that night in Las Vegas. He knows that Infiltration won by reading him like an open book. Fuudo is not the type to just resign to that fate. He has likely been working online and offline, making sure that mistake doesn’t happen again.

Should he face Infiltration again, will the results be different? It’s quite possible, given Infiltration’s slump and Fuudo’s ability to adjust to the meta.

Final Thoughts

It’s very hard to judge Fuudo’s chances because, much like GAM|DR Ray, Fuudo hasn’t been traveling enough to draw conclusions from. He has all the experience at the highest level to pull off a win, but with not a lot of tournament and international experience, it could be hard for him to capitalize on player knowledge, which could be costly. We’ve seen his ability to adapt well in the past, however, and that may well come into play.

Despite the problems he potentially faces, I still like Fuudo’s chances enough to see him make top 8. Like what Mika’s going to do after a knockdown: it’s really an unknown from there.

Novril’s guide to explaining the intricacies of Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- is back this week with a new episode. This one covers something that separates the good from the great: air throwing effectively.

Air throws may seem like an “offensive” technique, since it damages the opponent, knocks them down, and sometimes even opens up opportunities for combos, but it really shines in Guilty Gear as a defensive asset that can surprise the opponent and shift momentum immediately. As Novril explains, even characters with great anti-airs may find some dead zones in their coverage, so a good air throw helps as a universal tool. Furthermore, the opponent could try to bait out anti-airs with delayed attacks, additional jumps, and special moves, so an air throw may be the better answer.

The episode finishes up with a few execution tips, and advice on figuring out how to incorporate more air throwing in your gameplay.

The previous lesson from the Guilty Gear Crash Course covered the essentials of Instant Blocking.

Source: Novriltataki

One of the current rising stars with Super Smash Bros. Melee, James “Swedish Delight” Liu has been climbing up the ranks of the Melee mountain, earning consistent top 10 placings for the latter half of this year at major Melee events. For all of this hard work, Swedish was recently signed to esports team, Renegades, acting as their first Melee player on their growing roster.

To celebrate his recent growth as a player and to show off some of his slick Sheik play, Tooni has created a combo video which shows some of Swedish’s greatest performances from his Melee career, ranging from early 2014 to now. Showing off battles against TSM|Leffen, G2|Westballz, Secret|Silent Wolf and many more, this montage acts as a masterclass of what top-level Sheik looks like in motion.

Source: Tooni

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

This is one of the more polarizing pieces I will write in the series. Everyone has their own side to Daigo Umehara, and talking about where he is in the game, in relation to everyone else, tends to cause a lot of arguments.

A lot of people will say Daigo is irrelevant in the scene today. Others will say he is still a threat. Some think he is too washed-up to play Street Fighter V properly. His supporters will still say that he is just learning at a different rate. Many argue that he can’t win anymore. There are those will say that he will become a threat very soon. A lot of people will still say he’s surpassed merely winning, and chooses not to.

It’s difficult to objectively analyze a player like Daigo, since he is so wrapped up in mystique and long-term success.

But how do I feel about Daigo’s chances?

Greatest Player Ever

Simply put, Daigo will go down as the greatest fighting game player ever. It doesn’t matter what players like Infiltration do, Daigo will always reign as the Wayne Gretzky of the FGC. There has not been a man who has battled across the plethora of fighting games he has played, and found championships in nearly all of them.

If you want a list of credentials, this man has them by the fistful. He has won top honors in over 14 games, including the likes of Vampire Savior, Capcom vs. SNK, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Guilty Gear XX #Reload, Ultra Street Fighter IV, and the current flagship title of Street Fighter V. For those keeping score at home, he has major wins in 14 different titles. Many people haven’t even played that many fighting games in their lives.

The man has wandered from series to series, learning the mechanics, perfecting his strategy, and winning. He has already done so in Street Fighter V, and it would be foolish to discount the possibility of him doing so again.

He is Still Smart

If people start to discount Daigo, it is to their detriment. Umehara is a smart man who has dedicated his life to playing fighting games. He is an expert at reading situations, and can judge player tendencies better than anyone. People will often say that Daigo cannot win against the top players, but when he plays the highest-level players in Japan, he still wins and can trade matches back and forth with them. Based off spacial intelligence alone in the realm of fighting games, it’s very hard to top Daigo in his understanding of player psychology and mind games.

He Makes it Count When it Matters

Many will say Daigo cannot win anymore. That he was out of his prime after Evo 2010. A lot of people were saying that last year, too. And they said it about him going into Capcom Cup.

Then at Capcom Cup, he proved naysayers wrong by finishing second to Kazunoko. No, he didn’t win the whole thing, but there were a lot of dissenters saying that Umehara would be hard pressed to make top 8. It was a safe bet to make, given that he couldn’t do so at Evolution that same year in Ultra Street Fighter IV, but he went on to prove them wrong. Granted, he still finished within top 12 of Evolution in a veritable minefield, so his loss there is not the end of the world either.

Any doubts that people had about Daigo should immediately be quelled by his ability to show up and do what naysayers believe to be improbable in in whatever circumstance he faces. Further, many people were saying that Daigo would not win a major in Street Fighter V this year, which he has succeeded in doing. Daigo can still win. The world still knows this, even if they want to deny it.

Is He Still on Everyone’s Level?

With Street Fighter V, we know he can still win–but where is he winning, and against whom? At Lockdown, he defeated Ryan Hart in grand finals. At OzHadou Nationals, it was ZOWIE|GamerBee. At Esports Festival Hong Kong, HM|Eita. And at the European Regional Finals, he beat BX3.TP-Link|Phenom. So as of now, two of the four players he has bested in grand finals are on the roster at Capcom Cup. Is this a good thing? This can actually be a toss up, since he has won to players equally who have qualified and not.

But here’s the thing, the players he’s bested in grand finals have run it back. Phenom had the pleasure of doing so in the losers bracket at Canada Cup. Ryan Hart did so at EGX. Daigo can be figured out. And there are players doing it.

Daigo is Human

There was always this worldwide belief that Daigo was beyond human when it comes to Street Fighter. The West had this massive skill gap that put Daigo on a pedestal that they only dreamed of reaching.

The skill gap is not so wide anymore. People started seeing the humanity of Daigo at Season’s Beatings in 2010, when Marn began reading his tendencies with Ryu and punishing them. And the gap has only further become smaller. Daigo is no longer a god of the game, but a mortal like everyone else on the circuit. The name Daigo no longer illicits the same fear and intimidation that it used to. People are more prepared and confident in playing him. It does not mean that they will always beat him, but they are more capable of standing toe-to-toe with him because the fear of his reputation alone has worn off.

His Learning Curve

Street Fighter V has done nothing to reinstall that fear of Daigo into the hearts of players. Daigo struggled early in the process of learning the game. He has not done much to show that he has gotten the game down perfectly. Whereas Daigo is usually the bastion of creative, gutsy plays, he is playing a more textbook approach to his Ryu this time around. He has relied on footsies, and capitalizing on big mistakes to get to wins. This is not a bad thing in itself. But when you are trying to play at the highest level, and you have a Ryu like Tokido to compare yourself to, your style is not always going to get the job done.

Also noticeably absent are his keen hard reads in situations. If you have watched videos of his glory days in Super Turbo, or even Street Fighter IV, Daigo excelled at making hard reads against players that work. This is a man so proficient at landing random dragon punches that they became known as Ume-Shoryukens. This is not what he is doing in this game, and he is getting eaten alive for it. When Phenom can go to Canada Cup and catch Daigo with four straight command grabs to put him into stun without Daigo not reading the situation correctly, something is just simply not right in the Daigo camp.

It is not for lack of practice or effort. It just seems like Daigo is not learning this game on the same pace that everyone else is. He was dominant in Street Fighter IV at the start, but how much longer did Japan have it before the west?  Further, he was one of few Japanese players traveling at the time he was winning, so who knows if Daigo was even the best in Japan’s early Street Fighter IV era? It could just be that Umehara, like he mentions in his book, is truly a slow learner, and we’re only now coming to grips with that truth.

Final Thoughts

Daigo is so hard to judge right now. In December, he has the ability to gas it up to high octane, or just dial it in. I just simply don’t know.

I would not count him out of exceeding expectations, but my gut instinct says that he makes top 8, and finishes in 7th place. He has the ability to do it, but I just don’t think with the players he’s going up against being well ahead in the metagame, that he will be able to use a slow-and steady-style to make it to the top.