Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is a definite departure for the Marvel Vs. series of games: having been more likened to Tatsunoko vs. Capcom–the Nintendo Wii exclusive title that preceded Marvel vs. Capcom 3–naturally, people will be looking to the older title’s roster for hints at what’s to come.
As such, one cannot talk about MvCI without considering the possibility that the game may contain giants–characters with large health bars and are triple the size of the main cast, but only allows you to have one character on your team–much like Tatsunoko did. Who better to discuss those characters than GCYoshi, a player who specialized in the giants in Tatsunoko.
In an interview he had with Red Bull, he talks about how the design actually hurts the Vs. series more than it helps. “Truth be told, I do not see reasonable solutions to large solo characters with permanent hyper armor in a 2v2 game. They are just too different.”
Further, the article goes on to detail some of the problems with giants in competitive play, such as having to play sub-optimal 2v2 team to counterpick the giants, leaving you at a disadvantage if you lose the first game and your opponent has a counterpick after the second game.
With the widespread excitement for the Evo 2017 games line-up last week, there was a slight twist in the tail for some communities. In a flashback to 2013, the ninth game for Evo 2017 would be decided by a charity drive, with nine extra games being potentially up for that final spot. One of the games sent to fight in the arena is Killer Instinct–which has been at Evo ever since its release back in 2013.
While it may not garner the largest numbers, Killer Instinct has a community of incredibly dedicated fans, complete with an equally attentive developer who only wants to see the game thrive. With a storied history at Evo, a passionate cohort of players, and design which makes it perfect for the arena environment, here’s why Killer Instinct should still be considered for a spot during the Sunday finals.
Built for the Big Stage
Anyone who has played Killer Instinct knows the excitement this game can induce. Hearing the commentator shout “C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!” at the top of his lungs is cool enough on the TV at home, let alone in an enormous arena like the Mandalay Bay. With one of the best soundtracks in the business and some fantastic sound design, Killer Instinct is made for a massive stage like Evo. There is no better way to start off the Sunday, than with the roaring sounds of a Triple Ultra while “Inferno” blasts through the arena speakers.
Counter Breakers allow for intense mind games and crazy combo potential, there is almost limitless combo potential with each character’s unique Instinct mode and, with a sizable cast of viable fighters, there is almost guaranteed character variety even in a top 8 finals. “Killer Instinct always remained very bright and exciting with its expanding (and for the most-part) well-balanced roster in any fighting game period,” says Ultra Arcade’s Bass, Evo 2015 Top 8 finalist and Evo 2016 runner-up. “Character diversity along with the representation of many different players from around the globe has grown exponentially as KI evolved.” With the addition of new character Kilgore and further balances and changes to Killer Instinct going into Evo, there is no danger of its top 8 being a series of character dittos. Bass adds that “most of the roster is still untapped, and you guys have seen how intense and crazy our tournaments can get, with all that new tech comin’ out practically every day,” so the chance of a diverse top 8 is even higher.
Plus, with characters like Rash excelling in styling on your opponent, Triple Ultras providing quite the way to showboat after a win and character Ultimates coming in February to add that extra layer of hype to a win, you can definitely expect fireworks at Mandalay Bay, should Killer Instinct grace the stage.
An Exciting Legacy and a Hopeful Future
Since its first appearance back at Evo 2014, Killer Instinct has always had a small, but action packed presence at Evo. “We showed up at Evolution 2014 (with some of your favorite Street Fighter pros included in our Top 8), expanded in Evolution 2015 (and brought the hype with 8 different characters in that Top 8, along with an unknown Japanese player), and continued to bring in the crazy diversity in Evolution 2016 (Grand Finals consisted of two friends who started playing online together)” Bass recalls, looking back on KI’s storied history at the event.
There have been heart in mouth moments like MyGod’s magic pixel comeback against Sleep, Domi coming out of nowhere with his crazy Cinder tech to 16 year old prodigy SeaDragon getting into top 8 of this year’s event. Killer Instinct has had no shortage of excitement when on the Evo stage, so you can only expect the community to bring its A-game should it make it to Sunday finals this year.
Moreover, Killer Instinct is only set to grow in the future, thanks to the work done by current developers Iron Galaxy. There are still two more characters to be added to the roster in the near future and Iron Galaxy are in constant communication with the Killer Instinct community via surveys and streams. Half of the purchases of new character Kilgore are going to fund the KI Ultra Tour, ensuring that Killer Instinct is only going to improve in 2017. “Killer Instinct found itself as the game with the highest entrant growth by percentage year after year at Evo” says Rick Thiher, tournament director for Combo Breaker–a tournament series he named after Killer Instinct. “Now in its potential 4th year at Evo, Killer Instinct continues to be the fighting game with the most open developer community relationship, as well as ongoing new character releases leading into Evo 2017.” Far from being on life support, this is the time to get into Killer Instinct–and having it on the big stage means more players joining this community. Iron Galaxy’s community support has even allowed blind players like SightlessKombat to fight alongside everyone else, thanks to its extensive audio options.
Plus, it couldn’t be easier to join in on the fun. Rather than having to buy an old console to run it, or having to scour the Internet just to find to people to play with, Killer Instinct is free to play. If you are at all interested in playing, you can download it right now and start learning with starter character Jago and the weekly rotating character. Killer Instinct Season 2 is even free until February 15th if you have Xbox Live Gold, meaning you can play with 17 of the game’s 27 characters right now. The game’s extensive Training Mode and tutorials are one of the best out there for teaching brand new players how to fight, and its unparalleled netcode mean that you can play almost anyone in the world with few connection issues.
A Killer Community
Most importantly, Killer Instinct has one of the most passionate communities out there. From its thriving online community with regular tournaments like 8-Bit Beatdown, KI Pro League and Kross Up, it has a continued presence at other big FGC events like CEO, Combo Breaker and SCR. On top of this, its own dedicated offline events like Kombo Klash and the upcoming Killer Instinct World Cup make it so Killer Instinct fans are fiercely dedicated to any event that will have them. “6 million unique users have come together to create one of the FGC’s most welcoming communities and it would be a shame to turn a blind eye to their collective interest before Killer Instinct has stopped releasing new content” says Thiher, as someone who is acutely aware of the passion of the KI community through their place at events like Combo Breaker.
It’s also a game with a global presence, with a substantial following in Europe and even an enthusiastic, if small, Japanese scene. The current KIWC bracket is set to have players from over 7 different countries at present, so expect that continent spanning community to also descend on Evo, should it make the cut. “To me KI at Evo is special,” says Ki4Life, member of the Dutch Brawlers and top European community leader. “When I saw KI at Evo in 2014 I knew I had to be there for the game, the KI family but overall for the FGC in general. Then in 2015 I flew 16+ hours from the Netherlands, first time in USA and had the time of my life.”
It’s a community where it does not matter if you are a new player, an online warrior, a stream monster or a veteran contender; everyone is welcome in the Killer Instinct family. With community members like Infilament creating free in-depth guides to aid new players on the path to competition, groups like Ultra Arcade sponsoring new players and running community events, along a developer which only wants the best for its players, Killer Instinct has nothing but love for getting people into the FGC. “I was an online warrior, who somehow got fully sponsored in a 6 month span, and now I’m known not just in the Killer Instinct community, but rather, the fighting community as Ultra Arcade’s Bass,” says the Spinal master when discussing the community’s positive effect on his life. “I started traveling everywhere, won many majors, both nationally and internationally, and now I’ve met many friends and now family, for a lifetime.”
Currently situated in the third spot behind Pokkén Tournament and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Killer Instinct still has the potential to pop its Instinct and surge to victory. However, if it does not get in, it is not the end of the world. Killer Instinct is certainly not going anywhere, with its own World Cup in March, billing at events like CEO and Combo Breaker, alongside continued online tournaments for the legion of online warriors. It would of course be great to have another big stage to show Killer Instinct off, any of the other games currently in the running for that top spot would make for fantastic Sunday viewing, so show your support to them after this donation drive is over.
If Killer Instinct is still lagging behind and no Jago Spirit Bomb comes to save the day, spread the love in other ways. Buy a friend a copy of the Definitive Edition and play together, direct new players to the plethora of learning resources and most importantly, keep cheering for Killer Instinct! Evo is ultimately about spreading a shared love of fighting games out there to anyone who cares to watch a match or pick up a controller, so show that love whenever possible and show the FGC just how much they may have missed by not getting KI as their Sunday opener. However, as Killer Instinct is lucky to actively aid players in their journey to compete and have a developer that is constantly putting players first and a close-knit, supportive community, I feel Killer Instinct is one you should consider to fill that ninth spot. Fight on!
Vote for Killer Instinct on generosity.com here. Voting closes at 12:00 PM PST on February 8, 2017.
Special thanks to Kenneth “Bass” Armas, Rick “TheHadou” Thiher and Chi-Man “Ki4Life” Cheung for contributing their thoughts.
With the Evo 2017 Player’s Choice vote having less than a week left until the deadline, Skullgirls currently sits with $672, far behind other games. Needless to say, Mike “Mike_Z” Zaimont isn’t happy with the way the voting shakes out. He told Yahoo! Esports that the vote, “aside from it not being a fair way to gauge interest–is whoever wins, whoever loses; this is how you build animosity between people who should be part of the same group.”
While the voting is for a good cause, and is poised to once again raise a lot of money for charity–this time for Make-a-Wish International instead of the previous vote’s Susan G. Komen Foundation–it does have the propensity to leave games on uneven footing, allowing people with more disposable income to push a game in.
Regardless of how the voting shakes down, Zaimont states that Skullgirls will retain a growing community. “It’s been a very strong community since then [Evolution 2013]. It hasn’t died or gone away. We don’t need Evo to be a fighting game community.”
Zaimont took to Twitter to clarify his statements later:
If there's one way to completely divorce the results of a vote from popular opinion, it's making disposable income decide the results. https://t.co/gmpHFyciMN
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire recently opened a FiG crowdfunding campaign to great success, completing its initial funding goal in less than a day. We had the opportunity to chat with the team to learn more about Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. See what they had to say.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire recently opened a FiG crowdfunding campaign to great success, completing its initial funding goal in less than a day. We had the opportunity to chat with the team to learn more about Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. See what they had to say.
Fuudo is always known for being a strong player in whatever game he dedicates himself to. He was recognized for his strength in games like Virtua Fighter, and later showed that strength on the international stage in Street Fighter IV as well as Street Fighter V.
While part of his abilities lie of course in himself, another part lies in his ability to pick top tier characters and use them effectively. In a recent interview with Japanese YouTube program Toco Toco TV, Razer’s sponsored player talked about his mentality for picking characters, stating “When I play a fighting game or something else, I try to find which character is the strongest, so that way I’ll be strong with a strong character.” He also talks about why he likes fighting games, saying “One of the reasons I like fighting games is that you have to make decisions on the spot.”
Alex Valle and Level Up were approached by Capcom late into the Capcom Pro Tour season; they were then asked to host the to road to top 8 of Capcom Cup at the Esports Arena in SoCal. The results, and the criticism, has been well-documented.
However, Valle stepped up to talk to Michael Martin on the latest episode of Conversations and Fireballs to discuss what was going on in the back of the event. He also discusses how he has since responded to the critics of the event.
Friday brought a long list of proposed changes to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U competitive play. While some of the more prominent issues in the game were addressed during the TO panel–including coaching, and settings checks–the new stage list has drawn mixed reactions.
With now only three starter stages–Smashville, Final Destination, and Battlefield–and a handful of counterpick stages that omit player favorites Duck Hunt and Lylat Cruise, a lot of the top players are making their voices heard on both sides of the fence.
In interview with Yahoo! Esports, players such as TSM|ZeRo defended the moves, saying, “No ruleset is perfect. It is through trial and error that we perfect one to find what works best. It takes time. Now, based on that, the new changes are aimed towards making the ruleset more simple to outsiders, thus making the competitive format more accessible and easier to understand.”
On the other side of the coin, MVD argues against the changes, saying, “I agree with Duck Hunt being banned, but without Lylat we don’t have a true counterpick. Seeing as we had Town & City as a starter previously, it’s not like we have a real counterpick anymore.”
Think XYZZY is the only player tearing it up with Birdie in Street Fighter V right now? Think again. There’s a new emerging name coming up in Japan with the character, and his name is Crusher. Already having won one event on HyperX|Daigo Umehara’s stream, he is starting to get a lot of attention in the circuit.
He recently sat down with Kim1234 and Logan-Sama on The Jump-In Podcast to talk about his win, and also about his background with the game. Grab a donut and get to know the newest name in Birdie play.
Mr. Wizard elaborates on the games that made the cut, and some that haven’t–at least not yet.
With Evo 2017’s main games revealed–all but the final game that is, to be yet determined by vote–the stage is set for an epic battle at the (air-conditioned, presumably) Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas’ searing July heat. I asked Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar some questions about the upcoming event–particularly regarding what titles made it to the main stage this year, and why.
Zavian “mushin_Z” Sildra: Was the decision to stay at Mandalay Bay–and consolidate the event there, rather than two separate venues again–made pretty much immediately after that spectacular arena Finals showing last year? Or were there other possible locations considered?
Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar: It was an immediate win for us to consolidate everything into Mandalay Bay in 2017. Ideally we would have used just one venue last year, but we weren’t able to book a space large enough for all our players. So last year was a bit of a scramble, but this year we think we’re incredibly happy with our space at Mandalay Bay.
mushin_Z: Street Fighter V topped a massive 5100 entrants in 2016. Are you confident SFV can break that record in 2017?
Mr. Wizard: Records are meant to be broken, so anything is possible! We have a lot of space this year, so accommodating tournaments that break records should be doable.
mushin_Z: Smash fans are likely thrilled, but not everyone is, surely–what justifies the inclusion of both Smash 4 and Melee once again?
Mr. Wizard: Having the 2nd and 3rd most entrants last year, with a very diverse cross-section of Smash players, says a lot. These are two dedicated communities and we see the value in bringing them both back. Smash is in fact a fighting game, and they deserve to be represented at Evo.
mushin_Z: Air-dashers might be surprised that both Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 and BlazBlue: Central Fiction made it to the main stage this time, more likely expecting one to edge out the other. What made you decide to let them share the spotlight? Did the upcoming release of GG Xrd REV 2 make a big difference?
Mr. Wizard: We were all set to let BlazBlue have the spotlight this year, but then that surprise curveball of REV 2 getting announced a few days ago changes things up. We wanted to make sure that we could include both games this year, as we recognize that they have different communities for those games. Evo 2014’s BlazBlue Finals were epic, so we’re looking forward to seeing what players can do this year!
mushin_Z: Injustice 2 and Tekken 7 (especially) are releasing on console pretty close to the event date; do you think publishers are taking Evo strongly into account for their release schedules? Is Evo becoming the “Oscars” of fighting games?
Mr. Wizard: If they are, it’s an honor for them to do so. We don’t dictate release dates, but them reworking their schedule around ours is crazy! We are just a celebration of fighting games, so we want to give the big stage to as many awesome fighting games that are out there.
mushin_Z: Pokkén Tournament debuted last year, and is now out of the lineup–was it a hard game to cut? How strongly was it considered? And were Killer Instinct or Mortal Kombat X even in the running this year?
Mr. Wizard: Every fighting game is in the running and is considered every year. One of the key elements that we look at is if people are still playing it, and how often. Evo can only do so many tournaments every year, so that’s why we included all those titles in the vote so that we can make sure everyone has a shot at the final game.
mushin_Z: Why make a return to 2013’s voting model to choose game #9?
Mr. Wizard: Giving back is one of the core values of Evo that we try to always do. We thought with so many games this year and a finite amount of time and space, we thought we would leave it up the community. The Evo 2013 vote was wildly successful, and we hope to recreate that magic again this year.
mushin_Z: Considering the Marvel hype from upcoming Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3’s reissue, do you think it’s the lead contender to be voted back into the #9 spot?
Mr. Wizard: We think it has an excellent shot at claiming the top spot. There are however 8 other games that could easily make it in. If you have ever thought about getting involved, now is the time! Lets raise money for kids with Make-a-Wish International.
mushin_Z: What game do you personally wish could’ve been included, but didn’t make the cut?
Mr. Wizard: Personally I would love to see ClayFighter make a return, but there is only so much I can do!
Evo 2017 takes place at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, July 14-16. Registration is open now.
