Day 1 of KVO x TSB starts tonight! The predominately anime fighter-based Japanese event will go live at 6:00 PM PDT (10:00 AM local time), and today’s events will feature Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, Pokkén Tournament, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Super Smash Bros for Wii U.
You can check out the full stream schedule for the 3-day event here:
And embedded below are the streams for today’s games:
David Gama of FGC News has recently shown a knack for scoring personable, entertaining interviews at ELEAGUE and Final Round. Since then, David has made the decision to launch his own long form show: the “Good Gamer Show” has launched his ship with a guest that needs little in the way of introduction: Alex “Calipower” Valle.
The chat is in-depth–over an hour in length–and shows that “Good Gamer Show” could be an interesting ongoing podcast with a little more polish. Valle covers every facet of the FGC you can think of: his history in it, and where he thinks it’s going from here. This is a great opportunity to get the perspective of a man that’s seen it all!
After seeing some recent success with Street Fighter V events, the ESL King Of The Hill series will be expanding to Injustice 2 by hosting a release day event. The competitors will be Evo 2013 Injustice: Gods Among Us champion EMP|KDZ, Evo 2014 Injustice runner-up Pig Of The Hut, UA|Tom Brady, and Slayer. The four players will be competing in a series of First-to-10 sets with the release build of the game–though they won’t know if pre-order character Darkseid will be available until the day of the event. ESL’s Joshua Gray also noted on Test Your Might that “Competitors do not have early access to the game. This is show up and blow up time.”
Though we currently don’t know what time the matches will take place, it will likely be streamed on http://www.twitch.tv/ESL. You can see the announcement tweet by Joshua Gray below.
Will we get to try out Ed next week? Or will Capcom reveal someone else?
In his latest video, VesperArcade chats about what we can expect from the upcoming second Capcom Fighters Network beta test, that will be available next week for both PlayStation 4 and PC users. As Capcom has indicated that we’ll also be able to try out the next DLC fighter in this beta test, the expectation is, naturally, that we’ll get a chance to play as Ed, as least for a little while!
Now, there’s no guarantee that Capcom will indeed trot out Ed next; while his impending arrival was leaked through the PlayStation Store, we don’t know for certain that the Psycho Power-wielding teen will be the next playable fighter without an official confirmation. But it seems very likely–and based on that likelihood, VesperArcade discusses what sort of fighting style we might expect to see from Balrog’s ward. A mix of boxing techniques peppered with Psycho Power could make for an interesting fighter!
Last year, as part of the first Capcom Pro Tour DLC package, a costume was added based on a design by 2015’s Capcom Pro Tour champion: GODSGARDEN Pro’s Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue. The costume was for Necalli–a surprising pick, since Kazunoko had been playing Cammy! For this year however, it seems that the costume will be for someone the current reigning champion does play.
In a recent series of tweets, Team Liquid’s Du “NuckleDu” Dang has confirmed (in a conversation with Red Bull’s Olivier “Luffy” Hay) that his Capcom Pro Tour champion’s choice costume will be for Guile. Guile is one of two characters that NuckleDu plays regularly, with the other being R. Mika. Of course, this means disappointment for R. Mika fans, since he didn’t choose to design one for her.
As for what the costume will be like, NuckleDu has stated that the design he chose is “pretty silly,” and that people shouldn’t have high expectations. The concept of Guile in R. Mika cosplay has been suggested… but not by NuckleDu himself! We’ll learn more on this when Capcom eventually reveals the costume later this year.
DreamHack Austin 2017 was an eventful tournament, especially for Street Fighter and Smash Bros. fans. However, there is some big news from Guilty Gear as well: the event’s big upset in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- happened at the Grand Finals.
From the video below, at the 3:05:00 mark, KidViper begins a grueling match against CO|Dogura, one of the best Japanese Guilty Gear players. Ultimately, KidViper manages to triumph and puts down both of Dogura’s characters, Raven and Sin, with his Johnny.
Now, whether KidViper was in the talks with esports team Fable already is unknown, but this victory couldn’t have hurt; he is now part of their fighting game roster, which includes Smash, Counter Strike, and Rainbow Six.
Secrets out! I am now representing @FableGG as their GG player!!!! #BeLegendary.
This week in Japan, there’s a special holiday for everyone: Golden Week. As Nihon celebrates, there obviously has to be some kind of video game connection… PlayStation owners can thus look forward to large sales on Japanese-themed selections from the PlayStation Store. Here’s what you can find on the PSN Golden Week sale, when it comes to fighting games (amounts shown are the slightly cheaper PlayStation Plus prices):
PlayStation 4
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Road to Boruto ($37.49)
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 ($17.99)
BlazBlue: Central Fiction ($23.99)
BlazBlue: Chronophantasma Extend ($14.99, also on Vita)
The King of Fighters XIV ($35.99)
Samurai Shodown VI ($7.49)
Dead or Alive 5: Last Round ($15.99)
Garou: Mark of the Wolves ($5.99, bundled with Vita version)
The Last Blade 2 ($5.99, bundled with Vita version)
Arcane Heart 3: LOVE MAX!!!!!! ($4.99, also on Vita)
Aquapazza ($11.99)
Other notable, non-FG titles include NieR: Automata, Final Fantasy XV, Gravity Rush 2, God Eater 2: Rage Burst, and many more. The sale ends at 8:00 AM PDT on May 9th.
Capcom announced via Twitter last night that there will be a brief period of “urgent maintenance” for the Street Fighter V servers today–so if you had planned to fight for some League Points today, you’ll have to wait until after lunch.
We will perform urgent server maintenance from 11am to 1pm on 5/3 PDT. Thank you for your patience and support.
The reason is unspecified; there is a possibility this may be to apply modified background music to the Temple Hideout stage, after the concerns about the religious references in its original theme prompted its removal from the Shop and a quick fix of replacing the initial music with M. Bison’s theme. Hopefully, we see the stage returned to full working order today. Of course, this particular maintenance bout may also be for something completely different–we’ll see.
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001 is one of the FGC’s most beloved old school fighters. If you’ve been meaning to get a copy of this classic on the PlayStation 3 and haven’t gotten around to it yet, now’s a pretty good time to make a decision.
For the next week, Sony’s PlayStation Store has marked down the Ps2 Classics version of CvS2 (playable on PS3) to 65% off–$3.49, down from $9.99–with an additional 10% off for PlayStation Plus subscribers. The sale ends on the 9th, so if you want to get this at a really low price, don’t let this deal roll cancel away!
It’s May, and even though Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 releases this month, we still have some great Super Steam Xrd Exhibition League matches to get through. This time, we’re going to see the “Potemkin Traitors” face each other in a FT7. That’s DaEvaBeato and BxA|dotNova, now Sol Badguy and Jack-O’ mains, while the other match is between Dead Spike and LTL.
Let’s learn a little about each candidate, and see what they think of their respective opponents.
DEB
On the match: “I’m very excited to play in an exhibition like this, as I don’t really go out that much for tournaments, so opportunities like this are really, really appreciated. I hope to put on a really good show for any Sol players as well! The matchup is pretty interesting, and the presence of her minions can change everything from neutral interactions to the pace of the match, but Sol’s reward off intelligent decisions is something that will keep the match going back and forth for sure. It’ll be a lot of pressure on both of us to keep consistent and clean, but I’ll do my best!”
On his opponent: “Me and Nova actually have a pretty long history! We both used to be Potemkin players, and funny enough, when I was new to Potemkin, he gave me quite a lot of help with getting stronger both as a player and as Potemkin. Additionally, we were both on the Potemkin team for CEOtaku 2016’s team tournament! Our playstyles are very different, but I can always see the genius in aspects of his style whenever I see him play. He is for sure one of the strongest Jack-O’ players in North America, and it’s impressive to see him channel his talents from Potemkin to a character like Jack-O’. Overall, I think he’s a very strong player, and definitely not one to sleep on–not that most people would with his tournament placings!”
On his own playstyle: “I would personally describe my own playstyle as “boring,” ha ha. I am not one of the Sol players who does a lot of flashy or cool things, and I try to avoid taking risks unless I feel like I must. I really look towards risk-reward for a majority of the things I do, and I try to structure my gameplan off that. I would probably describe my greatest strength with Sol as my neutral, although I am generally leaning towards a defensive playstyle, which I consider a strength! Above all, I really try being clean with my play. My time as a Potemkin player has for sure helped influence my decision-making and mindset, and I hope to show some strong patience and decision-making through the set.”
dotNova
On the match: “I feel it can go either way. Regarding the match-up, Jack-O’ can definitely excel in neutral as she can give Sol a difficult time when he tries to approach. However, Sol’s grounded buttons can definitely compete with Jack-O’s and the reward he gets on trades and counter-pokes is insanely high. I feel it’ll all depend on who adapts quicker and stays on top in neutral as either character can definitely run the other one down. Hopefully, my decision-making and reactions on defense are on point.”
On his opponent: “He’s definitely a solid player. Very good ground game and is more patient compared to most others I have played. As expected of a former Potemkin player! I fought him several times online since getting Steam and as long as both our connections stay stable (Northern Canada to Georgia) this should be a very enjoyable set.”
On his own playstyle: “Since picking up Jack-O’, I’ve been adjusting from a read-heavy style (thanks, netplay) to a much more reactive and controlled playstyle. Since she has much less health than Potemkin and even trades will spell the end of the character, I’ve been trying to maintain a proactive approach while taking as few risks as possible. I still have very bad habits I’m aware of and my execution needs a lot of work, but, win or lose, I’m positive this set will further improve my gameplay.”
Dead Spike
On the match: “I’m excited about the match, no strong feelings otherwise.”
On his opponent: “Don’t know him personally, and I don’t hear too much about Canadian players either. He seems like a genuinely nice guy though.”
On his own playstyle: “Not sure. Frequently been told I’m patient/defensive (with Ky).”
LTL
On the match: “I’m feeling confident that I’ll do well, I’ve done a lot of matchup and player studying to help me, and I do feel confident that I’ll win.”
On his opponent: “I talked to him a couple times, he’s a really cool dude and I plan on placating him a lot more after the exhibition. He plays a really solid/respectful gameplay style which I like.”
On his own playstyle: “I’d like to think of myself as aggressive, with a fair amount of reads, and a good understanding of blockstrings the opponent will do, and good matchup knowledge.”
Now that we know a little about our Daredevils, the stage is set for more hype FT7s. Later tonight, tune in to Silva_hime’s Twitch channel starting at 9:30 PM EST/8:30 PM CST/6:30 PM PDT. Silva and Havoc_Noah will get on the mic this time.
