Category: News

The Smash community is growing in professional esports attention. While the west has typically been the hotbed for high-level Smash play, teams and sponsors are now looking to the Land of the Rising Sun for talent.

As such, 2GGaming, an organization focused on Smash play, has signed Japanese player Komorikiri to a professional contract. Komorikiri is currently the #1 ranked player in Japan in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and is also ranked 11th in the global rankings. He is in contention as both the world’s best Cloud and Sonic player, with multiple big wins to his name.

This could be a changing ofthe guard; as with an influx of players from Asia, it’s likely to see C9|Ally and TSM|ZeRo’s dominance in Smash events contested.

Sources: 2GGaming; Smashboards

Looking to buy the limited edition but not sure if it’s a worthy investment? FloKo’s ggot you covered with an unboxing video that covers all the bases. FloKO’s Paul Gandersman checks out the button feel, controller size, durability and compatibilty options of the pad while showing off the aesthetically-pleasing BlazBlue artwork. The pad is PS4/PS3/PC compatible, and is now available for purchase on Amazon individually for $39.99 USD.

You can check out the full FloKO unboxing video here.

Source: FloKO

The beginning of 2017 is filling up mighty fast, as another big US tournament announces its return for the first quarter of the year. Hosted at the Marriott Cool Springs in Franklin, the Kumite in Tennessee or KiT for short, is hosting 12 separate tournaments over two days, promising a weekend bursting with entertainment. Pokkén Tournament was formally announced as the first game on the title card, but 11 others have since joined the roster.

Outside of tournament mainstays like Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mortal Kombat X, Guilty Gear Xrd REVELATOR and the like, games like Dead or Alive 5 Last Round, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Project M will also be represented at KiT 2017. Over $13,500 worth of pot bonuses have been announced, with NetherRealm Studios putting in a whopping $10,000 for this year’s Mortal Kombat tournament and Team Ninja adding $1,000 to the DoA5:LR pot. Barring BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Project M, and The King of Fighters XIV, tournament champions will also receive a sculpted trophy of a character from their game, so you may walk away with a bronze head of Heihachi or Bowser, as well as your prize money.

Registration is still open for KiT 2017, with December 30th acting as the last day to sign up online. There will be on-site registration on Friday 6th January, but this is cash only, so bring your wallet with you. Make sure to check out the smash.gg page for any additional information.

Sources: Panda x Gaming; smash.gg

Recently, Capcom’s Tomoaki Ayano hinted at some sort of new “collaboration announcement” related to Street Fighter. Now, Capcom has finally revealed what Ayano was hinting at, and may not quite be what some fans are expecting.

Capcom has announced a new collaboration between their Street Fighter and Monster Hunter franchises: specifically, Street Fighter V characters will be coming to Monster Hunter Explore. The Japan-only mobile game (the worldwide release was cancelled sometime in June) will be getting special outfits based on Street Fighter V’s Ryu, Chun-Li, Rashid, and Karin. In addition to this, players can also equip a weapon that utilizes Psycho Power hands, and battle a monster inspired by Dhalsim.

You can check these out in the gallery below.

Click to view slideshow.

Additionally, you cans see the game in action in the video below.

Source: Capcom Japan

While there are many games that fall under the umbrella of “fighting games,” there is one game that stands pretty far apart from the rest of the pack: Brawlhalla is a game that draws inspiration from Smash’s movement mechanics and League of Legends’ aesthetic, while throwing weapons into the mix and packaging it all as a free-to-play game.

Perhaps because it is so different from traditional fighting games, its getting a lot of attention on the esports circuit, leading to large pot bonuses and sponsors than one would expect on the surface. The game just had its World Championship, with $50,000 in prizes to be won. The tournament has concluded, but this hype reel has been uploaded by the official YouTube channel.

Their top 8 was also uploaded, which you can see below.

Source: Brawlhalla

With the launching version of Chaos Code, subtitled “A New Sign of Catastrophe” on the PlayStation 4, it’s a good opportunity to brush up on techniques or jump into a new game.

Hikaru makes a good starting point for Chaos Code. As the protagonist of the game, he tackles opponents with a well-balanced playstyle which includes a fireball and a shoryuken move, in addition to having good conversions and corner-carrying potential.

Here are a few examples of tech and combos:

#PS4share #カオスコード J3B後パーツ1https://t.co/6bt2lXbzXR pic.twitter.com/kVzCOKxN38

— よみ (@yomi9952) November 13, 2016

A straightforward combo with a knockdown.

#PS4sharehttps://t.co/6bt2lXbzXR pic.twitter.com/kBiXNBSiBR

— よみ (@yomi9952) November 12, 2016

A longer combo that spends some meter, but has corner-carry. Hikaru uses an air special kick to bring the opponent down to the ground.

#PS4share　#カオスコード pic.twitter.com/GOYPgxUqAf

— MGポン (@mgpn_mat) November 14, 2016

A damaging corner combo at max meter.

#PS4share　テスト　GマスSPやってみたhttps://t.co/6bt2lXbzXR pic.twitter.com/cJdTo5QnUX

— よみ (@yomi9952) November 11, 2016

A powerful combo that uses Exceed for maximum damage.

Depending on the resources, those combos can be broken down to end earlier and get a knockdown.

For a more basic guide on how to approach the game, we have a general Chaos Code tutorial.

Sources: yomi; mgpn_mat; tips from Crimefighter

In the world of esports, sponsors are very important contributors to players and fans alike. With a good sponsor, a team can afford to compensate its players for events, travel, and even living expenses. All of this lets players spend more time honing their skills, bringing a better and more refined game overall to as many tournaments as they can.

Mineski just recently wrote an article discussing the necessity of unusual sponsors in esports. Team NP, a primarily DOTA 2 team, recently acquired a FYM Hot Sauce sponsorship, which some are questioning as unusual. The article goes on to point out Hot Sauce isn’t that abnormal a sponsor, as other food-related companies like Coca-Cola and Doritos having dipped their toes into the esports scene in the past [not to mention Red Bull of course, and to a lesser degree, Bud Light – Editor]. Sponsors like this also allow esports teams to expand and cover multiple games. A good example of this would be Evil Geniuses, which has players in Dota, Starcraft, Halo, and Street Fighter.

While the primary focus of the article is traditional esports, the fighting game community should be paying attention as it continues on the esports path.

Source: Mineski