Raphael’s true strength in SoulCalibur VI is hidden behind a new technique called “Instant Prep”. This technique allows for frame advantage transitions into prep and guarantees links the character otherwise doesn’t get access to — particularly in extremely valuable punishments.
While the input seems simple on the surface — it’s just 46, after all! — the timing and finesse needed to actually get the frame advantage is a little tricky. Sikshot gaming‘s latest tutorial is designed to help you get this input down so that you can turn every -10 situation into one of the best knockdown punishes in the game.
It’s tempting to want to tweak a character that gets over-represented in tournament play, but the Street Fighter minds over at VesperArcade suggest that despite how good he is, nerfing Guile isn’t necessarily the right solution.
Indeed, in a game as focused on anti-zoning as Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition is, Guile is the one zoner that does his job right. Though are maybe a few tweaks VesperArcade would like to see to the boom-chucker going into Season 4, they suggest that we should perhaps be more focused on building a game where all characters are performing their roles as well as Guile performs his.
While the 2018 Red Bull Kumite was raging in Paris, France, the top Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition players in the Eastern North American region were battling in cyberspace, as the final Ranking Event of the 2018 Capcom Pro Tour Season was taking place. This signified the final chance for players to get points, that were more precious then ever before, as we head into next weekend’s North American Regional Finals at Red Bull Battlegrounds, which is the absolute last chance any players will have to secure their spot in next month’s Capcom Cup.
Eligible States included: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as the Canadian Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador.
With a massive 197 players battling it out for their place on the Regional and Global Leaderboards, it was guaranteed to be an amazing event.
The Esports World Championships — founded by the International Esports Federation — has helped to catapult careers in fighting games. In the first year of Tekken 7 at the event, Thailand’s Book took a close 2nd place to Doujin from the Philippines; both ultimately found varying degrees of success on the tournament circuit this year.
This year’s championships (held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan) came down to Hakaioh of Japan and Sora from Saudi Arabia. With the two playing a long first to five set to decide the champion, the level of adaptation was high all around.
At the debut of Georgia’s Climax of Night 2018, the Anime FGC owned the spotlight. Led by @Cluckw0rk, CoN was the first ever Soft Circle French Bread dedicated event on American soil. As you can see from this nearly 3-hour highlight reel by Doctor Butler, the brackets were stacked with heavy hitters and hype mental warfare.
This event featured top tier tournament gamplay from Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code, Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late [st], BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, and Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition — if you’ve ever loved a frame of air-dashing anime fighters, you’ll want to catch up on the passion and plays displayed at Climax of Night.
Not every character in Omen of Sorrow is gifted with particularly easy-to-set-up juggle states. Decapre-esque divekicker Zafkiel is, however, and CCW|MRpeck324‘s latest combo video shows how she can easily turn any stray hit into giant combos.
Though an example Blessed Mode loop is included, Zafkiel doesn’t need the additional combo mode to score up to 70% damage or more. She just needs a bold cancel and decent execution… and that doesn’t even include what she can do in the corner.
Both Capcom and Infiltration’s sponsor Panda Global speak out on Infiltration’s competitive status.
Over the past few months we haven’t seen or heard much directly from Seon-woo “Infiltration” Lee — the storied Street Fighter competitor has been embroiled in domestic abuse allegations in South Korea, which ultimately resulted in his sponsor Panda Global benching the player while an investigation was conducted. Infiltration voluntarily stepped away from streaming and competing during this period. Now, the sponsor has just published a video statement to social media that outlines their position on the situation; in this video Panda Global founder and CEO Alan Bunney details the charges, Infiltration’s profession of innocence, and the process and results of their own investigation:
As stated above, Panda Global has terminated their sponsorship relationship with Infiltration, and he has willingly withdrawn from Street Fighter V competition in the Capcom Pro Tour for both the remainder of 2018 and all of 2019. Seon-woo Lee plans to use the time away from competition to clear his legal record before returning to the game.
Capcom has issued their own statement on the Capcom Pro Tour website regarding Infiltration’s departure from the 2018/2019 CPT, which echoes Panda Global’s statement:
Having reviewed the relevant documents, we have ascertained that although some of the current allegations circulating are inaccurate, there is veracity to one indictment resulting from a domestic dispute on October 22, 2017, which involved a physical altercation between “Infiltration” and his then wife. This has been documented and a fine was paid by “Infiltration” in acknowledgment of the charge.
While this incident did not happen during a Capcom Pro Tour event, we do not condone any acts of violence or harassment. We want to ensure that Capcom Pro Tour provides a safe, inviting environment focused on healthy competition, with an expectation for a baseline code of conduct.
As a result of our evaluation, we felt it necessary to take appropriate disciplinary action against “Infiltration.” In speaking with Panda Global and “Infiltration,” he understands the circumstances of our review and conclusion. In acknowledgment of a first offense, he has voluntarily withdrawn himself from competition for the agreed upon period of the rest of the 2018 Capcom Pro Tour season, including Capcom Cup Finals this year, and the full 2019 CPT season. A second offense will result in a lifetime ban from participating in all future Capcom Pro Tour events.
Read the full statement here. This is of course means that Infiltration will not be competing in this year’s Capcom Cup finale, for which he was already qualified with a global rank of 11 on the CPT leaderboard. Capcom has stated his withdrawal will count as a disqualification, and the standings will be adjusted up accordingly after his removal:
As of November 15, 2018, “Infiltration” was ranked #11 in the global standings for the 2018 Capcom Pro Tour season. All players on the global ranking leaderboard below this rank will move up one position as we are considering his withdrawal the equivalent of a disqualification.
UPDATE: Additional material and Infiltration’s statement via Panda Global’s Twitter:
They rose, they rallied — and now the time has come to conquer.
Top regional fighting game champions from 15 U.S. cities and online will face off in one final battle at the RED BULL CONQUEST National Finals in Washington, D.C. November 16-18 at the brand-new Entertainment and Sports Arena. Bringing together America’s top fighting game contenders in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Tekken 7, and Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, one region will emerge victorious and claim victory as the best in the nation.
Since April, Red Bull Conquest has challenged over 3,000 competitors to represent their local fighting game scene and embark on the journey to RISE: RALLY: CONQUER. The top regional competitors descending on the nation’s capital to conquer all are listed below. (Competitors are listed in the following order: Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition — Tekken 7 —Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2)
ATLANTA
Adam “Neon” Ramirez
Spero “Spero Gin” Gineros
Hang “do_Nova” Ren
BOSTON
Alex “Awhile” Leong
Joseph “Joey Fury” Bennett
John “ZomB” Armstrong
CHICAGO
Marcus “THE COOL KID93” Redmond
Marquis “Shadow_20z” Jordan
Duncan “Mr. K” Tonningsen
DALLAS
Toi “Toi” Bridges
Akash “Akasha” Zaman
Jason “Kid Viper” El-Srouji
DENVER
Marcus “Shxd” Shadwick
Saeng “StriderX303” Sivixay
Jamaal “Ryyudo” Graves
LOS ANGELES
Bryan “Dankadillas” Teran
Bryan “Yanflip” Eguarras
Keenan “Kizzie Kay” Kizzie
NASHVILLE
Rob “RobTV” Burney
Terrelle “Lil Majin” Jackson
Will “bafojig” Patterson
NEW YORK
Victor “Punk” Woodley
Ariel “fightinggm” Capellan
Eli “LostSoul” Rabadad
ONLINE
Derek “iDom” Ruffin
Alexander “Glaciating” Gonzales
Julian Hotashi Harris
ORLANDO
Du “NuckleDu” Dang
Vante “NG-Obscure” Flint
Ryan “Ryan Hunter” Hunter
PHILADELPHIA
Jeremiah “Princess Slim” Amos
Jacob “Victim_of_Ritual” Tew
Kyohei “MarlinPie” Lehr
PHOENIX
Mike “Thrasher” Thompson
Tray “P. Ling” S.
Justin “dejixal” W
SAINT PAUL
Joseph “Mo-Joe” Porter
Jeffery “Scoop-Di-Whoop” Freelon
Mike “Elvenshadow” Boczar
SAN FRANCISCO
Purrhivath “XsK_Samurai” Chea
Bronson “Bronson Tran” Tran
Chipp “BjornSonOfBear’ Zanuff
SEATTLE
Christopher “ChrisCCH” Hancock
Connor “Moltariuz” Skinner
Hamad “Hamad” Akbar
The big event will see a Last Chance Qualifier tomorrow (November 16th) to form the Washington, D.C. team, with the main event kicking off on Saturday, November 17th. The competition starts on noon ET both days! The North American Regional Finals for the Capcom Pro Tour will finish off the weekend. Head to the official RED BULL CONQUEST page for details.
Just ahead of the big finale, Shoryuken got the chance to ask for a few more words from RED BULL CONQUEST’s National Tournament Director, Jimmy Nguyen. We also got a few questions in with three of the circuit’s hosts — Tasty Steve, Persia, and Vicious! Check them out below.
Zavian “mushin_Z” Sildra: What were the challenges of bringing this cross-country circuit together?
Jimmy Nguyen: Aside from the standard logistical ones that go into creating a circuit, determining which additional regions to include was one of the challenges. While we had a baseline from previous years, we wanted to choose regions that 1) needed the opportunity most, and 2) had the most outreach in their region and surrounding ones. We couldn’t include all regions, but we believe we chose the right ones for this year of CONQUEST.
mushin_Z: There are some very well-known names in the list of qualifiers, and many that aren’t household names — at least not yet. Do you think the format of RED BULL CONQUEST is helping lesser-known players earn some prominence?
Nguyen: Absolutely. One of the goals of CONQUEST is building community. Ever since Red Bull Proving Grounds in 2016, the goal has always been to cultivate the community by providing opportunities that allow players to not only develop their skills but to also come together to learn and become colleagues. As a result, communities within the regions become bigger and both the players and their region earn prominence.
mushin_Z: Are there any such players you feel we should be keeping our eye on in the Finals?
Nguyen: I would keep an eye on the players you haven’t heard of, or seen play. In the past two years, Red Bull Proving Grounds and Battle Grounds have been the stage where we witnessed breakout performances from players such as Vagabond and THE COOL KID93. I wouldn’t be surprised if more breakout stars surfaced at CONQUEST. Some of the players I would keep an eye on are Yanflip, ChrisCCH, Dankadillas, and BjornSonOfBear.
mushin_Z: What has been your favorite moment in RED BULL CONQUEST so far?
Nguyen: My favorite moments have been seeing the three champions of each region sharing the stage at the conclusion of their regional qualifier. It is common to see the three featured games and their communities (Guilty Gear, Tekken, and Street Fighter) share event space, but you don’t always get to see the three champions share the same spotlight. The moment you see them come together and realize they are now a team representing their region outshines any crazy-hype match that occurred prior.
In addition, my most favorite moment was at the Oakland qualifier when one of my long-time friends, Bronson Tran, was battling his way through the top 4 of Tekken 7 and eventually won the qualifier. You can catch a glimpse of that hype moment in the Finals trailer.
mushin_Z: Will RED BULL CONQUEST be returning next year? If so, what games do you think should be the focus in 2019?
Nguyen: I do hope so. We are currently super-focused on the Finals, so those discussions haven’t happened yet. In regards to the games, I would like to see a mixture of the same three genres again: anime, 2D, and 3D. I personally think we should do community polls to determine which games should be a part of CONQUEST. I would not be surprised if the community vote came down to Street Fighter, Tekken, Dragon Ball, and Smash Ultimate.
mushin_Z: So, what’s your next big project?
Nguyen: As of right now, CONQUEST will be my final big project for the year. I have a couple of mid-sized ones that may happen towards the end of the year but those are still being finalized. For 2019, I have several projects I am currently working on that the FGC may find quite interesting. Unfortunately, I cannot share any details, yet! You’ll just have to wait and see.
mushin_Z: How, in your view, has RED BULL CONQUEST benefited the local scenes it has touched?
Steve “Tasty Steve” Scott: It’s been amazing!! The fact that Red Bull developed a major tournament that is specific for each region to qualify for a final is significant, and checks a lot of boxes for the fighting game community in the United States — a lot of times that smaller regions are left out of. Especially that it’s basically a team event. Also, giving not just me but everyone a chance to see talented players put in a major stage that they might not have been exposed to otherwise for financial, school commitment etc., from these smaller under-represented regions.
Samantha “Persia” Hancock: RED BULL CONQUEST has gone above and beyond the call for people to support their locals. Not only did they call on the expertise of each scene’s own commentators, streamers, and talent for each Rally event — CONQUEST also invested into smaller Rise events leading up to each Qualifier. This helped strengthen many scenes, and it’s going to show in the finals when these regions get an opportunity to represent!
Jeremy “Vicious” Lopez: The team that put RED BULL CONQUEST together has done so much for the community, especially the local scenes, by encouraging the best of their abilities through their Rally events and providing a giant platform for those communities to showcase their hard work, their passion for the game, as well as what the FGC means to them. RED BULL CONQUEST has encouraged a lot of the local scenes to work together even harder than before, because it’s a chance for their scene to get that recognition and respect for all their years of dedication to the games they play as well as the opportunity to play with the best of other regions.
mushin_Z: What have been your own favorite moments in the RED BULL CONQUEST circuit?
Tasty Steve: So many, but one of my favorite moments happened at the Boston qualifier when the Buffalo FGC showed up. Both of the scenes came out in force in all three games, but Buffalo came in and swept all three games Street Fighter, Tekken and Guilty Gear. So now the winning trio from the Boston qualifier is actually from Buffalo!
Persia: Some of my most favorite moments during CONQUEST this year have been the battle between the hometown heroes and the invaders! There has been a bit of back and forth but some regions have been able to keep the representation in-house. When it comes to hype, Tekken 7 has been the game to catch my eye every event. So much so that I’ve been playing the game more and more! There have been too many hype Tekken 7 moments between Oakland and Atlanta alone and I just can’t wait to see what happens during the DC Finals!
Vicious: My absolute favorite moments in the RED BULL CONQUEST circuit is watching the most intense matches alongside the fans in the crowd, there’s something about being around that energy that gets me more hyped up than ever, and it’s an experience that every fighting game fan can relate to whenever they go to an event.
mushin_Z: Which players are you personally rooting for in the finals?
Tasty Steve: So many actually — Shadow20z, Mr. K, Lil Majin, Princess Slim, Ryan Hunter, Joey Fury, KizzieKay, bafojig, Punk, MarlinPie, Obscure, NuckleDu, FightingGM, THE COOL KID93… just to name a few!
Persia: I will definitely have my pom-poms waving for Team New York which will have Punk, FightingGM, and LostSoul! Even though Punk invaded NYC, he’ll be repping during the Finals so he has my support this time! I’ll also be rooting for the Online team since iDom will be representing them and he’s one of my favorite players from NYC. You also have to give some credit to the online warriors out there because they fight through the rough waters to get where they are today. All in all, I’m wishing everyone the best and also reminding all the currently qualified players to stay on their toes! That Last Chance Qualifier is going to be full of KILLERS! Stay sharp!
Vicious: My eyes are mainly on the Los Angeles team consisting of Dankadillas, UYU|KizzieKay, and Yanflip, mainly because they’re all ridiculously talented as well as being my hometown team, but other than Team LA, there are a good handful of players I’m personally rooting for: Lil Majin for Tekken 7 (Team Nashville) because of his outstanding performance thus far in the TWT and on top of being super entertaining to watch; Neon for SFV (Team Atlanta) because his Kolin has been getting better and better each time I watch him play, I’m honestly excited to see how he’s prepared himself for the finals in a Washington DC; Dejixal for GG REV 2 (Team Phoenix) because watching him just absolutely destroy the competition during their qualifier made me a big fan of his, and I want to see his “HitBox Jam” go against the rest of the nation. But of course, I still wish good luck to all the teams as there’s so many more I have my eye on, but we’ll have to wait and see how it goes down in the Finals!
Sources: Red Bull Esports [press release]; RED BULL CONQUEST; all photos courtesy of Red Bull Esports
It’s common for any organized group to have their own vocabulary, but the FGC seems to take things to another level. The amount of “OD”s and “Jebaited“s that come out of my own mouth are astounding, as though the terminology surrounding fighters form their own language — though, with every language comes discrepancies: for example, what exactly is the difference between the phrases “bodied” and “free”…?
While both words have very different implications, they can both be used for the very same scenarios, leaving usage solely to preference. That being said, in the world of competitive fighting, there always has to be a winner… so Echo Fox|Justin Wong did a little bit of field research in his new video below.
In the end, “bodied” kept a pretty clear lead in the counters, but that data could vary when asking other players. Perhaps in the future this preference could be defined around regions? Or maybe games played? Regardless, the thin line remains — but with a score like 8 to 3, “free” got bodied… free.
The transition from Tekken 6 to later Tekken entries certainly wasn’t kind to Bob, nor should it have been, given his overall dominance in that game. Because of this, though, there’s been a precipitous drop-off in Bob players, one of which a series of strong buffs in Season 2 hopes to rectify.
Damage buffs across the board — particularly on some key crouch dash options — and a uniquely strong set of wall bounce options make Bob’s combo damage more meaningful in the long run. Between this and a set of new roll options, perhaps Season 2 will bring Bob back to the forefront.
