Frabisaur helps you prepare yourself to go deeper into your brackets!
In fighting games, ultimately what matters the most in competitive settings is not the ability to win a single round or even a single game, but whether or not you can come out on top and win your set. If the condition to stay in the bracket is to win two out of three games, then you need to be able to make sure you can win those two games, even if you lose an occasional round or even a whole game. Arguably, if you’re simply a much better player than your opponent this won’t be a problem — but when the skill gap is narrower, you need to look at the bigger picture. Therefore, most successful players spend some time and attention looking at how to aim to win the whole set.
In the newest episode of The Fighter’s Dojo, Frabisaur examines the strategy behind playing to win the set. The first fight is basically best used to study your opponent’s playstyle, seeing how they respond to different approaches and situations during the game — and as you know that another game is coming, you may want to not show too much of your own resets or setups to retain an edge for the second game. Frabisaur goes into further detail on how to apply what you’ve learned from the first game to close the second in your favor — or what to do if the first game was a total wash for you. And how do you handle game three, if that’s what it comes down to? Check out the video below!
Street Fighter V is the example — but this strategy applies to essentially every fighting game out there!
Evo Japan brought more fame to Juri than any Street Fighter V tournament yet has, with Korea’s Infiltration taking the character to her limits to beat John Takeuchi in Grand Finals. Now, more people are paying attention to the character — and while she has weaknesses, it’s definitely possible to make it work.
In this video, we see the spacing game focused on first — because Juri cannot play too up close, but does well in the neutral game. We also see some combo tips, as well as some advice about picking V-Trigger I (the Feng Shui Engine alpha) over the newer variant.
With older titles, you’ll often see a lot of hitbox interactions that can leave you scratching your head. The King of Fighters 2002 — which is considered one of SNK’s best fighting game titles to date — is no exception to this.
In this combo video from Nightmare Alex, we see some interesting interactions, including faux cross-ups and cross-throughs that can be mind blowing. Another landmark of older titles is their damage output, of which these combos have plenty; most of these combos are 100% damage combos!
As part of NIS America’s annual press event, fighter fans got a brand new trailer for SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. This trailer mainly focuses on Tag Team Frenzy’s extensive costume options, where players can dress their favorite SNK heroines in all manner of cool outfits.
Alongside some of the more revealing costumes, this trailer showed that players can dress characters like Nakoruru, Mai Shiranui and Athena in their classic costumes — as seen in other games like King of Fighters or Samurai Shodown.
This was not the only major Tag Team Frenzy announcement though, as producer Yasuyuki Oda teased the next fighter to join the roster will be a grappler. Seeing as she was in SNK Gals Fighter and has grappler-style moves, the most likely candidate is Shermie, who first appeared in King of Fighters ’97.
Abigail is already the new Street Fighter thing people are shaking their heads at. To be fair, he makes himself a big target.
In this compilation of crazy moments in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, we see many instances of strange hitbox interactions with Abigail, among other characters. We also see some impressive plays using Alex, and many instances of Poongko doing amazing things — including a fantastic set full of parries from his Kolin.
Tung Fu Rue — like many characters in The King of Fighters XIV — can deal a lot of damage, but falls on the lower end of the totem pole competitively. His low stature and short limbs make it really hard for him to push people around — areas where top tier characters like Kula and Robert excel.
However, in this guide, we see that with some finesse, you can augment Tung’s strengths to make up for these deficiencies. With certain moves, you can apply a significant amount of pressure with the little guy.
It isn’t a surprise to most people that Balrog was nerfed in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. When a nerf seems like an inevitable thing, though, dedicated players have to be worried that the character could end up getting killed altogether in tournament play. Just ask Season 1 Ryu players, for example.
Well, there’s few players as dedicated to pushing Balrog as SFV Pro Brian_F. He’s documented the Season 3 changes here in his latest video, while also giving them some context for Balrog’s future. Boxer players will certainly have to adjust to their new world, but as Brian F shows, not all of the news is doom and gloom.
It’s been a rollercoaster for Chun-Li players in Street Fighter V. After debuting strong in Season 1, the wide list of nerfs in Season 2 drove many away. Now those players have a reason to come back: Season 3 was fairly kind to the Queen of Street Fighter.
One of the most signifigent adjustments to Chun-Li was the addition of larger frame advantage off of her Air Lightning Legs on hit. VesperArcade‘s latest tutorial video demonstrates various methods for inputting this useful technique — and how to apply it in battle safely.
Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[st] is a mouthful. Commonly abridged as UNIST, this fairly niche anime fighter from French Bread — published by Arc System Works (Aksys Games in the West) — occupies a strange space in the fighting game realm. Though it has an intensely anime aesthetic, it’s not an air-dasher, and it places more emphasis on a sort of rock-paper-scissor fundamentals. At the outset, it shines with excellent sound, graphics, and feel of combat, and it hosts a fairly large cast of 20 characters now. While it’s overall easy to pick up — it has auto combos, and can be fun to play without delving in too deep — there’s enormous depth below the surface awaiting patient and dedicated gamers.
Late[st] lags about two years behind its arcade release, bringing additional characters and balance changes. We see modifications to series’ mainstays like Gordeau, a menacing scythe wielder; Waldstein, a grappler who fills the screen; Vatista, a zoner that attacks with beams, and others. Everyone can find a fit in the diverse cast. The flow of battle is still governed by a Grid at the center of the screen, which fills with blocks for both players. Whoever has more at certain times enters an empowered Vorpal state and accesses Chain Shift, a sort of “YRC” or “Rapid Cancel” in loose translation that cancels most actions, pauses the game to get a quick look, and gives meter back to the user. It’s crucial to pay attention to this tug of war, as well as to remember that the resource meter conserves between the rounds. Being unable to attack after recovering in the air also distinguishes this title from related ones, keeping the action more grounded. New to UNIST is a Cross Veil Off mechanic, which reminds me a bit of Gold Bursting in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift. A fighter can extend their combo by releasing the rest of their energy to unleash multiple super attacks in a row.
While fans of the series will pick apart the nuanced balance changes between UNIST and its predecessor, UNIEL, the biggest difference between the two is the single-player content. The [Late]st edition packs a sprawling Tutorial mode, Mission mode (combo challenges), and an expansive story mode titled Chronicle. The Tutorial is a welcome addition, since it thoroughly explains the nuances of French Bread’s fighter.
Other than tune-ups for each member of the cast, four additions make their way to the roster. Mika is a small girl with big fists, while whip-wielder Phonon can dominate from long range. Most notably, Late[st] adds console originals Wagner and Enkidu. Both of them stand out in their own ways, but gel with the rest of the cast. Enkidu seems very beginner-friendly, as the martial artist has lots of rekkas — his special moves have easy follow-ups, and even his normal B and C attacks can be repeated up to three times in a row. Wagner resembles SoulCalibur’s Sophitia a bit with her short sword and shield, and her specials ignite the stage with quick, drill-like dashes. She can further enchant her sword or shield to strengthen moves. I found both fighters to be exciting choices that are flashy and fun to play, even if Enkidu is generally regarded as a weaker character.
Unfortunately, the netcode isn’t on par with BlazBlue: Central Fiction’s, so it will be a little tough (but doable) to be a netplay warrior. I’ve compared my connection with a friend with whom I played stable BBCF games; the UNIST lag with the same person amounted to about 4-6 frames, just a bit beyond a good threshold. However, I still had quite enjoyable games with someone in my city and a someone in an unknown location (a 3-bar). Network Mode also feels a bit barer than Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 or Dragon Ball FighterZ as it lacks the avatar lobby and unlockable goodies, it’s only plain menus. To be honest, though, it doesn’t detract from the experience very much. [Note these impressions are based on network conditions prior to the wide retail release in the West. – Editor]
Chances are though, if you’re looking for some content, you’ll spend some time in the new to Late[st] story mode. The Chronicle Mode is definitely worth rifling through if you’re a visual novel fan. The well-written chapters — which focus on specific characters — humorously clash between supernatural Night creatures with reminders of daily, modern life. Yuzuriha points out the inconvenience of laws prohibiting carrying around Japanese swords around civilian areas; shortly after she gets a smartphone for the first time with an app called “LINNE” for communication. We witness Byakuya’s traumatizing transformation from blissful, prosaic life and discover how his powers came to be. It’s a bit verbose, but overall, the language paints the action and the emotion through scenes that show how many of the characters in the series came to be who they are.
While it’s meaty, it can be picked apart in digestible, shorter chapters, which focus on telling the origin of the cast and how the Night creatures came to be, and how people discover their EXS powers (incidentally, the name of the main power resource). As a side note: there’s undeniably a large amount of text in the game, but sadly, the translation has quite a lot of misspellings and mistakes which can distract from enjoying the tale.
And speaking of EXS, you’re not alone when it comes to wading through the breadth of fighting game terminology. As some may have already heard, the Tutorial Mode is incredibly robust this time, covering not only tech specific to this game, but it also does an excellent job teaching methods applicable to most air-dashers (if not simply most fighting games in general). You’ll learn how to do an empty jump into mix-up, a reversal backdash, how to Dragon Punch out of pressure, and even learn some UNIST-specific option selects that the game is famous for. While some crafty players can use record functions to program an enemy dummy to practice situations in most fighting games, UNIST comes ready with an exercise for nearly every technique it presents. Even if the explanations are a little terse, this is practically a complete, interactive Wiki right in front of you. It may be tough to get newcomers to muster up the will to sit through so many segments, but it’s easier than ever before to get on par with such an in-depth fighting game.
There are some things holding back the English release of Under Night, however. January has been packed with some big fighting game releases, so it’s tough to see this rather niche title gaining much traction among them (or sustaining the attention of those who play multiple fighting games). Furthermore, many fans of this series probably already grabbed the Japanese-language version. It’s a shame, because I feel it’s really worth getting the localized UNIST for its robust Tutorial and lengthy Chronicle Mode. In a time when single-player content sometimes doesn’t make the cut, UNIST raises the bar for all fighting games when it comes to teaching its players how to master it.
It’s never been easier to get into this title, but it won’t succeed without a reasonably-sized community. UNIST features a memorable cast and intensely strategic elements that forge a unique title — even if at the outset it looks similar to other anime games. Although the market is getting crowded, we still enthusiastically recommend this title to the fighting game community at large. You may be surprised just how much you’ll like it; the game does require dedication, but it rewards you a lot for it.
Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late[st] is available now on Amazon and PlayStation Network for $49.99 on PlayStation 4, 3, and Vita. Review copy and screenshots provided by Aksys Games.
There seems no sign of the hype slowing down for Dragon Ball FighterZ, especially after the Evo announcement. There’s a real sense of an actual arms race going on in the DBFZ meta. I hope whoever is in charge of the Evo trophy design makes it a perfectly spherical Dragon Ball, just for the theme’s sake. Or… maybe not. That’d ultimately limit the novelty prize to seven tournaments, wouldn’t it? There’s absolutely going to be more then seven majors for this game. Anyways: let’s see what the community sent in today!
playergodaines starts us off with some incredibly strong Piccolo combos, some breaking 6K with only one meter.
HapkidoRed shows off the absurd mix-up potential of Goku Black’s teleport.
datHazy can kill off of a Level 1 during Sparking Blast, and the right resources, with Adult Gohan.
sikshot gaming breaks down the defensive options that you can use versus the troublesome frame trap after a blocked Vanish.
Want to use the mix-up potential of the Saibamen? TGN Anime has a great breakdown of Nappa’s movelist just for you!
ApertureBlack has two different examples of the mix-up power of Beerus’s 236S.
rooflemonger has a breakdown of Adult Gohan’s “Potential Unleashed” mechanic.
Does the “Potential Unleashed” mechanic sound interesting to you…? He has a further breakdown of the character for you, including combos!
rooflemonger’s also prepared a tips and tricks video for Tien:
As always, if you see anything worth sharing, let us know by submitting a tip for our next roundup. Thanks everyone!
