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Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition at Genesis 5: XSK_Samurai, LPN, & Pavocado share their impressions and mindsets

While the Genesis tournament series has been first and foremost a Super Smash Bros. event, the staff has been adding more games to its lineup since last year’s event. For Genesis 5 in Oakland, CA, in addition to Smash 64, Melee, and SSB4, there will be tournaments for Rivals of Aether, Splatoon 2, Dance Dance Revolution Extreme, and last but not least, Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition.

genesis 5

Genesis 4 did feature SFV last year with 130 entrants from both Northern and Southern California. So far, this year’s event doesn’t have quite as many competitors as last year (only 57 as of this writing, but there is still on-site registration the day of the tournament), there is an added $1,000 pot bonus that some of NorCal’s players will be playing for this weekend, with the likes of Evil Genius’ Ricki Ortiz, Rommel “ROM” Macatangay, Miky “XSK_Samurai” Chea, Long “LPN” Nguyen, and Pavo “Pavocado” Miskic in attendance.

Since SFV: Arcade Edition is only a few days old, the results may vary this weekend due to the cast having access to brand new V-Triggers, Sakura being tournament legal, and huge character balance changes. I caught up with Miky, Long, and Pavo to get their early Arcade Edition impressions and their competitive mindsets going into Genesis 5, and beyond.

Kolin is ridiculously cool and powerful now! Expect it to be a cold year.

“I think the single player content is fantastic and the reworked UI is hella sick. I get excited just watching the matches queue up,” said Pavo.

LPN shared the same enthusiasm for the new update: “Playing it for the last few days, it has sparked my interest in many different avenues. With the plethora of tech and info shared across Twitter and YouTube the past few days, I’m overjoyed at how fast people are picking things up in this rediscovery stage. It’s a good look for SFV and seeing other people happy about the game makes me happy as well.”

As far as the character balance changes were concerned, all three players had varied opinions.

sfv abigail max power“If we’re talking balance, it seems like the gap between low and mid tier is closer than before, but the gap between high tier and everyone else is even bigger than before. A lot of people are going to have to pick up secondaries this year if they want to win big tournaments,” Pavo said. He also adds, “It’s hard to tell how everything will shake out, but the early tech for Abigail is already incredible. Getting hard knockdown on the first hit of his Abigail Punches special move into the new V-Trigger 2 for free unblockables is kind of mind-blowing, considering Akuma just lost his hard knockdown sets ups.

“I’m also slightly worried about Guile considering his bad match-ups seem to have gotten worse, but the system changes benefit Guile more than ever. Mika was mostly given positive changes that go hand-in-hand with her current playstyle, but none of it seems to be that extra cheap stuff that the potential top tiers have. The system changes to throws aren’t in her favor either. She’ll still work, but her bad match ups will require back up for competition. I’m hoping that Blanka will fix all my problems!”

In contrast to Pavo’s enthusiasm, LPN seems unconvinced: “Some characters got over-buffed, [Rashid and Laura] are prime examples. Great characters who are now even greater for no sensible reason in my opinion. New mix ups of Laura have been floating around the internet and Rashid flying in every video as well. The idea behind the game becoming more “neutral” must have been a rumor that’s been circulating the internet for some time now, because it isn’t apparent in AE.”

LPN also seemed confused about the way that characters had been changed: “Some other characters like Alex and Vega can use some more buffs, and some characters like Ken and Akuma got nerfed in a weird direction. The characters aren’t destroyed or unplayable. Just minor adjustments will make them ‘complete.’ Oh yeah, Kolin is ridiculously cool and powerful now! Expect it to be a cold year.”

Seeing other people happy about the game makes me happy as well.

He added: “Some people are happy. Others are not. But the bottom line is, if you enjoy playing the game, then continue to do so. Overall I still love the game and with Arcade Edition out now, I’m ready to jump back into the lab.”

Miky said that he thinks the changes will lead to a more neutral-based experience, even though some characters will have strong 50/50 setups and one-touch kills. He said that even though he will have to work harder, he feels that it will make him play better overall. “Season 3 will bring a new direction in terms of development for players. It’ll be up to the player to realize that and take it into consideration when looking to improve for this year.”

As for the mindsets of all three players going into competing at Genesis 5 and future tournaments, they all seemed optimistic and focused, despite the drastic changes in season three.

sfv_sakura_activation“My mindset going into Genesis is to not make the tournament special,” Pavo said. “No extra pressure, no expectations. If I show up and can stay focused throughout the tournament I’ll be happy. I’m not worried about anyone in particular, but all the new options people have means anyone has the potential to surprise me with some dirty tech I haven’t seen before. I hope to be ready to adjust on the fly. My future plans for Season Three are to hit up everything I can. I haven’t seen the East Coast yet and would love to go out there and play with everyone.”

A lot of people are going to have to pick up secondaries this year if they want to win big tournaments.

LPN said, “My mindset going into Genesis is to show the people what AE is all about. It’s a fresh start for many people and I feel so for myself I’m not worried about any particular player as I’m confident in my ability to take the whole thing. As for future tournaments, I plan on going to as many CPT tournaments as possible to compete in SFVAE.”

sfvae v-trigger ii kolin

Lastly, Miky adds emphatically, “I am going there to win with my new style. I don’t care who I play against, or which character. Season 3 in terms of future tournaments? I’m not sure, since I am not sponsored for this season. I will most likely compete in California majors and locals.”

It should be an exciting time for both players and spectators this weekend at Genesis 5 in Oakland, CA. SFVAE takes place this Saturday at around 2:00 PM PT, and is being streamed by IPLAYWINNER.

Sources: smash.gg, Genesis Gaming

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Xsjado Blade discusses system mechanics and Sailor Mercury in these Sailor Moon S tutorials

With the 23 year-old Super Famicom title Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S gaining popularity in the West, many people are wondering exactly how to dive into this simple-yet-deep fighter. Fortunately, the SMS community is releasing a lot of information about the game to help out newcomers to the title.

Xsjado Blade has started a tutorial series for Sailor Moon S, and started out by discussing the core system mechanics, which might loan itself to early Street Fighter and The King of Fighters titles, but still has unique properties to get used to when coming from either series. He then posted a video discussing Sailor Mercury’s moveset and strategy.

Source: NoSLP Xsjado

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Exploring Fighting Games weighs in on benefits of team tournaments

Attracting new competitive players to the fighting game scene isn’t easy — though arguably, it’s much easier than it was ever before, thanks to the widespread availability of streaming, esports organizations, and prizes. But the latest episode of Exploring Fighting Games argues that this also encourages people to be viewers rather than competitors.

Episode 12 talks about how team tournaments can help more fledgling fighting game competitors enjoy their time at events. Quoting Max Wertheimer’s Productive Thinking, the episode proposes something that can help out. By adding more cooperative aspects to the play, newcomers won’t be as discouraged to try and veterans won’t be as bored, as given in a badminton analogy. When forming teams with members of diverse skill levels and matching them against opponents in a similar order, the tournament experience will benefit those players more. Additionally, it’s a good way for players to bond with people they might not have normally talked about.

It’s a very interesting propostion; although many majors commonly feature team competitions, they usually allow those who sign up make up their own teams.

A recent Exploring Fighting Games episode covers how to approach team fighting games.

Source: novriltataki

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“Meet My Story” interviews Sweden’s top Street Fighter player, Simon “Popi” Gutierrez

Looking for a jolt of gaming inspiration? Cammy pro Simon “Popi” Gutierrez is the subject of a brand new YouTube interview series Meet My Story, and inspiration is the core of his. Half a decade ago, he was a man that could not be stopped in Street Fighter IV. Between 2012-2014 he racked up $15,000 in earnings, and was among the first to defeat the seemingly invincible Infiltration in his break-out underdog moment.

This interview covers that monumental event, and the positive mindset that Popi employed to make it happen. It also covers the aftermath of being thrust into sudden stardom, and the marketing pitfalls therein.

Source: Meet My Story

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Afi and Galu, the Elemental Duo, join the Icons: Combat Arena roster

Teased in their closed beta announcement, Wavedash Games have revealed Icons: Combat Arena‘s duo character, Afi and Galu. Twin statues imbued with the power of water and fire, Afi and Galu break with the traditional formula for duo characters in platform fighters, as only one of them can be active on screen at once.

When one statue is active, the other will lay dormant — standing stock still until the player switches to the other one. Awakening Afi will cause a water geyser to shoot up around them, while waking up Galu will cause a jet of flame to erupt from around them. Playing Afi and Galu at a high level will involve mastering statue positioning, and punishing an opponent who puts a foot wrong. You’ll need to be playing multi-dimensional chess, while your enemy is playing checkers.

The duo also has a special dash, which allows the player to move either towards or away from your inactive partner, relative to their position. Using this life-link will be key for ending combos and also saving your hide when you overextend for an edge-guard. Keep alert though — your partner may be impervious to damage while dormant, but they still obey the laws of gravity. If a dormant statue drops into the blastzone, you will lose a stock.

As for when you’d use Afi or Galu, their elemental attacks send foes at different angles. Afi’s fire knocks the opponent outward, so they are best used for kills off the side. Galu’s water knocks the opponent upwards, so they are best for killing off the top.

While the previously announced characters for Icons stick to platform fighter archetypes quite rigidly, Afi and Galu act as the first character to really break the mold and try something new with this particular archetype. If the remaining two launch fighters are as creative as Afi and Galu are, Icons’ launch roster will be something special.

If you are in the Icons: Combat Arena closed beta, you won’t have to wait long to try these soul-swapping statues, as they will be available to play next week. Wavedash Games are continually adding players to the closed beta pool, so sign up if you want to give this platform fighter a try.

Source: Wavedash Games

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Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition roundup: Juri’s buffed target combo, Ryu stun resets, and more!

We’re into another day of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition! While players are still largely experimenting with the combo potential of the new V-Triggers, we are starting to see more exploration of resets, new character options, and more. If you missed the day one video round up, you can check that out here!

So what has the community created today? Well, starting us off is The Prince‘s demonstration of M. Bison’s new V-Trigger II stun resets.

Swillo & BimmyQuestion show off a few BnBs from the new Vega V-Trigger.

Meanwhile, El Chakotay has a comprehensive breakdown of R. Mika’s new quality of life.

Juri’s new V-Trigger, “Feng Shui Engine Beta,” is the subject of marlonlonmilk’s latest video.

JST is also on the Juri Hype train, covering her new new damage opportunities with the (now 2-bar) V-Trigger I.

NurseLee has been making the most of Ryu’s new stun/reset synergy. Beware, low stun characters!

He’s not the only one enjoying Ryu, though. Impractical combo God desk took the world warrior for a spin, too.

MrSlaynman covers Zangief’s new V-Trigger, which gives him buffed SPD damage, and an announcer that’s constantly losing his mind.

Chun-Li’s damage output is looking just fine in Brian Kasugano‘s new combo video for Season 3.

World-Warrior‘s “Upgrade Your Arsenal” series starts S3 off with (perhaps unsurprisingly for any of World-Warrior’s followers) Ken’s Shinryuken combos.

And lastly, Peter Souvannarath has an entire playlist of Dhalsim tech centered around meaty VTII setups.

If you see anything worth sharing, let us know by submitting a tip for our next roundup!

Sources: NurseLee; JST; The Prince; World Warrior FGC; marlonlonmilk; MrSlaynman; Peter Souvannarath; ElChakotay; Swillo & BimmyQuestion; desk

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The future of BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle is threatened by Arc System Works’ DLC approach

The recent Fighting Game Awards from Arc System Works culminated in a monumental BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle announcement. Up to this point, we’ve been trickle-fed monthly character reveals, often spread across the colliding universes (though usually leaning heavily on BlazBlue’s). At the end of the BlazBlue: Central Fiction tournament, the company gave us a release date for BBTAG (May 31st for Japan, June 5th for the US), revealed the expected Blake Belladona from RWBY, and showed off a fancy “Limited Box” that will contain multiple goodies.

That’s not what caught the attention of most fans. It turns out that Blake won’t be part of the base game; rather, she is part of the paid DLC content. What’s more, we now know that the base cast is 20 characters. However, an additional 20 characters will be available for purchase as add-on content. So yes, 50 percent of the game’s cast needs to be purchased. This is surprising, and problematic.

In a way, it’s not that strange that BBTAG has a large number of DLC characters. After all, the combined character pool from BlazBlue, Persona, Under Night In-Birth, and RWBY is quite huge, easily reaching 80 combatants. It’s all the more reason to be surprised at a skimpy launch cast of only 20 fighters. Though Arc System Works generally pushes quality over quantity (The first BlazBlue installment, Calamity Trigger, started with just 12, after all), most players are already familiar with the cast.

This could possibly have something to do with the release date. Personally, I predicted the game would ship sometime in the fall; the end of May is much sooner than expected. Coming out before Evolution 2018 is surely the goal there — though, as an aside, it’s hard to see BBTAG taking up a main stage slot among a crowded roster of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and BBCF itself. Naysaying aside, the release date might be a premonition of a rushed title, which explains the somewhat slim cast and a large number of DLC characters.

In announcing 20 launch DLC fighters, Arc System Works is breaking a new record, and already the reception is largely negative. No other fighting game in history has had so many characters blocked off by a paywall. We know the price point of the game in yen: 5,800 in retail, a little less via download, which is roughly $52 at the current exchange rate. Given that ASW sticks to their expected $7.99 per character (and hopefully, they “generously” offer the same price for each three-character pack), buying all the DLC should cost you $64. The “All-in-one” pack could be cheaper, however, and we don’t know how much the Limited Box will cost yet. This suggests the DLC could cost more than the base game itself.

Aside the outrageous cost there, what’s even worse is how ASW is deciding who is a “base” character and who is a “premium,” (paid) character. Take the RWBY characters, for instance. Two of the core ladies, Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, are included. Blake however is a separate charge, and there’s a good chance the same will be true of Yang (ASW denoted one character DLC that isn’t a bundle of three). This is such an obviously ruthless business move that it hurts to see it. Personally, I think of DLC characters as extra content, maybe some kind of special character, but separating the four main girls of the show with a paywall is just greedy. I’d like to see older, more powerful people from the show as DLC, like Qrow, Raven, Ozpin, but not the heroines. Imagine if Jin Kisaragi, Noel Vermillion, or Rachel Alucard were not included in the base title.

There’s another thorn in this “core” character DLC kerfuffle. BBTAG is a rehash of sorts of characters we’ve already seen and have played for years. Don’t get me wrong, I love Litchi Faye Ling, I main Amane Nishiki, and enjoy wrecking people with Ken and Koromaru in Persona Arena. But should they show up as paid DLC, having played those characters for years and having had them available as base characters before is aggravating.

But what’s really problematic about this is the initial offering. The starting casts for all the non-BB titles are very skimpy, at just four characters per universe, with RWBY getting only two:

Persona 4 Arena
  • Yu Narukami
  • Yosuke Hanamura
  • Chie Satonaka
  • Yukiko Amagi
Under Night In-Birth
  • Hyde
  • Linne
  • Waldstein
  • Gordeau
RWBY
  • Ruby Rose
  • Weiss Schnee

There’s not much one can say about this: it’s disappointing. While surely there will be devoted fans who will get the product or the Limited Box, having such a large number of tournament-legal characters is a problem for competitive players. Not only will organizers have to worry about providing complete setups, but also, as someone who personally doesn’t buy every possible DLC character, it will be easy to run into issues when playing casual games with friends who use certain paid content. There’s a difference between having single-player additional content and fighting game extras. So many DLC walls put up a hindrance to competition and learning match-ups.

bbxtag_weiss_schnee_announce
Some marketing or executive gurus decided to split team RWBY with a DLC paywall.

DLC in of itself is expected and common practice. It wouldn’t be as problematic if the roster’s balance skewed a bit more to a bigger base, but seeing so many additional, paid characters is outrageous. Had they reserved a couple of special, extra characters as launch DLC — sure, we could stomach that. With such a large cast, it’s a given that ArcSys would reserve some as DLC. However, they definitely crossed the line here.

Hopefully, the company sees the overall disappointment from fans and does something to rectify the situation. As it stands, the future of BBTAG may very well be ruined at the start. In the past, ASW has released “Extend” editions (which is a problem I’ve also written about) that ship with all the DLC characters. I can see many people withholding from buying BBTAG at first, waiting on discounts, thus weakening the initial community for what otherwise could be a very fun game.

And for those saying “Capcom does this all the time, but when ArcSys does it, it’s OK” — nope. This is the time. This is ArcSys getting called out for their DLC practices.

The Wheel of Fate is in their court now.

Sources: Koefficient; Bazz

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Ghost Gaming enters the fighting game arena by signing Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley

Following his departure from his long-standing team Evil Geniuses, Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley has wasted no time in getting picked up by a new organization. The organization in question is Ghost Gaming — a relatively new North American esports team, known for their presence in shooters like CS:GO, Call of Duty, Gears of War and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, as well as Rocket League.

K-Brad will be the first fighting game player on the team, and he’s definitely one of the best people for bringing Ghost Gaming into the world of the FGC. While he missed out on Capcom Cup 2017, K-Brad made waves throughout the year, whether through high placings at events like Northwest Majors, Frosty Faustings IX and East Coast Throwdown, or via his on-going feud with Wolfkrone.

With Dignitas also throwing its hat back into the ring, we could be seeing another surge of esports organizations taking a gamble on the FGC, as a huge raft of games are on the way.

Source: GhostGaming

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Check out new gameplay of Goku Black, Hit, Gotenks, and SSGSS Goku & Vegeta in Dragon Ball FighterZ

Recently, Bandai Namco Entertainment held a stream in Japan for the fast-approaching Dragon Ball FighterZ. Specifically showcasing many of the newer characters who didn’t make the cut for the open beta, as well as the seldom-seen Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan versions of Goku and Vegeta.

These matches feature Gotenks, Goku Black, and Hit facing Captain Ginyu, Yamcha, and SSGSS Goku, as well as the trio of SGSS Vegeta, Tien, and Trunks battling against Gotenks, Hit, and Yamcha. We also get a glimpse of the updated character select screen, revealing the Super Saiyan Blues will be taking their place on opposite ends of the second row of characters, next to Trunks and Android 16, respectively, with the slot underneath Beerus reserved for the recently announced Android 21. The stage select screen is also briefly displayed, revealing 13 historic Dragon Ball battlegrounds to choose from, as well as extra room for perhaps some DLC arenas or hidden surprises?

We’ve also gotten some more information on the upcoming Announcer Voice DLC that was delayed for Ultimate Edition owners, as replays during the open beta have revealed that the World Tournament Announcer, who makes several appearances throughout Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and GT, will be available to provide commentary on matches, bringing his characteristic hype and eccentricities to matches in a similar to Persona 4 Arena‘s various Navigators. He will be made available for download by Sunday, April 15th.

You can see both videos below.

Dragon Ball FighterZ will be released in North America and Europe on Friday, January 26, on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam. A Japanese release will follow on Thursday, February 1st for the same platforms. The open beta will has reopened for a 24-hour extension, ending tomorrow, January 18th, at 9:00 PM PT.

Source: Anime Games Online via Saiyan Island

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Capcom’s Character Popularity Poll lists Sakura as the most popular Street Fighter character

The results are in! For a month in 2017, people weighed in the most popular characters in the Street Fighter universe. Now, with Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition out, Capcom has announced the results — showing the first SFV Season 3 DLC character Sakura as the most popular character in the series.

This list, which features 109 characters, including ones owned by ARIKA from the Street Fighter EX franchise, and even characters from Street Fighter The Movie: The Game, showed every single rank on the list. Rounding out the Top Ten were as follows (including their first appearance in the series):

  1. Sakura (Street Fighter Alpha 2)
  2. Makoto (Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike)
  3. Juri (Super Street Fighter IV)
  4. Q (Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike)
  5. Cody (Final Fight)
  6. Chun-Li (Street Fighter II)
  7. Sagat (Street Fighter)
  8. Akuma (Super Street Fighter II Turbo)
  9. Ryu (Street Fighter)
  10. Blanka (Street Fighter II)

For the rest of the results — which took in over 100,000 votes — please visit their results page on the CFN Portal. Similarly, you also check out the results of our own SFV Season 2 character reader poll.

Source: Capcom