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“Super Street Fighter Carnival 2017” is back after a brief foray into the world of Flying Discs. SSFC2017 is the currently-ongoing Japanese tournament series at Mikado Arcade for a wide variety of classic (and sometimes, obscure) arcade titles. If you missed the first few tournaments from SSFC2017, there’s a lot to catch up on!

Today, Mikado takes us to the second game in Capcom’s classic horror fighter series, Vampire Hunter -Darkstalkers’ Revenge- (known by the title Night Warriors: Dark Stalkers’ Revenge in the US).

This post may seem somewhat familiar to you: Mikado Arcade just recently ran its “Vampire Hunter Championship 2017” event concurrently alongside SSFC2017. If the three hours of footage from the Championship tournament isn’t enough for you, then the focused footsies of today’s event should help out!

Enjoying SSFC2017? You can follow the action by subscribing to Mikado’s official YouTube channel, or you can even try to catch Mikado Arcade when they livestream!

Source: Mikado

Echo Fox’s Yusuke Momochi hardly needs an introduction. The Japanese legend has stood on top of both Evo and Capcom Cup as champion. While that was in Street Fighter IV, he is still a force to be reckoned with in Street Fighter V. His Ken has been the standard-bearer for Ken play since the inception of the game.

With his next attempt at climbing to the top of the Capcom Cup bracket, will he reclaim his former glory?

Inner Fire

One of the landmarks of Momochi’s play has been his ultra-aggressive style. Even in retreat, he is aggressive, often using shimmies to bait out every desperate attack or throw tech his opponents will make.

He knows full well that the deficiencies in Ken lie in his neutral game, and he maintains pressure to make up for that. For a lot of players, his mix-up game between throw loops, shimmies, and well-timed meaties tend to be too much to take. This is what gives Momochi the advantage, despite the inherent weakness in his character.

Battle-tested

While his results on the CPT haven’t been his usual excellence, he has still had a strong year. While he was able to win an online event in Asia as well as a ranking event in Korea, he was also able to cash in on a solid payday at Northern Arena Knockout, facing top competition from Smug, Phenom, Imstilldadaddy, and Yukadon on the way to the title. He hardly looked phased, with three players in the hunt for Capcom Cup falling at his feet.

He also looked strong at Brooklyn Beatdown, taking out the #1-seeded Punk in what looked like relatively straightforward fashion. But even on the CPT, he hasn’t slouched much, making two additional top 8s over the year.

Volume

But the problem is that while he made four top 8s, his average of doing so is much lower than his peers: it took him fifteen events. He was also only able to do so at Ranking events; his results in Premiers were lackluster. Even if we were to grade on a curve and count his top 16 results, he was only able to make three in nine attempts at Premier events.

While his tournament wins came at the hands of strong players — and even some of his big match wins were against high-profile players — Momochi in the larger, more bloodthirsty events has faltered. This is likely Momochi’s own notoriety coming back to bite him. Players are more accustomed to exploiting Ken’s weaknesses now than ever before. Even Punk has went on record to state that he believed that if Momochi used any other character, that he’d be winning events consistently. He has shown no signs of switching, which leaves him at the whims to such weaknesses.

Final Thoughts

No one can discredit Momochi as a player, but even if we talk in the realm of best Ken players, Big Bird has him beat. He is a much more complete package, mitigating weaknesses by using a far less linear approach to every match.

At this rate, Momochi could come through with a big win, given that he knows the road and who to research. But it’s really hard to say he’s a lock for the top, given his Premier success this year.

Check out our prior articles in the Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis series!

NASR|Adel “Big Bird” Anouche has, since Street Fighter V dropped, established himself as the strongest player in the Middle East. Hailing from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, he made a name for himself off the strength of his Guy play in Street Fighter IV. In Street Fighter V, he became a wrecking ball with Ken, and has since become a fixture on the international circuit.

With his — and any other Middle Eastern player, for that matter — first foray into Capcom Cup, will he be able to capitalize and take it all?

Patience of Job

Much to Big Bird’s ire on Twitter, Capcom labeled his play style as “risk-taking” in their preview of the players. While it may irk him to see that written about himself, any player that latches on to that characterization without doing their research will be in for a rude awakening: his Ken is anything but.

Big Bird is the most patient Ken on the planet. We’ve typically seen Kens try to maintain aggression at all points of the match, as Ken has a relatively weak neutral and turtle game. However, Big Bird optimizes his spacings to allow himself a chance to play footsies, and does so well. He loves to bait people into doing high-risk things.

That’s not to say that Anouche is a player averse to risk-taking, but when you see him taking those risks, he’ll often do so at calculated times. Even in this video against Infiltration, in the final round he baits Infiltration after activating V-Trigger into thinking that he’d continue block pressure, forcing Infiltration to use a V-Reversal that gets destroyed by Ken’s neutral jump. This is shows the flex and creativity in Big Bird’s play that cannot be overstated.

Success Rate

One simply cannot ignore Anouche’s seven top 8s, in nine total events that he traveled to this year. On top of that, he was able to win Geek Weekend in Dubai, taking it over fellow Capcom Cup representative Phenom. This includes three top 8 finishes at Premier events out of the four that he attended. It’s hard to argue with that success rate.

The fact that he was able to parlay such a short schedule into a Capcom Cup berth is quite a feat, as most of his surrounding competition played a more packed schedule. This kind of poise is that of a champion.

Temptation

One thing that scares me is what character Big Bird will be bringing to Capcom Cup. While he’s spent two seasons working with Ken, most people will argue that it’s hard to contend for the big time with the character. On top of that, he has found temptation in the pseudo-return of his Street Fighter IV main, in Zeku.

You can be sure he’s been tempted with the character, and has been playing him. But it’s hard to say whether he will try to bring him out on the biggest stage so soon into his experimentation with the master ninja. While Young Zeku will feel familiar to him, does he really want to bring him out while still trying to fine-tune him? My gut says that due to his risk-aversive play that he will opt not to. You couldn’t fault him either way; he either sticks with the character he’s comfortable with right now but has glaring flaws, or he goes with the character he wants to play that could do damage to unsuspecting opponents, but risk match-up unfamiliarity himself.

Final Thoughts

The more Big Bird gets out and plays top players, the better he becomes. He has shown this in spades this season, and he’s only going to get better in Season 3 with Zeku if he decides to go that route. Even if he abandons Zeku, he has a solid Ken that will absolutely do damage.

With these two characters right now, it’s hard to say that he’ll win it all. But he is certainly a threat to make top 16 or higher. If we go by the numbers alone? He’s a lock for top 8.

Check out our prior articles in the Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis series!

Additional source: Shoryureppa

Rounding out his coverage of the trio of latest character reveals for Dragon Ball FighterZ, IKevinX now provides us with a look at the anime and manga references that can be found in the trailer of the recently-revealed Adult Gohan.

As the half-Saiyan warrior’s adult form seen throughout the Majin Buu Saga — specifically after the Old Kai fully awakened his hidden potential, so that he could aid in the fight against Buu — this version is also much more level-headed and mature than his younger counterpart. For his moveset, Arc System Works seems to have primarily drawn on his battles with Demon King Dabura, Majin Buu, and Super Buu, as he’s got his trademark Masenko (which he’s only recently started using as an adult in Dragon Ball Super), and a flurry of punches he used against Dabura — and we can also see that his Potential Unleashed super will knock his opponents back before enveloping him in a white aura to signify that the buff is active. Finally, we see his Meteor Attack, the Ultimate Kamehameha (the power and size of which will likely increase depending on how much meter he’s spent to access his Mystic form). As usual, you can see the full video — set to his Final Bout theme — as well as IKevinX’s previous roster coverage, below.

• Goku & Frieza
• Teen Gohan & Vegeta
• Perfect Cell & Majin Buu
• Future Trunks
• Piccolo & Krillin
• SSGSS Goku & Vegeta
• Androids 17 & 18
• Android 16
• Yamcha
• Character Concepts for Hit, Beerus, Goku Black & Zamasu
• Nappa
• Missed References Part 1
• Captain Ginyu
• Tien
• Gotenks
• Kid Buu

Dragon Ball FighterZ will be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC in North America and Europe on January 26th, 2018. A Japanese release will follow on the same platforms February 1st. An open beta test will also be held in January before the game’s full release.

Source: IKevinX

The V-Reversals in Street Fighter V were basically designed to score breathing room when your opponent’s pressure proved too much for your defense. This universal panic option has a notable flaw, however: a screen-freezing, input-eating cinematic flash.

Whether intentional design or not, this brief pause allows characters like (the much-maligned) Ryu to easily bait out panic V-Reversals. Ryu’s V-Skill — the “Mind’s Eye” parry — can be buffered into his block-strings to ensure that it’ll only come out in response to a V-Reversal. Check out World Warrior FGC‘s latest video above to see plenty of examples of this powerful and safe option select!

Source: World Warrior FGC

Kenryo “Mago” Hayashi has long been the highest-rated player without a sponsor on the Capcom Pro Tour. Last year saw him squeeze his Karin into the Capcom Cup bracket by a hair, winning the Asia Regional Finals to qualify. He later finished just outside of top 16 in the finals.

This year saw him took advantage of the points system, allowing him to qualify a lot sooner than November. Will the 2D God still be worshiped after the tournament?

No Laughing Matter

Mago has made serious strides in improving his game over the last year. He has become one of the most aggressive Karins on the planet. You’ll often see him using his footsies game to set up a full out onslaught during a match. His pressure is enough to make a lot of players crack, including some who usually would not usually be so inclined.

While Karin is one of the best characters in the cast — and has been for the entirety of the game’s lifespan — she still suffers some downsides in certain match-ups. Mago has opted to use that as incentive to train up a secondary in Rashid, and has brought him out throughout the year — including at OzHadou Nationals, where he used it to prevent ROF’s Birdie from making it to top 8. These are two solid characters that, despite having different toolsets, have one goal in mind: oppression.

Results-oriented

This oppression has given Mago a large swath of success this season. In fifteen events on the circuit, he has managed to top 8 eight times. He also focused the entirety of this season on the CPT, not allowing himself to be distracted by invitational events in China, France, the United States, or Canada. He also opted not to attend Brooklyn Beatdown. The goal for him was clear: to get noticed by his play on the CPT, and to parlay that play into a chance at winning Capcom Cup. His focus more than rewarded him with that opportunity.

Defense

If there’s one thing that Mago struggles with, it’s his own defensive play. While we’d expect Mago to have a complete repertoire of tools, he has mainly relied on his offensive options to score his wins. In an offensive game such as Street Fighter V, it’s an understandable tactic. But the problem is that people forget that because this is an offensive game, having strong defense is almost paramount to winning. Once you get opened up by an opponent’s offense, it’s hard to stop the onslaught.

Mago thrives when he is applying the pressure, but cracks when the pressure is applied to him. This makes characters like Rashid and Ibuki difficult for him to deal with. It’s why, in the above video, we saw it go down to the wire against Tachikawa, and why he later folded to Moke’s Rashid at the same event.

Results Lacking

And that brings me to the next point. Upon losing to Moke at OHN, that became his highest-placing finish on the CPT this year. While OHN had a solid lineup of players, having your sole second place finish be at a ranking event, and not being able to replicate that anywhere else, doesn’t exude confidence in your play. When you also factor in last year’s performance, which included two wins, a Ranking and Premier event, it makes you wonder if Hayashi has really done enough to put himself in position to win the big one.

Final Thoughts

Don’t start praying to Mago just yet. Let’s not forget that Tokido’s appointed “Last Boss” at Evo 2017 lost in pools to a Connecticut-based Necalli player, and never even made it out. Let’s also not forget that Mago is about to go up against players that are all too familiar with his style of play, and will know how to exploit his weaknesses.

Mago could crack top 16, but it’s hard to put him any higher than that, given what we’ve seen this year.

Check out our prior articles in the Capcom Cup 2017 Player Analysis series!