Puzzle Fighter, which echoes its predecessor Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, has been available on mobile devices in some regions for a little while; however, Capcom has announced that the game is now rolling out worldwide.
For those who haven’t heard of this version, Puzzle Fighter is a free mobile game with many characters from Capcom franchises, such as Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li, Dante, Morrigan, and more. The main character goes into a gem-crushing battle with two teammates and figures out a better way to clear colored stones. Unlockables include new characters, costumes, and so on. It’s also worth noting that the game has leaderboards, and a colorblind mode.
Knowing the situation on block versus any character is important, but this is especially true versus one that is constantly looking to sneak in a command grab on you when you least expect it. That is, of course, one of the game plans of Street Fighter V‘s Laura.
So if you’re a Ryu player and you want to avoid becoming Laura’s next grapplin’ bud, pdcsky‘s latest tutorial video is going to be perfect for you. In it they cover not only what you can punish each button with on block, but also the most optimal way for you to counter-hit Laura if she overextends herself on moves that are minus, but safe.
Tech teachers Beefy Smash Doods have put together a thorough examination of newly discovered Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tech for Nintendo’s iconic Donkey Kong, currently dubbed the “Slap Cancel.”
Donkey Kong’s down-special can be canceled instantly without any lag. Originally discovered by Proctavia_SSB, KDK, and DKWill, this cancel has two variations dependent upon the surface/stage combination it’s attempted on. Its 3-frame window for proper input is tight and it’s situational at best, but faking Slap into a stock-stealing grab could be a game-winning trick for you, if you’re willing to learn it!
If you were watching Red Bull Battle Grounds this past weekend, there was one player’s bracket run that set the Internet ablaze. Marcus “The Cool Kid 93” Redmond put in his best performance to date, winning the Last Chance Qualifier using the muscular motor head, Abigail. While he did also use Rashid in bracket, his Abigail stole the show — Nitro Charging through opponents left and right.
While he didn’t win the North American Regional Finals, he put on a hell of a show and proved to the wider community that Abigail can do some work in the right hands. Capcom’s Michael Martin caught up with The Cool Kid 93 for this week’s episode of Wake Up Wednesdays and got his hopes on Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition and his thoughts on the tournament as a whole.
PG|Victor “Punk” Woodley completed his domination of the North American Capcom Pro Tour season by winning the NA Regional Finals at Red Bull Battle Grounds in Boston, and securing the top seed in next month’s Capcom Cup 2017. But before the Alpha was crowned champion, more than 270 competitors battled it out in the last chance qualifier for the final spot in the Regional Finals. Full results for the weekend’s tournaments are available here.
In a tournament filled with sponsored talent and East Coast underdogs, BxA|Marcus “CoolKid93” Redmond put together a monstrous losers bracket run with Abigail, defeating 10 straight opponents to earn his spot in the main event. After losing to Dexter “Tampa Bison” James in the first round of top 64, Redmond lost just two games total for the rest of the qualifier. Following a decisive 6-0 victory over Circa|Joshua “Wolfkrone” Philpot, CoolKid93 hoisted the Battle Grounds trophy and thanked his wife and his training partners through tears.
“I want to thank my wife, most importantly because without her pushing me and never giving up on me, or telling me not to do this; she just stuck by my side,” Redmond said on stage. “Of course she got mad at tournaments I did lose, we had a long talk when we got home, but I know she’s crying right now herself seeing this. And I’d like to thank my BxA|Squall, everybody that I play online, all of ya’ll helped me to get better. And my family too, for sticking with me too and not steering me the wrong way, and believing in what I want to do.”
Marcus “CoolKid” Redmond fights to maintain composure after winning the last chance qualifier. [Photo c/o Drew Gurian & Red Bull]
Though he had demonstrated a high level of play during ESL exhibitions and Red Bull Proving Grounds events earlier this year, Redmond didn’t score any CPT points during the season. But by the time he finished stomping through the qualifier, there was no doubt that he was a contender.
“It feels good, hard work paying off after so many tournaments,” Redmond said after capturing the qualifier. “[I’m] always one of the players that always puts on a good show or a good match but you don’t ever win.”
Redmond’s wife Joy flew in overnight to offer him her full support (along with her powerful voice) during Sunday’s finals. It looked like the rampage from the qualifier might continue, as Redmond rushed out to a 2-1 lead against the top ranked player in the world, but Punk made the necessary adjustments to shutdown CoolKid93’s reset heavy offense and move on. After disposing of Brian “Brian_F” Foster’s Balrog 3-0, Woodley found himself in the Winners Finals against Derek “iDom” Ruffin’s Laura.
For iDom, winning the Regional Finals meant a guaranteed trip to Capcom Cup; the New York City native entered just five CPT events this year, and finished fourth or higher in all of them except for Evo. Regarded by many as the world’s best Laura, iDom made quick work of Echo Fox|Justin Wong in the first round, and beat his frequent Next Level Battle Circuit nemesis Rise|Smug twice in the finals. This left Punk as the only obstacle in the way of a Capcom Cup appearance.
In Winners Finals, iDom captured the momentum on a suicide overhead in game one and pushed Punk against the ropes early. However after failing to capitalize during a scramble in the third game, iDom saw a 2-0 lead start to evaporate. After that, Punk didn’t drop a single game, putting on a masterful display with Karin and beating iDom six straight times between Winners and Grand Finals.
Rise|Bryant “Smug” Huggins took home third with Balrog after beating defending Capcom Cup champion Liquid|Du “NuckleDu” Dang in two sets, eliminating 801 Strider along the way. Huggins and Dang have crossed paths several times over the course of the season, trading results back and forth. On Sunday, NuckleDu lost with both Guile and R. Mika in separate sets by scores of 3-1 and 3-2, respectively. While Balrog is regarded as a difficult match-up for Guile, Du’s R. Mika was more successful in applying pressure, managing to beat Brian_F 3-0 and push Smug to the last game.
Du “NuckleDu” Dang fell to Bryant “Smug” Huggins in two sets during the finals. [Photo c/o Drew Gurian & Red Bull]
Despite going 0-2 in the finals, Justin Wong came just one round short of an impressive comeback against Liquid| NuckleDu in losers. Wong chose Ed to start the set and despite catching NuckleDu a series of crush counters early, he struggled to find footing against Guile’s wall of defense. After an execution error gave Du an opening to win game two, Wong moved to his signature Karin. Though he often found himself playing from behind, Wong’s veteran patience helped him find the openings he needed to make comeback after comeback and force a final game. Even though the “Wong Factor” was shutdown in the end, Wong has shown that he is more than ready to compete at the highest level of Street Fighter V.
Red Bull Battle Grounds marked the culmination of a year’s worth of competition for many of the region’s best players. For some it was their last chance of the year to test their game against the very best, and they did not disappoint. Even players who had cracked the finals of Global Premier events earlier this year failed to make the top 8 of the last chance qualifier. The often underrepresented Midwest region saw three strong players (BxA|CoolKid93, Circa|WolfKrone, and Eric Contreras) reach top 8 of the qualifier, while New York City’s GeneralKills and SonicBoxx|JB represented New York.
Frequent CPT competitors like Samurai, EG|KBrad, Tempo|Alex Myers and Circa|LPN can still fight for the final last chance qualifier spot during the weekend of Capcom Cup; but the competition will likely be even more fierce, with more international players likely to attend.
Entering this weekend, iDom and Brian_F were the only North American finalists not qualified for Capcom Cup on points, but with Punk winning the region’s auto-qualifier spot and taking the weekend’s only available ranking points, North America’s second and fifth highest ranked players are left on the outside looking in.
Your North American Capcom Pro Tour finalists. [Photo c/o Drew Gurian & Red Bull]
Following PG|Punk’s victory, three of the four regional finals winners are players who had qualified for Capcom Cup based on points. Punk and Mousesports|Problem X were both ranked first in their regions, while Echo Fox|Tokido won Asia’s last chance qualifier, and then the regional finals. In the fourth case, the two top ranked players in the Latin American region chose not to compete; the Latin American Regional Finals was also the only one of the four events not to feature a cash prize.
Capcom Cup is scheduled for Dec. 9 and 10 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, taking place alongside Playstation Experience, a multi-day gaming conference. Online registration for the Capcom Cup Last Chance Qualifier ends Nov. 29 and is capped at 256 entrants. You can find more details on the tournament’s smash.gg page.
Once you are low on health in Tekken 7, you are given a choice: Rage Drive or Rage Art? For some characters one option is drastically superior to the other. For King players, though, both have potentially practical applications. You need to be aware of your current health — and your opponent’s tendencies — in order to make the “right” choice.
BoxeR-King, one of the leads in pushing the King meta, shared his quick breakdown on the pros and cons of each option. Check out his latest video for his reasoning on why you may opt for one option over another, in both combos and neutral.
Some thoughts on the meaning of the term “option select.”
Heavy-hitting Street Fighter V Balrog main Brian_F wants to make sure we’re all on the same page here. When you say “option select,” do you mean what he means?
He discusses how by the most literal definition, buffering special moves into normal moves in neutral (resulting in a whiffed normal while out of range, but an automatic normal-to-special combo if the opponent happens to extend a hurtbox into the normal move) is technically an option select, because it provides two different outcomes from the same input, depending on the opponent’s actions. How about mashing out an invincible reversal while in blockstun, in case the blockstring is dropped? Brian_F goes on to discuss the general community’s attitude toward option selects in fighting games, and how option select mechanics are unavoidable in our games’ designs.
A look back at the fierce fights in Las Vegas in July, 2017!
If you’ve wanted to see footage of the fights from Evo 2017, some new uploads to the Evo YouTube channel will scratch that itch. Check out this playlist, which includes footage of pools for Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and semi-finals for Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, as well. Or have a look at the specific “part 1” videos for each title below:
That’s not all: there’s also new uploads of the top 8 for Evo 2017’s The King of Fighters XIV event; be sure to have a look at the KOFXIV playlist, too!
It’s not often that a combo video can act as the de facto music video for a song. That’s the hook for YouTuber Coliflowerz‘s latest The King of Fighters combo video collaboration: “Raging Storm.”
With well-edited combo footage from The King of Fighters XIV, XIII, 98UM and 2002UM, this collaboration with musician Casual Toast is a vehicle for his cover of the Rock Howard’s KOFXIV theme song “Emergence,” taking it from fighting game BGM to what rightfully should be a King of Fighters anime opening.
Cross-ups are not the most common thing you see in Tekken 7. They often require fairly elaborate and specific setups, and outside of the wall there’s just too many get-up possibilities for it to be considered a likelihood that you’d even land the cross-up. Not without player-specific insight, anyways.
Now take most of what I just said and throw it out the window. America’s King, Lil_Majin, is here with a great arsenal of tricky cross-up body splashes and dropkicks. These setups come from a wide variety of throws and juggle-enders, both mid field and at the wall. You’ll want to think twice about quick standing versus a King that knows these — but considering King’s arsenal of ground-hitting moves and ground throws, that might be just want he wants, too.
