Problem X has been on fire this season, with four Capcom Pro Tour wins this year and a number 6 seed in the upcoming Capcom Cup. He also finished off his CPT regular season with a respectable fifth place finish at Canada Cup 2017.
At the aforementioned event, BornFree sat down with Mouseports|Problem X to talk about his preparations for Capcom Cup. He also discusses his past in first-person shooters before changing gears with Street Fighter IV, and his concern about how the new V-Triggers in Street Fighter V will be implemented. He also states that despite the UK’s success on the Capcom Pro Tour in Street Fighter V, he felt like the scene in general was stronger in Street Fighter IV.
The big event just over a month away, so Capcom is gearing up for Capcom Cup 2017. Spilling the beans about the format for this year’s event, as well as explaining how people can register for the Last Chance Qualifier, Capcom’s Michael Martin has released a special Capcom Cup-themed episode of Wake Up Wednesdays.
First off, the first two days of Capcom Cup 2017 will be held at the Anaheim Hilton, right next to the Anaheim Convention Center where PlayStation Experience is taking place. Both Capcom Cup 2017 and Battle for the Stones will be running at the same time in the Anaheim Hilton, so there is plenty for you to watch if you’re attending as a spectator.
If you are coming for the Capcom Cup Last Chance Qualifier, you must register via smash.gg as quickly as possible! Registration costs $20 and is capped at 256 players — so register now to avoid disappointment. Online registration ends on November 29th but there is still hope if you miss the deadline. There will be on-site registration for the LCQ on December 7th, but it costs $40. Also note that all on-site entrants will be placed in a single “pool of death”, so beware of shark-infested waters should you register late.
Top 32 for Capcom Cup will take place on December 9th and then Top 8 will be hosted in the Anaheim Convention Center on December 10th, closing out PlayStation Experience with a bang. As for format, Capcom Cup 2017 will use the traditional bracket format, with players being seeded based on Capcom Pro Tour points. There had been some discussion both early in the Pro Tour and online about a group format but no, this year’s event will stick to the usual straight double-elimination bracket.
You can register for the Last Chance Qualifier over on smash.gg right now, so don’t delay! See you all at Capcom Cup 2017!
If historical figures from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms era reimagined as girls is your thing, you probably already own Koihime Enbu. If fighting games are your thing… you might find something unique in this game, which has an anime aesthetic but plays very differently from similarly-looking titles. This new, official Koihime Enbu tutorial nails the essence of the game to give you an immediate upper hand, along with a great grasp on the game’s philosophy.
Far from an archetypical air-dasher, Koihime is much more grounded; jumping is pretty bad and easily countered. Rather, the focus is on ground footsies and understanding that most attacks, when blocked, are disadvantageous, and successfully hitting the opponent keeps them on defense. Combos don’t really knock down, and you don’t really have to study much to compete — the bread and butter of most characters is one button with a special move.
Throws are a good way to mix-up the opponent and create a knockdown situation. EX Moves, which cost 25 percent meter, are actually very good as defensive options. The video covers the basics, the neutral game, and using resources.
And if you’re on the fence about buying the game, know that it just went on sale on Steam. The Koihime Enbu Steam sale lasts until November 11th and marks the game down by 20 percent, giving it a $15.99 price tag.
Created by US-Based Sector-K Games, Punch Planet is a competitive Sci-Fi 2D fighter with a rich and immersive universe, spanning exotic planets, advanced cities, and alien races. Punch Planet‘s early access will be launching with its 4 characters, Training Mode, and Versus Modes (both local and online).
Developer Sector-K Games is comprised of 3 longtime competitors in the fighting game community, and they’ve designed Punch Planet with a solid foundation of competitive mechanics while also introducing a new depth of story, humor, and design.
Punch Planet‘s final release will feature:
8 Playable Characters & Unique Stages
Classic Versus
Online Multiplayer
Competitive Play
Arcade and Training Modes
Punch Planet is currently in the Alpha stages, and its final release date is TBD. You can check out the Steam Store page here.
We’re back to a more regular schedule with Tension Pulse, an online exhibition series highlighting quality Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 gameplay. This time, we have a little bit of a West Coast vibe. Most of the fighters in the group are on the West Coast, so we’re going to see some NorCal and SoCal pride.
On deck, we have some returning warriors along new blood. We’re going to witness CATPION|daymendou show off his infamous Slayer against an equally well-known Kum from Foo. It’s going to be a great match! Before them, we’ll see a very interesting match-up: Venom vs. Faust. Hursh will face off against FFN|Kyoku in an FT7.
CATPION|daymendou
Do you think regional pride is important? “I don’t have much experience with regional pride, but I think it can be motivating as a player. At Anime Ascension, it was definitely a huge boost to have much of Norcal there in the audience. For the most part, though, I feel most motivated by trying to beat specific players rather than trying to beat a region. Of course, Japan is a major exception, and I see it as a matter of national pride to beat Japanese players in American tournaments.”
On his opponent: “Foo is a strong player and Haehyun suits his playstyle very well. We’ve played each quite a bit, usually when he and Julian (ITS|BeautifulDude) come up to our Norcal local or the few times I’ve gone to SoCal. In tournament, I’ve beaten him every time up until Anime Ascension this year, but he beat me in the Combo Breaker team exhibition and he won our local over Xcel|Bears and me last time he visited. There are two things I find interesting about this match. First, I went to Super TSB in March and got 2nd; Foo will be going to TSB Yabai this weekend, and I think he can definitely win the whole thing. Second, I’ll avenge NorCal by beating Foo. This set will be my blessing for Foo to win TSB and I’ll give him an L to pass on to them.
On changes he would like to see in the game: “I think a lot of people expected REV 2 to change more characters’ combos and add interesting moves, so I hope we’ll see that in the next Xrd. I would like to see air tech height and Blitz adjusted, but it also feels like characters are balanced around these mechanics being strong, so it wouldn’t be an easy change to add.”
Foo
On the match: “I’m excited to be on it, and it’s nice that I’m matched up with somebody closer in location over netplay. I think it’s going to be a good match and a fun one to watch in particular.”
On his opponent: “daymendou is a cool guy whom I saw grow into a powerful opponent from his earlier beginnings. I remember being surprised when he told me Xrd was his first fighting game! His Slayer is explosive, and he is a very knowledgeable player with great awareness and tech.”
On his style: “I have a pretty dynamic style, and I’m familiar with the whole cast minus a few, so I’m able to recognize situations my opponents will want to be in or particular patterns in their offense. I like playing characters that are exciting to look at and give me a lot of options or flexibility while being able to land a big hit or a high reward of a correct read. Defense and having good reads are some of my strong points.”
Hursh
On the match: “I’m a bit nervous, as I haven’t done anything like this before, but I’m looking forward to it and hope to represent the SoCal GG scene well. Outside of our top players like Kizzie Kay, Foo, Toki, and Beautifuldude, SoCal has been seen as kind of weak in general for GG, so one of my motivations for wanting to do well in the exhibition is to show that we have good players in SoCal besides just those guys and that our regular tournament players are capable as well.”
On his opponent: “I don’t know much about him as I’ve only seen him play a few matches at SCR recently and haven’t really been able to find much of him playing. From what I’ve seen he seems like he has solid neutral with Faust. He’s also good at pressing offense once he gets the advantage, so those are some things I’ve taken note of.”
On his own playstyle: “I would definitely say I’m a more aggressive Venom player than others. I try to focus on keeping up the pressure as long as I can to open people up. I also like to focus on chip damage and make my opponents decide whether they want to spend their meter to Faultless Defense or take the large amount of chip damage. I’m also very confident in my confirms and ability to convert most hits into full combos.”
FFN|Kyoku
On the match: “I’m excited for the exhibition! I think the Venom vs. Faust match is interesting.”
On his opponent: “Hursh is a strong player, but I honestly wasn’t very familiar with him until this most recent SCR where he did really well. I haven’t kept up that well with the scene all that well, to be honest.”
On his own playstyle: “I think my playstyle is interesting, haha. I try to play a very neutral/reactionary game but at the same time, I tend play so heavily by feel that I may take some big risks and tend to get told, “Why would you do that there?” I try to be unpredictable with my options in reoccurring situations, so I think it’ll be interesting to see how that unfolds in a long set.”
Catch this upcoming episode of Tension Pulse live on Silva_hime’s Twitch channel. The first FT7 takes place between Hursh and FFN|Kyoku. That starts at 9:30 PM ET/8:30 PM CT/6:30 PM PT tonight (November 8th). Foo and daymendou are on after that. OkaySway and PepperySplash will grace the mic stations to discuss the action.
Looking to catch up on the last episode of Tension Pulse? Catch up below:
Are you a fan of games like Psychic Force 2012 or Acceleration of Suguri X? If you are (or if you’ve even heard of them), then you have a picture of what in-development indie fighter (and tentatively-titled) Gravity Breakers is trying to bring to our genre.
“Gravity Breakers” is a shmup/fighting game hybrid filled with Superheroes, Robots, and Aliens in bright, neon-colored arenas. If you like zoning and free-roaming, then you’ll want to tune in to Wednesday Night Fights tonight when “Gravity Breakers” will get a chance to shine in the California FGC’s hands! This is actually the second time this game has appeared at WNF — as you can see in the clip above, Alex Valle was starting to find his poking game on-the-fly.
The currently planned roster. I’m going to need a hat to complete my Hunter S. Thompson bot.
As it stands right now, this is a five-button game: two normal attacks, special attack, shield (which has a shield meter that depletes as you use it, and recharges when you don’t), and dash. Shield + Light attack Grabs, and Shield + Special preforms a Super. The game is still very early in development and likely to be reshaped as time goes on, so now is a great time to give feedback to the developers. Be sure to tune in to WNF to see the prototype game in action!
Looking to dive into some new subject matter, History Behind The Warrior recently released their first video discussing the SoulCalibur franchise, by looking at series antagonist Nightmare.
Serving as “more of a title that has been passed down from person to person, instead of being one singular being,” Nightmare is the designation given to the weidler of the demonic blade Soul Edge, who will eventually be corrupted and transformed by its power. Originally a normal sword before being bathed in a large amount of blood from countless wars, it became sentient, corrupting its users to commit murder to fuel its power — until it was obtained by the Hero King Algol, who could use the weapon without being corrupted by it. The blade was then lost to time, during which Algol forged SoulCalibur to destroy it, until resurfacing around the 16th Century in the possession of Cervantes. Following his defeat, and the sword’s subsequent discovery by Siegfried, Soul Edge would possesses and transform him into the new Nightmare, beginning a war between them that would last for decades. You can get the whole story in the video below.
History Behind The Warrior also revealed that Pyrrah, who became the host of Soul Edge following Nightmare’s defeat in SoulCalibur V, will also be getting her own video at some point in the future.
“Super Street Fighter Carnival 2017” is the regularly-occurring tournament series of Japan’s famous Mikado Arcade. This series focuses on arcade titles of old, bringing out high-level play for a variety of games. We are halfway through this tournament season, so you can catch up here if you missed any of the action.
Last year’s SSFC2016 closed out with ADK’s World Heroes 2, and we mentioned that WH2 was a slower, more methodical entry in the series compared to its sequel, World Heroes Perfect. Well, now is your chance to compare:
World Heroes Perfect has a much faster pace, largely because of the addition of several new sub-mechanics such as Dashing, Projectile-Destroying normals, Guard-Crushing normals, and more. These new mechanics also inadvertently create some silly looking stuff, such as various dashing infinites.
You can follow the action by subscribing to Mikado’s official YouTube channel. For the night owls in the US, you can even try to catch them when they livestream.
The last from the core set of RWBY‘s leading ladies, Yang, is here with a special crossover combo video. BlazBlue: Central Fiction‘s Bullet has a reference color to the blonde brawler and fits her fairly close thematically as well. Both fighters use special gloves on their hands to ignite melee attacks, and under certain conditions, they power up even more.
Bullet certainly has received some power-ups in version 2.0; her attack strings have many more possible combinations to mix up the opponent. As long as she can get past some zoning and use her power-up mechanic, she can do incredible amounts of damage. That’s conveyed very easily in this hype “I Burn” combo movie below. As seen in the previous RWBY-inspired videos, the footage plays a track from the show and some fight scenes that introduced Yang. The quite spectacular Yang combos are done by Hailey.
All the RWBY combo movies are now complete! Check out Es as Ruby, Izayoi as Weiss, and Taokaka as Blake. Soon enough, those characters will likely be able to pair up in BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle.
Over the course of the last few months, IKevinX has been making videos focusing on the numerous anime and manga references for the entire cast of Dragon Ball FighterZ, as Arc System Works has made a point to stick to the source material as closely as possible when crafting movesets and animations.
In one of his more recent videos, he decided to go back and cover some blatantly missed references for some of the older characters — though he ignored Goku (he’d like to make a full video about him once the game officially releases, and he needs more research time due to Goku having more fights than any other character). He’s also waiting to do a Tien video until he’s fully released in a playable state (perhaps during the upcoming open beta, or if he gets added added to a future convention build).
This video mainly covers things like Frieza’s updated intro animation where he powers up to 50%, as well as some missed attacks — such as being able to spend meter after exiting his Golden form to have Sorbet fire a blast from his ring at the opponent, in a callback to Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F. Androids 16 and 18 have many attacks taken form Banpresto’s Dragon Ball Z Super Battle 2, among other things. IKevinX also believes he’ll need to eventually make a Part 2, due to the massive influx of characters we’ve been getting lately. You can see the full video below, along with links to his coverage of past characters.
Dragon Ball FigherZ will be released on January 26th, 2018 in North America and Europe for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, with a Japanese release following on February 1st for those same platforms.
