Does this video describe an upcoming match layout format to be used for a Street Fighter V arcade mode?
Well-known dataminer X-Kira recently uploaded a “mysterious video” that appears to describe the layout planned for an arcade mode in Street Fighter V. The layout — if true — shows an arrangement that includes the car crush and barrel minigames, and a hidden “true boss” that could be a super-powered version of Necalli, based on what little we see here.
X-Kira currently cites no specific source for the “leaked” video, but has been a reliable source of datamined information on SFV in the past. X-Kira promises further leak documentation “soon” in the video description.
This past Sunday, Body Count Fighting just finished the third entry of their title-defense series, BCF3! BCF3 hosted both exhibition matches and title matches in Street Fighter V, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Tekken 7, and Injustice 2. If you missed any of the action, every match is now available on BCF’s YouTube page!
The exhibition matches were:
Street Fighter V
Low Tier God vs. Nick Tanella
Smug vs. Marn
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
Angelic vs. Joey D
Coach Steve vs. Dual Kevin
Tekken 7
Weapon X vs. Joey Fury
Injustice 2
Krayzie vs. Nubcakes
And the title matches, including brand new titles for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite and Tekken 7:
While China, Taiwan, and Mexico are considered the hotbeds of The King of Fighters action — with the reigning The King of Fighters XIV top 3 from Evo 2017 hailing from each of these nations — it’s worth remembering that Japan still has some solid competitors within the title. Remember the fact that the reigning world champion for the title is Sanwa’s M’, of Japan.
The Japanese KOF community has recently started a league — similar in style to Topanga — for the game, and it features some of Japan’s best players. This playlist contains high-level The King of Fighters XIV from the likes of M’, KojiKOG, and Score, all vying for the top spot.
With the first DLC character of Fighter Pack 2 — Black Manta — releasing earlier this month, PND|Ketchup has put together a “Getting Started” guide to Injustice 2‘s latest villain.
After going over the properties of some of his more notable strings, Ketchup moves on to Manta’s specials. His Manta Ray becomes a safe full-screen beam when meter-burned, that also provides Manta with massive chip damage opportunities. The regular version is also +2 on hit, making it a fine mid-range poking tool. Shark Attack is a lunging charge attack — similar to Sektor’s Cyber Charge in Mortal Kombat XL — though it can also be done on the ground, and serves as Manta’s wake-up attack. Torpedo Cannon serves as both a combo extension and short-range zoning tool, with limited tracking capabilities. Rising Tide is a teleport punch, also similar to Sektor’s, allowing him another way to extend juggles along with having a way around those pesky zoners. Lastly, his Harpoon allows Manta to reposition his prey, since it can be used on both the ground and in the air, allowing him to reel in enemies that prefer to fight at long-range, and can also be meter-burned for additional damage.
Manta’s Trait is the ability to float with his suit’s jetpack, giving him aerial pressure comparable to Zatanna in Injustice: Gods Among Us or Imposter Shinnok in MKXL. Manta can also utilize float cancel pressure with the stance change button. However, these techniques require a good amount of execution, something generally downplayed in NetherRealm Studios titles, so spend some time in the lab tuning up your suit. You can catch the full video, with even more tips from Ketchup, below.
Think you and your friends can compete with the best Street Fighter players in the world? If so (and if your group can also get to/is already in Europe), energy drink manufacturer and esports sponsor Red Bull has announced a new 3v3 tournament called “The Pit.”
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Street Fighter series, this 32-team open registration tournament will run October 21st and 22nd at Bootshaus in Cologne, Germany. Team synergy will be particularly important at this event, as each player will be character-locked throughout the tournament, and each team member must have a different character from the rest of their team.
If you’re wondering how this tournament is being spread across two days, here’s Red Bull’s format:
Day One: The 32 teams will be divided into 8 round-robin groups. The top 2 teams from each group will advance to Day Two.
Day Two: 16-team single elimination tournament.
The 3v3 event is a bit of a change of pace for Red Bull. The Pit will now give everyone the opportunity to compete with the stars of the scene!
En Masse Entertainment has released a brand new trailer from its upcoming action game called Closers. “Sylvi” has “mental skills that surpass other members of the Black Lambs” and propelled her to leadership. In the video, Sylvi dashes about dealing damage with telekinesis and throwing daggers. Dropping a bus on foes is a nice touch too.
We’re back with another tech roundup of Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite. While this one focuses on a few characters specifically, there is plenty of tech for everyone to devour. Perhaps you’ll have to face some of this in a tournament, and have to know exactly what your options are against it. Let’s begin.
First, we start with this amazing primer on Jedah, starting with bread and butter combos, including some that combine his synergy with Haggar and Nemesis:
With these combos, you’ll find that his Scythe Ball is his best combo ender. The reason why: it opens up mix-up potential. While this video primarily shows what he can do with Nemesis, Ultron, and Thanos, there’s sure to be more nasty setups with various members of the cast.
We also see some of what he can do with his various movement options, including his fly, as well as his specials and supers. Do note that his backdash is not an 8-way dash, so this does limit his movement options as opposed to some of the other cast.
Next, we see an odd couple in Arthur and Haggar. These two have some nasty mix-ups, as the next two videos show. Arthur allows Haggar to set up some very ambiguous mix-ups, including one where the same move will either catch someone in an air grab, cross up, fake cross-up, or stay in front.
He also has some mixups with his fire bottle, which causes a force block or a hit depending on what the opponent does, leading to some nasty setups with Haggar and various other cast members:
Here’s a nifty 6.1K solo combo from Haggar, which only expends one bar of meter.
While we’re on the subject of Haggar, he has a nasty light SPD. His range looks dangerously similar to Zangief’s post-Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition. What’s worse is that he can kara cancel into it, further extending its potential range.
Next up is Morrigan, who has some solid solo-combos, including this one with 6.6K damage off of one bar of meter.
The next one deals similar damage, and guarantees a corner carry. Throw in an active switch, and you have instant pressure on your opponent.
The above combos with Morrigan require you to staircase your combos. This tech may be daunting to newcomers, but this tutorial video from rooflemonger certainly helps break down the simplicity of staircasing for everyone. Do note that characters have to have both flight and an 8-way dash — or in Morrigan’s case, an air dash that moves her upward. Thor, however, cannot take advantage of this due to his slow dash and normals.
Six regions can now play the new version of Puzzle Fighter on their mobile devices.
The follow-up to Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo is making its official debut on mobile devices — depending where you are. Puzzle Fighter has “soft-launched” into six test areas, meaning you can now download the free-to-play game if you are located in one of the following regions:
Canada
Mexico
Australia
Hong Kong
Malaysia
Singapore
This leaves some major markets — like the USA and Japan! — still waiting while Capcom Vancouver works on a wider rollout. If you want to be notified when it becomes available in your area, you can sign up on the official website.
For player in the soft-launch areas, the game can be downloaded for both iOS and Android devices. Everyone else will need to remain satisfied with the latest promo trailer:
With Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite being released on PC via Steam from day one, we’ve already seen hackers getting to work in terms of modifying the game. Maximilian recently ran into a player using a team of two Dantes (who possessed tag audio for calling in himself), and now it appears that the fused mechanical warrior Ultron Sigma has been made playable.
Though Ultron is a member of the game’s base roster and Sigma will be joining the cast as part of the 2017 Character Pass, their combined form Ultron Sigma serves as the game’s sub-boss in both the Arcade and Story modes, while their grotesque final form Ultron Omega serves as the final battle for our heroes and villains.
Ultron Sigma resembles any of the other playable cast members, combining elements of base Ultron’s movest, such as his Death Ray, Melt Blast, Protonium Emitter, flight capabilities, as well as his Destruction Wave and Sentry Legion Hyper combos. They’re also equipped with a teleport and lightsaber attacks that will no doubt belong to Sigma upon his arrival, as well as what appears to be an exclusive Level 3 Hyper.
Ultron Omega, on the other hand, serves as an homage to both the Sigma Boss Battle of Mega Man X 5, but also to the over-the-top, screen-filling boss battles the Vs. Series has become infamously known for over the years. They possesses massive fist attacks, similar to Sentinel’s Rocket Punches or Galactus’s Finger Flick from previous games, a full-screen beam Hyper combo from Sigma’s mouth, claw swipes from his Ultron upper-half, as well as the ability to guard themselves by holding up their hands, though the CPU can guard break them. Though he generally fights alone, Ultron Omega can also use the Soul Stone’s Infinity Storm to summon another character to the field for the standard handicap advantage afforded to normal characters. The two lack the usual Vs. Screen artwork and renders for the victory screen, and Ultron Sigma lacks his character portrait on the HUD that can be seen in Arcade and Story Mode — though this could be due to the current version of the mod working by replacing character files of existing fighters.
There has also been a mod to make Story NPC and Strider villain Grandmaster Meio playable as well. Meio will attack from the background of any stage and seemingly can’t even be touched by normal cast members, as he was clearly meant to remain a background hazard for Story Mode, similarly to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 veteran M.O.D.O.K. You can see footage of all of them for yourself below!
Would you like to see Ultron Sigma released as a balanced and fully-playable character? What about a bonus mode where you could play as Ultron Omega, similarly to the Galactus Mode in UMvC3? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is currently available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam PC.
BornFree has become well-known for his excellent video interviews of players and personalities throughout the fighting game community. He’s talked to a lot of top players, and often — so it’s safe to say he’s got a pretty good idea of what high-level competitors are happy about — and not happy about — in their games of choice!
With rumors persisting about an upgrade to Street Fighter V on the horizon in the form of “Super Street Fighter V” (or possibly Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition?), BornFree speaks up as to what his own wish list is for SSFV — if it happens. His picks for areas that need improvement include loading times, matchmaking/netcode, in-game player-to-player communication, character balancing, and a number of aspects where the game can spruce up its overall presentation — as well as requesting the return of the King of Muay Thai! Watch the video below for his whole list, and why each is important to the players.
