Much like CapcomFighters has been doing with Street Fighter V clips at their Capcom Pro Tour events, NetherRealm Studios has also begun counting down their top 5 plays of the Injustice 2 Pro Series events, with the latest installment being from Evo 2017.
Narrated by NRS Community Specialist Tyler Lansdown, the spotlighted sequences include Stream.Me’s Perfect Legend utilizing his 12th-level intellect to score a victory over Big Boy’s Black Adam in pools; NASR|Tekken Master making a breathtaking Magic Pixel comeback against PXP|A Foxy Grampa; Noble|Semij shattering the dreams of EchoFox|Sonic Fox in his quest to claim his 4th consecutive Evo championship in an NRS game; Noble|Dragon finishing off HoneyBee to claim his first Evo championship; and finally, HoneyBee utilizing the power of the Speed Force to conquer Echo Fox|Theo to secure that place in the grand finals.
As the Injustice 2 Pro Series continues to roll on, with the game’s first balance patch looming, as well as Sub-Zero and Starfire inevitably entering the ring, it is undeniable that the hype moments will only continue as the game matures. You can relieve all of the action for yourself — or experience these great moments for the very first time — below!
Right before Evo, Sector-K games announced the debut of Tyara for their sci-fi indie fighter, Punch Planet. The new Wonder Woman-inspired grappler hit the floor of Evo 2017’s Indie Showcase, getting her first live test run in the hands of the FGC.
Keeping with the momentum from Evo, Sector-K games has uploaded over and hour and a half of footage from the latest build of the game, featuring all four characters currently revealed.
If you want to know more about this FGC-made Steam-greenlit indie project, you can check out Sector-K’s website for more information on the mechanics and universe of Punch Planet.
With Abigail now out for Street Fighter V, people have begun to explore just what this big bruiser can do. In addition to this, people have also begun to find unique tools that can be used against the character, of course.
One such tactic was recently shared by GODSGARDEN’s Kazunoko, demonstrating a throw loop for Cammy that seemingly only works on Abigail. The throw loop in question seems to work due to a combination of Abigail’s size and Cammy’s walk speed. Done correctly, any attempt to stop pressure by hitting a reversal light attack will result in Abigail getting thrown.
In addition to this, Kazunoko also retweeted a video by Genjimaru showing a unique cross-up that Cammy can perform versus Abigail. While the Delta Red operative can normally only cross-up with a jumping short kick, Abigail’s taller hurtbox means that she can cross him up using a jump in roundhouse kick. This allows Cammy to generate some good offensive pressure against Abigail, especially against players who aren’t expecting the cross-up.
The 2014 Evolution Championship was a significant one for BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma. Before the game fell off the radar a bit, the top 8 for the Arc System Works title was one to remember. Even those who didn’t play the game (nor understand it very well!) witnessed an incredibly tense comeback from Ponos|Garireo (a.k.a. Galileo), whose Litchi tackled the menacing Azrael controlled by Cyclops Osaka|Dogura. Dogura is a fearsome opponent, skilled in multiple games, and now full-time pro-gamer, while most people haven’t even heard of Garireo.
BornFree sat down with Garireo to walk through those moments. They talk extensively about how Garireo felt in those moments, which included losing in winners finals, to then beating Dogura to reset the bracket, and eventually taking the win. They also move to talking about the current version, Central Fiction, and how he feels about the balance of that game. As for his greatest rivals and strongly respected players, Garireo considers Monster, probably the most-skilled Izanami and Nine player, as well as Fenrich, the Jin player who came second in Evolution 2017.
Check out the full interview (with translation) here:
AnimEVO takes the safety limiters off and gives us a great Gundam Versus event!
Many brave pilots offered their lives up in battle at Evo this year, as part of the combined efforts of AnimEVO and Bandai Namco to host the first Gundam Versus event in North America. What started as a side tournament became a full showcase for Bandai Namco’s new Gundam title, putting the game into the eager hands of both new players and seasoned series veterans, a few months ahead of the upcoming Western release in September.
I made a beeline for the Bandai Namco booth to try out Gundam Versus as soon as I could. As a complete newcomer to the series, I was actually surprised to find that the controls aren’t based on a twin-stick configuration like the much-compared Virtual-ON games, but a single arcade stick with four buttons layout. Should have done some research — but I wanted the experience of trying a new franchise totally fresh. My first fumbling attempts to play on the demo stations equipped with Dual Shock 4 pads did little to clarify this confusion, until I got a chance to try on an arcade stick — and then it started to make sense!
While the lever controls your movement (and changes some other input properties, based on direction), you have four command buttons: shoot, melee, boost, and search. Search controls what enemy you’re locked-on to, and adjusts your camera accordingly. Shoot is naturally your long-range attack, melee your close-up attack, usually a beam saber or similar weapon, and boost controls your jump and longer-distance dashing abilities. Combining button presses opens up different and special attacks, such as shoot and melee together for your sub-weapon, or shoot and boost to fire a more powerful ranged attack.
There is a massive assortment of different mobile suits from across the long-running Gundam anime franchise to choose from, and they each have unique properties and attacks. New to Gundam lore, I tried out a few suits I recognized from what series I have seen: I tried Sandrock and the Wing Zero from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, the Freedom from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and the Exia and Dynames from Mobile Suit Gundam 00. I was pleased to find that signature attacks from each were faithfully recreated, and each had a very different feel in combat. I had the most success with Sandrock, due to its rapid-fire shot and some nasty melee attacks — but my inexperienced opponents at the time may also have been part of the reason!
Overall, once you start getting used to the basic controls, the game feels very comfortable to play — boosting around and blasting and slashing is easy to get an a handle on, and just feels fun. The game’s presentation, from menus to the graphics and sounds effects in combat are all quite polished, as I would expect from this project.
There are many factors that contribute to success — knowing what your machine can do, knowing the terrain, and having a plan of attack with your partner are all crucial. As total newcomers, my partner and I (as team “nanimo no bokketsu”) flailed our way to 17th place, falling to the much more experienced “Alfredo Sauce” team — that made it ultimately to fourth overall. But we had a blast trying the game out, and lots of fun despite our losses. You can see the final tournament standings on smash.gg.
I caught up with Brett Young, ongoing AnimEVO tournament organizer, who organized and ran the Gundam Versus side tournament. Here’s what he had to say about the event!
Zavian “mushin_Z” Sildra: Tell us a bit about yourself, and what you do for AnimEVO.
Brett Young: I’m a fighting game player with a long history doing tournament organization and community work for various games in the last decade (Guilty Gear, UNI, Persona, Koihime, etc). I also got into the Gundam VS series around 2010, and have been running the Evo Gundam side tournaments since 2012. For this year’s AnimEVO I was a streamer for Hokuto no Ken and Koihime Enbu, alongside running the Gundam Versus event. Outside of on-site work, most of my AnimEVO responsibilities involve being the main contact point for Japanese players, and communicating with some of the industry reps and sponsors.
mushin_Z: Was there a significant spike in interest in the Gundam Versus event at Evo, once Bandai Namco’s support was announced?
Brett: There was definitely a big spike in interest. I had been working with them on Evo for several months beforehand, so even before the official announcement, I had been hinting that this year’s Evo should not be missed as a Gundam Versus player.
mushin_Z: How did the official support come about?
Brett: I was contacted by Bandai Namco last year right before Evo. They seemed to have noticed our Gundam side-tournaments, and came to check it out at that year’s Evo. I touched base with them several times about Gundam, and I’ve been working closely with them on events leading up to the English release of Gundam Versus.
mushin_Z: Aside from the increased publicity and prizes, what other benefits came from Bandai Namco’s involvement?
Brett: They were able to provide almost everything at the event space, including some custom builds of the game which were able to function offline (the game doesn’t normally have offline LAN support). The builds also came with all the Strikers unlocked, which normally would require tons of hours to unlock manually. The space they provided us was great and definitely a huge step up from what we normally have to work with. Last but not least, we had our own internet line for streaming, which worked amazingly. Normally we have to rely on our own phone tethering or WiFi, so this was a huge relief for stream production.
mushin_Z: That sounds like it was hugely beneficial both for organization, and for the players. What were the spoils for first place?
Brett: Each player on the winning team walked away with a High-Resolution Model Gundam Barbatos, a Qanba Dragon joystick signed by the Gundam Versus producer, an exclusive Gundam Versus shirt, Gundam Versus poster, and Gundam Versus clear file. [The poster and clear file were also handed out as consolation prizes to less-successful competitors, such as my ill-fated team. – Editor]
mushin_Z: Were the competitors comprised mostly of series veterans, newcomers, or a mix of both?
Brett: It was definitely a mix of both. Most of the veterans who have shown up in previous years were present this year. We even had the return of top Japanese player Riri and his partner, the famous voice actor Kana Ueda. And we also had plenty of players who were only starting with Gundam Versus. Some of them hadn’t even touched the game until that weekend.
mushin_Z: Myself and my partner included, in that last category! Any gameplay moments that stood out, and were particularly memorable or impressive for you?
Brett: In grand finals game 2, team Gundam Force World Champion (AcidAce/Sunhawk) were extremely behind, but managed an amazing comeback with Sunhawk ending the match with a clutch Last Shooting super. Even despite that, there was no pop-off or sigh of relief. Sunhawk had a really determined look of a serious competitor who knew there was still a long road ahead for them.
mushin_Z: Even with a long arcade heritage in Japan, the Gundam Versus series is very new in North America, and somewhat tangential to “traditional” fighting games such as Street Fighter. Would you consider Gundam Versus a fighting game by definition, or something else?
Brett: I don’t really consider it a fighting game. In a very broad sense, yes, it has characters with health bars, there are combos, pokes, spacing, and neutral, etc. But if something like Smash was already debatable, I would say Gundam is still several steps more removed from your traditional fighting game.
Gundam Versus is basically its own genre. It’s most closely compared to Virtual-ON, but other than that I feel it stands on its own, especially as a contemporary game. Honestly, the closest current game I can think of that’s like Gundam is actually Rocket League. Final Fantasy’s Dissidia is obviously very similar, as is Rise of Incarnates, but both had gameplay that seems very much inspired directly by Gundam.
I would still say it’s definitely close to a fighting game, more so than other genres. A lot of fighting game players have picked it up, and the FGC has much more overlap with Gundam than other communities. If you can learn a fighting game, you can definitely learn Gundam Versus.
mushin_Z: Even though it wasn’t announced as one of Evo Japan’s game events, do you think Gundam Versus deserves to have been part of the Evo Japan 2018 line-up?
Brett: I definitely think it does. Especially in Japan, it certainly has a fanbase large enough to compete or even eclipse many of the other games on the lineup. That being said, I’m sure that the folks over at Bandai Namco JP have big plans for Gundam Versus. As I said, Gundam Versus is really it’s own genre, so I foresee them trying to create something special just for Gundam.
mushin_Z: Will Gundam Versus have a home at future AnimEVOs?
Brett: Definitely. I don’t see myself stopping any time soon.
mushin_Z: Straight talk — what’s the best Mobile Suit Gundam series, and the best mobile suit of all time?
Brett: UC is the best timeline for Gundam, and within that, Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta has the best arc. As for what the best MS is, you are a cruel man for making me choose only one. For now I’ll say it’s Gundam AGE-2 Normal, SP version.
mushin_Z: Are there any other franchises that aren’t well-known in North America yet, that you’d like to help introduce to the West at a future AnimEVO?
Brett: Koihime Enbu is definitely a modern game that I think deserves a lot more attention, and luckily we’ve been able to run it at Evo for the last two years now. There are some older games that I would like to see more of, such as Chaos Breaker, Bushido Blade, and Umineko Ougou Musou Kyoku, but I doubt there’s any room with so many games already out there.
As far as niche games that don’t have side tournaments go, I’m always down for the return of Akatsuki Blitzkampf and Fate/unlimited codes. Hokuto no Ken has started to gain a rebirth in the West with this year’s Evo, and the aforementioned two games both definitely deserve something similar.
And for non-fighting games, a lot of people have been asking me about Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, which is getting a console port soon. As someone new to the franchise and honestly still a novice, it’s hard for me to give a solid answer until I get my hands on the game. If I end up being passionate about the game, I could see myself helping to push for that game’s success as well. They definitely need to add Noctis before I even consider it, though.
You can watch the top 8 of Gundam Versus at Evo 2017 in the video below, courtesy of Bandai Namco. Enjoy! Maybe we’ll meet on the battlefield once Gundam Versus hits PlayStation 4 in North America and Europe on September 29, 2017!
BCF2, the grudge-and-title exhibition event of California, concluded last night. Each exhibition match was a best of 7 set, and with it’s closure we saw both a successful title defense and a new champion.
Tekken 7 Exhibition Match
Spero Gin (4) vs. P. Ling (1)
3 – 1
1 – 3
3 – 1
3 – 1
3 – 0
Two of the best Tekken players in America squared off for BCF’s inaugural Tekken 7 match. Both ITS pros came prepared with thier slippery, stance heavy characters Eddy and Ling Xiaoyu. Though P. Ling demonstrated the ability to punish Eddy’s Rage Drive on reaction the very first time he saw it, the rest of the set revealed that P.Ling wasn’t familiar with a lot of Eddy’s longer strings. Something about getting hit by the last hits of Eddy’s strings must have tilted P. Ling, because he spent the next two games whiffing everything directly in front of Spero Gin’s backdash, who was more then happy to whiff punish continually with df+3+4.
One wonders if Tekken will get its own belt made for BCF — assuming, of course, California players are ready to step up.
Injustice 2 Exhibition Match
Awesomeo (Robin, 3) vs. Krayzie (Catwoman, 4)
Awesomeo struggled in game 1, playing uncharacteristically slow and unsure. He started to get his bearings in game 2, taking nearly the entire first lifebar with a quick corner carry and oki, but Krayzie quickly took another 2 games by abusing Awesomeo’s unfamiliarity with Catwoman’s B+3. For whatever reason, Krayzie seemed convinced the set was over at 3-1 and took off his headset. Something about this moment must have taken him out of the game, because Awesomeo quickly dismantled him in the next 2 games. Krayzie didn’t adjust until the 11th hour, only taking the lead, and the win, on the last lifebar of the set.
Street Fighter V Exhibition Match
LowTierGod (4) vs. KillerMiller (0)
2-1
2-0
2-0
2-0
If KillerMiller did any preparation for her match versus LowTierGod, it was likely for fighting his Urien. LTG instead brought Ed to the party and, aside from a round in game 1, dictated the pace of every match without fear. It was one-sided, and possibly a sign of a huge style shift for the FGC’s favorite villain.
Injustice 2 Title Match
Challenger Han Rashid (1) vs Champion Slayer (4)
Green Arrow (w) v. Black Adam
Green Arrow v. Aquaman (w)
Joker v. Aquaman (w)
Deadshot v. Aquaman(w)
Deadshot v. Aquaman (w)
Han Rashid threw the cast of Injustice 2 at the Champion, but once Slayer’s cursor hit Aquaman, there wasn’t a character or range Han could find to take the momentum away from Slayer. Slayer’s win marks the first successful title defense of the BCF series- and he’s likely very happy that his title defense was on the pre-patched version of the game.
Street Fighter V Title Match
Challenger LPN (4) vs Champion Commander Jesse (2)
2-1
0-2
0-2
2-0
2-1
2-1
When Commander Jesse won the inaugural championship match for BCF over Alex Valle, it was a photo-finish 4-3 victory. A lot of the mistakes that nearly cost him the belt versus Valle came back to haunt him versus LPN’s Bison: over-commitments and refusal to anti-air, in particular. LPN jumped and Devil Reversed without fear, smothering Jesse’s Dhalsim in the last three games nearly every time he got in.
If you missed the event and want to watch the action, the video is currently archived on BCF’s Twitch channel.
Yesterday, the official Injustice 2 Twitter account sent out an interesting Tweet, posting an image of Bizarro, with the quote, “Bizarro number one, not Superman!” For those unaware, Bizarro is an imperfect clone of Superman created by Lex Luthor, who possesses all of the Kryptonian’s powers, but none of his intellect or reasoning skills. Though he served as a major antagonist as a member of The Regime during Year 5 of the Injustice: Gods Among Us prequel comic series, he was thought to have been killed by Doomsday, but it seems he will be officially joining the battlefield as a Premiere Skin for Superman.
Taking the form of alternative Shaders, Premiere Skins serve as alternate costumes that have allowed NetherRealm Studios to place popular characters who may not have warranted separate character slots, due to having similar power sets — such as Mr. Freeze, John Stewart, Reverse-Flash, Power Girl, and Vixen — into the game, with their own sets of unique dialogue and character-specific intros.
We first caught a glimpse of the cloned Kryptonian during the Starfire reveal trailer at San Diego Comic Con, where she was incinerated by flame breath (instead of Kent’s usual ice breath), as well as ice vision in place of heat vision. Though Premiere Skins up to this point have shared the exact same animations and attacks as their original counterparts, perhaps Bizarro will be the first to have unique effects added to Superman’s standard moveset? Though no other information about his release date was given, we can likely expect more information during the upcoming Watchtower livestream for Starfire in the near future. You can see the tweet below, and you can spot him at the 36-second mark during Starfire’s trailer.
What do you think about El-Kal joining Injustice 2? Will this persuade you to pick up the Man of Steel, despite his upcoming nerfs in the game’s first balance patch? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
Aside from interviewing established players, Mark “BornFree” Sheridan also took some time to interview some rising stars at Evo 2017. One of these stars is Korea’s Sandbag, the Master rank Akuma player that first made his name by eliminating Poongko and XYZZY during the Road to Japan Cup tournament.
In the interview, BornFree and Sandbag (with the help of Kevin “Burnout” Kim) go over Sandbag’s relative newness to competitive fighting games, having only started playing fighting games two years ago. As part of this, they go over how Sandbag deals with tournament jitters, including some of his rituals — such as not cleaning his stick, as well as pretending that his opponent is just some “online scrub.” Additionally, they also talk about the games he played, starting with The King of Fighters series, then Street Fighter V (his first Capcom game), and possibly playing Tekken in the future.
Street Fighter V delivers on great new tunes from Tuesday’s update.
This week’s massive Street Fighter V update brought a pile of new costumes, but also this year’s Capcom Pro Tour stage (the Ring of Pride), Ryu’s classic Suzaku Castle stage, and new character Abigail with his Metro City Bay Area stage in tow. New stages and characters mean new music, and this batch was a solid one.
VesperArcade helps us reminisce with the latest version of Ryu’s stage theme, and the driving rock theme for Metro City suits Mad Gear well.
Xuses brings us extended cuts of Abigail’s head-banging theme music, and the appropriately epic-toned rock anthems from the Kanzuki family stadium, the Ring of Pride.
With things like his slow moving V-Trigger projectile, flexible juggle options, and several unique combo states, Ed makes a great character for combo videos. The character’s move list is dense with possibilities, which is pretty surprising, given he was originally billed as having the “easiest” input method of any character in Street Fighter V.
But those one-button specials don’t hold back creativity: Doopliss’s combo video “Soul Fist” is not what you want to watch for optimal combos. It makes extensive use of Ed’s flicker special, which, while hurting overall damage, maximizes difficulty and flashiness.
Soul Fist might also have one of the silliest uses of Urien’s Reflector yet in a combo video. I’m going to propose a new rule for SFV that states any Ed that can somehow get the multi-stun fierces on a Urien reflector in a real match should automatically win the round.
Overall, once you start getting used to the basic controls, the game feels very comfortable to play — boosting around and blasting and slashing is easy to get an a handle on, and just feels fun. The game’s presentation, from menus to the graphics and sounds effects in combat are all quite polished, as I would expect from this project.
![[photo by Magoichii]](http://i0.wp.com/shoryuken.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/brett-at-GV-Evo-2017.png?resize=622%2C414)
