After a break to return to Marshall’s Dojo with AceUnlimited, Genex|Frabisaur is back with episode 12 of The Fighter’s Dojo. After covering how to best fight against the grapplers of Street Fighter V, Frabisaur now takes a look at how to deal with the game’s primary zoners: specifically Guile, F.A.N.G and Dhalsim.
Noting that zoners in any game thrive off of the psychological aspect of frustration, Frabisaur advises practicing patience, testing the player’s defense, maximizing knockdown opportunities, and forcing them to be put into scramble situations they may be unable to handle properly.
For Guile, Frabisaur recommends waiting out the initial storm of the Air Slasher’s zoning, as most of the Guile’s he’s encountered will tend to get frustrated and begin approaching, allowing you a chance to mount your own attack, without having to wade through the minefield of Sonic Booms, Flash Kicks, and Sonic Crosses. He also notes that there are two key times when you can successfully jump against Guile, without fearing the threat of a Flash Kick. Either when he has recently walked, as he won’t have enough time to prepare a charge, or if you know you’re going to cross him up, as he has nothing to effectively cover that type of attack. Lastly, Bazooka Knee and Reverse Spin Kick are -2 and -3 on block, so feel free to challenge them.
On the subject of battling Yoga master Dhalsim, knowing when to move is imperative. Frabisaur suggests reacting to his fireball animations, dashblocking after guarding one of his Heavy normals, and don’t panic when he uses his V-Skill.
Finally, Frabisuar moves on to the self-proclaimed “Number Two” of Shadaloo, F.A.N.G. Declaring him a “lure” character, as he has the outward appearance of a zoning character, with none of the actual strengths of the archetype. Frabisaur advises to exploit him trying to place Ryobendas, as they’re an important facet of his entire game, as the other poison attacks are too weak and slow for him to effectively time anyone out. His standing heavy punch is also -2, so it shouldn’t be respected, and his turn has ended.
For more tips, as well as match footage of Frabsiaur putting these tactics into practice online, watch the full episode below.
If you’d like more assistance or have any other questions, you can contact Frabisaur on Twitter, or join his weekly streams on Thursday nights at https://www.twitch.tv/frabisaur, starting at 7:30 PM EST.
In Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st], Yuzuriha has always been regarded as one of the more difficult characters to master. Well, fear not — for if I have learned to play her to some degree, so can you! Some say that she’s slightly more accessible in Late[st], the newly released console update. Whether or not you’ll master her is fine; what’s more important is that you’ll play the coolest character in the roster.
We have a translated version of a Yuzuriha combo guide via Evernote, written by probably the most famous Yuzuriha player in Japan, Kure. The guide begins with explaining certain notation and a couple of good things to know in order to practice Yuzuriha combos effectively. Then, it delves into various starters at portions of the screen; for instance, midscreen A and B starters, then throw and corner sequences. There are useful explanations throughout.
If you’re more of a visual learner, there are some UNIST Yuzuriha videos as well:
If you know nothing about Yuzuriha and need an overview, check out the subbed video tutorial below, though it is a little outdated. The concepts remain the same.
NEV’s ARMS University series has been focused on breaking down the meat behind the system of Nintendo’s rather experimental fighter, ARMS. In their most recent video, they tackle the rules and data behind the most crowd-pleasing part of any fighter: the combo system.
The video covers everything from the three-hit structure of a combo, the damage scaling that occurs on each hit, and the impact status effects can have on the combo system. If you’ve ever been unsure of how to go about making a combo in ARMS, this is the video you want to watch.
Adel Anouche, a.k.a. NASR Esport’s Big Bird, is a 19-year-old up-and-comer from Abu Dhabi, UAE, who first made his name towards the end of the Street Fighter IV series with his dynamic Guy play. He made an even bigger splash last year in Street Fighter V at Red Bull Kumite 2016 — defeating the likes of Alioune, GamerBee, and Xian with his aggressive Ken.
So far in the 2017 season for the Capcom Pro Tour, Big Bird has had strong results in CPT Europe events, such as Sonic Boom (2nd), The Colosseum (2nd), FFM Rumble 10 (4th), and DreamHack Summer 2017 (5th) with his lowest placings being at Ultimate Fighting Game Arena (25th) and Evo 2017 (33rd). He is currently 5th in the Europe rankings, and 25th globally overall in the CPT standings.
Shoryuken caught up with Big Bird to discuss his first Evo, the Abu Dhabi competitive scene, Street Fighter V, and more.
Marcos “El Cubano Loco” Blanco: How was your first Evo experience?
Adel “Big Bird” Anouche: Ah, what can I say… Evo was a magical experience for me. I never thought Evo could be this good, but I was wrong. I enjoyed every minute of it. The off-stream matches were hype, since there were a lot of big names fighting off stream. I just couldn’t get to watch all of them. I had to run around from station to station to be able to catch up with everything that’s happening.
I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be, since it’s my first time. I was just excited to finally be there! I loved meeting most of the Americans that I’ve been interacting with on social media for the first time since at least four years ago — that was probably my favorite part of Evo! It was a long trip, but I’d definitely do it all over because the experience is amazing. You just have to be there at least once in your fighting game career.
El Cubano Loco: You got 33rd in SFV. Who did you lose to? How do you feel about your performance at Evo and what do you need to improve and do better?
Big Bird: I lost to Moke in winners top 64 [Moke went onward to later menace the top 8 with his deadly Rashid. – Editor], and then I lost to Bonchan straight after in losers. I feel like I did well against them since I lost 2-1 to both of them, but I know I could’ve taken them out. I was just unlucky in some of the games. They played better than me for sure. I just felt like both of those sets could’ve gone either way.
To be honest, I don’t know what I need to improve on. Maybe match-ups? I honestly have no idea. I won’t blame my losses on me not knowing the match-ups, because I know Rashid very well and I have a good idea about Nash. I just wasn’t the better player that day. What I need to do is to focus on what’s in front of me rather than start making plans on what’s next. At every tournament I basically keep checking on what my path to top eight could potentially be, when I just need to take it one match at a time. I think that’s the most important thing that has been sticking out to me recently!
El Cubano Loco: How is the scene in Abu Dhabi? A lot of people don’t know about it.
Big Bird: There are quite a number of players who play the game, but if I had to count the number of players who actually take this game seriously, I’d say two to three including me. The rest either casually play the game or just play it on the side. We have strong King of Fighters players here, as well as decent Tekken players.
El Cubano Loco: How come you picked Ken as your main in SFV? What drew you to him?
Big Bird: Ken is the closest thing to Guy, I felt — he’s an in-your-face type of character, he has average normals compared to the top tiers, but once he gets in, he can potentially finish the round as he corner carries in one combo. He has a run which is similar to Guy as well. I feel like I can be different from other Ken players with hit confirms, anti-airs, etc. It’s like I have a little room to express myself (aside from throw loops, of course).
NASR|Big Bird (Ken) vs. LUP|Calipower (Kolin, Rashid) at the 31:25 mark.
El Cubano Loco: You made your name towards the end of the Street Fighter IV series. How was the transition to SFV been for you? Do you enjoy the game?
Big Bird: I honestly thought I was gonna be irrelevant coming from SFIV to SFV, but I guess I’m more relevant than I’ve ever been in SFIV. I won’t lie — I was scared for a bit in the beginning, though. I do enjoy the game when I play against high level players — I won’t deny that. But when I play against mid to low level players, I don’t really enjoy the game much, so I usually switch to other characters so I can learn them.
El Cubano Loco: What do you consider the positives and negatives of SFV? What would you add or change to improve the game?
Big Bird: The positives are the lack of crouch tech, it’s a fast-paced game, and it punishes you heavily for your mistakes, so you better be careful. I wouldn’t say it’s a footsie-oriented game, though. As for the negatives, oh, where can I start. First of all, the Crush Counter system needs to be adjusted. The risk/reward of throwing a crush counter normal is heavily skewed, it’s low risk/super high reward most of the time, and characters shouldn’t be able to get a full dash-in combo after a normal randomly crush countering in the neutral. There’s absolutely no need for that. Also, V-Trigger-canceled normals on block should always be minus no matter what. Heavy normals should be -4 or -5, mediums should be -2 and lights should be zero. I don’t care about the reward on hit. Just increase the risk. Let people be forced to hit confirm into V-Trigger.
Also remove anti-air jabs, or whatever needs to be adjusted in order for them to stop working. They’re so scrubby in my opinion, and sometimes it’s more rewarding than an anti-air DP. Also add more defensive options. I don’t like the removal of jump back OS. It honestly added layers of depth to both the offensive and the defensive gameplay, and made the game more fun, but that’s just me. There’s more, but this is all I can think of.
El Cubano Loco: Do you miss Guy? Would you want him in SFV? How would you want him to play in this game?
Big Bird: I do miss playing Guy honestly, he was really fun and my first serious main in a fighting game as well, so I’m kinda attached to him [laughs]. I’d want him to play the same as he did in SFIV. He’d honestly be strong that way.
El Cubano Loco: There’s a rumor that Guy’s master, Zeku, will be in Season 2. Would you drop Ken to play him, if he plays similar to Guy?
Big Bird: I wouldn’t say I’ll drop Ken for him, but I’ll definitely make an effort to learn him. I can’t drop Ken since I’ve invested a lot of time in him. It’ll honestly be a waste of effort if I did, but I’ll definitely give Zeku a fair shot.
El Cubano Loco: What are your initial impressions of Abigail?
Big Bird: I haven’t seen much of him besides the trailer. He looks like Hugo, as he’s big enough. I played Hugo in SFIV on the side, so I don’t know. I might end up trying him later. I’m honestly interested in seeing StormKubo, Infexious, and Alucard try him actually.
El Cubano Loco: What’s next for you in the CPT season? Any upcoming tournaments you’ll be competing in?
Big Bird: I’m going to Fight Club NRW in Germany in August. Maybe VS Fighting as well, depending on my visa. Esports Festival Hong Kong, EGX, SGB, and other European ranking events. I’ll go to as many events I need to go in order to make it. I have 450 points now, so I’m really close to making it to Capcom Cup!
El Cubano Loco: What drives and inspires you to compete in SFV? What are some specific goals you’re looking to accomplish both in and out of competition?
Big Bird: I’m just playing for fun — it’s still a hobby for me at the end of the day. I’m currently studying environmental health and safety at Abu Dhabi University, so that’s the priority. Since I got sponsored recently, I have a duty to fulfill to my team, so yeah, I guess that motivated me a lot to compete this year, since I barely showed up last year. I just hope I can do my team proud. If they’re happy, then I’ll be happy!
Grapht-sponsored Japanese gaming god Tatsuya Haitani had a busy week during Evo 2017. It wasn’t just because he traveled to the world’s largest fighting game tournament — a few days prior to his flight to the US, he got married!
This is just one of the many areas covered in the continuing Evo interview series by Mark “BornFree” Sheridan. Over the course of the 30 minute interview, the three (including translator @discovigilante) discuss Haitani’s training, his favorite player to watch (UK’s Infexious won him over!), his first fighting game, and more.
We’ve had some time to recover from Evo 2017 and take stock of the amazing finals we saw at the Mandalay Bay. After a lot of deliberation, Capcom Fighters have compiled its list of the five greatest moments from the Street Fighter V top 8.
To be honest, the list should really be called “The Tokido Hype Reel,” as there is only one moment on this list that doesn’t feature the world’s best Akuma player. Besides Grpt|MOV’s psychic air grab against Moke, every other clip features Echo Fox|Tokido in some way, shape or form. Liquid|NuckleDu does get his time in the sun, with his magic pixel comeback against Tokido featuring at number three, but the Raging Demon is definitely the star of this particular highlight reel.
Post Evolution 2017, after the hype BlazBlue: Central Fiction top 8, we’re back to the grind of getting better at the game. One of the top 8 fighters was Dora-bang, known for proficiency with the ninja character. Dora continues his series of helpful videos to teach players around the world to become more competitive in BlazBlue.
His newest videos on Twitch tackle the intricacies of “teching,” or waking up, in the Arc System Works fighter. As we know, there are multiple ways to get up in BlazBlue. Neutral teching, quick rising, and rolling back or forward all have different properties and invincibility frames. Here’s a text breakdown from Dora:
Forward Roll
1~3F Fully invincible
4~17F Throw invincible, if hit you will be in the air
18~30F Guard possible, if hit, you will be in crouching position
1~10F can pass through opponent
Back Roll
1~10F Fully invincible
11~17F Throw invincible, if hit you will be in the air
18~30F Guard possible, if hit, you will be in crouching position
1~10F can pass through the opponent
Quick Tech
1~13F Throw invincible, if hit you will be in the air
14~19F Throw invincible, guard possible, cancellable into any grounded attack, if hit you will be in standing position
Will automatically Quick Tech after laying on the ground for 68 frames
Neutral Tech
1~32F Fully invincible
According to Dora, it’s best to attack right after the “combo proration” resets, after 10 frames. Attacking before then would continue the same combo that led to the knockdown and allow the opponent to tech in the air. It’s a small window, but attacking from frame 11 can lead to another combo.
Check out the video below for some visual demonstrations as Dora covers the various options.
Dora also made a second video where he breaks down this concept in more detail. He shows off some character specific nuances with Terumi, whose 2A attack can actually whiff on Amane and Bang if they do a quick rise.
ESL commentator and competitor Ryan “Ketchup” Neal has recently put together a tech video to show off some disgusting corner mix-ups for one of Injustice 2‘s most (appropriately) complicated characters, Brainiac.
Originally discovered by Emperor Pryce and PerfectLegend on twitter, these setups are built around a particular release timing for Brainiac’s Trait drones. Between his low-hitting down 1 and overhead divekick, both options can lead into a combo using the release of the drone. Ketchup also explains a button configuration that makes this setup much easier on a PS4 pad.
Night Spec has sent out a brand new trailer to showcase Regalia Storia, a new MMO in development from a team based in Brazil. The video features a brief look at several classes including Rogue, Archer, and Acolyte.
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, getting grabbed at high damage percentages usually means certain death, due to a large portion of the cast having a kill throw. For other characters, they need to rely on DI traps to secure that killing blow. In their quest to teach players more about Smash 4, the Beefy Smash Doods have dedicated a video to the ins and outs of DI trapping your opponent.
For those who don’t know, a DI trap is where you put an opponent in a situation where DI-ing a certain way may lead to a combo or to their death. In most cases, players will use a DI trap when their opponent is expecting them to use a certain follow-up, and pre-emptively DI in order to avoid it. If you catch onto their pre-emptive DI, you can set up a kill which wouldn’t normally work.
Some throws are so slow that you can actually react to their animation and avoid the trap, while others require you to option select your DI. With a DI OS, you simply input one direction before the throw begins, then quickly switch once the animation begins. This can be beaten by your opponent simply waiting before they start the throw, but you could always mash out in that small window.
