One of the most heated conversations you can have in the FGC right now is about the direction of Street Fighter V’s developing meta. This game is simultaneously the biggest juggernaut for fighting games in esports, and most controversial on a technical level. The reasons for this are varied, and the subject of Core-A Gaming’s latest analysis video.
Core-A Gaming continues to be one of the FGC’s most articulate critical voices. This examination clearly lays out the divide between luck and skill, and how SFV’s development seems unclear where between these two extremes Capcom is trying to place the game’s ecosystem. That said, I am surprised he missed the opportunity to correlate Ryu’s lost execution with his lost tier placement.
After watching the video: What do you think? Is it possible to reduce the skill gap and still have a deep, intellectual game? Or, more cynically: Do you think Capcom’s intentions all along have been to get the spectators first, then subtly change the game over time for competitive players?
Red Bull’s Bonchan has stuck with Nash despite the Season 2 nerfs–and the nobility of his stuggle may be finally paying off…
Back in season 1 there were so many of them Luffy, NuckleDu, and Joe, to name a few Infiltration winning everything in sight But then season 2 came with changes all over and Nash got so nerfed that he’s no longer good
No more cheap wins backdashing all over V-Trigger was OP but now has been broken A blocked medium Scythe can cost you a round now The mighty nerf bat from Capcom did hit ya
And all people say is that Nash now sucks balls That Guile is the guy to throw Booms all around Be smart and pick Balrog or Urien as main If you stick with Nash then don’t bother complain
But at the NorCal Regionals There was a Japanese that dared to see fit to use him He was there is a sea of big top tiers And no one thought he would make so far but Bonchan did
When there’s no Sagat And Ryu didn’t take him far Then maybe Nash ain’t so sub-par At least for Bonchan
Say what you want but Nash isn’t dead All it takes is a little skill And if you come back on board the Nash train He might win Evo again
(lyrics: Edu “cammyplayer”$$ vocals: Filipe Holmack; original music: Street Fighter V’s “Theme of Nash” by Capcom Sound Team & Keiki Kobayashi)
To answer some burning fan questions, Wavedash Games have dipped into the mailbag for their latest video. Picking out some of the most commonly asked queries from the platform fighter community, this Q&A hopes to clarify some things about this (still unnamed!) platform fighter.
We should finally see some footage of the game this summer, with Wavedash hoping to launch a closed beta in the fall of this year. With it currently scheduled to launch in early 2018, fans should get a decent amount of time to play with the game ahead of its release. As it is a free-to-play game, the project is planned to have various cosmetic items that characters can equip, including new taunts and respects that players can use in a battle.
As the game is going to launch on PC, it will launch with digital controls as opposed to the analog controls seen in something like Super Smash Bros. Melee. This means players will be able to play with Xbox, PS4 and Gamecube controllers, alongside keyboard and mouse support. Yes, that does mean both the Smash Box and the B0XX will be legal straight out of the gate with this platform fighter.
Wavedash answer more questions like their approach to balance changes in the video, so make sure to watch the whole thing. The studio are planning to reveal new character Raymer next week, so stay tuned for more info very soon.
For the most part, when an infinite combo is found in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, it usually has to do with the game’s Team Aerial Combo. However, occasionally, players will find a way to do an infinite combo outside of TACs. Now, a possibly non-TAC infinite may have just been found for Trish.
The infinite in question revolves around her “round trip” move that sends her sword spinning all over the stage and back to her. The move itself is one of a few moves that are exempt from the hitstun scaling that’s meant to stop infinites.
Usually, the round trip stops when the sword returns to Trish. However, Finisherofwar has figured out that a good enough player can keep jumping and dashing around in a way that keeps the spinning round trip sword out in the open, hitting her opponent. You can see the concept for this demonstrated in the video below.
As you can see in the video, the combo only stops when the sword ends up touching Trish. This of course means that actually keeping the combo going can be quite difficult and the optimal pattern to do has yet to be finalized.
Most people had Victor “Punk” Woodley as an odds on favorite to win ELEAGUE’s Street Fighter V Invitational. It’s easy to see why: West Coast Warzone, NCR, and Dreamhack Austin’s championships all belong to him. And in case you were unaware of that, Punk will definitely remind you:
But how did he get to this point? In ELEAGUE’s short player profile, we get a glimpse into what helped make Punk who he is. Behind the cocky bravado is a supportive family that pushed him forward in his endeavors. The humble beginnings hinted at here put Punk’s entertaining personality in perspective.
With him taking victory at ELEAGUE last night, he’s certainly got a lot to be cocky about.
Brenttiscool, one third of the renowned California “Ken Trinity”, joins Yahoo Esports for a tutorial focusing on the hot-headed shoto. The target of the session is to help viewers get their Ken “in shape” and goes over points like playstyle, mind games, proper use of DPs, application of frame data and learning matchups in Street Fighter V.
Brentt has been playing Ken since Season 1 and has clashed with many of the world’s best during his Street Fighter V career, so any insight he has is not to be easily disregarded. Check out the video below and see what advice one of SoCal’s finest Kens has to offer.
The cast of Tekken 7 is quite sizable. Alongside classic characters like Nina, King, Jack, Kuma, and so on, there’s plenty of new ones who have joined the games over the years. Whether you’re a veteran, or someone who hasn’t played Bandai Namco’s fighter in years, they have you covered.
The company has been releasing multiple character trailers that offer some flashy introductions of some of the characters, with brief combat sequences to give you a glimpse into their style:
Marshall Law
Feng Wei, Bob
Bryan Fury
Devil Jin
Hwoarang
Gigas
Katarina Alves
King
Jack
Steve Fox
Nina Williams
Lucky Chloe
Eddy Gordo
Miguel Caballero Rojo
Kuma
Josie Rizal
Ling Xiaoyu
Claudio Serafino
Paul Phoenix
Panda
Shaheen
Master Raven
Sergei Dragunov
Lili
Asuka Kazama
Leo
Yoshimitsu
This covers most of the cast–but not all, yet! Tekken 7 is slated for a release in North America and Europe on June 2nd on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam. It releases a day earlier in Japan.
Back dashes are an important tool in Injustice 2. Their fast start up combined with their invincibility means that they’re a good way to get out of pressure in the game. That said, not all backdashes are created equal, and some move characters back further than others.
To help players understand different characters’s back dashes, Trauma_and_pain has put together this useful video guide that demonstrates their ranges. Beyond just showing each character’s back dash, the video below uses a ruler that measures ranges down to individual pixels to show just how much a character moves during their dash.
The good people at COMBONAUTS are really having fun with the latest patch for The King of Fighters XIV. Since a number of stamina nerfs in the latest version has left some characters with less then 1000 health, the list of possible 100% combos has increased dramatically.
Featuring combos from a wide variety of situations–anti-airs, jump ins, counters, and more–this 4-part series features a lot of ways to get flashy, technical kills for over 2/3rds of the cast.
COMBONAUTS are mostly dedicated to KOFXIV, but they have also made combo videos for Marvel, KOF13, and more. Be sure to check them out!
Having a PC version of Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- has done more for the community than Arc System Works may have predicted. This wasn’t just a port that made the game available on the “Master Race” platform, enabling another profit funnel for the game company (though that certainly doesn’t hurt). When Network Mode turned out to be much smoother and generally more reliable than its PlayStation Network counterpart, a lot of the community turned to Steam’s platform to deliver less laggy and more precise matches at long distances.
As this newfound connectivity found enthusiasm from the community, ideas arose to do more work to feature talented Guilty Gear players in special exhibitions. Originally, Midwest’s Sym, one of the best Millia players in the country, came up with the idea to assemble a league that would showcase such matches with commentary.
“The series was obviously inspired by the FT10s on Jonio’s stream, and the timing feels perfect now that the Steam player base has grown significantly,” he told SRK when the league was announced.
The Slash Series from Mikado was sort of the blueprint for the Super Steam Xrd Exhibition League. Starting in February 2017, new FT7 exhibition matches were scheduled on a consistent weekly basis. They always featured two sets. First, the audience warmed up by watching two (usually) somewhat less-known players. Highlighting talent that’s not as famous was one of the central ideas behind the League. After that, two better-known fighters would face off in the online sets.
Silva, who oversaw most of the league and would later stream it on her own Twitch channel, sees the SSXrdEL as something that fills a gap in the community.
“I feel that the community needs something like this,” Silva told SRK. “Tournament streams are great, but aside from that, the only other thing to watch for Guilty Gear would be training mode or random netplay streams, most of the time. Regularly streamed sets are something that I know I enjoy watching myself.”
“So after AA Grand Finals, KV and I didn’t get to play more casuals in person,” daymendou said. The match was scheduled to be almost a month after AA I think, so I wanted to see how KV would adjust in the matchup. I think our match set a good tone for the league because the matches before ours were pretty one-sided.”
Some players have a certain quality to really rock an exhibition, and having matches that aren’t one-sided is a desired facet. According to Silva, matching players from different regions but with similar skill levels is essential to having an entertaining match.
“No one wants to watch a 0-7, and no one wants to watch a match they could find on YouTube a dozen times. Also, bad match-ups are generally a thing to stay away from, but they can sometimes work out. I feel that attitudes rarely matter in this setting. What matters most is that the players try their best. Still, even though it’s Steam, this is netplay, so it’s important to be mindful of that and not take it as seriously as an offline match,” she said.
Speaking of Steam netplay, there was one player who got on the PC bandwagon pretty late. doren2k, a top Jam player, initially stuck with the PlayStation version. However, when the competitive community at large played on Steam, he eventually purchased a PC.
“At first, I didn’t believe the PC hype, but as more players started converting from PSN to Steam, I decided to give in and try it out. And honestly, netplaying on Steam is 100,000 times better than PSN. PSN is good if you have no other option, but if you can get a PC and play REV on Steam, netplay is way smoother and an overall better experience.”
Silva pointed out that the TSB|mynus vs. doren2k match was one of her favorites, because a lot of the rounds were pixel-health close. Additionally, every match features different commentators, some of which participated in the exhibitions themselves. Sway, who also plays Jam, commentated their match, as well as played in a later match-up.
“They’re both explosive by nature, and you can tell by watching them play just how much experience they both have as players,” Sway told SRK. “It’s hard to hold in my excitement while playing. I remember it ending at 7-6 with mynus winning but no one was disappointed on either end.”
As for what commentary brings to matches like these, Sway, who has experience in the trade, said: “Personally there are times a match can hold its own weight without commentary, but really good commentary can make the experience 100x better. I think of it as something that fills the gaps. So like: backstory, game and character knowledge, etc. Good commentary will immerse you into the match and make you care about the players and the game more than you would if you just watched it on its own.”
Other than that, another notable episode was the European special. While most the League focuses on North America, this feature took it to Europe and highlighted Guilty Gear talent from a different corner of the world. Representatives from Finland, Austria, Russia, and the Czech Republic showed off their talents with Axl, Potemkin, Faust, and Johnny.
“I definitely plan to give more international players a chance to play exhibitions in REV 2, if there is time,” Silva said.
Silva summed up this season’s stats pretty well in one tweet:
random Super Steam Xrd Exhibition League stats -3 months -28 commentators -56 players -27 unique MUs -about 27k YT views idk twitch views
Watch this special highlight reel below–premiering along with this article–showing some of the coolest moments from across all of the SSXrdEL matches!
Now that -REVELATOR- is out of the picture and we can slowly turn to Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, SSXrdEL is getting a makeover. The netplay exhibition will return this June under a new name, and zenzen, who participated in one of the exhibitions, will step up to help organize it.
“It might not be possible to keep it a weekly series forever. This summer, I’ll stream every week, but after that, it might have to be biweekly, since it’s a lot of work,” Silva said. “As for the matches themselves, I think more variety with the format would be good. Secret boss players or bonus third matches would be great. Also, because the name doesn’t limit it to Steam this time, maybe a PSN episode will happen at some point. Aside from that, expect a mix of returning faces from ‘Season 1’ as well as yet-to-be-featured players.”
Stay tuned to SRK as always, as we approach Tension Pulse!
SSXrdEL will return in Rev 2 under a new name- Tension Pulse! @shoujozenzen will be helping me organize exhibitions every week, starting 6/1 pic.twitter.com/hZZXThUEP1
