YouTuber, commentator, Mortal Kombat X Northwest Majors Champion, and more: Evan “EGP WonderChef” Hashimoto has a solid fighting game resume across a variety of games. Recently he’s shared some tech he’s developed for Pokkén Tournament, showing off great setups for Pokkén’s “water dog,” Suicune.
Here, Wonderchef demonstrates Suicune’s ability to convert off of its 5X Water Spout on wake up. This more is one of Suicune’s primary zoning pokes in Duel Phase, but typically is used only as combo filler or as a combo starter off an anti-air hit. However, 5X’s long active frames allow it to link off of Pokkén’s set knockdown frames on wakeup, giving the zoner an impressive pressure option. Suicune’s naturally high damage turns this into some brutal conversions if the opponent expects a grab. Considering that 5X also has a built-in fake, these setups can result in some terrifying 50/50s.
And, as if Suicune needed more help in the field phase, Wonderchef decided to show off a bit with this flashy 200+ damage wall combo in field phase. Resource-heavy and impractical, it nonetheless shows off an important truth- Suicune hits like a tank no matter where it stands, or what phase you’re currently in.
David-Paul “AutoMattock” Mattock (also known as “Jibbo”) has made his love for Street Fighter V’s Kolin clear with the massive undertaking that is his working Kolin Guide. But just in case there was any doubt, he’s gone above and beyond the call of duty with this exhaustive two-part breakdown on Kolin’s Crush Counters.
These breakdowns cover more then just combos: he breaks down why you’re doing these moves, the execution requirements for extensions, and safe jump setups after your combos land.
After studying your own character and getting a firm grasp on the complex mechanics of Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- (and the upcoming REV 2), the never-ending learning process next involves matchup knowledge. Picking up specific tools and understanding when an opponent will use certain attacks from their repertoire is key to getting better at Guilty Gear. LordKnight came up with a new video series that will tackle this specifically.
The first one looks at Sol Badguy, Guilty Gear’s flagship character. LordKnight goes over Sol’s tools, pointing out how powerful Gunflame YRC is at “resetting” the neutral and pausing the game for a bit while throwing out a wall. Sol has fairly straightforward tools, but people can play him very differently. Some are more solid, some attack more randomly, so LordKnight recommends facing many Sols to get a better grasp. His detailed overview shows round-start options, whiff punishing, and much more.
View the full session below to study up on the Sol Badguy matchup.
One of the most iconic summons in the Final Fantasy franchise is the dragon Bahamut–often a mid-to-late game prize for the player in the RPG series. It can be quite surprising then to learn that the king of the dragons has yet to make an appearance in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy arcade arena fighter, Dissidia Final Fantasy–until now!
Square Enix has announced that Bahamut is finally coming to Dissidia Final Fantasy in a patch, on April 20. When that happens, Bahamut will be joining Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, Odin, Leviathan, and Alexander as summons players can use in the game.
For a glimpse of how Bahamut appears in game, check out the trailer below!
NorCal Regionals proved to be a profitable trip for Grapht’s Fuudo, as he came out of the event in 3rd place, falling to both Liquid|NuckleDu and PG|Punk–who finished as runner-up and champion respectively. After the event, his sights are turned on ELEAGUE, and his possible revenge on either Punk or NuckleDu.
While at NCR, BornFree talked extensively to Fuudo in this interview. They talked about his thoughts on NuckleDu–who he pegged as being far more aggressive than himself, and the fact that he has to studied a counter-strategy for Punk specifically. They also discussed his love of Virtua Fighter, which Fuudo concedes he still plays at local events in Japan regularly. They also discussed his training regimen–in which he admits to practicing while drinking.
Have you ever wondered what you would have in YOUR dream MMO? Well, TheHiveLeader does. All the time. My Dream MMO is a series about theory crafting an MMO from the ground up with the elements that Hive would like to see. Are they all great? No. But it’s his Dream MMO dagnabit!
We’re back in swing with Rising Up full-character tutorials, hosted on ShoryukenTube. This time we’re focusing on Urien: bread and butter punishes and confirms, counter-hit setups, and damage optimization, fireball answers, frame traps listed by delay, meaty pressure, setups, and more. If you want to learn Urien, everything you need to know should be right here.
I had been putting off restarting this series until the Season 2.5 changes were in effect, but one of my longtime viewers Apoocalypse offered to make the Urien video, as he had a very strong understanding of the character and his options. This video accounts for all of Urien’s season 2.5 balance changes in the upcoming April patch, so it’s fully up to date. As usual, I’ve included an enormous guide in the video description.
I’ll be resuming my own character tutorials soon, once the patch is actually released. Remember to subscribe to the Shoryuken channel, and keep an eye out for future videos!
Earlier this month we brought you the first two vlogs in The Fighters Generation webmaster’s countdown of his top 10 fighting games (in no particular order), covering Samurai Shodown II and Street Fighter Alpha 3. Now Frank Yagami is back to provide us with the #8 entry on his list: the SNK classic, Garou: Mark of the Wolves!
After speaking a bit about some of his favorite RPGs–as the intro to Persona 5 plays in the background–Yagami moves on to discussing Garou‘s limited release, as it was a very rare game following its initial release in Japanese arcades in 1999. From then on, it would only receive a port to the NEO GEO in North America and Japan in February 2000, before getting ported to the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 in Japan, in 2001 and 2005, respectively. It also received a few mobile and online ports, but with its recent PlayStation 4 and Vita re-release last December, a whole new generation of fans can experience what Frank notes, “immediately became one of the new measuring sticks of 2D fighters upon its arrival. Right along with Capcom’s 1996 Street Fighter III, which of course had some popular sequels.”
Stating that he first heard about the game right here at Shoryuken’s own forums–where he’s been a proud member since around 2001–when he laid eyes on a forum member’s avatar: a .gif of Rock Howard’s Garou victory pose, during which he immediately wondered where the character originated, as his animations “were way to good for him to be from King of Fighters!”
Next, Yagami points out a staggering amount of similarities between Garou and SFIII, from both the near-complete roster overhaul (Terry Bogard is the only returning character from Fatal Fury, just like Ryu and Ken were the only vets in SFIII:NG), to the innovative and technical gameplay mechanics.
After mourning the character sprites of the Garou sequel that never was (at least for now), Yagami closes the video by praising the title’s presentation, to some of its unique mechanics, such as Just Defend (that later became part of Capcom vs. SNK 2’s K-Groove), feint moves, break moves, guard crush, and the game’s signature Tactical Offense Position (T.O.P.) system, which provided new moves and power-ups to each character at varying life totals. You can catch the full video below.
Yagami also notes that he will be making other vlogs before finishing his countdown, but will also continue it to the very end. Do you have any fond memories of Garou? Or is it something you’ve never heard of, but may try for the first time? Feel free to tell us in the comments section!
With the release of Killer Instinct’s Ultimates Ultra Pack a mere two weeks away–on May 2nd–Iron Galaxy has continued their weekly previews of the new Ultimates that will be free to all players. After displaying the finishers of Fulgore, Sadira, and Kilgore, this week’s spotlight shines on Riptor.
Beginning by knocking her opponent upwards with her tail, she then torches them with her flame breath before settling in for a well-deserved victory nap. You can see the full Ultimate in all its glory below. Check back next week for the unveiling of the Pack’s final Ultimate: ARIA’s!
Are you Riptor players happy with your character’s Ultimate? Do you have a favorite from the ones shown so far? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
For whatever reason, Gardevoir Twitter has been exceptionally active over the past few weeks. Recent lab work on Pokkén Tournament’s Psychic/Fairy has revealed some exciting new combos with a backwards launching Demon Slayer (forward+X). As demonstrated by Pokkén player Bendy:
If you time the demon slayer correctly it launches them behind you. Leads into some really favorable situations for you against the wall pic.twitter.com/oCtR1efQdQ
Both combos above allow the player to setup the holy grail of high-level Gardevoir: ambiguous unblockable setups. Certainly not something the original owner of Demon Slayer–Tekken’s Asuka–could do!
But that’s not all that’s come out of the Gardevoir lab:
Today on Tilting Your Opponent: Combo a 101 frame move into itself 3 times and finish with a totally Gunk support. pic.twitter.com/K3rWdppWyB
Gardevoir’s Psychic is a great wakeup and long-range pressure tool. Kaloncpu57, however, found a way to combo the brutally slow move into itself.
Rounding out this list, Japanese Pokkén player Sanaito demonstrates combo starting height requirements for Gardevoir’s dress slam, jump X. The opponent’s hitbox plays an important role in determining the advantage on hit, and the safety on block.
