What DF Happened this week?

Welcome to What DF Happened This Week, a new format DashFight is devising today. Here your favorite writers will walk you through the most important events in the competitive communities of our favorite titles as well as some of the events that are making waves across the entire FGC. Make sure to use the table of contents above to jump around to your favorite section, but we highly recommend you read all for a complete picture of just what happened this week.

SBBU: The Master Hand's Papers by Adico

Kazuya’s Extensive Moves list

Earlier this week, Kazuya finally hit the SBBU scene, first with a presentation by Sakurai, which showed all his moves and mechanics. And a day later, the release of the character itself. Initial impressions after the presentation were positive but a little reserved. A couple of ideas, like Rage at 100%, had some players thinking it might cause problems for the competitive scene, as a 1.1x multiplier is more than one might think.

Though. Now that we’ve had the character for a few days, things have come around a little. It is a challenging character to play that will require time to master and extract his full potential. Or just play against CPU level 9 and record the combos. Indeed, many people have been talking about just how impressive the CPU is at playing Kazuya, going as far as to say that the CPU should be entered into tournaments in the character’s early days to see how far it would go. A ludicrous idea. But you know, it would be amusing.

Here is a handy little guide made by ChaseDreamTV on Twitter that you can save to look at all the moves Kazuya has in his kit. The one move you should be looking to master as soon as possible is EWGF or Electric Wind God Fist. Doing so will open pretty much all of Kazuya’s combos and give you a massive advantage.

Smash World Tour Regionals Date Changes

It was already a blessing that Smash World Tour was given the go-ahead for 2021. But the regional events were very much up in the air up until the last few weeks. For parts of the world, the pandemic is slowly fading away, allowing for local events. For others, like South America, the end has not even begun. So coming into late June, the question everyone had in their minds was, Will the Regionals be moved online or reschedule? Well, we have an answer now.

That is why SWT organizers announced new dates for the Regional finals last week and confirmed that South America’s Regional would go ahead as an online event. You can read the full press release right here:

New SWT Ultimate Regional Dates:

• South America: August 1st
• Central America: August 21st
• Oceania: August 27th
• Europe: September 18th
• East Asia: September 25th
• NA West: October 9th
• NA East: November 6th

Invitational, Open Bracket, and Setting your Alarms

A big topic of discussion this week was the structure of tournaments in the competitive Smash scene. It all sparked on Sunday when pro player Marss took to Twitter to say that he was disappointed that two other top players, MKLeo and Light, had missed out on registering for CEO, a huge event that will take place later this year. 

Given the general lack of nuance and runaway nature of the platform, various threads began popping up based on the original tweet. It is worth noting that neither MKLeo nor Light felt they had been wronged but were sadden nevertheless with the mistake they made. Though it has been confirmed that MKLeo has acquired a spot, and Light is on the lookout for one at the time of writing.

More broadly, the two topics discussed were the ideas behind early tournament registration, reserved slots, or some form of privilege for pro/high ranking players, and criticism, mockery, and, unfortunately, harassment over Marss’s original comments.

On Tournament invitations

Perhaps the topic most likely to see real-life effect later is the question of whether pro players are entitled to an invitation for significant events. These are likely to draw big crowds, sponsors, and viewership—all of which can mean very short windows for signups, like in the case of Japan.

For many, this runs counter to the ideals of the competitive Smash scene and the FGC at large. Open brackets and the idea that whoever reaches the top 8 is there because they went through the same grueling grind as every other player. For players who are defeated early, it is a learning experience, a chance to communicate with their opponents and improve openly. In locals culture, being there in the moment helps capture that excitement of losing, but not by much, and working towards the win next time.

Overwhelmingly, it is clear that the Smash community is not on board with reserved spots for pro players. But I think it an idea worth exploring. If anything, testing and seeing what formats could yield the best mix of entertainment value and competitive integrity for the scene.

Traditional Fighting games seemingly have a mix of both invitational events and open bracket brawls. So there might be more for the community to learn from those traditional scenes and grow into closer competition both at the top and bottom level.

On 0-2ers & Pro Players’ Perspectives

The second part of the discussion, and the one that got carried away the fastest, was on Marss’s dismissal of so-called 0-2 players. For those unfamiliar, that means players that lost their matches the quickest and ended up out of the bracket in the opening rounds more or less.

Clearly, the idea that players who are knocked out early in brackets are inherently less valuable than players who end up in the final rounds of competition is inaccurate at best and insulting at worst. As former Tekken player Speedkicks put it, Marss and other pro players’ views come from a particular perspective, but they shouldn’t be vilified or harassed because of it.

This continuous tug and pull between pro, semi-pro, and amateur players will always exist. Realizing that the goals of each group are different and accepting that the solution one group comes up with is likely not going to line up with the wants and needs of the others is what needs to happen—no name-calling or trying to dunk on players for speaking their mind.

Will anything change then?

Hard to say right now. Esports have grown massively over the past few years. This growth has led to a very top-heavy structure where, in the case of the FGC, the words of a few people can sway public opinion massively. Furthermore, it is not hard to argue that these prominent figures can make or break a major depending on whether or not they choose to attend.

Nevertheless, the decentralized nature of the community also means that things might just stay relatively the same for local events. The real change that could develop from discussing reserved slots or early registrations would happen at the national or international level.

Event Roundup

Get Clipped

On Sunday, Get Clipped #15 saw Rylan "ChunkyKong" Silva, DK main from South Florida, take the win over fellow Floridian Jake and Long Island resident and Robin player Bmm404040. In top 8, the closest match for the Donkey Kong player was in the form of Alabama’s Samuel "Sem" Reed, who pushed his winners series versus Chunky to a fifth set.

Chunky had a good week following his win, coming third at the local Rex Baron Boca and another online podium finish in Mega Smash Mondays.

Xanadu

The ultimate bracket for this week’s Xanadu had an exciting finish with Chris "WaDi" Boston and Troy "Puppeh" Wells coming to blows in the winner’s finals and the grand finals for an exciting Kazuya versus Kazuya battle.

The Lunch Box

Over at The Lunch Box #12, Edgar "Sparg0" Valdez made a pretty impressive run of the lower bracket after being knocked down in round 3 of Top 64 by Angel Nunez. He would have his revenge against Angel later in the Losers Finals and then went on to win over Alan “AlanDiss” Carrillo to secure first place.

Upcoming Tournaments

Frame Perfect Series

Coming up this weekend and next week are some exciting events. Starting Sunday is the Frame Perfect Series 6 SSBU Bracket. At play will be over a thousand dollars. The lineup includes Sparg0, WaDi, Mr. E, NaitoSharp, and Vendetta, among many others.

The Grind

Later today, there will also be another event at Laurel Park. The Grind 144 continues at 128 capacity. As with the Xanadu earlier this week, you can catch the VGBootCamp or JTStournament stream of the event a little after 19:30 EST.

Crush Counter Capital

New Zealand’s Crush Counter Capital is getting ready for its 2021 gathering on the other side of the world. Five main stage games, including Ultimate, make it a good opportunity to see what that region might look like for the Smash World Tour later this year as Ichigo and Aluf will be making the rounds at the event.

Sakurai Pictures of the Week

Before ending this week, here are this week’s screenshots from Sakurai! If you didn’t know who the new character was, well, now you do!

TOP 10 EASIEST Characters to Play in Smash Ultimate

SFV: Hadoken Blast by EugeneZH

The first week of Intel Open World Closed Qualifiers

This might seem like a dream, but it actually comes true — fighting games become part of the Olympics! Street Fighter V is the first discipline that is going to be present at this top-level sports event.

Players need to come through these three stages of Intel Open World:

1. Open Qualifiers for everyone to try to proceed further (June 1-13)
2. Closed Qualifiers for those who succeeded in the Open Qualifiers to fight for the spot in the next stage (June 29 - July 4)
3. 11 Regional Finals (July 16-21)

All of the Closed Qualifiers are finished already, and we can share the results.

SFV Intel Open World Closed Qualifiers — Brackets

Wednesday Night Fights #25

Each Wednesday, you can enjoy (or even participate in) a big online SFV tournament. It happens as part of the regular esports events, Wednesday Night Fights. (Do you remember how Nephew won the tourney with Rose right after her addition to Street Fighter V?). Here are this week’s matches.

Street Fighter V, WNF #25 — Stream

ChrisCCH is the winner. Congratulations!

Street Fighter V, WNF #25 — Brackets

Next Level Battle Circuit #68

It’s one of the strongest regular online events, and DashFight has written about quite a few NLBCs (for example, one when Punk won while playing Dan). Check out the competition this week.

SFV, NLBC Online Edition #68 - Stream

iDom won this event, defeating Brian_F and Punk on the way.

SFV, NLBC Online Edition #68 - Brackets

Dragon Ball FighterZ: Kamehameha Rush by EugeneZH

NLBC's Dragon Ball section

The weekly events Next Level Battle Circuit (which I talk about a bit in the SFV section) have Dragon Ball FighterZ tourneys as well. Let’s take a look at the fights of this week!

Dragon Ball FighterZ, NLBC Online Edition #68 - Stream

Dragon Ball FighterZ, NLBC Online Edition #68 - Brackets

Dragon Ball FighterZ: News from the Developers

The fifth character of Season 3, Gogeta SS4, was added to the game on March 12, so it’s time to get some info on the future of Dragon Ball FighterZ. And the developers from Bandai Namco know that! 

Producer Tomoko Hiroki recorded a video for the game fans where she announced a big update (planned for August) and an open tournament (the start is planned for September).

Here is the tweet:

What do you say? Are you ready for the aerial guard cancel? Will you participate in the official Dragon Ball FighterZ esports event?

Tekken 7: Flamingo Stance by Elizbar Ramazashvili

Hello and welcome to the DashFight blog and its weekly Tekken 7 part – Flamingo Stance. Here you can learn all the latest happenings in the King of Iron Fist Tournament world in a casual and engaging way. My name is Elizbar, and I will be your guide through the tournament results, game news, happenings in the pro-gaming side of things. I will share exciting stories, show you cool fan art and cosplay, and discuss any and every interesting topic. Osu!

Lidia Sobieska Dev Diary

Yesterday, Bandai Namco Entertainment’s esports channel uploaded the first part of the Dev Diary centering around the creation of Lidia Sobieska, Tekken’s latest addition to the already illustrious roster. There, Series Producer Michael Murray, Game Director Kohei “Nakatsu” Ikeda, and Battle Director Jun “Mishimastar” Yasuda revealed the initial steps in the development of Lidia.

Tekken’s development team starts each character creation pipeline by deciding which martial arts to use. This approach allows them to focus on the gameplay elements first and foremost and alleviates the need to possibly shoehorn unfitting style to a preexisting character. After this, they discuss the appearance of the fighter, their appearance, and animations. One of the essential parts of this process is to make them attractive and distinct while still making them a recognizably Tekken character.

The decision to use the traditional Japanese martial art, karate, was taken early on in the development cycle. While there were already users of it in Mishimas, karate isn’t uniform. The dev team went for the style prominent on Okinawa island. It incorporates “katas” in fighting and is less direct and physical than what Jin Kazama uses and more flowing and crisp movements. Her attacks are straightforward and telegraphed but not less effective in the slightest.

The decision to make her a prime minister was also taken early in the development. The devs then started looking for a suitable country for her to be based in, and eventually, the choice was made in favor of Poland. One of the team members is from this country, so they suggested twenty variations of names and surnames. “Lidia Sobieska” was chosen in the end because it sounds regal enough for the prime minister of the country.

The end result was a success, as Lidia is quite distinct in her visual style, both her main attire and alternate costumes, and in her direct gameplay. Some of the players have already used her in tournaments to great success. However, she was not considered broken or overpowered on her release, as were Leroy or Fahkumram. This could indicate that the developers got better at balancing the new additions to the roster. We’ll be able to say if this is indeed the case if we receive any more new characters. Or maybe we will need to wait for Tekken 8.

Harada's Bar Milestone

Sadly, we don’t know anything about Harada’s plans for the future. What we do know is that his talk show Harada’s Bar has already got 10,000 subscribers on YouTube, and he thanked everyone for this on his Twitter.

You can watch the latest episode where he’s deciding on who to invite next. He has many candidates: prominent FGC figures Mark “Markman” Julio and Steve “Tasty Steve” Scott, popular singer acane, Virtua Fighter’s producer Seiji Aoki, and many others.

Cosplay

We’ll say goodbye for this week and leave you with an amazing Lucky Chloe cosplay by Nelly.

Follow her on social media and websites:

Twitter

Instagram

World Cosplay

Photographer's socials:

Twitter

Mortal Kombat 11: Kombat Korner by Femi Famutimi

It's Kombat Korner! I am not wedded to the name, but it works for now, and I'm going with it. My name is Femi, and this is where we talk about the happenings around NRS' most popular game, Mortal Kombat 11. While it is a tad dry in terms of new content for the game, there are a few things that are going on that should get people excited. So, let's have a look shall we?

East Coast Throwdown

As events begin to ramp up again after a dreadful twelve months that everyone would love to forget, there has been a bit of a wait for Mortal Kombat tourneys to kick off. While we had the Weplay Ultimate Fighting League earlier in the year, appetites are ready for more MK11 action, and while all eyes are on CEO, which is coming up a little later, we have some East Coast Throwdown action to sink our teeth into in the meantime. 

If you fancy your chances in an MK11 tournament and stay in North America, registration is open and will stay that way until the 5th of July, 11 pm ET. As for winnings, there is a $500 pot on the line. 

Mortal Kombat Legends returns!

While everyone is down on NRS for their refusal to release new content for the game, we can at least look forward to some premium animated action with the release of the trailer for the highly anticipated Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms. After the wild success of Scorpions Revenge last year, this upcoming animated movie seems to follow the story from where the last one ended. 

An exclusive trailer was released on IGN’s YouTube channel, and the animation looks sublime. We are also treated to the voice talents of the likes of Joel McHale and Jennifer Carpenter. The story will see earth’s heroes pitted against the evil Outworld Emperor, Shao Kahn, in a bid to save not just Earthrealm but all the other realms in existence. It promises to be an incredible experience and if you aren’t excited yet, just check out the trailer below. 

No More MK11 Content

You read right. MK11 is now officially over in terms of content, according to a tweet from the official MK11 Twitter account. It is sad to see the game come to its official conclusion, but what lies ahead is something to be excited about!

GUIDES, GUIDES, GUIDES

Recently, DashFight has partnered up with some of the best players in MK11 to bring you great guides! You can check all of them out on our website, or our YouTube channel!

Also, we created a top 5 best characters in MK11 material that showcases the best characters in the game and why they hold their respective spots!

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