Sakura is still a strong character in Ultra. If that is what you came here to find out, then you may not read further. However, if you would like to know what I think of the changes in relation to her gameplay, read on.
Jul 28, 2014
Under Night in-Birth Exe: Late Has Hit Iowa
I don't recall seeing this much interest in an anime fighter in Iowa in quite some time. With the console release of UNIEL, many of Iowa's players are currently grinding it right now including myself. Here's the quick rundown.
NGamer3k - Hyde
BlankM - Vatista, Nanase
Travis "Klaige" - Byakuya
Curtis "TopHat" - Chaos
Justin Hines - Gordeau
Greg "GQDang" - Gordeau
The game has been on my radar for a while since Blank and our good friend Sam "pbjmixxa" are such prominent anime players in my circle. Having never seen much footage of the game beforehand, from playing it and having the mechanics unfold before me, I can say that I really like how the game was designed from a gameplay perspective. Virtually every mechanic the game has was well thought out and I can get behind them easily. My main criticism of the game so far is that the characters themselves are not too interesting. This is somewhat expected given that most of the games characters are either direct take offs or parodies of similar characters in other games.
Going a bit in-depth, this game has an ST like quality with it's emphasis on a ground game and big damage associated with simple hits like dragon punches and fireballs. I find this quite enjoyable and a change of pace from most anime fighters where extended combos are generally needed to do notable damage. With this game, one can zone, play footsies and dominate an opponent on solid fighting game fundamentals.
The game's "Grind Grid" system rewards both offense and defense which means that a variety of styles can be prevalent. Depending on which player the grid favors at the time, only then can that player gain access to the ubiquitous cancel mechanic in the game (called "Change Shift"). It will be interesting to see how the game evolves.
Myself along with Blank will be entering tournaments for this game at least for the immediate future. Stay tuned possible match footage and articles.
NGamer3k - Hyde
BlankM - Vatista, Nanase
Travis "Klaige" - Byakuya
Curtis "TopHat" - Chaos
Justin Hines - Gordeau
Greg "GQDang" - Gordeau
The game has been on my radar for a while since Blank and our good friend Sam "pbjmixxa" are such prominent anime players in my circle. Having never seen much footage of the game beforehand, from playing it and having the mechanics unfold before me, I can say that I really like how the game was designed from a gameplay perspective. Virtually every mechanic the game has was well thought out and I can get behind them easily. My main criticism of the game so far is that the characters themselves are not too interesting. This is somewhat expected given that most of the games characters are either direct take offs or parodies of similar characters in other games.
Going a bit in-depth, this game has an ST like quality with it's emphasis on a ground game and big damage associated with simple hits like dragon punches and fireballs. I find this quite enjoyable and a change of pace from most anime fighters where extended combos are generally needed to do notable damage. With this game, one can zone, play footsies and dominate an opponent on solid fighting game fundamentals.
The game's "Grind Grid" system rewards both offense and defense which means that a variety of styles can be prevalent. Depending on which player the grid favors at the time, only then can that player gain access to the ubiquitous cancel mechanic in the game (called "Change Shift"). It will be interesting to see how the game evolves.
Myself along with Blank will be entering tournaments for this game at least for the immediate future. Stay tuned possible match footage and articles.
August Tournament Schedule
August is going to be a busy month for tournaments. I plan on attending the ranbats, UMSK, and Maxout. It'll be a good test after more people will have had an extended period of time with Ultra. I have currently won every tournament in Ultra that I have entered since the game's release outside of Majors of course.
8/1 - Sioux City at Game Lair. Its on August 1 which is a friday and it starts at 6. I think to compete its only $10. I don't know much use but hit up their facebook or twitter @gamelairsc
8/9 - USF4 Iowa Ranbats - Des Moines, Grog's house. 3:30 PM - Stay tuned for details.
8/16 - Smash League - Iowa City -https://www.facebook.com/events/861725753856926/?ref=4
8/16 -UMSK - Omaha -https://www.facebook.com/events/1493541330891293/?source=1 I'll probably be going to this.
8/23 - Maxout - Kansas City -https://www.facebook.com/events/335160796633564/
Myself, Blank, and Zach plan on going to this. Please ask if you want to ride along.
My EVO Tournament Matches
I created a playlist on my YouTube channel here. Check them out. I'll be eventually writing a full article about my experience at my second EVO.
Results - Smash League 2.1 - 7/19/14 - Iowa City, IA
This is the second season of the Smash League series of Tournaments run by Game Geeks' Cody Pirko. The featured games are of course SSBM and SSB:PM but this season adds USF4 to the mix. I don't have the full results right now, so I'm just going off memory.
Project M (30? entrants)
1. Bpow (Metaknight)
2. BlankM (Charizard)
3. Joker490Frozen (Link)
Melee (I don't remember, sorry!)
USF4
1. NGamer3k (Sakura, Rose)
2. Kemps (Bison, Balrog)
3. TopHat (Poison)
Project M (30? entrants)
1. Bpow (Metaknight)
2. BlankM (Charizard)
3. Joker490Frozen (Link)
Melee (I don't remember, sorry!)
USF4
1. NGamer3k (Sakura, Rose)
2. Kemps (Bison, Balrog)
3. TopHat (Poison)
Jul 9, 2014
Off to EVO 2014
For the second straight year, I'll will be making the trek to Las Vegas for the biggest fighting game tournament in the world, EVO. This is looking to be the biggest EVO ever with nearly 2000 players for USF4.
I will also be joined by the biggest group of companions yet. I'll be staying with Greg "GQDang", Andrew "Dekline", and Yulai "Uli." Others that are going will be Jamarr "Jamarrvelous", Jay "JayfordLOL", Will "MetalMusicMan", and others.
Last year I reached the loser's semis of my pool before I was eliminated. It was a good result, especially considering how extremely nervous I was. That was demonstrated in my gameplay which I recorded and that stuff is available on my YouTube channel. As I reflect back on it, I did as well as I could be expected to do given my skill level at the time. I did better than Canadian Ibuki "WhiteGun" who was dubiously eliminated by a Bison player who I beat in the next round. If I had beat the guy who eliminated me, I would have had to play top T. Hawk "Native" which I probably would have lost to.
My goal this year is to qualify from my pool. From there will be gravy. Qualifying from the pool stage this year means making top 250- an impressive result considering the stacked field. At the same time, I can't take my results too seriously. It is well documented doing well at a huge tournament like EVO has some luck factored into it. And after all, since I have no chance of making top 8 or anything like that, losses in the tournament should be looked upon with a refined perspective. As they say, "Everyone loses except one player."
Wish me luck, and I'll see you on the other side.
I will also be joined by the biggest group of companions yet. I'll be staying with Greg "GQDang", Andrew "Dekline", and Yulai "Uli." Others that are going will be Jamarr "Jamarrvelous", Jay "JayfordLOL", Will "MetalMusicMan", and others.
Last year I reached the loser's semis of my pool before I was eliminated. It was a good result, especially considering how extremely nervous I was. That was demonstrated in my gameplay which I recorded and that stuff is available on my YouTube channel. As I reflect back on it, I did as well as I could be expected to do given my skill level at the time. I did better than Canadian Ibuki "WhiteGun" who was dubiously eliminated by a Bison player who I beat in the next round. If I had beat the guy who eliminated me, I would have had to play top T. Hawk "Native" which I probably would have lost to.
My goal this year is to qualify from my pool. From there will be gravy. Qualifying from the pool stage this year means making top 250- an impressive result considering the stacked field. At the same time, I can't take my results too seriously. It is well documented doing well at a huge tournament like EVO has some luck factored into it. And after all, since I have no chance of making top 8 or anything like that, losses in the tournament should be looked upon with a refined perspective. As they say, "Everyone loses except one player."
Wish me luck, and I'll see you on the other side.
Jul 1, 2014
Results: Bloodbath and Beyond: Remix - 6/14/14 - Waterloo, IA
If anyone knows the characters used, please let me know.
Melee (17 entrants)
1. Slayer (Capt. Falcon)
2. Triple R (Kirby)
3. Jazz (Fox)
Project M (20 entrants)
1. BlankM (Charizard)
2. Slayer (Falcon, Ivysaur, Falco, Marth)
3. Jazz (Marth, Fox, Sheik)
Brawl (10 entrants)
1. Triple R (Kirby)
2. BPow (Wario)
3. Twink (Marth)
USF4 (10 entrants)
1. NGamer3k (Rose)
2. LatinoLink (Fei, E. Ryu)
3. Merlock (Chun-Li)
KOFXIII (9 entrants)
1. James Jr (Various)
2. Flanagan (EX Kyo, Clark, Mr. Karate)
3. BlankM (Joe, Kula, Chin)
UMvC3 (6 entrants)
1. Joker490Frozen (Vergil/Task/Wesker, Task/Trish/Wesker)
2. NGamer3k (Wesker/Storm/Chun)
3. B-ry
Melee (17 entrants)
1. Slayer (Capt. Falcon)
2. Triple R (Kirby)
3. Jazz (Fox)
Project M (20 entrants)
1. BlankM (Charizard)
2. Slayer (Falcon, Ivysaur, Falco, Marth)
3. Jazz (Marth, Fox, Sheik)
Brawl (10 entrants)
1. Triple R (Kirby)
2. BPow (Wario)
3. Twink (Marth)
USF4 (10 entrants)
1. NGamer3k (Rose)
2. LatinoLink (Fei, E. Ryu)
3. Merlock (Chun-Li)
KOFXIII (9 entrants)
1. James Jr (Various)
2. Flanagan (EX Kyo, Clark, Mr. Karate)
3. BlankM (Joe, Kula, Chin)
UMvC3 (6 entrants)
1. Joker490Frozen (Vergil/Task/Wesker, Task/Trish/Wesker)
2. NGamer3k (Wesker/Storm/Chun)
3. B-ry
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