Today, MLG has posted some further details on what to expect in terms of the fighting game events that will take place at the Winter Championships on March 23-25th. Specific to us, in terms of commentary, you can expect BrewtusBibulus on the mic during the broadcast for Soulcalibur V, which you will be able to find by clicking here when it goes live. Also in attendance will be Evil Geniuses' Justin Wong who will be competing in all three fighting game events. Also mentioned were EMP KDZ and eLivePro|Kayane also in attendance for SCV.

A full list of competitors will be provided on March 19th. If you plan on competing, make sure you've purchase your competitor pass. If you plan on watching from home, tune into the stream beginning at 5PM Eastern on Friday, March 23. If you plan on attending, you should ABSOLUTELY pre-register for the event, as seats are limited and are available at a first-come first-save basis.

With Winter Brawl and Final Round in the rearview mirror, and a new patch, MLG, PowerUp, and a slew of other noteworthy events coming down on us at breakneck speed, we felt it was time to finally start a Soul Calibur V podcast. With that, we introduce...

SoulCast

Brought to you by the Video Gaming Federation nerds, SoulCast is essentially the Soul Calibur V extension of a Tekken-related podcast that the VGF already does and has been doing for roughly a year now. That being said, the format of the two series will be similar. What does that mean? Well, eventually we will start recording character-specific episodes that center around the strategy and discussion of one character only. In addition, we'll bring on a guest that knows the character in-depth, has had success in tournaments and/or is a respected voice in the community, and (more likely than not) is someone you've heard of.

Because SCV is so new, however, we want to give the game a little more time to mature before we...

The full list of rules is here and it's fairly conformed to our standards, so allow me to cut right into the big differences. Contrary to one rumor I heard Devil Jin is banned, thank the gods. It's not listed, but a MLG rep has told me Dampierre will play. There are a few things that are out of the norm such as a draw is a win on both sides, loser chooses stage, extended series and desync penalties! Some of these have me excited and a couple I'm kinda torn on.

The draw is a win for both sides eliminates the epic runback from a draw in the event one player has already won a game... But that being said it's fair as both players did win the game.

We asked and Namco Bandai has delivered. They released information about an upcoming patch to be released next week March 21st. This is going to revamp the ranked matchmaking and most importantly address issues that we the consumers have voiced about gameplay as well as character balance!

Their facebook page also says they will be releasing a list of changes, which is a huge relief to people who test game mechanics.

Final Round XV took place on March 3rd and 4th in Atlanta, Georgia, and clocked in at a truly impressive 254 entrants. The tournament itself had numerous ups and downs, a few surprises, and an overall level of play that was truly impressive for a game so early in its life-cycle.

FRXV also inadvertently shined some light on a handful of larger issues affecting both our specific community and fighting games more generally, all of which deserve a good amount of thought and discussion. That being the case, let’s get down to it. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the FRXV War Report . . .

Become the Legend at the SoulCalibur Impact Grand Finals in London!
Namco Bandai Game is calling on thousands of European & Australasian SoulCalibur V players for national tournaments to be held all over the continent in February and March. Welcome to SoulCalibur Impact 2012!

The clash of Legends: SoulCalibur Impact Grand Finals
The SoulCalibur Impact Grand Finals will be held on Saturday March 17th 2012, in a legendary location near London. For the first time in the history of video games this event will gather 18 players from all over Europe & Australasia to fight for the title of SoulCalibur Impact Champion in front of the world's media.

I would have posted this sooner, but I was too busy getting my ass beat at Final Round. This weekend, @MrMLGAdam MLG's Adam Apicella announced that Soulcalibur V and King of Fighters XIII would be joining Mortal Kombat 9 in their fighting game lineup for the 2012 season! In addition to that, the first event would be this month and feature $16,700 in prizes for each game!

The first SC5 tournament at MLG will be between March 23-25 at MLG Columbus Winter Championships. The schedule has already been posted and can be found after the break. Entry fees for MLG events are significantly higher than you may be used to, but the awards are much more lucrative. The majority of readers here are unfamiliar with the MLG experience, but don't worry, there is a very straight-forward announcement post explaining schedules, entry fees and gold memberships on the MLG website.