Armory is a Soul Calibur monthly e-Zine and community media round up. In this issue we muse upon the results of EVO and speculate on the upcoming MLG matches. Later we'll dive into some Calibur theory and demonstrate how to perform Just Guard. Drake has also written an excellent article on how to handle losing.
It has been a while, hasn't it? EVO, the legendary clashing of titans has come and gone and with it came bizarre results and the fall of France.
Akire July 9, 2012, 5:18 @soulcalibur.FR
(Translated by google)
It's difficult to imagine the "Fall of France" with such great players like Keev, Kayane, Akire, Malek among others, especially as we watched France dominate the US a month before. On August 10th (Friday), France and US meet back up to rematch the top 8 from MLG Spring Arena. Keev, Kayane, Lost Providence, RTD "Rob the Destroyer", Hawkeye, Something Unique, LinkRKC, and KineticClash will be attending Fighting Game Arena.
Trivia by ZUZU
1. True or False. Xiba's Critical Edge can parry all attacks.
2. Pyrrha Omega's 66B can be avoided by stepping/tech towards which direction?
A. Front
B. Back
C. Left
D. Right
3. In Tower of Lost Souls Descend, how many enemies wear cat suits? (Soul Calibur IV)
A. 4
B. 5
C. 6
D. 7
4. What were the fighting styles of each enemy wearing a cat suit? (Soul Calibur IV)
5. True or False. Zwei/Ein can break back throws.
6. In order, what are the hit levels of Tira's 3AA in Gloomy Side? (Soul Calibur V)
A. Mid, Mid, Mid
B. Mid, High, High
C. Mid, Mid, High
D. Mid, Mid
7. True or False. Cervantes' ship appears in more than one stage. (Soul Calibur V)
It has been a while, hasn't it? EVO, the legendary clashing of titans has come and gone and with it came bizarre results and the fall of France.
Akire July 9, 2012, 5:18 @soulcalibur.FR
(Translated by google)
"EVO was completed this morning. The conclusion is obvious, a new era is set up on us and power relations are changing. Much ink has flowed on the chat about the fall of France in the tournament SoulCalibur, but are we the only ones in this case? Well no! Next to SoulCalibur, there are also significant changes. Japan, the nation's fighting game (at least on the arcade fighting games) is not in the top 4 of the EVO Street Fighter 4. We instead find Infiltration, Gamerbee, PR Balrog and Xian, respectively Korean, Taiwanese, American and Chinese. While Japan dominated two years ago in Street Fighter 4, none of them are placing in the Top 4....
... SoulCalibur, the only fighting game France dominates over(in conjunction with the USA), saw a final with Singapore / Japan as the victor. So why then did these different nations go unchallenged? The reason seems simple. At a time when the online is getting better day by day, it becomes easier to bridge the differences between communities. " It is never as strong as its community " (© Saitoh) . For many, this community is now Online. It is now possible to progress from home or even living in a remote village deep in the abyss. We nevertheless noted that for many cases, one speaks of ignorance. This is the case for SoulCalibur, it happened in Marvel for the victory of the Japanese, but it was also the case with Street Fighter 4... When a Japanese player lost, it was often to an unknown Western pif there. Today, it is undeniable that this is due to the rise of talented players who have now surpassed this nation. So this kind of tournament victory that some consider questionable is not-- it's rather the beginning of the rise in power of another nation. Note that this is the same kind of remarks that were made repeatedly for new players emerge ... we later found atop some ... Anyway, one thing is, from now, we have to worry about players around the world preparing for an international tournament because more than ever, each country can cause an upset."
It's difficult to imagine the "Fall of France" with such great players like Keev, Kayane, Akire, Malek among others, especially as we watched France dominate the US a month before. On August 10th (Friday), France and US meet back up to rematch the top 8 from MLG Spring Arena. Keev, Kayane, Lost Providence, RTD "Rob the Destroyer", Hawkeye, Something Unique, LinkRKC, and KineticClash will be attending Fighting Game Arena.
Hawkeye: "Do I think I'll win? Anyone can take it, honestly... We're all good players.. And the high damage in this game allow any character to win... Not including the just simply dumb **** in this game... I would like to win again.. But at this point, I would be happy to see a new face win a tournament.. I rooting for Kinetic Clash to win it, considering that he a relatively new... If not him, then any American. Because Keev won two MLG Championships already.."
LinkRKC: "What makes the Fighter Arena intriguing is that, on a given day, any of the players can win. I can't say anything more specific since I don't know who's in my pool." Do you think you'll win? "Of course. The others feel the same way about themselves, even if they won't admit it or deflect the question. You don't become a good player without confidence in yourself. SCV is overall a good game. I think high level play should look different than intermediate level play, and the additions of Just Guard and meter management help differentiate players.
Kinetic Clash: "I have to admit, I'm pretty nervous about the MLG Arena. This will probably be my last chance to compete in Soul Calibur for a while because school is coming up, so I really want to do well and get my name out there.
I'd say my biggest competition is definitely Keev or Something Unique. Both players are consistent in their placing and have shown that they can beat me in a tournament setting. If I can study their gameplay and learn the match ups, I believe I do have a chance of beating them and winning the tournament.
As for SCV, I love the game and I am so glad I chose to begin playing competitively with it. I feel as though it's one of the most unique fighting games out there, yet it still has a very competitive community. I will keep playing and improving long after the MLG Arena is done, so you will definitely see more of me later in the year. "
Something-Unique, Placed 3rd at Evo: Pool A: I expect Keev and myself to make it out, but I hope me and RTD make it out. I feel comfortable against everyone except Keev.
Pool B: I expect Link and LP to make it out. I hope Link makes it out for sure though.
I believe I can win if Keev doesn't get in my way again. The guy is a constant thorn in my side. It's hard to say much of anything though since they count rounds, etc to break ties. All it could take is having 1 less round than the other person despite the same win/loss record.
As far as the SC engine goes I still don't like it but I gave up on discussing it as SC only players imo will never understand.
I want to debut two new characters at the arena but because they count rounds I doubt I will until Raleigh. One is Hilde based on the thread I created a while back and the other is a surprise.
Keev: In next event, I will test new things. Wait and see. I do not know if I will win but I wish.
MLG strikes again at the end of August (24th - 26th weekend) with a high chance of a very big name turnout. The question is who isn't going to be at Raleigh, NC. We may even see an epic showdown between Partisan and Heaton who have been good friends and sparring partners since the game was released:
Partisan, skilled player and Super Moderator 8WR: I think there will be a lot of strong competition at Raleigh. It will be especially interesting now that EVO has passed and most players seem to have progressed into a more solid state. Many players have been jumping around between characters in the past but I doubt we will be seeing as much of that now. The tech is (for the most part) out in plain sight and now it will come down to the players more so than the characters...to a certain extent :).
Do I think I can win it? I have to make it out there first. But should I get past that hurdle, I think I am in a good enough position to contend for 1st if not top whatever. Not saying my work is cut out for me or anything. You just can't go into an event like this without saying to yourself "I will win this". Confidence is absolutely key.
Thoughts on the engine... I'll make this as brief as possible. I enjoyed SC4 overall more than I'm liking 5 right now (didn't play any of the other games competitively so I can't comment on those). And while I feel this way about the game, I still enjoy it for what it is. SC4 had it's share of problems too afterall.
Spider: Can you comment on what it will be like if you have to face Heaton?
Partisan: He will be sad.
Heaton, online warrior and 8WR Admin: Manliness shall triumph over all. I have nothing to fear. It would be pointless to go if I did not [think I could win]. [The Soul Calibur engine] could definitely use an overhaul. Over the years it's been trimmed here and there to compensate for glitches or things that went against the design team's intentions, and for a temporary solution, that proved adequate. But people are still finding bugs even to this day; I would think that the easiest way to prevent any further bugs at this point is to overhaul the system. [Fighting Partisan] would be like Revenge of the Sith. I would be Obi-Wan, and he would be Anakin.
Xeph, placed Top 8 in EVO: For specifics players, there's plenty of thoughts. Not as extreme as EVO, but MLG Raleigh will be getting some International reps present. On top of that, last I heard, we're going to see some other heavy hitters from Chicago. Thugish Pond, and ARU (Antics_R_Us), I heard were making an appearance. For those who don't know, Thugish pond was one of the most dominating players in SCIV. I've also heard he was a dominating force via SCIII (Though, I wasn't around for that). Antics has always been solid, and it's not every tournament we see a Voldo. Definitely someone to watch for.
I've also been informed that a lot of players from the ATL region will be making an appearance. Who had great showings via CEO. The Florida players have also shown interest in making it. My buddy Deathinmyeyes (someone who I played way back in the day of SCIV) is someone I expect to do well. As for character match ups- I'd recomend everyone attending to study up on the consistent top players who've been placing via MLG. To name a few that have become a staple to study, at least in America- Viola, Natsu, Mitsurugi, Pyrrha. And with how things played out at EVO, Patroklos is a definite necessity for anti.
The confidence of 'knowing' you're going to win is an important trait seen in every high level competitor. A lot will say the first step to winning is to visualize it. So, do I think I will win? Of course I do.
Another important trait is to never underestimate your opponent(s). May seem contradicting to my earlier statement, but that's more of a mental preparation. You can expect my predictions for top 8 via MLG Raleigh once I've obtained more information on who'll be attending. Let me start by saying the game is amazing. It's a different game from it's previous installments, but it's great in it's own way.
As for the engine- of course movement would be the first thing on a lot of people's mind. I, along with friends of mine, have adapted to the movement that it's not too much of a challenge. Moves that're supposed to kill step, are actually killing step. Same with backdash. I've learned with step-G, and I've learned now how to play without a safe step. If I can do it, anyone else can.
Other new functions such as JG/Meter are all great add-ons. I treat JG as if it were GI from previous installments. In a lot of cases, it's more like a safe GI. As for meter managment, that's something that hasn't been introduced into previous installments, but smart meter management is a skill to envy.
Only playing IV competitively, and SCV, one big difference I've noticed from play is in V you can't run off fundamentals as well. The difference in damage doesn't allow it as much. You're looking at 80+dmg becoming bread and butter, where as in IV 80+dmg was a rare oddity. This game, in my opinion, requires a lot more match up/character knowledge than before.
My advice is for everyone to evaluate how this game should be played, and adapt. Too many player's I see putting so much hate towards this game simply because it's not what they're used to.
Bibulus, official MLG commentator : I'm hype for Raleigh, MLG brings it back to the east coast and I think we will see a lot of talent show up for SCV. There is the usual internationals showing up in Kayane/Keev but this field is getting thicker with rumors about Singapore, Russia, Japan and Korea all traveling to come out for MLG. We will see who is rumor and who shows up in due time, I can't wait to see what happens.
I have my money on Woahhzz or OmegaDR, Woahhzz was the most dominating force in the country in SC4 and he's starting to hit his stride with alpha. I feel like the really high execution barrier to the character has been holding him back and now that he's had ample time to adapt to it he's going to won a major sometime soon.
OmegaDR should be at this event, he had some problems getting to events because he banked on getting paid from the world championships earlier than it happened. Now he's got his money and no excuse to not show up to face off vs the international field of competition... Keep in mind that right now he's the only player to enter a major in the USA and never lose a tournament set. He won the World Championships hosted by Namco as well as Final Round without dropping a series... This includes names we have seen win events like Keev and Hawkeye. There will be the matter of being behind on the metagame, Omega has yet to enter an event in the past few months so we will see if time off has the same effect it did on MK's Perfect Legend where he takes a few months away from tourneys and then starts a losing streak for a few months.
Personally I love the SCV engine, I believe it's the best engine we have had to date for a Soul Calibur game. Naturally there are some balance issues, like the Viola infinite and Hilde loop... But the engine itself I think is wonderful. I also like the balance of characters, where there are tiers... But it's not something you can't overcome if you guess right a couple more times in the right ways. Like you take Seig for example, he's got a lot of problems on paper with getting bullied at small disadvantages... But when you start to realize most of those frame traps rely on horizontals and he can guess into them for 45% damage for half a bar with B+K, he just has to guess differently than other characters and he has the tools to fight. I really feel like people have jumped the gun with crying about this game, there is a lot of unexposed depth to it and we are seeing that in the results. I mean Patroklos and Tira haven't seen many top 8's before Evo, but comprised half of the field of characters at the Evo top 8. The game is evolving and I'm hype to see where it goes
Chicago 4 Ultimate
August 18th
"We can look forward to seeing a big event for a brand new fighting game called Persona 4 Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena". That will be the center game of this tournament. While SFIV and UMVC3 will most likely get more entrants, I want people to know that just because it's an anime game doesn't mean that it's just another write off-game. While the game will still be new, I think that people will be training hard in these couple weeks and will have a good level of play by the time the tournament comes around.
As far as SC5 goes, I'm not sure, but I'm hoping the Madison crew comes down, particularly JimmyPikachu, Mateo, and MysticBill, all of which consistently do very well at tournaments, both big and small. For Chicago, I'm hoping that ThugishPond and Hawkeye both show up, and obviously I will be there representing my Japanese-trained Natsu.
The venue is also the venue of other big Chicago tournaments, particularly Frosty Faustings, and the old MWC tournaments. The location is Nickel City in Northbrook, IL, and it's a nickel arcade with a large party room as well as plenty of space for many freeplay arcade games, and other games. The owner understands the FG scene, so having a supporter of fighting games allowing us to use his venue for this tournament is a wonderful thing.
So whether you want to come play Soul Calibur 5, the popular capcom titles, or the brand new Persona fighting game, you'll have a great time at Chicago 4 Ultimate!"
-HeartNana
June 2012 Interview with Daishi & Hisakaru
Translated by Xenka-Chan and Belial
4Gamer:
21 march, two month since game was out, you released a balance patch. Please Hisaharu-san tell us more about it. I dont think it ever happened to FG before.
Hisaharu: Well, yes, it wasnt just a balance patch to us, we wanted to release cool customization stuff!
4Gamer: Btw, customization is indeed of cool in this game
Hisakaru: The games out for two month, players start to get bored. And then we're just on time with brand new customization!
4Gamer: So this updates were planned beforehand?
Hisakaru: Yeah, thats one of the key points.
4Gamer: And how stuff was handled before patch?
Hisaharu: in late 2011 we were in a rush to finish the game, organized events, listened to players opinions.
Daishi: Yeah, we heard a lot of stuff back there, like "WTF IS THIS IMBA CHARACTER?" (lol)
4Gamer: I feel your pain (lol)
Daishi: I think the perfect scenario is when you look at the game in a month after release and listen to what players say. And then do a patch in a 2-3 month. When we did March patch thinking stuff like "Well. Yeah, we knew that part was broken, but finally we're getting to fix that". Patch we did on april 17 was mainly aimed at fixing bug with Random Battles at Colliseum. For us its really important to make a good enviroment for online battles in SCV. (Read more....)
Meme by Mandy
Belial VS Keev $50 Money Match & keeping it classy
(Youtube)
Viola analysis Interview by Xiang
(Youtube)
(Youtube)
Keev @ soulcalibur.FR
(Translated by google)
With Nightmare you must work your zonning (Management distances). In other words we must do everything so that your opponent is difficult to get close. For this you can use tricks like 3AA, Aga, 6A, BB, 6K and your back dash. Then we must above all learn from your mistakes, it is very important. Then you must know the right combo and ring out for nightmare.
Alpha Patroklos
"Where's the umbrella?" punish collection.
The Calibur Primer
by Sp1d3r
Yomi, a term originating from VF and Sirlin Games, gets used a lot. But what does it really mean? It’s a fairly simple idea, meaning knowing the mind of the opponent. It means knowing what your opponent will do next so that you can capitalize on it... (Read more...)
Infinite Justice: Patroklos SCV Guide
by DrakeAldan
The first part of this guide is a broad listing of tools available to Patroklos- a quick-reference, if you will. The subsequent parts involve more player philosophy than solid facts. i.e. they are my ways of playing. Your own taste and style may differ from mine, in which case at least the first part of the guide should be somewhat helpful. (Read more...)
by DrakeAldan
(Youtube)
On Losing
by DrakeAldan
I see a lot of people... don't like to lose. Sometimes, people get pretty salty. Sometimes to the point of raging violence. Some people break things at home, out in public you know you can't do that so you walk around with a bad mood for the rest of the day.
I believe that... You get salty because... You don't know what just happened.
The anger comes from ignorance... it comes from not knowing what is, or what will be. It comes from a lack of understanding, when you don't know if you did your best or not. There is an unfulfillment there, a painful void of confusion and frustration. (Read some more...)
(Youtube)
LOST SOULS pack 1
by Gatsu
(More CAS...)
Wizard of Oz CAS By Matty82...
Trivia by ZUZU
1. True or False. Xiba's Critical Edge can parry all attacks.
2. Pyrrha Omega's 66B can be avoided by stepping/tech towards which direction?
A. Front
B. Back
C. Left
D. Right
3. In Tower of Lost Souls Descend, how many enemies wear cat suits? (Soul Calibur IV)
A. 4
B. 5
C. 6
D. 7
4. What were the fighting styles of each enemy wearing a cat suit? (Soul Calibur IV)
5. True or False. Zwei/Ein can break back throws.
6. In order, what are the hit levels of Tira's 3AA in Gloomy Side? (Soul Calibur V)
A. Mid, Mid, Mid
B. Mid, High, High
C. Mid, Mid, High
D. Mid, Mid
7. True or False. Cervantes' ship appears in more than one stage. (Soul Calibur V)
