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The Spectator’s Guide To Combo Breaker: All In Together

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By IdolismJ | May 23, 2022

With Combo Breaker this weekend, not only are there 20+ main games happening but Combo Breaker’s All In Together official community tournaments practically doubles the amount of events being ran this year. These tournaments are official side events, being scheduled and supported by Combo Breaker, so they are all going to have their Top 4s streamed. Now, there are some tournament standard games like Super Smash Bros Melee or games with long tournament relevancy like Guilty Gear Xrd that we will not be covering today. Instead we will focus on the more underrepresented games that rarely see a spotlight such as this. A Top 4 might not be enough time to figure out what a game’s jam is, so let’s make sure you know what to expect this weekend from All In Together.

If you’re in the area, registration for community tournaments is still open for most games!

All In Together stream schedule and channels (CDT)

Combo Breaker is promising that at least each community tournament Top 4 will be streamed where possible, so here’s the full list.

Friday, May 27th:

Saturday, May 28th:

  • 1:00 PM: Battle Fantasia on Net Battles
  • 2:30 PM: Power Rangers Battle For The Grid on Net Battles
  • 4:00 PM: Dead or Alive 6 on Net Battles
  • 5:30 PM: Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix 2 on Net Battles
  • 7:00 PM: Panel de Pon on Net Battles
  • 8:00 PM: Blazblue Cross Tag Battle on DataFGC
  • 8:30 PM: Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown on Net Battles
  • 10:00 PM: Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code on DataFGC
  • 10:00 PM: Sailor Moon S on Net Battles
  • 11:30 PM: Super Naruto Clash of Ninja 4 on Net Battles

Sunday, May 29th:

Currently there are no announced streams for Neo Turf Masters and all Smash related side events. If you know of a stream, drop us a line! Also keep an eye on the Combo Breaker twitter account for updates.

Community schedule guru AceKingOffsuit has published a viewer’s guide to All In Together with various timezones:

Reference image provided by Combo Breaker:

Without further ado here’s what to expect from every game on the lineup.

Neo Turf Masters – Michigan Masters Memorial Open

You are lucky I am the one explaining this because I am literally the person who invented this format and it’s being done in memorial of the event I debuted it at. Unlike a regular bracket where you advance via a series of head-to-head battles against a singular opponent, the Michigan Masters Memorial Open more accurately follows the rules of professional golf. This is a 3 day event, where every day you get one attempt at that day’s course and log your scorecard with the TOs. After three days of competition across three separate courses, the best standings will determine who walks away with the medals.

What To Expect:

Robert Landolt, lots of Robert Landolt. Landolt is far and away the most popular character in NTM. He has massive power shots and the best putting in the game, making him incredibly well rounded. His only downside is that his recovery is kind of buns and it’s very easy to overshoot with him. However this is not a one character game. Toyoshige Takeno, despite being called the Putt Master, has the second best putting in the game and the widest variety of skillful approaches and Fernando Almeida has nearly game-breaking shot distance but requires machine-like skill to play to his true potential. All characters in this game are viable, as they are all simply different approaches on how to play golf, but these are the big three most likely to be seen.

I made this video guide to the rules of this format back when I ran this at Michigan Masters. While you should check TO @badatgaems’ Twitter for the official rules being ran at Combo Breaker, this video guide will get you up to speed on how this plays out. And remember; don’t let the Canadians win.

Samurai Shodown V Special

The longest lasting competitive entry in the Samurai Shodown series, V Special is an update to the original release. While not bringing in much mechanical overhaul, it instead tweaks the balance and creates a game that has seen tournament play ever since. If you are only familiar with the most recent Samurai Shodown, V Special (also known as VSP or 5SP) operates under a different core of systems. It’s still a four button game, but VSP is more like a seven button game disguised as a four button game.

What To Expect:

The most apparent difference looking backwards from SamSho7 is how VSP’s D button functions; it is a multi-purpose utility button that primarily focuses on movement options such as ducks, rolls, and hops. Forward hopping in VSP is a powerful tool, especially since you can option select it with throw (as some call it “Hoption Select). Rage Explosion and Issen also exist, but under different circumstances. Rage Explosions are pretty much the same, but VSP has a secondary Rage Explosion-styled mechanic called State Of Nothingness. You’ll see a small arrow above your health bar, this denotes your Concentration Gauge, you can make this part of your life bar larger by Meditating away your Rage meter. When on your last round and your health lowered to the point where your Concentration Gauge is, you can pop State Of Nothingness to cause time to slow for your opponent for as long as your Concentration Gauge is. During State Of Nothingness, repeating the input will give you Issen, an advancing attack that does a constant amount of damage for how big your Concentration Gauge was.

Lunar Bout is one of the best tournaments to watch for SNK footage and VSP is no exception. This Top 6 shows off some excellent character specialists like Aroo’s Yoshitora, AyoItsDave’s Hanzo, or Tao’s Galford. 

Windjammers 2

After 28 years, one of the greatest games of the arcade era gets a sequel. The power discs are flying again as Windjammers 2 hit the ground running after years of anticipation, already seeing tournament play thanks to being released in close proximity to this year’s Frosty Faustings. With the same Windjammers action we have come to know and love plus a new layer of mechanics, Windjammers 2 has proven to be able to live up to the nearly three decade legacy of the original.

What To Expect:

While primarily the same as Windjammers 1, there are some additional systems to be aware of. You get an extra suite of ways to interact with the disc, like jumping to dunk it, slapping it to return volleys in new directions, and a new Super meter system. The most important function of the Super meter is the ability to do a defensive super; which creates an area around the player that will pick up any missed disc. With a more advanced verb set, Windjammers 2 leads to a lot of interesting volleys.

Forgive me for dropping a whole Top 8, but with WJ2 being a new release the only major tournament footage available comes from Frosty Faustings 2022.

Duck Game

One shot, one kill. Two ducks enter, only one duck leaves. Duck Game is a multiplayer party game that has found a competitive home with its fast speeds and propensity for cool movement tech. A 2D platformer, you and your opposing duck(s) start empty handed and have to quickly arm yourself with a variety of weapons on the map. Be quick or be quacked, as it only takes one shot for a duck to be roasted.

What To Expect:

With players starting empty handed on (usually) symmetrical maps, your starting line of movement is one of the most important parts of the round. Whichever player first gets a weapon will be at an advantage, which is where tech like ragdoll boosting when under a corner ledge to give yourself a higher jump comes into play. However with how fast rounds go in Duck Game, just try to hang on and catch who is shooting what.

Casual Potatoes is the YouTube account of one-half of the Duck Game TOs; Tater. This match shows high level Duck Game, but the channel also features video explanations of tech like Down Clipping or Rag Dashing.

Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax Ignition

While developer French Bread is mostly known for their Melty Blood and Under Night series, they did work with Japanese publisher Dengeki Bunko on this crossover fighting game series. Featuring characters from popular works like Sword Art Online, Toradora, A Certain Magical Index, and even a guest appearance of Akira Yuki from Virtua Fighter, DFCI has a wide array of both fan favorites as playable characters, but also as assists to call mid-battle.

What To Expect:

DFCI is a 2v2 game, but in the “Main Character and Assist” genre of 2v2 fighters. As such, picking an assist is a very important part of building your gameplan. The most prevalent system mechanic you will see is the Blast system; a series of bursts that all have different utility. Power Blast, activated in neutral, gives you meter, a health buff, and a damage buff. Combo Blast, activated when an attack hits, blows the opponent back and locks their burst for the next attack or can be used to make an attack safe. And finally Escape Blast, activated while in hitstun or blockstun, allows you to escape a combo but is significantly more punishable, like a traditional burst.

Tech Chasers put out a wonderful guide for learning all about DFCI’s mechanics, like how pushblock does not cost meter for the player who is down on life.

Puyo Puyo Champions

The grandfather of versus puzzle games. While it took some time for America to know it as such (it would frequently get rebranded, like in the case of Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine or Kirby’s Avalanche), Puyo Puyo is a long running series that established a large amount of fighting game-styled groundwork for competitively played puzzle games, so much so that series creator Kazunari Yonemitsu cites Street Fighter II as an influence on the game. With over 20 years of Puyo Puyo, high-level tournament gameplay becomes a blistering showcase of strategy and adaptability.

What To Expect:

The name of the game in competitive Puyo Puyo is making large chains, but this is not an uninteractive race to see who makes the biggest number first. Puyo Puyo strategy involves identifying what sort of combo build your opponent is going for and how you will respond to it. Properly timing a smaller chain can send garbage over, hampering the opponent’s board at a critical state. Two important mechanics worth knowing feed into this, All Clear and Offsetting. When you clean your entire board, you are rewarded with an All Clear that dumps 30 extra garbage puyos on your opponent. Offsetting is the core of what makes Puyo Puyo so competitive, garbage that is being sent over does not fall immediately so while it hangs above your board any chains you make will negate the incoming garbage instead of sending garbage to your opponent. The push and pull of offensive and defensive play helps sway board states instead of creating a game where both players rush to dump as much garbage as possible.

Not only does this video have some seriously bomb high-level gameplay, but with English commentary it is helpful for those new to competitive Puyo Puyo hear some of the game’s terminology. Patterns like Stairs, Sandwiches, and GTRs (Great Tanaka Rensa) are vital to competitive play.

Chaos Code: New Sign Of Catastrophe

Hot off the heels of the announcement of a new version, the most recent Chaos Code still sees tournament action, especially in the Midwest which has always retained a strong playerbase. A traditional airdasher by most metrics, Chaos Code features a frantic pace and genre-staple combo length. It is also one of the few games with an infinite input buffer, making the execution in the game easier than it might seem. Pay attention to the character select screen however, as one of the main mechanics of Chaos Code is the ability to select from a small list of specials and Supers or if you want a run dash or a step dash to alter the load-out of your character, allowing for different approaches to different matchups or playstyles.

What To Expect:

If you are familiar with anime airdashers, Chaos Code will be easy to follow. There are mechanics at play that are not common to the genre but not crazy unique in and of themselves, like rolls or guard breaks. What you should look out for is Exceed Chaos; canceling into this state turns your meter into a timer bar where you can sneeze out Supers in your combos to the tune of massive damage. However, you better show up on Will It Kill? because after exiting Exceed Chaos you will overheat and not be able to gain meter for a while.

Tournament runner Crimefighter made a quick mechanics primer for Chaos Code. Lots of what makes Chaos Code special lies under the hood, so a quick spin through this will help identify smaller details in the heat of the action.

Toy Fighter

A 3D fighter that acts as a spiritual successor to the Fighters Destiny games. Toy Fighter takes many mechanics from the N64 fighter wholesale, creating a game that will feel very similar for anyone who has played the indirect predecessor. With a quick pace of play and multiple sets of mechanics that compliment each other, Toy Fighter breaks from the mold and offers something different to many standard 3D fighter influences.

What To Expect:

Off the bat, Toy Fighter does not adhere to a best of 3 round structure. Instead you start with five hearts and different win conditions remove different amounts of hearts. Emptying a life bar is one point (heart), getting thrown is two points, and getting hit with the character-specfic super called a Bomber is 3 points. You will see a lot of strikes get ducked, hopped over, or swayed, these are not hard reads. Unlike a traditional 3 button Virtua Fighter setup, Toy Fighter has hold back to block and the Guard button is instead a Dodge button that automatically avoids any attack when held down. To combat this, you have less time to reverse throws when Dodging and there is a system of five colored moves that are made to blow up Dodging. Each color does something different, from the White attacks which are just undodgeable to Red attacks which are undodgeable and insta-kill your opponent’s lifebar.

Oops I’m the tournament runner for this event and wrote the majority of the information on this game, I accidentally dropped a video I made on how to play it here. How did that happen? I’m so clumsy.

Battle Fantasia

Beating Street Fighter 4 to market by a full year, Battle Fantasia was the first 2D game with 3D models by ArcSys. While it has some anime stylings, Battle Fantasia is a much more grounded Street Fighter-based game than an airdashing Guilty Gear affair, none more obvious than the direct 3rd Strike-influenced Gachi system. It can be rough around the edges visually due to being a frontrunner of that generation of games, but Battle Fantasia is a little game with a lot of heart and fun ideas.

What To Expect:

The first thing you should know is that the Gachi system has more nuance than 3rd Strike parries. Pressing forward and Gachi or down-forward and Gachi gives you a High Gachi Drive or Low Gachi Drive respectively. These are more than just simple parries, they blow the opponent back and have them either wall bounce or spin out on the ground, both of which have unique extended combo routes. The second thing you should know is that each character can spend a bar to Heat Up! This gives them temporary access to a character-specific ability, be that enhanced specials or an install status. This can be buffered with attacks to make for instant Heat Up! combos. The third thing you should know is that Ashley’s j2C had no minimum height and it’s utter horsecrap to deal with.

Hahaha how did that happen a second time. I seemed to have dropped another video I made explaining the game competitively. Highly strange that this would happen twice.

Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid

It’s not Marvel (baybee), it’s Saban (baybee). Power Rangers BFTG wears its influences proudly on its sleeve as this 3v3 fighter solidly works within the foundation of Capcom’s Versus series. Long combos that often lead to a dead character, incoming mixups that lesser mortals stand no chance against, this is a grimey Marvel game through and through.

What To Expect:

Combos in BFTG are long processes, but the way they end is the most important thing to look for. If a combo hits one of its many (many) hard limits, the next attack of that type will cause a flipout. Flipout can also be caused universally by hitting someone with 5L during a combo. This is an important ender as the opponent will flash as they flip back to the ground, fully invincible but unable to reversal when they land. This means you can strategically flipout your opponent and then run a mix on them without the fear of a reversal stopping you from your fun.

This combo guide is a couple years old, but the information it has is still worthwhile for understanding how combo limitations in BFTG work. And it’s important to recognize those limits because combos will be a majority of what you see.

Dead or Alive 6

The long-running 3D fighter’s most recent entry in the series returns to Combo Breaker after its showing as an official side tournament in 2019. With explosive (literally, depending on the stage) action, the 6th Dead or Alive brings in King of Fighters favorites Mai Shiranui and Kula Diamond into the fold. With its foundation of rock-paper-scissors strategies and quick pace, DoA6 is an exciting watch or play with its crushing stuns or defensive reversals affecting the pace of the game.

What To Expect:

We have discussed previously the series signature mechanic; holds. In DoA6, a brand new mechanic enters the fray; the Break meter. This new meter bar and its corresponding new button open up additional options. You get a universal step dodge, a chain called Fatal Rush that starts high and ends in a stun, for half the Break meter you get a universal hold which does very little damage but covers all hold options, and for a full Break meter you get a Break Blow, basically a super that goes through your opponent’s attack.

This video tutorial does an excellent job in not only explaining the mechanics of DoA6, but also the finer intricacies of how to properly structure offense and defense in a digestible manner.

Kinnikuman Muscle Grand Prix 2

A Playstation 2 video game based on the comedy pro wrestling series Kinnikuman, MGP2 comes from the same people behind some of the best pro wrestling games like No Mercy and Def Jam Fight For New York. While this game definitely shows its wrestling DNA, it plays more like a 3D fighter with heavy pro wrestling influences. MGP2 has an expansive roster with loads of crazy characters, the Mountain can kill with enough meter off any knockdown, Terry The Kid has a ToD (and isn’t exactly top tier), and Akuma Shogun who just gets to do everything very well (and is exactly top tier).

What To Expect:

MGP2 does not have a high/mid/low attack attribute like how most 3D fighters do, it is entirely strike/throw based. This system is still heavily nuanced as you can tech throws and parry strikes, but with the majority of strings being safe or even plus, you have to use your defensive options lest you be overwhelmed. And overwhelmed you can be, as there is a robust stun system at play and if you block too heavy stun of an attack near the ropes, you can be bounced off them and opened up for a combo.

Fishtrabs, the TO for MGP2, has put the game on his back when it comes to North American exposure. Not only does Fishtrabs write docs explaining the game and characters, but also does English restreams for Japanese tournament footage of the game.

Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown

A recent remastering of the previous Virtua Fighter game, VF5 Final Showdown, Ultimate Showdown does not introduce any sort of balancing patch meaning that we have a decade of tournament action to gleam from. With the pedigree of one of the most important 3D fighters ever made, Virtua Fighter continues to create phenomenal tournament play with its high level of play.

What To Expect:

VF5US is an incredibly structured game, which is not very apparent to those watching who do not also play. The way mechanics interact creates game states where there are hardlined answers to situations. The most prevalent of these is “Nitaku”, Japanese for “two choice”. When the attacker is at frame advantage, typically +6 or +7, the opponent is put into Nitaku, wherein Virtua Fighter’s vast amount of defensive options are reduced to a 50/50. The attacker can either throw or put out a mid and the defender’s options will lose to either one or the other. VF5US may not have a lot in flashy, eye-grabbing mechanics, but what goes on under the hood is some of the most fascinating system work in all of fighting games.

I say this not to be some pompous trumpeter of the series, but I cannot overstate how mechanically dense Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown is. This A-to-Z guide may be long, but it explains many vital concepts that help playing, let alone watching, the game.

Panel de Pon

If the name Panel de Pon sounds unfamiliar to you, we outside Japan would know it as the Super Mario-adorned, not-at-all-related-to-Tetris release: Tetris Attack. Similar in style to Puyo Puyo, Panel de Pon is a versus puzzle game where you want to clear your board to send junk onto the opponent’s board, causing them to fill all the way up and lose. This is done by making matches of three or more either horizontally or vertically. The catch is, you can only move pieces by swapping them to the piece horizontal to them, limiting the ways you can get matching pieces to each other.

What To Expect:

If you are familiar with Puyo Puyo, PdP will likely make sense to the eye. Because pieces do not drop however, you are able to manually advance more pieces into your board from the bottom of the screen. This comes with risks and rewards, as more pieces gives you more room to make chains, but less space to survive garbage attacks, and surviving garbage attacks can be hard. Due to the limitations in how to move pieces and the fact that garbage usually takes up a full row of space, you have to maintain a very flat board state lest a tower of pieces prematurely stops the garbage attack and leaves you closer to losing.

TO Missingno is one of the players in this tournament match. PdP at Combo Breaker will be played on the NSO version of the game, so with an easily accessible release on the Switch you can brush up on your chains before bracket time. Don’t bust out the SNES for this one.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S: Joigai Rantou!? Shuyaku Shoudatsusen

Sailor Moon S, as it is commonly shortened to, is one of the biggest success stories of the poverty FGC. This SNES fighter based on the Sailor Moon anime series caught on like wildfire years ago and became a real presence at multiple majors as a side event. With interesting, if not busted, mechanics and some very wild top (and bottom!) tiers, Sailor Moon S is a treat for those expecting nothing more than licensed fighter garbage.

What To Expect:

Backdashes are crazy in this game, unlike more common backdashes where they are briefly invincible on startup, all backdashes are fully invincible until the last frame. Chibi can actually chain her backdashes into each other and never leave an invincible state. Now the best character in the game is Uranus who has a nearly full-screen forward dash which is fully invincible if done as a reversal. She has a command grab so you can see where this might become an issue (Uranus is a huge issue).

The last time Sailor Moon S was at CB was 2018, and through careful observation you can see that Uranus is an issuuuuuue. Most fighting game characters wish they could be this cool.

Super Naruto Clash Of Ninja 4

With as monumentally popular a property Naruto is, you would expect there might be some Naruto fighting games out there. There are actually multiple series out there for the IP, but one in particular has gained a level of tournament popularity; the Clash of Ninja series for Gamecube. The secret to its success is no secret at all if you scan the back of the box; this was made by Eighting, kings of under-appreciated and licensed fighting games. Super Naruto Clash of Ninja 4 is actually a fan mod of Naruto: Gekitō Ninja Taisen! 4, a Japanese exclusive, and comes with new additions and balance tweaks to make for a more tournament viable fighting game.

What To Expect:

While in the middle of combos, you may see the attacker reset themselves with a small white effect around them. This is called Y-Canceling, a Roman Cancel-esque technique that costs 25% meter to perform and allows the attacker to continue the length of the combo. If you spend 75% of your meter while in a combo you can substitution jutsu out, but this is not a free punish on your opponent as attacks and strings may still hit someone after substituting. With how fast meter can be built in this game, do not be surprised to see multiple Y-Cancels in one combo or lots of substitutions in one match.

The Super Naruto YT channel is the landing spot for community tournaments and resources for the game. While content is currently sparse, the biweeklies they have uploaded should give you a good enough taste of what Super Naruto Clash Of Ninja 4 is capable of.

Tatsunoko vs Capcom

Another stellar release from my favorite fighting game developer; Eighting. TvC is the black sheep of Capcom’s Versus series, eschewing the Western appeal of Marvel comics for the Eastern appeal of Tatsunoko anime as well as only coming home to consoles on the Wii. While more of a cult classic, TvC has a very dedicated community behind it and is used to showing up in Chicago as TvC is frequently played at Frosty Faustings.

What To Expect:

This is going to have to be split into to parts:

What To Expect Normally: TvC is a 2-on-2 team game and if you are used to any Marvel game it will look very familiar, just instead of Magneto you will see dudes with visors. The signature mechanic is called Baroque, a Roman Cancel-esque ability that spends your red health for more damage and combo extensions. You also can burst out of combos in this game, which costs two meters and a little bit of health. That said, the health it leaves is red health, so if you have no red health for Baroque, you can burst to get yourself the ability to Baroque again.

What To Expect When A Giant Is On The Screen: Well, PTX-40A to be specific. TvC has two characters designated as Giants. These characters are multiple times larger than normal, are chosen as a single-entry character, and dramatically change how the game plays. They prominently feature armor, making them hard to hit but also very easy to counterpick with characters like Tekkaman who have hit grab attacks that ignore armor. Gold Lightan honestly blows so you won’t see him, but PTX-40A has a chance of showing up.

As mentioned, the main offline tournament for TvC is Frosty Faustings. Make sure to peep the Ryu matches in this Top 4, as TvC Ryu is easily one of the sickest iterations of that character.

Rivals of Aether

There have been a number of attempts to find success in the Platform Fighter path carved out by Super Smash Bros, both by indie developers and by other larger developers with their own licensed characters. Without a doubt one of the most successful non-Smash Platform Fighter would be Rivals of Aether. With its cast of anthropomorphic animals, a pixel art style unique to the genre, and willingness to experiment with character design, Rivals of Aether has good reason for finding its success competitively.

What To Expect:

RoA is heavily based on the best of Smash Bros’ mechanics, as such if you are familiar with how Melee plays you will likely understand RoA with all of its wavedashing and whatnot on first blush. However there is one unique wrinkle to RoA that makes it different from Smash, there is no Shield. Instead of being able to guard from attacks, RoA has a Parry mechanic that can reflect projectiles and stun opponents who attack into it. This presents defense as a high-risk/high-reward proposition as stunning the opponent sets you up nicely for a big combo and momentum swing, but whiffing a parry leaves you a sitting duck as you recover.

Genesis 8 wrapped very recently and the official Rivals of Aether channel put out an awesome highlight video of Top 8. For those unaware of the game this is a fantastic way to brush up on what high-level action looks like. 

Mystery Tournament Doubles

It’s Mystery Tournament as you know and love it but with one major twist; it’s a 2v2 event. Now not only do you have to figure out games on the fly, but you need to coordinate with your partner who also likely does not know what is going on either. As much of a cheesy tag line as it might sound like, twice the people means twice the chaos.

What To Expect:

Aside from the usual disclaimer for Mystery where you should expect, and dear editor, censor me if I’m not allowed to be this colorful, some ol’ bullshit, there is actually something you shouldn’t expect to see; traditional fighting games. With the genre being built almost entirely on head-on-head battles, there’s not going to be many fighting games that are made for 2v2 gameplay. So outside of some Arena games like Wu-Tang Shaolin Style, The Bouncer, Urban Reign, or Power Stone you should prepare to see non-fighting games in bracket.

Combo Breaker 2019’s Top 4 was the last time this was ran and, minor spoilers, but the same person won both Singles and Doubles Mystery that year. What a boss.

Touhou 12.3 Hisoutensoku

If you know any Touhou fighting game, chances are it’s Immaterial and Missing Power. Created in partnership with Twilight Frontier, the creators of Eternal Fighter Zero, it was the first but not the only Touhou fighting game they made together. The 12.3rd Touhou game, Hisoutensoku, is the 3rd fighting game made in the series and still holds a lot of the Shoot Em Up influences from the mainline bullet hell Touhou game, repackaged into fighting game interactions. Unlike games that are Shoot Em Ups first and Fighting Games second (like Senko no Ronde or Maiden & Spell), Hisoutensoku is a fighting game first and foremost and builds out from there with its Shoot Em up lineage.

What To Expect:

Lots and lots of bullets. Hisoutensoku characters have ways to pump out ordinarily-obnoxious projectiles in a variety of patterns, but there is an easy way around them. Like in Shumps, you can “graze” through bullets by dashing, meaning that zoning is less of a lockdown of projectiles and more of a movement test for your opponent to pass if they want to get in. A vital mechanic you will see on occasion at the top of the screen is the changing of the weather. Weather states grant different effects to both characters equally. Sometimes these weather effects are minor, like Spellcard damage increased by 25% or all attacks getting 50% lifesteal, but some weather effects radically change the game, like both characters getting super armor and losing the ability to block. Weather changes every so often so the shape of the match can be dynamically changed depending on what weather effect is active.

Hisoutensoku has had a good run of tournament appearances in the past couple years, showing up at AnimEvo/Vortex Gallery, Quarantined Rapport, and most recently Frosty Faustings 2022. There is lots of tournament footage to graze (oh my god I’m the funniest man alive) to get you prepared for its run at Combo Breaker.

Holy crap that’s a lot of games! Now hopefully your brain has expanded to galaxy sizes with all this information and you are ready to catch the action of Combo Breaker’s Second Castle if you will. Thankfully, the stream schedule has been posted as part of the Combo Breaker program guide and there won’t be a lot of overlap, so you can rest easy knowing you only have to slightly abuse Multitwitch to try and see all of what Combo Breaker has to offer this weekend.

While you’re here don’t miss the full event coverage with main event top 8 times!

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