Free Step Dodge

Another batch of Team NINJA's "Official Tournament" videos have recently been posted, and these three matches are pretty awesome.

First we have America vs. Europe with Matt Ponton and Emperor Cow getting into it with their mains. Matt did a great job handling Leifang's offense and won the match convincingly.


The next match features a Helena player and a Kasumi player. This matchup has always been a good one in my book, and both players are being as offense and as defensive as they possibly can. I don't see a lot of dropped combos from Japanese players, but I also don't see a lot of long and flashy combos (which can sometimes lose players matches anyway).


And quite possibly my favorite match... two heavies; Bayman and Leon going at it in a really intense match. Lots of great low throw punishing, and a great comeback. I enjoyed this match a lot and appreciated the overall diversity to this week's batch of videos.

Don't forget Final Round XVII. Last years Final Round was unforgettable with a huge turn-out for Dead or Alive, and clutch matches. Let's do it again this year with our new installment.

Pool 1:
loki jih
milechaser
CXThomas
nerdyafro
FNEX Rip
genocide_cutter
SweetRevenge
Gruff

Pool 2:
AK|MP XEN0M0RPH
Awesmic
Fred Campbell
LOLcheeseORZ
Vrolly
Jiraiya-Sama2390
Shade Swifteye

Pool 3:
Blue Link
AFD Requiem
drdonutman
Phibrizzo
crepuscule2012
R4712-VR88
Rg Sonic Fox

Pool 4:
M C Kwiggle
Yoyo
Cpt Toushiro
Bob Poundmax
Akuma SODMG
J.D.E.
Dallaz

Mark your calendars:

March 14-16, 2014
Hilton Atlanta Airport
1031 Virginia Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30354
Tel: (404) 767-9000 (double bed for $93 until rooms runs out)
Register
Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate - $10

Prove yourself to the best:...

Recently we have been contacted by a European Tournament Organizer by the name of @K4rma who has a message to other European players and this site pertaining to an upcoming event:

"I’m Maxime «Karma » Besenval, a french DoA player and tournament organizer. First of all, even if I’m a silent reader of Free Step Dodge, I’d like to say thanks for creating the website as it’s a real great community tool for all DoA players; even the French ones.

Since the release of the DoA5, we implemented 8 offline tournaments of the game (RoF# 1 & 2, Stun Academy, 36th Chamber of DoA # 1, 2 & 3, Winter Session and StunFest). We always reached at least 32 subscriptions. As a consequence, a lot of players from other countries (Northern Europe, Belgium, Italy…) showed-up at each of our tournaments. In particular, The Republic of Fighters (RoF) is a Paris-based tournament with 8 fighting games. As a prestigious meeting place for the world’s best players the RoF quickly established...

After all of the intense matches from SCR this weekend, it's only fitting that we are followed up with huge news pertaining to our game and community. Marie Rose is coming to consoles 3/25 on Playstation 3 and the 26th on Xbox 360. A 1.05 update is also planned, but little details are available for that.


Update 3/04: Marie Rose will be paid DLC. Her retail price is 5.99 USD. It should also be mentioned that the title update will be coupled with Lorelei.

Kasumi Alpha "Phase 4" is also planned to be released and she is only currently planned for arcades.

The following images provided by Team NINJA. Be sure to thank them (Twitter/Facebook) for their support!

The amazing Eric "Big E" Small has upped the stakes for Dead or Alive players this year. A chance at the 500 dollar prize pot bonus from Big E himself will require no entry fee. Free. This is a nice opportunity for all Dead or Alive players to dip into the waters and give tournament play a try for those that haven't already.

I asked Big E why he was giving us such a nice break:

"I'm just trying to kick start the DOA community again and show them some love. BigE Gaming cares about the DOA community."

A prize payout equivalent to a 50 man turnout... free. Check out Big E's Summer Jam page for more information and updates!

Summer Jam for me is one of the most essential tournaments for Dead or Alive. Summer Jam 6 perked my interest to competitive gaming, and really hyped DOA5 up for me a month before it came out. Now I'm doing lab work and improving daily. Here are some great Summer Jam moments to refresh...

Firstly, congrats to Kwiggle for pulling off his best performance to date at Winter Brawl 8, defeating his brother from Loser's Bracket, and Requiem... a hungry performer bent on serving intense sets.


Second, the Top 8 videos have been uploaded to Bifuteki's Youtube. The reason they weren't available from day 1 was not because of subscriptions, but because their videos are often stolen on day 1. Expect this to happen regularly now. If you're interested in watching an event, I recommend trying to watch it live.

All Top 8 videos are also available for your viewing pleasure in our media page which is growing rapidly each day.

Lastly, I would also like to give a nice shout out to community member @Sly Bass for his brilliant showing of Akira at Winter Brawl 8. You can watch his new series in our media section which is titled...

This is the second batch of uploads from the Japanese "Official Tournament" courtesy of Team NINJA. These are the regional qualifiers with only three rounds to advance. The players play defensively not just because of their style, but because they are not given a chance to condition or "download" their opponent.

You see a lot of character diversity (Tina, Kokoro, Zack) from these videos coupled with the older batch; so enjoy!




The third batch (and perhaps the final) will be uploaded by Team Ninja soon.

Team NINJA is uploading tournament videos to our site Youtube channel. These videos are from Team NINJA's Official Tournament. The Japanese players who are already known for their defensive style are even more so here because of the set rules being one match to qualify. Each of these matches were the three qualifying finals in their respective regionals.

Three videos are up now, but more are planned to follow courtesy of Team NINJA, and this one is the latest:

Yes, a new character is coming to Dead or Alive next month, and as reported by Team Ninja and community member, Air Gear she will be the character at the end credits of Ultimate. If you didn't bother to play story-mode take a look at this teaser to catch up.

A few weeks ago, three-peat tournament champion, Sweet Revenge talked about his amazing year at tournaments. His ability to adapt and overcome clearly showed in full force... especially since the release of Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate. Now SR recaps the past, gives us some do's and don'ts to traveling and offers some tips for players striving to improve their game.

DOAN: First, where does that name Sweet Revenge come from? It seems that just recently revenge has been yours.

SR: It comes from a System of a Down song, and I've had the name before DOA. But I did beat Bladez, and Master after going to the lab with Genfu. I was never a technical player until DOA5. I love going to the lab, I find Genu tech every day.

DOAN: When you started playing DOA, did you start playing as a fan or someone with the interest of competitive play?...

Just as a reminder Winter Brawl is scheduled this month, 2/21-2/23 in Essington, PA. Last year SweetRevenge won this tournament against XcaliburBladeZ.


Competitor information:

Facebook Page

Pre-Registration - http://bigegaming.com/pre-registration/

Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate Rules - http://bigegaming.com/dead-of-alive-5-rules/

Official Stream: Bifuteki - http://www.twitch.tv/bifuteki

Who will win this year now that SR will not be attending to defend his title?

Pwnit has added another bracket for those interested in a free shot at 81 costumes for the PS3 platform, or a PS3/360 copy of Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z if you get first place.

All you need to do is think about your favorite tournament match from Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate and upload it to pwnit. Be sure to vote for your favorite matches. You can raise the chances of your video being liked by making allies on the site.

Example:

Today, Yosuke Hayashi has announced that after Yaiba releases, their next game could be exclusive to PS4. All we can do now is wait for future updates. The game is likely to be the next Ninja Gaiden based off the selected tease photo, but could this mean DOA is destined to be exclusive to Sony's latest platform in the future?

Now that the patch for 1.04 has been released, we can explore some of the meaning behind it, and why it's important for players to take a look at their characters, and even the general system.

If you have found a hidden change or new tech, please report that in this thread so I can add it under the character summary. This is the communities patch notes, not a copy from the original source material.

Throws involving 33T are now easier to feel. I'm actually not sure how, but I'm guessing it's more strict to the input (360 player).

Certain sit-down stuns will now make the opponent sit closer to the offensive player. If you can report those sit-downs I will add them to a list.

Holds are now possible to initiate after a sit-down from behind.

Some moves have changed so they can be used during a crouching state. If you can report those sit-downs I will add them to a list.

The back draft...

As of Feb. 5th, 1.04 is now on Xbox 360.

Patch 1.04 has finally been released on PSN, and is expected to release on 360 tomorrow. We've already discussed what the patch covers in a previous news post, so if you are not aware of the mechanic changes, be sure to take a look.

For those interested in DLC, a sports/bikini pack will also be released tomorrow for the girls of DOA. The latest tease was a picture of Kokoro in shredded swimwear.



There is also a "Private Paradise" mode which can be accessed in the movie section of the game. Leifang's will be free until Feb. 11th.

Recently it was announced that a special edition of Yaiba would be made, and there would be crossover DLC to Dead or Alive 5: Ultimate. The trailer showcases the Momiji zombie bikini, and the zombie accessory hanging from Ryu's neck.

Now it appears that Momiji is making an appearance in Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, and there were some special renders released today which are attached below:



It would seem that Team NINJA is doing what they can to sell Yaiba to the Dead or Alive audience, with Momiji and crossover DLC, they have rung the right bell with some.

After a good showing in last years tournament, Dead Or Alive 5 Ultimate will once again be a part of The Fall Classic when it returns this October, 2014.

The Fall Classic 2014 will take place at Raleigh, North Carolina on October 10 to 12. In addition to Dead Or Alive 5 Ultimate, this years tournament will feature 12 other games.

Check out the full lineup over at Shoryuken.com.

From left to right: @TRI Mike, @Tulkas, @TonyMoonman, @Faust-san, Elix, Gerardo and (incomplete) Jesús

FSD member and Venezuelan DOA player @Tulkas recently dropped a post that he, along with notable pal @TRI Mike, have both worked up and succeeded on having a few congregated offline DOA gatherings in their small town of Caracas, Venezuela. You can see one of their recent events (pictured above).

The thread, in which Tulkas proudly posts about their accomplishment, has been detailed in both english and spanish (props to him for that), where he mentions and credits the FSD search feature on the site for looking up surrounding...

Posting from the just now complete Official Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Tournament, Hayashi announced that at the end of January there will be a patch to the Arcade version of the game. In February, the consoles will receive said arcade patch sans Marie Rose. Marie Rose will be available on console some time in the spring.

Team Ninja will be hosting the final of their series of Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade location test tournaments in their Tokyo office today!

Update: TN have tweeted this link. No video active yet: http://t.co/qipygREN3o
The tournament finals will be streamed on Ustream from 6pm Tokyo time. Previous streams have been via this channel:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/battlearena-臨時配信チャンネル?utm_campaign=t.co&utm_source=ustre-am&utm_medium=social

Keep an eye on the Team Ninja twitter and Facebook page for updates. Make sure you check it out and see how some guest Western players do against the Japanese!
FreestepDodge's own fearless leader @Mr. Wah will be wrecking...

We over at Shoryuken.com are holding our annual year end reader poll for the best fighting games of the year. Naturally Dead Or Alive 5 Ultimate is in the running for a couple of categories.

Team NINJA's updated fighter is currently nominated for "Best Update/Rerelease" and "Best Fighting Game" overall, however it's far from the top spots in either. With this in mind, it's time for the DOA community to get together and vote for DOA5U - arguably one of the best releases of the series to date.

Be sure to head on over to Shoryuken.com and vote. Voting ends on January 7 so you all need hurry.