Weekly Round Up

Due to some technical problems, the voting will start now for this week's Gypsy King. Last week's prize goes to Zguby once again..even though Bernie was in tip top trolling shape the whole week. The Gypsy King hat is still in Bernie's possesion, we never got the chance to get it back yet, we hope that at least you wear it with pride. Ok, that being said, don't forget to vote, and if you have suggestions for new pols or other stuff, don't be shy.

Weekly Round Up!

Last week's Gypsy King was awarded to Berni. To our great surprise he wore the Gypsy King hat with pride and honor, so for that matter we can only say, respect...however, you remain forever salty!

Other than that, most of our Garena members faught at Battlekon 2011. We are proud to announce that Bony(Dhalsim), Razvan(T.Hawk) and Zgub(Blanka) made their way through to the last 8 players. We also have some matches, recorded on the spot, which will be uploaded in the next few days, so keep in touch!

That about sums it up, don't forget to vote the new Gypsy King of the week! 

Garena's Dhalsim (Bony) ass whoopin!

Weekly Round Up

Ok, so we finally have our fist Gypsy King of the week winner. It seems that the gypsy hat will go to Zgubi this time. Even though he has been hiding lately, he shall not escape "the hat", and we hope to post some pictures as soon as we can catch him. This being said, the voting for this week's Gypsy King  is open, so everyone vote and remember, be nice or pay the price!

Weekly Round Up!

Recently Garena has been struck with a great vision! Since we all love to troll, more or less (some "more" than others), and since we seem to be quite skilled at it, we've decided to hold a new weekly contest. We shall do a round up after each week's Garena sessions, and we shall decide, who get's the "Gypsy King" prize for being the biggest troll/gypsy/sausage of the week!

That being said, each Monday the voting shall be open for 3 days, please help us point out the troll! It's for the best!

Cammy basic guide

Cammy is a very quick character on all fronts with many uses for the Focus Attack Dash Cancel which makes her a great choice if you are looking to play a rushdown character. She has some very tricky high low and throw mix ups and even some of her more basic Focus Attack Dash Cancel combos can take off a lot of health. Her Ultra can be used to punish moves on reaction but you cannot juggle into the full Ultra like some other characters are able to.

Strengths

* Fast dash and walking speed.

*  Quick Focus Attack can be mixed in with some of her normal moves to bait her opponents.

*  Quick Ultra means she can punish wiffed moves on reaction.

*  Back dash is fast and can be used in rapid succession.

Weaknessess

*  Cannot juggle into her full Ultra like some other characters can.

*  Has a somewhat limited moveset that makes it harder for her to capitalize on the other players mistakes.

*  Non-EX Cannon Strike can only be performed while jumping forward which limits the moves applications.

*  Armor Breaking move can't be used on reaction due to its slow start up.

*  No overhead attacks means you will have a hard time against defensive players.

Antiair

*  Cannon Spike

*  Crouching Hard Punch

Crossup Move
*Light Kick

Block Strings

*  Crouching LP, Crouching LP, Crouching LP

*  Crouching LP, Crouching LK, Crouching LP

Focus Attack
*Very fast with decent vertical horizontal range. Be sure to fake this move to bait your opponents attacks.

Armor Breaking Move
*Quick Spin Knuckle. Fairly slow start up so be careful when using this to break Armor.

Best Special Move
*Cannon Strike: Great move for pressuring her opponents when performed as soon as she jumps forward, is safe on block and leads to some of her more damaging combos.

Landing the Ultra

*  After a Focus Attack that leads to crumple state

*  After a Jump in Hard Kick or Hard Punch

*  After a Cannon Strike or EX Cannon Strike executed at a low hight

*  After you Focus Attack Backward Dash Cancel a Cannon Spike

*  After any Quick Spin Knuckle

Controlling the Ground

Cammy can control the ground best when she is about one character distance away from her opponent using her Cannon Strike and normals moves, though she has many other ways to close in on her opponent when she is outside of this range such as her Hooligan Combination and Spin Knuckle.

Her Cannon Strike can only be performed when jumping forward; however, the EX Cannon Strike can be performed from a vertical or backwards jump. This is a great move to pressure opponents who are in front of you. It comes out a a quick speed and you can combo into a number of different moves once it connects such as her standing Hard Punch. The key is to execute the Cannon Strike just as soon as you jump forward, and not as much when you are well into the air.  The move itself is somewhat safe if you perform it correctly, although you can be reversaled by a Dragon Punched out of it if you do not time it correctly.  The EX Version gives you more time to follow up with an attack and comes out a bit quicker overall making it a good option when you have the meter; in particular, jumping up/back and throwing this out can surpise someone who tries to rush in and gain ground while you're in the air. This move will trade with Dragon Punches, so be careful against Ryu and Sagat because they can follow up with an Ultra even when their uppercuts trade. You can also use this move in succession on the other side of the screen to build EX meter. Also, if the Cannon Strike is blocked, you can mix in a Focus Attack Dash Canceled Cannon Spike to hit them out of their throw attempts and still be safe even if they continue to block.

Her Spiral Arrow hits low so it can be a good move to catch opponents who are blocking high, but it is unsafe when blocked low and can be punished with a number of moves so be careful with this move. Typically it is better to combo into it off of one of her crouching normal moves, or use the Hard Kick version and Focus Attack Dash Cancel the first hit and dash in for a combo if it hits or a throw if it is blocked.

Against projectile throwing characters her Quick Spin Knuckle is a great move to use to pass through their fireballs. The first hit can be Focus Attack Dash Canceled so use this to your advantage perform a combo on hit or go for a throw when it is blocked.

Speaking of which, Cammy's Hooligan Combination can set up a number of different mix-up opportunities. It is best used against opponents who are standing or blocking high. You can grab them by pressing throw command or simply press nothing to get a low attack which you can Focus Attack Dash Cancel and follow up with a combo on hit or simply go in for a throw if they block. The EX Version is great in that it travels full screen and you can grab opponents who are throwing fireballs from very far away.

Her Hard Kick and Medium Kick are her two farthest reaching normal moves so they are good moves to poke with. Her standing Medium Punch does not have as much range but you can cancel into her specials and supers from it so it can be a good move to pressure with as well. Her crouching Medium Kick has decent range and can be canceled into her special and super moves too.

Controlling the Air

Cammy can control the air primarily with her Cannon Spike which will hit jumping opponents. You can Focus Attack Dash Cancel and follow up with another Cannon Spike as well if it hits deep enough.

Her Hooligan Throw will catch jumping opponents and is usually best to catch opponents who are jumping away from your mix-up's. As mentioned before, the EX version is very fast and travels full screen.

Like Chun-Li and Guile, she has an air throw to catch opponents who jump too much as well.

Her crouching Hard Punch is her best normal move to stop jump in attacks.

Source: http://mycheats.1up.com

And yet another Garena tournament, here are the results:

First Round

Razvan (Blanka) vs Fane (Ryu)   - Fane wins
Boni (Viper) vs Pig (Ken)  - Pig wins
Berni (Gouken) vs Pavel (Guile) - Berni wins
Zgub (Blanka) vs Sfera (Seth) - Zgub wins

Second Round

Fane (Ryu) vs Pig (Ken) - Fane wins
Berni (Gouken) vs Zgub (Blanka) - Zgub wins

Losers Bracket

Razvan (Camy) vs Boni (Viper) - Razvan wins
Pavel (Bison) vs Sfera (Seth) - Pavel wins

Third Round

Losers Bracekt

Razvan (Camy) vs Pig (Ken) - Razvan wins
Pavel (Honda) vs Berni (Bison) - Pavel wins

Fourth Round

Fane (Ryu) vs Zgub (Blanka) - Fane wins

Losers Bracket

Razvan (Camy) vs Pavel (Honda) - Pavel wins

Fifth Round

Zgub (Blanka) vs Fane (Ryu) - Fane wins
Zgub (Rufus) vs Pavel (Honda) - Zgub wins

Final

Zgub (Rufus) vs Fane (Ryu) - Zgub wins

These are the results of last night's Garena session. While the competition was hot, some questions arose, and we thought it would be nice if we made them public. Here they are:
- What is Gouken's retirement pension ?
- Can he really be Santa Claus ?

Garena wishes you a Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!

Insert Coin!

The 8-bit version of Garena theme song!

In case you've missed it, here it is, the Garena theme song! For all you Robot Unicorns out there!

Other than that, there is a certain idea wandering amongst us, something about a Street Fighter competition. It's a bit early to talk about it now, so don't get all excited yet!...In the near future though we're hoping to organize the first, members or nonmembers, Garena Tournament! We'll keep you posted...untill then enjoy the theme song!

Balrog Basic Guide

Balrog is another strong character in Street Fighter 4 who can play both a very aggressive offensive style or sit back and wait with his solid defense for his opponent to make a mistake. In either scenario you will find his crouching Light Punch to be an invaluable tool to not only interrupt your opponents offense, but to start one of your own. His wide range of Dash Punches also allow him to play a strong high low mix up game which will keep the other player guessing at all times, especially when you start to land throws on them for good measure.

Some of Balrogs combos require very strict timing to pull off and landing his Ultra is a bit different than some other characters in the game, but do not let this deter you from picking him up -- hop into training mode, get these combos and set ups down, and you will thank yourself once you start stacking up the wins.

Strengths

* Very useful normal moves such as crouching LP to shut down his opponents offense and start one of his own.
* Wide range of Special moves that allow him to adapt to any situation and mix-up his opponent when he is on the offensive.
* Good number of Armor Breaking moves.

Weaknessess

* No cross-up move means he will have to find other ways to pressure downed opponents.
* Somewhat difficult combos which will require more timing and precision compared to some other characters in the game.

Notable Normal Moves

* Crouching Light Punch
* Crouching Hard Punch
* Crouching Hard Kick

Antiair

* Crouching Hard Punch
* Buffalo Headbutt

Crossup Move

None

Block Strings

* Crouching LP, Crouching LP, Crouching LK, Crouching MK
* Crouching LP, Crouching LP, Crouching LK, Crouching HK

Focus Attack

Balrog's Focus Attack has much more vertical range than it does horizontal range and is typically best used to fake and bait your opponent.

Armor Breaking Move

* Dash Low Smash
* Dash Swing Blow
* Turn Punch (TAP)
* Super and Ultra

Best Special Move

Buffalo Headbutt: Allows Balrog to go through fireballs, follow up with an Ultra and is also an anti-air move.

Landing the Ultra

* After Buffalo Headbutt
* After Focus Attack that leads to a crumple state
* (Kara?) Ultra Reversal after super armor absorbing EX Dashes

Combos

Jump Hard Punch, Crouching Hard Kick
Basic 2 hit combo to score a knock down.

Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Punch, Standing Light Punch, Light Punch Dash Straight, Super  

Combo

A simple straight forward way to hit confirm into his Dash Straight into Super.
Crouching medium kick, Crouching jab, Crouching medium punch , fierce punch Buffaulo head butt, then ultra or super mabye go in for a wakeup options can also be used as blockstring.
Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Kick, EX Dash Upper, Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Kick, Buffaulo Headbutt
This combo is a bit complicated because you are linking the crouching light punch after the EX Dash Upper, so the timing perform this combo will require a bit of practice. Also, the opponent must be standing, otherwise, the EX Dash Upper will not connect. Good damage and stun.

Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Punch, Crouching Light Kick, Buffalo Headbutt, Ultra
This is Balrogs bread and butter combo in Street Fighter 4 so be sure to get this one down in that it is his safest way of landing his Ultra. To land the Ultra after the Buffalo Headbutt, charge down, then go to up-back to hold the charge, and when you land from the Buffalo Headbutt input the command for the Ultra. By holding up-back during the Buffalo Headbutt the game will see this as you never losing a charge that is required for the Ultra.

Note: To juggle with the Ultra, use the kick version, let the first hit connect, let the second punch pass through, and then HOLD all three kicks to finish it off. This is the only way to land all the hits after a juggle.

Controlling the Ground

Balrog will control space on the ground using his many variations of Dash Punches and quick to execute normal moves, so become familiar with the properties of all these moves so you can play both a strong defensive and offensive game. Also keep in mind that the EX versions of his Dash Punches have armor on them that can absorb one hit of a non-armor breaking move so use this to blow through your opponents attempts to stop your offense.

Balrog's Light Punch Dash Straight is one of your primary tools to pressure and punish the other player. It's safe when connected from max range so get a feel for how far it travels because if you do it too close to the opponent they can punish you. You will find yourself using this move very often in most battles due to it's speed and ability to move yourself closer to the opponent to mount an offense. You can use the EX Version to absorb one hit of whatever your opponent throws out so it's also good for going through fireballs as well. You can also cancel into Balrog's Super off of his Dash Straight, but again, be careful because if it is blocked you can be punished if you perform it too close.

If the opponents catch onto your linear game plan of pressuring with the Light Punch Dash Straight and start blocking high, you can mix it up with his Dash Low Straight which hits low to score a knock down. If they begin to Focus Attack your Dash Straight, you can use his Dash Low Smash to break their armor.

Balrog also has a couple ways to deal with characters who rely on fireballs to zone and avoid projectiles altogether. His primary way of doing this is using his Buffalo Headbutt which will go through fireballs and covers a significant amount of horizontal space as well (works well for hitting Zangief out of his Lariat). For instance, at the beginning of a round, if Sagat throws a High Tiger Shot, you can do a Buffalo Headbutt that will not only go through the Tiger Shot but will hit Sagat in the process. He also has his Turn Punch (commonly referred to as "TAP") where he will perform a quick spin, pass through a projectile and end with a punch.

Once you get in close to your opponent (or if they happen to close in on you), Balrog's crouching Light Punch is his go to normal move. Not only is it a great move because it is so fast and will stop the other players offense, it is also his primary way of starting combos. If they end up blocking it, you can mix in a walk up throw or Dash Swing Blow for an overhead.

His crouching Hard Kick is also a good normal move in that it is a quick way to sweep your opponent and start and offense. You can combo this off of a jump in Hard Punch for a quick 2 hit combo to score a knockdown as well.

Controlling the Air

Stopping jump in attacks and covering the space above Balrog isn't too difficult and is pretty strait forward. His primary way of doing this is with his down and Hard Punch. This is very solid anti air normal move that inherently has a lot less risk than his Buffalo Headbutt. His Buffalo headbutt of course is a good choice as well in that if it hits clean you can combo into Ultra. His Buffalo Headbutt is also a good way to get out of cross-up situations. If they jump over you when you are waking up, perform the Buffalo Headbutt and you will either hit their attack or escape in the other direction.



//guide from www.mycheats.com

A new poll

We're back with another poll. "In a life or death situation, who would you save?". This subject was once brought at one of our weekly sessions, and was received with extreme enthusiasm. Don't forget to vote, we're looking forward to your results.

Chuck Norris vs Ryu poll, results

The Chuck Norris vs Ryu poll has ended, with Chuck Norris as the winner, gaining 57% of the votes. It seems that once again Chuck has proven that the Round House Kick conquers all, even Ryu's Hadouken. We salute you, almighty Texas Ranger!

Sagat Basic Guide

Sagat, arguably the best character in SF4. He's not called the king for nothing. Sagat is a very good choice for those who want to play it safe. He has great stamina, can take a lot of hits, but also he can put up a great offensive game, dealing massive damage to the opponent. He also has the fastest projectiles in the game, meaning he will have no trouble against other long range players. A downside for this overpowered character is his slow movement speed, but good players will always find other means of getting close to their opponent.

Strengths

* High damage combos and normal moves
* Tiger Knee is the best special move in the game because it's numerous applications such as it being safe on block and able to beat most moves in the game, even those with Armor.
* Quick Focus Attack allows him to mix it in with poke strings, land a counter hit and go in for high damage combos.
* Multiple ways to connect an Ultra allow him to control the match once he has a full meter.

Weaknessess

* Slow walking speed means you will have to use his Tiger Knee and other means to move around the screen quickly.

Notable Normal Moves

* Standing HK
* Towards and HK
* Standing LK
* Jump toward MP

Antiair

Tiger Uppercut
Standing HK
Forward and HK

Crossup Move

Jumping Light Kick

Block Strings

Crouching LK, Crouching LK, Crouching LP
Crouching LK, Crouching LP, LK, Low Tiger Shot

Focus Attack

It has a shorter range than other focus attacks, but still it has good speed and is a good choice to put pressure on your opponents

Armor Breaking Move

Tiger Knee. Probably your best choice against players who try to focus attack you.

Best Special Move

Tiger Knee: Not only does it have armor break, but it also has high priority. This move will go through almost every other move in the game. Keep this in mind.

Landing the Ultra

* After an anti-air Forward and Roundhouse
* After a Focus Attack that leads to a crumple state
* After a traded or Focus Attack Dash Canceled Tiger Uppercut
* After EX Low Tiger Shot in corner
* After EX Tiger Uppercut


Controlling the Ground

Sagat will control the ground using his high and low Tiger Shots. These are a good way to keep you opponent under pressure. Be sure to alternate between your LP/LK Tiger Shots and HP/HK Tiger Shots because they have different speed. This is a good way to confuse a player that jumps over your projectiles.
The EX version of the Tiger Shot will score a knock down, so keep this in mind. It is a good move to put in a combo, or to land the ultra in the corner.
Sagat also has some moves for close range. His Tiger Uppercut and his Tiger Knee are good ways to punish opponents.

Controlling the Air

Sagat controls the air using his Tiger Uppercut. Very similar to Ryu's , a good strategy would be to keep your opponent in the corner with projectiles, and force them to jump in on you. Punish them with an upper cut, or with a tiger knee. Sagat has some good normal moves to use against jumping opponents. His standing HK, and his forward HK.
Forward HK is good for juggling, if it hits, you can go for a tiger knee, or another forward HK.

Garena Theme Song

Because of it's horrifying success since the release of Robot Unicorn Attack, we have decided to pick this song as the Garena Theme.

Chuck Norris vs Ryu, who do you think would win?

We have another poll for you, "Chuck Norris vs Ryu, who do you think would win?", don't forget to vote!

Our "Bring your sunglasses to Garena contest winner" results are:
Fane (12 votes)
Pavel (10 votes)
Bony (4 votes)

But everyone cheated, so everyone was disqualified! Hadouken!

Tournament Roundup

On our last Garena session, our first tournament was finally held! With 9 players participating, we let fate decide who was going to face who, and one lucky bastard got the chance to compete with the losers bracket winner, for a place in the final!

We played one match, best of 5 rounds, with 60 seconds time. You got to choose one character, and if you won, you had to stick with him for the rest of the tournament. Only those who got to play in losers bracket first match got to change their fighter, once.  

The participants - Razvan, Radu, Bony, Zgubi, Sfera, Pavel, Cimpy, Zaietz, Fane.

So after our random selection, the matches were theese:


First Round
Razvan (T.Hawk) vs Radu (Juri) -- Razvan Wins
Bony (Dee Jay) vs Zaietz (Juri)  -- Bony Wins
Sfera (Blanka)  vs Zgubi (Sagat)  -- Sfera Wins
Pavel (M.Bison) vs Fane (Fei Long)  -- Fane Wins
Cimpy got the Cuc for the first round  // Cuc plays with winner of  losers bracket for a place in the final

Round Two
Razvan (T.Hawk) vs Bony (Dee Jay)  -- Razvan Wins
Sfera (Blanka) vs Fane (Fei Long)  -- Fane Wins

Losers Bracket
Radu (M.Bison) vs Zaietz (Juri) -- Radu Wins
Zgubi (Sagat) vs Pave; (M.Bison) -- Zgubi Wins

Round Three
Razvan (T.Hawk) vs Fane (Fei Long) -- Fane Wins
Losers Bracket
Radu (M.Bison) vs Zgubi (Sagat)  -- Zgubi Wins

*Cimpy (Juri) vs Zgubi (Sagat)  -- Zgubi Wins

Final Round
Zgubi (Sagat) vs Fane (Fei Long)  -- Fane Wins

Our second tournament:


Round One
Sfera vs Fane -- Sfera Wins
Cimpy vs Zgubi -- Cimpy Wins
Pavel vs Razvan -- Razvan Wins
Radu vs Bony -- Bony Wins
Zaietz got the cuc for the first round

Round Two
Sfera vs Cimpy -- Sfera Wins
Razvan vs Bony -- Razvan Wins
Losers Bracket
Fane vs Zgubi -- Fane Wins
Pavel vs Radu -- Radu Wins

Round Three
Sfera vs Razvan -- Sfera Wins
Losers Bracket
Fane vs Radu -- Radu Wins

*Radu vs Zaietz -- Radu Wins

Final Round
Radu vs Sfera -- Radu Wins

Our first tournament night at Garena saw Fei Long going on a rampage in our first contest! Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to see "The One Inch Punch" ultra to often, but what the hell, maybe next time.

Contest number two to saw M.Bison going on Psycho Power all to way to the top, after a little detour to the losers bracket. We all witnessed the power of Bison's "Magic Little Feet". Hail !

Other than that, Juri got a lot of attention from our players last night, so she get's the prize for popularity.

Also T. Hawk gets the prize for most flying fighter! "Hunt or Die!"

These being said, we hope our contestants enjoyed a chill night, and we look forward to our next sessions! Hadouken!

Sagat is the king!

News flash:

On our last Garena session, we witnessed the power of The King. What seemed to be a peaceful and quiet night, turned out to be a massacre for one of our members. Luck was not on his side in his attempt to keep up with the game, he witnessed the might of Sagat! Slowly but steady the loses stacked up for our proud member Berni, who just couldn't handle the king's Tiger Destruction.
We all know how frustrating it is to go on a loosing spree. We understand what you must be going to right now, master Berni, so what we have to say to you is: "Taunt!"

Guilty

Chun-Li basic guide

As everything comes with a price in SF4, Chun-Li is one of the fastest characters, but also has one of the lowest stamina. She can very easily put pressure on her opponents as she has a good moving speed and fast dash plus high priority normal moves. She can also throw fireballs, and even though they are slow, they can trick the opponent in some cases.
Her ultra is very useful against other projectile player.

Legend
[U]    - up
[D]    - down
[B]     - backwards
[F]     - forward
[QC]     - quarter circle
[QCF]    - quarter circle forward
[QCB]    - quarter circle backwards
[HC]    - half circle
[HCF]    - half circle forward
[HCB]    - half circle backwards
[LP]       - light punch
[MP]     - medium punch
[HP]     - heavy punch
[LK]       - light kick
[MK]     - medium kick
[HK]      - heavy kick 

Strengths
* Great normal moves
* Strong mix-ups
* Fast dash and walking speed

Weaknessess
* Low Stamina
* Can't combo into Ultra outside of corner

Notable Normal Moves
* Crouching LP
* Crouching LK
* Standing MP
* Jump Forward HP
* Jump HK
* Crouching HK
* Jumping LK

Antiair
Ex Spinning Bird Kick

Crossup Move
Jumping LK

Block Strings
* Crouching LP, Crouching LP, Crouching LP
* Crouching LK, Crouching LK

Focus Attack
Her Focus Attack is quick and has good range, so combine this with her fast dashing speed to pressure your opponent while you are on the offensive. Even if the Focus Attack is blocked, her fast dash speed will put her  right back in their face almost instantly to start some high/low or throw mix-ups.

Armor Breaking Move
Spinning Bird Kick.

Best Special Move
EX Spinning Bird Kick: This move works great as an anti-air and a "get off me!" move when being pressured by an opponent.

Landing the Ultra
* After Jumping Forward HP near corner
* After EX Lighting Legs near corner
* Passes through fireballs

Controlling the Ground

Chun-li can control the ground using her slow moving fireballs. A good way to pressure your opponents with Chun-li is to launch a kikoken and move behind it as she has fast moving speed and dashes. Once she is in close range she can use her crouch kicks and crossups to land some combos. Be careful against other projectile opponents, because her kikoken won't stand a chance against their firepower. A good way to get close on opponents who keep pressuring you with projectiles is Hazanshu flip kick. Timed well this move will jump right over they're projectile.

Chun Li also has a very good Focus Attack in that is has good range and comes out quickly leaving her at an advantage. Be sure to mix this in with her poke strings and other attacks to possibly score a crumple. As a side note, if you score a crumple this is one of the best places to perform her Back MK, MK, Up Down MK, that although is not her most damaging combo, looks very cool and is a great way to finish off the other player.

Controlling the Air

Chun-Li does not have the absolute best anti-airs in the game but when she has EX meter her EX Spinning Bird Kick is her best bet. It will beat most jump in attacks when timed correctly.She can also air throw which is useful against jumping opponents.

Jump forward HP - good for air-to-air and also good for starting combos.

Jump up HK - good range and beats most air attacks. It covers about half the screen so it has great range but does not lead into combos like her jump forward HP.