It’s no shock to anyone that our boys Will & Luke have a rivalry. In both life and gaming the two enjoy competing. So, when it comes to a game based around the iconic Dragonball franchise it’s safe to say the two are a dynamic similar to Goku & Vegeta! Battling to reach new heights, Respawning’s largest lads have spent almost a year playing FighterZ together. Testing their skills and team set ups against one and other before taking the fight to the ranked playlists in this gorgeous fighting game. With Kakarot on the horizon and their love for the franchise renewed, Luke and Will have decided to let us peak behind the curtain as they discuss their main 3-man teams in-game and why they love them!
Mains – Android 16, Bardock, Vegito Blue
My team didn’t take all that much thought if I’m honest. Ever since they released as DLC, Bardock and Vegito have been mainstays of my 3 man squad – Bardock is classed by most as an S-tier character, which came as quite a surprise to me since I only started using him since he’s one of my favourite heroes in the series… However, its clear that his overhead spinning punch is unreal at breaking guards, and his Super Saiyan ultimate can be stuck perfectly into any of his combos to finish off any enemy with hardly any difficulty. His power is also aided by his reach; most of his attacks leave him sliding across the screen to connect, which can leave your foes shocked, believing that they might be at a safe distance! His Rising Uppercut moves so fast that you can easily juggle most people before they realise exactly what is happening, and all his supers and ultimate’s work just as well in mid-air; the only downside is most need to connect physically to work since his energy attacks are limited to just one Riot Javelin. Still, as a close-range fisticuffs merchant, there isn’t much better.
Vegito is an interesting add to the team because I have him there almost exclusively for one combo opener. The Potara hero’s basic combo includes rapid kicks that alternate between high and low strikes which most players will struggle to defend against,; in fact the low kicks are my safety net. If a bad guy is giving me trouble with some skilful blocking then I’ll bring blue hair out of the gate and bust right into that combo; before you know it I’m juggling the bastard with more mid-air kicks and the beam sword to the chest. That beam sword is a god send too, since I struggle to get air combos lasting more than a few hits, knowing I can rely on that sword to drag them back into the air; it gives me a safety net to make sure I can stay on the offensive! On top of all that though, Vegito’s ultimate technique… And no I’m not talking about the Final Kamehameha, we’re looking at his Instant Transmission Spear Punch… A fantastic air combo finisher, watching him warp directly above the foe just to launch them into the ground is always satisfying; couple that with the absolute disrespect of hearing him yell “You can’t keep up with me, just look at my speed!” makes it all the more fun to show your dominance over the enemy!
Now, let’s talk about Android 16… The biggest, baddest, ginger-iest android around. 16 is an unusual character (at least he was until Broly was released) as most of his fighting style revolves around grabs and throws… Which makes him a perfect griefer. Repeatedly grabbing and dunking some unsuspecting martial artist into the ground is never not fantastic fun. The highlight of this interesting method of battle though? No one is ever ready for it. Playing Ranked you notice that some characters (Bardock) appear way more often than others, but 16 hardly appears at all, so most players have no idea quite how to counter him. If I can get a combo of grabs, throws and Hell’s Flash going, then I can dominate the fight 9 times out of ten… But what about that tenth time? Well then, it’s time for the Android 16 trump card, self-destruct. 16’s ultimate move is to lunge a few feet and grab the enemy; once he does he immediately detonates himself and insta-kills them, regardless of how much health they have left! Sure, there are a few negatives, the short range being one, and if you use the move when they still have a teammate left, then you’d better be ready since 16 will have a pixel of health left, and the enemy’s super gauge will be at max! Even so, there is nothing as satisfying as dominating another player and STILL feeling the need to self-destruct them just for the sheer disrespect!
Mains – GT Goku, Teen Gohan, Trunks
LOOK AT THIS SCRUB WITH HIS GT GOKU, screw you. If you don’t like him, get better at beating him because he’s so very easy to punish. I have done a lot of experimenting with teams recently, and I appreciate that the meta for the game is to have Kid Buu on the team, but I just can’t gel with him at all.
I flirted for a while with having Teen Gohan replaced by Vegeta, but I found that I couldn’t get quite as good with Vegeta as I am with Teen Gohan in all honesty. I have spent quite a long time cultivating my team in casual matches before taking on Will, or Ranked matches with my A team of players…
Trunks, however, has stuck within my team since day 1. He’s my favourite character in the moderately okay anime (coz sword), and I like that everyone expects him to be trash, so when I fly in with Trunks, it pretty much catches everyone off guard – Especially at Supreme Kai level because most people have abandoned the pretty boy by this stage.
One thing I learned with this team very quickly is to not rely on specials too much as Trunks and Goku’s hitbox for these is so minimal, it makes it too easy to miss and have myself punished into oblivion for it. Instead I rely heavily on multi-character combos that ensure I don’t give my opponent the chance to get back up and fight back.
On a side note though, FighterZ is quickly becoming one of my favourite games on the PS4, and the addictive, easy to pick up, but impossible to master gameplay is to thank for that. Let us know your team matchups down below!
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