Free Step Dodge

If there's one major tournament that many have hoped that Dead Or Alive 5 would have had a presence in, it's none other than Evo. Now, Dead Or Alive 5: Last Round is finally making it to the big game.

DOA series producer Yosuke Hayashi and director Yohei Shimbori have posted the ff. message announcing the game's return to the biggest stage of them all.

To the DOA fans and fighting game fans, thanks to you all we are proudly announcing that DEAD OR ALIVE 5 Last Round will take part in the world’s largest fighting game festival Evo.

5 years have passed since the DOA5 series started and it’s been played by more than 10 million gamers. Meanwhile, the DOA community has expanded to become larger than ever before.

To proceed to the next stage, we announced the...

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Summer Jam was one of the kick-starters of DOA5's offline tournament scene, and this year the DOA community plans to put their skills to the test again in 2018 while also proving to Team NINJA that we are ready and passionate for Dead or Alive 6. Big E Gaming has been so good to our community, giving us the spotlight and hosting us every chance possible; always showing a lot of love. We really do have a lot to be thankful for, and Summer Jam 18 should be considered a platform for us to express our gratitude to those that have supported the scene and Dead or Alive by putting on a show that only this game can offer in the FGC.

Final Round might not roll in our highest numbers but the intense quality matches are what help DOA5 stand out; even in a more intimate environment we see an absolute savage Crazy Steady come back to take FR! He spends the opening rounds of his fights thinking of what to do with his opponents; whether it be a seasoned vet or a newcomer and finishes them off in ways that only he can. Even professional fighter Hoodless fell to the might of the West Coast King!


If you need a quick reference, take a look at the standings via Smash.GG. Thanks to Kombat Network, we were able to enjoy a high quality stream of our game, and now replays have been released for the event. Kombat Network makes the navigation of...

Congratulations to Jager for taking Winter Brawl 12! Despite some cancellations and no pool stream, we managed to get over 1,000 viewers on FunkyP during Top 8 with a great showing from some of the finest fighters out there.

Note pertaining to Saturday Pools: Winter Brawl is upon us, and while we do definitely make a presence...

A New Year is here, but what hasn't changed is our annual community appearance at Winter Brawl in Essington made possible by Big E Gaming with plenty of perks in store for DOA5 fighters. The tournament starts February 23rd, so now would be the perfect time to formulate your plans. Free Step Dodge will keep you posted on all the event news: including results, player pools and more.

Winter Brawl 7 took place in 2013, and it marked the community's first appearance with Dead or Alive 5 vanilla. Sweet Revenge not only defeated the unstoppable XcaliburBladeZ with Sarah, but broke a common misconception in the fighting game community: guest characters ARE awesome, and they can be viable. Since then we have seen other big wins from the Virtua Fighter characters, such as JC Akira's legendary performance at NEC 16.


Hearing Tom Lee's address to the community after NEC 18...

If you want a new way to train for offline events with the chance to win prizes and further connect with the community, maybe you should look to network with ESL. Master has been hyping these events by streaming them and advertising them via social media so you know there is some legitimacy as these types of online events also provide us with something to do with Last Round as we wait for the next major: Winter Brawl. Ready fighters?

A year ago at the Battle Royal 2016 finals Team NINJA Creative Director Tom Lee said, "Next year's Battle Royal event will be an event you don't want to miss." As the year went on, members in the community couldn't help but wonder due to the intonation of Tom's speech if something big was planned or if it was just generic hype for a year long event filled with amazing competitive matches.

The journey to the Battle Royal 2017 finals was eventful, filled with upsets from South Killy defeating XCalibur BladeZ at Final Round, previous Battle Royal 2015 winner JC Akira taking the EVO Japan Pre-tournament, XCalibur BladeZ getting his run-back on Battle Royal 2016 winner Rikuto at Summer Jam 11, Hoodless finally taking the win after his die-hard training at The Fall Classic, and Snow defeating previous European champion Gehaktbal at the Republic of fighters.

The world's eyes were on Team NINJA as we rolled into NEC18 for the Battle Royal 2017 World Finals event. A day before the event...

As if pools were not crazy enough we are doing all of Top 8 with FT3 format. So are you ready for the biggest, grandest show at NEC 18?

Kwiggle def. Teru Rock - Great FT3 with two games going into last round. Both players zoned looking for jabs and reversals, but Kwiggle was able to get the upper hand with Phase 4, sending Teru to losers.

Siologica def. Sonic Fox - This FT3 was insane because Sonic Fox had his greatest strengths play against him. Siologica read almost all of Phase 4's jabs and retorted with his own. If you also include that strong environmental damage and adaptability, Sonic Fox simply ran out of options before he could build enough momentum.

Hoodless def. Rikuto - Watching these two is like watching a UFC fight, or an epic fight in DBZ. When you...

Despite DOA5 coming out over 5 years ago we are seeing very strong numbers for our weekend main event, beating out big names in numbers like Injustice 2, Pokemon, Blazblue and coming close to a new release like Tekken 7 or the big one Street Fighter V. There have been events; free events even that have barely cracked 30 players... so as a community member pat yourself on the back, and if you are going to NEC find a ninja to hug as this clan has come a long way. Are you ready for Team NINJA's biggest event of the year?

If you are wondering how you are going to survive against some of the veterans, FSD has you covered with the community forum and our media section with over 800 tournament videos for you to peruse. Team NINJA has...

With the amazing collaborative effort from the community, BigEGaming and Team NINJA we are at the end of our third battle royal for Dead or Alive 5: Last Round and NEC 18 will provide the grounds for this respected event with announcements from Team NINJA expected. The community will be treated with a $6,000 pot bonus to fight over, which is also the biggest pot bonus at NEC -- thanks to Team NINJA, whom might be having their BEST year to date. BigE has also extended the time you can...

Team NINJA is providing us with a lot of great content. Not only do we have a full tournament at NEC 18, but the community now has access to an improved Ninja Gaiden Black on XBOX ONE X and now we have Nioh on PC which is mostly getting positive reviews from Steam. This is definitely the best way to play the game.

TECMO KOEI has shown a lot of interest in PC gaming and it has not only grown their fanbase but their pocketbooks as well. Since the PS4 version is still going for around $30, you might as well upgrade to the Steam version if you can. Not only will you get better visuals, but you will get the complete Nioh experience.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

MINIMUM:
OS: Windows® 10 64bit...

For three years in a row, Team NINJA has given players the chance to contribute their art to Dead or Alive 5. 2017 might be the best year yet favorites including Tina in 80s workout gear or even Bass dressed up as a chicken. A Halloween event really does give the community a chance to get creative.

What are your favorite designs this year? You can download these outfits via: PSN, STEAM and XBL. Happy Halloween! Congratulations to all the contest winners and participants.

Team NINJA's Youtube Tutorial series for Dead or Alive 5 Last Round continues this time detailing the art of Critical Statuses. When I first started playing fighting games, understanding this element was one of the more challenging aspects for me, and this element can also expose how well a player knows their character. When a single move can have many different options, it can be difficult to anticipate what's coming next. That's why legends like Sweet Revenge, Kwiggle, Sonic Fox, Emann and Bladez are able to paint such a beautiful picture when they compete as they are maximizing their damage on multiple factors.

This system, while complex can also be proven by the caliber of our incredible offline talent. The lasting fighters have truly applied what they have explored to their playstyles, and one would think that alone would question anyone who still thinks DOA is a "shallow" fighting experience. @DestructionBomb also...

The Bifuteki Top 8 Stream at TFC has been nothing short of spectacular with the players trading their tournament nerves from pools for intensity and focus. Like all of the Battle Royal fights from Team NINJA, this event DOES NOT disappoint. If you missed pools, be sure to give those a viewing as well to see some surprising and satisfying outcomes to your favorite matchups.

To start these fights off we have a 5-star match with Hoodless and NEC Champion Rikuto. These are some very close fights, and we see all of the moves you would expect out of a great Bayman v. Zack matchup...

Even if the audio is off in the beginning, and TFC is no longer our biggest draw -- we still have an intimate weekend of DOA with some of the best in a competitive field. Kick Punch Block has been streaming our community events for a number of years and we are grateful for the time. Big E Gaming's TFC 2017 Top 8 will conclude tomorrow at 1pm via Bifuteki, but for now, let's look at the matches in pools.

Kwiggle is no slouch, but he's always having fun and this remains true with the opener for the stream against Savage. You can tell Savage knows a lot about the game, but given Kwiggle's experience with Marie Rose... he seems to know what to expect for the entirety of the match. What will it take to put Kwiggle into a serious competitive mode? I'm not sure, but I dig his style!

In the next game, SYN Gruff...

Even if Core Fighters is a F2P title, 10 million downloads can be something to boast about. This milestone goes beyond any other number the series has hoped to achieve, and I think this is largely contributed to the intense and thought-provoking gameplay. Even if we all want DOA6 at this point, it's important not to undermine the achievement that DOA5 itself has been.

Since the beginning, the most important aspect has been the community keeping the game alive as displayed in Team NINJA's recent Top 8 Summer Jam XI uploads. You simply don't have matches like these from a game with a 1-year lifespan. With that being said, how long of a lifespan do you think a DOA installment should last before the next era of fighting emerges?

With DOA5's lasting...

The FSD community has been playing Dead or Alive 5 for five years, but since then a lot has changed and we have more fighters showing up to tournaments that are new players as made evident by the 2017 Battle Royal. Team NINJA boasts well over 9 million Core Fighters Downloads and this skew has provided people a chance to play the fighter they always wondered about. Because of this, @MASTER provides great information on the Triangle System -- the bread and butter of DOA combat in Team NINJA's latest tutorial video.

It's not weird that this is coming out now because it seems to provide hints to a new game and if DOA6 were to be that new game it's not like they would take out every mechanic that was in DOA5 and make a cel-shaded 2D fighter. If you are new to the community it would seem that playing DOA5...

Dead or Alive 5 has been around since 2012, but the dedicated competitive scene, collaborative efforts, and DLC have kept it relevant to garner screen time from Team NINJA at this year's Tokyo game show. Because of this, it makes sense that some dedicated players wait for DOA6 while others continue to contribute to the Last Round iteration. Either way, you can't help but be excited for what could be in store for the community, and the intrigue that this scheduling has caused.

Last year there was plenty of hype pertaining to DLC character Mai Shiranui, a King of Fighters character that brought in interest more comparable to Marie Rose than other DLC characters such as Nyo or Phase 4. Even Raidou and Honoka as the new premium characters for Last Round were said to not deliver where it counts most, and crossover character Naotora followed that pattern bringing in very little interest to the...