Fighting games — frame data, neutral skips and matchup spreads
The fighting-games desk covers Street Fighter, Tekken and the wider platform-fighter bracket. The desk reads neutral through frame-data tables, matchups through verified matchup spreads, and bracket seeding through governing-body records.
Three fighting titles on the desk this season
Street Fighter
Frame data, neutral skips, character matchups. Seasonal patches; the desk publishes a matchup spread within 24h of every Tier-A seasonal patch.
Tekken
Frame traps, whiff punishes, matchup spreads. Seasonal balance patches tracked against the publisher's own frame-data dump.
Platform Fighter
Off-stage edge-guard, recovery routes, bracket seeding. Monthly patches; the desk publishes a recovery-route read for every bracket finalist.
How the fighting desk reads a matchup
A matchup is neutral, frame, punish. The desk reads three artefacts per matchup: the neutral-skip pattern, the frame-trap structure, the punish route. Where a publisher publishes a matchup spread, the desk reproduces the spread; where a player publishes a counter-pick, the desk files the quote under the editorial stamp.
Neutral skip
Reproduce the neutral-skip pattern from the publisher's frame-data dump. Where the dump omits a pattern, mark the read as Tier-C.
Frame trap
Track frame traps by character and by matchup. Cross-stamp with the publisher's high-level replay library.
Punish
Note the punish route, the frame window and the trade structure. Editorial flag if the punish deviates from the player's stated counter.
Bracket seed
Default reads: pool seeding, day-two reseeding, grand-final bracket. Edit only when the governing body's records corroborate the read.
Editor stamp
Tier-A lock where the frame-data dump and the player's own commentary agree. Tier-C where one disagrees.
Archive
Filed under the FTG chapter archive with the publisher's frame-data URL and the editorial stamp.
How an FTG patch moves through the desk
FTG patches are the desk's most-republished character reads. The desk files a balance log, a meta-shift editorial, and a context document for every Tier-A FTG patch.
Balance log — verbatim reproduction
The balance log is the publisher's own patch notes reproduced verbatim in the newsroom. The desk does not editorialise the balance log; where the publisher publishes a frame-data change, the desk reproduces the table as-is with the publisher's own citations. The balance log is Tier-A.
Meta-shift editorial
The meta-shift editorial is the desk's read of how the patch changes the competitive meta. The editorial is filed within 24 hours of the seasonal patch drop.
Context document
The context document is the desk's editorial composite of the patch through the season's bracket footage. The document is published 7 to 14 days after the meta-shift, once the first regional final has produced enough broadcast footage.
What the desk does not publish for an FTG patch
The desk does not publish mid-week balance speculation. Pre-patch speculation is Tier-C only when the publisher's roadmap has explicitly disclosed the change.
The desk does not publish private developer comments. The publisher's published developer commentary is re-printed.