Low Tier Hero: Learning to Embrace Your (Touch of) Death

If you’ve ever played a Versus series game, or even the newly-released Dragon Ball FighterZ, you’ve no doubt experienced a “touch of death” combo at least once or twice. We all know how upsetting it is to be killed with one combo, but, as a reminder, there’s no one to blame for dying but yourself. For you newer players, a “touch of death” combo is a combo that results in a character’s death from full or near-full health. Generally, you’ll need quite a bit of resources to perform a touch of death combo, but sometimes you don’t. The absolute best example of this is the legendary Hokuto no Ken arcade fighter, a game chock full of touch of death combos:

They Call it Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite For A Reason

Other than games based of animes (especially ones where there’s quite literally a “touch of death” NSFW) the other fighting game series known for touch of deaths is of course, the Versus series. Touch of death combos were discovered in Marvel Super Heroes, the first game in the series, and have been found in every Versus game since. Also found in a multitude of the older Versus games are infinite combos. Infinite combos differ from touch of death in that infinites are usually a few moves done in succession that don’t require the use of assists or meter. For example, the infamous Magneto infinite from Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is often a sore point for many fighting game veterans.

Here, however, there is a bit of strategy added in with the infinite. Sure, TA|GConcept could have killed Cl0ckwork’s Sentinel, but he knew that Strider was a bigger threat. Cl0ckwork’s proficiency with Strider is well-known, and something we’ve mentioned in the past.

We’ve seen a decline in the number of infinites, but touch of death combos are still a crucial part of the Versus series, all the way to the newest iteration of the series.

UM Tyrant discovered touch of death combos with Jedah and Dante before Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite even came out! While players thought Infinite would eliminate the need for these types of combos, especially because of its ToD-heavy predecessor, they unfortunately found out the hard way that these combos were still a factor. Luckily, the counter switch mechanic limits the effectiveness of ToDs, though there’s no saving your character if they’re alone.

Not Even A Super Saiyan Is Safe

The newest member of the fighting game fraternity, Dragon Ball FighterZ, is not without its own touch of death combos. It’s an anime game, so this shouldn’t really be a surprise to most of us. Some who might not be well-versed, like those coming over from the other Dragon Ball games, might be very angry to find that they can potentially lose a character by getting hit once. To the untrained eye, what they see below from FOX|SonicFox might be infuriating. Those of us who know what’s going on, though, will see the truth.   

Hit TOD from a 5M confirm into sparking #PS4sharehttps://t.co/SH0p75q5kI pic.twitter.com/kehyBfMzc6

— Echo Fox | SonicFox @ WB12 (@SonicFox5000) February 3, 2018

Do you see what I see? If you notice, SonicFox needs to use all 7 of his super meters, both of his assists, and Sparking Blast in order to kill just one character. Some may argue that those resources might be better spent doing damage to the entire opposing team. To find yourself in the above situation will be rare, but it’s a nice feeling to know that all you’ll need is one hit to win the match if you do.

Tell Me How You Really Feel

For some, these combos are among the worst parts of fighting games, as evidenced by this GameFAQs thread I stumbled upon. One user, streetfighter76, gives their thoughts about touch of death combos, saying, “If a feature inside a multiplayer game leaves one person playing alone while the other merely becomes a spectator for half a minute, then to me it's a clear sign of a mediocre design.” One person’s trash is another’s treasure, though, as the original poster, Blue_Inigo, makes the case for enjoying ToD’s. “On one hand,” they say,  “it’s good that a skilled player is rewarded for their time and effort by being able to cash in big damage on combos.”

Personally, touch of death combos don’t really bother me all that much. Yes, it’s frustrating to get hit once, sit through 45 seconds of combo, then lose my character, but it’s my fault I lost the character. It’s also my fault for never learning how to do a touch of death combo of my own in order to return the favor. If you aren’t a fan of touch of death combos, then it might be a good idea to simply not play the game that features them. If that’s not an option, then you know what to do. Get in the lab, figure out how to kill your opponent with one combo, and make it happen.