Street Fighter IV

[Geoff D]

I don't get all the Ken hate, I use Ken and love fighting other Kens. If you play ranked matches then can you really expect people to use characters that they are not great with?

It's unsurprising that so many people pick him, as he's very recognisable & the relaxed input system means his moves come out quite easily. Also, the flaming dragon punch looks good.

There's now an assumption that anyone who picks Ken is rubbish at the game & will just attempt the same old fireball/DP trap, with some wake up DP's thrown in for good measure. This isn't true as there are some decent players out there. I think most people falter as their tactics go to **** when playing someone who's button-mashing - it's like playing poker; you can't bluff someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Ultimately though, that's their own problem - & it's all a learning curve anyway.

Personally I've played against a lot more Sagats recently - man can he dish out the damage :/

I do like to try out new ones and if my opponent goes straight for a non shoto I will normaly go with Rose as I think she is really good. However if someone starts to just hop from character to character on the select screen I will go straight to Ken.

I really wish Capcom had included blind pick (as in HD Remix) - you can just get on with picking whoever you like then.

[randombs]

whenever i qcfx2 now i always ****ing shoryuken (or the alternative for whatever character) and its getting iinfuriating

I know the feeling, and for me the reason it kept happening was because I've always done the supers as d,df,f,d,df+P whereas here it's qcfx2+P

I find doing the movement loosely, not being in such a rush to press punch usually helps. In fact I tend to do the qcfx2 motion, wait a split-second, and then press punch.

[Largo]

But they're the kind of screw-ups that we're in the best position to do anything about =)

Yeah good point, well said

Aye bill thats how im dealing with it, just slowing it down and making sure i dont go in a / shape x2, instead i roll the stick back to neutral before doing the 2nd qcf

[DryRice]

i fought a good balrog (boxer) today first time and well lost but man it was decent because after 15 in total of ken's, ryu's, and akuma's in a row it was definitely a good change.
Do people choose Shoto characters because they are easy to use, they are a battle points whore or both?

[Stormtec]

I would go with both XD

Apparently, there's a new tier list going around, straight from the Japan scene, and it goes like this:

S +
Sagat, Viper, Akuma, Zangief

S
Ryu, Balrog, Rufus, Blanka

A
Chun li, M. Bison, Ken, Dhalsim, Abel, Honda, El Fuerte

B
Vega, Guile

I'm not entirely sure how these lists are worked out, but I heard that despite it being based on tournament wins, it still seems kinda arbitrary. *shrugs* I know people tend to use these sorts of list as a guideline though. Though it seems it's still too early for console characters to be included to the list.

[Rivuzu]

Death to the Shotos. I'm sorry, but they scream imbalanced so much. Since when can an EX Shoryuken have a higher priority than Vega's Bloody Claw, after all? I'm a long time Vega player, and a self said good one at that. I've broken into 2.5k BP before now - however, after a streak of attempting to use others like, say, Gen, Chun Li, Abel, etc - I now find myself hovering just under the 700 mark. And why?

Because -every- single person I fight is a Ken, Akuma or Sagat. The biggest whores of the entire game, with no remorse for spamming. I'm sorry, but those characters actually ruin ranked mode which is the reason alot of people bought SFIV. I know I bought it for competetive online play, after all.

There is no true gameplay in this. Just technique spam, and priority rape.

[Skull Commander]

That new tier list is interesting. It will never really settle, but as more tactics, combos, etc are found it will shuffle.

Tier lists always make good reading but unless you and your opponent playing to a highly skilled level they will never make much difference.

[Rivuzu]

On the above note though;

I'm taking any challengers on 360 SFIV xD GT: Rivu

[Myth]

I'm pretty much a Street Fighter newbie, I used to play SF II as a kid but back then it was all just button mashing and stuff.

Can anyone reccomend where to start to pretty much understand how everything works, different techniques etc.? Is buying the official guide a good place to start?

All that being said I'm loving how it plays and am really hoping to pump a lot of time into this to actually get kinda good.

Edit - Also should I be looking to get into playing with a stick from the start or is using the PS3 d-pad alright to start with?

[Stormtec]

I think most people falter as their tactics go to **** when playing someone who's button-mashing - it's like playing poker; you can't bluff someone who doesn't know what they're doing. Ultimately though, that's their own problem - & it's all a learning curve anyway.

I wholeheartedly agree with that. Technique spamming is ultimately counter-productive to anyone who's paying attention and knows what they're doing, as you learn how to get around them.

I once played a Ken who kept spamming the usual j.rh, c.rh until I started to block high and low. He would then just spam j.rh and jump back, when I would then roll forward and land a c.hp launcher. He would then just hurricane kick from range, and that's when I found out that any of Abel's normal kicks (yes, even short kick, which is rather funny) stuffs hurricane kick for free. I didn't win, but I put the fear in him after all that.

Sure, shoto's require less effort to be successful, but their prevalence means we get plenty of experience in dealing with them

I'm pretty much a Street Fighter newbie, I used to play SF II as a kid but back then it was all just button mashing and stuff.

Can anyone reccomend where to start to pretty much understand how everything works, different techniques etc.? Is buying the official guide a good place to start?

All that being said I'm loving how it plays and am really hoping to pump a lot of time into this to actually get kinda good.

Edit - Also should I be looking to get into playing with a stick from the start or is using the PS3 d-pad alright to start with?

If you used to play SF2, then maybe you should try picking up the same character you used to use back then for familiarity's sake. As much as there is a tangible amount of shoto-hate at the moment, they're the easiest characters to learn the game with. I mean, I started out with Ken, and then moved onto Abel as I tried other characters. I'm trying to get to grips with Fei Long as well, but not having much luck with his rekka punches.

Just play around with all the characters and see which one you like, is my advice. I found the trial modes for each of the characters were a good place to start learning them.

Some useful sources of information are srk.com and EventHubs.

I use a stick, but some people prefer pads. I am of the opinion that, if you want to improve, you ought to get a stick (even though my win percentage is something like 8&#37. Depends on how you feel, I guess. I see a stick as an investment, and it's up to the individual as to whether they feel they're willing to make that kind of investment.

Hope that was useful =)

[Rivuzu]

I tried my darndest to get into Abel, I really did, but I don't know. I think I was trying to use him too defensively, after being too used to Vega. I put the fear of god into people as Vega, lol. I've not met another user online who knows all of his moves like I, either.

I wish people would deviate away from the Shotos =(

[DryRice]

I can beat any shoto player through my trials with Cammy she has an unbelievable cannon spike reach, after doing my cannon spike, the ken player then jumps to do a high kick but what the player didnt know is how the CS was not fully complete and i love it when i give them a thrashing

Have any of you heard trash talking while using the mic because i beated a few shotos and they couldnt believe they lost because the characters i use dont have a fireball. Anyone experienced the swearing on the mic? Its pretty hilarious

[Kongster]

Nobody does trash talking like the Americans

[Largo]

thats prob i have, when i face just a masher my tactics go out the window because, i just go to pieces

[Stormtec]

I tried my darndest to get into Abel, I really did, but I don't know. I think I was trying to use him too defensively, after being too used to Vega. I put the fear of god into people as Vega, lol. I've not met another user online who knows all of his moves like I, either.

I wish people would deviate away from the Shotos =(

I think people will deviate from Shotos eventually. Still early days on the console yet.

Abel is a very in-your-face kind of character, but he has to work to get in there. He's got a lot of options, so pretty good for mix-up. His command throw also does a lot of damage (as does Falling Sky), and the EX version has frames of hit invulnerability (apparently?), so pretty good if you're expecting a wake-up move (though I think srk still beats this) or even do it on your own wake up. His rolls go through fireballs (as does EX flipkick, which also always aims to land on them from wherever you are), so fireball-spammers are usually met with a roll and command-throw.

Abel's quickly becoming a favourite of mine, but I'm not any good, lol.

And I've not played anyone who was using the mic, actually. Am vaguely glad that I haven't, after reading that. XD

If you find you're flailing due to a so-called button-masher, play defensively. block, back-dash and exploit openings. e.g. Ken players always go for the heavy srk, which is also the most punishable. If you block it, punish them on their (very long) way down. Additionally, you can employ some mind-games. If your opponent likes to wake-up shoryu, then dash near to them when you knock him down and block the srk. Then punish. This probably sounds rather simple, but takes some practice when in a match.