well for anyone who is planning on decapre I’m going HARD with her so expect a bunch of tech early and often
From the second I saw her trailer I knew I would play her (with blanka still). To hear you’re going that route too makes me happy 
Great! All the more reason to pick her!
Thanks!
the cr. mk pushback is pretty much the nail in the coffin for this character. Currently, mk is the engine for much of the offense, (ch to knockdown and more), and especially after a blocked electricity, crouch mk frametraps into more knockdowns into more elec are pretty much the heart of my game. that pushback means more whiffed cr. rh…fuk…
And vega got jack shit, I don’t even know the purpose of most of the move changes…low fp may be a real anti air now, so ill check that.
Dhalsim may be legit…if not…
Holy shit did anyone look at the balrog changes??? Turnaround punch is godly…rush punches godly…free safe overhead…wtf else could they have given him?
And bison may be more what im used to…I love me some standing mp into scissor kicks.
If blanka is lucky…close standing mk could make up for the cr mk pushback…but my experience with the computer version says no…that pushback is huge and messes up all my spacing.
Obviously the new balancers are as clueless as the old ones…really…why did they fuk up mk? I would prefer it as it is now since I can link ultra most of the time with plinking anyway.
I was reading the changes for Boxer and thinking “WTF???!!”
PR Rog must be in heaven right now… that character was a monster on his hands before, imagine now with all those buffs
Also, imagine what it would be like to face Balrog with all his buffs and no unblockable for us…
Yeah I already thought rog was the best charge character and he got the most impactful buffs of any charge character.
balrog is unwinnable for blanka now. There are no more guaranteed punishes (jab dash straight was previously -3, we could at least get a jab). Literally there is nothing in this match in our favor…maybe the wakeup game…if blanka could ever knock him down.
This update and final changes are a disgrace. In tournament results, balrog was clearly one of best charge characters…and he gets this? where is the 1 random nerf…for balance??? Blanka sure got one…
Glad I can use the black beast I guess.
Capcom doesn’t want people to win with this character. Time to play somebody else.
I would have been fine and continued to play the character with just a HP ball knockdown buff. But fucking up hit confirms? That’s pretty unacceptable.
I just wish I knew the rationale. cr. mk setups (for ultra, which is really only reason why cr. mk was given +5 on hit) require setting up…which is harder with delayed gettup, meaning its options for landing are difficult and should be rewarded significantly.
However, Ken now gets knockdown combos on a jab connect (or strong, but I know he gets a knockdown combo). Ken on knockdown is hella scary (uppercuts, frametraps, etc), using tools blanka doesnt really have. Perhaps blanka close mk can lead to good frametraps, but based off of computer usf4, its certainly not easy, timing is difficult, and follow up combo is of course, 1 fucking frame…bc…blanka???
Yet for blanka, not only do I get no non-ch normal knockdown, even on ch chances of my knockdown working are less. Perhaps devs are thinking that close mk is such a scary frame trap that blankas overall knockdown game needs to be nerfed. (maybe we can use close mk~cr. fp to catch backdashers?)
WTF did blanka do to these devs…and what did ken/balrog do? I’m really hoping bison is decent versus guile, cuz then bison should be solid vs most of the cast.
Nobody said to go for gimmicky shit all the time, it’s about the fact it’s much more flexible with the movement options vs no options but to run away all the time. The fact that your opponent is aware that you got that option makes them use their options differently. If you can’t even do that with the “new” ex rainbow ball you really don’t know how to use it. Not to mention there are characters that can punish the old one consistently even if you use it to run away vs the new one they actually have to make sure you are not using it to land on their head or landing back in front in front of them.
Another scenario you have your opponent cornered with one hit left to kill him off. You knocked him down, you don’t can’t use ultra to chip him because he can either punish it/escape it or you don’t have the meter for it. Using ex rainbow is an option here because the long invincibility beats out their Dp move. If they don’t go for Dp you can move back so you still keep them in the corner. Vs old version you can’t do that they do their ex Dp because you can’t go backwards you end up not hitting them and putting yourself in the corner.
There’s more scenariios where this move gives you way more options compared to the old one. But if you still don’t see how it’s better that’s fine.
Ves: ex rainbow being worse…is that due to meta/people’s knowledge, or is there an actual change in the move?
Its been effectively useless as a corner escape vs top tier opponents for at least a year now anyway. I use it primarily to kill people to get that last little hit in after a knockdown. I actually use regular rainbow rolls more than ex, but really if I am im just fucking around…move overall is shit.
And Lau, come on. We are all playing a shitty character, and nobody has contributed more to our social knowledge than ves. Give him a break, he is clearly frustrated, like all of us, that capcom has fucked this character up such that his tournament viability is going to be nill. Even if low mk had no bigger pushback, im fairly certain that changes to ken/balrog, 2 super popular characters, make any blanka chances on getting far in a tournament be roughly equal to the ability of the blanka to avoid ken/balrog in the brackets.
Fucking everyone has a chance my ass
On the plus side…at least we are not vega. Vega for a moment had slightly easier jab links, and a real reversal, only to have that shit taken back as fast as possible. Capcom couldnt even give the easier jab links (why doesnt blanka have easier short links?? 1 frame links for shorts, really???).
I’m just trying to imagine what universe capcom lives in such that blanka is sooo fucking op that he needs to be hobbled by extremely difficult links, difficult to land combos that usually dont hurt that much anyway, and blah blah blah…
New Blanka Buff in Ultra SF4 2014 JOSH EDITION~!!!
Standing far mk will have a purpose!!!
that is all…
That move doesn’t even exists… lol
A few days ago I’ve tried to do EX upball to finish a match and far st.MK came out instead and it worked… it was funny, you rarely see this move
Did Ken kept the improvement on his sweep, making it completely safe on block?
Reading all this makes me die a little inside.
Josh:
What I’m annoyed with the most is most of us haven’t even bother trying USF4 and complaining about it. As for Ves, yes he’s one of the very few Blanka players that have the luxury of checking it out, and I do take his feedbacks seriously. However the point we were discussing it the change that happened pre AE edition and post AE edition. I’m just giving my point of view why I think it’s buffed vs the pre-AE version where you are limited to only going forward or not. The only main advantage of pre-AE ex rainbow ball is you can escape full screen, which makes it harder if not impossible to punish for some characters. I’m just letting him and others know there’s reasons why I think the current version is better.
It’s a learning process, having disagreements, talking about it, keeping an open mind and trying out what you think doesn’t work will only improve you. Ves definitely is the biggest contributor to the Blanka forum nobody is gonna argue about that nor is anyone gonna claim they contributed more, however that doesn’t make him the only Blanka player that knows about Blanka that can contribute. Each region have difference in opinion of which character is the strongest and the weakest. In the states Blanka is definitely way on the weaker end, but at the same time in the states Akuma isn’t that strong as well, the only reason why Akuma is regarded as strong in the states is because Tokido and Infiltration travel half way around the world to kick ass and this is why people feel Akuma is strong. The same goes for Fei Long and several other characters.
I’m not saying Blanka is top tier material, nor am I saying the buff he’s got is enough. I’m just simply saying Blanka isn’t as bad as what most people give him credit for and in order to progress we should think of ways to use his new tools.
finally to me tech and gimmicks are similar, when someone uses something new in a tournament that made them win the round/match/set they call that new tech. When someone do that too many times and is punished for doing it they call it gimmick.
Fortunately for me living in Hong Kong means I will probably get access to USF4 before console version is release at least that’s what the arcade owner at the arcade I go to promises (there’s still 100s of arcades in HK, obviously not all of them have SF4).
When I do get my hands on the game I will provide more feedback.
I do have some ideas that I want to test out with the new c.mk. Was thinking of using it in a completely different way… but will definitely need to do a lot of testing, understanding how much block stun i get, understanding how far it pushes back on block and hit, etc. Do I think this push back sucks? yes… do I think this makes Blanka hopeless? … no. Do I think there will be new tech created from this new c.mk? Most likely.
-LAU
The difference between tech and a gimmick to me is that if the opponent understands the situation tech favors you statistically and a gimmick does not.
Unblockable j.mk = tech
Unblockable ex rainbow roll = gimmick
with ex rainbow good players will just os it or stuff it on reaction. It’s best used if you have some space to operate where you will be able to arc over them, but in those situations now characters with longer ranged horizontal normals are able to punish it much more easily.
It’s definitely helpeful vs. seth(especially) and grapplers more so now because if they guess command grab you get damage, but overall I feel the effectiveness is just lower.
First I never said ex rainbow ball is the ultimate move and non beatable.
I was only stating the current version is better than old version.
Os against it been there forever and beats both old and current versions…
The scenarios I was giving if you actually understand what I’m saying you can’t exactly beat it on reaction unless all you is that and nothing else then it’s more like anticipation playing a much bigger part of it.
As for your definition of tech and gimmick I guess we have similar ideas.
Some People I play here beats out unblockable jump mk… Either by one frame blocks or even guiiles autocorrect flash kick… So in a way you can call that as a gimmick too.
You play against the player not the character, if I know a certain player can never block a certain setup or move, you should use it to your advantage it’s a “tech” you can use.
Crouch Tech if it gets blown up consistently isn’t a tech anymore.
IMO tech really depends on how much knowledge your opponent has vs what you have against them. If what you consider tech is nothing new and is exposed and beaten consistently it’s no longer a tech.
I’m racking my brain here to try and see what possible “new” tech could come from cMK getting a stupid pushback distance, but gaining 1 frame. I can’t for the life of me see what good can come from this.
New tech is mostly in the combos you gain.
The pushback change tech is like cr.mk, then whiff a normal and get punished cause you thought your sweep would reach or w/e from my experience.
Lau I can beat it on reaction even if I do other things. In the mirror especially in the corner I cl.hp/hk it all the time from seeing the yellow flash.
against rufus for example, even if they manage to block the j.mk with 1f blocking, the mixup still favors me, this makes it tech in my mind.
anyways whatever, blanka is ass.
Meh, this post became much longer than i hoped…but trying to really think out the future blanka offense given my previous experience playing with usf4.
The dash +1 and the close mk could create a new footsie frametrap game that opens a whole new possibility into how Blanka plays. Combined with safe hp balls…blanka could get a decent new sort of offense.
I played the computer usf4, and while it may be rough around the edges, at its core I was able to see the impact of the new dash and the new close mk. I was fairly impressed at first glance, which soured as I saw how crazy stupid the cr. mk nerf was. While the timing was difficult, the close mk does exactly as advertised, it will punish the crap outta crouch techs, and as a result, make it easier to introduce an effective throw game. If your timing is off, there are two possible consequences. If they interrupt before you get off the ground, they get a full combo (bc u are so close), whereas if you are off the ground, you get the wierd mid-air float that could allow opponents a mixup instead (or they hit you with a knockdown move and get a mixup that way. For these two slight risks, blanka is granted the potential for a fairly decent 4 hit combo that does something like 250 dmg as long as you can hit the 1 frame link. I’ve been practicing it a bit, and…its not super hard, but since I dont use back button plinking, it will always be a difficult combo. Why blanka always has to rely on 1 frame links for bnb combos…i’ll never understand but whatev. It is a new offensive opportunity, and I guess I should be thankful for it. Also, on wakeup, blanka can mix between close lk and close mk to try and mess with opp heads. close lk has a 3 frame active window, giving a fairly easy meaty situation mixup.
The +1 dash also creates, with the correct spacing, an awesome frametrap window that for once will always beat opponents throw attempt if the spacing is correct. if you do the focus attack at the distance where far lp comes out after the dash, you are effectively creating a 2 frame frametrap, which is really good. If you are too close, then close lp comes out, and their throw and you close lp will come out at exactly the same time and you could get thrown. I was testing against a chun li, and as long as my spacing was right and the far lp came out, I blasted all her options she tried that were not backdash or reversal. If mixed into blankas footsie game judiciously, this could be a great tool.
However, these 2 new offensive tools came at the loss of the traditional use of the cr. mk. On the computer version, it really looks whack and out of place, and I’m guessing its not too different from the actual release. cr. mk to cr. hp, just as a block string (not a true block string but whatev), is a hallmark of blanka footsies, and its being significantly nerfed. If your cr. hk whiffs where it previously would be blocked/hit, its an easy punish opportunity for the opponent if they are aware of the new spacing. Anyone who used cr. mk, especially after blocked electricity as a footsie tool will find that its just not as effective anymore, which is a shame, because cr. mk is the engine to start knockdown situations (counter hit cr. mk to crouch hk is the best link knockdown we have). Less knockdowns means a greater reliance on the new focus attack…I would prefer to get more knockdowns. Which is to say, after blocked electrcity, focus attack, low hk, walk forward jab, close mk, or throw, are going to be the go to moves. There is a window where low mk will still work…refining that window and knowing it perfectly will be required.
The important part is as a part of the overall footsie game…cr. mk becames much more risky and dangerous to use due to its unpredictability…it simply wont work like before and its new limited range will have to be learned. The question becomes does the new attack options make up for the loss of a more well rounded cr. mk. I’m hoping yes…but in no way does the cr. mk nerf lead to new “tech,” in the sense that yes, new options will be found, but mostly by excluding and not using cr. mk.
One could argue that the cr. mk being +5 on hit, and hence having an easier ultra link, is an even trade with the greater pushback due to the possibility for easier high dmg from ultra combos. I do not agree with this perspective. The pushback of the cr. mk makes the range where ultra would connect smaller. doing ultra after a hit confirmed mk is still possible…but where your timing was correct, you may now find out that you are not close enough…and die as a result of it. Also, at +5, you have 2 frames to land the ultra. If you are already plinking ultra with 3xp~hk, you already effectively have a 2 frame window and the cr. mk “buff” isnt really doing anything for you anyway. the loss of ranges where you could do cr. mk~lp~elec, a useful easy bnb, in exchange for the rare possiblity of an “easier” ultra, imo just isnt an equal exchange at all. Just revert cr. mk to what it was.
But hey, there is other good news. upball cancelling and hp ball knockdown are sorely needed tools in this new world. I see these more as conveniences though, and I could live without the hp knockdown bc I dont use ball combos for the most part (character situational too), and we have survived years without an upball cancel so hopefully as blanka players we dont use too many random wakeup upballs (which is pretty much what the upball fadc is destined to make safe).
So to review…new offensive option can be effective. Will they be effective enough to deal with everyone elses new offensive tools? I’m not persuaded in part due to the difficulty of follow up combos (1 framers), strict spacing requirements (for focus attack as well as close mk,) and extremely tight timing to catch opponents (frametrapping with close mk.) I like a challenge, but when I see a balrog get to rush punch for free all day, ken players moving faster and having faster startup moves (I did check and from close mk, far mp, and far jab, ken can now link low rh…fuk…), I just feel blanka has to work hella hard to get dmg…whereas others are given the tools that really allow them to exploit opponents weaknesses, and most of blankas tools can be scouted out ahead of time and avoided. This is why blanka is considered gimicky and not solid, bc a little bit of knowledge allows opponent to punish/avoid much of blankas dmg. The new offensive options are an attempt to rectify this situation…and they will be effective, but I’m gonna miss the old cr. mk.