Blanka is an uphill battle all day, against any character.
I’m quite used to it now and I still like Blanka as a main. All he really needs is his super from CvS2 and i’ll be pretty happy.
It was nothing against you per-say. It’s just I hate to see people talk about nerfing anything on blanka when it’s apparent that he sucks overall as a character in sf4. He can still win like most characters in this game, but that doesn’t mean the character doesn’t suck. IMO no one in sf4 should be nerfed. The strong characters should stay the same and weaker character given better tools to compete in ssf4 is my belief’s on how they could improve the next version of sf4 series.
Drop down Vertical Ball like Hyper Fighting
EX Vertical Ball knocks down
Electricity does more 1 more tick damage on all types
Jump forward goes 1/2 character space forward more
CC should gain some meter when it ducks a fireball
Yeah nobody in SFIV is overpowered. Generally the characters are weak. Even the top tiers are weak. They don’t have anything as powerful as what they used to have in the older days. It’s just the top tiers have things that require little to no thought to execute properly and the characters below them don’t have those options and therefore they appear strong and the characters below them appear weak. It’s not even like Ryu and Sagat are THAT GOOD. They just have braindead options that shut out the lack of options all the other characters have.
I still don’t agree about his normals being shit. I’m not going to complain about them being improved either :wgrin: , but he has one of the nicer toolsets when it comes to constructing a solid footsie game. His two absolutely horrible match ups are characters that have a way better normal set (Boxer’s normals > Blanka’s normals in every range and Sim normals just keep Blanka the fuck out).
Every good Blanka I’ve run into has a solid normals game. The shenanigans and hopping around crazily are just to clutch.
Sure his normals aren’t CVS2/ST worthy but they certainly aren’t bad either. Blanka’s s.HP has one of the craziest hit boxes in SF history. Like once it’s out it basically beats most everything in the game since a lot of it is purely hit box and not hittable. His slide can beat and go under a lot of shit and his sweep is still pretty solid. From their his normals I would say are soft shadows of their former selves but definitely not of the worst in the game. C.Viper arguably has worst normals than Blanka does and Blanka especially has a better focus attack than Viper does and I would go as far to say that Blanka’s focus attack is one of his best assets period.
He also has one of the craziest normal anti-airs in the game: c.strong. I’m convinced he would drop down the tier list without this thing.
People forget how good Blanka’s focus attack really is. Like DevilJin said, it is one of his best assets. It has tons of range and is really handy to counter hit a poke and get a crumple, which leads to more mix up.
Blanka doesn’t need much IMO. He really just needs a few things like:
- EX up ball knocks down
- a reliable set up for his second ultra
- most importantly, blanka balls should be safe on hit
Even if he gets no buffs, I probably still will play him in SSF4. Blanka fits my play style to well. Guy or Ibuki could change my mind though…
i agree, except his sweep is kinda crappy. st.hp is jokes when you get 2 in a row, good frame adv on hit and the hitbox is solid, counter poke whiffed sweeps/srks all day.
i don’t think theres a j.normal in the game that beats st.hp, it ALWAYS trades or wins clean. The timing can be a problem and cr.mp covers long range jumps that st.hp would whiff against, but then you could use cr.hp for those, probably. Without cr.mp i think he’d be ok
I have no idea what Blanka really needs but I’ll give you my opinion anyway.
Some longer range pokes. Specials made to be safe on hit. That’s it.
Yeah, Blanka needs better footsies.
Safe on hit from a ball is all I want!!
I hear that (about the move’s merits). Around work I’ve nicknamed it “the reach around” for the crazy ways it manages to hit jumping opponents in their ass despite their foot being right in your face. And I’d say it certainly has it place between s.hp and c.hp. I find the latter to only be good for significantly far jump-ins.They come in closer than you expect then c.hp just gives them the jump-in for free, meanwhile that’ll happen at distances that s.hp definitely doesn’t cover.
Like you said the timing for it can be a problem, so c.mp seems like it can be the simpler choice when you don’t want to worry about it. And how about Sagat’s elbow drop? I’m not sure s.hp fares very well against that, but with c.mp I’m just begging for Sagats to try and jump in with shit. I’m pretty sure Sakura has moves that stuff it up close, but that’s kind of irrelevant considering c.mp whiffs against those same jump-ins. And Sakura’s pretty irrelevant in general (I only bring her up 'cause I get a lot of playtime against her from a guy at work).
no i agree with you and sosage about how good it is, i use it over st.hp often because i know it will be a clean hit, but i was just touting the greatness of st.hp. Did you know if you whiff st.hp before you hit the opponent 9/10 times their jump attack will whiff as blankas hitbox is tiny at the end of the move, and you can always seem to throw tech too. Speaking of sakura, i find the only AA that works is st.hp for a trade, a very favourable trade. cr.mp gets beated clean by her j/hk i think.
This is true sir. Her jumping rh kick is at an angle that snuff the crouching strong punch anti air.
I usually don’t even end up trying to AA Sakura. I don’t have the timing down for s.hp–typically I’ll do it too late and eat the jump-in. I’ve gotten in the habit of anticipating her jump and beating her with a j.hp. But it’s good to know that’s what I should focus on using, and that bit about it whiffing seems like something I should’;ve picked up on, 'cause I know I’ve seen that play out before. Guess I shouldn’t be worried about throwing it out too early then.
And I’m just now realizing that I managed to mention Sakura in a response to “craziest normal anti-airs in the game” without saying that belongs to her c.hp, a.k.a “you’re not allowed to jump in on me ever from any angle with any move.” The hit box on that thing is just ridiculous.
My Suggestions for Blanka:
J,QCF+P: Aerial Rolling from SFEX:3
Super: change to Shout Of Earth (from CVS)
Ultra 2: Tropical Hazzard from SFA3His current super is great, why would you wanna change it? It is good anti-air and easy to combo into. Shout of earth would be a better ultra 2.
Secondary Ultra is Shout of Earth
if its gonna be that omg im done with Jimmy man…