821

If I get the opponent down, and then horizontal ball him with good timing, so it does crossup, I end up right next to him and if he throws me, I can’t escape the throw. You couldn’t escape the throw in vanilla SF4, too?

BTW Boy of Joy: It’s about accepting an unballanced game, not just moaning about our character being put down.

822

How can a sane person say that SSF4 is unballanced?Really?It is probably one of the most balanced fighter ever.I mean, look at thrid strike.It’s effin great, but is it very balanced?points to chun,ryu,yun as opposed to twelve and remi
Vega (shit tier) has WWAAAYYY more chances against sagat ( top tier) than Q has against chun for example.
But OK,I’ll accept your opinion.So SSF4 is indeed a poorly balanced game.Then what fighter seems balanced to you?
Or could your opinion be affected by the fact that Blanka is, unfortunately, one of the few weaker characters in the game?

823

The same way that a sane person can say that it is balanced when it hasn’t been out long enough to know one way or another.

824

ohhh come on guys!!!

why don`t you just accept that blanka isnt GOD fuckin TIER???
stop whining and learn the matchups!!
it’s not the weapon you choose that wins the battle - it’s you!!!
of course, sagat has an advantage but YOU CAN BEAT HIM!! it’s not THAT HARD and NOT IMPOSSIBLE!

Blanka is mid-tier and thats perfect for me!
i wanna work for my win and it feels great to kick some asses with my NOT SO GOOD buddy blanka!

don’t get me wrong, blanka should really get some buffs, but even if they didn’t change nothing he is NOT useless, like some of you complain!

and dont forget that ryu and sagat got some nerfs that will help a lot!
okay…boxer didnt…but i like that matchup most, because its the most challenging!

825

how did blanka ever get assfucked by sim again? I dont know the matchups but I OWNED any and all sim I ever played(online and offline)

I dont even know why people sweat honda and boxer so much. to me both matchups are even(ok maybe 4.5-5.5 for boxer). I just really hate sagat. EVERY fucking tournament I go to I end up losing to random sagat. I am gonna start mirror matching these fools.

826

Um, I think characterizing the people here as wanting him god tier is an exaggeration. They want his main special move/s (which are also his wake-up reversal and armor breaker) to be safe on hit. That’s not god tier stuff.

827

My opinion is not that the game in unbalanced. I’m not complaining about Blanka, he just has some bad matchups and that’s it. I’m ok with the game the way it is.

828

Honda is scary if he just walks at you and hits cr.jab. It’ll pretty much beat out anything you do. Yes if you get the knockdown things go well for you, but cr.jab pressure tears Blanka up.

Yeah that match sucks, but like you said trades are in your favor and once you are ahead Sim doesn’t have jack. I assume that in Super limbs/yoga fires being better will help sim, and U2 should help Blanka. I haven’t played the match at all though.

This was the same in vanilla. Crossup ball is super unsafe.

829

You must not play ST lol Honda is a bitch.

830

Yeah, but unsafe on hit? Hello? At least let me escape from the throw on hit (I would be ok with the fact that if the opponent blocks, I get punished, and if I hit, I still have to guess). Looks like it’s still going to be usable in the end of the match, if even that.

831

always unsafe on hit. Basically you are still -18 or whatever like normal, but your opponent is right next to you. Be happy you didn’t get ultra’d.

832

apparently you haven’t played ST in some time if you think Honda is blanka’s bitch. have fun jumping in with lk and going for deep crossups!

833

So apparently Bison can FADC his slide now. Has anyone checked this for Blanka yet?

834

Overall SSF4 Blanka Impressions:

First thing: I’ve played him a bit now, and he deffinately got a strong boost, though a couple nerfs as well. He does not suck, but capcom deffinately is trying to influence a gameplay style.

First thing, ball is easier to punish on block, especially by guile’s ex sonic booms. Before people start bitching, In the last several itterations of SF, MOST LONG RANGE NORMALS COULD PUNISH BLANKAS BALL. So really, anything better than that is a plus, and baically capcom is saying DO NOT SPAM BALLS. I think this is an overall good thing as it requires blanka to play more intelligently/higher skill.

But what does blanka get in return?
MASIVELY INCREASED MOBILITY
OVERALL SPEED BOOST

  1. Blanka’s hop so far is a total new gamechanger to his gamestyle. If you cross up hop, esecially after a low forward, u have a whole new world of options opened up. Opponent cannot just spam low jab, they cannot spam throw either. Spaming anything to counter the hop leads to several possiblities, all depending on when they try to spam.
    (mind u, these are only on cross up hop techniques after a blocked stand jab, even gets better for u after a blocked low forward)
    A. Their jab actually tags u, you get pushed back, little damage (from what I have noticed, this happens the least).
    B.: You hop, their jab completely misses, you have opportunity for a recovery throw, that depending on when they jab, they cannot tech.
    C: You hop, their jab comes out as a cross up (on the other side) and blanka gets a free grab.
    D: You hop, and they time their throw perfectly, and sometimes they get a free throw (this has happened infrequently).

If they try to press any other button, from my initial testing,they all wiff, blanka is on other side, and can try to throw, jab into elec, reset with another cross-up hop, etc.

Basically, blankas hop has almost no lag at the end now. For all those whining about how the hop isn’t your “playstyle” or whatever other garbage, stop whining and realize Blanka is all about mobility.

  1. Blanka’s low fierce is significantly faster on startup, with approximately the same recovery as SF4. This is excellent, as it allows him to control the ground with significant ease. Also, his low forward and low fierce seem to have a slight distance boost, in that they actually hit where the animation looks like it hits. In Vanialla, especially against balrog, blanka low strong and low fierce seemed to whiff at the wierdest distances, this seems to be corrected.

  2. Stand fierce, low foward, and walk speed are all increasaed in noticeable and important ways. With these mobility increases, and the above, blanka simply does not need to spam rolls to do tick damage as before, and can simply play footsies and control the ground. If u can’t do this with your blanka, play another character.

  3. Electricity tick strings are still amazing. With the hop techniques, his electricity strings are massively more powerful.

  4. All links are easier. Close standing forward to jab is extremely possible, 3 low shorts, stand jab, ball is cake (in comparison to vanilla), and overall all links are much easier. The rest of the cast got this boost on their basic combos, nice to see same for blanka. (though some of my friends have said it feels certain combos were made very difficult, likely as a balancing issue by capcom to insure that hard combos with high damage are actually hard, whereas basic combos for basic damage are, well, basic.)

Some other nerfs:

  1. It feel like blanka’s up-ball does not switch directions as well on anti-air. This could just be me, but it felt like when i was crossed up, the upball was not as reliable as vanilla. Electricity still worked well in many crossup situations, however.

  2. Many ultras can punish blocked blanka pokes. Abel’s new ultra can punish a blocked low fierce, fuerte can block numerous blocked pokes. But due to other mobility enhancements, blanka can adjust his playstyle and further use his jab into elec, and jap pressure to not require longer distance attacks in certain situations. Blanka’s pressure game is completely upgraded. Get ready for the blanka Vortex (LOLZ, kinda kidding, but sorta not).

  3. Blankas jab role, if its shorter, i ddint really notice much of a difference. This isnt a nerf per say, just a perspective.

Overall: I am very pleased with blanka’s new additions. I don’t know what it will do with the tiers, and I dont care. Mizoteru got third at God’s garden with the last iteration of Blanka, which many considered bottom tier. The upgraded Blanka can certainly hold his own against all the new cast, as well as the old. jab/elec is required for really massive/easier victories. Blanka’s new ultra is respectable, and very character specific. Excellent versus fireball characters, meh vs. the rest, except that its easy to hit after a crumple stun. His mobility is simply a game-changer.

835

thx for the write up Josh.
im looking forward to get my hands on the “improved” blanka :slight_smile:
hopefully there are finally some good setups for his ultra1/2.

836

i didnt get a chance yet to try out electricity, fadc, ultra 2, but perhaps in the corner it may work.
Thats my only dream combo left for blanka. If it works in someway im gonna laugh my ass off. Its hard, but I could basically do it (it didnt connect, but I could get the motions to come out right) in vanilla with ultra one.

837

Awesome write up Josh - SO HAPPY to hear positive stuff and not all the random complaining - that doesnt help anyone…

Can you(or anyone) please go into training and just test all his normals damage numbers? I want to know if his normals took any nerfs in damage, if not, I am VERY happy, if so, I’ll deal with it.

838

I dont have access to the game at the moment.
Honostly, for that major stat stuff, I’ll just wait for the frame data spreadsheets, cuz thats too much damn work for me.

However, as far as like my feelings on blanka damage, here goes.

Pokes are similar to the last game, i didnt notice anything super lower than i would expect, given the overall damage reduction. Basic 3/4 hit combos do about as much as you remember, no real change.

However, Ultra one damage was deffinately nerfed, hard. I would place it, at max damage, somewhere around 450-500, down from 600 in vanilla. This is just eyesight, and guesswork, but I’m ballpark correct.

Damage for ultra 2 is hella random. Not only does the ground super act as anti-air (im not kidding, i gotta test some more, but basically if they are in the wierd middle spire that he shoots out, even if doing the ground ultra, they take made damage. In fact, if somehow the opponent gets right on you when u do the ground pound ultra, the damage is really good, no numbers, but respectable.

However, full screen ultra seems to do only 2 hits, with i would guess about 3-4 low fierces worth of damage, maybe 2-3, somewhere like that. If they are just a tad shorter than full screen, then it looks like you get 2 more hits, 4 total, and the damage is respectable, given its an almost full screen fireball punish.

If, through some miracle of god, u land the ultra 2 anti-air super, the damage is excellent, given the overall reduction in damage in the game. (lol, this ultra is not even close to anti air as it takes ALL day to really come out, but it seems weird and random at the moment. My friend was gen, crossed me up in the corner, was still in the air when the ultra came out, and poof, no damage, really weird.)

Anyway, damage seems to be on par with last game, with slightly reduced ultra damage. We actually had a guy hit low forward into ultra 1 during a tournament yesterday, and it did respectable damage and seems to be slightly easier to do. Where it was a 1 frame link in vanilla, I would guess you get 2-4 frames in super, cant be too specific, but thats my ballpark.

839

One other small teaser tidbit.

Jumping RH can cross up. I’ve had it happen about 4 times now. I’m not compeltely sure if its because of the opponent doing a move that expands their hitbox, or what, but deffinately something was done to Blanka’s jumping RH. Its got a bigger hitbox or something. The crossup is kinda like Bison’s jump fierce crossup, and probably in many similar style situations. Something to work/think about, but I wont have access again to the game for testing purposes till after tuesday.

840

that sounds crazy jumping RH crossup? I like the fact that links are easier that is one thing I really wanted especially the knees to lp link, and btw ultra1 damage is now 495 so your guess was right.

Ultra 2 AA is 500 and ground is 420 from what i’ve read. I might be giving up the ultra1 for the ground 2 everyone says its very useful. I bet a few chars(esp. sim) with long jumps can jump out of U2.
Ultra damage was nerfed across the board so I dont feel bad about U1 nerf. He also no longer has a 50pt stamina edge like in vanilla, he is now 1000 not 1050.

Cant wait for the new frame data to come out…and PC version.