Splendid Claw is also a good way to escape pressure…especially against Dhalsim’s fireball/teleport trick
so is BHC… except that it hits him.
I got out of many potential corners pressures with BHC.
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Does it have invincibility frames? Seriously, I haven’t used it since I first used SC on SSFIV’s release date. All I know is on Vanilla, I hated that damn ultra. As if the input wasn’t difficult enough to get down, it’s priority was fucking garbage.
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The input for BHC isn’t difficult per se, I’d say it’s difficult to master if you weren’t using it prior to SF4. I remember back in the days playing Alpha 3 and SFT and having to learn it because thats what Vega was equipped with at the time. And then moving up to the fightstick, which makes the input sooooo much easier than a pad. It’s funny, but I still find U1’s input slighty easier than U2, but that’s because my hand is so use to the U1 motion.
When I first switched to U2 from U1, I wasn’t that deep into the mechanics and technicalities of the SF4 game engine, and had I known then what I know now, I would have just stuck with U1. Yes, it has 0 I-Frames and terrible “priority” (I hate using that word) but that’s OK, because it’s not meant to go heads up with another move. It’s meant to be a swift, damaging flash. Fantastic as a punish or out-of-the-blue, surprise uses. It’s also not terrible in the corner, actually, it’s pretty decent if you’re in the corner, as long as you go toward the wall instead of the opponent.
The knee hit on the way up added in Super is a gift and a curse, but I wouldn’t want them to take it away. This makes BHC more versatile as it’s punish game is now extremely scary, but now the opponent knows how dangerous it is and now watches your Ultra gauge a lot more closely, taking away a lot of the surprise element BHC had in Vanilla.
Now I feel U2 is so sewn into my style that I find myself being reckless and just plain stupid sometimes when I pick U1, forgetting that different tools call for a different game plan. I’ve been trying to implement U1 back into my game and ween off U2, but it’s proving difficult. I love it if anyone had any advice on how to land U1 on different characters, so I could try to soak that up and see if it fits my style.
The damage is just so much better on BHC, I can’t ignore that.
Right…SC’s damage isn’t the greatest, but I’d assume that’s mainly because of how easy it is to hit it if you know what you’re doing. And I still use pad…If it weren’t for other great SF players/friends of mine like EmblemLord (who pwns with Sagat) and D_Dollars who uses Yang (I haven’t seen his Yang yet, but his executions were always amazing) I’d have went to the stick. Not to forget the best Pad player, wolfkrone. I’ve run into some pad players who were pretty good, and the switch is too costly for something I may not like or commit too, so I’m sticking with the pad.
I’m going to try BHC out though and see how I like it.
I still play with pad to this day. I use both, it all depends on the situation. Links and some inputs are much easier on a stick, aside from that, I hardly notice a difference.
I primarily use SC, I switched to SC after playing SSFIV for a while and left BHC because I felt like it was harder to land with all the new technology that players have now, especially against such a ultra. I only use BHC in the Sagat match-up due to the excessive amount of fireballs that are seen in that match…but that’s about it.
Yeah…I noticed that linking on a stick would probably be much easier. I was training with Yun the other day, and I hit links like c. mp -> c. mp -> s. mp -> Dragon Kicks pretty easily, but the light punch/kick links seem more difficult to complete with a special move, like his forward punch. whenever I input the punch, a random jab will come out 
i cant even do a wall dive on stick… Hori FC3 Pro for me…I love being able to mod my own shit 
EL destroys me… then again there isnt many people that EL doesnt destroy… Now if only he’d get his lazy ass to an actual tourney…
Yeah…I played him a few days ago. In the Vanilla days, we went toe to toe, but nowadays, he’s on a whole nother level. I joined his ranked lobby a few days ago and lost both rounds…then I re-joined a few matches later and took the second round because he whiffed an ultra. He killed me the next round though.
IMO He’d make top 32 at EVO…he needs to fly to Vegas already.
i’d seriously have to see you go toe to toe with him like you were in the same level. Not sayin you’re lying but I don’t believe it even if EL admitted it himself. I’ve only seen 1 Vega player EVER have a decent shot at him. including all the way back to vanilla. and that’s theonly_J
and el’s too “broke” although he still wouldnt go when i offered to help pay for his trip
I said in the Vanilla days…early Vanilla days, when the game had been out for like 3-4 months. By the time Super was announced, he was kicking my ass. Like I said, now, he’s on another level.
Edit: And also, EL is prideful. He may or may not feel this way, but some men out there won’t accept that type of luxury from another man…makes them feel like…less of a man. Maybe this isn’t the case, maybe it is. But hopefully we all see each other at an EVO in the future 
I hope to go next year.
Who is this EL guy? And are there any videos of him?
Ahh ok, yea I see him post all the time never see him at tournaments though. I wish he’d go to some, casuals are nice and all but nothing is proven unless money is on the line.
now that i watch some old vids of us, i can see where i made the same mistakes over and over. He doesnt look so hard anymore. I’ma try to fight him tomorrow
Since AE i’ve been going to u1 more, to test its merits vs the nerfed u2.
the nerfed u2, makes it kind of terrible… id rather have honda’s 11 frame ultra 1 then this 9 frame pos. At least he is able to beat empty jumps if timed right and atleast he can remain in motion while charging! (yes the fat ass sumo has an ultra that keeps him moving, the spanish ninja matador does not)
The main applications of U2 (catching bad jump ins, making people respect it on wakeup) are all but gone, leaving it as a punisher.
Im debating switching to 1 now for alot of match ups instead of those were U2 has still got some merit…
Atleast if u time U1 early on jumps, it will hit empty jumpers as well, making it a potential better AA ultra if used right.
It is also a better deterrent for fireball zoners and it will punish the same moves u2 does. It has some tricky cross up tricks too.
If u ever chose to use it because you expected the challenger to do something (random ultra) then at least the ultra flash can not safe them from their button press.
But where do all of you guys get the idea that ultra1 does more damage???
This is entirely situational and ultra2 will do more damage in more situations.
The only time ultra 1 does 30(!!) more damage is when you hit the knee + ultra and this is ONLY with your claw attached.
It is however more likely you will not hit the knee, and then the SC will then always be equal or win the damage competition.
The damage on ultra 1 is potentially very pitifull!! Masked without claw ultra 1 does 375(no knee) or 405 (knee) with FULL meter LOL!!!
Atleast u2 will never drop under 435.
Since AE both ultra’s are kinda trash. U2 was at least decent in super.
Im glad vega has so many things going for him to negate his terrible ultra’s, like a great comboable super, great fadc setups , great ambigous cross ups… oh wait.
I used BHC this morning.
1.) The knee has no damn priority and trades with just about everything.
2.) The few times the knee did hit, the actual ultra missed and didn’t connect.
3.) I hit it once, and the damage is nice, but not worth all the negatives that come along with this shitty ultra.
Back to Splendid Claw before I break something.
I went 9-10 with EL last time I played him his way =(
Anyway, I like Bloody High Claw more. It does a lot more damage (especially without your mask on)
HOWEVER I don’t use it unless I’m just screwing around because Splendid Claw has I-frames which will make people respect your wakeup more. When I fight another Vega and I see that they are using bloody high claw, then that means I can apply pressure for free all day any day. I guess it’s really matchup dependent though.
The bottom line is, though Bloody High Claw is one of the most damaging ultras in the game, Splendid Claw has more uses and in my opinion easier to land.
EDIT: More power to you if you can punish a reckless jump with Bloody High Claw on reaction.