Well then. Here we are , November time in the world of SSF4 and half a year after the release of nerfed Sagat. There have been a string of Sagat players emerging , some good, some pretty bad , some ( or one) amazing. After 95 % of previous Sagat users dropping him , including Mago ( THE sagat) , there was alot of doubt on how effective Sagat could be at high level . Alot of people noted that the nerfs coupled with the already very well known matchup gave Sagat a huge disadvantage , as well as it felt like almost all the new cast designed to deal with Sagat in mind the most. ( Dudley at mid range , ibuki vortex, Adon …etc.) Even Alioune dropped him , and his sagat was god.
To date a Sagat has not yet won a Major tourney in SSF4. I know Sanford won guardbreak with him but he mixed it up with other characters too. The first of the beginning bunch of sagats emerged on youtube, sunset01. Formally known as " RF" in the vanilla arcade world , he proved to be a solid sagat with a unique style , almost reintroducing the rushdown sagat . [media=youtube]WeDCcuRkdVM]YouTube - sunset01 [Sagat] vs takahirex [Dhalsim[/media].
RF was good , and being one of the old school grandmaster Sagats he is still good. But he lacked the composure looked for in high level , often playing wrecklessly. Which we all know in this game simply cannot be done.
( Edit i learn now that sunset is actually NOT RF , i assumed he was either ojisan or Rf because of the purple pants. my bad)
Next in the line of top Sagat contender was “AFG” , or “Piyoppia” another Japanese Sagat to emerge in the top Rankings and racking up wins left and right. But unfortunately , while he does have a solid Sagat , he is less impressive then RF and alot more risky. His mashing uppercuts have pretty much became his trademark, sections of his videos look like he’s using turbo sometimes, but no hes just mashing that hard. Call it a bias or whatever u want , but he has bad habits , and while he does show sagat does still have good comeback potential, he does not show the solidness and spacing, also the patience to be effective at tournament level. [media=youtube]1QxNVqVO1IE]YouTube - AFG [Sagat] vs papatiwawa [Guy[/media]
On the PSN side we have 2 major Sagat players that stand out. The first is Nanakun. Another ex Sagat vanilla player ,he is a balanced mixture of sunset and AFG in my eyes. While his ability isnt as good , his reading of the game and fireball game is second to none.Very good sagat but has yet to prove it…
Now the PSN Sagat that stands out for me. Gatikun. Only a few rare videos of him have surfaced , but just from those his ability is plain to see. This is the Sagat that opened my eyes at first. Spacing on point , fireball game top notch , punishing and combos, frame traps. His Sagat is a beast plain and simple. Set ups for safe jumps after back throw and TK, he shows how effective they are.This kid came out of nowhere.[media=youtube]9FZDxFFyf-w]YouTube - [SSF4[/media]
And he would probably be the guy to show how good Sagat could be in SSF4 , if it wasnt for…
Bonchan.
[media=youtube]4RUY21SSCAo]YouTube - Daigo [Ryu] vs Bonchan [Sagat[/media] V Daigo
[media=youtube]jOzs_Y0f73k]YouTube - Eita [Akuma] vs Bonchan[Sagat[/media] V Eita
[media=youtube]Mc_7PNtbWPk]YouTube - Mago [Fei] vs Bonchan [Sagat[/media] V Mago.
Ill let those videos speak for themselves before I start with Bonchan. Single handedly Taking out 3 of the gods of SSf4 , emerging out of absolutely nowhere , ranking up to 20,000Bp and 6000 +pp in the space of about 2 weeks. Let me introduce …Bonchan. The way this kid uses Sagat is remarkable. I remember Daigo being at SVB and playing him , and watching some of my friends play him ( RMZ) etc , using Sagat. Now , u need to understand that while Daigo is amazing, the Sagat players who fought him where far from scrubs.But the way Daigo destroyed these sagats one by one was like the match up was engraved in his soul. There was NO beating this guy using sagat , I mean i seen Ryan hart beat him using Dhalsim , I seen starnab beat him using fei long.I even saw a cammy player beat him , BUT there is NO beating Daigo in ssf4 using sagat , infact until this video I dont think I ever saw ONE sagat beat him in ssf4.
Not to overhype daigo… but damn. Bonchan is on a different level . He makes the Akuma match up look in favour for sagat. Eita destroyed Alioune at the Masters tournament and that was in vanilla when eita and daigo told him themselves he is below only bonchan and mago for Sagat in sf4. The patience , the spacing , his understanding of the game. Sagat IS tournament viable , Sagat CAN be a beast again. And I dont think any of us needed Bonchan to step in and tear it up for us to realise this. He even beat Mago’s fei long , but that shit needs a run back , fei long v Sagat in this game is deep, I would love to see a first to 10 of that shit ( godsgarden)?
But yeah, back to the point. Hate to admit it , but Emblemlord was pretty much correct when ssf4 first came out. Sagat is STILL a beast . Angry scar IS basically a gimmick which I havent seen any of the high level players use much except for sunset01. The shit just needs to be stepped up, he is a tournament viable character , and I hope to see Bonchan invited to the Godsgarden tourney as the worlds best Sagat , and see how far he can go.
What makes Bonchan so much better then the other Sagats ? What makes Bonchan have the ability to shut down the players who usually steamroll him? How is Bonchans Sagat different to his Vanilla Sagat? Answers im still looking for… TBC
The king never died , he was just finding himself.
:arazz: