I can remember a time when I didn’t use to have Dan as one of my mains in Street Fighter. My first official main was Ken. I had been using him up until the release of vanilla SF4. He’s still one of my secondary mains today, but when SF4 came out I switched over to using Dan as a main. At first it was somewhat of a joke among the other players that I use to hang out with in a small tournament league I was in in CT. But then I started to really delve into Dan’s tactics and strategies, and eventually became a serious Dan player in later iterations of SF4.
At the time, I wasn’t really a follower of tiers. I thought they played some sort of role in the way I played against others, when opponents would use higher tiered characters than my own, but after adopting Dan and really training with him and developing my skill, I don’t really believe in tiers anymore. Maining Dan has made me come to some realizations of my fighting game, one of which is believing that following character tiers really restricts your skill and development. And this belief has followed me not only for Street Fighter games, but for other fighting games that I play as well.
Tier-wise, Dan made me realize how (debatable) useful it is to have character knowledge as a whole. With the limited amount of tools Dan has, you really have to know what you can do in every situation no matter how obscure. A friend of mine once told me, "When you go into a tournament rocking Dan, you have to remember that you’re telling the whole room, ‘I’m a smart motherfucker. I don’t need more tools to win.’ " As a result, I’ve realized that I have much more to learn in every fighting game I want to pick up.
To top it off, I have the wonderful tool of owning a horsehead. Shenanigans ensues, salt flows, Dan is the icing on the cake.
I’m very much the same. I used to use Ryu (almost by default) in the days before SFA2. I heard about Dan being a new “Ryu-like” character and chose him based on that. I thought his pink gi was cool looking, but was kind of like “WTF” at the Gadouken and the Danku.
Now, I can’t even play Street Fighter when Dan (or a Dan facsimile like Sean, Kairi et al) is not present. The Gadouken is my favorite “bait” move, and I’ve completely forgotten how to play characters like Ryu without being a typical scrub.
I played SF2 and i was terribad gave up fight games for the most part then SSF4 for the pc hit and my friend watched me play a round or 2 and said… pick dan… i have never had so much fun… i have 4 ways to taunt a fool… i dont even feel bad for loseing with dan most of the time because a smart player wont lock up and get mad at a taunt a smart player will combo in your face and that makes me laugh harder because they just did something dumb to deserve a taunt and then so do i lol… epic good times in this game
Winning any game is about a combination of knowing the power of the pieces (match-ups), knowing how they move (combos and move properties), knowing your opponent (obvious), and how well you can juggle the knowledge of all of it together at once.
Dan helps you understand this lesson. He gives you appreciation for things you hadn’t before. Your eyes open to how insignificant people’s sense of superiority based on character choice really is. Yes, one character may be stronger, but that won’t decide the out come of the match. Simply having a better character will not guarantee victory, especially since which character is better is based on popular opinion, and for the most part, and is subject to change.
lol i went back and played the other incarnations of Dan… man he does really suck balls, especially in puzzle fighter (lol RED GEMS). Def SSF4AE2012 version of Dan is the best! Capcom VS Snk 2 is not bad as well.
I picked up sf4 when it first came out. My cousin raped me with Sagat constantly and I just couldn’t seem to find a character I liked and alway overlooked Dan because everyone said he sucked. I tried him and sure enough got bodied more than anyone. Never touched that game again until AE came out. By now I was willing to give Dan the shot he deserved. I lost A LOT in the beginning but that was just because I had no fundamentals period. I would mash every tatsu, every DP every grab, it was scrubby for sure but I had fun. People were wondering why I wouldn’t just pick a top teir and my answer was that Dan just had a personality unlike any character in the game. I was just determined to uncover what has to offer. I practiced every day and now just over a year later and a patch later I have learned patience, spacing, big punishes, letting opponents hang themselves and pressure. If it weren’t for Dan I wouldn’t have the drive to get better or even continued to play the game. For me it’s all about proving anyone not just the character but the player can win and beat anyone no matter how good they are. There is always a flaw there’s always a weakness and always a mistake. All it takes is hard work. I will continue to sport dan at every tournament I go to (already played him at UFGT8, EVO, and Seasons Beatings). Only going to level up more with each tournament and gathering I hit. Dan represents the meaning of determination. I live by determination so it’s a perfect fit
P.S. I will be playing at Frosty Foustings, NCR and EVO this year. Get hype on stream for me!
Wouldn’t that apply to high tier characters as well? Smart motherfuckers who can use a character with lots of tools have a better chance of winning when they go up against a smart motherfucker with less tools.
Just play who you like, but don’t feel like you’re better than other players, just because of the character you play.
Of course. Dan is an instructional character, at least in SF4 (wasn’t around for Alpha). It’s important for everyone who is trying to get better to main Dan for a good minute, because it helps you understand that the player is much more important than the tools. After all, what are tools without a player skilled enough to use them to their maximum effectiveness? Of course, if you fight someone who has already learned this lesson and has good tools, chances are you’ll lose. However, against the masses who believe “Top Tier=Superior”, without being actually good enough to prove it, you can win many, many games with a low/bottom tier character.
Don’t main him, but love playing him in casuals. I’d say that playing him really strengthened my mixup game up close, since that’s really his only tool. Playing as Adon, I have good pokes and a decent DP, as well as jaguar kick to catch people off guard with, but never really mixed people up like I do now.
you are not entitled any sympathy or praise for using Dan. I personally think Dan players just look for a character they can brush their losses easily off. It’s easy to just go “lulz, Dan I lost because my character is ass”.
You are not any better than any tier whore with that attitude.
I now play with every character and pretty much don’t care if i lose anymore