I just got USF4 today, I watched a few videos of top player matches and viper really intrigued me the most. After doing a bit of reading and research, it seems like viper isn’t someone that’s easy to master because of all the executions. I tried some myself, and boy it’s pretty tough to pull off, I have some difficulties doing the cancels.
I have experience in tekken, but I’m totally new in street fighter. Should I continue learning her or just pick a more newb-friendly character?
Even besides the execution, there are reasons why Viper isn’t recommended for a beginner: a lot of the stuff you do with her don’t translate very well to other characters, because she plays completely differently from 95% of the rest of the cast in SF.
That being said, if you like playing her, there’s absolutely no reason to pick another character. It’s a game. Play whoever you find fun. Just be aware that it’ll be a challenge to unlock her full potential.
That playstyle thing is a big reason. Viper isn’t quite like Seth or Fuerte at their worst (that is to say a complete slot machine), her gameplay has structure to it. That structure just resembles games like KOF or Marvel more than what’s considered standard SF (exemplified by fireball/uppercut types for example).
If Viper seems fun, go for it. Just understand that you’ll have a bunch of work ahead of you and might not be able to pick up other characters easily if you do a lot of Viper-specific stuff.
Random burn kicks can net you a lot of wins vs. noobs, but don’t assume Viper sucks because you lose when you first meet people who can handle her bullshit. She has a solid neutral game she can play too, but that’s where the work comes in.
I think Viper is the most difficult character to get good with. Her play style is unorthodox. She has bad normals (the worst in the game?) and has tough execution.
However, I think she’s cool as hell and not a lot of people play her so you’d be unique. If you decide that she’s your main, then you’re the man, but it’s an uphill battle.
Without execution, Viper’s moveset simply doesn’t work effectively and you lose options. And utilising poking/spacing in a grounded way isn’t something Viper’s particularly geared for and it’s something a lot of players struggle with because they feel they have to be active with her all the time to stay in control, rather than being passive at times. People do slightly underestimate her ability to play “footsies”, zone and convert off her pokes (Red Focus makes this even easier than before). Meshing grounded footsies with Viper’s style of play will help you better hold your own in matches where your offence might not work/set up opportunities and offence more easily.
If it’ll encourage you, my first character in SF4 was Viper and it worked out pretty well. Had a bit of a headstart though, since I messed around with games that had similar execution stuff. I don’t use her much anymore now (I really should though, 'cause she’s really frigging good lol), I prefer Cammy since she’s more aggressive.
Haven’t been there in a while, but the Viper forum should be willing to help you out (last time I checked, there were some guides, including a video one from Jacye the Ace) and you could PM me for tips as well. I’d say it’s always a good idea to play a character you’re interested in.
I know he’s a great Viper player, but his videos are rough. He stutters, stammers, and loses his train of thought too much. He doesn’t explain things very well. He seems very nervous on camera.
Getting good at Street Fighter isn’t a race. If it takes you longer to get good at the using the character you want to to use, so what? You will get where you want to be soon enough. Once you get there you will have better execution than someone who took the easy road.