I totally agree with Yuuki.
I would even go as far as saying ub’s are almost useless vs yun and yang.
Ushi!?, Pierre, and rikimaru are sick Uriens to learn from. Rx is too good to realistically try and emulate.
My Urien is garbage these days tho.
well i meant it more as for buffering practice. doing 5 tackles is just showing off really
but how are you going to say it’s basic/easy and then say it’s tough 2 posts later
I thought you meant with the EX using 
Without the ex… well it’s not really practical in real matches imo.
that’s beefy damage not showing off.
So I’m compiling a list of players I need to watch for the characters I am trying to play. I want to study some of the best Japanese and American players, see how they react to situations and what tools they use. Basically immerse myself in the character by watching a variety of great players play them and figuring out how they differ. What I got so far:
Chun - MOV, Nuki, Rikimaru, Koushun, Ryan, Amir, Justin Wong
Ken - Deshiken, Kuroda, Ino, 5 star
Makoto - Mimora, Tominaga, Boss, Momochi, Ino, Ken I
But I’m guessing I’m missing a lot of strong players who I could learn from. Help me fill up the list, please! A few of these guys I know don’t play the game anymore but 2005-2008 3s is still ripe for learning for me. I wanted to get a variety of playstyles too. So Koushun’s kind of wild Chun and Justin’s turtle Chun, see what I can learn from them. Also I anticipate some of these players will be more difficult to find footage of than others, especially modern footage.
As a general rule I know I should be watching pretty much anything I can get my hands on, regardless of character. And I’ll definitely keep doing that. But I’d like to study some of these players more in depth and learn as much as I can. Thanks in advance.
Matsuken Matsuken Matsuken! - Ken
Macho Banana has a funny name and a good Chun.
Nuki has a sweet ken. I think you’d like it.
Haitani has a mean Makoto. Gave the SoCal boys the business at EVO.
^ Nuki has a very strong Ken, he’s one of my favorites to watch.
Boss has a strong Ken as well; you also should check out Shie and Chinta for more Ken play styles.
Thanks guys. Also do you know any easy way for an English speaker to find modern footage of these players? I think youtube stuff is mostly four years old or more except the Shend. And I’m guessing I can’t just search these guys romanized names on nico video.
we need a 3s player database with links to footage across years and matchups
maybe I should move to Japan
If anyone has the z-trainer for the nebula cps3 emulator could you plz upload it ? Thx 
Oh yeah Bob. I wanted to point out a Chun called Killer Machine (I think). Haven’t seen him play but saw credible folks mention being pretty strong. FYI
Edit: p.s. fuck Chun!
Ken: Gesuyarou
Less well known Kens that can hang (IMO): Kitagawa, Natsuhiko, Katoken
Makoto: There aren’t a lot of top tier Makoto users outside of the ones already named. Even then, only Boss can consistently take games from the likes of Rikimaru and Nuki. I think there’s a fairly new Makoto named Furuya. And of course, there’s Momochi Makoto.
If you can find key posters on nico nico and subscribe to them, that’s the easiest.
User name: “Versus Morikawa” posts all the game versus vids.
ST scene had a database website like that with direct matchup lists that linked out to the youtubes.
Something Dojo. No yearly separation though I don’t think, they might’ve had the dates of the matches played though.
maybe
In the months before 3SOE coming out a couple of 3S sites had sprung up and there was talk of a database with match videos and all that shit. So far it’s yet to happen but I think The Shend is working on something.
self analysis about a year and a half into my 3s journey
I was playing Dander and after a couple games he said “let go of low forward.” so I spent the next few matches trying to play mostly without it unless it was a punish. discovered very quickly that I have no idea what I’m doing without it. it’s not uncommon for me to stick out low forward, super if I see that it’s going to connect (they hit a button or whatever), and EX fireball otherwise or if I’m not sure. low forward is the staple of my life.
I remember I picked up Ken because I thought Chun was serving as a crutch for me. not a crutch in general but for me she was. I could win doing some very basic things because she has good buttons and most people I was playing weren’t great. now as I go further along I find that low forward in general (both characters) is my modern day crutch. without it I find myself just whiffing stand strongs and occasionally doing dash up short short fishing for damage. in other words “not a whole lot.”
I’ve been thinking about lately about that idea that was discussed in one of the other topics “making people walk into your buttons.” that’s pretty much the exact opposite of how I usually play. it is very brute force. kind of like a SF2 or SF4 mindset.
this is something for me to reflect on over the next few weeks. I’m reaching the point where execution is less of an issue and the important stuff I can’t really learn in training mode. I guess I could rename this thread “my journey of becoming a complete 3s player” or something like that.
Don’t be afraid of using the move so much.Maybe one day you will become the low forward king!
Don’t ever… EVER not take advantage of low forward with Ken. Yeah, it’s an easy route but so what? It’s a good move. Just got to use it moments where it’s optimal. I also have the issue of “making people walk into your buttons.” I’m shitty with baiting (I think) but I tend to compensate with reactions to my opponent’s moves and reads. I rarely play the whole “make your opponents get tagged by your buttons,” game because I usually expect more out of my opponent. Better defenses, better overall play. Like, I played Tyrant CBO the other day. I’m absolutely certain that he was guessing I’d do low forward every time so he’d try to heabutt over it. Snuff that out with SRK and mk but playing it that manner, I guess, detracts any respect given to an opponent… But I guess that’s just how you have to play some people. I know, when playing one of my friends, that he likes to parry in every reset situation. Knowing this, I tend to go for c.mkxxSRK. Beats out slower moves on parry from my experience.
Just from the gist of your comments, I’d recommend improving your neutral game. Ken can be played super offensively but he’s probably best played as a fortress. Even if your down on life your opponent still doesn’t have as good tools as you so anything they can do you can punish safely and effectively. Also, the lost art of SRK’ing jump-ins needs to return to many a Ken player. It’s absent in the online realm of most Ken’s… Man, I wish I were better with Dudely. His AA game is so good…
the threat of low forward sa3 is so much more dangerous than anything low forward actually does.
it is one weapon in a whole range of things to use. once you understand how to use that weapon best you will stop trying to use it in places where it isn’t the best solution.
i wasn’t really clear about what having people walk into your attacks meant. what that means is you have the opponent believing they know how to beat you or a specific attack, defense, etc. then you punish them for choosing the answer you expected. using low forward a lot is a good example. if i keep walking into it when you don’t have super and aren’t close enough to shoryu, i will be thinking you really like to guard that area with low forward. so when i have a way to really punish you, im going to be looking to down parry.
now if you were even smarter than me, you would know i’m going to be looking for down parries now and start dashing in and doing tc > shoryu > shoryu. in both cases the opponent is being led right into the attack. they believe there is one situation about to unfold and instead another happens.
you can use your options to beat someone. or you can use your options plus their options to beat them.
eh, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to use shoto low forward unless its getting punished or youre trying some douchey “one arm behind my back” gimmick. It’s one of Ken’s best moves.