I’m good man! Doing a bunch of things, stream monstering hard and going back to SSFIV to get ready for AE! All good! =D
I have a tourny this weekend, and I hope I do good cuz it’s on my plans to “reorganize and rebuild the local scene”.
Probably gonna pick Sakura back up when AE hits. Her and Makoto are gonna be my mains I think I’ve decided. Exactly like Super lol.
I don’t think that is a remotely good barometer for judging how good a character is. Online is not serious, what so ever, and shouldn’t ever really be taken seriously.
I agree with everyone else on this, her bad matchups getting nerfed has helped her immeasurably.
Jawang
3205
blanka ball spam is just a gimmick that is very easy to beat, that has nothing to do with the blanka matchup in super. the problem is that blanka wins in footsies and you can’t use fireball ever, from any range, except full screen if blanka has no meter
anyway i still doubt sakura is A tier or anywhere close, she has plenty of bad matchups in AE and they also happen to consist of many high tier characters. here are matchups that are at least 4-6 or worse, imo, for sakura in AE. Theres probably many more, but I think these are harder to argue against
yun (probably 3-7)
yang
feilong
zangief (probably 3-7)
dhalsim
makoto (probably 3-7)
sagat
ken
guile
deejay
chun li
balrog
rufus
All this talk about AE sakura is making me excited!
Makoto is still gonna be pretty free on wakeup to Sakura’s pressure game, even with her buffs. Once she gets going though Sakura’s gonna be in trouble, she’s gonna need three bars to reliably escape a rampaging Makoto. It’s gonna be a very interesting matchup.
How do you beat Blanka ball spam then? And why would you ever want to/need to throw a fireball in the Blanka matchup?
Jawang
3210
makoto is not free on wakeup. her new uppercut startup speed and hitbox makes it impossible to do an ambiguous jumpin or play crossup games. you now have to do a safe jump, which is unreliable to time and is not ambiguous to block. meaty wakeup games are extremely dangerous with makotos numerous invincible and hit absorbing options, which are not safe for makoto, but each one requires a different counter and the risk/reward ratio is in her favor.
also, makoto can now do instant TK ex-tsurugi for blockstring pressure that is safe on block, hits as a fast overhead, punishes tech throws, and leads to up to ~400 hit confirmed damage. she also has a new kara karakusa for tick throw pressure and a ton of other small things
it’s worth keeping in mind that makoto was not a free matchup for sakura even before the AE buffs. makotos pressure game from super is very effective against sakura with her horrible backdash and slow reversal that requires meter
Jawang
3211
crouching jab on reaction, or empty jump -> sweep/shouken/BnB/U1 depending on how you land
or if you don’t want to use any effort, just block and push him into the corner
you’re going to want to throw fireballs against blanka because his footsies are better, but you can’t
I agree, it’s 5-5 in my book. Why? Cause no matter what, Makoto still cannot handle pressure well, which is the same deal for Sakura. Think about it, both have really good pressure games along with a high damage output. They also have solid anti air tools and do not have a good reversal move unless they have 1 bar in stock. In regards to the normals I’d say Makoto has the slight advantage because of her st.mp, however Sakura still has a fireball which is still a space controlling tool no matter what. So I firmly believe it’s all up to the player to keep the pressure on to have the advantage otherwise it will be a neutral game.
@killer_jigglypuff haha good to see you picking her up again. I still remember when you asked about Sakura in SSF4 arcades, when at the time SSF4 was strictly consoles only so everyone kept making jokes in the thread saying she’s too broken haha.
Those were the days eh? Back when I was complete trash at this game.
Now I’m only average, but hey, I’ll take it.
People just DON’T KNOW how good Sakura’s normals are. She has a use for every single one, and there aren’t very many characters that can say that. Her jumping normals are the best in the game, and you’ll never convince me differently. Heisman beats everything, j.mp has a ridiculous A2A hitbox, and j.hp is one of the most ambigous jump-ins in the entire game. She gets slept on so hard.
Meh, Sakura doesn’t really have that many bad match ups in Super. Gief, Rog, and Blanka are the only ones that truly give her trouble, and they’re all getting nerfed. And her other match ups that aren’t in her favor barely beat her in Super (and there aren’t a lot of characters that meet this case), and most of those characters are getting nerfed. So she’s at least A tier, possibly better in AE.
lol if reaction punish was possible, I’d might as well just reaction ultra. And a cr.LP punish is hardly enough to deter Blanka’s from spamming horizontal ball.
What spacing should I empty jump (neutral jump?) at? Surely if I’m too close, wouldn’t he just up ball me?
It’ll be awhile before you can push him to the corner by simply blocking ball spam. A decent idea, but then this paves the way for his jab ball mixups. Not to mention he can probably still get out of the corner with EX rainbow ball.
There is no way in hell the Makoto matchup is 3-7 in Makoto’s favor. That matchup is 5-5. Both characters rushdown game can hurt the other. Its pretty much who gets started first. The Balrog matchup is not that bad as well. Cr.Mk dash punches and if he does Turn Punch to a fireball you can do Ultra 1 almost on reaction if you see it coming. The Zangief matchup is easier do to the fact I really do think with the EX Green Hand losing knockdown really hurt him. He has to somehow score a knockdown which is really hard because Sakura really does have better normals and Cr.Fp beats everything and I mean Evertything he does in the air without trade (tested this many times over). Guile does less damage and with him not gaining as much meter not to mention his air throw being nerfed thats a easier matchup as Skatan said before. As for Ken:
This Ken has over 90,000 BP and is one of the highest reanking Ken’s. Please come up for an excuse for this one, Wang. Plus, Sakura vs. Ken has always been a 5-5 match according to the lastest Japanese tier ranking. Unlike the USA tier list Philipino Champ made where when ever a character beats him they are all the sudden the best character in the game, and goes and cries on Mike Ross’s shoulder whenever he loses (true story).
Also Jawang I could have sworn I read that you were switching of Sakura. If Sakura is giving you these headaches, then maybe she is not the character for you.
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What I think is, so many players are so use to her being at the bottom of the tier list that they cant imagine her being good now. There are Sakura players that make her look good because they understand matchups well. There are some character in the game that things were a little easier for them, but Sakura is a very technical character and once you do learn all that you need to know about fighting certain characters than you all good.
people worry about the damn tier list too much. some people as stated just can’t figure out a matchup and are bad at it so they will call it 7/3 or even 8/2. there come a point you have to really just play the game, not look at your online ranking, other peoples online rankings, or other people at all. at the end of the day thats what will win/lose you matches. cheers.
that ken vs sakura match is a bad example. first off, it’s one match. second, IT’S ONE MATCH. if one match was all it took to understand the matchup, then everyone, and i mean EVERYONE, would be 1-0 against everyone else because they would just post vids of their characters winning. there would be no need for a tier list, and if there was one, it would just have everyone at S-Rank because no one would be shown to lose.
ken definitely has a slight advantage in his matchup with sak, simply because he has so many ways to get in, and his offense is relentless. it’s that simple. once you get a good ken going, there’s little you can do except not to buckle under the pressure of constant step-kicks, cross-up ex-tatsu, ambiguous jump-in fierce and kara throws.
I agree with you, but still even with that you still have to take in the skill factor of the player.
OK, with all I said about Sakura being A-tier, all that tier shit goes out the window if you are not skilled enough to deal with the opponent was giving you. If you used Yun but you are good enough to use the tools that have been given to you then what the hell does the tier list mean, then? Sakura is truly an example of “you get in what you put in”. Gen is another example of this as well as others more so than some characters, not disses the other characters by any means. While I do argree that Ken is hard when he gets going, well…so is Sakura. One hard hitting combo and a succesful reset and thats the round. We all know that Ken is a great character in AE, well…so is Sakura. What I dont get is, and this is off the topic with RetroKids post, is why everyone jumps to the teir list as an excuse why they get beat. “Well Sakura sucks anyway BLAH BLAH BLAH…” I hate that bullshit. You might as well play Yun and Fei Long if you are that tired of getting your ass kicked when you use her. Now that she is good, all I read is “she cant be that good, shes not that high”, but in Super it was “Shes not that low, they didnt give her a chance.” So which one is it? Its like people want Sakura to not be too high or too low. Top players are now seeing what she is made of now that she is good. The Japanese players had her at D rank in Super and now that shes proven A/B+ rank in AE, all the sudden no one can believe it. What’s really good with this forum?
