That’s half my point though. Akuma can play every phase of the game, Kage has to get in and run mix ups. They’re going to gel better with different player bases.
zangief have buttonz now
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S.mp has always been his go to ranged poke so good to see they’re not afraid to really give him a s.mp. They can obviously never make Giefs buttons too good because of the flex system he has, but you need buttenz in this game. Reduced damage take on armor likely helps him too.
He was there to slow down Boxer and Laura when they got high/top tier crazy so he’ll be happy to see Bison on the top tier menu. Gief needed saving and now he will save us
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You could still compare the two by analysing which char is more effective at their primary strengths, or whether having a more rounded toolset makes them a more powerful char. I mean that’s like saying you cant compare ryu or ken. Two char with two different gameplan.
And my comment doesn’t address everything. Just the neutral game. Every char has to play neutral, regardless of your gameplan.
Sure, but at that level you might as well be comparing any two characters. Nothing particularly special about the Kage/Akuma comparison.
If I had to guess, I would say it’s going to be a lot more interesting to compare Kage and Ibuki, because they will be competing for players with similar interests.
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If she didn’t want to get her shit slapped she shouldn’t have got cornered by gief.
Why do you think it’s Ibuki that is most similar?
To me it looks like it will mainly attract shoto users who dont enjoy akuma’s heavy set play and ryu players who play wild and rushdown.
Other than the fireball game kage really seems to be a combo of ryu and akuma. Some of ryu’s neutral buttons and akuma’s powerful upclose normals/frametraps. Cr mk into hadoken is his most important neutral button like most shotos traditionally.
Both Ibuki and Kage need to work their way in to run aggressive 50/50s. Their tools are basically weighted to favor the same phases of the game.
Kage’s a storyline shoto, but if you sit back and ask what he wants to be doing, he’s not really running the same plan as the other photos.
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I forgot, does Kage have a 3 frame light?
Yes c.lp, which is +1 oB
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My man! Thanks
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Yeah I don’t see Kage being tippity top, not even after optimisation.
All of his dangerous stuff is up close and most of his utility is behind trigger or severe meter burn.
Akuma has an equally good trigger, and has high utility outside of it as well.
Time will tell though, people said Akuma was garbage and look where we are now.
Maybe Kage will be rushdown/mixup Akuma who can’t afford to take it slow.
If Bison is the new top tier then the game might actually be heading in a good direction.
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I agree 
The game is too anime when Cammy and Sakura are ruling the fighting streets…
Evil Ryu is certainly more handsome than Kage but I like that Kage is distinct from Ryu. And it feels cool the way his horns and vampire teeth are only in the early phase before he’s reached Oni level…
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What the absolute h*ck are you talking about.
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Kage’s V-Skill is now officially my most hated move in the game. So long, Menat HP, and thanks for all the CCs.
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I tried EC’s post VT2-knockdown setup for crossup EX tatsu and it doesn’t work, does anybody have an EX air tatsu crossup meaty?
So I haven’t played in forever, but I got a question. What are all the ribbons in the top right corner of the character portrait and on the stages supposed to mean?