Well, you never know what Capcom is gonna do with anybody. I’m not even going to attempt to speak on that. They might give Abel a fireball and Genei Jin. They might not give him anything, but take away CoD and TT.
As for what I think he needs, realistically, a faster sweep would be great. Outside of that, it’d be really hard to improve Abel without making him way too good.
Yeah, I think Abel kinda sucks as is. No question… but I also think that Abel almost works really well. That’s why I still play him. If I didn’t feel like I could overcome most of Abel’s shortcomings with just being smarter than people, I wouldn’t use him.
Let’s examine it a little closer.
- Abel has all the tools he needs to deal with almost any situation. Between Roll, EX Roll, TT, EX TT, EX CoD, Ultra, Super, Low Forward, Stand Strong, Close Stand Fierce, both forms of Stand Roundhouse, Stand Forward, Step Kick, EX Wheel Kick, Focus Attack, the fastest dash in the game, and Stand Short… what can’t he deal with? Abel’s problem is that very few of his moves serve more than one purpose. Also, between the fact that Abel sets up a lot of guessing games, and the fact that his moves are generally slow, it means that Abel has to throw things out there as a guess, as opposed to on reaction. So the fact that he has moves to deal with everything is diluted greatly by the fact that he can’t pick from them after seeing which will be best for the situation, in most cases.
So, in my mind, this is a major point you have to realize when talking about improving Abel.
So, somebody mentioned increasing Abel’s block stun before. It sounds like a minor tweak, but it’s really not. If you increase Abel’s block stun, you allow Abel to have initiative. You can’t give a character with that much mix-up potential, and that many damn good moves to deal with the opponent’s shit, easy frame advantage. In a game where there is no buffer window for throws (like CvS2, in which you cannot throw somebody for the first 6, or maybe 8, frames in any reversal situation. So on wake-up, after leaving block stun, after recovering from an air flip out, etc… they cannot be thrown), you can’t give a character with Abel’s mobility a Low Jab that leaves him at, say, +4 or +5. That means that given frame perfect timing, there’s a one/zero frame window for an opponent to escape a tick to TT. Now, SF4’s HUUUUUUUGE reversal window would help with that, but that’s only for characters with a good reversal, and that would necessitate that they’re always pumping out the reversal (I know… it’s SF4… they probably are anyway…). The only other options are frame-perfect backdash (which does not benefit from the huge reversal window), or jump out. Now, jump out becomes extremely dangerous though, since SF4 jumps don’t leave the ground for 4 frames. So let’s say you give Low Jab 1-2 more frames of advantage, well now there’s a huge threat for ticks, and there’s an easy ass frame trap now with Low Strong or Step Kick.
It’s dumb. Now this shit is already in SF4… it’s just not as good. Abel’s Low Jab, already leaves him at +3, and Low Strong has 7 frame start-up. So does Step Kick, so with frame-perfect timing, that’s a frame trap if your opponent holds up to get away. But at least it’s frame perfect. Giving Abel 1-2 more frames to have a tool that essentially makes your opponent either sit there and accept whatever mix-up I have coming, or force a reversal… it’s just too good.
I could make an argument for almost all of the improvements I’m hearing from people. They all sound good in and of themselves. When you examine how they’ll affect the meta-game, it’s all too dangerous.
- Another huge problem is that Abel just isn’t safe. Fuck increasing advantage, he has many moves that leave him at disadvantage as it is. Not to mention, his style already puts him at risk as it is, before you even get into the frame data.
BUT… again… I don’t think that’s something you can change without making him too good.
I believe CoD currently leaves Abel at -3 or -4. That sucks. It makes it a move you really shouldn’t feel comfortable just throwing out there. You can’t finish block strings with it. You can’t toss out EX CoD whenever the fuck you feel like it… but that’s good.
If CoD left Abel at even frames, or -1, it’d be WAAAAY too good. Easy pressure into more mix ups. EX CoD would become a huge part of Abel’s game. Even regular CoD would become a viable mid-range poke. Again… for a character with Abel’s mobility, damage potential, and mix-up potential, giving him a move that good at mid-range would just be kinda silly in SF4. It works in other games with more robust systems, but in SF4, I just don’t like it.
You could make a similar argument for giving Wheel Kick frame advantage.
Now, what I do think Abel could use without being too good are a faster sweep, one more frame of invincibility on EX FS, maybe a little more range on Low Strong… Low Fierce should always pop up, if I land it on the ground at close range. A few more tweaks, I guess… but really nothing too drastic. Oh! Low Short needs to be 1-2 frames faster so it’s not fucking worthless.
