Right, apologies for my absence - I had a series of business trips, and what little free time I had was spent learning Injustice for a local tourney (It’s a good game with great potential - give it a shot if you haven’t yet done so. Also, Darkstalkers should be in everyone’s library). That said, I have been doing my homework on Ranked, and I’ll try to put out an analysis of teams from a Steve-based perspective every Sunday. So, in order to properly distinguish who makes a good partner for Steve, let’s kick this off by tackling a few questions: What does Steve himself offer as a character? What gameplans play to his strengths? How do we cover his weaknesses? (Warning: wall of text imminent - spoilers will be added for your protection and continued sanity.)
Steve in a Nutshell:
Spoiler
Steve is both a ground-based rushdown character, and an effective defensive counterpuncher at mid-range. He is essentially an alternate take on Dudley - except that he trades an overwhelming high/low close range mixup game for better mid-range attacks, blockstrings, and defensive options. Once Steve gets in, he is able to consistently apply pressure to test his opponent’s patience, and counter his opponent’s moves when that patience inevitably runs out. Steve has some of the most damaging combos in the game, and so long as he has meter he can end the round in 2 or 3 clean hits. Playing Steve requires the fundamentals of a grappler, and demands that the player be able to both read and condition his opponent’s tendencies effectively.
Strengths:
[details=Spoiler]Steve does two things better than the rest of the cast. The first is blockstrings and frame-traps. With his wide variety of good normals, stance canceling, and an armored move that leads into high damage, he is able to place deceptive ‘holes’ in his offense basically anywhere. With his f. LP, f. MP, HK spin, ducking, or EX Hellfire he can move himself back into position should his opponent push him out. Steve excels at locking his opponent down, and baiting them to press buttons.
That second thing steve excels at is counterpunching, or an “offensive defense”. In other words, Steve has at least one good offensive action to counter any of his opponent’s offensive actions. He has a unique mechanic in his standing LK and MK bobs and weaves which root him in place and give him upper-body invincibility. With a good read, Steve can punish most standing and jump-in attacks with a full combo. Further, Steve’s counter is one of the best in the game, as it leads into a full tag-in combo (albeit at the cost of a meter), and dodges every move save for those that hit his feet. If the player manages to do this a few times, he can condition his opponent to default to ducking attacks, which can all be stuffed with a launcher. In addition, Steve has several attacks at mid-range that can frustrate his opponents attempts to get in, such as his flicker jabs, Hellfire, crouching HP anti-air, and crouching MP. Crouching MP in particular is an extremely good normal, with its high priority and ability to lead into a full combo. He also has a 3 frame super attack that has good range and is difficult to punish on block.
Additional things to note are that most of Steve’s BnB’s will carry his opponent extremely far, and more often than not will leave them in the corner, where Steve has a great advantage. Also, Steve’s high damage potential make him a great comeback character.[/details]
Weaknesses:
[details=Spoiler]Steve is at an extreme disadvantage whenever his opponent gains offensive momentum. All of Steve’s defensive options can be punished, and are much better suited for when Steve has the advantage and can force the opponent to make certain moves, rather than attempt to use them as a Hail Mary. On Knockdown, Steve can have one hell of a time getting back on his feet, and relies on alpha counters to either tag out safely, or reset momentum. Should you ever be knocked down with your back to the corner and with no meter, you probably just lost the match.
Steve also has trouble against highly defensive players and characters since he has limited mixup options. Steve’s overhead is really only good for pestering the opponent, as it will rarely lead into any significant damage. Steve has a command grab that hits standing opponents and leads to extremely high damage, but can really only be used against a raw tag. Steve also has 5 attacks that hit low, but they are all of extremely limited use. His (b. LK) and cr. LK have very limited range, and are difficult to use outside of the corner. Crouching HK hits low but is unsafe up close, while his version of the move after HK Spin is just unsafe in general, and is really only good if you know your opponent is attempting to walk backwards. LP Flicker jab is decent, but like his overhead it is really only used to pester the opponent. Steve’s anti-air (cr. HP) is effective, but does not lead into any significant damage unlike some of the cast. Steve’s jump-arc and jump attacks are both lacking, and Steve lacks any sort of cross-up whatsoever. Steve’s offense relies entirely on conditioning his opponent to hit buttons, and properly reading and countering the opponents actions to maintain offensive momentum.
One more disadvantage (And probably the reason we don’t see more Steves out there) is that he has a high learning curve. Steve’s more damaging combos and footsie options (i.e. flicker-canceling) require a higher level of execution than some other characters, and the aspiring Steve player will need to spend a good amount of time in training mode (and go through more than a few losses) to get the hang of his pressure game. Steve cannot “go dumb”; all of his moves must be calculated and precise, and the player will need a good grasp of fundamentals to use him effectively. That said, Steve is one of the better characters in the game, and learning him will be well worth the effort - especially as the game develops. Also, he is a dashing British rogue. What the hell else do you need?[/details]
What Steve Needs in a Partner:
[details=Spoiler]Steve loves meter. While he can be effective without it, having 2 bars in stock really opens up both Steve’s pressure game, and mid-range options. Also, without alpha counters, it can be extremely difficult for Steve to get out of offensive pressure. Because of this (and until T00LMAN convinces me otherwise), Steve is best suited for the anchor position in the majority of cases. Given that, ideal partners for Steve should be great meter builders that don’t need it for themselves, and that are effective on point. Since Steve has a great corner game and is extremely effective and getting his opponent there, he’ll want a partner with similar strengths. Lastly, since Steve does so well at maintaining an advantage, he’ll want a partner with a good neutral game, who can get in on the opponent, get the advantage, and tag Steve in. To sum up, Steve wants a partner that:
- Builds meter,
- Is good on point,
- Has a good corner game, and
- has a good footsie game[/details]
In my next post, we’ll take a look at Law, and why he and Steve make an effective pair.
