When SF4 first came out, I thought I’d just use one of the shotos, but then I realized I suck with them, so I picked Balrog, and I was pretty successful with him and he was easy to use for me. Then I realized I wouldn’t get any better using balrog because all i did was mash and I didn’t learn how to truly link combos or do any of the more advanced things in the game because i could mash the buttons and get away with it w/ balrog and I wanted to work on my execution.
but then I stopped playing vanilla, and I when Super came out, I started playing more again. Since I knew I wanted to work on execution, I decided I’d challenge myself and pick Ibuki because I knew she’d be difficult to learn, and I always just loved her
My fav character is dudley and I will tell you why. For one he’s a boxer, and boxing happens to be one of my favorite fighting arts. It feels good beating people who can kick and shoot fireballs with just your two fist. He’s quick with decent power and has a scary mix up game. Been maining him since sf 3. Not to mention, Dudley is just suave as hell. While everyone else fights for fame, power, revenge, he fights for his car. And above all, he’s a gentlemen. I love doing his rolling thunder under cody’s rock throw because he yells KEEP IT CLASSY!!! as he pulls an ippo on you.
Akuma: Always loved him as a character and he’s the only shoto who is really effective as a rush down that can’t flowchart very well in SF4.
Balrog: I’m a charge character player at heart, Akuma is really the only non-charge I can play well, and I like Balrog’s playstyle/aesthetics. I also play Honda though.
I main Chun because I suck at doing FADC ultra, and you don’t have to FADC her ultra. I used her in vanilla and got by, buy Ultra 2 has been so good to me. And DF HK is sooooo good.
I use Cammy and Bison in everything else, but I just don’t like them in 4.
Akuma… cuz he’s goddamn Gouki. C’mon really? No explanation is needed. He is the Sagat killer in SF4, and he alone could shut down most of the top tier characters all while still requiring a lot more skill and effort.
Cammy because LOOK AT THAT ASS!!! No seriously who doesn’t love rushing shit down?
Sakura because I saw sooooo many bad Sakura players in Vanilla. And she was my main in CvS2
Ken because I saw Dragon Boy and Edma using him
Chun because Darklightjg1 kept whooping my ass with her. And if you can’t beat em’ join em’
Viper because I love pulling off hard combos and being extremely flashy with feints and stupid mix ups that I come up with in my spare time. My Viper is so pattern, but you have to see the hints in the patterns to be able to defend it correctly
Makoto because she’s not 3rd Strike Makoto… fuck 3rd strike Makoto. And karakara mix ups and resets are stupid fun
Ibuki cuz she was my main in 3rd Strike… fuck SSF4 ibuki. She needs more target combos, and I still find doing the SJC command dash to be difficult if i haven’t set my mind to doing it
Guy cuz he’s a ninja
Cody cuz … OKEY… HAHA… CRIMMA UppA… KURASH…
Sagat cuz he got the nerf hammer
Vega cuz I need to learn how to play charge characters (true chargers not Chun)
Gief cuz… he’s Gief?
Akuma because he’s flashy. Well, he was in Vanilla. I also like that I have to work so fucking hard to get a win, it’s so satisfying. Seeing Momochi, Eita, Tokido and K66 rip Japan up with him helped too.
Rose … I picked up in Vanilla. It’s cheesy as fuck, but she just kind of called out to me. Something just said “Hey, try Rose out” and I got a lot of success with her after that. She felt natural to use, and I couldn’t resist shouting out “shamwow!” whenever I landed U1. Now with her U2, her mindgames are endless.
Adon is a shit ton of fun to play as. His combos are hard to get down for people like me who aren’t so execution-saavy, so it leads me to practice timing the button hits a lot more in training or Endless. In Ranked, I’ll mostly use him for footsies. Plus he has the right amount of “psychotic motherfucker” in his JP voice.
because of aesthetic looks.
ease of punishing people for pushing buttons especially in the corner or while playing footsies
throw game, mixed with overhead/slide/CH, makes for great play
unique character
you constantly have to move around, and adapt to the situation
has plenty of options outside of his wake up
teaches you how to play SF properly
teahces you the value of blocking
teaches you how to start an offense by walking foward
has moves that seem useless, but are a big part of his game, and are unique
has unique ways to abuse opponents on wake up
cannot combo into U2, and because of its nature cannot be used like other charge ultra’s making it unique.
I play Ken, I like to rushdown with Ken I rarely throw fireballs to zone. I like his step kick and i’m pretty decent at footsies with Ken, with Ryu I suck. His DP is hit confirm cancelable unlike Ryu because it’s only one hit. I like his Tatsumaki mix-up, it can lead to plenty of stuff like SRK counter hit FADC full Ultra 1. He’s very good for punishing, a simple HK into EX Tatsu does 320dmg. Overall I think he’s a solid character.
Because I like Kung Fu. Because I like tricky characters with lots of options. Because I love old Kung Fu movies. Because there is a lot to learn with him.
I main zangief since SF2 back when i first tried it because i love wrestling. I love being in your face and i choose the SPD over a combo everytime if i can lol.
i main zangief, because he does big damage, and has high hit points. and i love feeling skillful when i take out my opponents. sometimes its hard for me to avoid getting cheaped though from certain match ups. and the main reason i play zangief is i tend to win most with him online. .
Hakan: Because he seemed so odd at first, but the more I played him the more and more I liked his style. I hit a certain roadblock after a while, but I came back to him and everything seems to be getting better the more I play as him.
The flexibility of Ultra 2 is also a huge win for me. AA + Offensive Use = Yay!!!
Guile: I’ve been a guile fan from the beginning. So when I picked up vanilla I was slightly disgusted with his almost lack of an ultra. But I stuck with it. I love the idea of having a character that is a moving wall. I’m not the most dexterous player but I’m a solid technical player. I love guiles footsies, spacing, anti airs, combos etc.
Ibuki: Once super came out I picked up Ibuki to add to my guile game. Shes a whole different kinda beast. Mixups, high low, vortex. She’s fun as shit to play honestly.
Adon: my new main. Tough to use fun to execute with. He’s a challenge but I love the technicality of his character. Frame Traps, ambiguous crossups, constant pressure strings, FADC, I can honestly say I never did a FADC ultra until one month ago…lol. Thats a good feeling… it never gets old.
I mained Balrog at first, since i played him in ST, but i find him boring, and wasn’t that of a rushdown he was in ST, so i went to Rufus, because of the rushdown character he is and sticked with him until a few months, i got bored of him and never really liked the character just played because he adjust to my playstyle, but now i main Abel, i like the mobility he has even if his a grapler, feels like a KOF grapler to me, and i play a lot of KOF so it just clicked perfectly =3
Now with her U2, her mindgames are endless.