I agree, it’s too early to worry about this in general. I’m just jealous that Juri got a recharge move that can be use in a block string or a combo… Like you say, we’ll see what happens at CPT final.
SFIV’s is pretty bad, yes.
I do however disagree about the 3S comparison. EX Kunai in 3S is one of the better EX moves in the whole game, and offers the same luxuries as her SFV one, with more versatility: it hits at two different angles making it hard to deflect (and you could abuse this to make it 2 parries or 1), has obscene hit/block stun that very much allows for the same pressure as it’s SFV variant does, it can cross-up that leads to a full combo, when it does hit it does not launch which only increases the damage output afterwards. You can even change the angle of it by holding forward – not that that ever really had much use outside of getting full-screen distance on a normal jump for chip kills on sleeping players. I think the only thing I consider her SFV variant better at is just for fireball punishing, and most of that is less the EX Kunai itself and more that the physics of her Kunai throw is in the SFIV vein in that she loses height the moment she throws a Kunai, where-as in 3S she would keep momentum.
The biggest weakness to Ibuki’s air EX Kunai is that it suffers from a range/height restriction. She has one range in which it can be used, and that is it. People will learn that range, and it will become a more predictable Cammy EX dive kick. Stand in a range where she can only hit with the Kunai itself and she loses all of her health upon landing.
On-top of that, air EX Kunai for whatever reason possesses different juggle potential than her grounded version, for reasons I don’t understand. Hardly a problem, but it is another factor.
I do like her EX Kunai, it’s one of her more creative and fun moves, and I don’t scoff at it’s usefulness, but it’s usefulness is also very direct. So comparing it to 3S’s which has a myriad of uses, while also being just as competent and if not more so in the same areas is a statement I consider odd. I stand by the notion I said awhile ago that she should be able to change the direction of her air EX Kunai, just as she can on the ground. Or at the least, have a non-height restriction on it, to allow for more versatile aiming (as height is a form of angle alteration).
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D–don’t compare Ibuki to Johnny. If Johnny gets level 3, he is guaranteeing himself 70% of your life if he hits you (burst aside). He also gets pressure and setups from it, and from the coins. ASW knows how to do resources, this is SF’s real first venture into it, and in a game of weak characters, it can be frustrating to have a weakish option be limited.
Let’s think of it this way, it is bad game design to have something which cannot be used in most match-ups. Her reload cannot be used against most characters. The safest way to even try to do it is after a HP raida, and that’s unsafe against a lot of the cast, especially if you fish for more. The only real way to get a Kunai back universally is (hilariously) behind the use of EX-kunai – but then you lose damage, pressure and you’re also using meter AND the resource you want to get back. Outside of that, it all comes back to her oh-so-important target combo, but losing that setup is not worth 1 kunai, it’s just not. 2-3 maybe.
While I would like to see just the move itself tweaked to be better as a whole. I do think my other solution of allowing Raida on hit to be canceled into Kunai reload to be an okay solution. It’s like, right now, you have to do HP raida, which sacrifices ALL screen space, for the bounty of 1 Kunai (and it’s not even safe to do it). If you could do LP raida and get a Kunai by the time someone gets back up, then you gain a Kunai, but lose pressure, but keep relatively close spacing. That sounds like a much more reasonable give and take.
You can’t even compare her resource to Johnny’s because he’s traditionally been a limited resource character, in that, once it’s gone, it’s gone. We can’t even make her a character like that because… we have two whole moves designed around burning ALL of those resources, for a very unbelievably low reward. The release moves as a whole are infinitely more useful when you only have like 1 or 2 Kunai, and to be honest, I’ve actually considered throwing 4-5 Kunai at the start of every round and just playing Ibuki with 1-2 Kunai, to allow release to be a more practical option. Something I plan to tinker with later when I get back to SFV (other games have called my name).
Really though, I think like a lot of things in SFV, this deserves a buff in some capacity. This is a game of underpowered characters, and unfortunately, a lot of those underpowered aspects are built upon Capcom’s fear of options and versatility. The result is a lot of moves which come up less than stellar, or in some cases, completely useless. I can understand Capcom’s fear, because they did (for whatever reason) give Ibuki one of the fastest “fireballs” in SFV. However, unless we hit some sort of epiphany for Ibuki as a whole, we may find that fear a little out of proportion.
I find it fun to have to manage.
sorry to resurrect an old thread but I don’t find her kunais needing to be changed.
when I feel I’m really on top of my game I start watching her meters mid combo, as the target combo is easy to muscle memory as well as the follow ups, ex. kunai into air dash kunai as well.
and if you really need to reload you can swap out whatever combo ender you were going for, for hp. or ex. raida and immediately input reload for at least one more kunai. You have to sacrifice the positioning you need with her but you end up on neutral again.
If you have good management of your kunais its viable to win most matches while keeping a kunai available. Unfortunately it forces you to not used the charged kunais often, but they still have situational uses.
If I land a charged V Skill thats usually the basic point where I go and reload a couple kunais. Standard kunai throws from a distance usually give you space to reload the one you just threw.