Shiwa's impression from 2.0

This one taken from Shiwa's Blog

【随時更新】アプデ後のキャラのイメージ - しわ塾

Posted 2024-12-26

Update, character opinions

When I wasn't paying attention, we got this update

We have a lot of changes for most of the cast, and some of them it might require an update for character's countermeasures.

Now i'm going to share my opinion about the characters in this update and list the most important points

Of course keep in mind that this is my personal opinion at it might not be 100% accurate.

"Please understand that if I use it, there might be times when I have to say like 'Sorry, I was just guessing…'"



Akira (personal evaluation = S)

It seems that the nerf of 6P+K+G can be really important, but he got instead a better version of 666P that you can't backdash anymore.

As result in this update it seems there is more focus for the player in working more in his set ups with mids, throws and guard breaks?

Near the wall GB into double palm is guaranteed, forcing the opponent to crouch or evade, which is very powerful.

He is better for carrying the opponent near the wall, and also his timing for setups feels different now.

But it seems that some characters still backdash 666P under some circumstances?



Pai (personal evaluation = S)

Originally the concept of Pai was a character that can't deal too much damage (in FS), but now she can

with the addition of a better throw game and better mids, she just got stronger.

however, in my opinion, her fundamental game plan didn't change it at all so still possible to play her in the same way at is was in FS(poking and using her strings and tools to open the opponent's defense).

Personally, i think she is going to still have trouble dealing with Jacky and Wolf.



Lau (personal evaluation = A)

Now he have a nitaku launcher to deal with 2P

now his 214P+G got buffed so now he have more options to get wall combos

Personally i think his PK being -2 can be really bad for him

however, it seems that he can't still do too much vs players who likes to crouch and evade towards his belly, so his countermeasures is going to be the same.

Maybe Akira's 2_3P+K still a problem for him?



Kage (personal evaluation = S)

Originally a well rounded character, now he got a better punish game, better options for Abare, he can deal better vs player who likes to crouch, and it seems is a top tier now.

His eye poke being 13 is quite good now, now he can do 130 near the wall with mids or lows

Additionally, his 6K+G is really good now and even can combo heavy weights, dealing 100 on Taka can be really scary for him.

Personally i think the buff in P+K is really good!

Crouching was something that hurt a lot of kage game plan, but now anymore, combining this with his half circulars and his throws players might be overwhelmed now.

The nerf in 4K is quite bad for him, now he can be exposed more if you evade towards his belly.

i don't think his match ups changed at all, and he is going to still have trouble vs Pai and Aoi



Sarah (personal evaluation = A)

※ I don't know how to use Ｐ＋Ｋ, so i don't going to talk about this one

She didn't change much

Her okizeme tools got buffed and her concept of a rushdown character with strong focus on oki still there

6PK got a slight buff, a better neutral throw, and with her oki have more options to deal more damage.

Even against Strong players, Flamingo mixups are strong

It seems the idea is to lock you down to deal with her santaku(3 way option)

However, her countermeasures are the same as FS, there is no balance in her low range attacks, that means that most of her bad match ups are going to stay the same, which is a drawback.



Jacky (personal evaluation = S)

As everyone was expecting, he got a nerf, but it seems that he got better in another areas

Although the overall damage has decreased, it seems the damage at some characters have increased(some characters that didn't bound with 4K+K now bound)

His circular moves are the same, so he still really effective restricting opponent's options.

He can still deal good damage vs players who loves to mash or play random, but it seems they balanced that?... i know this is a quite a lackluster explanation so sorry for that...

And not only nerfs for Jacky, he got tools that can be handy for his oki and side turned game, so maybe we can see someting new strats for him.

Although, there is more risk for using Backdash and 4P+K+G seems those moves still really good against some match ups.


Jeffry (personal evaluation = S-A+)

Although the nerf to 2K (toe kick) is quite bad for him, i think is good to the game that he doesn't random mash the move and get 111 for it.

maybe you can't get the throw at max range anymore (Jimi notes you can still get the throw)

Splash 2_6P+G actually does 90 (throw + down attack) so the pressure from throws has dramatically increased.

I think that's the reason why Toe kick is weaker now

Even if you can throw escape splash still good for Jeffry

He is lighter now, he still depends a lot of moves with bad range/hitboxes, punch type attacks, so i'm worried that his match ups vs Lion, Jacky and Jean are going to still be bad for him.

Still looking like a solid/versatile character, what do you think?



Wolf (personal evaluation = A)

In general the balance is focus in [Avoiding feeling safe with fuzzy vs Wolf]

Feel the intention is to force you to deal more (yomi) with Wolf's throws, attacks and reverse nitaku

With 4P+K being 9F and the return of 4K+G his punish and nitaku pressure has increased.

i'm happy that Pedigree is back, but since you switch position it might not be that useful.

9P can jump over lows at frame 1, so we might see it used more for abare now.

However the recovery time is worse now, and it can't be used effectively for situations like side attacks.

He is got a weight nerf, and he can take a lot of damage now which is a problem.

Again he didn't change that much, still a characters that relies too much in punch type and single hit moves, he still have trouble vs Lion,Jacky, Shun, Aoi and Jean.

I bet he is going to be really scary in tournaments.



Shun (personal evaluation = S-A+)

Simple, is easy to him to drink and is now hard to sober him.

He can adapt pretty well to players now, and it seems he is going to be really strong now.

Now even Taka is going to have a bad time vs him.

Players that doesn't understand the Shun match up might going to break the controller in frustration now.

Basically, you're in trouble if shun gets 6 drinks, it can be an uphill battle if you mess up in the early to mid game.

However he still struggling vs fast characters, I'm curious to see how he will do vs Lion, Pai and Jacky.



Lion (personal evaluation = A+)

He didn't change too much

Maybe he got a buff in his oki and side turned game?

His 4K half circular is annoying, because it can force you to crouch or evade towards his stomach, making moves like his mid kick easy to use.

In the end he was nerfed, his backdash can be still used, making him strong vs some characters.

i don't know but maybe is the lightest character now?



Aoi (personal evaluation = A+)

her buffs on the punish game and her half circular attacks are significant.

The areas where it struggled in neutral play have been compensated and now she is really dangerous.

Right now 2_3P+K is really good, so good that i'm actually worry about how this move is going to be used online.

Because low are super unsafe vs her now, also her reverse nitaku is more effective.

But her range still the same (really short), so is she going to be able to deal with backdashes?

Taka Arashi (personal evaluation =A- A+)

I'm not saying Taka is weak now, but he taking a lot of damage now is a huge nerf.

Also he can't delay tech anymore, so the player's defensive skills are going to be heavily tested.

For Taka player with 10 years of more of experience, it seem a extra challenge to switch the mindset for a new game.

There is a slight nerf for his throws and his twin pistons (4P+KP).

But i think the new combo routes are a nice touch, so i think his overall damage got a buff here.

The 41236P Power Crush, seems like it could be very powerful against certain characters.

Although he got nerf you can still play his "sumo" playstyle, but you need to be a little more refined approach than before, so he is hard to play now (jimi: notes no idea about this maybe he is talking about his playstyle in FS)



Lei Fei (personal evaluation =B)

He still really good with walls

He got moves to abare and whiff punish better but, it seems a lot are tricky to use effectively.

I think a lot of old school players are going to love the buffs on 33PP but since due the changes on backdashes, it seems you're going to do extra work to use this move.

Personally i think there are 3 moves to take into account: K+GP, The speed up transition in Kyo stance (4P+K+G) and P+K in Kyo stance.

With the former, now you can get a knockdown, making it more threatening near wall and low fences.

This allows for more Kyo P+K,6P and K+G setups

Especially when you fish for something big in low fence or to get a knockdown by these mix-ups, which adds pressure.

That being said, it still requires strong Yomi from the player, giving the impression this was more designed to advanced players.

I'm curious about how much the counter hit on stances will affect him



Defensive Vane (personal evaluation =A+)

not comments about Intercept Position

She good new tools to be more offensive in this stance making her stronger.

now 66K+G now has the same performance as her Offensive counterpart, is easy to punish crouching, more pressure with mids lows and half circulars from sides.

She can now play faster and overwhelm both veteran and new players quickly.

With this buffs and how the vf system can help her, in hand of a Yomi master, she seems unbeatable...

She seems lighter now, maybe this a tradeoff for the buffs?

And challenging the punch or kick sabakis are going to be tough, i think Jacky, Jean and Brad are going to be really hard for her.



Offensive Vane (personal evaluation =A)

She got a small balance for this stance.

in the end it seems that the main stance now is going to be Defensive.

her half circular stay the same, and having a catch throw is always good.

I'm concerned about the nerf to 66K which was good to punish crouching opponents.

Goh (personal evaluation =S-A+)

Although 3KP got a slight nerf (-13), tsukami (throw sabaki) still

Also his throws and mix ups specially reverse nitaku still the same.

Since his gameplay doesn't get affected by the new mechanics, maybe he is going to be more boring to play now.

It seems his match up vs Taka is better now, so this is a buff for him.

however, he still a single strike character, how good he is going to be vs characters like Lion or another characters that use backdash?



Brad (personal evaluation =S-A+)

A lot of his crazy damage moves have more risk now, but as expected, he still a serious contender.

Is important that his half circulars moves and his damage still the same.

His side game still really good, and you want to avoid to deal with it, but since abare is also risky it becomes a tough decision.

Long ducking is really good for oki and to break opponent's defense.

Maybe Jacky users want to try this character now.

It seems that his match ups still the same Akira, Pai, Aoi, Lion, Jean, and Shun still a problem for him.



Eileen (personal evaluation =A+)

I think they are going to nerf 1P+K so i'm not going to talk about this one.

This character was about fast moves, now have damage and range.

She still have to take risks, but now is not possible to defend all she have to offer, no matter how good is your defense.

Since a lot of his circular moves where buffed, the use of evade crouch backdashing is not going to work on her anymore, this means dealing with the mix ups which is a bad thing.

With the big buffs of 6PPK,4PPK and the catch throw, you need to be extra cautios when you are having your back near to the wall.

Since her range problem hasn’t been addressed much, I wonder how is she going to deal with Jacky, Lion and Jean.



Blaze (personal evaluation =A+-A)

He is heavier now, that's a buff

Some players are going to have problems using his 4P+K and some jumping shenanigans, but he got better tools to deal with side turned and walls.

His wall game is way better now thanks to the buff to 46PPK

Seems now you're going to guess to deal with wall damage or deal with oki.

But his range still the same, so that means that he is going to have a bad time vs backdash and big stages.



Jean (personal evaluation =A+)

He got a buff in his throws and some position stuff, otherwise there is not significant changes.

Seems like his timing and backdash for creating openings, still intact.

It seems that his ability to force you more to side turned and do charge attack is going to be more problematic at beginner-intermediate levels.

66P+K which can be used to punish in evade side turned seems really good.

In this version his weight seems the same as Lion, i think he is going to have a bad time with damage now.

Also, since his sabaki gets a counter hit now (RC) it seems more people are going to wait for it.

In the end this is not a big deal if the player uses his tools properly?



That's all!

Since it's the end of the year, I’ve been a bit busy and haven’t had much time to play games.

This is just my impression so far, so i going to try every character the next year.