Went to Chinatown Fair today to play SSFIV: Arcade Edition. I could not play much due to the amount of people there. I got to play 1st, and went on a 5 game win streak, but since there were so many people, I had to stop playing. In those 5 matches I got an alright grasp of Blanka’s changes
• EX Rainbow Ball is not good to escape the corner with anymore, seeing as how it doesnt go full screen. In fact, if it is done in the corner, the max distance will go about 1.5-2 characters away, which is much more punishable. The move in general is much more difficult to control. It felt very stiff and limited
• Fierce and strong blanka ball nerfs are bad but do not affect me much
• Fierce goes about half the distance it did in super (May be punishable by Balrog’s Headbutt! Needs testing though
• Strong Blanka ball is slightly safer than fierce ball, needs more testing as well
• Forward Hop seem slightly better. I did not mess around too much with this though
• EX Electricity starts up in 5 frames and while I did not use it, it might be a viable wake-up tool simply because of the start-up. If you feel pressured in the corner, EX Electricity will probably be a better option than EX Rainbow ball now
• Slide is much improved and that is what made my day. Safer on block because of the shorter distance. It is much easier to space out in my opinion. Think of CvS2 Blanka’s slide. This move has become a big deal.
Overall, I think Blanka has become more viable because of some changes made to other characters. Guile’s Damage was a big deal and that got nerfed overall. Cammy lost TK Cannon Strike, so that may help out blanka when being pressured in the corner or pressured period. Abel received a damage nerf as well as a few other nerfs. I’m unsure about Honda and Bison at the moment. The balrog match is practically the same. If anything, the slide buff helps out blanka a little bit more in this match
This is all from Day 1 AE, so we will see how match ups play out. I am curoius to see how the matches with Yun and Yang will play out, since as of right now I do not feel very threatened by them.
This is DMG Insaynne, giving you all the rundown about Blanka in SSFIV: Arcade Edition.
4 of the 5 matches I played should be up on the website very soon, so be sure to check back here and on Facebook.com as well. And while you are on Facebook, please like my fan page if you did not already. Thanks!
