Silhouette

Woo. Like #820. Anyway, I'm not in Europe, but I still 'Liked' that pic. Because 1) I am that awesome and 2) it should totally hit Europe (as well as the US). GO ARCANA HEART.

Awesome. Would've been funnier for Homo-Genius. :P Yeah, I know about that site. They had no information on the Punishment/Sin/Luck/Holy Arcanas, so I asked here. Thanks, though.

Your quote is pretty much spot on. And crap like this is why I hate Capcom. They were vaguely tolerable back in the day, and yeah, it was about the money in the end, but at least they felt the need to put up the pretense of making money via providing gamers with what they wanted. Their business practice towards their customer base now is just extortion. They shake a finger at us from Dr. Wily's HQ and blatantly tell us that we don't get what we want until we can pony up the cash. It's like it's never dawned on them that if they made the game, and gee, I don't know, had some sort of cheap internet marketing campaign, maybe held a few officially sponsored tournaments/ranbats that the Capcom fantard fuckmuppets would probably flock to the game and they'd break even and much more? Which brings me to my main point: It doesn't matter. This is Capcom's way of saying "we have absolutely no desire to make this game". When you consider it that SFIV sold 3,000,000 plus copies world wide, and VS was never even close to Street Fighter's popularity anywhere but Japan (not even the 1/3rd he's talking about anywhere else). He is setting an impossible hurdle. And he knows that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8rRb5YT1MI 8:15 on the vid. Homo-genius or just awesome in infinite brutality? EDIT: Side question, can anyone enlighten me as to what the Punishment, Sin, Luck and Holy Arcanas do?

Love is used a lot because of it's zoning prowess. Wind lets you triple jump and air-dash twice, and you get control of wind to keep your opponent out. Dark has some stuff that looks pretty control/lockdown oriented. Plant is focused mainly around some unblockable setups you can use, and it gives you some specials that work a lot like Hazama's drive, only you pull your opponent back towards you, plus it's considered one of the easiest Arcanas to use. And as I understand it from what I've read, as well as from the 12 plus hours of AH3 match videos I've seen in the past three days, none of those four Arcanas are considered particularly strong. In going with what I've read, the "strongest" Arcana is 'Evil'. Just that whole poison-on-demand into combo thing leads up to some ridicadicadonkulous damage. But having seen a good sum of videos which feature that Arcana, even with it's huge damage potential, it's still not really dominate.

It's Slayer.

Let me DERP here for a minute: [derp]In bold. This denotes that you are to press these buttons simultaneously, correct?[/derp]

This. All of this. If that's wrong, then at best he's the world's most awkward rushdown character. He must be rushing down, as he has no defensive options and Ranga-tier health. Yet he has no (obvious) block-strings. You're going to be getting your damage off of mistakes and forced openings either way.

Sorry if this was already answered, but what are the measurements on your Small size?

I want to hear this done to Hakumen's theme. And Sword of Doom. Condemnation Wings too. ...Why not just do this to all the themes?

I disagree with the 5-5 match rank. This match is obviously 10-0 Hakumen, because only he has the power to rape himself. *points to signature*

Basically, to find a 'main' character, I spend a couple days with everyone on the roster and pick which ever one makes the most sense to me... I don't really look for anything in particular. Though, I do generally rule out grappler characters from the get-go because dammit, I need to be able to move. I really, really, really NEVER understood that comparison. Ever. Nu moves a bit like Dizzy, her defense is low and Dizzy's j.2S and Nu's j.2C are somewhat similar. But their fighting styles are basically entirely different. Meh, whatever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUEH93Z2VQg < Hakumen vs. Hazama. Fail for pointing a camera at an arcade screen and hitting 'record'. Win for being a real nail-biter of a match.

Just for future reference, Japan is fourteen (I think) hours ahead of United States EST. Should make it a little easier for when it's a good time to watch Nico vids.

Brunette A.B.A. with black clothes and grey Paracelsus. Black Color > select with S, I believe. It's vastly superior to all other A.B.A. colors. :P

I said "anyone having serious problems with this match ... is making an attempt to C-spam their way to victory", not "anyone having a problem ... is making an attempt to C-spam their way to victory". That adjective makes a difference, a serious difference. Also, I didn't say "total reliance" on 6A and 6B, as like you said, that will get you killed. I said "don't be afraid to actually acknowledge the existence of 6A and 6B". ...And did I say 6A into her her Drive? I think I said "And if you time it right, I'm relatively certain that 5C can knock her out of some of her bullshit (her Drive, namely, I believe)". I wouldn't suggest trying to 6A her Drive. I'll apply some cautionary advice in the form of telling everyone that doesn't already know that despite her relatively low damage output, your margin of error isn't nearly as big as you think it is, and you can't really afford to dick around/play defensively/stall for magatama for too long. I had the best results backing off and having her run into a 6A/6B/5C/3C > follow-up punishment/combo, but it's not always guaranteed. This video is a litany of do's and don'ts for both players: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T89-hadccs Fio's Tao is awesome.

Anybody having serious problems with this match is trying to face down a Taokaka demigod or is making an attempt to C-spam their way to victory. Which do you think is more likely? My money's on the latter. Taokaka is fast as hell, and she's got priority over pretty much all your C attacks (with the possible exception of 3C, and that's iffy), and if you manage to get one off and miss, you will be punished. Best advice is to not be afraid to actually acknowledge the existence of 6A and 6B, actually, your B array in general is pretty good here. 623AA/236A/236B are all good as well. And if you time it right, I'm relatively certain that 5C and knock her out of some of her bullshit (her Drive, namely, I believe), too. I'm a little lacking in a few of the particulars of this matchup; I only got to really play it yesterday and the day before. If you can be patient and block the greatest hits of her massive array of bullshit, and accumulate some magatama, you can go on the offensive and scare the living shit/fuck/bejesus trifecta out of your opponent. Her Guard Libra rate is obscenely low (80%, right?), and as such, she gets crushed if she doesn't run the hell away. Now, I'm going to reiterate to be as emphatic has humanly possible: Do NOT be tempted to overuse Cs against her (or against anyone, anywhere, at any given moment, for that matter). The C button is not your friend, it is a whore that will betray you.

This matchup is probably the one I have the most experience with... Now, I'll agree that this match up is only slightly in her favor since she gains momentum faster and has an easier time corner-raping than you. You have a better life rating and deal mindfuckingly better damage than she does for less, on average. Occasionally, you can use her wind to your advantage (i.e. ending up where she didn't want you, like the other side of her), but I wouldn't recommend it unless you like living dangerously. Common sense advice: Try not to IAD if there's a lightning rod between the two of you. Good Rachel players seem to have some kind of magical clairvoyance as to when they should move to shut that shit down with a Sword Iris. It's not really such a bad idea to see if you can get her to come to the other side of it, and she might do that since a negative penalty generally means more to her. If she's on the other side of a lightning rod and summons a pumpkin, rush her down fast since you can smack her with something strong in the recovery time and that pumpkin will be gone. If there's a frog near you, 5C/3C (duh) and get that shit gone. If you have the magatama, and she's coming at you, that means it's time for 6C > Shippu, or Zantetsu > Any rape you want to follow it up with. Rachel's stuff is incredibly safe, so probably the only shit you're going to be able to punish is a summon, and good luck on that one. Oh, if you're in close, her lightning rod eggs will pretty much consistently out-prioritize anything that uses magatama, so be careful. This match tends to become a battle to be the one that's not in the corner, getting fucked in the mouth. Your 6A and 6B are some pretty good tools to have if you lose that battle initially. An average (hell, sometimes even a good Rachel) is generally a character of relative predictability, so, if you're good with them, it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to catch the Draculoli bitch with a Drive and put the fuck on her with a half decent follow up.

Does anybody else have an easier time with this matchup if instead of trying to smack her down with your sword, you bait her to run into it and punish the hell out of her for it? If I play aggressively in this fight, it seems to turn into a crapshoot, but the Angler-strategy seems to work relatively well. And Kumlekar's right. 6A and 6B are great for breaking her bullshit.

Exactly. There are A LOT of variables that cause Hakumen to not have a consistently reliable method of getting in on Arakune to screw his bugfucking to the wall, which translates into NOT in your favor, as the matchup is all on a case-by-case, match-by-match basis. Most of us can take out decidedly average Arakunes. Big deal. Don't tell us we're losing because we don't "know how to get in on Arakune" like it's completely possible every time.

I generally find the best counter for Arakune is a can of Raid: I like to spray it in my opponents eyes while he's kicking my ass. This match up is seven kinds of awful. It gets a little easier if you're good with baiting teleports and can score some Drive-counters (duh), but it's still way out of your favor... Though, I can generally squeeze at least ONE win out on average against a good Arakune, and I might even win if the guy isn't that good and thinks Crimson is supposed to do all the work for him. I'm also not sure if this matchup is better for you on the ground or in the air...? It feels like it all depends on what both of you are doing. I've gotten some good results on both fronts, but, I've also gotten fucked in the mouth on the same two fronts as well.