Additional thanks go to Adriaan for submitting this video.
Too bad..I wanted to c uryo using sakura in godsgarden lyk this..!
I would have to agree with #9... anyone who can play Sakura like that is a beast lol. Great combos... good vid!
Wow look at those links this guys execution is godlike.
@9 Try Sakura aginst even scrub Blankas. There is almost no way for her to stop or punish his balls. There is even a vid of Uyro getting destroyed by a ball spamming blanka online. There are a few matchups that are almost impossible for Sakura. When Blanka and a few others get their nerfs in the AE edition we might start seeing some more tournament Sakura mains.
Wow that Sakura is so disgusting I wanna throw up.
i gotta know the technology behind that cross up jump fierce
I love it when people call bs on tiers just because they see a few matches that show the contrary...
Sak has alot of problems...
obviously she can't do a damn thing against blanka...
but my biggest problem with her is that she relies almost entirely on jump in's to move in on her opponent...
punish her with antiairs, and all you have to worry about are her crouching MK, and her slow-@$$ standing HK...
if you face an opponent with superior footies and strong anti-airs, you basically have to rely on luck to win...
she's just not very flexible, unless she's right on top of you...
You know I think it's hilarious how so many scrubs get the wake up Ultra right but no pros will do it even in perfect situations. Every single time she sat in front of one of those guys charging a hadoken was a perfect opportunity that none capitalized on.
@23 Yeah right, you can't tell me that Balrog couldn't have headbutted. I've been pulled out of much earlier Hadokens.
@26 yeah that guy has no idea what he is talking about. Ignore him.
That put tears in my eyes for 2 reasons.
1 - It was beautiful
2 - My Sakura will never be half as impressive.
Seeing this makes me wanna go back to playing. I've seen many things in this video I should add to my game.
sakura is solid, too many people are sleeping on her. her normals are somewhat decent and her reversal isnt as reliable as ryus dp but she has the ultra setups and she as alot of combos with a legit pressure game. Shes like how camy was in sf4, a good character on the low.
@21
dude, it looks like a bad match but sakura can win it. Her low fierce will beat all of blankas jump ins and her low short will stuff his wakeup/give u some combos. The whole fight is pushing blanka into the corner(in the corner u can punish the ball even on hit with ultra). Once u get there sakura is really solid. All u need to do is nuetral jump the ball and punish on the other side. If random balls are beating u then u need to hit the training room.
@10
Maybe, but this GGO2 had $5K on the line... I'm sure he went with the character he thought could get him the money. Maybe if less was at stake he would've considered Sakura. I'm in the same boat though, I'd have loved to seen him compete with her. His links are so nice.
@30 every attempt to punish a blanka ball can be punished on reaction from blanka and if you simply block there is nothing to do to counter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLWwL9...
Its a horrible match with almost no options. Sakura isn't a bad character but a few really bad matches make it hard to play her on the highly competitive level. In theory every character can win, even Hakan, but its a risk if you actually want to win in tournaments and not just have fun.
Sakura has some potential to be a very dangerous character, but her main problem is that she is more of a high-risk, medium reward character. While she can apply a lot offensive pressure to her opponents, her lack of a defensive game, along with poor wake up options, and only one good anti-air make her a character that you have to work incredibly hard with.
Not only that, Uryo, along with I'm sure other Sakura players agree that she still has bad match ups. While she did get a minor buff with a cross up and new ultra, a lot of her matches, including characters that can be heavily defensive, are difficult to win, and even though Viper went down in the tier list slightly, she still has a much more viable game that Sakura will probably have, unless they buff her up again.
@40 hi, also because all 3 otoshi has a habit of landing you in the corner when done there. :)
@34
Dude, that guy didnt random ball. ANd sak for whatever reason decided to just run away and sit there. Blankas wake up options are just as bad as sakuras and her normals are alittle better. U need to press the corner. Sak had the corner in the second round, but instead he decided to back up for some stupid reason(its hard to beleive that the sak player is the same as the vids on Eventhubs, that sak looked like a random live scrub). At the very worst its a 6 4, but if she plays the match right its more of a 5. THink about it like this, the abel blanka match is terrible for blanka, but abel has no punish for the ball until he has ultra stacked, the reason its bad is cause once abel gets in blanka has nothing for him and has to guess correctly, sakura doesnt have abels options but she has to play the match the same way.
@chickewingss
Its obvious you don't play Sakura at a competitive level blanka match up is never a 5 sure you can win but let's not go crazy. Geif is also a great counter pick for sakura the reason she is bottom tier is the fact she is nothing but mind games. Your done when your out of tricks
anyone tell me why the japanese never finish the third hit on that 3 hit air move?
@ricefarmer .... Uryo never does that third air hit because it allows him to land, then back dash, then charge a fireball while his opponent is waking up...it's basically part of his vortex / pressure game, he wants to keep it going. :-) .... also, thanks to everyone who liked the vid, i really appreciate all the comments. :-))
@ricefarmer
He does that because dropping the 3rd hit allows Sakura to recover from the move faster and therefore she has more time to do a mix up as the opponent wakes up (usually he charges the hadoken). The 3rd hit doesn't do much damage anyways so dropping it for better positioning is good..
Uryo will usually drop the 3rd hit in the corner. If Sakura does the 3rd hit in the corner, then Sakura will end up in the corner. Notice Uryo usually does the 3rd hit only if Sakura is midscreen.
@44
the reason she is bottom tier is the fact she is nothing but mind games. Your done when your out of tricks
same thing applys to blanka. or did u forget? Like i said, if she presses the corner it becomes a 5. But if u want to take sakura and runaway and do nothing then blanka wins. I guess u didnt read that part.
As a blanka mainer i gotta admit i rarely lose against sakura. Actually i beat the number one psn sakura three times in row. I have two of them saved to my hard drive if anybody wants to see. he did get pissed off and quit saying he was playing like garbage. Cant say i blame him it musta been frustrating just getting blasted with beast rolls nonstop with no answer. The only time i went toe to toe with him was when his health was low and he was pretty much done for.
HOWEVER most of the time i was half screen or more, and we all know EVERY character in the cast can counter blankas beast roll with either a c.lp or c.mp or whatever normal, it leaves her in good position for a jump in as well. Its definatley in blankas favor though.
Sakura is basically Dudley, both characters rely on weak mix ups and mind games to deal damage and have big combos to punish people with. The problem is the better your opponent is the less chance you get to do highlight reel combos in matches and you just end up losing to people willing to lame it out/turtle/play safe ect. Half of this video is just landing massive combos off focus crumples and jump ins. While the execution is amazing and the video is very good it doesn't make sakura any better tier wise, every character can do big damage off a jump in.
Is Blanka Sak's worst match-up? I honestly have way more trouble against Bison's and Chun-Li's than I do Blanka.
Gief and Honda can give her trouble as well but those matches are very winnable. I think the Blanka Sakura matchup is about the same difficulty as Abel vs Gief. So many options can be shut down with so little work you really just need to be on your A game to win. Sims can be tough, you got to find a way in.
@55
No he doesnt, play up. I play a good sakura and if i let him press the corner alot of my game goes out the window. Especially with her jump in(i think its jump rh, its a forward jump where she kicks straight down), it will beat or trade alot. ANd like i said before, in the corner i cant reversal since whether i hit or not u can ultra/punish it for free since the only thing blanka does that knocks down is thunder and her low short will eat that up. I never said its an easy match for her but ur crying like blanka wins for free and he doesnt. Her pressure game is her advantage in the matchup and u have to use it. But it doesnt matter what i say cause u will keep crying that blanka is broken like every other player out there.
@57
Ur right. I main bison too and bisons pokes are superior and his pressure game can just lock her down tight. Her dp is useless unless u have 3 bars(ex verison fadc) to get out safely but most of the time i play this match up by the time sak builds up the matter shes prob dead.
Chun beats ryu, that says enough.
@57
It would vary, some people have better match ups than others do. I find myself having a little easier time beating Bison than say... Guile. Overall I think it depends on how well you know the match up and how they play overall. It doesn't matter whatever tactics work for your opponent, if they use cheese tactics or a solid technical player with one character and you're losing, you probably have to work on the match a little more.
We've all got our weaknesses though.
@62
Ur not discussing anything. Im telling u how to get/take away the advantage in the match but u dont wanna hear it. Ur not mentioning tactics/techiques specials/normals or anything else. If i say a matchup is good or bad i throw some facts/tactics in expalining why, saying its bad doesnt mean anything and isnt considered a discussion.
@ Chickenwings lol, no one is crying or saying that Blanka is OP just stating its one of sakuras worse matches. One matchup doesn't make any character up or op its just a matchup. Anyway with the changes in the AE the Blanka matchup will be a lot more even and I am hoping to see more tournament Sakuras. I will be repping her this weekend.
@43
It stops you from landing in the corner. I usually do that if I otoshi in the corner. I'll sometimes try the fireball vortex that Uryo does... but with a lot less success haha
I'll sometimes go all three on the otoshi too, but then air tatsu out of the corner.
@64
Its not her worst matchup. Zangief and honda are worse.
And those changes u speak of will not only make blanka more "even" vs sakura but make certain that blanka isnt used in any tournament. Nobody uses him now so imagine after a nerf.
@ chicken
Most people can already punish balls, this just makes it so that Blanka won't be able to spam against certain characters like he can now. AE is making changes based on characters using a single move or strategy to win. That is why cammys instant cannon spike was changed but her normals made better. This is why gens hands combo was removed in super. This is also why blanka is getting worse recovery on balls when blocked. He will probably get something to compensate.
On the subject of Sakura, Honda and Zangief are bad but you can keep them out all day with fireballs(full screen) and her long pokes. Blanka just does whatever he wants on sakura and beat her pokes and fireballs with balls fullscreen.
Nice compilation, very interesting.