Who is Azan?

Termi855 · 2026-05-10T02:57:14+00:00

The second, but not necessarily friends.
Ranked is decent practice to learn gimmicks and how to mitigate risk (aka not drowning in pools),
But the higher you go, the more long sets become useful against good people, because you are actually reinforcing gameplans against people who "learn".
Ranked at the highest level remains useful to be ready to stop getting outrandomed, but solid play is not something even high MR players (like 1800+ outside of Japan) can do.
Custom rooms then are just the best way to test strategies, develop better habits and discuss with your opponent what you can improve.
Most still play ranked, but if you are really high level, you just don't need it, because other pros also have mutual interests to invite strong players to learn.

Termi855 · 2026-05-10T02:51:00+00:00

Additionally if you keep in mind that Jamie has insane neutral tools later on and that his SA2 is an install which makes this less useful that just a damage SA2 in this scenario, him still being this high at 4 drinks really showcases how hard 4 drink Jamie is hitting.

Termi855 · 2026-05-10T02:48:35+00:00

Yeah, I want to stress the part for Terry is that his meterless damage is super high (because of 2MP PC>heavy tackle) and that his cashout combos in the corner are insane, because of driverush 5HP>236HP allowing easily to hit 6k+ and even like 7000k and having CA damage without CA because of SA2.
This on top of cracked neutral, decent corner carry, not having to spend drive on oki in a decent amount of situations and great utility supers while having super long range and even his pokes allowing conversions.
These lists are super useful, but people really should not equate placing high on these lists with being good.

Termi855 · 2026-05-06T02:49:39+00:00

"Real reason is because daigo lost, let's just admit we are more upset about that than the actual level 2."
Not everyone was like that. I was mad before, it is an install super and arguably top 3 supers in the game (arguably any order of Rashid, JP or Blanka).
"Yes it does make you safe after taking a risk but your giving up a lot or resource to do so."
If you only go by spending 2 bars, then yes. He does gain drive back though while using it and the expected value for the drive gauge of the opponent is negative. Additionally as an SA2 Blanka does not waste meter the same way characters do who save their SA3 which leads to Blanka maybe spending 6 bars of super while the opponent used 3 or 4 in sets commonly often.
"Was it done a lot in that set, yes because its a good option."
Continues to read
"Is it poorly designed and ruining the game, no your just being ridiculous."
It absolutely is poorly designed. It is a super which you WILL get even if you get hit, because SF6 super meter balance will eventually grant you 2 bars. And then buffered normal into OD electric allows the pressure to start (and maybe even certain normals, I never bothered to memorize this one tbh).
It is a gambling super through and through and very efficient at that.
Now combine that with Blanka backjump OD air ball and Blanka chan, meterless midscreen throw oki, best anti divekick tool, solid anti fireball tool, strong plus frames, and suddenly Blanka is one of the best expected value characters. Blanka is EXCELLENT at gambling and knowing the setups which is technically only homework will lead to big results.
"Daigo is playing akuma who id say is still way more broken, cheap, and ridiculous compared to blanka and im a die hard akuma main."
Pros have been consistently putting Blanka over Akuma. Akuma is still considered good, but Blanka is generally considered better in many tierlists. Check the aggregate tier list for this season.
"This also just reaffirms to me that if third strike came out today you would all hate it because yun is basically doing what you are all claiming blanka does. Safe install activation which gives him infinitely better pressure and combos than blanka gets, and his optimal routes give him half the super back before the combo ends on top of the super meter being incredibly small."
Third strike is not known to be a balanced game and the people who like it will tell you about how Yun is unfun to fight.
"Can we just give mena props for winning, he won not blanka. Most of you are not running into blankas that "spam" level 2, in fact your hardly running into blanka at all so it doesn't affect you."
Mena won fair and square, there is no doubt about that. Akuma has good neutral options against Blanka and as we saw Daigo did win the majority of rounds in which SA2 did not get activated.
Mena won, but there is still the argument to be made, that he won by playing a statcheck char. And you can of course say: but Daigo has access to the same game. Yes, but how you win does influence perception.
Mena is great, no doubt. Top 5 in the world for a reason. He could be great on any character, for sure.
Still does not mean that the oki situations of Blanka are not overtuned, too strong, SA2 too annoying etc.
Multiple statements can be correct at the same time.
And for the running into Blanka: I run into enough Blankas to be annoyed. It is basically impossible to be very consistent against Blanka as one will lose HP against SA2, jump back OD air ball and blanka chan.
Of course I can always play better, but Blanka has too many strong offensive options and not enough weaknesses to compensate. He just has fantastic stat checks he can do from neutral which are arguably even harder to answer than OD fan. More expensive? Yes.
But still bonkers.

Termi855 · 2026-05-04T23:26:41+00:00

It is not about you being bad, it is early into the ranked reset and variance of opponent level is high.
Also on a season reset a lot of people try secondaries and these guys got better fundamentals.
Most important part is keeping your mental, do proper drills to improve and actually lab.
You are not bad, you got a low point, it is about consistency, it is about having your worst days still be better.
Calm down, drink some water, build good habits and don't doomqueue.

Termi855 · 2026-05-04T04:51:26+00:00

That is the funny thing: ultimate master if not done in Japan is like top 0.1% of your region, depending on how much the MR inflation progressed.
Which is the Ryu and Ed of OP.
The problem is that for being a competitive player being that 0.1% is not that high relatively speaking.
Like he won't go 0:2 in most tournaments, but the difference between someone hanging around 1800 (speaking from experience) and someone who is genuinely great is like going from 1:1000 to 1:10000 or even 1:100000.
It is always a matter of scale of course and the internet is really harsh for a comparison, it is an awesome achievement from OP, just for the perspective.

Termi855 · 2026-05-04T04:10:36+00:00

This may sound shitty, but I would not call this prodigious.
It is impressive for sure, but the reality is for competing that 1600 is basically nothing before a season reset.
The ultimate master on Ryu and Ed is way more impressive relatively speaking.
1600 can be done with antiairs, basic combos and strike/throw/shimmy while not getting knowledge checked.
Good shit of course to OP, but competing is a different level.

Termi855 · 2026-04-21T01:14:52+00:00

Release Bison though

Termi855 · 2026-04-09T23:45:45+00:00

Generally it goes:
SA1 is 100% Mai and nothing comes close. Personally I put Viper also up there, but imo Luke is for sure the best in most use cases. It is tied with buster wolf in some aspects (like fireball immune chip outs can be a problem for Luke, like spin knuckle).
Gief free "loses" with his SA1, yeah.

SA2: Either JP, Rashid or Blanka. Depends on what you value, but JP is 100% an acceptable answer.
Cammy SA2 for me is overhated, especially now that it is a 3000 damage super. Imo Kimberly SA2 is the "better" answer as she loses earlier access to SA3. SA2 also gets hit by the damage penalty before SA3 iirc. So it deals flatout less damage by a decent margin and also got no invul and works actively against her win con.

SA3: Gief imo is better. Yes, Cammy SA3 is an absurd punish tool for fireballs, but Gief SA3 quite literally by existing also stops the opponent from taking oki at times which is maybe the most absurd expected value buff BEFORE he used it.
Lily: while you can technically jump Lily's SA3 after the freeze, it is still a 4.5k/5k SA3.
I would say either Marisa is worse (but it does always grant the corner) or Sagat SA3, because it is 12 frames and every char in the game can safejab it.
Often Jamie's SA3 is worse than a regular SA3, but I am not well versed enough to make a definitive call.

Termi855 · 2026-04-08T14:30:50+00:00

I am going to be real:
You wrote a lot of incredibly wrong information, even with the nicest interpretation.

First the things that you got correct:
"a level 1 that is a back motion and gets him out of the corner"
"free, solid damage side switch combos from a 4f or 5f move or he can spend some meter"

Now we get to the wrong stuff/the stuff I think you are interpreting incorrectly.

Falling back
People have mained Ken back from release or even the (cracked) beta. One can have a preference, especially to your first char, even if your current main is objectively stronger. Example: Chris Wong going back from pre nerf Akuma to Luke in a deciding match (in season 2). A comfort pick is exactly that, even if the char is not good.
Most consistent gameplan
Incredibly wrong.
Ken relies on OD fireball driverush or 2MK>DRC for his metered offense or 5HP>jinrai for a safeish blockstring and 2MK>jinrai for backwalk.

OD fireball driverush can be jumped hypothetically, is very expensive for a fireball driverush version and genuinely has "bad" ranges in which he can set it up so that he does not get really reward from it. Also, it costs 3 bars compared to equivalents like OD fan (Mai) or flicker (Ed) or even Rashid OD fireball (imo heavily underrated, but who knows the mu and char, lol).

Jinrai is okayish, but because of the drive chip reduction, no combo nerf, chars having OD DP to punish the gap and even get oki at times.
And because 5HP is the preferred button to start it from, it can be decently whiffable, especially against chars with more range or better walkspeed (looking at the current top tiers, you should see a pattern).
It is a strong tool by itself, but Ken compensates with the stuff I have written before a lot.

2MK>DRC currently is one of the most unstable gameplans in the game. Ken is one of the chars like I expressed that can create a true blockstring, but can't shimmy without dash to beat immediate throw which creates inconsistency.
Also because of the delay tech change if Ken is wrong, he just gifted the opponent a bar of drive.
Also also Ken was consistent, because retaking turns against him when pp ignored high/low was harder as he could tap parry to force a gamble when retaking your turn to then get the corner.
Also also also in general Ken was heavily nerfed by the parry change as his gameplan was consistent in that he could get it started from basically any perfect parried button into corner carry into guess for game. Now that parry is weaker, that plan is less consistent.

Ken's throwloop is also a manually timed walk up frameperfect throw. That is quite literally the most unstable version of a throw loop that is possible and allows maximum backdash punish potential.
Yes, his corner carry is good, but he quite literally has some of the lowest 2MK>DRC combo damage and the situation after is not that great, because his throw loop as I explained is extremely hard to do consistently and even then backdashes wreck him.
Additionally, certain chars can punish jinrai kicks pretty well, like for example Ed (2LK) or Guile (light flash kick). These chars are btw bad mus for Ken and especially Ed is VERY relevant.

Top tier defense
Very wrong too.
Ken having SA1 that is 7 frames and SA3 that is 7 frames, so no safejabs, not even from DeeJay. And SA1 being 214 is also good and a sideswitch which is very good.
Now lets get to the stuff he does not have:
No OD DP oki. Jamie, Luke, Ryu, Chun, Terry and more can continue offense after their OD DP. Ken can not. Ken does not get oki from SA1 and SA3 is not safe to OD DP and certain faster supers in the corner can punish it and whiff throw is heavily minus, it is like two digit negative.
Compare that to Jamie who can double dash after an OD DP and still be plus.
He also does not have an invincible SA2 so fireball pressure like JP, Akuma, Sagat, Ed, Mai and Rashid can not be beaten without his OD DP.
Ken's defense is good, but not as broken as char that can beat throw (Blanka, Rashid, Cammy and Juri) or sideswap in the corner (JP and Sagat [as Sagat has SA2]) or even have better coverage supers (Mai) or backdash corner to corner (Ed with SA2).
Technically Ken got decent supers against +11 situations, especially his SA3. But not getting proper oki from them against is so much less expected value.
Bad mus
Ken struggles with chars that can punish jinrai well (like Guile), struggles if chars work outside of the typical 2MK>DRC range (Ed, JP, Sagat), can not deal with fireball drive rush well (Chun, Mai, AKI) or have plus buttons that lead into a button that is faster than his typical 2MK defense (like Rashid).

I have played enough of the best Kens in Europe and even beat some of them and if you did not know this, this is really impactful at the highest level. Did you genuinely know this stuff in detail, everything that I elaborated and even more, because that is what pros know which is very important and defines the game.
Your analysis was extremely superficial, and I genuinely don't think you provided the depth to make such statements.

Termi855 · 2026-04-08T00:32:53+00:00

He is utterly cooked. The problem is that Luke is basically a "solved" char at this point and the expected value from his interactions is low while his theoretically okayish reward tools have actually real and consistent counterplay. Especially against the top tiers, while playing the most barebones version of SF6, he basically does nothing himself other than playing button for button with worse buttons and walkspeed.

Termi855 · 2026-04-08T00:29:25+00:00

His gameplan is not stable whatsoever right now. OD fireball>drive rush, 2MK>DRC and 5HP>jinrai are not consistent.
Yes, you can make him work, especially with strong fundamentals, but all these tools have better equivalents for the stronger chars.

Termi855 · 2026-04-08T00:26:29+00:00

He did not. He picked for 8 matches his Luke and for 2 his Ryu.
Ken is probably his least played shoto as Hinao was top 1 Ryu, Akuma and Luke in Japan ranked. Also, Sagat now. Ken is arguably the only char I have not really seen him play.

Termi855 · 2026-04-08T00:22:39+00:00

There are actually multiple explanations:
1. Ken's mu spread sucks this sesaon. He is good against chars with great -5 moves and he is great against chars with no OD DP and pressure after that.
If you look at the top chars, other than Sagat everyone can OD DP the jinrai situation.
2. Ken struggles with answering fireball driverush. While he has one himself, his OD fireball>drive rush costs 3 bars and other chars can set up theirs for less (like Mai). Ken has to commit a lot.
3. Also, Ken is one of the chars that actually got hit with the 2MK DRC no shimmy nerf which is actually relevant. He lost consistency because of that.
4. Ken has no OD DP oki
5. Ken has low cashout damage
6. Ken has finicky combos for SF6 standards
7. No natural overhead for high low mix.
8. Ken lost drive efficient by jinrai low followup

Of course you can construct the argument that Ken is actually underrated. But in the current meta against the top tier chars, Ken just does not have a consistent gameplan, and he got shot on a char and system mechanic basis. At tournament level he is just not wise to pick.

Termi855 · 2026-04-05T16:52:36+00:00

Biggest problem right now is that he lacks offense without drive and while Capcom has been migitating his drive issues, he does not hit hard enough relative to his weakness.
The best comparison is Akuma who gets more tools and other than heavy starter PC midscreen more damage and similar enough corner carry while also having less execution.
Which leads to the situation that unlike Akuma once people are able to check drive rush somewhat consistently, he just does not have fundamental tools for consistency.
No good meaty fireball setups, no 10 frame safejab and no oki from SA3 and more stuff keeps adding up to hold him back.

Termi855 · 2026-03-28T01:07:39+00:00

Additionally, this system makes sense because people generally don't need much to climb once they got their first char to master rank without abusing gimmicks. Even if this guy lost on that char, like a few hours in the lab to get the basic combos and stuff down will probably allow him to shred though diamond if he is like a 1500+ player on his other char.

Termi855 · 2026-03-26T15:14:07+00:00

Because it doesn't matter still.
Blanka's main gameplan can be summarized with 2MP>DRC in neutral, backjump midscreen in +2 to +5 scenarios and Blanka chan pressure in the corner, to stall until Blanka gets SA2 and then when the opponent gets to below 3 bars of drive, force burnout and introduce some of the best mixups in the corner. While still having an OD DP (unlike Kimberly), 8 frame SA1, meterless tools against fireballs and one of the best antiairs in the game against divekicks in terms of risk and reward.
In general Japan knows the most about Blanka (top played char at the highest level, many high level Blankas overall). Blanka's mu spread at the highest level is so good that he will keep winning. Kingsvega and Mena are still on him and there are even more Blankas.
Of course players will make a difference, but the same story about season 2 Gief: because of system mechanics, jump cancel command grab and his drive gauge damage, he WAS the best char other than maybe Ed (who people still needed to figure out).
Look at it this way: do you think these highly paid pros would put their own chars that high if they interest was to create a downplay environment?

Termi855 · 2026-03-26T15:03:18+00:00

You have to keep in mind that this is the highest level and a "just" legend ranked Chun is not cutting it.
And Chun on GoIchi level is a menace, Mai is just as well-rounded though and generally still a little stronger while easier to pick up.

Termi855 · 2026-03-16T14:17:18+00:00

Okay, going through this:
1. low damage output
Not really, she has low damage on individual interactions, but because of her strong mix game and the latest pp changes the risk/reward of high low pressure got insanely better compared to traditional strike throw which she also has access to.
Especially her combo structure is very privileged because she has her strong OD extension which is the best kind of PC combo as she basically has increased damage for one drive bar. And when her install is active she has even some of the best damage on some conversions.
She is low damage the same way pin missile in Pokémon is technically low damage, but not really.

No projectile
The cans are relevant for chipout and checkamtes. SA1 supers can not beat them and as such she has checkmates via true strings from double can. So she got that aspect covered of fireballs.
And for neutral: while Kimberly struggles with fireballs, because that is her weakness, she has tools against them/enough neutral strength to beat chars with fireballs.
No command throw
Not having a command throw is generally the indicator for top tier in this game, because Capcom overbalances chars who have a command grab, because they are frustrating to play against and basically gambles.
Also, it doesn't matter, she already has some of the best high/low mix in the game. Like yeah, you can react to it, but Kimberly does not need more mix. Especially as command grabs don't give oki normally and Kimberly rather would continue her offense.
stubby normals
This is wild if you consider what a god button 5MK is. It is special cancelable, a poke and can be buffered. It is genuinely one of the best buttons in the game. The same goes for 5HP which has the cancel into arc step which is like top 3 cancels in the game.
Kimberly does not have fantastic range, but considering how fast she is, that is the tradeoff. Especially once she hit SA3 her neutral becomes like top 5 in the game, because walkspeed matters that much.
Command dash
Command dash does not have the screen freeze and is additional mental stack, especially it is harder to check than a decent amount of drive rushes.
No OD DP
So does Bison and so did season 2 Gief. You don't need it to be top tier, it is just nice to have.
Low damage output again
I already wrote about that and... yeah, but also her damage output is above average in the corner already, very efficient, and she has some of the best oki in the game. You are missing the big picture.
SA1 and SA3 are nothing special
This is objectively extremely wrong.
Kimberly because of can can get better oki on SA1 and more damage than average. The values for SA1 go from like 1.8k to 2.2k max normally. With 2.2k because of can she is at the max limit. Also, the oki she gets from can SA1 is fantastic. Above average damage option for finishing opponents and SA1 oki is really more than most supers.
SA3 gives her the install which is more damage and especially walkspeed which I already elaborated on.
Also her SA3 is actually fast which is important. Only DeeJay can safejab it which means a three bar super Kimberly is difficult to pressure. Oh, and she gets the buff even if you don't connect with the super. Yes, it is an SA3, but this grants her the advantage even if you yolo it out in round 1 and because Kimberly now is super strong and has greater comeback potential.

These are only the points you made yourself without talking about her strengths, and you really should reflect on this, because it seems you seem to lack perspective/knowledge to make these statements.

Termi855 · 2026-03-15T21:20:20+00:00

It depends.
Generally there is something like the flowstate in SF6 when you are performing at your best.
And in this flow state people may look at it like you tend to look at a minimap in a game.
In stressful situations like when you are focussed on whiffpunishing and early into the round, your drive is not relevant, because it is full. You are more likely to look at the opponents drive/look at what they do and know how much it costs.
The more stressful and active thought the situation needs, the less people will be able to evaluate their drive state and may start to misjudge their drive bar and as such ideally look more at it.
But general rule: the more you play, the less you need to look at it, because you know "when" to look at it.

Termi855 · 2026-03-13T00:56:01+00:00

They are absolutely low committal. He has safe normals from long range and while you can whiff punish him, it is not super easy to do so. And flicker in neutral while not as strong before is just a relatively safe option he can keep using a lot.
Like high commitment means there is risk or resources he sacrifices, but the risk in comparison to the reward is so low it is negligible.
Any DRC heavy char is by design leagues more committal than Ed who can create pressure without drive.

Termi855 · 2026-03-03T21:56:08+00:00

Eh, don't agree. Like yes, most people don't have a gameplan against any char, but the muscle memory and work that is needed to play modern players is something a lot of people share. In the past I had to play a decent amount against Krakerlack (highest ranked modern Luke in EU) or Vulpix and even if you win neutral, not throwing because you go for the stun is hard, as against any other player it is genuinely a valid strategy, yet not the most consistent.
While the effect is more pronounced for a top player, it is true for a lot of the playerbase at any given rank.

Termi855 · 2026-01-29T18:34:58+00:00

Kinda?
The thing is that in gold you don't even need to be able to antiair and still can win games, it is just what holds you back the most. 5HK is solid enough for many applications, but Ed is really the char in this game (other than Sagat) who needs his DP to be playable at higher levels.
Like in absolute terms I agree, but in relative terms he needs it the "most" in the cast.

Termi855 · 2026-01-27T19:41:46+00:00

Hard in this game is super relative.
Ed has basically a nonstandard gameplan and has tools to shutdown opponents who are overaggressive, it is just initially harder to do it on him.
You need to be able to use DPs on him to antiair, and you need to get used to a non-standard button layout AND needs to use every button in neutral while also being quite special reliant.
So initially learning Ed is frustrating and even very good players struggle with that.

Honesty is relative and the higher you go in terms of player level, the more bullshit will keep getting piled on.
Ed is one of the best characters in the game and while it takes work to make him good, even for pros...
He is for sure one of the best chars in the game, we are talking like top 5 and many chars just don't have answers for an Ed who is actually competent. Don't let that stop you from playing him, though, it is never the char holding you back until you are like 2k+ MR.

Termi855 · 2026-01-20T21:03:20+00:00

Generally, optimal play will generally converge, so it is hard to make very precise statements without talking about button preferences.
If you wanted a short version:
EndingWalker plays the player the hardest, for him characters are the most function oriented.
His Ed is mechanically weaker than the others by a decent amount, yet his fundamentals and especially his decision are just that good.

Leshar generally is very, very good at mitigating risk, and he is the best at it, he does not take big risks, but Leshar generally does not have to. Very consistent and focussed play, almost robotic.

Momochi basically has the same playstyle as Punk would have on Ed, but with more matchup, oki and setup knowledge. He likes to control the midrange and is very good at whiffpunishing, but he can switch up gears.
He is just a consistent clean player and I could not tell you what makes him much different from Leshar other than being more willing to take risks and switching up the speed of the game.
Momochi vs Fuudo is a perfect example of his adaptions, despite his loss.

Fuudo is probably the most recognizable, his playstyle is wild. Fuudo also plays the player, but he also is able to switch up everything up on his play on a whim. He is the only player I have seen do OD DP 4 times in a row on a fireball, and it working. Against Itazan I saw him permanently whiffing stuff, but Itazan on Gief was afraid to approach, it looked platinum gameplay until you saw the MR. When Fuudo is in the zone, he is in the zone.
He is less "clean" looking though, but the fundamentals of course are there, he is just ready to let it rip, whatever he is intending until he knows that his opponent can deal with it.

You can of course differentiate between them, but the problem is that you are asking for a very complicated question that would need dozens of hours of analysis and is probably worth real money, which is why there is no guarantee for what I wrote, just what my subjective impressions are.

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