Month: November 2016

Zangief is a character who has had trouble finding success in high level play in Street Fighter V. This has led meany to feel that he’s lower end of the game’s tier list, with better grapplers in the game’s cast. As such, it’s always nice to see players doing well with him.

For those looking for some high-level Zangief footage, the E-Sports Fighters channel has put together a video showcasing matches from some of Japan’s top ranked Zangief players. The video below shows highlights matches featuring KBTIT810, hotaru23, Yubiken’s Kenjiru, and of course DNG’s Itabashi Zangief. To make these highlights sweeter, these matches feature them going up against other top players, including Saulabis, NL, and even the Beast himself, BST|Daigo Umehara.

Source: E-Sports Fighters

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the writer, and do not reflect Shoryuken.com as a whole.

Team HORI’s Naoto Sako is basically the Bret Hart of the Fighting Game Community. He is the excellence of execution, and it is 100% real to all of us, damn it.

Having only played ten events in 2016, Sako has managed to claw his way into Capcom Cup by way of the Asian Leaderboard. What does the walking combo video have in store for the biggest event of the year?

Sako Combos

If there is anything Sako is known for, it’s his crazily impeccable execution. He was known for redefining Cammy play with his amazing combos. Some were viable for us average Joes, while others made you look at Sako and think, “Are you even human?”

While his original combos are, so far, few and far between in Street Fighter V, his execution remains intact. His main in Street Fighter V, Chun-Li, has a higher execution barrier than most of the cast, which fits Sako perfectly. His conversion into combos from instant air legs is amazing. He hits the combos that a lot of Chun-Lis drop regularly. He doesn’t have to worry about whether to shorten his combos due to his execution, because he can 99 times out of 100 achieve maximum damage. The man plays Street Fighter like he’s using tool-assisted macros, and it’s amazing to watch.

Fundamentally Solid

If Sako was playing with the mindset of executing combos and showing off, he wouldn’t be a winner. He manages to maintain solid spacing, and waits for his moments. Most people that rely on execution alone tend to go fishing for a hit to start a combo, but Sako doesn’t do this. Rather, he finds his opportunities and then capitalizes.

Moreover, he is a very calculated player, treating the entire game like a chess match. He has played one of the most abbreviated schedules on the circuit, but does well against all comers. This comes from constant practice and homework. He is known as a lab monster, and has all the tools at his disposal to learn every matchup at a high level.

Time to Step Out of the Pack

Despite being sponsored, Sako has played the vast majority of his events in Japan. However, the only two events he has won have been outside of Japan. He was able to win the last chance qualifier in Europe, but fell short of even making top 8 in the main event.

At FV Cup, he won against GGP|Kazunoko, who is a solid player but one of the lowest seeds in Capcom Cup. While beating someone that is a low seed doesn’t inherently mean he’s not ready, he himself is also seeded low–and his victory against Kazunoko was no landslide. At Capcom Cup, however, he will be going up against the killers who have already proven their excellence. He will not have any rest, as every match will be an uphill battle.

Further, at Asia Regional Finals, he lost to Mago, who also is only in on points, and RB|Bonchan, who couldn’t close out a win to make it to Anaheim. When he faces better players, like RZR|Infiltration or EG|Momochi, at Capcom Cup, will he be able to ramp it up?

Final Thoughts

Sako is great, and if he put more work into the game this year with his travel and focusing on learning players more than basic matchup 101, he would be a killer.

Despite how strong he is in the muscle memory realm, it’s not going to matter if he can’t set up the situations he needs against players who have more experience in the heat of combat. I’m not expecting Sako to go deep, but I do expect he will win one or even two in losers bracket. One thing is for sure though–don’t be surprised to see his name in a gif or two come December.