Super Street Fighter 4

[jfrost]

They could only select new characters for the first few matches. Later they opened it up and they could choose whoever they wanted, but Daigo still didn't pick Ryu.

Which makes for more interesting battles, in this viewer's opinion.

[vlame]

daigo used guile bc he is banned from tournaments...i think it was a bitch move on his part.

[elvis]

daigo used guile bc he is banned from tournaments

Err... what?

[vlame]

guile has always been a taboo in tournaments...since sf2...l2SF

[jfrost]

Oh, boy.

[elvis]

Oh, boy.

You said it.

[the7k]

This is certainly the first I've heard of any ban on Guile. I've always heard that Guile is actually a fairly well-rounded, balanced character. The only characters I remember seeing banned in SF2 were Old Sagat and Akuma.

Hell, in SF4, I've seen Guile consistently ranked in the lower tiers.

[elvis]

This is certainly the first I've heard of any ban on Guile.

That's because there's never been one.

Bans on characters are typically limited to "boss" characters (unless their playable versions are purposefully nerfed, like extra hit damage on Akuma in SF4, etc).

The whole "ban characters who are top tier" doesn't happen at any serious level, and is entirely limited to the weekend get togethers of the sorts of people who rage quit on you for using "too many throws" because it's "cheap".

http://www.sirlin.net/ptw

Insert obligatory link to "Playing to Win". Under the chapter titled "Introducing... the scrub":

The good players are reaching higher and higher levels of play. They found the “cheap stuff” and abused it. They know how to stop the cheap stuff. They know how to stop the other guy from stopping it so they can keep doing it. And as is quite common in competitive games, many new tactics will later be discovered that make the original cheap tactic look wholesome and fair. Often in fighting games, one character will have something so good it’s unfair. Fine, let him have that. As time goes on, it will be discovered that other characters have even more powerful and unfair tactics. Each player will attempt to steer the game in the direction of his own advantages, much how grandmaster chess players attempt to steer opponents into situations in which their opponents are weak.

[the7k]

Right, but I mean, hell, Guile doesn't even qualify as top tier.

I've seen a good chunk of tournaments that were "Low Tier Only", where only those below the Middle Tier are allowed. I actually like this sort of thing because it means you'll see some sort of character variety. Granted, they'll always play second fiddle to the "Anything Goes" tournaments - which is only natural.

But even in the case of a "Low Tier Only" tournament, Guile would still be allowed.

While I really hate how some games have such a wide gulf between the God Tiers and the rest of the Upper Tiers (We're not even talking Mid Upper and below), I've learned that in these cases, the only way to win is to never play.

[bobbynewmarkiii]

I don't know whether to get this or not - I had SFIV, but didn't think that much of it - I much prefer TvC. SSIV looks better than SFIV, as it's faster, but I didn't like the revenge mechanic, nor the over-long cutscenes when the ultras were executed... seems like all of that is still there. I'd love to keep up to date with the genre, but if i know I won't like it...