SF4 Combo Challenge 08: Variance

36 Replies

Adhering to the precise rules of this challenge may take a bit more work than usual, but i think they’ll lead to some interesting results. I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with.

Most characters have a relatively small subset of combo-friendly attacks.

Challenge: Using any character, combo ten or more different moves without dizzying inbetween.

Rule #1: Obey gauge limits. (Set S.C. Gauge to Refill but use only 4 stocks. If you plan on building enough meter to use 5 or more bars, set S.C. Gauge to Normal or Max Start so we can verify your method. Keep in mind that super meter charges slower during combos.)

Rule #2: No duplicates. (Look through all existing submissions to make sure your idea hasn’t already been recorded. Don’t worry, if two people independently upload the same combo within hours of each other, i’ll accept both.)

Hard Mode: Combo fifteen or more different moves. (Again, do not dizzy the dummy inbetween hits.) Fifty imaginary bonus points to anyone who achieves this without repeating any moves!

Move Count Clarifications:
1) Hit count doesn’t matter. (Natural multi-hit attacks count as one.)
2) Any Focus Attack usage counts only once.
3) All versions (L/M/H/EX) of any particular special move count only once.
4) Ground and air versions of special moves count separately.
5) Close and far versions of normal moves count separately.
6) Target Combo components count separately.
7) Discrete command components of multi-part attacks count separately (Fei Long’s Rekkaken, Bison’s Somersault Skull Diver, etc.) but only once per unique element.

36 thoughts on “SF4 Combo Challenge 08: Variance”

  2. WTCZ

    Here’s my answer :
    Player : Ken
    Opponent : Cornered Sagat

    j. MK (1), close st. LP (2), Target Combo MP-HP (3~4), LP Hadoken (5), FADC, cr.LK (6), st. LK (7), far st. LP (8), cr. MK (9), HK Tatsumaki (10)

  3. Smileymike101

    Dude, you have to record it and post it.It’s not enough to just say the transcript:D

  4. peteer01

    I’m not going to bother trying to do the combo below with Gouken, because it wouldn’t count because it the various strengths and versions of fireballs all count as a single move according to the rules (pretty sure it also uses too much meter, as I don’t think you would get enough for the 5th stock in time)…but I’m positive the following will work on Honda from full screen with Honda in the corner: (Honda can be hit with three fireballs in the corner from EX palm before throwing Ultra)

    lp hado (2-hit) > EX demon flip kick > st.hp > lp hado > FADC-in > cr.hp > EX palm > hp hado > mp hado > EX hado > Ultra

    This only works if you consider the 2-hit lp hado, 1-hit lp hado, mp hado, hp hado and EX hado all different moves…which I would, but the rules don’t…

    Moves:
    st.hp
    cr.hp
    EX DF kick
    EX palm
    2-hit lp hado
    1-hit lp hado
    mp hado
    hp hado
    EX hado
    Ultra

    I’m posting this because I’m fairly certain that the rules as they are make this challenge impossible for Gouken, so this is probably the only mention he’ll get for this challenge.

    If someone out there can prove me wrong, I may change my mind about Gouken’s normals…but I don’t think that’s going to happen. :-P

  6. onreload

    to clarify: you’re saying Seth’s EX Shoryu and Fei Long’s Rekkaken will only be 2 moves at most, not 7, or 3, respectively?

  7. nightofthesun

    can anyone do this with blanka… i would love to see it done, i know the 10 hit is possible, but kudos to those that hit 15

  9. peteer01

    onreload :
    to clarify: you’re saying Seth’s EX Shoryu and Fei Long’s Rekkaken will only be 2 moves at most, not 7, or 3, respectively?

    I believe they would count as 3 and 3.

  10. jamheald

    I video responded to this having not understood it, just ignore it please. But does tandem engine count?

  11. Maj Post author

    Seggemlyuka: Seth’s stomp counts as three separate moves because of Clarification #5.

    onreload: Seth’s DP has three parts so it will count as three separate moves. Doesn’t matter whether you use the normal or EX version because it doesn’t matter how many hits it does (Clarification #1). Fei Long’s full Rekkaken string counts as three as well.

  12. Hol Horse

    I don’t have the tools to record right now (cam broken and my old pc can’t handle sfiv), but here is one for Dictator which doesn’t require crazy setups or so, just some tight 1f links here and there (i even added a couple of unnecessary to the challenge hits), no much to explain so anyone can test it’s legit (what is needed is just the patience to nail all the 5 1f links + 2 2f links in a row)

    tested vs crouching Rufus
    J.HK > st.cl.MK >crMKxxHK Scissors, FADC > crLp > st.cl.LP > crMP > crMKxxHK Scissors, FADC > crLK > stLK > far st.LP >crMK xx HP Psycho Crusher

    Different moves used:
    1) jump HK (most jump in moves and FA could be in its place)
    2) standing close MK
    3) crouch MK
    4) RH Scissors (any normal scissors would do, I just put the most damaging version in)
    5) crouch LP
    6) standing close LP
    7) crouch MP
    8) crouch LK
    9) standing LK
    10) far standing LP
    11) HP Psycho Crusher (ditto, just chose the most damaging one)

  13. Hol Horse

    for the record it’s 13 hits, 422 damage (432 with jHP starter), 640 stun. It’s actually a pretty good combo (with little modification on other characters/hitboxes) if one could really could do all those links without problems since it comes of a realistic setup.

  14. Maj Post author

    Just a quick note: error1 submitted a Gen response which uses eight hits of Gekiro after only two normal moves. Technically that counts going by a strict interpretation of the rules, but from now on i’m only going to accept that as a maximum of three (starter, middle, finisher) because it’s ridiculous otherwise.

  16. N-TWO-O

    I’ve gone one better – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49XkGzPz1qo :

    Combo: Aerial target combo [2], c.lk [3], c.lp [4], st.lp [5], EX Kikoken [6], Focus attack [7], s.mp [8], light legs [9], c.mk [10], EX legs [11], ultra [12].

    I think this is the most varied combo she can do, as everything else will just push the opponent too far, but it may be a different story against bigger opponents.

  17. N-TWO-O

    …and once again. Managed to link everything off a light kikoken – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R3Q0bvscH0 :

    Combo: Light kikoken [1], aerial target combo [3], c.lk [4], c.lp [5], st.lp [6], EX Kikoken [7], Focus attack [8], s.mp [9], light legs [10], c.mk [11], EX legs [12], ultra [13].

    (sorry about the triple post, but there’s no way of editing previous posts)

  18. Maj Post author

    No worries, i don’t mind at all. It’s really cool seeing a combo evolve like that. Normal and EX versions of special moves don’t count separately according to the stated rules but your last combo is clearly better than the first two, even if it doesn’t have a bigger “official” count. Thanks for going through the trouble of recording it.

  20. Apricator

    Man, I’ve got a 10-hitter for Gen only counting Gekiro as 1 move, but I’m having nightmares pulling it off. Hopefully I’ll get it down sometime tomorrow and record it for upload.

  21. Seggemlyuka

    Nice challenge! I’m still working on it! Hope to record it afternoon.
    I have to ask it: I see a lot responses and a few has two FADC-s in one combo.
    If my thoughts are real using 2 FADC means that is a duplicate.

  23. Maj Post author

    Seggemlyuka: Repeated moves are allowed unless you’re trying to go for the absolute hardest form of this challenge. As long as you have 10 unique moves, it doesn’t matter if you repeat moves in the middle.

    However, i should point out that FADC secretly counts as move, as long as you haven’t used a Focus Attack elsewhere in the combo (Clarification #2). In other words, whiffed moves count as long as they happen after the first hit of the combo and before the last.

  24. electric

    Maj :
    However, i should point out that FADC secretly counts as move, as long as you haven’t used a Focus Attack elsewhere in the combo (Clarification #2). In other words, whiffed moves count as long as they happen after the first hit of the combo and before the last.

    Hmm… this has given me an idea… Hopefully I can record something tonight!

  29. Maj Post author

    Snoooootch: That JSF combo at 0:24 was pretty cool. Also liked how you used lvl3 Focus Attack crumple to set up that chickenwing to ultra juggle at 0:32, but there might be a way to connect the last ultra hit. The extended combo at 1:52 was pretty cool too. Stylistically, i liked how you alternated between two primary colors throughout the whole vid.

    With a character like Fei Long, your biggest enemy is redundancy. Make a short video if you have to, but don’t let your combos blend together. For example there’s no reason to include the combo at 1:23 when you have a superior version of that exact same combo at 0:57.

    The other bit of advice i have is try to find something that will be satisfying to watch and figure out a way to land it. For instance, all Fei Long players know it’s difficult but possible to land that last ultra hit. When you go through a whole three-minute video and don’t see it once, it feels like a slight letdown. You gotta avoid stuff like that, cuz you can miss a few minor notes without anyone caring but you’ve got to hit the major ones.

  30. WTCZ

    Can someone plz try this 15 different hits combo with Gouki/Akuma (I lost my saves and haven’t unlocked extra characters yet :s) :

    Air hadoken, jump LK/MK (cross-up ?), cl. st. LP, cr. MP, st. MK, Hadoken, FADC, cr. LK, LK, far st. LP, HK, cr. MK, Hadoken, FADC, cr. LP, HP, LK Hurricane, Shoryuken

    Air hadoken, jump LK/MK (cross-up ?), cl. st. LP, cr. MP, cr. HP, Hadoken, FADC, cr. LK, LK, far st. LP, HK, cr. MK, Hadoken, FADC, cr. LP, HP, LK Hurricane, Shoryuken

    Could it work if “cl. st. LP, cr. MP, st. MK, Hadoken” or “cl. st. LP, cr. MP, cr. HP, Hadoken” somehow manage to connect.

  31. Snoooootch

    AH! Thanks! That’s why I used Seth, but I couldn’t figure it out. That’s why I did the last combo instead where I stunned him. Thanks for the advice though!

  32. Numsigmernen

    Just submitted mine. It’s a Gen video, quite similar to Apricator’s, but in a different attack order to try to mash a few more links in there, plus some crane finishers, for a total of 15 moves.

    I started thinking of this combo (originally featuring only 11 moves) back when the challenge was announced, but only had time to record it today.

  33. Maj Post author

    Dude that combo’s so stylish. I tried to do something with Gen’s PPP:c.MK but there’s nobody fat enough in the game to make it possible. Basically the only link route you can go is PPP:c.MK, PPP:s.LP -> c.LP, PPP:s.MP, but of course it always whiffs.

    By the way, we’re up to 70 responses. I’d like to go on record as saying that’s out of control absurd!!

  34. Numsigmernen

    @Maj
    Yeah, I really wanted to somehow make better use of that s.LP, but I couldn’t find anything noteworthy. Originally I had s.LP, cr.LP xx Hands, but since I have to later repeat the cr.LP to link into s.MP, I preferred to just avoid the redundancy.

    I wanted to do something really epic, like linking (Mantis) cr.LK into s.MP, but it’d require a miraculously deformed hitbox for that, and I couldn’t bother trying out every character when my hopes weren’t high at all. So I had to give up that too.

    Overall, I’m quite satisfied with the low level of redundancy in that combo. Save for the canceled hands (obvious trick for extending the combo) and the final double crane s.LP (which I’m fairly sure is necessary for the ultra to connect under those circumstances), no moves are repeated.

  36. Maj Post author

    Looks really cool; nicely done sir.

    I thought about accepting it but i’m worried that things would get messy if we start mixing SF4 with SSF4. They made a lot of subtle changes between games so i’m not that comfortable judging what’s possible.

    Fei Long combos are dope though. And i love how Juri talks shit at the end.

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