As Street Fighter’s resident kung fu experts, Gen and Fei Long are both capable of racking up piles of hits in a hurry. However, most of their combo options have been fully explored already. Since they can’t throw projectiles, the only hope for finding anything new lies in nuances.

(By the way, i just want say thanks to everyone who subscribed to my u2b channel and helped me reach over 2,000 subscribers. I appreciate your support very much and i hope to continue producing entertaining videos for you guys for a long time. I’m not exactly sure what i’ll do for SSF4 when it comes out, but i’ll try to make it special.)

0:11 For whatever reason, Fei Long’s close s.MP causes longer hit stun than his hard attacks. Combined with his quick dash, he’s one of the few characters who can FADC a normal move and still combo afterwards. Connecting HK Shienkyaku from far away delays the impact of the second hit, which elevates the opponent higher along with shortening Fei Long’s remaining recovery time, thus allowing him to juggle two hits of Rekkashingeki. It’s slightly easier to accomplish this using EX Shienkyaku because it moves forward gradually while rising. Since the HK version goes straight up, this combo requires a spcial opponent whose hitbox becomes wider at the apex of their air reel. Gouken’s not the only one but he’s the biggest one. This combo causes 369 damage and 570 stun.

0:25 Rose’s far s.LK trades with Fei Long’s lvl2 Focus Attack. He proceeds with a deep j.HP followed by Rekkashingeki ultra, which is interrupted by her LP Soul Spark. That second hit causes an abnormal amount of hit stun because normally he takes a while to connect the cinematic followup. The trade gives him plenty of time to charge up a lvl2 Focus Attack. Performing HK Tenshin against a cornered opponent leaves a much smaller gap than it would midscreen – enough to add an extra s.LP in front of the following combo. Close s.MP causes Rose’s hitbox to twist a certain way which allows the c.LK to connect meaty, which makes the c.MP link possible. HP Rekkashinken finishes off the combo, totaling 357 damage and 458 stun. By the way, i have no idea why Fei Long gets a counterhit bonus at the beginning of this sequence. Normally it isn’t given when attacks trade, but Rose’s far s.LK is special somehow.

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Gouken can create free juggle states with seven different moves, whereas most characters only have lvl2/lvl3 Focus Attacks to rely on. However, only four of his attacks possess inherent juggle potential, none of which are particularly versatile. Furthermore, he’s remarkably unique within the Shoto family, so it’s interesting to experiment with visually familiar yet functionally divergent attacks inspired by Ryu and Ken’s moveset.

0:11 Gouken’s HK Hyakkishu -> Hyakki Gosai is an air-to-ground throw, so crumple stun is the only way to combo it. Dash canceling a Focus Attack doesn’t give Gouken enough time it before the opponent falls over and becomes airborne. Yet he can land it after trading a lvl3 Focus Attack with pretty much anything, due to the massive amount of impact freeze caused by Focus Attacks. See how much sooner Gouken starts reeling from Zangief’s far s.HK compared to how much longer it takes Gief to begin animating from Gouken’s lvl3 Focus Attack?

0:18 Gouken’s only two repeatable free juggle setups are his Gohadokens and the first hit of j.MP, both demonstrated here. The first hit of HK Tatsumaki Gorasen doesn’t create a free juggle state if the opponent is already in air reel when it connects, but the whole thing connects anyway because the remaining hits have inherent juggle potential.

0:26 Dan’s Jumping Taunt propels him ridiculously high into the air, giving Gouken enough room to juggle five Gohadokens – one charged HP, two HP, one MP, and one LP – then cancel into HP Forbidden Shoryuken for all seven hits. This combo inflicts 510 damage and 460 stun.

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Despite her relatively useless Illusion Spark ultra, Rose’s ability to reflect projectiles makes her one of the most versatile combo characters in Street Fighter IV. Most of her combos tend to be short, but there’s always something uniquely interesting taking place.

All three regular versions of Rose’s Soul Reflect work on normal projectiles only. Nothing works on super fireballs, but EX Soul Reflect works on EX fireballs. However, its combo use is limited because Rose lacks sufficient juggle capability outside of her Aura Soul Spark super, which of course requires full meter. Absorbing any projectile with LP Soul Reflect raises the damage and stun output of her next Soul Spark or Aura Soul Spark by 5%, up to a maximum of 35%.

0:11 Rose absorbs seven of Seth’s Sonic Booms before the combo, to raise her base Aura Soul Spark damage from 300 to 407. Even though her LP Soul Spark would’ve done more damage than a reflected Sonic Boom, it would’ve used up the absorption bonus. Starting with a reflected LP Sonic Boom saves the 35% damage bonus for her super. Seth’s EX Tanden Engine pulls her closer while creating a meaty setup for both projectiles. She has to delay the Illusion Spark ultra slightly, to allow four hits of Aura Soul Spark to connect. The fifth hit must whiff because it would knock Seth down. This combo deals 659 damage and 50 stun.

0:25 Rose absorbs seven of Gouken’s Gohadokens before the combo to upgrade Aura Soul Spark damage. Gouken’s Gohadoken causes a free juggle state whenever it hits an airborne opponent. Rose’s HP Soul Reflect sends the fully charged LP Gohadoken diagonally upward, evading the second LP Gohadoken as Gouken cancels into LP Forbidden Shoryuken to cross the first one. Rose redirects the second one horizontally using MP Soul Reflect, then closes the gap with DF+MK and connects with F+HK since Gouken is in free juggle state. For whatever reason, F+HK is a knockdown attack so she gets to juggle with HP Aura Soul Spark. This combo causes 557 damage and 410 stun.

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Abel’s episode ended up slightly longer than expected, mostly due to his inability to combine multiple concepts. He has plenty of interesting facets, but can only showcase one at a time. Thus if anything seems repetitive, that’s because having “tool-assisted” in the title forces me to maximize each combo – even when only one piece is special. With Abel, meter to burn always leads back to the same road, although i did try to employ different links every time.

0:11 Finish Low isn’t a throw, but rather a low-hitting attack which would combo from Abel’s Change of Direction chains if not for its prohibitively slow 21-frame startup. Trading lvl3 Focus Attack with Dhalsim’s c.LP gives Abel enough time to whiff LP Change of Direction -> Second Mid and catch Sim with Finish Low right before he becomes invulnerable. Also, the starter is trickier than the usual Focus Attack trades because Sim’s c.LP reaches out as a vulnerable hitbox before it becomes an active hitbox. You have to use distance to make it work. Dhalsim has to push c.LP early to place his fist in front of Abel, then Abel’s lvl3 Focus Attack has to be spaced correctly so his shoulder advances into the punch. If you don’t start slightly out of range then Abel wins cleanly every time.

0:17 Abel has that rare combination of dash speed and quick Focus Attack startup to link a dash-canceled lvl3 Focus Attack into lvl2 Focus Attack before the opponent falls over. Crumple stun works as a meaty setup for Abel’s s.HK against Dan and Dhalsim due to the way they lean in, but far s.MP xx HP Heartless doesn’t connect against Dan at maximum s.MP range.

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