I want to start off by saying I only started to play 3S in 05 on and off for maybe 2 years coming back to the game in late 08 with the SF4 hype and again in 2011 when 3s:Online Edition came out. Why do I love this character? He’s John Rambo meets Hulk Hogan the ultimate American. He had some of the best line in the game next to Urien in a time where voice acting was not prevalent. By no means am I a top level player or an expert in 3s but I am a huge fan of the game and of Alex. This is what in my opinion the character play like in 5 trying to keep his core gameplay the same within the new mechanics.
I think the easiest way to talk about how Alex would play in SF5 is to break everything down starting with the new mechanics then critical art>specials>normal>target combos. So here it goes…
V-Skill: Head-butt/Sleeper hold, formally his b.HP a hit-grab that adds a lot of stun with lowish damage. The head-butt would be used in a meterless punish, sacrificing damage for stun. This would also work in tandem with the old back turn mechanics adding damage to properly spaced MP and HP versions of Flash Chop.
V-Trigger: Stun Gun Head-butt, His SA3 in 3s was next to useless as most setups could be jumped out of with its only use for odd punishes in certain matchups that did not make it worth using over SA2. In SF5 though I feel this move has a place with some minor changes. Give it 2 versions 1 being a slow start up grounded hit grab only really used as a punish for very telegraphed/long recovery moves if it stuns it should scale the follow-up combo heavely. The 2nd would be the familiar jump into the grab; this version would land off an anti-air cr.HP. I’m not sure exactly how much stun this move should do as having a guaranteed stun on top of the high stun already in SF5 (at least in the betas) could result in a super turbo esc touch of death combos.
V-Reversal: Lariat, formally his f.HP. Does his 3s parry animation into the lariat. Critical Art: Boomerang Raid, not much to say about this. Standard strike based super that if it connects it goes into an animation, ending in a power bomb. This ignores the spacing issues in 3s where far supers would sometimes not connect the grab portion of the super. If the super whiffs you get 4 whiffed punches.
Specials:
Slash Elbow: B-F+K, Mostly used as a tool to get in and much like before proper spacing would be needed to make this move safe. EX should have 1 hit of armor and be unsafe on block if used a point blank maybe EX startup could be throwable too. I don’t think this move needs to be changed to a motion instead of a charge much like Necalli’s horizontal slash.
Flash Chop: QCF+P, much like 3s I think only light chop needs to combo and MP & HP are more for neutral and footsies tools as well as anti-airs at certain ranges. EX has juggle potential if it connects with a airborne opponent.
Power Bomb: HCB+P, According to Tool-Assisted’s frame data chart command grabs are 5 frames (as of beta 2) so the 6 frame power bomb should feel right at home here I could defiantly see a reason to drop it to 5F though. Range should be very similar to Mika’s HCB+K move. I’m not sure if this needs to have a back turn version or if that mechanic should be limited to just the V-Skill.
Spiral D.D.T.: Even though this I probably my fav move to land in 3s next to SGH I don’t think it is actually needed. DDT could also replace my idea of Lariat for V-Reversal.
Air Stampede: D,U+K, Without the parry option select existing you could end up doing Fuerte like left right mix-ups on people wake-ups. Don’t know how “fun” that would be for some people.
Air Knee Smash: FDDF+K I feel like this does not necessarily need to be in the game with Mika having a similar style grab and Gief also having a command air grab(although it works differently). Now this has never stopped any series of Capcom fighters having 2,3 or even 6 characters with the same or similar move set. Again my worry is to many tools combined with a high stun game plan my make him to strong.
Normals: This is a hard topic as I think most of Alex’s normal are fine for this games mechanics. Some changes do need to happen IE cr.MP needs to be special cancelable, cr.MK super cancelable. His best normal cl.MK needs to be standard MK and far MK should be b.MK while cl.LP should be f.LP.
Target Combos:
cr.LK>cr.MK: Alex target combo from 3s was really his only decent low option. Was not cancelable before but with my idea of making cr.MK super cancelable even in the target combo gives him a threatening mix-up once he has super. Also update the cancel window to function like other target combos.
cr.LK>cr.HK: Should be a legit combo this time.
I probably have forgotten something in this mess or missed some detail about a move but this is how I would like to see Alex implemented in SF5, at ease losers!
I think the easiest way to talk about how Alex would play in SF5 is to break everything down starting with the new mechanics then critical art>specials>normal>target combos. So here it goes…
V-Skill: Head-butt/Sleeper hold, formally his b.HP a hit-grab that adds a lot of stun with lowish damage. The head-butt would be used in a meterless punish, sacrificing damage for stun. This would also work in tandem with the old back turn mechanics adding damage to properly spaced MP and HP versions of Flash Chop.
V-Trigger: Stun Gun Head-butt, His SA3 in 3s was next to useless as most setups could be jumped out of with its only use for odd punishes in certain matchups that did not make it worth using over SA2. In SF5 though I feel this move has a place with some minor changes. Give it 2 versions 1 being a slow start up grounded hit grab only really used as a punish for very telegraphed/long recovery moves if it stuns it should scale the follow-up combo heavely. The 2nd would be the familiar jump into the grab; this version would land off an anti-air cr.HP. I’m not sure exactly how much stun this move should do as having a guaranteed stun on top of the high stun already in SF5 (at least in the betas) could result in a super turbo esc touch of death combos.
V-Reversal: Lariat, formally his f.HP. Does his 3s parry animation into the lariat. Critical Art: Boomerang Raid, not much to say about this. Standard strike based super that if it connects it goes into an animation, ending in a power bomb. This ignores the spacing issues in 3s where far supers would sometimes not connect the grab portion of the super. If the super whiffs you get 4 whiffed punches.
Specials:
Slash Elbow: B-F+K, Mostly used as a tool to get in and much like before proper spacing would be needed to make this move safe. EX should have 1 hit of armor and be unsafe on block if used a point blank maybe EX startup could be throwable too. I don’t think this move needs to be changed to a motion instead of a charge much like Necalli’s horizontal slash.
Flash Chop: QCF+P, much like 3s I think only light chop needs to combo and MP & HP are more for neutral and footsies tools as well as anti-airs at certain ranges. EX has juggle potential if it connects with a airborne opponent.
Power Bomb: HCB+P, According to Tool-Assisted’s frame data chart command grabs are 5 frames (as of beta 2) so the 6 frame power bomb should feel right at home here I could defiantly see a reason to drop it to 5F though. Range should be very similar to Mika’s HCB+K move. I’m not sure if this needs to have a back turn version or if that mechanic should be limited to just the V-Skill.
Spiral D.D.T.: Even though this I probably my fav move to land in 3s next to SGH I don’t think it is actually needed. DDT could also replace my idea of Lariat for V-Reversal.
Air Stampede: D,U+K, Without the parry option select existing you could end up doing Fuerte like left right mix-ups on people wake-ups. Don’t know how “fun” that would be for some people.
Air Knee Smash: FDDF+K I feel like this does not necessarily need to be in the game with Mika having a similar style grab and Gief also having a command air grab(although it works differently). Now this has never stopped any series of Capcom fighters having 2,3 or even 6 characters with the same or similar move set. Again my worry is to many tools combined with a high stun game plan my make him to strong.
Normals: This is a hard topic as I think most of Alex’s normal are fine for this games mechanics. Some changes do need to happen IE cr.MP needs to be special cancelable, cr.MK super cancelable. His best normal cl.MK needs to be standard MK and far MK should be b.MK while cl.LP should be f.LP.
Target Combos:
cr.LK>cr.MK: Alex target combo from 3s was really his only decent low option. Was not cancelable before but with my idea of making cr.MK super cancelable even in the target combo gives him a threatening mix-up once he has super. Also update the cancel window to function like other target combos.
cr.LK>cr.HK: Should be a legit combo this time.
I probably have forgotten something in this mess or missed some detail about a move but this is how I would like to see Alex implemented in SF5, at ease losers!