Hiya!

Street Fighter V’s latest season is in full swing now. Dubbed Champion Edition, this latest update to Capcom’s flagship fighting game not only added some balance changes, it added something fans have been clamoring for a while now. These are the new V-Skills.

I already talked about some of the better new V-Skills in my previous post. That doesn’t mean that every new V-Skill is good, though. I will give credit to Capcom as some of these new moves are drastic improvements of some of the older ones. That doesn’t mean that everyone has a better new V-Skill, however. Some characters did get the short end of the stick here and I’ll be giving my thoughts on which ones suck.

There is some basis for my decisions. The new V-Skill has to be less effective than the old one to first qualify for this list. So, FANG’s V-Skill gets a pass as it does give the character an effective way to escape pressure (finally). The other criteria is it has to fit into the character’s general playstyle. Even though I think Urien’s Indignant Thunder isn’t as good as Metallic Aura, it definitely helps Urien win the fireball wars, which is a strong part of his style.

Anyway, here’s my list!

#5 Karin’s Fudo Sosho

You gave Karin another palm strike? Is that the extent of your creativity, Capcom?

Karin’s V-Skill 2 does have some potential to it and does serve some alternative purpose to her old V-Skill. It seems safe when blocked and you can link into light attacks with it. You can also charge it up to increase the duration her opponent is stunned, leading to stronger combos. Additionally, charging it up allows Karin to cancel into special attacks. It is also another Crush Counter that causes a crumple state. It also nullified 1-hit projectiles.

Once again, this is not a bad V-Skill. It’s just not as functional as her old V-Skill in most cases. Karin’s V-Skill 1 was integrated well with her gameplay that it’s hard to picture her new V-Skill being of any use. It does seem like a great counterpoke but so was her original V-Skill. I guess if someone can fit it in as a combo starter rather than a combo ender, it would work.

#4 Balrog’s FFB

I have no idea what FFB stands for. Does anyone?

Basically, when you activate Boxer’s FFB, it powers up his next Dash Punch. It does improve it to some ridiculous extent. If you connect with a powered up Dash Punch, the opponent in launched into a juggle state, letting you come in with another Dash Punch for more damage. It also makes them safe on block and actually out Balrog in advantage. If this is activated, it also powers up his V-Trigger 1 Dash Punches as well. Granted, I don’t think Boxer’s FFB is a bad move at all.

I do think it’s not as good as his original KKB V-Skill. There are some real big downsides to FFB. It needs to be activated first, which means that Balrog players will have give up pressure in order to activate it first. He also loses his KKB Dash Punch combos, which are great for catching opponents by surprise. Also, if you pick his V-Skill 2, you lose access to Boxer’s Buffalo Pressure, his only overhead, which is great for catching opponents by surprise. I also think Capcom could’ve made it so that his Dash Grand Blow (AKA Low Dash Punch) and Screw Smash (AKA Dash Uppercut) were also powered up. Maybe this would’ve been too much but I don’t think so.

I can see some Balrog players using FFB on a case-by-case basis based on either the character or the player their up against. I just think KKB’s toolset fits better with Boxer’s relentless pressure style to keep the opponent guessing.

#3 G’s G Protection

I figured that Capcom couldn’t make a better V-Skill than his G Barrier.

G’s new V-Skill is actually a dual purpose move. When you activate it at least once, G will keep his Presidential Level even when knocked down. He will only lose it if he’s knocked down again, even if he stocked up on it. However, like I said, G Protection has another use. It buffs G’s defensive stats. Think of it like a very little health buff. You can level it up to 3 times, giving G much more health and that just may be enough to outlast your opponent or eat a little more damage before making that massive comeback.

It’s not a bad V-Skill but it’s definitely not the awesomesause that is G Barrier, his old V-Skill. G’s original V-Skill has proven to be one of the best moves in Street Fighter V. It nullifies projectiles. It can be used as a jumping attack. You can tack it into combos easily while building V-Meter. If G has activated his V-Trigger 1, it becomes a projectile that can be thrown while jumping.

While it may be nice to get the defense boost as well as keep some President Power when knocked down, G Protection just isn’t as versatile and useful as G Barrier in many cases.

#2 Ryu’s Thrust Strike

You didn’t even bother to give it a Japanese name, Capcom? Heck, you even misspelled “Thrust” in the official Shadaloo website!

Anyway, Ryu’s Thrust Strike is a good move in its conception. He will lunge forward with a big punch that will knock down the opponent. If an attack connects with Ryu while he’s doing the move, he’ll do a more powerful and invincible attack. It will also work on every multi-hitting attack as well since Ryu will cancel into the invincible attack immediate afterwards. This means that you can even do the Thrust Strike if you think your opponent is going to do a Critical Art and it will beat it cold!

Sounds good, right? Maybe Ryu can actually use this as a better parry than his original V-Skill? It’s a more offensive move that his old V-Skill and does good damage, especially if you get the counter animation. I mean, combo master Desk can make it look so cool!

Well, you’d be wrong as this is actually worse in so many aspects!

The worst thing about Thrust Strike (besides Capcom flubbing the spelling in the official website) is that it comes out really slow. It’s not just the punching animation that comes out very slow. It’s also when the counter animation frames kick in! The counter animation doesn’t come out instantly so you have to do the V-Skill preemptively if you want to really use it as a counterattack.

It also doesn’t counter projectiles so you can’t use it to barrel through fireball attacks. It’s terrible against jumping attacks, too. Since Ryu moves forward during the counter animation, there’s a good chance he’ll move too far forward for the strikes to connect. You would think that Capcom would make it so his new V-Skill 2 would auto-correct during crossup attacks. You’d be sadly mistaken.

It’s hard to believe that Capcom made another mistake with Ryu’s V-Skill. The concept behind Thrust Strike is good but the execution is terrible. Also, fix the name on the website, Capcom!

#1 Falke’s Psycho Mine

Thankfully, Falke got a lot of good buffs so this lame V-Skill doesn’t hurt her in the least.

Falke’s new V-Skill has her blowing a kiss to launch an energy sphere. She can control where the sphere will be as well as if it moves forward or not. After some time, the sphere will explode and, if it lands cleanly, it will launch the opponent slightly, giving Falke enough time to juggle the opponent with a combo. She can also manually detonate the sphere by either hitting it with her staff or firing off an energy beam at it. When properly executed, this can led to Falke doing a long damaging combo.

The biggest issue with Falke’s Psycho Mine is that it takes a lot of work to set up properly. The floating sphere of energy doesn’t have a hitbox so it’s not that scary. If the opponent can push forward and away from it, Falke can’t hit it nor will it explode to cause damage.

I can see some Falke players using this, however, as her original V-Skill wasn’t all that hot. I just think it’s going to take an enormous amount of time, effort and experimentation to create really terrifying setups for this.

BONUS: Juri’s Fuha Enzan

Just great. Another move Juri has to stock.

Juri’s new V-Skill has her taunting her opponent while charging up a whirlwind in her body. Performing the V-Skill will unleash said whirlwind, which is a very slow moving projectile. Juri can combo into the whirlwind like a special attack. It’s also a cool way to keep your opponent locked down as it allows her to control the space in front of her and even cause mixups if you can side switch quick enough. You can even extend combos with it with relative ease.

The biggest drawback to Juri’s new V-Skill is you have to store it. It shouldn’t be a big deal since Juri players are already used to storing special attacks since that’s part of her gimmick. However, it just doesn’t seem all that worth it to really connect with it since it does little damage. Considering damage scaling, it may be better to just do the regular combo without it.

I can see some Juri players using it, though. The mixup potential is definitely there and it can help with extending her combos. The biggest issue is having to store it as she already has other move she has to stock up. Adding another thing to store may be too time consuming.

Byee!

What do you think are the worst new V-Skills in Street Fighter V? Let me know in the comments section below!