Ultra Street Fighter IV/Sakura/Introduction

Introduction

On a chance encounter seeing a Street Fighting match involving Ryu in Japan, Sakura immediately became enamored with the world of Street Fighting. Not only becoming infatuated with Ryu, Sakura also took to learning Street Fighting skills herself, trying to mimic all of Ryu's signature moves. Her goal to meet Ryu and become his student was only half met, as Ryu rejected a role as teacher. However, Sakura continues to push forward in her fighting skills, determined one day to maybe do battle with Ryu himself.

Sakura looks like just another take on the Shoto archetype, with all the tools that you'd expect. However, her ranged pokes arent very good, her fireball is bad for zoning, her Dragon Punch has no invul on meterless versions, and her Tatsu doesn't go through fireballs. What she gets in return is absurd frame data, looping vortex, and enough damage to always be a knockdown away from stealing a round. Her tools are designed for combos and pressure first and nothing second, making her always be on the offensive, while making opponents treat her as if she was a grappler in a school uniform.

Pick if you like:	Avoid if you dislike:

Players to Watch

Uryo (JP), ChrisG (US)

Ultra SFIV Changes

Sakura SF4 Changelist

Frame Data Glossary - USFIV
Active	How many frames a move remains active (can hurt opponents) for. For projectiles with a limited active period, a value may be listed in [brackets], but this number is not factored into the move's total frame count. For multi-hit moves with no gaps between the active hitboxes, active frames are listed as X,Y. For multi-hit moves with gaps between hits, active frames are listed as X(n)Y where n = the frame gap between active hitboxes.
Cancel	Available options for canceling one move into another move. "Chn": Chain cancel (Light normals) "TC": Target Combo "Sp": Special move "Su": Super Combo "FA": Focus Attack Note: Su and FA almost always share the same cancel properties, except that EX moves can't cancel into Supers outside Training Mode "j" or "Jmp": Jump cancel (usually on hit only, if applicable) "sj" or "hj": Super Jump or High Jump cancel (Ibuki and C. Viper only) "Dash": Dash cancelable (e.g. Focus Attack dash cancel) If one hit of a multi-hit attack is cancelable, this can be indicated with (1st), (2nd), etc.
Damage	Attack damage on hit. Multi-hit moves may have the damage listed for individual hits as X,Y. Damage listed in () parentheses may be the total damage of all hits, or the damage of an alternate version (like a non-cinematic Ultra connect) based on context. This will usually be explained in the description.
Guard	Refers to the direction an attack must be blocked. L is for Low attacks (must be blocked crouching), H is for High attacks/overheads (must be blocked standing), HL is for attacks that can be blocked crouching or standing. T is for Throw attacks which cannot be blocked. If an attack cannot be blocked, like a Level 3 Focus Attack, no Guard property will be listed (and no Block data will be given in the frame data columns).
On Hit/Block	These are frame advantage values when the attack hits or is blocked. If the number is positive, then the move will recover before the defender can act again. If the number is negative, the defender will be able to act before the attacker and maybe even punish. In general, Counter-hit adds +1 hit advantage to Light normals and +3 to Medium/Heavy normals. Exceptions or unique Counter-hit properties should be noted in the move data. KD refers to knockdown on hit, with SKD = Soft Knockdown (allows quick wake-up) and HKD = Hard Knockdown (no quick wake-up). If a KD Advantage is listed (HKD +30), this refers to the amount of time the attacker is free to move before the defender has recovered from their knockdown. This also assumes that Delayed Wake-up is not used. Some USFIV characters have non-standard wakeup timings, so this refers to the most common timing (tested on Ryu).
Recovery	How many frames it takes for a move to finish after the active frames have finished. For projectiles, recovery is considered to begin after the first active frame. Airborne moves may have recovery listed as X+Y land, where X is the airborne recovery and Y is the landing recovery.
Startup	How many frames it takes before the move becomes 'active' or have a hit box. The last startup frame and the first active frame are the same frame, meaning all values are written as Startup + 1. Moves with multiple relevant startup values may be listed as X(Y); for example, a move that hits airborne first before hitting grounded opponents, or a 2-hit move where the first hit whiffs at some ranges.
Juggle Info	When a character is put into an Air Knockdown state, it is often possible to follow up with a Juggle attack before they hit the ground. In the simplest terms, there are 2 main juggle states: Free Juggle: any attack can juggle, causing an Air Reset or an Air Knockdown Limited Juggle: only specific attacks with juggle potential may juggle The following is a more detailed overview of the juggle system: Juggle Count (JC): The status of the character being juggled. A high JC limits which attacks can work in juggles. JC0: free juggle state - any attack that can hit an airborne opponent will work JC1+: limited juggle state - juggle only works if the attack's Juggle Limit ≥ defender's Juggle Count Juggle Start (JS): When starting a juggle, the opponent's JC will be set to this value. Attack with Juggle Start value of 3 will put opponent at JC3, so only attacks with Juggle Limit value ≥ 3 can follow up Juggle Increase (JI): When opponent is already in a juggle state, attacks will increase the opponent's JC by this amount. Airborne opponent at JC1 followed by attack with Juggle Increase value of 3 will set opponent to JC4 Juggle Limit (JL): Property of an attack hitbox that determines whether it connects on a juggled opponent. The JL must be ≥ the opponent's JC to hit successfully. An uppercut with a JL value of 5 will connect on an opponent at JC5 or below, but will whiff on JC6 opponent Most normals have a JL value of 0, meaning they only work in Free Juggle (JC0) states Some multi-hit attacks have different JL values on each hit, so a 3-hit move may only hit twice in juggles An example to tie everything together: An attack (JS3) launches opponent into the air (Opponent now at JC3) Followed up with an attack (JI2/JL4); it connects, because JL4 ≥ JC3 (Opponent now at JC5) Attempts to juggle again with same attack (JL4), but whiffs because JL4 < JC5 (Opponent hits the ground)