Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike/Alex/2021/Introduction

Introduction

Alex is the shiny new main character of Street Fighter 3, and in classic protagonist style, he was designed to be easy and fun. Unlike the shoto archetype most protagonists fill, Alex more plays the role of a mid-range brawler/grappler. He has some great pokes, a decent dash, a strong command grab, and lots of useful EX moves. His combos are simple, but can potentially deal high damage, especially when the opponent is stunned. This will happen fairly often, as Alex naturally builds up tons of stun with just pokes and short combos alone. A few strong reads on the opponent will lead to a stun, which leads to a HP Chop combo into huge damage. Add the threat of this damage to Alex's various EX moves that evade opponents attacks, like EX Elbow and EX Stomp, and he is almost always a few guesses away from winning.

Despite this, Alex is known as a low tier for a reason, and comes with a lot of issues that become more noticeable as you improve. His lack of cancel options hurts him a lot, since only 5MP and cl.MK combo into any specials. He can't poke into a knockdown or bait a low parry into damage like the best characters can, even with meter. This means that a ranged parry will often find Alex settling for sweep, which doesn't give him much reward at all. He also lacks any good supers, with all 3 of his super arts having noticeable issues that hold them back. Most Alex players will run SAII for the simple utility and high EX, but even that has problems. Many of Alex's best tools also have simple answers, like red parry EX Elbow or tap backwards vs EX Stomp, which make them much riskier vs opponents who know the matchup.

Above all else, Alex is a simple and fun character who runs rewarding strike/throw, pushing the opponent to the corner and building stun, until he lands a damaging HP Chop stun combo and steals the round. He forces guesses out of the opponent, and a few wrong ones ends the round. He definitely is the low tier people say he is, but luckily he's also in 3rd Strike, where anyone can win. Devote enough time, and you'll rob even the best players.

Super Arts

SA1: Hyper Bomb

An almost great super, Hyper Bomb is a fast and damaging command grab. It can be used in combos, unlike other command grab supers, but only after a MP or HP Chop since they cause backturn. The speed and invincibility make it a nice reversal, though these two things are about where the utility ends. It has an infamous weakness in that it isn't instant startup like other command grabs. This means that if the opponent was blocking during the super flash, they can hold up and jump over the grab, leading to a full punish even though they were blocking. SAI also only stocks one bar, leaving Alex with little EX to use.

SA2: Boomerang Raid

Boomerang Raid is the super of choice for Alex. It's simple to use, combos from lights, does decent damage, and works as a reversal. It also stocks 2 bars, giving Alex lots of EX to play with, which he really wants. The super does have major issues with falling out at long range however, especially the command grab at the end, which leaves Alex open for a huge punish. Pay attention to your ranges well, and SAII will pass as a basic super to use.

SA3: Stun Gun Headbutt

The epitome of Alex gimmicks, Stun Gun Headbutt is a massively rewarding command grab that instantly stuns the opponent. It works uniquely to other grabs in that it actually does catch opponents jumping, as long as they're grabbed during the rising portion of a jump. The answer is to anti-air Alex as he falls, which isn't too hard to do with most characters LP buttons, though if the opponent doesn't know they'll be stunned. There is the Stun Gun Trap as well, which is using the LP version of the super after a HP Chop, though this is escapable as well by reversals or extremely fast buttons.

Strengths

Weaknesses

High average stun, allowing him to easily dizzy the opponent with a few correct hits. Long range normals like 5MK and 2HK that can poke and counterpoke, and strong anti-airs to keep opponents grounded. Rewarding dizzy combos thanks to HP Chop. Strong EX moves that do high damage, evade options in neutral, or allow anti-air combos that bait air parry. Simple to understand at any level, and lots of gimmicks to check how much your opponent knows.

No good supers, forced to settle for SAII which drops at range. Incredibly limited combo game that basically requires him to be point blank for much reward. Lack of a strong low leads to easily parried mixups. Wide and large, letting him get hit by advanced juggles for more damage. Heavily reliant on forcing guesses on offense, meaning smart opponents can escape fairly often.