Street Fighter IV/Gen

Introduction

Gen is in an essence a character with a Swiss army knife of normals. He's centered around the the ability to switch stances have different moves from each stance, each with different properties and damage. In general his Mantis stance has quicker attacks while his crane stance has the stronger attacks. Knowing how to chain these two stances into one blended fighting style can make Gen into an imposing fighter with answer for most situations. The following Wiki will familiarize you with his move set, his stances and his combos, in an effort to build a solid foundation of his gameplay. His learning curve is steep, but once you get the hang of things Gen has the ability to be a very good character.

Move Analysis

Walking/Jumping

Walking and jumping with Gen are different from other character because each stance has unique properties to ALL of Gen's attributes.

When walking in each stance Gen actually gains speed in the Crane stance. This is currently rated as one of the fastest walks in the game alongside other speed characters such as Chun Li. His crane stance on the other hand does not fall off that much but falls more along the middle tier of walkers in the game.

As per Mnszyk the following data pertains to Gen's walking speed using the Training level as a base, and the squares as a unit of measure

The units are arbitrary, essentially the number of training squares moved in an arbitrary amount of time.

Gen Mantis - 10

Gen Crane - 12

Sagat - 6

Ryu - 10

Chun-Li - ~13

Not that this is particularly useful for anything the way frame data is, but Gen basically gets a 20% speed increase in crane stance.

Normal Moves

Mantis

S.LP -30 damage, 50 stun, 20 super This is a standard fare quick hitting move for Gen that can be used to tick throw or build combos. It loses 1 frame on block unlike it's crouching version, but it's not so readily punishable either. The the range is standard as well, likely usages will revolve around using it in combos or hit verification. JiBbo has pointed out that when jumping in, using s.lp instead of c.lp will actually remove the ability for some shotos to break up your combo strings with a random dp (c.lp actually is a 4 frame move, while s.lp is a 3 frame move).

S.MP - 70 damage (80 if far away), 100 stun, 40 super Gen's s.mp has so interesting properties when compared to other people's s.mp. It causes 23 hit stun, gen gains 2 frames on block, on hit 6, and is only a frame slower in startup in comparison to s.lp (while having 2 more active frames). This move can be cancelled into c.lk in crane (as shown in the trials) and can be linked with s.hp in mantis and c.hp because of the hit stun. Excellent in combos, a good way to start combos, this punch is useful for gen in that it is quick and causes so much stun. Linking in combos may be problematic depending on the normal used before hand.

S.HP

S.LK

S.MK

S.HK

C.LP

C.MP

C.HP

C.LK

C.MK

C.HK

J.LP

J.MP

J.HP

Crane

S.LP

S.MP

S.HP

S.LK

S.MK

S.HK

C.LP

C.MP

C.HP

C.LK

C.MK

C.HK

J.LP

J.MP

J.HP

Normal Throws

This is one of the few sections that Gen does not need to have split up due to his stances, there is however a difference when kara throwing (more on that later)

Gen's back and forward throws are essentially the best tools when initiating the cross-up mixup game that you may get yourself into (although you should NOT abuse this) The have identical stats, and both garner you 40 points of super meter, but one thing you should take of note is that the forward grab takes off 10 points more (important if it is going to the be the last grab you attempt in a match)

When it comes to Kara throwing (i.e. the practice of canceling a normal attack to increase the range of a throw, there are some interesting things to take of note from each stance

As per Ouroborus

Gen can kara throw with:

Mantis: MP, MK, HP, HK

Crane: MP, HP, HK.

Additionally Shin Shitenshuu states

Gen's Mantis style st. mk has a Kara throw distance of 2-1/2 to almost 3 squares in training mode! I assume it's because of st. mk having a quick start-up.

The usages of this are varied, with a good kara throw Gen can enter block strings and from a distance attempt throws that don't seem possible some kara throw setups are (credit to JiBbo):

- Mantis

Low Jab, (Kara)
Low Short, Low Jab (Kara)
Low Jab, Low Jab (walk foward slightly) (Kara)

Command Normals

From Crane Stance Shakudan

Performed by pressing HK>HK in the air, this move has the following properties:

-It is mash-able, so you don't have to wait for the second hit

-adds 50 more damage

-has juggle properties to go into Ryukoha or Jyakoha

-both hits are over head and both must be blocked High

Somethings to note about the Shakudan

-It can be used after a successful wall dive

-Can be used to beat a lot of air to airs (although Gen has other normals that would be preferable)

-On a standing opponent that knows about shakudan, you actually can play mixup games by going into grabs and lows off of one hit of the shakudan (Credit to JiBbo)

-To complete the Shakudan, your opponent must be slightly under your outstreched leg so that both hits will land

Focus / Saving Attack

Mantis

Crane

Special Moves

STANCE CHANGE PPP OR KKK (depending on which style you are in)

This is probably the biggest and most important of his special moves, and is what gen is built around. With the stance switch he is able to fluidly move from one move set to another giving him 12 normals and 4 specials. Usage of this stance switch is an important fundamental in Gen's game, and with that you should know what this move entails. When gen performs his stance change from a neutral, walking or crouching position, it will cost him 5 frames to do so. This is important to note because during this period he is vulnerable! While dashing, jumping or performing a move (normal or special), no frames are made to show the transition, so he is allowed to stance change without the 5 frame penalty. Some things to note: -normals from either stance can then transition to a normal in another stance as long as the stance change is buffered during the first normal (example: s.mp in mantis into c.lk crane) -you can begin your charges in mantis for crane specials

Mantis

Crane

Super Move

Mantis

Crane

Ultra Move

Mantis

Crane

The Basics

Combos

When it comes to combos, Gen has plenty of options due to his multiple stances. In this section we will review the best possible punishes and also some of the more flashy combos that gen has in his arsenal. Note that this section is broken up by stance, and by combo starter, that way if you would like to know what kind of combos Gen has that start from a s.lp in mantis, then you can refer to that section specifically.

Mantis Combos

S.LP

S.LP>S.LP

S.LP>S.LP>S.LP

S.LP>S.LP>S.LK

S.LP>S.LK

S.LP>S.LK>S.LP

S.LP>C.LP

S.LP>C.LP>S.MP

S.LP>C.LP>S.MP>S.HP

S.LP>C.LP>S.MP>S.HP (cancel first hit)>Hyakurenko

S.LP>C.LP>S.MP>S.HP (cancel first hit)>Gekiro

S.MP

S.HP

S.LK

S.MK

1. S.MK xx HP Hands thread on shoryuken

Difficult move to pull off when you first attempt it, this move is debatable as to whether it is Bread and Butter combo or not. Why should you use it? Well first off it gives the best poke gen has (rangewise) more to work with, here are a little stats from the shoryuken thread, credit goes to Mnszyk for the data

This is why you should do Medium Kick xx Fierce Hands:

Medium Kick 70 damage, 100 stun, 40 meter Your opponent will be pushed ~4 training room squares in the other direction High priority, long range Block Advantage: -2 Hit Advantage: +2

Medium Kick xx Fierce Hands 134 damage, 180 stun, 110 meter Your opponent will be pushed ~18 training room squares in the other direction. At max range, you'll advance yourself about ~9 squares for free. Armor Breaking - Your opponent will never be able to safely focus your pokes if you do this Block Advantage: +5 Hit Advantage: +9

Almost doubled damage and stun, the ability to push your opponent around like crazy, nearly triple meter, armor breaking, and high safety ... what would you weigh that against?

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to MKhands. It allows you to effectively zone and punish whiffs that Gen normally could not. He can also use it to punish things like (list is still growing) Blocked Shoto Roundhouse Close Range tiger shot Close range fireball (Shotos) MP or HP Headbutt (Honda) Punish rekkas (fei or abel) early rolls by abel wheel kicks (abel) TAP (Balrog)

This combo alone gives him the ability to increase his zone, whereas most of the combos gen has have to be up in your face, this lets him start the pressure and force the issue with opponent.

So How do you do it?

There are many different manners of doing it, first thing is first let's break down how the combo works

MK itself has 5 frames of startup which is not too bad at all, but the active frames are only 3, so within these active frames you have to get hands out. At first this may seem like a daunting task because....

Hands requires 5 P button inputs to activate. So in practice you can hit any P button 5 times and Hands will come out (this must be done rapidly). What aids this process is that any combination of P buttons can be used and the 5th one will determine the strength of the hands (with HP being the best). Being able to piano the inputs would be the best method here but there are different ways to get MK hands to come out:

SecretCharacter's method My method of doing it is; Lp+Mk, then piano from right to left, Fp, Mp, Lp, Fp (Notice how he uses LP+MK, when this input is done the higher button input will come out and the lower button input will still be recorded)

Kruldar's Method video links Piano Method Slide Method

B izm's method LP+MKx2, LP MP HP

SLVRNBLK's method Same as the piano but with 2 fingers on mp (middle and ring) so that you can drum that button twice

FROM MK hands you can also cancel the first three hits of hands to another mk hands or mk super. The mk hands to mk hands works in block strings as well.

S.HK

C.LP

C.MP

C.HP

C.LK

C.MK

C.HK

J.LP

J.MP

J.HP

Hyakurenkou

EX Hyakurenkou

Gekirou/Waterfall Kick

Gekirou > Ryukoha (Ultra) Damage ?

To perform this combo you first need to enter the Gekirou with the MK version or above (to be verified) and maintain your opponent ABOVE Gen. Normally you would want him to remain level with Gen but in this case we are not going to complete the Gekirou. Instead we will finish a couple of hits into it (Best way is just to mash mercilessly when you want to end it) and at which time Gen will drop before his opponent. When he lands you should already have quarter circle buffered, just enter one more and KKK and the Ultra should connect. Practice is neccesary to get a visual of where your opponent should be, this should be used as an AA finisher due to the poor amount of damage this combo does.

EX Gekirou/Waterfall Kick