This week sees the release of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, an updated version of SFV featuring new gameplay modes, a shiny new look and a ton of balance changes. This is important for the esports scene, as these adjustments to characters and gameplay will affect how everyone plays the game for the next year. There's a lot of tweaks to go through, with some characters nerfed quite spectacularly and others buffed to even more powerful levels – so let's break down the lengthy patch notes and analyse how they could affect certain fighters – and players who favour them – going into Elite Series Season 3 in March.
General Changes:
- Additionally, jab anti-airs have been removed while 'proper' anti-air buttons have been buffed to make them more effective. These ‘true’ anti-airs tend to do more damage but come out slower, so if you’ve been reliant on jabs for anti-airing, you’ll need to start paying a bit more attention.
What do these changes all mean? Fights will now reset to the neutral more often, and we’re less likely to see one player get the momentum and steamroll their opponent with it. It will be fascinating to see how players adapt: those who favour footsies and fundamental play could very well see great success, while those that rely on smothering their opponents might need to add a few more strings to their bow.
Character Changes
That'll cover the most important updates in this patch: you can read the complete patch notes here. How will this affect the play styles of the biggest players in the SFV scene? Only time will tell, but some of these changes are fascinating. Think you've got what it takes? Sign up and compete in the online Challenger Series for a chance at esports superstardom!