Video Study #7: Abel (Renzo) vs. Yun/Dudley (Marn)

An AE match between USA player Marn using Yun and Dudley against Renzo playing Abel. Apparently Marn is playing Yun while drunk? That's what I gather from watching the video anyway.

That aside, this study really shows what Yun, and also Dudley, are capable off in the pressure game. I think Marn is messing around a bit with Yun but as you can see in the video he basically pulls off dive kick after dive kick after dive kick, its just ridiculous. Also, Genei Jin combo in the corner. Nasty stuff. Think Abel again wins out with Yun's lower stamina and Abel's nice damage output.

Video Study #6: Abel vs. Yun

Yun is really a close range offense beast, kind of like a mix between Rufus (with his air dive kick) and Fei Long (solid normals and pokes). These two combined give Yun a tremendous pressure game vs Abel, compounded by his lack of good reversal options. You can see in first two vids how Yun practically dictates the pace of the match simply by getting in close to Abel.

Looks like Yun doesn't have lots of stamina though. Read somewhere that its like 900 or 950? Again, from the vids Abel wins out once he gets a few hits in, which frankly is quite do-able given his own pressure and mix-up game. Still I'd say this match is pretty much in Yun's favor, he controls the match the moment he gets the first dive kick blocked. I say watch out for EX lunging fist, dive kick pressure and that command grab mix-up that lets him grab or double palm smack you.

Video Study #5: Iyo (Ibuki) vs. robin01 (Abel)

Another quality match between two Japanese players, Iyo playing Ibuki and robin01 playing as Abel. Both players are well into the 5-digit BPs online so this is some match to be watching.

This match really gives a view of what Ibuki's vortex is capable of. You can see early on how Abel is totally dominated by a single light poke and then sucked into that immense vortex until he gets dizzied. Then we see a further upset when robin01 pulls out the win with some clever mix-ups and nice TT setups. That 1st round really showed how how easy it is for Ibuki to go down once she loses momentum.

Speaking of which, the beginning of the 2nd round compounds this further when Abel lands the FADC combo, taking off a healthy chunk of her stamina. Some nice footsies and defense and the match is over with Abel as the winner.

Big take-away from this I think is the example of the crazy mix-ups Ibuki can do and also to remind you how little stamina she actually has. Which doesn't really matter if you can't hit her anyway.

Highlights:
0:24-0:45 - The Ibuki vortex rocking the house on Abel.
1:03 - Abel does a light string, dashes and TTs; nice setup.
1:09 - Another nice setup; ambiguous roll by dashing into LK Roll after TT.
1:20 - Fwd.MK into FADC FS combo. Ibuki's stamina drops by more than a third!
1:45 - Some nice footsies in the corner.

Video Study #4: Abel (Rico Suave) vs. Akuma (Tokido)

Just watched this awesome match from EVO 2010 between Rico Suave, a top Abel player in the US and Tokido, coined one of the best players in the world at this time. Both players certainly brought their A-game here but ultimately Tokido takes the game and match. Tokido really brings all there is to see from an Akuma, something which doesn't happen often.

Tokido absolutely dominates Rico in a majority of the matches and its easy to see why Abel has a really hard time against Akuma. Rico really has a hard time handling those st.HK from Akuma with no answers to it aside from well-timed EX TT and just plain blocking it. Even on block it still puts Akuma in a good position to continue pressuring Abel with no real fear of retribution.

Next up is the dreaded vortex. You see that all throughout the vid on Abel who has no real options to avoid this other then make some guesses. Between Demon Flip throws, attacks and ticks its almost impossible for Abel to come out of that unscathed.

The highlight of this match and the reason why Tokido dominated Rico in the later rounds was the Demon Flip - Ultra option select. If Abel back dashes or rolls, the Demon Flip hit misses and the ultra comes out. If Abel blocks, the ultra doesn't activate and he's free to continue the vortex. Abel is now forced to block every single Demon Flip hit giving him no alternative out of the vortex.

Highlights:
0:29 - Falling Sky used to charge meter while Akuma throws air fireballs.
0:37 - st.HK pressure from Akuma keeps Abel in the corner.
0:44 - Vortex on Abel with Demon Flips.
1:20 - EX TT used to catch start-up frames on st.HK
1:36 - From vortex to st.HK pressure.
1:50 - Air tatsu to sweep to get an untechable knockdown.
2:42 - Soulless catches Akuma on the back air fireball.
4:36 - The Demon Flip - Ultra option select catches Rico.

Video Study #3: Abel (JuiceBox) vs. C. Viper (Wolfkrone)

This time I'm covering Juicebox's Abel versus Wolfkrone's C.Viper from EVO2010 earlier this year. Juicebox is a very capable Abel with his own channel and podcast etc. while Wolfkrone... don't know that much about him but he's a pad player and quite accomplished too so he's no push over.

This video really exemplifies the fast paced gameplay and quick swinging matches common between Abel and C.Viper matches. Both characters deal out tons of damage and have tons of mix-ups. Viper on one hand has a better defense and pokes, while Abel on the other has more stamina and good up close mix-ups.

There aren't really that many things to point out, fact being that the whole 5 minutes is jam packed with lots of high level play on both sides. Loads to learn from pretty much every part of it (apart from reenacting Soulless... don't do that please).

Juicebox really gets into Viper's face each and every time he can because against such a pressing offense you don't really want to end up defending against C.Viper. He utilises a lot of rolls to not only evade mix-ups but to put him in a better position to start an offense. A bit risky especially once Viper catches on but it really pays off once you can begin a counter-offense.

Highlights
0:11 - Lots of air flame kick mix-ups from Wolfkrone
1:02 - Even more AFK mix-ups, this time from jp.HK
2:00 - Juicebox uses lots of rolls to evade those seismo SJCs
2:54 - Nice mind trick shenanigans in the corner with the TT
3:05 - More good reads and rolls from Juicebox to negate those mix-ups

Video Study #2: Abel vs. Vega

Match between Vega and Abel. Not sure who these guys are but its a nice intermediate match and showcases some important stuff for this match-up.

Abel handles this match-up pretty well and did pretty much the right thing, which was to keep pressure on Vega. There are a few good things to pick up from this match for Abel's general pressure game as well as what to watch out for versus Vega. The one tool Vega wasn't using much was his st.HK which does a lot to keep Abel away on the ground. You can't focus it and it recovers hell fast so it can be really annoying.

Highlights:
0:28 - Vega go-to defense versus Abel with the backdash. Hard to counter really, his backdash is pretty good. Late cross-ups maybe, or dash if you can read it.
0:30 - Vega does instant jp.HP, a nice trick Vega has as a tool to poke and keep distance or as a surprise finisher (similar to Adon's instant jp.HK).
0:49 - Vega's Splendid Claw used as an anti-cross up. Another trick he has so you'll need to time a safe cross up to avoid this.
0:58 - Abel does a barrage of fwd.MK to light strings. Good pressure tool but can be countered so use sparingly.
1:27 - Abel counters Barcelona Dive with jp.HP. Jp.HK works fine too depending on the angle.
2:00 - cr.LK to EX TT tick throw, Abel's BnB mix-up from a light string.

Video Study #1: Vern (ABE) vs. LKH (RYU)

Here's the first Abel video I'm going to be looking at, an old one of mine from the SF4 hey days which has maybe one useful part in it? I'm playing pretty badly in this one so bear with me... take it as an Abel "what not to do" tutorial if you will.

The real take away from this video is at 1:37. Ryu tries to bait out my ultra not once but twice knowing I can blow through it with Soulless. Keep this in mind when Ryu starts throwing fireballs from long range.

Highlights
0:08 - Back dash and forward dashing right after... don't do it.
0:25 - The EX TT looked good right there but if Ryu back dashed there he'd be in position to punish Abel.
1:37 - Ryu tries to bait an ultra to punish by using Hadoken FADCs. Be aware of a potential fake out if Ryu has enough bars to FADC.
2:30 - Me baiting out the SRK. Ryu has safer options than wake-up SRK at that point though... njp, cr.LP jabs or even back dash if he expected a TT.
3:40 - Ryu does a EX Hadoken to Ultra which would combo. He should have hit confirmed with a cr.MK first though in my opinion.
4:41 - fwd.mk to light string to tick TT to end the match.