HERE COMES DAREDEVIL

I've been saying I'm gonna change characters for a long time now. At first it was just for the sake of trying a different flavor, but now it's gone a bit beyond that.

The thing is, I've been trying to find a character that would force me to improve in the ways I desperately need to; namely, a character that would force me to become more familiar with the intricacies of the GGXX engine as well as change the way I make decisions on defense.

And to be perfectly honest: I don't think Johnny plays to my strengths as a player to begin with. Sure, I've gotten better at poking and controlling space in general (airthrows, ho!), but I don't think I can make people respect me to the point I need to in order to mount a formidable offense. To top it all off, I can still occasionally get caught mashing 2HS when I have no better ideas.

I've had stints with Eddie, ABA and Ky, but I just didn't see myself improving in the ways I need to with any of them. Eddie and Ky weren't gonna teach me how to improve my defense game, that's for damn sure, and ABA was gonna teach me to play offense like an idiot.


HERE COMES DAREDEVIL: Enter Baiken



If you had asked me a year or even a week ago to list every character in the game in order of which I'd like to play them, Baiken would have placed near the bottom. I mean, her combos are all the same, her oki is too rewarding for me to play her, and ew she's a GIRL.

But once I got past all that, I realized she's a perfect fit. She's an inherently defensive character and a technical one to boot. I'm gonna struggle at first, of course, but eventually I think I'll see myself playing better than I ever have. I'm already well on my way to that with Johnny, but I think Baiken is gonna force me to get even better. I won't have Johnny pokes, but I'll have way better defensive options and oki. It's gonna be a hell of a change of pace, but it'll be for the better.