I don't know why I even use the name anymore. Street Fighter has become a full-on obsession,so much so that I'm using my Speed Racer notebook to take notes on the game and each match up. I will share some of my findings in a bit.

First, I must announce that after falling below 1000 bp with Cammy, I have reached the 2000 mark again thanks to Fei Long. My play style with Fei has gotten more solid and my old style is merely a plan b, in case things get really desperate. I've mastered taking down Akuma players since they rely too much on the raging demon and I know exactly how to stop it.

In an effort to spread the knowledge I've accumulated in the aforementioned notebook, here's my analysis on the characters I face most often,along with notes on how Fei Long can deal with them. I thought I had Balrog figured out and then Senisan beat my face in, so I have some new theories regarding the boxer. Read further and hopefully learn or contribute to this knowledge base.

Fei Long
Fei Long is good at both offense and offensive defense, meaning a counter hit type game. He has a lot of good anti-air options. His neutral roundhouse and flaming dragon kick are probably the most reliable; the dragon kick wins for flash. His rekka kens in this game are really good for punishing sweep attempts and whiffed shoryukens. The rekka easily combos off of a crouching jab and is very effective. The chicken wing is probably Fei's best move. It kills raging demons dead, gets him in his opponents fast quickly, is effective against waking up characters and sets up a fairly easy throw. If the chicken wing is EX'd, it goes through fireballs to deliver some damage and get in close.

Akuma
There are only a few ways people use Akuma. Most try to keep me at a distance; a few get in and try to bring the pain. All Akuma players try to use raging demon. Once Fei Long gets past the air fireballs using dashes, rekkas and chicken wings, the dying of Akuma begins. I cannot remember the last time an Akuma player beat me. Most of them try to be too flashy and rely on the demon too much. Akuma has some serious combos but few players even try to use them. Fei can also beat Akuma's tatsu with a crouching fierce punch. Akuma is one of the few characters Fei can trade with.

Ken and Ryu
As a general rule, Ken players are far too reckless and sure of themselves. As stated, Fei can shut down their tatsu, limiting Ken's game. Kens often throw out shoryukens like they're going out of style. This is easily punished and makes most Kens an easy target. My goal with Fei Long is to punish every move Ken players try and effectively psyche them out. It's mostly easy.

Most Ryu players are analytical and careful. While Fei is just as good at shutting them down, these players have a much different and more deadly approach to the fight. Once they have meter, Fei is grounded since giving up a shoryuken also guarantees an Ultra or Super. Fei's greatest strength against Ryu players is his ability to quickly move back and forth across the screen, effectively controlling the pace of the match. Wise men fear Ryu.

Sagat
Sagat is the man in this game. Most players know that so they tend to overplay and this is their greatest weakness. I've countered tons of Tiger Knees with Fei's Ultra and then hitting Sagat as he wakes with an EX chicken wing. That usually ends the match and gets me some hate mail, which lets me know that I'm doing a good job.

Dhalsim
Dhalsim has a very hard time against Fei because Fei can hit stretchy limbs with his dragon kick and stay in Dhalsim's face. I usually don't have much trouble in this fight. I expect Dhalsim will become more formidable as people master him.

Chun Li
Chun is a lethal character in this game, but she's also very technical. This is her strength and weakness. It's easy to avoid her kikkoken so that's not too much of a factor. Her EX spinning bird kick is dangerous but Fei's jumping jab can shut that down. Whenever I play Chun Li, I try to get in quickly, get some hits and run away. By keeping her in pursuit, I can control the pacing of the match. Once again, I expect she'll be very high tier once people start mastering all the intricacies of this character.

Cammy
Cammy is fast and has priority like a mofo. Fortunately, very few people play her well. Most of her moves are rather safe, but the spiral arrow is not. Fei can stuff that with a standing medium punch or block and punish. Rekka sometimes beats out the spiral arrow but punishing is safer. She's the opposite of Fei Long in almost every way. His forward dash is faster but her back dash is faster. Her cannon spike is safe and his dragon kick is not. Her Ultra can be juggled into, his cannot. He does more dizzy damage, she does more life meter damage. It's no wonder I couldn't master her.

Balrog
I thought I had this match pegged and then Senisan showed me I didn't. But, because he's classy, he taught me a bit about this match up. Dragon kick stops punches better then the rekka. It was a simple lesson but an extremely important one. Then I figured out another great way to mess up Rog's punches, neutral jumping roundhouse. Balrog passes Fei up but the kick still connects.It's a tough match but a bit easier now.

Zangief
Zangief is a beast. His lariat beats all, except for Fei's crouching roundhouse. The lariat can beat Fei's crouching fierce punch surprisingly enough. My strategy here is simple; trip Zangief and get in a few hits, but nothing fancy, and then run like hell. If he moves toward me with a lariat, Fei's back jump roundhouse will hit and then combo into a sweep. Then it's time to run again.

I'm still having trouble with Bison and Blanka but very few people I've encountered play as those. Kirbilot is helping me with Bison and I'm on my own with Blanka. Fei's chicken wing can stuff the Blanka ball but the timing is crucial. It's a work in progress, as is all of this.

Kirbilot is also going to EVO. We're going to meet up at some point. Hopefully, Rab goes too. That would be awesome. I'm going to order a Dtoid shirt soon to wear during the competition to represent.

In other news
I took a bitof a break from SFIV to do some reading. I highly recommend Y the Last Man to all. It's brilliant and beautiful and touching and sad. It's a must read. It reminded me of some other comics I've read that really affected me: Deadenders by Ed Brubaker and Starman by James Robinson, Tony Harris, Wade von Grawbadger, et al. I started reading Deadenders when it came out since it was about a nihilistic scooter driver in a post-apocalyptic world. It was very me at the time. Jack Knight in Starman is me as a super hero.Everyone who knows me and read the book tells me that. His sarcastic sense of humor, his love of art deco and even his relationship with his father brought on by the early death of his mother all echo my own life. DC is re-releasing Starman in some really nice hardcovers for a great price. Y the Last Man is available in trade. Deadenders is hard to come by since it was canceled due to low sales. One trade was printed that collects the first stor arc. You may need to be resourceful to find Deadenders but it's so totally worth it.