Power to the Earth.

For a newly introduced character to gain widespread appeal, they must hit all the right notes, such as cool backstory that fits into the game’s lore, memorable personality traits, and above all, a style of fighting that’s not only fun and effective for the game, but also entertaining to watch. Rarely is a perfect mixture born to entice players.

Fortunately for Capcom, Street Fighter V’s latest DLC entry named G checks all the requisite boxes.

His Abe Lincoln-esque outfit to his one-liners, less-than-tenuous connections to Q, and poignant speeches about his position as the President of the Earth have garnered himself a big following. But it’s his ridiculous moveset with flipkicks, command grabs, powerful lunging punches, and a defensive bubble of gold as a V-Skill that keeps relevant.

According to the CFN character usage chart, G is the fourth most used character online, as told by data gathered between Ranked Match, Casual Match, and Battle Lounge modes. This includes top players, such as LIQUID|Nemo and RISE|Smug, who have picked him up as a supplementary pocket option.

A few have gone even further, drifting towards using G exclusively, and putting characters they’ve been using for years on the bench for good.

“I’ll fight this battle. Why? Because it is my duty.”

Gustavo Romero, also known as 801 Strider, finds the most enjoyment when exacting presidential punishment, noting that he’s the most fun out of the entire cast by far. In fact, playing G lead to him to drop his long-time favorite Laura.

“He is very complex and has different ways you can play him, unlike most of the characters in the cast that are very 1 dimensional,” he says.

“I wasn’t having fun with Laura and I don’t think she’s a good fit for this meta.”

With multiple combos paths between his different levels of Presidentiality which enhance his diverse moveset, G is mechanically deeper than most of the cast. His effective normals, fast specials, oppressive V-Trigger, and other powerful tools allow players to stay consistently gaining wins in the competitive field.

“Power for all of the people of the Earth.”

“I think G has high potential in this meta,” says Strider, highlighting G’s ability to keep pace with the upper tier fighters of Street Fighter V.

“He does well versus some dominant characters like Guile and Menat. He can win vs Akuma and Cammy, but they are tougher.“

During SoCal Regionals 2018, he demonstrated just how well G handles with the Guile matchup during his set against Daigo Umehara.

“I’ve faced Daigo many times over the years and I feel like we both have a pretty good read on each other,” says Strider.

“I know the Guile matchup well, my main strategy is to build V-Trigger (gauge) as fast as possible and to get him cornered. I was just confident in that if I follow my strategy, I would win.”

“I have the power of Gaia!”

G is strong. There’s been enough time and evidence to suss that out, drawing from with countless matches on and offline to gather data. But he’s also not without faults.

The President can dish out explosive pressure, but can’t take the heat himself. Lacking a reversal or a 3 frame button, he crumbles when oppressed. Strider believes characters like Cammy can quickly whittle him down if given the chance.

To compensate, players who are interested in picking up G need to focus on avoiding being rushed down at all costs, especially from the air.t.

“He has amazing tools for AA (anti-airing), learn them, love them, make them muscle memory,” Strider advises.

“His offense is scary, but focus on learning his neutral first so that you don’t have to rely on risky reads to win.”