The ruling from Capcom is a bit hazy, but looks like a ban is happening

CYG|Daigo Umehara has been practicing Street Fighter 5 on a different style of Hitbox controller as of late in preparation for Combo Breaker 2019. The way in which the controller prioritizes inputs might give the player an advantage over the approved peripherals of the Capcom Pro Tour, and thus is raising concerns about this particular hitbox's tournament legality.

Capcom has since taken to Twitter to make an official statement on the matter leading into Combo Breaker 2019 — which begins today.

The type of hitbox Daigo is using is called the "Gafro" Hitbox, which was designed and is used by fellow competitive Street Fighter 5 player Gafro.

One of the main ways this controller differs from a standard hitbox is in how it handles directional inputs. Unlike the traditional hitbox that registers a neutral input when the player hits left and right at the same time — in order to avoid endless special move charges, among other things — the Gafro Hitbox prioritizes the most recent input.

This means you can essentially hold left on the Gafro Hitbox, charge for a couple of seconds, then hit right and punch (without releasing left) to throw out something like Guile's Sonic Boom.

Saunic on Twitter shared a quick breakdown of the differences between standard and Gafro hitboxes, and we also have a demonstration of what Daigo's hitbox can do from WestCoastPlease below.

Initial reports stated that Daigo reached out to both Capcom and the Combo Breaker tournament organizers and received the green light to use the Gafro Hitbox at the event this weekend. However, a response to a Reddit thread yesterday about the situation from Combo Breaker Tournament Organizer (TO) Rick "The Hadou" Thiher says otherwise.

"COMBO BREAKER has not officially approved Daigo using this controller," Thiher explained. "Our understanding is he is in contact with CPT to establish if the controller fits into their Tour's legality. We have only informed him that our event will follow their ruling for the SFV tournament."

Combo Breaker is looking to follow Capcom's ruling on the matter, and early this morning the Capcom Fighters Twitter account released their official statement on the controller usage. The message is a little hazy here, but the gist of it seems to state that Capcom and Combo Breaker have agreed to ban the use of the Gafro Hitbox at this weekend's event, but future instances of this will fall to the TO's decision if the CPT rules cannot address it.

Capcom's statement To all Combo Breaker CPT attendees, We have received inquiries about controllers from participating players. However, with the current CAPCOM Pro Tour (CPT) rules, the question around the controller's use cannot be answered clearly. While Capcom respects the diversity of the controller, we feel that the use of the controller gives the competition an advantage that does not follow the spirit of the CPT. We, in close consultation with the Combo Breaker Tournament Organizer (TO), concluded that we cannot accept the use of a controller that does not conform to the CPT spirit at this event. Also, regardless of the Combo Breaker situation, the rules of the local tournament will be respected for all controllers used in the tournament, as long as the CPT rules cannot address clearly. Therefore, we ask for the understanding and cooperation of all the participating competitors to follow the rules and decisions established by the TO. We will continue to consider controller usage rules and potentially revising CPT rules. However, please understand more information and time is needed in order to make an appropriate decision regarding the use of the controllers in question.

Click images for larger versions

Thiher further clarified on Twitter that Daigo's hitbox will not be usable at Combo Breaker this weekend.

Photo credit: Daigo The Beast TV. Sent in by AriesWarlock and mustain21.