A few weeks have passed since Street Fighter V’s reduction of input lag has been implemented, and players are divided on the actual impact of the adjustment. Some believe it to be far too marginal to note, while others claim to have spotted a gulf of difference.

To gather a consensus, I spoke with numerous skillful players to see if they’ve encountered a change with their characters and their own playstyle.

Questions: Q1. Has the input lag reduction altered *insert character* in any noticeable way? In either matchups or just how they play in general? Q2. Have you personally noticed a change, like being able to AA better, etc?

Edit: This story has been recently updated to reflect the thoughts of Jesse Espinoza aka Commander Jesse and Miky Chea aka XsK Samurai.

Terrence - Chun Li

Q1. I don’t think the input lag reduction helped her drastically in anyway. Since she’s a control type of character, things being easier to react to helps her out, but I don’t think she will move up a tier or anything from this lag reduction.

Q2. Yes I have. There’s actually been a time where I’ve anti aired too early since the patch. This never happened before. Dashes seem easier to react to and its easier to confirm hits. Overall the movement in the game feels smoother. The patch is still new and there are a few more things I’d like to test, but that’s what I’ve noticed so far.

NASR|BigBird - Rashid

Q1. Hmm, with the decreased input lag, it might be easier to jump out of his EX Whirlwinds now, since to an extent, it’s easier to react. But I don’t think it’s gonna be a big difference, you’ll still have to anticipate it and react.

It’s definitely easier to anti air now as well, I’ve been having more success compared to the previous patch, but other than those two, I don’t think there was anything else that’s noticeable. Pretty much everything I was doing back before the patch, I’m still able to do now.

Q2. I think reduction of input lag is in my favor, since most of the time, I like to play slow rather than just go ham. You’ll only see me go ham when I need to or when I’m nervous [Laughs]. Reduced lag in general means slower gameplay might be favored more, however, there wasn’t a big reduction, so you’ll still get caught by “just do it” moves. But yeah, I do like where this is heading, if they reduce it more and stabilize it even more, that’d be perfect!

Toi - Bison

Q1. I feel that it is a bit easier for me to punish unsafe strings to V-trigger activations (Ken’s EX Dragon Punch to V-Trigger, Akuma’s Dragon Punch to V-Trigger, ect). Other than that, I don’t feel that there are any noticeable changeups matchup wise, or with Bison’s gameplay in general.

Q2. I personally haven’t notice any big changes in the game, but then again I’ve always played on PC for the most part. I don’t feel like this change will have a real impact on things to be honest. It’s still hard as hell for me to anti air with Bison [Laughs]. With all that being said, I do appreciate Capcom finally hearing the people out and making some moves. It’s definitely another step in the right direction.

EchoFox|JustinWong - Menat

Q1. I think it works in both ways. The pro is that I she is able to defend better in terms of other characters trying to dash or jump at her. She was already strong in that field but the patch probably helped her with that 10% more. The con is that opponents have an easier time walking and blocking on reaction against her normals so now its harder for her to get random free poke damage from standing medium punch and standing heavy punch.

Q2. I noticed a change - I am able to punish things with 1 frame links and able to check more dashes and jump. Its not obviously 100% but I think having 70% is pretty good compared to 60%.

Commander Jesse - Dhalsim

Q1. It feels like Dhalsim has a little more stability in his overall gameplay. The lag reduction is beneficial in that sense but it has also allowed other characters the ability to whiff punish his limbs a little easier. It isn’t a big difference but it’s there.

Q2. Piggybacking off of what I mentioned earlier, it only really feels slightly less chaotic and a bit more stable in neutral. Dhalsim’s normals feel a little more solid.

ZachInTheBox - Kolin

Q1. In terms of Kolin specifically, the big positive change was that I feel that I can now land counters and ex counters at the last possible moment much more consistently. Before, when I would try to react to moves like Cammy’s divekick (especially in V-Trigger 1), I would just end up blocking because of the input being a quarter circle back. Due to the nature of the move (1–2 frame startup with short active frames), this would kind of be a problem when timing the counter. I’ve gotten a lot more confident in my reactions with that move.

At first, when hearing about the patch, I thought it might negatively affect Kolin’s game. Specifically, her V-Trigger 2 dash and stand fierce. I thought people would be able to react to her V-Trigger 2 dash and check it more often, and I thought people would have an easier time whiff punishing stand fierce. I’m happy to say that I’ve seen no noticeable change in people’s ability to consistently punish these moves, and I’m talking strictly in a offline setting.

Q2. I based my game off of whiff punishing in Street Fighter 4, and coming into Street Fighter V I learned how to play more appropriately to the meta that was given due to the nature of the game’s lag cycle. Not that I didn’t look for whiff punishes ever, but I played much more preemptively than I had originally in Street Fighter 4. Whether it’s a placebo effect, or due to the new stability, I confidently look for whiff punishes now and make that more a part of my Street Fighter V game than I had before. The first tournament after the patch I whiff punished a forward fierce from Vlad, a Vega player, with some authority and that’s when I knew I could start looking for whiff punishes in clutch situations way more often.

ElChakotay - Mika

Q1. Yes made it easier for foes to punish her drop kicks and dashes.

Q2. Yes, it’s much easier to anti air now.

Samurai - Akuma

Q1. Akuma has a better chance to blocking attacks when walking in and out of ranges. And his walk speed takes full advantage of that even more so with the lag reduction.

Q2. Yes, the reduction of lag has made matches more honest. Instead of getting hit due to lag, you essentially get hit because your guard wasn’t fast enough. It also makes hit confirming a bigger threat. Overall, very happy with the lag reduction.

MonoPR - FANG

Q1. I have noticed the change a bit especially on specific things from FANG. Microwalk combos - I’ve been able to do them better, especially the one from crouching medium kick.

Reacting to dashes is something I’m thankful for. I’ve been able to react to random dashes much more than before. It is not a huge difference, but i use to sometimes get hit on counter hit at times and I know i was just a few frames off. Ibuki standing heavy kick I’ve been able to react better when it whiffs. I can’t punish it with mediums yet because its hard since she has a fast recovery, but I’ve been able to stop her with jabs now, before i got hit on counter hit.

Anti airs I don’t notice it as much because FANG’s anti airs are REALLY good overall.

I don’t think I can mention change to any particular match up. Maybe Bison, Mika and Ibuki, since they are characters that usually take advantage of dashing in, like Ibuki with command dash mixups which are unsafe or Mika reacting to drop kicks.

Q2. Yes! Mostly on reaction to offense.

CYG BST|Chris T - Ken

Q1. Input lag has nerfed Ken’s run and overhead mixups … easier hit confirms so the character kind of stayed the same

Q2. Yes I love the input lag reduction I wish it was more but gotta work with what you got but definitely in the right direction

Match ups for ken not really things are still the same it’s more so of the overall gameplay of SFV that has altered a bit

Mahreen - Laura

Q1 & 2. Hmm, I guess whiff punishing is more noticeable now.

PianoDensetsu - Sagat

Q1. Honestly, it’s not a HUGE difference but it’s there. I’m still getting EX Dolphin Dive’d.. but that might be a personal problem [Laughs]. I think it helps Sagat if anything, but none of his match ups feel better… we still struggling out here.

Q2. Hitting late Dragon Punches feels better. I used to get stuffed pretty often when I ‘swear’ I DP’d there. Might be placebo effect, but I’ve been getting them more consistently. I’m just happy Capcom addressed this issue, gives me excited for Season 4! (Make Tiger Knee great again!!!)