While Yun was a force to be reckoned with when he and his brother first appeared in the Street Fighter IV series, his stock fell considerably in subsequent iterations of the title. With Ultra Street Fighter IV right around the corner, it appears as if one major gameplay addition is helping him get his groove back.

Oshino, an Adon player and friend of MCZ|Daigo Umehara, MCZ|Tokido, and BE|Nemo, recently posted a brand new entry in his personal blog that details some funny arcade experiences and meeting friends at Taito Station in Shinjuku; how Red Focus has made Yun extremely powerful; and taking on the Rolento matchup as Adon.

According to Oshino, Red Focus has shifted the balance of power in Ultra. “The one thing everyone is agreement regarding USFIV is that the characters that benefit from Red Focus are too extreme,” he notes. “When I asked Tokido about it, he said that by connecting from MP into Red Focus., Yun has a combo that puts you on the brink of death. After getting hit by the combo, if you get hit by the following front-back mix-up, it leads to stun then death.”

He also states that Rose has transitioned from being merely annoying to quite a handful in this new iteration.

For more, be sure to check out our full translation of Oshino’s blog post below.

I have a second stomach for USFIV fever, so after five hours of sleep I woke and headed to Shinjuku Taito Station.

While I was playing Nemo showed up. When I asked him about Rolento:

Nemo: “He’s strong, but Yun and Makoto are tough for him. Adon too.”

I had almost no experience fighting against Rolento, so we played a bit. It ended at 1-1 but it definitely felt like the match is annoying for Rolento. I’ll talk about Rolento strategies later.

After that, evening set in and Tokido appeared. How many years has it been since I’ve met Tokido at an arcade.

Oshino: “Yo!”

Tokido: “Oh! If it isn’t Oshino!”

Oshino: “Is it me or is the number of Akumas extremely low this time around?”

Tokido: “Ultra seems pretty rough for him. He’s a bad Evil Ryu.”

Oshino: “He can’t do okizeme anymore. Dan is stronger than him at this level.”

Tokido: “A bad Dan haha!”

Oshino: “Are you gonna change characters?”

Tokido: “Yeeeah, it might be at the point that I have to.”

Oshino: “If you are gonna switch, who would you play?”

Tokido: “Well Yun of course!!”

Yun, currently broken to the point that he would throw away his pride. Anyway, it does seem rough for Akuma in USFIV.

Then I got paired against Mago’s Oni. He had me beat, so he just trolled me. Oshino will take revenge by ignoring his phone calls.

Then Umehara appeared. Seeing everyone coming back to the arcade almost made me cry. Home versions are convenient, but actually meeting face-to-face sharing strategies and complaints, letting your emotions out while playing, that’s the most fun. This is the one culture we can’t afford to lose.

Oshino: “Yun is rough for Ryu this time, isn’t he?”

Umehara: “Yun’s awoken to Satsui no Hado. In many ways. Or maybe I should say he couldn’t keep from awakening.”

He does seem to have gone evil.

Then for about 10 minutes, Umehara watched in silence as Kazunoko’s Yun was on a win streak. The tension was so high it was hard to speak. Then he finally opened his mouth…

Umehara: “Um, so I drink canned coffee.”

Oshino: “!!!?… Oh.”

Umehara: “And when I do, I get the urge to go to the bathroom. I have to pee at the pace of about once every 30 minutes.”

Oshino: “Coffee does have diuretic effects, but think about your age. We’re both over 30 already right? You just have to urinate more often now.”

Umehara: “So I guess it is related? And on that note…”

Oshino: “?”

Umehara: “I’m going to the bathroom!!!”

He disappeared toward the Taito Station toilet in a dash… It seems the tension from that 10 minutes before was from him holding it in. Anyway you don’t have to explain, just go to the bathroom.

The one thing everyone is agreement regarding USFIV is that the characters that benefit from Red Focus are too extreme. Yun and Viper (especially Yun) are already characters that easily build meter, and you give them that? In addition to overly broken damage and stun, being able to hit-confirm and combo into Red Focus from any situation like crouch tech traps or whiff punishes is too powerful. When I asked Tokido about it, he said that by connecting from MP into Red Focus., Yun has a combo that puts you on the brink of death. After getting hit by the combo, if you get hit by the following front-back mix-up, it leads to stun then death. The end.

Rose also has plainly become stronger. She was annoying in the previous game, and she’s a handful in this one too.

Gen-chan been having trouble with the Rolento match-up, so here are some Adon tips for dealing with Rolento.

Distance

Generally stay at long range. From close to mid range, Rolento has quite the advantage. Rolento can combo an EX move into UC1 from every situation, so run away. From a distance, Adon can safely wait for the opponent to act.

Neutral

Make rolls (Mekong Delta Attack) risky to do. If you can stay at long range, react to rolls with stand HK only. If it’s a short roll, the HK will whiff and both sides risk nothing, but if it stops in front of you the tip of stand HK will hit. If it’s a long roll both hits of HK will connect. If you try to react from mid range, stand HK won’t reach start-up in time, so if you block or stick out 2+MPs it might be easy to beat.

Offense

Trying to simply approach by ground is hard. If you see the opponent neutral jump, do an L Jaguar Kick as they land to make them block. Now that you’re in suddenly in close, it’s Adon’s turn. Rolento doesn’t have any convenient invincible anti-air moves, so it’s okay to just jump. You have the following options when you jump:

1. Forward jump MK

2. Empty jump 2+LK

3. Empty jump throw

4. L Air Jaguar Kick as you are dropping

Rolento’s anti-air normal attacks have short active frames, so it seems that he doesn’t have a move that can beat every option.

For Rolento’s side:

Against 1, stand guard or normal anti-air

Against 2, crouch guard or normal anti-air

Against 3, throw tech or normal anti-air

Against 4, guard or delayed normal anti-air

For Rolento’s options against 1, 2 and 3, Adon’s 4 works against them all. If Rolento goes for a normal anti-air to counter options 1, 2, or 3, 4 will lead to a hit into a combo. If he does a delayed normal anti-air to try to drop 4, he’s forced to block.

For wake-up offense, Adon has the same options. Instead of making him block a cross-up, I think attack with front options is better.

First stay at a long range, and when it’s time to attack, do so from the air, always using your options to keep in Adon’s favor. If things switch to Rolento’s turn, safely return back to long range and stay calm. This is what’s key.

My counter-strategies are still incomplete, so I’ll keep you informed!