V-System

V-Skill

Overhaul

Overhaul: Alex winds up an arm, occupying himself for just under one second, getting ready to put extra oomph into his next attack. This is a power-up state for your next connected strike, similar to other temporary power-up states, like SFIII Ken’s taunt, SFIV Sagat’s Angry Scar, and R. Mika’s V-Skill. After a successful Overhaul “taunt,” Alex’s next attack will create a “Hard Hit,” identical to the effects of a counter hit. This potential Hard Hit buff will stick around until Alex touches the opponent with an attack, whether hit or blocked, or until they hit Alex. Unlike most other power-up states like this, Alex keeps the potential Hard Hit if his pokes whiff! If you Overhaul and whiff two standing HK pokes, then nail them with a third standing HK, it will still cause a Crush Counter crumple.

Overhaul takes just slightly longer than Birdie’s V-Skills and Dhalsim’s Yoga Fire, so it’s feasible to use on a regular basis in matches, depending on the tempo. It’s not as sparing as R. Mika’s V-Skill and is more central to Alex’s gameplan. You may get chances to Overhaul cold in the neutral game, especially if opponents are hesitant or passive. Otherwise, you may need to earn it if the opponent is an aggressive character staying in your face, like Cammy. Any opponent passing up quick rise on a knockdown gives you an Overhaul chance. You also have one immediately following a counter-hit sweep, or just after the opponent is dizzied.

Other spaces in the neutral game give you chances to use Overhaul. It’s natural for opponents to sometimes jump backward, whether wary of throws or just fishing for reactions. When you’re both jockeying for position, you can react to their backward jump with immediate Overhaul, so a lot of your vulnerable period is covered by their own backward movement. Paying close attention to the opponent’s position sometimes can award benefits like this that aren’t obvious.

Overhaul’s effect is both easy to sum up and overwhelming to describe. It just guarantees that if you score a hit, it’s a counter-hit. But this has so many delicious implications.

• You can KNOW that Lariat or standing HK will lead to a Crush Counter on hit. For standing HK in particular, this leads to huge damage with plenty of time to verify the opportunity.
• On a dizzied foe, you can Overhaul and tack on a standing HK Crush Counter combo instead of a standard jump-in. You can also Overhaul buff, then sweep the dizzied enemy, manufacturing a hard knockdown from a stun.
• Or, you can be certain that your sweep used in footsies will lead to a Crush Counter knockdown and plenty of time to set up okizeme, whether or not the sweep actually connects as a counter-hit.
• Or, you can be sure that standing HP will give you time for a combo with a cancel into HP Flash Chop or HK Slash Elbow.
• Or, you can guarantee that crouching LK to standing MP is a viable hit-check. Or standing MP to standing MP.
• Or, that LP/MP Flash Chop and LK Slash Elbow used as pokes can lead to link combos.
• Or, you can enable deep, jumping cross-up LK (or jump-in Flying Cross Chop) to link into standing HP upon landing.

Of course, your opponent can see you popping off Overhaul. The knowledge that your next strike could be a serious counter-hit may cause them to play more defensively, hoping to block an incoming attack so Overhaul’s buff goes away. If you read this tendency in your opponent, then use Overhaul as a red herring so you can score more Power Bomb and Head Crush throws when they clam up.

V-Reversal

Big Boot while blocking

Big Boot: Alex retaliates out of block with a vicious boot to the midsection. This V-Reversal knocks down on hit, but is a tad slow. Against many light attacks and some faster medium pokes, opponents may be able to recover and block in time. Like other V-Reversals, Big Boot removes 200 stun damage from Alex’s meter.

Alex’s V-Trigger, Rage Shift, is a two-bar one, so you can consider yourself free to use at least one V-Reversal per round through sheer stamina attrition, if it will help you escape pressure and take back control.

V-Trigger

Rage Shift

Rage Shift: This two-bar V-Trigger freezes the screen briefly on activation, allowing for a hit-check starting Rage Shift off normal pokes. Ideal starters include Lariat, standing HP, crouching MK, crouching HP, and sweep. Rage Shift’s activation starts a 28-second timer, during which Alex gains a new special move, Sledge Hammer.

Sledge Hammer (Parry) Release buttons during absorb

Sledge Hammer

Charged Sledge Hammer Fully charge

Sledge Hammer Started From Normal Cancel

Charged Sledge Hammer Started From Normal Cancel Fully Charge

Sledge Hammer: During Rage Shift, pressing consumes 100 frames of V-Timer and begins Sledge Hammer’s startup. Just like Rage Shift’s activation, Sledge Hammer’s startup can be initiated from grounded normal moves, so Alex’s ground cancels are much more versatile with Rage Shift active. If you just tap and release the heavy buttons, Alex will wind up briefly and immediately lunge forward with a clothesline attack. The attack portion consumes another 400 frames of V-Timer. Altogether, it costs over eight seconds of your total Rage Shift time to unleash one Sledge Hammer tackle. On hit, this staggers the enemy while Alex passes through to their backside. From here, Sledge Hammer’s recovery can be canceled into Power Drop, Heavy Hammer, or Air Knee Smash. If guarded, the Sledge Hammer clothesline leaves Alex at a very punishable disadvantage, so it comes with a fair amount of risk. As with R. Mika’s EX Shooting Peach, the attack here is actually even with Alex’s shoulder, and by the time his arm sweeps forward, that’s just follow through with no hitbox.

If you hold down after starting Sledge Hammer, Alex will extend his startup, building tension. The total startup for Sledge Hammer can be extended from 20 frames at minimum to over a full second by holding the heavy buttons. If you hold the buttons for a fully-charged Sledge Hammer, it’s a bit like a fully-charged SFIV Focus Attack; damage is increased on hit, but it’s a guard break if blocked! This means that if you fully charge up Sledge Hammer and unleash it on a grounded foe, you can pretty much go ahead and cancel to Power Drop/Heavy Hammer blindly. Unless your opponent somehow dodges the move at the last moment, charged Sledge Hammer will stagger them and the follow-up grab will succeed.

But that’s not all… Starting on the second frame of Sledge Hammer startup up until the tackle attack is unleashed, Alex will absorb one incoming hit with a special armor effect. This isn’t just a hit of armor, though, like on EX Slash Elbow. If you keep holding through the hit absorption, Alex will continue charging Sledge Hammer until it’s maxed out and becomes a guard break (or until you release the buttons). But if you release just as Alex absorbs the incoming hit, during the “hitstop,” Alex will cancel out of Sledge Hammer entirely, returning to neutral. In effect, Sledge Hammer’s startup becomes a parry! Not only does Alex return to neutral (potentially capable of hitting or grabbing the opponent, if they’re close), but 200 frames are added to his V-Timer.

So Sledge Hammer is like a miniature version of Abel’s Breathless Ultra II from SFIV and its windup can also be used (with some finesse) to make Rage Shift into a kind of “parry mode” for Alex. Score enough “parries” with Sledge Hammer startup without “spending” V-Timer by actually releasing Sledge Hammer attacks, and you can hypothetically keep Rage Shift going as sort of a “parry mode.”

But remember that the parry effect isn’t active instantly (it starts on frame two after you tap the heavy buttons), so you can’t use this defensively against airtight, meaty pressure like when waking up. If you try, you’ll just get counter-hit out of the initial frame that has no absorption ability. Since it’s active on frame two, though, you can use it against most frame traps and as a tool in neutral footsie and jump-in battles, one which branches naturally into a scary lateral attack or chargeable guard break if nothing’s there to parry.