So Ultra will be released soon in the states, and also updated in Japanese arcades with the addition of the wildcard character: Decapre. While everyone is awaiting her arrival with baited breath and what she brings to the game as a whole, there are still 4 other new characters who should be on your radar.

Rolento      Poison      Hugo     Elena

I’ve been playing them a lot in the arcades and have learned a great deal about their playstyles and some of the tricks they have.  The information here have the games console release changes taken into account, so there should not be any super big surprises unless Capcom has included stealth changes. Now some things you should look out for with each of the new characters.

Rolento

In the arcade, Rolento was the scrub killer with his ridiculous roll attack and only a small part of the cast being able to do anything about it on block. In the console release, you no longer have to worry about it, as reduced pushback will likely make him heavily punishable. Aside from this, be aware that Rolento is a strong defensive character. He has quite a few ways to get out of pressure and escape tools. He also has a really really fast overhead attack, that you won’t be seeing too often, but is still good to know about. Finally beware of far standing heavy kick. This move is incredibly active and used a lot in frame traps.

Things to look out for: Rolento’s pogo is insanely negative. On block, just pressing any button will hit him. This move should be used to set up tricky hop mix-ups on an opponents wake-up. Also Rolento’s forward jumping heavy punch can cross up. Be careful, because it’s very surprising when it happens.

Poison

Poison should be treated as any fireball character, but with really good buttons. Her normals are really good. The variety of her fireballs also aid her on offense or playing the long ranged game. If you score an air hit with them, they can be followed up. In the arcade version, there was a bug with her fireball’s on an opponents wake-up. In the console release this has been addressed so I assume she will have rather dangerous meaty fireball mix-ups on an opponents wake-up.  Think of her as the Ryu of all the new characters.

Things to look out for: Her overhead can be combo’d from. She seems very basic, but at the same time very fresh. Also her Kiss Ultra is a grab, and not a counter. Don’t make the same mistake I did, and assume otherwise.

Hugo

It will likely be a long time until you come up against a decent Hugo you can’t just zone out easily. He feels very strange upon initial use, and will take some time to get used to. He has an array of moves that hit high, have tons of block stun, and overall just have unnatural properties. Looking at the changes though, his medium attacks are getting some pretty serious damage buffs, with his mp’s doing over 100 damage. Also, try your best not to get cornered by him. He becomes LOADS better when you’re cornered. Just zone him out an don’t get hit by a last ditch effort super.

Things to look out for: pretty much every character in the cast can instant overhead him. When you need to rack up that last bit of damage, instant overhead my just be the way to go. Otherwise, be wary of backbreaker or Ultra 2 in retaliation. Also Hugo is really tall, and so hitting him high in your jump makes you less advantageous when you hit the ground. Remember that.

Elena

Elena is really really safe for the most part. At mid range, her pokes are really scary and her high low game is something to be feared. She doesn’t really have many combos but she can still get good damage from her mid range game. In the arcade she was a really safe characters, however, the console change list has some of her important moves [Mallet Smash] listed as more negative so Elena players will have to be a little more cautious. Also her DP’s are really fast and have a really strange upside-down tear shape. Luckily in console, invincibility is being removed from every version except her EX. She also has a wonky jump.

Things to look out for: I cannot tell you to prepare for how safe Elena’s slide is from mid-range. Honestly it’s a little mind-boggling. I really recommend going into training mode and testing a lot of her normals at mid-range and what punishes your character has. This will help you a lot in the long run.

So that’s about it for all the new characters. I hope these last few tidbits are really useful, and you have a blast fighting with them [or beating them up!]. If you have any questions please feel free to drop me a line in my feedback section [check out the top bar!]