Does Steve really need buffs?

Arslan Ash (Azucena) vs. Numan Ch (Steve) - Grand Final @ Gamers Galaxy Pakistan 2024
0:00 - Intro
2:00 - Azucena vs. Steve, and Numan's Style
11:00 - Match Analysis
Catch me LIVE: / phidx
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Follow me: / phidxgames
---
Intro/Outro by SKONK - / @bigskonk
Intro/Outro track by KEIFERGR33N - / @keifergr33n
Editors:
Averyx: / @averyxfgc
Ceezd: / ceezd_
Jack Clishem: @jackclishem
----
I'm PhiDX, I play Tekken professionally for @ParagonFGC and ArcadeShock.

[@showtimefu1234]

Yes you know he does that's why you play Lili instead of steve most of the time 😅

[@PhiDX]

LMFAO I can't lie you cooked me. I gotta hold that 🤣

[@1MTW]

Lmao

[@shishioh]

Kinda whopped yerself there, kiddo 😂

[@Giraffinator]

I thought he played Lili because he's a massive degenerate

[@roninhubbard9059]

Bro literally calls himself a Steve player and I've only seen Lili from him 😅

[@hamzakhurshid9000]

This is Nauman's 7th tournament win in the last 18 months and 6 of them came in t7. He has beaten players such as Atif, Arslan, Heera, Dawood and Farzeen. Numan also trusts his main so much that he picked Steve vs Marduk(Atif), Akuma(Farzeen twice), Feng (Heera) and now Azucena. This guy is insane and i am so happy that Numan has been picked by a team.

[@c16621]

So he isn't a scrub and is legit - good.

[@hamzakhurshid9000]

Heera and Atif, in order, used to be the best Steve players in Pakistan but Numan's improvement in last 2 years is phenomenal. The best Steve players in the world for me considering noone has done better than Nauman in the last 2 years and definitely not in Tekken 8. He got 2nd and 3rd in other dojos. Also won a 12 player tournament

[@DonTonberry91]

Numan plays like how Yoshi mains would if they took their medication.

[@Itsspooky907]

Yes steve needs buffs. Numan is built different

[@KordanTK]

I'm for sure happy about him getting some buffs, and still think he needs some carefully placed love. Homing df2 please!

[@Dylmarto]

I definitelyyy think people need to stop thinking just because someone is good with a weak character doesnt make the character strong it makes the player all the more impressive

[@Macrossuu]

I don't think numan wins because of steve, more like he wins in spite of it

[@basedslander2209]

steve needs a buff to his voice cause I don't want to play for a decade and hear "ova here" with his goofy accent

[@aER4EAU]

if they can have a new intro too, cause I'm sick having my Steve saying "Don't miss me winning" after getting my ass whooped for 10 games straight

[@sanicboi9187]

​@@aER4EAU😭

[@BeretBay]

​@@aER4EAU💀

[@Alex-Omega]

Idk, imo he sounds like a British person. They all sound goofy with their weird ass accent. His face is just a lil bit too attractive for a Brit

[@VoCiech]

These are the fists of a champion

[@josephbrown9336]

I think Steve 100% needs buffs. There are many characters just better at counter hitting than he is, on top of the fact that Steve's damage is COMPRABLE to other characters while needing twice the mechanical input.

[@Donte0930]

The phidx breakdowns makes me fall in love with this game. It's a love letter every time.

[@rrrlee1273]

By design the character makes you fundamentally better than your average competition for the most part thats why i play him. Makes you play active tekken unlike most of the top tiers rn.

[@Meech_TK]

I think the Steve "buffs" are actually just fixes. I think that giving him a new stance that forces him to commit to said stance; that gets beat by powercrush and RA is stupid. He has no scary lows, his mids are MID and he has no launchers. So I think the rework will make him closer to his former glory without making him broken.

[@lostmnt]

Steve "buffs" were like: now you can actually LH 50/50 after hitting a -30 no range footstomp that does 20dmg and now stance transitions are not bugged anymore HWOORAY!!

[@HashiramaSells]

Pretty sure he has launchers i could be thinking of my howarang but 75% sure he has a move that smashes you into the ground then launches

[@GaspoweR]

He doesnt have a legit safe launcher or a fast one, its mostly just counter hit launches. The one from LH is the only whiff punishing launcher he has and thats only if you read a move is coming and do the backsway (outfox) to get into it so conditioning or reading timings is still needed.

[@lostmnt]

@@HashiramaSells He has launchers but only in stances, all punishable, very linear low range and or slow, only execption would be uf2

[@HashiramaSells]

@@lostmnt as a raven main we dont have safe launchers. Maybe the one double kick but im not sure how safe that move is and it shares inputs w the soulzone and stance change 🤣

[@thedarkderp2520]

Yeah he absolutely needs it he's not much of a counter punching paragon atm

[@jDiddyi]

Especially when characters like King can get a half screen low counter hit and take 25 percent of your life.

[@Needspeed60]

We need an Anti lars analysis ASAP.

[@pfuze_5775]

Just learn the matchup yourself instead of waiting for these people to teach you. Not that hard

[@sanicboi9187]

Crouch jab and low parry. Lars literally can't force mix unless he hits you. (Except if you block a Dyn3) Also, please watch your replays and lab. And stop mashing while you're in mix. (We love when you do that)

[@dreamcastdazia4753]

Shut up Lars is weak. You can just jab him out of everything he does and he has no good lows or jabs.

[@OgSleep]

​@sanicboi9187 I agree. Plus Lars doesn't hit hard. So if you block low u negate his sweep and other launch moves.

[@Retibra]

Look up PhiDX's old video: How To Beat Lars's SEN Stance | 1-Minute Matchups a lot of that info still pertains today.

[@vukbelcevic238]

I think this proves that he needs massive buffs. Numan had to play layers and layers of mental games to beat a tier 1 character, Arslan made a few adjustments but esentially played his standard Azucena. I wouldnt argue for too many system changes, but at least make sonic fang a launcher or lion 1 in heat, how the fuck can dragunov get b43 an allready insane string in terms of damage and utility and it BECOMES LAUNCH in heat but steve gets 1 hit for ok damage on sonic fang and god awful damage on lionheart 1?

[@Bloobis]

Not to mention dragunov’s b4,3 wallsplats on normal hit and sonic fang doesn’t lmao

[@vukbelcevic238]

@@Bloobis Yeah i noticed that a few hours playing after this video, making his sonic fang a launcher is literally just his rage drive in tekken 7, i dont understand this design philosophy with Steve by removing all his launchers i guess they are trying to make him a poke counter hit character, BUT WHERE ARE HIS COUNTERS HITS HIS B1 BLOCK DOESNT EVEN WORK PROPERLY

[@TheFaisalano]

Isn’t that anyone vs top tiers tho

[@Bloobis]

@@vukbelcevic238 THE COUNTER HIT CHARACTER HAS WORSE COUNTER HITS THAN THE GRAPPLER 😐🙏

[@vukbelcevic238]

@@TheFaisalano no you can cancer your way to a win with 90% of the cast, they push hard for the lionheart stance and yet it was fundamentaly broken till recent patch, requiring a frame perfect input on the level of Taunt JU just to NOT DIE TO EVERY POWER CRUSH IN THE GAME.Steve was botom 3 till recent patch not due to having bad moves but his main mechanics simply not working at all

[@Iwatoda_Dorm]

It always takes me a good match or two to lock in with steve, he's a such a fun character that takes advantage of people's weaknesses once you've downloaded your opponent.

[@aqueelkadri8371]

Yoooo thanks for this one I really didn't think you would actually do this when I requested it

[@PinkLemonInc]

9:10 coming from other (2d) fighting games, the way you're talking about Steve here definitely feels more in line with how this type of character works than how youre describing t7 Steve. Feels like the natural description of the archetype from this perspective. Also, it's pretty cool to see how excited you get talking about this game, incl. when you stumble over some words lmao. It's very infectious and interesting, nothing makes me wanna play & learn more than that vibe

[@illiahryhorak5860]

T8`s dark horse, SteveDX, needs buff guv, for sure 🥊

[@perp.lexing]

finally hit tekken king w steve, i need a break 😭

[@MrOhhBolts]

Same, we playing a different game out here 😭

[@toryburke137]

Good job yo! His boxing is so c😮ol!

[@dwebus5958]

Cap

[@Shyannloll]

@@dwebus5958ky and s

[@BeretBay]

🐐

[@MrMoon36O]

This analysis was hype! Love it!

[@bilalharis838]

glad you covered it

[@enicot]

Steve is the Dark Souls of characters. It's the suffering of learning how to even get to "normal" with him and the blatant disadvantages you have that make him appealing to people who like that dopamine rush of winning ONCE!

[@MultiAwesomered]

Got me lol

[@c16621]

I used to play Lars in Tekken 7, so I understand.

[@dacatindahat8275]

Most Steve's are specialists. You don't "pick up" Steve. Lol.

[@joey6513]

@@c16621no where near the same level.

[@angel2x813]

Your takes and analysis on players , the game and matches are very insightful !

[@usamasaud11]

I saw that match live. The way he played steve was so beautiful, it was like art. Such beautiful satisfying movements. As a steve player myself, I can't even begin to imagine the skill required to execute that gameplay. I don't know whether it is tekken 8 graphics and movement mechanics or the way numan handles him. Just so pretty.

[@Fereshtey]

Unga bunga is required to play like this.

[@runecreed2265]

awesome content Phi, thx!

[@lildod9291]

I do love these longer ones

[@xeno120]

Those grab breaks were crazy

[@friendc0mput3r45]

The lionheart buff was nice but after that he's fine. Adding a new stance and having it be completely beat by armor was dumb.

[@cougarcp]

You can dodge….. transitioning to lionheart, if someone is answering with armor that’s a 20F move you can punish by evading

[@cloudcoastgaming]

@@cougarcp his dodge was ass too thats why they are buffing it. u would weave and get hit regardless.

[@RyogaSeigaku]

@@cloudcoastgaming Wasnt Steve able to block afterwards, if you input a command on time? Before you say its a bug there are characters that can't retaliate between transitioning stances all the time, namely Lee

[@ferchitoo]

Love this format dude :D

[@Britishboxer]

i am also watching Numan game play on his channel man this guy just change my mind about steve

[@chrixMiller]

To compliment that, he compliments that with another complimentary compliment!

[@danielsoares5536]

That was sick, thanks

[@archaydutta3013]

I feel like playing Steve is just conditioning the opponent and then pulling out the bag of tricks and random bs and hoping they fall for it

[@willgetpaid2040]

Outfox is definitely the move with Steve Fox. Leads to so many whiffs that Steve could never hope to get before. Gonna have to experiment with using db1+2 heat smash to beat dick jab like I saw Nouman go for. Seems like amazing reward for medium risk.

[@XNDL44]

Something something algorithm. Nice breakdown

[@Buhllake]

You make tekken such a magical experience again which I love. I came back to tekken to try 8 having only played 4 as a kid. The game was fun but everywhere I looked was really negative and I let it influence me quite a bit. Your content brought me back to and shows me why I love this game. It’s so fun to see and look forward to making these adjustments and growths as a player and witnessing others do it. Anyways that was a rant but I hope anyone that reads this has a nice day :)

[@PhiDX]

I appreciate the kind words :)

[@azzor4134]

I'm not trying to throw shade at other Tekken 8 KZbinrs but doing so anyways, you're one of the few Tekken 8 content creators who actually puts effort into match reviews and therefore one of the few gives interesting comentary and insight that we couldn't otherwise get from just watching them live.

[@Britishboxer]

bro's RA timing is way more better than Low High ☠

[@Mike-rt2vp]

I see this as a video for why Steve needs buffs.

[@Pwnr145]

The fact that Phi puts so much effort into his content and is sub 100k is actually criminal.

[@LordBaktor]

So when I throw random and unexpected attacks at people I get exploded but when Numan does it he wins tournaments. Yeah, very fair game.

[@xer05tar]

I am a Steve main since T4. T8 Steve is the most comprehensive version of the character to date. He has an answer for everything except the 15f question. Which is by design. I dont think he needs "buffs" but maybe some quality of life adjustments to keep him competitive at higher levels. 1. Make PAB d+2 i22 2. Bring back d2 low feint from previous games 3. Make b+2 i15 That's it.

[@PhiDX]

I like this take. b+2 i15 is an interesting one I've never thought of

[@xer05tar]

@@PhiDX it gives him a realistic punish at i15 that wont give him a standard i15 launch everyone is so afraid of. It also keeps the character direction by giving the expert players PAB f1+2 link and lower level players sonic fang/heat engager to cash out a little more damage. Long story short, steve needs something that will do roughly 55-60 dmg at minus 15 so that he can properly close out a round. Which is where the current punish lacks.

[@KrisDee1981]

Maybe qcf2 on CH should let guaranteed ff2 or d1+2🤔 If you make b2 i15 this will pretty much delete f1+2,2. I think Sonic Fang should launch in Heat, just like RD in T7. Law has i10 launcher in heat FFS!😱

[@JohnGlow2]

Why did they even remove the feint in the first place

[@xer05tar]

@@JohnGlow2 no idea. I thought it was a glitch in the cracked beta, then realized it was real at launch. Im still really upset about it. Especially when he got new feints that created a nice mental stack.

[@swagmaster_jrc]

Tbh I don’t think he needs crazy buffs. I love the loin heart changes but I think Steve will naturally get better when the S tiers are brought in line. I feel like the fun of Steve working through the flaws to beat my opponent. But fix the buggy stuff stance stuff like not auto blocking.

[@TheSLashera]

Damn. I have gotta be on to something. My Steve is suspiciously similar to Numan in terms of playstyle. Just like a lot less clean. Definitely a big boost to my confidence.

[@mrcuddles2199]

Even the best of us fall to the mental stack, it’s healthy imo that even the top guys are needing to adjust to this new game and letting other players shine, should be an interesting 5-10 years.

[@CapcomSwagg]

New steve is the perfect example of "new game sucks cus i have to learn it n cant just bullshit my way to victory like the old days."

[@bonfist7277]

Most things have been dumbed down, even for Steve. It is true you have to change your mindset from the Tekken 7 style, but it doesn’t require much learning, just reconditioning. Then, I just want to say, these top tier characters don’t even have to learn Tekken in general, so it’s somewhat a fair complaint lol.

[@LordViktorHun88]

Yeah Steve doesn't need buffs, he is already one of the most frustrating opponents to fight with. One of the biggest movelist, yet almost all moves look the exact same. I think there is no other character I hate more. 😅 Hope his pick rate won't go up too much... at least I didn't had to fight him often up until now. He and bears get no rematches. 😅

[@MyWadewilson]

Numan is not only my favorite Steve player, he might be one of my favorite overall players to watch. He's just so good and so fun.

[@trippinbilly1942]

Haven’t watched the video and all I can say, with a tone of frustration, is.. “OVER HERE!”

[@bmitchell6]

Great vid fam

[@etrigan966]

As the goat JimmyJTran once said, mashing at disadvantage positions is one of the most important aspects of fighting games

[@Krugmatik]

he would say that, he's a bryan main he wants people to press buttons lol

[@etrigan966]

@@Krugmatik Most of bryan’s move are minus and Jimmy presses cos of mental frames which ppl fall into the trap of counter hits. every char has this lmao?

[@Krugmatik]

​@@etrigan966 that's because tekken 8 is so spam favoured though I like to call it random bullshit go god of destruction. Remember when people actually had to earn a rank like lord of war?

[@moses9974]

body, sh*t, fire!

[@DeanofDeeps]

If you are threatening everything , you can do anything you want

[@warfighter1988]

Yes he does especially in this tekken.

[@Boneslayer991]

im trying to play tekken ranked match but its taking ages to hours to load in one and when i uave waited for ages their so many ranks a head what do i do ??

[@user-by6eb6zo7g]

I think he will be a in a good place;. Steve mains just deep in their feels about the way he 'should' be.

[@Aeroslav]

What the shoulder tackle while running at 49:33 ?

[@KimaniAjamu]

Yo Phi you should announce on the side. This is pretty much announcing I support, but this just adds so much to the game.

[@MrShagification]

Unsurprisingly Steve is fine. The problem being the Steve players makes sense. If you can beat one of the best people to ever play the game with a "weak character", then the character isn't weak.

[@nintendofreak768]

Before watching this video, i definitely think the main thing he needs to have lion stance be a real 50/50, instead of being to break free from it with armor move. Other than that, maybe more consistent combos. Another buff is that steve's b1 doesn't hit victor at round start distance but hit everyone else properly

[@EnzoSage]

why you anever talked about Paul ?

[@peacekeeperjfsr]

He needs buffs off course

[@HarmonicResonanceScale]

I got obliterated by a steve last night. 15 win streak at orange rank with 100k prowess. He killed me 0-3 so fast that I legitimately thought he was cheating. But no, this character is just a hard read/mixup monster. Hes going to be a nightmare.

[@kry7999]

these are the people saying steve is strong... near orange ranks and thinking 100k prowess is a lot smh

[@jimmyrigdon1253]

Talk nerdy to me! I'm here for it.

[@syedahsanmahmood4693]

Hehe boi i was waiting for phdix to react on Nouman CH lesgoo

[@bafreet1215]

I have been consuming your content like crack phi. Easily one of my favorite youtubers in such a small amount of time. I dont even have Tekken lol I play GGS! keep up the great vids and blessings to you and yours.

[@oxykontin]

yoshi needs buffs

[@dss_saiyan3528]

STEEEEVEEE!!!! I'm a scrub player but i still come back and play some Steve. This was nice to see

[@Mone_M1]

🔥🔥🔥

[@Macrossuu]

Like i'm rewatching this video and i feel like this kind of playstyle would be so much more well facilitated with a character like feng or lee, it's very much not steve's strengths that makes numan win this

[@showtimefu1234]

All they need to do is let all of the transitions into LH let us cancel them or implement a way for us to go into peekaboo stance since they dont want us to have a laucher, let us be a mixup character and that's pretty much it in my opinion

[@litfrvr1552]

I agree, I mastered the 1 frame tech from LH into PKB for nothing since their removing it so it remove the mixup options, especially since the opponent still just decides between a 31 damage poke from the guardbreak, or to duck and give me a chance to launch or get heat, which leads to a pretty obvious choice unless they're very defensive and get caught in LH mix alot

[@b0nes1223]

Bro, you might want to consider commentating. Your excitement during T8 matches is infectious.

[@LateAlways2]

good stuff

[@gochuckyourself1892]

This man is playing Tekken 8 while everyone else is trying to catch up

[@hiverhythm]

yeah spinning down 2- seemed like a lot of players at the end of T7 could deal with it pretty easily by just reacting to it or low parrying it. Downback+2 similar problem, really reactable but I dunno, I guess I do know that the slower timing might throw off someone's low parry.

[@sahmuss1164]

High level gameplay reviews are fun and all but I want to see more low - mid ranks replay reviews too. I think they are much more beneficial to newer and intermediate players who plateau.

[@Diispaceyone]

I don't play Tekken or video games anymore in general, but I love your content bro. keep up the good work!

[@grindinglemon]

very good video!

[@daynwilliams6785]

Love seeing all these broken throws knowing that for whatever reason they will be made even easier, 😕

[@IamBecomeZen]

Hey idk if you'll see this. But could you maybe link the videos you watch on KZbin? Or maybe when doing these reviews let the match play out first and then do the analysis because the constant rewinding can be a bit frustrating. Maybe let it play out then go into it.

[@PhiDX]

I've included the original match title in the description

[@FieryAnubis]

I get the feeling next patch will be over-buffing and over-nerfing all over the place. Stuff that's really not THAT bad will get touched too much basically.

[@beastant12itachi8]

OK like what can u give example

[@FieryAnubis]

@@beastant12itachi8 Over-nerfing will happen with King and characters who really don't need to be touched. Over-buffing will make certain characters OP. That's your example, they literally said in the patch notes they'll address characters who they didn't touch last time.

[@cauthrim4298]

@@FieryAnubis Can't wait to see the overbuff to Claudio by fixing one more obscure bug or some shit, surely

[@_____8676]

I genuinely just thought I was trash wanting lionhart to be a bit more defensive but now I realize I’m just trash regardless and I need to understand timing

[@jumpfold]

You have become my main tekken KZbin channel lol

[@viktorkurious3340]

I think you had a previous video on this but i think some players respect minus frames too much and then end up eating deadly mixups for it. Like its okay to mash when your opponent is taking too much of an advantage of plus frames by doing long moves.

[@th3kapalot320]

Leroy needs ACTUAL BUFFS

[@swagman2001]

Yeah leroy is bad

[@ARoNSpace_SurFN]

One thing I hate about the community is that people win one match against you, then leave. Smh weak sauce why are players so scared of the run back

[@user-uq9ej1vr4f]

I can feel the fear in the balancing team tryna not make steve an absolute monster and hesitating to give him buffs

[@derrickblackmon420]

Steves i run into are either easy dubs or absolute nightmares. I think he is good but lacks a lot of tools that make him easily accessible. He is like a boxing variation of mishima.

[@fancyhermit7]

I'd say he probably because his counter hit game is somewhat lacking, especially his B+1 which needs buffed frames and damage along with DF+2 and B+2

[@TheNonHiddenSingularity]

basically Numan plays Battle Ruler Steve with GoD knowledge of the game

[@Kozi15]

"Reject Humanity, Return to Monke" 💪

[@kahusay5379]

tekken 8 changes arslan before he controls the jabbing game he jabs advantage for him. opponents jabs whiff punish

[@russdellapenna]

Im a little torn,not being anywhere near the pro scene and dealing with him is really tough sometimes i dont like the idea, but if buffing him, and others helps that scene and by virtue helps Tekken get more attention and support, I can get behind it. As long of defensive options are viable and "good" for those of us who commit to learning how.

[@Chris_7366]

They should buff his up back 3 lion heart stance so that he can do anyone of his options a little bit sooner during the animation of him back stepping. That way he can whiff punish attacks faster with lion heart 2 or since he doesn’t have any good lows he can use that lion heart guard break a lot more instead of having to do db3,2 first. Also buff damage on b1.

[@xer05tar]

Would make more sense to leave the options alone and let him cancel outfox into duck sooner than his other options so duck, 2 is available sooner.

[@skatmancarlos]

Yes he does

[@MultiAwesomered]

Or if he just had a lionheart 14 frame grab that would fix everything.

[@rahahtheking6160]

azu does not get a follow up after auto dodge in stance

[@P-Likan]

Numan is Numan... Steve is Steve... ;)

[@royalgamingcd]

Steve is very hard to play at high level, need a buff so i can try him for the first time in my life 😅😅😅

[@DjGaiden]

Buffs are one thing, but he has so many things that need to be fixed that this may be a multi-season process.