joining the dark side

Today we're doing more Street Fighter 6 ranked! I've decided to tackle one of the most controversial topics in the SF6 right now, which is modern controls. Is Modern Zangief too powerful with access to 1-button piledriver and instant 720 super? Let's hop online and find out!
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0:00 Why Modern Zangief is strong
3:44 Match 1 vs Dee Jay
5:02 Match 2 vs Chun Li
9:50 Match 3 vs Ryu
12:17 Match 4 vs Luke

[@Kai_Ning]

Double double perfect with that "uhh, so i switched to casual" guilt moment was honnetly hillarious.

[@j2dacee]

SF6 is beautiful to watch

[@crownysuccubus1524]

As I said on JWonggg’s video: Modern Gief turns this from a fighting game to survival horror.

[@ajshiro3957]

So, what you're saying is, this is Resident Evil. XD

[@SparkShadow212]

​@@ajshiro3957More like The Grudge video game, cuz once he grabs you, you're dead.

[@shahs1221]

​@@ajshiro3957put a Mr. X skin on Gief 😂

[@BiggusDickus79]

HAHA - HORROR SHOW!

[@shintenkai1648]

​@@shahs1221i'd actually pay for that lol

[@SH1NK1R01]

I fought 2 modern zangiefs yesterday. And it was hilariously polarizing. The first guy clearly used it because he needed it. The other one was walking me down since I was too afraid to jump lmao.

[@anthonychristensen1494]

That was me Christ88 what’s happening

[@juuzoucronastrange7321]

Ken!

[@mrnozchalazt7199]

😂 he could smell the fear

[@DrSwazz]

Will Gief’s Super still hit you if you jump backwards?

[@bitter8656]

​@@DrSwazzits probably reletive to yr distance to him but im gonna assume a backwards jump is the safest jump in that situation

[@jamariirobinson725]

5:40 is the silver experience. We look good for like 5 seconds. Then we drop the combo and start mashing.

[@DrSwazz]

100% my chun li rn. I’ll DR and accidentally do something cool, then randomly cancel into serenity stance and get hit

[@ganymede4030]

I'm in Gold 3 and I still do that lol maybe when I get to platinum I might actually feel like I know what I'm doing 😂

[@ZeroX-ti5iv]

Cause your a filthy scrub lol

[@pkkiller_apathy4568]

​@@ganymede4030 platinum here the answer is no try masters. The amount of panic until I get the hit/knockdown is sad.

[@JusRed48]

The fact that a silver Chun did those combos, even though they missed stuff sometimes, was actually really impressive lmao.

[@orionfire1947]

Just looked into it, ex kikosho is +5 on hit, making that link frame perfect as 5MP is 5 frame startup. Just makes it *that* much more impressive, they were gaming.

[@donnydarkoh6411]

lots of smurfs

[@Siara013]

impresive combos are not enough for high ranks if you don't understand the game in general.

[@unkirbyjosuke1904]

@@Siara013 But they're pretty impressive as the rank itself normally contains none of those two things together.

[@antonsimmons8519]

I find a lot of that in silver, personally. A lot of players have a solid offense, but the second I can hold all of it, I find they didn't bother learning to block, parry or tech almost at all.

[@NeoNeko99]

Not a modern player, but I took my Gief from Bronze 3 to Gold 3 and I am so happy 😄 He’s a challenge to play as, but I love seeing my game improve. I still have a tough time against certain characters, but I’m pushing for Plat now! Edit: I hit Plat recently! Horosho! Edit 2: Just hit Plat 3!

[@protodevilin]

Gief is delayed gratification: the character. It can be tough as hell to get inside, but once you do, the damage payoff is sublime.

[@kurtblacklake]

Congrats! As a (stuck in) Plat myself, I found a lot of "spammers" with cheese strategies in gold. Like they know they should have a game plan, but the one they come up with is just knowledge checks of their character and they don't know how to play from behind. When you get a life lead, they will throw themselves at you either by jumping or drive rushing. They will also press panic DI's when whiffing a button. If you can check their rushes and their jumps, you will climb in no time. Hope you can do it!

[@ajshiro3957]

Nice work. Gief, when in the right hands does some damage. The life lost after like 2 sPD's is crazy.

[@tonyd9834]

just use modern bro

[@adamdonnelly6470]

Congrats man! Those grapple inputs are tricky. Borscht dynamite is your friend to catch people trying to jump in on you.

[@protodevilin]

I initially got placed in Silver with my Marisa, and the thing about playing in those leagues is, you think you've conditioned your opponent, but they actually don't care and you get blown up for it. Like, you Drive Rushed up to that Chun and punished her wakeup neutral jump with EX Air SPD, and you'd think she would be gun-shy about jumping on wakeup after that, so you rush in anticipating her to choose a different option. But NOPE, neutral jump again. It's like everyone in Silver has HawaiianShirtMan brain, it's wild.

[@pepi560]

This is so true

[@Windraesa]

@@pepi560 reading how quickly your opponent will adapt is a key skill in fighting games. Ideally you want to read that they won't fall for it the exact time they finally learned not to do it.

[@smoothsavage2870]

Harder to condition beginners/low level intermediate players since they don't know they're supposed to be conditioned lol. Or they're just trying to survive the match.

[@doorbob3445]

Bro you can't condition these apes. That only works in higher level play. Ranked where its bo3 is terrible anyway for that, 90% is gimmick strats where people don't even use their brain anyway

[@pepi560]

@@Windraesa i agree but for some reason this is different to all other FG skills to me in that it actually amuses me whenever I expect the opp to be conditioned yet they refuse to be. it makes me physically chuckle

[@StepbackXYC]

I think something jwong mentioned about modern makes sense as well: if as a player you like to play in a reactionary style to your opponent like punishing patterns or moves your opponent likes to make, then modern controls makes that type of play style a lot of fun since you can do specials and supers in one frame vs however many manual inputs takes. For example, something your vid didn't really show was whiff punishing moves with instant ex spd (something jwong did a lot during his modern Zangief expedition). Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it's a lot harder to do that in classic controls.

[@pepi560]

Nigh impossible without a read/move with 2yr recovery

[@libertyprime9307]

It depends a lot on controller type too. Keyboard/hitbox honestly is more or less 1-frame motion inputs if you are practiced. Pad is a bit slower, stick even slower than that.

[@Aidan174]

Brother if ur doing 1frame motion input spds ur a fucking god give me whatever ur on 😂😭

[@paulmilkshakes3890]

​​​@@Aidan174 it's not one frame but for a 360 on hitbox I just take my pointer finger and slide it across the buttons and then hit up and punch at the same time with my other hand. It's stupid quick.

[@thatonebandit9333]

@@paulmilkshakes3890 holy shit thanks for this i struggled to find an easy way on hitbox

[@jendi56]

This is the best SF6 thumbnail I've seen, brilliant!

[@jacobcampbell797]

Modern zangief is the bain of my existence, this is coming from a modern zangief main

[@jorgebarnardo9259]

average gief main

[@ffreedog]

Damn u to hell bro 😂❤

[@silveriver9]

Use classic.

[@jeanmouloud9795]

Yes use classic. You lost so much with Modern Gief. And then still Zangief is really bad in tjis game.

[@hungrywolf1517]

*Bane*

[@TheT0nedude]

Very old school 'Gief player here, as far back as champion edition, Turbo and Super (Non Super Turbo). Back in the day you could just walk up to the opponent or just stand and SPD them without needing to do a full 360 motion. It would work starting with the forward or towards button then full half circle back and then press forward in a sort of "half" 360 motion without hitting any of the upward jump buttons. it was still tough to pull off but not as seemingly impossible as a 360 motion making your character jump. My favourite 'Gief combo was in Super, Jumping Heavy body splash crossup, crouching Jab X 4 into a Heavy SPD. IIRC it didn't work on earlier versions as the jabs would dizzy before the SPD came out, and it wouldn't work when dizzy as they would not have enough life bar left to complete it. Any of my friends seeing me jumping in with a splash knew what was coming unless they could quickly counter or block correctly, and even if they blocked they would still probably be caught with the SPD at the end. Of course any time I needed to punish a whiff or missed DP: as they land throw out multiple Jabs into a SPD usually made them wince quite hard. Good times.

[@tomwalkerisgood]

"what'd we learn today? HONESTLY, not much" lmao love the honesty

[@WaqManVR]

I'm a terrible player so the modern controls actually make me want to play

[@thealgerian3285]

You should, there's no reason to be scared anymore. First fighting game I ever buy myself, and Modern helped me learn the game pretty nicely before moving to Classic.

[@christiansilvino9031]

As a Platinum modern Gief main I will say in higher level play Zangiefs cracks start to show. The controls might be easier but you 100% have to learn match ups and timing.

[@N13J]

I’m a low Gold Cammy and having trouble with grapplers because I’m so used to just rush down the opponent every fight. Decided to learn Modern Gief to better understand the matchup and reach Gold in a single day lmao.

[@PrivateJoker0119]

A high level modern zangief is scary tbh...low level modern zangiefs are usually easy

[@Trippydrip246]

It be bussing my brains trynna get in and not get grabbed

[@DragonthornX]

High level players are scary and low level players are easy.

[@PrivateJoker0119]

@@DragonthornX sorry, i didnt mean the actual rank.... i meant modern players who actually know how to play are scary if they use zangief

[@stratabegood]

@@DragonthornX no way FR.

[@Hyper_Vyle]

I've been watching ur content for years now JM and i feel like you gotten even more entertaining than ever, always a good time watching you 🙏

[@PinkLemonInc]

Thumbnail game with these last two videos goin Mad hard good shit crofts

[@basanova22]

As a big movie fan I just want to shout out these thumbnails. First the Face/Off reference for the Honda vid, now this Jaws Zangief banger. I see it and I appreciate it.

[@demonblood8841]

Clicked for Gief stayed for the SPDs lol good stuff dude

[@cc_tw]

I've played fighting games for like 20 years and still can't pull off 720s. I have always appreciated the KOF inputs for grapplers. I think asking someone to consistent pull off 360s and 720s just to be able to use a grappler's most important moves is ridiculous!

[@darius410]

Most people mess up trying to do it so fast

[@tgo007]

same but i got a hitbox and it makes it way easier, at least for me.

[@LucDaMan4]

Just gotta churn butter bro work those muscles

[@gp381]

But they're not really complete 360 and 720. The game actually gives you some huge leeway. I usually do the 360 with just half a circle.

[@LucDaMan4]

@@gp381 yeah its not 360 it's more like 180 + 45

[@DCBiscuit]

The thumbnail is absolutely brilliant.

[@mrnozchalazt7199]

Modern Gief is in the pantheon of the scariest things in Fighting Game History 😂💯

[@KevinEDF]

I dont play sf6 or fighting games and probably never will but I love watching your videos, great content

[@frantschou2369]

After watching this video, i tried out modern Zangief myself. After like a 1 hour session with basically no practice (didn’t even look at Gief’s character guide) i was in Gold 4. I am in silver ranks with my mains.

[@SuperArppis]

Maybe you simply found your calling?

[@gwitch]

As a low ranked player (G5 rn), every Chun I’ve played is cracked with combos and lands the sickest shit I’ve seen in these ranks. It makes me feel better seeing that happen to JM as well lmao

[@maplekaaa]

Loving these thumbnails lately, they're so fun lol

[@thechainsman]

Best thumbnail 2023.

[@terrysalt]

One thing I appreciate about SF6 ranked is the win streak bonus. So even if someone like JM gets placed in silver, they should rank up pretty quickly. I think it's primarily anti-smurf tech to try and protect the playing experience of newcomers but it has the advantage that if someone isn't a smurf but messes up their placement matches, it corrects the mistake pretty quickly.

[@juice6521]

It makes sense. If you're winning more than 70%+ of your matches, you should probably be in the next league ASAP.

[@luisbo3]

Yup, been happening since 5

[@HellecticMojo]

that's generally how most solo rank systems go

[@frantschou2369]

@@HellecticMojonot in tekken 7 lmao.

[@Dalton-ke9rw]

Unfortunately It stops applying once you get into plat them your win streaks dont mean shit

[@Silver-Sage-T]

It was funny I enjoyed it and learned a thing about modern Zangief controls

[@INikeAir]

This was a fun video to watch (:

[@ThatGuyCalledSteeve]

Would it be possible to move your cam to the bottom middle of your screen that way you don't cover player 2's super meter

[@ckmv2858]

I don't entirely understand that thumbnail... and I love it. 😅

[@kibichukai]

Your thumbnail have been on point lately

[@adambeck427]

6:17 the Music sync with Chun Li's attacks was so perfect.

[@paulmilkshakes3890]

The last couple thumbnails have been rad. I think the algorithm is gonna dig it

[@kounurasaka5590]

The thumbnail on this video is literal perfection.

[@CombustibleLemonsInc]

Bruh your thumbnail game is on point right now

[@averyhooker9692]

My eagle eye caught the thumbnail

[@ShinkiroZero]

the fact you had so much fun playing Gief is good enough. I am so surprised he doesn't have flip kick on modern. Felt strange throughout the video why didn't you do it until you mentioned it at the end.

[@chickenburrito7861]

Modern control allows me to focus more on the new parry and DI stuffs. I played SF4 as a teenager and I played SF5 quite a lot with my friends in college. I tend to input skills the classic way so I can deal normal damage, but I am pretty slow at learning new stuffs, so modern control certainly helps a lot to me.

[@j2dacee]

thank u for plauing Gief. love ur content man.

[@breezierchip8355]

Beside the fact that Modern rewards being less good at the game's controls, I feel like in the name of fairness Ranked should be Classic only. It helps even the playing field properly, and considering Gief is better with Modern than Classic, it does actually matter in terms of gameplay.

[@tomwalkerisgood]

Sitting here mouth open at the double perfects this man's racking up on the golds. So many players left staring into the middle distance after this run god damn

[@GusMortis]

Just picked up a copy and I will be playing JP hard, but I think that a pocket Gief M is an essential to experiencing SF6 to its fullest.

[@Latin00032]

Modern geif reminds me of when I played street fighter 4 on the Nintendo 3ds. You can use the screen to tap to instantly activate supers. I played my friend on it and geif was way overpowered instantly activating supers.

[@juice6521]

Also, charge characters had instant specials that required no charge.

[@ajshiro3957]

Oh man. the 1 button super days on the 3DS. Takes me back. Raging Demons off of anything the game would allow was crazy. Also having automatic flash kicks.

[@twistedlogic8721]

It’s very fun. Been doing it since Justin posted a vid a few days ago

[@twistyseult]

Loving the new thumbnails👍

[@YoTerrako]

I got mad watching that double perfect😂 Edit: the first one💀

[@fuchila2point0]

Fun vid bro!

[@Cellticlink]

Very fun to watch

[@kevindietrich5028]

You can still do the light Kick with the Auto light Button! Just follow the combo descriptions... Few missing attacks are still available

[@mikedub92]

That thumbnail is legendary

[@ihavetubes]

I love doing jump attack into running grab on classic

[@Sky-ur1wk]

Zangief can drive rush into level 3 on classic controls which is wild to me. Got hit by it online and just sat there shook

[@EGreeneConversations]

thank you for this knowledge sir. Im gettin outta plat soon now.

[@Alpha_Sodom]

Bro was traumatized from Justin wong destroying him with modern Geif. 😅

[@dantesapprentice4581]

That Chun-li was rethinking their life choices after the double perfect.

[@robertcelaya2461]

What i like on modern is you can use the classic inputs, i use the classic inputs as an advantage on gief only problem is sometimes on an spd he will do a borsch dynamite sometimes which is only 1 minor issue maybe my inputs are a tad bit sloppy.

[@Mene0]

10/10 thumbnail

[@SaucyCheeseburgerwithRanch]

LOL we had the same thought I also posted a Modern controls Zangief video today

[@justanotherlikeyou]

"Welcome to the adaptation station" Lol!

[@I-ONLY-BUILD-MECHS-AND-DUSTERS]

I don't even play SF6 but this is hype.

[@OYME13]

Welcome to the adaptation station

[@beelucky1146]

i like modern controls because as a casual player i have just so much fun i couldnt before with a game franchise ive loved since childhood

[@corygunso]

Showcasing that its not the 1-Button SPDs that make M. Gief a terror, but rather the 1-Button Supers 😂 Great video! Note: Modern Gief has access to St. LK via Assist+L . Check out the Auto combos next time as they don't get hit with scaling like the 1Button specials/Supers do 😊

[@bunbunkitten]

Gief doesn't have combos in his auto-combos, though. He only has normal into lariat, three times.

[@KaitouKaiju]

​@@bunbunkittenSure, it's just that some of your normals are hidden there

[@lukeblaker8009]

I play classic gief on the side but i switched to modern for a bit and it was hilarious, i go from always getting rematched with my mains to not getting any rematches

[@juice6521]

Fighting against Modern players is just frustrating. You're playing a totally different game and not really a very fun one. Jump ins are basically off the table and all your combos have to pretty much be flawless otherwise you eat a super that you know they're mashing. I'd imagine for players in silver or bronze trying to learn the game that 20% damage reduction might as well not be a thing.

[@randomindividual769]

​@@juice6521Modern also makes it very hard for new players to learn classic as well. They may be ranked with same ranked people but Modern will give them a big advantage in a "Both players are bad" scenario.

[@juice6521]

@randomindividual769 Yeah, if you're in Bronze or Silver it must be pain.

[@lukeblaker8009]

@@juice6521 yeah I agree but I think the plat players should be able to handle my modern gief

[@forestsavior]

This video doesn't really sell me on Modern Gief, but weirdly enough, it did get me thinking about playing Classic Gief. I'm not really a grappler player (except in Dead or Alive, kinda), but I've been struggling to convert big damage in SF6 cause I'm not confident with Drive meter management, so being able to do big chunks of damage off a single SPD punish is fairly appealing. Plus I hate being minus on block so much in SF6, so maybe I should try turning all those forced pauses in my offense into potential opportunities to shimmy and give somebody a large airborne hug.

[@Dalton-ke9rw]

Marisa might be up your alley then

[@DawnofNSSD]

that chun had the real MK Aris combos

[@jhsrt985]

Oh lord this will be crazy

[@Higashigg]

The thumbnail game is getting stronger

[@waynestainrook5927]

Best thumbnail yet

[@YTD33]

Yo whos working on your thumbnail?? Nice

[@scythe0925]

I was at a release weekend tournament, and when I paired up with a MGeif and realized it was tournament legal, I unplugged my stick mid match and walked out of the venue.

[@greatheightsu]

I think you should take him to Masters to really make sure of this modern control experiment. :)

[@zombiewar]

This man was swayed after seeing Justin Wong become a Modern Gief supervillain.

[@sokpupetthebarbarian]

It sounds like you are playing on stick, you might wanna try pad. It won't clash with your classic muscle memory and I found holding assist WAY easier. I've been exploring modern through my avatar in world tour it's been wild.

[@tx7140]

As someone who is new to street fighter and the skill ceiling of learning the inputs for my characters ALONE is so high that I haven't been able to even dip my feet in to street fighter (& why I was able to do better in Tekken) ... having access to Modern controls has really made the game accessible for me. That said, I have learned Manon on both control sets and while I prefer Modern control scheme, the lack of being able to choose light, medium, or heavy for different moves DRASTICALLY reduces the diversity of her toolkit - Degage in particular becomes ONLY the light version, with the heavy version as its OD - which means you lose the option of a low, medium, or high dive-in attack and are locked in to only the low slide or the overhead if you're willing to burn your meter.

[@BaggyScraggy]

I've been really enjoying playing modern gief. Most time I've ever spent on a fighting game, and I'm having a lot of fun. I'm hoping to swap to classic once I've got my spacing and stuff figured out. I always rematch, even if I get my ass beat (exception being for bad connections)

[@MeanieBean]

You need to do a video on Red Bull Kumite bro. I wanna watch you reaction on that one

[@helxis]

Fantasy Strike is a very capable fighting game that already has been using this type of control scheme for some time now. In my opinion, it helps level the playing field and gets more people into the good part of fighting games, faster.

[@underneathsky]

Zangief looks so fun man, I saw Justin having a blast too with modern Zangief. I need to buy the game!!

[@krullachief669]

Remember to engage in peak Grappler Brain at all times. Because once you get two reads you're *pretty nice*

[@TanukiTussle]

M Gief actually still does have access to standing LK by holding down "auto" and pressing light. It feels awkward, but it's there.

[@markchavez738]

oh really! I didn't know that

[@robgoins3672]

Somebody got jealous of Potemkin. I love it. Heavenly Geif Buster.

[@EL_UNIC0RNIO]

can you share you mic setting it sounds great

[@reverbedvonacular]

Been playing Gief classic and the L1 anti-air super is tough to hit on a clean read. I mostly use it when I can combo into it, like a standing heavy quick punish counter on a whiffed dragon punch you can combo into L1 super, pretty satisfying to hit on ken/ryus mashing ex wake up dragon punch

[@juice6521]

They should probably buff the damage on the L1 to be honest. It's one of the few moves that Gief has that usually requires actual hard reads if you're doing it on classic.

[@deleteTF]

Incredible thumbnail.

[@psychophipps]

Straight choppin' 'em up!

[@drfat]

I want another video where you matched with people with similar rank.

[@kylel7761]

Waste of a video or not...the thumbnail comes through for the win.

[@sojorrraws6250]

I've been waiting for this

[@Krigaranda]

I will stand strong in my faith of classic gief

[@SevastovTv]

I'm losing my... I don't want to but it's getting harder and harder 😢, but I'll fight till the end

[@shahs1221]

Ngl... I was rooting for that silver Chun 😭

[@amar2470]

That thumbnail is hilarious 💀

[@ngergely1277]

Chun-Li got downloaded hard :D

[@Sharky_0456]

why does jm never use the charge super

[@levithewizard]

the damage penalty on SPD and 1 button supers is negligible. totally worth

[@Dajen_Tk]

Im about to join the dark side too

[@TehDompie]

One button Super reminds me of Ultra SF2 and SF4 3D Edition

[@crinklecake53]

the silver chun is just what iron 1 is like tbh, somehow there are only smurfs at bottom rank