SF4: Daigo (Ry) vs Shiro (Ab) - Daigo Umehara Concept Matches 2

[@thegodofpez]

That second game comeback was nasty!

[@LuckySevenSamson]

Without saying which is better, I have to say this is one of the most well-played matches I've ever seen. Both players demonstrated their knowledge of the characters with finesse.

[@rafiqul84]

Shiro went balls out in the final round and it paid off, high risk high reward

[@EdofEngland]

Veeeeeeeerry good match! Didn't think that'd end quite how it did. Big respect to Abel player, perfect demonstration for anyone wanting tips on his play.

[@grimedoctor]

Its good to see Daigo saying he enjoyed the fight regardless of losing. A lot of these tourney types takes these games too seriously and suck all the fun out just playing the game

[@RedzicMuharem]

you might be able to find more information on the website in description, as arcadia organized the event

[@roninIX]

Wow these two are on high focus mode...shooting mind bullets are each other, waiting for one to falter... At least one of the most intense fight I've seen so far.

[@BWare113]

Shiro is absolutely full-throttle when goes offensive. Well played match.

[@Jayhachi88]

I feel like Daigo let this match slip away. He had it in that last round but then let victory slowly slip out of his hands. Nevertheless he never ceases to amaze me.

[@matto2008]

Shiro is very patient, knowing that if he tries to rush in, Daigo will be ready to counter attack him. Shiro is very smart and he picks his moments to go in... Many Abel players are good with execution etc, but where they tend to fall over is when they get impatient

[@kevko5212]

Shiro rarely uses his ultra as soon as it appears because that will just be filling his opponent's ultra meter. He will usually only use it when he thinks it will kill the other person. Keeping the ultra also does make the use of fireballs scary for his opponent as you said.

[@Gargantuas]

shiro knows this matchup all too well, jumping in on ryu is death.. and shiro jumped one time in first round, one time in second round, and 0 times in last round. pure brilliantaliciousness!!

[@SwordXEvil]

Beautiful match, Shiro absolutely deserved the win. Amazing tactical decisions from both sides from both sides

[@sudafreekan]

Shiro's the only player i would say that thinks almost or just aswell as Daigo does. Such smart players

[@CodecMoment]

They're both very careful throughout the whole match, respecting each other's options. I can't read their minds but I can tell there was a lot of shit going on in their heads that I would have trouble understanding. Daigo seemed very humble with his loss, admitting that it was a good fight. As an Abel player, I don't know how many times I'll be watching this to study how Shiro pulled off the win.

[@jetsyrup]

The first round starts at 0:17. Shiro doesn't get Ultra until 0:53, and Daigo only threw like four fireballs in that time. In the second round, he starts off looking more willing to throw them, but gets punished for it at 1:31, which is why I think it's the roll he's afraid of.

[@k2wax]

at the ed, you can really feel the pressure. Daigo doesn't use his hadouken anymore, too afraid of Abel's Ultra.

[@aware24]

These guys were years ahead of the rest of the world

[@DKZK21]

The mind reading going on in this match is unbelievable.

[@Siberianhusky89]

I love how Daigo took away a good amount of Rufus's health with that light punch combo, then he used one of the 3 combos he ever uses on Ryu.

[@rattoh]

Abels crouch fierce launcher has to be perfect for an ultra to connect. Maybe Shiro didn't want to risk losing his ultra. Losing his ultra would mean Diago would have full use of his fireballs again. Plus that was a jab dragon punch which would have mostly recovered by the time abel moves up and uses the slow fierce launcher. Anyways amazing match. It's kinda reminded me of chess with carefully planned attacks and defense xD

[@Grimmjow86]

Daigo is by no means weak to Abel, that would be an overstatement. It's just that Shiro has some amazing mindgames and definitely knows his stuff. I think that he's even a greater threat to him than Mago right now. Anyways, great match. Thanks again to Lordaborigine for the awesome videos.

[@pyeclam]

This is the first time I've seen someone play as Abel at a pro level. And he beat Daigo. God damn.

[@jimmyblade92]

Shiro is pretty clever. I've never seen anyone take full control of Abel like this before.

[@shiken]

kiryx7 - IIRC, daigo plays at TAITO station at Big box in Takadanobaba, Tokyo, Japan. =) I spent about half an hour doing that combo at 1:09 last night... brutal timing for the fierce link after the FADC.

[@mikolyyyy]

i like how daigo learns a little sumthin from who ever he plays like the poongko combo at 1.10

[@IIIM]

at 3:46 shiro's probably just building meter, but i like think he's telling daigo, "this is the move i'll use to kill you."

[@shatowboy]

another thing is that his main attack is his tornado grab and H.P, its pretty dangerous to use anything else, maybe a M.K and a Dash

[@sweepingtime]

I love watching a good Abel. The opponent's thinking: "I'm in the lead!" And then one solid Abel combo and he's dead.

[@GoldSamuraiArmor]

3:17 multiple reactionary low forward into fireballs on Abel's dash. Pretty amusing to me.

[@tuber52]

holy crap this match is just on such an intellectual level it makes u think gaming should be a sport. it had everything: technics, option selects, and the whole game basically revolved around footsies cause anyone who tried to jump-in usually got punished

[@MattMcLaren253]

@ghember That is for the Japenese arcade machine card-read data tracking system. it's not online.

[@jbarbarian88]

can't believe shiro beat a shoryu-spamming daigo with the old, undeveloped abel techs

[@yELoHQ]

First time seeing daigo not punishing his player (twice) costed him a round. Even a god can make mistakes. BUT YOU'RE STILL #1 DAIGO!!!

[@avp2gold]

I feel bad. Daigo looks like he's about to cry. That Abel put FEAR in Daigo. I've never seen Daigo's Ryu so timid. Hilarious. Great playing, Abel.

[@UCHIRAPEDRO20]

what a change , I couldn't still playing after that Ryu's combo!!!

[@jimmyblade92]

I'll have to admit... this fight was intense.

[@jibikao]

Yes!!! Finally somebody other than Ryu, Go, Chun Li and Sagat won!!! Go Abel!!

[@transience242]

Shiro seems to give Daigo more trouble than anyone else. usually Daigo plays his game and doesn't really worry about the opponent, but he almost seems nervous when he goes against Abel.

[@aeoluscombo]

Daigo was gonna jump out of it thinking it was a lvl3 unblockable, but Shiro baited him with a well timed lvl 2. Regular DP can't break focus, and ex dp has too much risk and recovery, jump back is the safest way, under normal circumstances even getting hit by a well-timed focus, chances are you are mostly in air and can not be comboed. But this is a perfectly timed lvl 2 focus by Shiro, considering Daigo only did the jump back once, it is just a superior mind game and insane adaptation.

[@SirBuffaloKnight]

I'm just giving respect where respect is due. Believe me, if I played him, I play him as strong as anything else.

[@DVSKaz]

Abel had ryu SO many times this match ... it all started @ 1:07 when he misses a chance for a free ultra on ryu when he whiffs a shoryuken right infront of him ... come to think of it how many times did abel NOT use his ultra? amazing he still won, it seems daigo is weak to abel!

[@digggert]

yea shiro is definitely awesome as abel. and his reaction is more than top notch.

[@jasirox]

Another factor is that Abel had less health when the ultra hit (the less health you have, the less damage you take)

[@Nvoy123]

I think he choked, he had ample time to dodge or counter attack the level 3 focus at the end, GGs to shiro for mixing it up.

[@CptPanda29]

Especially since the majority of players at this level have been playing since SF2, where zoning was a much more solid strategy.

[@aeoluscombo]

0:36 lol, ambiguous roll is crazy. Perfect distance.

[@SirBuffaloKnight]

Shiro and Daigo are probably to two that I look up to most in SFIV. Not saying Justin Wong and the others are not good. But my favorite ones to watch. Shiro because he's an Abel playing and Daigo because he's amazing.

[@AgelessObsession]

Jeez, that's twice in a row I've seen Shiro take out Umehara. Easily my favourite Abel of all time.

[@IEOA]

Also, people say that Daigo has a family (wife and kids) to take care of. I'm not sure if this is true because I've never actually read/heard Daigo (or any of the other top players in Japan) confirm this. However, IF it is true, then he's got to earn money properly to take care of his family. Also he's got to dedicate time to his family (time which he could spend playing SF4).

[@SedoSan]

I believe an early released FA will win against tetsumaki... "Hurricane kick"... But this will go to what if and what if.. its all mind games.

[@PT84]

Mago has a beast Abel he plays during casuals.

[@Oneilius]

i dont think shiro had any other option but to go for the level 3 FA at the end, if u look at the time u'll see theres only 6 seconds left when he wins. He needed a home run otherwise time woulda ran out & he woulda lost so he took a gamble & ended up gettin the win

[@cpthurme]

Best Abel I've seen! Great!!

[@sundevil34]

Only as a reversal does it armor-break. Granted in that situation it would have worked but even Daigo is allowed to mess up every now and again.

[@hybridevil]

Cross-up Air Tatsu --> Shinkuu Hadoken...it's just so pretty.

[@markitymark90]

wow, i didn't know that, good stuff.

[@mannymatrixofwar2]

Not necessarily. Ken also had some nice fireball combos in that game. In fact their combo potential was even. Its just that in 3s ken was much faster, but in sf4 ryu gained some speed. Also, Daigo started out in the original street fighter as a balrog, and we all know that in that game hadoukens were everything.

[@passionkev01]

holy cow, i can do 1:10 in the practise, but diago actually did it in real game @@ amazing

[@AcrossandOver]

yeah, i was wondering about that as well. Could've totally finished shiro.

[@bobfttw]

this abel took his time which was nice.. good stratagy..but honestly.....tht ryu had some good combos best ryu ive ever seen

[@passionkev01]

@DoucheFagX true, what ppl don't get is , the ways to force strong opponets in the corners

[@kce99]

nice mind games from shiro starting at 0:33.

[@lungrisser]

i have favourited this.... and i call this match..The NEVER give up match!

[@Balloonshopper]

Simply cause Ken was high tier in SF3, and tiers were everything in that game. Ryu is a high tier in this one too, and was his original character anyway. It has nothing to do with an "easier ultra to pull"

[@jetsyrup]

Yeah, I know that much. I just didn't understand the significance of the moves. Using the chess analogy, someone that is inexperienced at chess won't really understand why the players are doing what they're doing, in the sense that someone inexperienced in a high level Abel match up will feel the same way about Street Fighter.

[@Chaldean4life91]

@bailer4life are you talking about the guy you face before fighting brock, if so then kinda. i was too little too understand what he was talking about, and so when i finally found out what he meant it kinda stuck with me.

[@SindarinElealar]

@solitarylonewolf They're trying to position themselves for optimal distance to attack or punish opponent's attacks. For example, Hadoken requires certain distance or a read that your opponent isn't going to jump/roll and combo you.

[@Fedkek]

at the end daigo looks like totally stoned :D

[@bruingrappler12]

Last round was a nail biter. Shiro's Abel has to be the best and it demands respect (using a "mid/low-tier" character). I still don't understand why he doesn't go to ultra sometimes. Like at 3:31, he had it. I think he might have screwed up?

[@socillizt4life]

That was a really good abel,4some reason a really good abel is my favorioute character 2 watch!

[@SFJetX]

@Buttplugbetty Shiro is probably baiting it and punish afterwards. I mean, you know how crazy shiro is with the mind games.

[@socillizt4life]

If Daigo had ulra'd at 3:52,how was he to know that Shiro wouldn't just focus cancel,dodge the ultra,then pull off Abel's ultra!After all that's exactly what the focus cancels are for,2 bluff your opponnent into doing a move that he can then counter!

[@ocping]

yeah shiro is probably the only abel that can play against daigo at this level

[@markitymark90]

Shiro isn't afraid of Daigo at all :P

[@Dasol]

thats a poongko combo that daigo learned

[@DVSKaz]

he didn't need to use c fierce launcher, he could've went straight into ultra! as for conserving ultra to gaurd against fireballs, that may be the case ... but abel has other ways to get around fireballs (he's not balrog/honda/zangief with their $hit jumps) like ex roll

[@YaGaHaCrystal]

I know what you mean, but my experience says another thing.

[@enricofermi]

Yeah and it will only trigger the spinning part of the ultra, which does less damage than a shoryuken.

[@retnuHDJ]

Was there anything Daigo could have done to avoid the focus attack at 3:51?

[@aeoluscombo]

Yes it was a lvl3, but it was timed as a lvl2, either way Daigo will get hit because that is just how Shiro set it up, it doesn't really matter if it is lvl 3 or 2, only matters because Daigo fell for the setup.

[@erickheadshot]

I think that daigo could have used the ultra cause shiro was focus attacking, he would' ve not gonna be able to block after dashing cause he was to close from ryu.

[@realkhumanbean]

shiro deserves more respect imo for sfiv, playing abel like that is not an easy thing to do...

[@Heero91]

when abel was forces attacking if ryu did ultra he could back dash and block the ultra (is you look at abels health he would no die from chip) then counter with his ultra .

[@Nepherupito]

Amongst the five that I fought today, Shiro was the most...dangerous...the one with the least chance for me to defeat. But gamewise, I think it was a good match. then he starts mumbling and cant hear

[@markitymark90]

I think so, I heard a few people saying he's married.

[@arla61]

To the people thinking Abel is going from C tier to A+ because of Breathless, keep in mind that f+mk no longer combos into throws, weakening Abel's pressure and mix-up game. An Ultra alone will not beat every opponent or land in every match. Other than the new Ultra, he gained nothing to benefit his offense.

[@YaGaHaCrystal]

Np, yes you can... at the beginning and end of the roll you can grab abel. You can also hit abel at the first(maybe second 2) frame of the start and end of the roll. EX roll, you can still grab him, but hitting him is impossible at the start. On the last frame of ex roll, abel can be hit tho... So EX is only good as an escape, and fails as an approach.

[@SedoSan]

Dhalsim's dash backwards is faster than forward :P

[@aeoluscombo]

agreed, but too much risk when he has no meter and abel could just cancel and dash out.

[@bigmofodeal]

good fight, they both played smart.

[@HenrikAH92]

in this level of play joystick is a must.

[@budojon]

cool, daigo is happy even when he loses to shiro, again :-)

[@kikkosauce]

So did daigo just miss the block on the focus at the end, or did shiro time it just right so the frame to block was little to none?

[@IEOA]

I don't think he coaches anybody to earn money. I'm thinking he has a job and earns money that way. These guys are willing to spend a lot of the money they earn to play the games. All the players in Japan are able to level up so fast because of their community. There are so many players and it is very easy to just walk into an arcade and find good competition. Almost everybody helps each other out. Information is always shared and the players rarely keep any secrets/tricks to themselves.

[@Taurai321]

That Abel was sick!

[@cocofachpopov]

Why did that able roll on that cancel at the end of the 3rd round? He could have cr.fp into ultra and finish the game right away.... Still a great game ^^.

[@xRisingForcex]

you're trying to tell me in the last 37 seconds all daigo says is one sentence?

[@shiken]

daigo plays 5 days a week, i think 4-5 hours a day... this is from his EVO09 interview with gootecks

[@hipopigtan]

u got a point...i believe top players dont really spend lot of money bcoz of the winner stays sys at arcade... it is those mediocre player like me who actually spend lots...lol.