Introduction

Why Sean?


It started when I was young. I grew up playing Alpha 3 with my family and I just got enamored with the damn game I guess lol. I've always liked the Shotos and Shoto-like characters, so of course I played with Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Sakura and Dan. Out of those 5, I probably like Akuma and Dan the most to be honest. When we finally got MVC for Playstation, I saw that in one of Ryu's cut scenes there was another Anasatuken Shoto with dark skin that I had never seen before. So of course, as a kid I wanted to play as him but I didn't know which game he came from...

Until a year ago.....

Welcome, to the world of 3rd strike.


The very first time I played 3rd strike, I instantly gravitated toward Sean with no hesitation, no idea of a tier list, no awareness of the work that I would have to put in, just me seeing a character I really wanted to play. I'm thankful of Sean, we have a long road ahead but it's going to be fun.


Now onto Sean himself

Sean was made to be a joke character that is a handicap for stronger players to give weaker players a chance, you know, think SF5 compressed into a single character. In New Gen and 2nd Impact, he was broken as fuck. NG Sean had moves with broken stun amounts, NG and 2I Sean had the meter build Back Fierce glitch, NG and 2I Sean had moves that link into super even when they weren't supposed to, and other bullshit like that.

In 3s, he doesn't have any of these luxuries (or really any for that matter), and i'm glad about that. But that means you're gonna have to put in work to make him effective. He's kind of like Alex, easy to use but hard to be effective with.


The main things that make Sean low tier are:

. 

• No reliable reversal without meter

100%. And barely WITH meter. Generally, Sean can only punish with Hadou Burst or Hyper Tornado. But, if they're too far away then you cannot punish them with it. 

• Over-reliance on Parry

This is obvious, because to even use Sean's strongest meter-less punish from a long range you would have to parry a move with long recovery.
 This means this option is not always available to him so you'd have to settle for a sweep most of the time instead.

• Special moves are unsafe and leave him crouching on block

Oh so very true. Every single one of them leave him crouching on block which means he's eating more damage than usual. This is the main reason why you have to be good at gambling because his moves have high risks attached.

• Less advantage on Jump-in combos

Jump-in combos with Sean have to be some of the hardest shit ever. You have to hit the Jump attack reeeeealllll deep/low for it to combo into a normal like Cr. MK.  Though you can also hit it higher up and combo into Cl. MP x Dragon Smash.

• Very Reliant on meter

He needs meter to do substantial enough damage or to make his combos safe.

This can also work in Sean's favor, because since his jump-ins have to hit so low, they're naturally safe-jump'ed, making punishing them more difficult.

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I may have missed a thing or two but this covers why Sean is low tier. Now on to discuss the good things about him:

• The most defensive Shoto

His specials when used defensively can be quite effective. Especially since offensively, they aren't good. His reliance on parries stresses the need to be really good with defending and reading the opponent. 

• High stun potential

I find his stun out-put to be rather overlooked. He can do nearly 50% stun on anyone with just Cl.HP x EX Tornado alone. His EX Tackle, EX Tornado, and Wheel Kicks do more stun than any other special that the Shotos have.  

• Has one of the strongest hit-confirms and the most powerful cancel-able normal in the whole game (save for gill's)

Close Roundhouse is a force to be reckoned with. He can win matches just using that button alone. Its especially hazardous to those with horrendous vitality.

• Good mobility

He has 2 means of movement: Sean Tackle and his standard dash. His standard dash travels the most distance of the Shotos which is very good for mid-screen cross-ups. Sean Tackle is good to get across the screen very quickly and escape set-ups and zoning. 

• Normals typically have more (or equal) cancel/active frames than the other shotos

Sean's Cl.MP/HK/HP and Cr. MK have some of the most cancel and active frames of all the Shotos so you can test the limits on confirming from those normals.

• Good Kara game

His Kara throw covers a good space, the difference between Sean's and Ryu's is 7 dots worth of distance. His Kara UOH can cover a good amount of space as well. Kara DP is effective after sa2's in the corner and after meaty Cl. HKs.

• Can potentially deal 45-50% damage with all 3 supers

• All 3 supers are viable

• Has 2 of the most invincible/out-prioritizing supers 

• Decent selection of Anti-Airs

Its almost if, Sean's entire move-set can function as AA's...

• DED

Very easy for Sean to DED since he doesn't have a QCF + P special unlike the other shotos. If using SA3 then the DED method is very useful.

• Taunt is very good for okizeme

• Keen on doing a lot of stun within a short period of time

This blog is to help understand Sean and what is and what isn't possible with him. Sean, essentially is a mix between all of the shotos and it shows with some of his normals, specials and supers which I'll touch upon later. There isn't very much information on him (or his match-ups for the matter) so this blog and the 3s SRK wiki (that I also helped write) will be the main sources of information on him. Stay tuned for more intel on one of the worst yet most fun characters in the game.

 "Sean is rather a character that requires a sense of movement for movement rather than a character with a winning pattern".


Oh and one more thing,


Sean IS a shoto.