Is it just me or are there not many Brad players out there?

I know he's a fairly new character, but i rarely see him in any movies and their aren't too many around here that seem to say much about him.

 

Yea, I'm wondering about that too. I would think by now if he was good enough, someone would be pretty hardcore with him. I am interested in learning him when Evo is released. I also don't seem to hear about Vanessa, my character. Can she not compete against the other chars? I can't really tell since I don't have any human competition

 

Maybe Brad's just a weak ass joke.... /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif j/k

I think his novelty doesn't lend to a whole lot of competitive play. People are still just getting used to him... he's only what... a few months old. Look how long it took for Lei Fei to start getting his pound of flesh...

 

Brad is an excellent character with just as much power as any other in the game, the problem is that he uses a different technique than most.

Brad will catch on, but it will take some time. He's probably not most people's first choice of character, but hes incredibly powerful when he gets going. Just give it time, you'll see.

 

I hate Brad, especially to play against. Stupid 3 hit combos over and over again.

 

Not much variety then? It doesn't seem like he has much of a mix up game (high/low/mid). I know I only saw a few videos but it seemed his best thing was his Vanessa-esque lightning elbow which he can counter and juggle pretty well with. Its pretty cool but seems like that single move was the focus of that fighter's fight.

 

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Lightning said:

I know he's a fairly new character, but i rarely see him in any movies and their aren't too many around here that seem to say much about him.

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Well, check the "VFevo movies aranged by character" thread and you will find a handful of good Brad footage.

The Brad section of the site also has a dojo on the site, which has tons of good info you can dig through.

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Keep in mind, that Evolution has not been out long enough for Brad (and Goh) to get high level play consistently.

Take a look at all of the good LeiFei and Vanessa players, they were just starting out in VF4 (and some in Evolution) and have progressed a far enough way that they can hold their own with players of the same caliber who use traditional characters. like Akira and Kage.

Kyasa-o, Oshu, and Mask are all good Brad players, if you can find any footage of them you will see, I even think there are some Brad combo vidoes (by Shinz?), and some Brad footage from lesser known Brad players floating around on the interenet, you just have to find 'em /versus/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

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Keep in mind, that Evolution has not been out long enough for Brad (and Goh) to get high level play consistently.


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On the contrary, it's been out a year -- that's plenty of time. There's plenty of high level Goh out there. The sad fact is, there's not a lot of high-level Brads. Why? "Brad's weak" is the standard reply - even by people that play him. Of course, I usually hang out with people that fall in the top of the intermediate level, and maybe a couple of low high-level. There's quite a few good Goh's out there... definitely more than Brad.

And in defense of Lei Fei and Vanessa, people started getting "good" with them around Ver. B or so. I remember people doing Lei Fei strings that are still around today long before I touched the guy. When they made him faster in Ver. C, he got even more coverage. Right when Ver. C came out, I had a buddy that could massively stomp ass with Lei Fei.

 

My personal theory is that Brad is just too hard to learn at high levels. His stance moves depend on whether he's facing in or out of the screen! At fast, high level matches that is just extremely difficult to keep track of...and it's not like Lei Fei where you can easily control what stance you're in. I.e. button input to go into stance is independent of what Lei Fei is doing...not the case with Brad because it'll depend on whether he's facing in or out.

 

Do you honestly think that there are enough Goh players that can consitute him (Goh) being played at high levels consistently....eh...

I think I have only seen maybe four Goh players who had win ratio's above 80%, though correct me if there are more please (I want to know some good Goh /versus/images/graemlins/confused.gif).

But take a look at the myriad of 80% plus Akira players, or Kage players, or Lion players, or etc.....

I know that there is high level play of all characters, though the exception is Brad, there are no players who use Brad as their primary who play at high levels, non that I can think of off the top of my head at least.

I am not sure what the player usage percentage is for Brad, but I though it was the same as Goh's whatever the percentage is...the lowest of all 15 characters....

The point is that, while there are a good amount of Brad (and Goh) players, very few of them qualify as "high level" players, the same level of play that is featured in videos that we all watch, so that is why seeing Brad (or Goh) in videos is rare.
Of course there are exceptions, like Oshu Brad fights, and the Arashi Goh fest that erupted out of Team Tabara (but died /versus/images/graemlins/smirk.gif).

I don't know who it was on VFDC, but they said something like..." the reason why the Japanese arcade players don't use Brad and Goh, is because they preferr to stick with their traditional characters, like Chibita to Lion, and Kyasa to Kage, etc...so it is no wonder that they are so unpopular."

 

I think Brad is a very powerful character. His damage potential is definitely one of the best in the game - very similar to Akira and Lau. Get hit by a knee and a punch and 1/2 your bar of enengy is gone. His punches are wicked fast too. Brad's throws are a tad weak but in the hands of a good player it's not really a problem.

I think people don't play him as much as others because he's relatively new and feels a bit different from traditional VF characters. Goh feels funny to play too but in the hands of a good player he can be just as deadly as the rest.

 

I'm not sure I've interpreted what you said there correctly, but I think I know what you're saying. Brad's slipping is dependent on his own stance and not whether he's facing in or out of the screen. For example, to do Slipping Right, you always go in the direction of his back regardless of whether he's facing in or out. The difference is subtle, but important.

Yap, that's exactly what I meant ("facing in or out" i.e. the direction of his back and whether you have to tap up or down to get the slipping stance that you want). Quite frankly that's one of things that has turned me off most about learning Brad...unless I can get the reaction spot-on, there would be a randomizing factor in my Brad play (and that's scrubby!).

 

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Do you honestly think that there are enough Goh players that can consitute him (Goh) being played at high levels consistently....eh...


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Yes, I do. THere's even some high-level Brad's over here, but I'd say not as many as Goh. You gotta remember though, just b/c you don't see him in the videos doesn't mean the aren't there. YOu're only going to see someone's MAIN character in the videos except on a special occasion.

I've not downloaded a vid in probably 8 months, but I'd dare say that the representation hasn't changed much. How many videos of Aoi, Shun, Pai, and Lion do we see. True, they're out there, but just not near as many as the other characters, and Pai's been around since VF1.
(I may very well stand corrected on this. I saw a TON of different Pai's today in Akihabara).
I think it'll be a while before you see a lot of people using Brad and/or Goh as their main character (not that many Vanessas or Lei Fei's really when you think about it) but that doesn't mean you won't see high level play. It really doesn't take that long to figure out 80% of the bread and butter. There's just too many VF BBS's to list, that all share information, and videos, and of course, everyone meeting at the same places. Information spreads fast.

 

Brad and Vanessa

Just responding to you Event_Horizon:

From playing Brad in EVO a little, he seems very 'different'. I had little knowledge of his moves but I could see that he has a lot of potential. I believe he's unpopular because he's newer and different, like stated above. At least he IS different, and not some stupid clone of another character.

Goh feels slower and a little more sluggish then other characters, but he can be played very effectively.

Vane in EVO is like... amazing though. The one media thread shows some stuff, but I was playing with her in EVO and her new 'offensive' stance is so much better than her old stance. Also, her game has changed where a lot of the more 'offensive' moves have gone to the second stance... like the + into +

She has this new 'mount' move, which is similar to Tekken 4's Marduk, and many different moves now go into that. For example, that move listed above goes into it, as well as the +, which was also moved to the 'offensive' stance. And the new moves in the offensive stance are fast, bad ass looking, and seemingly do more than her old stance.

Many of her moves are slightly changed in defensive stance, and she has a few new moves that crumple and give you combo opportunities, like +.

 

Myke,

I "think" Brad is still very powerful in the PS2 version. But since I don't play him seriously I don't really know the character's ins and outs so I could be wrong. I tried playing him in the quest's event square the other day. Unlike most other characters, he can easily finish off an opponent in less than 10 secs (CPU, not human). Maybe that's an indicator of his high damage? Or could it be something else i'm missing?

 

I'll tell you what Brad really has going for him - Flow and momentum. He's kinda like a freight train in my opinion, and once he gets going, its tough to stop.

I watch how differently the computer plays Brad than I do and sometimes I'm just shocked at the hits they manage on me. Then I realize he uses the slips in a different way than I do, and I really DIDNT have advantage.

I really think Brad is going to be like Nina in tekken 4. No one really played her untill she won a major national tournament, and when everyone saw this new style that Tommy Hillfinger had with her, suddenly she was a very popular character. I think that after evolution2003 or something like that, someone will pioneer a Brad style that people will want to emulate and improve upon, and he will get a lot more respect at that time.

 

I think that's a good point.

 

I don't know if nayone is gonna read tis any time soon, but Brad was the first character I picked up when I got Evo. His initially awkward style put me off but somehow enticed me too. I didn't know how the slipping stuff could be integrated into the more traditional fighting style I was used to. As a result, I turned to Jacky...a much more simple engine, more comprehensive control system and a good mix of short and long range attacks, with healthy variations of speed, power and predictability (or lack, thereof). After reaching Warrior rank with Jacky in quest mode, I'd seen enough good Brad play by the computer to tempt me into going back to him. So I left Jacky where he was (the long, biker hairstyle with shades) and went back to Brad who I'd left a 4th Kyu. I spent a little while in training to get a feel for the slipping, memorised a few combos and away I went. I realised two things...not only did I now understand why Jacky has been touted in this website as a "cheat" character, but I also realised that Brad is an amazing powerhouse of a Virtua Fighter...

He has the insanely powerful knees of the Wolf-man, the speed of the Jackster (at certain times), the raw brutality of Vanessa, and the confusion tactics of Lei-Fei and Lion. He also floats briliantly. I for one have decided to make Brad my primary character and I'd really like to see how high I can get with him.

Oh, and , , / (whichever way goes towards his front side to slip), , followed by a stomp is one of the most useful and powerful combos (if you can land it) in Brad's game...you probably already knew that but I love it so much I thought I'd tell you anyway. /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif