Earlier this week, Capcom released two new fighters in Street Fighter V: the Tiger-spamming Sagat and the presidential figure G. After using these guys for a few days and checking out a TON of pro players using them online -to obviously hand my ass on a platter since it’s been months since I touched SFV- here’s what we thought.

Sagat: Tiger Shot All Day

The most recognizable digital Muay Thai fighter is back, and he plays just as he does in SFIV, only in the SFV engine.

So far, he lacks some cross-up potential. He can only mix it up with a jumping LK followed by Light or Heavy to Mid. However, he makes it up with his range game and his footsies. Poke and kick your way out of harm’s way and keep your opponent at a good mid-distance.

950 stun buff to Cammy? No problem. Works from about 3/4ths of the screen. @smugdabeast @jav1ts @katitagaribon pic.twitter.com/4yNAHE1vQw

— Vagabond (@Vagabond_FGC) August 7, 2018

If he or she is far away, just Tiger Shot them and bait them to come to you. Use the golden rule of projectile-spamming: DO NOT fire if your opponent is a jump distance away. Fire even if you’re up-close; Sagat has combos that end with a Tiger Shot. The trick with Sagat is to be patient; let them come to your Tiger-laced feet instead of you going to them. Be like an actual tiger and pounce when the time is right.

He has his HK to Tiger Uppercut kara back, which is very, VERY useful for punishing sweeps among other applications.

Don't sweep back other sweeps. Do fastest possible fHK Kara TU insteadhttps://t.co/0YjCsk8BBd pic.twitter.com/1ECOCFLipy

— DaFeetLee (@DaFeetLee) August 7, 2018

If we had to pick which V-Trigger is best, it really depends. V-Trigger I is good for launching multi-hitting projectiles or just doing wall combos topped while V-Trigger II is best against turtles and defensive opponents. You’d be surprised a lot of people are willing to just crouch and block while you charge your V-Trigger II kick; it’s a matter of conditioning them with your Tiger Knee and Tiger Shot barrages.

Bottom Line: As far as I know, he doesn’t feel or control out-of-place unlike Blanka in Season 3. He’s as real and damaging as he gets in this version of Street Fighter. Longtime SFIV fans who missed Sagat will get a kick out of using this guy.

Sorry.

G: One Of SFV’s More Unique Individuals

This top hat-wearing gold-laced jacked-up Abe Lincoln cosplayer is interesting, kinda like Falke is but more fun to use. While Falke controls differently, G has the traditional motion inputs and “Down, Down + button” style motions.

To start off, his V-Skill lets you deal with opponent’s anti-airing you with DPs and uppercuts. While it won’t save you from the quicker normal anti-airs like Birdie since they recover quick, at least you can keep them on their toes.

More G stuff. Let's look at VT1! Here's a setup you can do that is on average +9 and at best like, +10, and leaves you in command grab range in the corner! jLK > VT1 Vskill very strong! @jav1ts @MrSpab #SFVAE pic.twitter.com/CVP4xOYPpR

— ?TTTTTsd? (@TTTTTsd_) August 7, 2018

He has mid-ranged and close-ranged options that hit high and low, and his attacks have different properties depending on your Presidentiality level. You charge it up -see the globe next to his Super Meter- by pressing Down, Down + 2 Punch Buttons. The longer you hold it, the more levels you get. When you get hit, you’ll revert down one level. It’ll leave you vulnerable, so do it when you’re far away.

Check out his basic bread-and-butter combos below to get a hang of how he jives and fights.

You can also do a quick Presidential charge once you pull off a G-Style move (the dash punches, his V-Skill) by pressing 2 Punch Buttons at the end of these moves. This is pretty important because there will be a lot of times when your opponents will be closing in on you and you can’t get a Presidentiality level up manually.

Maintaining his Presidentiality levels is important in maximizing G’s combo and damage potential. He has 2-hit lows and high dash punches and he has a pretty damn good powered-up projectile that forces enemies to jump to you.

His cross-up jumping attack (Down+MP) is useful to start some mixups. Oh, and if you think he doesn’t have any anti-air conversions, think again. Back + HP is the way to start things off if your opponent is jump-savvy.

Anti-Air conversions as G. #SFVAE #GLab https://t.co/zxpDsUpgCZ pic.twitter.com/WIAC1eWq2G

— Alexander Rodionov (@SunMate_SFV) August 6, 2018

V-Trigger-wise, we’d stick with V-Trigger I for now. While his V-Trigger II has interesting combo potential and a one-hit armour grapple, having high Presidentiality levels out of nothing is a damn good power-up.

Bottom Line: This character might be the catalyst to make SFV great again. Among all the new characters on tap so far, G seems to be the most fun to play at the moment thanks to his levelling-up mechanic, his damage potential, and his getup.

Oh, and his theme song is kinda smooth.