If you’re familiar with Poongko and his style of play, then you already know how much of a mad man he is. The Street Fighter 4 Seth player made a name for himself by being an unstoppable offensive powerhouse, hitting a level of fearlessness in his approach that landed him the nickname “The Machine.”
Back in December, we took a look at what all Poongko was doing here in Street Fighter 6, and much to the surprise of everyone he was maining former Street Fighter poster boy Ryu. Now that the original Shoto has received some buffs here in the latest SF6 update, Poongko’s Ryu appears to be even more vicious, more aggressive, and even more of a mad man than we previously saw.
As far as buffs go, Ryu recently saw the hurtbox on his arms reduced down when throwing fireballs to make it so that Overdrive uppercuts can’t clip him from further out as often. More importantly, though, he saw buffs to the various versions of his Hashogeki special move (including the Overdrive version) that give him more offensive options both on block and when they land.
Giving Ryu the ability to play more rushdown and put the pressure on his opponents is exactly how you buff Poongko’s already stellar play. This fresh set of replays from YogaFlame24 kick off with Poongko taking on a Dhalsim player online.
If you need more of an idea of just how fearless and wild Poongko is, just look at the very first round in the match footage. Right at the starting line, Poongko opens up with a big jump forward that totally works and gets him a full, hard-hitting combo for his troubles.
Not only that, but Poongko uses that opening to spend literally every ounce of his Drive Gauge to extend the combo as much as possible with zero fear of being in burnout. With the Dhalsim cornered, Poongko wastes no time in using Ryu’s new buffs to his advantage.
We see several attack strings using various versions of Hashogeki, which help to not only keep the opponent pinned down, but also to potentially open them up should they dare to challenge. Putting yourself into burnout in Street Fighter 6 is always risky, but here it has no effect on Poongko as he continues to control the entire first round, never lets the opponent leave the corner, and ultimately takes said round.
Poongko takes on several different opponents here showing how to handle different match ups with the new and improved Ryu. Be sure to check everything out in the replays below.