I mean I understand the reason to nerf…but his running overhead…is pretty much useless now…and hes a lot slower…its forgivable maybe if they didn’t make it so his instinct would stil have a damage buff…even if it were smaller than how it was before 
I love ki but,this is really killing iti for me…sabrewulf was my main…im sure this has been talked about a lot…but I think we can agree that wulf got the short end of the stick here
You gotta find different ways to use it. Flipout works nice.
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Nerfed? Hardly. I do in fact think he’s even harder to fight this season than he was before… Though that’s just my opinion.
Yea this sounds like you’re not adapting to the new system. The whole “why my main, WHY!?” sentiment is true for nearly everyone. I main aganos, a character whose playstyle in season 2 revolves around armor and get his damage from 50/50 club mix ups.
Now that heavies ignore armor and the club comes in waaay less often (around 1:3 ratio) , aganos whole strategy is different. Playing him the same gets you cornered and killed quickly… We’re all adapting and it takes time. How good you actually are determines how fast you can get back in your groove, not how good your muscle memory is
Wulf still has the best normals in the game. Play footsies.
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s.HK tick-throw bait setups are da bess
The other obvious case is baiting throw ticks and jump-outs after a flip-out ender.
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Wonderful Tony! do you have more like this? =)
So I feel like I leveled up a bit. Been doing flipout pretty much as much as possible (until they start breaking it anyway), and it looks to be almost a 50/50 (33/33/33 to be exact) in that it has a cross-up option, hit/strike option, and that 5hk which is pure joy once they start trying to mash out of stuff.
Also, does Wulf have the best sweep in the game? I get so much mileage out of 2hp, I’m worried I’m almost overusing it. And then on a knockdown, I usually just try to make them play a throw/sweep guessing game. Walk speed is fast enough, you can step forward, backwards and then sweep and look like you were trying to throw. I’m only Gold so this could be noob bait, but it looks like with enough grinding it is going to get me into killer so hopefully it isn’t too crappy.
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His sweep is stupid good. Crazy reach, very fast and very good frame data.
Although, that game you say you’re playing on their wake up, just play it with overpower instead. It’s a much better option most of the times. Not only are you at + frames if it gets blocked, you can confirm a hit into ragged edge if you’re looking for it, and even better you can link a CH for a super confirmable combo. Not saying you shouldn’t use sweep in that situation from time to time, but overpower gets you much better results, IMO.
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I love how everyone is saying sabre is still so good. I dont see anyone still playing him!
Granted lots of new cast, but I still see plenty of old cast (Jago, glacius,orchid) very little of Sabre, pretty much non-existent. I’ll be frank, his game is boring and tedious. No wake up so if you get cornered good luck. Now with the new breaker reset its chase down your opponent ever 10 seconds. Flip out is too reactable, everyone can read it and save your instinct and meter for full reversal.
As for this game, how can you make a solid game when you are constantly adding new garbage, cast and mechanics… I dont care if you are IG, DH or any other dev team. You cant balance a constantly evolving environment. So this game build style benefits the individuals who are constantly seeking the flaws and exploits that are introduced with every new change.
I really cant stand playing this character anymore. I guess what Im getting at is I dont know what makes a character high level or top tier but I do know when Im having fun playing a game. And playing Sabrewulf is no longer fun the more IG “fixes” him…
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To each his own, I guess. I’m having more fun with him now than ever before.
I do get that you may not like the direction in which the character evolved, though. He has changed a lot, even if his amazing footsies and oki, which are his core, are still there.
Regarding the new breaker system, it also helps that you don’t get knocked down and are at your opponent’s whim when you get your combo broken, so it goes both ways. You can’t capitalize on a break like you used to, but you won’t get punished for being broken either.
If flip out is reactable, it’s your own fault. It’s not that everyone can read it. It’s that everyone can, apparently, read your offense. There are so many options after a flip out that just leave you at such an advantage that it’s actually ridiculous for you to feel it’s easy to react and avoid it.
He was nerfed… hard… second to Riptor…
Go watch the old KI tournament / season 3 reveal .
Its bad… he’s bad… he’s still usable… maybe casually… joking for fun with friends…but he’s terrible. Nothing else to say about it… no opinions or effs given. Hes ruined.
I’d actually like to hear how he’s ruined and why he’s terrible xD
Just for the kicks! =D
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He’s just bad yawl…I won’t give any reason for my opinions… or write a complete sentence… he just bad tho.
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Didn’t he just place top 8 in a tournament filled with dope players (link)?
I didn’t play the older version, so I won’t comment entirely on that, but it is starting to sound like people just haven’t adapted to his new style.
IMO its how his game style works with the new mechanics.
Its frustrating. Especially against zoner types. Do you think glacius, fulgore, jago have to work as hard to keep me out than how hard I have to work to get in?NO. Do zoners have to work as hard as I do to get in to get out once I get in or knock down? NO.
Guess what. Now that they “fixed” all his linkers you get broke, tossed across the entire damn screen and start again. That was Wulfs trait! Easy to use Easy to break autodoubles. A little more ambiguous linkers not so easy to break.
And why they nerfed his ONLY overhead. They nerfed his dash mixup/eclipse so its reactable, so why did they have to nerf the overhead so much it cant even be used to combo anymore… Anyone playing against wulf now know to just block low and mash lights or DP.
I guess Im just a crappy player that keeps making it into damn killer tier since they introduce this tiered ranked system.
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First, let’s cut the bragging. Pre-killer, this game is not that hard. I’m level ~35, and I made Killer with my second character (Wulf). I quit out of Gold the moment I got into it with my first character because Omen and I do not mesh well. Do you know what kind of MU/frame data/character knowledge you have at character level ~35? Very little. That’s not to say you aren’t amazing. Hell, you could be the best Sabrewulf on the planet, and I’d still argue that people are overreacting.
Yes, he’s frustrating to zoner types. He has solutions, but yes… zoners always frustrate rushdown. Hell, zoners frustrate everyone. It is a frustrating fighting game archetype. But do you know why it is harder for us to get in than it is for them to get out? Because of filthy ■■■■ that [most characters] get to do in your face vs the relatively predictable wall of projectiles at range. It is harder for Glacius to open you up at range than it is for Wulf to open you up while in your face. Plus, the damage is generally lower. The situations simply aren’t equivalent.
As to why they nerfed his overhead? My guess is they didn’t want to have a character with an invisible high/low and an invisible left/right. Regardless, I’ll just repeat my trump card… Wulf took 3rd at the Texas Showdown.
You complain about zoners, yet wulf’s neutral vs zoners got considerably better now that he has an approach through the air. His divekick is an amazing tool to navigate around projectiles and traps. You just need to use it smart and not get predictable. Neutral jump a lot at a distance vs zoners, use hamstring to slide under long range and close range projectiles (not medium range or you’ll get clipped during recovery), use the divekick to make them scared of it and condition their game plan and use shadow leaping slash to dash in and punish projectiles on reaction if they’re dumb enough to use them a mid/close range.
Regarding getting broken, wulf has amazing manuals right off the bat from openers. His style, right now, is veered toward short combos, and he can capitalize tremendously on that. You need to adapt. Long combos will be broken because his linkers are easy to read. Short one chance or two chance to break won’t, because you’ll force your opponent to start guess breaking your manuals. I won’t even talk about AD’s, because you should only really be using them with wulf after a lockout, IMO.
His overhead was fixed. It made no sense for a character like wulf to have an unreactable overhead that could be spammed and required a semi guess from his opp to block it. Much less that it’d combo from c.MP, making c.MP > overhead a combo starter and a mixup tool. His overhead is still good for setups, used sparingly, which is how it should be used, not as a main tool.
He has tremendous footsies, amazing oki and is a character which is really high reward for players with good basics. Not a gimmick character anymore. If you don’t want to play him like that, just move on to rash or TJ.
Regarding killer, that’s a piss poor argument ^^’ I made it from 0 points to killer in little over a night. I didn’t play KI from Kan Ra’s release time until season 3 came out, took a time off because I didn’t have the free time. Just recently got back into it, and found it quite easy to get into killer. If you think that makes me or you or any other killer player a really good player just by itself, I’m sorry for you.
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IMO short combos aren’t the only way to play Wulf. Yes his linkers are easier to break now but that also means you can force your opponent into playing the breaker/counter breaker game a lot more now. You just shouldn’t leave damage on the table if you can get away with it. If they show that they will break heavy hamstring/jumping slash everytime, throw in a counter breaker and take 50-60% with 1 or 2 meters. They will think twice about breaking it again for the rest of the match.
Wulf is definitely not what he used to be, but I think his primary gain is flipout. You can mix your opponent up with grab/dash/no dash and have a lot of fun with it.
His juggle combos do CRAP damage so I don’t even waste time or meter with those. If I clip an airborne opponent with a ragged edge I immediately use flipout and mix them up from there. Grounded combo damage >>>>>>> juggle combo damage. Yes they may be easier to break, but again, refer to my first paragraph.
As far as his dive kick goes, I still haven’t figured out if I like it or not. If Glacius wants to cue up 3 hails, it’s useless whereas running hamstring will get to him in time AND cross to the other side out of harms way.
Using it on your opponents wake up doesn’t seem to offer many benefits over the tried and true forward dash mix ups. But you may also be at greater risk of being dp’d out of the air. I definitely need to experiment with it some more. It may be decent against Mira’s bat zoning that seems to be all the rage now that I think about it.
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I agree lol. Although I did see MyGod use him pretty damn well but it’s MyGod. 
I don’t care much for the breaker system myself and especially don’t like the flipout. I see a lot Wulfs go for throw after it. I haven’t really messed with Wulf since S3 dropped. I picked him up again recently to try and get a better feel for manuals so I can transfer them to Arbiter. He’s still “good” in the hands of skilled players.