Hate Speech: In Praise of Cheapness

[Rikuto]

how do you classify SCIV's Hilde?
When does cheap become broken?
When does broken become ban?

Cheap becomes broken when the other characters lack any redeeming value whatsoever to contrast the massive advantage that one character has.

Broken becomes ban after its been tested thoroughly in a competitive environment and has shown that it pisses off too many people to be healthy for the ongoing scene.

This pretty much describes the entirety of Hilde's existence in SC4.

 

[neoghaleon]

Cheap becomes broken when the other characters lack any redeeming value whatsoever to contrast the massive advantage that one character has.

Broken becomes ban after its been tested thoroughly in a competitive environment and has shown that it pisses off too many people to be healthy for the ongoing scene.

This pretty much describes the entirety of Hilde's existence in SC4.

That's a very scary thin line to cross since the words "redeeming value" and "piss people off" are very subjective!

But as you can see, there is a connection between cheap and broken
and a connection between broken and banned.

 

[Dr. Hates]

Man...at first...i aaaaaaaaaaalmost thought you would get through without quoting/referencing sirlin. I am deeply ashamed for you, hates.

It's my obligation as a scholar, dude. If I don't point to related content I could be accused of negligence or plagiarism. =P

 

[Rikuto]

That's a very scary thin line to cross since the words "redeeming value" and "piss people off" are very subjective!

But as you can see, there is a connection between cheap and broken
and a connection between broken and banned.

Connected by a bridge, but definitely not the same island.

We can both play Astaroth. I can be "cheap", and you can be "Fair". This is by your own flawed human perception even though we have the exact same tools available to us.

With broken, however, there is an on-paper and provable advantage. When that advantage becomes too unreasonable and there is literally nothing you can do about it short of playing that character yourself, people stop playing the game competitively.

In such cases, it is sometimes better to ban one character than destroy the community.

 

[Bushido]

Sirlin also covers this and uses ST Akuma as a broken character. Cheap tactics have a counter and are not unstoppable. Broken may have a counter but it's so slim and the advantage the broken tactic provides is well above anything else in the game.