V-Ken 00 Let's learn V-Ken together. But first, to get everyone's attention, let's watch him take a heartbreaking loss.

V-Ken 01 In Japan, he is Street Fighter Zero 3's "Romance" character. A solid mid-tier with great neutral, but inconsistent combos, particularly in mid-screen. To make him work, the best players deeply learn the game's engine and maximize damage from the smallest opportunities.

V-Ken 02 Players to watch: Imakiti, Rokkou, Harashou Those who love Zero 3 love the mechanics. And with Ken, you're constantly improvising on the fly. Air to air counter hit Jab? Walk cancel to Back Fierce xx [MP] Shoryuken, then set up an ambiguous cross up to win the round.

V-Ken 03 Even the smallest details like manipulating the shadows of your Hadouken and air Tatsumaki to set up funky resets, pressure, and hit confirms. Ken becomes one of the most technical characters in the game. Sometimes you just have to go for things to build the momentum.

V-Ken 04 Even if you drop a combo, layer it with a back up plan. Ken is always thinking about the next action. So join me on this journey as I try to improve my V-Ken by falling in love with the game's mechanics.

V-Ken 05 Random lore. The first time I learned that Ken could potentially do an infinite was in this match from 2007(?). Tugu Ken hits an anti cross up [lack of] trip guard custom. He nearly exploited the entire game's engine in less than 20 seconds.

V-Ken 06 Haven't figured out exactly how I'll keep up with this project. I hope by watching these clips over and over and practicing, the muscle memory will stick. For reference, up until this point, I pulled from these channels:

V-Ken 07 🇯🇵Imakiti (V-Ken) vs. 🇬🇧middlekick (V-Cammy) September 13, 2009 Gotta pay respects to middlekick aka s-e-h. A scholar of Zero 3 with great resources on his blog and channel. Imakiti battles Jimmy, psi-otg, and Chunkis.

V-Ken 08 ULTIMATE ZERO 14 May 4, 2022 Imakiti fights a team of Z-ISM heroes. These characters have strong buttons, yet Ken needs to contest with Roundhouse. Ken's corner activation is deadly as there's no threat of a counter VC. From VER's channel:

V-Ken 09 Imakiti (V-Ken) vs. Yousei (V-Karin) SFZ3 ALL CAPCOM Historical-vsgame Olympic 2011 Finals Imakiti activates three times in one round, not for combos, but to threaten guard crush. Awesome meter management. Even at the end, he barely gets to 50% with the Tatsumaki.

V-Ken 10 (1P) Rokkou vs. (2P) Imakiti Old school mirror match between OG V-Ken legends. Every few seconds there's an activation and you're not sure what you're gonna get. First posted on Imakiti's Geocities page, then tscds YouTube, and now on Twitter in glorious 240p lore.

V-Ken 11 Dear Journal, For the first time in this thread, we're not posting match clips. Instead here's my progress at learning Ken's walk cancel and crouch cancel set ups. Still in infancy, but the pieces are starting to connect.

V-Ken 12 Ken is able to low profile Nash's Sonic Boom with a crouching MK. Ryu, Gouki, and Dan are not able to do this as their hurtbox does not go low enough. Sometimes it's the nuanced tech followed up by a clutch read that net you a comeback. The grind continues.

V-Ken 13 The standard anti air VC2 doesn't work on some characters (Sakura, Rolento). I recall s-e-h 🇬🇧 once uploaded this combo to YouTube and called it the Imakiti 🇯🇵 special. Thanks Tank 🇹🇹 for reproducing the clip and reminding me to practice this.

V-Ken 14 Midscreen VC2 resets by @kyonchan1201 aka Oriren443. Requires high execution, but perhaps these set ups may be practical. I've already begun to implement some variations. The full videos have set ups for more characters.

V-Ken 15 Matchup chart by @imakiti1091 (いまきち), legendary V-Ken player from Japan, published in January 2006. The link also contains short reads on how he approaches the matchups.

V-Ken 16 Matchup chart by @KyokujiFGC -- world class Street Fighter Zero 3 expert shares his perspective. August 14, 2024

V-Ken 17 Standard mid-screen custom doesn't work against Rolento and Sakura. So Kyokuji be cooking.

V-Ken 18 The best example of corner jank VC2. Inputs: C. LK xx [HP] Hadouken, C. MK xx [HP] Hadouken, whiff S. LP, Jump early HP ~ delay HP, repeat. Player is most likely Super Masumi, and these are casual matches played at BigOne on 11/01/2024.

V-Ken 19 Clips not in chronological order. Emphasis is on Harashou's crossup reaction to Guard - Hit - Counter Hit, using walk cancels on Counter Hit to get B. HP xx MP Shoryuken. +CC and OC shadow setups. +Zenpou Tenshin (Roll) to avoid unblockable.