Philadelphia's Summer Jam 4 tournament took place this weekend. Though the focus was on SSF4, including the new-character-only tournament (T. Hawk's chance to shine, though the many T. Hawks were swiftly struck down), I got trapped in the new world of Street Fighter III. I saw some casual Third Strike play happening away from the SF4 action and decided I'd play one game, having not played the game at all in about a year and a half. I really enjoyed it. I was playing (poorly) as Elena, but I was in good company: Justin Wong played as Elena for the entire 3S tournament.
As I mentioned, I only intended to play in casuals, but Sweet Johnny Cage had other ideas. He expressed surprise that I played the game and urged me to join the $5 tournament, which I did. My Elena wasn't anywhere near as good as Justin's, and I couldn't parry anything due to my extended sabbatical from 3S. After each match loss, I would switch to Q for the second match. Much to my own surprise (as well as my opponents'), my rusty Q was actually quite potent. I was working on a perfect one round, complete with a Capture & Deadly Blow, Overhead Dash Punch, Dash Punch combo. I also taunted like a madman (taunts buff Q's defense significantly, up to a maximum of three per round) whenever I could. I didn't win any full sets, but I won a match or two and got some props from the Third Strike faithful. I even had Coach Johnny Cage dropping tips in my ear between rounds!
Here's hoping that Elena makes it into SSF4, since holding out hope for Q would be a lost cause. In the meantime, here's a 3S Elena combo video to tide us over:
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