This kind of comeback almost never happens in Street Fighter 5
Comebacks are not all that uncommon in Street Fighter 5. This is in no small part because the game centers heavily around its comeback mechanic, V-Trigger, which can easily allow some characters to absolutely steamroll opponents in the latter parts of rounds.
Brazilian competitor Keoma Pacheco, however, recently pulled victory from the jaws of all but certain death with his Alex against a grand master ranked Rose. He did so not through a single sequence of repeated 50/50 guesses, but through scoring five honest ins without taking a single hit.
To be fair, Keoma most definitely uses Alex’s Rage Shift V-Trigger to pull this off. When Rage Shift is active Alex gains access to a parry stance that will nullify any and all incoming strikes, allowing him to counter if his opponent erroneously tries to hit him at the wrong time.
It would be one thing if Alex had good follow up okizeme (the ability to continue to pressure the opponent after knocking them down) but hitting an opponent with his Power Bomb command grab, even the EX version, leaves him too far away to keep them locked down.
What’s more, Rose is one of the strongest zoning characters in Street Fighter 5.
She tends to have a hard time with opponents once they get up in her face, but good luck getting anywhere close as she’s able to riddle the screen with traps, snatch foes out of the air, and smack them from relatively far away with her long reach.
Keoma displays the kind of skills that got him into the top eight of Capcom Cup back in 2015, threading the needle perfectly again and again as he endures a “fight for your life, score a Power Bomb, fight for your life, score a Power Bomb” cycle.
After the fourth hits, with all the momentum in the world, Keoma finds himself in a defensive and dire situation. He escapes with a ton of flair, and must then score one last in to seal the deal.
Check out the quick clip below and then feel free to share your reactions in the comments. Is this a top tier display of reads and skill, or just another SF5 comeback to you?