Are you new to the world of Street Fighter, and wanting to get to grips with all of the in-game terminology?
In this guide, professional Street Fighter player, and Silver medallist at the 2022 Global Esports Games, Kim-Phillippe ‘The4Philzz’ Badiabio looks at some of the most commonly used terms and phrases in the game, and shares what they mean.
Active:
How many frames a move remains able to hurt an opponent for.
ANTI-AIR:
An anti-air is performed when you land an attack on your opponent which takes them out of the air. (This is performed when your opponent jumps in on you).
Armor:
The word “Armor”, is used when describing certain moves in the game that allow you to tank 1 or multiple hits when getting attacked, before your character staggers.
Blockstring:
When a string of attacks happen in quick succession where the first hit is expected to be blocked, it is called a blockstring.
Cancel:
The act of stopping the animation of an attack.
Chip Damage:
When you block your opponent’s special move, it inflicts some damage.
Combos:
When you stack multiple moves to do them in quick succession.
Critical Art:
The special moves that your fighter builds up power to do. These used to be called Super Moves.
EX Gauge:
The blue meter at the bottom of the screen that fills up when you perform specific moves. When you fill up the EX Gauge, you can then use your Critical Art.
Frame trap:
A frame trap is when you stop attacking an opponent during a blockstring, to bait them into making a move. When timed correctly, it allows you to trigger a counter hit with your next attack.
Grey Damage / Life:
When you block a medium or heavy normal attack, you cause grey damage. This means that a small bit of your health bar becomes grey, and then slowly regenerates when you don’t take damage. If you get hit whilst you have this grey life, you will lose all of the grey life, as well as the normal damage of the attack that hit you.
Invincible:
The term “invincible” or “invincibility”, is used when a particular move has special properties which allow it to negate other moves in the game.
Linking:
A link is when you chain 2 or more corresponding attacks together, which leads to a combo.
Neutral / Footsies:
This is the act of using your movement to figure out both you and your opponents preferred space and ranges on the screen. During “neutral” or “footsies”, both players are focused on landing their next hit and are trying to find the best possible way to do so.
Normals:
Any standard or basic attack that you can do. Most fighters will do their ‘Normal attacks’ standing, crouching, or jumping.
Parry:
A specialised blocking move that prevents the fighter from taking any damage from the incoming attacks.
Punish:
A punish is when you counter your opponent’s attack with an attack of your own, after having successfully blocked their attack first.
Shimmy:
A shimmy is when you utilise movement to bait your opponent into making an instinctive move. (This is usually followed by a punish).
Sweep:
Refers to the attack that is a crouching kick. These generally cause knockdowns to enemies, and are used frequently in play to form combos.
Throw break:
This is the act of breaking a throw and can only be performed when the opponent is attempting to throw you.
Whiff punish:
When your opponent attempts to attack you but the attack misses, it is known as a “whiff”. Punishing your opponent for whiffing their attack with an attack of your own is known as a whiff punish.
V-Gauge:
The red bar at the bottom of the screen that is filled up when the fighter does their specific ‘V-Skill’. If you have a full gauge, you can perform a V-Reversal attack.
V-Reversal:
The attack you can do when you fill up the V-Gauge. This is an animation followed by an attack that is used normally to break out of blocking strings from your opponent.
V-Skill:
A unique skill that each fighter has that will build up the V-Gauge for a special move.
This is only a handful of the many terms that you might encounter when playing Street Fighter V, so go out there and get those wins!
Want to learn more game jargon for an assortment of different esports titles? Check out our guides for Overwatch 2, VALORANT, League of Legends, Rocket League, Dota 2, CS:GO, Fortnite, and many more on the British Esports General Esports Info hub.
