Replay overview - Sakura Raging Demon ass-hattery was my first mistake.

Had some crazy sets with my good friend Boshadro. It's unfortunate I couldn't post all the matches we fought but these were a few of the good ones that resulted from what went down.

Eienhikaru(Sakura) vs Boshadro(Makoto) 1-16-2011 Player Match

At ~0:32 you'll recognize some familar inputs, hence the namesake of this week's overview. This is proof of me not putting my serious face on and getting destroyed as the result. Overall this match is fraught with execution error and little knowledge of the match. One of the heartbreaking errors I had was at ~2:15. It was supposed to be a j.FK > 2.MK > EX Tatsu. Instead all I got was the sweep right after the jump kick. Props to Bosh and that Fukiage > Fukiage > EX Hayate at ~3:11, that's some sick shit there.

Eienhikaru(Chun-Li) vs Boshadro(Makoto) 1-16-2011 Player Match

This looks like the match that made me painfully aware of how quick Makoto's Hayates are. I'm just blocking them with my face all day in this. This isn't the greatest example match, but Makoto's Ultra II will continue its animation even if the first hit is blocked, or improperly hits (~2:07). Between Sunday's matches and early ones from this set the Ultra would still catch me off-gaurd. Yay for learning matchups through trial and error!
Praise Altana for the dropped setup at ~3:15 because that would have cost me the round.

Eienhikaru(Chun-Li) vs Boshadro(Makoto) 1-16-2011 Player Match

I didn't capture these in succession, these were spread out among a great deal of matches. This one in particular I feel like I'm rattled by something either I'm switching out of Sakura Mode or something but a great deal of this match are pointless sweeps (3 of them as in Bosh's not even close to me), cautionary 2.LP's to stop seemingly random Hayates. Add in the random-should-not-have-worked Ultra and I'll be well on my way back to D rank with slop like that.
This is probably one of the next longer-term goals is to cut down on wasted moves like this, not only because it's keeping me planted while i'm just throwing stuff out, but it's a clear indication of my brain stuck on a bad sector and just asking to get blown up.

Eienhikaru(Chun-Li) vs Boshadro(Makoto) 1-16-2011 Player Match

If I had a great fault with my gameplay is that it takes a long time to incorporate new tech into my approach. This one specifically I'm starting to use 2.LP > Hazanshu. In this match it helps me not freak out and try to reflexively throw when Makoto's within her own striking range. This is a quick move, but I'm certain it is punishable, so I'll have to not overuse it like I did in this match.

At ~1:53 there's some craziness. I decided to try and end the match with an EX Hazanshu and it whiffs. At the time I felt like I was 90% sure of my range but it still missed. I asked Bosh if that super had invincibility but he wasn't sure.

Eienhikaru(Sakura) vs Boshadro(Makoto) 1-16-2011 Player Match

This match starts off rather awkwardly for me. Most of my damage is due to lucky guesses, but I'm unable to "stay random," enough to surprise Bosh. The second round starts off a great deal better for me. I need to learn more options to convert off of a EX Tatsu without Ultra. Sakura Otoshi's good, but I've had issues with execution in the past. The only thing that came to mind was another EX Tatsu which works but is really only burning meter.
If I learned anything from these matches is to keep Makoto out as much as possible, and stick to short and high priority moves. Once Bosh gets some momentum rolling with the command grab > Hayate this was essentially game over for me. The only thing that saved me was some LP spam because it looked like he was moving in for an EX chop. I don't even know if he did do an EX chop if that would have saved me because what looks like happened is he got an EX Fukiage instead. Yes that Ultra was very much a "Hail-Mary-hopes-he-presses-buttons type.
In the third round, I'm uncertain as to why the (what looks like a j.MK, but input says is a HK) kept catching me off-guard. It looks like I was trying to do a 1 o r 2.FP as an anti-air but it didn't help at all. However this is proof that Makoto's super has mad invncibility. At 3:03 you see my 2.MK full on whiff as Bosh is in the middle of the super animation, then he goes into Ultra and destroys me. This was a full or pixels short of being a full Ultra, and with the damage boost from the Super I actually want to hit the lab to replicate that and see what kind of number damage that does, I'm certain it as crazy as it looks.

I may not run into many Makotos this weekend, but I come away from this knowing that my usual approach and 'bullshit' does not work against all characters. This is a continuing lesson for me surely, but it keeps falling out of focus with all the "standard," characters you face online like Ryu/Ken/Akuma.