Chokes in this game are binary, so Tokido knew that he had a licence to pressure when Punk folded. When I say binary, that's because execution's been removed as a barrier to top-level performance. For contrast, watch GamerBee versus Infil a couple of years ago, because the thing about chokes in IV is that you're often aware of them before your opponent is.

Those moments when you suddenly doubt your ability to pull off something tricky under insane pressure, and you're hoping that the other guy won't be onto you and test that opening with a probe. Or maybe you've pulled off a counter through sheer desperation and he nows believes that you're solid on that.

So chokes in IV are layered, and as much as I didn't like the game, I enjoyed watching those matches. But because of V's easier execution, you know exactly where your opponent's at mentally; exactly when to push and pull. And the latter's what it boils down to, and that's mainly as a result of its input lag (tied to its pace, naturally).

For an example, the comms were criticising Tokido's lack of anti-airs. I wasn't. Tokido's getting on a bit now, so let's put his reactions down as 12+ frames. It takes another 8 or so to input a DP, and a further 3 for the DP to execute. That's 23 frames of a 35-frame (or thereabouts) jump. Add another 7 frames of lag and you're down to 5 frames. So if you don't anticipate a jump, you're unlikely to ID its animation within a few frames. (Anticipation also allows you to buffer the first forward, which is how I got into the bad habit of crouch-buffering with Cammy.)

On several occasions, Tokido probably could've punished jump-ins, and he knew as much, but he decided to stay grounded to take that option away from Punk. Because one big jump-in combo from Karin would've encouraged Punk to both try and feint them again, and Tok obviously decided that it was a better policy to deny them via routine neutral resets.

This is a big part of the reason why Daigo's no longer at the top, and probably never will be: he has no Ume. He was a master of making you think that you had an extra frame or two to punish him in IV, because the game was fast enough in motion with a five-frame delay. When he walks up in V, you just block; not because of him — in spite of him. No-one presses buttons when it's not their turn in the pocket. Because of the priority system and CCs, the meta's fishing at max range with mediums for confirms. Tokido's confirms were excellent — best in the tournament, and that's why he won.

The game revolves around preempting, because the input delay makes reactive play impossible at the highest level. Daigo's much less of a threat with Guile because he's set out his defensive stall with him. The majority of exchanges are rock-paper-scissors, and that's not because there's a lack of mutual respect between players, but because there is.

The engine's against everyone to the comprehensive detriment of viable options. The entire meta's beating buttons with buttons, counter-hitting to confirms, to the extent of teabagging in the hope of gaining that crucial timing advantage. When tactics are set, you have to resort to any attempts to disrupt timing. Movement comes into play insofar as characters with variable jumps can make sparing use of them, but even then you come unstuck if you rely on them to get anything started.

Slapsies Fighter. I get the impression that they like it this way because it creates a stronger impression of mindgames than IV did, but that's superficial. If they reduced input delay to 3 frames and boosted its speed by 15-20%, we'd have something that's a lot deeper.

Abigail's all wrong for a game where everyone's laggy and slow, and it'll be horrible to watch him trying to advance on certain characters.