Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike/Hugo/2021/Introduction

Introduction

Hugo (or Andore as he was called in his initial debut as an enemy in the beat-em-up series Final Fight) is an ex-member of the Mad Gear Gang. His old gang now fallen, Hugo is determined to become the number one wrestler in the world, with his former gang member and long-time friend Poison as his manager. Hugo was first introduced to the Street Fighter series in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact

Hugo is 3rd Strike's most straightforward grappler, moreso than Alex, and as such, requires exceptional patience to play. He can do an impressive amount of damage with only a few moves (theoretically capable of KOing Chun-Li with only 4 uses of his main command grab, the Moonsault Press), but his slow move speed and lack of ranged punish options makes getting his turn especially difficult. Hugo is also the largest character in 3rd Strike, meaning he has a big set of hurtboxes, and combined with his unsafe pokes makes him a sitting duck to a lot of hit-confirms.

Super Arts

SA1: Gigas Breaker

Gigas Breaker is great because it forces the opponent to play Hugo's game, lest they instantly lose half their health. Can be setup in a variety of ways including an SJ cancel A.K.A Tachi/standing gigas. It can also be buffered in a dash, but is mostly used in a situation where a parry or block can lead to fat ass damage. Drawbacks include a lack of combo-ability and loss of some EX potential. Hayao is arguably the best known SAI player, also notable is Eriho.

Does incredible damage.
Instant startup, beats many moves.
Usually takes close to or an entire round to fill the meter
If missed, Hugo is screwed.
Create unique dynamics in matches.
Free setups after, on opponent's wakeup.
Always be buffering 360 motions into your normals, jumps and other moves. This allows you to execute a second 360 on reaction, and thus Gigas on demand, without jumping.

SA2: Megaton Press

Megaton Press isn't used much, but can be used a lot like Gief's Aerial Russian Slam. It has very low priority and is hard to land versus an aware opponent. It can be used to counter characters who want to be in the air a lot, like Oro and Ibuki and force them to play a ground game. It can also be used after an ultra throw, and in the corner after ultra throw and a clap. Does decent damage and allows for EX uses, most people pass it up to have either the power of Gigas or the flexibility of Hammer Mountain.

Excellent damage if hit raw
If missed, Hugo is screwed.
Zero priority; loses to all jump-ins
Particularly affected by damage scaling

SA3: Hammer Mountain

Hammer Mountain is Hugo's most flexible SA. It deals decent damage, can be used on wakeup or to charge through poke strings and as a whiff punisher. Deals excellent stun damage. Can be comboed from claps, c.lks, j.hk, bodysplash, c.lk and allows for EX usage. It is one of two ways Hugo can deal big damage with a combo (the other is claps into EX clothesline). The best known SAIII player is YSB. Hammer mountain is the best choice if you want to player more hit-confirm based play-style, as opposed to the reactive style of Gigas.

Good damage output.
Has running/cancel gimmick, which is useful for longer range confirms.
Invincibility on startup, making it a true reversal.
Lots of moves that confirm into it
Tends to drop out if Hugo isn't right in the opponent's face.
Easily baitable and death on block or whiff.
Cheeky overhead

Strengths

Weaknesses

Highest unbuffed health in the game, and with taunts that can increase it further, which leads to a long match in which the opponent makes more mistakes
Longest range light attacks in the game, and many pokes with very far reach. His pressure moves also reach fairly far
Excellent damage output and can take the round off of 2 to 3 right guesses.
Claps allow for tight and extremely versatile pressure and mix-ups, especially if it manages to knockdown.
very threatening with super, sa1 allows for tight and scary punishes, while sa3 is easily confirmable, corner carries well and has great range.

A third of his normals are nearly useless, leaving him with a bit of a limited toolset.
Slow pokes, making it difficult to whiff punish a lot of characters on reaction.
No consistent anti-airs
No true reversal outside of super, making it very hard for him to escape pressure if he starts a round on the back foot
Huge, tall hurtbox allows for unique combos and setups against him, and make certain moves that are trivial against other characters incredibly threatening for him.
Awful mobility, struggles to get in to start his pressure and his slow, floaty jump arc leaves him very vulnerable to anti airs.
Some characters have all the tools to easily and safely stay away from him.

Character Colors