Patriot Circle

The Patriot Circle (パトリオットサークル, Patoriotto Saakuru^?) is one of Rolento's signature special attacks, introduced in Street Fighter Alpha 2.

Input

All appearances	+ (can be performed up to 3 times)

Description

The Patriot Circle in Street Fighter X Tekken.

Executed by performing a quarter-circle forward motion and pressing punch, Rolento steps forward and twirls his club up to three times in front of him. The motion can be performed up to three times in a row, with an increasing gap between swings; Rolento holds the club at different angles each time, the last cycle being an "uppercut"-like swing which downs the opponent. Originally in Street Fighter Alpha 2, the attack had two repeatable animations (see below), before getting a new and more consistent animation as of Street Fighter Alpha 3.

The startup and recovery times and horizontal distance dashed forwards in each cycle are all determined by the punch button pressed at the initial input, with heavier punch versions meaning greater distance but also greater startup and recovery time. The move has a maximum of 11 hits (reduced to 9 in Ultra Street Fighter IV), the animation was also changed in Rolento's recent appearances.

The EX Special version introduced in Street Fighter X Tekken has Rolento execute only the "uppercut swing" of the move, though he spins his club much faster, deals the same damage of the entire animation and knocks the opponent further into the air.

Street Fighter IV

Patriot Circle as it appears in Ultra Street Fighter IV.

Despite being heavily nerfed from SFXT, this attack is still Rolento's combo ender of choice. It was sped up significantly from it's X Tekken counterpart and has much less Screen Freeze due to removed Switch Cancels. The amount of air the opponent receives is significantly removed, thus Rolento cannot Juggle in this incarnation. Rolento can still attempt some Okizeme with Trick Landing or reset to a neutral position to space the opponent out with his long baton normals and anti airs. His EX incarnation is one of Rolento's invincible reversals, albeit a rather slow one and is prone to Option Selects

Street Fighter X Tekken

Ling Xiaoyu tossed into the air as a result of Rolento's EX Patriot Circle in Street Fighter X Tekken.

Patriot Circle is one of the most useful Switch Cancels in the game due to the amount of blockstun and screen freeze caused by the sequence on block. If the sequence is blocked Rolento can switch cancel into his partner who can then proceed to protect him. His default partner, Ibuki, synergizes well with protecting him with Target Combo 4, as the blockstun of the sequence perfectly covers Rolento's recovery. It should be noted that Rolento should not use this attack freely if he has no super in the Super Gauge, as this attack is not safe on block. In the 2013 patch this attack was made to -5 on the first hit and Rolento is left to try and protect himself with varying timings to punish counter attacks, a tactic that is fully vulnerable to invincible reversals.

The EX version has invincibility and can be made safe on block with a switch cancel at the cost of two bars of meter. On all versions, Rolento can perform post juggle combos by himself without help of a partner. Due to the long blockstun Rolento can expect to be Cross Canceled when switch cancelling due to the hard knockdown they provide and how easy the action is to perform on all versions of patriot circle.

Tactics

The Patriot Circle is best used for close-range combos or general chip damage, though it can be easily punished if blocked; the EX version allows Rolento to juggle an opponent, and can also work as an anti-air defense if timed correctly.

Similar moves

• Rekkaken
• Tourouzan
• Whip of Love
• Spin Scythe

Gallery

Sprites

Videos

Rolento Patriot Circle X3 SFXT

Street Fighter X Tekken (full animation, Japanese voices).