ranking list of Street Fighter characters, noted that his role as a disgruntled underling plotting to usurp his brother calls into question who is the true main villain of the Street Fighter III series. As Urien is essentially a head and palette swap of Gill's in-game model and gameplay mechanics, Jasper praised the developers of 2nd Impact for successfully differentiating both characters by applying select variations to Gill's moveset and visual design to create Urien. Ian Walker from Kotaku noted that Urien was popular with players in both casual and competitive spheres of Street Fighter III due to his distinct look and abilities. In September 2016 Wesley Yin-Poole from Eurogamer observed that Urien quickly became a fan favorite after he was made available earlier that month for download, which he attributed to the character's powerful Aegis Reflector ability, and said he looked forward to see how the character would be utilized by professional players. Urien is placed at 52nd in a worldwide Street Fighter character poll held between 2017 and 2018. For professional level play in Street Fighter V, Urien is consistently regarded as one of the most powerful characters in the roster since his debut in September 2016. Initial impressions and metagame analysis by professional fighting game players with regards to Urien's introduction into the game was generally positive. A balance update implemented in early 2017 doubles the damage dealt by Aegis Reflectors and increases the corresponding meter accumulation earned by certain moves, making Urien's plasma walls easier to activate: this resulted in an increased number of Urien players in high-level competition ever since, such as February 2017’s Winter Brawl XI where half of the finalists played Urien at least once in their top eight matches. Naoki ‘Nemo’ Nemoto, who mainly practiced with the character and is hence called a "Urien main", was the winner of the Red Bull Kumite 2017 tournament. Commenting on his victory, Nemo was of the view that a Urien player like him should focus on leveraging the character's "enormous comeback potential" to find the opportunity for an opening against their opponent. Although the character has been described by some quarters as being overpowered, Kotaku staff have drawn attention to professional level matches where relatively inexperienced competitors have defeated experienced Urien players using either an underpowered character like F.A.N.G. or a well-practiced counter tactic. References External links Character Guide 163: Urien on the official Capcom