Prior to BlazBlue CS I'd always used a good game pad to play my 2D fighters, but since I had bought an SFIV TE stick earlier in the year I thought I'd give it a try. Boy did I suck at it. Despite the many hours i spent practicing I just could not the hang of the square gate. The hard diagonals were nice for a few things like low blocks, but when it came to quarter and half-circle motions I couldn't pull them off with any level of consistency.
Desperate to find a solution I decided to order an octagonal gate from AkihabaraShop (Sanwa GT-Y for JLF sticks) to see if it would help my situation. Well, it arrived today and since I installed it my life has been on the up and up. Got two character achievements today that had been dodging me, including Tsubaki's, and did a whole bunch of challenges with relative ease. Best change I'd every made. If any one else is having the same problem I am this may be a change you want to make. Only word of warning is that I'm fairly certain it will void your warranty.
Should be able to find one for around 550 JPY + shipping.
