[CS1] Hakumen vs Arakune

[JackG]

Punishes:

Anti-airing:

Zoning:

Their game plan:

Strategy:

Char specific details:

Not enough data. jC may provide slight advantage.

[qwerty]

honestly? this shit is free.

you can poke the living shit out of him now and laugh as he gets counter hit for trying to do anything. his close range game isn't scary anymore either since he can't do shit unless he has fever.

even once he has fever it's pretty stacked in your favor. remember that cutting through bugs is entirely safe now and that you get the black hole when you do so (which actually puts his bugs in hitstop for all of their hits, effectively making them a waste of meter and giving you valuable real estate on the stage). so you can literally just jump around pressing C and hit his bugs/him and just play keep away until his meter drains.

there's not much more to say for the time being other than enjoy your revenge while it lasts.

[A3Religion]

I used 5C in the middle of the bugs and then stood inside the Black orb and poked at him with 4C until the meter ran out a couple of times. When he is not in fever, he's your bitch. All sounds about right.

[ryokoalways]

Strategy proposed by Film in new Rejarand video: During rakuin pressure, when Arakune goes for 2A/6A>2B/jC mixup options, IB the prior and yukikaze, which will defend any trick he may be able to throw out. Let your opponent know this, then Arakune's rakuin pressure on hakumen will be even weaker on top of CA and barrier.

[mAc Chaos]

CA? So CA is worth something now?

[ryokoalways]

It is in this matchup. Arakune's goal is air-tight pressure during rakuin, so CA is a viable option. If hakumen is unable to get a barrier out and gets locked down, arakune still can't just freely approach hakumen due to CA. Once arakune get past CA he still needs to get pass IB>yukikaze. That's a lot of things to get past in not much time. Most characters are just bat-shit out of luck once arakune is in rakuin, but in this match-up it really isn't that bad.

[Darkside937]

Does anyone have a more in-depth analysis for this matchup? I don't get to practice it much since our local Arakune player switched mains, and the ones that I do play are kicking my ass. It's difficult for me to avoid getting cursed via clouds or by blocking Ara's drives, and after I do get cursed I get 100%'d.

[LordSpectreX]

Stay on Arakune. Do not let up. The more time you give him, the more the battle will turn in his favour. Arakune shouldn't even have a chance to summon a cloud because you'll be on him so much.

Use whatever attacks you can to keep pressure, even if it's not a block string. Arakune has no good normals and is terrible at getting out of pressure.

Seriously, Qwerty is right. This shit is free. Just go all out pressure. Even if it means taking a cloud or two. Let Arakune have any space whatsoever, and he will find a way to curse you. Stay on his ass, and there's almost nothing he can do.

[mAc Chaos]

^Uh, I think his advice was from when nobody knew how to use Arakune yet. We're back to having to claw our wins from again :P

[LordSpectreX]

I guess the joke wasn't that funny then?

[Sophisticat]

Stay on Arakune. Do not let up. The more time you give him, the more the battle will turn in his favour. Arakune shouldn't even have a chance to summon a cloud because you'll be on him so much.

I cannot agree more. This is the only match where you have to be balls-to-the-wall aggressive or else Ara sets up his traps and you might as well set down the controller.

Yeah, Haku has more ways out of bugs than most other characters, but being cursed isn't a situation you want to be in regardless. Ryoko has it right that CA, Yukikaze, and Void are your best bets to surviving bug lock down. I'll just add that voiding bugs while running away is what you want to rely on if not pinned down. Don't throw j.C recklessly, of course.

Also, be careful of using j.D. J.D beats out his 5c (AA), but if he baits it, you might find yourself air thrown -> dead Haku. I learned this the hard way. >_>

[mAc Chaos]

His 5C beats Hotaru ;_;

[SteelCoil]

His 5C beats Hotaru ;_;

Actually as long as you don't fk up the timing hotaru > 5C. 5C's head invincibility seems to last a while so you want to do hotaru a little later than usual. Have hotaru hit during the active frames of 5C (right when he sticks out his tongue) and it should be a free combo.

[mAc Chaos]

This matchup is impossible for me. Arakune sets up an obstacle course of bells and bugs and clouds I can't do anything to get to him. Then I get cursed and die.

[BladeOfJustice7]

For bell bug iad j2a/jc or super jump air dash j2c, then wait it out. When you see him in the air jc and chances are it'll land a counter hit because he was trying to create an insect cloud.

That's my 2 cents.

SPARK, spit some knowledge on these niggas, you haven't said anything about this match up.

[mAc Chaos]

Wait.

You can destroy the bell bug? In CS?

Here, I'll run down what happens when I play. He jumps away in the beginning, too far for me to catch, and makes bugs and clouds and such. That makes an impenetrable wall that I can't get through...

Then I get cursed and die. :P

My pokes actually work against me in this matchup; I might j.C him but it knocks him full screen, giving him the advantage again, for minimal damage...

I block everything, but I'll get caught by his hi/low/throw/teleport crossup eventually because it just gives him a chance to go back to zoning with clouds and such 'til I get cursed again. If I counter a bug or cut a bug it doesn't really change anything during curse; I just get caught again a second or two later back into combo.

Oh, and if I somehow block all of that he can just guard break for free; this one Arakune just did 3C over and over again until my guard broke and killed me, because I was in blockstun the entire time from a constant barrage of bugs. It was airtight, I couldn't do anything.

Oh and apparently his gold burst goes into full curse combo for your entire lifebar.

Anyway, that's how it is for me. I don't really know how to approach him in CS.

[BladeOfJustice7]

Beginning of the match super jump install jc, that should get arakune it works for me, you my friend need to know what you can cut. Hakumen can cut ALL projectiles, even if it's only part projectile like noel's gun's or hazama's attacks. When he's in the corner trap him with jump install attacks and mid to long range attacks (j.j and 4c). Also learn to predict teleportation, either hit him out of it or wait on the other side and when he appears hit/grab him.

When you're cursed, jump and use j2a, jc (preferably j2a because of it's wide vertical hitbox) then hide inside a void. When knocked down either yukikaze or barrier block low which pushes him back, yukikaze is more useful for offline play though, coupled ib'ing.

[Spark]

You can't jump install in BB as far as I know, and it doesn't really make sense to do it in both of the situations you listed.

[mAc Chaos]

I thought jump install just meant super jump.

Oh it's from GG: http://dustloop.com/guides/ggac/tech/ji.html

So, any ideas, Spark? What do you do against Arakune?

[BladeOfJustice7]

You can't jump install in BB as far as I know, and it doesn't really make sense to do it in both of the situations you listed.

Oops, maybe mixed up terms, though jumping install was attacking as you're jumping, because that's what I meant. Anyways, my point is super jump and attack, only if you got really good yomi game though.

[ryokoalways]

Get better with your zoning game, and just sit on your ass till you have full meter. It's not like Arakune can do anything to you at mid-long range anyways. Arakune has to take chances to get in, just as you do.

[Spark]

Random thoughts: Fighting CS Arakune is kind of bland. Even though it technically is easier for Hakumen now, I actually did not mind fighting CT Arakune because if you were careful you could always get around curse. But not so much in CS because you can't cut or counter clouds.

Punishes:

236236C:

- Block the legs and then punish with 6C(Lvl3). You might have to delay a bit because if you hit the beam you might launch him instead of staggering him on the ground.

Anti-airing & Zoning:

If Arakune doesn't have a cloud there's not a whole lot that he can do to approach you. Especially once you get enough stars for j.214B. But, this can all change once he has a cloud out.

Stopping the cloud:

With j.C and 4C it can be pretty easy to stop Arakune from creating a cloud. If he does it in the air at the wrong spot or time you can just jump up and j.C him for free. But, say he does it from full screen and high enough that you can't reach him with j.C, he still needs to land after creating the cloud and he can't get rid of the landing recover from the it. So if you're close you can still 4C him as he lands to hit him eliminate the cloud(Ex. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_6qlO9o_Ps 28 seconds in).

Dealing with the cloud:

While you can't counter or cut the clouds anymore you can still get rid of them by either hitting Arakune or throwing him(which will get rid of the cloud even if he breaks the throw).

Overhead cloud: Keeps you from jumping up, although you can still IAD forward or backwards without touching it. Once this cloud is out you should only IAD at him if he's committed to some thing else like 2D, j.D, or 6D(IAD j.2A this if you see him do it and you're not doing anything). Otherwise just walk at him and watch what he does in response. If he starts to attack from the air using the cloud for cover you can TK j.214B or 66/44 j.214B to stay low to the ground and anti-air him.

Homing cloud(The one that follows you): In CT this was very easy to deal with as you could just 6D it for free, now it is probably the most annoying one to deal with. Basically you will be force to go around it at some point as you can't just walk backwards forever, and the main problem is that Arakune will jump up and either hit you or force you to block causing you to fall on this cloud. So what you can do is build two stars(hopefully you will just have 2 stars when this cloud is out) and wait for it to be as close as possible when you super jump over so if you mess up there's a chance you won't fall on it. If Arakune jumps and tries to hit you you can just j.214B him and if he jumps up and baits it by blocking you just jump cancel and throw him (doesn't matter if he breaks it) to get rid of the cloud and provide a safe spot to land in.

Shield cloud?(The one that follows him): In CT this one was also pretty easy to deal with as you could 623A under it and then reversal 6D or 2D after the dash recovered to counter it and get rid of it. However since you can't do that anymore it is a bit more tricky to deal with. First you should be aware that the hit box on it as been made smaller in CS, so you actually can get pretty close without it hitting you. Now a simple setup that a lot of Arakune have used, but you don't see that much in CS is air back dashing so they end up behind you and the cloud will try to go through you to get to him. When this happens pay attention to how high or low he is when he does this. If he does it too low you can just jump over the cloud when it tries to go through you, or if he does it too high you can just dash under it. If he does it very low to the ground you can always 623A under it. Or you can just wait for him to appear behind you and j.214B him or air throw him. Now another set up a lot of Arakunes will use is after they made you block something they will teleport through you with one of his ground teleports or his forward dash so the cloud will hit you. In this case the cloud takes a little while before it starts to move so you can jump before it gets to you.

Strategy:

Pressuring Arakune:

He doesn't really have a reversal besides 236236C, so you can pretty much do whatever you want if he doesn't have 50%. Also make sure to space yourself so you can't be counter assaulted when he has 100% meter. On another note you can jump in on Arakune for free because his 5C anti-air is so slow you have enough time to think about whether you want to combo him with j.D or j.214B(do this late so you don't whiff it through his 5C) as you dash/jump at him.

Dealing with Arakune's pressure:

Not much to say, Arakune can't really pressure all that well with out curse. I guess there's the fast fall j.B, but if they do it low enough you can 5A them out of it. Many Arakune's will chain into D attacks to build curse slowly while you're blocking, so try to 2D their 5D when you see it, jump and hit him out of j.D if he does it after a jump cancelable move, and if you IB the first hit of Arakune's 2D you can 2D the second hit to avoid the curse build up.

Dealing with Arakune's mix up:

6A: It's pretty slow, so you should be able to block it if he just straight up chains into it. It's jump cancelable so you can't really punish on block, so you should watch what they do after wards. If they chain into 5D (which is pretty common as it is jump cancelable as well and on block builds curse meter) just 2D it as it is pretty slow and has a very distinct look to it. If they jump you can TK j.214B to beat out what ever they are trying to jump back in with. If they just jump and block just air throw them.

6B: You don't see this move all that often. His standing low, not all that effective because it doesn't really look like 6A.

3C: Can be kind of sneaky, but it's slow and only works at a specific range. So if you're in that range just look for it and block and punish with whatever. Or you can 6B it on reaction for laughs.

j.D: Not really a mix up any more, but is still plus on block if they do it low enough. Though with it's 30 odd frames of start up you should always IAD air throw or j.2C him if you see it.

Dives: No one really uses these outside of curse, but if they do just j.D or 5D(if you're feeling lazy) them.

Char specific details:

Best 1 star throw combo for Arakune that I know of:

BC > 214A > 66 > 5B > jc > j.A > j.B > jc > j.2A > j.C

Can 623A under:

Cloud that follows Arakune (Might not be worth the meter and only situational)

Bell Bug (Do it so you can counter it right after your dash is done)

Final Note:

Wrote this up in like 10 minutes, I'll come back to it if I'm forgetting something (which I probably am).

[BladeOfJustice7]

Random thoughts:

Punishes:

236236C:

- Block the legs and then punish with 6C(Lvl3). You might have to delay a bit because if you hit the beam you might launch him instead of staggering him on the ground.

Be careful doing this, arakune can move a little bit when doing his spider super, so make sure you give enough space to fully charge 6c because hakumen leans forward which may allow arakune to knock you up into his super.

[LordSpectreX]

Wait.

You can destroy the bell bug?

Yes, you just slash it. It is a projectile after all.

Here, I'll run down what happens when I play. He jumps away in the beginning, too far for me to catch, and makes bugs and clouds and such. That makes an impenetrable wall that I can't get through...

Superjump. Airdash. j.C. Destory Bellbug. Problem solved.

Then I get cursed and die. :P

Slash bugs then hide in the hole, or just block.

My pokes actually work against me in this matchup; I might j.C him but it knocks him full screen, giving him the advantage again, for minimal damage...

If you j.C, you jump back up, airdash and get him. If he jumps, do another j.C. If he's on the ground, j.2C

I block everything, but I'll get caught by his hi/low/throw/teleport crossup eventually because it just gives him a chance to go back to zoning with clouds and such 'til I get cursed again. If I counter a bug or cut a bug it doesn't really change anything during curse; I just get caught again a second or two later back into combo.

Hide in the hole instead of just slashing the bugs? And seriously, how the hell are you losing to Arakune's nonexistent high low mixup? Not to mention you can use anything to punish teleports. 632146C. 41236C. ANYTHING.

Oh, and if I somehow block all of that he can just guard break for free; this one Arakune just did 3C over and over again until my guard broke and killed me, because I was in blockstun the entire time from a constant barrage of bugs. It was airtight, I couldn't do anything.

Barrier Block is there for a reason.

Oh and apparently his gold burst goes into full curse combo for your entire lifebar.

Almost any attack can go into a curse combo. But gold burst proporates badly. The two best curse combos starts are Throws and Counterhit 5D. Do not get hit by counterhit 5D. Ever.

Anyway, that's how it is for me. I don't really know how to approach him in CS.

I said it before and I'll say it again. Arakune should not be able to do anything. Suicidal Pressure isn't actually that suicidal against Arakune. Just don't get airthrown.

[Spark]

Be careful doing this, arakune can move a little bit when doing his spider super, so make sure you give enough space to fully charge 6c because hakumen leans forward which may allow arakune to knock you up into his super.

If you've blocked the legs once, he won't be able to walk into and launch you.