[CS1] Taokaka Combo and BnB Thread

[CakeWasBannedd]

Sweet, thanks for the input guys. Shame people are dropping Taokaka for easier characters, she was rare enough to see before :/

[RinHara5aki]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QktP-GZ8s2M

This is seriously the best I can do. Its pretty pathetic. The problem I always have is 214d for some reason its very difficult for me to get it out, so I mash the crap out of it. The drive cancel and taunt aren't too hard.. But i'm getting down, slowly.

[XDest]

Mashing the 214D is fine, actually. You're probably also rushing the time between 214D and j.2D~B. That's where you should ease up and delay. That's indeed the most important thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmeYB0n_Gh0

I found this combo video, should help most people hopefully.

[TaoFTW]

Sorry for being postless and not updating the forums with new Tao information. Long story short, I'm working my butt off and focused most of my attention to building my local tournament scene.

TAUNT LOOP 101

I will leave you all with this tidbit; spacing is everything. The execution requirement is no different than Tao's CT taunt loops. But, be warned, the taunt loop timing varies for each character (at least during the first few loops). This is where you will need to make the transition from CT to CS Tao. In virtue of frame data, her command normals are the same, but some characters are more floaty while others are, simply, promiscuously huge. Therefore, the key to nailing taunt loops - apart from execution - is knowing how well you can space your drives to hit your opponent. For example,

5b -> 6a -> JC -> 2d~b -> taunt -> 214d

Let's assume that your execution is 100% solid. If your combo becomes invalid or you wiff, then there's only one answer; incorrect spacing. There are four likely places that you are dropping your combo:

1) JC - Jump Cancel; the first problem that you may have is that you are either (1) jumping too high (2) jumping too low or (3) misjudge your jump timing. For the sake of argument, let's assume that your input timing is right on.

a) Jumping Too High; if you jump too high, then you might delay your following drive input. What I mean to say is, "When you jump too high, you run the risk of lingering in the air too long. Be concise and direct. Use your best judgement and find out how high you need to be to, safely, hit confirm."

b) Jumping Too Low; if you jump too low, then your drive will wiff entirely. Once again, use your best judgment and find out how you can hit confirm the drive.

c) Input Timing; practice makes perfect.

2) 2d~b; there are a few situations that can happen when you drop your taunt combo: (1) the drive will become invalid, (2) the drive will push your opponent too high or (3) it'll wiff or (4) the B cancel won't come out. Once again, let's assume that you have solid execution.

a) Invalid Drive; when your drive goes invalid, then that means you have not hit confirmed your drive attack. Make sure you hit confirm and then press the B cancel.

b) Opponent Fly Sky High; this just means you're rushing your drive inputs. Take it easy and lay off the mashing.

c) Wiff; Wiffing your drive input means that your execution needs work. Practice makes perfect.

d) No B Cancel; Missing your B cancel means that your execution needs work. Practice makes perfect.

3) Taunt; the only way you will miss your taunt loop is NOT TAUNTING. If your taunt doesn't come out, then your execution needs work. But if you follow up a taunt from 6c, then you need to consider WHEN to input the taunt. If you do it too soon, as they bounce back, then you'll push them up too high to follow up the loop. If you do it too late, then they will recover.

4) 214d; apart from the drive attack, this is the most critical part to space a successful taunt loop. It can be the most easiest or painstakingly difficult input. Either way, the best tip is to practice your input timing. Apart from that, here's the things that can go wrong with this input:

a) Staying in the Air; I can bet a $100 dollars that the reason why most Japanese players drop the taunt loop is cause they linger in the air for too long or too little...or incorrectly input the 214d. Tao needs to be, slightly, above their opponent so they can hit confirm their drive. But if they stay there too long, then their opponent will recover or the combo will blackbeat.

That's all I could think up right now. I realized that taunt loop is a big concern for the Tao community, therefore, I will make an elaborate Taunt Loop section for everybody.

[Ronove]

Awesome post boss, thanks a lot. The cause on my part that makes me still not complete the taunt loop 50% of the times is the 214D spacing, it's true as you said that Tao needs to be slightly above, else once we hitconfirm the 2d~b the opponent bounces high rather than bouncing forward. I think that is the trickiest part (atleast for me). ~B timing, JC and all the other stuff is on 100% (heck they have to be, it got so much easier than CT). @XDest That video still lacks a few combos (like the 3C > no hit 5D~C > j.2D~B ones) but as far as important BnB's go it's pretty useful. Good find!

[CakeWasBannedd]

Critique My Tao: CS edition :D!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTtBA6-qDRQ

[RinHara5aki]

Yum :3 I already critiqued.

Anyone here, since I can't loop worth shit lol, how many taunts can you get off of 4b+c -> 214d -> 6c -> 66 -> taunt -> loop? Its my mainstay backthrow combo now, but since I fail at looping i only get to about 3 before I get scared to drop it and do an ender. Whats the cap?

[XDest]

6 loops.

[Ronove]

I've seen a japanese Tao (Doyaemon) in one of the recent G3 vids do 8 repetitions with the oki ender after a backthrow setup, for like 3.8k damage.

String was like [taunt loop]x8 > 214D > 236Bx5 at the corner

Seems like a solid oki ender, you still net good damage and keep the opponent at the corner for more pressure for a 214D/airthrow if you catch them jumping away right after waking up.

[XDest]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you get 7 or 8 loops if you do something like 4B+C -> 214D -> 44 -> 2D~B -> Taunt Loop or B+C -> 4D~B > Taunt Loop.

Also doing 214D -> j.236Bx5 directly for oki is difficult as hell to line up properly, the regular oki ender does the job much more efficiently.

Edit: Rin, I'm telling you, it's the amount of delay between 214D and j.2D~B. If you do not have the right delay for the first two reps, the opponent will be too high up to loop. That's all you need to fix. Every time my loops were off, this was the problem. If the input is right, this is the only thing you need to practice. It was the same thing with the time in-between 9D~9 and j.236BB j.236BBBB in CT. Just don't rush that specific place, and it'll loop proper.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Why are you people not critiquing my tao >:C

[Ronove]

You should post that in the video thread or in the general discussion thread, being a video...

[RinHara5aki]

Edit: Rin, I'm telling you, it's the amount of delay between 214D and j.2D~B. If you do not have the right delay for the first two reps, the opponent will be too high up to loop. That's all you need to fix. Every time my loops were off, this was the problem. If the input is right, this is the only thing you need to practice. It was the same thing with the time in-between 9D~9 and j.236BB j.236BBBB in CT. Just don't rush that specific place, and it'll loop proper.

I think I have a bigger problem. Its the actual 214d input still. I'm trying to figure out a technique to cure it so the input will come out. I think whats happening is I'm inputting

taunt+214 -> 52d

With that the joystick movements get buffered into the TAUNT instead, and nothing happens post. So there i'm caught with my pants down as they recover away and i'm just standing there taunting like an idiot. My personal technique which helps a bit is holding taunt so if forces me to hold off on the 21452.

Its really embarrasing when you're at the arcade and I get blockstring into crossup 5b -> 2b -> 5c -> 236a to 2d~b -> j.c -> 5b -> 6a -> JC -> 2d~b -> taunt~ and people are like OHH because if I had the loop i would've gotten him. But I didn't. Because I fail. lol.

So if you delay the first two loops, the rest can be done without delay and it wont drop? They wont go too high?

Edit: On a side note, i've noticed the Tao threads are like... COMPLETELY dead. Only ronove and dest are active pretty much... maybe that will change when CS hits console?

Edit2: Ronove, you're in Italy.. hows the lag D:

[Ronove]

Don't rush the 214D, there's no need to do it quickly anyway since there's also a small delay between that and the j.2D~B. You can practice that in CT's training mode if necessary, just do Taunt > 214D until you have 100% execution on it, it shouldn't be too hard. Finding the timing between 214D and j.2D~B is the real hurdle in my opinion, and even when you find it you still need to commit it to muscle memory. And you may still mess it up in a real match (hell, it happens even to japanese players who supposedly should have the most experience under their belts). However the good thing is that you can tell when you're going to whiff the loop after the first two repetitions because of how the opponent will bounce. If they're bouncing too high then you can always end the loop string before whiffing the next 214D and instead go for the 236CC ender, you'll do a double taunt combo that still does 3.3k damage. Keita does this a lot everytime he notices he's messed up the timing, and I do this as well since it's a visual clue that you can grasp in enough time to cut your loop string and rush to the ender.

Edit: On a side note, i've noticed the Tao threads are like... COMPLETELY dead. Only ronove and dest are active pretty much... maybe that will change when CS hits console?

Cake and a few others have been posting but yeah this section isn't exactly lively. Tao has never been a popular character in first place and most likely the fact that she has heavily execution based BnBs in CS has probably driven a lot of people off as well, seeing that all this stuff doesn't make her exactly online-friendly unless you're blessed both with a good connection and with people who live close to you.

Edit2: Ronove, you're in Italy.. hows the lag D:

Lag? I haven't touched online mode since November, I only connect once per month to see a couple of friends who still actively play online, but I mostly play offline now since there's a local scene, albeit small. Lag used to be pretty bad for me though, but mostly because of my connection rather than me being in Italy, there are actually a good number of european players who do play online and are good/decent at the game. But I'd rather focus on my offline practice since I'm attending offline tourneys and events. Online is useful to get some basic matchup experience though, and with the recent PAL release of CT I might be getting back to some online play to know a few new faces (mostly italian players so that I can invite them to the local ranbats/tourneys that we hold each month), but yeah offline > online anyway. :X

[Beatrice]

I know my activity here had been lessenned because of the impending release of CS. No one I know of around me to play CS with - I expect to be in a dearth of activity until it goes console, myself. Which is crummy. Cause I wants to play. Though, I'd play Tao on aesthetic alone... She's far too adorable to even think of maining anyone else!

[XDest]

I think you can get ~3550 with only a double taunt off 5B.

I think the ender goes something like 236CC 2D~6 j.2D~C j.D~A 9D~9 j.236B 3D~3 j.236Bx5.

And of course there's j.C 9D~9 j.C 9D~9 3D~3 j.236Bx5 for triple taunts for 3700. If you get more than 3, you might as well do all 6 loops. Because at that point, you're probably not going to screw it up, since you have the feel for the delay/inputs already.

Edit: Inquiring minds would like to know: Is there any non-taunt combo that does more damage than this ender? Might be useful if they nerf taunt loop in the balance patch.

5B 3C D~B [hit] 5C 2D~6 j.2D~C j.D~A 9D~9 3D~3 j.236B 3D~3 j.236Bx5 [~3550]

and

6C 236CC 2D~6 j.2D~C j.D~A 9D~9 3D~3 j.236B 3D~3 j.236B 3D~3 j.236Bx5 [~4450]

[RinHara5aki]

Ok, loop questions.

So after much practice, I have the logistics of the loops down /HEADDESK, of course, now that I'm WAAAAY behind most Tao's that have their hands on CS (By *AHEM*.. or by nearby arcade cabinet), I have a couple questions.

First, people explain how the first three are the most important. if you get those down, can you rush the rest without dropping the combo?

Near the corner, I almost ALWAYS ALWAYS have them cross up on me in the corner after tauntloop -> 236cc. To remedy that, I have seen some Tao's (Namely Plastic Chicken), do 236c -> 5b -> 5c -> 2d~9 -> j.c -> JC -> 236bbbbb or something. What is the MOST damage out of TL -> 236c. Just ONE c.

For another extra taunt what was the combo? it was like TL -> 214d -> 2d~c -> 6d~a -> taunt -> etc or something? D:

[RinHara5aki]

If anyone even answers.. I've also been DYING to know how you loop off of 6a JC 5d~b taunt. Every time I 214d 2d~b after that it whiffs.

[WayINside]

just delay it max, remeber to delay max the 2nd as well in order too get them in the right hight..

about the crossover, i'm not too familiar with tao myself, but i belive you've got some hight problems thene, try to get them lower.

(btw you do taunt before the 236CC right?)

anyway, got two question myslef

first (easy one): how you preform her astral? :P

second: when i try to go for the loop end in the corner :

taunt loop (end with 214 2d~b) C 2D~9 D~A 9D~(9?)[] 9D~D 3D 236BBBBBBB

where the [] are i always whiff it. i can get it only by delay the first 9j.d but then i get the combo blue..

sometimes i wonder if it worth it since its only aobut then 100 more damage then the 236CC version

[CakeWasBannedd]

If anyone even answers.. I've also been DYING to know how you loop off of 6a JC 5d~b taunt. Every time I 214d 2d~b after that it whiffs.

You pretty much have to delay the first two as well as possible, then the rest is lenient, but not completely unforgiving if you do it super fast. Generally, depending on the starter you'll have more time to correct yourself if you mess up. 2B>6a>taunt loop is easier to whiff that 6C>taunt loop, for example.

As for the other thing, just learn to do the proper taunt combo Sounds harsh, but you're learning one of the hardest combos in the game anyways, why not make it perfect?

just delay it max, remeber to delay max the 2nd as well in order too get them in the right hight..

about the crossover, i'm not too familiar with tao myself, but i belive you've got some hight problems thene, try to get them lower.

(btw you do taunt before the 236CC right?)

anyway, got two question myslef

first (easy one): how you preform her astral? :P

second: when i try to go for the loop end in the corner :

taunt loop (end with 214 2d~b) C 2D~9 D~A 9D~(9?)[] 9D~D 3D 236BBBBBBB

where the [] are i always whiff it. i can get it only by delay the first 9j.d but then i get the combo blue..

sometimes i wonder if it worth it since its only aobut then 100 more damage then the 236CC version

Yes, you can only cancel out of Taunt with D moves or special moves like 236CC. Your options are basically Normal TL 236CC>ender or Normal TL> 214D>2D~B>5C>Ender

Tao's astral is [4]28D. Hold four, then down up D.

I honestly would just end all of your taunt loops with 236CC>combo, does 200 less damage but works everywhere, not just in the corner. Tons easier to do too.

[WayINside]

i know, also the timing on j.D~A ruining my timing for (j.2D~B) but still, i'm curious about this ender (i remember to pull it out a couple of times, but can't recall what i did there

[CakeWasBannedd]

i know, also the timing on j.D~A ruining my timing for (j.2D~B) but still, i'm curious about this ender (i remember to pull it out a couple of times, but can't recall what i did there

I honestly wouldn't know since I never use that ender. I think there's a better one after 214D 2D~B, but you'd have to ask someone else.

[XDest]

The A has to be delayed from the D proportional to how far you are from the corner/opponent. There's a little space after the initial 2D~5 where she's closer to the opponent. After that, the A in D~A doesn't have to be delayed much to hit proper, making it much easier to get consistently.

I used to try A cancel combos all the time in CT, so this isn't that new to me.

[WayINside]

the cancel is just annoying, not problematic. i have problem to connect the 2nd 9.jD~9

[RinHara5aki]

the cancel is just annoying, not problematic. i have problem to connect the 2nd 9.jD~9

I remember at least in CT I know for sure, that the 9d~9 after the 5d~a has to be done VERY quickly, or else you will drop through and whiff. Also, of course its sometimes easier on other characters.

As for my 6a JC 5d~b TL problem, I figured it out. You just have to JC as high as humanly possible without dropping the combo, then the 214d after the taunt will go through.