How to Defend.

[TD]

Playing A.B.A and switching to Rachel in BB has messed up my ability to defend. I often won matches without having to do so, but now in CS i'm paying the price for my lack of experience in that area.

Before going out to test your defense on/offline, how do you strengthen it in training? What are some general guidelines l should be following?

Any and everything about defending should go here.

EDIT - Please don't post in here if you're just wanting to be an asshole.

[Fireryda]

record basic strings and mix-ups and practice reacting to them.

play a bit with other characters to see what they can cancel off so you're prepared for mix-ups.

[gli]

Yeah really when defending you should concentrate on what the characters option's are during their blockstrings. It helps to know what character's JC'able normals are as well as some common mix-ups you'll see with that character. For example 2B 6B with Ragna is pretty common.

The hardest to defend against are "staggered" blockstrings.

[Blade]

A lot of this is character-specific to matchups. You'd really have to know each character's basic guard strings, but there are a few things I can tell you to be aware of.

--If you're standing and blocking, they're going for mids and lows to sweep you into combo.

--If you're blocking low (most people do this instinctively), they will almost always shoot for an overhead or a combo that only works on crouchers (Jin, Tager, Ragna, Mu, Noel, etc, tend to use these alot...Hazama relies on overheads for chip damage if he can't combo off them).

--If you're in the air, be prepared to barrier otherwise they're going to hit you with an air unblockable (Ragna's 6A, Inferno Divider, Jin's 6C, Rehhyou, several others). From Hazama, expect to see air-to-ground slashing (CCCC 5C etc).

--During some guardstrings, characters like to cross you up with IAD or Okizeme maneauvers. (Jin's j.D, Ragna's j.B, Bang's j.4B) The way you guard these is to switch directional holding. So if you were holding Left, you quickly hold Right. In some cases you can counter this with a 6A or some other anti-air.

If you guard a lot people may resort to throw mix-up, Jin is notorious for this, so keep an eye out. Some characters also use high-damage attacks to eat your Guard Primer, knowing which attacks do this will help you know when it's safer just to jump out of the way. A few examples are Deadspike, Ragna's 2D, Hakumen's 6C (charged), Haku's Shippu DD, Jin's 6D, and there are many others. Knowing what eats a primer and what can lead into eating a primer can become important to your defensive game.

Also very important to remember, NO AMOUNT OF BARRIER WILL SAVE YOU FROM LOSING GUARD PRIMERS, and using Barrier to protect you from losing your last Primer often puts your HP in 1.5 dmg Danger state, so it most likely isn't a very good idea. But it should be noted that even if your guard breaks, any combo resulted off that is prorated, unless they break your guard and use Astral...:8/:

Also don't forget that Jin's 623D is unblockable if held long enough (the ground thumps when he's about to let it out), same goes for Haku-men's Yukikaze. Other unblockables include Haku-men's fully-charged Shippuu, Arakune's Astral, Jin's Astral (if you don't jump in time, it's ground unblockable), Tager's Throws/Astral, Lamda's Astral (a throw), Ragna's Devoured by Darkness, Mu's fully-charged Sword of Decimation (which eats guard primers like crazy anyway), Tao's "Beat the Crap outta you" DD (can be ducked though).

[Seifuuku]

stop mashing jump

[ZONG_one]

1.) Learn what normals other chars can gatling overheads from.

2.) Learn which normals are jump cancellable for other characters.

3.) Learn where you can IB > punish or IB > escape in other characters' strings.

4.) Familiarize yourself with other characters' oki/unblockable setups/crossups.

5.) Learn which moves prorate stupidly good for other characters, so you know when the fuck to burst. (Litchi 2C) D:

[-Ladon-]

1.) Learn what normals other chars can gatling overheads from.

2.) Learn which normals are jump cancellable for other characters.

3.) Learn where you can IB > punish or IB > escape in other characters' strings.

4.) Familiarize yourself with other characters' oki/unblockable setups/crossups.

5.) Learn which moves prorate stupidly good for other characters, so you know when the fuck to burst. (Litchi 2C) D:

pretty much this, also knowing how the person reacts to certain situations can help your defense in the long run as well, a lot of people like to hold up or mash out a reversal if they're not used to the oki you're forcing on them(late belial edge resets get this situation a lot for all you ragna players )

[ZONG_one]

pretty much this, also knowing how the person reacts to certain situations can help your defense in the long run as well, a lot of people like to hold up or mash out a reversal if they're not used to the oki you're forcing on them(late belial edge resets get this situation a lot for all you ragna players )

This too, but let's say you're in a tournament setting.

You've got one round to learn how they react/condition them to react in a certain way.

In casuals, you can just download your friend and predict everything. haha. >:3

[-Ladon-]

nah man i'm a ragna player, we just 22c and go for unreactable mixup so we win like a pizza delivery service, 30 seconds or it's free

[TD]

That's another thing, l burst too predictably -_-

Ok, thanks guys so far.Does it help to go into the character forums and copy down their gatling charts?

l know the tourny scene all to well =(

[ZONG_one]

Trust me, I know.. D:

*flashes back to TX*

I hope my suggestions help you at least a little, tempest.

don't burst predictably then.

Lol, if you get hit and COUNTERRRRR!!!! lol don't burst there.

Usually I bait bursts in a situation where I get a random hit that would lead to big damage.

People get scared and want to get out ASAP, but that's not smart.

You notice in jp vids, they'll wait until a combo goes airborne before they burst. (A baited burst high up in the air is much harder to punish/get a big combo off of.) Or until a slow ass normal comes out. NEVER BURST A MOVE THAT'S JUMP CANCELLABLE. That's the easiest punish EVER, since if they jump and block, 90% of the time it's air IB, which it toooo godlike.

[-Ladon-]

That's another thing, l burst too predictably -_-

Ok, thanks guys so far.Does it help to go into the character forums and copy down their gatling charts?

l know the tourny scene all to well =(

the great thing is that for someone who bursts predictably there's like 30 of us who don't burst and get free wins because the person tries to bait it

I'd say it helps, but you can just run it in training mode to try and remember their options, although this won't make it 100% blockrate(definitely not onlineroflolterribleCSinternet) you at least know what to look for when you're committing yourself to blocking or IB-punishing.

bursting is kinda matchup-specific, just know what people can't block safely and aren't escaping from, like against ragna I don't burst until I'm positive the person doesn't know how to net large BK damage or isn't going for it, because frankly when someone bursts against me I try to force mixup to get a large BK loop going hopefully with some 22C ender for large unburstable damage that makes them not want to burst early in the match again.

[TD]

You're all helping alot, actually. Already l learned a few month's worth.

JP blocking is too gdlk. l want it. That's what i'm aiming for.

Before l do anything, i'm going to learn every jcable move right now. @Ladon, ib's a no go online. =( I've lost at least 10 games due to the ib not working (Ragna 5d -_-)

[Blade]

I'm not sure if it really works but, jump-Barrier blocking has saved me from overheads on a few occaisions.

[ZONG_one]

It works pretty well.

And if you happened to IB, and are in range, it usually means free punish.

[TD]

l mean due to lag and other stupid online shit. l know how to ib though...

[farranpoison]

Then you play offline, not online. :D

Well, I used to play online a lot, then I played some guys offline and IB is too pro. Not sure if I can go back so easily to online now.

[ZONG_one]

Then you play offline, not online. :D

Well, I used to play online a lot, then I played some guys offline and IB is too pro. Not sure if I can go back so easily to online now.

Solution to this.

Don't take online seriously.

I don't even try to IB online.

I get on, and in 90% of connections (shit) I block all day, IB multi hit supers, mash j.C and 4C and astral with hakumen.

If I really want to play with people and learn something, I go to the arcade/someone's house.

[TD]

Unfortunately for me, no one l know plays BB, and the NY thread is hardly ever active.

So i'm stuck in a room with a locked door until then =(

l wish at least one person (from ny) would host a gathering that isn't a million miles away

[void]

This too, but let's say you're in a tournament setting.

You've got one round to learn how they react/condition them to react in a certain way.

In casuals, you can just download your friend and predict everything. haha. >:3

How exactly do you do that, sorry if it's a stupid question

[ZONG_one]

How do you do what? Condition your opponent, or predict your friends?

[void]

condition your opponent

[Blade]

Online is all I can play. D:

Lag spikes tend to hurt the most during air combos where timing is the most critical, so staying on the ground is actually SAFER online.

[STenSatsu]

Unfortunately for me, no one l know plays BB, and the NY thread is hardly ever active.

So i'm stuck in a room with a locked door until then =(

l wish at least one person (from ny) would host a gathering that isn't a million miles away

Not close to China Town Fair?

[STenSatsu]

condition your opponent

You act a certain way a few times and then act a different way when you need to. Like doing 2b>6b with Ragna a bunch and then doing like 2b>3c to catch them starting to block high.