[P4A] Naoto Shirogane - Gameplay Discussion "Ace Detective"

[Random Naoto]

Sounds like a plan. Would we be doing this over skype?

Skype or twitch, I'll have a capture card and a mic going so there's a visual element.

[ludwig van]

If I'm not working at the time I'd be down for the stream~

[Doonpa]

lol that sounds like fun. I'll be tweeting the hell out of your stream then. I'd like to join the call if I can.

[Cynthetik]

If I'm not doing anything, I would be down to join in on this Naoto shindig. I'm not very good at finding new tech though so I'm not sure how much I can contribute to the discussion. The alternative doesn't sound so bad either, but I am not much of a drinker so I doubt I would be getting drunk lol.

[Random Naoto]

I'm going to kind of test the waters tech-wise tonight at around 11 central time; once I get it up and running if anyone wants to stick around I'll be up for a while.

[Campaigne]

Just got into this game, and would love to see someone who actually knows what they are doing play. A link to the twitch channel (if you are still doing it) would be wonderful.

[Doonpa]

Just got into this game, and would love to see someone who actually knows what they are doing play. A link to the twitch channel (if you are still doing it) would be wonderful.

I think Random Naoto is going to be doing a stream this coming weekend. If you want to see some good Naoto footage in the meantime, you should type in "P4U Denpa" on youtube or check out the Video thread on this board for some good Japanese vids.

[Cynthetik]

For those who have not seen this yet, Denpa showed off a really nasty SMP set up off of a fuzzy guard j.A in the corner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53PYrmNZS6A&feature=youtu.be

[Tong]

Great! Must get this combo down.

This better help in tournaments.

[Random Naoto]

If anyone still wants to do the stream, I'll be starting at 10:30ish.

[Doonpa]

What timezone? lol. And whats the link to your stream, anyway?

[Random Naoto]

Central time, and its twitch.tv/unclegary01

[Cynthetik]

I will be tuning in to see what's up

[Rikir]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alRzH1ONjSo&lc=EDHDcNbNGC5qXIp3WzHbXiKAOgqCop8KpnA5l6Swwpk

So yah this happened the other day.

[Doonpa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alRzH1ONjSo&lc=EDHDcNbNGC5qXIp3WzHbXiKAOgqCop8KpnA5l6Swwpk

So yah this happened the other day.

Loooooooooooool good job. What a finish.

Also, I uploaded a ton of Naoto videos and combos for people to see. There are a lot, but they are all short: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCepW-xaFlE5RmavPCkFFR1w

[Rikir]

Loooooooooooool good job. What a finish.

Also, I uploaded a ton of Naoto videos and combos for people to see. There are a lot, but they are all short: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCepW-xaFlE5RmavPCkFFR1w

Great stuff you got there Diar :O

[Wild Candy]

I just need one tiny favor, I want to go up against a good Naoto player, and get some feedback on what I could work on. I feel pretty confident in my ability to use traps, snipe, and move around to be a general annoyance, but I want to see how I can improve from a Naoto player's point of view.

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks for reading!

[Doonpa]

Are you asking to play one from here on DL online or something? Or do you want advice about the mirror match or criticism on a video you have already/will have?

[Wild Candy]

I'm asking to play the mirror match from an experienced Naoto player here on Dustloop. I'd actually post a video in the critique thread if I could, but I don't exactly have any means to record it after I save the replay.

[Doonpa]

I'll play you if you'd like, I get 3 bars with people as from as far as like the midwest so we should have some decent matches. Just let me know when if you are interested in playing me.

[susano]

I was trying Naoto out earlier this morning and I was wondering if she has any basic combo videos to look at? Also, does anyone here use her on pad and can gauge if she's easy or hard on pad? I do have trouble fighting against her sometimes so I decided to just learn at least some of her basics to help me learn the matchup better.

[RoanYagyu]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wurDnLRlufo&hd=1 a video by bmeister that I think has what you're looking for. As far as playing Naoto on pad its fairly easy, personally I feel more comfortable on pad for most chars unless they have something where your holding buttons for charges.

[Wild Candy]

I'm still trying to perfect my Naoto and I'm getting slightly better, but quick question.

What does a typical Naoto mix up look like. I know that her main Overheads are J.A, AoA, and Double Fangs, and her main low attacks are her 2A and her Sweep.

But how do you lead into those attacks to mix the foe up? What are her most common mix up routes>

[Cynthetik]

For mix-ups, Naoto's best option is to combo into 236A then cancel the gun stance, this gives you a hard knockdown and can lead into mix-ups (better option then shooting your opponent for 1 skull lol). Mid screen Naoto doesn't really get too much. I usually just for for a cross up IAD j.C to keep pressure going.

In the corner is where Naoto really shines though. End combos with 236A[D] then lay a trap. C traps blow up pretty fast so you can attempt a low using 2A or go for a overhead or just keep applying pressure. My personal favorite mix-up off of an C trap is Hop > j.A > j.B > j.D > 5AA > 5C > 236B > 5C > 236A[D] > Trap. D traps blow up slower so you can go for a throw attempt or bait out a DP etc.

Other simple mix-ups I like to do is...

NOTE: this one is spacing dependent. SJ Forward > 214D > Dash Forward. If you do this correctly, you will be too high in the air for your opponent to see where the D trap is (should be under them because you jumped forward) then the air dash forward will make the trap cross up and you can confirm into full combo. You can also SJ backwards if you see your opponent running at you.

For a simple air throw reset, you can confirm any hit in the corner into a 236B[D] > 5C > 214D > Jump > Air Throw. If done correctly, you will catch them in the air after the recover from the 5C and the opponent will be thrown down into the D trap which you can then confirm into a full combo or just go for the reset again or trap oki using 236A[D] at the end of a combo. NOTE: an opponent can get out of this air reset if they neutral tech in the air.

Overall, Naoto is not a very strong mix-up character, but she does have some tools to work with.

Edit no Jutsu: Another good mix-up to use is whenever your send out 5D and your opponent blocks it, you can run up AoA for an overhead or run up empty hop > land > 2A for a low into a combo. If you are willing to burn meter, you can run up and EX Roll through your opponent just before you activate 5DD for an almost instant cross up.

Edited September 22, 2013 by Cynthetik

[Doonpa]

Ok so Cynthetik asked ludwig and I about what kind of blockstrings we use when we play Naoto. I figured that i might as well post them up here too so everyone interested can see it too instead of just on twitter. And it doesn't hurt that theres no 140 character limit here lol.

Blockstrings: Basically any string thats designed to not be mashable when blocked normally. IBing these can potentially create gaps where you may DP Naoto in between or sneak in a fast normal in between (i.e 5A 5C, if you IB 5A you can mash out before 5C comes out I believe)

-5AA (short string to set up a tick throw)

-5A 2A 5A or 2A 5A 2A (switching between standing and crouching normals can kind of confuse the opponent so its nice)

-2A/5AA 5B 5C 2AB (string meant to push you out to get a max range sweep)

-2A 2A 2A (triple low cuz why not)

-2A 2A 5AA

-5C 5B 2AB

-5AA 2B

Of course there are more but these give you the general idea of how to go about doing simple blockstrings. All of these can be extended, but thats up to you guys to do. Now i'm gonna bring up how to extend your pressure and cool tricks to try on people. Unfortunately Naoto's not great at extending her pressure for too long, but you have to do something!

-5A/5AA/2B/5C into air options like IAD, regular jump, etc.: So basically you'll use this to go back in on people via air approach. What you do off this is entirely up to you of course. Be mindful of your spacing and of how much respect your opponent is giving you. Its not hard to blow this option up with a properly timed 2B or air throw so beware.

-Some string xx 2[C]: Grounded pressure reset with the intention of making your opponent block Naoto's only plus normal (its +8) which should give you enough time to follow this up on block. This move is reactable and is punished by the entire cast by simply rolling through it on reaction.

-Some string into 236A~Ax5 canceled into Hamaon: 5th shot of A shots into Hamaon is a blockstring, so if you have the meter and really don't want them to get away you can do this. Not so worth doing midscreen unless you have a burst and they don't. If you do open them up off of it Hamaon midscreen, you don't really get anything, but its okay to go for in the corner since you get SMPs off of it without spending extra resources.

-low IAD string like IAD j.A j.B delayed j.D: If you do this right, you can land and use the fact that the Persona will wind up behind your opponent to do some cool pressure using 5C in such a way that you'll push the opponent closer to you. So you can do something like 5B 5C after landing from j.D, cancel the 5C into D trap, and roll through the opponent for a cross up since the opponent gets pushed close enough for the trap to connect.

Other ways to reset your pressure is to simply stagger and mix in EX traps to keep the opponent scared of hitting a button since the risk/reward of mashing traps is mostly in your favor if they don't know how to deal with it properly. There are plenty of other cute tricks to use during your pressure, but everything except the last thing i wrote about is pretty standard and safe to generally use. Last one takes work to incorporate and make it work for you properly.