Korey

Kyle, I finally edited everything and cleaned it up a bit so everything's easier to read and look at. Let me know if I can make any changes Introduction: Bishamon is a rushdown monster, who excels when utilized by a player with technical expertise. He also has a decent time at long range with his long pokes and Iai Giri special move able to cover the space in front of him. Bishamon's higher than average damage output and multiple ways to confirm into his special moves makes any confirm a potential round ender, given the proper resources. His Guard Cancel (Kien Zan) is one of the best GC's in the game, due to its quick start up and massive hitbox. Bishamon, despite being a very capable offensive character has a few big weaknesses that keep him from ascending into the higher tiers. His Anti-Air options are very lackluster/situational and his non-GC version of Kien Zan can only be activated in specific situations and has zero invincibility on the Non ES versions. His damage output also depends on the amount of resources he possesses and in some cases, on the character matchup. Bishamon must also be close to the opponent to open up his big damage options. Bishamon has a wide hitbox and is the tallest character in the game while crouched, so certain combos and setups that would whiff on other characters hit crouching Bishamon. Normals: Standing LP: [ Startup: 5 | Hit:+6 | Block:+5 | Renda: H:+9 B:+8 ] Simple punch, useful all around. Able to stuff short hops and low airdashes. MP: [ Startup: 10 | Hit:+2 | Block:+1 ] Best used during a forward dash. The combination of the forward movement provided by the dash and the swinging motion of the normal will catch careless jump up or jump back attempts. Also, it offers frame advantage regardless of hit or block. Becomes 3-hits when used during a dash. A great way to control space, advance forwards, and establish offense. HP:[ Startup: 8 | Hit:-7 | Block:-8 ] A three-part, one hit normal. Despite its appearance, it is difficult to anti air jump-ins with this move due to its hittable boxes. However, the gigantic upwards swinging motion can be utilized when executed during a forward dash. This is an excellent way to tag jump out attempts (especially when the opponent is backed into the corner) while covering forward movement. LK:[ Startup: 5 | Hit:+7 | Block:+6 ] A great normal for a dash in. Has lots of frame advantage when it connects, so you can either combo it into light attacks or attempt a tick throw. MK:[ Startup: 6 | Hit:+6 | Block:+5 ] Has some frame advantage when it connects. Not especially useful normal. HK:[ Startup: 7 | Hit:+6 | Block:+5 ] An important normal. Comes out fast, recovers quickly and has frame advantage when it connects. Close HK will space you at the correct distance for an unblockable ES fireball against most characters. Builds good amount of meter, mixing this with the charged slash (Iai Giri) will fill a bar in no time. Crouching c.LP:[ Startup: 5 | Hit:+8 | Block:+7 | Renda: H:+11 B:+10 ] Has a long reach for a crouching jab. Its reach and speed makes it excellent for poking during both offense and defense. A useful pressure/combo starter due to the extra frame advantage provided by the rapidfire/renda bonus. c.MP:[ Startup: 6 | Hit:+4 | Block:+3 ] Fast, cancelable normal with good range. Great for comboing into ES fireball. c.HP: [ Startup: 9 | Hit:-4 | Block:-5 ] Slower than most of Bishamon's pokes but provides a lot of reach. Great for spacing and poking from a far distance. Canceling this with s.HK regardless of hit or block will offer quicker recovery plus a bit of meter building. c.LK:[ Startup: 5 | Hit:+8 | Block:+7 ] A quick crouching slash. The range is limited but hits low and offers a lot of frame advantage. Another important pressure/combo starter for Bishamon. c.MK:[ Startup: 6 | Hit:+6 | Block:+5 ] 2 hit low attack. 1st hit is cancelable. Decent for comboing into ES fireball although c.MP has more range. c.HK:[ Startup: 11 | Hit: Knockdown | Block:+5 ] Knockdown. Quite slow, range is not great either. Jumping j.LP:[ Startup: 6 (Neutral) | 7 (Backwards/Forwards) ] Air horzontal slash. Will swing multiple times before landing if used during a neutral jump. Otherwise, Bishamon will only swing once. J.MP:[ Startup: 6 ] An aerial 2 hit horizontal slash. Backdashing into this move could be good for stopping a dash in. Otherwise, it's a fairly good air to air move. J.HP:[ Startup: 7 | 11 (Backwards/Forwards) ] Similar to his j.MP. Using this during a neutral jump will cause Bishamon to slash twice. j.LK:[ Startup: 5 ] Short range downward attack. An early j.LK can hit a standing opponent, and chaining it into his j.MK and j.HK can make quite a deadly jumping chain. This move is also great for a Whiff jump in chain mixup. Jump in with j.mk, j.hp (whiff) and on your descent do a late J.lk for a last second overhead. J.mk: [ Startup: 6 ] Good jump in move. Chain into j.HP or j.HK for additional damage. j.HK:[ Startup: 8 ] Quite similar to his j.MK. Has a little more range, so you can backdash and j.HK for an instant overhead. Command Normal Moves: f.lp: [ Startup: 6 | Hit:-2 | Block:-2 | ] Has more range than typical LP but recovers waaaay slower. Not useful by itself. f.mp: [ Startup: 7 | Hit: 0 | Block:-1 ] Tap slowly to make Bishamon swing his sword from side to side at neck level. Not really useful normal on its own because it's laggy. But if you start a chain with f.LP then chain into this (example : f.LP f.MP or f.LP LK f.MP) it loses its ability to swing sideways AND recovers faster at the same time. This put you on a LOT of frame advantage, which you can use to either extend combos (example : f.LP f.MP +c.MP xx ES fireball) or for more dash in pressures. F.HP: [ Startup: 8 | Hit:-3 | Block:-4 ] Can be inputted twice for an additional slash. The first slash can be used as an anti-air if spaced properly. f.lk:[ Startup: 5 | Hit:+4 | Block:+3 ] Not a commonly used normal, but quick startup and can chain into other command normals f.mk:[ Startup: 6 | Hit:+3 | Block:+2 ] Another rarely used move. Large hitbox that covers the area in front of and below Bishamon, but he has better normals. f.hk: [ Startup: 7 | Hit:-7 | Block:-8 ] Decent range and startup, but unsafe on hit and block makes this move pretty useless. Throws: P Throw: An important tool of Bishamon's mixup game. You can tack on an EX pursuit after the throw for a sizeable amount of damage. You can also setup hi-low-throw mixups by doing a whiffed pursuit after the throw. Air Throw: Grabs the opponent and throws downward. Not much to add. Pursuit: This is one of Bishamon's more dangerous moves. It recovers very quickly when it misses and puts you right next to the opponent. Depending on the timing and spacing you can end up on either side of your opponent, making it difficult to decide which way to block. From here you can either throw them, c.lk and confirm into damage, or overhead with backdash hk. Specials: Karame Dama - HCF P His fireball special. Recovery time starts when the fireball connect, so at close range this is a great tool for pressure. Use the 236P follow up for untechable knockdown and pursuit setup, or the 4P follow up to remove the chance the opponent might mash out of the stun. Without meter the only useful version for combos is HP, but even so it will fail to connect from time to time. Use ES version for more consistency. (L Version) [startup 12 | Hit- Stun | Block -9] Slowest version, not really useful. (M Version)[startup 12 | Hit- Stun | Block -4] Average speed. Again, not really useful. (H Version)[startup 12 | Hit- Stun | Block 0] Most used of the non-meter versions. Can combo from cancelable normals but only up close. (ES Version)[startup 12 | Hit- Stun | Block 0] Has some unblockable frames. This only happens if the opponent isn't already in blockstun so canceling a normal into ES fireball will remove the unblockable. To get an idea of the unblockable distance try to do a HK right next to Sasquatch then do an ES fireball. Air Karame Dama (air only) HCF+P Air Fireball. Strength of Punch determines distance and angle thrown. Useful to cover space, but comes out slowly and Bishamon can be punished if he misplaces this fireball. (L Version) [startup 28| Hit- Stun | Block -11] Travels close distance and angled closer to Bishamon (M Version)[startup 28| Hit- Stun | Block -11] Travles farther distance and medium angle (H Version)[startup 28| Hit- Stun | Block -11] Travels close to full screen and high angle. (ES Version)[startup 28| Hit- Stun | Block -13] Travels full screen and at high angle. Tsuji Hayate - qcf+P (after hitting with Karame Dama) [startup 7] : Useable only if Karame Dama hits. Not ground techable. Useful for resetting the unblockable ES Karame Dama loop in corner against some characters. (ES Version)- The ES version of Tsuji Hayate causes Bishamon to ram his sword into the opponent and causes a hard knockdown, but leaves Bishamon far away from the opponent and is generallly a waste of meter. Tama Yose- B+P (after hitting with Karame Dama) Useable only if Karame Dama hits. Able to combo into Kien Zan or any normal > EX Pursuit. Useful if you connect with Karame Dama unexpectedly. Iai Giri (high) - f P : Multiple hit slash special. Whiffs against crouchers. Great range, very fast and builds loads of meter. Overall, great special to throw out once in awhile. Can be used in combos (especially ES version) but must be done at close range or it will whiff a lot of hits. Can also be comboed off of if close enough. (Level 1) [Hit +8 | Block 7+] Charge for 45 frames. (Level 2)[Hit +10| Block +9] Charge for 52 frames. (Level 3)[Hit +12 | Block +11] Charge for 82 frames. (ES Version)[Hit +12| Block +11] Charge for 45 frames. Iai Giri (low) - fK: [startup 12] Multiple hit slash special. This version is a low attack and whiffs against jumpers. Great range, very fast and builds loads of meter. Overall, great special to throw out once in awhile. Can be used in combos (especially ES version) but must be done at close range or it will whiff a lot of hits. Can also be comboed off of if close enough. (Level 1) [Hit +10 | Block 9+] Charge for 45 frames. (Level 2)[Hit +12| Block +11] Charge for 52 frames. (Level 3)[Hit +14 | Block +13] Charge for 82 frames. (ES Version)[Hit +14| Block +13] Charge for 45 frames. Kienzan - DP+P (GC) (only usable when landing from a jump, as a guard cancel or in reversal situations): Fast dragon punch type move. No invulernability. (L Version)[startup 6| Hit- Knockdown | Block -21] (M Version)[startup 6| Hit- Knockdown | Block -24] (H Version)[startup 6| Hit- Knockdown | Block -23] (ES Version) [startup 4| Hit- Knockdown | Block -38] Adds more hits and damage, faster startup, still no invulnerability. If it connects with 2 hits it will automatically slice the opponent in half when they land on the ground, which also prevents pursuits. Pretty good use of meter. (GC Version) Gains some invulnerability on startup. One of the best GC's in the game due to it's speed and range. Extremely fast startup. Use often. Kirisute Gomen - 360MP or HP : [startup 8] A command grab. Not throw-techable, but doesn't setup pursuits. (ES Version)- ES version causes a split when it connects and does a bit more damage. Not especially useful Supers: Togakubi Sarashi - d,d PP: [startup 34] Pursuit type EX. Amazing move, it adds HUGE damage to your combos (and even throws !) as long as you have meter. Know which knockdowns you can follow up with this move though, if it whiffs then it's a waste of knockdown and meter. Oni Kubi Hineri - HCB PP: [startup 17] Command grab. Great range and damage but really slow startup. Some blockstrings ending with this can be very lethal. Use sparingly though. Enma Seki - HCF KK: [startup 18| Hit- Knockdown| Block -5] Must be blocked low. Kinda decent move to use once in awhile. Save meter for his other moves. Dark Force: Kyouka Yoroi: Kogane Katabira - Same strength P + K [startup 41| Invincibility 43| Recovery 41] (Any Version) Gains super armor. You cannot take white damage while in this mode and it has particularly slow deactivation time, use with caution. Combos: There are a lot, but these are what you might use the most (add in jump-ins and pursuits) : [Legend: , = Chain ~= Link x= Special Cancel xx= Super Cancel] c.lp, c.lk ~ c.mp x HK/ES Iai Giri/ ES Karame Dama c.lk~c.lk~c.mp X HK/ ES Iai Giri/ ES Karame Dama C.lp, c.lk~C.lp~C.mp x HK/ES Iai Giri / ES Karame Dama c.lk~ c.lp ~c.mp X HK/ ES Iai Giri/ ES Karame Dama F.lp, F.mp ~c.lk/mp x ES Karame Dama c.lk ~F.lp, f.mp ~c.mp x ES Karame Dama D.LK~ c.lp, c.lk~c.mp X ES Karame Dama D.lk~ C.lk~c.lk~c.mp X ES Karame Dama c.lk/mk~ Enma Seki D.lk~F.lp, F.Mp~CMP X ES Karame Dama D.HK ~ c.lp/lk ~C.mp X ES Karame Dama Notes on Combos: throw 22PP only connects on everyone in the corner, it misses on most of the cast at midscreen ES Spirit misses on crouching; QBee, Lilith, Morrigan and Bulleta. Tips on landing EX Karame Dama in combos: Due to the nature of inputs in Vampire Savior, landing an EX Karame Dama is somewhat difficult because the game requires the FULL input of 4123[6]+P to register the move. By shifting your stick slightly to neutal and then inputting the cancellable normal as a 2-in-1 cancel, the input should come out. Example: c.lk~c.lk~(slight neutral) c.mpX EX Karame Dama. Glitches: ES Karame Dama unblockable: Bishamon's ES Karame Dama at specific ranges is unblockable. The opponent is holding back to block, but the game doesn't register them as blocking. Might be that the proximity guard doesn't activate for the move. The easiest way to gauge spacing for the unblockable is to have Sasquatch block a s.hk and then throw an ES Karame Dama. The unblockable is easier to setup in the corner, but can be done anywhere on screen. Some other setups for the unblockable include: (Corner) ES Karame Dama > Tsuji Hayate, LATE Dash LK/mk, ES Karame Dama (Can be looped infinitely depending on meter). The dash normal has to be done late as possible to allow for timing the fireball at the last possible meaty frame as they return to neutral. block c.lp x2 ...ES Karame Dama Blocked C.lp, clk, ~c.lk ...ES Karame Dama blocked 6lp 6mp, 6.mp ...ES Karame Dama Dizzy Throw Glitch: When Bishamon does a whiffed pursuit and throws the opponent and they soften the throw, there is a chance they will enter a stun state and cannot mash out for a few seconds. When this happens, build some meter and then jump in with J.MK, j.hk, ~C.mp x ES Karame Dama for Max Damage. Neutral: Meter Building: Jump back MK,HK (land) HK xIai Giri HK, HK, Iai Giri HK, HK, Spirit backdask HK (land) HK, Iai Giri (HK) x N Poking: air to air - j.LP>j.MP>j.HP air to ground - ( max range ) j.MK>j.HK or (max range ) j.HK ground to air - 90% of the time you will avoid this scenario in close range. From mid range a d.MP will do wonders. ground to ground - Iai Giri or cr.HP>HK(whiff) or Spirit or f.HP or f.LP Defense Anti-Air Bish's AA normals are pretty lacking so it is best to use LP, air throw or jump into an attack and block then punish the opponent's landing frames with an air normal. Guard Cancel Bish has one of the best Guard Cancels in the game because of it's actual invincibility (unlike most of the cast )AND Bish can combo 22+PP afterwards for great damage. You should absolutely be using this tool. It is best to first frame guard cancel on initial contact as to minimize your opponents baiting efforts. Offense/mixups Pressure: Dash dashing LK shenanigans dashing LP, mp/hp/hk anti-jump shenanigans Pressure: cr.LK, cr.LK Excellent frame trap which leads to combo or throws up close and ascending/jumping pressure or dashing pressure/combo from afar. Pressure: CH Spirit set-ups Leaving frame traps in places where you can trade hits with Spirit has a much higher reward than a cr.LP or cr.LK becuase from a Spirit trade you get dash HK as a combo starter.(Example - blocked LP, Spirit(trade), D.Hk, cr.LKxxES Spirit) Mix-up: Neutral jump Vampire's mix-up game is not so much, overhead vs low with a projectile force block( GG ) but it's more of a frametrap vs throw vs GuardCancel bait. Ascending Neutral jump if opponent whiffs a normal: j.lk,j.mk,j.hk(Land)cr.MPxxES Spirit (throw bait/ GC bait ) if opponent does not whiff a normal : descending j.lk , j.mk, (LAND)cr.MPxxES Spirit (double overhead) descending j.lk > Vcr.lk , cr.MP xxES Spirit (landing low/meaty) Mix-up:Backdash j.hK backdash j.hK is an insanely fast overhead when Bish is cornered and has the offense, this can set-up great tick throws or any kind of jump in mix-up/combo Mix-up: Ascending j.mk>j.hp(whiff)> descending j.lK This same effect can be done with 7,8 or 9 j.lk or hk. Which jump depends on your spacing and application. A little outside of cr.lp range you can do j.mk, j.hp(whiff), j.lk, land.... Or up close you can do neutral-jump j.hk (instant overhead): This leaves you in frame disadvantage. Usually up close, Bishamon should jump away from the opponent with j.hk for the overhead, b/c the frame disadvantage is negated by the fact Bishamon is too far away to punish. Mixup: Pursuit(whiff) Using whiff pursuit is Bishamon's strongest mix-up tool. 1) early whiff pursuit ( same side ) throw low - cr.lk, cr.lp>cr.lk, cr.MPxxES Spirit meaty - LP, LP ( Renda) - this will stuff jumps and set-up an UB reset, or setup frame advantage on block - or combo starter on hit 8 jump mix-up block and GC an attack www.youtube.com/watch?v=45GsoLKjQoQ#t=38s 2) late whiff pursuit ( cross-up ) [*] throw [*] low - cr.lk, cr.lp>cr.lk, cr.MPxxES Spirit [*] meaty - LP, LP ( Renda) - this will stuff jumps and set-up an UB reset, or setup frame advantage on [*]block - or combo starter on hit [*] 8 jump mix-up [*] block and GC an attack Mixup: EX Pursuit follow ups This super allows for Oki (depending on how they roll) but if they tech neutral you have many many options here NOTE:EX Pursuit will whiff after a throw midscreen but will connect in the corner PPS: Your opponent cannot Tech Roll after a EX Pursuit that followed up a Tsuji Hayate Same side: [*] meaty with a combo [*] Netutral jump mix-up with opponent throw whiff ( see above ) [*]Neutral jump mix-up with no throw whiff (see above ) [*]offensive throw [*] block and GC an attack walk through opponent ( cross-up ) [*] meaty combo [*] neutral jump mix-up with opponent throw whiff ( see above ) [*] neutral jump mix-up with no throw whiff (see above ) [*] offensive throw [*]block and GC an attack Resources Essential Videos Practical Combos Theory combos Unblock loop implementation Spirit(trade) implementation Un-mashable Dizzy Glitch implementation Essential Links Bishamon Wiki Vampire Savior Facebook Group Notable players: Nuki Nakanishi Shuu Rantei

I'd like to add some things to the initial Post about Bishamon, since there's some tidbits I'd like to elaborate on: Guard Cancel: Bishamon's non ex-Guard Cancel is 6 frames, which makes it among the quickest GC's in the game. The normal versions of Bishamon's uppercut don't have invulnerability, but the GC versions gain at least 4f+ invulernability (test?) making it an extremely effective defensive option. The ES GC comes out even faster (4f) and adds more invulnerability. Should the ES GC version hit, it will split the opponent which allows Bishamon to set-up for a left/way mixup. Crouching height: Bishamon in VSAV1 has the tallest crouching hitbox, just a smidge taller than Victor.

What I tend to do is double tap the punches as I input the motions. What's important to realize is to do the input slower or faster depending on the character. But for now, focus on getting 6,9,7,9,2 as your first shape down.

So our good friend Hampster from the Japanese community recently wrote us a text document detailing some defensive options and how the frames work on air resets (or just wakeup in general)

Sadly, he doesn't have anything as airtight to hit Anak with. He can usually jump away.

less than 3 months to PU2012 guys! Get hype

Hey guys, I've been maining Hop-squatch for a little bit and I've come bearing some gifts as to how to play him: Neutral game- This is important for Sasquatch because he needs his neutral game to setup short hops. you'll find yourself using standing MP, standing lp, and low hk to poke with. if they jump, you can do an EARLY low hp for AA or an ES Ice Tower if you have the meter (hp ice tower sometimes works too). Other important tools are neutral jumping pokes (lp, lk,lk). but you don't want to play a far away game with Sas hardly ever, so try to stay within about s.mp range. High-Low game: Anyone that has played games like Marvel, BB,GG knows how to play a 50/50 game. With Sas it's the key component to a pretty brutal offense. How do you set this up? By being unpredictable. Use your neutral game to move in and then being your short hop mixups. You'll see a lot of Sas's doing multiple overheads to keep people guessing. Are they blocking your first overhead? Do another! A lot of times you'll see like 3-4 consecutive overheads hitting and then the Sas guy will finish the combo. But the thing is, you're only limited to your imagination and creativity. Another thing I will stress is utilizing Sas's regular dash overhead dash chains. With this you can speed up, slow down, or even catch certain defensive options (tech hit, jump out). And once you can condition people to stop doing these options you can begin to utilize Sas's Big Crunch command throw. This makes Sas a nightmare because once he's in, he controls how you're gonna react to him. Also, you can control what you finish your combo with. For example, you can combo into sweep and go for knockdown oki or you can do low HP and get a reset into a 50/50 mixup. For midscreen I suggest doing a Hard Knockdown. In the corner it's good to reset because they're expecting a knockdown so they can roll. Then you reset them and bam, mixup. Sas can also sparingly do a short hop overhead, 5.mp XX Big Puddle. This is ok to do because you get a gimmicky reset into a super. Breaking through defensive options: This is something I'm still getting a grasp on, because not only is it a matchup specific thing, but also a player specific thing. Inevitably when you're playing Sasquatch, you're gonna realize "fuck he's countering my ________". One of the most difficult opponents for Sas is someone who will not respect his mixup and just jumps out or hits buttons for EVERYTHING you do. But there's also other annoyances (tech hitting, Guard Cancels, Dark Force). So how do you beat it? 1)Jump out/Mashing: Sas was blessed with tools to stop this kinda stuff and it just takes a moment to identify that your opponent is reacting by jumping out or hitting buttons. You can curtail your options to be anti-jump/mash. One of the simplest ways to accomplish this is a by doing a simple c.lk, c.lk, s.mp. From here you can gauge what the opponent is going to do. A lot of people expect a hop after the mp and will be holding up. So I smack em with a c.hk and get my mixup started anyways. You can also walk forward step and hit another mp. Or you can do a dash mp,mk, lk to tag them as they are jumping out. Again, only limited by your creativity. 2)Tech Hit/Guard Cancel/ Dark Force: Except for the last option, both the other options can be punished pretty heavily by having a good mixup game and knowing Sas's options to break through their options. A lot of good players will stand to block Sas's overheads and try to AG you away. So what do you do? One of Sas's easiest options for breaking through tech hits is to simply use his dash chains. If you switch up the rhythm/normals that people are seeing, it makes you very hard to AG. And even if they do get off the AG, Sas is right back in there. Some examples of strings I use are Dash lp, mp and then immediately dash mp, lp, short hop mk, dash mk, lp. That's 7 overheads that are also anti-jump. GC you can bait by doing short strings on the ground. C.lk c.mk is a good one because the hitbox on Sas's mk makes him duck/avoid a lot of GC's. You can also use throw pressure to bait a lot of GC's. If they are willing to stand there and block, then you can hit them with throws/Big Brunch. Dark Force is hard to deal with, because of invulnerability, but be aware of your situation and how each character's dark force works. Remember which ones have auto-taunt and punish hard with a combo into ES Big Foot or general knockdown. Also, some notes to fix the OP: Characters can duck Sas's stand mp. QB, Zabel, Felicia.

I'm all set for PowerUp. I'll be there in April to take your money

Excellent work sir! I'll add those in to my previous post

Wow this character thread is barren, haha! So I'm gonna start posting up matchup strats! Note: Any Matchup numbers are strictly my opinion on the matchup. Thanks to ActionHank for sharing some of his matchup knowledge Zabel (3-7). This is a hard matchup for several reasons. Zabel has an incredibly fast jump, which makes it hard to pressure him on his Oki...or in general for that matter. His Aerial options are as good as Rikuo's and he definitely has the edge in the movement department. A lot of this match is gonna come down to straight guesses. In the neutral game, it's important to realize the length of his stretchy limbs. F.MP is the most likely limb you're gonna encounter most. If you're predictive, you can hit the end of his limb with a sonic wave and follow up with a dash sweep. If he's doing IAD pressure, stand jab will interrupt him if you time it right. I normally just mash it. If you knock him down in the corner and bubble, Zabel can teleport out of the way and land on the other side ;_;. So if you're gonna bubble him, you have to be fast and hope that he doesn't get a reversal teleport. Back to the neutral game, be cogniscent of the fact that the can use his down up chainsaw move in the air to avoid your sonic/ poison. This is a match I like to play in the air, because Zabel moves too fast to try and fight him on the ground. Also, it's REALLY hard to command throw Zabel because of his crouch walk. This disables a lot of his "Proximity guard" limiations and lets him walk right out of range. Sasquatch (6-4): The only true enemy in this fight imo is Sas's damage output. His overheads are fast and if he connects with one then he'll go into a big damage combo +good oki game. In the neutral game, sas likes to throw stand mp in order to discourage jump-ins/ set-up short hops. His sweep ain't half bad either. When Sas is on the defensive, look out for ES Ice tower. Just jump over it or chicken guard it. Try to avoid the corner because Sas will DESTROY you there. Also, watch out for command throw. Hard to see it coming, but if you don't prepare yourself for it, you'll be eating a full combo from it. Sasquatch can use his DF to escape the bubble trap. The keys to winning this fight are to exploit Sas's bad defensive options. His low fierce is only really good if done early at a distance, so jumping at him within that range is a great idea. ES Ice can be jumped over and punished in certain situations. QBee (2-8): This is by far my most frustrating matchup because QBee's tools. Her S.mp and dash mp are so good against Fish, because they can stuff any attempts to zone her out with Echo/Gas attempts. QBee also likes to pester you with stand mp to keep you from jumping out. The key in this matchup is to not let yourself be pushed into the corner, because QB will murder you there. Some things to note is that it's really hard to connect with a full poison/echo combo on her, because she is so low to the ground when she is in her stun state. It's also really hard to pressure QB, since her jump speed is very fast. So be aware of that and take steps in your strings to prevent her from wanting to jump out (ALL bee players do this). Other than that, it's just a rapid fire guessing game that's in her favor. Rikuo can somewhat fight her in the air and that's most likely where you wanna stay. If you do find yourself in the corner, then try to dark force out. Be aware of her DF too. It's similar to Jedah's but with slower rise, I think. Gallon -(5-5) Some people don't agree with me, but I really like this match because Rikuo has a lot of tools to bully Gallon. If you're at 3/4s to 1/2 screen, Talbain has a slight advantage due to his quick dash/ good jumps/ ES BC. It's generally a bad idea to try to zone here. But once you get within his c.mk range, you can really go to town on him. Rikuo can also fight Gallon decently in the air and his bubble trap is hard for Gallon to deal with. Once you get them to settle down into your gameplan, Wolf isn't nearly as bad. Aulbath- The mirror match is really frustrating for me, since Rikuo's tools are so good, even against himself. Key thing to note here is that Rikuo can escape his bubble trap by using his Dark Force. So always have a meter on tap. Felicia - I'm positive this is 5-5. Felicia has a number of tools to maneuver around gas and sonic wave, and she also has some options to escape bubble traps (not many though). She can blow through these options with her super, including ES versions, so be wary of just tossing out gas/sonar. Fish has to be very careful about spacing projectiles due to her jump arc and wall climb. If she jumps from a high angle from her wall climb it is very likely that you will either trade or lose to her in the air. However, if she gets below you for any reason while you meet her in the air, j. st - j. fp chain should beat her. Her guard cancel is decent, but not Demitri good. If you stagger strings with jab and lk enough you can bait and block her GC's. Also when attempting to bubble trap in the corner, keep her GC in mind and apply that same strategy. If you bait her into doing one, you'll most likely end up blocking her follow up hits, and force her into the bubble by sheer proximity. This does require a quick readjustment in spacing though. Also, stay out of the corner. You will be eating a lot of overheads, sweeps, OS throws, and even dark force mix-ups if you stay too long. Teching is also important when dealing with her Cat Spike mixup, because she is a large frame advantage when using these. Bishamon (4-6)- Bishamon and Rikuo are similar characters in a lot of aspects. They both have solid Dash games and from these dash games can create a lot of frame traps to catch people pressing buttons. Bishamon's traps are especially dangerous because they lead to a full ghost combo into a dangerous Oki game. Bishamon has a good amount of normals that he can use to pin Rikuo on the ground (dash mp, hp) and several things he can do at neutral to discourage Rikuo from moving forward (Iai Giri slash, low hp, neutral jump mp). It's important to not just rush blindly at Bishamon and to pick your spots. Bish can also escape Bubble trap by doing Dark Force or GC'ing your options. Bish's GC is actually one of the better ones in the game, so use light attacks to bait and punish his GC. Bishamon's weaknesses in this fight are his fat body and his lack of anti air. You can instant overhead/command throw him easier than a lot of characters and you can jump in on him from within his f.hp range rather easily. So if you can exploit those options then you can have a rather easy time dispatching him. Demitri (6-4)- This is an annoying fight for me because almost all Demitri's play exactly the same. They lame you out with fireballs to build meter/ force mistakes and then when they have meter they fish for knockdowns and try for demon setups. Demitri has a limited mixup game, but it's a big guess on your part. OS throw, Bite Super, low. But there are some common setups you can sniff out (batspin whiff, whiff pursuit, jump in mk, low lp low mp). Demitri has a very solid AA game. His Standing Jab, standing MK and DP are all very good options. The former too can't be airguarded. It's very important in the Demitri matchup to keep variable blockstun pressure, because his Guard Cancel is the best one in the game. If you get hit or block a deep batspin, you can punish it with Dash Sweep. Also, if you block a Demon Cradle, you have a one frame window to punish it on his recovery. Almost impossible to punish. If you can bait his DP, you can punish it with a dash sweep as well. LeiLei- (5-5)- LeiLei vs Fish is a sloppy fight. Lei Lei has tools to zone out and keep Fish at bay with her items, but she can easily use her pendulum > airdash pressure to create weird/ hard to defend against attack angles. LeiLei's prime directive in this match is to build meter for Tenraiha and land overheads that setup into her unblockable setups. The key to being successful in this matchup is to not let her accomplish this objective. Lei Lei can AA rikuo from far away with low hk, mp item and f.hp. She even has an escape option with her Dark Force to get out of Bubble setups. But where LeiLei suffers the most is her low stamina. If you do catch lei lei in a few combos, she bleeds. Also if she is in dark force and you're far away, you can sea rage her for free easy damage. When she's in DF mode, DO NOT ATTACK HER if she's up close. She can't throw you in this mode, so just react to what she's doing and punish her recovery if possible. Play this match carefully and abuse LeiLei's lack of up close game to your advantage Bulleta- (6-4) Such a slippery character! She's very hard to pin down with dash pressure, and can get around projectiles easily with her double jumps. Her ES rockets can trade and sometimes beat gas start-up, even full screen. Bubble traps are fairly effective against her if you do them after a knock down. Her only option out of a meaty cr. mk set-up is to GC it. Her GC isn't great however, and may not even give her time to punish in this case. Be wary of using Dark Force when she has meter, if you go up too high on the screen you can eat a Huntsman super, and you don't want that (each hit would be unscaled in this case). Tech hit often, and watch her angles on her jumps. BB Hoods like to jump and chicken block a lot, as it's one of her only good air to air options. Try and do full jump chains if she double-jumps or starts high in the air, and unblockable st. lp if you land before her. Essentially both characters can get good ground momentum started against each other, but BB Hood is able to escape and reset spacing much easier than Fish. When BBHood is doing her dash pressure, it becomes REALLY important to try and tech hit her as well as possible, because she always has the threat of Instant overhead. Any solid BBH player can do an IOH and whiff her jmk into 2-3 more jumping overheads between landing. This is hard to see, so spacing and good use of pushblock is how Rikuo plays defense in this matchup. Jedah (4-6)- Jedah is another slippery character to fight against. To setup his offensive game, Jedah likes to throw wheels to control space and utilize his high floaty jump arc/ quick dash to start his offense. Jedah also has some decivingly good pokes. Probably the hardest thing to fighting him is that he doesn't have a true knockdown from his normals. So it forces a lot of quick guessing games that stack up pretty quick. Be careful about approaching him on his wakeup because a lot (read: GOOD) Jedahs will use his Dark Force on wakeup. But you can bait him to do that and quickly jump straight up to hit him with a neutral attack. If you do find yourself in his dark force situation it's a tough one to be in because he has a 50/50 that is heavily in his favor. Even if you do block his overheads, he can land and do a Nero Fautica (claw swipe) and punishing you for standing/ go for a contract Super to catch you sleeping. Tech hit becomes your best friend here. If you can sniff the overhead and tech hit him, Jedah loses a lot of momentum. Tech hit any ES wheels that come your way and try to beat Jedah in the air and you'll have a good shot. Lilith (7-3)- Lilith isn't too much of a threat to Fish, because he beats her in sheer damage output. Lilith relies on a lot of Frame Trap, throw, jump in mixup. Similar to fish, but without the superior zoning option/normals. She does have a high jump that can avoid your poison/echo, so be able to react to that. Her DP is annoying, but not invincible. So react to GC happy Lilith's. Also, if you're at full screen don't just blindly dash/ jump at her, because lilith likes to throw air FB/ TK FB to control the space in front of her. But Rikuo should be able to dispatch her rather easily. Similar to Morrigan, she can punish bad jump ins by chicken guard> Luminous Illusion. When blocking Lilith strings, try not to press buttons to try and hit her out. Her strings are surprisingly tight and when she adds in ES fireball, it becomes really hard to time her strings. Morrigan - (6-4) I feel like this should slightly be in Fish's favor, but not for the typical reasons. Morrigan can escape bubble traps very easily if she opts to burn meter on a Valkyrie Turn (super where she exits the screen and comes back with a drill). This has invulnerability on start up, and as long as they time their drill attack correctly, they can reposition her away from the corner. She has a decent guard cancel, but smart players can preemptively DP your dash attempts and shut down your offense. Her ground fireball is terrible vs. fish, simply dash under them and punish her if she's still in recovery, or jump them. Her air FB can be somewhat annoying, especially the ES version. I haven't attempted this yet, but I believe that you may be able to GC the last hit of her ES fireball and punish her (even with Fish's horrible GC). The main goal against her is to try and stay ahead of her in the meter game. Once she is out of meter to burn on Valkyrie Turns, it's pretty simple to bubble her, just don't forget about her GC options and quick anti-airs if you attempt a meaty/jump in set up. Oh, and if she uses missile super, do an immediate jump lk to get hit by one of the higher-angled rockets. This will cause you to get knocked down, and as long as you don't roll, you'll avoid the rest of the chip damage. Morrigan has several different angles with her dash that are kinda wonky, so it's important to recognize her setups. Something I don't think a lot of players realize is that she can punish you for jump ins by chicken guarding and doing Darkness Illusion in the air, close to the ground. So when doing Air-Chains, do a full jump-in chain to make it as hard as possible for. Victor (6-4)- This matchup is closer than a lot of people think. Victor's c.HP ruins fish's day because it's unblockable in the air/resets you/ has a lot of priority. So jumping from out of close distance is a big no-no. Victor's j.fp is almost impossible to beat on the ground with Fish, because the hurtbox for Victor is above his fists. When spacing Victor, use Poision Gas over Echo. It has a fatter hitbox and Victor has a harder time jumping over it. If Victor puts you in a reset situation, it's a really bad 33/33/33 mixup. Victor's options are Hi/empty jump low/ 360/720. He can also set this up from whiffing his DP after a reset. So you have to guess as much as he does, but it's in his favor. However, if you have a meter you can just Dark Force out and give him the finger. Victor is also another character that's easier to overhead/throw. Fattie. Anakaris (7-3)- I actually give Anak credit in this matchup, because he can avoid fish's stuff pretty well if he stays in the air and if he gets his hi/lo throw game started...he can wreck you pretty easily. If Anak's in the air, watch out for Curses/ Coffin Drops. Anak is controlling space with those. Do your best to tech hit his normals and keep him out. If you catch Anak on the ground, abuse the fact that he lacks a meterless GC and the ability to AG. You can keep him locked down for a fair amount of time too. Abuse your throw/overhead game on Anak too because he's a fat character too. (I'll finish the rest later :V )

There are many methods to tech hit the buttons. You can swipe your hands across the buttons or you can do the above method. The only way I can say to practice the other way is to play and try it. if you roll your hand across the stick from left to right, that's how you'll get it. It is possible to hit all the buttons, but it takes a lot of practice.

Howdy everyone! As I'm sure you know, Darkstalkers Combination Cup will be going on September 23rd and the 24th. Japanese Sasquatch player Sasunii has been kind enough to link us videos of the qualifiers and information regarding teams for DCC. You can check that out if you're a part of our Facebook group. Also, DCC will be streamed via Sakamoto's uStream channel So check that out for dates and times. They will have a special 5 on 5 team event the night before DCC then the Main Events will start the day after with the Hunter tournament first, followed by VSav. Don't miss out on some high level Vampire play from some of the best players in the world.

lp should be used for a2a, lk should be used for A2G.

Victor can be a pain if you let him get started. His J.FP is annoying for Aulbath to deal with on the ground (and somewhat in the Air too). Victor's GC is just decent enough for Aulbath to get GC'd out of any long Dash pressure, so it's important to stagger your chains really delicately. At neutral, it's important to move in slowly and steadily, because a good Victor will stick out limbs to keep you from dashing at him from anywhere beyond 1/2 screen. But, you can punish some of them with a Dash. RH. If you get put in a reset situation, it's really a guess on your end what you should do. Victor has three main options. High/Low/Throw. He can disguise them too by doing stuff like whiffing his DP in front of you to get you scared and have you sit to block. But, when I find myself in that situation sitting on meter, I just Dark Force the fuck outta there. The invincibility will make his Command Throw and Low options whiff and you can punish accordingly. Also, I wouldn't suggest on getting too complacent about Jump ins. A well timed low FP from Victor will get you and put you into a reset situation. The good news about fighting Victor is that he's a really big hitbox standing or crouching. So he can fall for stuff easier like command grabs, instant overheads, dash pressure, frame traps, etc. When fighting him A2A, you have to make sure you're above him in order to beat him out on most things. Also, he has no answer to bubble trap, so if you catch him with that...it's pretty much GGs.

Actually, I think that finishing with meter is fine. Lei Lei builds a gargantuan amount of meter and it's perfectly normal for you to end matches with meter. Just use it when the time calls for it and you'll be fine. also: I found this little gem http://darkstalkers.moryou.com/savior/data-s/felicia-s/felicia-s.html

Jedah can DF and escape the bubble trap. I believe QB can too, since their DF animations put them in the air and the invincibility yadda yadda

Just a few things I wanted to note with Felicia: Kick throw is better for OS than punch throw. However against the short ducking characters it's better to use MK than HK, because cl. hk will whiff on Bulleta, Wolf, Bee, Morrigan, Lilith, and Felicia. Felicia's best AA's are determined by her distance to the opponent's character. If it's a 3/4ths to 1/2 screen jump, then use s.lk or c.mp. S.lk is the better of the two imo, but it does lose to some specific jump-ins, Victor's being a prime example. In that case, you can substitute s.lk for C.Mp. this lowers Felicia's hitbox and the claw extends beyond her hurtbox. This works suprisingly well against Talbain's jump-ins. C.Hp is a close range jump in sort of AA. You should only really use it if they jump on top of your head. Anti GC string: low lp/lk, stand mk, low hp. The Stand MK is used to create distance in the string (and also because sometimes c.mk sometimes whiffs :V ) and the HP is what avoids the Guard Cancel. It recovers fast too, so you can punish certain lengthy GCs with a sweep. That's one thing Felicia doesn't really have to worry about is not having meter. Your primary uses of Meter happen to revolve around ES GC, ES command Throw, and landing ES roll in Combos or Punishing really dumb projectiles with ES Roll or Dancing Flash. ES 22p is....ok...but I would only use it if 1) I had a guaranteed situation to do it 2) If it was gonna kill someone. It's a whole meter for an unrollable knockdown and *this* much damage? I'd rather save it.

Ggs to Kyle and anyone I played from here on GGPO~! I discovered something new with Fish. In my quest to be an ultimate troll and create random reset confusion I decided instead of finishing my poison combo...I'd do Instant overhead and reset the situation. Little did I know that it all combos! So it looks something like this: Poison> Jump Lk, HP (do HP while falling), Land, Instant j.lk, d.rh (drill). It all combos and it looks stylin. Plus you get an even frames mixup/ confusion from that situation. NOTE: This doesn't work on QB (Of course it doesn't :/ )

I'm no Demitri expert, but here is a little bit of info for people who are interested in playing him. PROS: Good Normals Great Guard Cancel Demon does a TON of damage Good zoning game Strong Oki/Mixup game CONS: One dimensional Frame Data and basic Demi Overview See post#27- very good write-up: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?12018-VS-Demitri-Dracula&p=1514722&viewfull=1#post1514722

I'd like to add in a few channels: Neojinbe's Channel: youtube.com/user/neojinbe B-IzM's Channel: youtube.com/user/b3nner DDSasquatch's Channel: youtube.com/user/DDSasquatch MagnetoManiac's Channel: youtube.com/goldfelicia Orecom's channel: youtube.com/user/orecomchan psychorarity's channel:youtube.com/user/psychorarity Shimatuya's channel: youtube.com/user/shimatuya EgoLei's Channel: youtube.com/user/ukio987 *MY* channel: youtube.com/user/DJRedrumofEPG

Bulleta's weakness lies from her inability to deal with people jumping on her from any distance really. S.MK is an ok AA, but it's no Demitri S.MK. She also has no real good defensive option when dealing with pressure (like a DP). GC is ok to temporarily alleivate pressure. Bulleta's defensive options are similar to Rikuo's. You have to defend by using your movement/ spacing. From your perspective as Morrigan, it is a hella tough matchup for sure. You have to stave off the incoming Bulleta rushdown of death and destruction while attempting to deal damage with inferior damage dealing options. However, once you get within the range that Bulleta wants to fight at, then you can start to open up on her and use your hi/low game to take advantage of her. Controlling the top part of the screen is important too, because Bulleta wants to be in the air to assault you with like 30 jumping attacks before she lands. Standing MP and MK can stop dashes if you predict them correctly, but only in a situation where they don't have charge. Otherwise you'll eat missle.

Howdy Folks! Gonna come back with some more advanced stuff for Aulbath. Dash Pressure game: Easily one of Aulbath's shining characteristics. The amount of options in mixup is only really limited by Aulbath's hard-ish method of landing overhead. So it really boils down to three things: 1) Throw Game 2)Frame Traps 3) Jump/Re-Dash mixups Aulbath's d.lp, mp and lk are what get him in the fastest. LP and LK are more oppourtune imo, because they have greater blockstun and are harder to AG or GC (MP is two hits). However, I find myself dashing with MP a LOT to set up the dash link (will be covered later). The key to maintaining dash pressure is to gauge how the opponent is going to react to what you're doing. If you see a lot of your opponents blocking your strings, then move in for the throw. Aulbath is usually in a ton of frame advantage, so unless you mis-time it/they're mashing really hard...it's relatively safe to move in for a throw/command throw. Aulbath's command throws are wicked sweet because they are invulnerable on startup, especially the ES versions. Abuse that if you get a shot. Make sure to bubble afterwards to maintain the pressure! If you see that opponents are trying to AG/Jump out of your mixup (my Bane, unfortunately), then you can use frame traps to catch them from moving forward/ jumping. How do you accomplish this? Sonic Wave/Poison gas. These will catch most opponents as they dash/ jump at you or jump away, which allows you to get a free ground combo or a juggle combo in the case of the sonic wave catching them in the air. You can also set up your strings right by staggering the attacks in the string. abuse your LP and lk, because they have an insane amount of frame advantage and allow you to stay in and smack people who are trying to AG between your strings. If you see your attacks connect, hit confirm a hunter chain. Once you set up the frame-trap game, you can begin to work in your throw game again. What if your opponent keeps pushing you away with AGs? No worries, because you have the ability to maintain pressure by simply jumping or dashing in again! Sometimes Aulbath finds himself either 3/4ths screen or further, depending on the push. With this, you can space a jump in nicely, and Aulbath's A2A/A2G game are both soooo solid. In the instance that you get pushed but are still close, go for a dash sweep or dash mp. Both will get you back in relatively fast and catch people who are trying to move forward. Sweep is great in this instance because you get a knockdown and what little momentum they just got back just got double agented.

I'd throw Aulbath in there, somewhat. While his dash pressure game is immensely better, he can be very annoying when the McFish player can zone you out right and makes you land on a poison or a sonic wave. But that's a real risk compared to other characters who have a better zoning game. Although Demitri has your "shoto standard" zoning game, I think Lei Lei has the best overall zoning game, because she has two special moves (ES Gong and Projectile) and an entire Super that are geared towards zoning (LaoRai Tenshin [swords]). Other characters that can kinda hang back are Morrigan (somewhat) and Anakaris (somewhat). But as Skankin Garbage mentioned, zoning and turtling in Savior takes a sort of backseat to rushdown. Characters who can break zoning are more than capable of sheerly overwhelming overly defensive players by the speed and angle of their rushdown (Sas, Raptor, QB are the biggest culprits).

Howdy folks!. As many of you realize, Vampire has a growing, mostly online community. Luckily there are many programs you can use to play VSav online. I'll detail them here: Online GGPO- This is where the majority of the VSav community plays. The netcode for Vampire is nearly flawless (the new build does add some crazy rollbacks when specs join/leave the game and some other weird lag spikes), but it's by far the best program to play VS on. This requires the ROM of vsav.zip (euro) Supercade- Supercade is a P2P (Peer to Peer) based client run by Damdai. It boasts the ability to have replays, and that's really the only thing it has over GGPO. The netplay isn't as good and creates some pretty nasty input lag, which in a game like Vampire is pretty essential. the Vsav community uses it when GGPO is down. This requires the ROM of vsav.zip (euro) Kaillera P2P- Some people use this function of Kaillera to play VSav. It's useful to avoid lag from Specs and I don't think it has input lag ( don't really use it). It's rather easy to set up too. Just get your opponents IP, host a game and gogogogogogo. This requires the ROM of vsav.zip (euro) If anyone else uses another service, just let me know Offline Arcade Boards are the best!

Hey guys, I've been an Aulbath main for YEARS...so I think I can drop some science on him. PROS: Strong ground game/dash pressure game Bubble loop can win the game for you Strong Dark Force Good Normals Strong Throw game Great A2A game Good at breaking through pushblock attempts CONS: Bad Anti-Air Bad Guard Cancel Somewhat one -dimensional offensive options. Normals: Aulbath has a pretty good set of normals, but I think they're best utilized when he's dashing. However, he has some of the best light attacks in the game. c.lp gives you +8 on block, +7 on hit and can link into ITSELF. Pretty awesome imo. C.lk is around the same +7 on block, +6 on hit. His s.mp, c.mp, c.mk and c.hp are all unique because they're two hit moves. You can cancel those at the first or second hit into the other moves (with the exception of c.hp I think). His sweep is pretty decent too, but best utilized when dashing. Aulbath's dash game is probably what makes him the scariest. All of his normals are tailored for lockdown. Dash sweep is really fast and safe on block (depending on distance). All of his dash lights are simple ways of getting in on the opponent and start off his offensive rush series. His Aerial moves are great too. Pretty much every one has a use. lp, mp, hp are my favorites for air to air encouters and I use j.lk to jump in at grounded opponents, because it chains into other moves. You can also have an instant overhead with j.lk> Drill. Special Moves: Echo (B, F Punch)- Echo is a good move, but I use it mainly for zoning/trap purposes. If you hit them on the ground, it's a full jump in combo. If you hit them in the air, it puts them into a juggle state. Best combo to do when that happens is Echo>J. HP> Pursuit Attack. Gas (B, F Kick)- Gas is also a great move, but I mainly use it in blockstrings. Sometimes in Zoning. Any time you hit this move it puts them in a stun state for a full jump-in combo. However, if they're far away...you won't be able to combo them. A simple dash sweep is the best way to maximize damage at that point. Tricky Fish- Fish's weird jump back move. Can be done two ways (b,b K or DP+K). I hardly ever use this move. It's not the best, but I suppose you could use it to peg people who are being stupid and jumping in predictably when you don't have charge. I also use it when I don't have charge for a bubble combo. Does decent damage. Pokey Command Grab (HCB P)- This move is great because both of Aulbath's throws have invincibility. Mix this in with your dash pressure for some scary situations. Pearl spit Command Grab (HCB K)- Read: Pokey Command Grab and substitute P for K. Supers: Sea Rage (HCF+ PP): This move can be used from time to time when people are throwing FB's full screen or something. Some people use it for Chip but it doesn't do THAT much imo to even be good about chip. Waste of meter, imo DA MOTHAFUCKIN BUBBLE (DP+PP): The Scrub Busting, Rage inducing, Cheapest move in the game. This is your objective with Rikuo. Get a knockdown, bubble, pressure them and land them in it...do full combo. This works better in the corner than Midscreen, but it has its uses midscreen as well, because people like to give me space when it's out. So I just walk behind it. Some characters can escape it with Dark Force/Specials/ Wall Jumps or w/e, so be cogniscent of which characters have options and which don't.Once you land the bubble, the main combo you're looking for is: Bubble (Begin Charging), LK Poison, jump lk> Hp air chain, low lk, stand mp (two hits), stand mk, low RH. That combo builds a ton of meter (most of the time netting you another meter to bubble again) and does the most damage. Learn it, as it's also applicable to any other time you land poison or echo when they're grounded. Water Tower (F,DF, D + PP or KK): This move is funny to me because its got its uses for screen control at full screen, but even then it's a waste of meter. However, if they get hit and pitched up by it, they get put in a juggle state and you can combo poison into it (However you don't get a full ground combo afterwards....that'd be mega cheap). Sometimes I use it in bubble combos to be flashy. If you use the PP version, you can hold the Punches and it'll travel on the ground until you release them. KK is a set activation point. LEVEL 3 SUPER OF DEATH (down,down+ PP): You can only use this super on Default color. Waste of meter, hit's low and is hella slow. Doesn't do any damage either. But if you land it, you automatically win the game of Vampire Savior and you are better than Oouchi Jedah and Sasaduka COMBINED. Combos: Dash MP~ link combo low jab, low short, low mk, low hk Low lk, stand MP (two hits), stand MK, low hk Ground Gas/Echo hit> jump lp>hp, low lk, stand mp (2 hits), stand MK, low hk Dark Force: Rikuo gains Hyper Armor and all of his moves become crouching. Rikuo can't block though. He can jump off the Crab with KK, but he loses his hyper Armor if he does so. This can lead to INESCAPABLE Bubble traps, because the bubble can't be broken if Rik is hit. Strategy/Mindset: First of all, Rikuo is NOT Guile. A lot of beginning Rikuo's make the mistake of doing that and they realize that Rik can't really handle people jumping in on him like Guile can, because Rik lacks AA normals (Stand HP DOESN'T WORK). The best you can hope for is to trade or make them land on Gas/Echo. Even then....that's a crapshoot on characters like Lei Lei, Jedah, QB, Raptor, Felicia and Gallon because they have ways to jump over it and get you killed. You can turtle it up when needed, but Rik's not built for that. How *I* play McFish is to be a constant source of PRESSURE. His ground game is one of the best in the game and I abuse the hell outta that. Use dash pressure and stagger your normals and cancel them into Gas/Echo to create traps that catch people mashing/jumping. Or you can pressure them into a throw situation. Any time you can get a knockdown, bubble. This puts an immense amount of pressure on the other guy and often forces a lot of mistakes, because they don't wanna get looped. However, be careful in your pressure because if Rik gets hit... you lose the bubble and all that pressure. Once you land a bubble, do the air combo that I mentioned and if you have enough meter.... DO IT AGAIN! Rik is a simple character and abusing the cheap stuff will net you some wins. In the Air or at a neutral state, I like to jump in with Rikuo's Air normals, because they're all really good. Use them to hold off people's offense (this is basically his form of AA) and to start your own pressure and create new angles of attack. And throw...a lot. Because that's all I do. Waste of meter, imo. The only times you should be doing a bubble are after a knockdown situation or a at a point where you can safely throw it without being interrupted. This move has A LOT of startup and using the Dark Force doesn't allow you to do a full ground combo unless you get off the crab (KKK) and do a full ground combo. Which....takes too much effort when correctly guessing and pressuring correctly can net you bubble after bubble against certain characters. When I throw a bubble, the most common response is to jump over it. So I jump at my opponent with jumping mp> HP air chain for two reasons: 1) The Air Chain has a high probablility of beating out whatever air attacks they're doing and it beats most chicken guard attempts, because the bubble will hit by then. 2) MP> HP are both throw buttons, so you have an option select should they enter the parameters for being air thrown. If their air throw comes out, you tech it (losing the bubble, but meh) or you throw them. Not a bad trade imo. Other methods of pressure include dashing, using echo/poison to keep them in place....or simply neutral jumping and hitting them into the bubble. Also, it's worth noting that the bubble CAN be mashed out of. So the time in the bubble depends on how quickly you do your follow up Lk poison/ how quickly they mash out. The optimal combo you wanna be doing is: Bubble > LK poison> J.lk, HP air chain, (land) low lk, stand mp (2 hits), stand mk, low hk. I'll edit later. Ummm for now check out the Mizuumi wiki: http://vsav.mizuumi.net/wiki/Aulbath