LM_Akira

Ahh sorry yeah, I wasn't thinking about it properly (and I didn't work out the SD for when it hits).

But hang on, I thought Lv1 BRP is -1 on block? Lv2 is +1 and Lv3 is +5. That's what it's listed as in the Mook and Complete Guide. A blocked Lv1 BRP from relatively max distance isn't a problem to worry about but closer up is more dangerous because of that slight disadvantage. In fact, some people I play will always throw me after blocking it if I use it too close up, I have a hard time breaking their throw or even trying to jump right afterwards in this situation. Of course, the first way around this problem is judging your distance correctly to begin with and not using Lv1 BRP when it will land you right into someone's throw range.

tbh I've not started capping the footage yet as I've been busy sorting out some casual and RB matches. But I'm definitely planning to get it up by the weekend however.

Actually, yes you're right, my statement before wasn't 100% accurate. After some more testing just now, running up and ticking into GB (with 2K, 5K etc) will NOT crossup an opponent who is crouch guarding...but it will crossup an opponent who is guarding standing, provided you have enough forward momentum. It's quite odd that there's such a discrepancy because of high or low guarding (couldn't be bothered testing IB, FD and SB lol)

Great stuff. Nice to know lots of UK/European GG was going down that weekend

Whilst Kaqn is an excellent HOS player, he hasn't been seen to be playing the character for quite a while now (not long after SBO he switched back to Millia) and never really went for the absolute max damage combos as much as others might. KZO is a bit too erratic to take combos from really. Sanma is a currently one of the strongest HOS players (imho), as is 0 (has been for a while, Kaqn even considered him the best HOS to enter the last 23v23). Sanma does quite a bit of HJI stuff and dust looping. Even N-Shima does JI on almost all his combos to max damage. Check out WUT's vids and you'll also get a better idea of standard and max damage combos HOS has realistically in a fight. Dust loop is a relatively recent thing for HOS players to go for (in the grand scheme of things) so you won't find that many vids of Kaqn using it I think. It's also quite hard in certain circumstances, hence why people will favour easier combos that do less damage if they're in a tourney situation.

Read what I said. You can 2D CC and combo vs any puffball coming your way. I've tested this, verified it and used it in fights. Go into training mode and try to 2D CC against FB puffball. Yes, you can 2D CC against it and land a CH, but the times when you clash you get fucked up and hit into the wall. Just block it if you see it coming, it's not worth the risk imho. 2D is good in this fight in general because it's a good move anyway and because you know it's one thing Jam certainly can't parry. Check out 0 at 1:24 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSIM0nk8ZFc better option than GB (especially when the puffball comes in from a long way out). No, unless you time your GB perfectly as the puffball comes in (which is not smart, 2D is far better in this situation I find). If you use GB, you need to make the flame/s hit as she's about to do the puffball, not going to happen very often with Lv1, you'll basically just pass thru her to the other side, same with Lv2 and Lv3, chances of actually landing a proper combo vs an incoming puffball aren't very high. If Jam does the crossup puffball you'll most likely get hit if you do GB (or you'll end up with RI). Wasting a Lv2 or 3 move just to deal with a puffball is daft anyway, especially when 2D works so well. No, not the same for Ryuujin. GB vs Ryuujin on reaction will almost always whiff and leave you on opposite ends of the screen. Besides, when does Jam just throw out Ryuujin randomly anyway? No it's not. Stop playing theory fighter and try it out. Also, read up on your frames, GB only goes low stance very late in the startup of the move (Lv1: 17th-19th frames, Lv2: 25th-27th frames, Lv3: 31st-33rd frames) compared to 2D: 6th-21st frames in low stance. 2D CC is perfectly feasible vs normal puffballs, a better idea than using GB (I would rather just block than use GB). Hell you can use 2K to stop puffballs if you're brave enough.

A few pointers I can think of for the time being: Both characters are short range fighters and fast, it's hard to keep Jam under pressure for too long (outside the corner). If you try to run her down and make a mistake, you can be badly punished for it (depending on what card's she's got or whether she manages to loop you with a gatling). Block the special sweep (236S, K) anytime Jam has got a K card, she can hit you into the corner with charged Ryuujin (un-techable for an eternity) and loop you with puffballs and 2HS, 6HS HS stuff. Basically you'll lose at least half your bar, probably more. If you have burst, use it when she goes for 2HS. If you end up bursting too high up or at the wrong point, you'll most likely eat another puffball as you fall down and the looping will continue. Sweep any normal 236S moves on reaction and CC...on CH you'll get a free combo (CH happens quite often vs 236S moves if you time it nicely). Never try this against FB puffball or 236S, K when Jam has a K card tho (the trade is too much to risk, just block!). Block the crossup IAD dragon kicks in the air carefully. Lv1 GB may be useful vs these shenanigans when used as anti air (don't ever try to use 5HS, it's too slow and you'll most likely come off worse). If the IADs become predictable, try and air throw her. Watch out for low j.2Ks if Jam has enough Tension to RC and followup. Always be mindful of parry (vs jump ins, overdrives, badly time meaties etc...). She can't parry low attacks so 2K, 2D and Fafnir are your friends here. If you're using 2HS and 6K on wakeup, make sure you hit with them meaty, else you risk being parried and punished (normally a gatling into knockdown then a card power up). You may also need to bait wakeup reversal dragon kicks from time to time (depending on how much your opponent uses them). Don't reversal GB or SV too much if Jam likes to use 6HS as a meaty (it's got long periods of throw and lower body invincibility). On CH this leads to big damage and knockdown for a card. So if you mess up your timing you're in trouble. 6HS is +5 on block, try to IB to avoid big disadvantage or even just FD.

Man, that's some next level combo there, RCing a 6D!! Tsak: Dust loop tested on Axl (a long time ago in the combo thread): Lv1 214S dash j.HS, j.D, dj.HS, j.D land j.HS, j.D, dj.HS, j.D, Lv1 236K (221) Note it's a normal GB, not even a CH one.

Just some corrections to point out... - Lv1 GB gives dash 5S© HJC hj.S, j.HS, j.D, Lv1 SV on everyone and probably does more like 160 or so on average. If you HJI you're looking at more, 175 or so. You can in fact go for dust loop vs everyone from Lv1 GB as well, if you take them to the corner you're looking at a solid 180-190ish with corner re-jugges ending with either knockdown at Lv2 or tech traps at Lv1. - Fafnir (dash) 2S, 5HS hj.IAD j.P, j.HS, Lv1 SV works on everyone and does around 180 or so on average. Lv2 BRP does NOT give knockdown after high jump combos, it lost lots of un-techable time going from Slash to AC. You will only get knockdown from Lv2 BRP either on the ground or very close to it. - JI'd Lv2 GB combos also do more damage than what you listed. Off 2S (CH) 6HS RC you can do dash 5S©, 2S, 5HS into either IAD stuff vs tall chars or a special vs shorter ones, does more damage than the combo you listed (and can give knockdown after the IAD hits). Or you can combos 2S (CH) into Lv2/3 specials. Or do Lv3 specials after the 5HS listed above and break 200. CH Fafnir gives dash 5S© 5HS into a JI'd high jump combo vs anyone for way over 200 pts (maybe not quite vs Potemkin, Robo-Ky, A.B.A. etc...) or you can go into dust loop and take them into the corner from midscreen for a re-juggle. CH Fafnir leads to huge damage in general and even better damage in the corner. From my viewpoint tho, for Order-Sol to reach his maximum damage potential in a match, it strongly hinges on Tension, Lv, CHs and proximity to the corner. His average damage per combo realistically is lower than 200pts in my mind, I would put it at more 150-180 but then again I'm a scrub lol.

Ogawa considers this matchup 6-4 in Eddie's favour (it will probably feel a lot worse if you're playing a good Eddie lol). With Little Eddie/Shadow out it's going to be hard work fighting Eddie, try to take out Shadow with any chance you get or turtle and try to wait out Shadow's bar. Without Shadow, Eddie is weak to your close range pressure (once you get in). His blocking sprite is HUGE so you can crank his guard bar quite nicely with fuzzy guard type shenanigans and CC lockdown, especially in the corner. Watch for his normal throw, it has big range (49 dots). His 2S, 5S(f) and drills stop you simply running him down and his 2HS and 6P function as good anti air. Shadow moves; - P is not really much to worry about as far as I can tell. It has invincibility and advances Shadow a little bit but it's not something to be too frightened of as it won't lead to much. - K (Mawaru) you will probably see a lot in block strings/combos/Shadow Gallery loops etc and is a 2-hit claw which vacuums on hit or block (see later how to deal with it). - S (Nobiru) controls space directly in front of Eddie very well and causes wall bounce on hit. - HS ("Puddle") will only be used in certain setups and needs to be guarded low. If you're caught by the puddle, Eddie gets a free combo and knockdown. - D ("Spit ball") overhead and frequently used in unblockables. A few unblockables of note; - Eddie's 5K and Shadow's Spit ball - Drill FRC IAD j.S/j.HS - FB Drill and Shadow's Spit ball - Command throw into Shadow's Puddle (or a jumping move when you're trying to block Shadow's Puddle) For a comprehensive guide to Eddie's unblockables and how to deal with them, see Teyah's post here: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showpost.php?p=179468&postcount=5 Eddie's 5K is a low and his 6K (the slow claw move) is an overhead, you'll see these frequently in blockstrings that use Shadow's Mawaru. Some points about dealing with block strings that utilise Mawaru: Originally posted by Teyah: There's a 3-frame gap between both hits of the Shadow K attack, 6F if you IB. Some possible and practical solutions to get out of a straight 2 hits of Mawaru include: - IB, backdash - 6F timing, time it late so you don't get caught by the tail end of the 2nd hit - IB, 5K (should kill the shadow) - 3F timing - Regular block, backdash - 3F timing - Regular block / IB, Storm Viper - 3/6F timing - IB, FD jump - 5F timing (~2-3F timing to actually get out of range) - SB - 2F timing to Slashback successfully, 13F to do whatever you want after

Don't ever dash after 2D CC. Dashing INTO the 2D may help tho. On normal hit you can do... 2D CC 5K, 5S© JC j.K, j.S, dj.K, j.S, Lv1 SV 2D CC 5K, 5S©, 5HS hj.IAD j.P, j.S, Lv1 SV against almost all chars. On CH you can do... 2D CC (CH) 5S©, 5HS hj.IAD j.P, j.HS, Lv1 SV 2D CC (CH) 5S©, 5HS HJC hj.S, j.HS, j.D against almost all chars. I need to compile an exact list of all this stuff. You need to do a dash after Lv3 SV to connect 5S©. Or you can do Lv2 Tyrant Rave. Or dash j.HS, j.D blah blah... Read the first post, it covers most of the options off corner throw. Bare in mind you need to learn the correct timing for j.HS, j.D, dj.HS, j.D if you want to go for re-juggles.

Originally posted by Digital Watches: (replying to excelence about SBing against Axl's 2HS and then doing Fafnir) Um. Don't try to SB the second hit of 2H. It's a lot harder than it sounds. For one thing, the gap between the hits can be as low as 0 frames, meaning that the second hit will hit on the frame after the first one does. Secondly, the gap will vary based on how far into the first hit (which active frame) connected. Lastly, the move doesn't need a CH to stagger, so even if you can wiggle out quickly, getting hit by the back-pull of 2H is just free offensive momentum for Axl. Probably a better idea would be to IB the first hit and FD the second, since this would presumably pull HOS closer. Either way, I'd call this a very disadvantageous matchup for OS. Keeping ground pressure, like most matches against Axl, is easy, but getting it in the first place is something that HOS doesn't really have very many tools to do. Your best bet is to try to bait the Axl player into throwing something out that won't connect, so that you can get in, but due to HOS's low jumps, mediocre airdash, and lack of moves that will reliably beat out chains while moving him forward (or for that matter, even gain a knockdown from far away,) HOS just has one hell of a time getting in otherwise, and Axl has no reason to do anything but wait and see what he should throw out. Focus on tripping up the Axl and taking advantage of gaps created to get in, and most of all, once you're in, STAY THERE. Keep pressure going no matter what. Watch out for Housoubako and go for lows often to prevent it. Also keep in mind that a smart Axl will try to push you out with FD, giving him enough time to try to beat you out with 6K, 5K, f.S, 2H, or 2S (depending on the angle you come in from. Also watch out for 2K, which will go over most aerial and some grounded moves. If you suspect one is coming, go for a low j.H, which will hit Axl despite the "low profile" hitbox. Just as HOS has few if any tools to get in on Axl, Axl has few tools to beat out HOS once he's in, but that doesn't mean you don't have to be wary of attempts. Some random things that might work getting in: -I've seen j.H beat out Axl's chains on occasion, especially Axl's j.S. -If the Axl is going for a combo instead of using optimal zoning spacing, it may be safe to try a SV to get a knockdown. -If you can get out of Axl's reach, you can try to make the Axl nervous by charging your meter and trying to bait pokes to beat out with the charge burst. All in all, this matchup is horrid for HOS, but definitely not unwinnable. Lots more discussion can be found here: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3999

Johnny's another frustrating fight for HOS (in fact he's Johnny's best matchup) it's not so much that he'll zone you like Testament, Venom or Faust can (for example) it's that he has such great range on his pokes and specials meaning it's hard to get into him. Mist Finers cover an awful lot of ground, especially at Lv2 which is what you'll probably see most (Lv2 P MF for wall bounce and combo, Lv2 K MF for air combos using KJ FRC). It's next to impossible for Johnny to score a 1-hit Ensenga knockdown on HOS but he can however use Divine Blade at the end of air combos for knockdown. He doesn't really have that many oki options now (at least I see it that way) apart from coin (to make you block) coin > TK Ensenga (RC) into combo (if you're blocking low on wakeup, especially in the corner) 3HS (safe against reversal SV) and so on. Originally posted by Mitsurugi: When he is from afar and you fear an upper Mist Finer (MF), you can dash-jump and or double jump and FD it to bait the MF. If the JO player perform it, he would lose a level 2. Dash Brake (run and FD) with low FD if you want to approach from the ground. Same thing here in order to make him waste a level (MF-K or S) if he uses it as a poke/thinks there is an opening. Anyway if he zones you from afar, that is a good opportunity to charge since you can cancel before he gets close to you. Avoid the burst cancel whatever it is called, it may works the first time but afterward, you'll get baited and punished after it. 2H mashing is easy to punish thanks to OS small jump. Don't know how, but I played two good HOS players and if I carelessly throw out it, they small jump (anticipate it) and big combo. On the opposite, i think OS has good frame traps and "priority" that makes it hard for JO to escape pressure : 2H is really risky and blocking (FD, IB) then punishing or escaping when there is a true hole (not a bait from the frame trap) are better options for JO than mashing the panic button IMO. When you wake up, beware of 2D or dash > throw too, either masked by a coin or a little gatling beforehand or not. Don't recklessly throw out reversal SV as an appropriate 3H will nicely stuff it thanks to its range and 2 hits (CH against all reversal shoryukens but the distance varies for JO). Granted, it he does it too close you can nail him but that should not happen often. 3H is not a low by the way ! Do not poke with Rock It as a simple 5K will CH hit. Originally posted by LM_Akira: I honestly feel backdash is your best friend when playing Johnny, not to be used too often but it's good against coins at midrange and to bait any pokes that have laggy recovery. You can nullify coins with 6P but it's not something I find myself doing much. Jumping in a neutral situation will probably get you killed as Johnny has 5HS, 6P and Lv1 P MF as anti air to stop you, unless you FD. Even 3HS and 6HS can work as anti airs!! KJT KJ can actually hit you if you do Lv1 BHB AC on the other side of the screen without FRCing, so it's probably best not to do it much (unless Johnny's been knocked down or something). And yeah, Johnny has no invincible dragon punch style move to get himself out of pressure (apart from That's my name) so he will naturally have trouble with pressure/block strings up close and fuzzy guard off j.S can be useful for knockdown. HOS can also dash sweep underneath coins as a further way to avoid them but you'd need to be up close to start with and be confident in judging distance.

Here's some things I wanted to bring up / note / point out. The 2 things that should probably worry you the most in this fight are Potemkin Buster and Slide Head. Since PB now has an FRC point, if (when?!) Potemkin lands a PB and has bar he can do monstrous damage in a few seconds and also set you up for the 6HS, slide head wakeup game. That means big damage in midscreen for him now. PB can grab limbs randomly and has horrendous range, so even when you're doing a short block string on him it's possible for him to PB YOU out of your attacks. Watch out for other PB tricks like backdash, PB and hammerfall break, PB. It may sound obvious repeating this old information but it's good to be aware of it I feel. Slide head loops are nasty if you get caught in one without a burst. Potemkin won't be throwing these out too randomly close up (as you can actually block it then) but it is a constant threat you need to watch for. To stop yourself being hit by slide head in open play you have a few options: 1) Backdash 2) Jump 3) Charge Burst 4) Fafnir 5) BRP/SV {6) Standing FD but it's a HOS glitch lol} Back dash is obvious as you're airborne (and have some form of invincibility) as the slide head hits the ground. Jumping is also another basic option which is relatively risk free. If you're charging, a charge burst timed correctly will avoid the ground hit through invincibility, as will Fafnir which has lower body invincibility during start up. Depending on the range, it's possible to score counter hits against slide head when using Fafnir, giving you a free combo. You can BRP or SV on reaction (provided you're not already doing something) but back dashing is probably a lot safer. Lv3 BRP may score you a free combo depending on the range. If you get knocked down and Potemkin throws out 6HS as oki you can either reversal SV it or backdash. Backdash is hard against 6HS because if you're out by a few frames or your opponent's timing is a little off you can still end up being tagged by the move and taking considerable damage. But it's probably worth learning to reversal backdash on wakeup because Potemkin can also use Giganter as a mixup instead of 6HS...both can lead to him getting in slide head and then getting his otg stuff in, if they are blocked. SV won't work vs giganter but backdash does. Bizarrely it is actually better to let 6HS hit than block it on wakeup as it stops Potemkin from canceling into guaranteed slide head. But ideally you should watch out for what Potemkin goes for and either backdash or SV. SV can be easily baited however, even punished with things like judge gauntlet if you become too predictable. So it comes down to your opponent and what exactly they like to do. If you have a burst and are going to use it to escape a loop, the best time to burst is just as he goes for the otg 5K, it should leave you in a decent (read "safe") position. Overall I think this matchup can be approached from 2 distinct standpoints. One being rather defensive, holding back and charging up to make the most of your higher levels and the other being all out rushdown and mixing things up as quickly and as much as possible. Watch for his anti air 6P which can lead into either basic short retaliation combos or nasty tech traps. He has big range on his 5HS, 2D and 6HS (obviously!) as well as a few other things. His 2S now vacuums which can be a right pain sometimes and really helps out his combos. Taking damage off him is like fighting a tank as usual but you can land pretty solid combos on him near the corner. Multiple j.Ps or any fast jump in will stuff his super armour on hammer fall, just don't try to ground poke it when he's right in your face as you can often end up taking the hit. That's what I've come up with so far I guess. Originally posted by WUT: One little correction for the Potemkin part, otherwise it all sounds decent. If Pot is using 6HS on wakeup then just learn to IB it. You can then either backdash or jump the Slide Head. Sure, it's harder than just getting hit by it (bad idea; leads to potentially being dizzied if he gets another big hit in), or just using SV (6HS FRC exists for a reason and reversal shoryu just begs for Potty to PB or 2HS for the punish), but it's easier than trying to reversal backdash and taking the risk of getting hit anyhow. Also: 2S rocks this fight, Fafnir rocks this fight, and don't pretend HOS has a ground to air anti-air against Pot; he doesn't. J.P all the way. Also Also: the FD glitch against Slide Head only works when you're not in guard stun. 6HS xx Slide Head will still work normally; random Slide Heads from full screen doesn't. Edit: FD Glitch: FD while *standing* (and not in guard stun). If you're at the range where Slide Head is an unblockable (aka not physically hit by Potemkin, where Slide Head is a low) you will completely avoid it. Have to be standing; crouching leads to a normal unblockable Slide Head. Originally posted by TITANIUM BEAST!!!: I've noticed that Potemkin players are opting out of 6HS oki now and going instead for really meaty Slide Head at the unblockable distance. Remember that you can reverse this with Fafnir for free if you are in range. As far as 6HS oki, I would always SV it unless I see the opponent has meter to FRC the move; there's no reason to IB and attempt a backdash or jump away when you can reverse for free. You can also do Gun Blaze under 6HS on wakeup, but if the 6HS is done early enough, his fists will retract before the flame becomes active, so be careful when using it. Originally posted by WUT: 6K is decent for oki, but beware when he has 50%. Reversal Giganter is a free CH on 6K. If he doesn't have 50%, a simple reversal backdash can completely whiff 6K and score him a free PB during recovery. GB is a pretty crappy idea too. FDB and reversal backdash pretty much take away any initiative you get from GB. The safest oki tends to come from deep jump-ins, primarily j.S (for potential fuzzy guard) and j.HS. Both are safe against Giganter and reversal backdash, and both force pot to guard.

Originally posted by WUT: Slayer is retarded in AC. Link system allows him to convert pretty much any hit into solid damage with 25% meter, his CHs are great and give him free combos, and all his combos end in knockdown and oki. To be honest, I didn't have much experience in this match-up until a friend pointed out a relatively simple fact, which I promptly tested at SER v.2 with great results: outside of 2HS range, Slayer only has 3 ways to come in and start his mix-up, 6HS, Mappa, and IAD/jump in j.HS. That being said, if you can find what beats those three ways in, along with baiting 2HS effectively, then you can fight a Slayer. HOS' main answer(s) to 6HS, Mappa, and j.HS come in two flavors: GB and 2D, with GB being the better option. Both will either hit Slayer out of his offense, or whiff his offense and recover in time to be safe, so you can throw it out occasionally. The problem starts when Slayer begins relying on 2HS to prevent you from keeping him out. 2HS CHs 2D (ugly) and hits you out of GB (non CH). The solution to 2HS spamming is an easy j.P whiff falling j.HS. At that point it becomes a little mindgame on whether you're going to jump in (so he has to anti-air with 2S and 6P, both of which score a CH on falling j.HS but clash/whiff if you do another j.P instead. If Slayer anti-airs with 5P then you trade if you do another j.P, or lose if you do a j.HS), or whether you're going to continue keeping him out (for more 2HS spam). The funny part is, if Slayer tries to anti-air with 5P, 2S or 6P, they all lose to 2D. Even if Slayer uses his FB BBU to anti-air (bad decision), 2D/GB win. So we're right back where we started in terms of keeping Slayer guessing. Offensively...I'm not too sure. I was focused more on baiting and countering Slayer than starting my own offense, but when I did get a chance I just used basic mix-up and tick throws. Personally, I prefer to back off and Charge in this fight, forcing Slayer to come in and begin the baiting game again. That way, I always have Charge to combo with when I do score a hit. Meaty oki (particularly 6K) on Slayer is particularly effective (no DP) until he gets 50% tension. Speaking of 50% tension: fear Dead on Time (punch super). Once Slayer has 50% and you're trying to come in, you HAVE to bait it. However, once you successfully bait it you get a free punish with Slayer pretty much in the corner (a running Fafnir into air combo is great for this). Originally posted by TITANIUM BEAST!!!: Some more observations on the Slayer matchup: 2HS is an annoying move, especially when he uses it to zone you. However, your 5S(f) beats it out on startup if both moves are thrown at the same time. The catch here is that his 6P will CH your 5S(f), but he must guess on this one and as WUT posted above, 2D will beat 6P for a free CH into combo, so this gives you another tool in the midscreen baiting game. 2S can also beat 2HS, though the consistency of this is arguable. Regardless, I've been able to CH Slayer out of his 2HS with 2S, but other pokes like 2K and 5K will probably beat it out. Another tool against 2HS is Fafnir. At first, it seems like Fafnir would lose to 2HS due to the lower-body invincibility on the move, but this only happens if you do your Fafnir first or at the same time as his 2HS. Slayer's 2HS only has lower-body invincibility up to the first active frame of the move, same as Fafnir. So if you do Fafnir after he does 2HS, you will beat it. This is another baiting game, as basically whoever does their move first will lose. The risk/reward is roughly equal here, except that Slayer doesn't have to commit to using his 25% meter immediately. So trudge carefully. One place that the above information can really come in handy is when you are on defense. Some Slayer players like to autopilot their links when they are on offense, which you can take advantage of. If the Slayer you are fighting is always doing 2K-2HS, you can block the 2K and Fafnir against the 2HS for a free combo. Another tip for in-close fighting is to use 2P. Slayer's 2K has this annoying property of being able to evade 5K even at fairly close ranges (except for point-blank). However, 2P will usually beat 2K cleanly. It will also beat out 6HS if you are in range to hit Slayer. So use 2P more often for starting your strings in this fight. I've been relatively unsuccessful with getting j.P to clash with Slayer's 2S, so I would opt to FD if I throw j.P and he hasn't thrown out another move. In general, I don't like to just use j.P out of the blue in this matchup, I get anti-aired way too much. Backing up and Charging is a requirement versus Slayer. Trying to initiate offense at midscreen is far too risky as the risk/reward is heavily skewed in Slayer's favor. It's better to play conservatively and try to make Slayer come at you so you can counter his approach and get a knockdown to start your offense. Level 2/level 3 makes this fight much easier as well. Some other stuff: Properly spaced, your 6P will beat Slayer's 6P. 6P is useful in general as long as you are outside of 2HS range. Usually, j.P will stop Slayer's IAD j.HS cold, but if he is far enough away, you won't be able to hit him and may even risk a CH. Spacing is IMPORTANT. Another move that will help you get around 2HS spam is BRP at pretty much any level. However, again, this will lose to 6P and CH 6P leads to a huge chunk of your life. The risk is usually only worth it if you have level 3 since you can combo off of it for big damage, but level 2 is ok to go for occasionally since you will get the knockdown you want. Level 1 is not worth it. I think that's all I can remember for now. Fuck Slayer.

Originally posted by WUT: This match-up is a headache for pretty much everyone. Baiken forces you to play patiently and opt for a drastic change in the way you condition your opponent. Your main priority in this match is to bait/avoid Baiken's counters. Some tips on doing that: 1: Keep pressure strings short. One to two hits at the most. Anything more and you're just giving Baiken a free window to Sakura or Ouren. Short and sweet. 2: Pressure with mostly Jump Cancellable moves. Easy enough. 5P, 5K, 5S©, 5S(f), and 5HS are all JCable. Opt for the quicker pokes (5P, 5K) and just watch and react. Using the faster pokes also has another use (explained further down). 3: Keep special use low. In pressure: If it's not BRP, don't use it. Frame advantage means jack in this match. GB is also a viable option. While it's hard to reaction GB in the middle of pressure, you can throw it out there every now and then to beat/whiff every counter except the P one (the anti-air chain). This same principle goes with ending pressure strings in CC; 2D/5HS CC will, more often than not, leave you eating a Sakura or Ouren. Now that you can deal (relatively) with Baiken's counters, you have to deal with Baiken zoning and pressure. Baiken zoning relies on Tatami as a big ass wall of free combo death, 6P for anti-air, 5S(f) and 2S to simply outrange you, 2D for anti- run in and air (wtf), and j.S for its good hitbox and potential knockdown for Baiken oki (j.S, j.D). If Baiken likes to zone then you're in good shape. Take the time to either back off and Charge to Lvl2/3 (forces Baiken to close the gap) or attempt to get in by FD braking and baiting pokes/Tatami, then moving in via jumping or continuing to run forward. Smart movement will easily let you whiff a poke and start your offense, as many Baikens will not poke much, instead relying on their counters to protect them and get some damage/knockdown. Baiken pressure is also relatively simple to guard. It's mostly based around Tatami to come in, IAD in, and guard bar building. Personally, I feel that 6P and GB are AWESOME against Baiken pressure. 6P nulls Tatami mats (unless they're right on top of you), whiffs IAD/jump in j.S for a CH, whiffs j.HS unless Baiken is higher up (at which point GB scores a free CH for major damage), and 6P will clash with Baiken's chain pull (preventing the suck-in effect). GB stops all of Baiken's air assault really; making Baiken stay on the ground helps immensely in controlling this match. If you're actually forced to guard (Knockdown + meaty Tatami oki) then concentrate on escaping. Guard low and watch for 5D (or Youzansen if Baiken has 50% tension to RC). Chain Pull is a free escape or 2D if Baiken does the follow-up; just learn to IB it. Pressuring Tatami also leads to a potential jump out unless Baiken FRCs (which some will do to continue cranking guard bar). With Tatami FRC and chain pull, Baiken can easily get your guard bar to flashing for crazy damage if she breaks your guard. The most important thing is to not panic; a flashing guard bar means that Baiken had to spend alot of tension (via Tatami FRCs) to keep you locked down effectively. Just watch for throw attempts, and don't get suckered into eating a throw bait via 6K or ascending j.HS; that's free HUGE damage for Baiken. The "secret" to pressuring Baiken and scoring damage is utilizing throws and throw baits. Don't worry too much about high/low mix-up; you'll only get countered, regardless of how much you attempt to condition a Baiken into not doing them (think pre-AC Anjis and their autoguard spam ). Tick throws are excellent in this fight. 5P/5K, 2P/2K, while landing j.HS, 6P are all great ticks which allow you to bait counters at the same time due to their speed and recovery. Once Baiken catches on and starts trying to poke you out of throws or throw break, you have the option of using 6K for the CH into massive damage, or JC into j.HS for CH into massive damage. Also, if you successfully bait counters then punish them effectively; Sakura and Mawarikomi (high autoguard run) can easily be 2D'd and CC'd into combo, chain counter lets you score a free combo, and Ouren is a free escape (but resets the situation in your favor, due to frame disadvantage or potential whiff).

Not a complete strategy guide but some basic discussion and some things I've learnt from experience/testing: The Venom fight is always going to be frustrating for Order-Sol. If you're playing a defensive style Venom you may have to be very patient before you can get in to score damage as Venom can quite easily sit on the other side of the screen, set balls and hit them all day long. If you're good at predicting the ball's trajectories you can do funky things like nullify them with 6P, sweep under them, SB and so on but this isn't going to help you mount an offense. Don't ever bother using 6P against electric balls however. Venom can throw out 5S(f) and 2S to stop you simply running him down. Don't try to blindly rush in, you need to make sensible choices in order to get close (FD brake is good here). Stinger Aim and Carcass Ride, coupled with ball setups and other normals used to hit the balls combine to make it especially hard to close the gap at times. You can, however, land a j.HS CH from IAD pretty easily if Venom is mindlessly setting balls on the other side of the screen and not paying attention. Venom's 6P and to a lesser extent 6HS serve as good anti air for him now if you predictively try to jump into him. You generally need to be creative in order to land a jump-in from open play. NEVER GUN BLAZE TO GET IN! (This holds true normally anyway) A missed GB can result in easy knockdown for Venom. A good Venom can actually kill you from 1 knockdown (see later). Venom's 2D is pretty awesome now but if your opponent is over-using it try to bait it with djs. It beats things like Lv1 RI and Lv1 GB, however, if you baited the 2D, Lv1 RI can in fact be used to punish it, as well as Fafnir amongst other things. If Venom is in range for 2K, he can do 2K, 2D, K ball setup and hit the ball as a meaty oki option with j.K. He can then either jump in and go high (...) or low (2K) or jump over you and go high (backwards airdash j.HS ...) or low (2K) and reset the whole knockdown option from there (2K, 5S©, 5HS K dubious curve or 2K, 2D, K dubious curve or backwards airdash j.HS, 5S©, 5HS, DC or whatever, something similar). Something to bare in mind as Venom can almost kill you from 1 knockdown if you don't watch closely for the mixup. Reversal Lv1 SV and Lv1 TR are you friends against this oki setup, otherwise you have to block the ball then watch for the near instant follow-up. If Venom is using strings which end in 5HS, dubious curve on block, you can use reversal Lv1 TR or Lv1 SV against it. You can be pinned down by this block string quite easily (DC is level 5) when there is no need to be. Using FD is also another option, as well as backdash and Slashback (GB is possible but risky). 5HS, DC on hit is probably near impossible to stagger out of in reality so you'll usually end up taking the hit and sliding knockdown (and getting a damn electric ball setup coming your way). Venom can also throw out Dark Angel after hitting you with the stagger from 5HS and the whole thing will pretty much combo. The mind game changes slightly if the Venom you're playing against likes to FRC the DC at the end of a block string because he can then punish a whiffed reversal SV if you don't AC FRC it for example. Venom's j.HS has a good hitbox to it, good for jumping in and also for meeting moves in the air, i.e. it can be used to punish predictable airdashes / jumping attacks. If Venom is using it too much as a jump in Lv1 GB works well as anti air against it. If you can react quickly enough to it you can beat it with j.P (same goes for Venom's j.S). In the corner watch for Venom's Dust attack as he'll get a free knockdown and continued oki pressure from it. He can even get a ball setup from it (electric DC). Lv1 BHB AC on the other side of the screen from Venom can actually be punished by a HS Stinger Aim. Whiffing any laggy special against Venom (e.g. Lv1 SV AC without FRC) can be punished by a dash in sweep or gatling into sweep back into oki pressure. Mad struggle and FB Mad Struggle are overheads! Don't ever both DAAing against them as they have multiple hits! You can GB under Dark Angel if you time it well but a better option is probably to hj over it or hj.IAD over it. Blocking it on the ground gives Venom a free mixup (he can hide behind it and go low or overhead). Air blocking it with FD is another option but its best to avoid blocking it completely if possible. (If you try to high jump over it, Venom may try and knock out down into it with j.HS or j.D) Since he has no DP-style move on wakeup, occasionally you can throw in a fuzzy guard mixup fairly safely.

Originally posted by WUT: Whoo Anji lost his Autoguards . ^C Anji's anti-pressure options are *really* bad; getting in on him means you can stay in for quite a while. At least, until he tries to beat one of your pokes with his own (a bad idea). The biggest threat in this fight comes from Anji's 5P, 6P, 5S©, 5S(f) 2S, 2D and 5HS. 5P is a quick anti-air that will stop your jump-ins and can beat some of your rushing in. 6P will also stop you from barreling in at Anji; the Ch leads to good damage. 5S is a quick mid-range poke that can gatling to 5HS and lead to Anji's Fujin combos. 5S(f) is an okay anti-air if he throws it from far enough away; it's just too slow otherwise. 2S is a good ranged low that will net Anji a knockdown and stop a few of your pokes. 2D has great range and beats some of HOS' pokes as well. And 5HS still has beastly range which can net him a Fujin combo from almost half screen away. Your savior(s) from all those nasty pokes are 2P, 2S, 5S(f), 2D, and Fafnir. 2P beats 5P and 2S, but loses to everything else. 2S beats 5P, 6P, and 2D, but can lose to Anji's 2S and his 5S if you try 2S from max range (aka Anji can throw out 5S first). 5S(f) is the weakest, only beating 5HS but good for keeping Anji honest and within your range. 2D beats 5P, 6P if close enough, 5S, and 5HS, but loses to the lows. Fafnir beats the lows and 5HS. A running GunBlaze can also beat 6P on reaction; it's pretty funny. 5HS used to be so bad for HOS in Slash; it stopped everything that wasn't a low with auto-guard, and it could beat 2D if you weren't all the way in on him. Thankfully it was toned down so that it's a mediocre mid-range poke. If the Anji you're fighting is still hooked on 5HS and 6HS as "pokes" then you get to beat it into them that this is Accent Core we're playing, autoguards don't exist anymore. Anji's pressure was also nerfed extensively in Accent Core. Rin (HS follow-up after Fujin) leaves him at frame disadvantage, butterfly has more recovery leading to an easy excape/punish, and, most importantly, his main autoguards (6K, 5HS, 6HS) were toned down so that poking is actually an option (but poke carefully. The New K guard point leads to nasty damage if you're near the corner). Things to watch for are FB Rin (it's an overhead), FB butterfly (if they pressure butterfly you can pretty much always escape; just watch for it), and his stomps (tricky, but manageable). Stomps leave Anji with frame advantage, so do your best to either throw him out of them (manly, but a little too risky), or IB so that 5K beats anything he could follow up with. Watch for tick throws and instant Orb (overhead), and pretty much just wait out his pressure until you can find a big enough window to escape.

Originally posted by WUT: This match used to be annoying in Slash. Bridget could keep running away and zoning you and you just had to chase him down the entire match. Accent Core gave HOS four awesome counters to Bridget's zoning game, making this fight in HOS' favor as long as you can guard his mixup: 5S(f), new 5HS properties, 2D range, and Fafnir. 5S(f) and 5HS stop Bridget from jumping/rolling out of your offense while still allowing you to maintain control; 5S(f) also stuffs Bridget's 2S (which is still a problem when it comes to running/jumping in, but is really the only hassle in this fight). CH 5HS anti-air leads to MASSIVE DAMAGE on Bridget, so learn to love it. 2D beats out 5S(f) from Bridget or leaves you safe and with advantage as you duck under it (2D whiff recovers faster than 5S[f]). All of his other ground normals, excluding 3P, are destroyed by Fafnir, specifically Bridget's 2D (which stops most of your ground rush in). Bridget's 3P clashes with 2S and either clashes or loses to HOS 6P; it also either loses or trades with 5S(f) if done from far enough away, which is alright if you can shake decently (not crazy). Bridget cannot anti-air you unless he *knows* you're jumping, so keep that in mind as you begin your offense. 2S is the most solid anti-air on Bridget's end against HOS, but, even with new CH properties, the follow-up can usually be teched. Bridget's 6P, which would usually net him his anti-air damage, gets beat by j.HS (still) for CH and slide launch. 6S as an anti-air is laughable and would only hit if you were jumping/IAD'ing back from out of just outside of Bridget's 2D range, which is a mistake in itself since Bridget controls that particular space rather well. Bridget's mix-up and pressure are pretty much the same as they were in Slash. Being able to roll to a buffered Yo-Yo makes a few strings a little more intimidating and safe if you want to jump/poke, but HOS has GunBlaze to avoid rolling pressure on wake-up and SV to put fear into Bridget and force him to bait (giving you time to escape). Just keep in mind that silly console glitch with FB punching bear being invincible and watch for the high/low from either a jump situation or 6K. Bridget may also try to sneak in a tick throw now that they can RC for damage, so keep an eye out for those setups as well. All in all: HOS deals much more damage than Bridget, and has way more options to net damage than Bridget can keep up with. Guard mix-up and poke smart and this fight isn't bad at all.

Originally posted by WUT: She received a tensionless damage options in ^C, HOS became a real char. May can't poke you with anything other than dolphins (in Greed Sever-esque fashion), 5HS, 3K, 2S and j.2HS. Anything else gets destroyed by 5K and 2P. May cannot anti-air you without committing herself (read: dolphin). 5S(f) beats/trades with dolphin from further out; a running 6P either CHs or puts you at neutral ground if she escapes (and starts your offense if she guards). May can't pick anything up after a 2S except a Dolphin; it just stops you from running in. J.HS beats her 6P and j.P beats her in the air. If the May you're fighting likes 3K, Fafnir and enjoy your CH or bait and score a 2D CH. If your May has a penchant for 5HS, don't throw lows and stick to 2S CC (not max range, or you'll get CH). J.2HS has always been a problem, but if she starts it from higher up you can either Storm Viper or GunBlaze and win. May has no options on your wakeup. SV and GB eliminate anything that isn't 5K; 5HS beats beats 5K on wakeup (yes, it's hysterical). 5HS is always a threat, but if you learn to IB her options after it are limited to what you do. Charged 6HS is an overhead, but she doesn't get anything else after it except a dolphin (around 125 or so damage if you eat it). If you have to guard, watch for the throw, keep in mind that vertical dolphins are ridiculous Greed Severs if you want to poke (they're freaking grounded and overheads ), and try don't poke after her 5HS. Her 5D/5D low is tricky to guard too. Fear the overhead more than the low in that situation and just watch for the fake. A good visual cue is that her spinning slows down slightly before the high hit even comes out (and she does another spin, as well) during the low variation. Oh, and never Rock It to get in; you're just begging for a 6P to CH your ass. You can pretend 5HS and 5S (both close and far) will anti-air May, but they won't. In fact, that's the quickest way for May to score that lovely CH j.HS for 230+ Tensionless damage. If May resigns herself to staying in the air and spamming j.HS and j.2HS, the only "reliable" means of getting her to stop is SV and GB, respectively. If you're wanting to get inside, work on alternating between FD braking, running 6Ps, and the occasional running SV to whiff/stuff May's CH fishing. Personally, I prefer to sit back and Charge, making May come to me. As a tangent, I'm finding out more and more just how awesome 6P is for poking and closing the gap. It beats or whiffs so much air to ground stuff, and stuffs the most absurd ground pokes (example: both May's Horizontal and Vertical Dolphins, FB'd or not). It's a shame the anti-air CH is so fail, otherwise I'd probably crutch on it to anti-air more than 5HS and SV. Back on topic: FB Dolphin tick throw is dirty. No escape is guaranteed or even remotely safe. An IB'd backdash attempt can get stuffed by things like 2D (it's active for forever), a running 6P (wtf, you're almost dizzy now), or even a running 3K (not safe at all for May, so not seen as often). If you attempt to SV, you open yourself up for an epic Tensionless punish (as always with SV, but May's punish just hurts so much more because it's both free and knocks down, setting up May's dangerous Oki). If you decide to jump then you open yourself up to an air throw for knockdown + oki (May's fast jump and slightly larger air throw range will net her reaction air throws like this all the time if you get even remotely predictable). And just sitting still, of course, opens you up to continued pressure or OHK. All that being said, it would seem 1F jumping is your safest bet. There is also lots of discussion of Order-Sol vs. May in this post: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showpost.php?p=225225&postcount=10

On the topic of Gunblaze, I just want to clear up (probably) common misconceptions about when it will crossup. If you knock someone down, then run at them and do a Gunblaze as they're waking up, this will NOT hit as a crossup. Similarly, if you knock someone down, then run at them and tick with 5K, 5P or 2K into Gunblaze this will also NOT crossup. In both these situations, the opponent can block the Gunblaze flame either way. You can test this for yourselves with the record function in Training. The only reason you will hit your opponent in these situations is if they were not blocking at all OR they tried to do something (other than a throw) and they messed it up. The only true way of making Gunblaze crossup AFAIK is the standard "gatling into a sweep, whiff Lv1 GB, crossup Lv1 GB". If people start blocking the crossup every time, that's when you can use your 2HS, 6K, 5D options after the initial whiffed GB. You can also get away with whiffing 5K or 5P and then doing the second (crossup) Gunblaze, to bait your opponent into doing something and then crossing them up OR simply delaying your second Gunblaze to catch them off guard. However, these strategies are weak against throws and also wakeup reversal attacks if your opponent clocks on to what you're doing. So you should mixup between fast and slow GB crossup, whiffed moves into GB crossup, 2HS, 5D, 6K etc... when you're in the position to cross someone up.

No need to download anything, all the vids are on youtube and linked on the front page... http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2564 They've been up quite a while now. I'm going to start part 6 soon (which will feature some RI combos, fuzzy guard and dust loop).

No, the "spacing gatling" if you want to call it that will vary depending on character, momentum and spacing. 6K, 2D, Lv1 GB, Lv1 GB Will always work with no/little forward momentum from the 6K hit for example. j.HS, 2K, 2D, Lv1 GB, Lv1 GB Will work from deep jump ins. 2P, 2K, 5S©, 2S, 2D, Lv1 GB, Lv1 GB Will generally work vs everyone with some forward momentum behind the initial 2P HOWEVER on some characters (e.g. Faust, Potemkin, possibly Johnny) this will not work properly and the first GB will normally otg. The whole point is that the 2nd GB is made to hit as a crossup. When done early enough (meaty enough) there is basically no option for the opponent other than to block the flame correctly. I covered the basis of GB crossup in part 3 of the vid guide.

Yes, it would be nice. I've copy and pasted all useful/important matchup stuff from this thread (as well as other characters perspectives from other threads). If necessary I could just post up those matchup discussions in the new threads instead of Titanium Beast having to transfer endless posts into all the new threads.