Digital Watches

That's why I said that you should definitely do the combo if you get the move. But don't do the move. Seriously. Never if possible, although in some situations it's an okay idea (Faust scalpel, MAYBE VV, or especially if you buffer it backwards for crossup moves like Ouren or Warrant) But seriously: Doing those counters will not be good for you in the long run. You don't get enough damage for it to be a valuable risk, they don't get you out of enough situations to matter (and most of the time they DO work, there's a better option you should learn instead), and good players won't get scared of them, they'll bait them and kill you.

Whytesakura: I appreciate the thought, but your posts make it clear that you don't know how to play Axl. Axl can't keep people out worth shit unless their name is HOS, I-No, Anji, or Raou (All absurdly good matchups for Axl). And I guarantee you there's no magical player that can somehow work that collection of moves into a defensive fortress that covers the whole screen. Combined, Axl has prodigy anti-air, but ground space control is only about as good as anyone else, and playing keepaway games will get you your ass kicked against anyone who knows what they're doing in the matchup (and isn't playing one of the aforementioned). You can especially see this in comparison to, for example, a Venom or Testament player, or Zappa with triplets. And Senkei: The real problem Axl has with pressure games is lack of a jab, in addition to lack of a reversal. Just to address the DP thing: any meaty is either a guessing game (If the move hits only in one of the areas that his DPs can be invulnerable. Protip: A lot of common meaties hit both) or you have to block. The DPs wouldn't be so bad if they were safe on block. Most DPs aren't, but most DPs also force the opponent to reconsider doing meaties sometimes. A counter (even the good one) can't be done against meaties, and can be very bad risk-reward otherwise (The good one can work, but you either have to spend meter or be in the right place and CH to do any damage, and it'll more often be an offensive move rather than a defensive one). For things like tickthrows and not-quite-blockstrings, a jab is a nice way to get out without risking much if you're wrong, something May, for example, can do, but Axl can't. \ Sytha: You make it sound like YOU'RE the one who made me give up on 214 counters, lol. If any Axl players are reading this: Don't use them, seriously.

Maybe? I mean, if you recover fast enough, go for it. I haven't played a bridget in a while, and it didn't seem like that much of an issue then, really (You can really just counter the first part (623P) if you're really having trouble)

So, any way to deal with his YoYo OD? (The one where the bicycling bear cranks your guard gauge or rapes your life bar.) That's easy, avoid it or block it. It's not nearly as big a problem as runaway bridget flying around the screen on the other side. 236K can't hit overhead, so just block it low. The only hard thing is the jump followup RC into crossup D, which is much less threatening than things most characters can do, and takes 50% meter. Also, and I can't stress this enough: DO NOT THINK ABOUT 214P combos. The damage is terrible (45% prorate or something like that?) and trying the move is, in all but about three situations in the entire game, an unnecessary risk that you shouldn't be taking. I mean, of course you should do a combo if you get it off, but it's not THAT different from other combos, and thinking about it like that will make you want to do it more, which you shouldn't. Throw combos also prorate a lot, so getting damage isn't really as much your concern as setting up a reset or getting knockdown. Midscreen on lights, I almost always just do throw-->Rensen, unless I think I can set up a tech trap.

I'm sure it's no more than 5, but I think it's as little as 2 or 3 frames.

Actually, it ends on the same frame as robo 5H, it's just a 2F window, instead of a 4F one. Also, it's perfectly normal for pad players to find using the macro easier than FRCing on stick: The timing is different, and your muscle-memory cues are probably tied to the delay that using a macro causes.

Yeah, the fact of the matter is that there IS a timing lag on FRC macros. I think you have to do the FRC something like 2-3 frames faster on a macro button. Learn to thumb it or switch to stick. Also, for the record, you can get WAY more than 200 damage off benten FRC in the corner.

Caveat: Some balls are fast enough and go over rensen, which will fuck you up and you'll get hurt.

I think I have magic bipolar talent with FRCs, because with some of them, I can do it after seeing it done a few times, and with most, I can get it down in a couple tries. Except sometimes I lose the ability to do any at all ever. Things like Benten can be hard though, since you have to hitconfirm and all.

Yeah. Stark hit the nail on the head. It's not so much that the DAA itself is very good, but it's just the fact that Venom has the out he needs to start raping your face again. There's a reason Venoms will blow 50% meter on it, and that's because it could be all he needs to turn it around and win. Saying not to try to bait it is like saying not to bait bursts. Sure, they're wasting their burst, but it could win them the round, and baiting it could win YOU the round, so knowing how to do it is a good thing.

Yeah, basically: 1. Do not approach with long range stuff. In some matchups, 2H is a good poke, but not this one, and most of the time, you shouldn't be trying to pull shit like that anyway. AA or bust, remember? 2. Pressure Venom just like anyone. He doesn't have a DP or anything cool like that, so just watch out for/bait the DAA. At <50 meter, he's got nothing.

I don't know why you'd want to use long attacks for approach. But yeah, air isn't an option, and Venom rapes your face at zoning. Venom is very much an approach-with-caution matchup, move in too hastily and you'll just eat balls all day, but you also don't want him getting the opportunity to turn the tables on you or it's GG. Basically, I'd say your best bet is be conservative (Running FD, 3P, or 2K, airdash and FD, or something) or try to bait him with safe air normals or other such tricks (Raei S FRC and running counters are options if you're ballsy). Since a lot of the time, from neutral, you're going to be fishing for knockdowns, you might want to watch for situations where your rensen will eat a ball coming forward. Even if you don't hit him, if you do it right, you can end up putting him on the defensive, which is really what you have to do.

Don't bother. j.2H is an easy dodge with 2K, and if she's in a position to beat 2K with j.S, I'd just smack her with a counter on her way down, or a 2S if she's not TOO high up. Then of course there's good ol' airthrows.

I don't remember too much about #Reload, so it may be different, but I think that's the same thing as Greed sever being good online.

I would be careful trying 3P-5H against anyone with a half-decent reversal. It's a bit too obvious to be a real frametrap unless there really is nothing they can do in the (rather large) gap between the two moves. I've taken to using 5H as kind of a ghetto 6P (for a lot more damage output on CH), due to the upper-body invincibility, and would rather use it for that or real (or almost real) blockstrings than trying to frametrap with it.

Alright, so there's a bit of a problem: Chickenfat is looking for a copy of this, and I just realized that Ouroboros got taken off Youtube for copyright reasons. I also notice that the sendspace link for the smaller version is dead. Does anyone who has it want to UL to something like MU that stays up forever?

Shit, it's down? I think Youtube took it down, 'cause I didn't. I think it's still on Megaupload, and if not, I still have it, so I could send ya a copy. And Rensen, good vid, I think I might do a play-by-play of that when I'm less tired, but overall you did well.

Aye. However, be sure to make it non-meaty, or else you're just allowing them to block it for free.

Eh, it's just there are better/more ambiguous ways to do it. Not the least of which being just wait and jump.

Just call it "Wheels of Fate"

Mrah. I didn't get a good look at this before, but a couple of these names are not people I'd be watching for pointers. Mainly I'm thinking of Tsubasa as one not to really model yourself on. Syuuto, Niiyama, and Jun are guys to watch for sure, and Menso is decent.

Huh. That might do more damage than what I was doing on him before. Could you test the damage versus: TKB --> c.S, j.D, Bomber, j.H, j.D, Bomber, j.D, Bomber, 2S, j.D, Bomber, Rensen, 2? I think yours does more damage but I don't have the game in front of me to test it.

As clever and (in some cases) accurate as this guide is... is there really anything here that's not in the other threads?

It refers to hitting with a rashousen at the end of an untechable slide caused by Raei (S) at the end of a short combo. It's seldom worth it, in my opinion, as you can often get more damage by just doing a longer combo.

Screw that. You get more damage for just doing j.H, j.D, once, then 3 j.D reps, and you can still connect rensen-2 (Granted, it's hard). Really, too many reps of j.H-D B/S causes loss of damage, since the scaling kicks in and soon you're killing the guardbar more than doing extra damage with the Hes.