Digital Watches

Actually... the game itself has a matchup chart on it. But really tiers should only be determined by the best players of each character, since if you're in a room with say... Koichi and a bunch of American scrubs of every other character, you're going to end up with I-No on top, which is clearly not the case.

I feel like putting some advanced stuff up, so I guess starting with tech traps would be a good way to go: This is something that Axl is amazing at in AC. In nearly any situation where the opponent can tech, you can make it a very dangerous thing to do. Since Axl has a lot of ways to do this, I'm going to go over basic situation types with a few examples, rather than trying to explain every setup I use. No meter/Anti-Air: If the opponent has no meter, they should not be in the air, which of course means that they should not be teching. As an Axl player, it is your civic duty to teach them this. The nice chunk of damage you gain from it should be thought of as an added bonus. Why? Obviously, if the opponent has no meter, they can't faultless. The cool part is, most of Axl's easiest and best combo-starters can reach all the way across the screen and have to be faultlessed in the air. In other words, when your opponent techs without meter, you have at least four tools which can almost certainly reach them, are unblockable, and start a combo. These tools are 5P, 6K, 2S, and Kokuugeki. Using them is basically like playing an Anti-Air oki game. Throw out a "meaty" that will hit them as soon as they tech (The hitboxes of the 3 grounded pokes are so huge that the direction they tech shouldn't matter too much). Sometimes you can even get a back-hit that combos into another 5P if they don't tech it! As an added note: I think Kokuugeki warrants a big mention as an AA move, since it reaches about as far as 6K, in a circle reaching approximately 270 degrees around Axl, and, again, is air unblockable. It also has an FRC and doesn't prorate. Good against anyone who wants to be in the air, especially I-No. Most of these tools can also be used against opponents who do have meter, but aren't experienced to know that they need to faultless against Axl in that situation. Feel free to try this, as you're fairly safe even if they do FD it. After combos: There are a lot of good ways to end a Bomber loop. You can do the standard Rensen, 2 followup for knockdown, or you can go for Raeisageki xx Rashousen if you can guaruntee untech time. But in my opinion, one of the most useful knockdowns you can get after a loop is an airthrow. I usually will set this up by looking like I'm trying to do one too many reps. After I know I can't get another rep down, I'll go for either 5P, 2S, or Rensen FRC, 5K, 2S, (S)JC, and sometimes even throw in a j.D or FB bomber, and then wait for the tech. Most of the time, if you throw out a hardslash (IE missing the throw, which will often happen if they tech neutral.), they'll be forced to block it, and it will give you enough frame advantage to continue into a blockstring, so it's fairly safe. Really, the most practical application of this is during a combo that you're fairly certain won't actually lead into a B-loop. Oftentimes it'll be a midscreen combo that goes into FB bomber*n., airdash, j.D, Bomber. If you can get a loop after this, do that instead, but oftentimes it'll end up too high to follow up, which means that opponents who are overenthusiastic to escape will tech out as soon as possible. Usually, you will have time to land and SJ before they can tech, meaning you can often set up an airthrow. I'd call airthrow the best setup Axl has for Okizeme. Like many other characters, his airthrow has a property which breaks the inherent "crossup guard" system that the game does on wakeup (therefore allowing meaty crossups), and also creates corner crossup opportunities (Which can be very ambiguous). So... that's a good enough starting post for this I guess. If anyone has anything to add, feel free.

For future reference, this kind of question would be better answered by the people in The Foundation, not that I mind horribly. It really depends on what you're trying. For nearly any combo, you want Lv. 3 Slip recovery or higher, no guard, normal guard meter, Forward/backward teching on frame 0. To practice blockstrings, I'd try playing with all three guard settings (Don't worry about SB) and see what works against what (Axl has a hard time with FD if you're not willing to risk a Raeisageki) To practice tech traps, I like to use random tech, since I prefer mine to be universal, or at least universally safe, but you can also specifically practice things against specific tech types. Usually Neutral tech is the hardest to punish, but I believe it's also slower than Forward or Back Tech.

Funny you should mention that! Raeisageki just so happens to be my favorite move. First off, the mere fact that it's a special move makes it an overhead you can use in situations where TK bomber and 6H cannot be used (After 2P for example). Secondly, it gets airborne quickly and can get you out of the corner in situations where other solutions would be iffy. Now, as far as the mixup goes, here's where you get into the cool kid stuff, some of which can be practiced, some of which is based on experience. So here are all the factors you have to consider when trying to mix up with Raeisageki: -Spacing -Running momentum -Can you JI it? -Do you have 25% meter? -Can the opponent jump and airthrow? (IE are they in neutral?) The most obvious mixup is that, without playing against Axl a LOT, it's very hard to visually determine the point at which the move will cross up at certain distances. If you keep in mind the ideal spacing range, you have a very ambiguous crossup at your disposal, which is a free setup for Rensen, a combo (which I'll cover later), a running Rashousen, or just Oki. With running momentum (you don't have to run for very long to make the move cover a good 75-80% of the screen, with a motion like 663214S, making it also a good way to get in on characters like Jam and Venom), the move obviously reaches farther, which, in your ambiguous crossup situation, can make what looks like non-crossup range become crossup range with a run animation started and cancelled too quickly to visually confirm, thus making your crossup very difficult to block. And then there's the empty FRC. A raeisageki FRC is a good way to get in for a throw mixup, since Axl lands surprisingly fast after the FRC. You can even mix up AFTER the FRC, by throwing in another overhead before landing, or hitting 2K instead of throwing. Still, people will often still just be trying to block the crossup when you're throwing them. I'd say Flashmetroid, for example, has great reaction time, and he still fell for it quite a few times. JI adds another dimension, and except in cases like 2P-->Raeisageki, you can JI the move at any time, even when not doing a move before it (it's for this reason that I'm very grateful that Kokuu has a minimum height, as the motion I use is 632147S). With a JI'd Raeisageki FRC, you can bait AA (FRC and jump or airdash away), use it as a quick way to get in (A la Johnny's Killer Joker Travel FRC, albeit not as good most of the time), and continue pressure (Especially when using the hitting frame of the FRC and a backward airdash, as the move is now not only ambiguous, but starts a blockstring (Raeisageki (hit FRC) Air backdash j.S, land, 5K, etc.). It also allows double-crossups and weird things like that. And then there's the combos. Raeisageki prorates 90%, which is the same as a bomber. As most Axls know, a bomber in the corner is probably Axl's most damaging way to reliably start a combo. The sliding effect, when hitting the opponent into the corner, can start a combo for no meter, as you should have enough time to land and start a combo with 2K or even c.S on certain characters that have nicer sliding hitboxes. (I see Japanese Axls doing it with Rensen FRC lately when they think they don't have time to run in.) You can also start a combo fairly easily from midscreen. On any character (unless I'm mistaken), JI Raeisageki (Hit) FRC, airdash, j.H, (5K) 2S will connect and can combo into either Axl BNB (Bloop if you can get them to the corner, air combo to kokuu or Benten knockdown midscreen). Aaaanyway. Raeisageki is a very strong move. You just have to know how and when to use it.

Nothing. Seriously, don't bother. Again, yes, he can beat whatever you throw out, so DON'T THROW ANYTHING OUT. Get out of his range and let him come to you. If he tries slide head, go for j.S or IAD H or whatever. If he tries to jump, AA him with chains. Hammerfall? Rensen. etc. Pot can't get in very well, so there's no reason to try to hit him until you know exactly what he's doing. And then once you've got him in hit/blockstun, go ahead and rush him down. Just don't leave any gaps, or you might get pot bustered. Also never use rashousen in blockstrings.

No worries, man. Um... combo horror stories... Well. I guess when I'm really sleepy, I have a hard time with right side DPs, which means no BLoops, which always sucks. Also: The combos I have dropped from Ky's retarded air hitbox would add up to like... enough damage to OHKO Chuck Norris.

No prob. Deja vu... See here: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showpost.php?p=193255&postcount=164

Even so, once you've played Jam enough, you KNOW what the animation looks like. It's something you can condition yourself to do. A reaction time of >17 frames when your default blocking mode is low is something that's MUCH harder to learn, and is never a guaranteed thing.

If you'll notice the beat counter when doing it, Rashousen is a two-hit move. The first hit does one damage, is unblockable, and starts the second part of the move. The second hit is the explosion. Now, Axl becomes invincible once the move activates, but if someone manages to trade with the first hit, they'll just float for a while. If it's something that doesn't cause a lot of hitstun when they hit you with it, try to combo from the float.

Actually, I'd call venom Axl's worst matchup. Though there's nothing I'd say here about it that I didn't already put in the Axl forum thread. But basically, you outzone Axl completely with projectiles beating out chains, and Venom's rushdown/lockout game just doesn't leave gaps big enough for a slow character like Axl to get out of reliably. It's not like, the worst matchup ever, but it's definitely 6-4 or so for Venom unless I'm horribly mistaken.

THREAD OVER.

(4)6H

Just be patient. CSE FRC pressure is pretty solid, but inevitably a gap will eventually open up. I think that if you FD the dust, it can push Ky out significantly enough to make it dangerous for him to try to continue a blockstring, and IBing it might allow you to jump out. I'll pay attention to this more when I next fight Ky (Which I'm sure will be soon.) Keep in mind that Ky can also go for several low options which come out faster than dust, so you should really be blocking low and watching for the dust. If your reaction time is fast enough, you can react to dust, but 5K, 2K, and probably 2D and 2S unless your reaction time is VERY good (To get an idea, my reaction time on a good day is probably just barely fast enough to block 2D, but I wouldn't rely on it), are all too fast to block on reaction. On the other hand, Ky's Dust has 23F of startup, and thus should be easy to react to (Don't get tripped up by the CSE being in the way, you should memorize what the bottom half of the dust animation looks like). Again, be patient. Axl will get hit by those standing, so stay a reasonable distance back and just wait it out. If Ky tries to get in, go for 2P, 2H, or 3P on the ground, and wait for him to cross over his projectile in the air, THEN throw out a poke or appropriate AA move if he's up close. If he throws stun edges, just dodge them, or kill them with rensen. If he's just trying to zone you with FB stars, you should be able to punish him for summoning them, since he won't be getting knockdown from far away unless you're being too hasty and letting them hit you.

Eh. 6P is good, no doubt, but you can also fuck him up for doing it with JI raeisageki frc games, low j.S (Meaning it'll hit the ground and disappear before he can hit you) and various weird frametraps. Also, SBing CSE is cool, but not necessary, so long as you block low and watch for dusts and tickthrows.

That video doesn't um... Exist. It's giving me a 404

I could probably tell you if you linked me to the match.

Actually, Testament can be combo'd with just 5P. You just have to throw out the 5P as early as possible after the throw, the opposite of Jam.

Yes. This works on almost every character, actually, so it's good to default to.

Woah. You can combo from low TK bomber midscreen. Tested v. Testament: TK bomber (Extremely low and close), 5P(2), 2S(1), 6K(2), 2S(2), j.H, j.D, Kokuu for a nice 190 or so damage.

Nah, I'd be more worried about his 6P, as it will actually beat j.S consistently, which 2H won't. Since there's a minimum height requirement on the move, the HS ASE can't possibly hit low enough that you can't run or run+2K under it. What you want to do is not try to out-space him with POKES. But you CAN stay within max Rensen range and beat out his stun edges on reaction (or just 2K under them and inch closer to him. If he tries to run in, use 3P and 2H (depending on range) which give him a very hard time (2P is not so good in this match.) Well, remember that the FRC point on this move is early. If you jump when he starts the move, you should be able to decide whether you should block or IAD in before it's too late. Another option is to FD him out. This works a lot better against Ky than it does for other characters, as it ends up restricting his low options to 2S and Stun Dipper (Block stun dipper and you get a free combo if he doesn't F/RC) and his overhead options to just greed sever, while making it much easier to react to tick throw attempts. This also makes it more viable to try to interrupt with a f.S or rensen, or just jump out. This man speaks the truth: This is the hardest Ky thing to block and this is where there's no substitute to experience. A perfect meaty 2K is impossible for Ky to get advantage from, even by backdashing. By perfect meaty, I mean hitting on the last active frame of the move. Master it, and Ky is FUCKED on wakeup. 2K not only goes under vapor thrust, but also either beats out or gives Axl time to block anything he does instead, including RTL, Greed sever, Stun Edge (usually this one is accidental), and even stun dipper. Ky's backdash is 16 frames total, while the recovery of 2K, if you time the meaty right, is 6 frames, so I disagree that backdashing will get Ky out of pressure (Although the Axl has to be ready for it, so it's probably his best option in this scenario) I agree with Sytha that this match is no problem for Axl.

Axl's best matchup, marginally beating out I-No and HOS for that title. It's just that Anji loses most of his tools against Axl. Far-reaching lows kill autoguard, large active frames mess up Fuujin invincibility, and Shitsu isn't a threat because of Axl's range. Also notable is Housoubako as a one-frame option to things like the FB fuujin followup.

1. Was block set to "limited" or "random?" 2. What move did you use?