Digital Watches

Yeah, but if they're too high, just do a SJC from the ground in the first place, that way you don't lose your ability to airdash in case you build the meter for a bomber on the way up, and you also don't go as high (The sooner you hit the ground after a Kokuu combo, the better), since teching while Axl is on the ground puts them in a bad position if the Axl knows what he's doing. I'd say that about 75% of the time, an SJC into K will get you the combo, and the other 25% of the time it'll be so obvious that they're too low that you'll have plenty of time to decide. (And at that height, you'll NEVER need to DJC to get j.K, j.D to connect.)

Oh, also: Note for the long range pressure section: The optimal range for zoning with pokes seems to be at about the maximum range of the first hit, the end result being that the second hit will come almost immediately after the first, hitting with the last or last few active frames, and leaving only a ~2F gap (For all pokes except 2H and 2S, there is a 2F gap between the last active frame of the first hit and the first active frame of the second. For 2H and 2S, there is no gap) between the first and second hits. I'm also pretty certain that the very outermost part of some of the pokes aren't hitboxes (and 2S's hitbox is only on about the bottom half of the chain) Obviously, this won't lead to a combo, but it makes it extremely difficult to CH Axl's chains, so against characters like HOS and Slayer, against whom you can win by just keeping them the fuck out, it's good to know this range.

Huh. That's a new one. I've heard DW, DWs, Digi, and Watches. Um... Yeah, you could probably SB Axl's 6H pretty consistently with practice. It's super-obvious and has 23 frames of startup. Just make sure you're reacting to the move starting up, and not the previous move in the string (since, again, that will cause problems if I or whatever other Axl you're playing varies the timing of the 6H after whatever.) And yeah, I'm sure there are a few moves that are just so slow that they'll be a risk to try against anyone who's even dabbled in Slashbacking. Jam's 6H and, again, Sol's BR are glaring examples.

You shouldn't be talking about odds in the first place, is the thing. Inability to input two buttons shouldn't be something that someone thinking about using slashback should be worried about at all at the time of the actual match, and it's certainly not a strategical concern.

Yet another fuzzy setup that's incredibly unlikely to hit and usually not worth the meter: c.S, 5H, 6H(RC), FB bomber You can get mad damage off of this if it hits though. The main problem with it is that FB bomber isn't an overhead. I've been trying to get c.S, (JI) 5H, 6H (RC), dj.D/H/K/S/whatever to hit, but with no success so far.

Please explain?

At the point where you're assuming reaction time that's better than humanly possible. Anything muscle-memory based or having to do with synchronization can be learned, but things like reacting to something faster than the maximum human hand-eye coordination time are obviously impossible, for example, reacting to individual moves with fast startup time within blockstrings in time to SB, without prior knowledge of exactly when the move will hit or which move is coming out.

Meh, synching buttons is incredibly easy on a stick. Hell, I think I've even got the Kara timing for 2P-(Slashback) down and I've only been trying it for like, 5 minutes now. Either way, execution difficulty should never be a factor in whether something is strategically useful until it falls into the realm of "not humanly possible." And Ross: Just now testing with the dummy set to "slashback," rensen timings from different spacings are varying a lot visually. Sometimes I see all three slashback things happen really close to each other (maybe one or two frames apart, or maybe they're somehow hitting twice on one frame, I'm not quite sure how the game handles multiple hits like that), but other times I see first two right next to each other and then the last one far apart. More often than not, I actually see the first one happen well before the second two, but I think I saw only 2 slashback thingies once. Then there's the fact that the FRC point can fall on varying points in the attack, meaning that even if you can slashback all three normally, you might only slashback the first one, it gets FRC'd after 1 hit, and either you have godlike reflexes and visual processing speed, or you're already locked into a failed slashback with Axl in neutral. Either way, it's risky and implausible.

Although my knowledge on 3S is VERY limited, I think it's more risky to attempt an SB than a parry (SB is something like 10 frames where you can't block, Parry, unless I'm mistaken, is just the time it takes to get the stick back to "back"), and guardbar is a factor. Therefore by those rules (Attempt when reward outweighs risk), it would probably come up less often, realistically. But yeah, I agree that you should try to SB anything that's slow or obvious enough to practice reacting to the move's startup animation. Maybe try out some Kara-SB stuff to up your chances. And while I'm not sure about other two-hit moves, the problem you're having SBing rensen is due to the variability of it. The whole move hits in 2-3 frames (depending on spacing), the hits are very close together (according to the frame data, it appears to have 12 separate active frames, with a maximum of three hitting at a time) and comes out (in my opinion) too quickly to react to, and additionally, hits at different times based on slight spacing differences. And as with most strings, trying to SB it based on earlier moves in the string would be highly unreliable, since most blockstrings in this game are highly variable, especially when they involve a fast special that can connect after nearly any normal. It's just impractical. I might advocate trying to SB slower or longer multi-hit moves, such as certain supers (Though who uses those?). Maybe VV? On that at least you get three frames between the two sets of active frames, but I imagine it'd still be hard to get consistently. Definitely bandit revolver, since it hits the second time after a long set number of inactive frames (11 for ground, 14 for air.) It'd be hard to learn, but probably more possible and more worth the effort. For stuff in blockstrings, learning to Slash Barrier effectively would be useful, as it gives you more chances if you're off slightly.

You know that you can combo j.K into j.D without an additional jump in between, right? As for Dark's question, JCing and SJCing are two different combos. Sometimes they're completely interchangable, sometimes the opponent is too high for the normal JC or too low for the SJC. Playing a lot of matches will give you a sense for when you need which.

The best way I can describe it is that Sanwa buttons feel like you're doing almost nothing when you press the buttons down. Seimitsu feel like the buttons the HRAP comes with, except not shitty.

2D can definitely be FDC'd.

I'm pretty sure that the actual input is more lenient as far as speed than in most Capcom games, due to (correct me if I'm wrong) the game storing inputs for longer. However, certain DPs in the game (Ky's VT and Sol's command grab, to name two I know for sure) are more strict about not allowing you to input it as a 6236.

Yeah. The other solution to that is lifting them higher with the chains if you can see that you won't be able to get them up. I've seen numerous variations, including 2S(2 hits), 6K(1 hit), 2S(2 hits) (Most common) 2S(2 hits), 6K(2 hits), 2S(2 hits) 2S(Accidentally only hits with the back-hit), 6K(2 hits), 2S(2 hits) (I've only seen this happen v. Dizzy) 2S(1 hit), 6K(1 hit), 2S(2 hits) Etc. etc. Eventually, you can get a feel for how high the opponent needs to be to finish the combo, and what moves are needed to get them there, but if you're going for the continued combo after FB bomber, always just do the j.K if at all possible.

No wait, you're right. So it doesn't work from match starting position, but one character width closer will work. Not quite as good as I thought, but still useful, since you'd need to be that close for a blockstring anyway.

Um... dude? What I'm saying is that Eddie's crouching hitbox is so short that it will always hit low enough to combo. Tested and proven. And what are you talking about? Are you saying that no one gets hit by overheads? On the contrary. If someone EVER gets hit by 6H, they're more likely to be crouching than not. Yeah. Eddie's crouching hitbox is super-short, so even when Eddie is neutral crouching, the 6H will hit meaty enough to combo afterwards.

Um. Sorry PBJ, but, I'd disagree entirely with that solution, or at least say it'll only work once in a while. Who are you playing that this is working against? 623P is great against HOS compared to other characters, but it's still something you don't want to spam. And just DO NOT USE 214P. 214P is, in MOST situations (Potemkin's (4)6H, Faust's Scalpel pull, Sol's VV, and a few others are rare exceptions), a terrible, terrible move. Spamming counters will work against completely inexperienced players, but anyone worth their salt will figure it out and punish the hell out of you for it if you start relying on it as your only option. If anything, use 623P, and only try it if you're doing it on reaction (which is entirely possible, since the move comes out after one frame). One thing is for sure: Counters will scare some people, but most people will realize that they just need to do lows (don't even get me started on the 214K counter). So use counters sparingly, and really, the only time they'll gain you a lot of ground is when you get the 623P to wallbounce into combo, or you're feeling fancy and want to go for the FB. The wallbounce is only going to happen on counterhit with the opponent in the air. In the meantime, most of those can be solved by other means. Some notes: 623S is not a reliable solution to HOS's rushdown (it trades with most things he can do. Axl is too defensively weak to afford getting knocked down every time he tries something.), but can be a good close-in anti-air when you just need that 4-frame startup. It can also be FRC'd for a fairly damaging combo. BRP Lv. 1 is a free throw if you IB it. You can also AA it with 6P, 2S, 623S, or 6K. This is actually a great one to use 623 on, but only once the move is started. Again, if you can't do it on reaction, don't do it. Rock it is almost always beat out by 2K. If you can catch it early enough, you can also beat it with 3P, 6P, f.S, 5H, 2H, or even TK Kokuugeki. Gunblaze is easy to deal with. I usually just jump in the direction HOS is going. That gets you out of the way of the fire, and also, if you're quick enough, you can often hit him with a j.D into combo on your way down before he recovers. If HOS ever gets close enough to hit you with BHB, you're not playing the matchup right, but you can usually see it coming and beat it with 2K or raeisageki. The startup on the move is super-long. Storm Viper is a no-brainer. Block it and aircombo with 6K, 2S or 2S or 5K, 2S. If you can predict it, you can even go for the wacky 63214H, land as quickly as possible, RC into combo. The charging shouldn't even be an issue. You should be throwing 2H, 2P, Rensen, Rashousen, or j.S into that shit. If you want to turn it into offense, run in and throw out a 5K to test the waters (if he hasn't already started the burst. If he starts it while you're running in, FB break and try to IB). If the 5K goes through him, you have well over enough time to block before the burst hits you. His recovery on that move is so long that you basically have a free counterhit anything at this point, so do whatever combo you feel like. This match is easily Axl's, in my opinion, because between his chain pokes, 2H, Rensen, and f.S, Axl has an easy as hell time keeping HOS out, and HOS can't do shit to him from far away. It should be incredibly easy to keep HOS on his toes while not letting him get any good attacks in. Any time he tries something should be an opportunity to nip his attack in the bud, use the counterhit to get a free, easy combo, and then decide between keeping the offense going or just running away and zoning him out some more. Cake, really. Also: Confirmed: 6H v. Crouching eddie will ALWAYS combo into 5K.

I think he's referring to the situation after the blocked 5H, where he was having a hard time telling if a 6H or rashousen would follow. It's weird, I seem to be able to get it off on crouching eddie nearly every time. I'll look into it. This is true, but I would note that there are fuzzy guard setups that make the 6H hit "meaty," as well as weird character hitboxes that just do it without any special effort.

Well, I don't know much about your timing, but since you don't have VV, and 5H is level five and gatlings into it, I can vary the 6H's timing a hell of a lot with almost no risk, especially since it'll catch a jump attempt for a huge combo, and go over low pokes. Needless to say, I vary it quite a bit, so it would be difficult to learn to SB it consistently. Keep in mind that I can also gatling into sweep from that, so it's a high-low-unblockable-fake unblockable-Crossup (Raeisageki, though I used that less against you than I should have)-rensen (more blockstun and possibly a tickthrow) ambiguous situation with you in a ton of blockstun, probably one of the worst situations Axl can create for a defensively weak character like Eddie. (Another bad one is low TK Bomber). Yeah, maybe I was just seeing things. I dunno, I thought I got hit by a lot of 5Ks during blockstrings and was able to block the next thing no problem. Maybe it was my imagination. Yeah, I noticed you got better at those, but was hesitant to say it was the setup, since I don't know a ton about Eddie as far as individual moves go. Yeah, definitely some good shit on your end, looking forward to seeing those matches, however sleep-deprived they may have been.

DEFENSE. One character. Depends. Do you mean the Hori Real Arcade Pro (HRAP) or the Hori fighting stick (HCRAP)?

I can't think of a single character that can't dash after at least one of their FRCs. Anyone want to enlighten me?

I thought that was what I was saying... It's a matter of practice, really, but I tend to push the H immediately when Axl leaves the ground. If it's too hard, do K instead for a while. It's easier and gets about the same results.

Kobayashi, what you say is true, but there are a lot of ways to make 6H hit meaty (or just space it to be safe), and Eddie's crouching hitbox is low enough that if it hits him there at all, it'll give you a combo. Though I actually wonder whether 6H or 5H was giving Teyah a harder time, since 5H seems to be a lot more safe. Either way, I'd assert that the way this matchup plays out is mostly due to both characters being terrible at up-close defense, having no viable reversals, and both can take down about 80%+ life in one combo with a little guardbar. Most of the time I was playing Teyah, one mistake meant the round for either of us, so you really have to be cautious about getting hit solidly, but more importantly, force Eddie into a corner (both literally and figuratively.). Neutralize little eddie, and force an opportunity to get that round-deciding bomber loop. One good specific thing I noticed is that during typical eddie blockstrings, Teyah often had a hard time landing anything on me after a 5K, which could either be his mistake, or more likely (Given how often it happened), due to Axl's standing hitbox being very narrow. That doesn't mean don't block low, but it's a good thing to know. Also: I was able to block a lot of unblockables, usually by a quick switch from 4 to 1 (or vice versa) or by blocking low (in the case of the pool unblockable). It could be, again, due to messed up unblockable, but I imagine that strictly perfect timing on that is very hard, so you could probably get away with blocking it often.

Wouldn't that scale the damage a bit much? I dunno, I'll test it when I have access to a PS2.

Aye. Three rep should actually work on anyone in some situations (maybe not ABA), but I'm not a big fan of doing it off of throw. With all of Axl's mixup options, scaling the damage so much seems like a waste, so I'd rather go for some kind of reset if I get a throw combo.