Mike Z

Learn what to do when. According to the 2nd-place team at SBO, Potemkin Buster is useless. (^.^) This doesn't mean it's actually useless, it just means situations to use it didn't come up in those particular videos. (Not that I entirely agree it didn't, though.) Going an entire match, or even a few matches, without using something you know is good is not a sin. Also, remember you have moves even when you aren't using them - the threat of your doing something can be as good a tool as actually using the move. And if they forget you have it or become confident you wouldn't use it, then that's a perfect time to use it. :^) Mike Z

Well, you could do it on most people without moving, just not Ed/Te before. :^) Mike Z

Useless but interesting: On Faust, you can OTG after Slidehead with nonstandard things like 2s or 5h (we knew), but you can also use 6h. Midstage, from close, you can do walk up or HF/Break 6h heat etc., which is the most you can do for no tension. In or near corner, you can do 6h Giganter 6h Giganter 6h for full stun. If it comes up, it comes up... Whee double post, Mike Z

--Someone please tell me if this is known already (here or in Japan) or not. It was new to me...-- If you do PB hold 6, FRC, keep holding 6 and at the last second slide the stick and do 3s (smaller slide than 2s), you can do PB FRC 3s 2h Heat on Eddie AND Testament. The tiny walk fwd is all it takes. It's kinda hard on Eddie - not harder than on Bridget - but it's braindead easy on Testament. Even with no Extend, you do more damage than previously with the Extend. Why is this awesome? Eddie: - PB FRC 2s Heat = 189 dmg / 219 with Extend. - PB FRC 3s 2h Heat = 228 dmg / 256 with Extend. The difference is, with just 2s Heat, even if you Extend every time and throw away your wakeup mindgames, you need to do it 3 times to kill Eddie. With 3s 2h, you can do one NO EXTEND (still get wakeup stuff), then do another with Extend and it'll kill him. Testament: - PB FRC 2s Heat = 179 dmg / 207 with Extend. - PB FRC 3s 2h Heat = 215 dmg / 241 with Extend. Again, with 2s Heat, you need 3 combos with the first 2 being Extends to kill him. With 3s 2h, you only need 2 combos if they are both Extends. And like I said before, it's really easy on Testament. Plus, since normally if you do 2s 2h the 2h completely whiffs, this also lets you do 2s 2h HPB on Testament, which is new. :^) IMO this improves both of these matches a lot. Mike Z

Glass loop setup is hard to do on a bunch of people. It helps if you learn to do Giganter as hold 6, 32146H, since then you get to take a step or two forward after the Heat. On some people you have to walk forward because the wall won't hit on wakeup if you don't (ABA, Sol, Johnny, all lights because they fly farther from the Heat). On some you have to take a step backward because otherwise if they IB the wall, the Slidehead will actually make contact with their character and can be blocked (Robo, ...?) Ino is generally no trouble, you can actually do it quite early after the Heat and it'll still work. No go on Faust, though...it's best to just go to Training and get a feel for it against various characters. For the most part people fall into the 3 categories (walk fwd, do nothing but do it quick, and walk back), but it's worth it to learn on everyone if you're into that sort of thing. Personally, unless you do it frame-perfectly everybody except ABA can IB and backdash, or IB and just block the Slidehead low, and I've had too many people do it and punish to think it's worthwhile at high levels. Plus it's boring. (^.^) Mike Z

Vids of CPO vs. Testa, from the Testa forums. I figure if they can learn from 'em, so can we, and we have further to go. ;^) Link vs. Slayer: Since Slayer players love to spam Uppa!, remember that any blocked BBU = GGPO, since he's in CH the whole recovery you can get a CH 2H into whatever death combo you like. Butt drop clashes with BBU, as well as j.S, and SH can go through it if timed right. As well, his backdash is NOT immediately throw invincible (but backdash-cancelled moves are, for some reason) so PB is more useful than average. Any Mappa, hit or block, can be PB'd (as always). Abuse 2D or 2S vs. Dandy Step and hit him before he thinks you can, or PB him before he gets to you - your mileage may vary, but it works well for me. I haven't really had much of a problem with Slayer since his combos usually give me enough tension for whatever I want. (^.^) vs. Venom: If you are having problems dealing with his range, flick a ball or two and follow them in. Using HF/Break to absorb single hits into PB tends to work well against his pokes for me, but that may not apply to you. Also remember SH is high-invincible when it starts, so using it at the last second vs. many pokes can work here too. Mike Z

Wasn't answered, so: "next hit unblockable" takes effect when the current combo is over. So if your "seal the button" hit combos (which it does unless you do it really slowly) then no, the next hit is still unblockable. As another note, (at least in Slash, didn't test in AC but no reason to change it) if you combo off your "seal" hit (RC or whatnot) then when you finish that combo, the next hit is unblockable. If they burst your combo (or you do a techable combo and they tech) and you airthrow and it combos, then the next-unblockable effect is still preserved. However, if you airthrow and it doesn't combo, then the next hit after that will use up the unblockable effect, even if it combos off the airthrow. Mike Z

Not sure why it's not in the list, but you can flick Giganter, and you can also flick Pot's flick projectile. :^) Mike Z

Hmm - the 2nd hit of FB Danzai acts like May's Jackhound, in that it'll hit the opponent OTG but allow a full combo afterwards...or at least a dash-in keygrab. For example, a stupid combo that shows it is vs. Sol, in corner, 5S->2H (2 hits) xx regular Danzai, juggle with FB Danzai, FB Danzai (OTG, 2nd hit only), dash in keygrab. Or you can do (from the proper distance) 2D xx FB Danzai (OTG 2nd hit), dash in keygrab. This will probably never be useful, but it's there. :^) Mike Z

Corner combo time! I will post these on the off chance I don't get to make a vid of them, but I really want to since the 75% one on Chipp is stupid. First off, the old Slash-75%/now-100% tension corner combo of PB FRC 5H Giganter 6H HF FRC Heat/Extend still does decent damage. Only not really anymore since you can do more with less. 25% PB FRC 2H Heat PB FRC 2S 2H Heat (only some characters, and DOESN'T work all the way into the corner, must be slightly outside). Doesn't work on everyone that you can do 2S 2H Heat midstage to, but DOES work on Eddie. 50% PB FRC 5S APB. Pretty easy, works even with far Slash if you do 63214 9D, but that lands you outside the corner. If you get the forward-moving buster, a followup 5S 2H Heat has a 1-frame techable time in between the S and 2H, which is still usually worth it. PB FRC APB directly. Easiest on Axl, doesn't work on Jo. The BIG MINUS is you have to be an Eddie player to get the technique down. I'm not going to go into it, it uses all your fingers. The BIG PLUSES are: it's unburstable; it does over half damage by itself; the followup 5S 2H is untechable, if you manage to get a forward-moving APB, which is even HARDER. Same followups as above. Really ungodly difficult. PB FRC 2H HF/Break dj.APB. You must do the 2H as late as possible, and let the HF move forwards a slight bit before breaking. Followup 5S 2H has a 1-frame untechable time between. Technique explanation: To get a forward-moving dj.APB, hold 9, then as soon as you leave the ground swing through 9632147 3D. You have to do this slowly enough to get the height you need, but quickly enough that it combos. 75% PB FRC delay 5S 2S 2H HPB. Nearly as much damage as the now-100% corner combo I started with, for less meter. You need to delay the 5S until they are almost at the floor. Works from any distance with either close or far 5S, as long as they get hit by the 5S. PB FRC delay 5S 2S 2H FRC dj.APB. Ye gods, it's got 2 FRCs in it...but this combo does stupid damage. Followup 5S 2H or 5S 5S Heat has 1-frame untechable time. With followup, does more damage than any 100% tension combo I could find. Also, I was not able to get the APB to combo if I did 2H HF/Break instead of 2H FRC, but that could just be me sucking. In which case this is only 50%... PB FRC delay 2H Giganter, Bullet, then backward either 6H or 2S (2H if you're good) Heat/Extend. This combo at least works on Chipp, and with 2S 2H Heat does nearly 400 damage for 75% tension and landing him on the floor next to you. It's the reason I made this whole post. :^) The 2H must be done as late as possible, and he will bounce out of the corner over your head. Once I got a backward instant APB after the Bullet, but I could never get it again. Probably works on many other people as well. Mike Z

Option select! Not sure if this is old news, but I couldn't get it to work with specials not using Dust, and we didn't have any of those last game. Since you can kara-cancel H with D, and now we have Force Breaks with D, you can option-select throw attempt or Judge Gauntlet with QCB+H~D. If they did a throw-invincible move you get JG which will punish accordingly, otherwise you get a throw. Slide Head makes matches pretty boring, yeah. Mike Z

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YPlxqYzdt3c If HOS standing FDs, he doesn't get hit by the Slidehead at all, as long as he's not already in blockstun (i.e. you can still do the Giganter loop if you do it properly). Everyone can SB the Heat. Mike Z

Whee, training mode. You can Slashback air PB, as well as still being able to Slashback Heat. Training dummy won't Slashback Heat, however. Also, after a Slashback, there is a small period of throw invincibility, it seems, because if you cancel your move into a PB it'll whiff. Also, if you RC or JC your air move into an airthrow attempt, unless you wait you just get a j.H. If they air Slashback something, though, a HPB has enough startup that you'll still get them. Mike Z

www.combovideos.com new Pot AC combo video. Full thread. Mike Z

Thread made: http://dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2875 Direct all comments over there. Mike Z

Damage is still done. It's a waste of a burst, really, but it's the only point you can burst that combo. :^) The fake lifebars are 99.9% accurate. Mike Z

CH JG, on anyone you can hit out of the air with 5k, you can do 5k 2s etc. Much easier than 2S, but you can do 2S on pretty much anyone if the CH JG hit an airborne move. Air Buster does indeed have some kind of airthrow invincibility, it's really useful for getting out of tech grabs. There is more, wait a bit. :^) Mike Z

*Not Gospel* vs AC Eddie: Judge Gauntlet WILL hit something, and with no little Eddie afterwards, who cares if he does a 5 hit combo? You then have forever to follow it up and land one of the mere two combos you need to finish him off. (^.^) You can actually Slide Head through a lot of the holes in his pressure now, since most of the followup hits aren't low enough - SH can actually go around little Eddie K even though it hits low, as well as Eddie 6K (the overhead, I think that's the buttons) if done properly. Since they love to randomly do it, and it's his only (used) Force Break, you can react to the flash and flick the DRILL SPESHARU, 2 or 3 times even, then combo to a SH off the reflects. Random bringing out little Eddie with K can be Megafist'd, finally! j.D and j.S can clash with little Eddie's upward strike although more often than not you'll get counterhit which is worse. Eddie has sucky wakeups so be sure and end with Heat whenever you can and keep the pressure on. Potemkin also has this weird ability to fall out of the Shadow Hole after like 1/3 the normal time sometimes, or maybe that's everyone if they muck up a setup... Mostly the same way Pot always fought Zato/Eddie: Careful until you land that one hit or have gotten rid of lil' Eddie, then never let up the pressure. HF FRCs, 5p or 2k(fastest moves for the height that hit little Eddie) cancelled to Buster, and lots of losing before you learn what's up. :^) Or maybe that's just me. Mike Z

Yeah, you can jumpcancel 6k, but that went without saying. Also, 2H->Giganter works on Jam but only directly in the corner. Mike Z

Great. That was going to be in my video. :^) Mike Z

6k->2h only. And specials...cancelling to Slide Head ftw. 2h Giganter works on Anji and Venom, fails on Millia/Dizzy/Jam/Ino. It hits Venom on the way up, as well. As a side note: If you do Heat, you normally need to wait a while to do the Giganter for the loop, otherwise it hits them OTG and does nothing. Well, it turns out you CANNOT hit Ino off the ground with Giganter, ever, so you can do it the moment the Heat is over, and you can't possibly mis-time the loop on her. Whee! Also, many people who get hit off the ground by Giganter don't if you do it after a sweep, like Axl, so you can start the loop off that by doing it early then walking back into SH. Mike Z

Of course it only works from close :^) but if you are, then 2h Giganter DOESN'T work on: Bridget, May, Baiken, Faust. Never tried on Anji, Dizzy, Venom, Jam, or Millia, but it works on everyone else. I'll check tonight, but I'd guess it would work on Anji, Jam, and Venom. Ky/RK/Eddie/ABA get hit on the way up which makes the followup combos different, but it also means you can do it from much further away. Mike Z

The actual body SH hit, not the earthquake. Air PB is very useful, it was in early matches, I think they kind of gave up because (except for situations which deserve recording!) the meter from Heat is too good to pass up. Like I said, it makes me sad because advanced combos are passed up in favor of 2s->Heat or Giganter loop. Mike Z

Pot normal-throw combo doesn't stun all the time, or even most of the time. Pot happened to roll high for the stun values for that combo, plus he had a counterhit beforehand, which does double stun. (^.^) He does have stun combos off 5k though. Mike Z

If you hit with SH when they're airborne, well first of all it's techable (nobody really techs), but more importantly it randomly(?) causes way shorter sliding. Mike Z