RedTao

Figured this was probably the case... But taking my thumb off of block for even a split second is terrifying:gonk: Thanks for the help guys! Will work harder.

Jin's crossup j.D is really getting on my nerves. Is there anything I can do about it? Or do I just have to learn to block it correctly, eat another string as he lands, and whine more? God I hate this matchup. Playing against Nu and Ara is frustrating too, but they're practically a different game and it's always easy to see what led to the loss. When I face off against Jin, though, it feels like I'm just getting outplayed. The dude has a massive toolbox and nonstop rushdown. Every time I find a tiny gap, like the B sledge opportunity between his 5C and 5D, it works a couple of times but he'll always adjust to fill it with something else and I can't keep up. RAGGGH! Science, where are you?! I need your power!

Well, this is coming more from my experience with Tao than with Arakune, but... Yeah, she can be dangerous. Her 5B is about as fast as your 5A and can lead to 3.6k damage (!), AND she has a good long-range ground poke (5C) that can lead to 4k+ (!!) on counter-hit, so be really careful whenever you're on the ground. She's very fast and if the Tao player can hit confirm things can get painful. But, Tao doesn't have any good anti-air options. She's got her 6A, that move where she claws above her head twice, but that's weak and prorates heavily and I believe it loses to both your j.B and dives. So, definitely, even more than usual, try to stay in the air as much as possible. Some popular Tao moves that are punishable: - her 6B overhead, that little somersault, is extremely unsafe, especially on startup. Punish! It often comes after a string of blocked 2As, because it moves her forward a little to keep the pressure on. - A lot of Tao players, if they whiff an attack or push you too far away, like to cancel into drive to leap through you and land on your other side and continue with either 5B or a throw attempt. If you see this coming, Tao's really unsafe when she lands from the drive, and you can punish. - Tao's only strong way to approach from the air is j.C, and I am pretty sure Ara's 5C stuffs this, like Dime was saying. Sweet. Haven't tested extensively though... Otherwise, just watch for random drives. A lot of Tao players like to go crazy with the drives and it can feel overwhelming but it's usually pretty unsafe for them. Hope that helps!

Alright, sweet, thanks for the help on the negative penalty stuff. It's slowly coming! I can do the 6c dealie and the recurse outro, but the intro strings are still giving me some trouble so many bugs must practice...

Hey guys, I'm a Tager and Tao player but I'm trying to pick up squiggly now too! Yeah bees! I'm having some trouble with negative penalty. That stuff hurts. Do you guys have the same problem? Since Ara's keep away game is so important, I'm looking for good ways to approach without actually engaging the opponent. I've been using airdash -> j.B a lot, which seems pretty safe, but gets predictable quickly. I've also tried j.2A, but it seems like the game doesn't count Ara's leap forward against your negative penalty since you're not actually holding forward on the stick. Either way it doesn't seem to help much. What does everyone else use? Abstract's post above is already some help... but these red lines are hurting me as much as the other guy is

Thanks, that's some awesome help. Even if it's not what I wanted to hear. No way to approach her... looks like it's time for another waiting game. Oh well, at least Litchi will let you get some mag charges off. Bleh. This is pretty simple, but don't forget that 236B goes through her staff anytime it's not in her hands. A lot of Litchis will boomerang their staff at you for cover in order to start a rushdown - most characters have to sit and block or dance around until it returns - but you can sledge away. Even if you just tap her the staff will drop and you don't have to worry about getting thwacked in the back of the head.

Urgh, I'm having serious trouble with this matchup. I try to follow MacArthur's advice but I'm no IB wizard and eventually get rolled. The problem is that once he has me in his rushdown there's just no escape. The match starts, we dance around a bit, maybe I can even get some combos in, but the moment he tags me with something it's over and I'm stuck in the corner. Eventually I'm about to die and I burst, and we dance around a bit again, but then he tags me with something again and I'm back in the corner, this time with no burst, and I lose. And Tao's like the best in the game at escaping pressure! Where are the gaps in Jin's strings? What in this crazy man's whirlwind of ice, kicks, and swords is vulnerable on block??

Yep. Like in the quote above - be really, really careful approaching Ragna from the air. His 6A is quick and partially invincible and'll cut up your j.C every time, often leading to a painful combo afterward. On the ground though I think Tao can do just fine for herself. A lot of Ragnas seem to have supreme confidence in the speed and priority of their rushdown and will often dash in at you with guns blazing. Tao's 5C reaches a lot farther than it looks, however, and can tag a charging Ragna. Plus a counter hit 5C -> 6C always leads to some excellent 4k combos. Use it! Basically, there aren't many characters that can match Ragna for speed but Tao's one of them. Tiny gaps in a Ragna combo that might be safe against other chars aren't safe against you. Punish sloppy block strings with your fast stuff like 5B and 2A and you'll have an ok time staying on the offensive.

On the special edition DVD, one of the combos they show is a real simple pounce super -> taunt (1 hit) -> pounce super again for a total of 5953 damage. You input the taunt as they fall. It's not quite a Gigantic Emerald Tager Buster and it takes 100% heat, but it's fun to toss in as a gimmick every once and awhile.

Heya, I'm purchasing a slimline PS2 and I want to make sure I know what I need to play guilty gear on it... I know for a normal PS2 you need a swap magic disc and a flip-top or something. But, since the PSTwo slimline is toploading, do I still need to buy that flip-top, or can I just buy the swap magic? I saw a post earlier in this thread about someone who did it just by taping down some sensors, but I haven't gotten a chance to look inside a slimline yet so I wouldn't know what to tape down. Thanks!