Ben Reed

Man, I can't wait for the new version on consoles. Selvaria only got a handful of buffs that I can see, but they're all REALLY good for her. Being able to cancel 236X into teleports makes that move actually worth using at neutral now! (To say nothing of the new mid-range combo routes it opens up for her now. Max-range 5C, 2C, and 2B starters are a lot more dangerous now!) Cancel is on hit or block, probably still unsafe on block if you're close, but at max range, it's difficult to say if any character besides KYH or Selvaria could punish it on block. They also buffed the hell out of the advantage on hit (shortened recovery? or just inflict more hitstun? can't tell yet) on both her ground and air 214A. She no longer needs to space out with max-range 2B starter to reliably combo 214A (hit) > link 5A/5B > air combo now, just putting a 2B > 5C filler into a combo from A attacks is generally enough space for the required advantage on hit now. Her 2A+B doesn't look any better, but I think she can play "around" that just by getting even more reward on spaced-out pokes now. Easier/more rewarding now to avoid situations where Sel's inability to anti-air right above/behind her head would be a huge liability.

5H becomes a bit better in the corner since there's less pushback there. Mostly better for run-in punish combos, but also just good for general pressure. Jack people's RISC up and then try and counter hit them when they try to stop you. 6H gets better too because you run SLIGHTLY more risk of getting interrupted on the ground, but no chance anymore they can move backward and make it whiff, and on air block almost nobody can do anything about 6H > Applause string. Not a gigantic lockdown tool, but good to keep people still if they get jumpy in the corner. TBH at midscreen with meter to YRC i wouldn't end with [4]6S/H for corner push if I could help it. Reason for this is simply cause at midscreen you can go for a crossup with the meaty ball drop setups (beach ball YRC as they wake up, mix up between IAD > ball drop > jH from the other side or just forward jump > ball drop > same side jH for a fake crossup. Against powerful characters at neutral vs May without meterless reversals (read: Elphelt) I would focus on 2D > Applause for the Dolphin oki rather than corner push. Characters like Elph you REALLY need to pin down more than get them to the corner, and hoops can help in that regard. I would actually avoid ending with [4]6H midscreen in general unless you're close to the corner for wallstick. for an HD ender, end with [4]6S instead because you get an easy safe jump that way, which can be very useful against characters with DPs. Take DP off the table and then go for stuff like ball drop/Applause setups. Against Potemkin it's not a big deal, get your fill of [4]6H, your main goal is just to keep him out anyway. This is not to say to never mix him up with 2D > Applause or ball drop and the like -- just be careful about going in too hard on him and handing the life lead back to him off a defensive opportunity you didn't have to give him.

Safe jump from 2D > [4]6S still works on everybody with timing adjustment IIRC. That's my usual safe jump (though I'm trying to learn others) and it seems to work on fast risers like Sin. I may go back through and check my homework, though. Also, don't worry about trying to find a universal timing because (1) they don't exist and (2) trust me, it's easy to get used to adjusting the timing for characters like Sin. I can do it and I suck, lol.

Regarding frontpage/subforum content...my somewhat ignorant take on it, I guess, is that even though a lot of characters for various games (Xrd, BlazBlue, Persona main ones I'm thinking of) usually are getting continually explored. But you may not see that tech evolve on Dustloop itself simply because a lot of game knowledge is increasingly concentrated in streams and YouTube. People avoid Dustloop because it has a semi-deserved reputation for not being as fast a source of information as just searching for videos to watch a game, character, matchup or whatever evolve. People tend more and more to make videos demonstrating tech rather than provide detailed breakdowns on DL frontpage or subforums simply because it's (usually) more time saved. Record, add comments/video notations, maybe yakk a bit in your own voice if you feel you explain it better that way, post video, post token link in some dusty (no pun intended) corner of Dustloop, done. If those links were put somewhere more visible, and some staff writer or contributing writer could write an SRK frontpage-style brief article to describe the significance of the content, that might help draw a few more eyes to Dustloop. People have to look a bit less hard superficially for Dustloop content, and start digging deeper into the site once they see that it's being kept up to date with whatever tech or metagame changes (tourney results, whether upsets or an ongoing trend) are happening for insert favorite anime game here. tl;dr get more aggressive about frontpaging video content that's relevant to Dustloop interests -- character tutorials, combo/setup tutorials, match footage, etc. A bit more like modern SRK frontpage (minus a bit of the fluff). That's my dumbass take on it.

Man my biggest EVO regret was accidentally signing up for Melty instead of DFC side tournament, lol. I was doing pretty good by the end in casuals! But Melty's a good game too and I should dust that off for CEOtaku. Wish I could get games in online but my Internet is complete butt. Anyone streams anything (and they will, unless I play at like 2-5AM) and I go from like 3 bars to 0 in no time flat. So please come through for CEOtaku so I can actually play this game, lol.

Looks fairly interesting to me. I'm not a gigantic robot geek, but the design decisions seem interesting. The game looks like it merits a fair shot when the alpha opens up.

If they put a Baccano character in (finally, some source material I kinda give a shit about!), I would probably wanna see either Claire or Ladd. A case could be made for Chane, too, on account of, uh...she has a knife? The whole not-speaking thing might be awkward, though. If any of y'all are attending CEO 2015 and are interested in a DFC side tournament, put yourself down on the Google doc here (freely editable): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NyCvrks6_fOC8Bn0Uz7l5lQ_J1zRF3-BIhPrHEBm7sc/edit#gid=0 Please only add yourself if you know for sure you can make it to CEO. We're trying to get an accurate ballpark here of whether or not a tournament might make.

Hey all, Since I've been too busy with the 9-5 grind to spend much time in the lab (or even, uh...play the game *cough*), if somebody wants to update the May wiki strategy section with useful info on 1.1 ball oki (read: the crossup/no crossup meaty ball drop posted above), you're welcome to do so. I wrote the current section with 1.0 in mind, where ball oki took a backseat to dolphin oki, but these days, ball oki's the shit. The guy who placed second at a recent local (Mystic) played May and put that setup to work, it's really something. (Not just against characters with few reversals like May herself, but even some characters with pretty GOOD reversals like Ky!) I'd sit down with it myself and try to understand it/write an explanation for it, but I dunno where I'll find the time before CEO weekend itself. So if one of y'all finds a couple minutes to do so, be my guest.

Which of May's moves are most likely to clash besides her P's, 2H, and j2H? The reason I ask is I want to understand what ranges she's most likely to trigger Danger Time at so that I can try and come up with optimized, practical combos. Just kinda inspired since Danger Time bugs me a lot less than it does some other people. EDIT: Almost forgot, suggest me some other characters' moves that I should try and clash with so that I can set 'em up in the lab. Stuff like Potemkin's jD is easy to remember, but I'm not quite sure about some other characters.

Punishing baited and blocked DP is pretty easy. On Sol, Ky, and Chipp you can do c.S > whatever for a basic punish. Example: running cS > 2D > [4]6S or [4]6H > optional RC extension With more time to gain more run momentum, you can do: running cS > 5H > 2D > [4]6S or [4]6H > optional RC extension You can also punish with 5D, but the timing may require a little more practice. Don't be afraid to wait, though; the landing recovery on DPs is pretty significant in this game. There's no DPs really like Ken's LP Shoryuken in SF4, with blink-and-you'll-miss-it awkward punishes. Take your time and do it right. If you punish with 5D, here's some basic punishes: (midscreen) 5D > homing jump > jH > jH > jS > jH > jD > djS > djH > djD > Ensenga (corner) 5D > homing dash > cS > 6P > 5H > cS > 2D > [4]6S or [4]6H or Applause for oki Ideally you have plenty of time to ground-hit the opponent, but if you air-hit them from an early punish (understandable), you can do an air combo into Ensenga instead like so: cS > jS > jH > jD > djH > djD > Ensenga On a REALLY big miss (say a whiffed Grand Viper), if you're close enough, soon enough, you can punish with 6[H] > [4]6H for even more damage. midscreen: 6[H] > [4]6H > RC > air dash jH > jS > jH > jD > djH > djD > Ensenga corner: (I'll let someone else handle this, I need to work on these myself) When in doubt, just do a cS > 2D > etc combo on a blocked DP. You should have plenty of time to react. Go into the lab, program the dummy to jump vertically, DP, then hold down-back to block. No matter how dumb/tedious it seems, practice this from time to time when you're bored in the lab. DPs are big opportunities for damage, so you need to punish as big as you can.

I dunno, I never played May before Xrd (too hard), and I play her now despite her not being top tier. So you're not really controlling that well for "fake dolphin enthusiasts". But I played Aquaman in Injustice, so I consider myself a fully qualified marine biologist as fighting games are concerned. I don't think her tier placement is what scares people off the character. I just think there isn't a lot known about her since she isn't all over streams like top tier characters. I think more exposure through a well-made tutorial video could help clear the air on what's good and bad about her. Illustrate not just oki setups and dolphin loops, but how to poke and conduct a ground game with her weird normals that are frequently outmatched. Show people how to create a ground game with her in addition to BnBs, mixups, and setups.

Dash jump from 2D > [4]6S is the safest version of the basic safe jump (hardest to mess up), and it's universal, but it's also the least deceptive. It's safe against smart players, but also unlikely to hit them unless they make an execution error (or you do, and they make a bigger one). The IAD version requires more practice to time properly, but is almost certainly more likely to land a hit than the dash jump version. Many players won't associate IAD's with safe jumps because (somewhat rightly) they require a much larger momentum/recovery commitment than a simple dash jump. You can get by knowing one safe jump inside and out and rotating it with dolphin oki if your opponent isn't/stops waking up (i.e. end your basic combos with 2D > Applause instead of 2D > [4]6S if you don't have meter for RC or don't particularly need corner push or distance). But knowing multiple (assuming you can do them consistently in a match) is even better, because it keeps your opponent confused about what they can do on wakeup. The end goal of safe jumps is to teach your opponent they can't wake up hitting a button, because they don't know for sure what you're going to do. The safest things they can do with that uncertainty are Blitz Shield and backdash, and those are generally a lot less threatening to your momentum than other wakeup options. (Blitz Shield may threaten a combo, but it's also typically easier to counter-Blitz somebody who lands such a wakeup Blitz Shield. They'll be typically thinking "Finally!" and be really eager to put you into a combo ASAP to make you "pay" for safe jumping them -- but since you're in an aerial reject state, their options to immediately hit you before the reject expires are relatively limited, and so it's pretty easy to predict the timing they'll try and hit you with and deny them a punish with your own Blitz.)

The short and sweet definition of a safe jump is a meaty jump-in (while holding down-back to block) on a knocked-down opponent, timed so deep that ideally you get one of three outcomes: (1) The opponent wakes up blocking, blocks the jump-in, you're safe on block. (2) The opponent wakes up mashing something non-invulnerable (like 4/6H trying to throw you) and gets hit by the jump-in, you get a combo. (3) The opponent wakes up with a DP/reversal super attack, going through your jump-in attack, but you did it so late that the reversal will be too slow to hit your landing recovery (landing will cancel most of the whiff recovery), and you'll block the reversal. You then do whatever your BnB punish is on a point-blank blocked DP, super, etc. In order to have a true safe jump (one that works!), your attack must be timed so that it would be BLOCKED or HIT, not whiffed, if the opponent wakes up doing something non-invulnerable. If you do your attack too deep and too late, you can be thrown out of your landing recovery since you're right next to the opponent. To make sure you're timing your safe jumps properly, do this in training mode: (1) Pick the character you want to practice on as the one you play. (2) Pick May as your dummy. (3) Record May to do the safe jump setup on your character. (4) Test the safe-jump timing by attempting to wake up with throw, blocking, or an invulnerable reversal attack. Depending on the character(s) and the knockdown in question, timing a safe jump can be easy or hard. May's easiest safe jump is from any combo ending in 2D > [4]6S, where you immediately dash jump and then do a well-timed jS to try and safely meaty them. The only trick is doing the dash jump ASAP, and then you have plenty of time to watch the opponent wake up to make sure your jS is timed right. Not all safe jumps are this easy to time, though. (Raw 2D is harder. I still need to work on that one.) There are two ways to counter a safe jump in Guilty Gear: (1) Blitz Shield the safe jump attack (will get even easier in 1.1) (2) Backdash on wakeup to escape the attack (assuming the character's backdash is invulnerable long enough and moves backward fast enough) So safe jumps aren't unbeatable, but they're EXTREMELY important, especially against lower-level players who love to mash on wakeup. If you think netplay Sol/Ky is gonna wake up with DP every time you knock him down and jump at him, you can just run safe jumps on him over and over again and collect free punish combos on blocked DPs. Safe jumps are a good, safe way to test players you don't know to quickly see how mashy they are (or aren't).

General I've only played this matchup really once of note but by mirror standards, it doesn't seem too bad. Mostly seems to be about getting the life lead and turtling smartly, like many of May's matchups. Dance around enemy summons, protect your airspace, counterpoke smartly. Don't be a hero unless you need the life lead back. The good and bad news about this matchup is May has an easy time anti-airing herself and struggles a bit to counterpoke herself. Depending on your style of May, this mirror may feel a bit like a mismatch sometime. This is especially true if your experience with the mirror (like mine) is conservative turtle-y May vs shenanigan-oriented offensive May. This is why it's important not to live too dangerously in this matchup, especially if the opponent has summons out and you don't. Applause dolphins and beach balls can make a lot of shenanigan moves like vertical dolphins much harder to punish, so if your opponent likes to do dolphin-assisted scumbaggery, just be patient and keep blocking. Don't be ashamed if you get crossed up by vertical dolphins or don't react to like whiff vertical dolphin > OHK the first time you see it. Just try to catalog all these different shenanigans so that you can practice blocking/evading them in the lab -- and possibly use them yourself, in moderation! Specific notes: - Blocked vertical dolphin is annoying as shit to punish if it bounces back. Best you can usually get is f.S, too far to combo anything afterwards (even [4]6S) without RC. - If you block [2]8S or [2]8H crossup, it's a much better story. In that situation you can do slightly delayed c.S (hopefully air hit) into full combo. - You can Blitz Shield 2D > [4]6S on block if you IB the sweep, but it's tight. Almost certainly worth practicing, though, because autopiloting into [4]6S on block is a common bad May habit. (Not that I, uh...know anybody like that...*sweats* *looks around nervously*) - 3K is a VERY consistent solution for f.S > Applause on block. If the opponent doesn't YRC, they can be hit out of any Applause version by the sweep. Just don't do this unless you know the opponent can't/won't YRC in that situation to either pressure or bait the slide. - At neutral, jS can be beaten pretty consistently with 2H to attempt a counter-hit combo. Even if done safe-jump deep, you will frequently win and occasionally clash or trade, so long as you react properly and don't get hit for throwing one out without watching to see what May does first. - May's small size, especially when crouching, makes her obnoxiously hard to cleanly do combos/blockstrings involving [4]6S > Ride on Dolphin without accidentally sailing over her. Try to release your dolphin later and/or air dash cancel later to compensate, though you risk dropping your combo if you overcompensate. - It seems pretty much impossible to me to 6P her f.S, even just outside its maximum range. May just can't get close enough to the hurtbox on it without entering the move's range. So if you're afraid of 6P in this mirror, f.S seems like a pretty safe poke. 5K and c.S trade more consistently with it, but it whiffs fast enough that May can't really punish it on reaction (even [4]6S runs the danger of whiffing despite its speed) unless you just predict that it's coming and throw something faster into the lane. - You also can't 6P her f.S inside its range, because the hitbox reaches down too far. - You can 6P her 6K, though if you whiff, the other May can punish with an immediate [4]6S if close enough. - 5K is the standard answer to pokier Mays who are gonna try and prod you with 2K and 2D. - Barring protection from summons, you can easily react to spaced-out vertical dolphins and hit 2H early or late-ish with little fear of losing. Collect your counter-hit combo on hit. - Easiest punish starter on blocked Ultimate Whiner is c.S. You're pretty much always in range for it, just delay it very slightly so you don't miss the punish window by inputting c.S too fast. - Minor word of warning: If you are FDing the Whirlwind super and attempt to interrupt with Ultimate Whiner just as the other May calls the orca, the orca will hit May out of Ultimate Whiner after the invulnerability expires(!). A very minor thing but it's something to keep in mind. This won't happen to Dead Angle, obviously, because Dead Angle is invulnerable for days. - If May calls Yamada while you're at neutral, you have enough time to call your own whale if you want to force a trade (assuming no YRC). Most meter wins here. Keep this in mind if you want to humiliate your opponent for calling the whale at neutral. :D

The number I have heard for this matchup from ppl more experienced at GG than me is 6-4 Ky, and based on my experience with both smart and stupid Kys, i agree with that. Definitely no worse than that for May. Absolute best rose-tinted-glasses case, it's 5-5. No better than that for May; not in this version, anyway. It's definitely not unwinnable (or else I would have quit May in disgust...nah not really, May is way too fun), but barring a MASSIVE gap in player skill, I think May has to be a lot less sloppy than Ky to win this matchup. May guesses wrong at neutral and she takes a big swat to the face, gets knocked back out to Ky's zoning range, and if he gets knockdown, she has to block the Ky laser light show honestly and waste a bunch of time and/or tension doing so. And her guesses at neutral can be pretty painful depending on what she misses. (Did you just get zapped by a full-screen Stun Edge, or did you try to 6P a jump back jH you had NO hope of beating and got clocked into a Stun Dipper combo into the CSE grinder? God forbid you IADed at Ky, that's utterly suicidal!). Ky gets sloppy and May can put some pain on him, and he gets cornered, Ky might have to sit through a couple dolphin calls before he finds a gap. But between Ky's MUCH better normal range, his ability to punish bad/reckless summons, and his ability to turn so many max-range pokes into knockdown into pressure for MORE damage (or at least force May to burn tension to get him off her back) gives him MUCH higher comeback potential IMO. Higher overall clutch power -- ESPECIALLY where nerves are concerned. May has to play footsie like whoa to avoid getting f.S'ed or Stun Edge YRCed into damage and/or a terrible situation for her. If the situation is perfectly equal, Ky has the advantage by default. The only way May changes that is with some fairly slick reads into good confirms to get enough of a life lead to force Ky to live a little (and die in the process). Much easier for a Ky player to keep calm so long as they understand the different options -- and their associated risks -- that May has to try and outsmart them (or out-dumb them, depending on the May player). Always remember that one good reversal into good oki may not immediately steal the life lead back, but the initiative is basically ALL yours until/unless May leaves blockstun. Ky also has a MUCH better risk-return on stupid YOLO shit than May does. You try to disrespect Ky with run up Overhead Kiss or random Blanka balls/upballs and you are dancing with death via 2P abare or brutal, basic punishes (hello 6P/c.S!) into a bad situation. Ky mixes it up with (sparingly used) YOLO Greed Sever/Stun Dipper and the resultant confirm or pressure afterward can put him seriously ahead, particularly if he has Burst available in case his gamble fails. May's stubby limbs mean that she has a hard time punishing stuff like that unless you do them way too much or way too stupidly spaced. When May throws a normal, she almost always has to CHOOSE between speed or range. Ky does a lot better at combining both when he pokes, especially with meter to do Stun Edge YRC.