Zeru

5B was ALREADY really good, they should have buffed something else to make it better instead of turning an already good normal into an absurdly good one.

Exactly, why make his drive exclusively a counter if his play style doesn't utilize it?

I agree with the general sentiment here, I really don't want to see Hakumen turn into an all out zoning character. I hope future loctest's revert some/most of those changes. I thought Hakumen was perfect the way he was, except for some input changes and 6B being buffed a bit.

So from my understanding, the change to Yukizake is a buff? At least that is one good D move. :/ Not sure what is up with these changes, buffing Hakumen's C attacks but nerfing his D moves is a really confusing balance choice.

From the LokeTest thread: Hakumen - Changed to 5 primers. - Slower magatama recovery. - 6B damage increased. - 623A cancelable during movement. - MUGEN: after gauge depletes, will not increase for at least 6 seconds. - Yukikaze: will only show superflash after a successful counter. Gauge depletes on use either way. AH still has superflash. (Was this in the first loketest? Not sure.) Seriously?

Haha, that is true, I have done that on more then a few occasions myself.

Maybe I just don't have my thinking cap on straight, but how does the change to Renka make Hotaru more powerful?

You mean in the first loctest? Because I know it doesn't come out currently if you do 236A for Kishuu, I know they changed Gurren to 214A. Just saying it would be a smoother motion for 236A for Kishuu.

Why on earth are they nerfing Hakumen's drive of all things? They are making them too high risk vs reward, and Hakumen is supposed to be a punish-style character in the first place. Not being able to combo off of 6D = LOL It is going to be annoying to get my muscle memory to switch to 236B for Renka, but that is a minor complaint. Kind of wish they would make 623A to 236A though, just for personal preference. >.<

Can you explain how Hakumen vs Lambda went from 5/5 to 6/4? Quite curious how you guys view that match-up.

I have never gotten Hakumen's Astral Heat off, but I have been hit by: Ragna, Noel, Tager, Hazama, and Litchi's AH The AH's you can easily combo into are a bit annoying, but you do have to save all your heat up (easier for some characters then others) and have a Burst Counter left. That said, I do consider it a "jerk" move most of the time, because it really is frustrating to get hit by some of those, especially if your opponent was 1-hit away and baits you into a CH with his AH (full body Invulnerability ftw!) I have seen some players drop combos and back up simply to prepare to AH to troll their opponent.

Yeah, purple throws seem much harder to reject in CS then CT for some reason, maybe its the lag? I swear I have rejected more green then purple throws in CS.

I have this same problem as well, been playing Hakumen since CT, and can't seem to get my groove with anyone else now. Been trying with Tsubaki, but not feeling it yet. Will try with Valk as well when he is out.

I'm not entirely sure it was his experiment, it almost seems like it was Kokonoe's experiment.

Didn't really mean to make it sounding like Block is a bad thing, I just hate it when it is the only real way I can react to some (alot in Ragna's case) of my opponents moves. I don't mind playing defensive (I play Hakumen after all), I just hate being FORCED onto the defensive. For beating Ragna's jC, if they space it correctly won't jD whiff even if I do catch it? Hotaru sounds like a good response, though I'll have to practice throwing that out on reaction to jC. I'll definitely have to try out back dash into gurren or kishuu against 5B though, certainly wouldn't mind punishing that move. I'll have to get into the habit of using neutral tech more often, I usually roll back against most opponents, unless I see them running up, then I usually roll past them. Seems to work reasonably well against most characters, but Ragna seems especially good at punishing it. On another note, how does one deal with Ragna's 6A it seems to stuff air completely, and I often feel ground-bound against Ragna due to all his AA options. Is it simply a matter of guessing what they will do and jumping in with a barrier block to bait it, or am I stuck with a ground approach when they seem AA happy? Thanks for the help, any advice helps. edit: thanks for the advice/correction mAc Chaos

Probably all of the above, lol. I haven't uploaded a video from my 360 before, I'll figure that out and try to post a couple of replays. This match-up didn't feel anywhere near this bad in CT and I'm not entirely sure what it feels so much more difficult in CS >.< Just a few general things: Inferno Divider seems to make Ragna impossible to pressure for me. I don't approach him while he is down anymore simply because I have been hit with it far too often now. His J.C seems to beat out anything I do, I don't know a single move in Hakumen's arsenal that beats it out, and am forced to block it. His 5B is also a huge annoyance, as it seems to also beat out everything I do and its range feels immense, especially when he dashes into it. Gauntlet Hades is another one I have found really bugs me; many Ragna's I play against backstep out of my range when I attack, then throw this out for some free damage. I have even been knocked out of the air by this damn move. Though the real annoyance is Ragna's BnB combos in the corner, I seem to lose a huge amount of health in the corners and I have no clue how to get myself out. Should I be neutral teching instead of rolling forward/back and then just block until his block-string ends?

It probably wouldn't be nearly as bad if people didn't purposefully disconnect on me quite often. 1/8 games I win, some guy will disconnect to spite me even if it was a close match. While I really shouldn't care about my win ratio that much, it annoys me that I can stomach being hit by Astral Finishes, being perfected, etc, but some guy I beat in a close match just disconnects to deny me the win, especially when I set the auto match to look for players who have better connection/less disconnects. It doesn't help that I can't deny matches without disconnecting entirely, they really need to patch in a "don't want!" button back into ranked match.

Anyone have some additional advice on this match-up? The army of Ragna players online really give me a hard time, and feels like my worst personal match-up (along with Tager). I have a hard time keeping Ragna out and even in games were I am doing well, once he gets in the match completely turns around. When I'm in a corner it feels extremely difficult to escape and I end up getting reset multiple times. On the offensive side, I can't seem to sustain any pressure against Ragna; he will inevitably Inferno Divider past something and counter hit me into a combo. Even when I bait Inferno Divider my punishes don't seem to phase Ragna players at all and they just go straight back to offense, which forces me back onto the defensive.

Got on a reasonably bad losing streak today that made me rage hard. Rage quit for the first time today (ever, in any game) in a match against a high-level Ragna, who was about to get a double perfect on me. I felt really bad: I apparently just suck against Ragna/Tager and automatch would give me nothing but Ragna/Tager players today. On top of all that, I am getting frustrated that so many rank 25ish players are beating me/giving me super close games. I really don't feel like I deserve the rank 40 I have now, and that just makes me feel worse when I lose to people way lower then me.

I have a lot of problems keeping Tager off me in this match-up for some reason. I usually do well at the start, unless I misjudge my distance, but inevitably make a mistake and get I get caught by Tager and go from 80-90% life to dead in short order. I'm never sure exactly how to respond when I'm blocking his hits close up, as it seems to keep me in place long enough for the Tager player to inevitably land 360 or 720 of me without a chance to escape. Is there a way for me to jab out of this, or should I be going for a D input to counter his next hit?

That second pic is win. Tsubaki showing skin? Yes please. :D

Well, them too, just saying that among the more sympathetic figures, Arakune is the most likely to die. I just hope the (supposedly) revived Nu-13 gets a shot at redemption, Lambda earned a lot of sympathy points imo.

I think that Bang will end up saving her. I'm more certain that there is no hope for Arakune, and he either needs to be put out of his misery or have a moment of sanity and perform a heroic sacrifice to save Litchi.

I don't think he is overpowered either, but for casuals he is pretty damn scary. He punishes by tossing half your life bar away, and if you make a single mistake near the end of a close game his DD will be "your end." At a casual level most players can't punish anywhere near as badly for you mistakes as Tager can, exception being Hakumen, with heavy Magenta use. It is also much easier to get magnetized when your inexperienced; unlike at Pro level, were mistakes are made no where near as often, so Tager is often found lacking. Basically, to more experienced and pro level players, Tager is low tier. But with new players/casuals, Tager is an angry red god of destruction, powered by science.