Remius

well playing today, i realized i most likely lost because i simply suck now. Practicing in the PSN downtime + all the time i took off the game entirely due to College basically has me mashing out of hitstun and getting reset'd like hell. Not to mention, i'll 5a mash someone out of a combo but wont think to prepare myself for the counter hit combo....which basically does nothing for me in the long run, since 200 damage is useless. I would like to play him again though in a few days.

so now that PSN is up i played my first few online sessions since like December. Some guy named DJ something with a Carl kicked my ass like a jillion times in a row in best of 5 matches. Instead of giving advice, i guess i wanna take it now. ...What the fuck do you do against Carl's pressure? It's just cheep as shit, that little 2C mixup is inconsistant and seems to hit behind or in front of you randomly if they do it right, so blocking it is a gamble even IF i see it coming. It seems to also go through Noel AND hakumen's AA moves (wut). To be fair though, Noels' AA sucks ass, but if i ever tried to use 6C instead, i was insured to get hit. Carl seems to have about the same speed as bang or rachel, and his gimmicky little pokes have such nice hitboxes that the only real consistent thing to do against them is block instead of antiair...and then you get put in the Nirvana____Carl loop. Speaking of his loops...they also seem to be chance based. His mixup is so amazing that you really have to just guess what hes doing in the corner or if you get stuck inbetween his loop. He gets resets like nobody's business. I think it was mostly the broken PS3 remote i was using, but he seemed to even be poking me out of my DPs. But that doesn't have much to do with the matchups, since i was having trouble doing simple Distortions while playing too. After like 15 matches, i realized that he was basically scaring me into a point where anything he tried had a good chance of working. I rarely got punishes, even off his unsafe moves, due to not knowing his moveset very well. Also, i think my biggest mistake is that i never even thought about IBing until he left the room...but messing up an IB generally ensures ill get put into another loop. The only real effective thing i could find to do was grab the little bastard out the air. He's ALWAYS Jumping in somewhere, and his attacks usually ensure that if you try to hit him out the air, he'll CH/Fatal you first...which is really the most annoying thing about him. But i just dont know how to deal with his pressure. Maybe its just me? Why do i seem completely hopeless against his blockstrings and gimmicks?

yeah rapid anything with ragna works surprisingly well lol

You just have to know how to hit people, plain and simple. Being risky with any character generally only works if the other person falls for it. You have to get in the other persons mind. If they know you're gonna mash 5D, throw out an Inferno Dividah at the first sign of pressure, and always approach with 5B, hells fang and j.C than of course you aren't going to scare anyone. All they have to do is crouch block you. Ragna's danger comes from the fact that almost all of his moves net you in either the corner or in his face for another blockstring. He has a DP that goes through everything, which can be used to stop people from punishing him and scaring them into not trying anything too risky. (Old, pretty effective trick, Hells Fang pt1, and if they block it, buffer an Inferno Divider. If they try to punish you, you'll get a hit.) Once you have people blocking, you get to try all kinds of things to break through their defenses. Once you start adding Rapid Cancels into his blockstrings, than he really becomes dangerous to people. And on top of that, hes effectively simple to control, with an equally simple moveset...which is what i think is one of his best points. Most annoying thing ever? Thinking you baited one of Ragna's DP's towards the end of a match, only to have him RC and kill you. Or getting hit with 6B. You can turn Ragna into a pressure machine, you just have to get a little creative first. Learning to effectively Poke with him is really useful, though.

You can't react to green throws. They're like, a half second too fast to react to, especially if you didn't see it coming.

Throwing is most effective when the person doesn't see it coming. People say it's easy to react to, but i say it most definitely isn't, but maybe it's because im online -- If im looking to block a move, and get throw'd instead, i usually only notice the green arrows a SPLIT second after the throw is already initiated. You can always jump throws, and apparently OS tech works pretty well on this game, but can cripple you if the person sees it coming...just like everything else in the game. When they get predictable, you can make it a free wiff + punish, or just break it and flip the script on them. Just get creative with it. It's alot easier to avoid getting thrown than it is to pull one off, though. I think Hakumen and Jin players naturally are some of the best throwers, since people dislike being hit or frozen by them. Im thrown by those two more than any other characters....except maybe Lambda, since her act parser A is a mixup for throwing people who are looking to block > punish her B and C's.

Yeah, but unfortunally when the conditions are prime we're usually a single combo away from death anyway. All Danger state lets me do is poke them to death at that point : / Anywhere else though, Danger most definitely helps your combo kill someone. If Guard Break caused Danger State alone, i think Rachel could be somewhat decent on this game...just speculating though. I think shes pretty good at it. Then again, Lambda would be even MORE annoying...

unless you're tager Honestly, i never really go for guard breaks on purpose unless we're at the end of the round and i notice his primers are in the red, or close to the red. Most people instinctively block, and dont pay much attention to primers anyway (especially when bursting), so it's a good way to have them block a move and then get a break. Although barrier block pretty much destroys all of that shit. Which is why i just leave the whole mechanic alone.

What also comes with conditioning is making the other player respect you as a threat; in other words, making them fear getting hit. This is what i think is primarily the cause of why conditioning works so well. If a player realizes that they cant make small mistakes without taking decent damage, then they're going to try alot less risky shit against you. Likewise, when you ATTACK them, their focus is going to be on making sure they do not get hit with the move you want them to be hit by. This can work to the advantage and disadvantage of both players, but it really depends on who is doing the most to get something out of it. Pressure goes both ways, both from an offensive and defensive standpoint. For instance: Some Noel's love to practice and use lots of drive moves in a blockstring...but the moment they're grabbed / DP'd out of one, they're going to stop doing it REAL fast. You've just removed an option from them, and thus have applied pressure. Hakumen players who love to j.2C you to death stop doing it so much once they play a ragna who knows what a 6A is. If 2 players are fighting, and one is more effective at blocking the others attacks than the other one, then pressure is also being applied to the one trying to do the pressuring. However, each successful poke changes the balance of this. It's really all about scaring your opponent and conditioning them to fear certian aspects of you, and then using that to your advantage. Playing Blazblue has made me view other fighting games from a different perspective. I used to ignore Tekken games until I came across Tekken 6 and found out how surprisingly deep the fights can be in that game. And the character i picked up (Lili) basically lives and breathes conditioning when you're fighting anyone who knows how to actually block. And about BB Guard Breaks....they really can turn a match around for you. When i use Ragna, i've tricked so many people into last-minute Guard Breaks using Hells Fang and the last of my meter to RC them in succession. Im going to actually experiment with adding them into my gameplay more once PSN gets back up.

I find 5C > 5D > SoD (or) jump backwards works fine. It sets the steins where hes usually gonna be, unless he jumps alot, which is a free 2C anyway. It's great, because his mobility and hitbox allows you to make great use out of 214D, if you use it correctly. The only time this matchup is ass for me is when a) he actually baits my DP in a blockstring or b) he hits me with a drive move. Shit gets dangerous primarily when he has a sparkbolt, since you can't fight like a little annoying bitch anymore. Another funny fact, if you're magnatized and Tager does a move that attracts you, j.2D will have Mu pulled in, but it'll ignore the Y-axis movement. This usually works against Tager in my experience, as im getting a free CH. (But im usually displaced by that point and drop the combo anyway.)

I remember i found out you can get noels AF off of an easy d.6C. Although it really doesn't matter, because by the time the opponent's health is low enough to allow an Astral, a regular follow through combo would finish them off anyway. Ragna's is pretty decent. Hakumen's is amazing. I really dont see a reason not to use his. I LOL hard when i catch people with Jin's. First reaction is to block, but people usually only remember to jump at the VERY last second...which is too late. You can tell they try to jump because it catches them a little bit off the ground, and they fall back lol

Honestly, I only BK with ragna when a) i have a guaranteed setup and b) my health is so low that im expecting to lose the match anyway. (That guarnteed setup being that challenge mode combo. You know, 3C > Bloodkain, > 5C > super j.D, ect ect. Tons of damage. When others Blood Kain against me, especially when im in the lead, i usually just run from them and let their health decrease. If they have no health left, you can kill them with easy chip damage. It usually works to my advantage. It's really risky, and a last-ditch effort from me. But I dont really use it often. If you HIT someone during blood kain, you can expect great damage, but when people run, you usually just end up killing yourself.

-Learn da BnBs. -Learn at least one decently damaging combo. I feel Challenge Mode is great for this. **This is not ONLY for damage, but to better get acquainted with the properties of your moveset. This way, you can learn to save combos off relatively random moves. If you learn to only do damage when using specific starters, not only will you never get that hit, but it just ultimately cripples your entire playstyle. Learning how to get combos off all kinds of hits is key to making the most out of your opportunities. -You're going to go pick random fights. And then you're going to lose them. *No, seriously. You can fight people on/below your levels to test your skills, troll and have fun, but when you want to get better, go fight people who are more than capable of curbstomping you. You'll get frustrated, and you may not win a single time, but if you were paying attention, i bet you money the next day you wont be making half of the same mistakes that got you Curbstomped. - Watch good players play. Im not sure why, but for some reason, if i watch a good match BEFORE i play, i just naturally play better. Especially if i havent played online in a month or so. - Defense is just as important, if not MORE important, than learning pretty combos. * not knowing how to wake up or block is the easiest way to lose a match, or be on the receiving end the entire game. Easiest way to do this, honestly, is to watch others play. But if you simply pay attention and experiment during battle, you can speed this up for yourself. In the end, if you're constantly getting hit, STOP MASHING THE ATTACK BUTTON. - Learn how the game works. The simple knowledge of what + or - frames do can make all the difference in the world. I believe this ALONE is why Tager is the noob/scrub crusher of this game. What should be common sense ends up being perpetual punishment for noobs who keep trying to mash attacks out of tagers + blockstun because they think he's slow. Knowing how the hitboxes work also helps with this -- you dont need a hitbox viewer, just experiment in battle or practice mode. Simply knowing that Rachel's 5a comes out quicker than pretty much everything in the game (aside from Bang's, unfortunally) can actually let you kill a few people with her (or just piss them off more).

After Master Chief Sucks at Halo, i'll never be able to take Microsoft Sam seriously ever again. That Tager is Cheep video had me laughing the whole span of the video. People can just learn to read and/or backtrack.

Dont rely on Sledge to get in. It'll only get you killed.

i used to have serious issues with this matchup...and then i finally realized her 5C beats his Sledge out. Made this matchup almost funny. (Haven't played an amazing tager lately, though.) If you keep your strategy unpredictable, you can keep this matchup way easier than usual. In my experience her oki lasers dont work if he wakes up with sledge, but it's hilarious when you setup a laser trap and move across the screen, and his automatic response is to spark bolt. He gets hit out of the animation and you get to safely zone him all over again. Stein explosions dont beat out his sledge, but they DO usually last long enough to hit him afterwards. If he starts sledge anytime before the explosion, he almost definitely going to be hit. setup steins, blow em up in his face. It's funny. Just....don't get caught.

Took me a few weeks of practice to be able to beat decent people with Mu. Or at least hold my own against people whom i know are better at their main than I am. Also I find it really funny that i dont know a single combo with Valkenhayn but still seem to be able to constantly win matches with him. I was thinking of learning him but i think he's just my new Troll character (up from Tager lol) Valk's mixup game is way too easy to abuse.

j.2C doesn't bounce on floor CH. That sucks. But overall she looks alot faster, so i enjoy all the changes.

clicking the demonstration button gives you all the timing you need. Seriously, you can't be spoon fed any easier than that. Any other issues are likely you just inputting commands too fast/slow or incorrectly.

yeah, non-charged steins wrecks her shit. She really cant do anything but search for an opening, and you can hit her WAY before she gets to you.

most likely

Yeah...i wasnt expecting to be very impressed but i am. Songs like Gluttony Fang are so amazing i dont think it'll matter though.

Definitely. The circle is there for a reason.

I mean, it may be neat, but it's no telling if it'll be useful or not. Either way you do it, you'll be learning the same way. It will never help you to close your eyes in this game EVER, neither can you play this game without Video. Muscle Memory and general understanding of the character for switching stuff up is all you really need. When you fight, it's basically moving around until you get a hit, then recgonizing the cues for the combo and then doing it. Practice mode is enough, you have plenty of things aside from audio to help you learn your combos, including the Beat meter and the animation of the characters themselves.

I was thinking the same thing as you during challenge mode one day, but then i realized i was able to do the combo afterwards with the sound not even on (i was on the phone.) Audio cues may help, but in all it's just your brain remembering when to do the motions. With audio i can do SOME combos with my eyes closed, but its way easier with a visual.