Airk

Just a few points: 214B no longer has projectile invulnerability, per se. All 214X moves have head/body invulnerability, with A starting up the fastest and C having the most. D has the advantage of being the only one where the invulnerability frames last until the move hits. This means you can go through all kinds of crazy stuff like supers and DPs with it, because really, for the most part, the only attacks that have foot attribute are crouching normals and a few weird projectile type moves (Jin's 2D for example) It's pretty safe to ignore 236236D, yes. For 236X - if you do these moves close to their max ranges ("Very close" for A, "midscreen" for B, or "not-quite full screen" for C) you will be at frame advantage - this means that even though you are right up against your opponent, your jab will START before they get out of blockstun, so you will hit them before they hit you...and start your own big combo. Even if you space these moves poorly, if you just block (and watch out for throws) after impact, you will be safe 95% of the time. (Be careful doing this on characters with command grabs though. With Target in particular, it will be safer to hold UP so that you jump out of the way of any potential punishes. At least, until they figure that out and start "countering" with an anti-air...) When trying to pass through projectiles, any of the 214X series will work, but the timing is different on each of them - and none of them are immediate. You may want to consult the frame data for more info. If you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them. Frame data is the only part of this game I'm really good at. :P Regarding 22X - there is sortof a reason to use each version. 22A comes out very fast (relatively), being only 1 frame slower than 5B, and it has slightly better range. On a standard hit, it'll get you knockdown and a moment to charge, on a counterhit, it'll wallbounce and you can do a 5B>2CC>stuff combo. It's actually not a terrible way to START the round, though you need to be careful of people jumping over it. 22B can theoretically destroy projectiles, though it's nowhere near as good as it used to be. 22C and 22D are going to be your staples here though. 623A vs 623D - the D version uppercut is not considered a projectile, so it works better against Hakumen (who can cut projectiles) and Tager (whose Sledge move is projectile immune). Otherwise, well, 214D has better proration, so if you're looking to combo off it, you'll do significantly more damage off a 623D starter than a 623A, but in general you won't get much damage anyway, unless you're prepared to burn 1-2 extra charges. Best used if you can finish someone off with it. 2C vs 623X - 623A can be air blocked without barrier, 623B/C/D and 2C all require barrier to be air blocked. 623B is a good choice against moves that screw up your 2C timing - the ones that always get me are Arakune's j.B (spikey!), Tager's j.2C (People's Elbow), and Makoto's j.2C (Furry Tail). 623B will beat all of those clean unless you do it at the last moment. 2C DOES have a good period of upper body invulnerability, however, and leads into better damage than any of the DPs, so use it when possible.

Well, for starters, that string only takes 1 primer. It's also unsafe on instant block, and possibly even on normal block (not really sure if Rachel has a move that's fast enough and will reach.) Well, the changes won't be obvious/meaningful below a certain level of play. If you're just doing a basic 3 hit combo, the fact that his midscreen damage no longer goes beyond that combo in a meaningful way won't impact you much. In no particular order: Bang's 5B is no longer particularly fast. In fact, it's one of the slowest 5Bs in the game now, on par with Hakumen, Litchi with staff, or Arakune. Nails are nice and all, but he only gets 12 of them. They're the only non-renewable resource in the game (except bursts, I suppose.). Bang does have a lot of invulnerability. But Daifunka is crazy punishable on block, Steel Rain uses all his nails, and Ashura is really only good as a reversal. Bang's Drives are only a "one button escape" if you can predict the attack. It's not something you can do on reaction except to the very slowest moves. Certainly, they are not really much more powerful than say, Rachel's Cat Chair, which has a significantly larger guard point window. Rachel is not weak (Post 1.03); She does, however, have a significantly higher execution threshhold than Bang does. Bang is very beginner friendly - you can start doing basic easy stuff and have a pretty good level of success - while Rachel requires a pretty significant level of time investment, because her attacks are all nonstandard, her drive requires a certain amount of knowledge to use and apply correctly, and she really doesn't play much like any other fighting game character anywhere. Maybe you should show him a couple of videos of high end CS2 Rachel players to give him some hope? Edit: Here. Randomly chosen from the links in the Rachel CS2 video thread. Rachel kicking Bang's ass. First round is a good fight, though the ending is hilarious, 2nd round isn't even a contest.

I'm confused by this. At least, in the current version (1.03 aka "The BBCS2 patch"), the WORST you can be at with any of the 236X moves is -5... which is unpunishable without IB except by a small subset of moves... and that -5 pretty much NEVER happens unless you are right next to your opponent when you do the move. More often than not, you're going to be at enough ADVANTAGE to stuff your opponents attempts at a counterattack if you do a jab. It's important to use the right version for your distance though - you can't just throw out the C version willy nilly. More and more, I feel like you are talking about pre-balance patch Tsubaki, since, well, 214B doesn't even necessarily go through projectiles anymore. 22X has longer range than 5B, and sets you up for a decent combo on CH. 22C chips off guard primers and is 100% safe on block (leaves you at +1 now). 22D obviously has the unblockable trick going for it. B version is a very strong anti air if you need/want to anti-air early (i.e. you're worried about timing, or to beat out air attacks that you have trouble catching with 2C) because it is invulnerable once it leaves the ground. C version is indeed mostly combo fodder. D version only has _1_ more invulnerability frame than the A version. Any real advantage here is mostly in your mind. .... don't mash? j.236 is tricky. it can be used for weird crossup shenanigans, but is mostly a combo tool. It's noted in a footnote somewhere that most corner combos that end in a 22X knockdown can be finished with a 6C>236236C. The D version works similarly, but should really only be used if you need that extra bit of damage for the kill (and even then, only if you have more than 2 charges.) You should definitely feel free to end with 236236C when it's convenient, because it'll tack on another 800 damage. About the only thing I've found the D version to be good for outside of like, a Mugen finisher, is if you've got a midscreen combo going on (5BB>2BB>5CC) and you need just a bit more damage to get the kill, 236236D is much easier to connect from there - I think they reduced the range on 236236C, because I USED to be able to connect it off of 5CC easily, but now it seems to whiff a lot. 236236C has very nice invulnerability frames now, so makes a good reversal super if you're willing to take the risk, as hitting will also buy you time to charge. 236236D is...mostly just odd, though it does have the advantage of hitting ZERO frames after super freeze, so if your opponent isn't blocking when that flash happens, they're hit.

Two primers with a rapid cancel isn't really very impressive. All you have to do is a remember to barrier block the hit that would break your last primer (easier said than done if you're not paying attention, but for people who, unlike me, don't suck, it's not a big deal.) and you have a solid punish as he sits there at -17. You'll lose 1/3rd of your barrier gauge, he'll lose 1/3rd of his health. Sounds like a fair trade to me. All of Jin's primer breaker is really unsafe, except for Touga Hyojin, since he can do it from across the screen.

HAH. No wonder I never noticed that feature. :P I can't say I'm a huge fan of SSF4, but their replay functionality was really good compared to this. =( Of course, apparently even Capcom couldn't be arsed to do it again with MvC3, so maybe it's a lot of work. :P

I...never figured out how to do this in the first place. It seems like an extremely poorly documented feature, to the point where it was actually a couple of months after I got the game that I even discovered that SOME people had replays on the leaderboards. x.x NO IDEA how this works.

The challenge mode combos aren't half bad. At the very least, they seem to teach some the general precepts, so if you can do them, it should be a little easier to move on to others. As for "practice vs playing against people" well, it depends on how good your execution is, really. Practice is only good for tightening up execution/improving combos, so if you are comfortable with your execution and never find yourself going "#$%$#^! I dropped that combo again?!" or "$%^$%^!!! That was supposed to be a DP!" or "^%&^%^$&%@@!! Where was my super?!" then you don't really need to use training mode at all. For everyone else, well, your practice should be based on how much of your trouble you gauge lies in your execution vs how much lies in your game plan/strategy/matchup knowledge etc. This may be roughly even, or it may tend heavily towards playing real people, or, if you're like me, you may start to think you should never be allowed outside of training mode. It's also worth noting that, while it's not a great idea for some things, playing against the CPU can be very beneficial in certain areas - it provides sortof a bridge between training mode and real opponents, because now your 'training dummy' isn't standing there saying "C'mon, hit me!" but you actually have to confirm your combos under semi-real circumstances, so you'll learn if, like me, for example, you NEVER remember to jump cancel your 5B when you hit an airborne target with it, and then you can work on that elsewhere. . So really, whatever works for you, but probably some of each.

Yes, which is why I didn't actually list any of her normals. Cancelling into 236A isn't ENTIRELY safe though - it's Ragna cancelling into Dead Spike; There's a gap of 7 frames or more between you coming out of block stun and break shot actually finishing, so if you're alert, there's a jab punish available in there. Except for moves that can't be cancelled on block (i.e. her drives and maybe 6C - there's an inconsistency in the frame data there.) , you can't just look at the frame data and say "Well, X is -6 on block, so it's unsafe." You have to look for gaps in the gatlings, which is more math than I feel like doing right now.

Well, anytime you can predict him going for a 6B (where he hops forward and kicks you with his heel - the move that looks like an overhead but isn't) you've got an out. Depending on how gutsy you feel, how fast you react, and what he gatlinged from, you can interrupt this with a jab, 2C, DP, or super. There's 25 frames of startup there, and he can't gatling from anything that gives more than like 16 frames of hitstun. Depending on how good your opponent is, he's going to rely on a lot of dash/DP cancels. Anytime you see a 6C come out (the upwards slash) that moves him forwards a good bit - you have to expect him to cancel it either into dash or DP. Dashes you can jab him out of unless he cancels the DASH into a DP, and DPs themselves are punish fodder if blocked. Sometimes they'll try to cancel into an ice sword or something instead, but if they let themselves get this far into a chain, they're not actually in that good a spot. Good Jins probably won't use 6C outside of combos. The thing that always kills ME with Jin is that if he pins me in the corner, I have no clue how to get out and usually they just reset me to death. I know I should be blocking low, but I kinda SUCK at doing a neutral tech and then getting to downback fast enough. -_-

Some of the combos in that combo vid were hilarious in the "WTFHOWDIDTHATWORK?" sort of way.

How dangerous Tsubaki is now is directly tied to how hard her opponent works to keep her from getting charge. If she can get lots of charge, she has some crazy stuff. If she has to get by on little bits nabbed here and there, she's merely solid.

Yeah; I think the connection was okay, but when I play for too long a stretch my execution goes down the toilet and I miss the dumbest stuff imaginable.

Sorry. I just got done getting roughed up, I'm done for the night. Hi, I am dropping 5BB>5CC>22C! Yay me! x.x

All of her drives are grossly unsafe even on normal block (like, -15). The only problem you could conceivably have with punishing these is whether she's in range or not. She can't even special cancel them. Regarding her other normals, she doesn't have a particularly safe set of normals, but I don't know how tight her gatlings are yet. =/

Some clarifications. Most of Tsubaki's DPs are still projectiles and should therefore be sledgable. Only the D version is not a projectile, so respect that when she has charge. Shield rushes are only minus on block if spaced poorly. Unlike Hell's Fang and Ice Car, these moves don't go into recovery until the active frames have finished, so if she hits you towards the end of her active frames (there are ten of them) then she can actually be significantly plus on block, so be aware of how far away she was and what version she used (A version is blue, very short range, B version is green, moderate range, C version is red, long range, D version crosses up.) If she spaces properly, she can easily jab you out of either buster, or jump up and punish. 214A/B/C/D (This one) now have head/body invulnerability for a significant part of the move, so will go through jump moves, 5D, 4D, 5C, Spark Bolt, Sledge (But not Hammer) and other moves without foot attribute (look 'em up yourself.) 236A/B/C and 214A/B/C can be canceled into D moves even on block, so watch out for cancelling into 22D for a counterhit. DP can be cancelled into either air special, so you need to be aware of her charge meter at all times. 236236C now has a bunch of startup invulnerability, and...well... So... keep on soldiering, Tager players! I believe in you!

If this video is supposed to be for beginners, including tactics that work in Netplay should be MORE important than including l33t tournament strats, since the people who are playing in tournaments are not the intended audience of the video. While we shouldn't be encouraging bad habits (Mashing when not appropriate, purple throws, etc.), it's probably a safe bet that the 50 people who actually go to Blazblue tournaments in the U.S. aren't going to be benefitting from this video regardless of what we do, so we might as well include some stuff that's applicable for the average joe.

Wait for her to come down? Rachel's wind doesn't regen while she's airborne, so sooner or later she has to spend some time on the ground. While she can run away for a good long time, that's only really useful if it's the end of the round and she has a life lead. There will need to be a bit of patience in this match.

Then it fits well with me. :P XBL: Quietwraith PSN: No. :P

There are no character specific rules for primer breaking. A move that breaks one primer on character X breaks on primer on ALL characters. The only determiner of who is harder or easier to guard break is the number of primers they have.

I think it's just D; That or it's timing specific, because I've definitely been hit out of 236C by chains since the patch.

Bang is just fine. And er...Rachel has perfectly average health (11k; Same as Makoto, Hazama, Litchi, Tsubaki, and Noel. More than Ragna, Lambda, Valk, Mu, Platinum, Tao, Carl, and Arakune. Heck, only Jin, Tager, Bang and Hakumen have more than she does.). She is "weak" on guard primers, at 4, but there's not really that much variety there this time out - like 90% of the cast has 4 or 5, which means they have 2 after a burst.

It's still two "actions" though - you can buffer the jump, but you can't buffer the dash until the jump starts to come out. Or at least, that's how I'd read it. BattousaiJ indicated that he was able to buffer the jump?

Shouldn't be possible; IAD is already a buffered motion - you are buffering a dash into your jump, so I don't think it's possible to er, double-buffer the motion like that.

Definitely too much j.D charging. You need to be much more careful with that. I'd also suggest less random j.214X. While it's harder to punish now, it can still be punished, and more importantly, it doesn't really GET you anything other than a little bit of damage and a positional reset. You shouldn't be trying to use it to approach. It's still semi-viable as a "jump back and punish" for some moves, and it's always nice as a way to get out of the corner, but it's not really an offensive tool. I'd also suggest dropping the random 3Cs. Without a rapid cancel, 3C is high risk, low reward. And yeah, DT is right - there needs to be some 2C action to make Ragna respect your airspace. Otherwise, you probably need to work on your spacing and your execution, but those are things you should pretty much always be working on, and aren't really the sorts of specifics you're looking for.

Tager is still a little weak. Akira can stomp on a lot of people with him though. Makoto seems to be the best at running a hurt train, but lots of characters can pretty much roll a round if they get the advantage, Makoto just seems to have an easier time getting and keeping it.