BatousaiJ

Come to my doorsteps to offer your anus to me? What a pleasant surprise~

I'd like 5B back to CS 2 status(kinda necessary to play footsie well since mashing her gatliings without knowing you confirmed a hit/block is really bad) and the D variations of the moves to have more benefits like + advantage in frames on certain ones and better proration since it's a tool we need to work to gain access to. I want 2C anti air to auto correct a little better as it gets crossed over all the time. I'd also like 236236C to be not so useless as it's now the worst DD in the game(I can't think of one that's worse off the top of my head atm). I want a new DD that fills up a few charges instantly(maybe 3?) that you can use in the middle of a combo as that will dynamically change combo paths with meter just like Mugen does now and make her more flexible and viable in match ups where getting a charge is bloody difficulty. Giving her those things still won't make her S tier, just more balanced and suited in most match ups.

Sure. I'm pretty busy these days with RL stuff more so than usual lately so it wouldn't have been done until a few weeks from now anyhow. Lets see what you've got~

I'll be at ECT this year(pretty sure) and that's as far as I've planned it. I was there last year for only a few hours and had to leave but hopefully I should be able to hang out for the whole day + most of 2nd day this time around so come on down and say hi~ bring money Stickbug is still butthurt about me not coming over to say hi to him last year because I thought they seemed busy(poor considerate me) so I'll have to do that this year....

God damn it -__-.

Oh dude, I don't care who does it as long as it gets done. If you wanna do it, by all means.

Sure thing. That reminds me, 22D unblockable stuff would make a very useful tutorial video. Maybe I'll do one on that later.

I've always thought most Tsu players I face don't use 22D unblockable setups enough. It's something very unique to Tsubaki and it's a great tool to keep your opponent on your toes. Some things to note- 1. Most opponents don't suspect you to go for a 22D unblockable midscreen and expect you to do it in the corner as it is common practice meaning a block string drop or tech trap 22D unblockable is more likely to hit than as opposed to if you are to do it in the corner. If you have two charges, you can follow up against most characters with a 22D > 236D > dash 2CC > IAD j.CC > 5C > 2CC > 236B > 214B > 22B. If you only have one charge when you do the unblockable, it's still handy against rush down characters as it will give you a ton of time to get charges back(2D is your friend here). 2. 22D unblockables are great setups themselves to 22D quick hits where you bait them into pressing a button to hit you out of your unblockable or jump out of there when you release 22D with a very small gap and hit them with it without the unblockable property. Lets say you did 5A > 5CC > 6B > 22D unblockable a few times(not a bad setup since 6B is +1 and you're still far enough from them their A attacks won't connect) before and got them and you anticipate them to try to hit you or try to jump out. Simply release the 22D quickly after holding but don't gatliing it as you purposely want to leave a gap in there. If they try to jump out, they'll be caught in the frames where they can't barrier guard just yet and get hit, if they try to poke you, they'll get CH for a midscreen wall bounce. Lastly, another favorite 22D setup of mine that isn't listed is to use the 236D stagger time near the corner. Lets say you have your back against the corner and you hit them with anything, you can do 5A > 5BB > 2BB > 5CC > 236D > 22D unblockable. This does two things- it gets you out of the corner and switches positions and when your opponent just about mashes out of the hit stagger of 236D, they'll be reset into a 22D unblockable which will bounce them off the corner. It's simple enough to avoid as is the case with most unblockable setups by not teching but you'd be surprised at how often this will work.

If you see them burst as you're about to go into super flash for Mugen, you can do this too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUGXbtnMP-dtR8LTYjtZuC1g&feature=player_detailpage&v=_w8OwFn1gCE#t=699s If they're in the air, you can go straight into 3D series but if they're on the ground, you should cancel the 214D into a meaty 22D hit and go from there to make it so they can't recover quickly and block it.

Meter and charge management is a character specific thing still, especially the charge thing where when you fight against zoners that need time to setup their offense like Lambchops, Mu and Rachel you're better off doing minimum charge outside of hard knock downs in the corner and keep up the pressure as much as you can. Using CA is also one of those character match up things where when it's really hard to get out of a offensive lockdown, you're better off using the meter for CA. I'd put Carl(nee-san sandwich), Rachel(corner), Litchi, Valk all hard to stop once they get rolling. Most other characters, you can just barrier guard them out or use DP in gaps and etc. First of all, you should know what kind of damage you can deal off the most common starters with Mugen + X charges. If they have no more bursts left and you know you can do enough damage to kill them or get really close, go for it. Mugen is hard to pull off against really good players because you'll end up using RC to open to them up or CA to get them off you but as you become better at pressuring and blocking/getting out of pressure, you should be able to spare the Meter to maximize your damage. It also helps if you know how to burst bait using 214D. The 6CC > 623C > j.236(A) > j.214D is good in the corner not so much for the damage but for the fact that you can get a lot of charge back during the combo but there are alternatives to it that are much easier execution wise with similar benefits that are worth knowing too. There are some pit falls here and there where character hitboxes make some of her combos impossible to hit or make it more difficult so keep that in mind too. Overall, you're going to have to take more things into consideration ever before to play her "properly" but it's pretty fun that way since if you play her in a brain dead way, you won't get anywhere.

Hum... lets see. The thing to note is the use of 5B has changed quite a bit. In CS 2, it was more or less the be all, end all of our normals and we used it a lot to play our neutral game because for its range it was quick and it prorated well enough that comboing off of it was good. Now in extend, it's 1 frame slower, has longer recovery is not + on block and prorates worse than before making it not the go-to button to press at most situations at neutral. That isn't to say that it's worthless, in fact 5B > CC is a great way to play the neutral game still since a 5B CH > CC will still let you dash in to combo with 5A etc etc and if you CC the 5B on block, you can get in there and start your pressure even though it's not + on block. 5A is our quickest poke, prorates well to combo with a great pressure tool since you can branch off into a tick throw, frame trap 5A > 5B or keep it tight with no holes with 5A > 5C. A one charge none mugen combo starting off a 5A can net you 3-3.2k midscreen and around 3.5k in the corner. Our j.D charge time has increased and you'll be able to find time to hj.D for around one charge and then air dash forward/backwards to make it safe along with j.214/236 to change where you land. In the corner, you can use the falling j.D > j.C > 5C > 2C pick up combos to get back the charges used in the combo during the combo itself and while it's not the easiest combo to do, once you get it down, it's not too bad. So just be aware of the distance to your opponent and the match up. Use 5B > CC to control space and get in on people at midrange and when they're close, go in with 5A. Try not to use 236C unless you're calling out something obvious or have charges to back it up with cancels in to 22/214D. Use 236D a bit more sparingly since it isn't + on block anymore and always keep your opponent on their toe with the availability to cancel into other D moves off the 236/214D series.

Lazy Casuals Extend: BatousaiJ vs Vice-Taicho Nothing special but I haven't uploaded matches in a while so I thought I'd put these up quickly. Shoutouts to lag spikes and dropping 3CC > 2CC like a billion times.

It's fairly tight- I would put the difficulty in the same league as our CS 2 DP whiff BnB. Also, as we mentioned, it doesn't work so well against Ragna so if you're going to practice it, I suggest doing it on Jin or something. Oh and against certain characters you have to delay the 236C before 5C > 2C pick up as well or it'll whiff so keep that in mind.

Darkest hour? More like super happy fun party time.

Kiba's right about the 22B/22C feeling different. It also has something to do with untechable time after charging 22B vs 22C as a ender given 22B comes out faster, you can actually charge it longer to get the full knockdown where they can't tech as they're sliding. Frankly Airk, I'd take your opinions more seriously if you had the game(it would help if you were a better player too) and actually had some experience with it. You're just thoery crafting and that has very strict limitations. Reading what you were talking about using 623B as an anti-air basically put the nail in the coffin of that suspicion.

I took a few minutes in the lab to see Rachel stuff and as I thought, you can't 214D through her pumpkin at all. It doesn't matter if it's hitting her in the face or the leg. If a move has foot attribute, it'll hit through stuff that has invul to it no matter where and how it hits as I first believed. You can however 214D right through her cat projectiles with ease using 214X which is actually quite nice since many rachel players like using 236A/B as a means to hit you out of your 236X series at mid to long range so you can quick cancel 236B into 214D to hit them out of it or just plainly dash and 214C. Also, on Rachel you can do 5A > 5BB > 2BB > 5CC > 236A > 22B > 236C > 214B > 22B which will carry her into the corner with ease and give you added damage and meter. It's specific to her(valk + tager too) and I sometimes forget about it since I don't fight Rachels often but given how it benefits us to stay in Rachel's face after a knock away, this is a very good thing to use. You can also choose not to use the last 22B and end with 214B which will force them to tech even closer to you(you don't have to run to get to them if they're not at the corner already) to set up your next offense. My biggest problem with playing VS Rachel is that most Rachel players are busy setting up their offense that they let me charge and I just kinda sit there charging myself for free which sounds alright but it's really quite a headache to get out once Rachel has her offense rolling so I say opt to continue the pressure rather than getting charges. Also, save your meter for CA in this match up as if you're caught in the corner it can be very difficult to get out if they know what they're doing covering their bases with various tools. Only use CA when Rachel herself is stuck in a attack animation and not when you're stun locked by george or something.

Oh ya, I totally forgot about her and Valk's wonky hitbox on the ground. I'll have to do the combo extender from now on which basically carries them from one corner to the next.

So it only goes through pumpkin when it's not near Tsu's feet? Weird o_O. Pumpkin is a big problem though and it makes Rachel players overconfident when they're using it to cover their entry so if you can use that against them through 214D, it's would work well. I'll have to test it out sometime in the lab. I wouldn't use it against Tempest Dahlia since it lasts too long for you to go through the whole thing and even if you trade CHs on that, you're not really getting anywhere.

214D goes through all of her projectile stuff? As far as this match up goes, it becomes quite the pain in the ass when they get all their stuff out like geoge, pumpkin and cat stick... things so once you get in there, just stick close to her respecting and baiting cat chair from time to time.

Like I said, I'm done trying to change the minds of people who's given up before they've even tried. There's no point to it. For those that do stick to it though, there are rewards to fighting uphill battles constantly. One, you feel pretty awesome when you beat up someone in a tough match up. It tells you that you knew the match up and outplayed that player in many levels even though they have some degree of advantage over you. Second, you end up having to become a better player to succeed. Every hitconfrim you drop feels like a death sentence, poor mix ups and easily punishable approaches go out the window and you're forced to improve, dig deep and pull out some wins. You keep the improved skill through transitions of the game versions and ultimately, you'll be able to compete with people you thought you had no chance against when you were starting out. It's a good thing.

I'll have to second Kiba on the fact that it's an awful idea to use the DPs as an anti air. I 2C Ragnas out of their j.C all the time, you just gotta get the timing for it. If you think that's tough, try to anti air valk's j.C or Hakumen's j.2C. Compared to those, Ragna's j.C is easy to 2C. As for 214A being used as a anti air, I haven't really tried it much. Anything 2C can't handle is generally the type of air moves that cross you over and in those instances, I'd rather just jump and air throw them as they try to fuzzy cross over me to make my 2C whiff and that'll happen since 2C doesn't have the best auto correction. Other than that though, 2C really is one of the best anti airs in the game and you really shouldn't be looking for alternatives.

I'll answer some of your questions for you lumiere. The 214214 motion will come to you when you do it enough times and your thumb gets used to the input. While j.214C is a great tool to land is a different place after air charging or to hit someone when they're rushing towards you when you're in the air, it's unsafe and block and should not be used too often on opponents who are quick to punish it after block or can time it to anti air it. No need to mash 22C/D, just tap it in as the window for the move's input in the combo series is rather lenient. 214C has invincibility frame a bunch of frames after start up till the end more or less but remember that it is unsafe on block and it can be hit out of with ease with a feet attribute move. 236C is no longer good to use as an approach unless you're prepared to cancel it with a 22D/214D or RC after block. If you're too close when you use the move, they'll have a ton of time to punish you, if you do it at max range, they'll be able to jab you first. I throw it out there sometimes by itself when I'm calling out them doing something far away or not blocking but other wise, try to have a backup plan before you use it outside of combos.

You guys are putting too much emphasis on the high charge count Mugens. You can do 6.2k with one charge Mugen off a 6CC starter, you can do 5k off a 5A starter(our fastest normal) with a 2 charge mugen. Mugen is really good in this game, there's no doubt about it so I suggest you start working them into your hitconfirm rotation if you're able and know how to bait bursts using 214D as well.

Not very large but large enough to hit you while you're jumping. Try it out on training mode and see for yourself.