BatousaiJ

5B as an anti air sounds some what interesting... I wonder if they added some head invincibility to it but still, I think making the 5B air unblockable would've been more helpful instead of 5C since Tsu's 2C is already a great anti-air move. the 22C->214D is actually quite exciting news meaning we once again have a 1 charge combo most likely capable of doing around 2.5-3.5k damage. Before this we had to go for 22D->236D for pick up midscreen but if we can just slide them with 22C and gatling into 214D, that's should easily lead into a BnB air combo(5BB-> 5CC -> 236B -> 22C -> 214D ->2CC -> air BnB). We won't know what will work with what but more untechable time and D gatling from 22C will be huge if it is as I think it is even in block strings given you take away a primer in the block string and then continue by crossing someone over 236D to continue pressure. Given how much bigger guard primers/breaks will play a part in the new revision, this is certainly something to look forward to. As for jD being back to the way it was, that's fine with me given how jD defintely shouldn't be your goto way to get charge in the first place especially given your vulnerability while in the air and the moment you land.

This would be handy if it didn't work off a very limited meter that runs out incredibly fast when you're wolf dashing around. The worst thing to happen to you while you're playing Valk is to run out of wolf meter. It's like the game's telling you that you've been naughty and you're in time out for 10 seconds. Sad panda. The best way to get across a long distance is to quickly wolf dash and cancel immediately while holding some of that momentum so you can A. LoL Block B. Not use up all of your meter in one dash. As for Valk's viability in tourneys, I'd say that he can win simply due to his amazing mix-up and damage which is second to none. However, he lacks certain essential tools(primers, DP, oki) to really stand toe to toe against the high tier characters but he still has more chances than lets say... Tsubaki or Rachel. Aha. People that call Valk "Brokenhayn" are too easily wowed by damage and offensive pressure... not understanding his glaring weaknesses. I'm sticking with his as my second main regardless of the changes just the same as I am with Tsubaki and I'll just deal with it in the long run =d.

Not surprising but I would like to hear something about Tsubaki if anything at all. There hasn't been any news about her since loktest 3 or so. If it's running to Nov 21st though, that's plenty of time for people to spot some changes so I look forward to some news.

Ya, the optimal combos as we've seen on videos is something outside of my reach at the moment, maybe I'll get there but I go for a combos with a higher consistence over max damage in most scenarios especially being a strictly netplayer that I am. I totally agree with your assessment of my match up against Mu there, that's like the third time I've played a decent mu so far and I took on the fight like I would everyone else and that was the result. Her air to air superiority is something I seriously underestimated and I definitely learned my lesson on that fight and the ones that followed. As for the Bang match up, I find myself having to lean on the 236B on the mix up more often to punish his guard point which is very annoying because that really limits my mix up in a lot of ways but then hey, it's bang right?

Played some D-League matches this weekend, did alright but played really inflexible in a lot of ways. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zygabZNfdmE 5:40 starting, two fights. Comments and criticisms would be appreciated!(thanks for zeth for uploading as well)

Jesus. Not even off a FC either. Yet another combo to try and learn.

Making an attempt at adding Mu to my subs list but I have some rather general questions about her offensive/defensive game. It seems to me from watching videos her pressure without stein assistance seem to be rather insignificant and the vast majority of her setups depend on landing that 3C hit but anyone that's ever played a Mu once knows to block low and watches out for her rather slow overhead that doesn't seem to all that threatening without meter for super/RC. Does it makes sense to play keep away against most characters, set up steins as quickly as I can and go on the offensive after landing a knockaway/combo while playing defensive using antiair moves like 6A/2C and etc? I find myself setting up steins when I'm vulnerable and getting punished for it or just trying to pressure without them trying to get the first knockaway/combo and then get punished. Basically, what's the standard approach in a non-match up specific way. A standard way of thinking when trying to play as Mu is what I'm looking for.

Why not just forgo the 214 in the BnB all together and go straight for 236B -> 22C ? Actually not using 214 in the BnB has its benefits in knockdown town and some oki options/damage corner as well. Very situational but missing out on the minimum of damage/heat gain off a singular 214 is nothing compared to not 22 finishing your combo for that precious charge time. Still, there's no real reason why you're having a tough time doing it. Just goto practice mode, do the motions of 236 -> 214 -> 22 until you get it right and then just remember the timing and do it the same way over and over again. Until you get it down flat though, I suggest just opting for the 236 -> 22 link for now.

Go ahead and add her frame data http://dustloop.com/guides/bbcs/frameData/tsubaki.html That should be easy enough to put in there along with everything that's there. I'd help with strats and combos but when patch hits there are going to be a lot of changes so I wouldn't put too much time in it just yet.

IBing into combos is very dependent on what move you IB and given that Valk doesn't really have a DP to work with. You can usually IB -> Strum Wolf DD but it's not recommended unless it's a kill-hit. A situational combo is something you want to work on as far as random hits/counter/corner combos go. You can shoulder tackle an enemy that's IADing towards you, get a counter hit and follow up with a full air combo starting with jB, j214B. It's not something you generally plan for but knowing what you can combo into after a counter hit in whichever situation is a good way to get damage out of any given hit. Corner combos/pressure are also self-explanatory and you can look for ones that you can execute well in the combo thread.

Ya, I was agreeing with the sentiment outside of very specific situations(LoL Lambchops).

Don't use Strum Wolf by itself unless you're intending to punish a midrange whiff, hell, if you absolutely need to get out of a pressure string, don't use it like a DP and instead counter assault and do a combo off of it. This is much safer to do and if I had a dime for every valk that DD on wake up just to get baited or screw up and go into wolf form(hilarious), I'd be able to buy Valk DLC for every PSN user on the planet. If you want to combo into it, a source of easy 4k(exact) damage is a simple jC, 5B, 5C, Strum. I end up spending most of my meter on RC and 236236D finisher for my air combos but when I land that jC and have the meter for it, 4k isn't too bad. I could do more with jC, 5B, 5C, 236A, RC, 3C-> follow up but sometimes I just feel lazy, aha.

Lovely dashing techniques, canceling in and out of wolf form twice in one air dash to change directions and many valks underestimate how amazing (w)5B is as an anti air. I'll have to watch this video a few times to see what he does. Nice find.

In 1000(yes, exactly) matches using Tsubaki, I don't think I've ever landed a naked 236236D with 5 charges. There's probably a reason for that. Like it's been mentioned before though, you have to play super safely against a Tager to have a chance baiting some move and counting on their sad invul frames the DD has is probably not a good idea. Better off probably 623A and RC if it's blocked and LoL if you get guard pointed by one of his anti-projectile moves.

There are certain things you can do to avoid that. Here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c6wRmlwBNw&feature=sub Watch the 6:20 mark, the bang match. That's a good example of how to lock players down from jab spamming with things like charge cancel and delayed secondary hits of 5B/2B, relay jabbing, etc. It's not applicable to every character obviously but it's a good strat for punishing those jab happy folks and make them block which in turn should set you up for more opporunities for 22D unblockable/kara throw gimmicks. Also, this goes out to everyone but you should check out the throw reject miss tactics thread in the general section and add it to their repertoire. It's a good way to get throws off on people who are expecting to get thrown.

23 for the easy variation and 25 for the hard 22B variation I believe. But yes, the airdash option is very valuable, especially of you've got them near the corner. Also, FYI the 5BB>2BB blah blah BnB is 20 meter gain I believe.

Here's a fun little BnB combo off 5BB that you can do from midscreen that gives you more heat gain then the 5BB>2BB>5CC>236>214>22. It's a variation on the 5BB>5CC>214A>22B but given how that 22B timing for wallbounce can be very tricky, you can do this one. 5BB>2C>214B>22A(hold)>6C>623A>j236A>j214C. As you charge in the air you have the option of backdashing or forward dashing as they tech for continue pressure or some more space. Backdash jCC will actually get you pretty far away in the screen due to the floaty nature of jCC for some more yummy 2D charge if you need it. Given how much I'm getting tired of seeing every Tsubaki I run into do the same BnB, I suggest mixing things up the pros and cons of each variation isn't that huge generally but that's more of a reason why you should be doing variations.

Isn't 3C > 2C the standard starter? Given you using 3C after 6B or 236A -> RC -> 3C or just by itself at a close range 2C picks up on all characters for max combo/damage potential I believe. 2B follow up is standard if you land 3C from midrange and sometimes you even have to walk a little forward before you do 2B to connect. if you land 3C from lets say, max range then all that will connect is 236B at that point I think. So if you're close enough for that 5B to connect after 3C, I don't see why you wouldn't just use 2C instead.

Ya, I didn't like how inconsistent I was with it so I made my own that was easier but was much less damage. I was looking for an alternative that was somewhere in the middle of those two. I tried this one, pretty easy to execute and does solid damage, I think I'll work off this one I think, thanks.

The only reason I'm looking for a good one is that I find myself in a situation where I can end the match if I do another 2k ish damage after wolf command grab on the ground and it'd be nice if I can get 4.2k ish damage combo(total) off the grab. I can only do around 3.4 k ish off that so far and feel like I should be able to do more.

Hum... The most important thing to point out is to learn and use the 2 charge combos both mid screen and corner off a naked 22D hit. They both easily go over the 4k damage mark and your Hakumen matches would've been over a lot sooner if you had done them. Too many naked j214 even when you didn't have meter though and luckily you didn't get punished for it a lot but on block, you're in for a world of pain. Watch the use of jD charge and use double jump jD charge in moderation and instead shift to using sjD for dashing options after you confirm how your opponent is responding to it. Also, it might not be a bad idea to learn her alternative 5BB starter combo, the one that goes 5BB, 5CC, 214A, 22B(wall bounce) 6C follow up. More damage, more heat, more options off air jD because you can dash cancel afterwards. The timing is tricky but it's certainly worth learning. Hope that helps.

I'll make some when their JC-able 2C rolls around.

I don't know why anyone who used her actively in CS1 would drop her in CS2 due to these potential changes/non-changes. It's not like they were tier whoring with her to win. People dropping Litchi or Bang(although I hear from good Bang players he'll still be very, very good) I could see. I'm set for for mains with Tsubaki, Valk and Tager for the foreseeable future I think. I encourage a healthy number of subs to keep things fresh and interesting though.

What's a good combo to do after RC wolf command grab on the ground while midscreen? I'm finding myself going into (w)236D -> RC -> 5C -> and going into standard 6C follow up(easier to connect though). But given the window of opportunity, it feels like there's much more that I can do at that point.

Beh, I'm quietly optimistic about Tsubaki's fate after the patch. Hell, as long as she somehow doesn't get any worse in the scale of things, I'll be happy. As long as she's still fun to use, it's all a wash in the end.