Lord Knight

More like Litchi was never a popular character. Even in CS1 it was tough to find vids.

2C > full combo.

The DVD is out already? I remember hearing that Stunedge's team was really close to getting to r2.

Everyone picks Tager, he's an easy char that gets easy damage. Having a new trick doesn't make up for lack of mobility, being the most vulnerable to instant overheads and fuzzy guards, and getting zoned like crazy.

I hate Platinum's character design, but she has way too many tricks. Probably going to play her as an alt. This game is too anime. Even with all the tools a grappler could ever hope for (pulling them in, fullscreen projectile), it's still not good enough to compete with some of the characters. A character like Tager will always have bad matchups (Arakune, Mu etc).

Litchi proration numbers are out. Stuff that's really nice is the 120% bonus prorate on ippatsu (up from 110%), the 100% p2 on 6B[m], 5B[e]. 2C[m] got nerfed (rightly so), 3C, only a bit. Tsubame, 4D, J2D, Itsuu (all of them) got favorable proration. They really want Litchi to be played staffless this version, a lot of Litchi's staffless moves have 100% p2. (5B, 6B, 5C, 2C, 3C all have it). Hatsu and Chun aren't useful fillers for Daisharin anymore due to the changes in proration. I'm wondering how this stuff will affect combo development. EDIT: 100 P1, sorry :| Still great though.

Not S in CS1 or 2 (CS2, might depend who you talk to, who knows how much the game can change). He's definitely in the upper group of characters, but there are characters who are clearly better, and get consistent damage midscreen as well as corner. Hazama's midscreen damage (without meter) and corner carry isn't good enough. That being said, his meter options and near corner/corner stuff are really good.

Litchi, Tao, Bang, Valk, Arakune Litchi, probably the safest character.

Rachel is just lacking in damage. Although her zoning tools do have weaknesses (short pumpkin, lobelia's being knocked back, slower wind regen), her neutral game is still way stronger than Tsubaki's.

In regards to what? CS1 or CS2? In CS1, I personally feel the characters are split like this: S: Litchi = Tao S-: Bang = Valk A+: Arakune = Makoto, Carl A: Hakumen, Hazama, Jin, Ragna, Mu=Lambda B+: Noel, Rachel B: Tsubaki, Tager CS2, it's still a bit early for me to make a list for myself (again, haven't played :|) but most of the lists that I've seen have Makoto, Jin, Noel, Rachel, Arakune. Hazama is either top or top of mid. Bottom always has Valk. Makoto just reminds me of Litchi minus the fun oki :/. You listed a couple of moves that are sort of safe It's hard to beat the "It works" argument. The only way you can stop that is by beating them for taking the bad risks. It's fine to do something risky if you actually think it'll work - depending on what the reward will be. As far as "X player does it", that's also all right. Eventually people will just mix it with their own gameplay, so it's all right. If it's something really gimmicky, just kill them for it until they stop trying it on you. You can try talking to the about that kind of stuff, but I've found just beating them with their bad habits works far better. The US MB players got Garu to call me free in English, lol. I was pretty :< Once you play a good Jin, you stop considering wakeup throw REAL fast :/ I'm still surprised people try throw teching with B+C to be honest. Makoto's 3C, Ragna's Dead spike, those moves are all right for what they do. Once those moves are out, if you don't react quick enough you just have to respect them.

BB should be on Saturday. I like GG too and will be entering that. Really, whatever loses the vote should still get top 4 or top 8 streamed.

They were hidden. . . when CT came out Itsuu has Manten return state, look it up in the guides. Questions like this belong in the beginner thread or general discussion, thread closed.

Risk/reward for me is what is the damage/situation outcome from doing a certain action from a certain situation. When I think of the risk/reward of something being skewed, it's usually something a character has that gives them an unreasonable reward for whatever situation (Hakumen's jD, Tao's CA are a couple of examples). Hakumen's jD is really fucked this time, ahaha. game pace. I like the jB > j2C loop a lot Basically I can't really say anything until they develop him more. Too many Carl players are crying though - that sort of character will always be good. Just buff your neutral and stop letting your sister eat all the hits - his AA got buffed! I also think a Carl that can force down is extremely dangerous. Love it. Can't wait to play a BB with that in the game, and it should've been in from the start. That's a good thing about GG/MB. As far as Litchi, it won't be too big of a deal because she already had a top class normal that dealt with that kind of situation (2C), but other characters were sorta lacking in this field. I think characters like Jin benefit from this a LOT since their mixup comes more from rushdown than oki (not saying that Jin doesn't have oki!).

Makoto vs Litchi is slight advantage for Litchi in CS1. Litchi's neutral is strong against Makoto - she has multiple ways of keeping Makoto out, and these all lead to big damage. Although Makoto has a lot of pokes that lead into big (BIG) damage, the only real safe approaches she has is sj in at an angle that Litchi can't cover (right above her, pretty much, and Litchi can just move out of the way) or positioning herself for dash 2A after blocked staff launch. If Makoto gets in on Litchi, this is her chance - she can compete with Litchi's damage output. As far as Litchi, Valk gives her the most trouble (neutral game is slightly in his favor, and his damage output is on her level - scary!). For me personally, I like any match against a good player. I don't like playing against Arakune (fuck him) more than anyone else. There are other matches, but they are tolerable next to Arakune :/. I really don't like playing against wild, random players, players with characters with a skewered risk/reward (see Hakumen), or players who ignore my space. Litchi is good at minimizing risks so it's ok.

It depends. Of course, I can only give my perspective on how I handle it, and how I think other people handle it. Some people play solely based on instinct and reactions, and there are characters where this is possible and can even work to a certain point. Personally, I feel that most (maybe 95%) of the top players plan for all their matches. Coming up with a proper strategy is preparing for a character. Coming up with a strategy, depends on your own characters tools - how you do it is up to you. Basically what I do is: 1) Look at my character. I try to determine what kind of character I'm playing in relation to theirs. Do they have to deal with my stuff (ie, can I do whatever they want)? Is there something they have that prevents me from following my normal gameplan? A character like Bang, Tao or Arakune are able to just play for a majority of their matchups (up to a certain level), a character like Jin, Litchi or Hakumen may not have this luxury. 2) If they do have something that gives you problems, examine their character. Play first to find out exactly what's giving you trouble, then go to training mode to try to figure it out (or test with someone). If it's hitbox, test to see if you have a move that wins. If it's oki, test to see if there are answers. 3) Apply! What strategy does is give you a plan for the character. If the other player doesn't know the answers, you should just be able to win. If someone do have answers, you'll be playing the player, as well as the character (that's what makes the game fun). It's not like chess, where you have to sit around and think for a move. Once you plan for a matchup properly, you'll recognize the situations you've planned for and act accordingly. As far as "predicting" what moves of yours should hit, you shouldn't need to. You should be able to hitconfirm, or create a string that makes it easy to hitconfirm your single move. For example, with Litchi, her 3C[m] is only jump cancellable on hit, not block, so i always buffer airdash (for 3C > JB > 2C > ItsuuA, etc). On whiff, obviously nothing happens, on block, Itsuucan/ItsuuC/ItsuuB. I don't mind if other people post answers as long as they legitimately know what they are talking about. If it's a question pertaining to perspective (like the one I just answered), I think it's fine if anyone answers, because it's more of an opinion. 5A, real anti-airs. Really hard to win air to air. I'm surprised you didn't ask how do you beat Litchi jA, lol.

Bang vs Lambda Mu vs Carl Mu vs Tager Bang vs Tager Carl vs Tager Arakune vs Tager Tager's pretty popular, huh :/ I can't make one! I haven't played the game yet, lol. Right now I do keep up with the bbs tier list thread, but that one has been pretty wild.

Really? Didn't you test in training mode? :/ 2D is -30. Block 2D, 2A. If she does 4D, 2A will whiff. Don't worry about spring raid unless she has 50 meter. Block 5D, jump and block. 6A follow up, Litchi will air block - just keep blocking. 6B or 6D, they will both whiff (also after 6A).

Of course, any matchup discussion assumes that both players know what they are doing. Tager has serious problems against Arakune, it's around 6.5 or worse.

Final changes- Staff: 6A no longer ground bounces, forces crouch. Can be combo'd off CH or RC. 6B hitstop drastically increased. Ground hit is the same, on air hit, it will send them flying/wallbounce near corner. 6C causes stagger on normal hit (think Rachel's old 5CC). 6C > 5D/2D was added. 2C on CH sends them high into the air, this is linkable into ItsuuA. 2C > 4D is possible. 3C is ground techable. 3C > 5D/2D was added. 4D cancel is removed. Move now groundslides on hit. 6D cannot be itsuu cancelled. "+3" on block. On air hit, will send them flying/wallbounces near the corner. JB hitbox is slightly smaller, instant overhead is no longer possible with rising jB JC counter hit sends them flying/wallbounces near the corner. J2D's 2nd hit now pulls in. Staffless 6C's 2nd hit prorate seems to have increased 3C is emergency techable 2B > 5B gatling added. 2B > 5B > 2B is impossible 2C > 5C gatling added. (BBS made no note of 2C > 5C > 2C not being possible, so assume this works too) JB hitstun is significantly longer JC is emergency techable 66D has extremely fast start up 6Throw is not special cancellable. Opponent is stuck in spinning stagger. 4Throw is not special cancellable. Air throw range increased Itsuu cannot be special cancelled into from normals. You cant jcc out into it either. Proration/damage on it is very friendly. Startup buffed (?) ItsuuA, when it's blocked, the followup will always come out. Reaches further than before. ItsuuB, when blocked, the followup will always come out. Sets staff in 5D set. ItsuuC, when blocked, the followup will always come out. Tsubame - falling staff's drop speed has increased. Chun - Hitstun increased Shishin - on air ch, followup is possible Ryuuisou - on normal hit, less hitstun.

A quick summary: Arakune is just bullshit. Makoto, high damage off a lot of hits, is able to carry to the corner for good damage, similar to CS1 Litchi. Jin, got midscreen knockdown, good midscreen damage, higher corner damage, improved pressure. Noel, good midscreen damage (especially off 2D :/), good corner damage, some moves buffed, improved pressure. Rachel, good midscreen damage, good corner damage, a couple of buffed moves (jA, j2C, new gatling, 6B) Hazama, below average midscreen damage without meter, good corner damage, weaker 5B/3C, faster chains, usable 6C, can't reliably combo off resenga, new limits on chains Notice a pattern?