Oiboi

These are pretty simple, basic summon combo, Ghost toss/knockdown for setup. The sword gets a free c.S combo, and the dog is best to set up for 2D traps. Raou, of course, can do whatever he damn well pleases and it'll work Max damage naked combo I like to do is get the free 2HS 2K 2D Summon. This obviously can go into instant raou combo if you have the tension.

Momentum summon? Like doing 66236P as fast as possible? Or from a dash in general? It's the way the animation system works, since he's not technically stopping his dash it takes longer for him to actually slow down, so it looks like he's going faster when it's just magical invul frames lol. By the way, momentum dashing from a standing position will mess many slayers up (especially those who 2HS predictably). You don't need to start a new thread, just put them in the video critique thread, since it's sounding like you want critique anyways. Show us what you got.

Doesn't that only work on super light characters? Like bridget?

It depends on character weight also... 5P works on everyone, but light characters are very difficult to time the summon to hit afterwards. c.S works great for heavy characters, and does more damage than 5P, but timing is more difficult. 2HS works on light characters for max damage, but on even slightly heavier than average characters are nearly impossible to get it on. Example combos: On Pot, whatever into 2D summon RC 66 c.S Summon RC 66 6P (this is because he drops too low; f.S will work sometimes as well, particularly in corner, if c.S doesn't come out) Summon Edguy. On some characters, like Ky, c.S is necessary because of the weird weight and hitboxes. i.e. 2D summon RC 66 c.S Summon RC will hit while 5P or 2HS won't because, despite appearances, he hits the ground too fast for 2HS and 5P will knock them up too high. The only real trick to the instant Raoh combo is timing and understanding character weights, and just changing the intermediary move as necessary (generally only 5P, c.S, and 2HS, 6P only works on Pot as far as I know).

As I said, Zappa has the advantage as long as HOS can't get in. But HOS's moves make this difficult, since they have good range and huge hitboxes. Dog gets beat out by any charge move, since they all multi-hit, that's why I said setting it up in a advantageous position is hard. Ghosts Win as long as he doesn't get on you, and the sword helps with countering him. But this is still a pretty bad matchup for Zappa, HOS has great damage and can get through a lot of Zappa's defensive moves (6P, f.S, 5K, etc.). Only his DP and Summon are safe, and even then he can bait them. I'm not sure how good Swordslide is for this match; It can beat Rock It? I can imagine it beating just about everything else though, so it's still good. The thing is, though, HOS gets massive advantage as soon as he starts a pressure/gets a knockdown on you. He has decent mixup options, grab invul moves, and massive blockstun on a lot of his meaty's. I'd advise not underestimating him at all. Edit: To clarify, I need to re-evaluate my thoughts from my first post, particularly about it being a bad matchup. It's more about even, if not a little in Zappa's favor, but it's a difficult match is what I meant to say.

In my opinion, HOS is a pretty difficult matchup for Zappa. His pokes are simply superior to Zappa's, and his damage makes things risky. Naked: -At the start of the match, the most important thing is to make sure he cannot start applying pressure. The only thing that gets close enough to f.S is Rock It, and not many HOS's start the match with that, so f.S is a good choice. If they do Rock it, you can 6P and beat it out. Other than that, they may try either 6HS, f.S, or 2S to stuff pressure attempts/start their own pressure. It IS possible, but really difficult, to 6P his 6HS, so blocking or trying to summon into it is a better option. His f.S is pretty much useless against Zappa, since he's so small, but you need to watch out for 2S. It's very fast and has a lot of range; you can 5K or summon it. -If he gets charged, it becomes a High risk for High reward scenario: If you can trick him and beat him out of a move with summons or 6P/5K's, you can reverse the match, but at the same time, if you move wrong you'll get hurt bad. Ghosts: -This is an annoying summon, as usual, for the enemy. HOS is really slow and can't get in too well, which means one haunting will allow you to lock him down for a long time. -Watch out for pressure; HOS's pressure is pretty annoying for Zappa to deal with, especially with the ghosts. Try not to get into the air too much or you'll get DP'd or air poked (He has very good air moves and decent anti-airs). Sword: -The sword will be a pretty annoying summon as well, because it has moves that can compete with HOS's. The Sword DP is very good, and the swipe will stuff a lot of rush in attempts as well. -HOS is pretty heavy, making him pretty easy to combo. Likewise, you can get in a lot of hits because alot of his moves don't have the priority or speed to beat out the sword. Dog: -Pretty difficult to set up for this match, because of HOS's great pokes and pressure tactics. However, As with the ghosts, he's easy to lock down because he can't move around too often. -If you're being pressure, the dog is your best friend. Wait for a meaty to connect (j.HS, j.D, 6HS, etc.) and then retaliate with the dog. Look out for charged moves, as they all multi-hit and will beat you out completely. Raou: -DEFINITELY the best summon for this matchup, hands down. With Edguy and Darkness anthem, HOS cannot pressure you very well at all and you will have the advantage, since HOS does not do well defensively. -Chip them, combo them, throw them-- Whatever it takes to get through HOS's defense and beat him. Overall: This is a pretty straightforward match, but that's kind of where Zappa has trouble. Don't let him get pressure, and practice timing on what moves Zappa CAN beat to get a feel for how to control the match. All of HOS's moves are slow and have a lot of recovery/startup, so take advantage of that. I'd say this is probably 6-4, HOS's favor. As always, thoughts, comments, yada yada welcome.

Here, I'll start it since I've got some good matchup experience. Vs testament, I dunno... I've fought Jamie, and the best advice I can give is to be patient. The smarter and more patient you are, the better chance you have of seeing holes.

I don't think Abe knows that matchup too well... for one thing, he kept getting into the air when he could have run at least half the times he jumped. Zappa can go under the blood nets, yaknow Anyways, vs HOS, Sol, and Dizzy matches are surprisingly hard to come by... And most of the time when you do find some, one of the players is... subpar, so you don't get a good idea of what to do.

Oh, yeah, I'm the biggest advocate of "STAY THE FUCK OUT OF THE AIR" but I was just mentioning a few things I noticed. j.S is relatively safe as a jump in because you can IAD while doing mind game stuff, but only good if the enemy has no idea wtf you're doing. I know how easy zappa is to anti-air, but corner j.D will totally confuse anyone (as it'll still crossup in a weird way if you land 'on' them with it).

Oh yeah, it was j.P derp. I forgot that's why you used j.P instead of j.K, since j.S is too long and j.HS hits the wrong way lol. I've been fooling around with zappa's air moves to see if they are good in certain situations; Dog j.P of course, has the falling pressure ability, but everything else is almost completely combo-only except for the few obvious ones (sword j.HS crossover trick, ghost j.HS crossover/pressure trick). Naked/dog j.S is surprisingly good jump in, since it's pretty quick and looks a little awkward, and has good range; This is interchangeable with j.D if you need more room or are thinking they'll get hit (blowback effect). j.D also pushes them back more, while j.S puts you (normally) just outside of there grab range, allowing you to do 2K once you land or something. J.D also has backwards range, as we all know. I think off a j.D (maybe has to be counterhit) you can do 2HS on lighter characters into an air combo... I can't test it right now but I'm pretty sure that should work. Aside from that extended ghost combo, the ghosts don't have too much do they? It's mostly just mixup and pressure tricks. Anyone got ideas for them?

Oh, ok, I know that one. Well, not really KNOW it since I don't often get the DP to land midscreen or in an ideal situation to do that combo, but I've seen it before. I'll learn it later:vbang:

Which move is Jump installed in that one? Is it DP? Cuz that sounds really awkward to me... Yeah, I tested last night, 5D Summon doesn't work on venom. Totally thought it did. I guess you'll have to do a impossible dust to get the summon off that huh? Also, tested DP FRC 2H on Eddie, the whole combo works so... Jump install is essentially canceling a move with a jump, but before the jump comes out (because jumps have startup) you do ANOTHER move on the ground and it keeps the 'air' state, even though you're actually on the ground. Once you do another move that puts you into the air or, alternatively, do a jump off of another Jump cancellable move, you can do a super jump for more hits then do another jump, which isn't normally possible. Example: Naked 2HS 8 6HS RC j.k 9j.S j.D is one. It's kind of absolutely terrible but it's just an example, and you can use it to learn how to do Jump installs since 2HS is such a long move. The way that you know it works is that after the 6HS RC, you can jump in the air.

Hmm interesting, I don't have my system but I'll test it once I get a chance to see what's up. And also, WHAT, Zappa feels a lot easier on a pad for me... ESPECIALLY the dog since I can have it on a trigger.

You don't have to but it's very difficult to combo on most characters if you don't. In general, only the really light charas will still be in the air by the time you can attack (bridget, for example, can be caught with a 5S, maybe even 2HS). FRC'ing is your best chance, period.

Oh yeah, that's true. I'm terrible at air combos so ignore me anyways rofl. 2K doesn't chain on everyone, but I can usually throw it in anyways and still catch them. It's a tricky timing... Hmm maybe I just cancel it really tightly every time then? Never really noticed... Oh, but on non CH don't you HAVE to FRC? From my experience, nothing connects if you don't FRC. When I do FRc I still use 2H unless it's a counterhit, or else the hitstun doesn't last long enough (except for a SJ j.P which ruins the damage with proration anyways).

I knew it worked fullscreen, but I didn't know it also worked when he did it on top of you like that. I've been able to do the "JI" combo without jump installs since slash. Everyone still calls it the JI combo but I just do 2HS Jump cancel, j.k j.S dj j.K j.S/j.S j.HS/j.D sword spin. When doing the 5HS combo, it all depends on range; at max range MAYBE you'd have to do the dash priming, but normally I can get 2K to chain even then without it. Also, 5D Summon works on everyone I thought... I've never had trouble missing it on anyone as far as I know, even venom. And Sword DP CH, 2H will work on anyone, even eddie. So always do 2H after the DP, it should make j.k connect almost no matter what on anyone... I agree, but I don't have my game system right now I so I can't work on it and stuff. As soon as I get it again, I'll make some beastly combos for us.

I learned one really great thing from that vid just now: 5K beats slidehead on wakeup. I had no idea that'd work. ZAPPA NOW HAS WAKEUP OPTIONS OMG lol

You gotta do 214D faster. The trick is that 8D will effectively "jump install" 2D but you won't actualy need the jump install. In this manner, it's a good idea to learn how to jump install so that you know how fast you can do 214D. Another method is to do 8D before the 2HS actually connects, but that makes the air untech time longer (thus making it trickier). So in other words, prime 214D faster than you think you have to/you are.

Makes me cry.

Pot juggles everyone with pot busters, the hell're you talking about.... I see Nang-in likes super jumping, that's a new trick he's been doing, huh? I think his sword is still the weakest though.... his ghosts are too good.

Getting Raou is never impractical Are you referring to the 2D trap setup? The key to that is knowing the characters wakeup timing so you can stuff any wakeup attempt with a f.S and a 2D. As a note, you can combo into unssumon from that, by landing 2D then 66 2HS 8D 214D summon, and now you have raou. Simple as that.

Goddammit Hellsap, you're new sig made me laugh way too hard. IT'S NOT EVEN THAT FUNNY. Anyways, some strategy shenanigans: I've been playing with my dog more again, instead of just doing the basic setups (5D poke strings, 2D traps, etc...). Example, Zappa get's good in the air with the dog for a few key reasons: Air FD blocks everything except unblockables, and no unblockable reaches that high, and Air FD 5D beats everything hands down (except heat fist, but why get in the air against pot when you can just cheese him with the dog, right?). Another reason is because if they try to jump up to combat you in the air, you can evade and attack at the same time with 8D. Mix this with 5D pressure and you can start doing j.K j.S or j.P spam, 2K 4D D mixups. However, getting into the air is still a situational tactic; if the enemy is strong versus anti-air (not just character wise, but the player themselves are particularly good at anti-airing) then this is a relatively difficult tactic to use. This is because Zappa's air normals are nothing special, with the exception of j.HS, which is a super situational move all it's own. Still, you can use crossover tricks and pushback to stick them right into a 2D, or use 4D-D mixups again. I've also been thinking about working on a 'how-to' guide for using the dog. If I do, I'll add it to my 'advanced' zappa thread and we can go crazy shenanigans discussion there. But for now, let's discuss it here since it's more Zappa strats anyways.

It's essentially the same thing as 5HS, you use it so rarely that when you do use it, it can be pretty good. It is pretty easy to see coming but the thing is that it IS safe on hit, unlike 5HS, so it's still a good option (with tension, of course). I usually use it when my normal pressure doesn't bait an attack, and then RC on hit, late j.p/j.k and summon as soon as I land.

Bitchin man. Nice work Dangief, Now I just gotta find the font you used =D

Daisuke did all the concept art for every GG game (except judgement). This includes, character designs, environment design, drafting (drawing all the moves, keyframes, etc.), and most promotional art. He also did the character select portraits up until slash, then they hired some other person to do it for Accent Core (And it shows >_>). The unlockable art is ALWAYS by other artists, as a kind of fan service/tribute/place for the other artists working on the game to show off. For Overture specifically, he once again did character designs and environment concepts, but I believe that was about it (since it's a 3D game, he doesn't have to do as much). I think this is why some of the animation is Overture is a little odd, like how Sol runs looks really weird and such. I still say Valentines freaking adorable though.