Kyosuke_

I don't believe you can use that OS against any reversal, but I've never tested this specific setup. Im only curious about being able to OS ALL reversals with the overhead option of this mixup.

woah what? Can you please make a video of that OS avoiding every DP in the game? Secondly how do you safe jump with a wolf normal to begin with?

Valkenhayn safe jump 50/50 alternative: As you should all know, Valkenhayn has an extremely easy way to end any of his corner confirms with a safe jump setup. In case you don't, The common setup is ending your corner combo with an instant wolf jump B, then jump canceling it, landing with a j.c for a safe jump setup. As human mixup is rather limited, you can sacrifice the safe jump part of the setup to do a meterless 50/50 on your way down from the jump cancelled wolf J.b. The concept involves transforming into wolf form a slight distance from the ground then landing with a w.ja for an overhead or empty jump w5c for a low. While the 50/50 part of this setup only works on people who emergency tech, this also stops the opponent from teching away from you as a result. For some reason, landing with a wolf normal puts the opponent in front of Valk while not landing with a wolf normal allows the opponent to roll behind you (Slightly unrelated as there would be no reason for you to land without doing a wolf normal). If the opponent were to roll, as stated as before, they will roll right in front of you, at the mercy of your wolf mixup. If the opponent were to emergency tech, they would have to take your falling meter less (referring to wolf meter) 50/50 while also allowing you to continue pressure/mixup even if the 50/50 was blocked. This is particularly useful for adding mixup variety against charge reversal characters who you've scared into DPing with your previous safe jump setups. This is also useful against Noel, a character who can't do anything about either mixup option without meter for a super as both options can beat her 4D/2D. One of the biggest ideas of this concept is to fool your opponent into thinking you're doing a safe jump setup, an option that doesn't really allow following mixup options. So as stated before, this can really work against a charge reversal character like Kagura as he has no choice but to emergency tech if he wants to use his reversal (assuming you've scared him into not Dping your regular safe jump setup). Still not used to fully wording new concepts like this so please let me know if anything's unclear!

Y'know that situation when u get a h5B (or any human normal) hit when you're cornered without 50 meter? Dont you want to side switch instead of working all the way to the other corner? Well I came up with a theory to switch sides without meter in this somewhat rare scenario. How it starts: Ok so you're cornered and you managed to poke out of someone's pressure (or some other situation). The basic thing you would imagine doing is the basic 5B 5C 236B 236B and try to work to reach the other corner. Well here's my solution to save you work and gauge; instead of doing the second rekka, do 6D>wJ.b afterwards instead. How it works: Ok so you did 6D>w.jb, now what? Well it depends on what their response was. Did they tech immediately? Cool, do a mixup afterwards into a side switch combo. Regardless of the starter, valk can always do a side swap combo with his 236C or his beast cannons. (Kiba's guide should have the guide to the side swap combos) So what happens if they don't tech? Well, that's where the W.jb comes in. If the opponent doesn't tech, they'll get hit by the w.jb. They could either stay on the floor or force an emergency tech. Either situation is welcome thanks to the next part of this little neat OS. This is where it can get a little complicated. Next, you plink w5a and w5b. This has two purposes. One, if the opponent stays there, you will pick them back up with w5a and w5b where you will then do a side swap combo from there (The side swap combo of choice depends on the starter. If it was a bad starter, doing 236B after w5b following with J6D>JD>JC or j236B would swap sides just fine. If the starter was a bit better, you can extend the side swap combo a bit more with additional beast cannons or other things.). Now what if they tech after the wJ.B? Wont you get punished for whiffing those normals? Under normal circumstances, yes. But since we're plinking w5a and w5b, the w5b will not come out if the w5a were to whiff, making this setup 100% safe regardless of the situation. Best part, you can do a mixup after you whiff the w5a as he has plenty of time to setup a br.ja or any mixup situation after whiffing w5a in that situation. This isn't groundbreaking, but it can definitely be convenient for the rare occasion that you manage to mash out of the corner or something. I personally find myself to be in this situation a lot and I didn't know the best way to start my oki other than to start from scratch. Well now I can start the deadliest part of my oki right after managing to land a cornered hit. Hope this helps!

on his wakeup, a max ranged w5a will whiff on his dp and you can punish accordingly with w5C (same with backdash). Also, the w5A recovers in time for you to jump and avoid a wakeup scud punishment (double weak point super). The reason why you don't autopilot w5a>w5c all the time is that azrael's sentinel dump will armor the w5A and hop right over the sweep. Once that hits you it's pretty much game over. There IS an option select that can beat that as well, but it loses to the opponent just blocking (w5A>plink w5B>w5C). How the OS works is that if the w5a whiffs, the w5c will come out (not the w5B) and if the w5a is armored, the w5B will come out to beat the sentinel dump. The obvious weakness to this OS is just blocking or getting hit by w5a as the following w5b will miss. However, this can be a real OS when done at a close range, but then it'll lose to his DP (nothing else though). The trick is to mix up these OS's to keep the azrael guessing. The best case scenario would be if the azrael doesn't know that wakeup sentinel dump is a thing against valk. If that's the case, abuse the max ranged w5a>w5c meaty OS on their wakeup and there's nothing they can do about it. Stuff to help you place yourself in this max range includes J214B>J.b>j.b>j.c and the neutral jump j.b>j.b>j.c ender. Also, if you use the first combo route I mentioned, you can use wolf brake J.a safely as it'll whiff on his DP. Keep in mind it'll still get armored by sentinel dump and straight out lose to wakeup scud punishment. This little guide should make you immune to any scrubby/average azraels. The guessing game is still very much in our favor even if he know's of the wakeup sentinel dump. I recommend staying in the air a lot for footsies and such as he has no significant presence in the air. Also w5a and w5C destroy a mid ranged/fullscreen buster (beware of using second option as he can whiff punish that). Lastly, his DP is quite an unsafe move on hit. While we can't consistently punish it (immediate forward tech>air dash J.c is very hard to implement properly as it must be done as soon as possible. In other words, unless you absolutely knew he was going to DP at that exact time, you most likely won't get it), we can get him to block stuff (this is all assuming the DP didn't counter hit us). Forward tech>air dash JD>wJa wJa wJa definitely works. It's recommended that you don't use this method immediately however as azrael can 2C the air dash on reaction. However, he can only react to the air dash easily, meaning that we can w7 the 2C and punish it clean, scaring him to use it in that scenario again. If you end up using w7 and he doesn't 2C, wolf brake it and air dash away to safety. Keep in mind that valk's hitbox is quite weird for azrael's combos. For example, after he hits his rekka series in the corner, unless he walks back a little bit afterwards, he will hit you out of the corner to your safety. 6A can be a good tool if used sparingly as it beats his 6C and 5D pretty clean (remember to use it sparingly as I stated earlier). Instant barrier + up backing is your best friend here. Our backdash is great too but it can't always be used. Few other notes, his 6D and 3D both have visual cues which differentiate themselves from each other. 3D make's azrael's foot start at the middle of his body while 6D starts at the top. Also 6D has purple light flashing at the top for a bit. Keep in mind you need to be precise to mash after this move properly. All azraels will hit buttons after a blocked 6D/3D as most don't know how to properly mash afterwards. The move is minus 2 and his 5A is 6 frames. Normally, both 2A and 5A would work, but use 5A as it's a faster normal. Oh and the w5A>w5C os works mid screen against his backdash but it loses to his DP. If you feel confident that he'll backdash, chase him down and w5B him! Keep in mind that both of these maneuvers will not make his DP counter hit you, so you're free to use the DP guessing game that I stated earlier in the summary. It's in our favor by a lot tbh. But he's still azrael so never let your guard down. The worst thing you can do is not respect his pressure with careless up backs and back dashes as that'll net him free hits and will make your life a lot harder than it should be. His mixup is more reactable and avoidable than most would think (still hard though lol). Hope this helped!

p4c aki looks incredibly strong. Regardless of damage nerfs,he has new pressure tools. 5AAA doesnt just look cool. The third auto combo hit>A hook looks like a true blockstring. This means his mixups will definitely speed up when in the right hands. Removal of sweep>D doesnt matter because sweep>weave C>D is pretty much the same thing (u could also just do 5d after a lvl3 DP or corkscrew for the same exaxt thing anyway) Backdash>A assault dive on wakeup sounds gimmicky but could definitely work. You can do it in conjunction with SKD's backdash OS to make a rewarding defense option. If the assault dive hits while ur cornered, u could do a counter hit combo which will result in a side switch and if they block it, you get a free mixup, frame trap situation since assault dive is cyclone cancelable. most previous mixups will work. Shorthop buffs also has a lot of benefits to his pressure game, even if shorthop attacks arent overheads. Hope I can help the community more this time around.