AchedSphinx

So what do you guys think are the reasons Lambda could be considered S-tier? My thoughts on it are how good Lambda is when the foe is in the corner. For instance, let's say the foe is in the corner, and Lambda decides to do a 236A grab, which leads to a 4.6k damage combo with a calamity ender. At the end of such a damaging combo, the foe is still in the corner, Lambda still has gravity, and sickle oki to keep them in place. j.B really makes her scary, an overhead with P1 90, which can lead into a mega damage combo. Or 2B, which would make it a super damage combo. Also, do you guys prefer to use Calamity Enders when the foe will be downed in the corner or save for other things? That's normally when I do mine. That combo above [grab combo > gravity combo] seems like a really effective way to win. Though who knows what will happen in the future. I'm just posting my speculations and some kind of theorycrafting.

Anyone know if there will be a story mode for the console version, or will it just be an arcade to tell the story.

Don't worry about it. Just keep with the practicing. I only get to play on the weekends now, but I can feel myself gradually getting better. Though I probably won't be playing this weekend, Xenoblade Chronicles coming out and all, plus I have a programming assignment to finish, and I need to study for my calculus exam. But, if I'm on, we can maybe get some games in :D

Thanks for the heads up. j.4D~ seems more likely for a Tao right. Let's say for instance, the Lambda does count the options left, and knows a Tao will land to reset them. Can Lambda simply toss out a 5D (depending on where she lands on the screen) to get a counter hit? I'm not really sure if it's a counter hit if that's the case. I think you're right in that thought. I was bad dealing with Noel's back in CS2 so I started playing her and my match-up against her was much better because of it. So playing as Tao would probably be the best method for me to solve any woes I have with the character. Seems so counter-intuitive for a zone-type character to have to rely on her weakness to win, but knowing when and how to use that weakness could make it a strength. Like you said, I think D moves can be used, sparingly.

It's good to know what can and cannot counter 236D oki.

It's good to know those points exist, but it's merely restating what we already know. What I was stating was that the match-up can be managed, but what everyone else stated was that it was an impossible affair from start to finish, making it sound like as soon as the round starts you might as well quit the game. The match-up is only 6-4. The only thing I've been reading so far is how good Tao is, that she has this and that, if you're trying to overcome this bad MU; we need that, but more to the point, what would Lambda's strengths be in this match-up. Which brings me to my earlier point, how this match-up can be managed. Leading Tao into a corner or doing a mid-screen gravity combo and the game can be won. What seemed to be missed in earlier posts were the tools that Lambda can use to help her achieve that. 5D[CH] is fairly effective if the Tao is wary of air play, meaning you would have led her into it, which would also be controlling space. There is also 214D. Tao will not have 50 heat all the time and even then she will be reluctant to waste it with hopes that the Lambda's 214D might miss. Because, for some reason, I feel that 214D will hit if she does the super a fullscreen away, but not if she's within a few character lengths. So how would you manage the air options Tao has? She doesn't have 50 heat? I'd suggest 214D. Count the air options she has. Three jumps and Two air dashes, five things she can do total, and she'll commit with at least one left, gamble with that. Tao has to risk just as much as you do with a bad decision. I'm not really arguing for the sake of arguing. The problem I have is with the way things are explained because it seems the match-up isn't about Lambda at all, it's about Tao and how awesome she is. There has to be more to the story than that. Lambda has to be able to do something. I really don't care how credible my opinion is on the matter, but I will commit to what I think are effective tools for this match up, which are more or less universal in other match ups. 5A: Good for random drive advances if timed well. It won't lead to great damage, however you can get a j.D or j.C combo off it and push her further toward the corner. dash: Dashing is very useful in this match-up as in any other, to get Lambda into an adequate position, or lead Tao into the corner. A good dash can force Tao to make a risk to get in, usually a drive, and you can counter with 5A/6A. 6A: If the Tao is air crazy and you've studied her options in the air, she's probably waiting for a misplaced 2D, and if she's antsy enough, an air attack will be coming. 6A is a really powerful tool because of the reward gained from it. The problem with it though, is reacting to the reward. 2C: Like 6A, but I would use this sparingly, mainly because of how slow the recovery is. It has the same amount of reward as 6A. 2B: Lambda's best poke, good for when Tao is under sickle oki pressure, and can lead into serious damage if hit-confirmed. j.D/j.2D: Probably one of Lambda's best options in this match-up, it has good distance, and can pick off 2 of Tao 3 venue's of attack. But it doesn't lead to high damage. 214D: If you got time to throw one of these out, do it. Covers a good amount of space and will normally force Tao into the air because she doesn't want to lose a primer. If done right you can lead her into one of your drives or even force her to do something she otherwise wouldn't. 236A/B/C: Not sure about these. 236C is probably the most useful of the trio, but I wouldn't bank on it. It's main use would be punishing Tao's in the air who doesn't barrier block, but I'm sure a smart one will do so. Like in all match-ups, you'll want to keep your distance as much as possible. That's just the gist of it. I'm sure someone will have better suggestions as to which tools Lambda should and could use in this match-up and I welcome it, but really, praising how good Tao is in the match-up isn't enough if we're going to get any help with the match-up. Commit to something at least. I know the match-up is horrible and unfair and shouldn't exist in any form, so much so that you've become Tao at this point, but the basics of the basics is that; Tao gets in the corner, you win, she loses. That's what every Lambda should be leading her toward if they want to bring the odds in their favor.

Oh. I just remember doing it a few times when you did sickle storm on me.

I'm not really oversimplifying it. Pretty much the whole point of the match up is to get Tao to the corner and win(that's simplifying it). What everyone seems to be saying is that it's impossible to do anything to her under any circumstance. Which doesn't make sense to me. Tao still has to get in. That much is true. In order for her to do that, she has to risk something, she can be fancy and whatnot, but still she has to get within range of Lambda. 6A is great, yes, but, you can really stuff Tao's drive attempts with 5A, which will be a CH for you to punish. A lot of times for Tao to advance forward she normally uses her drive, which is why I thought 5D would be useful for that, since on hit it will CH. Tao can do a lot of things, but so can Lambda. I'm not even sure about that 214D thing. For some reason, I remember it hitting when she did that super, I could be misremembering though. Whatever the case, what I'm saying is, at neutral, the match-up is basically Lambda reacting to whatever Tao does, counter that, and then she's in a good position to win. 5A, 4B, 5/6B, are good at punishing her drive attempts. Lambda doesn't have to commit to a high reward/risk type of ability. I think she can at least bait things.

Only things I can think of to escape 236D oki would be backdash on wake-up, Lambda's usually works. Also, if Lambda has an opponent in the corner, they can roll forward to get out of it that way. That's all I can think of right now. Not a lot of people do it though because Lambda can easily 5C or something for MEGA damage. I'm sure there are more ways to do punish it, such as someone doing 236D~C and the person air dashes to punish that way.

You're just not using sickle storm oki properly. That alone is S-tier.

Lambda can do roughly 6k in the corner off j.B, 5k with 2B, this off sickle oki where Tao would have to guess high/low. So Lambda's damage is higher in the corner without meter and in most cases you'll want to end it with Calamity to keep her in the corner for continued pressure. The interesting thing I've found lately is that you don't necessarily need a nice hit, you just need a hit that leads into a gravity combo like 2c or 6a, you just need to be able to react to it. Which is tough. Tao is low a lot, so you can even toss in 4B for additional damage. 5D isn't really that slim. If you're covering the air and she's afraid of being picked off by a 6D you can lead her into the 5D > 236C , guess it depends on the distance at this point. The way I see it. The only way to deal with a speedy character funnel them into one place so you can punish them. Sure Tao can jump and do all that fancy movement, but she still has to attack, and whenever she does, she's vulnerable. So it's the same situation on both sides. The Lambda just needs to react to whatever she punishes Tao with. edit: The two combos needed to defeat Tao if she's in the corner. j.B > 3C > gravity...6027 dmg. After calamity, do sickle storm, you can go high or low, but go for a grab instead. throw > 4B[2]...3.8k. Just need to lead Tao into the corner and you can win.

Some games I had with the Xbox Live community. You may see your name there. I'll upload more in the future. I hope you enjoy the games because I did :D Jin --AchedSphinx vs Nemesis Taokaka -- vs sepSEV -- Part 2 Lambda --vs SwordofToan -- Part 2 Ragna -- vs KirbyFreak -- Part 2 Noel -- vs dualseeker Ragna -- vs Supersolider Ragna -- vs Dourshi Hazama -- vs Summoned Swords Litchi -- vs nejimetroid Rachel -- vs LukeYuriRaine Bang -- vs Sleep II Terror Tsubaki -- vs DRS Dragon Platinum -- vs Lovely Pyrrah Litchi -- vs Mr. Anima Arakune -- vs Skye Mu -- vs SGT Arakune -- vs Coopadaddy Jin -- vs Thien Hakumen -- vs Teebone Tager -- dualseeker vs Turn

Some games I had with the Xbox Live community. You may see your name there. I'll upload more in the future. I hope you enjoy the games because I did :D Jin --AchedSphinx vs Nemesis Taokaka -- vs sepSEV -- Part 2 Lambda --vs SwordofToan -- Part 2 Ragna -- vs KirbyFreak -- Part 2 Noel -- vs dualseeker Ragna -- vs Supersolider Ragna -- vs Dourshi Hazama -- vs Summoned Swords Litchi -- vs nejimetroid Rachel -- vs LukeYuriRaine Bang -- vs Sleep II Terror Tsubaki -- vs DRS Dragon Platinum -- vs Lovely Pyrrah Litchi -- vs Mr. Anima Arakune -- vs Skye Mu -- vs SGT Arakune -- vs Coopadaddy Jin -- vs Thien Hakumen -- vs Teebone Tager -- dualseeker vs Turn

True enough. Though, I find that whatever Tao does puts her at heavy risk. Thinking about it that way, if you hit her once and get her down, she's in a bad position since her defense is pretty bad. Force her in the corner and it's over. The health thing was really there for fun, but Lambda's combos practical combos do a lot more damage than Tao, unless she does to use meter for becoming two. Which means Lambda really only needs good combos to finish the job. A drive air combo to get her near the corner and well-placed drives to keep her there because if she's near a corner against a Lambda, they won't risk doing some fancy footwork, because all Lambda needs is one 5D[CH] and it's practically over. But as you said, the match-up isn't as easy as I make it sound. It never is

She's fun. I mean. Most of my fights take alllllllllll day to win, but it's a win eh? Leading them toward the corner is pretty fun. Me like juicy info. Give me more!

You're really going to have to elaborate on this one. This really doesn't add much. It's like having an argument and simply saying "I disagree" and walking away. At least state why. I would like a blind pot!

2C isn't bad or anything. The thing is, it's only effective if she's in the air at all ya know. And Tao's do enjoy attacking low. So if the Tao is predictable enough for you to know she's going to jump, then go for it. I think she has one of those weird overheads that make her jump that you can probably defeat her with 2C as well. Gravity > Sickle Storm > 6D... looks weird to me, won't they tech before sickle storm even hits? Maybe I'm looking at it wrong.

Frame data could be wrong or I'm reading it wrong haha. Has her 2A as LA for guard. That means it can only be blocked low or in the air right? @someonewhodied, you kinda wanna hit her. Think of it like this, Lambda has the advantage in the match-up. Tao has 9500 hp versus Lambda's 10000. One point for Lambda. Lambda does a lot more damage than Tao does. Another point for Lambda. Now all you need is two optimal combos and she's pretty much dead. Best way to go about it though, since that doesn't pop-up often, is to zone her. Trust me, Tao's are as afraid of Lambdas as Lambdas are afraid of her. You can zone Tao just like anyone else

Better reason to use 2B instead. It is a low. If you use it during sickle storm oki pressure, it makes it all the more powerful. Doing 2A won't really give you that because the opponent will be prepared for your non-mixup 5B > 6A > 2B, takes awhile before you actually get to the mix-up. 2B > 4B[2] is character specific, even 2A > 4B[2] would be the same, you have to space it properly to work. 2A also has shorter range, so in some case it's more riskier and it's also -4 on block, whereas 2B is 0 on block. If they instant block your 2A, they can punish you. Just some things to take into account. You can be flashy and optimal as well. You should try sickle storm oki pressure in the corner. Makes for some flashy combos, especially off j.B. [CH] 6A > dash 3C > 214A, is also flashy and optimal. Just try to work them into your playstyle.

6/19. You forgot Madam Rachel. @Thino 214D, a lot of the time you can force her to jump and toss out a 2D or 6D. Don't rely on it a lot though. Most cases, j.D/j.2D is the safest drive to use against her.

Why would you use 2A for mixup, is what I don't understand. 2B is better. You need to block low for that. 2B > j.214D, if you want. 2B is neutral on block and crescent saber has something like a 20 frame start-up, it's a quick overhead. No need to add a 5B in there. It's not mixup if you're not mixing things up. For more examples you can go with 2B > throw, 2B > 4B[2], 2B > 236A > cross-over...etc. Mix-up. Unless you hit-confirm with 2B or some other starter, I wouldn't recommend 3C for pressure. If you want to get critiqued properly, it's best if you pick a game where you're not trying to be flashing/trolling/etc, at least that way we can see where you're actually weak at.

Always nice to have a useless accessory. Kinda like Lambda's ponytail blade.

Basically, if they fixed her defense, she'd be god tier. I've been finding out lately, that 5A is amazingly good for getting out of corner pressure. You know, when you expect an overhead or something, it comes out really fast, so I've been testing it out. Really the most glaring of her offense is that she relies on gravity so much. At the moment I've been saving it for the corner for some easy 5k-6k combos, but perhaps I should use it more frequently than that. If they made it if gravity field had a cooldown if used at long range, but if used in a combo it finishes the cooldown, that'd be nice. That aside, I've gotten down on reacting to hit confirms off 5a, 2a, and random drives, now I need to react to crouching into 4B. Once I have that in my arsenal I will truly feel S-tier.

Yup.