Moroha

<3

There's Bama vs. MD (6-7 Bama) and Kentucky vs MD (5-7 MD), go watch your match vs Yohei right now, it's got your amazing gold burst run up get thrown and your amazing FRC whiff without the crowd noise.

Get sidebets ready for this shit Final Round = Hype five months in advance

It honestly depended on who I was fighting. In State vs. State and 3v3, sometimes you're afforded time to guess if your opponent will try to be passive or aggressive vs you at the start of a round. Obviously normal mode is armed with options for both of these stances. In singles however, you have no such luxury; you simply have your guess at the start of a match (HUGE) and a burst (ALSO HUGE). The more I play, the less I like bursting (blue) in normal mode. It's rarely a guaranteed safe transform anyway. The way I play ABA, if I see an opportunity to pack I'll usually take it. I've seen ABAs like Combofiend and Damian who will pressure in normal mode and go for that keygrab. The quick transforms were not anxiousness..but the dropped combos were. ;p

Yeah, I've got a class in an hour I need to get ready for and go into the vids a little bit more later, but to address some stuff; WTF Halloween ABA is tight! Get out of the forums. ;p I switch up between Dio ABA (Purp Key Pink Hair), my old Slash ABA (Black key red hair), Pink ABA, and Halloween ABA. You can have all the rest. Kugler I think wants to keep his blueberry ABA (Reload HS) ;p I like to give me opponent 'tests'. One of them is the second hit rekka test. If they don't bother to shake out of it, I will absolutely take the recombo. Second hit recombo into 2H into 2x Keygrab is fantastic. If they DO shake out, I'll have them back in blockstun continue pressure, and won't recombo again - I'll just do the third hit and go from there. However, I was a dumbass and disregarded the fact that Majin shook out of it like every time I did it. Young (Kumiho) pointed this out as well. As far as using 5S 2H (1hit) Rekkas too often, what do you mean by that? If you mean off connected 5S, doing 2H immediately afterwards gives me an extra hit to both confirm a block or hit and combo appropriately, while at the same time giving me access to combos for every level of tension (Tensionless-2H launch; 25% tension, 1Hit 2H Rekkas FRC, etc) The only problem I've had is sometimes if I'm at max range 5S the 2H won't connect, where I should have gone straight into rekkas. Don't worry about offending me man, I've been playing ABA since the day Slash came out but I'm still new to travelling and the hype of fighting games. As I said, this was my first real out of area tournament. I've gone to plenty of MD/Northern Virginia monthlies, and I run casual weeklies at my college, but this was an entirely different ballpark. I'll take any criticism. ABA vs Anji is now in ABA's favor, or at least even. It was pretty gross in Slash, but he has to work to knockdown now, so it's not so bad. Those Fujins going thru my f.S I think in my first match against the Anji really threw me off at first. I'm pretty sure I dropped my ID combo on Anji every time, and I don't think I did a single dash jump j.S mixup (2K vs JC j.S etc) in any of my seven MM's outside of Boss Slayer's. lolol. Edit: And oh yeah, I really, REALLY need to work on my matches vs. Potemkin and Jam. Jam is very winnable for ABA, I'm just inexperienced still, but goddamn, Raekwon's Potemkin is a fucking machine.

Thanks Kurumster, I appreciate it. I'm not entirely sure what place I got in singles..I lost to FlashMetroid and Kumiho. I think I got like somewhere between 13th and 7th. Casuals, as with the bulk of all players, were strong. This was the farthest I had travelled for a tournament, and my nerves were in full effect when shit was on the line so forgive garbage decisions like RUN UP DANZAI LOL, doing the wrong combos, and also having a stupid amount of dropped combos. SER2 was TOO HYPE! I recorded 3 of my MMs before I ran out of camera space. Sadly my MM against Boss Slayer was not recorded, that was easily my best and most comfortable one, and it would've been a good ABA exhibition for you guys. Oh well. The State vs State was also recorded, I have a few matches in there so when that's posted I'll check that out. I need to learn how to fight Bridget, Jais got the best of me there. http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=sephzer0 Me vs SilentShinobi, Alphakami, and MajinSSJ6Goku Again, forgive the scrubbyness pls :<. My ABA will be scarier than ever at NEC! Looking forward to seeing you there, TageProto.

Orb Loop > Butt Loop generally speaking. Taken from the ABA 101 thread:

I said ABA has very good tools to deal with Ky when he throws Stun Edges, whiffed pokes, and his pressure which leads to great damage and great pressure. I didn't mention a reliance on capitalizing on the other Ky's mistakes. You posted this before I had a chance to edit. -Just adding that it's obviously possible for Ky to get the IK. Buppa's IK'ed Dio in recorded tournament play. You play ABA, shit happens. But dry bloodpacking if you're sitting on one knockdown left and a lot of potential life gain, smart combo decisions off of your rekkas/2H/throw/whatever into keygrab or double keygrabs, using your burst at correct times, dead angling, and reversal FBs in both normal and moroha are all precautions you can take to preserve ABA.- You make it sound like he just IKs her all the time, end of story. Testament, Baiken, Jam, Potemkin, Slayer, Sol, Millia, Dizzy, I-No, and the mirror all do exactly that. (Chipp/Axl too, y/n?) Ky also has garbage damage compared to the bulk of the cast. ABA in normal mode vs. anyone, she has little chance - but it's definitely easier for Ky than most to contain normal ABA. If you're playing against reckless Ky, if you punish properly via your 5S, 2S/6P, IAD S or IAD HS, IBing Greed Saber, and Danzais, you can win. If you're playing against safe Ky, be patient with your entry. He will be using less Stun Edge and careless pokes. Conversely, this means you can get into 5S/5H range easier. If he's sticking to the ground, go ahead and throw out a 2D or even 6H. (6H can also clash with a Ky wakeup SRK if you time it right.) Safe Ky can play keepaway against ABA for awhile. Keep an eye out for his Greed Saber, Stun Dipper as risky options but options that lead to knockdown and are worth looking out for. Both can get him killed. What Ky players, specifically, are giving you trouble?

That really hasn't been my experience at all, though it definitely used to be. You really have to get a feel for the matchup. I've played Ky's from local scrubby Ky's to Mr. Mamation's / Steve Harrison's. He can absolutely space her out, but we do have the tools to get inside as well as bait and punish him for recklessly throwing out shit. On top of that, he needs to knock you down three times. Smart bar management generally avoids shitty situations. If the Ky player is IKing you, that's a problem with your defense, not the ABA vs Ky matchup. Saying "everything he does is knockdown into free IK" doesn't just apply to Ky in the GG cast. If ABA is in normal mode, you have to dance real well. Landing a 5H, Keygrab, throw, 2H, or Slide into some poke or throw is all possible. If you can get some range, throwing a fireball and packing is also fine.

Ky is not a bad matchup for us, but it's still pretty close. Always pay attention to what he's doing - he's got two overheads (Dust and greed saber), but more lows to worry about (2K, 2D, Stun Dipper). He's got a good chunk of options to cross you up / make you guess high / low / throw. By the same token, your offense is scarier - and leads to more rewarding results. Vary your pressure, and don't be afraid to bail on your pressure to just block and see what he does. If Ky whiffs or you Danzai one of his SRKs, he gets obliterated. Abuse f.S, be patient getting inside, etc. Potemkin, don't screw up. If the Pot player is jumping around a lot, Danzai/6P/2S and win. If he isn't, the matchup is harder. Watch for Slide Head or you lose. Watch for 6H and instant block it or you eat slide head and you lose. Also, mostly avoid the air. Stay out of his throw range and work your f.S and HS, don't be afraid to try and throw him sometimes, and pretty much any combo you land is a very easy Keygrab xx OTG Keygrab. If I've got 50% tension to burn, I'll run a pot buster spam check and run up Danzai after a knockdown. Since it's unthrowable, if he tries to reversal buster, he'll get comboed by the Danzai. If not, I just RC the Danzai and mix up. Eddie's got a lot of good anti air options as well as ground options, so it's just a matter of patience, honestly. If you manage to kill off Little Eddie, rush that shit down. If you can get him to start blocking your shit, he doesn't have any reversals to get out, so make it count.

The way I see this matchup, since both characters are damage powerhouses and have the best abare in the game, if it's a competent ABA against a competent Slayer, sometimes either side will probably just get it real bad and the other will just jack the round. That being said. The goal is to be in Moroha with three knockdowns at your disposal and in a neutral state. From there, you've got the advantage. You outrange Slayer and can outmaneuver him. You can always jump away and Orbs to create some space, and if Orbs counterhits, turn him into a combo video. Don't recklessly jump IAD in on him, his c.S is the bees knees here. 5S and 5HS are quality pokes to use against him, since they've got great range against him and obviously connecting with either gets the ball rolling. Be wary of Dandy Steps and teleports. Similarly, you can deal with them if he gets predictable. If you see a Dandy Step, you can throw out a 5HS (risky) for a possible counterhit, or just Danzai. Don't let Slayer get a knockdown. Reversal Danzais are an option. Other than that, if you do get knocked down, do your best to block 6K on reaction. Look for a way to get the hell out of there. 2P is also useful here, though I forget if it catches his 6K or not - you might have to 5P that. Also, don't forget to watch Slayer's tension bar. At 25%, you're going to want to use a lot of 2Ds, 2Ks, etc to chop at Slayer's ankles in case he BBU's. Shit hurts. Of course, Danzai (FB AND Normal) takes care of both FB BBU and Bunker, but don't just throw that shit out there casually. On top of that, at 50% tension, assume the Slayer player is frequently buffering in Dead on Time, and think about the risks you'll take.

An ABA player in some recent japanese matchvids who, oddly enough, uses the same color as Dio (Might be Dio?) likes aircomboing you into j.S j.HS j.D Orbs, but times it slow enough so you fall pretty close to the ground with the last set of orbs, enabling him to rebound off the ground and keep the combo alive and linked with an sj.K. For instance. Off an air to ground CH j.HS (groundslide.) Run up, 2K, 5S, 2S, sj slight delay j.S, slight delay j.H, slight delay j.D, Orbs, land, sj.K sj.S ladadadada Have fun with that Oh, while I'm at it, if you're out of tension, not in the corner, and want a chance at a double keygrab, 2HS, IAD S, HS, land, 5S, Keygrab, and if you make it to the corner, continue with OTG Keygrab. Going to test this on characters as well, cannot confirm on the whole cast.

It clashes with SRK's. I'm not sure about Sol's, definitely Ky's, if you time it correctly. If they just block, you can then proceed into Rekkas, or IAD afterwards.

Good question, I'm not sure. j.H is generally you're all around best bet. I'll try to remember and test that out at our weekly tournament tonight. Regardless, the more I play A.B.A, the less I try to make my entrance from the air, and the more I've tried to be a ground rock. Even though j.H is an excellent jump in, it can (obviously) still get beaten by anti-airs. I much prefer to start my pressure strings on the ground, and THEN take it to the air with an IAD or something somewhere in the string, or go to the air on knockdowns. (Still, it's worth testing your opponent and his respective character's ability to anti-air you; jump in j.S, j.H, or j.D can lead to big damage.) And oh, since this IS the A.B.A discussion, just thought I'd bring to light how absurd A.B.A's throw is. Take Sol's normal throw for instance. It's pretty shit. His command throw, however, does really good damage - but you've got to do that input. A.B.A's throw - no extra input required - deals pretty decent damage for a throw too - when the person has a normal guard gauge. Next time you're fighting against chipp/dizzy/etc, try cranking up the guard gauge and throwing. :D :D :D (Of course, this isn't new news, and yes, the throw CAN be broken - but it's definitely something worth reiterating, especially to new ABA players that lurk around here. ;p) That is all.

I don't understand all this FB Slide hate, it's mad good. If your opponent is expecting it, that means you might have the space and time to dry bloodpack just because of the THREAT of the slide. Anyway.. Danzai vs. Venom is at most times in the match a bad idea. He's got a bunch of moves that will hit multiple times, combined with any balls on the screen, you'll just get hit. Venom will attempt to zone you out with balls, then when you get close, knock you down and start his pressure game. (Reversal EX Danzai might be an option ;p). What you need to do is be as patient as you can, and create a favorable situation for you - that is, one without any balls on the screen and you vs. Venom in a poking match from your f.S range. The first step is getting about three to four character lengths away, where if he attempts to set another ball, you can just murder him for it on reaction. If you can get to your f.S length, even better. The worst situation for you to be in is knocked down vs. a Venom, since his lockdown game isn't fun to deal with. Conversely, if you knock him down, he's in a really bad spot - especially since Venom has no reversal attack. You might have to jump / IAD over some balls, but also remember ABA's got a super fast dash too. Run up Danzai against a defensive Venom is just going to get blocked. If you get to a range where that Danzai could be blocked or backdashed, don't throw out a Danzai. Throw out a 5HS -> 1 Hit Rekka or 2D -> 1 Hit Rekka, and work from there. So patience -> get into an optimal poking range -> pressure -> profit. Patience is most important, since he has the tools to keep you out for a while. Just remember, you only need to land one hit to potentially jack the match. He needs more. If you get that one hit, Venom will be at around 50% HP or less, and dealing with A.B.A oki.

Zoogstin is very correct. It's like, P1 decides to bloodpack at the start of the round, P2 jumps. P1 is now in Moroha. P2 better block real well until he gets 25% tension.

I'm probably going to NEC, I'll show you the best ABA in the world there. (You're going to that too, right?) PS ABA vs ABA is complete bullshit Shaking the joystick rapidly.

Against some people, a 6HS into the orb loop will whiff, such as Johnny. Also, if you've got too many hits before your launcher into Orb Loop, your opening j.S might not be able to connect. I can't remember off the top of my head how many hits that would be, though. Can someone test that when you get a chance, I need to catch some zz's.

People watching the game love it when you hit three reps. The same goes for pretty much any combo that takes off 60%+, but three reps of the orb loop or four/five reps of the butt loop in Goku Moroha are pretty silly ways to combo.

Thanks for that Metsuke - the mechanics of all different weights and a lot of stuff regarding her moves have always confused me and is great info to have on here. I'll compile this shit pretty soon. *Another advantage of doing the buttloop is setting up a better knockdown situation. Orb loop generally ends in Keygrab, which has you recovering just a little before them, or with them teching away. While everyone should take advantage of the Orb loop off hits like j.HS S and 2HS since you'll absolutely murder the other guy, if you land a throw, 2K, or 5P into combo and have three or two (depending on match factors) knockdowns left, it's certainly an option to string into a rep or two of the butt loop to set up a more dangerous oki, like a SRK safe dash jumping j.S mixup, since those hits will be prorating a chunk anyway. (If you're concerned about the knockdowns, you'll get a little more damage and double keygrab with the orb loop.) I just started working on an A.B.A video that's basically this FAQ in video form, just to go along with it for visuals. I'm going to try to have it out around the time of SE-R2 about a month from now.

Funny stuff happens there, it's not as clean as it was in /, seemingly because of the changes to HS movement on hit. I think I do IAD HS, Orbs FRC Orb Loop if I have tension, but it's 5AM and I can't remember off the top of my head. Also as Metsuke said, be wary of 421H RC Double Keygrab, watch the height of the other character as well as how far into your combo you are. Long whiff keygrab animation is long. 2H xx AD combo xx Orb loop is generally the best option - Butt loop might be barely burst safer, if it has an advantage at all. Thanks a lot for the weight info! I'm still unsure of how the orb loop works in its entirety, with how many reps I can get per character with and without tension for FRCs.

Yeah, as a general rule of thumb if you land a hit with 2/3 or less bar left, combo into some Keygrab. If you have a burst, or to a lesser extent, if you have 25%/50% tension, you have some more risk leeway (FB Danzai/Dead Angle). Let's say I'm real low on HP, I've only got one knockdown left, I score a combo, and when it's over, I can kill him for sure with one more combo. If the combo I'm doing right now has a decent knockdown and I've got some escape routes like the ones mentioned above, I'll probably not end my combo in a keygrab and instead go for the win. ABA's tension uses: (That I can think of atm) Rekkas FRC - Durr Rekka 2nd hit RC - Stagger xx recombo Orbs FRC - For combos, pressure, or safety 2H FRC, hit - For pressure / burst blocking 2H FRC, whiff - Throw setup / SRK blocking RC Butt, in combos - For 2hit Orbs RC Butt, in pressure - For mixups RC Danzais - For safety or throw setups RC Unblockable - For damage FB Slide - For getting away and out of shitty okis / unblockables as a reversal FB Danzai - For when you to take away 40% HP from the other guy FB Fireball - Unblockable setups / Mixups Blow-My-Hand-Up-Three-Times Geyser super - Not everyone knows hit #3 Goku Moroha super - When you really want it George Clooney keyball super - When your air combo won't kill them. (It sounds like she said "Geoge..CLOOONEY" in /, too bad she doesn't in AC ) Dead Angle - Because i can save your ass and it combos into keygrab (and round winning damage if you need it) on CH Normal rekkas FRC - Combo into keygrab Other Normal mode FRCs (Fireball/236K/Slide) - Don't use these as much. Sometimes Slide in a funny corner keygrab setup I do. No idea. I just found a local RKy player, I'll update you on that when we get a chance.

Poon's Slash guide is extremely good and still somewhat relevant. Keep it for now at least, when I get a chance I'll salvage the good shit in there, put it in the AC 101, and then we can just toss it. I could care less about Isuka ABA. Read the AC ABA 101 FAQ, and to answer your question, no. Moroha mode = Best character in the game; advantage. Normal mode = odd and not very good; disadvantage. Maximize your time spent with the advantage, make the most of the advantage, and keep ABA's knockdown bar in check. Get friendly with Normal mode regardless, because you will be spending time in it. It's unavoidable. Edit: I'm messing around with ABA's throw game. I'm beginning to like throw -> dash in, 5S, 2S, Butt for a good knockdown setup -> Whatever oki you want, or primarily 669 2hit orbs, or 669 crossover 2hit orbs. Basically, ABA's throw game can either: Throw -> Groundcombo -> 2S -> Aircombo -> Keygrab Throw -> New Loop into Keygrab OTG Keygrab in the corner Beat bursts with Throw -> 2H Danzai, and you get a run up 5S 2S Butt against most characters after the Danzai anyway And throw dash in > 5S 2S Butt for a good knockdown. The way I see it, since the difference in damage is minimal, if you have zero knockdowns against you, there's little reason to do either keygrab combo, and if they don't have a burst, just go with the best knockdown off the throw you can.

I'm going to be cleaning my guide's thread up in a few days of excess posts. Go ahead and post all ABA questions here.

ABA has two main loops in AC, both which are obviously done in the corner. The first one is new for her in AC, which she can do out of groundslide, and an accurately timed jump off other hits such as EX Danzai and corner throw. (generally dash jump,) j.S, j.HS, j.D, Orbs. If you're in the corner, depending on your opponent's weight/hitbox, your positioning, and how far into the combo you are, this can be repeated. If you're in the open, you can FRC the Orbs and do it again. If after the orb / land portion of the loop, you are close to the corner and your opponent's body is close to the ground but not on it, you can keygrab -> OTG keygrab, which you absolutely do. It's super easy on Potemkin, so you can start there to learn it. Try 236S, 46S, 63214S FRC, dash in, (corner) 6H (1hit), j.S, j.HS, j.D, Orbs, land. Keygrab before he hits the ground, then OTG keygrab for a free Moroha refresh without consuming any packs. Her second loop is from /, the old school Butt Loop. It's not as damaging as the Orb loop, but you'll have more opportunities to pull it off. 5S 2S Butt (421H). or, 5K, 2S Butt. or, 5K, 6P (1 or 2 hit), 2S, Butt. If you have no tension and land a 5S near the corner, you can combo into a 2H launcher into 2x Butt Loops if you wanted. You can loop after an ID, a throw, groundslide, CH 2S, CH Orbs FRC, etc. You'll eventually recognize your opportunities when you see them. An advantage of the butt loop is with 50% tension, you can RC the Butt into Orbs. Since ABA is still carried toward the opponent by the 421H momentum, if you use Orbs right on top of the other guy, you'll hit with both of them for serious damage, and you can generally either land and keygrab -> OTG keygrab or 2S sj.K sj.S sj.HS Keygrab. Try this on someone. (Corner) 2H, dash in, 5S, 2S, 421H. 5S, 2S, 421H, RC, Orbs, land, 2S, sj.K, sj.S, sj.H, sj.D. I'm not sure the exact mechanics of how to best set up double keygrab off her new loop, if Furix or anyone else can shed some more light on that that'd be great. Also, while you can generally only get about two Butt loops in Moroha mode, if you ever find yourself in Goku Moroha mode, you can get like 4 or so.