TITANIUM BEAST!!!

Damage is damage, what's important is getting the hit and maintaining momentum. HOS is a rushdown character. Yeah, you can get more damage from lvl1 GB. Why does this suddenly make lvl2 GB bad? Since when is 40% damage low? It's damage. Yes, you should max damage in every situation when you can, but that refers to when you actually get the hit. You don't automatically choose one move over another solely because of damage potential. What's important is actually being able to continue your strategy in the way that uses the least amount of effort and leaves the fewest gaps for your opponent to get out, especially if you have the lead.

I fully advocate the use of both versions as they each have their strong points. I simply refuse to label lvl2GB as useless when it's so good. If by mincy bit of damage you mean 170+ points of damage, sure. You can do huge damage off of lvl2 GB if you know the proper combo and you can still maintain a high level of charge while doing it.

We've already discussed the pluses and minuses of using lvl2 over lvl1 when it comes to GB: slightly more damage for lvl1, but better options on block for lvl2 along with enhanced evasion/speed. You use it in all of the same situations you would use lvl1, with the possible exception of anti-air since they may get launched too high for a good followup in that situation.

I don't consider anything that gives a free escape a frame trap, so no, -1 is not a frame trap. Especially if they IB it and it goes from -1 to -5. I suppose lvl2 BHB is technically his safest move, but that doesn't mean that just throwing it out there is a spectacular idea. And yes, it's great for pressure, but again, this is one situation which I already mentioned. lvl2 GB is safe in plenty of non-oki situations, none of which have to involve running up to someone and doing it out of the blue in a neutral situation. I didn't mean to imply that lvl2 BHB was bad by any means, just using it as an example. And yeah, buffering D before moves is awesome for CK purposes. I'll have to try out that particular setup sometime.

The way I see it, in most situations, the damage you are going to get off of lvl2 GB is similar. The best lvl2 GB combo not only does similar damage to some of the stronger lvl1 GB combos, but you can end up with lvl3 by the end of the combo. Granted, you don't get a knockdown, but you just did ~40% damage and you have lvl3. This is not bad by any means. If they block it, you have wonderful, wonderful options to continue pressuring them. You can even cross them up again! Compare the best-situation lvl1 GB combo, which does approximately 50% damage (good!) and assuming you had the same charge, you can get a knockdown and then AC to lvl2 again and get some decent oki (not wonderful, unless you are super-l33t and got a knockdown lvl2 SV), or you can CK again and get lvl3 at the end of the combo (they can tech). If they block, you have to spend more meter to really get them scared of your mixup (ie you had lvl2 and did CK lvl1 GB, now you AC FRC and you have lvl3 BRP ready to go, or you have Fafnir if you still have meter). You can threaten with 2S CH but this is only if they are crazy/stupid enough to swing at you after blocking GB on wakeup; the smart bet is to try and escape, so you have to focus your efforts around catching them trying to get away. So yeah, your options on hit are better, but on block you lose some momentum. I wouldn't say this makes lvl1 GB the obvious better choice, it's just a stylistic preference. A lot of it will depend upon your opponent too. True, but by doing lvl1GB extra meaty, you are telegraphing the hell out of your intentions and you eliminate the mixup/crossup aspect of GB by making it extremely easy to block/deal with. With lvl2, you still get strong oki but you also have a chance of still hitting them with the move itself. Really? How is lvl2 GB more useless than lvl2 RI, which traditionally is only good in combos and serves no other real use? How is it more specialized than lvl2 BHB, which is only good in combos and in close for pressure? I would say lvl2 GB is more versatile than either of these moves; you can combine defense and offense in one single shot due to its evasive properties, it's great on wakeup and you still get good damage on hit. This is part of why lvl2 GB is so good, doesn't matter if they block it or not, you still hold control of the match. Out of the main mixup options off of 2D -> lvl1 GB crossup scenario, lvl2 GB has excellent risk/reward balance. lol Charge Burst. Easily.

lvl2 GB is great. It moves faster than lvl1 version, making the crossup harder to get away from/deal with and it is far superior on block, not only because of greater frame advantage but because the opponent is dragged towards you, giving you more options to mix them up. lvl1 is "more damage" and yes, with CK you can get knockdowns. That's great, but sometimes you have to hit fuckers. The general combos for both versions do roughly the same damage, lvl1 combos will do more from the more advanced setups. This does not make lvl2 GB useless. Leaving it out of your arsenal is just silly.

Ok, that works. Need to go try some of this stuff out. Good shit!

That was pretty excellent. I'm a little curious as to what setting you had the stagger on, though.

I was working on some lvl2GB combos myself, the front page requires a serious update because there's a lot of juicy stuff out there that isn't mentioned. The hottest thing I've gotten off of lvl2GB AC is 5S© into a SJI combo. This does big damage (into the 170s on average) and if you end the aircombo with a Charge Keep lvl1 special and AC, you'll be at level 3. Very nice. For simple yet high damage, you can do lvl2GB, lvl2GB, lvl1GB, dash hj.HS-D -> lvl1SV. This goes into the 190s for damage but you have to adjust the combo against certain characters to get it all to hit properly.

lol Like I said, fighting Kim is incredibly demoralizing. You make one mistake and you can lose in an instant.

I figure it can. I don't use the move much, though. Mostly for chipping someone who's down on life. Kim is a lot of fun to play.

I like Aoko, I just suck with her. Horribly.

lol you copycat

Nah you're right, in general you have to practice and feel it out by looking at what's going on during the combo to figure out where to delay what in order to get it all to work out. One thing is that if you have level 2 and you can hit the dash j.K after the initial j.HS-D loop from midscreen, you can potentially set up a low level 2 SV for knockdown and oki. Useful if you're having trouble getting the second j.HS-D loop in the corner. Level 2 BRP still gives good oki though, even with the AC. Another minor thing, in the case of not having level 2 at the end of the combo, I think doing dash j.K-HS-D -> dj.D does a little less damage but gives a better potential tech trap thanks to the forward momentum from the initial dash jump. Something to experiment with.

I've been working on combos like those for a pretty long time, I usually didn't commit to them because of reliability issues. For a little extra damage, after the initial j.HS-D, dj.HS-D, when you land in the corner, do a dashing j.P or j.K, then chain to j.S-j.D, land and do 5S© into a JIed hj combo. You can replace the j.S with a j.HS depending on the character, it's all hitboxes and positioning.

Certain characters (Robert!) kill him for free, though. Also, all of his projectile pressure is jumpable, you just need to know the timing. Patience completely kills Asura.

I don't really practice much with Hotaru. Most of the NC guys don't do the df+C JC jD juggle at all, they opt to go back into stance and do the stance D again for the far knockdown.

Well, another possible option is to do air BR from a JCable move and FRC to bait their counter and then punish them. That's theory though. I would expect using BR against Slayer to be a particularly bad idea.

Asura sucks. Yeah, I said it.

lol oh my god BRENT

The problem isn't if it's blocked, the problem is if they interrupt it with a 6P/invincible move/airthrow. That's why there is risk associated as these interrupts can often be done on reaction.

Weget: The proper use of Bandit Revolver really depends on the opponent you're fighting. It seems like it would be a really bad idea considering how many ways there are to potentially counter it, but when you have an opponent who is constantly trying to escape your pressure with backdashes and by jumping away, sometimes taking the risk can pay off. In general, it's risky. If you have meter, you could really just GF FRC every time and even if they jump away, you're not putting yourself into a position to be hurt. Sometimes though, it pays to save your meter and possibly get a knockdown to get in a better position to pressure. Champion's Sol seems pretty decent.

It's important to hit your combos every time but I prefer to see a Sol that can demonstrate good fundamentals which Kensou has in spades. Though I have to admit seeing him play Buckethead and airdashing so much was surprising. But again, this is a guy who doesn't even main Sol. Anyway, here's some matches of myself playing Sol. Don't expect much from me though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgkDSjwAhxE Sol vs Pot (first match is HOS, ignore that) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3eVHxZP1O0 Sol vs Baiken That's all I have from Accent Core, mostly switched to HOS now.

From what I've seen of the both of you, I think Kensou has a better Sol than yours.

NGBC doesn't work like KoF and thus Shermie's status as an SNK grappler means nothing.