hipikachu

Don't mean to be an intruder, but does this thread include Vita players or is there a separate place for that? I swear this lack of cross-play is killing confusing me.

No prom we've all been there. Although any advice you're gonna get from here will probably be "Delay 5C :eng101:" ...either that or:

Yeah, I guess I did overdo the wall of words post -_- @Kakimori Personally, my favorite part about Hazama's chain movements is probably fullscreen momentum air-grabs. It's complete mindf*ck on the receiving end, looks professional, and is rewarding as all hell. There are many ways to perform this "technique" if I may call it so. But the easiest and simplest method usually involves firing a 3/4 extended 5D on the ground, then catapulting yourself with a D followup, or if you're midair, you fire a 6D and D followup immediately, not letting it extend at all. The result should be a speedy, fullscreen, and rather straight super IAD. This will almost guarantee a throw counter against anyone rising into the air. The grab hitbox is pretty lenient. It's not a clear-cut execution such as performing a combo, its something that gets more and more consistent as you get a feel for his movements. Conclusion: If you're going to grab in the air, might as well actually grab the opponent, whiffing an air grab multiple times leaves you both vulnerable and looking scrubby. Now onto the actual question (canceling momentum): <1> Pressing B will leave you with a flying kick of sorts. He kinda glides along with his foot sticking out, hitting anything in his way. This is both easy to grasp and decently safe (aside from anti-airs) <2> j.2C is the most significant momentum "weight" you have. It's essentially the "heaviest" out of all your moves, and will begin "sinking" your momentum pretty quickly. If you actually intend to hit the opponent, you must input it as you're getting within range, never before. Doing so will land you on the ground a couple character spaces in front of them. Not saying you should only use it to hit people (landing early can screw up a good amount of anti-airs and score you a free CH 3C when spaced right), but that using this move will end the rest of your air momentum, leaving no room to input any other normals. <3> In terms of canceling your momentum, I like to think of it as "A(lightest)->C(heaviest)." Except for j.214B, it's a momentum killer. It'll actually halt you in the air at the exact moment you input it, awkwardly ending your forward momentum on the spot. The "heavier" the move, the faster you'll hit the ground after inputting it. Remember, if the move hasn't completely come out by the time you've landed, the move will be canceled the moment you touch ground. <4> The number of normals you input in the air will kinda "stack momentum" and affect your landing speed. If you mash 3 j.5As in the air, you'll hit the ground alot faster than if you used one j.5B. This is usually the preferred method of making an "emergency landing,(as mentioned in <2>)" and punishing whiffed anti-airs. Sorry if I sounded harsh with the whole "drop Hazama" thing, it was just a piece of advice I thought I'd throw out in case you felt like there were awkward barriers that didn't feel right. I used to main Noel, and had all her combos down blindfolded, but could never get over the fact her 2A had both a quicker startup time and better range then her 2B That, and the lack of a "cancel" option for chain revolver is what got me into the CS1 pair () @MeatlMealstorm I completely agree with both suggestions, although I do have to note I've personally have had more success with the first option (chain canceling). What would happen with backdashing is that I would fly over the dudes anti-air, whiff j.2C, backdash to get back into place, and land right back into the anti-air's last active frames I made another wall of words. Oh my.

I remember these from your combo vids. I swear, you nailed that shading :O Do you think you could make more?

@Kakimori, if you truly can't cope with Hazama's movements, I suggest you might as well drop him. Using a character that makes you uncomfortable will only make practicing that much harder, unless you're determined to style. Based on experience, a person's general "playstyle" will usually come into play despite what character they're using. For instance, most Lambda mains tend to turtle with Hazama. While this should work theoretically when one has enough mastery over the chains, Hazama's reward off a 6D hitconfirm is nothing like the reward off Lambda's 6D hitconfirm. Whereas Bang players love to use Hazama's j.4D a lot due to it's similarity in trajectory to Bang's nails, and similar hitconfirm reactions...etc. I'm going off topic here. If you're still planning to keep that hat on, I'll try translating Hazamian to Tsubakian. <1> Ok, in terms of neutral gameplay, excluding Ouroboros, have very similar in-your-face game. They have similar range on their normals, and their pressure is affected equally by barrier blocking, albeit Hazama isnt ridiculously unsafe on block. This part should be relatively easy. <2> At midrange, Hazama's and Tsubaki's 3C both serve as some of the most rewarding, yet easily punished attacks in the game. They dont have that many options otherwise. If you're spamming 5B at this range, then you forgot to choose Ragna at the char select screen. Therefore, stay out or get in. You don't wanna be at this range. <3> Now at fullscreen, assuming you're not being zoned, where you would be charging with Tsubaki, you'll be chucking chains, pseudo-214D charging and baiting stupid jump-ins, or just outright taunting with Haz. Vague stuff aside, here come the specifics: <1> You know IAD combos with Tsubaki? Yeah, the timing on Tsubaki's 2CC for the ideal height after a 214D launch is pretty much the same as Hazama's Zaneiga after a Jayoku launch, but with an extended period of waiting. You watch the opponent fall and gauge their momentum, then press the button. Expect the move to come out a few frames late, because both Tsubaki's 2CC and Hazama's 214D~C are not the fastest moves in the game. <2> Have you ever tried Tsu's DP whiff combos? The ones that make you do j.236D>j.214C(w)>662B? Yeah. That timing is exactly the same as the buffered dash 3C after a high Jakou hitconfirm for Haz (623D>663C). The input itself is pretty much the same too. <3> Unlike CT veteran characters, Tsu and Haz don't have convenient 6A anti-airs. They both have extremely similar 6A's, 6B's, and 2C's. 6A for both characters is only rewarding on CH without heat and are rather slow overheads meant for mindgames for the most part. They can both also be used as situational relaunchers, as they both ground air-borne opponents and can be followed up with 5C. 6B is plus on block for both characters, hits low, and is only mildly rewarding with meter. Even CH may prove to be a bit finnicky here. 2C is where they both shine for anti-air normals. Both can be followed up on normal hit, and have amazing reward of CH. Hazama does fall kinda short here, because while Tsubaki has a trusty anti-air that actually hits the guy, Hazama is stuck with "trading in his favor," a concept I will never understand. The only positive note when trading with Hazama's 2C is that you can catch a panty shot off of any female character you anti-air. Except Tsubaki <4> Here comes my personal fav part. Blockstring resets. While Hazama is significantly better here because he virtually end any blockstring with + frames, they both have a CS1 tool no one else in this cast has, and is why I main both -- stance/charge canceling. Obviously, an autopilot cancel will get you punished on the spot, as they don't serve any frame advantage benefits. However, since a good majority of their normals can be stance/charge canceled, its very hard to find a hole to punish. Using this sparingly and unpredicatably will allow you to use a normal several times in pressure, as every stance/charge cancel will reset pressure if the opponent fails to react. <5> Use Hazama's command grab sparingly, as you would Tsubaki's unblockable. Both are easily mashed out of, but few people have the balls to do so for some reason.

@Blackwing, well frankly, I delay my 623D cuz CH 214D~B has hell long of an untechable time, and I can afford to let them fly a bit farther before reeling them in. Second, if you can't connect 6D>4D>623D, you need to delay 6D, 4D, or 623D -_-. I don't care how close they were when 623D connected, 66>5C should have the exact same startup time as a normal 5C if you buffered in the dash correctly during the 623D. Therefore, if standing 5C can connect, than 66>5C definitely can. How do you think dashing TKs are performed? Another thing is thats why I put the TK Loop in brackets, because they're optional. The TK loop is an extension, not a necessity. I already showed you the wonders of a non-TK loop combo in the corner that even works on Tager. Check your messages. Speaking of messages, I put two non-TK loop combo fillers there for your enjoyment. Have fun with those

Much like the Ragna and Valky matchup, this plays exactly like CS2 aside from the fact Hakumen gets a lot more reward compared to before, with less magatama cost, and has a much more rapid meter gain. And again like the previous aforementioned matchups, Rising Fang is your best friend here. Again. This time though, do note that Haku has some extra albeit risky tools to get in. <1> For jump-ins, any situation where 2C works, 214D~B probably works better. (EDIT: 2C may be a bit more reaction friendly against mid-blockstring j.5Bs, both 2C and Rising Fang have a 13 frame startup, but human error can give the latter move a slower startup: note 2C will trade when executed poorly, while Rising Fang will leave you CH'd in Serpent's Benediction should you fail to react quickly enough, which is not good at all. Occasionally a dashing 2C may catch the opponent off guard, but that's more of a gimmick than anything reliable. Besides, Rising Fang fares a lot better against 3C and Hotaru than 2C does.) <2> Stupid Hakumen fly-ins can easily be picked out using 6D and 4D, and raw Hungry Coils (not recommended) if you're feeling ballsy and need something quick and unpredictable to end a match. <3> A smart Haku will either place a well-spaced j.2C or well-timed j.5D to ruin your Rising Fang party. <4> Air-to-air isn't really recommended here unless you're an expert with whiffed chain momentum, or if you're backdashing j.5B. His j.2C can score you in the air as well as the ground, so beware. <5> Hazama is the most Fumajin prone character in the game, Rachel and Lambda often end up with Fumajins, but they don't get sucked in like bad plumbing the way Haz does. Remember that yuki will trigger via chain attack, so zoning a half meter Hakumen is a bad idea. <6> However, chaining in whiffed chains (and predictable 214D~A's) will get your ass 6A'd unless you play around with your stocks. Chaining in only on hitconfirm is safe, but also scrubby like hell when abused, not to mention easy to catch on and react to. I personally like to use the B followup regardless of hitconfirm, and cancel half-way through into a j.4D or j.6D to regain stock and bait whiffed anti-air for a CH hitconfirm. j.2C can be used to alter your chain-in momentum, and is highly recomended over the more predictable j.5B. All zanshin moves have a backwards guardpoint, so crossups will only work when delayed properly. <7> Once you've gotten in, there's really no reason to make yourself vulnerable by chucking chains. Haku's may have strong wake-up options, including that blasted TK Hotaru, but Hazama wants his Susano'o unit back. Now. <8> Throw out Bloody Fangs every once in a while and keep him honest, expecially when he has 4 magas, its your favorite tool in this matchup unless he 5A mashes/TK Hotaru. Wakeup yukikaze is a near guarantee if you locked him into good pressure, so Bloody Fangs will fuel your heat and his rage here. <9> Elbow drops (6A) and troll kicks (6B) can be used to screw around with his zanshin timing, but not really worth relying on unless you've got 50 heat. Do note that CH 6B has some pretty sweet reward and that 6A actually combos on Hakumen... ...then you get zanshin'd and are now under pressure : <10> Hakus scariest tool here is 3C, which easily beats mash-outs. It beats yours at the start of a match, and is quick as hell, and easily scores him a free CH combo without meter; use 5A, 2A, and 5B to beat it to the punch at point blank. <11> 6B is scary overhead, but not very rewarding and slightly unsafe on block. After a successful block, go for a backthrow in the corner, or micro-dash 5A for a quick combo. <12> TK Hotaru is his reversal of choice, will beat out raw hotenjin, and is safe on block. It should whiff on crouch though, so don't mash out of the corner unless you love hearing "FATAL!:gonk:" Guess thats it for now, it's getting late over here and I have stuff to do tommorow.

Hate to revive a dead thread, but similar to the Ragna and Haku matchup, this one is played very simliarly to its CS2 counterpart (as stated above). However, due to magical S tier buffs, Valk gets a lot more reward off your mistakes now. <1> First of all, as everyone mentioned. Fear w[5B], fear it. That will rip through your shit should you be stupid enough to try jumping up and firing a chain when he's on the ground, or when you're throwing around random 214D~A's. <2> Second, is obviously his j.5C. Your best bet is 214D~B, assuming you have both the time needed to boot it up, and the Valk doesn't know the matchup well. I simply don't understand how 2C can trade "in your favor ," and 5A will get beat out period. <3> Another tool worth noting is his 4C/7C command dashes. These have dumb invincibilty frames on them that he doesn't really need, because if you're in the process of anti-airing him, he can potentially "fix" his jump-in and make your anti-air whiff. He can do this up to 4 times in a single jump-in, and unless you have an anti-air that can cancel into itself four times on whiff, then you can ignore this part. Although I hightly doubt that. EDIT: Turns out 4D will actually have more luck in this area than 6D at times, depending on how he's spacing you. <4> If he's going for a neutral beast cannon halfway across the screen, 2C will actually work. If he's opting for a neutral wolf mixup, e.g. blocked Nacht Jager/aerial Beast Cannon, 5A>5C/2A>5C is your favorite string. What happens is that if he tries to outpoke you, you should be able to beat him out. If he wolf cancels>4D, your poke may possibly whiff during his 7D/C, depending on the situation. However much like our B chain followup, he has ricochet towards you while your "whiffing" your anti-air. This is where 5C comes into play. It's speed, active frames, and hitbox should land you a nice 4D>air rave followup. Of course, you could always jump away and spam j.5A, but w[5B] will always be there to bite your ass. Literally. <5> Play the anti-air game well. You whiff a Rising Fang here, you will eat at least 3k, so plan your options well... ...and assuming you botched <5> ...: <6> ...After teching from an air combo, assuming you're not dead yet, block high. Falling j.5C is what makes his one-hit corner resets famous. He doesn't even have to be remotely close to the ground to folllowup into another 5k+. The second you block j.5C (or not) and hit the ground though block low(or squeeze in a quick 5B if possible). His 3C comes out deceptively fast, and he easily outspaces you in the corner. Besides, his 6C is much easier the react to once you've gotten the hang of it, although beware of well-spaced 5C>6C frametraps, that rapes Hazama just as well as spaced Dead Spike>Jesus Kick traps do. 5C is air unblockable, and 6C is an anti-low thats +2 on block. Buffer a short dash during blockstun if needed after blocking his 5C, his 6C is both slow and airborne, so your own 5C is your best bet here. Again. <7> Mashing j.5A is surprisingly effective as long as he isn't in wolf nor plans to go into wolf (darn dem w[5B]s ). If his patience wears thin and gives up his human pressure for wolf pressure, use his "henshin" time to make a quick getaway. Run, run! EDIT: I take back what I said about 2C being utterly useless. If your timing is godlike, and you have a hunch they're gonna bait you with 7C, 2C should be a lot less punishable on whiff compared to Rising Fang. It won't get you blown up as badly as a whiffed Rising Fang, but it will give them momentum.

@maximummcnugget Another? I would be overjoyed to have a local BB scene. But NOOO, I'm stuck in a neighborhood ruled by Call of Duty, filled with people who think SSBB is a competitive fighting game, and others who think Fairly Odd parents is an anime. I play on Vita, so I appreciate anyone who speaks english and has anything over one connection bar with me.

@Blackwing, we went over this on PSN -_- I just sent you a message regarding my personal high damage combo fillers aside from TK loops check those out. @Tong, true, for optimum damage you can just loop to your hearts content, but not everyone picking up Haz can do that, especially the dashing variation. I personally go for CH 214D~B>623D>5C(1)>6C>66>2C>5C>6D>4D>623D>[5C>2C>j.214B]>5C>j.5Cx5>5C>214D~B>3C if I remember correctly. However, I only do this for style. It easily whiffs on murakumo units, makoto and especially friggin tsubaki. Damn those amazing thighs. CH 214D~B >66D>623D>66>5C(1)>6C>[5C>2C>j.214B]x2>j.5Cx5>5C>214D~B>3C is what I would usually go for, in terms of practicality. Anyone come up with a way to Mizuchi Tager? Or even better, a universal Mizuchi link in the corner? Thats my current goal.