Zida

After using Radeonpro to force Vsync off and lock FPS to 60, the game plays mostly fine in fullscreen. There have been a few small "freezes" here and there that could be detrimental to tournament play, however. Based on my FRC timings, there might be one frame more input delay than PS3, but it isn't so bad it's unplayable. Online is a completely different story, even with the one 4 bar connection I had. This type of netplay would be sufficient for a slower fighter or a fighter that doesn't require tight execution, but it is not acceptable for a game like GGAC or +R. I can't even land Baiken's j.S links much less FRCs or Suzuran>Zakuro enders. Any character that requires tight execution will be hamstrung badly. I really feel bad for all of the I-No players. A regular delay-based netcode will never be adequate for this game in my mind. Also, this is a serious proposition: Is there anyone out there with experience cracking/editing netcode? I am a decent programmer with no experience in modding/editing games, but I would love to help integrate GGPO or another rollback-based netcode into +R. That would honestly be a dream come true for me, and I think it would really extend the life of +R.

Anyone know the Millia matchup very well? I played against Krazy Korean (Phil) for a while as well as another Milia player and I'm getting stomped by her pretty hard. I've boiled the reason for my loss down to Milia running the pace while I try to get a bit of breathing room. The little success I had resulted from me being midscreen and Milia not having her hairpin. I was originally under the impression that Baku, Ouran, and Mawarikomi would help tremendously in dealing with Milia's oki, but she appears to have plenty of options to deal with Baiken, such as roll/throw or roll/jab before discs hit. On top of all of Milia's problems, Baiken's lack of midscreen damage really hurts the matchup when compared to AC when I could just catch her with an air normal into j.D for corner carry and hard knockdown. I'm not the best of Baiken players, but I feel that I should be able to perform better in this matchup considering the fact that I do well against players that do well against Millia. Anyone have any tips for this matchup? Particularly, I'd like to know how to avoid Millia's oki a little better, what normals to antiair her with (6p is sketchy at best), and what I should be doing in neutral.

I got some good +R sets in with locals from a different city, so I'll post some thoughts on a few matchups. Anji: This matchup has gotten a little more difficult for Baiken. Anji's guardpoints can be beaten by normals with long active frames, like Baiken's 2D or AC invincible Sakura. +R Sakura is overall faster and still good versus guardpoints, but you have to think a good bit more and not just throw it out. As far as 2D goes, in AC, you got a full midscreen combo off of 2d->Tatami into corner carry. In +R, you don't get that anymore, but that doesn't mean a raw 2D (without being gatlinged into) is a bad idea. You can still stuff his guardpoint counters with it and follow up with a tatami, but you can't really combo unless he's close to the corner. You can, however, keep up the pressure with a kire tatami directly following Anji neutral or back teching. Anji's new FB makes him have an even more deadly reset game, so be aware and learn quickly. All that said, this matchup is still perfectly doable, although you have to be more patient now rather than just throwing out Sakura to stuff a guardpoint counter or get out of a butterfly mixup. 1-frame jumping is far more useful in this matchup now. Chipp: Not much has changed in this matchup on Chipp's side of things. Chipp has more damage now with FB Alpha Blade combos and you have to look out for FB Beta Blade, but Chipp's toolset remains largely unchanged. That said, Baiken's side of things has changed a bit more. You need to be on point with your midscreen combos. You won't get much of a chance to get Chipp in the corner due to his crazy speed. This wasn't a problem in AC since midscreen combos were easy and had built-in corner carry without trying. This matchup is now all about neutral-game, and both Chipp and Baiken have plenty of good tools. Kliff: I honestly didn't get time to figure this matchup out enough. Solidplay (former Sol and Robo player) has picked him up quickly and Solid is a better player than me. However, I noticed the new wheel counter is absurdly good in this matchup. Solidplay couldn't figure out a way to safejump and avoid it with Kliff (although he was able to with Sol). This means that Kliff's options are more limited, and he can't instant-overhead you into a 3-hit air combo that leads into tons of damage. Kliff's most useful super is very quick, and can easily punish a back ad Tatami or a neutral-jump Tatami, so just avoid them when he has 50% tension. This matchup will definitely get better once we get patches, as the Kliff on PSN is the "broken" Kliff that got a nerfbat on Japanese arcades. Until then, be aware of his backdash and absurdly good normals. Don't play footsies with him from half-screen and learn to block his crossup special, and you'll be in a good spot. Testament: I didn't get as many games in as I'd wanted against him, but this matchup seems slightly more difficult. His pressure is improved in a lot of ways. FB curse works on you even on block and EXE beast can be held so that it stays and can then be FRC'd to get a 2nd! He can now teleport, although I'm not entirely sure of its properties. From what I could tell, he can teleport to the location of his EXE beast, and I was able to punish it with a run->2p on a couple of occasions. His new combos still hurt, but not as much as they used to. Careful rushdown is the way to approach this matchup, although it's always been that way in my experience. Keep an eye out for webs and trees and be aware of them, and get him into a corner. Sol: Not much to say here, honestly. The matchup feels largely the same as AC with some new bells and whistles on each side, but I'll give my thoughts anyway. Be aware of Volcanic Viper on wakeup and bait it when possible, but be ready for him to RC and get a throw/low mixup. Don't let him punish your guard cancels with Ground Viper. If you have good reflexes, Bandit Revolver is punishable with the wheel counter. On the same note, Bandit Bringer is even easier to punish. His new Dragon Install is absolutely terrifying. He has the potential for an instant overhead (his new slam) that leads into combo, so don't get close. When he's in Dragon Install, your ideal area is in the air within range of your j.S with your fingers at the ready to FD a VV. Rather than trying to guess a command grab or a low, don't get put in a position where you're forced to make that guess. However, 1-frame jumps are your friend in those situations.

I really need to get in some sets against a good Pot sometime soon. The only Pot player around here is a retired Raekwon187 and I don't think he's messed with +R at all. I'm really excited about slidehead not being nearly as ridiculous, but the matchup is likely still in Pot's favor. Suzuran->Zakuro should definitely be your go-to antiair if 6P isn't working, so good call on that. That hard knockdown is great and Suzuran offers you a few frames of jump-in protection (depending on how long you wait to Zakuro). I know that Pot can reliably combo wider characters after a Pot Buster; however, I don't know what I should watch for after getting hit by one. Any ideas there before it costs me a match?

Ah okay. He said something about it knocking away instead of knocking up (sort of like the tatami changes, I suppose), so I assumed it wouldn't be combo-able midscreen without an FRC or something. No more spreading misinformation. I promise!

Anyone have any ideas yet about how some of Baiken's matchups have changed in +R? The only two characters I've gotten to play against more than 5 games each are Axl and Venom, and I actually like those matchups better now. It seems like Baiken's improved neutral-game makes it easier to get in without having to rely purely on patient approach. Venom's nerfed anti-air makes him fairly easy to jump in on now, and the ability to use guard cancels out of Suzuran makes punishing fullscreen balls cake. As a funny aside, if Baiken has used up her air options, she can still use the j.D FD cancel bug to avoid having to block a Dark Angel when falling down. This obviously isn't that useful, but it's something to throw Venom off of his game. FB Tatami isn't actually as useful in this matchup as I had assumed it would be, but it's okay since Baiken's other new options are great in this matchup. Axl not being able to combo off of Kokuu Geki makes him easier to air-to-air, since all you really have to worry about are Axl Bomber and j.S. However, his new FB is terrifying and makes you think twice about using Kabari frequently or jumping in (as if that was a good option in the first place). I'll probably have more to say on these matchups and hopefully a few more in a couple days when I get to play people again. I'm still trying to get our May player to actually play the game instead of whining about the removal of lame loop and the Overhead Kiss nerf. I'm really curious about the May matchup since she used to give me hell.

I managed to get my hands on the JP version of the game and I figure I should probably post the few easy hard knockdown BnBs I've learned to save some people the trouble of having to wrestle through a lot when the game finally hits NA consoles. All of these combos lead into hard-knockdown. I mean, this is Guilty Gear right? I apologize if these combos are old news, which they may be since I got a bit of it from match videos and a bit of it from Hellmonkey's suggestion in another thread. Baiken really wants her opponent in the corner for tons of damage. This means you want to find midscreen BnBs that involve plenty of corner carry, even at the expense of a little bit of extra damage. Keep in mind that my BnBs are week 1 and I've learned most of it in-game against players since I loathe lab-time. Corner: 1.) 2D > 236K > 2D > j.P > j.K > jump cancel > j.H > 236K > land (opponent crosses you up) > 6P > 63214K >(as fast as possible)412P This combo does around 35% and leads into a hard knockdown, allowing you whatever type of oki you please. You can actually leave the j.P out for slightly more damage, but the timing is tighter and more character specific. Against May and perhaps other floaty characters, leave out the second 2D and just jump after the 236K. Against Axl and perhaps other skinny characters, the second part of the 6P often doesn't hit and Axl techs out. I'm not really sure what to do here yet. 2.) 2D > 236K > 2D > j.P > j.S > j.D FRC > airdash > j.H > 236K > land (opponent crosses you up) > 6P > 63214k >(as fast as possible)412P Courtesy of Hellmonkey in the Baiken Discussion thread. This is a slightly higher damage version of combo #1 at the 25% tension cost. To me, it's a bit easier on most characters, though. Against May and perhaps other floaty characters, leave out the second 2D and just jump after the 236K. Against Axl and perhaps other skinny characters, the second part of the 6P often doesn't hit and Axl techs out. I'm not really sure what to do here yet other than try to delay each attack as much as possible, so that Axl is low to the ground when you 6P him. Corner Notes: You can get more damage after these combos by either jumping up with the opponent after the 6P or FRCing the 412P counter and extending. Youzansen RC > Tatami > 2D > j.P ... works in the corner. Midscreen: 3.) 2P > 2K > 6P > 623P > j.P > j.S > j.D FRC > airdash > j.H > 236K > land (opponent crosses you up) > 6P > 63214K > (as fast as possible)412P Useful when you are facing the nearest corner, as you need a corner for the j.H to land. Note that the combo is nearly the same as the corner combo and that you can extend this similarly by FRCing 412P or following up the last 6P. I believe you can probably leave out the j.P for more damage. 4.) 2P > 2K > 6P > 623P > 2H (opponent crosses you up) > 6P > j.P > j.S > j.D FRC > airdash > j.H > 236K > land (opponent crosses you up) > 6P > 63214K > (as fast as possible)412P [*]This is almost identical to combo #3, but it's useful if your back is to the nearest corner. Again, you'll need a corner to land the j.H, and you can also likely leave out the j.P for more damage. General notes: [*]Kabari has been greatly improved as far as combo potential goes. Antiair Kabari now brings the opponent downwards so that you can follow up with whatever you wish, and Tetsuanzen won't miss in weird situations nearly as much. This means that you can combo into a j.D FRC > airdash for corner carry a little easier than in AC (although it wasn't too hard before). I haven't tested it much yet, but I'm fairly sure you can combo into Kabari after a Youshijin if the opponent is in a counter-hit state. [*]Most of these combos work on most characters. There are a few small exceptions, but overall it's very similar to AC in that there aren't a whole lot of character specific things to learn.

I finally got my hands on +R, but I'm feeling pretty crappy about it. Baiken didn't necessarily get nerfed, but I'm having some serious difficulty retraining myself. Things like relying on j.D, air-to-air j.H, etc. don't work anymore. I really love Baiken as a character, but I really don't think I can relearn her. My old habits are rearing their ugly heads, and I honestly think it would be easier just to pick up someone else even though I want to keep playing her. Does anyone have any good advice? I just can't get the hang of any of her new stuff since my muscle memory is so solid from AC.

I just read that delayed tatami bit in guide a little earlier today and I'm already starting to get the hang of the delayed tatami into sj.P vs May. I'm sure that's going to help me a lot, as well as IB against dolphins, which I admittedly don't do enough. Thanks for expounding upon those matchups.

I'll throw in my 2 cents as far as matchups go. I'm not best in the US material or anything, but I feel like I know some matchups very well, so here are my difficulties: Slayer: Very difficult for Baiken because his mixup game is very dangerous. Near-instant lows and overheads that lead in to damage in addition to easy cross ups thanks to his dash and very rewarding throws. In addition to this, a lot of his normals have very little recovery, so you don't get many opportunities for any counter shenanigans. His j.D (? the one where he sticks both palms out together, pretty sure it's j.D) flat out beats most of Baiken's air options since it gives him a weird disjointed hurtbox. May: Reasons in my previous posts. I feel like people don't give enough thought towards BnBs working against her. She's the only character I've found that you can't do above ~20% damage against without meter, since you can't launch with tatami and get a j.P link in. This matchup is really the only one that's thrown in my face weekly, so I'm the most confident about it. Potemkin: I've only really played against a rusty Raekwon (who went to SBO for AC at one point) and a rusty Abegen at FR a couple times, so I don't know this matchup extremely well. Pot can instant block ad j.H and punish you with a buster, so just don't do it unless you're high up enough to make it safe with a tatami afterwards. However, if you play lame and utilize mats well, it's certainly a winnable matchup. It's rough since you can't rush down (a pattern I'm finding a lot of bad Baiken matchups follow), but I don't feel like it's as bad as the Slayer matchup or even the May matchup for that matter. Pot has high damage in general, but you also have high damage against Pot. Don't be afraid to extend your corner dustloops with j.D frc tatami, and always drop a meaty mat on his head or throw out a meaty kabari so he can't try to buster. Use your alpha counters well in order to not get caught in unblockable slidehead situations (Ouren works well, but don't let it get baited). Jam: I haven't played against a good Jam, and probably won't until I get to go to a major or someone gets Doren2K out of hiding, but I can see how this would be a bad matchup, at least for similar reasons to May. Your BnBs are very tight against Jam, but she can rip you apart with damage off of things like throws (and Baiken is pretty susceptible to throws). Overall, the risk/reward is highly in her favor. Her normals are similar to Slayer in that they can't be punished very easily with alpha counter shenanigans, as well. Testament: This guy is a pain for most characters, honestly. Playing lame with back airdash mats isn't an option, since Testament does lame better than you. Rushing down is tough with traps, and badlands loop freaking hurts. EXE beast turns you around so that Ouren flips you away from him. A LOT of knowledge of Testament is going to help you a lot in this matchup to get in. Once you're in, the chances of you winning increase exponentially. Use your meter for mixup and oki and stay on him. Sol: You want to block. He wants to Wild Throw.

Suzuran is definitely an option against crossup dolphins, but you lose out on a good punish. If you block a dolphin that hits towards the top of your hurtbox you can Youshijin it for a nice conversion, but I'm not sure if it's worth it to try to block when it's so ambiguous. I've practiced my instant youzansen so that I can try to use it on reaction to punish a vertical dolphin, but I'm not so sure it will be as reliable as I want it to. Some things I've learned that might help in the matchup that I didn't mention in my original post: If the May likes to use H and 6H a lot, punish every once in a while with mawarikomi (K alpha counter) into throw. Be careful though. Since Baiken's throw range is smaller than May's (and most of the cast's for that matter), your opponent can throw you first, so don't abuse it too often. It's still nice to make them try to bait it a lot once you condition them./ You can punish May fairly well with super on wakeup. A lot of May's best oki options don't hit meaty (raw Overhead Kiss, anyone?), so super is a good option in this matchup if you somehow find yourself with enough meter. Just don't use it too much or it'll get baited. Don't airdash in and go for a j.H. It's one of the worst things you can do. If you're midscreen and May is hanging back with a ring, consider using iad back tatamis or neutral jump tatamis in the corner. This forces May to come in, and you can punish impatience this way. Even with all of the above knowledge, I still do terribly in this matchup. I feel like it's almost as bad as the Slayer matchup, but I never really hear too much about it.

I'm having serious troubles with May. I'm a fairly good player, and I can deal with everyone in my playgroup group except for May. I keep hearing that the May matchup is 5-5, but I'm just not seeing it. Here are my issues: He utilizes safejumps and constantly tries to bait my alpha counters to the point where I've nearly completely stopped using them against him, other than to get out of a bad situation. I have to spend tension to get a dustloop going, since tatami, j.PD and tatami, j.PSD don't work at all against her. This means that most of my tensionless damage comes from a standing D, and he knows all of my oki setups to get that going. Also, if I'm always spending tension on frc tatami, I don't have enough for tricky setups like instant overhead Youzanzen, RC, combo and I also don't have tension to make Sakura safe. What should I be doing meterless? If I have no tension, what should I be going for against May? Should I always tatami frc for a full combo against May, or save my meter for other things? It seems like dolphins aren't always punishable by my P alpha counter. Is there a more reliable way to punish them? I always want to save my burst for a lame loop (May's extremely damaging dolphin loop), meaning I can't go for gold-burst setups to net much-needed tension in this matchup. Am I right in doing this? It seems like having 3/4 of my health gone makes tension less relevant. I can't seem to properly air-to-air may. Anytime I jump, I either immediately get smacked in the face by a dolphin, trade in the air, or just flat out lose the trade and eat a counterhit leading to lame loop. In general, it feels like being in the air is a bad situation against May. However, being on the ground leaves me open to vertical dolphin crossup BS that leads into oki. I guess a way to phrase this question would be: where in the hell is my optimal area on the screen vs May? What areas should I look to control? Any help at all with these issues would be greatly appreciated.

With the j.d untechable time nerf, do dustloops work at all now? Is j.d still a near-guaranteed hard-knockdown? I'm really worried with the combos I'm seeing in match videos, as they don't usually lead into a hard-knockdown for oki. Perhaps the players in the videos I've seen are simply dropping combos.