Dangief

are you sure their guard gauge wasn't flashing or something? Because everything does a little chip when it's flashing. I just find it really hard to believe that the Cartwheel does chip. I mean.... it doesn't do anything else useful without the Dog...

Excellent job Zoogstin, I'll be moving all this into the exisiting threads so soon as I have the time.

Start by learning what to do without a summon, then how to RC centipedes into Raoh. Let Raoh do the rest. Zappa 101. We do have the Love Threads. Now mostly updated to AC!!! By the way, I just found the most hilarious tensionless Raoh loop. jS cS [6HS x 236S-K] the fact that cS actually gattlings into 6HS I find silly. I'm sure though that this was mentioned elsewhere, but seriously, it's not THAT difficult to set up. Especially off of jS which is a better jumping attack (not as slow and obvious). Take that for what you will. I'm sure you can do it off of 6P as well, making it even better. Go, start owning. Dangief is back in the game now!

Well, I kind of have to do it. I've just been busy all summer at training for my new job. In August I should be able to spend a couple of hours moving this stuff over to the Love Threads.

Ok, I finally got a chance to play AC. And Zappa's changes are SICK. Here are some of my humble impressions. Unsummon: I heart 5S. It has real range, and is a threat when the puddle hits. On top of this it actualy has good priority. Zappa does in fact have a poke now!! The ability to 2K into 2D is fantastic. Though at some distance it won't combo. Nevertheless the ability to run in and easily get a sweep launcg into centipedes is really useful as theose centipede RC combos are way easier off of a sweep then just a summon. I dub the Force Break the Dance (If you watch really close Zappa and S-ko aer danceing.... so sweet?) And it is a great new tool. It's actually pretty quick, though I was suprised to see that the heart explosion doesn't actually hit... it's Zappa's body while he dances that actually connects. But the range is really poor. But whatever, Zappa has a legit mixup with high-low now that can lead to easy Raoh either way. And everyone fears that. And come on, it isn't THAT hard to do OTG centipedes (though I con'dn't get it on Johnny.... maybe different for him or not possible?) Ghosts: You literally own the entire screen now. That P Ghost Throw adds so much zoning potential it isn't even right. Otherwise not really changes. For added fun, superjump then P Throw... you barely even see the gohst leave then it just comes out of nowhere. Dog: I've barely scratched the surface of the new options with the Dog. But those double attacks are really good. The kind of pressure and mixup you have are amazing. I love that you can throw in several of the Dog overheads to really set up an unblockable now. Sword: Ninja spin is my new favorite move. It's just too good. So is comboing into Swipe off of any HS. Raoh: Hew's still Raoh, but better and with sexier combos. Knockdown on HS is fantastic. jHS in general is fantastic. Somehow, they made him even better. I've basically been seetin up the 6HS xx 236S-K loop in the corner(off Edgy RC or jHS silliness). Killed Jam in 8 hits. Wow... Zappa's good. Rejoice. NOTICE: Post up new combos strats and stuff and I will get around to putting them into the Love threads (with credit to you).

Let me tell you. That new B&B is why I'm excited about AC. It's about time that Zappa had a real all-around unsummoned combo. That and 5s being a real move now. ...now I need to find a way to get this game.

....

Everyone quit arguing and complaining. This is good news. It means Raoh is even deadlier than before. Seriously... 5HS knockdown? New Darkness Anthem launches OTG without the need for a slide? This is fantastic stuff that actually blows Raohs game much more wide open than "fish for an Edgy RRC combo" So smile =)

It only takes one well timed jHS ghost to make a good meaty attack. You just have to time it to explode on them right as they get up. At least in Slash that would even stuff VV. Though it sounds like that may not be the case now. Now about getting thrown... that has to do with spacing and the fact that because of the way things are processed per frame, if you land, the other person can throw you before you can throw back. It's annoying. But it's there. If you're going to jumg near them make sure you have solid timing on the attacks to keep them in blockstun.

A few good things. I like how you eventually baited the guard run. That's the kind of stuff that you need to do, make their gameplan fall right into yours. Think about how they will react to what you are doing. For instance, end of the round with Raoh, you could have expected a guard run and done 2S from the right distance after the fireball. Then you're safe and screw her if she tries anything fancy. Cryingohn is right. Throws can be huge for Zappa, especially if you throw them into the wall. Overall not bad. Don't expect to be a mind reader... it just takes practice. And Baiken is annoying/boring to fight anyways. Hindsight for the win!

I'll answer what I can. As far as posting videos, go ahead and start a new thread on it if you have some. It would sure be appreciated. Heck, it might even get added to our record number of stickes.... When you geta jHS with Raoh, what I've been hearing is IAD jS, jHS until you are close enough to the corner to do his new loop. With the Dog, when I'm feeling frisky I start working 5HS (the cartwheel) into my block strings. If only because it's hilarious to see someone get hit by that aweful move.

How much did they change the angle on K ghost? I didn't notice it in any vids.... though it isn't a change that suprises me. That projectile covered a LOT of valuable real estate.

Realistically, BD shouldn't be an option becuase you are crossing them up with the jHS so that you'll hit them out of it anyways. If nothing else, that is a darn sexy set-up for more pressure off of a landed Bite.

None the less, the fact that you can space the Dog right on top of a downed opponent like that is sweet. Bite trap or not... no one wants the Dog sitting on them when they wake up.

Forget about Daigo. We are here for Zappa. I want to see a vid of this new Dog Bite trap, it sounds sexy.

It's moreso the fact that if you screw up you can't block if you screw up that balances it out. If you miss a parry, you get nothing, if you whiff a SB from across the screen, you might get hurt for it.

Zappa's 6P rules. Seriously, it's difficult to use as an AA (but unbeatable if you do) but that thing will just go right through so many other good pokes that it isn't even right. And with KD on CH, you get a 2HS into orbs or big damage. Zappa's hit-box is way back at his knees, and that hand leads it by a mile. Once inv. frames kick in that thing almost always wins.

Seriosly, I'm so happy that you can 2k into sweep. It was such a pain to not be able to to combo into sweep then summon without a hit that made the pushback to much to do anything. And a for real jH Sword FRC is butter.

ZA|4.5|5.0|6.0|4.5|4.0|4.5|5.0|5.0|4.5|5.0|5.5|4.5 |5.0|5.0|4.0|5.0|5.0|6.0|-.-|4.5|6.0|5.5|4.5|　108.5 (-01.5) Zappa I don't remember which matchups are which, but this is Zappa row from the matchup chart... and HE HAS FAVORABLE MATCHUPS!!!! In fact, overall he just below being even. That is fantastic. It means that whatever it was that he got in AC, it made him an all-around solid character at last. Zappa once again owns souls for free!

Yup, that's our new Raoh Combo. That's pretty hot damage off of a random summon with at least 5 orbs.

And the pushback was actually a godsend, because it finally made 236S pressure safe from most retaliation. And I think the ghosts are his easiest summon, not big damage, but the gameplan with them is uber simple and works across the board. Throw ghosts, get knockdown, go crazy, repeat.

I think that the Dog is the hardest summon to learn, personally. It is still my weakest one unless I get the sweetspot corner bite. The only thing about the new Dog is that there is no way to get a guaranteed knockdown anymore. It's bad enough that he can't sweep... did he have to lose 6HS knockdown? Of course, the flip-side to that is that the Dog combos are much sexier now.

Are you trying to say that everyone's sweep being an infinite isn't fun? Besides, Baldhead and Chipp were the only two could really beat Justice without getting Gamma Ray x5'ed to death. I love that game.

Ahhh, there was a time when I would go to other states for tournaments, but Orlando to Atlanta is a bit too much of a drive for me these days...

Because Rensen is three hits, it isn't reliable to use the dog as a shield in a lot of cases, 2HS is 2 hits as well I believe, and Zappa doesn't have a super threatening IAD game to make the watch for that (although in the corner iad jP, jD land 2HS can lead to good things) so it's really easy for him to cover your main entry methods. The good part of this matchup is if you hit him with a centipedes and get the Dog or Ghosts while right next to him. Because Axl has really no way out of the crazy crossup pressure you can start from there, and you need to keep it going and take the damage when you can. And always try to RC into Raoh if you can, you NEED Raoh's damage to equalize in this match.