The purpose of this thread is catalog the uses for various formations and setups, in use of neutral, pressure, okizeme, etc.
See formation images and basic use for references here: http://www.dustloop.com/wiki/index.php?title=Venom_(GGXRD)#Ball_Formations
One Ball Formations[collapse] P:
Setting and tapping 5P is Venom's fastest way to get a slow ball in motion. This will cover height around Venom's shoulder. It can work for basic approach or zoning, and because of the height, help with your AA game. Speaking of which, as the ball descends from the summon, you can also hit it with 6P to send it as an AA angle.
If the opponent is in f.S range and you have a P ball set, hitting the opponent with f.S and sending the ball will give you additional plus frames on hit or block (as does hitting opponents with Venom's moves while they send balls, but f.S is notable for its poking range).
5HS sends the ball fast, which has its uses.
Hold the button to teleport isn't too useful outside of using the almighty j.D ball hit. It's so good it just might be worth it.
Hitting it Stinger S will set the ball right on Venom's body while Stinger H will set a ball out further. In addition, if you tap it first, let it travel a bit, then Stinger H, the ball be set near the opponent. Use Venom's teleport to help take advantage of these situations.
S Carcass will also put the ball on Venom's body.
When getting a low knockdown via j.HS, cancel it into an air P summon and hit j.D right away to set a ball at them. In some situations, you can also hit it with j.K.
K:
K ball is one of Venom's primary okizeme options. After a knockdown (6HS, 2D, QV), place a K ball. As they get up, hit the ball with a running j.K or j.S. j.S will hit the ball faster, so wait an extra moment if you use that (more on that later). If done right, the ball will meaty the opponent. Depending on your spacing, you can end up on either side of the opponent. Your options from there:
Land on either side, 2K.
Airdash towards the opponent before landing. If you didn't crossup or are in the corner, you can use two jump normals, or three depending on the height (such as j.SPS). If you confirm they blocked, you can throw in a mad struggle too for more overheads/guard bar.
If you did crossup, you can airdash backwards with j.S for your mixup. You can also airdash backwards j.P (which will whiff)and throw.
In the corner, you use j.S coming down after you hit the ball (and cancel into Mad Struggle if you wish).
If you're baiting a DP, use dash j.K over j.S (as I added below) as the recovery is significantly less on the move. You can FD on the way down. While this will hurt your mixup options if they don't DP, they're still blocking the ball.
On the topic of j.K vs. j.S, SnowMonkeyFunky did a nice writeup: -Dash jump jS is almost always better for K ball oki midscreen than dash jK. Why? *-In situations where the dash jump causes a crossup (IE almost everything ending in 2D), the jK would make the ball push the dummy away, making the low mixup of 2K clS come out as 2K fS and not allowing a followup normal on P QV from the high option. The reason for this is probably because the ball hits after you go to the other side of your opponent, reversing the knockback. The dash jS has an easier time hitting the ball in such a way that the dummy is pushed towards you as you go to the other side and land 2K/reverse airdash jS. This makes both followup combos not only possible off K ball oki, but also far easier than done from a neutral state. **-THEORY: I haven’t fully tested this, but it could be a useful gimmick. Because dash jK ball hits as you’re on the other side of the opponent as a crossup, and dash jS hits while you’re still on their front side, POSSIBLE four way mixup? If this is true, people familiar with Venom will know which way to block initially depending on the air normal used, but still useful for messing with people without much experience in this matchup. **-One exception (so far); Faust. His hitbox is super wide and really short so for knockdowns off of 2D he's better off getting dash jK over dash jS. *-for knockdowns off of 6HS, the dash jS hits the K ball at a more shallow horizontal angle, and at a faster speed. Both jS and jK are possible, but dash jS hits meaty a LOT more consistently. This comes at a price though, because at certain timings they will be pushed back too far for the low option of 2K clS(3) to work. Still possible, but very unforgiving if you botch the timing. Basically, if you’re not confident in your timing and you’ve conditioned your opponent to stay still on oki, then dash jK is overall a lot easier. *-The only situation midscreen where dash jK is favorable is off of 1-2 point blank low pushback hits into 2D. The awkward range seems to be the knockdown distance between dash momentum 2K 2D xx K ball and point blank no dash momentum 2K clS (1) 2D xx K ball. This is because if they decide to crouch, the jS' ball hit angle will make it whiff. If you feel like you really would rather set up dash jS midscreen off of a close 2K or something similar, do either 2K clS (2) 2D xx K ball stuff or 2K 2S 2D xx K ball stuff. Be aware of this range when setting up K ball off of 2D from a gatling.
*-Dai's Addendum, j.K is favorable if you're coming down with FD, which is an effective way to bait DPs. This is because j.K has significantly less recovery frames compared to j.S. What about the corner?: *-Corner K ball oki actually benefits more from dash jK's vertical angle and slower speed for both primary knockdowns. I couldn't really find any situations where dash jS would be favorable here. Note that if you end a combo in a really close 6HS xx K ball, they K ball may whiff on a crouching opponent. In this case, something like K > S ball set after 6HS compensates by putting the K ball at a position closer to +R’s K ball sweet spot, making it uncrouchable, as well as giving you a second ball for various little gimmicks. How do you time dash jS for K ball oki?: *-The best way I can describe it for off a 2D is that you are reacting to their rising animation and inputting dash jS as they're getting up. This is a good bit later than dash jK's preemptively timed hit. To test if you're timing it right, record the dummy to stand there for about a second, then hold up for five or so seconds. Hit playback, then do 2K 2S 2D xx K ball, react to rising and dash jump jS. If they get hit by the ball and they're still standing, you timed it right. Also be sure to practice against lower crouchers like Zato/Venom/Faust/etc. You can also do slight delay into longer dash jS. A little more strict when doing your followup, but still possible with practice. -For off of 6HS it's only a miniscule delay. The extra speed and shallow angle make it so that there isn't much difference between using dash jK and dash jS.
Other uses, j.P can have the ball cover the space at normal jump height, and it can be hit by ground 6P for more AA attempts.
Holding the button to teleport gets Venom higher up, and again you can j.D here to control a lot of space.
S:
Placing the ball behind Venom usually isn't too useful on its own. However, holding the button to teleport can come in handy more than most situations, here given that Venom will actually retreat. In the end though, S formation on its own will probably be mostly used for QV combos.
HS:
After midscreen knockdown, HS ball into dash buffer jump gives the perfect timing for a safe jump. If you press j.S just before the attack can hit the opponent, it will instead hit H ball and keep the opponent in block stun so you can safely go low without getting thrown. For 25 meter, you can YRC right before you get to the ball and either airdash forward or land and go low (the YRC should mess their reversal timing up).
In addition, you may be able to safejump with j.HS. This will go past the ball. The opponent is likely to block, so followup with S Mad Struggle to start your pressure with a ball behind you (they may also get hit simply because double overhead).
Note that safejump j.S, because you whiff the opponent, you will not get put into Blitz Rejection. Blitz Shield will reject the j.HS variant though, which is why it's best to use against people conditioned a bit by j.S (or people experienced in the matchup).
Holding to teleport, you can only come down with j.P. Teleporting after the set though will put you in a position to do any jump normal. HS ball teleports are useful because of where the ball goes, similar to teleporting after hitting a ball with HS Stinger Aim.
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Two Ball Formations[collapse]
K>P:
After doing a K QV ender while not in the corner, set the P ball and tap it. Set a HS Ball, followed by a dash f.S and cancel into teleport to crossup the opponent. Demonstration here from Eshi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN5MbNxLu4Q
S>P:
One of Isamu (as well as my own) favorite oki formations. Midscreen do a slight dash 5K so that the balls are hit at the same time, while closer to the corner you get advantage out of it by doing dashing 5P. Only effective midscreen against people with later wake up times or when baiting excessive reversal users. Because you have two balls traveling with plenty of advantage, it's effective against blitz shield and reversals, and otherwise forces the opponent to block long enough to go for high/low, start pressure, or set up another ball in the corner.
P>K:
This formation has has a few primary uses. The first is that tapping the P Ball with 5P then doing a HS or P summon will split the balls and send them in a nice arc (use if you want to continue zoning). You can also send 3 balls from the formation with a dashing 5P followed by HS or P summon.
The second is that j.K can cause a decent stagger on the two balls, but it will send them downward. Maybe useful if you think your opponent will remain grounded.
In addition, you can tap the K ball with a j.P and follow up with a j.K for the P ball. This can help your approach significantly given the space control on the air and ground formations. If you want more immediate space control you can come down with j.D
Lastly, this formation is great with corner okizeme too! Tap the P ball to make opponents block then do your usual corner K Ball oki! Demonstration by Eshi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz3sWeB8TJ0
P>HS:
Noted for the teleport cancel. Pressing j.P right away will only send the top ball to cover jump heights, a slight delay will send both balls covering a good chunk of the screen. You can also press j.S to send the P Ball downward. Recommend in zoning wars if you have time to set it up.
S>HS:
Venom's go to zoning formation, immediately tap 5P after placing HS to cover high and low spots on the screen. You can throw in a P Ball right afterward to cover in a straight line for backup.
Teleporting after this formation will put you in range of the S ball, letting you access all of Venom's jump hits with two balls.
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Three Ball Formations[collapse]
S>HS>P:
Tapping with 5P is a solid 3 ball zoning setup, but S and HS balls are a bit too far away from Venom for my personal taste. P>S>HS:
On the other hand, the balls split in this one closer to Venom. Similar screen coverage to S>HS followed by P Ball, but in a different wave.
K>S>HS:
If you want to approach off of S>HS, you can add a K ball in there. Split S>HS with 5P immediately as usual, then teleport asap to reach the K ball. You can airdash out of this too with multiple jump normals, may be favorable depending on opponents location.
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Four Ball Formations[collapse]
P:
Heaven forbid you set this up with all the time in the world and launch with 6HS, it will do 172 damage. Possibly something to keep in mind, but 99% useless.
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