xSanosuke

I see. I appreciate the explanation, SWD and Reyn, and now that you've described to me I'm sure I've seen him use that tactic at least once in some casuals preceding one of the recent AniClash tournaments. I've always enjoyed fighting Mu so a part of me does wanna get the chance to take him on one of these days, but his apparently terrible connection doesn't inspire much desire beyond that.

If the one you fought was "really bad," then yes; definitely the wrong guy.

GGs to you too, but I have to ask: Can someone please explain to me exactly what are these apparently douche-esque manners of playing that Hondo employs that garners him all this hate? I've seen said hate all the more frequently as of late and can't help but be curious.

Good man. I'm unfortunately going to be pretty busy this coming Saturday so I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to be able to make it to the tournament in time for check-in at 7:30, but I'd rather not miss out if I end up being able to make it so I signed up just in case. Time will tell, I reckon.

I just wanna give a shout-out to everyone who played a part--the other players, the commentators, and of course Zanthos--in AniClash 3 a few days ago. By my estimation it was a vast improvement over the previous tournament in the series; exponentially more well-organized across the board, comparatively few no-shows, better general level of connection qualities in the main lobby(though the 0s may lead one to believe otherwise), and what I feel as though was just an overall higher quality of matches altogether. With the great experience that was the last tourney, the looming major with its growing prize pot, the lengths that are being traveled to ensure a quality production(such as the seeding point system that is presently in the works), AniClash has pretty speedily established itself as the premier competitive series on this site. If you love BlazBlue and you're not at least attempting to take part in these things, I reckon you're doing yourself a disservice.

I definitely agree with all those saying that you'd do just fine by getting the game now. There aren't a ton of people in NA playing the game online right now, but the suggestion that the online is outright "dead" is fairly off-base. I've logged on numerous times this past week as I'm just getting back into this game myself after a couple months hiatus and I've found at least one lively lobby of domestic players virtually every single time I've done so, and that's been during various times of each day. Beyond standard matchmaking there are plenty of people on this forum running many private lobbies and I've made a number of such friends just this past week and have had good sets against quite a few of them. Hell, I'd gladly go some sets with you and help you get you up to speed with the many intricacies and mechanics of the game myself, if you're looking for a dedicated training partner. At the end of the day you'd be making a perfectly good choice in importing. Aside from the fact that the price of the game has dropped a considerable amount since launch(cdjapan has it for just $48 right now) and you'd be getting a great game months in advance, you'd be getting a headstart on the many domestic buyers that are sure to arrive once the English version does drop in a few months. I'd definitely recommend importing.

Which Phantom are we talking about here? Just curious 'cuz I know a couple.

If you're still around and interested in getting that match-up experience, I'm a dedicated Nanase player with a serious hankering for some good matches as I'm just hopping back on the UNIEL saddle. I'd definitely be down with running some sets with you, if you'd like.

Getting back into this game after a fairly lengthy hiatus and looking for any and all Americans to run some sets with. I'll be sending pretty much all the recent posters friend requests, hope we can play sometime soon. I should make it a point to say that I'm definitely not a beginner, but I am pretty desperate for some good connections and I do greatly enjoy working with new players and assisting them in bettering themselves.

Haha, the hype is real. I'm presently away from my PS3 and am on the Vita, but I'll send you a friend request right now on the handheld. If you're still online by the time I'm home, I'll check out that lobby to see if you're still around. Much training to be done.

Yeah, and with the improvements that are planned to be made to Aniclash 3 over its predecessor, I have a fair deal of confidence that it'll be a tournament worth getting excited for. I'll see you there when the time comes, good luck in it. And if you're interested in finding someone to go a few rounds with for the sake of staving off some of that rust, feel free to hit me up.

You and me both, pal. Sorry.

Just in case you aren't aware, I'm pretty sure Nerd cancelled this and the scheduled P4U tournament for the sake of streaming some Marvel instead.

Those are all great changes that will no doubt work to the betterment of the organization and overall experience of the tournament, but I have to say that one of the biggest changes I would recommend is that you find someone else to host the tournament lobby altogether. Even though the 0 Delay Rating everyone was getting was only relative to their connection with you and not necessarily each other, having someone who's internet connection meshes better with the competitors can still make a serious difference in the degree of lag in the matches. As anyone who was there knows, there was no shortage of severely laggy matches in the last tournament and that's an issue that you'd be remiss to not work towards remedying.

Mad EU players up in this piece. Seriously, though. I've noticed that--in my experience, at least--the contingent of European players on this game's netplay is bigger than most any other fighter I've played relative to the overall amount of players usually online. I reckon we can accredit that one to the pan being fransu.

I'd love to see Shiki added on account of the fact that she's Ryougi f**king Shiki.

Yeah, I remember those staredowns all too well last time we played. I've never been big on wake-up IDs for a number of reasons. I reckon that learning to block instead on wake-up and finding gaps in certain character's/players' pressure is decidedly more conducive to improving oneself as a player, and in the event that they are baited it's not like Ragna's low health is conducive to taking too many big punishes before you've lost the round anyway. And even when I have meter to make them safe, I prize my rapid cancel combos far too greatly to spend my meter on much of anything else most of the time.

Some Ragna data that hasn't been posted here yet.

Even sadder is the fact that it doesn't even take a few Inferno Dividers to the chin to set people off in regards to Ragna. I'm a Ragna main who fairly rarely uses ID on wake-up and I've still been bitched at after I've kicked some poor saps' ass simply by virtue of the fact that, ya know, Ragna. Main character privileges indeed.

That seems to be the case, much to my chagrin. And considering the lengths they're going to to neuter the move in other aspects, I doubt they'd go out of there way to make the move safe as recompense. It becoming a stagger move is going to look so strange after years and countless thousands of uses of it having the same property; a part of me even wonders if it will still have a ground bounce when connecting with airborne opponents. Like you mentioned, HF(1) working mid-combo by linking into 5B would no doubt be an interesting addition. I'm looking forward to seeing how the vacuum on 6C will work; that's definitely relevant to my interests. Furthermore, as someone who skipped CS1 and went straight to CS2 seeing the former's Burial Edge make a return makes me very excited to grind out what's possible with it in CP's system. The update since my last "comment" that things like "stuff>6c>hj.c>be>5b/5c>5d(1)>hf>stuff" works also instills me with a great deal of hope as it sounds as though there will still be plenty of options available to him for combos midscreen and all. The nerfs to GH and 5D--considering the fact that they're by far and away two of the most vital moves in my personal array of combos and in the manner that I play Ragna at present--are definitely gonna hit me hard and force a re-evalutation of my playstyle, but when I think about that's more or less exactly what I wanted. Ragna was essentially unchaged in 1.1, so even if 2.0 forces me to throw a great deal of combos and other elements of my former playstyle to the wayside, the fact that it seems to be giving me a plethora of new toys to play with and new options to explore excites me greatly. This is, of course, simply the first of many loketests to come before anything gets finalized so things are naturally liable to change, but I just hope that they keep a firm bead on their apparent goal to give Ragna some real "new" to deal with, no matter what buffs or nerfs he receives between now and 2.0's release. Side note, though: if 5D2 no longer bounces and ends up being a solid knockdown, I reckon that 3C>22C might be able to connect with it even in midscreen, which would be nice.

CDJapan finally received fresh stock and my order has officially entered the shipping phase. Should leave their facilities probably in the next few hours and be at my doorstep Friday(most likely) or Saturday(at the latest), judging by my past experiences with their fastest shipping option. Get hype.

And so, the hunt for a teammate begins...

I couldn't stay long, but I did arrive in time to take the last available spot in the lobby(at the time) and ended up winning both of the matches I was in. Hopefully I can stick around a bit longer next time.

I ordered my copy from cdjapan recently with their 1-3 day FedEx International Priority shipping. It was the lowest base price I could find at $56, and I've had nothing but excellent experiences with them and that shipping speed before, so it was a no-brainer for me. I had a few members points to lessen the price a bit so it ran me just over $67 in total. Hasn't shipped yet on account of it being over the weekend and apparently on back-order, but it should definitely be moving in the next couple of days and be to me shortly judging by how fast they've gotten my stuff to me before.