dere

If it's close to the ground then it's probably a TK9 air lumen which keeps the momentum of the forward jump (which I think is what Complexity was saying), otherwise maybe share a video link?

I think GRD management is very MU dependant, some you can't zone at all or very sparingly but for the ones you can remember you can place a bomb in front of you and start charging GRD by holding D, then 5a/5c the bomb if they try to approach. This works wonders to recover GRD quickly after they shield too many of your projectiles. Atepo does this a lot in his series against Jin that's on youtube. With that said, having vorpal is really good with Vatista but if zoning is working I wouldn't mind giving it up tbh, against patient opponents that know what they are doing you're gonna have to take some action though.

I was wondering about that MU myself but I heard from a JP player that it's in our favor. My take on it: Full screen isn't too bad and close range we're definitely better, it's the space in between where Vatista struggles so you need to try and avoid it. Practice your bomb blockstrings, Hilda can't do much to disrespect them if you execute properly as shown in a few atepo videos. Vatista's toolbox is still useful from up close, remember you can use lumen as a frametrap and to cover you air approaches and go for mixups and EX laser to make blockstrings safe and +frames. You want to end combos in oki if possible since flashkick leaves you at a comfortable range for Hilda to start pressuring you. I wish I had more specific information to share with you but there aren't many Hilda players where I live so I don't have much experience in the matchup either.

Do you mean mashable on startup or after blocking? On startup the times I get mashed is because I time the OH incorrectly and make it very obvious, but if someone always mashes when you go for the setup can't you just do 2c instead? or even throw them. If you mean on block then yeah, it's very unsafe if they can shield it properly but remember you can cancel to EX laser to make it safe. j.B isn't nearly as strong IMO since rising normals don't count as OH until you're going down.

Seems like a mix of charge partitioning plus the charge buffering that makes things like double laser work, but I'm not exactly sure? Here's another video with inputs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LVLOnEFjS8

After a 50/50 when you go low? You can actually confirm off 2c alone but even if you do commit to the 5c you can reverse beat like you said or when you react to the block start charging backwards so you can cancel 5c into A or B lumen. Going low is a lot safer than the IOH assuming the 2c does indeed get blocked and not reversal'd/mashed.

Vs Waldstein I have no idea, only fought 2 of them but didn't have any major problems. Vs Vatista, I think you really want to fight for GRD here, shield everything you can from fullscreen, etc. Vorpal means dash.C into 50/50 for a safe way to get in + mixup, but I don't have much experience in the mirror. CS also means meter and meter management is probably key also since EX laser is a great reactionary punish to fullscreen zoning. Vs Gordeau I still lose more than I win but I think we have to play extra lame and jump a lot less than we're allowed to in many other matchups, like someone said his 5c is better and quicker than ours so once he gets in range things tend to go sour. If you're gonna run oki the 2c route seems like the best bet, typical drill or flashkick ender into bomb is punisheable on his wakeup. Bombs are useful in neutral and I like standing at 5c range for the detonate but always fear the reaper.

I assume you mean the first setup? You do an empty jump while they are stuck on the bomb's hitstun and get to land almost at the same time they tech, then you go for jump into instant B drill or 2c. I haven't actually tested if you can do a safejump to bait DPs from the empty jump, I'll try that out tonight.

The 100% safe way of doing oki is going for 2a/5a 5b 2c 5c j.A j.B(H) A-drill 2c OTG (H), release 2B, 2a 2b, release 2C and cutting the combo short right there. From there you can explode a bomb right as they wake up to keep them legit and after you conditioned your opponent to stop mashing you have enough time to go for a B-drill IOH/2c mixup. There's another setup I posted a few pages back that is reversal safe but if not done right you can get easily mashed/thrown out of: 5a 5b 2c 5c delay j.A j.B(H) A-drill 2c(H) release 2B, 2a 2b, release 2C, wait for them to fall a little, j.C j.B(H) land j.C A drill release B Then there's the double bomb oki I posted last week which it's pretty nice to do off a j.C counterhit: (j.C) 2c 5c j.A j.B(hold) A-drill 2c OTG (hold), release B (standing), 2a 2b B-laser (hold B), release C (crouching), (dash if not in the corner), wait for them to fall, 2c, release B (crouching). And from a regular air-to-air j.C you can do: j.C 5a j.A j.B j.C land j.A j.B (H) A-drill 2c OTG, release bomb There's probably a few more I'm missing since every JP player likes to go for their own stuff it seems, but those should be enough to cover most cases. Make sure to experiment with bomb positioning as well, releasing a few bombs standing and going for an instant j.A to detonate seems to catch people offguard sometimes and you can j.A into B drill on the way down if timed right.

Only real problem being when you think j.A will hit... but then it doesn't. And you get sad. Anyway, I've been experimenting a lot with double bomb oki and frankly, I'm not seeing the point. The enders off a 2 bomb hit I found feel a bit tighter on execution and only do about 100-200 more damage than a single bomb + followup, is there anything I'm missing? The only time it feels justified is midscreen since you can space out the bombs with the dash 2c and then detonate both at the same time making the explosion cover a bigger area. Haven't really found a good ender if opponent decides to jump and double bombs hit them in the air, either.

(j.C) 2c 5c j.A j.B(hold) A-drill 2c OTG (hold), release B (standing), 2a 2b B-laser (hold B), release C (crouching), (dash if not in the corner), wait for them to fall, 2c, release B (crouching).

Turns out I was wrong and you can get bomb -> 2c into double bomb oki from a non-ch 2c starter, damage is ~3100 and the timing is actually not that hard. Still unsure if you can get this from any other starters. Edit: works from j.C 2c as well (non-assault)

Oh that part? That part is just hard haha, I still can't get it 100% either but I think doing the j.C A drill as low to the ground as possible helps. If you're getting jabbed/thrown before you try to 5a then your timing is probably off, if the problem is the 5a, I've seen a Japanese Vatista player do j.A to activate the bomb and beat throw/mash but that way obviously loses to reversal DP. I've been practicing this for a few days, got it a few times but it's pretty hard, CH only as far as I can tell. Edit: Starting to get it a bit more consistently, make sure your 2b is only 1 hit and do the 2c a bit earlier than you would think.

You mean the bomb after the 2c OTG? Are you getting the bomb off but 2a doesn't connect? If you're getting the 2c OTG hit then the timing on the drill shouldn't be the problem, try practicing 2c into bomb cancels by themselves to get it as early as possible, it's not especially tight or anything but it does have a timing. For assault you have to go straight into 2c 5c after the aerial and then do delay j.B(H) A drill into the ender of choice. 2c 5c delay j.A j.B(H) also works with the ender above but adds too much proration for a few others.

Ah I've seen that from a different player but with 2c instead of 2a after the dash, couldn't ever do it myself from max range but with 2a the timing feels a bit more lenient now. I suppose you can't do bomb combos off that confirm though? I can't seem to land 2a after the 2c otg. Either way it's still a better meterless option than the FF. With meter it seems it deals less damage than the FF but you don't lose GRD so I guess it depends on the situation. Hit confirming looks rough tough!

Nearly max range 5b 5c I just go 2c B+C(hold B+C and 3) into EX flashkick, does about 3k. Without meter it's around 2k and they get to air tech so you might want to 2c into bomb oki instead. If you're closer you can do 5b 5c 2c 5a and go into air combo. You could also start charging backwards while doing 5b 5c and then do 2c into B lumen. Damage is ass but sends them flying full screen which could be good in some matchups? Anyway, Vatista doesn't really have very good options from her max range and even less so if you used your 5c already.

Tsukuyomi

Guess I'll start this! Merkava. Wat do. I feel he severely outclasses us at max range, laser is terribly unsafe, air ball is ok but not very useful? Bombs feel somewhat useless as space control from full screen since the grab hand has no hitbox. I suppose we need to go in but I've been having a hard time punishing his jump out into fly. I haven't fought a Merkava since my bomb blockstrings got better though so that might help a bit.

Try doing 2A+B for the fastfall and input the 66C right away, I could never get it when I tried to go 22 66 but using A+B helped me a lot.

Hold 4 while the move is in progress.

Delay it a little bit, 66C needs to hit when they are about your height level.

I've been using this one: 5a 5b 2c 5c delay j.A j.B(H) A-drill 2c(H) release B 2a 2b release C, wait for them to fall a little, j.C j.B(H) land j.C A drill release B Does around 3k and if timed right is confirmed reversal safe against Hyde, Eltnum and Akatsuki (didn't try against the rest but I suppose it'd be safe as well) Only problem with this combo is that it seems really finnicky? The timing on the ender is character specific (I think some characters might fall faster? or maybe it's just a hitbox thing) and it gets even harder if you have to use j.B j.C instead of j.A j.B because of proration. And of course if you release the last bomb even a tiny bit too late you can get punished. On that note I've been testing with dummies and it seems Vatista BNBs themselves are somewhat char specific in their timing. Practicing on Linne the j.A j.B and j.B j.C routes seem almost universal except j.A almost always whiffs on Nanase (it's still possible but you have to delay it a lot and sometimes drill will whiff) and j.B j.C sometimes whiffs on Sion. 2C OTG also has to be delayed against Orie, Merkava and Walden.

If you do that now you get the triangle bomb explosion on the 4th bomb so yeah, RIP. About Vatista charges, drill is 43 frames, bombs are 61 frames, everything else is 53f. All this according to JP wiki.

I think Gordeau is easier than Hyde, honestly. Not that Hyde is too difficult but he does have 3b/2c links to worry about and the whole delayed rekka thing, plus he's somewhat low tierish. So I guess in order of ascending difficulty I would say Gordeau > Akatsuki > Linne = Hyde. Nanase and Merkava ain't that hard either. But just play Seth, honestly. If you can commit to learning him you will no doubt end up a better player.

I've actually been practicing this today but I don't think you need to do it that way, what I've been doing is with both B and C held, release 2B and immediately hold it again, 5a detonate, release 2C and immediately hold it again, 5a, etc. I'm not fast enough at it yet but it seems like it would work the same way while being easier to execute.