Afternoon Intergalactic

If you're still accepting entries: PSN: jAstroo Location: Southern California

I agree that Merkava's hitbox is probably what saves this matchup from being too painful, it makes poking/confirming easier (and god knows I need the damage). I fought against a Merkava earlier that did nothing but fly around and throw fireballs, and I couldn't do anything but wait for him to come down. If i tried to air-to-air him with a J.8C, he would divekick me and beat it clean. It's really frustrating and I'm not quite sure what to do when he plays it like this. I feel that the way to play against Merkava is as you said, dashing in from the ground. A good Merkava will try to keep you locked down with 5c and full screen command grab, but if you pick the right gaps it's possible to get in and finally start pressuring.

This is interesting, I knew that 214A had some pretty odd tech, but I guess if the spacing is right this wouldn't be a bad option to end a blockstring with. I've personally found the Akatsuki matchup to be decent for nanase. Most of your normals out-prioritize/out-range his by quite a bit (does your 2b really get beaten by his 2a? I've never had that problem personally), and all you need to really look out for is his fireball/dp game. Good Akatsukis will use the double jump/tatsu effectively so that is another thing to look out for. Whenever I play this matchup I just focus on dancing out of his range/not getting caught in a position where he can apply his pressure. Speaking of matchups, does anyone have any advice against Merkava? I've found that j.236B is pretty useless against him, because most of his full-screen normals (and full screen command grab) go right through. Also, he can fly over it and I'm still not quite sure how to tag him in the air (he's always above me). Lastly, I may just be bad but trying to 3C his divekick is not working out so well (and leads to pain..), not sure if DP works but at this point I've just tried to shield it and punish on block. Any suggestions?

If it has been mentioned already, I apologize. I must have not been reading too carefully. jB jA BC jB etc sounds dangerous, I'll have to try that out. If anything, 214A CS seems to be better than 236A CS or just doing it off of a normal, from what I've seen. Anyway, thanks for the insight!

Hello everyone, Been lurking here a while getting all the tech that you guys have put up, and I feel like it's time to share my own findings (although I anticipate that most of you have seen this before). After messing around in training/playing casuals with a friend, I've found that I mostly lean toward a few bnbs: 1: Close range 2A starter/Assault starter: 2A 2B 2C 5C jB jC j2C 3C B+C jBB j2C j236B (for oki) 2. Far range any starter: *Starter* 2B 2C 236A-6C j[C] jBB j.2C (2C 214A) (or j.236B oki) *sometimes 3C B+C etc. but i'm pretty inconsistent with it. 3. 2B starter: 2B 2C 5C jBB j[C] j236A jA jB j2C 3C B+C jBB j2C (2C 214A) (or 236B oki) I've found that combo 1. works for any jump-in hit if you omit the 3C B+C relaunch but combo 2 doesn't. Combo 2 can be done from mashing 2AAA (or any other mashed normal I believe) but combo 1 doesn't. I've used these flags to determine which route I should go into when I confirm. Sometimes I omit the 3C B+C relaunch depending on the situation (3C is too far to hit, poration is being odd, etc), and I was just wondering if the relaunch was worth trying in all situations. On the upside you get another chance to 2C j236B, but on the downside if something goes weird and the opponent techs you've lost both damage and oki. Meh, I guess it's just a matter knowing all possible starters. I've also found that if you CS 214A (after doing a blockstring) while nanase is airborne, you can jB and jA right after for a sneaky double overhead. It's hard to be consistent with it, and I'm not sure how practical it is, but from playing against Day X folks it seems to work. Anybody else use this?

Thanks for the info! Sounds like it may be worth it, although personally I enjoy earning the points and unlocking along the way. I did local versus with a friend the other night for a few hours, and was able to rack up enough points to buy all of the colors for a character, so regardless of method it seems to be pretty quick (which is always welcome).

Like others have said, it's possible (and preferred by most) to download the game to a JP or HK PSN account, and most of the info can be found in the Importing 101 guide. Also, I've heard good things about both Play-Asia and Ami Ami regarding physical imports.