Sophisticat

I agree he takes more execution now, though I don't believe its difficulty increased at all from CS1. It's just that; there's more of it. Practice the new combos and inputs in training as much as possible. The more you do, the more Haku will become second nature again.

I've identified what's been bugging me about Haku's changes. It's not so much how much he's changed, but that I'd become very "in tune" to CS1 Haku. He was starting to become second nature on just about everything, and that's a very nice spot to be in. But CS2 Haku's got a ton of changes that shift from the sweet spot and it's taken a bit of getting accustomed to. I now expect rapid acceleration on progression from this point. My sword will turn out to be sharp come Mat8 after all.

I agree with the Plat ban. There's simply no time to get any exp. and Ps3 is the majority console. I played Steb's Plat last meet, and I'm pretty sure Brice would steamroll us just by doing gimmicks.

The thing with Haku is that he really did change a lot and old muscle memory stuff is hard to forget. I didn't have trouble with the new Renka input, but I still jump after Hotaru. He gained new gatlings, different bounce effects, etc. Tons of little things that take time to adjust to. I can do most of his new combos without problem, it's making use of them that's proving hard and I keep reverting to old stuff on top of that. :<

I don't have any good pics, and I'm the opposite of photogenic. So, I use C. Bale since I somewhat look like him and he's way handsomer than me. Besides, my profile's been up for a good while (I think 2y now) and I'd hate to hear from former high-school guys I really don't want to hear back from. >_> But anyway, yay for making friends! E-friends are the best! xD

Hot damn, guys. How do you get 200+ "friends"? I don't think I even have that many acquaintances! o_O Also, is that really your name Nini? I am torn between being bemused and awed at being a "von Karma".

Everyone add me on Facebook! I think I'll give that site a shot (though I think everyone needs to do the inviting as I have not a clue as to how the site works). Name's Sophisticat. :D

In other news, I'm starting to get consistent on corner combos and midscreen Hotaru IAD. Pretty much where I'm getting all my dmg now. Bring it. Hakumen gonna blow MTL up come MAT8. :bad:

No, Brice, nooooo!!! I hope you made a shrine to your hair. May it rest in peace. D: Related: is facebook any good at anything? I've got a... page? Profile? Whatchamacallit? But I don't use it. I might start using it if there's a purpose to it, but I'm sticking to LinkedIn for now.

Yo damn, that's inspiration! And what's with that Haku? He was flailing all over the place. Still, I'm half exaggerating here, I really don't think CS2 Haku is that bad at all. I wouldn't drop him for anything in the world. Sorry for making you type all that up! :P I will say that It's not hyperbole that the Ragna, Hazama, and Rachel matches all got stupid hard to deal with. Haku is otherwise still a powerhouse in the corner and his combos outside of the heavy carry portrayed in that vid I linked to aren't all that hard to do -- just more specific in their application.

Shouldn't that be: 5D -> 6a -> 5a -> j.2a -> AD j.2a -> j.C instead? I thought we used that instead of CS1 hop pickup now since it gives better meter/dmg? Will update the new combos later. IAD j.a -> j.b off 2D is a cool find since it means there's a meterless starter.

!!!!! Such inspiration! :O I'd repent, but... Haku will still suck and his combos will still be hella high execution. I just can't connect with the character anymore. FML. ;_; But he had to work so hard for that, and he even lost at the end. Isn't he, like, top 4 JP PSR? There's no light at the end of this tunnel. I really don't think Haku's going to amount to anything much. Might as well end it. Life has no meaning anymore. ;_; ----- Grats on Krew's image making on front page, though. That's cool. :] ----- Oh, Pedro, Skullgirls is supposed to be there at ECT. Get in some playtime!!

There's that, though it applies more to corner combos. You'll do about one rep of corner loop instead of two and shave off a k or two of dmg because of proration. It is there, but it's more situational since p1 got better on Haku's jabs in this game. In CS1 it was more of an issue, yeah. Also, you guys will have to count me out of ECT. I'm working that weekend. :\

@7:00: Nice example that shows how a reversal combo can work in-match. Very practical and turns the table. Too bad he didn't go for Renka(1) -> Kishuu -> 6c off that 3c CH, or even Gurren -> 5b off the 2b after. He'd have won.

Eh? Starter is almost irrelevant in Hakumen combos except to determine the end damage you'll do. His moves cancel into every special so he can start combos from just about everything. What's interesting about the combos is their properties. IAD j.a -> j.b and IAD j.b -> Hotaru is huge corner carry, but the execution/timing is hella strict. They are efficient combos that would be practical were it not for the high execution. Maybe I could do them consistently in a couple months, but for now it's stuff.

I probably won't see you guys until Mat8 rolls around. Get in good exp.! Lol JF, try doing these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkBOxQPCV0M. Such high execution. ----- It is my opinion that the Haku players are boned at MAT8. I feel his worst matchups atm are Hazama and Rachel, which got worse from CS1. Ara didn't change, and Mu got a bit worse to fight against. Ragna is now more frustrating to fight against if it were possible and you can't make mistakes vs. Jin. Tager is now lolrandom and can mash D -> 360/720 for easy random win. Those chars are also the more prominently featured in the community. The Void will not prevail, I fear.

Psycho, right on it. Yeah, thread took a bit. We needed to figure out new Haku's combos since they're pretty different from CS1. ----- Damn, Ryoko, that's a nice, big post. I'll have to read it later to see what I can get out from it. ----- More testing done on the IAD j.a -> j.b carry shows that it's much easier on characters with bigger vertical hitboxes. Ragna and Tager I now have roughly 35% success rate on the combo in training, whereas I have yet to land it on Jin. Jin's got a short air hitbox, so delay j.a is hard to time. I might recommend doing an early IAD for him, then delay j.a to the max to do a low j.b hit. Spark says the combo only drops on Rachel, so more testing to be done here. Now, for IAD timing, I recommend doing it the moment the hitbox bounces off the wall. This should provide enough delay to hit a late j.a. This is only for tall characters so far, though. ----- EDIT: Anyone know of any good low-mag midscreen options aside from the known ones? I think we should attempt to develop this area as much as possible. We have: - 3c CH -> 2b -> Gurren -> [Juggle or IAD j.a -> j.b] - Dustloop - Counters - Hotaru - Random meterless stuff like AA 5a, 6a, 2c, etc. And that's about it? Sucks balls compared to CS1, lol.

Good shit, Ryoko. I find the thing that's hurting me most right now is the 2a nerf. It's harder to poke now. I'm also feeling the meter gain hit and loss of midscreen 1s pickup combo. On the other hand, yeah, get them to the corner and hit them like a truck. It doesn't make up for his nerfs, but it's there. Biggest difference to me is that it hurts rushdown playstyle and encourages turtling when low on mag, which I hate. Where you needed only 1s before to corner push you now need either the right starter (3c CH) or 2-3s. Plus, IAD j.a -> j.b piece remains high-execution and easy to whiff on certain characters.

*Whew* Added new carry & reversal combos as well as a section to explain tough execution spots. Please tell me if there's anything else I should add/modify. For execution of TK's -> AD I noted the minimum height as around roughly Ragna's waist. I haven't really tested this, though. Could anyone do it? I don't have my Ps3 with me. I haven't looked into this, but I will once I get back to my Ps3. Meter isn't something I've focused on yet. Ah, okay, that's cool then. Hope it works for you now, I'm having trouble getting consistent at these myself. :\

5 to 8?! :O HYPEEEEEEEE!!!! Couple the huge room with all the other games, and we're probably looking to beat Nemesis II for attendance (~200 entrants!). Hype hype hype! But as for the other side games... probably only casuals. I'm not aware that there's a scene for them here, and just running BB/GG is likely going to be a lot. Don't take my word for it though, it's just my impression. I've never heard of it... Regardless, food is pretty important to me. I start to focus too much on it if I go without food for too long and I start feeling it and it's all downhill. I can go without it for quite a bit of time, but I feel like shit if I do it so I avoid it like the plague if I can.

Yeah, that confirms what I thought. Ok, I'll change it to mean "Renka(1) -> Kishuu" for now. Much more intuitive.

What Mac said. For 2c to connect, I've found the other's hitbox needs to be nearly touching the ground, so IAD'ing late helps this. Have you been able to do it by IAD'ing immediately? These strings are execution-heavy for now, and I don't think I've seen them at all in match vids, but I think they can be very useful for massive pushback. I might make these my exclusive combos midscreen down the line if they prove good enough and I get consistent on them. Not sure what you mean by this. If it's the string/name, then I was actually considering eliminating it from the list since it seems more variable than you'd expect from a common string. Or I might just list it as "Renka(1) -> Kishuu", which should make that part shorter. *shrug* Otherwise, it's your damage string in the corner. It can also be used as a "reversal", and sets up big damage midscreen by enabling Hotaru.

Psycho, I'm about to put up your counter combos. Want to add/change anything before? Also, I assume these are midscreen, right? ----- I added new sections under "misc. combos" titled "Heavy Corner Carry" and "Reversals" for the combos found in that corner carry vid. I'll make up a list of combos that should be up later today or tomorrow. I'm also considering adding a new section just to explain how to do Haku's harder combo parts with vids as accompaniment. If you're having trouble with links, this should help out. Might as well add character-specifics in there, too. What do you say guys, aye or nay?

I missed this! Yes, I 1000% agree that eating properly is a strong driver towards good performance. On an empty stomach, you're distracted, feel dizzy, and low on energy. It's the opposite when eating well, which is why I always make a point of it to eat properly before engaging in matches. Training; it's not just practicing combos, but working on your body and mind's health, too!

Yeah, j.2a is better. Sj.2a is to keep the combo going. Okay, so I've been practicing combos, especially the big IAD -> j.a -> j.b -> etc. carry ones, so here's a couple tips if you're having trouble: - For IAD -> j.a -> j.b -> etc., you want to do all three of these moves late so as to hit j.b as low as possible. This is the key to getting 2c to connect. - For [stuff] -> IAD j.b -> Hotaru -> etc., you again want to hit j.b as low as possible so IAD late. Not shown in the vid is 3c -> 2b -> gurren starter, but I can confirm it works so long as you delay IAD and j.b to the max. - For corner "reversals" such as [starter] -> enma -> j.2a "reversal", you need to IAD after enma. This is a relatively easy combo once you have it down, and should work on the whole cast. What's really useful about this is that it works off jabs (5a -> 5b, or 2a -> 2b for example), so Haku can "reverse" his position without having to rely on a risky counter. - To combo Tsubaki midscreen, it seems to have to be off hop. TK is just a pixel too high I find. On the other hand, I'm having a lot of trouble connecting it on all characters. - For corner [stuff] -> Renka(1) -> Kishuu -> 2c -> Hotaru -> j.2c -> 5c -> 2c link, forward jump Hotaru is plenty good enough. I actually find it easier to link the 5c -> 2c part than in CS1 after the j.2c. The key here is your j.2c height. Done right, 5c doesn't need to hit with the tip of the sword to connect, there's a bit of leeway for 2c to connect. After CS1 5c/2c links, I find this one to be relatively easy to do and should offer near-guaranteed big damage. I highly recommend getting this one down as it packs a hell of a punch. Hope the above helps, I'll probably add a section in the combo list to deal with tight links/combos.