Sophisticat

I believe this vid gives perspective on his potential: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm12239874 I think he's going to be on par with Tao (A-?). Similar to her, his defense might not be strong, but he's designed so that his offense makes up for it. He isn't as nimble nor as good in mixup as Tao, but he packs much more of a punch. It does seem he'll be among the easier characters to zone and pressure, though. So, RTSD or die. Imo, he's a mix of the offensive version of Haku and the male counterpart to Tao. I never felt it was in Haku's favor, if that makes you feel better. To be sure, I'd say that match 5.5 TG favor at best. TG did have some things going for him back then since Haku couldn't poke like he does in CS.

Do kishuu after the slash -> 5c or 2c -> whatever. Or just do Yuki -> Shippu if it'll kill e'm. Hasn't changed since CT. Reminds me that I've been meaning to test Yuki combos for their damage output. I don't think they exceed 5k mid-screen and 6k in the corner.

^ All I can say is I fully agree. We really get to see Valk's potential in this vid. He's going to be very fun to play with. I thought he'd play like an offensive Haku, but it seems he's also the male version of Tao, though perhaps not with the same kind of mixup potential. We'll see. Interesting nonetheless.

Can't you attack just before the laser hits? If I attempt D, I have to guess your approach since I can't counter both high and low. Also, if you anticipate him using D, can't you blow up the Steins -> combo? Counters are very risky to use, a good Haku will only use them on reaction or good yomi sense. They work more as a deterrent for reckless approaches and dumb blockstrings; they do their job if they make the other guy scared of doing anything. Once you understand that, D counters are hardly scary unless the Haku is exceptionally good with them. I find this to be a bad match due to the amount of work Haku has to do while still being zoned. It might potentially be 5-5, but Mu isn't the one breaking a sweat.

Hop brings you close to Ragna as he's dashing in. Do it right, and you'll Hotaru before he does ID. But yeah, if it clashes, do j.D and you'll beat it. So technically, Hotaru can beat it outright. Or block, make him waste 50 meter (ID rapid), and do Hotaru anyway. Whatever the case, I think we've spent too much time on this one simple issue that mostly only scrub Ragnas will do. I don't think I've ever seen a competent Ragna do this unless he's messing around.

^ Most games these days run at 60fps, especially fighting games. I IS MAD SALTY! And, please, I understand where you're all coming from, but we have to let 6b go. I remember back in primary school we had a guy whose little brother was "mentally challenged" as the profs kindly put it. So as not to hurt the guy's feelings we all went "he's really smart for a mentally challenged kid!" It's kind of sad, you know? Let's remember 6b in its CT glory, and let it rest in peace, ok? :sad: As for counters, you use them on reaction or strong yomi, or you don't use them at all. Look at the recovery frames on those, and you'll see why. I can't count the number of times I went for a 2D and my opponent had enough time to jump and land a j.something. Judicious use provides an advantage, but reckless use will get you killed.

Imo, this match is one of Haku's worst, but the Mu has to be competent. There isn't anything specific to it, just keep him zoned, then rush in with a mixup when he's pined down. Not much I can do outside of D or Hotaru in that case. What you want to avoid is getting your setup dismantled. I've noticed Mu can be very setup-dependent, and Haku is the master at anti-offense. Keep away, take your time, and set up traps. It's not a piece of cake, but you can make life hard for Haku if you play it right.

Hop hotaru or D counter should beat that shit outright. Don't know why any decent Ragna would do it anyway, he's just asking for pain coming his way.

^^ His effective range is the mid- to long-range, but his damage comes from the close range, unfortunately (I think they should let 6c link to other stuff on counter like in CT, but I digress). You have to know which move to use when by experience, since his moves are very spacing-dependent. Poke with A's and B's when close, throw out a C once in a while when the spacing is right. 4c to maybe stagger and get in, or j.C to keep e'm out or corner herd. Every normal has a purpose (except 6b. Fuck 6b. >_>), you just have to be familiar with how they handle.

I'll just say I agree with Spirit's stance that Jayoku's placement depends on your definition of what makes a good FC move. If, after all, our criteria for "best" implies purely the extra damage we get off the move, then Haku's full charge 6c is the best thing ever. Stickbug made a great post (the kind of which we need more of on DL), so I applaud it even though I disagree with its final assessment. @Stick: Haku's Yukikaze can combo. Kishuu after the slash will get you close, then you can either 5c or 2c depending on which combo you want to do. But yeah, FC on it is pretty useless since there's not much you can do with just 3 stars (assuming you started with 8 the moment you Yuki'd). It can go up to 6k if you're in the corner, I think. Haven't really tested Yuki combos in CS, though.

Jayoku and Hotaru tied for best, though slight advantage to Jayoku in that it's got more guaranteed damage to it. I'd say Ragna 2c isn't THAT good. Such short range makes it unreliable. Plus, you have to get an FC with it first. 2 stars: regular enma bnb. 4 stars: -> j.C -> 5c x2 -> Enma -> yadda yadda for, like, 5k midscreen and 6k in the corner if I recall.

Ryoko already posted higher damage combos a while ago: link here. But if you could tack on an extra [6c] after the first one, your combo might beat his out, though it seems much harder to pull off and less guaranteed.

Nice, thanks for checking into it, TB. Looks like he does have a couple setups. Haha, I was going to suggest trying out this one next, but you beat me to it. Another thing I thought about: j.C seems to have a low hitbox, so it gave me the ideas for my previous post. Thinking about it more, is it possible it might also have fuzzy properties like a low Hakumen j.B (low j.B (blocked) -> instant dj.B)? The hitbox might not stretch out horizontally enough, but it's worth a shot. Suggestion for first post: Posting the optimal bnb strings in bold with proper starters at the beginning of the post would be appreciated. It makes it easier to filter out which combos are useful and which are not. It's cool to post up every combo that gets posted, but getting overenthusiastic clutters things up. I suggest a minimalist style for the sake of readability.

You need to advertise that outside of Site Feedback & Suggestions. I don't think anyone who hasn't checked in there knows you make such an excellent service to us Dustloopers. :O

Might as well post it up. This thread is for discussing matchup strategies against Valkenhayn.

If you want braindead Mugen: [Renka(1)-Zan(1) -> gurren -> kishuu] xN Personal preference: [Renka(1)-Zan(1) -> Enma -> Tsubaki -> 5c] xN You use a Tsubaki in that one, but the height is very liberal so you don't need to either hop or TK it. A normal forward jump is sufficient.

Funny, I was just thinking about potential resets today. Valkenhayn doesn't seem to be strong in the mixup category, but I think he's going to have a couple things going for him. Taking Ronove's 4.5k reset, I presume a standard reset would be to go into Wolf command throw. Since command throw has a lot of meterless damage from following combos, I think it's safe to say a bnb reset might easily lead to 8-9k for only 50% meter. Not bad. Now, regarding his mixup, I've been thinking about 5b's jc'able properties (I'm assuming 2b isn't?). Could someone test whether 5b -> j.C (or that downward kick normal that does knockdown) is an instant overhead? Or if any 5b -> j.X leads to one for that matter? Also, this opens up possibilities for his blockstrings. I think I read somewhere that his blockstrings have a lot of pushback, and I also saw that j.B seems to be good at crossing up, so perhaps one could do [whatever] -> 5b -> 2b -> 5b -> j.B cross. Other potential stuff with the same block string: [whatever] -> 5b -> 2b -> 2b [whatever] -> 5b -> 2b -> 6c Ya'll get the idea. His switch into Wolf seems to be very fast too, so I think you can do tick command throw with proper conditioning of the other guy. Of course, someone needs to test this.

While I'm not one to go for this kind of shirt, I must say I'm terribly tempted by the Haku shirt. Great to wear at anime/BB events! Yes, I just checked, and you can select "US & Canada" on the checkout screen. Awesome.

A couple Q's: Which moves of his break primers, and which are the overheads? Which moves are Wolf-cancelable? Can his hop cancel into anything at all? Thanks in advance. Also, from vids it seems his 2c might be his single strongest normal starter. Might be a good place to start for max-damage stuff.

Some vids with A-92 I found on Nico. Unfortunately, they're also probably all we'll get since these matches date back to May (he may no longer be playing). Anyway, here goes for quite possibly the best current Hakumen player (according to Ryokoalways): http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm10776016 http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm10776294 This one is CT, but A-92's pretty clutch, so his stuff is still relevant in concept. http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm8558115

Give Haku back his CT 6a & 6b and we've got ourselves the greatest incarnation ever. :P I was actually speaking to Tofu, but you're welcome to post your own vids too. :P