Sophisticat

^ Hotaru. Jump if he blocks, j.b or IAD out or something. He wants to trap you, trap HIM!

Oh wait, doesn't OTG men the opponent is standing? Or is he lying on the ground? Well, I meant standing anyway. I think you can hit 6a when the guy is lying down, but this might be CS specific. Oh yeah, forgot about 6a -> 6b, silly me. You can do gurren -> 6c after that, of course. But 6a -> 5c -> falling.C combo is just better. By falling.C, I do mean enma -> combo thingy in case you were wondering. And yeah, Haku's gotta stick together. Having a hard time winning means we all help each other.

I'm assuming you mean 6a/5c OTG hit? Not much you can do. You can renka (2) -> gurren -> 6c, but falling.C does the same for more damage and less cost, which should be good enough anyway. You can always finish in j.C if you want. Or, hop in, 2a -> throw -> combo the moment they tech, but you can't do this often.

^ From the sound of it, you're talking about CT, right? This thread is for CS. In any case, it's the same for both. Hotaru can be done either off hop or TK'd. Which one you use depends on where you are positioned. Use TK if you want to take advantage of the other guy trying to pressure you, hop forward if you want to put on the pressure. You can do just about any combo off of it. You can do falling.C, 6c -> shippu, 5c -> gurren -> 6c, etc. Personally, I go for falling.C when I can.

It's a good 1 star combo, and is better than 6c in that you throw the other guy into the corner. However, you can't finish in shippu if you're looking for the extra damage. You should practice doing hop 5b instead of 5a since that nets more damage, but the timing is tighter, so stick to 5a until you're comfortable with it.

I think there's better options than a Zan now, so you don't see anyone using it anymore. Really, the only reason to use Zan in CT is after a renka if you 1) need big damage mid-screen or 2) land a 6c ch (close) in the corner. Now with CS you just won't see it because you get more with less out of some other options... I do want to get my mits on CS to test out Zan stuff, but that'll have to wait for release. Regardless, Renka -> Zan -> 3c is terrible and should only be used if you're going for the kill.

That's a very extroverted thing, though. Some of us are perfectly content staying silent. :P Yes, well, conversation always livens up the atmosphere, but it's not a pre-requisite. Anyway, all I can say is be nice/polite/shake hands/etc., but a little bit of rivalry never hurts anyone. It is a competitive environment after all, so you can get away with some stuff so long as you make sure it's obvious you're not being serious.

Left-handers unite! I also macro to L2. No problem at all.

Sticking with shippu is fine if that's what you're most comfortable with. The difference between 6c ch combos and going into shippu isn't that large, but the combos have a clear advantage. Just putting that out. They're pretty easy to do, though. Basically, off 6c ch, you have four choices: 1) 5c 2) Gurren 3) Renka 4) Shippu You will always want to go for the 5c, unless you're too far (gurren) or in the corner (renka -> zan if close/shippu -> kishuu if too far). All you have to practice is getting these out after the 6c ch. You are in a war of attrition, I just meant you can make it more efficient on your end. Counters and shippu are two extremes, so finding a middle ground can make your going a little less traumatic. Yup, 2c is great against an sj'ing Tager. Keep using it. I simply wanted to point out a more damaging option than regular 2c -> sj.2c -> AD j.2c. Get in the Hotaru habit! It's a great tool, and since the opponent techs lower, you have more margin to get off a falling.C. About close quarters, I meant that Tager's going to get you there eventually because that's where he traps you. You want to get out and possibly capitalize, so I gave options. Staying there is his zone, so it's a death trap. Make him eat something and he'll think twice about it. Personally, I find the corner's the last place I want to be. Tager's on top of me and I'm in his zone... Makes for some good 720 setups on his end. Well, overall, you handle Tager way better than I do, so you're fine (It's one of my worst match-ups ). You just need to capitalize more on damage opportunities and Tagers will fear you. Keep training! You'll get the Midas touch one day with Gold Haku!

Rocking the Bumblebee Haku, are ye? You know how to make it sting with shippu. Alright, lots of good stuff, but there's also plenty of room for improvement. First, combos. - You have falling.C down, so no comment. Just work on getting it consistent. - Off 2c AA, you can do sj.B -> dj.C -> Tsubaki -> falling.B -> 2c -> j.2c -> AD j.2c - In the corner, use renka to start loop, enma is kind of pointless. - Off counters, you can go into falling.C combo. Better than plain 6c. In general, it seems like you're getting most of your damage off Shippu and counters. You're in for a war of attrition against Tager if you rely too much on these. - Don't start off the round with C moves. Tager beats you clean on 5a mash. - Off 6c ch, you can do similar damage to 6c shippu, but for less meter. I'm sure you read those posts I made in the combo thread. Use them! - More Hotaru! Tager is weak to it. TK hotaru if he's on top of you trying to mix-up or jumping in. Or jump in/hop into it. Hotaru is one of your few advantages in close quarters. - Don't stand on top of Tager when he's down. Wakeup buster isn't your idea of oki. J.C's good here, not much he can do about it. - You can't be afraid of throwing something out in close quarters. Just walking back can get you trapped/killed. Hotaru, 3c, A/B moves all put on the pressure. If you have maga to burn, do a quick mix-up to push the guard bar in your favor. End with j.C -> AD back if he blocks. Overall, you know the match-up, so all that's left is refining stuff. Good luck!

I think this one is down to personal preference. I like it for the following reasons: - It's a way to capitalize on a non-ch 6c which can lead to j.2c ender for positioning/loop. - Damage is a bit higher than simple 6c -> Shippu. It's 5k minimum, over 6k if it goes into loop. - It becomes easy to bait burst if the other guy is nearly dead. The downside is that it is 6 maga min., burstable, and you could use leftover maga for other stuff. You also only use it if you can't Shippu -> loop with a Kishuu. I'll use it if the other guy is at 50% hp, and I want a better guarantee to win the round than a shippu blow which resets positions. 6c -> shippu is, of course, the best choice if it kills the other guy. In brief, it's a mid-screen option for non-ch 6c given shippu won't kill the other guy. That's about it.

Okay, so I did some quick fiddling around with 6c non-ch, and it turns out you can't combo into it out of Shippu or RC. : \ So I figure we have the following combo options at our disposal: - 6c Shippu [w/ Kishuu follow-up in the corner] - 6c RC -> previous 6c ch combos posted. They both take a lot of maga, but I think they both have their uses. Keep the Shippu combo for a 6c hit near the corner (combo from throw, for example), but go the way of RC for mid-screen if the guy is at half-life. They're both late-round options, so utility is limited, but the good news is that I finally found a personal use for RC.

Even if you hit them at the very tip, gurren works. There are some instances where the other guy will be sent out of range, though it's quite rare. Hitting with the tip, then followup gurren should work. You also don't need to charge up 6c at all. Yeah, I think they're all ch combos, but I'll get to practicing non-ch maybe tomorrow or later in the week. In any case, blowing 4 stars like that is no longer my cup of tea unless the other guy is at least at half life. I still use it out of habit, but I'm working on cutting it out.

I'll use [star use : damage] to show output. Not sure all of them work on non-CH, though. -> 5c/Gurren -> Enma -> falling.C [2s : ~5.3k | 3s : ~4.5k] [Corner] -> 5c/Renka (1) -> Zan -> loop [5s : ~5k+] I forget the damage on the second one. Anyway, you can see that you can link either 5c/Gurren/Renka after a 6c, which leads into your big combo. You get more damage for less, a bit of meter gain, and better positioning to boot. I'm positive you can nab 6k off a CH 6c that goes into corner loop. Off throws, you can either gurren -> kisshu or gurren -> hop. One/two star(s) to push further into the corner. No use for Shippu in any of these cases. : \

About Shippu, I've come to think that it's actually a bad move to use unless you have 5 stars for Kishuu -> corner loop. My reasoning is that off the usual 6c there are better combos that do more damage for half the stars. Also, shippu blows away the opponent, which makes it a reset. On the other hand, combos usually ending in shippu can instead finish in j.2c, which achieves the same idea, but you land nearly on top of them. So I conclude that shippu/yuki should only be used to finish off the opponent, unless you have an opportunity to go into corner loop with them. Am I correct in assuming this?

^ Eh? It's something you have to get used to doing, but it's hardly difficult. Just do it fast.

Not new either, but it makes me wonder if a 100% kill is possible off 6D even with the proration. Anyway, as with the previous vid, very situational. The dude needs to have used up his bursts, you need 8 stars, and you have to land a specific move to guarantee Mugen, which may heavily prorate your combo. Personally, if you land full 6C ch in CS, there's combos that allow for a better damage:star use ratio. And speaking of 6c CH combos, everyone should worship this one: 6C CH -> [if close] 5c / [if far] Gurren -> Enma -> falling.C. Damage for 2/3 stars is too good. 4.5 - 5k midscreen and over 6k in corner loop. I've been swinging around 6c too much lately. I'm an addict!

That's not one of the stronger mugen combos, though. Mugen has plenty of combos, you just have to find the one you like. I don't know many, so I'll just link to this one for a strong one. As for me, I've been looking into what I'll call "reversals". That is, combos that make you switch sides. An example: Throw -> renka (1) -> enma -> back jump -> j.2c -> back AD j.2c. In the above you went from facing, let's say left, to facing right once you landed. This is useful if you're being rushed/close to the corner and want to go into loop. Some such reversals (I won't list whole combos, just the "turning" point) are: - 5D/2D (of course) - Throw -> renka (1) -> enma -> back jump - 6D -> hop -> falling.C - 2D/5D -> Enma -> back jump - Enma -> IAD -> Hotaru - 2C AA -> sj.2c -> back AD j.2c (found this one by accident. Positioning seems fairly precise, but I haven't tested it either). These aren't just gimmicks, either. You should be able to get some good damage off of them like any other staple combo. They simply have the added benefit of corner herding/position reversal. If you want gimmicks: - [Facing corner] Renka (2) -> Kishuu -> 2a -> Renka (1) -> Enma -> back jump. - [Facing corner] Renka (1) -> Enma -> back jump - [Facing corner, opponent airborne] Gurren (dude flips) -> renka (1) -> Enma -> back jump. Etc, etc. Source: this vid. It also has the benefit of less tech time for the other guy, so you can do your falling.C lower than with regular enma. It does less damage, but it's more guaranteed if you're still getting down the timing of falling.C enma.

^ Already known for a while now. Combos off full 6c ch lead to massive damage. However, this vid does show one potential use of full 6c, though it is unlikely to ever happen.