TaoFTW

It took me a while, but this thread is FINALLY 100% complete.

You're right in saying that Tao's 2a dominate your options as well as what you said about the nail pressure strings. Thank you for that constructive input! Let's not forget that Tao isn't the only one with a crazy low poke. I'll use what Mad Tea Party said, "Bang can't do anything to anyone except Hakumen and Tager. If Bang ever wins, it's because the person using him knows the game better." I don't want to sound rude at this point, but either you level up your game or remain bitter that Bang sucks.

Tao has a 4 way crossup against Tager. You just need to land it once to gatling it into a drive combo. The only things you really need to be afraid of is the following: - Tech traps and Knockdowns - 360/720 buffers - Air CH Tao isn't out of options even under those circumstances. And this is one of the few matches where Tao's zoning is very effective and safe. Anything Tager throws out can easily be avoided by triple jumps, sticky kitty and j.c. It doesn't hurt to play safe or pure rushdown. Tager can only block with a few backdashes.. JP says matchup is about 4/6 - I agree.

The easy way to understand using drive cancels, "For each drive cancel you use, you use one jump. Think of the jumps." Edit: Great explanations XDest. :3

Okay, now you're just being unreasonable. Tao has no defensive options cause she's reckless and brainless cat. That isn't, necessarily, all too far from the truth, but she has NONE! Zippo! Zero! Her only alternatives are her distortion specials and dead angle, but that requires 50% meter. She has no specials or moves that stops you from closing in. When you lock down Tao in a pressure string, there's nothing she can do to get out - with the exception of IB or if you mess up. Longer blockstun = more opportunity to mix up = more chances to land 3k combos and gain oki for another crossup/mixup! @_@ And if you're splurging 50% on meter to get random damage, then - I'm sorry - but you're just asking to take a beating. So OF COURSE 2a will beat most of Bang's normals! It's a 6 frame move with 3 frames of active window. Tao excels at close range pressure and subpar zoning, but that's all she has. So, in a way, you could say that her offense is her best defense. But Bang works the same way except he excels with crossup and mixup games. Does that mean that his crazy good crossup game is his best defense? If you're getting fed up with 2a, then you better level up your game instead of complaining.

Videos thread updated with some of my matches in a recent gathering against the following characters: Jin, Tager, Carl and Arakune

They're usually held on the last Saturday at the end of each month. So the next one is at 9/26

Once again, I'm thoroughly impressed with your handiwork. Keep up the good work.

There's lots of room for creativity when you want to try punishing 2d spam. You don't have to do an air grab, but a well-timed 4d~b will CH 2d during the 1-4 frame animation. When that happens, you can follow up with a nice meaty 5.3k combo. :3 Just be aware that Noel can follow up with a flash kick after the 2d. So if you IB it, then you'll need to guess whether or not they'll use it. Put it this way, 2d is a high risk/high reward move. Every character has a response that - even Tao. If you learn how to punish players for doing risky tactics, then you'll notice your win streak jump incredibly.

Air throw. It'll surprise the hell out of every noel player. :3 I'll try to draw this out. 'H' stands for Noel's attack Hit box and 'N' is her hit box. 1-4 frame animation: __H H H__N_N H 5-10 frame: ____H H H __H_______H _____N_N 10-14 frame: _______H _________H ____N_N__H _________H First option is beserker barrage super. Second option is to hit her in the 1-4 animation (the start up execution). 5b won't work cause she's in the air - hence air throw, but you have to yomi it while you're in the air. A fraction of a frame too late will force you to eat the 2d combo. But when you land it, you'll hear the Noel player scream in disbelief. :3 Third is IB and bait the flash kick. If they don't follow it up, then 5b punish for incredible damage. Granted, if you barrier guarded while you IB, then they might be too far for you to punish. Fourth option is to jump, jump, and jump until Noel finish the drive animations. Find opportunities to sneak in a j.c in between the drive attacks for CH.

Bang v. Tao matchup is all about who can get the first crossup/mixup faster than the other opponent. They have similar play styles and have no good defensive options. As said in the earlier posts, 2a beats out most - if not all - of Bangs normal. At worst case scenario, you'll face against a Dora-like bang who will IB your 2a and force you to eat a 3k punish. When you're locking down Bang with pressure, be sure to mix up heavily with 2a strings (throw, crossup, mixup, whatever to keep your opponent guessing). When you're locked down in Bang crossup strings, the best thing you can do is block and punish all the risky moves. If you have meter - and Bang does the airdashing footsies crossup - then IB and beserker barrage for punish. It's the easiest, and one of the only guaranteed ways, to punish. Otherwise, you got to stay blocking until you have an opportune chance to escape. Dead angle or burst, if necessary, to get out of pressure.

Okay, then I might just start up a SJSU BB console gathering on Friday JUST for Ken.

I just found out that I don't work the 28th, but on the 29th. And Ken leaves on the 29th. So I'm now in favor of the 28th...

Exactly. Drive Nails forces Tao's mobility to certain places - as well as increase pressure if used in the corner (longer hitstun = opportunity for mixup) - and Instant Blocking is ridiculously good. It's so good, that you can exploit your opponent's offense against them! So if Tao's offense amounts to mashing 2a for combo hits, then exploit that against them. IB and jab - you'll see Dora doing this over and over against Fio...and winning. To be blatantly honest, what you're complaining about is Tao's lifeline. She has nothing else, but close range pressure mixups. Once you get her on the lockdown, then she can't do anything without meter. If you can't pass this, then beating Tao will always be hurdle. Back when I played Goryus, while he was still using Bang, he would always find an opportune time to punish me in the air or beat me on the ground. Once he knocked me down, he'd always score his mixups and crossups. The matches usually ended with his win.

Of course it beats out all your normals. It's one of Tao's fastest moves in the game. Why do you think proration exist? It's so that normals that are easier to land do less damage. I can't imagine how many 2a's a Tao player has to land on you before you can think of a counter-strat. Even a scrub would have common sense to start blocking them. But since you seem to be in a position for constructive criticism, I'll be happy to give you some advice. If you're being locked down by Tao's 2a pressure strings and gimmicks, then it's your own fault for getting in there the first place. Have you even thought about Instant Blocking - and punish accordingly - or using a dead angle? Bang excels with his mixup/crossup game. Once you catch Tao - and get a knockdown - you are free to do 50/50 mixups (for 3k damage output) and score another knockdown. If you do that three times, then you win. So ask yourself: Tao 2a vs. Bang mixup ...what's the problem again?

I am sad I have to miss this tourney.

I'm impressed! Keep up the good work!

Whoa, didn't even realize you made something like this @_@ good stuffs. :3

Thanks Sileh, I haven't come around to explaining the combo to every tao on the planet. Saved me a few hours of my life. :3 Edit: Just put in your input into FAQs.

FAQs updated for minor justice.

It's actually very common to see tao players fully charge their 236c after a 4b+c. Though charging 236c doesn't increase damage, it ensures another knockdown. :3 236c is necessary for Tao to pull damage higher than 5k. You'll see Kazu use it as much as possible whenever he's chaining his taunt combos. As for 5b -> 3c, it's not necessarily reliable to use a taunt in that combo cause it's hard to chain into it while gaining oki advantage. Even if you were able to apply the taunt, your opponent has enough time to recover from hit stun. More so, you can't chain the taunt 236c...unless you want black beat. :< Going to cat spirit 1 will only cap damage a 3.5k tops.