kro_

He really wanted to stay away from Litchi in that second match. I like how he always spent meter to keep himself at an advantage in neutral, but he doesn't seem to have the damage necessary to finish people off because of it. Also interested in how Izayoi turns out. I feel like there are a lot of characters I want to play. A lot of my sub characters turned out really good in this version.

The difference in real matches is that: 1) You have to hit confirm. 2) You need to know what combos you can do with various amounts of meter at a glance. Set the training dummy to CPU on hardest and make sure things like super meter and install gauge are set to default. Try to perform specific combos to practice hit confirming. CPUs are no substitute for real people, but it's better to practice against something that can hit back and blocks occasionally than to practice against a training dummy. This forces you to at least be somewhat aware of what people can do to retaliate against you and what you should do if your attacks get blocked. Once you can autopilot specific combos against a CPU, mix it up and just randomly do what combos you can based on the amount of meter you have. A good way to not 'lose your progress' is to make a personal list of combos. Start with the combo thread and trim it down to combos you think are efficient/cool and can perform reliably. Use at least one combo from each starter with a good mix of meterless and meter spending combos. Also practice a few midscreen and corner combos. Add more as you get more comfortable. Combos should be on autopilot. During a real match, you want to be focusing on what your opponent will do.

The new sound effects are pretty bad. It might just be sound quality, but the remixed tracks sound kind of bland too. The knockdown on B and C air lobelias is great. Good buffs to her zoning game. I wish I knew how those lotus bats work, though. I'm not seeing any opportunities for good midscreen damage with that lv2 j.2C nerf. Maybe there's a way to work in a 4B on an airborne opponent to force that ground bounce I've been seeing in the corner.

New combo video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhkfzJWVysA&feature=g-u-u Focuses on OMB red axe combos. He does a lot of FC 2B into 214B (1-hit) to continue combos. There are also quite a few setups into corner 5b SMP loops.

Like Tari said, if you get CH 5b in the corner you should just do 2c loops. The practical thing about the SMP loop is that you don't have to start with CH 5b in the corner. You can start it off a regular 5A hit near the corner or even after high/low/throw setups with Tsurugi oki. The only requirement is that you need to use 10 different attacks (excluding 5b) in the combo before going into the loop. 5b SMP loops add about 2k damage to combos that usually don't give you much damage but are much more common to land. Some examples: (red axe) 5aa > 2a > 2b > hj.bb > j.c > j.214b > OMB > 5 > 5 > 5b > 2ab > 236236d For the rest, you need yellow or close to yellow axe after a knockdown into spike oki. 2ab > sword hits > 2 > j.bb > dj.a > j.c > j.214b > OMB > 5 > 5 > 5b > 2ab > 236236d 214a/b > sword hits > 2 > j.bb > dj.a > j.c > j.214b > OMB > 5 > 5 > 5b > 2ab > 236236d throw > sword hits > 2 > j.bb > dj.a > j.c > j.214b > OMB > 5 > 5 > 5b > 2ab > 236236d Finally, there is an advanced version of the SMP loop that seems to only be possible with low proration. I know it works with 5aa starter and the Madoka combo video had a few other setups as well. (red axe) 5aa > 2a > 2b > hj.bb > j.c > j.214b > OMB > 5 > 5 > 22a > dash 5a > sword hits > 5 > dash 5 > dash 5b > 2ab > 236236d This is my favorite combo to do in training mode.

Tested in training mode a bit. Best combo I could come up with is the following: 5 > 22a > 5aa (sword hits) > 2 > 2c > hj.bb > j.c > j.214b > 236236d (~6.7k) It will almost get you to red from a fresh green axe, but actually hitting someone with this is pretty tough. 5 corner SMP loops are more practical imo. I'll try to post some stuff once I test it out and actually bother to take notes.

Air throw is pretty good for beating j.b. Can combo off it for free if near the corner.

Save your Burst for SMP loops or if your fate counter hits 0. At anything less than full screen, EX Hookshot can counter bullets. j.B is very strong in this matchup since Naoto has short range. It's also great for clearing traps. Her 2B is unreliable so expect her to use a lot of jumping normals and airthrows as anti-air options instead. If you know there are traps on the screen but don't remember exactly where they are, approach slowly. Jump forward while blocking and poke away the traps while Naoto is reloading her gun or shooting somewhere else. There's a lot of time on the clock so there's no rush. A common string for Naoto is 5C > 2C or 5C > 2[C]. 2C has fast startup, hits once, and doesn't leave a gap but it's minus on block. 2[C] has slow startup, hits 3 times, and does have a gap. It is very positive on block. If you are forced to block this, keep blocking. Roll during the gap to punish if you think they're going for 5C > 2[C]. Otherwise, backdashing during the gap is safer since Naoto can just as easily jump cancel 5C and punish your roll. Whenever Naoto is in the corner, expect her to do that EX roll that switches sides into gunshots. Naoto is very strong against cornered opponents. Her throw is comboable in the corner and she can easily set up SMP loops with Mudoon in the corner. Try to force the match midscreen and avoid getting cornered if possible. Doing high damage with Naoto midscreen requires a lot of meter, OMB, and combos that a lot of people probably haven't mastered yet.

Haven't seen this posted here. Labrys combo vid with Madoka music. Pretty entertaining. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLPbpXgmxts

I take too many breaks from FGs to even want that job. I haven't seen a lot of JP players use Labrys lately. I don't think she'll ever get out of the lowest tier. Sometimes it feels like I'm playing a grappler trying to get in on people but I don't have a command throw, fast normals, or a good DP to threaten people when I actually do get close to them. Her strength is at mid-range, but it's not any better than people like Mitsuru or Teddie. You have to make hard reads to beat good players. At least she gets good damage off of it. You're right about that. I was debating about including him in there but I probably just forgot to delete the name. Thirding this. Matchup sections are always barren on DL even though it's pretty much half the battle. Any little bit helps even if all it does is spark a bit of discussion. I feel like it's best used after 5C or 2C. Once people learn how to block the high/low mixup after 5C, I tend to go for 5DD and rush in. It's still pretty unsafe to do it at any time if people have fast, long range punishes but gotta try something right?

It's too quiet in here. Anyways, I played a ton of matches online this weekend so I'm gonna make a long rant about what I learned. I'm surprised at how smooth online play is with at least 2 bars. Ranked was mostly free but player matches have a lot of strong players. I feel like Aigis is even tougher to deal with than Mitsuru. Unlike Mitsuru, her 5a and 2a are faster than Labrys so you can't mash out of anything with IB. There's pretty much no reason for her to respect Labrys's defense because all of the gaps in her offense end in safe jumps. If you alpha counter at the wrong time (falling j.b or j.c), she can still block in time. Labrys can't do anything about crossups but block. And just like with Mitsuru you have to bait two DPs to get a good punish. Trying to antiair orgia mode j.C with 2B from halfway across the screen is a losing battle. She can easily play runaway to ruin all your momentum when you hit red axe. The only times I ever managed to win were when I slowly pushed her into the corner by blocking everything and guessing right 2-3 times with spike oki into a big red axe combo. All my hate matchups: Aigis Tough matchups: Mitsuru, Yosuke, Chie, Akihiko Manageable: Everyone else Favored: None I think the first thing every Labrys player needs to learn is how rewarding it is to know your ranges. I spend like half of every match just jumping up and down with my finger on the B button. The sweet spot is the range where your opponent's 2B won't hit, but your falling j.B will hit if they make any sort of aggressive action. Controlling that area against anyone with less range than you makes things much easier. Bait whiffed 2Bs and DPs by abusing that range. Also mix it up with double jumps, crossups, and empty jump low/throw. Labrys has a very simple and honest style in a game where everyone has tons of ridiculous crap. Another important spot is air dash range. Fish for 2B at this range. You need to make people respect your antiair before they will ever give you breathing room. 5C is also very powerful at this range since it outranges or comes out faster than pretty much everything but Mitsuru's coup, Izanagi car, Teddie's bat, and beams. It has projectile properties as well so it can cancel out non-beam ones. 5C > 2AB is a true blockstring, but 5C into 214A has a gap at certain distances so watch out for DP mashes. It also loses to superjump > airdash > crossup. The second thing important thing to learn is to end combos in sweep and figure out how to make use of her limited oki. Yes, it might just be a tiny spike with low blockstun, but at least it still gives you an advantage on opponent knockdown. It also hits much farther horizontally than you'd think. There are basically 3 options after the usual knockdown combo (2aaa 5b 2ab 22): Pressure then Release - This involves hitting with a meaty and allowing the spike to combo into it to set up a combo. If they block the initial hit, the spike will give you enough time to continue pressuring. Use 2AB for the low, 214A/B for overhead, dash 5A > IAD for crossup, or 2B for catching people trying to jump out. This beats throw techs and poor blocking. Loses to rolls and DPs. Throw then Release - Throw immediately and release the spike to give you a combo without spending any meter. If they jump, you can release the spike and put them in block stun to continue pressuring. If you predict the jump, you can go for an airthrow and combo it into the spike as well. This beats rolls and blocking. Loses to mashing and DPs. Bait and Release - This involves releasing the spike immediately on their wakeup and either backdashing or rolling to avoid a reversal. You can use the roll to cross them up with the spike. If they just sit there and block the spike, it's back to neutral. Beats DPs. Loses to blocking. Loses to rolls if you roll. Tip: Timing the spike release and knowing which button to hold takes practice. If you want to do a meaty attack first, you need to do 22~[C] on knockdown. This means do 22B first > hold B > hold C > release B. If you did it right, then the spike did not release and you are now free to use B for your meaty attack i.e. 2AB or 2B. If you want to throw instead, just hold B and throw normally. This technique is pretty hard to do on pad with face buttons. If you don't have a stick, consider mapping C or D to a shoulder button and using that to do your negative edging. The button you use to hold the spike after initially placing it doesn't matter unless you need to use that button again in the next 3 seconds. I just used C as an example because that's comfortable for me. Skipping opponent awakenings with D super is really important since it essentially reduces the amount of damage you have to deal for the kill by 2-3k. But if someone still has a burst and you get red axe, it's usually worth it to finish off a combo with D super early. Who knows if you'll ever get another chance to land D super with red axe again? Most people save their bursts for a red axe kill combo. The only exception where I think you want to skip awakening no matter what is Chie because who wants to deal with meteors. Finally, any low prorate combo into C super > OMB > 214B > D super is a great way to deal the necessary damage to kill people even with a burst. It's also really easy to pull off. If they try to burst before the 214B hits, their burst will usually be too high to knock you back so you can punish however you like. If they try to burst after getting hit by 214B, the D super will still kill thanks to invincibility frames.

One more for enders: - (corner, FC, awakening) 2C > 22A~[C] > 5A > 2B > ]C[ > 214214A It's good if you want to save red axe for the next round, but I usually forget that it's even an option.

I punish with charged 5b in the corner. It is more rewarding to do CH 5b 5c 2c [bd] at midscreen. There's not much you can do on 5c aerial hit. Maybe 236a > 6 > a. Same with 5b aerial hit. Probably better to punish with 5a > 2b or autocombo instead.

I messed around with that in training mode. The practical combo I came up with: FC 2B -9- late j.bb land, dash -9- early j.b(slight delay)b land, dash -9- early j.b(slight delay)b land, dash -9- j.b -9- j.b j.c j.214b 236236d (50 meter, 6600 dmg) Gimmick combo I came up with by accident: FC 2B -9- late j.bb land, dash -9- early j.b(slight delay)b land, dash -9- early j.b(slight delay)b land, dash -9- j.b -9- j.bb OMB, 5 22a~[c], dash 5a 2b ]c[ 214214a (3/4 screen; 50 meter, OMB, awakening only; resets into unblockable; 4500 + 7200 dmg if reset hits) Incidentally, doing 5 5 5b 2ab into D super after the OMB will not work since they tech out of the super mid-way through it.

5c is actually pretty good for oki. It can be cancelled into special moves, 2c, 5d, and sweep. For example, since most basic green axe combos end in 214a, 5c can act as a safe, far meaty attack that avoids many reversals but also catches rolls. You can then cancel it into 214a for overhead, sweep for the knockdown, or set up 22a and go for a throw. It's not as good in neutral situations, but it can get you started against someone that likes to keep their distance. I haven't worked 5d into my game either. Spike oki is much easier to pull off because you can special cancel into it after a sweep. It's pretty much never safe to use 5d unless you combo into it from 2c or something, but if you land a 2c you should probably do a more damaging combo. j.D can be useful for low corner air combos. Something like [2b] 5a 7jc j.bb j.d djc j.bb j.c j.214b. You have to wait until all the wheels are out before you can double jump. In neutral, it can be useful for catching people who try to chase you. I saw PurePure do a lot of IAD backwards j.d to cover the area above and in front of him temporarily. This can give you time to safely set up a spike or toss out the chain against non-projectile based characters. j.C is mainly a combo tool, but if you RC it right after the first hit the rest of the hits keep going. So basically, the opponent is still stuck in block stun for a few more hits while you're free to go for the low or crossup. Since j.c has a vacuum effect, it can make for some pretty ambiguous crossups. Same opinion on 2c. Maybe 2c > 5d to force someone high up in the air into block stun so you can safely set up a 5d.

Although some of the combos are repeats from previous vids, I haven't seen any of these videos before since I've only watched the stuff in the first few posts of the video thread. The Sakura combo vid is longer this time. The fifth video is really good in getting kill combos in practical situations. The 2nd and 3rd are also pretty good if you want to maximize punishes. Hopefully there's some new stuff.

In order to watch those Nico vids, you have to go to Nicovideo redirector. After that, copy this into the search bar http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/ followed by the 'sm' tag for the specific video you want to see. It will then generate a url that can link you directly to the vid without doing these steps. I'll list the ones in that Labrys video here: http://www.mmcafe.com/nico.html#http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm18577655 - This is that "Sakura" combo video. A bit longer than the previous one. http://www.mmcafe.com/nico.html#http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm18517560 - Chie specific combos, midscreen B+D loops after j.b and 2b FC starters, throw combos (all red axe) http://www.mmcafe.com/nico.html#http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm18612662 - 2c loop corner combos after various punishes (red axe combos, green -> red axe combos); also some random ToD combos from Chie, Mitsuru, and a ToD combo on Kanji for Labrys at the end http://www.mmcafe.com/nico.html#http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm18587638 - 2c loop corner combos involving OMB (both red and green axe) http://www.mmcafe.com/nico.html#http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm18718365 - Various green -> red axe combos that involve OMC, OMB, or EX Guillotine axe. This is a must watch imo. http://www.mmcafe.com/nico.html#http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm18517560 - This is a repeat. Guess that guy listed it twice :/ http://www.mmcafe.com/nico.html#http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm18650719 - Non-FC corner red axe combos usually involving OMB and repeated 5; also lots of Chie-specific combos and a few crossup resets

How many frames is her throw startup? Actually, how fast are 5a and 2a?

I wasn't really feeling Naoto or Aigis, so I started messing around in training mode with Labrys and lost track of time. I think I've found a new main. I'm already at that point where I'm watching her combo videos during breaks and filtering out what I want to use. Things I like about Labrys: 1) Red axe D super makes me chuckle 2) j.b hitbox = ambiguous crossups for days 3) Spikes remind me of F-Akiha flame pillars in mbaa so the whole "22a + hold any button to release" felt really natural to me And most importantly, her accent is so endearing I can't help but smile. Ponytail, red eyes, seifuku-wearing seito kaichou, tragic past, humongous weapon, overly trusting and naive - it all checks out as vital components for the perfect robot girl. Atlus/Arcsys may be getting a little too good at this. They got me good, that's for sure.

I'll probably play it a bit when a good translation patch/official release comes out.

Graphics are outdated and gameplay is a bit MMORPGish. But as someone who loved FFXII, I really enjoyed it. The OST alone would carry me through the game even if it played like shit. It's the best OST since Chrono Cross imo. Should I be worried?

I'm a rebel. I'll probably learn both Naoto and Aigis.

Same here. I finally started Xenoblade. Pretty impressed with it so far. Just a little sad that it all had to be done with shitty Wii graphics. Will be all over P4A when that comes out. The more experience you have with fighting games, the easier it is to re-learn execution. I find that taking an extended break from them usually makes me more creative in training mode whenever I start up again.

Your social link with the Rachel forums has increased. The Rachel forums will now take a mortal blow for you in battle!

Got that when it released for PS1 and Grandia 2 on Dreamcast. It's my only Dreamcast game besides mvc2 and cvs2. Yeah, it came out this month. I'll go with Xenoblade first. The music sold me on it. I'm still a little wary on Tales games ever since Tales of Symphonia 2.