kro_

Well, I suppose I could wish a lowly peasant like you a happy birthday. After all, it's not like you have much to look forward to in your dreary everyday life. Be grateful! Ohohohoho~

I know that feel.

I hope they add Maya with her dual pistols, copypaste Noel's moveset, and have her shout "Let's Positive Thinking!" while spamming 2D.

That's the best Rachel I've seen so far. I really like how he uses winded backdash on wakeup.

Oh, my mistake then. Actually, it's more like Tsubaki's j.214c because it bounces off the target. Kyouko has the real belial edge that pierces through enemies. (8b jc 6b djc 6b)x2 5b Two reps of mortar > bazooka > bazooka followed by machine gun. There's probably something better though. Personal tier list: S - Sayaka A - Kyouko, Homura, Madoka B - Mami Sayaka is like CS1 Bang. Lots of health and can win by brute-forcing her way with 5a spam keeping monsters in endless hitstun. She also has the most aerial mobility. Kyouko is to Sayaka as Ken is to Ryu in Vanilla SF4. Pretty similar with minor differences but weaker in all the areas that matter. Homura is mvc2 Strider. She can fill the screen with tons of crap but if she gets hit once it's pretty much lights out. Top-tier in multiplayer since time stop stacks with others. Madoka is like pure runaway CT Nu. Only spams arrows when far away from the opponent and does tons of damage. Whenever she's in danger, she can spam her super that covers her in a rain of arrows to prevent approaches. It also doubles as an amazing boss killer. Mami is like every low tier character ever. Flashy and fairly versatile, but in the end she just doesn't do enough damage and has a crappy life modifier.

It only took me about an hour to beat it the first time I played. You unlock higher tiers of difficulty the more you beat it so it's actually pretty easy on default mode. Everyone except Madoka is a ton of fun to play. Controls are basically direction + strong/weak attack with the ability to jump cancel any attack. It's simple and there's a lot of freedom in what you can do. I agree this game would be 10 times better with online multiplayer but that's what doujin games are like. You mean the ending fanart? It's good enough. Besides it's all about gameplay, GAMEPLAY. The sprites and stages look pretty good to me - especially the Elsa Maria stage with the black sprites. Use Sayaka and belial edge everywhere.

Ending air combos with j.2c in CS2 always forced you into a knockdown situation where you didn't really have an advantage. Adding that air cancel on j.2c finally makes it worthwhile to do a basic windless air combo and still get decent oki out of it. Glad to have that back. They didn't bring back j.2c j.c chain right?

So I've just started playing Grief Syndrome and I am blown away by the quality of this game. Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqblxdzpAho Pretty self-explanatory. You guys will love it.

Are you me? I dropped everyone but Rachel and Tsubaki too. I noticed you maximized damage by getting those extra hits whenever you catch someone with George. That's good stuff.

Nichijou is great. For new shows airing this season I think Usagi Drop is the best followed by penguindrum, basketball lolis, and lolis in Paris.

Hey now, Ro-Kyu-Bu! is the real deal. Witness one jaded basketball veteran's descent into the world of loli by watching the little girl with perfect form shoot free throws in spats.

Against defensive opponents, I don't really try to keep up pressure midscreen if I don't have a pumpkin or frog backing me up. It's honestly not that good. If people are determined to block and start getting good at blocking j.a overheads I like to end a blockstring with 6b, IAD back to summon pumpkin, and opt for a more defensive/baiting playstyle. Once the pumpkin is out, you can catch them the moment they let go of block. Basically, you want to make them more aggressive by doing things that make them think you're gaining an advantage (i.e. summon frog, pumpkin, regen wind). They either let you do it or they attempt to stop you. It's also way more effective when you have a life lead. Outside of the murakumo units, no one can really out-turtle a Rachel. So the next time you get them in a blockstring midscreen they might be prepared to chase you instead of looking for the j.a overheads, which will allow you to open them up. I play defensively by default so sometimes I have to be unexpectedly aggressive to make them respect my options.

Have you tried using TK iris in your regular zoning and pressure? As long as you know that the opponent cannot get past the rod in the time it takes to activate TK iris vs regular iris, you should always use it since the +frames are ridiculous. For example, you can push someone towards a rod with a random blockstring ending in 5b or 6b and then TK iris to get enough +frames for a relatively safe 4b or maybe even a throw. If someone blocks TK iris during zoning, that usually leads to an unpunishable frog/pumpkin summon too (I'd have to test against Makoto, Jin, and Hazama full-screen DDs). The only times I actually use regular iris are after 3c or for frame trap purposes. You can also maximize the time you spend zoning with windless lobelias. Try to visualize this: 1. Opponent blocks full screen winded 236c. 2a. Do TK iris (blocked) and 236c immediately after. Opponent cannot run under 236c. 2b. Do regular iris (blocked) and 236c immediately after. Opponent can run under 236c. 3a. Opponent blocks 236c. Do TK iris (blocked) and 236b immediately after. Opponent cannot run under 236b. 3b. You are forced into the neutral mid-range game (bad end :/) 4a. Opponent blocks 236b. Do TK iris (blocked). Set up frog/pumpkin (good end :3) Unless you're facing someone with fast long-range attacks (Lambda, Noel, Litchi, Tsubaki), crazy mobility (Tao, Valk, Hazama) or people with dangerous supers (Jin, Makoto), these things can really frustrate your opponent or at the very least give you a lot of time to regen wind. I realize I just named like half the cast there. Oh well. If you're fighting one of these characters though, blocked lobelia > TK iris can still lead to safe frog/pumpkin summons. Just have to be smart about it. This is also why characters like Ragna seem to just auto-lose to good zoners and why Carl, Hakumen, and Tager were given those anti-zoning tools to at least stand a chance. Those matchups were so laughably bad in CT.

I've been browsing around for new headphones too, but I am a fan of earbuds. The ones I got for $40 have worked well for the past 3 years or so. They're more comfortable imo and block out noise really well. I'm thinking of upgrading to these since I really like the design - linky This seems pretty popular but I'm interested in what unsanctifier-sama has to say.

I generally just do that kind of stuff on the fly. Kind of like zoning. It would be pretty tough to make a combo thread without a picture or video showing where the traps are. For simplicity's sake, I generally follow the rule of doing a lv2 j.2c combo whenever applicable. If I think it won't work (too many hits/proration) just 5cc or 3c into oki. If they're too high, tack on as many j.[c]'s as possible and shift back to zoning.

If you're already in the corner, you can start with dash up 5cc 236b for a fatal counter combo. It should push you back just far enough for 236b to hit. Also works with a guard break. Ex: 5cc (fc) 236b dash 6a BBL lv3 j.2c frog 5cc delay 236a windless lv2 j.2c 5cc frog 6k+ using 1 wind for lv3 j.2c that should regen during the combo

You could always just do 236b instead of 2a(w) into BBL if you want more damage. Then cross under during BBL, combo into frog, and 5cc them back into the corner with pumpkin oki. The original combo you posted is just fine though. Other characters would kill for a viable crossup that does similar damage and oki. The one problem I see with the whole crossup thing in the corner is that there's a significant delay between George activating and the opponent being able to move - so it's possible to react to this if someone knows that Rachel can crossup in the corner with wind. Then you'd be the one stuck in the corner. Typically, you should aim to cross up the opponent right before frog activates to make it harder to react to. After a neutral tech I tend to do meaty 5a/5b > IAD > 1d > George activates. It makes it so that George activates right as you pass over his head and conditions him to block in the normal direction at first. You can apply the same concept with pumpkin too. For example, if you have pumpkin out at ~236b range away from the opponent, you can do: 66d 5b (at this point pumpkin should be slightly behind the opponent) IAD 1d (hit 1d just as you pass over his head) Pumpkin hits much faster than j.b so it's much harder to block. That combo does keep them in the corner since he dashes under after the 2a whiff.

Oh lord, somebody actually did it.

I spent most of the afternoon practicing Noel. She is pretty damn good now. Fairly easy 4k+ off drive attacks midscreen. 4-5k off anything except A attacks in the corner. Doesn't even have to use meter. Other nice features include the return of 5 frame 5a, 2a that's +1 on block, 6a that hits crouching, and 2c > 5c > 6b gatlings. Then I tried Tsubaki. Tried to do those combos with multiple DPs into dive whiff and they are hard as hell. Even the regular DP -> dive whiff BnB has really awkward timing that I can't get more than 70% of the time. I still like playing her though. Definitely way better than before. As for Rachel I practiced the 1 wind lv3 j.2c. The window for landing that thing is fairly small. If you have the 2 winds to spare, you might as well use them because you regen so much after lv3 j.2c anyway. I'll leave it up to the execution gods when I only have 1 wind to spare. I'm interested in trying Valk. I never even bothered to get the DLC when it first came out so I can't practice him.

Air throw so strong~ I feel sorry for Zeth :/ You're pretty good. It's nice to see others that zone on reaction with pumpkin and frog. Any mistakes you made I'm sure you know about already. As a side note, I was watching the wind bar for most of the match and I was amazed again at how fast that thing regenerates. Unlike CT, liberal use of wind during combos is a good thing. BBL, lv2 j.2c, 5cc, and 3c pole 3c create so much dead time you can get it all your wind back. Heat gain isn't too shabby either.

I use the combo counter. Hit 2c right when the combo counter stops increasing.

That's the combo I've been doing too. Really solid in terms of execution, damage, meter, and oki. What do you think about those midscreen j.236a drops into lv3 j.2c? The damage is good but they seem kind of impractical to me. Other than that trick (potentially), I can't really find anything better than the combos in Dance to Wind.

Yes, but frog before 5CC after a BBL will cause the frog to activate during the slide so you won't get the frog for oki. Switch the frog and pumpkin summons after BBL and you will have better oki with that combo. This is what I like to use: 5B 5CDC Frog 5B 236Ax2 j.C 2D jc j2.C (lv2) land BBL Backdash Pumpkin dash 5CC frog + 236a oki Ye good olde CT Rachel corner guardbreak setup. The lv2 j.2c pops them high enough for you to backdash, set pumpkin, and 5cc them. They must neutral tech into an activated frog with pumpkin right over their head and a pole set in place (or take the hits for more damage). ~4.8k, uses 2 winds

You can do: (5b 2b) x2 6bd 3c 236b link 5a 5b j.c dj.b j.c j.214c land bbl/set frog If you use a 6d wind as you do 6b you'll be in the perfect position to link 5a after b lobelia.

So I was reading some youtube comment about how IB changes helped Tsubaki in CS2. What exactly changed about IB? Were there any other general system changes from CS1 -> CS2?