Koozebanian Fazoob

I do it fairly often, assuming you count using the staff as a projectile as playing 'without' it. Depends on the matchup as to what's better but some of the time it's much, much better used as a projectile than as a poke. And you get just as good of damage without it, in some cases you get more (corner Riichi combo setups and stuff like that). And of course what you lose in pokes you gain in much faster normals and actual mixups. The real problem in playing without it most of the time is getting caught without a DP. That sucks.

Yes, that's entirely the point of Litchi with the staff on, she doesn't have a real mixup short of a few stupid crossup things with j.B. You'll want to poke and control space well, fish for CH j.C and other things like that. If you want rush down and mixup, you'll have to either land a combo first, or otherwise just ditch the staff so you can use it as a threat as a projectile. Playing her is a lot about knowing how and when to not have the staff so you can do real mixups on people, even at neutral. Don't be afraid to just set the staff down at neutral. For example if someone likes to jump a lot, set it down with 5D and just wait for them to jump or IAD. You'll force them to either air block it or take the hit, either is good for you. You can also do 'surprise' mixups with return state but those are kind of situational, of course.

You can also do this from a 5B as well for what that's worth. IE 6B, B, 66 Taunt, etc. Which is of course how you do the stupid Taunt, B, 66 Taunt, Hexa, 236AAA combo that does over 8000 damage but you'll never actually hit with. Taking some inspiration from the MikeZ vid, he does throw > Deluxe > (236C)*N. It doesn't do a lot because it comes off the throw, but how about off something like B 3C? And chances are there's a way to work a taunt into that somehow for a decent damage amp. Taking a look at the frame data, it seems like 236C should be one of your big damage dealers since it prorates very little. Now the odd thing is it normally seems to have very high PP (makes them tech faster) but at full charge it has none? Anyone confirm/deny that? Well I guess what I'm getting at is, if you could set it up to combo into the fully charged one repeatedly, you could probably get a lot of damage for very little proration.

I updated the Throw combos in the first post. Fixed two of them, added a new (very strong) one that wasn't in there for some reason. I (?)'ed one because I don't see how it actually combos, does someone have a vid of it in action? Edit: Did some additional updates. Please take a look and let me know what you think.

Making the staff move away from them can make them think they have a chance to get out, which can let you score random hits easier. IE they block it (or you) as it moves away, they think they have a chance to jump out, you put in a 2B to catch their jump startup. Also helps let you do throw mixups in the middle, same as Millia. IE for example you send the staff up then down, the staff hits them on the way out, and right before it hits them on the way back in you grab them. Honestly it shouldn't matter THAT much which you do for the sake of combo followup since you can use Chun to push them back down to finish with a proper combo. I guess if you are really pushing for ideal damage it might become an issue though.

Her pokes with the staff on the ground are very slow and punishable so don't be afraid of them. In the air is another story, her air pokes are very good and eating a CH j.C is the last thing you want for sure. One thing you might try if she likes to spam air normals a lot is stay on the ground, run up and do 2D between her strikes. She actually has a fair bit of down time between attacks and you can often tag her with 2D. You can also frequently get her on the way up from a jump before an attack can come out. No skin off your back if you guess wrong, you've got plenty of air maneuverability. Do note this is just for her regular D returns, not for her super or Four Winds (the really whirrly one).

Tech Neutral. If you roll you just get hit. Randomly tech neutral fast or late to help keep her on her toes. Then just block the mixup and look for an easy jab or jump out. A lot of the time she will call the staff back when she attempts to mix you up (4-winds or regular D return). Either way, she ends up with the staff back on her which means she can't really mix you up at that point. Up+Back gets you out of anything she does with the staff on short of going for an air throw (which shouldn't happen because Tao is way faster and more maneuverable in the air). If she's being unsafe with her mixup in the corner you can frequently use 236236D to get out for free. Be careful about this of course for the obvious reasons. Remember, all you have to do is hit her or make her block and her staff stops being active. If she tries to drop the staff mid blockstring, use that chance to attack her with a C. It takes her FOREVER to drop the staff then do anything, so if she tries to do this you will get free hits easily. Any Litchi dumb enough to try and use 3C[m] on you in a block string is just asking for you to IAD and murder her. And yes for DP, block the upwards hit, run forward, B 3C, big damage, etc.

Yeah, just get a PS2 and a CRT TV. Don't expect any improvements on BC on the PS3.

Couple of corrections here, she has no reliable overhead, with the staff, period. You can ALWAYS jump out of 6A at worst. At best, she tries to do it up close, you block it, then you get a 360A/B for free. Ouch. 6B feint is the same story more or less, you can up+back out of anything she tries off a 5B or 2B including a 6B feint, short of an air throw which you should just hit her out of. Make absolutely sure you FD any of her 6C's she does though, those do a LOT of guard damage. Don't forget, as Mike Z said, you can throw her out of a LOT of her pokes, especially IB > Throw out of dumb stuff up close like 5B 5C. But you're very right about blocking here. If Litchi has the staff, you can just sit there and block while your Volt meter builds up. The best she has is trying to force you to eat a crossup or the odd throw. What she really wants is for you to try and do something so she can hit you out of it. Don't give her that, and she'll have to start working for hits, which probably involves dropping the staff. And like I said before, once she doesn't have the staff, this is actually for the most part good for you. Another key thing here is that Litchi's might often try to do stuff like 5B 5C D, to set down the staff mid combo, or 5B 5C 3C D to launch it. This is usually a good spot for you to just sledge right out of. She has a LOT of recovery on placing the staff and a lot on 3C > D as well. You will probably force a block which means the staff is harmless to you and you will probably, if nothing else, force her to guess after that. Runaway is kind of difficult. If she's just hanging back and poking you, this is actually extremely good for you as soon as you get a Volt. Backdash or otherwise avoid any of her pokes and punish with that Volt. Almost all of her pokes are laggy as hell on the recovery. If nothing else, keep walking towards her. Eventually you'll force her to make a move, even if it's to just get out of the corner. Remember, Litchi gets Negative Penalty REALLY easy. Once she gets that, she'll probably be kind of scared, so it's a good time to try and be sneaky. There are a few tricks for getting in, but one thing that isn't a bad idea to try now and then is Volt Spark RC 2D. This is almost a free get in, although it will unfortunately not get you much other than a solid guess (Collider if you think she'll jump, 360 if you think she'll attack, do nothing if you suspect a DP, or whatever.). Fortunately, if she's running away, it should be real easy for you to get a Volt charged up. This match is a lot of zzz for Tager most of the time so just take it easy and don't get frustrated.

Time zone differences, probably. When you aren't logged in it defaults to some wonky time zone that probably isn't the same as yours.

Well you probably realize this but you're really bad. But don't feel bad about that, everyone was there at some point, and learning is half the fun. The biggest things for you to work on at this point are learning the properties of all of your moves (normals and specials), getting some solid basic combos down, and getting your execution down. Training mode is a really big help so you'll want to spend some time there, but there's no substitute for playing other people. Playing the AI really isn't that helpful to be honest, you aren't going to learn good strategies or habits from it, but you might be able to practice doing your combos in a 'live' environment if nobody else is around to play. Other good things for you to do are to read up in the Baiken forums here (scroll way down the forum list) for some good info. Also read the GG guide here: http://www.dustloop.com/ggac/. Some of it might be too heavy or way over your head so just take it in pieces. You'll also want to try and watch some match videos of other players to get an idea of what they do, what combos they land, and so on. Youtube should have tons of them if you search. Just remember that getting good takes a long time and it won't happen without a lot of practice and play. Check the Match Finder forums to see if anyone else lives near you (someone probably does). Going to meets or tournaments is a really good way to get a better feel for the game. No matter how much you've played with your friends, your first tournament will no doubt still be a real shock for you.

Instant Block, 360A. It only has 3 vulnerable frames so it's the best move to use to 'poke out' of pressure. Baring that, FD a lot. IB 360A is really almost the universal 'beat pressure' tool for Tager. VS air though you just need to block a lot more, and/or IB Backdash 360 instead, just depending. IB 720C is even better but it takes some time to get that.

You can mixup into it sometimes. Like if for some odd reason they block a jump in j.B or something, you can 360B or 2B 2C.

This is the 360B combo I use when I can land it: 360B, Sledge+Additional RC, 6C Volt Spark, C Collider. Lotta damage and magnetism.

You use certain ones for certain combos. It's mostly just that you want to use the slowest one you can hit with because they have more untechable time, do more damage, and I guess prorate teching slower. For example VS Jin I'd do a combo like: 6A[e] 5C 236A 236B 63214A, A, B, C 2 |> j.C 9 [D] ]D[ j.C |> 6C 623D 6C 3C

I think after 236B you just go right to 2B 2C Collider 6C D. Off Shot you do the normal stuff you'd do off shot.

What are they jumping out of? Much of the time, jumping back and FDing is a really good way to get out of Tager's stuff. The answer to people trying to jump out of your stuff may be to use a fast low, but you'll need to use the right setup to catch them with one. If you are close, 2B 2C is great. Never underestimate 3C though, it's actually quite good despite what you might think by looking at it. If you have bar, 3C RC 236B or Volt Spark into huge damage to punish people who try to jump out of stuff. For example, I often use 6A to setup for a 360 or 6B, but once people start trying to just hold up back to escape these, 3C will tag them and get you the damage.

She isn't teching so the Shishin is hitting her. If you see this happen, you can jump up and do an air combo on her. Might not get a lot, but it's better than nothing. Alternatives are to delay the move to come out as she is teching, or use [2D] instead and hold it until she tries something, or relaunch if she doesn't try anything.

Yes you can tech it. Most likely after a 6C before the 5D hits.

Without staff that's easy, but talking from doing like a 41236D though, your staff will return during your Chun. What combo could you do after that with the staff on? I thought 5B[m] was too slow to link.

Yeah, also for example you don't want to do: 5B 6A or 5B 2B, as a mixup. This is because they can essentially 'fuzzy guard' it. That's Fuzzy Guard in the 3D fighter sense. Since they know 2B always has X startup and 6A always has Y startup and Y > X, they can just block low for the first X frames then block high after that and suddenly you don't have a mixup anymore. You should vary what you do before your actual mixup of course, and also you really have to work throws into that mess once they start thinking they can just reaction block anything you do. You can throw that off by throwing Haku and Chun into the works as well, though you might need to blow meter to get a combo doing that.

Wouldn't your staff be reattached by then though? Assuming for pressure you had done 41236D. Or would jumping make the staff not be able to reach you in time?

Yeah actually I've changed my mind on this. Her staff super (the controllable one) is really very dangerous to try to do anything to. You can make the super really cover the hell out of someone, and Litchi can bait/punish sledges in the mean time. I hope you mean without the staff, because Litchi has absolutely no mixup with the staff on. Like I said, if she's just poking you endlessly with the staff safely, just wait till you have a Volt Spark. The match turns slightly in your favor once you have it, as it really limits what exactly she can be doing. You can't really approach Litchi in this match, for the most part. 2D, 236B, jump in, these are all really easy to see and a good Litchi isn't going to let you get away with them. Your best bet is to try and match her spacing and try and fiddle in a random hit. If Litchi drops her staff or sends it out, this is good for YOU. Suddenly your pokes are MUCH better than hers, and she no longer has a DP or anything resembling AA at all. You can't be afraid of it hitting you, you need to use this time to get in and at minimum, get her to block something that gives her magnetism. You need to learn the timing on when the staff's first and second hit start/end, because say for example if litchi throws the staff and then IADs at you, you can probably 236A, 2C her for a launch into massive damage. Also, Litchi gets Negative Penalty insanely easily. If she gets it, hit her. Do whatever it takes, even if you have to blow 100% meter to do it. Any basic combo you land on her with negative penalty is going to do 80-90% of her life.

Yeah those are the mixups I've been using there, more or less. You can also use anything mixed up into a throw there too, which is really good because it's confusing. Also if they end up blocking your 2B 2C, you can jump cancel it and try for more pressure. You have to be careful if you are trying something fancier though, if you end up getting a 2C[m] then you will need to combo to 623D or 41236D~A instead.