XDest

I must be behind the times, I don't know what trm stands for.

j.C will usually only confirm on CH. The best thing to do would be to 2D. If you're late, 6A might be your best bet to keep it going. For 6A anti air, JC->j.B->j.C works best from my experience. If they're too high up, just do 2D into whatever.

It's really not worth the 200-300 damage though for that insane timing, just do a non-taunt combo.

You're right, my bad.

Go to http://www.dustloop.com/wiki/index.php?title=Taokaka_%28BBCSE%29 for a more up to date version, edited by NeoGio. This version of the guide is mostly CS1, whereas the wiki has been edited for CSEX. Alternate Taokaka Strategy Guide Written and Edited by: XDest I wanted to start a different Taokaka Guide instead of editing TaoFTW's, so here it is. I will be starting from the top and going from there. If you find anything off, or anything you want to add, please tell me and I'll edit it in. Most of this will be done in point form notes to save time, and to cut out anything useless. General Strategy The first thing to know when playing Taokaka: This is a heavily movement-based character. Against most characters, she excels at the mid-range neutral game. Get VERY familiar with Triple Jumps, Double Air Dashes, all Drives, all Drive Cancels (and when to use each on hit and whiff. If you're spending 90% in the air as Taokaka.... this is actually fine oddly enough. All of her best ways to come in on the opponent will be aerial. The point is to not fly around mindlessly. Spamming drive is the #1 way to get killed as Taokaka. Always try to have a purpose for your spacing. Some characters will allow you to get away with more reckless use of drive than others, try to figure it out. You do NOT want to j.D into one of Litchi's j.C[m]s. Trust me. Generally, the safety of certain movement tech will go somewhat like this (safest option first): j.D~B->j.D~B is also another possible path, but as I said, B cancels can be quite risky. Please do not see this as a regular option, it can get you killed in some matchups, or against better players. Additionally, most drive cancels that are still in the air, will allow you to air dash or jump, as long as you have the required number of jumps left. j.C is mostly for air-to-air. j.D should be used less unless the opponent/character can fall for it (it really depends on the matchup!) j.B is for air-to-ground, it still doesn't take up that much horizontal space, but this was buffed for CS1. j.B can cross up. j.A is versatile and can be used for pretty much anything, as long as you're close enough. j.C is usually your regular attack from the air. Using sticky kitty at random times when moving around (Corner 214[D]) is also an option, and can confuse the opponent. Bowling Balls at long range against non-projectile characters can be fine. Just keep in mind that it's still pretty slow. Tager player will usually try to B Sledge through it for some reason. Of course since it's long range, you'll recover before they do, and simply do whatever you want after their active frames are finished. (Although if they have a Spark Bolt, it's not a good idea). The best advice I can give at mid-range/long-range is this: Be creative while being safe. She has 5D,j.D,2D,j.4D,4D,2[7]D,2[8]D,2[9]D(and 4/2 variants after),j.2D,214D,Corner 214[D] for Drives. A/B/C/5/6/RC for Drive Cancels. 3 jumps, 2 air dashes. All of these aid her movement style. I'm sure you can think of some really neat combination of all this that nobody else has even begun to think up. Don't just spam j.D~B, that's really, really predictable. The more unpredictable a Taokaka player is while moving around, the better. Up Close/Pressure Game Taokaka got much safer in BB:CS1, especially in terms of drive canceling. For reference, C cancel is +2 on block (advantage!), A cancel is -2 on block, and B cancel is -5 variable on block (the later it is canceled, the less recovery it might have. You can assume that up close, it will ALWAYS be -5, and therefore not suitable for regular pressure. Therefore, be cautious of using B cancels on block! I cannot stress this enough. You may fall into habits regarding B cancels against bad players that cannot block cross-ups, or because of online, or because of players with poorer reaction times. Do not convince yourself that it is a safe thing to do. B cancels will also be slightly safer from different drive variants. Most numbers are based on 5D, which seems to be the worst case scenario. As well, note than on normal hit, and at the end of combos, these will be safer. Ending off a small gatling combo with D~A and then doing a 5B/2B will usually beat out anybody mashing, In terms of blockstrings, you will usually start off with D~A, D~C, j.C, j.B, 5B, 2B, or a 2A. From there: - Drive cancels do not link into anything directly, but leave you at the aforementioned adv/disadv. - A cancels can pretty much be considered neutral, but you're still at a slight (-2) disadv. Therefore using your fastest moves is a requirement. This pretty much means you're limited to 5B/2B/block if they don't respect your pressure yet. Of course if they do respect your pressure, you can do a lot of things and get away with it. After D~A is also a place you can safely block DPs. I'm pretty sure that D~A on hit or at the end of combos keeps you at advantage. - Normally, C cancels have a LOT of paths you can take, because you're at an advantage regardless of block/hit. The problem? You're in the air, and almost every direct attack path will be anti-aired. The point is to make them afraid to anti-air. From anyD~C - vs. Anti-Air: JC9->j.B, 44->66->j.A->j.B->j.A, 44->j.4D~any, possibly j.D~B->66->j.A->j.B->j.A (a little risky, j.A->j.B->j.A is generally ambiguous since if you're low enough, the final j.A won't come out and instead you'll get a grounded move, and can possibly do 2A instead (the same input will do both). It's also nice, since j.Ax3 has more landing recovery for some reason.) - vs. Jump Back->Barrier: 66->j.B+C, 66->j.AxN->6A(2). - vs. Mashing/Blocking: j.2D~B, j.C, 66->j.A->j.B->j.A - j.C/j.B can link to a dash cancel, a jump cancel, 5B, 2A, or 2B. After the dash cancel, these three options (or a green grab), will probably be your best options, since they're your fastest grounded attacks. - 5B can link into 2B, 6A, or 5C. It can also be jump canceled/super jump canceled/special canceled/dash canceled. If canceled into super jump or 214D, can dodge some DPs. If a hit is confirmed, 3C is also possible, and is the general BnB for CS2 (you can still get a 3.7k BnB off it in CS1 too). Don't count on 3C being a real blockstring element though, it isn't. - 5C can generally only link into special attacks or drives. It can also be jump canceled/super jump canceled. - If you do 6C after 5B/5C, you do create an opening, but if they respect their pressure and not mash their way through it, it steps forward considerably, putting you very close to your opponent again. 2B does this slightly too, but not to this extent. - 2B can link into 6A or 5C. If confirmed into 6A, leads to 2.8k. It also makes Makoto's DP whiff, making it really safe against her. - 6A is usually jump/super jump canceled. Normally, if you confirm it hits, you go into JC9->j.2D~B(hit)->Taunt Loop (or for CS2, do the 2 hits and going into JC->j.8D~A->Land Loop). If you can't confirm it, do JC9->j.B->j.C, or JC9->j.A->j.B->j.A. The former can easily go into a combo, even if they jumped beforehand. If it's highly prorated and you confirmed it, you can always do some tech gimmicks like JC IAD->..->j.B+C. Or JC IAD->Land->6A. Or something of that nature for a reset. A note that 6A won't hit on some crouching characters up close (like Litchi, and Mu). - 236A in blockstrings should be kept to a minimum. If somebody knows how to IB, they can simply 5A out of it. Since 236A cannot be delayed after it has started, they can go on a rhythm and IB every single one. They don't need to IB to DP in the middle of it, remember this. 236AxN at the end of prorated gatlings is fine! And can combo into 5D~A(hit) or 5D~C(hit) for keeping advantage. - anyD~RC->2A/5B will usually beat out anything except for DP. If they're low on health and you need some easy damage, this might be a place to get it. - In general, doing an extra jump after a jump cancel, then doing j.B will bait and punish anti airs that are mashed out or guessed, but will still lose to a well timed anti air. If an anti air has huge recovery, you can simply wait for it with using your two extra jumps, then j.B them in the recovery time. Other Mixup Components - Your overheads are: 6B, 236C, j.A/C. - Your lows are: 2A, 2B - 6B can only combo on NH with these characters (with ease): Noel, Rachel, Tsubaki, Hazama, Rachel, Litchi, Tager. Some others are possible with stricter timing. 6B will always combo on CH. - As well, nothing gatlings into 6B, so there will always be a gap between whatever move and 6B. If they respect your defense enough, or their reactions are weak, and they're not mashing, this isn't a problem. - 2A prorates too much for anything other than setup usually. If you confirm it, you can get 2.3k, but you probably aren't going to. If you don't confirm it, go into something simply like 2A->5B->5C->236AxN->5D~A/C. Or go for some reset gimmicks you think up. If you get a 2A hit, you're not going to end up with damage, it much better to end up in a good position for a setup. - 2B is much more likely to confirm into a combo (namely Taunt Loopx3) for 2.8k. It can also be used with green throw setups. - 236C is slower than 6B. But this can be used to screw with somebody's reactions. Even offline, I've noticed people are still trying to crouch after 5B/5C, and get 236C'd for free. This makes no sense, since no low can possibly be linked after 5C. But who am I to question silly habits? This is a risky overhead to go for against people with that habit. Don't try it that often though. I repeat, it's slow, therefore not a very solid option. - The oldest crossup trick in the book for Taokaka players is 2D~B->j.C, (or j.A/j.B). This is actually also very slow, and very susceptible to anti airs. Although, this can also be used to your advantage, since 2D~B stays in the air, giving you access to extra jumps and air dashes to trick people with. This is a really risky option too. 2D~B dodge dodge some defensive options though (like some DPs with specific hitboxes), so it's an option for that as well. - In CS2, 214D crosses up much earlier. And since canceling into 214D can dodge a lot of stuff, this is nice. - ~->JC9->j.B doesn't cross up, while ~->JC9->..->j.B will. That's more of a true crossup, because of ambiguity. Doing JC9, going to the other side of somebody, then doing 2A is always a sure way to confuse somebody if it's not seen that often too. - 5D~B is not a good crossover either, since 5A/2A easily will beat out your next move. And since it's -5, they have plenty of time. Do not see this as a mixup option either. More to come, consider this portion under construction. Green Grab Setups Up Close - 2B(hit)->4B+C - anyD~C->j.2D~B(blocked/whiffed)->4B+C - 6B->j.2D~B(blocked/whiffed)->4B+C - anyD~C->66->j.B+C - anyD~C->j.D~B->66->j.B+C - anyD~C->44->66->j.B+C - D~A->66->4B+C - j.C->66->..->4B+C - Think of any situation where the enemy will keep blocking but you'll still be close enough to grab. Her grab range is really bad on the ground, so the situations where you can effectively grab are limited. Be creative! - Most people will be expecting 2B->4B+C, use this to your advantage. - Like Jin, 6B will generally beat out throw break attempts. Use it in place of 4B+C to screw with the opponent's reactions. Defensive Options Generally, Taokaka without meter is weak defensively up close (therefore getting out of oki is also difficult, since we have no DP). Also note that 9.5k HP can make this very hard on you, especially against strong characters, and characters with great oki. But she excels in evasive potential at mid/long range. This is why even in CT, she was even with Nu. Now her movement options are even safer. A couple points: - 214214C is pretty much useless defensively (or period, for that matter ;_; ) - If you're against a character with good pressure, counter assault as soon as possible. Her CS1 counter assault is top class, and every Taokaka player should be abusing the hell out of it, why aren't you? Save your meter for counter assaults, it'll help a lot. - 236236D is pretty much the same as Inferno Divider. Therefore, you can IB->236236D in the same situations if you're proficient at it. - If there's a point in the opponent's blockstring you can jump out, and are near the corner, a somewhat risky option that can pay off is using the sticky kitty jump (Corner 214[D]->6) to get far away from them. - Crawling: Look at one of the compilation threads for more. But mostly this is useful against things like: Jumping moves not close to the ground (some will whiff regardless!), Ragna's 5B/214A/214B, a lot of 2A's that are higher off the ground (I'm being serious.), most 5A's, Tager's 5D/Spark Bolt, etc... From there, if you confirm it you can get a 5B or 3C into 4k-5k damage! Note that while 3C, 2B, and 2A do low profile, they do not go under as many things as crawl. Therefore, do not treat them the same way. - Taokaka's backdash actually has more invincibility than most characters by a small number of frames (1 or 2 I believe). Although it's absolutely nothing compared to Tager or Arakune, it can be used in specific places to escape from danger. Remember that you have this tool. - 2B can crossunder many jump canceled blockstrings! - 6A was buffed in CS1 to actually have head invincibility (although not as good as Ragna's), therefore it's a suitable anti-air. Usually you're going to confirm it into JC9->j.B->j.C->~. - 2D is nice against people doing attacks at super jump height. Taunt Loop Oki Ender Taunt LoopxN->214D->j.2D~C->j.2D~A->Taunt->214D->j.236Bx5 Knowing what to do afterward is a really good idea. - The BnB approach is Jump 7->j.236Bx5. This will beat out people mashing out (sometimes confirming into a reset!) and it'll keep a blockstring going. Very nice. This will not work on somebody that doesn't tech, but it's still safe vs. it. - 66->6A or 66->j.B+C is another option if they tech. - Crossunder 2B->6A or 2B->9->j.B+C also works for that. You can also do 2B->2D~B->j.C for a crossunder->crossover, putting the opponent back in the corner. After 2D~B of course, your extra jumps and dashes are available for extra trickery. - Since the corner is available, tricks involving Sticky Kitty are possible. - 236236D is comboable off it for a true knockdown. If done earlier in a taunt loop, 5B is also comboable off that, and can screw up DP mashing (well, unless it's Ragna that is). - If they don't tech after you do one of these, the normal moves to beat rolls are 5B and 2B. On Combos - Generally, doing a combo on the ground will result in a Taunt Loop, starting one in the air will result in a Non-Taunt combo. Confirming and spacing a taunt after a confirmed CH drive is hard to do, and requires pre-planning, or swift reactions. You can always do 5B->5C to pick it up for slightly less damage, but at a greater consistency. Generally, the CS1 BnB on non-taunt combos is: ~->j.C->9D~9->j.2D~C->j.C->..->9D~9->3D~3->j.236Bx5/Cat2 Loop or with less proration: ~->j.2D~C->j.2D~A->9D~5->6D~6->j.C->..->9D~9->3D~3->j.236Bx5/Cat2 Loop (Just like challenges 6-10 in CS1!) or with more proration: One of the full taunt combo enders, shown below. The CS1 BnB on full taunt combos is: 5C->2D~6->j.2D~C->j.C->..->9D~9->3D~3->j.236Bx5 or 236CC->2D~6->j.C->9D~9->..->3D~3->j.236Bx5 or Corner 5C->2D~5->j.D~A->9D~5->9D~9->3D~3->j.236Bx5 - 22C doesn't have much horizontal range, but it has almost no proration at all, making it perfect for slightly longer combos (it can bring a 5B->3C combo from 3650 to 3750). - Because things like j.C/j.B on CH have a lot of untechable time, you can run up and 6A to continue your combo, if you couldn't confirm it with 2D when landing. - Learn AB2 enders, they'll make you beastly (+2k for any taunt loop). Just remember that these are exceptionally hard to pull off. - For more information, look at the Combo Thread. At the Start of a Match There are some options are are simply better than other when starting out, in my experience, these are the most common options: - Jump/Super Jump 7/9: Probably the second safest option, good for gauging an unknown opponent, or a character that beats out your other options at the start, or is too dangerous at the start. Just be aware of aerial green grabs. - IAD backwards: Probably the safest option? - 2[7]D~any: if it's CH, can provide you with an easy 4k+ start to a match. Many people start out matches with super jump attacks. Seems to work well on Jin players (unless they do an Anti-Air DP, of course.) - 2D: almost the same usage, a little faster though. Seems to work well on Bang players. Of course, you have all your jumps/dashes available after, and the drive itself can be canceled if you see that they're not at super jump height. - 4D~any: For confusion, mostly. Will beat out some specific things in different matchups. Experiment. It's really risky too. - Super Jump 9->j.B: Beats out people starting out with jabs or fast lows. - 2B or 2B->2B: Probably your fastest startup option, goes under jabs, covers a bit of distance. - Backdash->6C: Whiff punish for big damage. Not very applicable vs small characters. - 5C: Not much reward, huge risk if it whiffs. But has the range+speed to make it a nice starting attack. Probably more applicable in CT/CS2 since it links into 6C on CH. Things to look for in certain matchups: Mostly, you want to keep the game at mid range, and try to dictate the pace of a match. Close range is not Taokaka's specialty, although she does have some nice options. The problem is that if you're the one blocking, and don't have meter, Taokaka's defense is pretty damn bad. You don't want to be blocking with Taokaka for very long. These notes aren't meant to be comprehensive, just simple pointers. Arakune: Watch out for j.B, it can beat out pretty much any one of your air-to-air options. 2D is very good in this matchup since Arakune will be in the air very often and has a nice big hitbox. Bang: Watch out for 2D spam, stick to lots of lows and As, and cancels. A lot of his stuff (including every drive but 6D), is crawlable. Bang players also like to do j.C attempts that are not low to the ground, you can crawl those too, but be careful of the height. Learn to evade the j.236D triple bounce nails properly. Carl: Keep the match at a huge distance, go for the time out. Look out for the clap. Go for Counter Assaults early and often. Hakumen: j.D is your main enemy, air grab setups can really hurt him. j.C isn't really a huge deal with the right spacing. 2D also beats it. Usually, the player with the better reading and spacing will win this. Hazama: Learn to evade/read chains. Crawl under 5D, then 6A if you can react to that. If you can react to 214D~A, you can crawl it. 214D~B is your largest threat because of its huge hitbox and nice reward, don't use many drives directly at him while he's on the ground. Approach him with barrier a good amount of the time so you don't have to deal with it. Tager: Don't get magnetized. Crawl under Spark Bolts on reaction. Watch out for 360/720 and Jump/C cancel accordingly. If he does 5D while you're magnetized, and you guess/react with a crawl for good damage (but risky). If you want to be a jerk, you can wait and time out this match fairly easily, Tager cannot catch Taokaka. Literally any time Tager super jumps (regardless on your place on the screen), 2D will usually work because of Tager's enormous hitbox. His pressure outside of magnetism is easily backdashed. Jin: Many of them will try random moves on the other side of the screen. These players are easy to deal with, with the right spacing. Very vulnerable to 6C too. A good amount of his pressure is either backdashable, and his jump cancel attacks can be crossed under with 2B. Ragna: Watch out for Inferno Divider, try to bait it whenever you can. Learn the usual Ragna patterns and how to defend against them. Litchi: Try to play as safe as possible. Don't use much j.D at all. She can kill you in one combo+one incorrect guess on oki. Learn to evade staff returns. Makoto: Watch out for j.B, j.2C, orb and try to keep out of her pressure as much as possible. Counter assault early and often. She can can also kill you in one combo+one incorrect guess on oki. Noel: Several chain revolver patterns can easily be beat by drive or 5B, or 6A. This matchup is really in favour of Taokaka. Rachel: You do more damage, look for openings in her keep away, and this is easy. Also, look for cat chairs and punish them, you can also punish cat chair with usual green grab setups. Taokaka: wtf is going on? Tsubaki: Similar to the Noel matchup. Just play your usual game. Lambda-11/u-12: Read her well, have a really good grasp on your movement. Their DPs can be treated like anti-airs in the way you counter them. More to come, hopefully. I'm still working on this. Give me some ideas on what to add/change!

Okay, I can probably get going with a Taokaka tutorial. Not all that much has really changed except for j.D length and that her BnBs are different.

What does Tao do at neutral against characters with neutral games that anti her's? I've tried playing runaway, but that just ends up with me getting a timeout loss. I can't for the life of me figure out the neutral game vs Litchi and Makoto, which makes it much worse when fighting you and Omni. And it doesn't help that my defense is horrible right now.

Well, you think about that, but how about the people that have started and stayed with Tsubaki, or even switched to her? She has the same type of work hard -> no reward. She's a rushdown character without any good pressure. Yet, I'm pretty sure the people that stick with her have fun playing as her. A lot of it is expectations. When you're used to a good Rachel, and are handed a shit Rachel, you're not going to have fun. When you're handed a shit Tager, that's business as usual for you. Tager has never been good.

Because the Rachel players whined the most. Tager was already the worst in CT, so they were used to it, and Tsubaki was a new character. But Rachel went from top tier to low tier. That caused much more butthurt.

Your thinking is too specific here. Instead of having preset strings in your mind, try to gauge your options after every time move, and mixup accordingly.

This message has not yet been deleted by Spirit Juice, but it probably will be soon.

In the corner, she can, I'm pretty sure. Edit: Yup, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI3eYKAJi1I#t=1m06s And no, Taokaka's 2A never does damage in a real match. Most of the time people are going to confirm it into a reset of some kind, since it wasn't going to do much damage in the first place. Mostly people won't hit confirm a single 2A into 3C or 6A, they'll do a 5B or another 2A first. I'm pretty sure 2A's max damage without AB2 is ~2300. But if it's prorated further by another 2A or 5B, it's probably not even going to reach 2k. If you're going for a low that has damage and can taunt loop, why not use 2B, that does ~2800, and can have oki ender because of the taunt loop. Also Gold Burst -> Taunt Loop x8 is 3.8k. Edit: Because I didn't refresh to see your post, obviously.

Interesting that you brought up anti-airs. A lot of people use them incorrectly. Either as spam or improperly timed, allowing moves with large vertical hitboxes to really kill them in recovery. I know of a lot of people that will make their anti-air spamming obvious within the first couple of matches, and it's actually a hard-to-break habit too. It ends up becoming one of the main reasons why those same people break down easily.

Definitely, that was a brilliant buff that was out of no where, imo. It was never able to be able to be used for crossups like this before.

Don't really believe in deleting information. The AB2 thread has been merged into the combo thread.

j.D~B is way too goddamn safe+fast+rewarding in CS1. It almost feels like cheating. And the third jump makes trying to anti-air her a lot more dangerous. And her risk-reward is really out there in general, almost nothing she does goes under 3.5k ever. And that she averages 4.2k off 5B, 5k off CH drives, and 7k off 6C, all meterless. And of course AB2 provides +2k off anything taunt loop related with 20-30 heat. And double air dashing makes certain air throw setups (for 4.6k meterless) really good. And her counter assault is way too good, if you do it during an opponent's high recovery move, you're getting a free 3.5-4k at least, that can kill somebody since it's evade-type. CS1 Taokaka is fucked up.

That goes on for way too long and has too many gaps unfortunately: 6B is slow, and 5B does not have enough blockstun to compensate. 6B->236BB does not do damage while real combo variants do. 2C is also too slow coming from that point. The best gatlings from 5B are, 6A, 5C, 2B, JC (...), SJC (...). If you are going to risk 6A, have a more solid followup. If it hits, do 5B or j.D~B depending on the character. If it's blocked you can do 2D~B or j.D~B into a mixup. This is generally a bit safer, in my mind.

Taokaka seems to have a lot more burst-safe stuff in CS2 because of the 8D~A loop.

Also, you don't seem to need to super jump anymore either for it.

Yeah... I saw that a while ago. It's not that hard to do either. You're just holding 9 after the 5C, and alternating between the D and A buttons with delays, what the hell man. They should have something in the system that prevents some bullshit like this from happening, what the hell ArcSys.

Well, we had no idea that j.8D wouldn't have same move proration, or that 3C would be special cancelable.

(CS1 8D Loop testing) 5B->3C->5D~B->5C->(JC->j8D~A->land)x2->JC->j.8D~6->j.D~C->j.C->..->9D~9->3D~3->j.236Bx5 [3554]

Here, you can use this to test the up drive loop in CS1. 6C->66->Taunt Loopx2->214D->j.2D~B->5C->JC->j.8D~A->land->JC->j.8D~A->land->JC->j.8D~5->6D~6->j.C->..->9D~9->..->3D~3->j.236B->3D~3->j.236B->3D~3->j.236Bx5 LOOPS EVERYWHERE

So, Taokaka ends up with around the same average damage, yet only loses j.D range and 6C by itself, but gains 5B and 5C levels and 5C air unblockable? Awesome.

I always thought that triple jump, drive cancels and double dashes were way better for movement than fullscreen drives. Fullscreen drives were just abused way too much in CS1 due to speed, safety, and damage potential. People thought more about throwing them out there than actual movement, which was not the intended purpose. CS2 Tao looks to be a fine character, with all the tools needed.