InspectorOda

Some of the excess bugs after 214B on jC > jD knockdown seem unnecessary since it negates the instant crossup from the standard D bug reset, and you should be able to pull off the same mixup. It's a combo video though, so practicality isn't a concern anyways. So now Ara is able to mixup solely from his high damage starters and not have to bother with his old generic 6A > jC/6B setups? To training mode!

Ya, that's Souji. But holy crap, he's gotten so good it's ridiculous. Those resets and predictions were combo movie material. @_@ And I never knew j236C beat out Tao so badly. I thought instant overhead jB > jc > j4B was a gimmick only I did. Guess I was wrong. =P

The main reason why his new 6D is a nerf is because it affects his oki recurse setups on prolonged combos. No one can tell how it will affect his zoning game at this point of time though.

I'm probably gonna regret reviving this thread, but does the 5C (2nd part) of his rekka still have P1 100? I'm pretty sure you guys can figure out why I wanna know this. ;D

Looks like some things need clearing up. 2B vs air attacks is only to anti air your opponent's air to ground attempts. jB for Litchi is air to ground, while jC is air to air. jB will always beat 2B no matter what. Low profile won't affect it, and even CT 2B was cleanly beat it out by jB. Therefore, 2B was useless in this matchup, and still is useless in this matchup. And that's not even factoring in j2D~BC approaches. And Litchi is one of the best characters to force Arakune to stay on the ground. So yeah, you'll be in air vs ground situations a lot.

...Except no Litchi will ever use jC on approach when they can jB. jB = air to ground. jC = air to air. What kind of Litchis are you playing?

2B was never able to beat Litchi. Even in CT. In fact, she was the only character 2B didn't work well on in CT.

Litchi's blockstrings are safe unless she goes for an overhead, 6, or some sort of frametrap, so it's usually better to just mass instant block and attempt to escape and punish her if she chases wrongly. And no Litchi will use itsuu on block except to itsuu cancel. Also, she can special cancel her 4D into any of her air specials, so trying to 5A out isn't the safest option if she decides to cancel into hatsu. It's 5 frame startup in the air is stupid. @_@ You can tell where her stick's gonna fly by the move she used to set it; all moves have either 5D or 2D orientation. Her kote gaeshi forwards changes it to 5D orientation, while her kote gaeshi backwards sets it to 2D. If the Litchi player is actually good, they'll also react to jumps with jC attempts, so 214A to bait into CH air throw is good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heUklMc7cU0 @ 0:58 for video example. And never go for laser supers during curse to end a combo unless it will kill, always go for the recurse. You'll need the meter to CA or RC or you will die. For a whole bunch of other little tips and ways to punish whatever moves, and also great video examples on the matchup, just go here if you can read Japanese. http://www14.atwiki.jp/arakune/pages/48.html Even google translation makes it understandable as far as I can tell, so might as well.

By his cloud being slower, was it the summoning animation or the cloud movement itself that was nerfed? Also, if 5C didn't get any nerfs at all, won't we still be able to do pretty ridiculous damage in the corner with 5C bug only loops?

So the nerfs this time around were the bell bug being summoned farther and 6A becoming slower then? 6A actually won't change that much then, pretty useless as mixup before, useless as mixup now. 6D summoned farther will definitely affect midscreen recurse setups though, no more oki recurses. Can't see how it will affect his precurse game right now though. 5A > 6B gatling would also be nice if you could combo without rapid now, but I highly doubt that. Any news on the 6 frame jump nerf being reverted? Also, would FC2C combos relaunching with 5A > jA even work anymore, or will we have to go straight into jA? Edit: No wait, would going straight into jA even combo anymore? Edit 2: Nevermind about the 5A > 6B thing. Comprehension fail.

Seriously, can certain people just please stop posting about Arakune in the loketest thread unless they actually know what the hell they're talking about? The amount of stupidity Arakune players in particular are spouting is absolutely ridiculous. Next loketest is the last one, whining isn't going to change anything. How about we actually discuss ways to adapt to changes instead?

Jayoku option select will always beat tech rolling 100% of the time. 5 frame startup for Jayoku > 18 frames until able to barrier guard after tech roll. Don't tech roll against Hazama, he has enough time to attempt to catch one with 2A/option select Jayoku and still meaty you after. For those who don't know, option select Jayoku is 214214AB in the corner. But this isn't the Hazama boards, so it doesn't really matter does it.

But didn't the D bug get a damage nerf to compensate for the possibilty of increased reps? The decreased hitstun might also make the combo fail near the end before the damage reaches any large numbers. Faster D bug doesn't neccessarily mean more mixup either, since it's only used to guard break to begin with. Still, one wheel and one dive loop, combined with one or two bug loops should already break 6k if the D bug proration isn't horrid now, so it's not that terrible. Not that great either though, so meh. Better recurse setups pl0x. =( FRC/Forcebreak cloud summon pl0x. =( Dive cancel on block again pl0x. =( AERIAL FORCEBREAK DRILLS PL0X!!1! =(

For the C bugless variants, you have to do an instant 5D tap the moment you use 6A, or else the D bug won't pick up the combo/blockstring in time. Also, someone actually made an educational combo video? It has practically every setup there is in there. :O!!! Anyways, seems like the reason they used 6A or 2B instead of something else is because after the dash under crossup, they have no time to pick up a high damage combo starter. Dunno though, I could be wrong. This setup is way too hard to start up reliably in battle. @_@

Oh, I thought you meant 44 teleport as in backdash. Nevertheless, from the way you seem to be using it the lol wut seems warranted. =P

Lol wut?

Was it Hima's combo video? =P Isn't it better to go for either 2C or jC/jC crossup? Might as well go all out for damage since the whole point of this setup is invisibility, and you lose that after only one mixup attempt anyways.

Oh yeah, forgot this one. Funniest reset/mixup of them all. 3 > 3A > 6A bug > 236B invis > B bug > ]C[ bug > ]D[ bug > whatever you want. Try any mixup you want including jC, the opponent is stuck in block stun and unable to see you, and then the C and D bug will either pick up a combo from whatever you used, or keep them in blockstun for further mixup. Pretty hard to setup, but Godlike when you can. =3 Don't have a vid of this bookmarked, but you can probably find one easily by watching Hima vids.

You can just tap 5D the same time you use 6A, and then just do jC/jC crossup/6B/3B to mixup and start a combo. For the jCs, just hold down C and let go at 4C during the 214A, then use the A bug after the crossup. For 6B, just let the 6B bug whiff, dash under the opponent, then tap an A bug after the crossup. 3B should be pretty self explanatory. All of them fully combo if the 6A lands also, except for jC crossup of course. Vid example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heUklMc7cU0&feature=related 1:09 for crouching jC combo 2:00 for standing combo started off 3B Obviously, you can reset if you delay the jC, but the damage from the full combo is good nonetheless. Pretty off topic note here, but might as well since I also found it in my bookmarked vids. Here's the j3D blocked curse setup I was talking about in the question thread. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpU2uEFpBec&feature=related Ya, the Haku could have just countered the j3D, but note only is that easy to bait but unlikely to happen because of how rare this setup is. Just leaving it here since it seemed like no one knew what I was talking about all that time. Think about it, would you rather have someone like Haku close to you or far away where he can just cut your bugs and end your curse harmlessly?

Umm, I know how to execute every single thing Arakune has in his arsenal perfectly. >.< I was just suggesting an alternative curse setup off of 2A > 5B > 5D, as well as a back up option in case you fail a combo for whatever reason. Honestly though, there isn't much of a chance of someone have 85% curse after a 5D hit anyways, so I've only ever used it maybe ten times out of thousands of matches. I love to rush down after getting curse though, so maybe that's why I try and capitalize on minor details such as reaching the opponent two seconds earlier. For Bang, I usually just use 9jc > j4A > jA, since I personally reserve jAA > jB for 8jc only. They're both pretty easy combos though, so I guess it doesn't matter either way. =O

For my first question about bell bug and cloud, I thought you meant doing that once the j6D puts them into curse, since I assumed you were comparing it to the j3D putting them into curse on block setup. @_@ And it works on Bang? It only works on 9jc and not 8jc though, doesn't it. Yup, if you don't mess up the combo you'll almost never have any use for this. Still, it can happen, and it's at least a valid alternative if you want to stay away from the opponent like the plague rather than late airdash in to pressure. And if both methods get curse, it's just a matter of preference how far away you want your opponent, so yeah. Just bringing up a possible alternative here. I don't think there's a need for me to post anything about it anymore though, I'm just reiterating myself a million times now. @_@

Why would you need to get a bell bug and cloud up during curse? =O And why did I mention Bang with Noel? I was probably only thinking of who the easy jAA > j4B combo works on, since it doesn't work on those two. @_@ Edit: Oh, are you talking about his normal IAD combo? Yeah, of course the full combo is better than using j3D, that's why I said only use j3D if you realize you can't IAD in time to connect the combo. Other than that, I already said what the only valid situation to use j3D is, when it is a guaranteed curse on block after 5D hits.

Okay, my first sentence is phrased really poorly. I meant that it is better to use j3D to follow up 2A > 5B > 5D on hit rather than as a blockstring, since most people assumed I was talking about a blockstring. I don't mean it's better to use j3D instead of the full 70/100% combo. Still, this setup doesn't leave any holes for reversals at all, no reversal outside of meter based ones have enough range to punish this, especially since the j3D becomes a meaty. And space to zone is totally unnecessary as the only time you'd use this intentionally is if it would put them straight into curse on block, allowing you to get them into a guaranteed blockstring and mixup sooner. The only other time you'd ever want to do this is if you failed to combo and confirmed as such. In this situation, you'll have already done either a 8 or 9 jump, and using j3D with decent space away from the opponent will usually be safer than continuing the jA/jB combo as a blockstring while also allowing you to build a bit of curse meter. Or you can have perfect execution, but even the Japanese drop combos occasionally. I've actually seen quite a few Japanese players use j3D in this manner, so I highly doubt it's a gimmick. It's more like a back up plan or insurance. No character can punish an instant j3D meaty on block anyways. This is highly situational and will hardly ever be used outside of combo fail anyways. Then again, America has no execution so it's all good.

No, it's better to use j3D on 2A > 5B > 5D hit and not block because it will force your opponent to either tech the stagger and block or take the hit. It's usually just used for when you miss the IAD, especially on Noel or Bang. It's useful though if your opponent will get cursed if he blocks the j3D, and you want the opponent close rather than on the other side of the screen after 5A > 6B. Still, trying to continue pressure after a 5D gets blocked is pretty bad against most characters anyways.

On a side note, 2A > 5B > 5D > jc > j3D is quite useful depending on the situation, or if you can confirm that you failed your IAD.