ZhePrime

I guess I'm one of the few that don't have too much trouble with the input then? I guess it's because I played Nameless in KoF 2k2: UM, where all of his supers had a 1632143 input... and I used a pad :8/: (many moments of rage were had back then)

Against characters like Tager you can deal ~4500dmg from 236C with Hazama's Astral, not too shabby

Hakumen uses meter for all of his damaging combos, you don't. You have the advantage at the start of each round, the longer time you take to advance on him, the more meter he gets and in turn becomes more dangerous. If you become predictable, you will get countered. Mix up your pressure and attack patterns. If he throws out D's randomly you can punish him for it. That's also risky, since from his 2D and j.D he can start a corner combo and from 5D he can throw you into the corner (but not combo you). You need to be mindful at all times of what you do. His mixup, pressure and time. His AA game isn't that strong either. He gets his meter from being defensive (his good defense being one of his strengths). An overeagerly offensive Hakumen can be punished, a more defensive Hakumen needs to be broken, hence why a good mixup and mindgame is so important. His pokes can be baited, especially his 4C, if you predict it you can IAD over it and go to town. Only thing that will stop him from using his drive is unpredictability.

Respect? Why? Only people that earn my respect by simply playing their character are Rachel players, especially the ones that stuck with her from CT to CS. No, good players earn my respect.

Hm, that's a shame. It really feels odd that you can't combo after it after playing him in CT, oh well, just going to have to get used to it.

Does nothing combo after 5D? I saw in some guide that 5D > 2B works, but after several tries (and even by using the turbo function) I couldn't get the timing down, which leads me to believe it's either very difficult or simply doesn't work. 3C doesn't seem to work either and that move is slightly faster as well.

If you have 100% Heat and a Burst and can do it consistently then why not? You can basically throw it in from a lot of combos to basically deal ~3500 dmg that's unburstable. From 236C or 3C that's not too shabby. However, going for an Astral just because it's an Astral is not something I'd do. Like opting not to use a Burst or Fatal CH Jayoku because you want to save the burst/heat for the Astral. Huh? Then maybe it's just me but I think you have loads of time to input his Astral. It's not like doing Hakumen's Renka (1hit) into Zantetsu where you really have to do it as one motion. Only thing I found to be handy is something you can use in certain combos and situations, like when you pull yourself in for a slimmer version of j.214B# you tend to fly by easily? You can instead deal more damage and and land a follow-up easier if you do, say: 214D~B (CH), 6D~C, j.C(x1), jc, j.C(5x), j.214B

His 3C is the easiest. Meaning it can go from: 3C, Astral 2A, 5B, 3C, Astral 5B, 3C, Astral 5C, 3C, Astral 236C, 5C, 3C, Astral D*, j.2C, 3C, Astral (*Any D with long enough hitstun to combo afterwards and the opponent is on the ground) etc. Also back grab into corner works.

6C's Aerial State is from frame 17-35, so no. 236C beats his 360's and 720 though. Hazama's j.A beats everything but Tager's 5A (yes, even Atomic Collider).

2D? Sometimes in the corner, but no real use for it. j.2D? Yes. When you're pretty high up you can hit them and follow up with a combo, on whiff that's close to them you can nosedive and grab them on the ground, catches some people off guard.

Might as well post this video here as well, this Jin player is pretty good at presure if you ask me, could be a good reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBx22A07FmQ

Hazama has no true blockstrings, his pressure is weak. 2A, 5B, 3C, 236D is a string with no real gaps, but you need to mix it up or you'll never get a hit in. The dash is there to close the distance since Hazama has poor range on most of his normals. I use this Jin player as a reference for my pressure, I try not to simply stay grounded but mix it up a great deal.

j.B can also serve as a cross-up. j.C has better hitstun but worse proration.

Mizuchi is okay, it works in some rare sitations well, until the enemy stops doing it. It's nowhere near as good as Makoto's Big Bang Smash though, damn that's an annoying Distortion

2A, 5B (66, 5B), 3C, 236D 2A, 5B (66, 5B), 3C, 214D~A You can also throw in j.A/j.B/j.2C here and there sometimes. If you have 50% Heat you can go for a 6A somewhere and do a 236 236 B (Houtenjin). You can also throw in a 236C here and there. Also, against characters without DP's 236C can work very well if they neutral tech OTG (off the ground). Hazama's mix-up is okay, but his pressure is pretty meh. I think I've pretty much covered most of it, so a thread for this alone wasn't really neccesary, could've been asked in Hazama Gameplay Discusson, but hey, what's done is done.

It's just 6 random player's opinions and they don't touch on the matchups, just how good a character is from a scale of 1-5. The credibility is also a bit iffy since at least one player wasn't exactly serious. Tier lists don't matter anyway.

That list should be taken with a fistful of salt.

I didn't bring up loops since it's a given that loops will be removed (especially things like taunt and parry loop), since they're not intentionally put in.

I actually think Makoto is pretty balanced atm. If they balance the top and bottom tier chars she would be fine. Buffing stuff like her Asteroid Vision or her normals and mix-up game and she would work her way to the top easily.

A lot of attacks clash with Makoto's, chains clash almost constantly with her j.2C. You gotta be careful, she can easily cover the distance and hit you as you land with a combo. At mid-screen and shorter you should not throw out chains.

The most annoying matchup by far. A lot of your attacks will whiff easily against her low attacks and 3C (like 5D, 214D~B, 214D~A, 236D, etc.) Only your 3C is a reliable counter and since your 3C isn't incredibly fast you need to be able to do it on reaction early. Without Yayoku you're a sitting duck in the corner and on wakeup, and whatever you do don't rush to try and get out of there since her 2A will catch you into another combo. What's also annoying is that Hazama needs to basically be at point blank range and that's risky since Makoto is very dangerous up close if she lands a hit (her A's are very prone to counter your attacks) and his Drive isn't overly useful apart from full screen. When she has 50% Heat, avoid throwing out ANY D's, she will just Big Bang Smash you. Etc. Basically a lot of your toys are taken away from you most of the time in this match, which leads to annoyances. Play it safe, no risks. Go with the Zakiyama game-plan on this one.

Ah thanks I think my variant deals a bit more damage though (and I find it much easier to do and time). Can't compare the two in training atm so I'm not exactly sure what the heat & dmg difference is between the two, so I'm going by the frame data. Yeah, I noticed that both 5C and 3C can hit them if they're close to the ground, but I didn't try out any follow-ups, gonna try that combo out and maybe experiment some more.

Under Drive Starter Combos I saw: j.D~D > j.B > (JC) j.C > (JC) [j.C x 5] > j.214B Two jump cancel's? Is that combo even legit? If not then this is the combo I've been doing from a j.5D. j.5D~C, j.Cx1, (JC), j.Cx5, 214B = 1714 dmg There are probably better combos after a j.5D out there, so feel free to enlighten me if that's the case

Ah thanks, finally got the whole thing down repeatedly... but now I have trouble with the follow-up to that, nameley how do I time the j.6D~D after a 623D? This is from a character specific combo: 5C > 3C > 214D~C > 5C > 2C > 6D~A > 4D~A > 623D > (Back Jump) j.6D~D > 2C > 4D~A > 4D~D > j.214B# I'm practicing vs Tager with this one, but he always recover before the j.6D hits him. Can I break the combo apart btw? i.e. is the hitstun enough after say [ grab, 6D~A, 6D, 623D ] do do the j.6D follow-up? Or does it only work in that exact combo?