Ryyudo

I've gotten to play/study this match up a lot more lately, as Faust. Couple things I noticed: - For some reason blocked 2P, 2HS frame trap catches multiple Sin players. I don't know what the Sin players are gunning for, but it seems to be consistent in both videos and in matches. It's also good, because 2P, 2P, 2HS Scalpel/Item will push Sin out a decent amount to his range where he has to make a more committed play. - One thing I've spotted in a lot of videos is Faust using Scalpel Pull at 3/4s+ screen range. After messing around with it in matches afterward, I feel the reasons for this are two-fold: 1. It forces a guessing game with Sin against his Beak Driver (or 6P, but most seem to try for Beak Driver). Which means he's using resources for Beak Driver while you're dilly-dallying and throwing items and faux-motions to bait Beak Drivers out. If he gets a good jump, you have YRC to punish as his air-to-ground game is lacking when raw. So suggest doing this with 25+ meter. 2. Beak Driver seems to lose pretty often to scalpel unless timed super well. Which means you get a free scalpel pull combo or free harass keeping Sin fullscreen. If he hits you with Beak Driver, it sucks, but it's not the end of the world necessarily either because he has some ground to cover and doesn't have AMAZING oki. Once again, he was using resources, he might even choose to eat depending on the necessity. Keep your eye on that. Additionally, at 3/4+s screen, Sin might go for stuffing his face. As Keeponrockin said, if you spot it: YRC punish (or you can force their YRC too). As Homer J. Simpson once said: That's good! I noted the 3/4+s screen. This is because any closer and the slide move becomes the go-to solution instead of Beak Driver. And as Homer J. Simpson once said: That's bad... - Japanese Fausts seem to spend a lot of time above Sin on his wake-up. I figure it's to mess up/discourage DP use. This is something I haven't experimented much with yet though. ... That's bad.

Oh sorry, I didn't make it clear: It's not my video. If it was, I'd happily accept the constructive criticism, though!

This is the Nage v Kazunoko MU we talked about earlier, but with Nage's thoughts in annotations. Make sure annotations are on :

Few guesses. Which can be a combination of any of them, too: 1) Kazu had burst both times. Since Nage is focused on keeping space/control, as from his match analysis, I think if he extended the amount of hits on the combo it'd give Kazu more times he COULD burst and would increase the feeling of WANTING to burst in case of high damage. 2) Getting out of corner. Both times Nage had his back to the corner (or close to). The first time, he crosses up Kazu and now Kazu is in the corner. Maybe he felt if he put on more hits, it'd push Kazu out further and make it harder/less worthwhile to try to cross up or jump in (due to a slightly increased distance, it makes it a more dangerous and react-able gambit.) Though this seems more unlikely because he pushes Kazu back to the middle of the stage first the second example and really doesn't get any sort of side switch. Furthermore, I don't think the distance is THAT great of a difference anyway. 3) Honestly, it could be just muscle memory in heat of the moment. If he's unsure he'll hit and just is OSing YRC (or RC in those case) he could only really react with 2D instead. Go for combos you can land 100% of the time and stay solid mindset. Especially useful mindset for Faust.

No problem. Glad I could help, fam! B-) @Lynxfort

Sorry man. It works pretty well for me. I'll try to summarize more than piece-by-piece. After catching up on the thread, I think I'm seeing where I'm lost on your and my thoughts of rushdown vs lockdown terminology. No biggie, I'm just less confused now. Yes, I'm not disagreeing he GETS shenanigans off his Drill Cancel, I'm more on the point of once he gets to a safe point of using it, he gets 1 or 2, MAYBE 3, chances at, possibly disrespect-able, mix ups. Outside of the first one being super ambiguous, the remaining one(s) are a little bit more predictable/a LOT less damaging both position-wise and damage output-wise. If you don't WANT to block, that's your prerogative and your playstyle. That's fine. Just consider that you're taking away one of the game's options for you to use, instead of directly blaming the character for clashing directly with your playstyle. The only reason I can think of Faust players keeping other players locking the corner for "longer" is because Faust needs that many more combos/opportunities to kill. I see a lot of "deserve buttwhooping" and "getting full punish". I don't believe that's the proper way to handle Faust; Faust is just not that kind of character. He's a character who focuses on control (over the screen, locking down, etc.) Hitting him proper, even if it's not a full punish, is taking that control away. Your taking Faust's strongest and major gameplan away from him and it becomes easier to run ship on him. Once you start running ship too, it's harder for him to get out. Faust doesn't have as mashable moves during gaps, so it requires good defense and decision making to get out instead of using a 3-4f jab to abuse gaps. Things such as Dust (YRC) (still don't agree this is an "anti-air" as it doesn't discourage someone from being in the air, but that's just semantics at this point as I see where you're coming from now), particular pokes in response to jumps or IBing into a quick poke, etc. all require a level of precision and thus difficulty. It's not free outs or easy, they're just options that are good in particular situations, just like the rest of his moveset. I still say his defense is weaker, not just because of his defense/guts level, but because it requires blocking and knowing options/spacing to get out of a bad situation. A bad situation that could lead to some hiiiigh damage against Faust. You're right about his items: The good outweigh the bad. Otherwise this move wouldn't be useful (of course). And yes, his moves are meant to keep you in the zones of the items while he stays away safely. Still, it seems like the issue here is respecting Faust's abilities. You dislike how he can punish people jumping in. Just like in Street Fighter: don't jump. Especially since this game has a lot more movement options than SF: running with FD braking, FD blocking in air if you think the Faust will try to AA, divekicking an AA attempt, heck even moves that move you forward with a low-profile like Grand Viper or the Ky Slip 'N Slide (glad you like this name :>) makes Faust have to react or guess to what you're doing. Faust still has a game to play out, it's not JUST willy-nilly "whatever just throw out this move because it's awesome." You'd be correct in "honest" means "not full of bullshit". Because he's not. He has tricks and everything, but he doesn't net ridiculous damage from a single mistake, his moves are straightforward for the most part and often can be handled one-at-a-time (more pokes, less up-close pressure), little in the way of ridiculous mixups or truly forcing an opponent to block (Zato/Millia). Hard to see != forced to respect, especially in the same way you would for Zato/Millia/Elphelt's (for some characters). Just as every Faust poke is used to counter something, each poke has its own shortcomings that can be countered too. Of course, it's not easy (that's the point), but a mistake with a small punish usually turns into a lack of control for Faust. That's where other characters really do a lot more of what they want, but they still gotta do it well or intelligently. Knockdown, like pretty much all characters in this game, is where Faust's game of control really starts. 6H AA against things sounds hella risky, but awesome. I've used it as an AA, but never exactly on purpose. I'm gonna mess with that here in a minute :> (btw, 2P, 2D doesn't combo, even on CH. Don't fear it super badly from max range, it's a tool to keep opponents in check and to keep them out quickly, not just to combo even if it can from close range. Otherwise it's just a frame trap/a way for Faust to get his control game started as 2D is jump and special cancel-able) Also, without going too much into it as you're not sure of the version; it sounds like you're talking about BlazBlue Continuum Shift where Rachel did jack for damage but still had decent wind gimmicks. Ragna definitely won that MU. I think everyone won MU against her though in that version, to be fair lol.

I dunno, it seems really difficult... I gotta figure out how to save the videos again, then I gotta go on my YouTu-- Oh, wait, there it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyJoZf5HkPg

Blocking him. Blocking him is literally the safe option of getting him off you. Faust either has to try to reset the situation (which means a punishable or forced-to-block gap) or using a move that will push the opponent back (i.e. thrust). Faust does not "Rushdown" he "Controls". They may seem like one in the same, but you won't see many Fausts go in without some kind of item in play or knockdown because it is high risk to do so. Also, you can't really say "You don't care it's random" and then consider it only as an advantage even though the random can still mess with him as you literally point out in the same sentence. I'm not a fan of Helium close up or Spring if it flies off screen into the corner. It's not always an advantage; Faust, as much as his opponent, needs to react to the item situation. Going my Way, on block, isn't safe unless he lands before the full extension of it. It's not heavily punishable either; I, and most people I play, usually just throw it. I'll break this down part by part - Screen control; yes. Coupled with mediocre/random rushdown, the ability to run in at an opponent, and close up pressure. Also, meh defensive options. - Awesome recovery; Slow/risky startups. - "Rushdown" on cornered opponents; the need for a mid-screen combo or poke-pressure to get them there successfully. - "All the benefits" "hurtbox bullshit"; I keep saying it, Faust has his own share hurtbox "issues". I dunno what makes you not want to acknowledge this from DaiAndOh and myself? Go into training mode and play around against his thrust. Sol should be able to 6P it, VV it, Grand Viper under it, Gunflame it, and 2D just to dodge it, all when the thrust is incoming. Theory crafting, you may be able to 5K it also? His hurtbox is out there, many characters have options as long as they have the read and the bravery to capitalize (Slayer can 6P, sure, but bravery will result them in Pilebunkering it instead) -"Ability to interrupt the opponent's offensive during their rightfully earned turn for spanking" I'm gonna have to ask for clarification on what you mean there. Outside of item, I dunno how he "interrupts" anything the opponent "rightfully" earned - "5 Anti airs"; Maybe (6P, 5K, 2K, 2S, 5P?) , but they're meant to handle various situations to control space, each with their own risk/reward/use. Really, Sol's divekick AND Elphelt's air Bridal Express is an answer to pretty much all of these as it can be used to bait these options out, keyword: "bait". If Faust is baited, the game becomes scarier and riskier. Dust though? That's...that's not an anti-air.... Crawl is a switch on risk/reward. Can dodge, but can't block. It's useful for predictable moves/players, but it's a risk otherwise because Faust walks himself into possible danger. As far as I see it, no one is arguing his tier; we all know he's top but not best. No one complains about him as much because he's "honest". He doesn't have many (controllable) gimmicks, and you have to play smart and well to get the most out of each of his normals. Being willy-nilly with his normals means either the start-up frames will get stuffed extended start-up hurtboxes will get stuffed, which is how you have to play against Faust. He's less reactionary and more predictive on what move you think he'll do next, and then punishing BEFORE instead of AFTER. Faust's moves don't MAKE you lose, they capitalize on small, often frustrating, mistakes. If a Faust is "waltzing right up for free" because Mini-Faust is on the screen, you might need to react more as a player. If you're too busy trying to block Mini-Faust from x-screen away, maybe change your actions. I'd assume most Fausts will travel somewhat near Mini-Faust, who is not very fast, which gives you some time to try something. Also, Sol can gunflame mini-Faust from about that halfway point. You just need to make the magic happen with your own options. Buy time and space with backdashes, hit it with a projectile, teleport through it, super armor through it. If the Faust is running in brainlessly, throw out a far reaching normal to test their reactions, as they'll have to FD cancel their run to block it. Mini-Faust is fine. It's a different kind of pressure. If it died half screen, the Faust would have little reason to move in the first place. Especially from midscreen, it's still a hurdle for Faust to make it that remaining half screen if he wishes to get in and get real damage/mixup. The risk, IMO, is too high and the Faust would probably rather just wait for a bomb or meteor, as it's pretty much the only items left that will invoke fear into a opponent long enough to go in behind. I feel as if there's a misunderstanding. His hurtbox actually gets him OUT of combos because it's so strangely shaped or whatever. He IS deceptively smaller (or at least weirder) than he appears on the screen. I think this IS unfair that Faust gets out of some combos for free. It seems silly to me that players have to learn how to specifically combo on him arbitrarily. He does technically have everything he needs: Blocking. Every character has blocking because that's technically all one needs. Unfortunately, by comparison, it's MOST of what makes Faust's defense. All his other defenses cover few options and require good reads/predictions, instead of having options that covers 2/3rds of the opponent's options (i.e. DPs, Backdashes). I don't know what you're getting at. I agree in the sense of his combo hurtbox that he should "eat as much shit as he dishes out". Otherwise, the smarter the player, the better the reward, and the harder it is for the opponent with ANY character. Faust has his good and bad, but his good really shines in the hand of a patient/smart player who uses his ranges well and uses proper moves per every situation. Hence why people don't necessarily complain about Faust because losing to him much means they got outplayed by good fundamentals multiple times. Not that they messed up once and took 60% damage into strong, or unblockable, oki.

I dunno where insane "rushdown" is coming from (that's something I'd give to Sol, Chipp, or Millia), and I figure you mean Faust's "mixup"; Faust's air movement is poor, and his running movement isn't super speedy or anything. He's a character who fares better staying put, generally, hence his FD momentum stopping being a strong tool as it keeps him IN PLACE. Faust needs to control the screen SO he can move into his mixup game. To do that, he needs to throw out strong normals to keep people away/rushing him down too hard. Generally, without RC or good CH reads, this does not lead to much damage. Really, what he wants it to lead into is a good situation, where he gets a hit and the opponent is forced to react to an item on the screen, making up for his lesser movement through screen control. If Faust did not have screen control, there's little reason for an opponent to gorilla their way through to him while he's trying to throw out an item, because then there's no fear of Faust actually doing anything worthwhile. Faust's ability to rushdown, mixup, and damage is not strong enough to carry him as a character in XRD. His normals/chains are slow by comparison and may leave him at disadvantage, have mashable gaps, extend his hurtbox to be punished, or push the opponent out some to try and keep himself safe. Faust is about doing things safely as possible while forcing his opponent to move and not himself, so long as you do safe things. His reward for hitting properly isn't as great as other characters damage wise, but he'll get single, strong hits more often. He's akin to Dhalsim of Street Fighter. Keep opponent out until a good situation arises. Get in and have one or two good shots at strong mixup tools. If you hit it, great! If you don't, ruh roh.... Faust lacks defense, hence his whole game is based around avoiding that situation IF you play with smart/good actions. He can block, of course, and alpha counter (whatever it's called in guilty lol) with a blind spot above his head that's far more abuse-able when Faust is in the corner. He has his Cup super which requires 50 meter, a grounded opponent, a big enough move from the opponent to invlun through, and STILL some good luck as the opponent has a chance to get out. It's not 100% reliable or useful, though it's not terrible by any means. He has his crawl which sacrifices his ability to defend for the chance to avoid attacks with his lower hurtbox. There's Dust (YRC) which is tricky but loses to throw and meatier attacks. Once again, Faust is just based off good decision making at the right times. I will agree that his hurtbox, while being combo'd, should be normalized more. Then again for some characters, it leads to extra damage. So I guess it's what the character makes of it. Faust plays to pressing the right button(s) at very specific right times. He needs reliable moves in most, but specific, situations to make up for his inconsistent item throws. If you were to extend his, already pretty large, hurtboxes then he'd be less making actively good decisions and more playing scared/defensively/hoping for good item luck. Normals in the wrong situation can be beat (f.S against a ready opponent can lead to getting 6P, Pilebunker, VV, Ky's Slip & Slide, etc punishing it from full range with CH) and if you, as an opponent, DON'T end up beating it, the result? Taking some damage and Faust gaining some control with item (assuming no meter usage), pretty much not the end of the world, just returning closer-to-neutral. Other characters fight more for damage/oki, Faust fights for spacing and control. When he wins that, he gets more options to add to his game plans, such as mix up, damage (which is still mediocre generally, but far more consistent than other characters). All the same, it can be taken away and he's in his worst situation of defending. Faust IS strong when things are (hehehe) Going His Way. He's a strong, fundamental-based character. You take away his reliable-per-situation normals and he'll lose his ability to throw items, have a reliable gameplan between items, and his general ability to gain control. The reason items work for him is because if it's a bad item, he STILL has options.

Yeah, I've started using this since the Doctor Yellow combo video. Just be wary that they can tech before touching the ground so set up a move after it to force them to block/do low-to-ground grab. I played around with it some here for those who wish to see it: and here but DON'T actually end it how I did for 100 meter unless you NEED the damage/have an airhorn nearby.

I got 6P'd out of my thrust four times today. And Pilebunkered once. I have a decent, not exact, idea fam.

I respect what you tried to do there, OP. You put in a lot of effort. But for a lot of the reasons DaiAndOh mentioned, it does not seem like you understand your character, and Faust, as much as you think you do. Sol discourages simple actions. Pressing buttons, blocking for too long, heck even MOVING, Sol has options that punish them and heavily. He's not meant to be king at all ranges/situations. Consider: If Sol shouldn't get punished for attempting a mix up, especially if 0 would keep him in with his oppressive close-range normals, why should Faust, who has far slower normals? Also, Gunflame kills Faust's Mini-Faust AND Poision. It's not even an issue for Sol. Gunflame even beats Axl NORMAL pokes, negates other projectiles, and creates a wall for the opponent to avoid/block if you use it closer (discouraging simple actions). Sol is not nearly zoned out or option-less as you may think. But if you make bad decisions, you will get bad results. The game shouldn't cover that for you in character design, you (more often than not) as a player should.

[3:34 - Evo 2015 - GG Xrd Loser's Final: Woshige vs ODG | Nage] (since I dunno how to use the Instant Replay thing yet, using YT time links.) Round start 2P is actually an interesting option. Throwing it out against a character with faster normals seems ballsy/more like a hard read knowing Woshige isn't going to press anything. Super strong against not pressing buttons, as Faust can then react to follow up options afterward. In this case, backdashing out of Millia range and starting small pressure. [3:37 - Evo 2015 - GG Xrd Loser's Final: Woshige vs ODG | Nage] 2Ps here seems to be Nage just trying to make Woshige block upon landing, while keeping his own hurtbox and commitment low. It seems from that range, the only thing Millia could do to hit Faust is pin. Afterwards, Woshige takes to the air in a good position, and it's a good read and patience from Nage to wait it out, blocking the pin. Personally, I need to get better at reading the air situation from Millia and how strong it is for them. [3:39 - Evo 2015 - GG Xrd Loser's Final: Woshige vs ODG | Nage] j.P was a mistake from Woshige, and he tried to flee. Nage on point with covering airdash options with 2K for a wider anti-air range. Wacky hits makes it impossible to combo off of, but like the burst in the first round, Nage uses j.H, land, item toss to cover approaches. Seeing a pattern here? Good stuff from Woshige IBing the bomb and backdashing out of Love range and avoiding extra pressure. This forces Faust to hold standing backwards to block/stay out of a bad situation, but buys real estate. [3:44 - Evo 2015 - GG Xrd Loser's Final: Woshige vs ODG | Nage] Item toss, bad item, goes to retrieve and FD breaks his run and backdashes, making Woshige try to react with 2D. Nage's reaction is likely in thinking Woshige's going to stand still after his whiff but low committal 2P allows for 2K punish (partially due to a lucky positioning) Woshige's pin attempt, but would likely prevent anything Woshige tried to do besides double jump. Thing I'm realizing here is Nage uses a lot of 2K for AA. It is more likely that Millia will be lower to the ground and moving along that lower plane. Thus, 2K is naturally a better option because of this: wider but shorter (than 5K/6P) anti-air along with being lower to the ground (discouraging challenging it). Follows up with 5H, item toss combo. Nage reacts beautifully to item and goes for air throw reset. [3:49 - Evo 2015 - GG Xrd Loser's Final: Woshige vs ODG | Nage] Not much Woshige/Millia can do on wake up; f.S YRC OS a very good meaty option. Nage tries to backdash to buy more space, but Woshige is privy and runs a bit farther and reaches a bit further with 6P. A little bit of CHaos (aay see what I did there) between mashing out of spin state and Millia rushing in before Nage bursts out of the combo that would carry him to corner and ruin his perfect day. [3:55 - Evo 2015 - GG Xrd Loser's Final: Woshige vs ODG | Nage] Faust gets free item toss after burst. Then Nage controls space with 41236K, but because Millia stayed put, Faust gets another item throw because she can't get in in-time (even airdashing into j.D did not reach Faust.) Nage backdashes again to take back what real estate he can. Starting to notice Nage's heavy use of backdash to make Woshige whiff things and question Millia's range when running in, as seen in... [3:57 - Evo 2015 - GG Xrd Loser's Final: Woshige vs ODG | Nage] Woshige commits to 2K, and (to my surprise) Nage punishes with a 5K. I figure 2K would go under 5K, but I digress. Nage shows he's a real motherfucker by RCing and trying to cross up Woshige to get hit by the bomb. Clever, but in super slow motion, play-by-play retrospect, I disagree. God Nage, can't YOU pause real life and count the frames? Fucking scrub. A sweep into pogo to continue the combo would ideal here instead, something to always keep in mind. Especially in the Millia match up, that's risking giving up space/control/etc. and that's exactly what Nage lost... [4:00 - Evo 2015 - GG Xrd Loser's Final: Woshige vs ODG | Nage] Because of the airblock, Nage loses advantage and defends accordingly. Nage tries to gain it back after a blocked sweep (-1 according to Wiki), but the only move that would've worked for Faust is 5P. 5P is Faust's fastest normal (Hack 'N Slash is faster, but Nage's range wasn't good) at 6 frames - 1 adv. = 5 vs Millia's 2K, 5 frames + 1 disadv. = 6. Assuming MIllia's 2K doesn't low profile 5P. Woshige doesn't get knockdown off the following 2D, but YRCs his would-be disc oki. Nage is still trying to 5P. Figure he's just trying to trade out of pressure, but it doesn't work. ;_; #RIPperoniAndCHeese [4:08 - Evo 2015 - GG Xrd Loser's Final: Woshige vs ODG | Nage] In a very Faust-like manner, Nage gets lucky that Woshige drops the combo. Nage double jumps to avoid any instant AA attempts, sees, and punishes the whiff. Nage plays the door game to force Woshige on defensive as he lands, but Nage had no intention to go through with the door as he YRCs and throws Woshige instead of anything else, likely because of the burst Woshige had. Just saying, I woulda been dumb and Hack 'N Slash'd for MAXIMUM DAMAGE only for the opponent to burst. [4:15 - Evo 2015 - GG Xrd Loser's Final: Woshige vs ODG | Nage] Bad item, fetches it, FD Brakes, backdashes. Woshige is scared at this point and jumps back. Nage takes advantage of this and starts placing pokes on the screen to block all the space: f.S, 3/4ths screen j.2K, a pretty far away and early 6P, allowing him to recover in time for another 6P to stuff Millia's pin. Really liking Nage's anti-air responses to the various heights of Millia.

Hey SoCal! I'm going to be in Oceanside for the next couple days and will have free time on Sunday before I fly out. Anyone near Oceanside available for games, ideally UNIEL, in the 11A - 6P time slot?

It's because you can end up too close to them if you do the [...] 2C, 5[C], 421B, 6B route. 6B will move forward, cross-under, and whiff on them if you're too close and not in a corner. 2C, j.[C] works fine along with any other airborne hitting combos afaik. Assuming this what it's recommended in place of.