kenja0

And they wouldn't need to draw a new animation. All they should use is Cavalier rotated upward.

Since you have to press C again to throw out a different C move, I'm kind of hoping Arc System would put in a 5C system like hold 5C and go to 4/6 to speed it up or slow it down- something fun and functional. I had that idea for a while and I thought 2/8 would be something like aiming up and down, but that would just be silly.

That change was listed as a nerf... so it may not have been translated correctly.

The blocking mechanic changes are a welcome addition as well. I keep getting stuck blocking pressure for usually 10 to 15 seconds. Also, maybe 5CxN> 4B/3C will work better now.

Matchup: 50-50 [CS2] Mu vs Lambda Nothing like a psuedo mirror match. Despite Mu's drive being different, her close-range game is pretty similar to Lambda's, possibly slower. But where she shines is in her Crystal setups. Luckily, Lambda's Swords can pacify Mu's Crystal game anywhere on the screen. The Crystals do not shoot out lasers if Mu blocks or is hit. The exception to this is her charge laser which bounces between Crystals- this will always shoot once she gets it out. Mu will play rushdown in this match until she gets a knockdown: when she gets that knockdown, her Crystal okie begins. It's pretty scary actually. If you can, you must be physically active to stop Mu from ever setting up pressure. It sounds rough abandoning a lame D strategy, but if given the opportunity when you're close enough, get in her face. Her normals are nearly the same as Lambda's anyway, some are just slower. And if you get that knockdown, you can set up Lambda's pressure. Positioning around Crystals Never be on top of a crystal as Mu can force them to explode. Also, be weary of a Mu who knocks you down. You have to assume she may place a Crystal on top of you and immediate teching may not be the best option as you will lose 1~3 primers (depending on the setup they got). Rolling isn't necessarily the best option either unless you see them throwing up those Crystals: you don't want to get hit by a 2B because you will take 4k, guaranteed. Roll into an exploding Crystal will also guarantee 4k damage. Her wake up game is devastating and you want to be as careful as possible. Connect the Dots If she's shooting a charged laser (236D), try to note where the last crystal is and strafe around the angle of shot. Don't attempt to start a long combo on her either if she leaves herself open. At best, deal some damage and hit with a jump cancellable move and get out of there. After playing many matches with a really outstanding Mu player, I realize that Mu can set up an INDEFINITE amount of crystals while the laser is traveling between each other: she can make the crystals shoot forever if she places them relatively far from each other OR have them re-aim at you after a miss. I've experienced situations where Mu sets up crystals in a triangle formations while jumping around and replacing more crystals- he was able to set up 11 extra crystals in the vicinity, directly around a character and scoring multiple hit combos. You cannot simply doddle, you have to frantically get Mu to stop setting up other crystals, otherwise you will get hit and give Mu a free hitconfirm into a possible 3k~5k combo. Sword of Decimation Mu can use Sword of Decimation (63214C) in a blockstring to gain major advantage. After getting some tips from the Mu player, you must not simply sit there and wait for Mu to get a fully charged Sword of Decimation as it will not only break 2 of your primers but it will also put you at a -20 in blockstun: this is retardedly strong for that. Depending on range and your positioning, you can't just attack her out of it either. What you're going to want to do is force the Mu to release her move as early as you can get her to do while taking no damage: this puts Mu at a -10 and you at an abyssal low blockstun so you can go on the counter attack. Dash>Barrier or if you can get an attack in. Do something to avoid the full brunt of a charged Sword of Decimation, but try not to get hit.

Matchup: 50-50 [CS2] Lambda vs Lambda (wait a second...) Not only is this matchup extremely annoying, but the entire Lambda community is full of asses. The true meaning of Rock-Paper-Scissors. The worst thing about this matchup is that her zoning is entirely based around who presses the button faster. Some of Lambda's best tools (214D) may go to utter waste since any other D move clashes with this and sometimes, you just have to deal with losing at reaction time. The general strategy to approaching this matchup is entirely based around sticking to a playstyle. If the other Lambda is zoning you better than you can zone, then it is heavily advised you switch to a rushdown style and vice-versa. Stick to the opposite playstyle of your opponent at the time of the fight. If he switches and begins trumping you or you have an opportunity to trump his playstyle, then by all means switch. It is always better to play a different style than to fight solely based on reaction time and depend on whose attack comes out first. Unluckily, anytime players trade hits, it pretty much resets the game and puts both players at equal advantage. Don't forget, you cannot play mindlessly in this matchup. It's almost impossible to anyway. Zone Style ...If you don't know how to zone, then just drop Lambda right now. Of course, if you find an opening in your opponent's defenses, you can try to switch styles and rush Lambda down instead. Rush Style If you're feeling lucky, you can 236B/C in prediction to a 5D/6D. Playing in a mirror match before, these moves felt really good against the zoner. CH 236C is really scary, scary enough to drive away the opponent from mindlessly using 5D. Both Styles Anytime you knock down/away your opponent, you can begin 236D pressure. Unlike other characters, Lambda has much less options to escape than the opponent on the account of lacking reversals.

She seems to move faster than everyone else except Tsubaki, but I guess that's just the illusion she leaves behind because she hugs the ground very closely during her dash. I'll get that changed then. But you have to note she seems faster than Ragna or other rushdown characters, toppled with her Drive makes her extremely evasive.

Matchup: 50-50 [CS2] Noel vs Lambda Noel: somehow, a character who used to be really gimmicky was buffed enough to make those gimmicks become really scary options. Her pressure and speed can really shit on Lambda, and with Lambda's close-up defense being almost non-exist, it kind of makes you sweat. If Noel is on the offense, I can't stress enough that a Lambda player should do nothing but block. In this match, you really have to watch what Noel is doing because every option you think you have is only going to work at opportune moments. And remember, if you don't block it, be prepared to take 4k to the face, every time. As a Lambda, you have to know that 50-50 isn't necessarily true. It means, with the ultimate prediction skills, 90-10 against Noel far away and 10-90 in her favor up close. Long Range First off, the long range game. Noel is small, fast and nimble. 5D/6D is going to be a little harder to hit because she can throw off zoning with her speed and maneuverability. 2D seems to be a better option than 6D since she can sweetspot around Lambda's blindspots. But 2D has an entirely different problem to deal with, explained later. I think Lambda has more options in the air against Noel than on the ground. You can IAD back/forward j.DD and j.2DD which seem to cover the majority of things. Watch your height and spacing because Noel's dash can most likely go right under your sword and hit you. If Noel is not approaching, note her position on the screen. Her Optic Barrels have gotten another speed buff and come out almost instantly. This is a serious problem because she can hit you out of a 5D or 214D on reaction. Close Range Noel's drive mode is what will most likely lock you in, and you better prepare a good defense. Remember, Noel can only do 5 drive chains in a row with few exceptions, so there is an end to them. Note Noel's patterns and know what her options are during certain times. Her overhead is 6B and low is 6D. As you know, she can't gatling two Ds and Bs together. If Noel performs a D move, she can't possibly go for a low and vice-versa. The exception to this rule is 214A which is a high grab. Her 2D is also pretty scary close up: it discourages jump-outs and can cross-up when blocking low. You do not want to get randomly hit by this cross-up and a great Noel player will know how to make it impossible for you to jump-out and lock you in. Her finisher is Assault Through which if used far enough away can questionably cross-up. It is possible to grab her out of this or time a fast attack, but it isn't always consistent. Her other finishers aren't that threatening unless she has meter to burn. Most of Noel's Drive mode moves have invincibility and shrink her hitbox to tiny proportions. You can't simply throw out random Calamity Swords or Counter Assaults and hope they hit, you have to time them and prepare them for the right attack. The stupidest situation is when she Assault Throughs either of them. If you somehow escape Noel's blockstring and get far away while she's in Drive mode, keep a close eye on position. Noel can still Optic Barrel you out of a projectile punish or Assault Through and get close or hit you. j.4D I hate this move so much. It's fast, it dodges 2D and 214D, it crosses up, it hits low, AND WORST OF ALL it Fatal counters. This single move makes Noel's rushdown flawless. This attack gives Noel aerial mixup and covers up the last of her weaknesses against anyone. With this move, she can break Lambda's zoning so hard and score a 4~6k damage combo with a hit/fatal. It does have one blaring weakness though. If Noel is too far away and uses j.4D, she will aim the OPPOSITE direction of you when she lands, every time. You can position yourself to make this happen, but at the horizontal speed Noel can fly at, it'd be pretty hard to position. The speed and distance is directly proportional to your position on the screen: the closer she is, the shorter her travel time and animation is going to be (and speed). Counter Assault Noel's CA is a dodge movement. You may think that's not threatening but it is. Lambda has extremely long recovery times after all of her D moves, so Noel can go for the punish. If you happen to lock Noel down with a 236D, she can get out of it while you attempt your mixup: if you do j.214D for your mixup, you will most likely whiff it. Rock Paper Swords If you hate playing defensive and thus having an identity crisis with your Lambda, you can attempt to fight back during Noel's blockstring. With a little bit of habit and good prediction skills, you can attempt to counter whatever she may try to throw out. Just remember, getting CH by Noel is equivalent to 4k life loss. Lambda 2C vs Noel 2D. Timing is fairly tight. Lambda 214A vs Noel 214A. Gravity is anti-grab: it is completely grab invulernable and it fatal counters, which can lead to a nice 3k+ combo. Lambda 236A vs Noel j.4D. If Noel is in the air in general, you can try to run away with this. However, I've gotten into situations where Gravity comes out if I'm too late or Noel did a j.D and smacked me out of my Parser. Idiotically, if you try to go for a wake up grab, Noel can throw out 4D and get a Fatal counter on your failed attempt. You also want to avoid random Calamity Swords: assault through, 3C, and j.4D can smack Lambda out of it. I'll update with feedback

Ragna's rushdown is pretty straightforward. The only mixup option he has you should look out for is his Gauntlet Hades since it's pretty fast and can start his combos. 6B is very easy to predict in blockstring and has probably the weakest revolver action table out of every overhead move in the game. If he's sniping with 5B/5C then someone's not keeping him out with Ds. j.2DD stops a lot, 6D and j.DD stop the rest. Dashing 2D especially stops those jump ins. 214D walls his face in, especially if he's in the air. Dead Spike is the only thing stopping Lambda from utterly destroying Ragna. Ragna is just not as scary as he used to be: he lost options, bar building and damage.

Other than the comments that other people have said, you need to be mobile. The creators gave Lambda a nimble dash over step dash AND 5 primers because she needs it to position herself- she cannot handle pressure. Don't let Jin know where you'll be when he moves into position. Airdash away or forward. If he's jumping over you, dash under him. If you condition your opponent to play a cat and mouse game, that's when you can trick them by going on the offense with say an airgrab or a sword. E.g. I used in casual match back in the day: IAD back>IAD back>IAD forward>airgrab. After I saw them air dash forward twice to my airdashes back, I've conditioned my opponent to approach the same way multiple times. I trick them into a grab. Now this shouldn't work all the time, but you want to be one step ahead of your opponent and essentially predict where they'll end up. When you 236D him, you need to capitalize on it and go for a mixup. 214D is fine, but if you want to break primers, do it consistently. Anytime you get a knockdown, you should always be throwing out 236D or 214D so he'll block. Doing 214D while he's standing isn't a good idea because his ice swords can crash you spike chaser because his are fast. Never ever Ever throw out random 5Cs against anyone. Not because it's bad but because it leads to a bad habit of doing it in response to everything. 5Cs never connect on ground opponents because they'll block it and it will never AA anyone in the air because it's too low to the ground. 5C vs aerial opponent means you're going to get hit. If anything, position yourself for 6D/2D or 6A and maybe 2C. And lastly, don't panic under pressure. Bursting early doesn't help the situation. Wake up and block his oki so you can learn what your opponent is capable of AND learn their tendencies for blockstrings and combos.

Did you see those landings with 236Ds? I call bullshit on that when he can go into straight Sledge without getting touched. I tried using 236Ds as a wall for him to need to jump over. And you're fine with your bluntness. I've been slacking off since all of my friends called BlazBlue shit and won't practice with me anymore... One of them hated Platinum so much that when I Astral'ed him, he complained about the character and screamed about the corny Anime music in the background.

Obviously there were some other mixups trying to happen like the Crescent that did not come out in one round, but I fudged inputs because too much SFIV and SFxT makes me a bad executioner. Against other characters, I try not to throw out as many Parsers (the biggest ones I do are 236A after knockdowns)- Tager is an exception for me because well... fetching hits against that Tager seemed much harder than normal, I got impatient and took what I could get. What should my spacing be like against him? I felt like he was slipping through my blindspots too often. And how should I have reacted in some parts because I know I wasn't optimum.

Me at Phoenix Comicon The matches getting up to the finals were much more epic than this match: a Lambda mirror, a Hakumen, and the Noel player who knocked me into losers. Unluckily for the finals, I also went up against the person I fought multiple matches against in casuals and he learned my tendencies. Hilariously enough, we both share another hobby (card games) that we play every week at a shop, but we've never played BlazBlue together for the 2 years we've known each other. You can rip me to shreds because I haven't been to the lab in a blue moon.

Matchup: 50-50 [CS2] Litchi vs Lambda This matchup used to suck really hard. But with the relative nerfs to Litchi's combos, she's a bit more manageable than before. This match is now evenly matched... But she is still bullshit with her staff interrupting pressure and her broken Daisharin super (thank god for the nerf it's getting in EX). Feint Dash So Litchi and Carl have this thing where they airdash>airgrab, this gives them considerably more speed while airdashing AND it arcs downward. This makes aiming Ds while Litchi in the air not as easy as you with think it is. You want to do 2D because that's where she's airdashing, but then she does this feint to instead make you whiff your sword, allow her to land on the ground for a follow-up, and then rape your asshole. I'm not even sure if 6A or 2C are fast enough to hit her before she touches ground. Just watch out for this. Position Cancels 421D and 623D will move the staff forward and backward. You won't really be seeing Litchi doing this to position the staff in a better position, you'll be seeing her do this to perform some pressure resets, combos, or aerial stalling. Overhead So there's this weird mechanic where Litchi's 6A will reach an even farther distance than it should. When she has her staff, her 6A's hitbox follows the staff's position AND her hand. Without staff, it's just the hand. With this 6A trick, she can literally reach fullscreen with the staff, but more likely, you will only see it reach a good character length away. Litchi's 4D (I think) is also an annoying overhead. It gives her lower body invincibility so it hops over low attacks, it's really fast, and it can be combo'd from. The only downside is, she drops her staff in place and she can be punished. Litchi's Staff Projectile Litchi can put down her staff and then shoot it as a projectile with 2 different trajectories. This staff hits flying out and hits coming back in... and you can only assume when the second hitbox is active. It's important to note which attacks set which trajectories. Arch: 5D, j.D, 6D (the dashing forward one). Straight, low to the ground: 2D, j.2D, 4D (overhead). She can also fire the staff while it is coming back after a command normal or a special move. 41236D~A/B/C will do a straight trajectory. 6A will also do a straight trajectory. The straight trajectory is the most deadly as it comes out really fast (goes across the screen in approximately half a second). It doesn't have to be blocked low, but it will definitely be able to interrupt anything that Lambda may be trying to do. It's retardedly annoying since it will crash with every one of Lambda's projectiles and can STILL HIT coming back... that staff prevents Lambda from ever getting to her important pressure moves like 214D out. The arch trajectory has a bigger hitbox (because the staff is flying upright), but it is slow, easily seen. The only problem here is because of its arch, you can't tell when the second hit is coming. Corner Game Well, you just ate a full combo and now you're in the corner. Worst part is, Litchi is doing her Daisharin super... her most feared tool. This super gives her a good 5 to 8 seconds of FREE pressure, which can result in starting a brand new combo that may lead to another 4k off your life. All it takes for Litchi is one combo, Daisharin, and a reset to kill Lambda. If you are stuck in this, you better block everything she dishes out or it's game over. The hardest part about blocking it is that the staff obscures view of Litchi... The perfect corner pressure version (something like 13XXX) is hard to do anything but block it. You can't roll or quick tech. This is the most commonly seen path for the super as it will cover all grounds to prevent escape and maximize offense. When Daisharin is coming out, look out for her 3 overheads: 6A (best one) and 6C(2) (not seen often), as well as an even slower 236C (not really suggested). She doesn't have access to her staff overhead, so it shouldn't be that bad. She can't really do any instant overheads, but she can do airdash mixup (jump>airdash aerial/land low/land overhead). Don't attempt to CA, don't Burst, don't attempt to jump (you may get hit while rising by a low attack), don't attempt to Calamity Sword (unless she has low enough HP to lose). You can perfect barrier to push her away some while the staff is over you because then she has to readjust to continue pressure. However, don't get caught mashing buttons or you may get Throw Reject Missed. Overall, you are looking at appromixately 6 lows : 4 overheads that you're going to have to block. Also, when the staff is coming down from the sky, I wouldn't suggest jumping and blocking it because that takes time for you to land and even more corner pressure she can commence with. Instead, if you can get out of it without blocking, do it. If you can grab Litchi, try; she's probably looking to grab you in that gap too and if she techs it, you have to block the staff anyway. I'll update with feedback

Matchup: 5.5 - 4.5 CS2 Arakune vs Lambda "You're a shadow of your former self, Eddie." -Random person opinion of Arakune. 2D the game. What? Arakune buffs? Fine. General 6D and 2D poop on Arakune. He's an air combat character that sets up traps to catch people in curse. He has to fight against someone who's main job is to punish, especially easy against airborne targets. To make it worse for him, his air mobility isn't any faster than that of Tager walk speed. The floor is just filled with AA guns swords. If you aren't in position for a 6D/2D, dash to position oneself or jump for a j.(2)D. Mobility is not only good, in this match in particular, it's devastatingly difficult for him to catch a moving target. Even though it's hard for him to hit you, you should never let your guard down just in case. He may trap you in a way that blocks your positioning and movement and you have to do something risky like absorb a bit of curse. Curse Attempts: 2D/6D/5D 6D for Arakune seems to have changed slightly. Now the bellbug falls slightly faster and farther away from Arakune. This makes the sweetspot for one of his blindspots even smaller than before. It makes it harder to calculate when he gets in the air. If Arakune is grounded, don't be in range for this. 2D hits twice. Sometimes, if you get hit by the first, it vacuums you into the second. 5D is only going to be done in blockstring. It's pretty hard to stop it from happening but if you can predict it, backdash before it happens. It's got abysmally low range. j.D One of the biggest games for Arakune to play. A bug can appear only the ground in five places: in front of Arakune (5D), below Arakune (2D), behind Arakune(4D), bellbug range (3D) and far forward in front of Arakune (6D). You can completely nullify them by hiding in Arakune's blindspots. Learn those blindspots and hide in them, dash around them, jump above them, aerial swords him (for air stall), etc. You can shoot him while he's doing it on your spot to stop its hitbox from touching you, but that's not preferred if you have to guess it. Trading with him is not preferred. The bugs also hit low, so if you get stuck between a bellbug and a curse cloud, block it. Curse Cloud: j.236D 3 different clouds that Arakune can summon with 3 different behaviors. One follows your x-axis movement and stays at a set y height. One covers Arakune and moves to his location. The last one follows you and attempts to move to your location. These clouds are pretty slow, but don't get trapped in them or by them. Also, they seem to have gotten nerfed now and they last for only 7 seconds. Doesn't mean they can't get you. The player tracking one is especially dangerous when Arakune teleports from one edge of the screen to the other. j.236236D This super for Arakune has gotten revamped. It's now low blockable, however, it now tracks the opponent and nets 100% curse or 50% curse if he started a combo while in curse mode... fuuuu. This is the only thing- THE ONLY THING that makes shooting 2D hard. All those blindspots go away as soon as he gets that 50 meter, and he has invincibility with it too. Curse Mode Obviously, who the hell wants to mess with that crap? If Arakune scores that hit, you're going to get combo'd for a ton of your health. Dashing is vulnerable to getting hit by bugs. Jumping and air blocking is only a bit safer because of unpredictable movement from blockstun. Try to make sure Arakune has to aim to hit you and never get locked down in a blockstring- it's bad. Arakune can aim his bugs to come at 3 different distances on the screen: left side/center/right side. The trick is, Arakune needs to hit with C and D bugs to start his combo. C (underground bug) has mega hitstun that locks the player in and D (heaven bug) hits a million times with hitstun preventing the player to do anything. These bugs also require the longest startup and recovery. A and B bugs are not as severe: they can still lead into C/D bugs, but at that point your opponent would have to be planning the trajectory a considerable amount ahead of time. No one likes moving across the minefield, but watch your openings and make it through the fray. If you have to take a hit that won't lead to C/D, then take it. Remember, your goal is to be as far away from Arakune as possible- that mixup potential covered by bugs is extremely scary. Blockstrings Super Gay with Curse. Arakune has multiple tools to teleport, whether it be at the edge of the screen, dashing in front of you, diving or even doing his movement feints (214A/B/C). You have to judge what direction he's coming from and when it's going to cross you up. Arakune also has an invisibility mode which kinda makes it worse, but a good player should always have their eye on the opponent, even if they're harder to see. However, the invisibility is not there to hide Arakune's body, it's there to mask his attacks. Arakune's best approach move is a j.B. This attack hits a random number of times with little hitstun- doesn't mean it isn't useful though. This attack hits everything below Arakune. The fact that Arakune can cancel his wonky airdash means that he's a falling j.B waiting to frametrap you into some close range cursing setups. Don't let him get this off... especially since he's not supposed to be that close anyway. Arakune can start his own physical blockstring with his fast overheads and lows (6A/2A/j.C). He may also start eating at your primers. Luckily, Arakune's blockstring potential is as fundamentally weak as Lambda's. The overheads are the only thing you have to worry about. If Arakune jump cancels, he's not fast enough to get a good mixup in from the air. And then suddenly, curse makes this scary... To Tech or Not To Tech At some points, he may want to end a curse combo. The question is, should you tech or not? Think about the mechanic of the game: damage and hitstun prorate over a combo that by the end of it, the combo becomes techable and the damage is minuscule. People usually hang around in blue beat heaven because the damage remains small. It's better to take an extra 10 or 20 damage during a blue beat combo in place of a new mixup that may lead to an extra 4000+ damage on you in a new combo. Opportunities for that curse meter to drain don't come often enough. The downside to this strategy, however, is what if the blue beat lasts too long that it automatically starts a new combo? That's something you have to judge. Another downside is, if his combo blue beats at the beginning, you may be better off teching so he has to work for another blockstring (a blue beat combo usually means his timing went off somewhere and that can potentially force the remainder of the combo to be more techable in places than other since positioning can get messed up as well). No use getting hit with a combo he can't confirm for full damage. Exp. Share with us some knowledge. I'll update with feedback

Matchup: 5-5 CS2 Valkenhayn vs Lambda Valkenhayn is a strange character. At some points he has the mobility of a Hakumen, at other points he has that of Hazama. It's obvious which form is more threatening, but that doesn't mean his human form isn't dangerous either. Wolf Form Valkenhayn's biggest specialty. Without even the notice of startup, Valkenhayn can transform into a Wolf that is about half his height and three times his width. In this mode, Valkenhayn's mobility is up tenfold. He is also limited to 4 attacks: A which is a low, B which is a launcher, j.A which is a high, and j.B which is a knockdown. Seems simplistic but also really damn versatile. The only disadvantage for using Wolf form is that Valkenhayn can't block in it. He has to stay on his toes to dodge stuff, but he has that mobility to where blocking doesn't really matter anyway. But it's always something to note. Now, Valkenhayn can't stay in this form forever- I mean, who wouldn't want to stay in that form to fight? He has a Wolf meter that slowly depletes when he's in that form. It depletes faster for command attacks and massively faster for initiating a Wolf dash. If a Valkenhayn should ever have it depleted, he is unable to change into Wolf form for a long time (think dead Ada recovery time). He's always managing that meter. The key is to watch for that meter drop, because those will be the cue for when he has to transform back and slow down to regenerate. Luckily, his command moves aren't really good outside of a combo, so you probably won't be seeing them outside of that. Wolf B Valkenhayn's wolf form B attack is an AA uppercut that needs to be aerial barrier blocked. It's got the range and speed of a god. Think CS2 Rachel 6A/Ragna 6A/Nu 2C, now make it better. It's really good. Don't get caught by this because this is how all of his combos start. His A moves hitconfirm into this. Wolf Mixup Wolf form is a bit obnoxious. His A on the ground is a low, but if he's Wolf dashing, his j.A is an overhead. The speed in which he can switch between these is phenomenal. Obviously, if he's flying at you, try to 6A him. If he's grounded, throw out a ranged attack that's not 3C. 3C can be baited into airborne state. If he's attacking, I think 4B loses or trades, not sure. Wolf Dash Wolf dash is Valkenhayn's trump card. Using Wolf dash, Valkenhayn can aerial dash in 8 directions. The backward directions he travels are feints with some invincible frames that send him in the opposite direction he starts (kind of like a slingshot). Also, did I mention it renders him airborne? That means those A attacks turn from fast lows into fast overheads. The sheer speed of these dashes and the versatility of the directions he can travel in makes it hard for Lambda to calculate where Valkenhayn may be moving to and how to accurately punish in time with a D. Valkenhayn is really, really fast in this mode so don't underestimate it. Like really. Fast. One thing is apparent though, Valkenhayn wants to eventually end up next to Lambda to attack her since he is a close-up character only. Since his Wolf dash is airborne and he can only attack physically, this makes it obvious that the best option to counter him is with a close-range AA like 6A or a little less dependable 6B/4B/2C. Also, if you feel like you can get a Spike Chaser set up, do so. Those 214D will crumple his wolf form into bits. Wolf Cancels Every special and command normal (6A/6B/6C) can cancel into an aerial dashing Wolf form on hit/block or even whiff. Valkenhayn is not invincible while he's doing this, so it is necessary to react to it with a 5A or more popularly a 6A. The only time it would be bad to punish that would be when he does a retreating dash instead (1/4/7D) which gives him some invincible frames (but he's still vulnerable during startup). Watch out for random whiffing j.214B while he's in the air since that's a go to move to do quick Wolf dashes. Just a general rule of thumb, after a command attack, try to block high, Wolf Cancels are always Wolf Dashes, which are airborne. Wolf Grabs If you're sitting in one place blocking, Valkenhayn can command grab you and deal great damage. He can do this on the ground and in the air. Luckily, the timing and positioning for it is just as hard as Bang's command grab is to score so you won't be seeing it too often. And like Bang's command grab, it requires meter to combo off it. But it's always a threat for turtles. Human Form 4 Primers. I doubt anyone will be able to break any of them, but if there's a chance, try to break them. Remember, he can only be in Wolf form for so long before he has to revert back to recharge. Valkenhayn's normals aren't really that special. His 6A is an AA that has a guardpoint, but that's about it. 6C is a long range low invincible overhead. The other noticeable one is j.C. j.C Anti-airs fail to this aerial, which is ironic. It's also considered an overhead (because some characters just don't have overhead aerials...). If you're blocking a blockstring, watch out for his jump cancels because this will probably be his go to move. Frame Trap 236A A popular combo Valkenhayn likes to do when he's low on meter is anything>236A. The 236A should reset both players right next to each other, but unfortunately, Valkenhayn has a few options after this that require different responses. He can either goes for 2A to hitconfirm into another combo, green grab, or Wolf dash cancel. You can block to prepare for the throw tech or attempt to punish his normals/wolf dash with our own 5A/2A; back dashing gets trumped by wolf dashing. Only you can prevent Wildhayns. Help build this thread up for the shorties. I'll update with feedback

Matchup: 5-5 CS2 Makoto vs Lambda The apparent best character in the game. Makoto has got one hell of a corner game. Not nearly as powerful as Litchi's, but she deals shit tons more damage so she doesn't need to try as hard. She may not have as strong as an approach game as some rushdown characters, but making one mistake against Makoto can potentially cost you an entire round. Barrier Blocking vs Makoto A character strictly based around punching suffers from the almighty concept of range. Makoto has some pretty stubby arms, and with that, you can comfortably barrier block to push her away faster. Eventually, she will have to dash back in to continue a blockstring, and that is where you strike. Makoto's blockstrings already have a lot of holes, don't be afraid to abuse them with As. 3C Makoto spins twice low to the ground, advancing. She can hold the button which cancels the attack portion of the move. Worst part about it is it goes under 5D... fuuuuuuu. The low normals are going to hit her out of this, 3C especially since it can be followed up with 236B or 214A/B/C. Of course, you can't do a normal if you whiffed a D move... you're going to have do it based on prediction skills. In this match, you can't mindlessly throw out 5D or 5C; hell, that's bad practice anyway. Besides, j.2D is better at zoning for her 3C and 6D is for aerial approaches. Also, don't forget to grab- time and position yourself to grab her out of her spin. j.2C People's Elbow 2.0. This attack carries what is known as Infinite Priority. Infinite Priority is Hitbox terminology for an attack in which its attackbox extends much farther out than the character hitbox (think Hakumen 4C and how those hitboxes are placed). Makoto's hitbox is her body excluding tail and her attackbox is her tail. This attack is not only extremely safe but if hit at the right time, it can lead to combos. With that infinite priority, the best you can hope for is that Lambda's Anti-airs clash with it. The better option is attempt to move and space for a 2D since Makoto is locked into the animation for nearly an entire jump height and since 2D ignores clashing. 214A/B/C Makoto multiplies herself at 3 heights and disguises her real body in one of them. Obviously, there is only time to hit one of them. However, a Makoto should never do this move from far away since it has severe disadvantages for approach, especially when Lambda's equipped with 2C and D moves. Close up is another problem since an improper guess puts her in distance for a blockstring. Cross Space Counter Probably the strangest move in all of Blazblue other than Tao's 28D (wtf are Charge moves? Never heard of these things before...). By pressing 46, Makoto enters a Parry state that can parry mid and high attacks. It's fast but very specific. It's also very hard to see unlike Hakumen counters. Apparently, Makoto can use parries inbetween her blockstrings if we try to 'punish' the holes in her offense. Makoto can also punish our D swords and travel pretty far with the D follow-up. Best thing to do against it is to stagger sword play. She's got projectiles too 236A is her orb, most popular for corner pressure setups, but she has other uses for it too, albeit specific. This projectile is deceptive. The hitbox for this disappears long LONG after you block it. Don't be afraid to attack her if she's taking too long to blockstring... but you probably won't be able to against a good Makoto; however, CAs can still work, just don't get baited. Other times, Makoto can throw this out in response to our 214DC and knock us out of it. If we're jumping in, she can use this to comfortably AA us. It's not as strong as her other AA which leads into full combos, but it forces us to block, which she can start pressure with. Random Supers That 632146D is pretty annoying. That attack gives her only a few frames of invincibility during superflash, but it comes out pretty instantly too. A level 3 can punish a D shot or 236D/214D from fullscreen. Bad practice of the Makoto player to throw those out, but it's always a threat to worry about. Got a contribution to make? I'll be willing to adapt it to this post. I'll update with feedback

Depending on timing and positioning, Ice Car is quite punishable before it reaches someone: 6A, 5C, 2C, 5D, 6D, Gravity (whiff). Ice Car is also punishable after it gets blocked by 5A. 2A and 3C have 8 and 11 frames of startup respectively.

Didn't Jin's DPs lose the lower hitboxes on them? I'm pretty sure you can 3C them (except Gale).

Pretty sure this has been gone over years ago, but when's the optimal time for me to do j.214DC>j.DD>j.2DD for my D air enders? I know I can do it after air punishes with 6D, but I can't do it after a corner combo (or maybe I can and my timing isn't strict enough). Is there a golden margin that defines when I should or shouldn't cancel?

Fought a good Tager today around a tournament setting. Learned more about his 6A and what do. Also, after like 10 rounds, most of my zoning fell into repetition and couldn't really get into his defense: 90% of my throws were telegraphed, my overheads (4B, 4D and j.214D) and lows (like 236B) were getting read, and Sledgehammers were well placed. I was forced to attempt guard breaks to get in. Overall, matches were getting closer to that 50-50 mark towards the end of our endeavors.

Matchup: 4-6 "Are you what they call, 'com-pew-tur?'" -Bang One of the biggest changes in match-ups since CS1 (the other being Litchi). Bang got smacked with the combo nerfs- now he is less noob friendly, but that doesn't mean he isn't one of Lambda's biggest threats. Bang is a highly mobile character, similar to Taokaka: he has 2 jumps and air dashes, nails that grant him screen control and additionally faster 8-way air dashes, Burning Heart that gives him teleports, and Fu-rin-ka-zan which grants him up to 3 attack cancelling air dashes in the air and infinite attack cancelling dashes on the ground. He is maneuverable. It takes skill and mastery to utilize all of these tools available to him, but when you come across one, it's scary. Bang's Rushdown Bang has possibly the best mix up of the cast. He carries multiple normals of varying speeds that can hit (2) overhead or (5, including 6D) low. He has a good cross-up move (j.4B) that he can use with his two air dashes, usually used after a jump cancelable move as on option. He also has a command grab in the air and on the ground (623C) that can be used after staggering some normals, nails or punishing premature aerial techs. It's a daunting task to defend against, but it is possible to block all of his pressure. The big overheads are his 6B and his 5C. 6B is a flip kick that gives him lower body invincibility. This kick can't combo unless Lambda is CH with it. 5C is a shoulder that forces Lambda to crouch when hit and can combo well after it. Bang can gatling 5C into 6B or a low, so watch out. This Burning Heart Burning heart is Bang's drive. It gives him various guard points in specific parts his body that allow him to teleport after successfully absorbing a hit, including projectiles. This makes a joke out of a lot of Lambda's moves, especially 214D which is usually used as screen control. A full screen Bang, BHing a sword can put him right inside Lambda's defense. The best advice for this is to simply be cautious of it. Bang has to time these Burning Hearts to get in and luckily, if we punish him, we can score free combo damage. One thing to be aware of is to never let Bang get 4 Burning Hearts... Nail Throws Bang carries 12 nails at the start of every round to work with. He can throw 4 different types of nails: j.236A: Poison Nail. This is a common nail for Bang to randomly throw out. If he hits, he deals some damage and poisons the character for 1200 damage over a 10 second period. If you hit Bang, the poison automatically goes away. One thing to note is the angle that the nail is thrown out is much more horizontal than the others. j.236B: Explosion Nail. This nail hits coming down, bounces up and explodes momentarily after. The only time you would actually see this nail come out is during pressure against jumping or a combo. Travels at a 45 degree angle. j.236C: Web Nail. This nail traps the opponent in a web that stuns them for an extended amount of time. This is used in combos and can possibly lead into supers... Travels at a 45 degree angle. j.236D: Multi-Nail. This is Bang's most used nail. Bang throws 3 nails of varying angles at the same time. The nails bounce off the ground and angle upward. During Bang's blockstrings, he can jump cancel into this nail to reset his pressure. He can also use this for massive screen control that can also crush Lambda's swords (each of them can crush 1 of her projectiles). Luckily, it's pretty hard for Bang to combo after a hit from 1 of these nails and it costs 3 nails for him to use. Lambda is also maneuverable enough to go through a sweet spot in the nails by jumping and delay an air dash back. Nail Dashes Fu-rin-ka-zan Lyrics: Bang, bang bang bang. He's a super ninja guy. He's gonna f*** your shit up all day long... I'll update with feedback

Matchup: 4-6 [CS1] Taokaka vs Lambda "...playing with a free-spirited cat and taking a walk under the clear sky." -Rachel This cat's on crack. She's really fast, which makes zoning imprecise. Make sure you're at least half a second ahead of yourself in this matchup. Whiff 214A/B/C makes Taokaka slow down immensely to something manageable. This is one of the matchups where using 6A, 6B, 4B, and less likely 2C will actually pay off almost better than Ds... doesn't mean you can't use them, just not as efficiently since she gets in really fast. 214D is good if you can time it well enough and there is enough space between the two of you. I'll update with feedback

For Arakune, I'd say he's much better offensively at the sacrifice of his defense. The new super properties makes him a lot better, making ground zoning harder for Lambda. His easy access 6B also makes him easily combo into it now since he can do it from any basic hit. Also, Bellbugs appear farther away, where Lambda wants to be comfortable. His teleports though are ungodly slow and the fact that aerial defense has been killed really hurts him... it's just too bad Lambda doesn't have consistently good close range AAs. Also, Lambda's full range 6D really snipes Arakune out in the air. All in all, I still think the matchup is just as good as it was in CS1. On another note, should Bang still have 4.0 against Lambda? I know it was 3.0 before, but he lost a lot of consistent damage and it's much tighter to combo with him than a normal character. Sure he still has a powerful approach like he's always had, but it takes him about 3~4 combos to kill her as opposed to 2~3.

Fought a Carl last night. He was behind Ada, jumping over her and airdashing at me. I shot 6D, Ada blocks... fuuuuuuu