kenja0

I played against a decent Hazama player online last night about 10 times in a row (lol PSN 4 users)... and I realize how awesome it would be if Lambda's j.D was full screen. No matter my positioning, my 2D and 6D can't touch Hazama at the position he snipes from and j.D doesn't reach far enough... Mobility is your only friend. >.<

Anyone willing to make back up videos of the hitbox viewer for download? Kinda don't want to download an entire program I barely know how to use well...

Matchup: 50-50 Who really knows? Tsubaki's VA got pissed off her character was shit. So she made a song about it called Deep Blue and now Tsubaki is pretty good. She's still raging that the song didn't replace CS1's opening for Consoles. Question is, how does one go about this matchup? The biggest changes to Tsubaki is her charge meter is really fast and her D command moves got buffed. Her ABCs got nerfed, but they don't matter as much anymore. Who really knows what Tsubaki can do? But figuring that out is what this thread is for. Charge Meter The one thing to note about Tsubaki is her charge meter. Tsubaki's combos deal relatively low damage without bar, but do immense amounts of damage with bar. Obviously, it's important to prevent her from charging. Luckily, Tsubaki can't safely charge bar from anywhere on the screen against Lambda unless she scores a knockdown. 5D, 4D, 236B, and 236C counter her nicely across the stage, and it puts her in CH state too. If Tsubaki jumps in the air to charge, determine whether you can hit her with 2D or 236C. Tsubakis love eating 2D. Blockstrings One of Tsubaki's strongest traits is her blockstring ability. In the middle of her blockstring she can charge with 5D or 2D to reset her string. It takes time for her to cancel like this so just be aware of her actions and capitalize on the opening with a 5A/2A poke or even a 236A to get through. Also, the only good ranged normal she has is 5B. Barrier blocking pushes her far enough to possibly whiff the rest of her blockstring. But watch out, Barrier blocking adds +1 blockstun to every attack you block. I recommend perfect barrier blocking as it pushes back much farther than normal barrier. 236ABCD Dashes quite far across the screen, faster for earlier versions and longer for later versions. D version is pretty much instant. If timed well, it can beat a 5D shot before it comes out. If you're j.2D shooting then be careful of your height, if you get hit it can still start a combo for Tsubaki. 22ABCD The C version is unblockable on full charge. The best time Tsubaki will throw this out is during a reset opportunity, but blockstrings are not uncommon. Stay awake for this sneaky attack. Anyone have any idea what do? I'll update with feedback

That 5A thing actually works. Can't believe I never did this before...

Matchup: 6-4 [CS2] Tager vs Lambda Tager, Tager, Tager. Why do you keep getting buffed with random stuff? The only thing you really need is a dash/airdash. Every time we go through an update, Tager looks really hard to stop, then he gets destroyed by an exploit that crushes his spamming offensive. Not to mention, as a keep away character, Lambda should be reactionary anyway. If you have trouble don't fret, Scissors beats Rock. Normal players have big problems with Tager because competitive Tagers do things differently than what you may get in a casual match. The reason is, most casual Tagers don't know why they should be scared. This is a guide to bringing all of those fears into realization. Jumping Tager is gigantic. If you're attempting to run away by flying over him, you're probably not going to get over him from a single jump. To get over him, be sure to double jump or super jump- IADs don't work at all if you're used to doing that. Also, make sure he doesn't read your jump because Atomic Collider will murder you and 90% of his normals now have AA properties. If Tager is jumping while you are on the ground, contemplate if you would like to switch sides and make a dash/236A for it. You may also be able to 236C him if you're spaced well enough. Otherwise, just shot 6D very often. In this match, 6D is probably more important to do than 5D because of the jump cancel, the fact that Tager can be hit by 6D almost full screen, and because CH 6D will also lead into 236C. Sadly, one of the safest things Tager can do is jump and barrier block. It's like he can't be touched. Tager Plays Tager players tend to do a set number of actions in their approach, their blockstrings, their offense, etc. Against any other character, it's bad to play the game like Rock-Paper-Scissors in response to their actions because of the sheer speed the attacks and the fact that Lambda has bad, slow normals. Tager is different. His attacks are so incredibly slow that you can accurately process a counter strategy and perform it while he's doing these things. Against any other characters, it takes prediction... against Tager, it's a quick time event. Backdash Tager's backdash is extremely good. It's basically like its own counter against heavy attack. If you are close to Tager and you're trying to grab or attack, his backdash will completely negate that action, and he is able to follow-up with a 360. The best thing to do against this is to use attacks that have low startup/recovery so you can attempt to gatling into another attack and hit him during the end of that dash. Depending on timing, the counters to this motion can also be detrimentally dangerous (like Act Parsers). Just don't get predicted. 6A: Now contains upper body super armor. It absorbs infinite hits during the hold, but can be hit out of as soon as it becomes active. It also pulls people in if they are magnetized. The best way to trump this attack is to link any attack that was absorbed into a 2B/3C/236B. If the opponent's timing is good, they can hit you out of your possible counter. Alternatively, 6DD this into a jump cancel so you can block instead of suffering from recovery. And remember, if you're in the air, be sure to barrier block this attack. 5D: I have a friend who would just 5D spam all the damn time. Then, when you try to predict the 5D, he does 360s. How do you stop this? Mindgames, son. I would try to attack low 3C. Any other time, I would jump and barrier to avoid random 360s. Apparently, it doesn't have a guard point, but I remember hearing somewhere it did- oh well, at least he can't teleport like Bang's guard points... that would be scary. 2D: Volt Tackle, Pikachu! You get knocked down and he doesn't Gadget Finger you. Don't roll. This will hit you out of it. Also, time Neutral techs to not get any of the active frames. This has been dropped for far better things... such as Gadget Finger. j.C: Finding Nemo. Tager really wants an airdash. He uses this to gain momentum in the air. This also makes air to air combat really tough close up- it's like you can't ever grab him in the air. If you're spaced properly, shoot a D at him since it will knock him out. Watch your spacing because if you attack his face... it clashes. j.2C: People's Elbow. If Tager is right above you and you think you can AA him with a normal... think again. This attack stops his air momentum for a second and drops him straight down. If he's higher in the air, the attack has a pretty noticeable startup time. His attack box ends at the first panel of his waist armor and his hitbox goes to his toes. They overlap so if you want to attack, make sure you use an attack with infinite priority (disjointed hitbox). The timing for AA is so tight... I would almost never use 6A. 2C may be a better AA for this since it is slower, so it's easier to reaction time this. 4B(2) also magically beats Tager if you time it well, otherwise it trades. If you can't succeed, Barrier block him high- you don't want to magically get crossed up, you want to stand in place. Don't worry about punishing, it has a noticeable recovery time. Low j.2C: If Tager is low enough to the ground while airborne, his j.2C comes out instantaneously- no startup whatsoever. j.D: Clap. If you're magnetized, this will pull you in. Watch your hitbox and where his hands are, this can get people on the ground sometimes. If you can, AA him well. 236A/236B: Sledge. The Tager standard to fighting against Lambda. It carries projectile invincibility throughout the start up and active frames- this includes Lambda's 5Cs. Despite this, Tager is completely vulnerable during the recovery. Properly space yourself and time a CH5D/6D as it will lead directly into 236C. Alternatively, you can attack with a physical attack (236B comes to mind) before his active frames. >236A: Hammer. This attack will absorb Lambda's projectiles even more. It also gives him a burst of imaginary momentum (he slides). If you were timing a CH on Sledge then think again. Space properly for both Sledge and Hammer, so it won't be a threat. 623C: Atomic Collider. Usually, Tager will knock you away, then Atomic Collider. If you're dumb enough to air tech, you better be attacking before you get back to Tager- otherwise, you're going to eat it. The best thing to do is wait until you hit the ground, then quick wake up. Neutral Tech can get pulled (point blank range to him actually) and rolling prevents movement for a good amount of time. If you're getting pulled under a normal circumstance, I recommend j.B. j.C works also, but the timing may not be as good. 214D: Charge. Different command, same function. It gives Tager upper body invincibility to projectiles. Tagers will do this against Lambda to get a free charge when she is just too spam happy. The best way to counter this is to do a physical attack: 236B. Another option is to time a D move (4D/5D/6D) to CH him out of it similar to his Sledgehammers. Note: Tagers may also use this to bait BURSTS. Don't get baited- it's usually followed up with a 360/720 or Atomic Collider. Personally, I think Tager players are willing to use this more now, simply because the command is way easier and will not be mistake for a random 360. 41236D: Spark Bolt. Sometimes Tagers do it in combo, other times, he will fire it at you when you're open. If you get knocked down full screen, don't roll- Spark Bolt kills you. Be cautious with your zoning- Spark Bolt kills you. Don't dash in too fast- Spark Bolt kills you. You're going to want to keep your fingers on A+B (Barrier Block) so you can cancel out of anything into Barrier. Mind you, it magnetizes and breaks one primer. Hilariously enough, 236236D beats it. 22D: Gadget Finger. After a Gadget finger, you're pretty screwed against Tager. Backdash or aerial backdash. Poke with 5A. Bursting will always be Gold. Something... the game is rigged in his favor. 22D RC: Sometimes, a Tager will rapid cancel out of his Gadget Finger in hopes to reset you. You are infinitely stuck in stun animation until you touch the ground. He can either continue his combos or go for a purple 360 if you're too mashy or he's too impatient. However, what Tager usually wants to do is sling you with Atomic Colliders until your movement is so random, you don't know where or when you'll land. When you do, Tager can go for a low, high, cross-up, or just plain 360. When you're in this state, be attentive on which side you may land on and that sometimes, he may go for a grab. The technique is never 100% accurate, so there are always holes in that offense. Jump barrier is preferred if you can do this (but he may Atomic Collider you). 360A/B: Tager Buster Damn that damage- not even CS1 Rachel could deal that much with 100 Heat combos. Stay on your toes and never be within range of Tager unless you're planning your escape or grabbing him. Apparently, our 214A is grab invincible which makes this easier to tackle. In CS2, 4B is actually a ground based move (before it was considered airborne)- you can now be grabbed out of this move if you were trying to get an edge up on Tager. Be careful because if Tager blocks 4B[1], then he can 360 you no matter how far you think you are after it. 720C: Emerald Tager Buster This move now pulls your character about 2 character lengths towards Tager before the super flash. Any zoning technique you may try to do will get instantly punished if you don't space properly while you are magnetized. Another way you will usually see this is if Tager has 50 Heat and he's falling from the sky while you're knocked down. The worst thing you can do is roll, since you're stuck; the other bad thing you can do is neutral tech. You can either: wait until he initiates it so you can roll past him OR what I would do is quick wake up and jump. 236236B: Lariat This will beat everything you do. With magnetism, it will probably bring you in and destroy you from half screen. Luckily, you can now RC and block out of this super- something you couldn't do before. Oh yeah, if you're on the ground, block the last hit high. If you're in the air and you suddenly get blendered in the top... you have a 50% chance that the last hit will cross you up for the same damage as the entire super... I don't know if there is any magic trick to beating this out, but just note this. 236236B RC: One of Tager's dirtiest tricks. Each hit of Tager's super has like 1 frame of hit/blockstun while the next one comes out the next frame. Usually, when Tager has the Heat and you are blocking his random super, he'll RC out of it and either go for a clean 360 or low (since the attack hits high). More mind games with Atomic Collider and overheads. If you're in the air blocking it, he may go for a 360 more often than not. 5D>236B: This is an important blockstring that most Tager players rely on to reset. The best way to counter this is to 5A in the recover frames of his 5D. There is just enough time to tap him out of it. Ground Poke>Atomic Collider: This is something my friend found in CS1. Anytime I was jumping to get away or jumping in, he would attempt to 5A me like 4 times or 5C me. I usually block this because I always block when I'm jumping in or out, then he Atomic Colliders and successfully wins. It's essentially a block confirm into an unbreakable grab. This gets dumb fast, and I can't really believe no one has found this out yet. For CS2, I believe it's the same... and yet it still works with Barrier pushing back too. Test it out in training... it's incredibly dumb. Network Play Tager is a bitch online. Lag hurts Lambda's timing and allows Tager free 360s (against anyone in general). This is why a lot of people have problems with him anyway. There's nothing you can do against the lagging, so don't ever take online play seriously enough against Tagers. Starting a Match 90% of Tagers will jump at you at the start of the round. 9% will Sledge. Hilariously enough, Lambda got 2 buffs that benefit her for this. Her aerial backdash is faster now AND she has AA normals now. Testing against every Tager I've come across online, 4B is really damn good against their jumping- both hits are AAs and the second hit has the same hitbox as Ragna 6A. Rolling vs point blank Tagers DON'T F***ING DO IT! EVER!!!!!!!!! I'll update with feedback

I was going to say stack Magnetism before combo because I thought Rapid Cancel screwed it up... but no, that's really strange. Anyone tried challenge mode from 2P perspective?

Matchup: 6-4 CS2 Rachel vs Lambda New playable character: Rachel Alucard available now! Even though she is usable again in competitive play, the change in blocking mechanics since CT has since ruined her relentless rushdown. Also, Rachel has never had a good matchup against Nu Or Lambda since Nu/Lambda has such a simplistic zoning system (DDDDDDDDDD). Given, she's still a 4 Primer character and as we know, all 4 Primer characters are highly mobile/evasive characters- something that gives characters like Lambda some trouble somewhere. Tools Obviously, Rachel has a lot of tools. Rachel takes time to summon these tools but once they get out there, it becomes an immediate threat. Wind - This is what Rachel is all about. With Wind, she can control the smallest detail such as movement and her other tools- whether it be used against Lambda to stunt advancing or augmenting the direction and speed of Rachel's movement/tools- that's Rachel for you. Lambda can't really affect the Wind at all, but people can be aware when and how it could be used. Wind Meter - The Wind suffers from a limited supply that needs to regenerate when Rachel is not performing an action and is on the ground. When Rachel is out of meter, she might as well be a sitting duck. Take advantage of low meter situations. Pumpkin - The best defensive tool Rachel has. Pumpkin becomes a floating hitbox that attacks as it flows with the wind that Rachel controls. Since Rachel can throw Wind out at any point in time while not getting hit, it can make her most unsafest moves incredibly safe. Obviously, Pumpkin lasts for only a few seconds and can only travel in 8 directions. If you can, try to be in its blindspot. Otherwise, be ready to block it at any point in it while it's out. George XIII - George is not as much of a threat as its use as a pressure tool. It can be used to extend combos or threaten people to not finish a blockstring. George also travels on the floor with the Wind, pushing it close. The best way to deal with George is to kill him. He has approximately 800 Health (maybe 400, don't remember) so one sweep attack can kill him. Unfortunately, don't take your eyes off Rachel since she may use that opportunity to strike. Poles - Rachel can fire a projectile that plants itself into the ground and creates a lightning rod. The projectile's trajectory can be augmented with the wind. Tempest Dahlia - Actually a good reversal against spam. I'll update with feedback

Matchup: 4-6 (assumption) CT/CS1 Carl vs Lambda Lambda has always had problems against Carl and it should be rightfully so: Ada is a projectile that crashes all other projectiles. 5C, 5D, 6D, and 214D can be absorbed by Ada and 236A/B/C will halt all progression... sadly, her life loss can just as easily come back in a matter of seconds too. If you're zoning as Lambda, take note of where Ada is on the screen compared to Carl. Positioning is something Carl players know by heart; the other being godlike resets. Along with Ada is Carl's 236A/B. This move has startup invincibility, with that, Carl can just roll on past Lambda's Ds and take advantage of her recovery time. Ada Tactics Ada is a wall. The only way to get around that wall is to jump over her. I think 236A works too. Your best bet against Carl is 4D when he's behind Ada. 236D sometimes works, especially if he thinks it's 236DC and he dashes forward to get away from it. 3C is really useful in this matchup since Carl can be hit with it behind Ada. Video Section: Why it hurts. I'll update with feedback

Matchup: ?-? (advantaged most likely) CS2 Platinum vs Lambda: don't worry, they don't have anything yet either. New character time! Platinum is new and therefore nobody knows much about hers+him that well in matchup. Platinum is best played as a rushdown character similar to Ragna. She has random items, so the match should be adjusted around her current items in addition to her normal options. Dream Sally (bubble) is also a powerful pressure tool that should be dealt with. She has a dashing command grab which is pretty good. Her corner game is also pretty strong (not nearly as strong as Litchi's Distortion pressures). Swallow Moon. Heartcar (Mami Circ) Other than that, she is incredibly straight forward. I'll update with feedback

Hazama can react to most things Lambda does and beat it. He hangs around the air a lot, so I would suggest using 6D/2D/2C/6A/236C to fight him as opposed to almost anything else, ever. Dashing helps a lot when he's in the air since he can't aim backwards.

Matchup: 4-6: Like Lambs to the Slaughter CS1 Hazama vs Lambda Lambda's (and the Lambda community's) worst matchup by far. Hazama has the most flexibility out of any other character in the game. Just like CS1, he is strong with many options offensively and defensive- he is also a popular character in tournaments so you may see him more often than not. Similar to a Lambda mirror match, Hazama has much of the same options as Lambda from far away; however, the positions he can be at, the aims of his drive, and his follow-up damage from a hitconfirm are much better than Lambda's, especially with 50+ Heat. In order to fight against Hazama, Lambda must respect these options: one mistake against Hazama with Heat can lead to half of Lambda's HP gone... Good excerpt from Xie on the matchup: I'll update with feedback

Yeah, just pretty much force her to respect your swords. If she has no bar, she can't deal damage or anything scary at least. Safest thing to do is Spike Chaser (works especially well while she's j.Ding) and j.2D/Crescent when she's on the ground. She's close ranged only so a well placed Gravity will make her fear you.

I'm pretty sure most Japanese pros didn't even consider playing against the console characters since they didn't mean anything to the arcade scene. That's probably why a lot of them (the lesser known ones that also didn't switch mains), when CS2 came out, got stomped on by Mu and couldn't figure out how to block Makoto's 6B.

I assume he has some startup invincibility on his backward Wolf dashes... either that or his hitbox is very deceptive. He's a pretty scary matchup right now. If you want something safe, throw out Calamity Sword or Gravity Seed against his wolf form- he can't block them and travels relatively in one direction: to you.

Where's the Special Corner Proration Police?

It actually starts out with, j.B, 2B, 6B then 4B. You think the first part of 4B whiffing is the result of it being Litchi or do you think it's spacing/crouching dependent?

Can't combo into ordinary throws like Hazama's 236C or Tager's grapple moves. In CS1, the normal way to Astral is to do a standard combo/blockstring that would normally use a 236B. Feint the 236B with a 236A and do the Astral. There's no sure fire way it would work since this would only catch people who have bad reaction skills. But if you get the super flash before your opponent reacts, you win- no Distortion or normal has a fast enough startup to hit Lambda out of it. But like what Xie says about CS2, it can work clean after Guard Crushes.

The closest things to resets are 4B and a badly spaced 236A/B/C. They shouldn't even really count since the resets are so specific that an enemy should be able to react to what it's doing anyway AND the resets would have to come at the beginning of her combos. She's better sticking to 214D knockdown shenanigans but 236B is for the people who don't pay attention, 236A is for overly defensive/slow players, and 236C is for eating primers. As for that color chart: we didn't make one for DLC. I think I remember a normal one being made at the beginning of CS1.

Some of the easier to detect translations for Lambda: Better Proration: 2B 2C 5C 3C 6A Worse Proration: 5B 6B 6C 4B Cavalier does 1500 damage (1250 in CS1) Sickle hits 6 times and can hit aerial opponents 236A puts Lambda in counter state Possibly new link: 2C>5C (According to some of the combos) OR 2C>delay>5C. j.DD forces knock down. However, because of this change, j.2DD can hit every time now. All aerial combos will successfully end with this: j.DD> j.2DD> dj.DD> dj.2DD> Crescent. Throw combos into 6DD>2DD>Erial (above combo). Hearing a lot about combos dealing 3k to 5k. "Well, what time maintaining strong character. Stronger than the CS." Apparently, she's stronger than she was in CS1.

Where is the source for all these changes? I'm sure some of us would like to take a crack at the translations too.

If I'm not mistaken, the stick works like wall bound and falls in TMNT beat 'em ups- a hit puts them at the wall, then they slide down it and are unable to tech it until grounded. The opponent is bounded for the first attack that can do it, however, any hits after will force them to fall like normal. I'm pretty sure they don't want corner combos to turn into Jam combos.

Can characters be rebounded to the wall if they were already bounded earlier in a combo?

Agreed. Either that or give throws Heat Gain like CT Arakune's throw; just, you know, uncomboable.

They've already established Lambda's 236D having a faster startup. Maybe instead of 214D after a sweep, we can 236B into a 236D>236C double primer breaking blockstring. Also, maybe we can do something like 214D©, get air blocked, position for a 236D in prediction to that and do a 236C for a triple primer breaker.

But when they do loketests, how do they keep track of character statistics? Do they record all the matches and watch all the feedback or do they have someone there monitoring the machines?