Bolverk-GTM

Didn't we play today and have an awesome connection? You can learn plenty from me, I'll always give advice and such. Take the advice I tossed you on PSN earlier into consideration and we can really start to go somewhere with this. Or are you ignoring what I told you completely? I know I was vague, but you can always ask me to tell you how to play your characters more effectively (except Vice, I can't really help you with her).

Damn straight, sir (next to Shen Woo). I was saying that to pick on the Iori players I know that didn't AT LEAST try to stick with Claw Iori because they were all "He's so different and he seems like such a faggot now. He doesn't play the same at all and I don't want to even try playing him." Word for word, that's what someone actually told me. While I understand dropping a character after giving them a shot and feeling that they're too different compared to previous iterations, I don't understand just dropping them without even trying them out. I mean I gave fireball Kyo a shot in XIII despite how sketchy I was about his changes and I ended up loving him (though I'm still instant-maining NESTS Kyo when he's released). In regards to "seeming like a faggot," I argued that judging from his obsession over Kyo and wanting to fight him all of the time, lots of people deemed that Iori was gay long before his design change. Poor Iori, it's not his fault. It's the fanbase's fault for perceiving his obsession the wrong way (but everybody KNEW that would happen eventually). Hell, even SNK has the other characters picking on him about it now in the later KoF games (including XIII).

Real talk, I would murder for a balanced Krizalid. My favorite boss in design and favorite boss theme. Unfortunately he's such a shitty boss.

I heard Lori is pretty godlike. He has rekkas and command grabs and doesn't afraid of anything.

My verdict stands. Both Ioris are very strong characters. Flame was always a good character, so that's no surprise. I've seen a lot of Flame players steer away from Claw Iori and while I could understand why (he's not ez modo, awwwww), they made a pretty big mistake for not staying true to Iori, regardless of what burden he's going through. If you want an easy character that you can manage at neutral with and still have good offense and defense options, I recommend Flame. If you want a nasty ass rushdown character that has to do work to get in and it pays off big time, Claw Iori (or NESTS Kyo, but he's not out yet) is your man. I'm no Claw player, but I acknowledge him as a strong character and hope he sticks around in future KoF games as a welcome member of the cast (perhaps he can be EX Iori while Flame is regular Iori). Why am I not a Claw player when I really should be? Well, I know that when NESTS Kyo comes out, Claw will most definitely be getting the boot because rekka Kyo is my shit. In other words, not worth investing time into for me.

It's PA in button config. Also I'll be using Puppetmaster's Love for my NESTS Kyo, '98 Iori, and Kensou CV when NESTS Kyo releases. I'll probably time the video to be released around New Year's. Frozen Frog's my favorite CROW'SCLAW album. The style of the tunes and the album artwork sit on me so well.

Woo for NESTS Kyo reveal. Also I got Flame Iori. Also... My First KoF XIII Combo Video is now on YouTube! Go check it out! or just watch it here...

They didn't quite justify exactly why he took back the flames, besides the fact he's an idiot. Oh well though. By the way, I'm here to mention that I'm working my first combo video and expect to have it done tomorrow. Vote on which song I'll use. Wish Upon A Star or Fire Of Collapse (It'll be an Ash and Kyo combo video mostly. Might be some Yuri and/or Kensou, too.)

214P is extremely safe on block, so it helps him stay in on the opponent. 214K can be used to go after an opponent when they guard cancel shift (defensive roll), so that's actually better than I originally gave it credit for. His normals are essentially the same as Flame Iori. I can't say his punch overhead is much better and in fact, I wouldn't even say that it matters much because Claw Iori favors frame traps and establishing a no-jumping zone with his 623P in pressure so that nobody can get away from him so easily. When he manages to get someone to stay on the ground, it's all about threatening with that command grab and trying to open people up with cross-up j.4B. Flame Iori plays rushdown game too, but in exchange for not being able to get out of pressure so easily with a DP or keep opponents in check with a fireball, Claw Iori has tools at his disposal which are way better at playing a frightening close range offense. Honestly I'd say this is a fair trade-off because I've fought a decent Claw Iori recently and I can definitely confirm that you should never sleep on Claw Iori. Ever. The question someone's bound to ask is "Which one is better?" In my honest opinion, Claw Iori is a better character, but he's much harder to play than Flame Iori is. Flame has always been beginner friendly and effective at any level of play, but I gotta give it to anyone who decides to sit down with Claw and devote to him because it really pays off in the long run. His rushdown is strong and effective, he can combo off of his command grab (just like Flame can) and he has some of the best low meter cost damage output in the game, hands down. People can hate on Claw Iori all they want, he has nothing but respect from me and he deserves it. EDIT: Correction on 214K.

Whatchu talkin' about, Willis? Haven't we gone over what makes Claw Iori legit already? He can be just as scary as Flame Iori. On the other hand, I can actually play Flame Iori opposed to Claw Iori. Then again, the only thing more braindead than Flame Iori is Kula.

You'd be surprised. But you know who's death scream is more glass breaking than both of them? Akiha Vermillion. I feel like I lose every time I beat a V.Akiha because I have to hear that fucking death scream of hers.

I could do it pretty easily, I guess. It'll have to wait until tomorrow though.

Hops are used to maintain pressure and they're one of the most godlike answers to people that mash crouching pokes to get out of pressure. Say you run in and do a string of 3 cr.Bs, this puts you too far away to connect with a fourth one so you can either run back in or hop in with an air normal. Some players like to lay on cr.B mash or hit cr.D whenever they see an opening in pressure because they expect the other person to run back in. If you do a jump in, you're either going to overshoot them or you're just going to be a really easy anti-air, so instead you want to hop in to maintain your offense while beating their poke or sweep mashing. When you get them to stop poking or sweeping at openings, this lets you maintain offense by running back in so that you don't get too predictable with hop ins (they CAN be shut down by well timed fast anti-airs). It's really important to learn hopping and hyper hopping in KoF for this reason.

I have this 3 meter HDC combo off of his overhead with a Neo Max ender for 80% and this 1 meter HDC combo off of a hitconfirmed jump-in (no Neo Max ender, this was my day 1 Kyo).

If Leona isn't a big enough bust, then her next best bet would probably be Mai and taking Mai over Leona would be... Especially since Leona is so amazing and Mai just "gets around" too much. Oh wait, we're talking about the gameplay here, not who's the better KoF waifu. My apologies.

I was going to wait until I get home to record matches I'll have with SkyKing today because they'll be better quality matches to judge my gameplay off of, but I decided "Screw it." Critique my Kensou.

Remy Saiki. Should've thought of that one. Also I had the same idea with a Watermelon Ash, but I never did make one. I ended up making that blue one of mine instead.

I say stick to your guns. Your Ash and Mature were good, not to mention they both do well as a battery or a meter burner. Your Joe was random as all hell, your Saiki is a little bit passive, and your Kula is WAAAAAAY too reckless. If anything, I'd say pick your third out of those three and focus on them. I can't tell you who to play, so just roll with whoever you like. On the other hand, I can tell you to work on pressure a bit. I couldn't keep any of my pressure going because I got nervous for some reason, but I was only able to really beat your pressure as much as I did because you can't maintain pressure as well as you should be able to with your team. You got the idea with Mature pressure, but work on pressuring with Ash and (whoever you stick with). Believe it or not, Ash can actually pressure decently, despite how zoning oriented he is. EDIT: Come to think of it, I could've just used a blowback on you so many times during our matches....god dammit!

If you were on PSN, I'd help. :x

If I were you, I'd go with Athena. I mean I love Leona and I'm enough of an idiot to keep trying to learn her, but you'd be much better off starting with Athena just for the sake of getting used to KoF. Leona is a really hard character for someone to start with, let alone pick up later on down the road. When you have some experience and you feel more comfortable with everything in the game, definitely check out Leona. She's not only a deceptively good low tier character, but playing her also really helps out your execution in the long run since she's so demanding on it.

I really don't mind that the roster in XIII is average compared to other KoF installments. What's nice about KoF is that there's so many characters throughout the series that it's hard to be left without a main for an installment. I started off in XI and grew a liking to Ash. In order to help myself get better at KoF, I had to play an installment that was supported by GGPO or something so that I could play against a wider variety of people. Since Ash wasn't in any KoF before 2K3, I had to find a new main, so I settled on Kyo and tried out a variety of other characters to team him up with in '98. When I went to 2K2, I had Kyo, Iori, Mature, Athena, and Terry to work with because I messed with all of them in '98 and I liked them. Now when XIII first hit consoles, I instantly put Ash and Kyo on my team, but I had a hard time settling on a third because there were so many damn characters I liked at this point! Lol. Having this many characters that are easy to become fond of in the KoF series really helps transitions to installments where your favorite character is absent. Ash may no longer be around beyond XIII and Dream Match installments now, but I can always main Kyo. If there comes a time where Kyo isn't in the roster (god forbid, there'd be shit storms everywhere), I'll just main one of the many other characters I like to play.

Ohhhh, gotcha! I feel silly now. :s

GGs to Starlight and BlackOnslaught. Starlight, just look into that message I sent you on PSN about Ash okizeme and BlackOnslaught, stop pushing buttons against Kensou. EDIT: I have no idea what that Kensou is doing... Why is he playing like a terrible Yang? Why didn't he punish anything besides one DP and it was with a sweep? Why is he being so passive? WHY AM I QUESTIONING A BAD PLAYER'S TACTICS SO MUCH? *sigh* Excuse me while I go cry in a corner. EDIT 2: Nevermind, I'm dumb.

YYYES!!!

So true. Her outfit is great now. I see no Kensou, but I see Kula. What's wrong with you? :<