Author: Elias "Mechanica" Darling

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Axl Low: Land a Hit and Make It Count with Optimized Punishes for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

Axl Low has extremely long range, and somewhat low damage on ground combos. His normals can be used for keepaway or zoning, but it usually winds up being high risk/low reward. When you do connect, you need to make it count. The following is a collection of videos from Japanese player Shimonkin, showcasing how to get the opponent airborne (crucial for higher damage combos).

Backdashing out of range of Faust’s 6H overhead (forward Heavy Slash):

Again with Faust’s 6H, this time if Axl manages to preemptively avoid it with a jump, or superjump respectively in these next two clips:

While it’s not that practical to jump out of the way of this move during pressure, this concept could be used for punishing a lot of whiffed moves while you’re airborne. Great meterless damage, especially compared to a ground combo.

Another Faust punish, this time 5s (far Slash). One of Faust’s main pokes–insane range, cancelable, all that good stuff. Avoid it altogether with a brave read, an instant air dash, and half his life bar:

Same concept but against Sol’s 6H instead:

And again, but Sin 6P (forward Punch). This astoundingly invincible anti-air option from Sin is hellish to deal with, so whiff punish when you get the opportunity:

Punishing Venom’s 2S into QV (crouch Slash xx charged ball set). Venom’s 2S is a very frequently used normal, it’s got great range and can be cancelled into ball set. Venom players will abuse cancels such as these if you don’t punish them. Using Axl’s Shark Strike super lets him get good damage off of a normally dead-end poke:

Potemkin has an obnoxious match-up against Axl, and here’s another option to keep Pot out–rising jump kick. It’s Axl’s best air-to-air counterpoke, and here we see the large untechable window on counter-hit when he catches him using Megafist. On whiff, you’ll recover in time for an airdash or jump to reposition; on a proper read you’ll get a big combo:

Axl’s 3P (down-forward Punch) is a great normal and on counter-hit you get a launch. Here’s how to convert when you tag Elphelt in her max range for 5s (far Slash):

…and Elphelt’s 2HS (crouch Heavy Slash):

More 3P counter-hit combos, this time on Millia:

And once more, against Ramlethal:

Punishing Ramlethal’s 2S > 2H string:

A clever side-switch using counter-hit 2S:

It’s unclear whether it’s intentional, but it seems that Jam’s charged up Ryuujin kick is completely invincible to strikes while in the air. She can, however, be airthrown:

Dizzy’s mirror super appears to be vulnerable to throws:

…or if you’re not feeling that brave, block and punish:

Here we see a tricky Jam string: 2H, parry, YRC, throw. The throw is option selected with 5S to cover airborne escape attempts. Shown here are how most of Axl’s options fare against this, with his DP being the most effective:

Bonus! An insane combo on Potemkin using this same relaunch combo concept, using 50% meter:

Source: Shimonkin

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Pick Up Some New Street Fighter V Tricks with Guile, Juri, Ken, and Ryu: Meaties, Option Selects, and More

Keep the momentum going in your favor with these meaty setups off of Guile’s flash kick. Whether you want to up your Guile game or just do stylish meaties using Guile’s crouching fierce, this solid video has frame data, slow-motion recaps, and covers both quick rise and back tech:

With the fairly recent discovery that air throws shrink your hurtbox--or at least move it significantly–applications have been found with Juri. Tired of the Rashid blender? Here’s a great way to escape while covering multiple options when under pressure:

Ken already excels in capitalizing on momentum shifts, and here’s some well-rounded setups for when you land an MP shoryuken (grounded). This video runs you through quick rise, back tech, no tech; when there’s a counter to one of the setups, this shows the next layer where you adapt and stay one step ahead. This thorough look at Ken’s knockdown options is a must-watch for any Ken player:

Last but not least, Ryu’s parry option select. This comprehensive breakdown illustrates how you can hide a parry input behind your blocked normals, which will trigger a parry if the opponent uses V-reversal. Normally slightly negative on block, but not unsafe, this allows you to blow up your opponent for a predictable defensive choice. MDZjimmY goes on to explain pros and cons and optimal punishes, while highlighting the fact that many character’s V-reversals have different properties and therefore require different punishes.

Sources: NurseLee; DevSF4; #freecody; MDZjimmY

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Pick Up Some New Street Fighter V Tricks with Guile, Juri, Ken, and Ryu: Meaties, Option Selects, and More

Keep the momentum going in your favor with these meaty setups off of Guile’s flash kick. Whether you want to up your Guile game or just do stylish meaties using Guile’s crouching fierce, this solid video has frame data, slow-motion recaps, and covers both quick rise and back tech:

With the fairly recent discovery that air throws shrink your hurtbox--or at least move it significantly–applications have been found with Juri. Tired of the Rashid blender? Here’s a great way to escape while covering multiple options when under pressure:

Ken already excels in capitalizing on momentum shifts, and here’s some well-rounded setups for when you land an MP shoryuken (grounded). This video runs you through quick rise, back tech, no tech; when there’s a counter to one of the setups, this shows the next layer where you adapt and stay one step ahead. This thorough look at Ken’s knockdown options is a must-watch for any Ken player:

Last but not least, Ryu’s parry option select. This comprehensive breakdown illustrates how you can hide a parry input behind your blocked normals, which will trigger a parry if the opponent uses V-reversal. Normally slightly negative on block, but not unsafe, this allows you to blow up your opponent for a predictable defensive choice. MDZjimmY goes on to explain pros and cons and optimal punishes, while highlighting the fact that many character’s V-reversals have different properties and therefore require different punishes.

Sources: NurseLee; DevSF4; #freecody; MDZjimmY

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Level Up Your Dizzy, Part 2: Combos, Fuzzy Guard, and Setups in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

This is Part 2 of an in-depth look at Dizzy, the newest character in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-. Part 1 can be found here, and focuses on okizeme; here we look at combos, fuzzy guard setups, punishes, and character-specific setups.

COMBOS

Good damage and corner carry for 50% meter.

 

Corner variant of the previous combo.

 

This video shows that it’s easy to get a knockdown using 6H (forward + Heavy Slash) off a bubble hit, even high up. Good to know for stray hits in neutral, or awkward confirms. This could also be used as an easier combo for anyone having a hard time with the instant air dash in the previous ones.

 

Very high damage combo. The last hit in the combo (6H, forward Heavy Slash) is spacing-specific and it’s probably best to end the combo with the fire spike and set up your fish oki.

 

Comboing into 5D actually reverses some of the scaling of your combo, allowing you to net higher damage:

 

Frame traps here using 2P > 5H (crouch Punch > standing Heavy Slash) and 2K > 2H (crouch Kick > crouch Heavy Slash), including high damage combo conversions:

 

Anti-air conversions into high damage combos, using 6P (forward Punch) and far Slash:

 

Converting high damage off of a connected YRC ice spike in the corner:

 

FUZZY GUARD

Throw into a fuzzy guard mix-up. If they block low, their character is still stuck in standing block animation from blocking the fire spear, allowing you to hit overhead with a rising j.K (jump Kick). This becomes useful once you’ve conditioned the opponent to block low after you land from airdash. 25% meter:

 

A fuzzy guard off bread & butter combo into ice spike:

 

It’s spacing dependent, but an early YRC on ice spike guarantees locking the opponent down (into a fuzzy guard):

 

 

ANTI-BLITZ SHIELD

Here we see a solid oki option that happens to be safe against Blitz Shield. Following it are high damage conversions for no meter. This means you will build a lot of meter, too:

 

Another way to cleanly beat Blitz Shield. Note the empty airdash low option can be thrown:

 

Another way around Blitz Shield is to keep your distance. Here we see lockdown using P fish, ice sickle, and ice spear from a distance before approaching. Trigger-happy opponents will waste meter on Blitz Shield (watch out if they charge it up though), or even Dead Angle Attack.

 

CHARACTER-SPECIFIC SETUPS

Optimal punishes on baited reversals from Sol, Raven, and Sin. The fish absorbs one hit, a counter hit super starts off the combo for 100% stun setups:

 

Anti-Potemkin tech—beating out his wakeup Trishula’s invincibility. Note that if he has meter, he has other options (including anti-air grab super) to escape:

 

Dealing with Axl’s sparrowhawk stance. Using 6P (forward punch) nets you a counter-hit and thusly a knockdown, if he goes low. A lower risk option is Dizzy’s 2S (crouch slash) which shrinks her hurtbox and allows her to counter-poke both the low and mid choices Axl has:

 

Using the midscreen crossup oki to bait Sol’s DP.

 

Last but not least, the most optimal and stylish punish imaginable, instant kill. If the opponent is in hellfire state (low enough life) and you have 50% meter or more, you can react to your fish taking a hit for you, activate instant kill, and end the round with a flashy punish:

 

If you have any questions on any aspect of these videos—combo notation, clarifications, whatever—feel free to post up in the comments. A big thanks to everyone sharing their tech videos on Twitter.

Sources: Makki, Woki, Uri, Suwa, Hino, FAB, Rihaqqa, Kei, Syo, Ice Cube, Hi-to-mi, END, Shimonkin,

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Level Up Your Dizzy, Part 2: Combos, Fuzzy Guard, and Setups in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

This is Part 2 of an in-depth look at Dizzy, the newest character in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-. Part 1 can be found here, and focuses on okizeme; here we look at combos, fuzzy guard setups, punishes, and character-specific setups.

COMBOS

Good damage and corner carry for 50% meter.

 

Corner variant of the previous combo.

 

This video shows that it’s easy to get a knockdown using 6H (forward + Heavy Slash) off a bubble hit, even high up. Good to know for stray hits in neutral, or awkward confirms. This could also be used as an easier combo for anyone having a hard time with the instant air dash in the previous ones.

 

Very high damage combo. The last hit in the combo (6H, forward Heavy Slash) is spacing-specific and it’s probably best to end the combo with the fire spike and set up your fish oki.

 

Comboing into 5D actually reverses some of the scaling of your combo, allowing you to net higher damage:

 

Frame traps here using 2P > 5H (crouch Punch > standing Heavy Slash) and 2K > 2H (crouch Kick > crouch Heavy Slash), including high damage combo conversions:

 

Anti-air conversions into high damage combos, using 6P (forward Punch) and far Slash:

 

Converting high damage off of a connected YRC ice spike in the corner:

 

FUZZY GUARD

Throw into a fuzzy guard mix-up. If they block low, their character is still stuck in standing block animation from blocking the fire spear, allowing you to hit overhead with a rising j.K (jump Kick). This becomes useful once you’ve conditioned the opponent to block low after you land from airdash. 25% meter:

 

A fuzzy guard off bread & butter combo into ice spike:

 

It’s spacing dependent, but an early YRC on ice spike guarantees locking the opponent down (into a fuzzy guard):

 

 

ANTI-BLITZ SHIELD

Here we see a solid oki option that happens to be safe against Blitz Shield. Following it are high damage conversions for no meter. This means you will build a lot of meter, too:

 

Another way to cleanly beat Blitz Shield. Note the empty airdash low option can be thrown:

 

Another way around Blitz Shield is to keep your distance. Here we see lockdown using P fish, ice sickle, and ice spear from a distance before approaching. Trigger-happy opponents will waste meter on Blitz Shield (watch out if they charge it up though), or even Dead Angle Attack.

 

CHARACTER-SPECIFIC SETUPS

Optimal punishes on baited reversals from Sol, Raven, and Sin. The fish absorbs one hit, a counter hit super starts off the combo for 100% stun setups:

 

Anti-Potemkin tech—beating out his wakeup Trishula’s invincibility. Note that if he has meter, he has other options (including anti-air grab super) to escape:

 

Dealing with Axl’s sparrowhawk stance. Using 6P (forward punch) nets you a counter-hit and thusly a knockdown, if he goes low. A lower risk option is Dizzy’s 2S (crouch slash) which shrinks her hurtbox and allows her to counter-poke both the low and mid choices Axl has:

 

Using the midscreen crossup oki to bait Sol’s DP.

 

Last but not least, the most optimal and stylish punish imaginable, instant kill. If the opponent is in hellfire state (low enough life) and you have 50% meter or more, you can react to your fish taking a hit for you, activate instant kill, and end the round with a flashy punish:

 

If you have any questions on any aspect of these videos—combo notation, clarifications, whatever—feel free to post up in the comments. A big thanks to everyone sharing their tech videos on Twitter.

Sources: Makki, Woki, Uri, Suwa, Hino, FAB, Rihaqqa, Kei, Syo, Ice Cube, Hi-to-mi, END, Shimonkin,

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Level Up Your Dizzy, Part 1: An In-Depth Okizeme Guide for Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

Dizzy, the newest addition to Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-, is a bit of a glass cannon: she has low stun, guts (a defense modifier), and limited defensive options. In exchange, she boasts a wide array of offensive and zoning tools, leading to some fantastic mix-ups and pressure. This video roundup focuses on okizeme—oki for short—meaning the application of pressure and mix-ups against a knocked-down opponent. This is where Dizzy shines.

MIDSCREEN OKI

Throw combo, meaty K fish, low:

 

Throw combo, double air dash high/low mixup:

 

Sometimes setting out a fish on their knockdown doesn’t hit meaty. Here’s a way to stop any jump attempts with a meaty ice spear, into a true blockstring:

 

Midscreen crossup setup requiring a very close knockdown. This loops into itself when successful:

 

A similar concept using H fish instead. This shows how you can do a fake crossup by stopping your momentum with bubble:

This mixup is most effective against characters who can’t jump out (due to slower wakeup timing): Jam, Venom, Leo, Haehyun Kum, Elphelt, Faust, or Bedman. This can be countered by an air throw by everyone else except for Dizzy and Johnny.

CORNER OKI

A basic double airdash high/low mixup:

 

The next three videos show great high/low/throw mixups off of throw:

In the above mixups, there is potential for a wakeup reversal, or a reversal when Dizzy uses her bubble. Here are some examples of where people might try to interrupt.

Ky’s Ride the Lightning super is not fast enough:

 

Sol wakeup DP hits the fish instead of Dizzy:

 

Sol DP through the blockstring gap can be reacted to with YRC to safely block:

 

It is possible to avoid part of the airdash pressure by crouching. Crouching instant block gives you an opportunity to counter or airthrow here:

 

Great use of her fire bubble and YRC here set up solid damage and oki off a high/low. 25% meter:

 

Many combos end in ice spike, which doesn’t grant you much time to set up summons and close the distance. Stop jumps with a rising j.S (jump Slash) to push them back into a pressure situation:

 

Another option when you have no time for an elaborate setup is P fish YRC. The slowdown from YRC can mess up the opponent’s wakeup inputs, causing them to make a mistake or not get a reversal. 25% meter:

 

When your oki gets blocked, then what? Dizzy’s only standing overhead is 5D (standing Dust), so you need to use close Slash, jump cancel bubble to create more high/low situations:

Stay tuned for Part 2: combos, frame traps, fuzzy guard setups, and more! A big thank you to everyone sharing their videos on Twitter.

Sources: Syo, Aonao, IceCube, CucumberGod, Abe, Makki, H.H, Spectro

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Nohoho, Owner of Legendary Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo Website, Passes Away

News has recently surfaced that a fighting game community veteran, Nohoho, has passed away. Pictured on the right, his passing arrives with great sadness to competitive players of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (Super Turbo). His importance to the U.S. scene for this game was immeasurable, largely in the form of his blog: super nohoho fighter ii x.

It was here that he would report on Japanese tournament results, post match videos, transcribe interviews, and more. Covering other games as well, Nohoho, pictured above with fellow Blanka player AFO, also provided insight to the social atmosphere of the arcade scene there—thriving in comparison to our dying arcades in the states.

He was a hero in this early era of social media; there were no online lobbies to grind matchup experience, and there was exponentially less video content online. Living in Japan, this man bridged the gap between our scenes. He had a thorough tutorial on how to register an account on niconico—a Japanese website where tournament footage could be found—so that we, too, could scour the video archives to watch matches. This alone was a priceless resource at the time.

Nohoho raised the collective skill level of all non-Japanese players. He continued to breathe life into Super Turbo, a game that was already over 10 years old when he begun his website. Since many old school players started with this game, there is an intense sense of nostalgia and respect for it. The long-running success of this game set the tone for all fighting games to follow. The passing of this exemplary community member—this pinnacle of competitive Street Fighter history—is reported with a heavy heart.

Despite being a dedicated Street Fighter player, Nohoho reported on more than just Super Turbo. Vampire Savior, of Capcom’s Darkstalkers series, was another game that enjoyed more popularity in Japan. Along with the usual match videos, and tournament results, he brought us translated interviews and gripping tournament story lines: such as 1997’s Daigo-Nuki rivalry.

Other enjoyable interviews include a 2010 interview with Haitani, which includes an index of multi-game champions: a fascinating glimpse into not just tournament results, but social interactions and personalities of those Japanese players we often refer to as gods.

Interviewer: What do you think about being called one of the 5 Gods [of Fighting Games]?

Haitani: Well that’s just an internet meme so I don’t take it seriously but from my perspective there are tons of people who are more skillful than me. When people say that I feel uncomfortable. If people would say “he’s pretty strong for his area” that would be fine.

It’s not self deprecation or anything like that that’s just objectively how I see myself.

Even for players with no interest in Street Fighter, super nohoho fighter ii x is a goldmine. Any fighting game fan can get a delightful history lesson here. The gems contained here include: quotes from Daigo and his infallible confidence in Street Fighter Alpha 3, inside jokes about Kokujin of Third Strike fame, and comical catchphrases uttered throughout tournaments.

Rest In Peace, Nohoho. The scene sends you off with nothing but gratitude and love for sharing your passion with us.

Source: Super Turbo Revival

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The King of Fighters XIV Team Showcases Twelve Characters with In-Depth Footage and Exhibition Matches

Clocking in at nearly an hour, the folks behind The King of Fighters XIV have compiled a fantastic resource for eager KOF fans. Complete with English subtitles, we see many faces from behind the scenes: from the producer, to the art director, and even some of the voice actors. There’s a short-but-sweet interview about the development process, a sneak peek at the tournament organizer in the game’s storyline, and last but not least, tons of in-game footage of characters and their moves.

As you watch each character run around showcasing their abilities, subtitles provide their background story, insights into development, and tidbits about the soundtrack and composers. Amongst these twelve characters, we get a deeper look at five of the new characters.

Not only are we granted an extensive breakdown of each character in the training room, we get to see a set of exhibition matches from experienced KOF players Kyabetsu, Dune, and Picnic. The players were allowed some training time beforehand making for an informative and entertaining display of high-level play.

Source: AtlusUSA, with a tip from Patrick H.

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Learn How to Turn May’s Mixups into a Touch of Death in Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-

May has always been a heavy hitter. It’s built into her character design: easily lugging around an anchor that rivals her size. However, in Xrd, she has been given a slew of new mixup tools that make her pressure much more complex and difficult to block. May can set a hoop, release a dolphin from it, and ride the dolphin—this is old news. The newer mixup comes from the fact that she can then cancel this dolphin ride into an air normal and maintain the extreme forward momentum. This creates a devastating 50/50 mixup based on whether she chooses to hit high or land and hit low.

Now a player (Ice Cube) has turned this concept into a 100% combo off the 50/50 mixup. It requires the small amount of guard gauge from the few blocked normals beforehand, as well as 100% tension and burst meter.

High hit using j.H (jumping Heavy slash):

Low hit, faking out with j.2H (jumping down+Heavy Slash):

If you’re cornered against May, it’s likely you’ve already taken some damage, and therefore the guard gauge may not be necessary–maybe not even the second overdrive. But who doesn’t love finishing an opponent with the whale super?

Source: R2IceCube

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Delve Deeper into Meter Management in Street Fighter V with ‘Hit the Ground Running’ Strategy Series

In Jay “Viscant” Snyder’s 13th edition of Hit the Ground Running—a series on strategy over at BROKENTIER—he delves into various approaches on how to spend your Critical Art and V-Trigger meter. In an effort to shed some light on a topic that otherwise hasn’t seen a lot of lengthy discussion, he first explores Critical Art meter. Branching from the more obvious dilemma of “Do I save my meter to finish the round, or do I spend it when I get the opportunity to take half their life bar?” to deeper matchup-specific uses for meter, Jay speculates well on many angles and approaches.

V-Meter is broken down in refreshing ways, including the equation of V-Meter and the health bar:

Each character whether low health or high health has their full health bar equal about 4 bars of v-meter. Meter is also gained from crush counters, blocking hits and using v-skills meaning that in a back and forth round that goes down to the wire, the meter expectation is even higher than 4 bars, maybe as high as 5 bars for characters who use their v-skill in neutral. This may seem somewhat counterintuitive given how players are playing the game right now. There just doesn’t seem to be that much v-meter used in a normal match. Where does it all go?

Viscant continues to explore meter management in ways one could easily overlook, such as how your meter use affects your opponent’s meter gain, or why you have to consider more about both meters with M.Bison. We see ideas from Daigo Umehara, match analysis, and more here in a succinct brainstorm that any Street Fighter V player should explore. The full article can be viewed here.

Source: BROKENTIER