- Joined
- Feb 28, 2003
- Posts
- 6,261
Ive been thinking about doing this for a while, im hopin maybe to give some tips to those who are
thinking of taking the plunge and taking part in a bit of competitive svc chaos or maybe even joining the already mature kof 02 community and trying to own a few ppl. sorry for coming of like a teacher in advance.. goes with the theme. anyone who already knows their shit isnt gonna get anything out of this so those who are curious read on...
basically im going to post my method for getting into a new game when it hits the arcades in such a way as to get my skills up quick:
Lesson 1 : Confirming Your Character Choice.
i'm not stupid enough to tell you how to choose your characters, if you choose a character based on how cool you think they are or you choose one who looks strong/easy to use then thats your decision. I myself choose a character who i like the look of rather than those i know to be powerful and i gotta say have more respect for these players, they are usually determined to master their character rather than look for an easy win method.
so you've chosen your character, now you should play that character or those characters for at least a few solid hours both against the computer and competitively, spend the time using every special, every normal, every super, moving about etc. when you've done that you should have figured out whether the character feels the same as you imagined they would, if they do then stick with em otherwise prolly try someone else. a good example for me is chin gentsai, i always thought he was a cool character concept but in terms of his normals and his overall speed and agility he just doesnt go with my play style so i don't bother to practice with him.
you may end up using a character you like for their feel rather than their look but that is still cool,
having fun while challenging is the main point, not trying to look cool, an example of this would be
me and ryo in kof. image wise i find him pretty plain BUT his moves and stuff really suit my style and i have found a good rhythym with him so he makes it into most of my kof02 teams.
round up of lesson one, spend some time with characters that interest you and make sure they feel the way you want them too, this leads to less frustration, more fun and more wins.
Lesson 2 : Exploring Your Character Choice.
this is not so much a lesson as a mid step between lesson one and the rest. continue to use your semi permanent choices and get a feel for all their abilities that is:
1 : normals
2 : specials
3 : supers
4 : movement
5 : combos
6 : cross ups
7 : recovery
8 : mixing it up
9 : stun. guard strength, overheads, attacking strategy vs turtling, etc
Lesson 3 : Normals.
Ok normals despite what many think are prolly the most important or at least one of the most important aspects of a character. normals are all the moves you get from single button presses and button + one direction. examples are sie kensous crouching sweep kick (crouching + d button) or ryu and kens infamous heavy sweep (crouching + heavy kick). a button + direction example is terry's f+a backfist. so why are normals so important, well:
a:easy anti air moves
b:determine the combos a character has (seeing as most combos start with a normal)
c:ability to pressure an opponent (does the crouching heavy kick knock them down?)
d:ability to cross up
e
ossible wake up normals (chois crouching a)
f:chains
gsuedo chains
so you at least will need to look at all these things when you try out normals. A can you use a
normal as an anti air, this is much easier than doing a dragon punch move and if u can do it it will
stop the opponent from rushing you down which will eventually lead to you missing a block and taking damage. examples are ryu's crounching hp in alpha 3. although not as surefire as a dragon punch it will knock the opponent out of the air if timed properly, indeed some players make their whole game fireball and crouching normal anti air (guile). b try comboing off everything!!! does your heavy sweep combo, does a light punch in the air followed by a heavy punch standing give you 2 hits etc. this is very important as combos are the best way to get damage on your opponent, they are easier to hit with than supers, have potential for big damage, leave you less prone, are used to mix up etc. so try all your normals to see whether they a, combo into special and b, combo from the air to a standing or crouching normal (and if they do how deep do you have to do them, if you have to do them very deep/late then they will be much harder to use in competitive games effectively). a good example of the impact of comboability is king's crouching hk in cvs, no 1 it comboed, no 2 it didnt this fact led me to giving up on king in no 2, it is that important to me.
C you will need to check how effective your normals are at pressuring the opponent, that means you need to know whether they a, knock down, b their range, c their speed, d their recovery. when you know all these things you will be able to use them to position your opponent and keep them busy as you see fit. with long range good recovery moves youll be able to poke and get surprise hits (example sakuras standing heavy kick at range and athenas crouching heavy punch which is very fast, long and has good recovery). D ok cross ups are mid level of difficulty to do but quite hard to get down and actually implement. you will need to try out all the air kicks and punches on the back of the opponent as you jump over them (make sure you land just behing them, not a
metre or so behind them as this will mean you cant cross them up because you need to hit right at the back of their head). cross ups are usually mediums or heavies and more often kicks. when blanka got a cross up in cvs his game got an extra facet that of course made him all the more deadly.
E this works very well in some games, i use this all the time in kof with choi and also with ryu in alpha 3. if a normal (light punch or light kick) is fast enough you will be able to do it as you get up on an opponent that is standing right beside you and the priority of the move will be good enough to beat out the opponent most times. These light kicks and punchs are also very good as anti roll moves, guard bar breakers, psuedo chains that can be comboed into or even start ups for combos. Like is said before try choi’s light crouching punch as you stand up with the opponent right beside you, also try using it to interrupt an opponents chains or to start up a combo (2 or 3 light punches
Followed by his d->u + punch (note this combo no longer works in kof 02).
F look out for chains as they make doing combos more easy (you get more time to connect the special or super) and they usually give you more damage, they can however also push you away which will make some combos miss (like 3 light punches to a dragon punch with ryu which will push you too far away to connect with the dp). Chains are also often effective as a means of dealing out damage when you miss the combo (try using honfu or bobs chains in rbff2, they both have crouching b,b,c which does good damage and is very easy to do).
G psuedo chains are normals that come out fast enough to stop interruption but do not actually combine to give you a combo, they are useful for use as guard breakers, to break an opponents block (the more hits the bigger the chance they will miss or stop blocking) and just to pressure and manipuate your opponent. An example would be with ryu, i often cross up with his med kick then follow with two or three crouching light kicks into a crouching medium kick comboed into a fireball. Does amazing guard crush damage and pushes the opponent to a good distance for me to continue pressing my attack.
Lesson 4 : Specials.
Ok specials of course though not as useful as normals in reality are indeed what most ppl think of when they think 2-d fighters, legendary moves like the dragon punch, the fireball and the spinning kick are pretty much known by everyone and can be found in pretty much every 2-d fighter that exists. Mastering a characters specials is the other half of your games foundation along with normals in terms of strategy. When you check out your specials you are going to need to determine their damage, enactment speed, recovery, ability to be comboed and general properties. Does you fireball have different speeds, is your dragon punch invincible, does your charging attack combo, etc. check damage, does a comboed fireball do more damage than a comboed charge attack? Enactment speed, if your fireball comes out really slow then you are going to get hit a lot when the opponent jumps it and comboes you. Recovery is super important if a move leaves you prone at the end then its effectiveness is halved. Example iori’s triple rush attack (qcb + punch) the first two hits have decent recovery though you are still open, the last hit however if blocked will leave you open to big damage!! So only use the move occasionally unless you combo it. Shintaro’s three hit punch rush in matrimelee is the same, at every point it leaves you open to attack if blocked so it is only useful as a combo move and i find myself rarely using it. Ability to be comboed is also important, specials may combo (psuedo) but not actually connect, if you dont have a special that actually comboes then everytime you get the first hit (the jumping kick for example) then your chance to do big damage is wasted becoz your special can be blocked. An example is choi’s hp + charge d to u, the light punch version (not in kof 02) will combo off his crouching lp but the heavy wont, making sure your combos work is a good way to get those extra hits here and there and add a good 10% damage to your game.
Finally the general properties of specials need to be explored by this i mean what other ways a special can be used, take for example choi’s qcb + punch where he leaps forward with his claws in front. Seems like a stupid move as it cant be comboed and its recovery is pretty bad BUT it is actually very good when used the right way that is from medium distance. At medium distance it will hit a blocking opponent but not leave you prone (recovery changes according to whether the opponent block and range etc) it often catches opponents off guard at that distance, also does good damage, keeps a medium distance opponent on his toes and get this will actually work as an anti air if the oppent jumps soon after you do it. those are the hidden properties of specials it pays to look out for.
Lesson 5 : Supers.
Supers are similar to a high damage bad recovery special. Recovery, enactment and worth (in terms of damage, etc) need to be considered. Most modern day supers are best used in comboes or occasionally as long range mix ups etc. some however are completely abuseable and can be if you want to win but are often a bit cheap, examples of this would be kim’s air super in ffrbs which can be done infinitely when you have red blood. It has awesome priority, good damage and almost no recovery which means lots of kim players abuse it when they get into the red blood. good supers are things like ryu’s spinning kick super which does decent damage, works as an anti air and has little if no recovery, also works well as a wake up. Examples of a decent super is choi’s cyclone, it works wake up though its priority is pretty average, does decent damage and has ok recovery (especially if you make sure when it finishes you are not to close to the opponent). An example of a weak super would be kings rush super in cvs 1 where she hops back then forwards to go into a flurry of kicks. It has terrible recovery (you are going to get hit if it is blocked) slow enactment and is not comboable. It usually only hits a lazy blocker or someone who jumps a little after it is done (rare with the fact it is so easy to see coming).
Basically like specials a supers properties need to be considered and then it’s strengths should be exploited and if it has none then don’t use it, sure specials look cool but some are next to useless (most games have 2+ specials per character anyway so...)
Lesson 6 : Movement
Movement is a very subtle part of a character and often it seems as though almost all characters move the same, this is however not true and movement has a big effect on how fun you will find a game. If you like big bulky characters then expect slower movement and more time to get off the ground, if you like super fast characters (choi) then expect super fast movement and almost no time to get airbourne. Movement is usually best considered not on its merits (fast = good, slow = bad) but more on how you play (your style) choi for example suits my style of relentless attack in kof whilst the slower speed of sodom suits my paced push back style in alpha 3. when considering speed make sure you find something that you have a good feel for, i was determined to play the old man in matrimelee liking his style (tung, jubei, chin, this guy, cool old guys wink oh yeah oro too) at first against the computer he seemed cool but after a few challenges i realized his inability to get off the ground quick left me defending and on the back foot a lot so i couldnt use his combos id found... basically i gave up on using him.
Lesson 7 : Combos.
As i mentioned in other sections you are going to need some combos and need to have them down pat. You will need pressure combos, damage combos and mix up combos. Pressure combos are like ryu’s medium crouching kick to fireball. Doing this rather than a medium kick only keeps the opponent blocking long enough for you to move back or jump whereas if you just did the kick the opponent would be jumping at you putting you on the defence (not good). Another good pressure combo is kyo’s hk or hp into his qcf + punch three hit rush attack, great for pressuring, forcing mistakes and pushing the opponent into the kill zone (the corner where combos are better, crossing up is easeir and the opponent is often forced to jump which means you are controlling hime). A damage combo is one you have either that you save for when the opponent is left open (jump in and deal big damage) or you use as a pressure combo and hope they miss the block (if the special has good recovery then this is very viable, ryu’s fireball off jumping med kick to crouching med kick is a good example). Finally mix up combos, these are usually dangerous in terms of recovery but good for keeping the opponent guessing. Use them half the time and the other half just use the normal that you connect the special with, this is a good way to trick the opponent. An example is sie’s fireball off his crouching heavy kick. It leaves you too open to rolls and jump in attacks if you abuse it (like i used too) until i realized mixing it up with just the crouching heavy kick (not comboed into the fireball) will keep your opponent guessing as they will not know whether to jump at you or keep blocking.
Bascically combos are an integral part of all modern 2-d fighters and in some games (kof for example) if you cant master the more advanced comboes then you will have almost no chance of competing.
Lesson 8 : Cross Ups.
Cross ups as i mentioned before are quite important, you don’t really need to learn them but doing so will add a facet to your game that makes you a fair bit more deadly. The reason is that crossing up is very hard to block and your chance of forcing a miss is at least 25% against even the best blockers unlike normal front side attacks which only really give you a small chance of forcing a mistake against a waiting opponent. Crossing up is only possible by certain normals so first you will have to find out if you have one. Then you need to jump from short range in front of the opponent so as to land just behind them (just out of throw distance). As you pass behind them and just before you hit the ground do the normal and if it hits you’ve got a nice cross up. Crossing up into comboes can be hard but is an excellent skill, you will need to learn to reverse your move set when you hit the other side, at first it seems weird but will soon become second nature! The most chronic cross up i’ve ever seen would have to be zantetsu’s heavy slash in the air, try this combo (cross up heavy slash->standing heavy slash->qcf+light slash->jump->hcb+kick). The other advantage of cross ups is the fact that you suck your opponent in with them so some combos are only possible with a cross up. Another good cross up combo is sakuras cross up med kick->standing.lk x 3->heavy dragon punch.
Lesson 9 : Recovery.
Like i mentioned before you are going to need to know the recovery on every special, normal, super etc. if you don’t pay attention to recovery on these things don’t be surprised when you spend a lot of the round being comboed over and over by a good player. Pay particular attention to super recovery but also normals and the like. Birdies crouching heavy kick in alpha has good range, damage and knocksdown BUT if you miss with it (whiff it) then you are definitely going to eat something. The most powerful characters are this with good recovery on a range of their moves, take blanka for example his roll has excellent recovery for long range surprise attacks and combos (pressure and damage), his super has excellent recovery (almost none in cvs2) and his normals (crounching light kick and medium kick, etc) are excellent range/speed/recovery.
Recovery can make or break a character really!
Lesson 10 : Mixing it Up.
In terms of strategy this is the biggest part of strategy i would say. The ability to keep your opponent guessing is what makes them stop their own attacking pattern and take up a defensive stance. You can also use a good mix up strategy to get a turtle to move towards you so you can start rushing them. A good example of a close range mix up with ryu is this. Get close and jump med kick to crouching med kick to fireball, jump again and the same except after the crouching medium kick use the f+mk hop kick move to get in close, from here you can go into light crouching kicks then psuedo chain into a medium kick then fireball or even walk in for a throw. By keeping your attack patterns at about 4 options rather than one or 2 your opponent is not going to be able to read you and set up a loop that has you getting trapped or hit a lot.
Well that is all for the moment, the size of this post has made me realize that this faq needs more work and info, im gonna have it up on my site and edit it until i get it just right there
Hope it helps someone
<small>[ April 27, 2003, 01:03 AM: Message edited by: beelzebubble ]</small>
thinking of taking the plunge and taking part in a bit of competitive svc chaos or maybe even joining the already mature kof 02 community and trying to own a few ppl. sorry for coming of like a teacher in advance.. goes with the theme. anyone who already knows their shit isnt gonna get anything out of this so those who are curious read on...
basically im going to post my method for getting into a new game when it hits the arcades in such a way as to get my skills up quick:
Lesson 1 : Confirming Your Character Choice.
i'm not stupid enough to tell you how to choose your characters, if you choose a character based on how cool you think they are or you choose one who looks strong/easy to use then thats your decision. I myself choose a character who i like the look of rather than those i know to be powerful and i gotta say have more respect for these players, they are usually determined to master their character rather than look for an easy win method.
so you've chosen your character, now you should play that character or those characters for at least a few solid hours both against the computer and competitively, spend the time using every special, every normal, every super, moving about etc. when you've done that you should have figured out whether the character feels the same as you imagined they would, if they do then stick with em otherwise prolly try someone else. a good example for me is chin gentsai, i always thought he was a cool character concept but in terms of his normals and his overall speed and agility he just doesnt go with my play style so i don't bother to practice with him.
you may end up using a character you like for their feel rather than their look but that is still cool,
having fun while challenging is the main point, not trying to look cool, an example of this would be
me and ryo in kof. image wise i find him pretty plain BUT his moves and stuff really suit my style and i have found a good rhythym with him so he makes it into most of my kof02 teams.
round up of lesson one, spend some time with characters that interest you and make sure they feel the way you want them too, this leads to less frustration, more fun and more wins.
Lesson 2 : Exploring Your Character Choice.
this is not so much a lesson as a mid step between lesson one and the rest. continue to use your semi permanent choices and get a feel for all their abilities that is:
1 : normals
2 : specials
3 : supers
4 : movement
5 : combos
6 : cross ups
7 : recovery
8 : mixing it up
9 : stun. guard strength, overheads, attacking strategy vs turtling, etc
Lesson 3 : Normals.
Ok normals despite what many think are prolly the most important or at least one of the most important aspects of a character. normals are all the moves you get from single button presses and button + one direction. examples are sie kensous crouching sweep kick (crouching + d button) or ryu and kens infamous heavy sweep (crouching + heavy kick). a button + direction example is terry's f+a backfist. so why are normals so important, well:
a:easy anti air moves
b:determine the combos a character has (seeing as most combos start with a normal)
c:ability to pressure an opponent (does the crouching heavy kick knock them down?)
d:ability to cross up
e
ossible wake up normals (chois crouching a)f:chains
g
suedo chainsso you at least will need to look at all these things when you try out normals. A can you use a
normal as an anti air, this is much easier than doing a dragon punch move and if u can do it it will
stop the opponent from rushing you down which will eventually lead to you missing a block and taking damage. examples are ryu's crounching hp in alpha 3. although not as surefire as a dragon punch it will knock the opponent out of the air if timed properly, indeed some players make their whole game fireball and crouching normal anti air (guile). b try comboing off everything!!! does your heavy sweep combo, does a light punch in the air followed by a heavy punch standing give you 2 hits etc. this is very important as combos are the best way to get damage on your opponent, they are easier to hit with than supers, have potential for big damage, leave you less prone, are used to mix up etc. so try all your normals to see whether they a, combo into special and b, combo from the air to a standing or crouching normal (and if they do how deep do you have to do them, if you have to do them very deep/late then they will be much harder to use in competitive games effectively). a good example of the impact of comboability is king's crouching hk in cvs, no 1 it comboed, no 2 it didnt this fact led me to giving up on king in no 2, it is that important to me.
C you will need to check how effective your normals are at pressuring the opponent, that means you need to know whether they a, knock down, b their range, c their speed, d their recovery. when you know all these things you will be able to use them to position your opponent and keep them busy as you see fit. with long range good recovery moves youll be able to poke and get surprise hits (example sakuras standing heavy kick at range and athenas crouching heavy punch which is very fast, long and has good recovery). D ok cross ups are mid level of difficulty to do but quite hard to get down and actually implement. you will need to try out all the air kicks and punches on the back of the opponent as you jump over them (make sure you land just behing them, not a
metre or so behind them as this will mean you cant cross them up because you need to hit right at the back of their head). cross ups are usually mediums or heavies and more often kicks. when blanka got a cross up in cvs his game got an extra facet that of course made him all the more deadly.
E this works very well in some games, i use this all the time in kof with choi and also with ryu in alpha 3. if a normal (light punch or light kick) is fast enough you will be able to do it as you get up on an opponent that is standing right beside you and the priority of the move will be good enough to beat out the opponent most times. These light kicks and punchs are also very good as anti roll moves, guard bar breakers, psuedo chains that can be comboed into or even start ups for combos. Like is said before try choi’s light crouching punch as you stand up with the opponent right beside you, also try using it to interrupt an opponents chains or to start up a combo (2 or 3 light punches
Followed by his d->u + punch (note this combo no longer works in kof 02).
F look out for chains as they make doing combos more easy (you get more time to connect the special or super) and they usually give you more damage, they can however also push you away which will make some combos miss (like 3 light punches to a dragon punch with ryu which will push you too far away to connect with the dp). Chains are also often effective as a means of dealing out damage when you miss the combo (try using honfu or bobs chains in rbff2, they both have crouching b,b,c which does good damage and is very easy to do).
G psuedo chains are normals that come out fast enough to stop interruption but do not actually combine to give you a combo, they are useful for use as guard breakers, to break an opponents block (the more hits the bigger the chance they will miss or stop blocking) and just to pressure and manipuate your opponent. An example would be with ryu, i often cross up with his med kick then follow with two or three crouching light kicks into a crouching medium kick comboed into a fireball. Does amazing guard crush damage and pushes the opponent to a good distance for me to continue pressing my attack.
Lesson 4 : Specials.
Ok specials of course though not as useful as normals in reality are indeed what most ppl think of when they think 2-d fighters, legendary moves like the dragon punch, the fireball and the spinning kick are pretty much known by everyone and can be found in pretty much every 2-d fighter that exists. Mastering a characters specials is the other half of your games foundation along with normals in terms of strategy. When you check out your specials you are going to need to determine their damage, enactment speed, recovery, ability to be comboed and general properties. Does you fireball have different speeds, is your dragon punch invincible, does your charging attack combo, etc. check damage, does a comboed fireball do more damage than a comboed charge attack? Enactment speed, if your fireball comes out really slow then you are going to get hit a lot when the opponent jumps it and comboes you. Recovery is super important if a move leaves you prone at the end then its effectiveness is halved. Example iori’s triple rush attack (qcb + punch) the first two hits have decent recovery though you are still open, the last hit however if blocked will leave you open to big damage!! So only use the move occasionally unless you combo it. Shintaro’s three hit punch rush in matrimelee is the same, at every point it leaves you open to attack if blocked so it is only useful as a combo move and i find myself rarely using it. Ability to be comboed is also important, specials may combo (psuedo) but not actually connect, if you dont have a special that actually comboes then everytime you get the first hit (the jumping kick for example) then your chance to do big damage is wasted becoz your special can be blocked. An example is choi’s hp + charge d to u, the light punch version (not in kof 02) will combo off his crouching lp but the heavy wont, making sure your combos work is a good way to get those extra hits here and there and add a good 10% damage to your game.
Finally the general properties of specials need to be explored by this i mean what other ways a special can be used, take for example choi’s qcb + punch where he leaps forward with his claws in front. Seems like a stupid move as it cant be comboed and its recovery is pretty bad BUT it is actually very good when used the right way that is from medium distance. At medium distance it will hit a blocking opponent but not leave you prone (recovery changes according to whether the opponent block and range etc) it often catches opponents off guard at that distance, also does good damage, keeps a medium distance opponent on his toes and get this will actually work as an anti air if the oppent jumps soon after you do it. those are the hidden properties of specials it pays to look out for.
Lesson 5 : Supers.
Supers are similar to a high damage bad recovery special. Recovery, enactment and worth (in terms of damage, etc) need to be considered. Most modern day supers are best used in comboes or occasionally as long range mix ups etc. some however are completely abuseable and can be if you want to win but are often a bit cheap, examples of this would be kim’s air super in ffrbs which can be done infinitely when you have red blood. It has awesome priority, good damage and almost no recovery which means lots of kim players abuse it when they get into the red blood. good supers are things like ryu’s spinning kick super which does decent damage, works as an anti air and has little if no recovery, also works well as a wake up. Examples of a decent super is choi’s cyclone, it works wake up though its priority is pretty average, does decent damage and has ok recovery (especially if you make sure when it finishes you are not to close to the opponent). An example of a weak super would be kings rush super in cvs 1 where she hops back then forwards to go into a flurry of kicks. It has terrible recovery (you are going to get hit if it is blocked) slow enactment and is not comboable. It usually only hits a lazy blocker or someone who jumps a little after it is done (rare with the fact it is so easy to see coming).
Basically like specials a supers properties need to be considered and then it’s strengths should be exploited and if it has none then don’t use it, sure specials look cool but some are next to useless (most games have 2+ specials per character anyway so...)
Lesson 6 : Movement
Movement is a very subtle part of a character and often it seems as though almost all characters move the same, this is however not true and movement has a big effect on how fun you will find a game. If you like big bulky characters then expect slower movement and more time to get off the ground, if you like super fast characters (choi) then expect super fast movement and almost no time to get airbourne. Movement is usually best considered not on its merits (fast = good, slow = bad) but more on how you play (your style) choi for example suits my style of relentless attack in kof whilst the slower speed of sodom suits my paced push back style in alpha 3. when considering speed make sure you find something that you have a good feel for, i was determined to play the old man in matrimelee liking his style (tung, jubei, chin, this guy, cool old guys wink oh yeah oro too) at first against the computer he seemed cool but after a few challenges i realized his inability to get off the ground quick left me defending and on the back foot a lot so i couldnt use his combos id found... basically i gave up on using him.
Lesson 7 : Combos.
As i mentioned in other sections you are going to need some combos and need to have them down pat. You will need pressure combos, damage combos and mix up combos. Pressure combos are like ryu’s medium crouching kick to fireball. Doing this rather than a medium kick only keeps the opponent blocking long enough for you to move back or jump whereas if you just did the kick the opponent would be jumping at you putting you on the defence (not good). Another good pressure combo is kyo’s hk or hp into his qcf + punch three hit rush attack, great for pressuring, forcing mistakes and pushing the opponent into the kill zone (the corner where combos are better, crossing up is easeir and the opponent is often forced to jump which means you are controlling hime). A damage combo is one you have either that you save for when the opponent is left open (jump in and deal big damage) or you use as a pressure combo and hope they miss the block (if the special has good recovery then this is very viable, ryu’s fireball off jumping med kick to crouching med kick is a good example). Finally mix up combos, these are usually dangerous in terms of recovery but good for keeping the opponent guessing. Use them half the time and the other half just use the normal that you connect the special with, this is a good way to trick the opponent. An example is sie’s fireball off his crouching heavy kick. It leaves you too open to rolls and jump in attacks if you abuse it (like i used too) until i realized mixing it up with just the crouching heavy kick (not comboed into the fireball) will keep your opponent guessing as they will not know whether to jump at you or keep blocking.
Bascically combos are an integral part of all modern 2-d fighters and in some games (kof for example) if you cant master the more advanced comboes then you will have almost no chance of competing.
Lesson 8 : Cross Ups.
Cross ups as i mentioned before are quite important, you don’t really need to learn them but doing so will add a facet to your game that makes you a fair bit more deadly. The reason is that crossing up is very hard to block and your chance of forcing a miss is at least 25% against even the best blockers unlike normal front side attacks which only really give you a small chance of forcing a mistake against a waiting opponent. Crossing up is only possible by certain normals so first you will have to find out if you have one. Then you need to jump from short range in front of the opponent so as to land just behind them (just out of throw distance). As you pass behind them and just before you hit the ground do the normal and if it hits you’ve got a nice cross up. Crossing up into comboes can be hard but is an excellent skill, you will need to learn to reverse your move set when you hit the other side, at first it seems weird but will soon become second nature! The most chronic cross up i’ve ever seen would have to be zantetsu’s heavy slash in the air, try this combo (cross up heavy slash->standing heavy slash->qcf+light slash->jump->hcb+kick). The other advantage of cross ups is the fact that you suck your opponent in with them so some combos are only possible with a cross up. Another good cross up combo is sakuras cross up med kick->standing.lk x 3->heavy dragon punch.
Lesson 9 : Recovery.
Like i mentioned before you are going to need to know the recovery on every special, normal, super etc. if you don’t pay attention to recovery on these things don’t be surprised when you spend a lot of the round being comboed over and over by a good player. Pay particular attention to super recovery but also normals and the like. Birdies crouching heavy kick in alpha has good range, damage and knocksdown BUT if you miss with it (whiff it) then you are definitely going to eat something. The most powerful characters are this with good recovery on a range of their moves, take blanka for example his roll has excellent recovery for long range surprise attacks and combos (pressure and damage), his super has excellent recovery (almost none in cvs2) and his normals (crounching light kick and medium kick, etc) are excellent range/speed/recovery.
Recovery can make or break a character really!
Lesson 10 : Mixing it Up.
In terms of strategy this is the biggest part of strategy i would say. The ability to keep your opponent guessing is what makes them stop their own attacking pattern and take up a defensive stance. You can also use a good mix up strategy to get a turtle to move towards you so you can start rushing them. A good example of a close range mix up with ryu is this. Get close and jump med kick to crouching med kick to fireball, jump again and the same except after the crouching medium kick use the f+mk hop kick move to get in close, from here you can go into light crouching kicks then psuedo chain into a medium kick then fireball or even walk in for a throw. By keeping your attack patterns at about 4 options rather than one or 2 your opponent is not going to be able to read you and set up a loop that has you getting trapped or hit a lot.
Well that is all for the moment, the size of this post has made me realize that this faq needs more work and info, im gonna have it up on my site and edit it until i get it just right there
Hope it helps someone
<small>[ April 27, 2003, 01:03 AM: Message edited by: beelzebubble ]</small>
its happened b4.
