Combo, let's go! A Not-So-Daily Diary

[Senjin]

Alright, here we go. Figured it's time to start taking some notes down.

Got some footage of a FT10 set vs aman on Steam:

(Ignore the weird aspect ratio. Apparently YouTube doesn't like .wmv files...)

As the matches continued on I felt that aman adapted to what I was doing, but I just kinda stagnated and never really figured out how to deal with his pressure. Took the j.HP stuff (with and without chair) into the training room to figure it out with my team and here's what I found:

*Squigly*
-MH SBO probably the best option, stops their advance and nets you a combo
-If they're full screen and normal jumping, calling tear assist works well
-If they're within distance to connect, then either DP or Liver Mortis can work. DP seems better if they're super jumping in though, and mortis really doesn't work if they jump in and block.

*Robo*
-H Theonite Beam works well at a distance (for both normal and super jump in I think?)
-If they're right on top of me, s.HP is probably my best bet, though calling a head can also work if done early enough.
-Call tear shot at a distance

*Parasoul*
-L/H Tear at a distance
-M Tear mid range?
-Pillar at point blank - Though this didn't seem as reliable a punish... Not sure what other options she has though

Since this set, I traded the H Danger assist for saw. Saw is not as easy to get a charge+combo with, but it's still doable and is also way more useful in neutral, I think.

I've played a fair number of matches since this set, and after making the assist change and gaining the Beowulf match knowledge, I've noticed I have a much better plan of attack/success rate when facing Beo, which is a nice feeling. It's highlighted what I think is currently my biggest weakness though, which is matchup knowledge. Not really sure what the best way to approach this is, other than just figuring out something with each character I struggle against and figuring out how to beat it, I guess.

Also, I need to play more Parasoul to figure out what even to do with her in neutral and reset land.

 

[Banana Bandana]

Great Move with the C.Tremolo>C.Center Stage into Battle Opera =)
Didn't think pulling off something like that would even be possible!

Gonna have to learn that trick for myself lol

 

[Senjin]

Great Move with the C.Tremolo>C.Center Stage into Battle Opera =)
Didn't think pulling off something like that would even be possible!

Gonna have to learn that trick for myself lol

Thanks, I totally stole that from watching some Yaya/zeknife matches. There's a whole bunch on McPeanuts' youtube channel here if you care to check them out (you should!).

 

[Senjin]

4-25-16

Haven't had a chance to play much these last few days, spent most of my time working on combo consistency/familiarity.

*Squigly*
I feel the most comfortable with her right now, which makes sense since I've been playing her the longest. The main combo I've been using is:

c.LK, c.MK, s.HK
j.MK(x2), j.HP
j.LK, j.MK(x2), j.HP
j.LP, j.MK, j.HK xx M Fallen Woman
s.LP, s.MP, c.HP xx Drag 'n' Bite xx LM SBO

I've noticed the timing for this combo is a little different on Double compared to the rest of the cast, so I've been mostly practicing against the blob to get used to it.
I've also been working on some of her cross-under stuff. I can do s.HK xx Stancel xx dash under pretty consistently, but that only seems to work on lights? It doesn't seem to work against Double at least. Similarly, I can't seem to get the s.HK xx M Dive cross under consistent. Out of about 30 attempts I think I got maybe 5 in a row at one point, but other than that I mostly missed the timing and either hit Double in the air or just didn't get the cross-under.

*Robo*
c.LK, c.MP, s.MK, c.HP
j.LP, j.MK, djc j.LP, j.MK, j.HK(Down)
s.MP(hold), s.MK, c.HP
j.MP(all), j.HK(Forward)
Step forward s.LP, s.MP(hold), s.MK, s.HP xx H Danger xx Beam Cannon

Not optimal but it seems to work well.... mostly. Weird things happen when using it on lighter characters. I should probably learn something better.

*Parasoul*
I've got her midscreen BnB down pretty well, I've just been working on something for the corner.

Overall, I think I should maybe focus on Squigly a little less this week and get my Robo and Parasoul games a little more solid. I also still need to work on matchup knowledge.

Might post more later tonight, need to leave for work now.

 

[Senjin]

4-27-16

Spent some time in the lab with Robo. Managed to learn a better combo for her (the one with the double j.LK, j.MK in the BnB thread). I'm feeling pretty good about that, since I originally thought the timing was too tricky to bother with. Only took about an hour or so to get it around 40% consistent though. Turning speed down to 75% actually helped a lot with getting the initial timing and visual cues down. Went back into the lab with it after work and practiced it some more and got it to around 90% consistency against medium characters, maybe 70-80% against others. Except Double, who seems to consistently be the exception to my combo consistency. I think by the end of the week I might be able to start sticking it in matches.

Feeling pretty good after lab time I went and did some quick matches, and got stomped pretty hard. A couple I lost because I choked on my pressure when I had the advantage, but I think my biggest problem is neutral in general, not just matchup experience. I noticed that I'm actually pretty mashy in neutral. I'm generally pushing OK buttons (I think), but I'll push them either too much or too randomly and get punished for it. Outside of the Lab I think I need to focus more on hitting buttons with a gameplan in mind, instead of just kinda hoping for the best.

@MysteriousJ, I ran into you a few times (3 or 4?) tonight in QM (I was the SQ/RF/PS player). Anything that stood out to you during the matches/any advice?

 

[MysteriousJ]

I don't really remember details; quick match is all a blur for me, and I basically use it as "training mode with pressure." I'm going to be grinding tech tonight so hit me up if you want to play a set, and I'll do my best to give you some feedback.

 

[Senjin]

5-1-16

It's May, but it doesn't feel like May where I live (it was in the 40's and raining today...)

ANYWAYS.

Many thanks to @MysteriousJ for the FT15 the other day. I was a little nervous to legit be playing someone but I think I settled in after a few matches. Still got stomped, but I got some useful advice from it.

- Make better use of Squigly charges (specifically LV2 Sing vs Robo)
- Work on longer combos (which I assume to mean work on full combos with resets that can get a character from 100% to 0% health. Or it could just mean stop dropping combos, but I think the former is more likely.)
- Try using a different Robo combo
- Work on hit-confirms (w/Robo, though honestly I think I need to work on this with my whole team as evidenced further down.).

Today (er, yesterday I guess. 'Cause it's early morning now...) I also actually participated in the Get Gr8 stream thing. Was suuuuuuper nervous for this, for whatever reason. Haven't been that nervous in a while. Tried to calm myself before the match with some breathing, but I think once the first match started my brain decided to leave for a while and I'm pretty sure I just stopped breathing altogether. And thinking. Suffice to say I probably played the worst I've played since I picked the game up again at the start of the year. A good result of this though, was I think it really highlighted where some my biggest weaknesses right now are. When I went back and watched the vod of my matches, the two main comments about my play being thrown around were:

- Work on hit-confirms and not just doing full block strings all the time (some of which are pretty punishable).
- Stop pressing buttons all the time.

Looking at the advice from two separate people on two separate occasions saying to work on hit-confirms.... I should maybe make that a priority. Not sure about the best way to do this, but I guess I'll just set the training dummy to block randomly? Do a block string if they block, and do a combo if they don't? We'll see how that works out. As far as not pressing buttons goes, this is something I had my own suspicions about, so hearing them confirmed is nice (since it means I'm correctly analyzing my own play), and also means it's something I should probably fix. Luckily, I don't think this will be as hard of a habit to break. The best way to practice it is probably just to play people, so I'll leave it to QM/Lobby play.

SO. On the To-Do list is:
- Work on hit-confirms
- Continue drilling(/expanding) character BnBs
- STOP PRESSING SO MANY BUTTONS GODDAMMIT

 

[Senjin]

5-5-16

So, these past few days I wound up spending a lot of time messing around with other characters. I wasn't really happy with my RF/SQ/PS team, and after getting a lot more comfortable with Robo I've realized I much prefer playing the zoner/runaway/keepaway style compared to "in your face mix-up/rushdown/vortex" stuff. Or rather, I like having the option to just kind of fly away and pester with lasers rather than having to figure out a way in. I finally sat down and figured out some super basic Peacock zoning patterns, but although the character was kinda fun I don't think Peacock's super zoning style is for me. Out of the duos and trios I messed with, I found RF/PS (with H Laser and H Shot) to be the one I liked the most. That said, I feel like the team could benefit a lot from a second assist for lockdown/close range stuff. Fukua with drill assist was the first character I thought of that can help with that and could still be played zoner-y but...

@Skarmand
You play RF/PS/Dbl with H Laser/H Shot/H(?) Bomber assist right? I remember you playing Fukua at combo breaker last year, why did you decide to replace Fukua for Double? Is it just to give you a better anchor character? Would you recommend Double over Fukua for this kind of team? I'm pretty curious to what your thoughts on this are, since I think the team you have right now is pretty close to what I'm aiming for in my own playstyle. By which I mean I might end up just stealing your team, if that's cool.


In other news, I've gotten better at not pressing so many buttons during matches, at least for as long as I keep my cool and don't start panicking. Having the awareness helps.
Still need to work on hit-confirms though...

 

[skull person]

@Skarmand
You play RF/PS/Dbl with H Laser/H Shot/H(?) Bomber assist right? I remember you playing Fukua at combo breaker last year, why did you decide to replace Fukua for Double? Is it just to give you a better anchor character? Would you recommend Double over Fukua for this kind of team? I'm pretty curious to what your thoughts on this are, since I think the team you have right now is pretty close to what I'm aiming for in my own playstyle. By which I mean I might end up just stealing your team, if that's cool.


In other news, I've gotten better at not pressing so many buttons during matches, at least for as long as I keep my cool and don't start panicking. Having the awareness helps.
Still need to work on hit-confirms though...

I learned Fukua a little over a month before CB.
I went through a lot of different teams before getting mine, including stuff with Painwheel and Bella.

I didn't drop Fukua specifically for Double I just decided to try Double again later.

Anyway, I play Double because L Bomber is Parasoul's best defensive assist, it gives the team safe DHC's, it gives me a touch of death with Level 5, it controls space well when called as Robo, and it gives Robo-Fortune a way to convert off her ground throw midscreen.

The difference between my team and your team is that my melee attack that goes forward (Bomber) is invincible so it helps Robo when she has no defensive options.

I also just like playing Double on point with Beam and Shot assist.
It gives her great neutral and confirms.

If that's something that you want then you can play Robot Soul Double, or pick some other kinda big DP assist.

 

[Senjin]

5-9-16

Here's a thing:

Even after making this and uploading it I thought maybe I shouldn't post it, but whatever fuck it here it is. Let me know if this seems useful/worthwhile or if it's garbage.

Stuff

Thanks for the advice/thoughts. After messing around with the team for a few days, I definitely like it more than any of the other things I've messed around with, but I'm still not sure... I seem to be pretty determined to find some kind of team that's unique to me, or at least something that I didn't just copy from someone (not that there's anything wrong with doing that, it's just something I'm randomly obsessed with I guess. I'm also definitely aware that there are only so many characters, so finding something truly 100% unique is not really possible...). For now though, I think I'll stick with this as my "go-to" team while I mess around with other characters. I think I need to just play more to get a better feeling of how I like to play and what I want to be able to do during a match.

The one thing I might change right now is swapping Soul/H Shot for Fuk/M Dart, which kinda works. I mainly tried it because I kinda like Fukua's wider range of mobility compared to Parasoul, but I feel the swap also comes with a sacrifice in defense. Not sure if I prefer this or not.