Okay, so this is going to be a very simple question... how do you deal with things like j.HK from Fukua, j.HP from Beowulf, maybe j.HP from Parasoul? I play Eliza, Parasoul, SOME SQUIGLY, and Valentine, so far I just used s.MP from Eliza, but sometimes that just gets baited out which is bad, and I jumped higher than Fukua with certain characters, still needing help, though.
If you block an attack in the air, you enter air blockstun.
If you touch the floor while in air blockstun, you
instantly recover.
If a move is +25 when it hits you on the floor, and you block it in the air, and one frame after you airblock it you touch the floor, you shave off 24 frames of blockstun, meaning you can usually punish them.
This is called Land Canceling.
It will help you vs Parasoul jHP and Beowulf jHP too.
[
Horus Dive Example]
[
Fukua JHK Spam Example]
Another option vs obvious jump ins that you can't deal with even when you know they are coming: Call an invincible anti air assist.
(Examples: Napalm Pillar / Updo / Beat Extend / Fiber Uppercut / H Chair Toss)
I have rarely seen Big Band and Painwheel players who were actually really good, my friend mains Big Band and he's really good and I know basically nothing about the matchup, like what to look for to punish, what to try and bait out, what to absolutely not do (so far I hear jumping constantly is a bad idea).
H / M A-Train (The Anti Air grab) are unblockable if you are traveling upwards.
So if you jump and he does it, you'll get grabbed.
If he is wrong and you do not jump, he slides into you and it will never hit you if you are standing so you can punish him.
M / H Brass have armour, and hit long range.
If you block those, especially H Brass, you can punish it.
L Brass has no armour, but is safe (-5).
However if you air block L Brass, usually you can punish it with land canceling.
If you always try and land cancel vs L Brass, he can call you out and go for M / H A-Train to grab you when you jump.
H Giant Step is the slow version, but it's fullscreen unblockable so you have to jump it when he uses it.
L Giant Step is the fast version, and it's safe usually unless you land cancel it.
Beat Extend is his reversal, it costs no meter and it's invincible. The L and M version you can throw because they are fast.
The H version (Where he says "Beeeaaattt EXTEND") is fully invincible and you can't mess with it, but all Beat Extend versions are punishable on block.
SSJ (Super Sonic Jazz) is the
fastest move in the game.
It has 2F start up before the super flash.
It hits like a truck and has armour and has a fantastic hurtbox.
You have to learn how to bait this and punish it.
With Big Band basically he has a lot of tools that are really risky but give him big reward if he's correct.
This is in exchange for him being able to get hit by an instant overhead by the entire cast.
If you pick any character and jump forward and a hit a light button, it hits Big Band high even when he's crouching and it's completely unreactable for him to deal with so he has to guess.
That is his big downside.
Vs most Big Bands you have to be very comfortable with baiting his reversals and letting him kill himself until he smartens up and you can apply riskier pressure.
It's a hard balance at low level play.
Also, what do I do to deal with Filia once she gets going? Don't see her too often, but when I do I struggle a lot when she gets in and starts a combo.
Reversals + Block high + Have good defence.
It's hard. Filia is balanced around having a tiny bit of a hard time finding an angle to open the opponent up, and then being an absolute fiend up close.
Again, at low level player it's very hard to play good neutral which is worthy of keeping her out of your face so she doesn't hit you, so it can be lopsided until you get pretty good.
AND FOR THE LAST QUESTION, how do I get out of this vortex of wanting to play many characters and learn them, but not being able to do it all at once? It's like I'm having an identity crisis here.
You'll find someone(s) who really speaks to you.
You have to find out what you really want in a character and what kind of assists / team dynamics are the most appealing to you, and smartly build a team around it.
There's no bad characters but there are some bad teams.
For example:
I like space control at long / mid range.
I like zoning.
I like long buttons.
I like being annoying.
I like assists that can make my reversals safe.
I like assists that let me convert off my long ranged attacks and projectiles.
I like having a way to peel people off of me.
My team is Parasoul (H Shot) / Robo-Fortune (H Beam) / Double (L Bomber).
Beams let Parasoul convert off L Shot hits and make her jump ins safe.
H Shot lets Robo-Fortune cover the gaps in her zoning and help apply pressure from far away.
L Bomber provides a way to get opponents to back off once they are close and I feel uncomfortable.
You'll find the things you like eventually as you keep playing.
It only took me 3 years : )
