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The Duckator Dilemma

If anyone in here hasn't read Filipino champs fighting game mastery interview, you need to... Dude drops some super dope fighting game knowledge and it all applies to skullgirls, I'm less than half way through reading the transcript and already there are so many things that he's mentioned that seem so simple that seem like they could change my game.

Well imho it's at least a great read. The trolls are hating on it because Filipino champ. But I don't listen to trolls anyways... If anyone here is seriously interested in beating duck...I think champs interview is a must see.
 
If anyone in here hasn't read Filipino champs fighting game mastery interview, you need to... Dude drops some super dope fighting game knowledge and it all applies to skullgirls, I'm less than half way through reading the transcript and already there are so many things that he's mentioned that seem so simple that seem like they could change my game.

Well imho it's at least a great read. The trolls are hating on it because Filipino champ. But I don't listen to trolls anyways... If anyone here is seriously interested in beating duck...I think champs interview is a must see.

Link?
 
Link?


Er... You'll have to pay for it, which is why no ones read it I guess. I just got done with it and I thought it was pretty awesome... But that's me. Anyways you can buy it for 10 bucks for the audio or 15 bucks for audio and transcript... I bought the transcript cause... Yo... Champs voice can be super annoying.

Anyway it's at:

http://fightinggamemastery.com
 
Well sucks you have to pay for it, but it probably helps a ton to listen to.
 
I never said he was invincible, I never said that anywhere in my post. I said that he is able to adapt extremely easier than most people in this community. People like Sev, Omni, Taluda and etc are able to stand a chance because they are able to create more strategy and know how to counter act a lot of his stuff because they have deep understandings of their teams and how they function and what their abilities are. The main problem is most of the community can't because they don't have the knowledge to keep making new strategies against him.

It's a matter of, most need to gain more knowledge about their team and what the possibilities of counter acting they can do.

And even then, it's just a skill gap that prevents most of us (MOST OF US) from touching him. Duckator probably training modes more than anyone else. Also if I recall, he has 3rd Strike experience so obviously his skills transferred over.

I don't think it's training mode at all. He just has experience playing against players, since he's mostly playing the game itself a lot more than training.
 
Duckator is an old Touhou Hisoutensoku player, one of the best in fact.

He also did well and was sponsored for a little while for P4A with Labrys IIRC.

He already has the experience of playing in high stress/high pressure and the experience of how to stay on top and ahead.

You better get to grinding out as much as you can and getting that experience.
 
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Okay, I feel like you need to play the game "he" is playing if you want to compete. From my experience playing him, he knows how to space well (with tools I didn't know were possible) and he knows how to bait. As a Parasoul player, you need to remember that he knows that your Pillar is one of your better (if not the best) anti-tool, so he knows you're going to crouch. Just remember things like that, do different things and make him think different. If that mind game gets deeper, switch it up, keep HIM on his toes.
 
Duckator is an old Touhou Hisoutensoku player, one of the best in fact.
That's quite interesting. I looked up some footage of him playing and watched just 1 match of him as Sakuya, he pretty much plays in the same kinda way he plays SG, he rarely goes in without some knives either ready to back him up or on the forefront of the action, he spends as much of his time as he can off the defensive and he tries to keep his opponents in a block-string as much as he can when they're not in a combo.
 
That's quite interesting. I looked up some footage of him playing and watched just 1 match of him as Sakuya, he pretty much plays in the same kinda way he plays SG, he rarely goes in without some knives either ready to back him up or on the forefront of the action, he spends as much of his time as he can off the defensive and he tries to keep his opponents in a block-string as much as he can when they're not in a combo.

Maybe that's why he uses Valentine. Possible connection.
 
Maybe that's why he uses Valentine. Possible connection.
So if he played Jojo...would he main Dio?

@KhaosMuffins That's actually a pretty awesome idea. I'd be down to get my face hurt some more.
 
Okay just watched the latest set of skullbats matches on duck's channel, just gonna post somethings that I noticed. As always take it with a grain of salt cause I could be a complete retard and have it all wrong.

Biggest thing that I noticed is that duck mashed things out a lot and got away with it A LOT. Don't think that because he's supposed to be a 'top player' that he isn't above doing stupid shit (on a related note he is still catching people with the day one resets (think val j.lk into crossup jab etc) albeit earlier in rounds/sets don't think that he won't do these either)

Also on another related note some people tended to give him a bit much respect in terms of his resets and probably didn't mash things out as much as they should have (doesn't apply to everyone you all know who you are) (remember the theory fighter logic for mashing things out is pretty much to get them to respect the possibility of you mashing something out, making resets much more easier to deal with or to get/stop momentum, this didn't really happen, even when reversals were successful the respect wasn't shown later. Probably figured you wouldn't do it again which was true for the most part (again you know who you are)).

People's patterns for mashing things out in these matches tended to be do almost nothing at first (cause top players are psychic) and then resorting to it later in the round when they were down to their last character/slither of health (aka the panic button) (calling out destuctionadv for this it's pretty much about you when it came down to double. It worked a few times but instead of getting the momentum you tended to mash out more stuff) (also goose pls stop using doubles tag so much, it might as well be a gimmick considering how slow it comes out) (also I believe this kind of thing was covered in domination 101 if any of you are familiar with that)

Related to momentum is DON'T FUCK IT UP once you hit the panic button it's okay to stop panicking. (calling out destuctionadv again cause after a successfully mashed level 3 you managed to catch val and filia in a combo that definitely could've corner carried -> double snap -> real ass match but you dropped your barrel loop and then lost) Some of you guys need to stop letting duck have magical powers that make your execution turn to shit.

TL;DR - Don't think he won't do/fall for stupid shit and for whom it may concern sort out your own 'duck factor' that you may or may not have (it seems like sometimes he gets away with shit cause he's duck imo the existence this thread alone says that more than anything else)

Was that okay? Longer than dimes? I wan't to be best selling author

Extra note - does indeed change things up based on opponents, we should too.
 
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Okay just watched the latest set of skullbats matches on duck's channel, just gonna post somethings that I noticed. As always take it with a grain of salt cause I could be a complete retard and have it all wrong.

Biggest thing that I noticed is that duck mashed things out a lot and got away with it A LOT. Don't think that because he's supposed to be a 'top player' that he isn't above doing stupid shit (on a related note he is still catching people with the day one resets (think val j.lk into crossup jab etc) albeit earlier in rounds/sets don't think that he won't do these either)

Also on another related note some people tended to give him a bit much respect in terms of his resets and probably didn't mash things out as much as they should have (doesn't apply to everyone you all know who you are) (remember the theory fighter logic for mashing things out is pretty much to get them to respect the possibility of you mashing something out, making resets much more easier to deal with or to get/stop momentum, this didn't really happen, even when reversals were successful the respect wasn't shown later. Probably figured you wouldn't do it again which was true for the most part (again you know who you are)).

People's patterns for mashing things out in these matches tended to be do almost nothing at first (cause top players are psychic) and then resorting to it later in the round when they were down to their last character/slither of health (aka the panic button) (calling out destuctionadv for this it's pretty much about you when it came down to double. It worked a few times but instead of getting the momentum you tended to mash out more stuff) (also goose pls stop using doubles tag so much, it might as well be a gimmick considering how slow it comes out) (also I believe this kind of thing was covered in domination 101 if any of you are familiar with that)

Related to momentum is DON'T FUCK IT UP once you hit the panic button it's okay to stop panicking. (calling out destuctionadv again cause after a successfully mashed level 3 you managed to catch val and filia in a combo that definitely could've corner carried -> double snap -> real ass match but you dropped your barrel loop and then lost) Some of you guys need to stop letting duck have magical powers that make your execution turn to shit.

TL;DR - Don't think he won't do/fall for stupid shit and for whom it may concern sort out your own 'duck factor' that you may or may not have (it seems like sometimes he gets away with shit cause he's duck imo the existence this thread alone says that more than anything else)

Was that okay? Longer than dimes? I wan't to be best selling author

Extra note - does indeed change things up based on opponents, we should too.

Yeah, I took note that I did respect way to hard during that match and didn't want to take risks. Which ended up hurting me. The fact that he recorded it is really convenient cause I can take note of all the stupid crap I did. Though I'm actually a bit embarrassed to admit it, I didn't drop the barrel loop because I was nervous, I dropped it because I flat out didn't know how to do it, I only recently figured it out (today) and I really hate that I dropped it. It could have killed fillia and valentine. I'm not sure I could win in a Double mirror against Duck, but it would have been a much better match if I did. While I'm at it, I also failed to convert off that updo assist reversal (the one that actually hit), and I probably could have done a combo off that gregor if my execution wasn't ass. Actually, the gregor was an interesting case, I saw him go for a burst bait earlier that kinda confirmed I wasn't hitting my buttons as hard as I should, so I figured he'd fall for it. In anycase, I've watched that video a many times, and I'm trying to improve my execution for next time as well. I mean, I might be bad now, but I don't wanna stay that way. I had a few of opportunities to turn those matches in my favor and I messed all of them up.
 
What I'm interested in is the structure of the team of Val/Uppercut/Horizontal lockdown.

I play Valentine/Parasoul(Pillar)/Fillia(Hairball) and I prefer Pillar to updo because of hitbox differences and ease of conversion, and I use Fillia because I didn't bother learning a double combo until just recently also hairball is godlike. It's a strong team composition because 1. lol uppercut assist 2. horizontal lockdown means valentine pushes you to the corner easier and being in the corner is fucked in skullgirls but especially fucked against valentine.

Therefore, something that needs to be taken into account in deconstructing Duck's team is understanding Uppercut & Horizontal Lockdown (Updo & Hornet Bomber), how they fit into Valentine's gameplan, and how to counter them. Against uppercut assist there's been countless discussions, my personal method is chicken block the uppercut while calling your own uppercut just after it, and throw them if they're using it defensively. Of course, this requires your team to be using an uppercut assist, which I think in the long run will prove necessary to maximise options needed to deal with it.

Against horizontal lockdown assist, that's a whole different kettle of fish. There's the "dealing with it" video by Mike Z that shows different ways to specifically get around hornet bomber, but as far as dealing with it in the neutral in combination with Valentine's air game is a bitch and a half. If you try to deal with the assist on the ground, valentine comes in from above. If you try to deal with valentine in the air, she either hits you or you block and are knocked down into the lockdown assist. The only way I can think of dealing with this is to bait the assist and run away so that valentine can't call anything while you're out of her effective ranges, or to counterhit valentine in the first place. If anyone else has any ideas I'd like to hear them.
 
PushBlock the lockdown assist, wiggle the joystick while doing so to get autoguard protection, do metered reversal as you are coming out of blockstun and dhc to a safe on block super. Or just ac out if that is too difficult, which for me it probably would be and ac costs less.

Good post @ClarenceMage

Yeah I'm REALLY thinking of using the parasoul to filia, pillar and hair ball assist shell. I really do think its one of the better non playing against peacock shells out there. Because i think it does well against hornet bomber and it never allows the opponent a safe place on screen besides the far opposite corner or in the air outside of pillar range but above hairball range which is a a range that no character besides painwheel can maintain for any decent amount of time and even painwheel can't block there and has to be worried about the points attacks. Plus parasoul with hairball is super deadly as is pw with hairball. But, yes I think this is one of those shells that you can stick any character in front of and do well. IMHO I'm thoroughly convinced that hairball is the new hornet bomber.

More range than lk bomber, unduckable unlike mk and hk bomber. Doesn't have invincibility but it does have crazy priority. And hornet bomber doesn't have invincible startup either so that makes it even worse in a head to head and hairball will flatout beat bomber in most cases where the assists are called at close to the same time.

But since loss of some invincibility does hurt, that's what pillar is there for. No safe attacking. You bait you block hairball. and if you don't bait and instead attack, you get pillar.

It's a very fundamental shell on paper. And at the very least I think that para plus hairball is better than filia plus mk bomber. Though at this point I think people will call me stupid for that one...
 
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Against horizontal lockdown assist, that's a whole different kettle of fish. There's the "dealing with it" video by Mike Z that shows different ways to specifically get around hornet bomber
This intrigues me. Is there a link to said video?

PushBlock the lockdown assist, wiggle the joystick while doing so to get autoguard protection, do metered reversal as you are coming out of blockstun and dhc to a safe on block super. Or just ac out if that is too difficult, which for me it probably would be and ac costs less.
How do you wiggle the joystick to get the autoguard protection? Do you consistently wiggle 1-4-7-4-1 while pushblock is active? I was under the impression that the best use of absolute guard is to hold 4 if you did a 1 pushblock, or hold 1 if you did a 4 pushblock....unless you are talking about something else entirely.

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Aww.... the Batman post with 31+ likes is gone....
 
It's a very fundamental shell on paper. And at the very least I think that para plus hairball is better than filia plus mk bomber. Though at this point I think people will call me stupid for that one...
Actually although pillar/hairball is an amazing shell for assists, (in a very similar way to updo/buttslam as clarence pointed out) good assists does not necessarily make a good shell, there are a lot of other things to consider in terms of team order/options when coming in/dhcs etc

Now for x/para/filia the dhc synergy is VERY different from x/filia/double. One of the glaring issues in this shell is that parasoul's level 1 supers aren't the most damaging and aren't that good for finishing characters off like for example fenrir drive dhc, you may need to either go for additional resets with your point or else burn the extra bar for the level 3 (which ill admit isnt a bad idea at all, but you still spend a bar that could go elsewhere eg scalpels).

However despite this bikes dhc can be pretty safe and be a way to spend some bar to get parasoul in and allow your point to recover some health as opposed to filia dhcs which are pretty much all unsafe (although you can spend the 3 bars to get double in with catheads which not a looot of people do (it isn't 100% safe it can definitely be stuffed) but I sometimes do if I want to get peacock out). Along with this, dhc into level 3 with egret call is far too good to ignore for reasons that should be pretty obvious. The unsafe dhcs with filia also become a problem when the shell is forced to fight it out alone.

The other weakness in this shell is that parasoul is undoubtedly weak when she comes in after the point dies with no air reversal or any real options for escaping incoming setups. Along with this she can sometimes have a harder time dealing with pressure due to having to hold down for her go to reversal (you can charge it on incoming and go once you hit the ground but thats about it) coming in after the point dies instantly puts her in a bad position. This is not the case with filia who has access to gregor to try to stuff setups (and even though filia is in this setup she is in the anchor position which means that you would have to have lost your point and parasoul before you can do this). Also with double in the back you can go right into catheads if you so wish (once again not 100% safe but occasionally a good option). Double has trouble on incoming too but she does have more options with double jump and level 5 if you reaaaaly want to burn the bar.

Also anchor double > anchor filia due to many of filias options being limited by lack of assists (eg harder hitconfirms/pressure) whereas double is more self sufficient and has more ways to play around with meter.

Overall it is a very strong shell but it definitely has some drawbacks in comparison to the fil/dubs we know. I see it as more frontloaded and being able to spend less meter for getting characters in but spend more for dat damage where as fil/dubs is much more self sufficient in the late game and the meter spent on damage is lower (although meter spent on utility is higher). Which one you pick really depends on your priorities/preferences as the are both pretty ridiculous. Also a reminder that having a set of two amazing assists isn't always the best shells, I mean look at the shit that is dubs/pw, it tends to be much more backloaded (with pw's mediocre assists) but it is still one of the scariest things in the game right now.

(also sorry for this not strictly being about duckator but this probably belongs in this conversation. I guess you guys could move this to a different thread if you felt it to be more appropriate)
 
@Chairman Mao

Holy shit, someone posting dietribes almost as long as mine...
BROTHER WHERE HATH THOU BEEN!?


Lol I do think you are right. Though I do still think parasoul with hairball is a good point to assist shell and a good assist shell in front of a point character. Also I'm not really sure how strong having an aerial super is, like painwheel aerial super to double cats can easily be punished unless painwheel super makes contact.

But yeah parasouls coming in game is at least lacking that threat. A caveat to that though is that parasoul is pretty much immune to crossup mixups if she manages to reach the ground since pillar charge doesn't care about crossups or does it care about high/low for that matter if its done as soon as she hits the ground. Which makes her one of the better characters at surviving multitier come in mixups

But that's only if she reaches the ground, she's probably the weakest character in the cast as far what to do in the air.


So I thought on that and...decided that fortune gives damn near everything that parasoul gives minus shitty come in.

And painwheel may be uniquely stationed to make strong positional gains off of hit fibers... Because what goes up must come down... And painwheel excels at attacking characters that are near the ground. So fiber hits them up and painwheel waits for them to descend into her fly pressure.


Well in theory.

And what does this have to do with countering ducks team? Well it's got hairball, and it's got an alpha counter into full combo... And well on paper it just looks like it could be really good against ducks team.
 
Why is Double one of Peacock's worst match-ups? Band wagon? Honestly, I'm not seeing it. Information would be great though, it's always good to learn more.

Also, I think this thread should be more about beating Duck's team and not about beating Duck himself, because he's just better than everybody atm and will adapt to whatever you come up with...


I know I disappeared for awhile, but the reason I think Double is just a bad match for Peacock is because of the luger more than anything. It's faster than all of Peacock's projectiles. The only thing with comparable speed in bang bang bang and they're at different heights so even that loses to the luger due to knock down. From there on out Double can play a better mid game than Peacock because of longer range normals. Maybe it's just because Double takes her out of her comfort zone that I think it's bad, but in a team match Double just kind of wrecks Peacock either as an assist or on point with an assist. Not really scary up close like other characters, but I just find that Double shuts down Peacock's strong suits and forces her to fight where she's not at her best. One-on-one seems pretty even albeit Peacock has to fight her differently than everyone else until Double runs out of meter, but on a team Double is a right pain in the ass for Peacock.

If I'm wrong, I'm open to match up suggestions. All I'm working with now is get in her face, take advantage of Double's lack of anti-air, watch for light hornet bomber, cap that ass if she runs out of meter.
 
I know I disappeared for awhile, but the reason I think Double is just a bad match for Peacock is because of the luger more than anything. It's faster than all of Peacock's projectiles. The only thing with comparable speed in bang bang bang and they're at different heights so even that loses to the luger due to knock down. From there on out Double can play a better mid game than Peacock because of longer range normals. Maybe it's just because Double takes her out of her comfort zone that I think it's bad, but in a team match Double just kind of wrecks Peacock either as an assist or on point with an assist. Not really scary up close like other characters, but I just find that Double shuts down Peacock's strong suits and forces her to fight where she's not at her best. One-on-one seems pretty even albeit Peacock has to fight her differently than everyone else until Double runs out of meter, but on a team Double is a right pain in the ass for Peacock.

If I'm wrong, I'm open to match up suggestions. All I'm working with now is get in her face, take advantage of Double's lack of anti-air, watch for light hornet bomber, cap that ass if she runs out of meter.
Why does it matter if Double's projectile is faster? None of Peacock's projectiles go away if she gets hit, other than j.HK.
 
I know I disappeared for awhile, but the reason I think Double is just a bad match for Peacock is because of the luger more than anything. It's faster than all of Peacock's projectiles. The only thing with comparable speed in bang bang bang and they're at different heights so even that loses to the luger due to knock down. From there on out Double can play a better mid game than Peacock because of longer range normals.

Now I don't play Double or Peacock but to me I don't really see the issue with Luger. Luger is a primarily defensive tool. It really can't be used for offense because every character in the game, except maybe Big Band (who is still a couple of months from being playable), can crouch under it. Double standing at full-screen is absolutely zero threat to anybody unless she has the life lead and can afford to play keepaway.

That said, the reason that Peacock has problems in this matchup is that pretty much any of her projectiles except Shadow of Impending Doom and maybe Gorge's Day Out can easily be punished with Reverse-Car on reaction (you can punish them, but its more difficult). Peacock has to be extremely careful with her projectiles when Double is standing on the ground.
 
Double also has the mobility options to be not constantly locked down by chip and to safely but slowly make her way forward. With meter car into oki is pretty good. Its one of those matchups that really depends on life lead and the situation at hand. It can be pretty tough for either one depending on the resources each character has I feel.

I would say evenish with maybe slight advantage to double? But certainly not because of luger...
 
Luger doesn't affect the Peacock match-up at all, it's too easy to avoid on the ground. The only threat is car, really. It's about even.
 
Just run under the damn luger then throw a George out there if they are being predictable. Double can't handle peacock some with luger, though she can definitely play a decent spacing with new luger.
 
In my experience it's always been a luger on reaction to a projectile. Peacock's knocked down and Double at worst has to block one projectile and then she's in with a couple of dashes. Shadow disappears if Peacock gets shot. Double can dash jump over any bomb or dash under the airshow. And Double only has to eat one bang if she challenges that with a luger. Every projectile has Peacock standing up high enough to get capped by it. Double can basically move forward, luger on reaction and keep truckin. If things go south, run a bitch over.
 
That's why Peacock can teleport or fakeport.
 
Landing lugers doesn't really do much but get you small bits of damage, but its a cool neutral game tool vs peacock. You can hit her out of the start up on some of the bomb tosses, confirm into car, and blow up bombs with luger as well. It's definitely an important tool double has that makes the match up doable for her I feel.

In 1v1, you can use luger to make your approach, and it helps stop peacock from keeping you in place with bombs, soid, and gunshots, because it will either stop her momentarily, or you'll straight up hit her with super on reaction to luger hitting and push your offense from there.

When it comes to Peacock+assist vs double I pretty much feel that double loses. Having to spend my resources to get bits of damage isn't that great and luger loses its usefulness when peacock is backed with an assist. But if double has LNL I think the MU is even again imo.
 
It does, but if you're close enough to do luger -> cat heads chances are you've already won neutral.
 
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That's why Peacock can teleport or fakeport.


Lol at teleporting reaction lugers/cars. The problem isn't Double shooting Lugers preemptively. It's her reacting with them. What else would she be doing at full screen? What Double with half a brain would do anything other than move forward, waiting for Peacock to do what she does best, chuck shit at her? Bam!! Luger. Mid game? Titan knuckle, hornet bomber, dash jump. Peacock has to play this matchup close to Double, especially when Double's got meter. Simply by being ready to do anything, Double forces Peacock to play at her pace.

Now if the Double player wants to jump around fishing for hits mid air, it's free.


Landing lugers doesn't really do much but get you small bits of damage, but its a cool neutral game tool vs peacock. You can hit her out of the start up on some of the bomb tosses, confirm into car, and blow up bombs with luger as well. It's definitely an important tool double has that makes the match up doable for her I feel.

In 1v1, you can use luger to make your approach, and it helps stop peacock from keeping you in place with bombs, soid, and gunshots, because it will either stop her momentarily, or you'll straight up hit her with super on reaction to luger hitting and push your offense from there.

When it comes to Peacock+assist vs double I pretty much feel that double loses. Having to spend my resources to get bits of damage isn't that great and luger loses its usefulness when peacock is backed with an assist. But if double has LNL I think the MU is even again imo.


With a little patience, it's more than just doable 1v1. It's not an overwhelming advantage, but Double does have the advantage in this matchup. I don't feel Peacock is disadvantaged by very many characters, so this is why it's one of her worst matchups.

Peacock+assist is a good matchup against pretty much anyone. Even if it's just a meat shield to absorb Luger then it's done something of value.

Now what if Double has an assist? What assist makes it so Double loses? What stops her from calling her own assist to press her advantage? From midscreen, Double can punch any assist in the face before they do whatever it is they're set to do. Throw in a LnL or hairball or napalm shot or anything Peacock can do, then what?

Either way, my point is that Peacock is in no way a counter to Duck's main team. So let's assume that Peacock somehow doesn't get mauled by Valentine. Who would she need backing to beat Double + Updo?
 
The duckator is experimenting with the assist shell I said gives his main team problems...

Be afraid, very afraid.
 
The duckator is experimenting with the assist shell I said gives his main team problems...

Be afraid, very afraid.
you talking about his Double/Filia/Parasoul team? he's been running that since SDE, I think it's an underexplored idea (it certainly was in SDE, when Double lockdown was legit on point).
 
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Duck was trained by Brightside and he stole all his Filia combo's cause they were optimized. It makes sense no one can beat him.
 
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Duck was trained by Brightside and he stole all his Filia combo's cause they were optimized. It makes sense no one can beat him.
I do not believe that this is what happened.
 
I was there, I can confirm it's true, he stole them after he took all my Valentine tech.
 
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