the thing where I try to not be bad at this game and then write stuff

[missingno]

Over the past week or so I've been jotting down notes to help me keep track of stuff to learn, remind myself to fix bad habits, and note down anything I'm not sure about and want to look into. I guess it'd be a good idea to put them here! If people want to read 'em and give me feedback, that'd be cool I suppose.

A little about me, I'm mainly coming from a Street Fighter background here. I've sampled other stuff casually but for the most part airdashers and Marvel are kind of foreign to me. I've got like a vague understanding of mechanics I guess, but there's a lot of things I still don't feel like I'm applying well. Right now I'm running a Valentine/Parasoul team, with Pillar being the obvious choice for Parasoul... and after lots of experimenting decided Mortuary Drop seems to be the least useless option I've tried with Val. I might pick up a third at some point, but I figure it'd be a bad idea to try to learn three characters all at once, I'll save that for when I've better mastered these first two. Make that Valentine (H Bypass)/Robo-Fortune (H Beam)/Parasoul (Pillar)

Spoiler: really old notes ignore all this

Spoiler: Stuff to research

any notable players that run a similar team I could study?

mpgame - robo/val, uses H bypass to convert beams into combos​

effective use of valentine poisons

when to load them?
easy ways to combo into them?
when to use orange or green?​

getting out of pressure situations/corner?

especially as val
double especially as robo​

fun with napalm tears!

val’s supposed to have an amazing air game, but I really don’t know shit about airdashers

do I have any way to instant overhead? how I mixups?
​

help how do I robo

getting and using heads
magnetic grab
using detonation mode - three bars for something I can't guarantee?
​

dealing with corner pressure, halp

Spoiler: My lazy ass really needs to spend more time in training mode

learn corner combos and other situational options

resets, burst baits, blockstrings, incoming setups, pressure, etc

double snaps - can do it with parasoul, gotta learn val and robo

hit confirming tears into sniper

air tear toss is cancelable! should learn to utilize this, good before jump-ins maybe?

f+LP/MP/HP - I have to not charge to do this? that’s gonna take some getting used to

could follow up blockstrings with egret call -> f+LP​

j.MK rocket jumping

accidental tear tosses, why does this keep happening?

practice skipping b+HK and egret call early if I'm too far

best setup ever - c.HP, call robo, LK bypass crossunder

lots of frame advantage to try more mixups if they block​

Spoiler: Dumb habits to stop doing and smart ideas to start doing

scalpels are good, use them more

don’t ekg flatliner when opponent is in the corner, or else I’ll be cornered

if I DHC with the right timing I can keep them in there though
but if I’m in the corner, worth a bar to switch places​

valentine is not ibuki, don’t just throw crosses all the time

while I’m on the subject, also stop doing that in 3s it’s stupid there too!​

if my gullible ass falls for a burst bait, remember alpha counter is an option

air throws are a thing in this game, FUCKING TECH THEM

especially on incoming​

don’t call assists when cornered, bad things will happen

not everything should be pushblocked if you wanna be able to punish it

this is also biting me in the ass so bad when they let up so I get a backdash instead​

sweeps beat armor

recognize when cannon is not a safe DHC and do magnetic grab instead

point blank dead cross is -9 on block, stop doing this every time my pokes are blocked

LK bypass is -4 so that's less terrible, and calling pillar is always great
that's just asking for a pushblock to make it whiff, while cross becomes safe on pushblock
​

see assist come in, stop fucking pressing buttons

throwing the point protects me, but only if it doesn't whiff
pay attention to and think about what assists they have
​

anti-air assist means they're gonna call it and block low often, throw more

val can airdash out of backdash

make them respect highs more, jump in after a blocked beam assist

after blocked robo cr.MK do a late s.HP to frametrap

scalpels after blocked bypass to make it safe

Spoiler: Matchup notes

beowulf

does he have meter? don’t try to punish c.HP!

sweep? not sure it's fast enough - robo maybe
I guess calling pillar can be a risk worth taking as long as parasoul isn't bleeding too bad, then point can either OTG if no super or punish if super​

how to punish j.HP?
blockstrings are probably gonna end with command grab, upback that shit
watch for that pesky raw tag
when chairless, don't press buttons, try to bait out his arm moves for easy punishes
keep him from getting his chair back
dash is airborne and he can do aerials out of it
so wait let me just get all this straight... he has instant overheads, command grabs, and armor all on one character? aaaaaaaaa I can't defend against all of that​

big band

just don't napalm shot, like, ever

struggling pretty bad in general with this matchup for parasoul, not sure what she can do about that armor​

especially watch for his assists, if I see him come in just stop hitting buttons
savage bypass will go straight past his armor, won't combo but at least it's a safe little trick

could I then whiff punish with EKG?​

tiger knee H beam and he can't do shit lol

just make sure I'm all the way at full screen, a pixel closer and he may actually be able to do shit​

no reason to ever use L beam since he can't duck under M
multihits are important
LK and c.HK are his only lows, and I don't see people c.HK very often, so it's generally better to switch to blocking high in the middle of a chain
fuck a train fuck a train fuck a train
para jMP jHP jHK doesn't work, what do instead? I see people do jLP jLK jMP, but I always seem to drop after this​

cerebella

upback beats all tumbling run options (watch spacing for kancho though)

apparently pummel horse is an overhead hitgrab instead of a real grab, who knew? not sure this changes anything though​

don't be so predictable when zoning that she can get deflector

just do 1-2 projectiles, and when she expects more go in
​

double

everything is a crossup
block car on the side of the screen I'm closest to, then switch directions on reaction
robo run, L beam, and bypass all go under H gun
don't punish gun with sniper, she'll just car​

eliza

also careful with tears, and don’t punish throne with supers it doesn’t work
goddamn horus, upback upback upback upback!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
throw sekhmet!
​

filia

air gregor is safe, ground gregor is punishable, don't get 'em mixed up
airball is adc-able, respect it
​

fukua

holy fuck pay attention to that grab and upback instead of pressing buttons like a fucking idiot how do I fall for this every single time
​

ms. fortune

cat slide is punishable if I DON'T pushblock it
pay attention to what that pesky head is up to, watch cooldowns​

painwheel

less pressing buttons, more throwing (which is technically buttons but shut up)
how the fuck do I swat her down without eating a thousand j.MPs?
11:48dagwood99:I would say missingno, use more super jumps and jHK and Air grabs against painwheel
11:48dagwood99:Run away a lot or super jump air dash over her head if your back is close to the corner
learn to recognize the difference between c.HP and c.HK startup and react properly

panic option, upback early enough and c.HK will just whiff​

parasoul

punishing HK egret with sniper still gets you grabbed anyway​

peacock

oh god what the hell can I do as parasoul? besides just tag out, need a backup plan

sniper works I guess​

tiger knee savage bypass at neutral actually works pretty well here
L beam good, H beam bad
need to practice punishing argus

para - pbgc M egret, sniper​

robo-fortune

robos run goes under M/H beam, as does L beam
​

squigly

watch and remember what charges she has, don't zone if she has punch stance and only do stuff from the air if she has kick
9 times out of 10 she'll open the round with SBO, upback and don't call an assist​

 

[missingno]

I feel like I'm making a lot of good progress. Now that last Monday's patch fixed cross-platform spectate, I can safely try out this "lobby" thing all the cool kids are into, plus I can even enter weeklies without accidentally breaking the stream again! The 11/6 Skullgals Showdown is officially my first time not going 0-2 in this game, and not only did I finally win one set, I somehow won two! They were hella tight sets, at the end I was like "holy shit I haven't felt an adrenaline rush this big in a long time". I still kinda have this voice in the back of my head telling me those wins were a fluke though, kicking myself over every dropped combo while their execution was always on point... gah, shut up voice. That just means I won neutral even more!

Apart from execution, I feel like my biggest weakness right now is pressure - both applying it and responding to it. If I get a clean hit and convert, I do my little combo but don't know what to do next so then we're back to neutral. There's a billion other things I feel like I should learn first before I worry about practicing resets though, so that's gonna have to wait and I'll keep working on neutral. Also when I'm the one trapped in the corner, I sit there trying to block for a bit but I can only keep that up for so long, and I know I have to make a move if I wanna get out of there and play neutral again. I suppose it doesn't help that Val lacks a real reversal and Pillar being charge means I can't just mash it - I try to PBGC it but screw that up more often that not. And when an attempted pushblock turns into a backdash or punch, oops. I guess this this is all just stuff that comes with experience though, eventually I'll start recognizing punishable moves and take those openings.

Spent enough time in training mode to get Parasoul's full midscreen BnB down fairly consistently, though in matches force of habit keeps making me do my little baby abridged version. So I just gotta keep playing until my fingers unlearn that.

I also fooled around with Robo-Fortune against some friends who are newer to the game than me, and I'm liking her, I think I have my third team member. Beams are fun! I'm still not sure if I'm ready to juggle three characters at once though...

I'm setting a to-do list here:

1. Keep playing matches until I'm consistently doing that BnB for Parasoul.
2. Back to training, learn Valentine's midscreen BnB.
3. Play more matches until I'm consistently doing Valentine's.
4. At this point I'll probably have enough experience with those two that I'll feel ready to start adding Robo-Fortune into the mix.
5. Hit training, learn a basic beginner combo for Robo.
6. Play matches, get an understanding of her neutral and how this team can work together as a whole.
7. Learn real combos for Robo.

 

[missingno]

Attempting to learn Val's midscreen BnB is not going well at all. Looking at the example video in the BnB compendium, apparently middleweight characters should already be restanded by the second j.HK, but like 90% of the time when I do it to anyone but a heavy they're still way up in the air the whole time and the s.LPs whiff. I guess I'm supposed to slow it down somewhere to give them time to fall? But I've tried that with literally every button and can't find any point I can do so without just dropping the combo. Occasionally I seem to just get lucky and they just barely get caught by the s.LPs in time, but since I don't even know what's up I can't figure out how to make this consistent. Also, if I haven't carried just them to the corner so I won't need to, I can't manage to squeeze in a dash before the final ground chain. Also, if I've already got them in the corner when I first launch them, the air dash makes me switch sides and whiff - IDK if that's normal, obviously I should just learn a corner-specific combo, but like one thing at a time here can I make this one BnB still work for now?

For Robo-Fortune, I decided to skip ahead a bit from the beginner combos and just start with her proper midscreen BnB. Initially had a massive headache trying to link s.MP after j.HK, but then randomly stumbled upon the fact that fastfalling exists in this game and apparently that's the trick. Why didn't I ever see this mentioned anywhere before? Went to look back at Val, but it doesn't seem to help there - I need them to fall faster, not me. Back to Robo, like with Val I can't seem to fit that dash in for when I don't have them pushed to the corner, but I can at least compensate by omitting the H Danger and everything else will still hit. Close enough?

Eh, whatever, time to just jump into some matches and see how it goes. Gotta learn that whole "neutral" thingamawhozit. Day 1 Robo-Fortune, woo! Beams are indeed proving to be a valuable addition to this team, but, uh, the part where I actually play Robo has me completely lost. Her buttons are so odd, and it doesn't help that force of habit makes me accidentally poke with c.MK which is very bad if they block. I don't have the faintest clue what to do with these fancy-ass Headdrones either, easy to set them up but no idea what next. Pretty much the only thing I know how to do is beam beam beam like a fucking idiot.

Spoiler: day 1 robo in flowchart form!

 

[missingno]

Pre-NEC blogging:

Feel like I'm finally understanding Robo decently enough, starting to surprise myself with my winrate now. However the one thing I'm not utilizing is heads. I try to end my combos with s.HK c.HK, but too often manage to drop before that 'cause I'm a clumsy oaf, and I don't know when else it's safe to get head. And when I have heads, I never really know what to do with them either.

Looking at my pool trying to figure out if I have a shot at not going 0-2, but of course the names I recognize will be in winners' and I have no clue what to expect in losers'. But with the way Quick Matches have been going now, maybe I can manage at least one win? Won't be too salty if I don't though, I feel like it could go either way.

TBH I'm more nervous about 3rd Strike and Project M. Not sure if I should even try my shitty Ibuki or just don't even risk it and stick to Akuma cr.MK all day every day while feeling dead inside for resorting to this. And given what's going on with PM, I get the feeling this might be my last chance before the scene dies, so I gotta make this one count.

 

[Receita Federal]

jump>call h beam> h air bypass(has to pass above the opponent)

it's a great crossup

 

[missingno]

Post-NEC:

Well... uh... I had fun, that's the important part, right?

I figured I'd probably go 0-2, but I was hoping to at least put up a fight, at least in loser's, right? Hahahahahahaha, no, not even close. Each match started with a little dancing around in neutral, but I never got a clean hit I could convert off of and as soon as they did I was taken right to the corner and never got out. Second game of loser's my anchor Parasoul escaped because a combo he expected to kill instead left me with a pixel and breathing room, at which point I got some momentum and killed one character... then chipped by the incoming Fukua's fireball 'cause my dumb ass didn't jump. Though I'm sure even if I had something else would've chipped me sooner or later.

I did manage to get as many friendly matches in as I could throughout the weekend. Very first person I played with on Friday I managed to win 6 out of 6 games, but everyone else wrecked me. Not all of them were quite as harsh as bracket... but most were. Trying to replay matches in my head to figure out what I can take away from them, but most of them are a blur to me and I dunno how to analyze corner -> reset -> reset -> crazy ambiguous setup on incoming -> reset -> RIP.

Project M, also got slaughtered - 3 stocked by a Bowser even. I'd blame it on rust but as much as I love the game I'd be a dirty liar if I said I was ever any good at it in the first place. And there's probably not much point in trying to seriously practice now. At least I got to be there before it dies soon. As for 3rd Strike, spent a while running around the venue Friday and Saturday and couldn't find it. Eventually found it on Sunday so I at least got to watch finals. Though since it's on actual arcade hardware, I probably would've done awful anyway since I've never played on stick before.

Like I said at the start, it was fun so even if I didn't learn much I'm still glad I was able to go. Watching finals in person on Sunday was fantastic.

jump>call h beam> h air bypass(has to pass above the opponent)

it's a great crossup

Yo, that's some clever stuff. I tried to work this in once or twice while I was there but didn't quite get it, I'll have to play around with it at home later.

I still fall for the ol' jump-and-call-low-assist - and writing this is now reminding to pay closer attention to that shit more so I stop falling for it.

 

[missingno]

Haven't written here in a while, guess I'm well overdue for an update!

I finally feel like I truly understand how to use assists effectively now. I've gotten pretty consistent at picking up the OTG after Pillar as well as that call Byass and do L/M Beam setup, can cover up my accidental Robo cr.MKs with a Pillar to stay safe, and I've been trying to get in the habit of countercalling more. Though I'm still kinda just throwing the Beam assist out at random and hoping for the best - which somehow does work surprisingly often or at least doesn't get punished, but surely I could be using that a lot smarter. And I still fail to react to opposing assists a lot of the time, Big Band always catches me pressing buttons.

I still crack under pressure a lot. Often times what I end up doing is sitting still and letting them keep going because I don't know what else to do, but of course that's not getting me out of there, and I can only keep that up for so long before one of these mixups finally gets me. Or I'll pushblock pushblock pushblock oh shit backdash whoops. A lot of times I'll just fall back on the PBGC Pillar/Scalpels panic button, which is not terribly successful. And I just don't know what I can do as Robo. Worst of all I'm so fucking terrible at teching throws, somehow I rarely see it coming and even when I do many times I'm just too late. I've noticed some opponents are able to spot my achilles heel and start going for tons of throws, and even when I know they're doing that to me I still fail to tech again and again. This set is a really good example of how bad it can be, game 1 I'm trying to tech and it's remarkable how consistently I fail, and 2-3 I surprised myself at how well I could block most of Fortune's mixups but I'm still just never actually getting out of there.

Execution-wise, still dropping Val combos all the goddamn time. Finally figured out the secret to getting them to drop down is to delay the second Bypass for medium and light characters, and now this makes it work in the corner too, but still the problem is I often mess up the airdash MP. Then I realized that my LP+MP airdash macro was eating the next MP sometimes, so I changed it to LP+HP and it's a little better, but still not consistent. Trying to do it with f,f just turns out worse for me too. Took a look at her corner combo in the hopes that maybe I could be more consistent with that whenever I have the corner, but nope the airdash HP H Bypass is even harder and I can like never get it ever. Sigh.

Also for Parasoul, one thing I've noticed that has me confused, any time I'm too slow to pick them up from b+HK Egret Call and end up consuming my OTG, subsequently doing j.HP j.HK leads to the j.HK whiffing and they bounce out. Isn't the j.HK supposed to restand them without needing OTG, before they even touch the ground? Why does that not work if I don't have OTG? Am I misunderstanding how OTG works?


Anyway, in other news I started up a Twitch channel so I can record my matches (since replays are still broken on Linux...). Also been using it for FightCade weeklies with a group of friends, Crypt of the Necrodancer since I got hooked on that, and I'll definitely start streaming Indivisible when the beta comes out (already did some prototype speedruns a while ago, but I'm happy enough with my time that I'm done for now).

Oh, and I signed up for Winter Brawl X this weekend! Gonna try to not go 0-2 this time, we'll see if maybe I can make that goal?

 

[Receita Federal]

doing bypasses on corner is hard yea, why not do the jump loops? worse damage but way easier execution

 

[missingno]

What's the jump loop? I'm just going off what's listed in the BnB compendium, but I guess since that's just not working for me looking for a simpler option to fall back on would be better.

 

[Receita Federal]

it's very similar to duck's combo
j.hp, adc j.mp, j.hp
j.lp, j,mp, jhp
j.lk, j.mp, j.hp, hbypass/vial
ground string

 

[missingno]

Hrm, I'm stuck on the j.lk. If I rejump, I either whiff above them or they can block. If I airdash, I end up hitting the ground before or during the j.mp. No idea what I'm missing here, I think I need a video to see it.

 

[Kyugetsuki]

Hrm, I'm stuck on the j.lk. If I rejump, I either whiff above them or they can block. If I airdash, I end up hitting the ground before or during the j.mp. No idea what I'm missing here, I think I need a video to see it.

R u sure ur doing it in the corner? J.lk hits near the head. Tested it on parasoul.

EDIT: It's definitely a rejump.

 

[missingno]

I was testing on Beowulf who's not as tall, but it should be universal right? Sometimes I would get the j.LK but then the j.MP would whiff a hit and then get blocked. Also tried it on Peacock a bit, but that had even worse problems as everything went under her light ass. I dunno, but I feel like it's probably not a good idea to spend any more time trying to pick up a new combo the day before a tourney. I think I'll just stick to what I know for now since I am getting a little more consistent, maybe later those 2nd Encore trials will help me figure the rest out.

Anyway, spent a long time grinding quick matches all day, and have been on a hell of a winning streak, very few losses at all. I'm telling myself not to get too cocky, it's just QM, but it's a definite sign I'm clearly improving. Also took 5th on tonight's Skullgalz Showdown, best I've ever done in any weekly. I'm feeling pretty good about myself here. Hopefully good enough to win at least one match tomorrow?

 

[Pickles]

from playing you on QM you've definitely improved a lot, I would be surprised if you went 0-2 at winter brawl. good luck tomorrow!

 

[Receita Federal]

good luck dude, i'm sure as hell you can do great

 

[missingno]

HOO BOY DO I HAVE A HELL OF A STORY

First thing I did was check the bracket for my pool. The seeding looked completely backwards, with me at second seed - I had a bye round 1, would then probably fight Unknown round 2 and get sent to loser's, and another bye in loser's so whoever I'd fight next would already have 1-2 wins. This can't possibly be right! Cross-checking the registration list, I realized there's a simple pattern, the seeds are just everybody's last names in alphabetical order. Placeholder seeds that will surely be revised when my pool starts.

Throughout the day I keep checking back to see if the seeds are updated yet, but they never were. When it comes time for my pool to begin, I hear the five words I really didn't want to hear, "Missingno.? You have a bye."

nonono please no un-bye me please I don't want this I want an easy round 1 match I'll have a chance to win don't put me in this hell bracket

I fight Unknown on stream, got destroyed as expected. I'll dig up the archive later and try to analyze what I can from it. Probably not much though.

I keep checking the bracket to see who I'll be fighting next in loser's, only to find even weirder news - All the matches leading up to me update all at once... including my own, which I've apparently already won?

wait, what? oh no, don't tell me...

I asked the TO if this was right, and she confirmed there were multiple no-shows, that entire section of the bracket was DQ'd. I am in round 3 of loser's already without actually having gotten to win a single match.

technically this can count as not 0-2 but I don't want technically I want to actually win one real match just one please

DaPurpleSharpie was then nice enough to offer me some coaching! Super sweet gesture... and probably kind of unfair, really.

"Your next opponent is TwinRefraction. He plays Painwheel and Squigly. His Squigly is free, just kill her first and then take down Painwheel. Don't play a trio -" (she definitely saw the frown on my face) "Who do you play? Alright that can work, just make sure you keep using those DPs to keep him off you."

okay I can kill a squigly piece of cake but did you you say painwheel oh god I can't deal with painwheel

We play our match, offstream sadly. I wish I could review this match 'cause it was super intense and there was definitely a lot more I could study from it than that previous match. I'll try and recount what I remember, but my memory is not great.

Game 1, I catch the Squigly assist multiple times for big punishes, I don't remember if she even tagged in at all or I killed her like that. Game 2, I quickly kill Painwheel, but then that "free" Squigly manages to make a comeback. Game 3 was super close the whole time but I finally took it.

I DID IT, I DIDN'T GO 0-2! I DON'T EVEN CARE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, I MADE MY GOAL DESPITE THE WHOLE BRACKET CONSPIRING AGAINST ME!

Next I fought Geno, again it was a very hype match and again it was all offstream. :(

He plays Fukua and Big Band, a matchup I'm more comfortable with. Fukua's a straightforward character with nothing in particular that gives me a hard time, and I got a Robo so I know how to give Big Band a hard time. Game 1 was close but he took it. Game 2, I won, and he went back to character select to add a point Parasoul to his team. Maybe I should be worried that the gloves are coming off and the real team is here, but it's not like I don't know Parasoul. So then I just screwed up right off the bat and ended up losing Robo to a double snap, oops. Then we spent a while playing that crazy thing that is the Parasoul mirror until mine went down. Now all I have is Val to try and make a comeback. And I started to do so, took out Parasoul and almost got Fukua but screwed up my BnB such that we switched sides in the corner... but then I quickly improvised and figured I could just level 3 right there and that should still catch and kill her. Big Band comes in, but he's got the life lead and very little time is left thanks to the drawn out Parasoul mirror earlier. At fullscreen, he firmly plants his stick on down-back, daring me to come do something about it.

I gotta rewind for a minute here. I play on a Wii Classic Controller Pro, a pad I really like for its digital shoulder buttons and octogates on the analog sticks. No other pad I've tried feels right to me. Obvious problem with this though is hooking it up, since it's supposed to plug into a Wii Remote and then wirelessly connect to a Wii (yes, really, such a stupid design on an otherwise perfect controller). At home I can just get the Wiimote to pair with my laptop over Bluetooth, which isn't ideal since it's still wireless but at least it works. When I signed up for NEC I went and bought a Mayflash USB adapter listed as working with both PC and PS3, so I'd be able to use it there and not have to put up with wireless at home anymore either.

But I found the adapter is slightly buggy. Very rarely it'll send extra buttons I didn't press and/or move the sticks around. Doesn't happen often, and it's rarely noticeable especially when I'm already pressing plenty of buttons in a match. But it happens a nonzero amount of the time, and that's not good. I figured I'll just play it through for now at NEC and WBX, stick to wireless at home, and maybe save up for a stick or something in the future. I never did notice it getting in the way during all my prior matches, so it wasn't the end of the world.

Until now. It's just not letting me run to go get Big Band, f,f and PP both keep getting interrupted, and time runs out while he kept the lead. Worst possible timing.

Whatever though I did win a match and I made that last set super close, all late in bracket. I can go to bed satisfied with that!

 

[missingno]

Bought a Hori RAP4 a little while back. Been difficult to get used to, but I feel like I've finally reached a point where I'm not completely struggling to make my hands do what I want them to. Still dropping combos sometimes, but with time and practice I'm sure I'll iron that out, I can feel myself gradually getting a little closer and closer to consistent. Also, it's so nice that now I can kara throw with Akuma and pushblock in VSav!

Winter Brawl X coming up in a little over a week, so I gotta put in a lot more practice to be ready for it. Also entering 3s this time, since I'm learning stick I'll be able to play on the cabinets. Though I haven't played it at all in a while, so I'll have to put some time into derusting there too.

Also, my laptop's running a lot smoother and cooler after doing a clean reinstall of Linux Mint 18, so I'll try and start streaming some more again.

 

[missingno]

With the patch finally out, I'm ready to start training seriously again. Towards the end of beta I kinda just gave up on finding matches outside of weeklies and didn't really practice that hard, but now Quick Match is a thing again so I'm bout to get back into the swing of things. And this time I'm aiming to get a clearer gameplan than the "call assist and go ham" I've just been mindlessly coasting on for too long. A few reflections:

• Robo's much more of a zoner now, which is something I still need to get used to. Depending on the matchup, my idea of zoning has kinda been "do 2 beams and then get afraid of eating an Arm/Brass/Sing SBO/etc, oh fuck it I'll just go in". I need to work on how to actually hold someone at fullscreen for longer than that. I have been trying to incorporate mpgame's Bypass conversions into my game, but more often than not I miss the OTG.
• I also still don't really know what I'm doing with my heads either, I'll usually just randomly toss out a LK fireball, missiles if I happen to have 3 and a knockdown or KO, but I'm not putting any real thought into this. I just toss 'em out and hope something good happens. I know mines are supposed to be really good, that's something I have to work into my game more, I just don't know where/when to use 'em.
• Still dropping those damn Bypass combos too often. Should really try and learn something else already. It occurs to me that I could probably use Beam assist in combos to get a vial, but I can't find any examples of this. Anyone know Val Beam combos?
• I'm so terrible at recognizing when I can punish something unless there's a big honkin' superflash to get my attention. I've got this nasty habit of just reflexively pushblocking literally any time anything hits me, and then immediately afterwards I'm like "Oh damn if I hadn't pushblocked I would've been able to punish that". And a lot of times I even start preemptively pushblocking, which just means backdash into get hit.
• With Val and Robo I can handle Peacock alright, still not great at the matchup but if I can get in once with a Bypass or stop her momentum with L Beam I might be okay. If I get down to Parasoul though, I'm as good as dead. I know it's a hard matchup, but I also know it's not 0-10. I can never find an opening to superjump j.MK, and MK Egret doesn't always help - she usually stops pressing buttons before I Sniper, and dashing in leads to my foot getting caught in front of him.
• Ever since I switched to stick, the one issue I've had is that my mashed ground Scalpels turn into tiger knees a lot. Also can't Demon in 3S consistently, though I try not to rely on that much anyway. Not much to say here I guess, just gotta work on cleaner inputs.

This match with Sunset Radiance from last night is one of the best sets I've played in a long time, I think. But the biggest thing that stands out to me from reviewing this VOD (well, second biggest, I still can't get over this moment) is how many punish opportunities I missed, even let her get away with three blocked Fibers in game 4 there. I also count two instances in game 1 where she had a hard read on my constant upbacking with a jump forward airthrow, and in game 4 she even did dash up jump forward airthrow, which tells me I'm getting a l'il too predictable. I swear, I couldn't tech an airthrow if my life depended on it.

Also looking into possibly making the trip to Combo Breaker this year. We'll see.

 

[Receita Federal]

for robo, you should use jhp more to stop dashes, you can convert with jhp l beam + bypass assist. it's hard to hold people fullscreen with robo, so you need to notice when they will jump or dash to switch sides (either with a dash under or tiger knee forward jhk). this is incredibly frustrating to deal with, and extremely useful.

i dont use much heads, but i always try to get 3 so i can get a safetag to double or val. on hit you can even confirm, or get a mixup on block.

from the few matches we played, i noticed you do dash jmp too high to get 3 hits of jmp. i'd advise to do a little delay on the second bypass and the airdash, so they will be lower and doing only 1-2 hits of jmp so when you do jhk it doesn't whiff/drop on the ground.

using beam to load vials in the corner is not too much consistent to combo after, damage is kinda crappy and you can only do it without having any vials before, since lvl 2 and lvl 3 vial loads are slower. you can do chp pillar assist vial load tho, it's much more consistent.

hope it helps.

 

[missingno]

Two crazy sets from last night's Skullbats to look at. One choke, one clutch.

First set with Untitled Unmastered.

Game 1, not too much to say here. Got in, took down Squigly, DHCd to Robo. After that I tried to stick to playing as lame as possible, nothing to worry about with that kind of life lead. I left a good pause between each beam waiting for the Arm, managed to catch it.

Game 2, shoutouts to jumping over a raw tag then missing the punish. Threw out a c.MK c.HP and called Bypass instead of Pillar, dead Robo. Whoops. Got that conversion off Pillar Bikes, so awesome that that's a thing now. I think I was trying to Pillar and DHC out when I jumped and got grabbed instead, don't remember for sure though. Blocked a crossup Airwulf, what a hitbox. On stream so you bet your ass I'm making everyone watch level 3... oh shit that didn't kill throw the vial oh shit too early alright stay calm find an opening to scalpels oh shit I'm dead. Should've just thrown the scalpels right away, augh.

Game 3, can't do two Bypasses with a happy birthday but I'd lose the corner if I didn't. In hindsight though losing the corner is still better than losing the whole combo. I thought that Arm was gonna cross me up but it didn't. Twice c.MK c.HP didn't launch, why does it do this. Mine's good and I gotta use it more.

Game 4, figured I was a little too high to get the ground chain so I just ended that combo early with super, couldn't risk not getting to DHC out when I'm bleeding that bad. Jump back j.HP, that's not a real reset what the hell am I even doing I have no idea what I was thinking. Squigly hurtbox too smol. I know I wasn't trying to do missiles there but I don't remember what I was trying to do, might've been jump back j.HK. 5 bars, right on top of Parasoul... wait for him to approach so I can hit him with it... aw fuck I died. Should've just popped it right away.

Game 5, absolute trainwreck. Got lucky he dropped that snap, whew. He waited to burst just late enough for me to think I should jump and throw, the counterbait. Tried to burst alpha counter, didn't get it. Need to remember that if I throw after an Egret Call I can't Egret Call again, gotta use Bikes there. Tried to DHC, didn't get it. Tried to... I pressed two punches. I PRESSED TWO PUNCHES THO. whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Sigh. These things happen I guess.


Second set with Dementia. Yup. That guy. This was a damn good set though, if you can believe it.

Game 1, I came in with a clear plan. He's gonna downback call assist, and I'm gonna throw his ass. Not gonna try to be fancy since he knows every Val mixup far better than I do, better to just shut him down at neutral. Band is free, he's not even trying to parry. Fullscreen c.MK may not have been the best way to punish that raw tag, lol. Got a huge life lead there and just proceeded to lame it out. Could've fired Missiles just to stall more, not like I really needed it though.

Game 2, oh man what if I catch him downbacking with a round start command grab oh okay yeah that was dumb. I was mashing Scalpels on that american reset, somehow didn't get it. Dropped the happy birthday. Play lame, play lame, play lame until he shows me he can deal with it no what am I doing why did I go in that was working great just keep doing that augh. I'm much more scared to lame out Band as Para though, think I made the right call going in for that matchup - especially with the clock running down. While he chipped me out with Scalpels, I tried to mash level 3 but ended up getting hit instead - not sure it even would've caught him at that height.

Game 3, stream lost us :( I remember I got double snapped, then I got a happy birthday but dropped it before I could snap. I always forget that I can't do s.HPx2 L Shot against two characters - no reason I shouldn't have just gone straight for the snap anyway. Then I died.

Game 4, so much pressure shredded me fast. Air scalpels is safe and I should fucking know that since I play Val, but I tried to c.HP like an idiot. More pressure brings me down to a solo Robo at half health while I haven't done a thing to him. Can't possibly make a comeback like this. And then... YO WE TAKE THOSE. I almost went in on Val to make sure I kill her before Band recovers too much, but figured it's better to play it safe since he has not shown once that he can deal with zoning. Beam chip kills her quick enough anyway.

Game 5, I got mixed. Not really much more I can say here, I just got mixed hard. I swear I saw those crossups and had to have been just a frame or two late switching block direction.

But yo, win or lose, that was a hell of a set. I feel really good about game 1 there, and game 2 was crazy. And hey, game 4 was hilarious. We take those.

Sadly, I did not receive any group invites to commemorate this one.

 

[missingno]

PHILLY SG LIVES AGAIN! It's been more than a year and half since I've last played offline. I'm hungry as hell!

But lately I feel like I just have not been playing my best. Keep making some nasty chokes, especially in bracket when it counts. I'm getting stagnant. It's time to stop autopiloting through QM and get serious again. If I want to put in a good showing this Thursday, I'm going to have to spend all week in the hyperbolic time chamber to level up in time.

Trying to assess what my highest priorities I should be working on are, Robo is by far my weakest link and there are just so many places that need work. I'm really feeling the damage nerfs here, it's hell when the best reset I can reliably do is slowly and predictably jumping over 'em, so most of the time I just finish my combo instead for the 3 pixels of damage that's worth... So yeah, that's how I know I really need to completely reevaluate how I play this character.

• Real resets that aren't just checking to see if my opponent is awake. Need to practice consistently getting those ambiguous crossunders to work, the right timing to stagger a low/throw reset, getting meterless conversions off throw -> Bypass assist so it's worth something, etc.
• If I am gonna finish my combos I gotta start optimizing every drop of damage I can get since she sorely needs it. All this time I've still been too lazy to go learn corner and HCH combos for anyone, and I need it most for Robo. I have started getting in the habit of sticking a Bypass assist at the end when I do sHP H Danger, Pillar in the corner works too if Val is dead, but I dunno if there's more optimal ways I can incorporate my assists into combos.
• Heads. I keep getting getting 'em and doing nothing with them 'em. Sure, I'll toss out some Rams while zoning, but I'm not putting a whole lot of thought into the best times to do that. Sometimes I remember to sHP Mine but most of the time force of habit makes me Danger instead. And I know there's other nice things to do with Mine I could be learning, resets and better combos. As for Missiles, I truly have no idea when the appropriate times to use those are so I just... don't.
• Applying pressure and oki. A lot of times I'll get them into the corner, finish my combo, and then panic not knowing what to do next. I might even just jHK outta there and get back to Robo's comfort zon[ing]. But I know that's not what I should be doing, being up close can be scary for Robo but when I have the momentum, let alone the corner, I gotta take advantage of it.
• Using whiffed Magnet for conversions. I drop this more often than I get it to work. If I have another bar and OTG and Para's not bleeding I can sidestep this by just getting the Magnet grab and DHCing to Bikes, but I really need to keep practicing this for when that's not an option.
• Squigly and Double matchups. Oof. It's hard to keep Squigly from getting a charge so she can Sing SBO, and nothing is scarier than Car. And don't get me started on how Squigly is basically immune to sHP. But if zoning is not an option, what do I do instead?
• jMP and cMK are cool buttons but they are not the only buttons she has. Be less predictable and more safe.

My Val and Para may not be nearly as bad as my Robo, but there's always room for improvement with them too.

• Poison nerf after max undizzy is throwing me off a bit. I'm used to doing it late in my combo, just following what's in the BnB compendium, but after a reset or two I may not be able to do that before max undizzy. So sometimes I'm just sitting on, and dying with, unused vials. What's the best way I can vial early when I need to and continue my usual BnB from there?
• Tear toss. The really fancy stuff still scares me, but Penumbra did tell me the other day that even just doing some jump back tear tosses at neutral is an good thing I should get in the habit of.
• Assists in combos. I've started doing it with Robo because sHP gives me a long gap that's easy to squeeze an assist button in between, but when I try to start doing the same thing for Val or Para oopsies happen as I do shit like this.
• Eliza, Beowulf, Painwheel. My personal demons. I can't block any of them worth a damn, and if Painwheel gets to the air I don't know how to swat her down.

I might try and stream some training sessions over the week, if my laptop will cooperate. Come yell at me about anything you see me doing wrong.

Haven't played SF4 in forever but I'll totally enter for funsies while I'm there. Not sure if I should play Akuma and pretend it's 3S, or try and unearth my undoubtedly rusty Ibuki.

 

[missingno]

YO TOP 8 NEC WOOOO

Sadly we had so little stream time that only my winners round 1 set against Datagram was streamed, didn't even get to see my match in top 8. Shame, 'cause those were some good sets I would've liked to review.

Also here's some 3s. Take a drink every time I flub L Tatsu DP.