• As part of the relaunch of Skullheart, ALL previous threads have been archived. You can find them at the bottom of the forum in the Archives (2021) section. The archives are locked, so please use the new forum sections to create new discussion threads.

Winning vs Squigly

Nowhere Man

Apprentice
Joined
Jan 8, 2014
Messages
108
Reaction score
13
Points
18
Location
Ukraine
Steam
maxquad
Hello everyone! I seem to have big trouble dealing with Squigly (mostly playing Eliza/Beowulf/Cerebella).

First of all, don't know what to do in air against her as Eliza: she's really hard to catch because of double jumps and divekicks (not to mention air normals), the only stuff that works sometimes is air grab and j.lp. L/H servanst sometimes help knock her down as she builds charge, but not really reliable if she has assist covering her.

All of 3 characters (the way I play them, I'm pretty new to the team) have trouble against everything in her toolkit, especially Silver Chord and Center Stage xx Blockbuster. Feels like no matter what I do, she's free to build charge and then pull me in afterwards. If I play it safe I lose because of her insane pressure, and I lose if I play it agressive too.

Would really appreciate an advice on how to fight Squigly!
 
I don't use Eliza or Beowulf, but I do use Squigly and Cerebella, so I should be able to help you.

First of all, don't know what to do in air against her as Eliza: she's really hard to catch because of double jumps and divekicks (not to mention air normals), the only stuff that works sometimes is air grab and j.lp. L/H servanst sometimes help knock her down as she builds charge, but not really reliable if she has assist covering her.
Dive of Horus (I believe that is the name? The one where Horus attacks from above) might be useful as an anti-air, since the hitbox comes in from above. Keep in mind her j.HP has a hitbox on the attack itself, so if you Dive of Horus Leviathan during it you will deal damage and make them wary of using it.
Throne of Isis (the forward projectile) is helpful for keeping her blocking and preventing her from getting a charge. Weight of Anubis (the command grab) is also very good if she goes into one of her stances. Poke with these moves to prevent her from getting charges.

With Cerebella, Tumbling Run is very good for closing distance. Kanchou is projectile invincible, so if she sets up Battle Opera, you can get behind it and go through it. Battle Butt also has armor, so you can use it if she tries to divekick you. Excellabella is a good anti-air poke with a decent amount of corner carry if you use meter, so it can help you lock her down. I'm not really a fan of Devil Horns (her reversal, whatever it is called) due to the very small horizontal hitbox, so be careful with it. You can combo off of it, though.

This is a difficult matchup for Beowulf, since her c.LK low profiles a lot of his stuff. C.HP chairless (it should be the upward swipe with his giant arm) has lots of armor, so it can be useful to catch divekicks. Make sure it hits her before she lands, though, since she can go into Daisy Pusher to break through your armor. C.HK chairless (it should be the forward long-range swipe with the giant arm [sorry I'm not familiar with move names]) is good for poking her if she goes into one of her stances. Keep in mind it is unsafe at a certain distance, to my knowledge.

All of 3 characters (the way I play them, I'm pretty new to the team) have trouble against everything in her toolkit, especially Silver Chord and Center Stage xx Blockbuster. Feels like no matter what I do, she's free to build charge and then pull me in afterwards. If I play it safe I lose because of her insane pressur
If she has meter and a charge, your best bet is trying to bait her into using Center Stage > Battle Opera. Don't throw out normals or specials out from a distance, since she can catch you from across the screen if you use something and she has resources. Silver Chord is very punishable if baited, so again, try to bait it out and retaliate.

If her pressure is giving you problems, pushblock her out, or, if she's using an assist setup or isn't baiting it, PBGC. If she jumps into the air, you can try to follow her up and air grab. Be paitent and you can escape her pressure with properly times pushblocks/reversals.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nowhere Man
For centre stage + SBO you can cancel whatever attack you have out into a special or super with invincibility/armour.
 
For centre stage + SBO you can cancel whatever attack you have out into a special or super with invincibility/armour.
Doesn't work, because you don't have time to cancel as charged Center Stage -> SBO is immediate.
 
It does work, I just tried it in practice mode. You can also cancel any normal (not specials) into Eliza or Beowulf's tag-ins (Bella's won't reach and will get hit).

As Bella you can cancel any normal into Lock n' load (H) and then cancel that into 360, or her tumble run headbutt or level 3.

As Beo you can do qcf HP (dunno the name), gigantic arm, or level 3.

As Eliza you can do her DP.

You may have to do the input during the animation before the screen goes blue and centres in on her (so you do have to be looking out for it).
 
Last edited:
Guess I didn't really think of approaching charged Squigly on the ground, but I'll look more into it now. Need to find ways around Silver Chord and Tremolo, still.
 
Walk/Jump in calmly without committing to things (read: Just block a lot).

Squigly far range neutral relies on hitting you with Tremolo/Chord/Sing SBO; if you just block.. she can't hit you! And just spent some resources (charge and/or meter)

Her overall groundspeed isn't fast enough that she can "surprise" you with things - it's not like a Fortune who will suddenly run forward and cLK/IAD jLK you in the face; as long as you are aware of where Squigly is and what she is doing, you shouldn't get hit much at mid/longrange

When Squigly takes to the air to start her close/midrange pressure game (centered around jHP, jLK, Divekicks) she just lost access to all her specials/supers, so you have to react quickly and go on the offence yourself. Now's the time to uncork your buttons/specials to challenge her air options (read: As soon as she jumps -and she will jump- rush that shit down)

Assists will of course change a lot.. but this is the most general idea.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nowhere Man
@IsaVulpes Thanks! I'll try playing more safe. Maybe I indeed get caught too much because I rely on airdash j.lp a lot. Now that I tested it in training mode, Squigly is defenseless against H.Upper Khent/Lady of Slaughter if she starts charging midscreen.
 
How has eliza s.mp as an anti-air option not been suggested yet? It is probably the best anti air normal in the game. You can cancel it straight into MK servant and you get a free combo if s.mp hit - so use this against squigly players who divekick in your face. As for beowulf and cerebella, chair toss/chairless c.hp comes to mind as anti-air options for beo, mp DP for cerebella. I was going to type stuff about silver chord/SBO but vulpes did that well enough.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nowhere Man
How has eliza s.mp as an anti-air option not been suggested yet? It is probably the best anti air normal in the game. You can cancel it straight into MK servant and you get a free combo if s.mp hit - so use this against squigly players who divekick in your face. As for beowulf and cerebella, chair toss/chairless c.hp comes to mind as anti-air options for beo, mp DP for cerebella. I was going to type stuff about silver chord/SBO but vulpes did that well enough.
I do s.lp/mp into Horace Dive, works well against novice Squigly. Otherwise, it's asking to eat divekick, not to prevent it (though it may be just my lack of finesse). Chair toss is good, chairless c.hp - in idea, but never works against good Squigly for me. Cerebella's Devil Horn is too narrow, Squigly also doesn't have to get into that hitbox because divekick.
 
Lex, how are you getting anything to come out after a charged Center Stage? The only way you should be able to get anything out is to have input it before the flash.
 
Remember you can block during the initial non-run part of your forward dash. So Cerebella and Beowulf can block high or low during their entire forward dash, and Eliza can block high during her dash but she can't block low because crouching cancels her dash. This makes it much easier to approach Squigly on the ground without leaving yourself open to charged sing>SBO.
 
Last edited:
Remember you can block during the initial non-run part of your forward dash. So Cerebella and Beowulf can block high or low during their entire forward dash, and Eliza can block high during her dash but she can't block low because crouching cancels her dash. This makes it much easier to approach Squigly on the ground without leaving yourself open to charged sing>SBO.
Going to try this, thanks!
 
Lex, how are you getting anything to come out after a charged Center Stage? The only way you should be able to get anything out is to have input it before the flash.
You have to do it before the flash of centre stage (Squigly does a little animation before the flash) so you definitely have to be looking out for it in order to react (so I guess it might not be that practical).
 
Last edited:
Charged center stage has 7f startup according to the Shoryuken wiki. If you include the charged punch stance startup and ignore the fact that Squigly could easily fake this out by using a stancel or holding the stance for a while, it goes up to 15f, which is around 13f of real-time once you take frameskip into account. Unless I'm reading the wiki wrong, I'll be extremely surprised if people can react to that in matches, especially with a move that requires a DP or QCF motion.
 
you must be fucking godlike at that milia overhead test.
 
Must of been doing it early then. Sorry for the confusion.