Hwa Jai (Console)

[LouisCipher]

So I'm going to guess since it's pretty easy to AA Hwa or punish him if you block correctly that a lot of people at CEO just didn't know the matchup with him?

I need to look at some replays though. Maybe Romance and Mago did something different to make D Dragon Tail safe?

[Reiki.Kito]

I feel there's not enough Hwa play to go around. Some people know how to play him, but people either get stuck at a certain level so they don't bother playing him. Or people get stuck on certain traps and nobody bothers to do something different or better.

[Saitsuofleaves]

So I'm going to guess since it's pretty easy to AA Hwa or punish him if you block correctly that a lot of people at CEO just didn't know the matchup with him?

I need to look at some replays though. Maybe Romance and Mago did something different to make D Dragon Tail safe?

Honestly yes, but you could also attribute it to nerves.  When it comes into play, you see people even at top levels not punishing crap they can just out of fear for mistiming.

Hell, how often do you see Kula get blown up for doing Lay Spin into B Followup?  People just won't generally take the risk unless they have a 1 frame CG or something (to which, said characters probably won't do the Unsafe moves to begin with).

[LouisCipher]

Because Kula can always follow up the Lazy Spin. Just like you see EX Iori's do 2 Rekkas and delay the last hit. Or Terry using Burn Knuckle and then Rising Taco as you try to punish. Or Kim's Toward(x2)A on block.

No one wants to get hit by Kula's followup and get placed instantly in the corner and lose 400 health.

[Saitsuofleaves]

Because Kula can always follow up the Lazy Spin. Just like you see EX Iori's do 2 Rekkas and delay the last hit. Or Terry using Burn Knuckle and then Rising Taco as you try to punish. Or Kim's Toward(x2)A on block.

No one wants to get hit by Kula's followup and get placed instantly in the corner and lose 400 health.

That's the thing...the space between the Spin and the Follow Ups is easily punishable, and the Lay Spin itself is also punishable.  The only possible problem is the slide, but if the opponent decides to block it, she's dead.  But no one ever bothers punishing her usual crap, just like no one bothers to punish Hwa.

Let's be honest, even at the highest level, we see punishes against these type of pressure moves about...50% of the time if you're lucky.  Mostly everyone just blocks, which can make pressure that much lazier.  Luckily for Hwa players, this makes him nearly impossible to deal with up close unless you finally grow a pair and start dealing with those gaps.

[Sharnt]

For Kula once she does a s.C she is no longer safe for some character, personally I'm starting to mash a dp when I see it. Because s.C, isn't safe, s.C,f.A too, etc
With Hwa it's a matter to know what is safe or not in which situation :
qcb.B is -1 on guard so be careful with throws. On hit you're +.

qcb.D is +2 on block if the second hit hits (ie in corner), else you're -1 if it's hit so ...

[Matt Alder]

Well, when drunk it's always +5. Also qcb+D sober is +1 in the corner, or +5 vs crouching opponents. Basically it can hit up to 3 times, and the lowest possible hit only connects against crouchers, giving him the most possible advantage, but for some reason he gets the lowest hit possible every time when he's drunk.

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

Ya had a great Hwa vs. Hwa yesterday with Matt... I can play an ok Hwa so far if i play him just sober... As soon as you drink, you have to think so much more... Time of your drink left... Your grab DM setups cause they are scarier... Your combos also become harder... You have to remember your drink time when doing combos... Too much...

[Suiname]

Well I've found after playing Hwa for about a month now, the longer you do it the more you get a feel for things like how much drink time you have left.  Though because you get a super freeze, it's not that hard to look at the timer to know when it happened.  Keeping track on the other hand is a bit more difficult.

[Matt Alder]

I just try to get in the habit of looking at the timer during the super flash, and then when I'm doing my qcb+B loops (as they take up lots of time and don't take much attention to pull off).

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

I see everyone playing Hwa second... However, i feel that he makes a better anchor than a second... He may seem like he builds a lot of meter... This makes everyone pick him second as he will most likely leave the third character with some meter and drive left... I think it depends on your playstyle really... I used to use grapplers till i found XIII Mai... Sooo i'm good at doing command grabs... When i play Hwa anchor, i find that having extra meter always lets me do grab DM setups... His combos only require drive meter... So with a lot of stocks, i can keep drinking and keep going for grab DM...

[LouisCipher]

Hwa on 3rd I think is his best overall position. He can just bully the fuck out of anyone. And holy shit getting them in the corner and using D Dragontail in Drunk Mode is fucking brutal!

[Blake/White]

I don't like playing Hwa on anchor for a couple of reasons. Mainly, playing a meter-intensive character as your anchor requires you to build your team such that you'll have meter ready for that anchor just in case. In many cases this can limit you from using meter when needed to KO characters, just because you're worried about not having any meter for your anchor. Especially in Hwa's case, not having meter at the end with him as your last character makes certain matches way harder than they should be. This leads into the other reason I don't like Hwa as anchor, he is an in-your-face character and I don't like my anchor to be limited to a certain playstyle. But that's just me, I'd rather play him second so my point can feed him a couple of stocks for drink shenanigans.

[LouisCipher]

Now we're getting into the meta-game. Personally my first two (Billy and Clark) don't really need much in the way of meter. I tend to use meter to get through their offense (Billy's EX Upkicks and Clark's EX Gatling) and tend to keep it  basic and it's worked out pretty well for me. I think Billy on 3rd works so long as you keep a bar for him and at least 1 drive. Just doing a basic Drunk combo will do at least 500 damage and you can build up at least 1-2 bars while drunk and pressuring them.

[LouisCipher]

Mago Corner pressure (Drunk Mode)

D Dragon Tail, cr.B(x2), s.B, D Dragon Tail, can bait something out*, D Dragon Tail. If it hits follow through with a combo, if not you can repeat the string. Or so it seams.

*They can AA you with an SRK but it has to be done just as you do the D Dragon Tail, it can be difficult for them to react to it. Think of this as a moment where you can bait and punish, or just wait and do whatever, or just do a Slide or another D Dragon Tail. A scary situation for the opponent.