Messages

So I'm doing a good amount of research for Love Heart.

Overall, she's a fairly simplistic character, however, the more I research her, the more cool/annoying potential setups I see with her.

Notable buttons:
cr.C - The obvious one. Incredible range. She ducks pretty low and can even anti-air with it, and also is special cancellable as well as MM Cancellable. This is the tool people will be scared of, and the tool many new players will get hurt by.

st.C - The range of this move is incredibly deceptive, and is a very good ground normal alternative to your cr.C. It's also special and MM cancellable.

J.CD - Super deceptive range, and the priority when it becomes active is incredible. Coupled with her hop height, it's such a dangerous tool!

b.B - This move is the usual combo extender, but the real shining aspect of the move is its OTG potential. I've posted it in this attached video. It also presents some possible safe jump setups. I've confirmed that if you OTG with this, you can safe jump with a hop, and it will block/beat reversal DPs. Not EX DPs and fast EX DMs, however. But maybe there's potential for that, too!

Happy Researching!!

KOFXIV: Possible Love Heart Setups/OTGs

What's up guys!

So I've begun making a full-detailed tutorial on K', and completed the first part, focusing on his movement, throw, normals and command normal.

The K' Bible - Part 1

Tell me what you guys think! Give me any feedback, any problems you felt with the first part, positive or negative, anything to help improve the second part!

Part 2 will be all about K's specials, so I really want your help! Give me whatever info about K's specials that you feel are important for a K' player to know, and of course I will give you credit on the video. Also, if there was something on Part 1 I missed and you pointed out, I will go over it at the beginning of part 2 and give you credit as well.

Let's all work together on this!!

Afraid I still don't think I get it. How does the opponent being in the air when the combo starts allow D massacre to connect? Again, my current impression of D massacre is that the move is only capable of connecting with the opponent at all on 2 occasions: While the opponent is grounded (can combo from 4th EX Rekka) or during that particular instant after the last hit of a rekka (reg. or EX) that started from the ground puts the opponent into the air. I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with "Juggle state" and similar terminology, as KOF's air combos actually don't really make that much sense to me. I actually kind of hold a certain distaste for the word "juggle", as I feel it has kind of a primitive taste to it (I'm more comfortable with Guilty Gear's "Hitbox looks right=It'll hit if they can't/don't tech" way of handling things.) I just sort of view a character's moves as being able to hit at certain points, and the rule of thumb for me is that if they were too close to the ground the thing you're trying to do will whiff because it didn't come out fast enough to catch them from the height they were at, and that's why some things work and some don't. I guess having said that it'll probably be a little more difficult to explain to someone like me 

Being in an air-juggle state just allows you more time to hit things, especially a 1st rekka hit to D Massacre. You said it youself, "When the opponent is grounded." Meaning if you performed the Rekka when she's on the ground, literally standing on it, your D Massacre drive cancel will not hit, simply because s/he has already recovered. Because she's already airborne when that 1st Rekka hits, you can drive cancel into D Massacre in time before s/he lands and it will hit.

Why do you think the very last hit of the 3rd Rekka into D Massacre hits on the ground? It's because the last hit puts the opponent airborne. Why wouldn't it work on, say, the 2nd to last hit of the 3rd Rekka? Because the opponent was not airborne.

Yo, sorta new to Mature here... the team I want her to work with puts her mid or anchor (never point)

I can do the EX/D Massacre xx cl.C link fine, but for the life of me I've all but given up on ever being able to cancel B massacre into A despair with any degree of consistency. I've studied her HD combo routes extensively lately in the hopes of finding some sort of tech in order to optimize my damage output so that my Mature can work without this particular detail, but... all I've really learned is that rekka scaling ruins the damage values for everything you can possibly do afterwards aside from Rites and Neomax, and linking EX Massacres at the start basically makes for the same total combo damage as anything else I can do. That said, I'm still looking.


...Of course, that was until a few minutes ago. In my most recent training mode grind, I actually seem to have stumbled upon the proper timing to do B massacre xx A despair via the half circle back xx forward shortcut. However, I can't seem to make it work within the HD combo yet, as for some reason when I try to do it after rekkas xx D massacre, either the despair fails to come out... or I get another rekka. Experimentation has proven that this is also possible outside of HD mode, but it occurs much less often when I'm attempting to do the cancel off a raw massacre. Can anyone explain this?


Also, the combo vid in the post just prior to this one contains another weird thing I don't get... in the combo at 2:17, the player cancels a rekka (during first hit) into D massacre and it somehow works. I was under the impression D massacre would only combo after rekkas (if the last hit is the one that puts them into the air) or the 4th hit of EX rekka (while the opponent is still grounded.) If so, how does that combo work? What is it about that sequence that allows D massacre to actually hit at that point?

B Massacre into A Despair takes a lot of patience to be able to time properly. In some situations, you can do B Massacre very early and hold the button, so that the move will come out in the first frame it is allowed to. And while holding that button, you can do the motion for the A Despair.

But a lot of situations require you to time the B Massacre the minute the opponent falls, and that's really when you have no choice but to practice the sequence and improve your timing.

For the combo you asked about in that video: notice how the opponent is still in an air-juggled state. The combo starts off a counter-hit situation in the air, and the opponent does not fall to the ground.

So, Lay Spin isn't safe. You can d.B her if she does it in your face and does a follow up. You can throw her out of it if she does a follow up. You can also dp her if she does Lay Spin and does any follow up afterwards. It's not a true blockstring so you can get out of it. She'll opt out of doing that if you legitimately punish her every time. I would do the DP as it's invincible on start up long enough to hit her. If you're not confident in A DP, use C or EX DP for more invulnerability.

If this is too hard, you can always guard cancel roll after she does her fireball and run at her to punish her.

She'll stop doing Layspin on block and opt to do her Ice Breath on block. Still not a real block string. The timing is a bit tight, but with meter you can punish her for doing that to you with EX Black out or EX Chain Drive. Albeit, you need meter to do it and need to know she's going to do it, but Kula (after st.C or st.D) doesn't gain much from poking aside from st.B.

Would it be too tight to do a Minute Spike, or at least an EX Version on her Ice Breath strings?

I'm pretty sure I tried to DP on reaction and ate the Lay Spin, but it was on awkward ranges. Most Kulas I face don't do the Lay Spin point blank, but it's usually at a range where the tip of her spin kick hits so I'm out of grab range. I'll try DPing at that point too. Once I get out of work, I'll check to see if she's still unsafe if she does no followup on a spaced-out Lay Spin.

I'm noticing that Trigger doesn't work so well in this matchup, but that may be just my poor choices. I originally stuck a mid-range/long-range game to try and bait out the lay spin with Trigger > Second Shell but it definitely doesn't feel like a viable option.

Someone, for the love of god, tell me how to face Kula. I have no clue how to approach her and her Lay Spins. The K' vs Kula matchup, even after about 50 matches, is unknown to me!

My thought process when it comes to K' is that he's the setup man. The man who starts things off to get a feel for general habits such as wanting to hop, mashing pokes, and their spacing. My opinion is that K' is great at understanding a player's tendencies and seeing if he adapts or not. He's not the ultra rushdown character we knew and loved back in Arcade Mode, and now he's all about spacing, gaining meter, and picking the right moments to tell your opponent that s/he generally screwed up.

That's why I choose to put K' on point. My other 2 are King and Mature, and the reality is that K' can't go wild like the other two, nor go wild like the rest of the higher tiers. But what he can do is build a solid pressure game. If they can't get past my pressure, sucks to be them, eat Trigger Flames.

If they can get past my pressure, sucks to be them, I have King next, and I have a much better understanding of your general tendencies, which I can apply with King who has the much better array of ground normals and an aerial fireball. If you get past her, you're going through my even nuttier Mature.

But in reality, all of this is set up by the point man, K'. He either beats the crap out of you, or makes sure his other teammates who have better strengths will finish what he started.

Nocturnal Rites has some unscaled hits, right? I know for sure the EX version does. It's just hard to land those unscaled hits if your opponent's in the air.

If I recall, only the level 1 version has an unscaled 100 damage at the end. The last 3 hits of the level 2 Nocturnal do get scaled, or are already at a fixed 30-60.

Regardless, doing it raw from a normal with no drive meter used makes the move very powerful, at least level 2 does. BUT, for the same amount of meter, I think you can do double st. to EX Metal Massacre link instead to push the damage higher, but of course, the link is harder. Not even Thiago could get it consistently during the pressures of tournament play.

So again, just cancelling to level 2 off a normal has the benefits of instant damage with ease of use. I for one want to use it but I'm too stubborn and want to do the fancy combos ~__~

I saw Thiago use the Nocturnal super at Treta last weekend. Well, most importantly the EX one.

I'm convinced that if you just want raw damage for no cost of Drive Meter, just do st. or st. to EX Nocturnal. It did a heck of a lot of damage!

So I finally found the place to get my video critiqued ><

KOFXIII SE Beta Thoughts and Gameplay Analysis

So that's my channel up there, and this one links to a video I just finished recently. I was SUPPOSED to go to Youtube but I forgot to press the record button and yeah, I'm not gonna redo 2 hours again. It's basically me analyzing my gameplay along with my friend's gameplay who is new to KOF. The original video was from his archive, which I took and analyzed pretty deep.

But still, I really want some help on my general gameplay. I feel like I lose a ton of pressure and I don't know how to fix it yet, even when I review it. Also my Kim matchup experience is terrible!

Please follow my channel and help me out, guys! I'll be streaming more now that SE Beta is extended and even beyond the Beta I'll be streaming. See you!

Steam ID: Atrey
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197976081066



PC Spec:

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate
Processor: Core i5 3.40GHz
Memory: 6GB DDR3 RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460
DirectX: DirectX 11
Hard Drive: 500 GB
Sound Card: Realtek High Definition Audio

Other Notes: For the love of god. Give me one. lol.

-FM Sway

EDIT: Okay, I guess I should put more about myself here.

I am a KOF Commentator and Player here in the East Coast, and have worked a whole lot with the community as close as I possibly can here in the Tri-State Area. I am by no means an incredible player (yet); my highest placing was only recently, 9th at Summer Jam, but I honestly believe that the competitive aspect of KOF is just a portion of what the community is about.
In terms of EC KOF, something like Steam Edition will play an important factor in our growth. We are all scattered (or team NAH...) and it does make for difficult times to session if you are not in a heavily-populated area like NYC. Online is definitely the next best step into making the community grow, which is why it's important that Steam Edition has the best online it can possibly be. If I do get the Beta Code; awesome. The original plan was honestly to stream the Beta with a Skype call from everyone playing at the same time to get everyone's input at its most heavily populated time. If I don't; Awesome. Hopefully someone can use my idea! As long as someone from the EC gets it (like Shadow and Freddie or Malik or Common, whoever!!), I'm fine with it. They all have very good internet connections! What's important is that we need this to work. SNK has already shown a willingness to remedy online play, so let's help them out.

What are the uses for K's sweep?

I'm tryng to be a little bit more unpredictable with K' because I'm finding that I'm being too easy to read. I'm not sure if it's just my general gameplay or K' oriented. So to try and remedy this situation, I'm trying to figure out the multiple uses for K's normals.

Also, what are good pressure strings for K' when on the offensive? I'm doing a few simple frame traps, but I'm finding that I'm leaving too many holes in the pressure, allowing them to escape. It could be due to my judgement or that I'm limiting my options too much when applying pressure.

I definitely would like to know more about K's:

-Hop Pressure Strings (Super needed!)
-Corner Pressure Strings
-Ground Pressure Strings

I don't want to Trigger a lot as I used to. Reasoning is because I'm noticing that for some matchups, doing a Trigger after a string effectively ends the pressure, or allows a hole for them to exit out of. Some Trigger Strings would also help as well!

Okay, so I tried the setup I made with other people like Zeal here in the NJ/NY area. I kept missing it, and my timing was buns.

Then I kind of used my idea and the idea Reiki misunderstood, and realized that, after a hard knockdown, if I press cr.b twice; one that will whiff, and the other will hit, you can do the setup much easier. Not only that, the range creates a super tricky mixup with hop D and hop C.

Hop D will crossup, and hop C will not, but will look like it will. Mindgames can then be done from there.

I don't have a capture card, but I filmed it with a Potato ~__~, so here's what it looks like. You can gather the timing from there.

K' Crossup Setup

You can also do this with two cr.As, or a cr.B to cr.A, or vice versa. Funny enough, you're also still in range for a close D, hahahah!

We're assuming that this happens when the opponent is crouching, right?


Edit: Got it. I also managed to figure out the proper spacing. Based on Iori's model, if you do cr.B and tap back just as K' finishes his animation, you should be at the right spacing which is where K' boot just barely touches Iori's shoe. You'd have to get this point blank.

You can also do this if they commit to crouching after a throw. Tap forward, cr.B, hop for cross up.

You can also do cr.B, st.B, qcf+B and you'll be at the right spacing.

This all goes out the window if someone blocks standing.

Yeah it's when they're crouching. This setup is really based on them being scared of a second low, which is why I start off with cr.b.

This isn't really abusable, but I do think it just adds more stuff for your opponent to think of, which is always a good thing!

I'll give that a shot, that sounds really hard to deal with.

EDIT: Been really trying hard to get that down, but seems like they get back up before I rise from crouch B.

However, I did notice that if I hyper hopped, I get the cross up D. It doesn't combo though. Does your cross up combo?

You can also get the hyper hop set up off a throw or one crouch B from point blank. My method is to do the up motion for the jump and pressing the D button at practically the same time.

My bad, I think I worded it wrong. Sorry!

What I meant was that you hit them with a cr.b on wakeup. It doesn't have to be meaty (It could though), and what happens is that it creates enough space to do a crossup D, and if you land the crossup, you can combo after it. What I realized from the duration that I posted that setup and from testing it on real people, I found out that it can be super ambiguous based on the timing of you hop D. Not only that, it conditions the opponent in a lot of ways.

- Woah, that hop D crosses up! I gotta reversal if I see that cr.b again
- There's that cr.b! Time to reversal before he gets me! What? He didn't jump! Ugh full punish! Fine, I'll just pre-emptive jab next time!
- There's the cr.b again! Let's jab. Woah! He hit a low again! Ugh! I'm gonna reversal before that cr.b comes out!
- Hard knockdown from crow bites! Okay, cr.b right? Reversal! What?! He didn't press anything/He did the normal early and baited my reversal! Another Punish?! Come on!
- Alright, fine, I'll just block. Here's that cr.b again, block the crossu- it's didn't crossup?! What?!

The problem is timing the hop. D. To be honest, while it's pretty cool, sometimes it whiffs, but i think it's because I didn't practice the timing well enough. But it's a solid tool. Sorry for the misinformation, though!

You can even add that hyper hop for more shenanigans. Or do a safe jump after the hard knockdown DP. So many things can be done!