Apoc posted this a loooooooooooooooooong time ago, regarding charge characters. Maybe it will help you.
This is a guide for the the seasoned SF player to better play charge characters. If you dont know the basics of charging or charge characters; I suggest that you go to another website like gamefaqs.com. Im not interested in repeating basics when there is already plenty of that everywhere you look.
Many long time players still cant grasp how to truly use a charge character. Some disregard them simply because you cant do things on command and the engine usually benefits the command character(especially in CvS2). Its also looked at as being too difficult to play while concentrating on timing and charge times and those aspects of charging. These are my tips to optimize your charge character usage.
Usually, the average player first picks a charge character and immediately goes straight to charging to learn how to play using the special moves. Back, in the SF2 days, there was a whole style based on playing this way. The term coined for this style was Sitting GuileE The idea, basically, was to sit and charge and wait until your opponent was close enough to be forced to block a normal or a sonic boom. Once theyd get the boom off, theyd play to counter your response. Theyd simply match fireballs or jump straight up until you got bored or frustrated at playing that way and decided to advance. Then, sitting Guile went into effect! It was actually a pretty solid strategy if you were capable of reversing throws.
However, that is the only time in SF history that you could devise a whole gameplan around a charge characters specials. Theyve never been fireball/dragon punch" type characters.
One thing that every charge character has in common is, great normals. Since you cant develop your strategy with only your specials, learn how to use every aspect of your normals first. That is where your game is really at. You need to learn the speed of you character when walking immediately. How can you time your moves, precisely, to counter if youre not exactly sure where your move will extend to? Without knowing exactly how fast you walk forward or backward, you can never be sure when you calculate to press a move at the right time. You second guess yourself, pause, and miss the opportunity. After you learn your walking speed, learn the pace at which your normals fully extend and how long the hitbox stays out there. (Sagats low fierce is not good simply for itsEpriority. Its also because of the duration of the hitbox. Its high priority that lasts and lasts which makes it harder to follow in when it whiffs for a lot of characters) Once there, go to learning priority and ranges for priority. This means using each move a lot in order to see what it MAY hit. There are some very weird properties in moves. For example, many dont notice that Ryu dodges back slightly on a high hit during a fireball start up. So, basically, play the cpu like a moron, trying to counter everything with one move at different times. This is where you find the meatEof your moves. In fact, very effective, hardcore strategies are found this way. The first one that pops into my head is Guiles low strong dodge into a throw, back on SF2 games. Players found that Guiles low strong will duck jump in attacks so that he doesnt have to block and he can recover before they do from their landing and throw them. Most players today dont look for the most unique aspect of a move. This is called breaking down the gameE If youre not breaking down your normal moves, your charge specials arent going to do you well at all. Make sure that you know what moves cause what kind of push whether they land or hit. This is how you start to set up your openings for your charge specials. Learn what you can link before you go into your specials too. Linking is one of the key times to charge and Ill go into that in a few paragraphs(note:eyebreak). Be sure to experiment with your full arsenal of normals including jumping and short jumping attacks(what if you have a cross-up you didnt know about?). I should write a guide for learning your normals but, this should suffice. Lastly, when you learn how to use your normals for positioning; dont forget to see if you have any moves that advance you while you are charging. If you want to play aggressive, this is critical, so make note.
Now, you already know how to play your character better than 75% of the players that attempt to use a charge character.
When learning your specials, be sure to break them down as you would your normals. Every aspect. A sonic boom can be air defense on A2 but not on A3. Dont assume that you can tell what a move can do. Experiment.
Regardless of what type of charge move your character has, maintaining your charge is key. Some tips for charging are:
1)Charge before you release the special. This is a relatively unknown charging technique. Here is a new motion for your charge attack: Charge back(or back and down), tap the stick forward, then tap it back, then press the button that corresponds with the special you are using and the speed you want it to be. This basically lets you charge ahead of time and lets you keep charges even when your opponent thinks that you cant be charged. Ever do a sonic boom and then flashkicked your opponent when he jumped over? This is how you do it. You cant do another sonic boom, sadly, because only one can be on the screen at once. But the whole concept is simple: precharge. This is crucial in using your specials to maintain position, range, pressure and even a mindgame here and there as well as making for some really cool combos involving 2 or 3 charge specials or incredibly difficult to time supercancels. This also helps balance out your overall game with the command character because you have your moves almost at will, when you need them. Couple this with the real charge motion and youll see how fast you can fire off to charge specials in a row or connect charge specials into charge supers in combos. In short, this helps to free you up in regards to special usage.
2)Delay your charge specials and vary release timing. The engine always leaves a small safetyEwhich covers the margin of human error. Basically, as skillfull as capcom games are, they help you out on timing. When you do any special move the engine allows for a mistiming. If you hit the button a bit early, the negative edge would catch the move and you still get your special. If you hit it late, it will still come out. Sometimes you can do the special, go use the restroom, come back and press the button, and the special will STILL come out. I even found a way to walk a bit with Vega on ST before he flies off of the wall to do a super. So be sure to find every way you can to trick the cpu while still getting your specials out using the gamesEbuilt in margin of errorEsystem. Learning this helps you to time your specials in so many ways that the opponent cant recognize. This also helps you to fake with body language and joystick control. For close to 10 years Ive been tapping the stick hard forward after blocking to get opponents to react to the stick motion early before I tap the button. This STILL works and is very confusing. But its a mental advantage charge characters have over command characters. Any time you tap the stick, it could be your special. Ive changed the timing on charges to confuse top players. This isnt a parlor trick. Its the real deal. With Rog, Ill fake a charge and then just keep walking and grab em! By the time they realize it wasnt a dash, theyre grabbed. Do the same thing to a shoto, with Vega, on a wake up, and theyll whiff a dp and get stabbed underneath when you eventually press the button.
So varying the timing on your inputs will affect your opponent and his counter timing to your specials while creating openings on its own where you dont even need to use the special.
3)Turn around into your specials and supers. There are some faqs and guides that explain this. This has been around since the beginning. Basically, the idea is to turn around with your special while youre being crossed up somehow. Every character can do this. On CvS2 it is rather simplified. Charge as normal, when your character gets turned around, press the correspnding button. The cpu will read the side change as being a side change on the stick(since, technically you WERE holding back, and now holding forward) and the special will come out. Hit the stick back and forward and youll get a super after being cross-up or rolled through. If someone crosses you up without hitting you and you go to block and hit the button to throw, it will come out a delayed special! So be sure, when this happens, to let go of the stick for a split, as you go for the throw.
Learn WHEN to charge. With great normals, you should NOT be sitting there. There may be a few matches that you can and should play that way. But youll need to learn how to play your character while optimizing their specials to suit your style.
When to charge:
1)In the air. Anytime you are in the air, for whatever reason, you should be charging. There is no reason not to and theres possible benefit to do so, everytime. Charge the second you enter the air. You never know how much charge time you will need. Especially, if you are in one of the parry grooves, youll want as much charge time held as possible. Be careful not to charge too fast in grooves that include the short jump. Doing it immediately will turn your jump into a short jump.
2)During any advancing move. This includes any normal, special, or super that advances you. You may not need every charge, but this is how you keep it at your command. Rolls are a universal way of advancing while charging, in cvs2.
3)While blocking, naturally. Again, this doesnt mean the move is necessary. You could block, tap hard on the stick after charging, making your opponent think you did it, then surprise him with the throw. Or walk toward him first to make him think he can jump or that you may throw, then press the button for a delayed special and make him eat and maybe combo with it. Again, this is so that you have all options at command.
4)While attacking and moreso, while linking. When you go out and attack with your arsenal and you want to keep being in there face, you cant always charge in time. So when you get into their face, use links to give you your charge time while forcing them to block. This is probably when I charge most, whether I use it or not, my opponent knows its charged, which allows me to bend ideas in his head. Linking, or semi linking is key to rushing down opponents with a charge character. You need to charge as fast as you can to keep mixing it up while keeping them pinned and setting them up. You can lose your charge, get close enough to attack, and link your way to another charge. As weve seen, there are huge combos that require you to charge during a few hits. With characters like Balrog, you can run up and jab your way into charging and landing a super with the jabs! So basically even if youre not charging when you start a combo, you still can get off some really strong damage if you charge skillfully.
5)During a throw or airthrow. In order to charge properly, be sure to watch which direction you are being thrown. When you throw, be sure you are throwing them in the direction you want before charging so that you dont throw them the wrong way by trying to charge to early. If you time it right, you can always have a special in their face when they get up from being thrown and grounded.
6)Before the start of the round…basically, anytime that there is no reason to hold the stick in another direction, charge. Should be that simple.
Be sure not to randomly charge. Players do it naturally. But it gives the advantage of dictating the match to the opponent. Learn to control the game with your normals and then use your specials to accent that game.
Let go of the stick at times. Dont forget that charging is also going to lead to block animation which will slow down your moves and make you a bigger target. A lot of times, a charge character will have a better cross-up defense move if you simply let go of the stick and hit the button before they cross-up so that you never go into block animation. Also, during a cross-up at anytime, if you want to throw, letting go of the stick right when you block high will help to ensure that when you attempt to throw them that it wont come out as a special. This goes for any strategy that involves blocking or taking the hit high. You never want a special if youre going for the throw, youll get thrown or countered. If you want to be small while charging, common sense will lead you to doing st. jabs, which happens to draw moves from the opponent as well. Of course you must be intelligent. If you have the range where their roundhouse will miss but you want to land that charge super, stand up and hit jab and super when he whiffs or poke when he walks forward(and if youre fast, thats a super landed). There is always away to stay grounded, defensively, while charging and not walking back. Dont ever get caught playing the wrong way simply to save your charge.
Be sure to throw! Throwing is a deep part of every sf game. But usually, charge character players forget to walk up and throw because they are concerned with maintaining their charge. Newsflash, your specials do not give you any special shield. There are plenty of ways around them and if you are always charging, youre simply allowing the opponent to try all of those ways around them. A charge character should utilize the entire arsenal. Adding a good throw game will improve any game. Charge characters add their own flavor to throw games. You can start any pattern for pressure, then perform a delayed charge, watch if they roll, go neutral and throw when they do. If they dont, simply complete the delay move by pressing the button and pressure again. Once you learn to deceive their timing with different ways of doing a charge move, you open up the throw game. Once you open up the throw game, they tend to stick out more moves to be countered or they cower letting you get close enough to guardcrush them with links to charge your special…etc.
Once you show your opponent how many options you really have, he has to start cutting down the options he thought he had.
