Alex General Discussion: "At ease, loo-suh!" The Alex SFV Thread

[Zachara]

I have a bad habit of using EX power bomb because birdie’s EX grab is amazing, but after a st.mp xx mp chop setup you can just do lp power bomb and it’s almost the same. I save EX mostly for elbow because it’s been the best situational GTFO tool for me thus far. I find EX stomp and headbutt a waste too, they are both so incredibly situational, and the stomp is like, impossible to control.
IALL isn’t so much of an issue as just regular j.mp or hp is, they both seem to flat out neglect st.lp. Either way, it’s expected for chunky characters to have at least one 7-3 match, and I think chun and cammy are both a 7-3 for him. Will have to study those more closely!

I used to play Abel so yeah, I have the same issue. I have to tell myself to stop it all the time.

[Bronn]

Another crap move is HP Chop. Anyone got tips for using it? Can’t use it for oki, too slow. Too slow to use in neutral, people can jump in you very easily, or whatever they want, it’s 25f. The backdrop reward doesn’t even work because you have to use it inside their asshole to get the canned backdrop… I know there’s the st.hp x hp chop 4f move frametrap, but who’s gonna fall for that past the first month?

So it’s a laggy move that’s somewhat low damage, takes forever to startup, and the reward is situational and kinda ass.
Eugh. MP Chop is hardly better at 19f, but at least it gives you a mixup on hit, and of course it’s mostly a confirm/frame trap button off of buttons, so I get why it’s 19f at least. MP Chop gives +3 adv, but HP Chop only +2? I dun get it, someone hand hold me.

I guess it’s for meaties when they get CC’d HDK or don’t quickrise?

[Unlimited_1]

Another crap move is HP Chop. Anyone got tips for using it? Can’t use it for oki, too slow. Too slow to use in neutral, people can jump in you very easily, or whatever they want, it’s 25f. The backdrop reward doesn’t even work because you have to use it inside their asshole to get the canned backdrop… I know there’s the st.hp x hp chop 4f move frametrap, but who’s gonna fall for that past the first month?

So it’s a laggy move that’s somewhat low damage, takes forever to startup, and the reward is situational and kinda ass.
Eugh. MP Chop is hardly better at 19f, but at least it gives you a mixup on hit, and of course it’s mostly a confirm/frame trap button off of buttons, so I get why it’s 19f at least. MP Chop gives +3 adv, but HP Chop only +2? I dun get it, someone hand hold me.

It combos after a CH st.HP. You do this:
CH st.HP xx HP Chop xx backdrop
(301dmg/515stun)
Or you can use EX backdrop for 330 damge and 555 stun if I recall correctly.

I haven’t tested much but thats his best meterless DP/reversal punish I have so far. Good to note the backdrop does monstrous stun damage. Also after a stun, I like to do vskill into said combo.

[OilyKoryuken]

can we get a video thread/more video footage of players in matches? I’m a visual learner

[P10]

cc st.hp xx hk slash elbow, cr.hp, mk air knee (321/515) is a better meterless counterhit combo against cornered opponents. more damage, keeps them cornered, more advantageous knockdown (they can’t roll and more plus frames)

also consider cc st.hk, st.hp xx mp chop midscreen. it’s less damage/stun, but no sideswitch, the mp chop leaves you +3 and close enough to powerbomb so you get a mixup after

[J_is_Jusice]

St.lp stuffs Mika’s dropkick for free.

[Borrak]

When’s the next major? I want to see Strider play Alex, if it’s anywhere near his Abel’s quality he’ll be my favourite to watch and take notes from

He was streaming yesterday for a bit https://www.twitch.tv/801strider/v/57879587 A bit rough on the edges, some execution errors but overall he was playing him very aggressively. I guess the most important part was that he really likes the character.

[The_Neat_NEET]

Elbow’s alright, but not really impressive outside of hitconfirms for corner carry/safe blockstrings. I mean, it still gets hit out by most pokes, so someone who knows the matchup isn’t gonna really respect it.

It can whiff punish like a monster dude

[Muttonman]

cc st.hp xx hk slash elbow, cr.hp, mk air knee (321/515) is a better meterless counterhit combo against cornered opponents. more damage, keeps them cornered, more advantageous knockdown (they can’t roll and more plus frames)

also consider cc st.hk, st.hp xx mp chop midscreen. it’s less damage/stun, but no sideswitch, the mp chop leaves you +3 and close enough to powerbomb so you get a mixup after

st.hp (CH) xx HP Chop xx Power Drop is useful if you aren’t 100% sure you’re going to get the counterhit. You get comparable damage to spending 1 bar by using cr.hp -> EX Knee off a crush counter alongside a setup while a crush to st.hp xx MP Chop gives you ~50 less damage but a great setup. If you’re not cornered then Power Drop just doesn’t give the best oki; I’ve outlined before what you want to do off it, namely a st.hp/cr.mp poke buffered into a long range move such as Clothesline or in st.hp’s case an MK/HK Slash.

If you get a crush counter in the corner do the st.hk -> HK Slash -> cr.hp -> LK Knee combo. Please. It’s so good. And full of swag. If you want to blow CA then do a crush counter into st.hp xx MK Elbow xx CA. If you have VT on deck use that. Use Power Drop only if it’ll kill, stun, or you hit them with the st.hp -> HP Chop frametrap.

[Bronn]

Elbow’s alright, but not really impressive outside of hitconfirms for corner carry/safe blockstrings. I mean, it still gets hit out by most pokes, so someone who knows the matchup isn’t gonna really respect it.

It can whiff punish like a monster dude

depends, 14f startup you gotta predict a whiff punish rather than react with it. best whiff punish elbow is obviously LK/EX Elbow, but that costs meter to mix it up, and Alex is extremely meter hungry in this game.

all normal elbows can be low profile’d too, so I wouldn’t use it too aggressively unless you have meter.

I just don’t think too much of it probably because I fought a lot of Chuns, probably better in other/most matchups tho.

[P10]

yeah, i realized after i posted that you should use st.hk > st.hp in guaranteed counterhit situations for the vgauge from crushcountering

[kingmedicine]

hey guys, long time forum stalker, first time poster. I just had to ask what you guys are doing about Chun and Ryu i feel like these two characters eat Alex alive.
also idk if anyone else is doing this but I’ve found that a good way to keep people on their toes with Alex is to charge down during elbow slash and then if it hits immediately do lp.stun gun i catch quite a few people sleeping with this and the stun it yields is pretty solid.

[IM_Amazon]

Any thoughts on EX Powerbomb? Kinda feels like a waste of meter a bit

It kind of is, but if they like to hit buttons after Powerbomb(???) the resultant combo can dizzy more easily. Definitely shouldn’t be someone’s first choice when spending meter.

[Frost]

hey guys, long time forum stalker, first time poster.

Looks at post count

Sees 10 posts overall

You’re confirmed a fucking liar

I just had to ask what you guys are doing about Chun and Ryu i feel like these two characters eat Alex alive.
also idk if anyone else is doing this but I’ve found that a good way to keep people on their toes with Alex is to charge down during elbow slash and then if it hits immediately do lp.stun gun i catch quite a few people sleeping with this and the stun it yields is pretty solid.

Elbow against Chun isn’t the best, she can punish lk.elbow from further out with her 4f st.lk on block so it isn’t a smart idea. Overall Alex is FUCKED vs. Chun IMO, you’re forced to play way too passively because she can punish your pressure and shuts down a lot of frame traps with her 3f fucking jab.(3f normals are hell for Alex) Lets discuss what you lose vs. Chun-Li

st.mp > st.mp is no longer a viable frame trap, it’s stuffed by cr.lp.

st.mp > m.chop is no longer viable either, it’s stuffed by cr.lp yet again.

she can punish misspaced chops on block from the furthest distance of any character with st.lk xx EX legs, they have to hit ON THE TIP to be unpunishable vs. Chun-Li.

she can also punish lk.elbow from further distances also with st.lk xx EX legs, now I’ll be honest lk.elbow is SUPER easy to space safely vs. her, but it’s still an apparent issue if you make one slight spacing mistake and get punished into a knockdown for it.

her v-skill can make st.lp get stuffed as an anti-air due to the angle she comes in at, it requires an early cr.hp or EX knee to be stopped guaranteed.

she beats you in the neutral with her faster pokes and plentiful amount of low poking tools which just makes it impossible to walk into her space without jumping or dashing.

dealing with instant air legs is easier for alex due to st.lp, but it doesn’t make instant air legs any less broken when playing against chun.

Disclaimer

Just because I say it isn’t viable doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it in a match, Chun’s won’t be mashing cr.lp at every opportunity because Alex DOES has 3f traps from his normals, for instance st.mp xx lk.elbow(late cancel) and st.mp > st.lp both stuff her cr.lp, once you make her scared to press cr.lp at evert opportunity you can start doing your 4f traps again. But it doesn’t change the fact that she STILL has an answer for these strings which makes them unviable option; ON PAPER.

Chun-Li is tough, I don’t want to say 7-3 because that’s crazy talk. But it’s a definitive 6-4 and I think there MAY be an argument for 6.5-3.5/7-3 later down the road with how difficult it feels for Alex to establish most of his neutral and pressure tools.

[kingmedicine]

I suppose I should have clarified that that was my first post in the Alex thread haha, but thanks for the tips against chun, im getting wrecked by her but what about ryu? I might be missing something, i haven’t seen any other posts about struggling with the character but hes causing me some headaches

[Windalfr]

weird inconsistent Alex bug. details in description.
no it’s not canceled too late.
has this happened to anyone else?

https://youtu.be/btQhS0eqnlw

[Frost]

I suppose I should have clarified that that was my first post in the Alex thread haha, but thanks for the tips against chun, im getting wrecked by her but what about ryu? I might be missing something, i haven’t seen any other posts about struggling with the character but hes causing me some headaches

unsure, haven’t played vs. many Ryus myself but I know for a fact his j.lk forces our st.lp anti-air to trade, the neutral seems tipped in Alex’s favour slightly just due to range alone, you can outpoke and force him to jump with shit like st.mk and cr.mk that outrange his poke ability entirely. But if you do force Ryu to jump you’ll be trading on st.lp and tbh, EX knee might even trade with Ryu’s st.lk considering it’s hitbox/hurtbox data.

I’ll try and get a set against some Ryu’s later down the road, see what I manage to come up with.

[Muttonman]

I suppose I should have clarified that that was my first post in the Alex thread haha, but thanks for the tips against chun, im getting wrecked by her but what about ryu? I might be missing something, i haven’t seen any other posts about struggling with the character but hes causing me some headaches

unsure, haven’t played vs. many Ryus myself but I know for a fact his j.lk forces our st.lp anti-air to trade, the neutral seems tipped in Alex’s favour slightly just due to range alone, you can outpoke and force him to jump with shit like st.mk and cr.mk that outrange his poke ability entirely. But if you do force Ryu to jump you’ll be trading on st.lp and tbh, EX knee might even trade with Ryu’s st.lk considering it’s hitbox/hurtbox data.

I’ll try and get a set against some Ryu’s later down the road, see what I manage to come up with.

EX Knee cannot trade. Invincible during active frames

[metrokard]

i would say i have a gameplan with this guy but i have to work on his anti air i suck with it right now

[OilyKoryuken]

okay so i’m a nub and alex is my first charge character, is there anything to know about charging? it seems unlike hadouken/srk motions u can’t shortcut charge moves, so is there any shortcut? I’ve heard charge partioning thrown around but i don’t know if that’s in SFV. Or anything like it

ALSO PLEASE MORE ALEX MATCHES POSTED HERE. THANKS!