Akuma is an execution-heavy character. To play him in N-groove, you have to have RC hurricane kick down cold - it’s the key to his game, as he can’t consistently get in on top-tier footsie characters without it. To max out his potential, you have to know and be able to execute his multiple raging demon setups, and be able to regularly hit cr.MK xx fireball level 3 (the double-half-circle motion one).
N-Groove is hard for beginners because it generally lacks a big-damage option (lvl 2 cancels in C, raged level 3s in K), only has semi-stored meter, and while it gives you a good defensive option in GC-roll, it’s harder to apply than those in C (air block) and K (JD). A cvs2 beginner playing mid-tier characters in N-groove is a recipe for losing an awful lot as you learn the game. Some people can deal with that though, it’s all up to how you like to learn.
Nick T. gave a great breakdown of those characters in N-Groove, I agree with almost everything said.
Hm, interesting. Think I’ll try a combo of Cammy, Terry, and Athena in K. First I think I’ll hit up some tutorials related to system mechanics. I can play CVS2 the classical Street Fighter way but I definitely want to learn everything that’s specific about the game. Thanks for the input, folks.
EDIT: Are there any other characters I’m missing who are even easier to play than the three I’ve mentioned above? I wouldn’t mind becoming decent quickly because I play a rotation of fighters and they all take enough time to learn.
Easy mode team? Claw, cammy, sagat. All have high priority, fast and far reaching pokes. The latter 2 are high damage and make very good use of super meter.
Nick_T
6833
Definitely this. N-Groove requires a bit more widespread game knowledge compared to the other grooves, even S, because it’s not so straight forward on how to use the meter. It requires a bit more calculation on the users end.
It was a great starter groove when the game first came out because it seemed like because of the options that N groove offered, it seemed better in the long run. What happened was that it turned out to be a little more difficult to use in terms of practicality or consistency. Like, it offers great ways to land damage, but damage output can be low sometimes. Or, sometimes because of the low damage output in some scenarios, a round would still be played out, whereas a level 2 super with C groove would’ve ended it.
I’m just posting to second caliagent’s team suggestion. That’s probably the easiest team in the game to learn, you can get far with just basic footsie knowledge. What’s also nice about that team is that it’s very strong in both C groove and K groove.
Also, I’d recommend staying away from Athena in K-groove. Crouching fierce can only get you so far, and she has no reliable way of landing her supers. Athena is decent in A groove, and pretty crappy in all other grooves as a result of her supers being so bad.
I think I’m switching out my beloved Mai, and I think I will either replace her with a better character or somebody else. My K-Rock and K-Kyo are already low tiers compared to A-Blanka,Claw,Dictator
What do you guys recommend that I should add?
K-Chun Li
K-Sagat
K-Ken
K-Iori
I’m thinking Sagat, but Sagat is kinda blocky. but he’s still really good… but I dont know Sagat’s matchup against high jumpy characters like claw or bison and blanka… so I’m not quite sure. the reason I kept Mai was not only to be unique but also because she can jump high and air grab high jumping characters like Claw
kgroove theory: k characters should have mobility, so they can back away more easily from agroove and not get chipped to death. so theory ken. and mai. in theory.
sagat theory: sagat is always good. quit playing with your dick and just pick sagat.
meter theory: chunli can’t threaten big damage without meter.
chunli is not top tier theory: chun is not top tier in this game because EVERYONE misses her super SOMETIMES, and will eat shit for it.
I’m thinking of replacing my Mai for K-Sagat.
K-Sagat is quite dangerous with his meter, damage, and health. Hell, a R1 K-Sagat is quite dangerous. His low fierce + tiger cannon super does HALF of a R2 characters life. Yes, that’s R1 doing half the life of an R2 from Sagat’s rage meter super.
I think what I’ll do is this. If I’m having trouble with claw, dictator, or blanka, I’ll switch them out.
My main team will be K-Sagat, Rock, Kyo. but if I’m facing trouble against some crazy character like Claw, I’ll replace my Rock and put in Mai. Mai has good jumps and I can sorta use her against Claw. I just can’t use Mai for shit against Blanka. you know, just matching it up the right away. i dont wanna fully commit to character loyalty mainly because my characters work better against certain other characters.
In K groove,
Sagat > Chun~=Ken~=Mai > Iori
Rai just won the Japan cvs2 nationals with K Mai, the character is legit.
I’m going to say stick with Mai. Only because I see Sagat on every bloody team, lol!
popoblo
6840
Rai is a beast, didn’t BAS say K-Mai was top tier one time? I prefer N-Mai in theory since she doesn’t die to chip CC’s and only looses out on JD.
I also really like N-Rolento in theory as well, I was bored and watched some of Combofiend’s K-Rolento and the low jump mp into super is really quick. And N-groove would give Rolento more of his AC’s as well as run, low jump, meter control, and RC’s, which all help him out quite a bit.
Are there videos or results of the recent cvs2 nationals anywhere?
EDIT- basically what Nick T said about N-Rolento, haha
They should be up on A-Cho’s youtube channel, did you check out their november videos?
geadom
6842
The A-Cho youtube channel is updating daily, but not cvs2 yet
chang zangief raiden is a pretty tight team
What is the current thinking on roll-groove Kyo? How would you order the grooves?
I’m thinking A>=C>>N.
A being a tad better than C because his CCs are all good, and his chip/GC CC is immune to ACs. It’s really close though, because C Kyo can do a lot with stored level 2s.
N Kyo lags behind C and A because Kyo’s roll (and therefore, counter-roll) is really bad, and he gets nothing out of level 1s. Run vs dash is about a wash, though given his mixup-based game, run is probably a tad better. Low jump is really good for Kyo, but I don’t think having that in N outweighs the big advantages of stored meter (+faster meter building) and CC activation.
A-Kyo is definitely better than C but C-Kyo might have easier TODs.
nevertheless, the majority of the time you can super, you can CC activate. he also gains CC anti air/guardcrush/chip which makes him more formidable vs P/K and blanka.
IMO, A-Kyo is the hardest character to learn in the game. heres why:
-normals and pokes gets outclassed. while his normals are good, its not as good as most of the other characters. hes certainly not going to win in a footsie game against sagat, cammy, hibiki, etc.
-all of his air normals are super situational compared to someone like sagat with his j.hk and vega with his jumping hp/hk (option selects into throw) which is their go to move in the air 90% of the time.
-his CC are done with mutiple dp inputs like sakuras except sakura’s CC doesn’t change when the opponent is blocking or getting hit. for kyos, you have to visually hit confirm his CC and cancel the dp into his qcf+p special or d/f+hk command normal to keep it going.
then theres the CC ender. depending on which groove your opponent is using, you can end the CC with his ground pound OTG into hop kicks into follow up for a potential TOD. the timing for the ender is not the easiest thing to do and like the rest of his CC, it will require lots of practice.
-subpar roll cancels and even more subpar roll. his roll is one of the weaker ones in the game so you won’t be able to easily roll your way in. his safest RC is qcf+lp but compared to ioris, it comes out slower, not as active and has smaller hitbox. also, it overlaps with his lk hopkicks.
Good points. A Kyo’s metered options are just too good. Plus, Kyo isn’t too dependent on the meter either to play his game, with his great meterless damage and mixup game.
C groove’s advantages aren’t that beneficial for Kyo either. Airblock I guess would be helpful if you want to turtle, but that isn’t Kyo’s best game. Always having a lvl 2 for doing huge damage is the biggest perk of C groove, but that isn’t quite as good as having a CC that turns the tide in Kyo’s hardest matches (guessing Sagat, Cammy, Chun?).
Im gonna try get some CVS2 into casuals (not exactly casuals but a house I meet up with other USF4 players )
