Most combos are chains. Think of a mix between Vampire and 3rd Strike (cr.LK chains). See here.
If you like zoning characters, King has the best fireball game due to her air fireball game, Saiki has a tall fireball and great normals, Robert and Andy can be played shoto style, EX Iori and Kyo can pressure just enough with their fireballs to bait movement, Mature’s fireball is good for getting in on people, and Mai has crazy fireball recovery. There are archetypes - Daimon, Clark, Raiden, Vice, and Maxima would be the grapplers - but they’re also really good at being able to shut down the neutral game. However, many characters have command grabs that actually lead to more damage than from those five, so it’s not always so plainly defined. In terms of ‘balanced’ characters that would teach you the basics of spacing and the general feel for KOF, I’d recommend EX/Claw Iori, Ash/Saiki, Ryo, Daimon, Mai, or Duo Lon. There’s more that I feel I could add, but I think if I mentioned Mr. Karate for a first time character, for example, you’d be able to bullshit around with his j.CD, DP, and EX Ranbu which would initially hamper your understanding of the netural game.
I’m having trouble getting King’s j.D cl.D df+D -> hcb+B
Over all I have problems trying to cancel anything into or out of Tornado Kick '95. Usually Trap Shot pops out or a Venom Strike. Any tips on making these fundamental moves easier to execute?
Right now I have been playing Duo Lon/Karate/Ralf as my main team. My question is this: would I benefit from sticking karate in front then putting duo lon in the middle? If karate gets meter he has a tendency to use it for EX command grab and his BnB, making him kind of a bad battery for the anchor. That, and he can dominate the other character when they don’t have meter. Is this viable? Or does Duo Lon in the middle position lose to other battery characters and anchors?
All I could say is just put the characters into positions you feel most comfortable match-up wise, be it character match up or player match up. If someone is forcing you to uncomfortably use meter then pick a character that could better handle the match up without needing to spend it (that is if you’re goal at the time is to battery up.) If you feel that Duo Lon handles against certain characters better then put him up first, likewise for Karate.
Rather than limiting yourself on just a single configuration, trying becoming so comfortable with your three characters that you know exactly what they can handle under certain conditions. Have a flexible configuration as flexible as your neutral game (which ideally should be super flexible.) The thing is you need to play a bit often so you can actually have time to experiment and familiarize with your characters. For me since I can’t (not don’t) play the game with people, I’m pretty much locked into my EX Iori/EX Kyo/Terry in that order due to a few reasons. EX Iori has every tool in the game and has the most flexible neutral game control coupled with one of the most dominate oki game. With decent meterless damage (always at least 210-300 damage per bnb) I can fight any character without needing to switch him out. Since most of the US sucks at KOF still, my EX Iori still curb stomps people and I’d rather have him in front so I can take what I can get before I have to clean up with EX Kyo and Terry. In terms of neutral game utility, EX Iori is followed by EX Kyo followed by Terry, just like my order. Since I have more neutral game tools, I can get less overwhelm and get less uncomfortable so I won’t feel like I need to burn meter as quickly to need to kill so I have a rainy day check with Terry who performs best with meter compared to the other two.
So any position is really viable but you just have to understand what exactly you want to do and how well you do it. And if something or someone is forcing you to be uncomfortable, know your alternatives (other configurations) before heading into a match. If it’s casuals, freely experiment with what you could come up with.
Thanks Laban, that makes a lot of sense. Outside of Duo Lon being a shaky anchor, every one of my mains kind of does fit into other positions, so I will experiment. My best game is Mahvel, so I often find myself overthinking order and synergy in KoF. I do have a pretty good idea of what each character can do and when to use/not use green and stock, so I will put more time into how matchups determine order select. Thanks again, big help!
It isn’t like Marvel where you order a team around assists and DHCs, but you order the team around meter and match up
I like putting King on point if possible because she does so well early on when neither side has meter both because she can do a lot without burning bar and there are fewer projectile counters that early in the game. At the same time I know the opponent is running point Beni I will tend to run Iori instead of King on point since King tends to struggle against Beni on point. So I might try to run her second against teams like that. There are also some common anchors that King does well against so there are times I might run her anchor to counter those characters.
There should be a guide around here to help you but the most important tip I can give is to get the feel of throw invincibility. When your opponent recovers from anything there’s a certain amount of invincible frames that won’t allow you to throw your opponent
My tip is when getting started learn a few combos, but don’t obsess over them. You can get by learning a few basic combos until you get a feel for the game and then you can move into the more optimal ones.
imo don’t forget to learn the fundamental, because it is really important in this game. Learn to hit confirm and bnb combos, for hd combos it will come later when you get used of this game.
Does anyone know if the Dragonplus V2 works with the original Neogeo Pad 2? OR just the inpin? I have tried Googling PS2-USB converter compatibility with this game but haven’t found anything clear, just conflicting answers.
I’m using a character with both dp and hcb, f commands (can you guess who? lol). I’m having an execution problem - hcb, f is also the alternative motion for dp moves, and when I want the hcb,f command grab, I’m getting a dp out instead. Is there any way to guarantee that the grab, and not the dp, comes out?
I’ve noticed that if I do the motion fast, the dp always comes out. I suspect it’s because I’m not going all the way to b before I go back to f, but this kinda has me stumped.
vice? like you said, as long as you hit b directly, i think the game will prevent the dp from coming out even if you do the motion quickly. input display showed me that i was accidentally not hitting b most of the time, and when i do, i get what i intended. you could also try taking advantage of the command interpreter and ending with u/f instead of f.
