You’re just starting to learn Birdie, and you don’t know where to start. Well, this is the place to pick up on the beginning concepts for the character.
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Spam your way to EVO with standing MK.
i wanna pick up birdie but idk how to i approach him or where to start on how do i play him?
do i figure out frame traps , do i play him aggressive or turtle and wait for my opponent make a mistake , or do i zone and play to his normals any help?
Zone and play to normals is the safest point to start.
s.lk, s.lp xx lp bull head will punish A LOT of stuff early on. (Once you’ve played a bit more and learn where you can get bigger punishes, then you can start implementing them.) Also cancels into super for good damage, or you can sub the lp bull head for EX bull head and combo into V trigger linking Bullhorn after for good damage. It’s a really versatile low damage, 4f startup combo that i use a lot when i’m not sure of something. The two light normals give me plenty of time to hitconfirm and leave me positive on block AND put the opponent where i want them, so for a new birdie it’s really useful while you learn your range.
DON’T use too many banana/can setups at the beginning. EAT THE DONUTS INSTEAD. V-reversal is his best option if people get up in his grill, so building the meter is important. Also remember that EX bull horn has 1 hit of armour, and EX killing head is throw immune on startup.
c.lp and s.mk are your best pokes. s.hp is nice to throw out if you catch them trying to shimmy too much.
s.mp buffered into mp bull head is the whiff punish of great justice. Dont get predictable with it, but if you can sit just outside of your opponents poke range, 9 times out of 10 thats WITHIN your poke range, and if they throw out a normal, this bad boy will catch them and you can confirm a super off of it if you’ve got meter.
Start out playing SUPER simple. Birdie gets shitloads of mileage out of solid, basic play.
Learn to use the crMP Anti air correctly to not get rushed down and frustrate opponent, is a good start. Then learn to exploit the following situation at its best.
From there you have tons of frame advantage and ca do a nasty mixup of meaty stand HK/SPD/blockstring/normal throw/bait and block
Depending on the matchup and certain options are better than others (ex Stand HK is very good vs non reversal chars, while blocking becomes a good options vs DPs).
Against chars who have no reversals this really puts them in trouble and in the situation Birdie is at his strongest (point blank with tons of advantage).
Stand HK will CC if they attack and hit normal hit if they tried to jump, learn to recognize the situation and combo accordingly.
Normal throw is quite safe against non reversal too, if they jump in place you can crMP them and reset the situation. Be prepared for the jump.
Try to master the LK,LP or LP,LK,LPxxLP bullhead confirm (not so easy). This is not a true block string so opponent may try to jump which can work to your advantage if you can confirm from the last two hits for ex. The gap is small enough that they will be considered on the ground and you can combo them.
SPD is your most unsafe option as it will get punished by in place jumps, but you still need to do it from time to time to scare them and allow for other options to work.
Exploiting the post crMP situation is one of my main source of damage in most matchs.
Also try to master Ex bullhorn, V trigger cancel, bullhead/ex bullhead.
I think its one of the few times I’m ok to spend two Exs on one combo since the VTed ex bullhead will do significantly more damage than the Lp one and will bring the opponent much closer to the corner. It’s really a good comeback tool against chars that have safe rush down in the rest of the match against Birdie. (ex dicta MP,crMP, Scissors X N).
I really, REALLY should have put this in my post as well. Basically the golden rule for beginner birdie. Anti-air everything.
How necessary is bull horn? I don’t really want to play holding down buttons + getting finger cramp.
It’s not really necessary in all matchups.
I’m still figuring out when to use it, so far I’ve only used it to punish point blank Ryu supers (since you can’t jump over it or if you don’t have v-meter to escape a chip out).
I also just use it randomly to go through fireballs and close the distance, or to just cross my fingers and stuff whatever Nash is doing after he’s following his slow sonic boom.
I’ve been playing a couple of sets vs Fang players that really like to use the short version of their double fireball (he throws 2 poison balls straight up and pretty much creates a wall). If you press a normal, there’s a big chance you’ll hit Fang, but you’ll also get hit by the 2 dropping fireballs, making it a trade in his favor. I’m not sure if Fang can combo out of this, but I think he can in some scenarios. Anyways, What did work, was to cancel the normal I’m using (sMP in this example) into bullhorn. Bullhorn is projectile invincible, and was able to go past the double fireballs, I didn’t test it in training yet, but it was nice to see. It’s certainly not easy to do, but it’s an option that can turn the match completely around besides EX Chains.
does the bull slider go under projectiles ?
Yes, it does. If Ryu starts the match with a fireball for example, you can beat it by starting with Bull slider and go under the fireball.
Hey guys, just started trying out Birdie. What is best to rotate in order to put pressure on a downed opponent? And to wake up?
Might as well keep laying on the ground…
Depends how you got your knockdown, and whether your opponent has a DP. Some knockdowns allow a meaty f.HK (which can start combos), cr.LK is your low starter, and Killing Head beats blocking. I like to mix in standard tick throws for positioning, too.
As for wakeup, EX Bullhorn has armour. In V-Trigger, EX Bullhead has armour, too. This means they still lose to throws, so your only invincible wakeup option is CA. Just suck it up, block, and V-Reversal as required.
My games have been going a lot better with anti airing with crmp and holding for a bullhorn. I’m currently working on learning how to best use v skill, feel like I’m getting it down. Some players can’t get around forward hp for some reason and that has really helped against spammy Rashids, aka, Rashids.
How do you hitconfirm with Birdie? I’ve been trying to do cr. lk, cr. lp (confirm) xx l. headbutt during neutral and I can’t visually confirm it and still have the headbutt combo. I never had a problem hitconfirming things in other games. Do I just suck or is it really hard?
Make sure you’re using the correct light attacks to link then cancel into the LP (or ex) Bullhead.
sLK, sLP xx LP/EX Bullhead
sLP, sLK, sLP xx LP/EX Bullhead [must be close]
cLK, sLK xx LP/EX Bullhead
cLP, sLK xx LP/EX Bullhead
I would recommend going to the combo thead and looking at @Angerus 's combo list.
I think if the opponent is very close you can also get sLK, sLK xx LP/EX Bullhead as well, which is pretty handy if you’re having trouble going between the punches and kicks while looking for the hit flash/sound to confirm into the special.
Sorry. I meant cr. lk, st. lp xx lp headbutt. Having a lot of trouble hitconfirming due to timing. It seems like you have to cancel super fast into lp headbutt but that means you basically only get one normal to confirm into the special.
I really like cr.lp, st.lk xx lp headbutt. The jab is a little slower so it’s easier to confirm into a hit for me.