I’ve been waffling on what to start off these topics with after losing one to a browser crash, so I think we’ll start off simple and work our way up to the more complicated topics.
The topic for this week is ultra selection. It’s the first thing you do after picking Blanka. There are different schools of thought on how often U2 should be picked, but it is generally considered fact that U1 is the better ultra. Japan uses u2 much less than American Blankas do and I think I’ve figured out most of the reasoning behind that.
I feel that ultra selection can make or break certain matches and it’s a decision you make so early that you can dig yourself into a hole you don’t even know that you are in.
The idea here is to discuss why you pick the ultra you do vs. certain characters, and you should be able to defend your point as to why you pick that ultra vs. them.
I’ll add my opinions later.
Note: These topics will be a regular occurrence now in the Blanka forum. They will be either weekly or biweekly, please contribute folks.
U2 versus akuma, c.viper, el fuerte, dhalsim, e-ryu, gouken, ibuki, juri, oni, rose, ryu, sagat, seth
vs. akuma, sim, e-ryu, gouken, ibuki, juri, oni, rose, ryu, sagat, seth
because they like to throw projectiles and they like to back of when they are close to death(chip kill)
punishing projectiles on reaction is sometimes hard for me, but i like them just to think twice before they throw it…
vs. viper and elf
U2 AA to stop their stupid mixups on my wakeup
everything else is U1
ken, because he doenst rely on plasma
cody, same reason
dj, same reason
chun, because every chun that randomly throws fireballs is free already
guile, because it’s impossible (for me) to punish his booms on reaction
I’m looking forward to other opinions because I’m not sure which ultra is best vs a lot of the cast
I think once i get overhead -> u1 to connect at a high percentage rate I’m gonna switch to U1 vs nearly everyone
I feel u1 allows you to hop mixup on knockdowns because it tips the risk reward in blankas favour if you can reliably link the ultra. Without it , if you score a knockdown and you go for a crossup hop > cr.lk x elec you risk getting hit by a wakeup ultra, srk fadc ultra, or wakeup super. Cr.lk x elec does 170 damage,vs 378 damage for a srk fdc ultra. That’s a low risk reward. If instead you crossup hop cr.lk x3 > ultra you do 381 damage. Now that’s a positive risk reward. It’s important to look at scenarios mathematically since its a somewhat random event whether they block, get hit or reversal, if you run high risk low reward setups then you can expect to lose in the long run.
It also allows you to punish certain things like boxer overhead and close out rounds safely with unavoidable chip. If you’re quick it can be linked after a counter hit setup. Remeber that counterhit setups are reversal bait, so the risk vs reward is poor if all you can do is cr.mk > cr.hk. Blanka needs to hit his ultra to win vs stiff comp.
I only ever use U2 for the Akuma match-up to punish air fireballs and even then I find myself debating on which Ultra I should use. I’ll be the first person to admit that my reactions aren’t that fantastic so it makes it that much harder for me to use effectively, especially online.
U1 just seems more practical in my eyes (Not that that means anything…). It allows me to punish unsafe moves on block and I can link it from normals relatively easily so it’s just the safer choice for me at this point in time.
I’m certainly keen to see what other applications U2 has though, it’s something that I feel I should be using more.
U2 AA is very good vs viper
IMO blanka is already in favour in this MU but with U2 AA she cant do her wakeup mixups even on a meterless blanka… as soon as she jumps to go for ambigious burnkick mixups you can fry her on reaction…
I’ve been using U2 lots against anybody who likes to crossup divekick on wakeup. Seeing Seth, Evil Ryu, Akuma… Etc… go from more than half life left to death in one second is nice. I also use it on Sim, Sag, Ryu, Jur, occasionally on Guile… Baited ex booms. Hard to get it out in time though, like when playing some incessantly tiger happy Sagats. Depends on the opponant. If they get used to U2 i’ll switch to U1 to mix it up, so as to learn to use both ‘tactical’ approaches. Ultra choice does dictate a lot of the thought behind a game. Although sometimes picking the obvious one can be the wrong choice when your opponant plays completely different to how you expected them to play their character. But then again, your choice of Ultra is probably going to dictate their playstyle to an extent too.
I use u2 when vs fireball spammers - turtlers. Its not that its creasily effective , it s mostly that they will not bust my balls with running and spamming fbs, it forces them to play more aggressive. I love it for the chip of course it really easy to kill if you are carefully to do it when they are in are or on recovery frames etc (ground version when they are max distance). I find it fairly easy to land it on reaction to fb because of using a hitbox type controller and u2 is db , f , u +kkk so I can throw it very fast
It 's really effective when I have less than 100 stamina left and I do ex or low vertical roll (blocked) to u2 ground. Its something wired in their head that makes them do a fireball after they block the roll even if they are more than 3k pp guys.
I don’t use it vs sagat its not worth the risk to try to do it when he’s thowing his fireballs if I am some frames slow I get u2ed myself and the timing is very tight.
U1 off course is amazing for the 50-50 and all the typical abuses , its the ultra I use most of the time.
Since the motion has to be started from down back, if viper doesn’t do the late burn kick and just does a normal j.hk then your ultra will whiff. If you try to visually confirm the burn kick then you won’t block the j.hk if she chooses to do that instead of the late burn kick.
Instant burn kick doesn’t float her like late burn kick does, that’s the type of burn kick pressure I was thinking of, it’s hard to know which side to block and I would guess there’s a chance aa U2 is too slow to tag her if she does it on your wakeup. I’m probably wrong, I haven’t played in ages. Maybe ex up all tags her? I didn’t have any viper exp.
just believe me, U2 AA and exupball keeps viper from going nuts on you
of course she can just safejump you, but than you should be able to block her burnkick too, cuz it doesnt cross up than iirc
everything else is an easy U2 AA hitconfirm
I use U1 basically in every match. U2 I sometimes consider against Sagat but it’s so baitable and my reactions aren’t strong enough that I’d rather just use U1 since it’s reliable in every matchup. I might start considering U2 against Akuma since I can’t chip/cross-up U1 him since he can just teleport away.
To add to the discussion against Viper, I feel like your goal should be to avoid her knocking you down, and to rush her down in the first place, so that U1 aids you in that more. Plus, hop ultra is really good against a poorly spaced seismo.
problem with this is, that as soon as she hits ANYTHING its basicly a knockdown-so good luck with that. as soon as you are on the ground she starts her mixup and burnkick is a huge part of it…just saying that U2AA weakens her options a lot
wake up mixups is what viper is about cuz her footsie game isn’t that good.
not saying that U1 sux against her! U1 is great but I just prefer U2 in this matchup
I don’t like U2 in that for the same reason I don’t like using U2 with Rufus (my other character), which is that, because of my bad reactions, it just turns into a guessing game.
I just prefer the reliability of U1. I honestly don’t have a huge problem beating Viper without ultra (outside of chip)
I usually use U1 for all - I’ve gone back and forth on Sagat and Ibuki, but in general, I still end up using U1 most of the time. If U2 was a non-charge ultra, I’m sure I would use it more against fireball characters, but I find the motion and startup too slow. If I could consistently buffer it, that would make a huge difference.
Ultra 1 most of the time. As people get better at comboing it, the rate of ultra 1 will deffinately increase.
Ultra 2: At this point, only character I am adament in using ultra 2 against is ryu. Ultra 2 has won me more games against ryu, I cant even count. Its just perfect chip that if used right, ryu cant do shit about.
I dont like ultra 2 against viper for various reasons. 1. Blanka is just too open if you happen to miss. 2. EX upball works pretty darn well. 3. instances where ex upball dont work, either a regular upball is awesome, or actually electricity will also work. (Im talking about dealing with flame kicks for the most part.
4. I don’t like to stay in downback against viper. I like to move around and never stay in one place, so the downback charge kinda isnt an option for me, making ultra 2 even less useful.
5. If viper fucks up an uppercut, which does happen i think more often than they make a flamekick open to being ultra 2’d, then ultra 1 is massive punish. Its more difficult to punish a viper whiffed uppercut with ultra 2.
I wish ultra 1 frame data was still 1+3. Fukin loss of hop~ultra makes me sad panda. I don’t care if it was scrubby, people slap on bottons constantly in this game, and it was a great way to make that comeback. Now hop ultra is absolutely worthless because even if they press a button in response to the hop~ultra, they can still block anyway. Growl