29

Ex upball reversal/counter is my main usage of meter. Use it or lose it is my philosophy. Depends on the opponent also.

30

My mindset at the end of the round is always to finish off the opponent with something that will give me the most meter ie. normals into special, never EX and never Ultra. Usually I’ll go for lights into electricity if I don’t have charge, but sometimes I’ll use a cheeky string that I know will be blocked just for that extra bit of meter and then end off by killing them with chip damage.

If I can’t win the round, I spend the rest of the time building meter and/or trying to make the opponent waste their’s (eg. trying to get Gouki to land a Raging Demon which builds your meter for the next round).

If I’m in a situation where I cannot avoid a chip death, I go for a reversal special even if it means death because it still builds a bit of meter (although I’m not 100% sure about dying to meaty chip).

31

I’m a dick, I’ll do this if I have a huge lifelead vs. akuma with u1 stocked or ryu with super stocked to give me a meter advantage in the next round.

32

You are all wrong: Best way to end a round when opponent has 60 life and dizzy is neutral standing mp. Slap a bitch in the face…cuz blanka rolls like that!! (haha, rolls…punny!!)

Ves: Yer spoiler confuses me: How can i hit someone with 9 hk’s? is the 9 a controller motion? And I thought u just said that doing something like hp ball nets u 60 meter and opponent only 15…seems like normal into hp ball is the way to go.

What did i miss about the spoiler?

Oh, and regular rainbow rolls have different starting meter gain/block meter gain. They are all 30/40. Unless my app is wrong…which is always possible.

33

I mean just compare the amount of meter gain josh p. It’s fairly obvious when you do 9 balls vs. st.hk’s how much more meter you have than your opponent.

34

Was trying dumb stuff like whiff LK rainbow roll to make meter… and i eat a FADC to ultra, FUCK this special. -_-"

35

I whiff lk.rainbow sometimes, even mk.rainbow but from miles away, and it’s more of a provocation move. I stopped trying to attack with normal rainbow quite a few years ago.

36

So my basic meter philosophy is to hoard all of it. I want to save up for a 3 meter hard knockdown combo or a combo to super because not only do you get the best oki, you get the best damage.

However some characters I make an exception and try to hold on to meter for various other uses.

Ex horiball:
Generally used to supplement slide vs. characters who are going to try to press you backwards. Generally not a good idea early in the round, but if your opponent is low on health you can make them much more cautious.

character specific uses, all for fireball except gief:
Akuma, Evil Ryu, Ryu, Sagat, Zangief(tag far ranged lariats)

Ex Upball:
Should rarely be used as an AA. Use st.hp, nj.hp, cr.mp, st.mp, st.hk, buffered electricity, normal upball, whatever, but try not to AA with ex upball unless it is vs. a jumparc changing move or you absolutely cannot afford to trade or reacted late. Use it as a get off me if your opponent has got predictable with their strings. Vs. most things you have another option.

characters I’m willing to expend the bar on regularly:
Adon, Cammy, C.Viper, Rufus, Seth, Yun, Yang

Ex Rainbow:

Against most players it’s a get out of jail free card so it’s easy to become over reliant on it. But resisting the urge to use it is really important. The best players will punish you.

characters I’m willing to expend the bar on regularly:
Seth(beats spd, tanden, and dp)

EX Electricity:

I basically only use this as an AA. Sometimes it’s your best option especially against divekicks. Also useful for chip kills, please don’t end combos in this.

characters I’m willing to expend the meter on regularly:
Adon, Cammy, Rufus, Yun, Yang

Using meter defensively when Blanka has so many good defensive tools is an easy trap to fall into. It feels safe, but you’re denying yourself possibly several hundred extra damage if you do get an opening in the future. Yes sometimes you need to do ex upball to break offensive momentum, but it doesn’t need to be your go to. Focus backdash, st.jab, etc. can all get you out of tight spots.

37

I agree with your post, but just one thing : why using ex horiball against Gief ? I hate that, it’s a waste for me, just poke him and cheap with lp ball, hoard meter for escape (exupball & ex rainbow) witch is more more important against gief for me, especially since the new expuball.

38

Punishing far ranged lariats when you have the lifelead and excess meter can give him incentive to come to you instead of just hanging out.

39

I prefer stay at range to punish with a jump mp/hp or a slide.

40

Good Zangief players won’t lariat from those ranges. I prefer to stay there too, but sometimes if they back off it’s worth spending the meter IMO.

41

I see…nostalgic of the time where ball HP was safe (chip for no meter… lol), any advice to use the EX Rainbow ball ? Create space ? I know the start up is not full invincible.

42

Non-ex Rainbow roll and j.mp beat lariat clean, but both are hard to setup. Normal Rainbow is just pointless though. It’s complete hara-kiri at best.

43

The SRK wiki lists non ex rainbow balls as 30/40 meter gain. It could be a typo though.

Thanks for pointing out this meter gain thing. It’s easy to forget about this little details, even pretty good players go for level 3 focus from time to time in the dizzy situation you described.

44

Oh well lk/mk/hk rainbow rolls aren’t real moves.

45

how not to use EX electricity when pianoing?..

46

I usally do lp,mp,hp,lp,lp+mp+hp

47

the last part of your input would make an EX electricity cause you pressed 3 buttons at the same time…

48

clean up your inputs