Block on Reaction?

Just started 3S recently. And I don’t know if its just me and this game, but I don’t seem to be able to block on reaction.

I don’t want to keep taking back steps, I want to be able to just stop going forward and be blocking. So I am trying to get it on reaction. I can pretty much expect an attack and block it. But if I see something company I am lost. Is this a thing or do I just need to keep practicing.

On a side note. Is the hold back to block the reason so many pros crouch block so often. I see this in a ton of match videos. And to me it seems predictable, yet so few over heads are thrown as an opener. I don’t know. Any advice. Should I just be crouch blocking.

Uh. What exactly are you trying to block on reaction?
Most normals are so fast that they’re plainly unreactable, so no, that doesn’t work.

And yeah, you should crouchblock by default. It allows you to not walk backwards more than you need to, and protects you from being tagged by low attacks. Overheads are almost always slow enough to be reactable and interruptable, which is why you see them less often.

The answer depends on what you want to block. A good rule of thumb is if you are in a situation where you need to block you should block low and then react to block high, because a lot of highs are reactable.

Also, give this a read as a starting point for what happens in the neutral:

This because overheads are only combo starters under certain conditions (genei jin, Aegis on top of you, tengu stones). For the most part under normal conditions you can’t combo after and overhead unless it’s something like a meaty UOH from Ken into super.

Thanks guys. Yes I was wanting to block normals. I was so used to doing it in SF4 that I thought maybe there was just something up with me and 3s. I will keep that in mind about the over heads and just get a partner to help me train reaction on blocking those. I was just a bit weary with crouch blocking so much. I have been tagging people with the universal overhead into a super so frequently it just made me wonder about the effectiveness of the crouch blocking.

there’s a lot to what you’re really asking i think.

the reason for lows is because lows hit an opponent trying to maneuver.
the play between overheads and lows is something that naturally happens as players probe each others defenses/approaches.

and other than slower normals you’re not blocking on reaction.
maybe stuff is just really slow in 4 or you’re interpretation of reaction is different than most.
so if you mean the slow stuff, then that’s no different from 4. maybe you’re just unfamiliar with the animations.

Good point about the animations. I have noticed as I play more there are certain things I can react to better than others. I suppose i just played 4 for a very long time and got used things. I do feel most normal’s in 4 probably are slower than 3s. The probing your opponent out is something natural, in all games, I just find an excessive amount of crouch blocking in 3s compared to all other back to block games.

Maybe its just the new factor. It is what it is I suppose. I have adapted the way I play and I’m not disappointed with my current level. Its just awkward to me.

Thanks again for pointing out that I may not be used to the animations. I will spend some time paying more attention to such things.

If you learn how to teabag fast, you can block 2x more