I already agreed you’re right lol? i don’t think i will agree your approach is better though. Basic foots will always beat everything.
if thats the case than why even bothering writing a matchup thread?
ves does incredibly good work in his threads and he helps me develope a certain gameplan in every matchup!
so why do both of you argue in which favour the matchup is, instead of collecting every known aspect of blanka’s game!
you both are obviously very good players and I am looking forward to your posts every time so just stop bitchin around and keep up your great work!!!
lol i can’t post here anymore too many missunderstandings.
basic foots beat everything.
because they do. Justin Wong, and like 5 other guys have good enough foots in the usa. The point of this is that mastering those levels of foots is really hard but it is probably the most important aspect of the game. This is the chat everything thread. Not the matchup thread. I have posted matchup breakdowns which include more then “outfoots him” Understanding what moves do vs others is obviously important. I know the startup and frames of a lot of characters because it is required. But in the end all that knowledge means nothing in the face of superior basics. Just the fact that justin wong can beat people with an assortment of characters should prove that.
In the end understanding blanka’s matchup is only a % of what is required to win a match. Being a better player requires better timing, better mindgames, better knowledge, and better foots. Foots does beat everything, but if you have equal foots then something like superior knowledge can push it over he top.
Does that help?
on to your other statements. Of course ves does incredibly good work. He is very knowledgeable and plays a very strong blanka. That being said a huge mistake of mid level players who would be able to use his information is to fall in love with hard data over basics. That’s what i’m here for. To keep you all in line.
This is actually very true. Part of the reason I started expanding my knowledge base to this degree was that I hit a skill plateau, and I realized I had to get better somehow as I waited for my footsies to get better.
If you don’t have the the footsie ability you aren’t going to put yourself in a position to do a lot of the stuff I talk about.
Maj’s footsie guide is something I think every player should read at least once or twice. It’s a great resource.
This is sort of a joke, but
vs.viper
j.hk, cr.mk, st.lp, xx hp ball FADC forward, b.throw
dash, j.mk, cr.mk, st.lp xx hp ball, dizzy <- i don’t know if this part is unblockable, I think you have to do the j.mk too late if they block backwards. might have to sub out for an elec combo and try to add more stun to the first combo.
level 3 FA, backthrow, j.mk, st.lp xx hp elec
viper dead
I just like seeing what happens if people try to block things.
I messed up an Abel really bad last night. Just mixed up everything really well. First one I played in forever. I remember losing badly to a top5 Abel months ago and he had the forward step down. I was thinking wtf can I do to this guy. It can be like playing Balrog with his jab. I wish I could play a good Abel so I could comment more on it.
My brother mains abel. Plays tournies in montreal sometimes. x0npsn with a zero. He’s a contender. Ps3 only at the mo. He won a big silver sf2turbo trophy here in Ireland in very early 90’s, hehe. 
does abel have any 3 frame normals in Ae? and how many pre jump frames are there? so after a blocked step kick if you jump and abel does a 4 frame cr.lp what happens?
you aren’t technically airborne till frame 5 of your jump, he tags you in prejump frames
can he do anything beyond chaining jabs if he tag blanka there?
link into st.fierce to full combo on standing blanka and the jump makes you stand up.
oh, that’s pretty bad.
well since he has no 3 frame normals can’t you just simplify the option tree after a blocked step kick to this:
option 1: neutral throw (beats all normals, loses to TT)
option 2: neutral jump (beats TT, loses to normals)
option 1 favourable outcome = 120 damage to abel
option 1 unfavourable outcome = 200 damage to blanka
option 2 favourable outcome = 280-550 to abel
option 2 unfavourable outcome = 230-495 to blanka
Thats an equal damage split basically, assuming abel does a 50/50 mixup between TT and normals. Abels dont backdash and a throw from abel is tech’d or avoided so thats a neutral outcome so i ignore it.
Typically a good abel will do less TT’s to begin with in order to feel you out and generally to leave themselves less open to punishment so you should be able to tip the scales in your favour after a step kick in if you initially lean towards choosing option 1.
Ves, i’m sure it’s a gross oversimplification and probably incorrect, but thats what i used to do after i realised backdashing doesn’t work particularly well vs abel
Option 3: Block low
Favourable outcome: Lose no health (but still have to deal with a mixup)
Unfavourable outcome: Eat a TT or overhead
noooo remove option 3 , its not beneficial at all, if you choose 1 or 2 then you exert control over the situation and (as far as i see it with my crusty knowledge) put damage in ur favour if you have a good read
Those are actually the 3 options I use most, haha. I mix in regular upball against non metered Abel.
There are more variables obviously, I just overthink.
With option 1: thats pretty much what will happen, though he can normal throw. The problem is the damage values are very skewed. When you factor in health differences, Abels tornado throw does 90% more damage.
a. tech - situation to neutral
b. you throw abel - low damage, weak okizeme
c. abel throws you - high damage, better mixup
option 2. abel can normal throw here too and recover to block the nj I believe.
a. normal throw - Blanka with massive frame advantage
b. you land nj combo - Blanka is ahead in damage, long elec combos whiff off nj. vs abel so to maximize damage you can only combo into ball (if he doesn’t have ultra stocked) or ultra.
c. he tags you in prejump frames, and dominates your wakeup. Damage is about 10% lower than Blanka accounting for health differences and ultras. Damage is basically even if neither player does.
option 3.
a. lose no health but are now at -3 instead of -1, which lets him do a better mixup
b. eat a TT or overhead
blocking sucks.
yeah i like to keep the variables down basically if you are comfortable with the step kick and choose option 1 or 2 you turn that situation into a neutral one that is favourable to whoever guesses right and almost equally so. Yep if abel guesses right he has much better okizeme so potential further damage is in his favour but that’s the case with most of the cast vs poor old blanka.
i think abel beats blanka too for what it’s worth. i actually find his wheel kick to be a big annoyance as i used to be really bad at reacting to it with a slide. you can’t neutral jump it either, i remember hating it!
you can block wheel kick and punish with low strong/fierce if they don’t tip with it, or st.rh it in midflight. 3 frame normals are good!
Testing slide right now, didn’t know it worked that well. Thanks
i didn’t think you could punish a well spaced or ex one. i know i used to just about be able to st.lp a sloppy one, but i remember st.hk being too stubby to reach and everything else too slow. my memory is hazy, i could be off the mark here.
and it was always at the end of the rond where it becomes footsie wars and that wheel kick chip becomes attractive to the opponent and they always have ultra to hit back a st.lp x ball punish >:-(
It depends what he uses as a follow up - HK, HP, jab/short. Only jab/short leads to + frames on block. HP is usually cancelled into COD which is not that dangerous on block.
Sometimes it’s not just how much damage Abel can do off a combo that you have to be wary of. You also have to keep in mind how close to stun you are.
Ex is really tough to punish, and yeah if they space it well you’re better off just trying to hit it out of the air. luckily good spacing gives you more time to hit it.
Oh also if you neutral jump a tt off of stepkick you can do, j.hk, walk forward, cr.mk, st.lp xx hp elec for 312 damage. I’M HOLDING UP.