Raw launching seems to be a under utilized tactic. I think of it as the low parry of SFxT, or the general mind frame of the tool, where you are able to negate the way your opponent wants to attack and forces them to switch their play style in a way they are not comofrtable with. Now some might say why do this when I can do something easier like boost combo with very little risk and high reward? Well because being able to take away options is well worth the risk and has bigger rewards. Now the launcher while a good offensive tool, has it’s draw backs, like very unsafe on block and can be baited. While it may not be the end all be all mechanic in sfxt, I believe it has enough power to sway the way the neutral game is played and how options are maximized. I hope this kind of opens up some discussion on this tool, and see what others think.
People that actually use it are already changing their game up. Reading lows and punishing them for mashing it via 300-500 damage combos is great because you start off with a flat 100/125 and the scaling for these combos aren’t devastating.
This is part of the conglomerate things, in my theory, that force people to hold down back a lot. You get blown up by big damage for mashing against someone that’s good.
I agree with this, I don’t use it enough myself, it can make the likes of Cody, Kazuya, and Ryu etc. who are quite dependant on crouching moves to really reconsider their options.
I use raw launchers often. Honestly everytime I see a Cody, Shoto, Bison or Kazuya/Jin. I’m blasting out raw launchers left and right. I honestly have to give credit to Tatsu for opening up my eyes to the power of raw launchers. Fighting him and see him wreck my partner in 2 combos via a raw launcher was more than reason enough for me to start doing it.
If you’re not using Raw launchers to punish Cody especially you’re making things harder than they have to be. Once you catch Cody one time with a launcher I bet you he’ll start acting like a deer caught in the headlights.
I had this discussion with our fellow members on here, people like Emblemlord said no. As launchers are too risky. Well, I’m a gambling man, and If I think you’ll mash crouching lights or mediums on your wakeup; I’ll launch you. That’s why I KNOW tick throws must exist, as that guessing game is strong. ‘throws are 7 frames, what do I do? Mash my fastest button.’ OK, I’ll walk up to you knowing that you’ll do that, especially with characters like Cody and Chun Li, launchers work so well against them. And it keeps your opponent honest on their wakeup.
Cody can easily mix in standing normals when in close and you really wouldn’t be DP’ing a 3f low at range so I’m not sure trying to catch it with a raw launcher is such a hot idea. If you miss, full combo for him. It might work on players who aren’t used to it (i.e everyone) but it’s not a good long term strategy imo.
Really, I’m OK with those kinds of odds. I just want my opponent to respect the wakeup game instead of resorting too mashing. As for Cody specific, I’m not worried, what’s he gonna do with one bar, Hit me with his one, highly punishable and not that invincible EX? He’s easy to OS.
My playstyle is all about high risk and high reward. Playing it too safe leads to time-outs and long matches. I really shouldn’t be exposing myself like this but I actually do worse when the match drags out because I tend to get extremely careless. I’d rather players respect me than to try and bully me with a barrage of lows.
Yes they are very risky, I have had a few raw launcher blunders myself. But that is why I use parry as an example, while risky, it adds to another layer of depth in the mind game of how you train your opponent. Like how you say raw launchers are real good against Cody and Chun, because you will see a Cody using low short, Chun low short, even Rufus low short in most of their matches, launcher can make them think twice.
[LEFT]Raw launchers are good and bad imo. If my opponent is solely relying on lows to blow up a throw i will neutral jump and raw launch them. But sometimes i get raw launcher going for lili frame traps. It’s funny when it happens but it’s only a slight set back. I just switch to standing frame traps and still throw a low. Raw launchers are a good tool but they are also a huge risk.[/LEFT]
Ashamed to say, I mash them when Im losing. If i’m getting wrecked on wakeup (I use Asuka, not much I can do) I tend to mash launcher if I see them just walking up crouching anything. I get them about 70% of the time, then again im only at like 4500 points or so so the skill level isn’t that high. I’m getting better at not mashing it but strategically placing it as some of the more advanced players tend to use this miraculous move called downback when low jabbing or kicking.
Not many use it as a bigger part of their overall strategy though(including myself lol). That’s why I’m discussing it now, so it can be the norm where raw launcher plays a bigger role.
Like I said in the other thread, use it as early as possible in the fight to minimze potential punishment, while still sending the message that you will punish mindless low mashing.
Also, some characters like Christie have launchers that are a little tricky to punish on block.
I know the exact feeling, lol. Makes me want to pick up Jin, really. At least I could make it safe.
Just to note, if you observe your opponents patterns, launchers can play a very big part in the match. And, if you have the reaction to match it, it really can turn matches in your favour. As I say, you should try to spot your opponents tendencies and then their character specific options. Characters with reversals can pose an issue, but that’s just apart of the guessing game.
Yeah, raw launcher is very risky. So what? DPs are the same risk.
And just like you can DP xx tag cancel, you can Launcher xx tag cancel with some characters and remain safe enough due to the pushback on block or the blockstun in Jin’s case.
There’s this misconception that a lot of people have that something -6 or -12 is always full combo punishable. But reality is your opponent can only punish what is within his pokes/special moves reach. And in this game, the way tag canceling works is: your running partner can cancel his run as soon as he gets to where the leaving character is. So even if some special move or raw launcher is super unsafe on block xx switch, you can still turn that -20 situation into a +2 situation by canceling the run early. (this is something I feel that a lot of players don’t quite understand yet but is so abusable with some characters/teams).
Also, raw Launcher doesn’t only counter lows like some people seem to believe. It counters any special mid hitting crouching attacks as well. So c.jab mashing and c.strong frame traps also die to a raw launcher.
Ever since I started using raw launchers defensively and offensively, my game has improved a lot I feel. Launcher is such a mindfuck and once people start respecting it, it gets even better.
Agreed. If I even sniff a gap in pressure or that my opponent is very happy with lows, I try to launch them as often as possible, firstly for the free switch if I need it and then for the much lower damage scaling. My problem is distinguishing from when I’m actually making a read, and just putting out an educated guess.
I want - no need! - to get my ability to use it to the level where t really is a mind-fuck and ruins entire game plans. There isn’t too many things that feel better than when you’re being pressured with a bleeding character, and you know that cr.mk or cr.hk or (etc.) is coming… and you not only punish them for it, but then get to bring out the fresh character as well.
