the improved Crane cr. HK is the new best thing for me so far. It’s AA, does a lot of damage, if now it’s going to be more reliable, it’s kinda perfect for me. I’m very curious about the new Jyasen, which will require some testing for sure…
I doubt I’ll use Roll FADC combos unless a portion of the damage of the last hit is transferred to the other hits.
I doubt I’ll use crane cr.HP more frequently than current. Meaty setups don’t matter cuz you can’t get CHed out anyways, and unless they changed the knockdown arc on CH, it’ll still be a distance dependent hardass link into crane super. A bit easier link into crane super on CH is what I really wanted tbh.
crane cr.HK and 7f mantis U2 are the nicest things for me. Oh and crane focus forward dash even on lvl 1 block.
I personally use Crane C.MP into LP/HP Roll very often when on the defense, to earn some ground and to do some chip damage on the way. Sometimes the C.MP hits, or the HP Roll doesn’t link causing an accidental frame trap and gets another lucky hit that way. In those cases, I’ll now be able to convert into a damaging combo, link into Mantis U2, etc :).
Gen can be played so differently, so I understand how the buffs to some areas may not be as big a deal for others.
You’re right about Crane C.HP, it’s still not going to be a great tool, but I like throwing it out every now and then, given it’s huge range. I’d love to see it knock them a bit higher into the air to allow full screen super link, just because of how hilarious it would be.
Actually, crane cr.MP xx Roll to have some breathing room is really good, but the problem is that app. 50% the damage of the roll itself is in the last hit, so FADC combo will not have that much of the damage difference. Linking into Mantis U2 might be a considerable unless EX hands -> Mantis U2 link is no longer character specific (and I feel it can connect on every character after 2012).
I will, however, not deem itself useless, and will wait for the last list of changes. Hopefully they altered something to make it better, maybe Roll’s damage/stun returned to Vanilla state or something? (+ if they buff walking back speed of both stances it’ll be too great)
crane cr.HP… Yeah the range of the poke itself is great for a crouching normal (it’s only a bit shorter than Vega’s st.MK range), I just want that if Capcom wanted to give an interesting property to a move, they should at least make it useful.
According to Capcom, the whole point of El Fuerte was to make him a fun character to play, implying that they don’t necessarily make moves useful, they just like to make things fun or different. I think this applies to Gen a bit. If they aren’t going to change his Mantis U2 to make it more useful (besides that faster start-up), then it’s a good indication that they are heading the same way with Gen.
P.S. I still don’t see Mantis U2 getting any more useful even with the faster start-up/combo-ability. It’s all mind games after that and there are 3 outcomes:
- You guessed right and the grey damaged is transformed to real damage.
- You guessed wrong and now have to chase him all over the screen, at which point probably recovered half the (already scaled) grey damage.
- You guessed wrong and opponent recovers almost everything with a lucky streak of guesses and counters.
- You guessed wrong and he counters with a nice wake up, or wake up + ultra. Recovers everything. You just did pathetic damage and wasted 3 super bars and lost a big chunk of life (probably fatal).
The odds are just not in your favour. ╮（╯＿╰）╭
IMHO, the focus attack change itself is enough to convince anyone that Capcom wanted Gen to be different.
Mantis U2 has a few advantages when compared to other Ultras of Gens (except crane U2, air ultra is hard to compare):
- Faster start-up
- Because it does such a huge damage in one hit (not counting the first stab), damage scaling with low stamina barely kicks in.
- Position + frame advantage after hitting with it is great. Mantis U1 puts opponent in such a long distance and has a small frame advantage, so usually you can only do a meaty or a cross-up Oga setup. Crane U1’s frame advantage speaks for itself. Mantis U2 puts opponent in such a perfect distance that you can adjust your distance for a few frames and still go for a jump attack where you can make a lot of reversals whiff or can be a safe jump.
Disadvantages should already be more than clear. I still think that it is Gen’s most limited Ultra, but at least 7f would do something.
I really don’t think it’d be that broken if Mantis U2 did not scale. I would tone it down a bit if that were the case, but they should really consider doing something like that if it’s really going to remain a grey damage thing… People would actually use it.
The problem is, I haven’t seen a move that resets a scale in combo, and I don’t think they will implement a brand-new scale resetting system.
EDIT: Oh wait, they can simply let the opponent recover during the cinematics and disallow any input. Sounds possible.
I thought of something last night while watching the stream. I don’t know if it’s been brought up yet, but I noticed a lot of players using ex moves in order to get out of pressure i.e. EX Headbutt or EX Chicken Wing. What if that’s one of the purposes for the varying distances of EX Roll? It’s certainly not Ex Oga, but maybe it’ll get us under Fei’s overhead or C.Viper’s burn kick. Depending on the frame advantage of the move we’re trying to escape, perhaps a short EX Roll would be more beneficial than a longer one. Dunno, just a thought.
Pretty sure that the EX roll, even a short one (if you look at the short NORMAL roll now, and assume that’s going to be the same sort of move as short EX roll in 2012), will be punishable due to the fairly long recovery after the last hit, not to mention the roll itself. But it’s an interesting thought. We’ll have to wait and see.
I would think the longer one would be better since it moves to far away. Similar to how Yun’s Dragon Kicks work. His RoundHouse Dragon Kicks takes him to the other side of the damn screen, for characters like Gen it’s hard to punish. So I think it will be character specific.
If LP Roll/EX-Roll had some Strike invincibility on Start-up to use on wake-up and -2 frame advantage on Block. That would go under Rufus EX-Messiah but still lose to Command Throws, Go past Ryu’s/Seths EX-SRK making most FADC improbable. Better meter gain on block like how Hands were in Vanilla but only for Rolls. Considering how to Combo into HP Roll is unlikely after Hands FADC unless you do them on big characters like Zangief. They want us to use Crane more. Why not? I still want to see the Damage and Stun on Hands FADC into Roll w/ or w/o EX come Ver. 2012
Still lose to OS. Unless we use that Stick at Neutral Trick.
Roll for Strikes, but still can be thrown AFTER Start-up.
Gekirou for Throws, but can still be hit low on start-up non FADCable.
Dive Kick for Projectiles, yet still can get get hit.
at least gives us more options for EX or put better Meter gain somewhere capcom.
Answer to Mantis U2? Fully Connect as AA. Drain Opponents Super meter while it Replenish Gens Meter. Depending how long Focus Damage is in effect. First Hit initially Taking 1 Meter bar.
Making it more beneficial trade for using EX-Hands into Mantis U2. In order to take Opponents Super or FADC Potential so it can be In Gen’s Favor.
Opponent would have to think twice before Running away, and Jumping or Dashing Back.
Add Stun while your at it. 700 w/o Scaling. If we stun the opponent can only improve our Damage potential for using it. Making the opponent even more scared about doing something Risky. And if We Stunned them we can all Taunt while it drains Meter 
That will be sooooooo Overpowered lol, well if you ask me I will prefer this instead
1.let it still have grey damage
2. but like for every second the opponent still has the grey damage let 100points of stun be added for a ten second duration resulting in 1000 stun
3. making it similar to alpha version of the move at least from a stun Gen can only land <400 damage
4. if the opponent loses the grey damage by getting hit then the stun count stops where it is.
I honestly wish that U2 would work the exact opposite way that it does now. Instead of healing the gray health, it slowly drains. The only way to stop it draining would be to hit Gen. That way they chase YOU across the screen and end up playing desperately, not the other way around.
That’s the only change that was needed. I’d take that over a faster start-up.
U2 in general could’ve been buffed more. But with the FA1 advantage changed, I’ll be dishing out a LOT more pressure after landing U2. Don’t know if I’m too optimistic about it, but personally I think people will snap/DP more easily.
I think Gen’s roll should be made to be more like the one he has in alpha 3. Allowing his normal rolls to go under fireballs can help Gen get a better positioning against fireball characters. As for the reason to use the ex-roll, if it was made to be even frames on block, it can help apply pressure. The current payout of the ex-roll is pretty low. Excluding Zangief, when the rest of the cast spends one meter to get pass a fireball, they are awarded with either a tech-able knockdown or a combo-extension. For Gen, the roll is pretty slow so even if Gen slips pass a fireball he may not roll fast enough to punish the opponent. Also another problem is the longer distance he needs to roll the less damage the roll will do. Since meter for Gen is so valuable, spending it should yield more then -3 on block or +1 on hit. Gen’s pressure after a roll is not threatening enough for the roll to be so inadequate.
i like the stun idea for U2. it could do less grey damage or whatever.
I wish mantis ultra 2 was a timed buff move. Sort of like yun and yangs supers, and juris feng shui engine. It would definitely add to gens image and add more technical control needed on the most technical character in the game.
I cant wait to test out ex hands to mantis ultra 2.
Is there a list on who you can link forward/TC2, ex hands, to forward, normal hands?
I was thinking cr. short, cr. jab, tc2, ex hands, forward, hands, fadc, short, jab, tc2, ex hands, mantis ultra 2 -> cross up oga -> 8 hit rh gekiro -> cross up / safe jump / overhead
the possibilities!!