This will sound like a really stupid question after all these posts, but I still really can’t tell if my kunai is gonna crossup or not.
Can someone please explain like a slow motion camera, step by step how you time it?
Usually I do:
from neckbreaker: start walking asap, until Ibuki’s back leg joins her front leg. Immediate regular jump (not buffering the kunai). At the jump peak, I quickly do the kunai motion with lp.
or
from neckbreaker: wait half a second without walking, superjump (not buffering the kunai). At the jump peak, I quickly do the kunai motion with lp.
Rarely it crosses up. I might be doing it wrong, and when I mess up it crosses up. Is that it?
from sweep: tiny step back, regular jump, the same as above.
Also, assuming I miss the crossup and hit in front. Are those setups safe to continue to jab as a blockstring?
What I found out is that if I try to change the timing of when I throw my kunai, I usually make it unsafe. I’ll get dp’d out the air or thrown on landing. (if they block it)
What I learned is to change the timing of when I start jumping. That usually determines where my kunai will land. I usually super jump after neckbreacker without moving. Like your second example.
I’d say just keep in mind more trying to make your kunai safe. At a higher level, shotos will really start to challenge your kunais after blocking them. Make them always meaty, and try to keep Ibuki directly above your opponent when the kunai hits, thats usually how you are going to make your kunai ambiguous.
Just go to the training room and set Ibuki to playback and get the safe timing down, and then learn how to change your direction from that timing.
For some characters that wont apply, you are going to learn how to kunai them safely, or not at all. Like DJ, Yun, and maybe Rufus. For those you might need to delay it a bit.
So yesterday I was at Nextlevel’s Battle Circuit (new name for Big Two) and I had to play Lionheart on stream. The match was very close, I ended up losing, and thinking back to it I realized that I need more corner setups to be scary once I corner somebody.
So I was experimenting setups and here is what I found on Sagat (everything is in the corner, done after the EX Tsumuji - Raida knockdown)):
Note: of course, all of those setups are safe to reversals
Dash forward - whiff st.MP - j.LK is a full blockable, but fake crossup. Basically what happens is:
[LIST]
[]If Sagat holds back, he’ll block, and you’ll land on the other side and can hit him by surprise
[]If he blocks crossup, he’ll block as well
[/LIST]
This one is… Meh. Can be used in some cases, but beware that just like every fake crossup it’s not a blockstring. You can make it blockstring by using the LK-MK air target combo but… That kinda ruins the fake crossup thing, right?
Now for a way more interesting one:
MK Command dash - sj.LK:
The setup hits regular. However it is very strange because Ibuki hits very deep behind Sagat (you basically hit the middle of his back) so every single visual clue in the world would tell any decent player to block crossup. Well… NO!
[LIST]
[]If Sagat blocks regular, he’ll block it and you’ll land on the other side -> fake crossup opportunity
[]If he blocks crossup, you hit him
[/LIST]
It’s kind of a near-unblockable lol. Again the problem is it’s not a blockstring. But to be honest… I’m eager to use this in match conditions, because I can’t possibly see a reason the opponent would block crossup. I’m gonna record a video to show this
Also, I tried this setup on a few other notable characters (like tall characters):
[LIST]
[]Cammy (because she wakes up at the same time ): Same output, except that if she blocks crossup, you’d have a blockstring opportunity, so you can just slightly delay the followup. (Note: I tried with a st.LP followup. Maybe just a st.MP or even cr.LP will be enough to do the trick)
[]Rufus: Full blockable, but you always land on the same side, so if he blocks crossup, you’d land on the same side, without blockstring, so you’ll be able to go back to another corner setup!
[]Zangief: Exactly the same output as Sagat
[]Seth: acts as a regular crossup, not that ambiguous
[/LIST]
Also, FYI, if you use j.MK and the opponent blocks crossup, there is a good chance it’ll whiff (it does at least vs Sagat, I haven’t tested the others yet)
Bottom note: this setup looks great. Vidz incoming.
Now to another subject/project I’d need you guys’ help: Ibuki has a lot of setups in the corner, but most of them haven’t been figured out yet;
I mean, look at this spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AqClL3kJPchYdFlDd0VhMmt4R0w3TVdJQ2hHX29GLUE#gid=11
We just have unblockable results. However a lot of those setups have different outputs according to the character: fake crossup, full blockable, etc…
I have been willing to do that for a while and I am gonna start now: test these setups on each and every character of the game
For example, a few I have tested, with Saunic’s help:
Cammy: EX Tsumuji > Raida > cmd dash LK > st.MP > j.MK : Fake crossup(hit regular, land on the other side)
The MK-Tsumuji - cr.MK -j.LK/MK is sometimes a fake crossup. Sometimes I do it without even knowing it lol, but this setup is usually very ambiguous. I know for sure that it is a fake crossup on Rufus
The first one I’ve presented here (Raida - Dash - st.MP - j.LK) will be a fake crossup on Fei Long if you use j.MK
And counting…
So here are so far the corner setups I want to test:
[LIST]
[]After EX Tsumuji - Raida:
[/LIST]
Dash forward - (whif one of those normals: cr.LK, cr.LP, st.MP, f.LK) j.LK or MK
cr.MK j.LK/MK
-LK command dash j.LK/MK
That’s, for now, all (and I think it’s already A WHOLE LOT to test!!!)
Anybody motivated to help me in this Herculean task?
Well since you are the first to ask, do whatever you want
I’ll probably create a template for the results.
Also, it might be useful (and twice as painful to do) to try it on both sides since sometimes hitboxes don’t behave the same manner in the right corner than the left corner
What I’ve seen out of my tests so far:
j.MK will either hit in front (and possibly land on the other side), or be full blockable. I haven’t made any j.MK reliable corner crossup mostly because if the opponent blocks crossup, it will whiff
j.LK can hit both sides and most likely land both sides accordng to the setups, but no block string.
We can all start with the j.MK jumpins
If you want trogdor you can try the Raida -> forward dash -> cr.LP -> j.LK
It is unblockable on Akuma, so you can probably record it on him to be sure of your timing and then test on other characters
I started up a Google Docs spreadsheet to keep track of what I’ve tested:
It wasn’t too bad after I got the dummy to HK dash, then dash a bunch of times to always end up in the corner and do whatever setup I chose so that if the setup ends up in the corner, the dummy will automatically reset itself to push me back into the corner. After that it was a matter of just character selecting all day.
I forgot to test the cr.LP setup against reversals and stuff. If I have time to go back to it or if there’s a need for it I’ll finish that.
If anyone wants a certain setup tested, let me know and I’ll work it in sometime.
It was probably Sanford. I don’t know I have to spend time in the training room to figure out the maximum spacing I can have for EX neckbreaker’ing a Tiger shot. Since I’m not very familiar with Sagat I was not sure of those distances so in tournament I usually ditch everything I’m not 100% sure I can perform.
Just like Tsumuji loops. Next Level setups makes it VERY hard for me to land loops and unblockables consistently. So I would just go for basic combos (target combos everywheeereeee) on stream lol
It is usually: 4 offstream laggy TVs, including one more laggy than the three others (nightmare for me, I even try to postpone my matches if I have to play them on this one so I can play on a better one lol), and an ASUS nolag screen in the streamed station. So what happens every time is: i play 1h or more casuals on the laggy TVs, I get used to the lag, I loop everywhere (I played a good amount of casual matches against Lionheart in which I didn’t drop any double loop), then tournament start, I win or lose my 3 or 4 first matches and then I’m featured on stream and I can’t even time a kunai properly.
This used to drive me crazy, now I’m just trying to take it as it is: I am not good enough anyway to pretend to win one of those weeklies, so for now I mostly play to learn (and to get used to tournament conditions). A few weeks ago I lost to Spabrog’s Fuerte on stream and I litterally freaked out in the end of the match. I whiffed every single vortex setup I went for, I never got so angry playing a game ^^ so I just decided to play it cool for now
TLDR: you will probably not ever see my Ibuki as I usually play her on NextLevel’s stream (and Chris G is just incredibly awesome for being able to hit Sakura’s loops perfectly without playing any casuals before, whatever the screen lag is. I really hope I can reach this level of execution some day)
Why do you need crazy corner setups to be crazy? Most people fall for the corner cr.HP reset into kunai enough, and you already get unblockables on Sagat anywhere on the screen lol. Less emphasis on memorizing setups and more emphasis on making reads and outplaying your opponent.
Also, imo, if it’s not a (easy to time) safe jump or if it’s not an unblockable, then it’s not worth memorizing. If all you’re aiming for is ambiguity, Ibuki already has a bajillion options to achieve that, and some of them you can even just make up.
If you want to experiment with the periodic table (Ibuki Charts), you should try testing some of the unblockables where there is a blank (ie: not tested). That corner unblockable could work on other characters besides Akuma for example; this testing is a better use of time than finding fake crossups or un unblockables.
Or maybe spend time with the cr.HP kunai combo so we can fill out that chart. You’ll also get a chance to work on your cr.HP kunai execution while you’re at it.
Lastly, if you’re doing any sort of mass testing (eg: test setup on entire cast) I’d recommend you use some of the AutoIt macros so you can make a simple macro to pause training room -> switch to next character -> mash start during loading screen. Saved me a lot of time.
Technically you can double plink Sakura’s tatsu loops with cr.HP/LP/LK. Each of those should generally work. But I almost always see ChrisG go for the easy st.LP 2f link, instead of the cr.HP.
I keep trying to do the ballsy Safejump on Cammy (Neckbreaker > Forward Dash > Jump HP) but I keep getting hit out of it mid descent, what am I doing wrong?
“Most people fall” is absolutely different from “all people fall”. When in a lengthy set against any good player (ie. player who uses his brain when he plays), you’ll catch him once, maybe twice, no more. Ibuki’s corner setups are crazy and I find it a shame that I don’t use them anymore.
Moreover, the cr.HP reset into anything will often make you land in corner. Trust me, I wouldn’t EVER risk this against Seth or Fei Long for example, because if he blocks, I’m gonna be in trouble.
If I have some sort of guaranteed efficient setups, I’d gladly ditch the cr.HP reset in some cases.
Moreover, assume you play Sagat, do a corner double loop to EX Tsumuji -> cr.HP whiffs, you’d need 2 bars to do a Kazegiri FADC cr.HP to reset, so it’s not always the case.
Anyway, whenever you play in a long offline set against good players (which I do on a very regular basis), you can’t rely on just one corner reset.
): Same output, except that if she blocks crossup, you’d have a blockstring opportunity, so you can just slightly delay the followup. (Note: I tried with a st.LP followup. Maybe just a st.MP or even cr.LP will be enough to do the trick)
(and Chris G is just incredibly awesome for being able to hit Sakura’s loops perfectly without playing any casuals before, whatever the screen lag is. I really hope I can reach this level of execution some day)