Well, time for me to admit I was a little wrong on Elena. I’ve been testing out some of her stuff in the lab again with a fresh perspective, and a lot of what you said is true. Namely:
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[]Seeing as LK Lynx Tail is completely safe on block (and MK Lynx Tail is safe to 5f reversals on block), you can set up ambiguous high low mixups at point blank range with some credibility. Add to this the insane frame advantage on cr. MP, and the 3f, standing, low-hitting beast of a normal that is st. LK, and you have a pretty good point blank situation. St. LK > cr. MP is a completely safe cross rush chain, which is kind of nuts (safe to 3f Ryu DP, probably not safe to Gief super). I had previously thought she didn’t really have much game at point blank range, but it’s increasingly not looking like that.
[]She really has decent damage coming off of her Mallet Smash, even meterless and without Cross Rush. MP Mallet Smash, st. MK > cr. HP, st. LK xx HK Scratch Wheel is 337 damage meterless off an overhead, which is really decent. It goes up to 388 in the corner, again, meterlss.I had previously thought she had no great ways to deal damage without Cross Rush, but that’s not looking to be the case.
[]She also has a nifty anti-low poke tool in HK, which jumps over lows and is linkable into st. LK on hit. This can also deal into a good bit of damage.
[]Elena also seems to have some great oki options, as after a Lynx Tail untechable knockdown she can corpse hop ambiguously with LK Rhino Horn and create a 50-50 left-right mixup that’s actually totally safe to reversals if you just block. She can also use LP or HP Mallet Smash to cross over the opponents on knockdown, although these are a bit slower. I had previously thought she didn’t even have an oki game at all.
[]She has decent ways to get past fireballs. Most of them can be ducked by her Slide, but some (like Guile’s Sonic Booms), you’ll need to use cr. HK to duck, then make your way forward.
[]Her anti-air normals are solid. st. LP and st. MP do good work, similar to Cody’s MP. You’re not going to terrify people like with Juri’s anti-air, but you’ll still keep them off.
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Some of her weaknesses are still glaring to me, though:
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[]900 life is really not very much AT ALL.
[]She seems like she’ll have a lot of trouble with pressure. Her Scratch Wheel seems to have no invincibility at all unless you use EX, so she’ll probably have to save her meter to get people off her. Her amazing backdash gives her some capacity to escape pressure, but it’s still not great.
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Yeah, I need to start using the Mallet Smash more often. Between Mallet Smash, her normal overheads, Lynx Tail, and her decent Cr. LK (which can be linked into Cr. LP for hit confirming a chain), she seems to have a good high-low game.
Also, today I found that Neutral J. HP is godlike as an air-to-air.
PS - I tried using Elena x Cody today with some success. If I can build a meter, do some chip damage or random hits, and then tag in to Cody with a chain, I’ve set up for a KO already. Following the switch and follow-up combo, if I do a jump-in (crossup MK or non-crossup HK), Cl. HP, Cr. HP, HP Criminal, Switch Cancel to Elena, do jumping Target Combo 2, cr. MP xx HK Scratch Wheel, it will KO 1000 health characters. In the particular matches where it happened, I only landed a Lynx Tail and some chip from Spinning Scythe before landing a clean hit. Just to show the potential of a team like this. Imagine Elena x Kazuya or Elena x any hard-hitter who benefits from meter, and you have a pretty scary team.
Glad to see people starting to realise how great Elena actually is. She’s a very versatile character and depending on who she’s partnered with she has the opportunity foeverett damage and OKI set ups. For example my favorite at the moment is (Law) shaolin spin kicks [switch] st.HP>st.HK, cr.MP xx H.Mallet Smash, M Mallet Smash. This gives a great roll reset and leaves Elena close to apply pressure. Another taste of what great stuff she has tucked away. Can’t wait to see wat else you guys find!
I guess to spark some life into the thread. With the announcement of a major balance patch on the horizon, what changes would you like to see for the african princess?
Yeah I still do, she rocks. This weekend I managed to get some matches in with top UK players (Taaha & Fuzzy both qualified for Paris) & Dawgtanian (UK Capcom rep) and convinced them how good she is lol. If you’ve got any questions I’d love to answer them and yes we definitely need to get the life back in this thread!
I think her TC should not whiff on crouchers. That would be nice to give her at least some damage on a croucher with a hit-confirm, since Rhino Horn already whiffs.
Also, maybe grab invincibility on Scratch Wheel. I hate getting grabbed out of it for some reason. Might not be necessary, but yeah.
And finally, make Mallet Smash less likely to crossup? It’s pretty effective as is, especially when canceled from a max-range St. LK, but meh, it would be nice. I honestly think Elena is pretty fair as she is.
Edit: Forgot, maybe buff her life. But that might be OP if she gets other buffs.
Yeah I think the developers have got to be careful not to make her OP as after spending quality time with her I can see she is really well balanced. I totally agree about the target combo change Links suggested though and I would also like to see her air target combo float the opponent a bit higher so I can combo more easily from closer to the ground (that’s just me being selfish though lol)
I think they should fix her throw range and hit boxes on c:mp: and I believe it was c:mk: I hate it when it’s obvious that part of the move is through the opponents body yet the shit doesn’t hit.
yeah I agree with that, it would improve some of her footsie abilities (although st.LP & st.HK are godlike already). It might also open up some new combo possibilities which I’m always up for
It’s not just the footsies I’m concerned with. It should be a general principle that if a limb touches (passes through a CHUNK of body) it should be hitting. I tested c:mp: and I got her foot and part of her shin to pass through kazuya’s leg. That shit is dumb. If they didn’t want her to reach so far she shouldn’t be so tall.
Aside from that anything that can make her links from c:mk: at max range connect all the time is more than welcome. S:hk: c:mp: and c:mk: are definitely her staple pokes
It’s not just the footsies I’m concerned with. It should be a general principle that if a limb touches (passes through a CHUNK of body) it should be hitting. I tested c:mp: and I got her foot and part of her shin to pass through kazuya’s leg. That shit is dumb. If they didn’t want her to reach so far she shouldn’t be so tall.
Aside from that anything that can make her links from c:mk: at max range connect all the time is more than welcome. S:hk: c:mp: and c:mk: are definitely her staple pokes
HK, which jumps over lows and is linkable into st. LK on hit. This can also deal into a good bit of damage.
lol. If you’ve got any questions I’d love to answer them and yes we definitely need to get the life back in this thread!