yeah I remember him mentioning those things on the stream. Still in the lab and found that there is no point using more than one bar to switch cancel with Elena the extra damage gained is generally not worth it, instead it’s prob better to get a hard knock down and go for reset or build meter (LK Lynx Tail whiff). Here’s an example of what I mean:
Law > Elena > Law corner combo does 495 damage 2 bars
Law > Elena corner combo does 441 damage 1 bar + practical mixup
Is 54 dmg for 1 bar worth it? Probably not, I’ve been finding this a lot with Elena combos.
450 ish with 1 bar seems to be her best damage so far
Shame about the rhino/mallet enders although the hard knockdown rhino gives is proving useful as you generally recover quicker than your opponent.
You can still roll reset an oponent after a rhino horn with another rhino horn, but the timing is much trickier. Problem is, you can choose to end on the horn and get the roll reset or get more damage with hk wheel and lose a strong okki setup.
As to what Mr. Hunter was saying, b.hk st.lk cannot combo when it hits the very tip of shoto c.mk, so it is hopeless against godly c.mks like Christie’s. It can still combo a little closer, but it means you cannot punish them safely and follow up. F.mk can also punish shoto c…mk at a safe range but you cannot get anything from that either.
As for practical damage it does happen: either going into HK Lynx for moderate and good positioning, or if you add meter normal scythe tc or ex scythe c.mpxxhk scratch.
As for HK Lynx tag cancel, it still looks very tricky to continue the combo from, but I can do it with King’s knees into Bomb, so I am a happy clam. If people give me characters they think work well with her, I can test.
Imo, I never really see the use of 2 bar tag cancels unless it leaves you in a good position and deals significantly more damage. That extra bar people use to squeak around 100 damage at best more can be used to save your ass with a cross cancel or safe tag cancel or extend your next combo after you win the oki you earned from the better positioning. If you want double switches try to find ways to juggle into raw launcher. Maybe I will try that next.
Had a quick look at juggling into raw launcher, ex mallet smash looked good but it eats juggle potential for breakfast so you use it in a combo you lose the ability to raw launch of it it’d be interesting to see if she could do it off other moves though. Btw I’m liking her a lot more now that I know wat she’s all about she’s not as bad as I first feared and a good partner for my Law, although not as good as Juri right now but time will tell, I’m fairly optimistic
Elena’s Sweep(cr.hk) and her Slide(df.hk) can dodge fireballs. I’m not entirely sure who else’s since I only tested on Ryu a while ago, but I’ve had success getting at Ryus and Kens online with those moves. Also I know for a fact that her HK Mallet Smash hops over fireballs including Guile’s if timed correctly, I think it’s sorta strict but once mastered it’ll prove to be a viable tool against projectile spammers along with her normals.
Messing around with st.LP as an AA, pretty impressed you can juggle another st.LP followed by a cr.HK for a hard knockdown (around 170dmg). I know it’s possible to cancel st.LP into a special but I know for a fact I’d drop that in a real match, the window for this AA is much mre relaxed and ths more practical for me personally
Probably known to everyone, but Rhino Horn can punish raw tags from an entire screen away. Near farthest you cannot followup with hk wheel and farthest only the second hit hits (wheel works in corner for both though), but both result in one of her best hard knockdown situations so if you can outdo their point and you know your oki well, Elena can put them in great danger early on.
So yeah, probably only especially useful against those who raw tag full screen, but there are quite a few of those online
You’re talkng about EX right? If so yeah I’ve found that pretty useful, also if you’ve got the meter to spare you can switch cancel it for some pretty gud damage depending on your team (one if the few times I think it’s worthwhile to spend the bar). Makes it a risk to raw tag on Elena, more fear the better lol
Actually you can get the fulll screen punish from the HK rhino, it seems. At least, it hits recorded opponents raw tagging and holding back immediately. Id use ex only if you are close enough to get the full move and are near the corner, since it knocks them too far to roll reset, though like the others it still allows for cross rolls.
Yup, hcf.HK xx st.MK > st.HP xx cr.MP xx hcb.HP (334 dmg, hard knockdown) HP Mallet gives slightly better recovery than Rhino. I agree with you about the EX scythe though deffo not worth the meter especially when you can get goo damage off normal.
Just fell in love with Elena all over again after finding this practical roll reset (210 dmg, costs no meter, works post launch or can be switch cancelled into, makes for a great combo ender)
[media=youtube]C_A2crGwDXk[/media]
Elena can also perform this roll reset herself:
hcb.MP xx cr.MP xx qcb + KK xx st.MK > cr.HP , hcf.HK
(352 dmg 1 bar)
Guess there’s light at the end of the tunnel after all.
Also made a quick primer for Elena’'s normals, unique and special moves check it out here:
Poo, I did not post that one? Anyway, congrats on all the stuff you have found in such little time. Unfortunately I do not think Elena is going to make the cut for me (sakura is King’s dream partner), but you are making the separation more difficult.
The crazy thing is I was set on dropping her earlier today, was getting frustrated because nothing seemed to be working, but for some reason I decided to stick with her for a little bit longer and found this shows you should never give up on a character you like (shoulda figuired that from Vulcan’s Yoshimitsu lol). Glad you’ve found a fit with Sakura I’ve heard good things about her. This has got my creative juices going so expect more stuff soon!
Nice finds bro. You’ve really been putting in some work! Glad you haven’t given up hope, that reset looks pretty nasty. I’ve been lurking in this thread for a while now seeing some of the stuff you’ve found out and I gotta say I’m impressed. Man, I gotta get my creative juices flowing again so I can figure out how to play Sakura properly…ugh all this training makes my head hurt o_O
Anybody out there still using Elena? I’m really liking her and have found some good tech (roll resets, safe counter store opportunities, safe tag opportunities etc) but what I’m suffering with is her neutral game. At the moment I’m mainly getting in by looking for opportunities to safe slide then doing wake up mixups. It’s been working pretty well but I’ve been getting blown up by smarter players who adapt to this strategy, I’m also relying on jump-ins WAY too much
If you could give me some advice on the following I’d be really grateful:
How do you start and maintain decent pressure with Elena? The lack of range on her normals means she isn’t much of a threat unless she’s really close to her opponent and once I’m in I’ve found her normals are not really that intimidating.
How do you Elena players deal with rush down/heavy pressure characters? At the moment my Elena is pretty free to characters like Heihachi & Hugo since she as no “get off me move” and has to get close to do damage. I struggle to keep them out and if i get in i usually lose to their normals and end up eating big damage.
Which pokes/hit confirms are most useful? I’m mainly using cr.MP & st.LK but the range on them isn’t great.
Any help or advice you guys could give would be great. Elena has great potential once she’s in I just have to find a safer, more effective way to get in & stay there and hopefully you guys can help with that
Update: spent some time refining my setups, roll resets and other stuff. It seems Elena & Law have great synergy (they complement each other well and I even managed to come up with some nasty resets) anyways let me know if you want me to post, this boards gone all quiet at the moment and Elena still has as of potential to unlock! Let’s get things going again.
This was likely already found out, but doing a scratch wheel immediately after a blocked Lynx Tail will catch anyone trying to jab out of it, but unfortunately is still prone to reversals. Makes many characters more honest in their blocking.
it’d be interesting to see if she could do it off other moves though. Btw I’m liking her a lot more now that I know wat she’s all about she’s not as bad as I first feared and a good partner for my Law, although not as good as Juri right now but time will tell, I’m fairly optimistic 
Man, I gotta get my creative juices flowing again so I can figure out how to play Sakura properly…ugh all this training makes my head hurt o_O