I’m not quite sure what you’re question means. But of course, if your opponent has 0 skulls, you’d go for a combo into IK rather than an SMP loop because Mudoon would kill them anyway, rather than reset proration and whatnot.
What’s the easiest way to get skulls to zero? 2C is helpful, and 236236B would be great, except it generally wastes meter. Also, best way to combo into Mudoon? Hamaon is an easy block.
I meant is there any way u can reduce the skulls to zero while doing this loop?
I havnt got the game yet due to UK release date so kinda just gaining knowledge…iv not yet seen the loop in a tournament setting yet
5AAA combos into Hamaon. For Mudoon, just go look at the full SMP loop list on Dustloop if you need routes, but pretty much anything can go into Mudoon.
No. Only the first fate-reducing hit in a combo takes Fate away (exception: 236236B). Therems not much reason to anyways, you’re probably going to kill the other player anyways.
Nice, does a lot of damage!
I have been trying to do this first combo because I figure it’s an easier start than trying to delve straight into the smp loops, but are you sure that it works midscreen? I was in training mode for awhile just trying to get 236B~D 665C to work and it never hit once. Do I need a counter hit, or is there some trick to the dash, maybe it’s character specific? Trying to do this on Chie it doesn’t look like that 5C is getting anywhere close.
I am 100% certain that it works midscreen on everyone. On the other hand, if you’re thinking that it’ll be easier than the SMP loop, you probably couldn’t be farther from right. Naoto’s IAD combos are far and away harder than SMP loops (for comparable damage and carry to an easymode Yu BnB).
Does it work the same on all the characters? Do we know anything about variability of character weight and hitboxes in this game yet? I have gotten the dash part to work on some characters but not others so is the timing different?
As far as getting down good BnBs, even if the SMP loops are easier than her IAD combos, SMP loops are situational, they need to be near a corner. If you are dead midscreen then what do you do? Should I focus more on carrying to the corner so I can have a chance to set up that high damage loop or should I go for the damage I can immediately take?
The timing feels be slightly more or less strict from character to character, but I don’t really remember having to grind out different timings once I learned to do the combo on characters with (vertically thin air hitboxes (Elizabeth, Naoto). I learned it by getting the timing to link a dash out of 236B~D down to muscle memory then figuring out how to visually time 5C by the location of the enemy character, and I think to some degree I still confirm it visually, just with less thinking about it. That’s pretty much how I approach every combo with a spacing dependent delay.
With extra meter, you can turn certain hits midscreen or even cornered into SMP loops (see the Dustloop thread). That said, you don’t always have the meter, hence IAD combos. They provide better damage than anything else she can do off of their starters for no meter, pretty good carry, and a chance at okizeme afterwards. If you’re not confidant in your ability to do 236B~D 66 5C, you can go for 236B~Cx5 instead, sacrificing oki, positioning, and a good chunk of damage, but avoiding the woes of whiffing 5C through an enemy you let tech.
Frankly, Naoto is a pretty technical character and there’s no real substitute for knowing your combos. Whereas (say) a Chie player can play Chie “correctly” without advanced combos (simple combos into okizeme work fine), utilizing Naoto’s simple combos will pretty much entirely prevent you from using the same style as top-level Naoto players; you will never get solid oki from a midscreen hit unless you learn IAD combos.
The best advice I can really give is to keep at it - learning the IAD combos off of common hits is a good place to start, just don’t expect them to be easy. I would probably recommend learning the throw starter SMP loop next, because that way you will be able to convert most every hit into damage (copy-pasted from Dustloop):
CD~C>236236D>214C>214D (214C hits)>236A~Bx1~D>2[C]>2B>5C>SMPx7>236A~D (50 meter, 5.7k damage) (Does not work on Teddie. Use: 236236D>214D>5AA>236A~D (214D hits)>2[C]>2B>5C>SMPx4>236A~D instead)
After that, just keep adding loops based on which common situations you notice in matches where you wish you could get more damage, pretty much.
At the very least, you should be able execute IAD combos off of ground traps when your opponent’s back is closer to the corner which is where I’m at right now but not 100% consistently yet due to some character’s weird hitboxes like Mitsuru. Unfortunately, I still can’t do stuff like double IAD combos when my back is in the corner, 665C correctly or linking 5C from a grounded 236B~D since my execution is so ass at the moment. 
However, here are a few (gimmicky) substitutions for not being able to perform IAD combos fully that you can use when you’re not confident in your execution at her technical combos are these.
(In the corner)
stuff > 236B~D > 5C > 236A~D > Oki
^ for when you’re not confident in pulling off IADs yet. At the very least you’ll get Oki
stuff > 236B~D > 5C > IAD > j.A/j.B > j.C > (D trap*) > airgrab reset
^ not 100% guaranteed
I hardly ever see top Naotos go into IAD combos off grounded 236B though. A lot of them will just go into sweep 236A~D, dash 214D.
I think getting the IAD combos off of anti air starters and trap starters is pretty important though.
Do you guys think that her SMP loop could work through a grab > C > mudoon??
Do grab -> mudoon -> 214C 214D (214C hit) 236A~Bx1~D (214D hit) 2[C] 2B 5C -> loop x7 236A~D (on every character but Teddie)
On Teddie, do mudoon -> 214D 5AA 236A~D 2[C] 2B 5C -> loop x4 236A~D instead.
Added a few new combos to the OP of the thread, including new meterless beginner combos (which still involve 236B~D 6[6] 5C… get used to that).
i can’t beat decent players with naotoo
So my thing with the smp loop is that I can’t seem to D trap, and I don’t know why.
I jump forward in the air, do the motion and it doesn’t come out 100% of the time.
I feel like a total billy badass landing this loop. Just trying to get it down from different starters that’s getting me. I can do it off a trap easily (actually, putting in a 2B, 5C to get the height gauged better at the start) but before I could play with it a little more from things like an air throw -> OMC to get it consistently my PS3 YLOD 
Kept trying to make my own variant of a corner throw -> SMP but it just wouldn’t work, need to try the one listed here instead.
So it still seems like people are still having trouble with the IAD combos, myself included. I can somewhat pull it off, as long as I know that the initial carry from the first IAD will bring my opponent into the corner, then it’s cake from there, but for the most part, I’m still playing a more mobile, zoning and IK reliant Naoto, which is not a wrong way to play her, in fact it was her “default” style in the first place, however if we are to continue playing this style, we have to understand that we’re giving up valuable opportunities for Oki and we must improve our neutral game in exchange.
/2cents
I can’t do the IAD or even SMP combos in actual matches yet, but that’s what practice is for.
I did read something over at Dustloop that I thought was a neat little mix up
I like the idea. I don’t know how far Naoto would be without practicing it myself, but as far as positioning goes there’s always dashing to get as close as you can. With that in mind, you should be good to perform decent punish combos. A couple of theory combo that come to mind is
2a > 5b > 5c > 236B~CCCCC
Or if you have the meter for it
2a > 5b > 5c > 2C > 236236D > Dash > 214 D > 2AB > 236A~D > D Trap hits > 2[C] > 5C > 236Bxn
Definitely something to experiment with.
Anybody have any advice against Shadow Labrys? Asterius just blocks bullets all day and he makes it pretty hard to set up traps around the stage. I’m also having trouble against Shadow Labrys’s IAD j.B and cross up j.B. Once she gets in it’s curtains, cause it seems like she can pressure and pummel Naoto for free. DP seems especially useless in this matchup.