To be blunt, Frank doesn’t fit the criterion you’re looking for and Task/Akuma do a poor job of fitting Frank’s criterion.
Hey just curious your respective opinions on something: If I hypothetically had a Fr4nk We5t (ie. already leveled) with one assist, a. what could/should it be? b. Would that be so tragic for him?
I’ve just always though of Frank wanting both a good neutral assist (beam, missiles, lockdown, yadda yadda) and something good for incoming (Jam Session, Tenderizer, whatever), but the only assists I can really think of that can make any claim to doing both are, like, Jam Session, Tatsu(?), hell, maybe even Doom Rocks lol (since they technically touch incoming)
Anyway, my random idea (which likely isn’t new or anything) is Morrigan Frank Someone, since Morri is easy as shit to land hits with, and can do the ol’ TAC to Frank for level-up stuff with Astral. For now let’s not worry about what kind of assist(s) Morri needs, my concern at the moment is that post-level-up, Harmonizer doesn’t do a whole lot to help Francis land hits (and don’t much want DP).
Jam Session COULD be a coup, since Whorri likes it a whole lot as well, but is Jam that good for Frank in neutral? I know it’s the sheeit for incoming, but I feel like I’d prefer a Plasma Beam or something for jockeying for position and such (which, in turn, isn’t so great for incoming). If Frank can function with just missiles, that’s probably a slam dunk, but I feel like he wants something more immediate if limited to one assist, no? So really, the Frank piece of the puzzle comes down to those 2 questions:
- Can leveled Frank be strong with one assist?
- If so, which one(s) does he want?
I would personally suspect that Frank and Morrigan would detract from each other’s objectives. Not to mention Morrigan’s poor ground mobility would make capitalizing on shopping cart difficult methinks.
As for your other question, to me a good Frank team has something to round out chainsaw Frank’s (limited) weaknesses, which is mostly zoning/keepaway. having lockdown is certainly useful, but he can already do that pretty well on his own once he gets in. Combo extenders are welcome, but a good knowledge of Frank combos can make it so you should get respectable damage off pretty much any confirm. As for incoming, usually you can find a way to mixup with just about any assist, whether it’s lockdown or just doing an ambiguous left/right with a projectile.
The template I personally like (and use) is having a point character assist that can help extend and hopefully do something in coming, whereas the anchor assist is coverage. In my case that’s Centurion M (lets you tack on tools M x1-2 at the end of combos and does mixups on incoming) and Log trap (derp a derp left rights + coverage + lots of durability).
Eh, regarding morri and frank stepping on eachothers toes, I’m still willing to give it a shot. I’m thinkin plasma, jam, or missiles makes most sense. Any idea if lvl 4/5 frank can function with missiles? Like, can he adequately protect a missile call with no other assist to mix it up with?
If we are to assume morri frank xxx works (which may be an incorrect assumption, but let’s roll with it while still in theory land), missiles would be a windfall if they’re good for leveled frank. If that’s too greedy tho, plasma and jam should work just fine id think.
Wow, was very surprised to find that the TAC into photo xx Astral into hard tag doesn’t work! If it does, the timing must be extremely tight, as I failed it 6 out of 6 attempts. While it’s possible it was just me (and I was online), I tend to get it every time w/ other install supers, so I’ll verify in training, but tend to think it just doesn’t work.
Try team BWcool, Morrigan/Vergil/Frank, her otg into swords DHC gives you easy levels, you can even extend after the lunar phase with cr.H fH round trip tag in Frank knee drop.
Vergil is Vergil, you get a bunch of good anchor material. And Vergil can use cart like his other crossup assists. Also, Morrigan’s use for cart is when she forces them to block a shell kick, I think, you can probably keep going for high/lows after Frankie carts them. Zone with rapid slash, once you get a hit Frank is in gaining meter for two people who are broken as hell with it. Soul Fist has high durability, so that might be fun too as an assist.
This is a great idea. lol Though the combo you mentioned requires corner for that whole cH f+H RT thing, is there a way to still level up if Morri’s combo ends mid-screen? Is BWcool a player? Or just a nick-name you gave the team? Would be sweet if there’s reference video of the team in action.
The main downside is it leaves Fr4nk We5t with only a Rapid Slash neutral assist, which is kinda crappy midscreen. But the benefits may outweigh the negatives, since Shopping Cart is probably Vergil’s best crossup assist (for anyone not aware, Vergil sL+cart xx M tele is such a perfectly timed crossup, it’s nearly unblockable. Like, you can know it’s about to happen, and still are getting hit). In fact if leveled Frank can make for a good anchor (ie. no assists) then this becomes even better.
Edit: Checked out some of BW’s games. I dig it, though he does rely on double TAC, which seems a bit risky. Though I’m probably less adverse to that than most. I definitely advocate the use of Soul Fist assist for this squad though. Very nice stuff 
Good work, Duke, thanks!
To do Astral Vision as a double picture super you need to do the DHC when Frank hits the opponent up, not when he hits them at the end.
That makes some sense, thanks! I guess that indirectly begs the question if a leveled up Frank can function at a high level with missiles and only missiles. I do kinda dig the Soul Fist assist, and definitely dig BW Cool’s team as discussed above, but if missiles-Fr4nk We5t is self sufficient, Morri Frank Doom could be a coup.
Frank Missiles is really good, it’s why i went so long back when i had the Doom team playing Nova/Frank/Missiles, he can protect missiles really well with zombies and f+H and he can cancel stuff into super if people get too greedy trying to punish. On incoming you can pretty much guarantee nearly 200k chip as a bare minimum. It’s basically an oppressive wall shell that forces people to act. You can also use Missiles as a late combo OTG to get the Tools M ender.
Frank can definitely function with one good assist, but the more i play him, the more i feel like he needs an assist to convert st.M f+H into a full combo, as pointed out in Zansam’s excellent video, st.M is the button that almost no one in the game can deal with. If you don’t have that and you’re forced to commit to j.M or going in for roll mixups, then you’re in range of other people’s bullshit and that’s giving up your advantage.
Interesting write up, sottle. I missed it when you posted it. Really sucks srk no longer notifies you on a thread by thread basis.
Anyway, I was watchin some of bwcools stuff, and that level up off a dhc to corner swords opens up sooo many doors (I’m sure its not new, but id never seen it personally). As such, I’ve been playin a lot of mag vergil frank! You don’t see much magneto frank but god dayum is cart a good lockdown for magnus. And any touch assures lvl 5 even with my non-grav-loop scrubbiness. If there wasn’t a 5 level cap, mag could put frank at level 8 with ease lol
So I was wondering if anyone had some exp with disruptor-frank. Its great for roll mixups, though I’m still working on the timing to make the beam work with cH (timed wrong the pop up makes cH whiff). Though based on what sottle said ill have to look into how disruptor interacts with sM.
What do u guys think? I love the frank teams where franks in the back but still levels when the point hits.
You have good hard tag setups from Mag as well with Hyper Grav and air dash down S to hard tags. He can also set up magnetic shockwave out of the corner into a whiffed survival techniques with Frank.
As for disruptor, I think the tech that I found with Firebrand’s charge should work. I do jump S/H into cLcM(call FB)sHxxQCB+L it puts them in the air for three jump loops and leads to some great damage. (Using Iron Man and Firebrand assists and one meter to start I managed to do 1 mil from a jS and get level 5)
Wow nice ill have to try that! Also, had no idea mag could level directly.
Does no one read the Frank West Level Up Strategies first two posts?
Do you guys still feel that Joe, Frank, Coon is still a solid team for frank? or is it starting to age?
Replace Joe with his grown ass man version and I’d say you’re in business
Hey guys, I’m interested in the Frank/Ammy shell. I know they have lots of great THC synergy and whatnot, but on a scale of 1-10, how screwed is Frank when the point character dies? How does the shell compare to, say, Frank/Jam Session? Thanks.
The air control Jam Session offers is pretty valuable, but Cold Star is a great assist overall even so. It’s slightly slower to come out (something like 4-5 frames IIRC) which I actually kind of prefer for roll mixups. It is, however, not as good as a combo extender because it interacts differently with hit stun. I haven’t used it in a long time, but I’m prettyyy sure that at really high HSD an opponent flips out when you try to extend. For a simple relaunch where you’re trying to save your ground bounce it’s never a problem, though. The combo’s actually easier than it would be with Jam Session. In neutral for Lvl 1 Frank it’s not as good because it’s slow enough that someone walking into it wont’ be terribly common and you won’t have roll. Be careful with your calls for sure, but you’re by no means screwed if you use it. Since its range is good, you can gain an easy level 2 with some good spacing and a (call Ammy) raw Camera Shot x2. It’s pretty easy to catch an advancing opponent with a picture and Ammy makes you safe (if the opponent isn’t superjumping) while also giving enough hits to toss you a quick level 2 if your shot connects. That lvl 2 roll can make a big difference if you have a good lockdown assist, so having an easy way to get it is pretty clutch. Catch an assist and you get level 3 with no effort at all.
Ammy has two really big advantages over Dante, by the way. 1) You can actually DHC into Okami Shuffle to kill if Frank doesn’t finish the job. Million Dollars is so absurdly long that DHC’ing into it guarantees you won’t have enough time to even acid rain vs incoming let alone tag Frank back in. It’s a truly awful DHC. 2) Veil (Vale?) of Mist is an incredible DHC for Frank. Since your Frank combos are usually going to build more than 2 bars, you can pretty much always DHC into Ammy after a kill to slow and tag Frank back in for the incoming mixup. Lvl 4/5 Frank + VoM is criminal and should always be abused.
Thanks a lot for the quick reply, man. I’ll def give it a shot, sounds like some fun tech
Definitely! I just went to the lab and messed with it and you can rack up enough HSD to make them flip out of cold star, but you really have to push it harder than would be necessary to kill IMO. Shouldn’t be an issue
Also, I didn’t record a throw on the dummy, but it seems to me like the gap between the first hit of cold star and the main cluster is just long enough to give you a roll mixup and just short enough to keep you from being vulnerable to throws if you start with the right string. That could be wrong, but it’s possible. That’d be pretty badass and the block timing would be incredibly difficult. At the very least the only way out of it would be a very well-timed throw.
EDIT: Also Ammy is amazing as one of the rare characters (like Dante) who can both level Frank by THC and by DHC+hard tag for an extra picture. I can’t begin to describe how important that is for getting level 4 vs low health characters.