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here you go people the first game is just me doing unblockable setups and what nots.
i can take questions too on specific setups~!
In the first unblockable set up, it seems like it’s after Bon Voyage wall bounce -> C -> C x Tenderizer x Charged Scoop? Is this correct? I was trying to figure out when to press the assist button in this particular set up.
For the dark hole set up, what do you do when your opponent rolls forward? I guess you can just release the charge but Dorm may have to take a bit of a beating.
Why does Firebrand always seem to die in every vid he’s in lol.
The dark hole setup is a gimmick and the timing for the wall bounce is kind of weird. That whole day I was just messing up everything, but the timing isn’t that hard just go to the lab and try it for yourself.
Running Firebrand/Spider-man/Strider.
The execution is hard as fuck. But this team makes the opponent unable to jump without a risk of being punished.
It’s either you stick to the ground or risk being knocked down by Vajara or taking 300k from Ultimate Web Throw.
Not sure if this is the correct place to post this or not, but whatever, feel free to move this if needed. Anywho, I’ve recently picked up Firebrand and have been using Zak Bennett’s team, however my Firebrand is free as shit. I have major mobility problems with him and can’t seem to move properly for the life of me. (And I do mean for the life of me) I always end up having Dormammu and Amaterasu clean up after the huge mess Firebrand leaves behind. Thoughts and possibly help on this?
Firebrand Flyer’s Ed 101:
HE = Hell’s Elevator
HD = Hell Dive.
DeM = Demon Missile
Air Mobility.
214M (Hell Dive M) is your main screen crossing flight mechanic. In order to safely cross full screen use 2 HDM’s + Flight. You can actually kara-cancel Hell Dive M (wait until just after the animation ends) into Air Special for a very fast overhead that moves firebrand across the screen diagonally. Using this kamikaze technique allows you to catch ground based opponents off guard and potentially snag an assist in the meantime.
214L (Hell Dive L) is essentially your aerial break pedal. Whenever you want to get back to the ground quickly use HDL to do so.
214H (Hell’s Dive H) is a feint that is used to either evade certain attacks or escape from pressure. Rarely will you use this attack though.
Flight - Firebrand’s flight isn’t all that great for mobility since he can’t airdash. But it’s a good move that prolongs his air time. You should use flight to fly over Hypers that your opponent is trying to snag you with. Ex. Akuma’s beam. Also Flight extends how many air moves (Hell’s Spitfire) Firebrand can perform.
236S (Bon Voyage) - This will be your main pressure attack from the sky. Bon Voyage has massive priority and is just beneath the level of Dive Kicks. Also the move grants +10 advantage on block meaning you have a good chance to mix-up the opponent.
Ground Mobility
623M (Demon Missile M) - This move is how you will be traveling across the ground most of the time due to the fact that it screen swaps AND ignores Advancing guard. Call a Dagger/Beam/Arrows/Drones/Vajara/Web Ball etc assist to cover Firebrand as he moves.
623H Uncharged (Demon Missile H) - Thrown in this move to mix-up the opponent every once in awhile. It’s unsafe on block but due to it’s awkward angling and speed it throws the opponent off guard if you use it sparingly.
Safety -
Firebrand has very short ranged normals and heavily depends on his slide to get hits in. But his slide is very unsafe on block. So learning how reaction cancel the slide into Hell’s Elevator L (214L) on block is a crucial step in mastering firebrand. From HE L you can cancel back to the ground using HDL after the opponent whiffs their counter move. Or you can do a little zoning from the sky using (236M Hell’s Spitfire). Finally, 2H is always an option as well. But smart opponents know how to air grab so learning how to breakaway is another key aspect of this set-up.
Offense
Frame Trapping - Firebrand has a nice frame trap using his St.L jab. Against a cornered opponent don’t spam the move but tap it at a rhythmic pace. You have a big chance at counter hitting the opponent and getting into a full combo.
-Note Firebrand’s standing jab is +6 on block. His Cr. Jab is only +1. Use standing when you can.
Unblockable set-ups - One of Firebrand’s best aspects is using a fully charged Demon Missile H to break defense since it’s an unblockable move. Basically, any unblockable set-up involves a pinning assist -> charging -> release -> combo. So it’s not very hard to do. Also learning how to snap-back is a key aspect in Firebrand’s gameplay. In my opinion, he deals too low damage in order to let people escape and recover health.
Counter Hitting - Air Bon Voyage is amazing counterhit move that is essentially a mobile air grab. But you need to know what it loses to and what it wins against.
From my observations.
Air Voyage generally loses to Dive Kicks if both moves hit at the same time.
Wins against most physical aerial moves.
Loses against all projectiles
Loses to Joe’s Pizza Cutter.
Loses to Haggar’s Pipe (Haggar really has no hurtbox during that move)
Loses to Spider Sting (That move has such derp priority it’s nearly invincible)
Beats Hulk’s Armored Fist IF Firebrand strikes between frames 1-3? Anyway he has to hit before the armor activates.
Defense -
Firebrand lacks alot of defensive options besides trying to counterhit/outspeed an opponent when cornered. So having a high priority/invincible crossover switch thingy is always helpful.
Well those are some basics, hope they aid you.
Your team has great potential as evidenced by Zak. But I feel Firebrand needs a dagger-like assist to cover his ground mobility. I’m experimenting with three teams at the moment.
Firebrand/Dorm/Arthur
Firebrand/Spiderman/Strider
Firebrand/Wolverine/Sentinel.
This is going to help tremendously, greatly appreciate this. Just another quick question, what are some safe blockstrings for Firebrand?
He really has no “safe” LMHS blockstrings. Since his Launcher is -12 on block and his slide is -10 on block. You’ll have to condition yourself to cancel slide into Hell’s Elevator L. Practice in training mode against a CPU just transitioning from a combo when slide hits. And using Hell’s Elevator L when you see the blue block “shield”.
Once you start getting this down, Your Firebrand will stay alive much longer. Since I’m guessing that you’ve realized that many times after doing an LMHS string you get counterhit when the opponent recovers.
His standing heavy is pretty good though but since it pushes the opponent away, He’ll most likely whiff with Launcher. I would just practice what I mentioned.
I reckon it’s best just to learn to hit confirm from LM, and add more Ls if you feel you need more time to react. Blockstrings outside of assist setups aren’t that important anyway because of advancing guard. Cancelling into Hell’s Elevator should not be relied upon outside of specific setups and gimmicks IMO as it is pretty unsafe if your opponent has familiarity with Firebrand.
But repeated L jabs pushes him farther from the opponent. I say canceling into Hell’s Elevator L is a great way to make slide safe without losing distance momentum… Besides most people can hardly react to it like a CPU can. Also LMS isn’t always gauranteed. Before I started slide canceling I noticed that sometimes the opponent would recover before S hit.
What’s your gameplan when using Firebrand? That would probably help us in figuring out what and where you can improve.
I usually stay full screen to get a feel of the opponent’s gameplan. I’d chuck horizontal fireballs in ground and the air to see how they approach.
If i feel confident I can outmanuever him, I start super jumping and
- chuck M.Fireball x 2
- air dive. M
- H or S or Bon Voyage
Air Bon Voyage has really short recovery frames if you land on the ground after it’s blocked, so can quickly mash out cr.L safely.
If the opponent blocked my approach, I would end the L,M,S block string into Demon Missile M to reset the distance, or Demon Missile H to ready for another approach.
Rinse and repeat!
Throw assists here and there to keep the opponent locked down, ideally before you do the Demon Missile so your escape is covered.
I mean just learn to hit confirm off LM, then go into 5HS or 2HS or whatever. Hit confirming is not that hard in this game.
Well, I normally just superjump then either do Fireball M/Air Dive M and then attempt for a Bon Voyage. I also do stuff like, call Ammy assist then Demon Missle M. I can open people up fine (for the most part), I just don’t feel confident enough in my air movement with Firebrand, it feels extremely clunky to me.
You gotta practice your flight controls. Also Low altitude bon voyage > High altitude bon voyage.
What exactly are you struggling with?
So is TK Bon Voyage any good? (Or TK anything, really.)
I think I might change to Firebrand [???], MODOK [Psionic Blaster]. Amaterasu [Cold Star] because Firebrand’s air resets will let MODOK get in his TAC TODs, which only work in the corner (good thing Bon Voyage puts you there!).
Also Amaterasu is pretty good for the both of them (Firebrand synergy is obvious), especially because MODOK can be really tricky with his hard-to-blockable puddle high/low self mix-ups plus Cold Star probably lets him land Jamming Bombs or cubes.
Is Skrull [Tenderizer] better than Amaterasu in the anchor spot for that team? (Just wondering…)
Right now, I think I’m just lacking in practice or actual match experience with my Firebrand. But, everything takes time, so hopefully I can be less of a fraud once I put in that required time.
Also, what exactly does TK Hell Dive M do for you?
Nothing really, IMO. Firebrand already has an instant overhead with J.L
In search of my Firebrand team, I’ve actually used this one for a bit. The TAC Cube loops was the main attraction for me as well because of, as you said, bon voyage sets it up pretty well. The problem I had with this team is that this TAC and the raw tag combo is basically the extent of the synergy between MODOK and Firebrand. TACs, as you know, are not at all guaranteed, and MODOK can really only pick between up and down exchange for this, for the side exchange variant of the loop is admittedly difficult. Final note on the TAC cubes: It can be extremely finicky at times depending on the character you’re performing it on, and your plink flying and timing should be totally on point when attempting this.
Psionic blaster is a pretty poopy assist for Firebrand, for one almost the entire cast can duck under it. Additionally, it’s really hard to confirm off of it on the fly because the hitstun on it is so brief and MODOK can get popped pretty hard if you don’t protect that assist. Shield and Balloon bomb do even less for Firebrand’s neutral game.
Firebrand and MODOK both benefit greatly from Amaterasu’s cold star, if you run this team you’ve definitely picked the right assist to back those first two up. But MODOK benefits so much more from having two assists and being on point in my opinion.
These are just my notes, you should try and make it work if you’re willing. Maybe you’ll discover something I wasn’t able to. I invite you to steal this:
Midscreen: Some MODOK combo that leaves a wall bounce > cr. M slime > Hyper battering ram (3 hits) > DHC Luminous body > Bon voyage to corner carry > S > Magic series > TAC ^ or v > Cube loop > Hyper Psionic Blaster > DHC Dark Fire.
Btw, If you’re successful in the TAC after a full firebrand combo you should get something around 1.08-1.13m damage.
I am working with a new Firebrand team currently and I would like to have suggestions and opinions on it. This team consists of Firebrand with Hell Spitfire, Morrigan with Shadow Blade and Dormammu with Liberation.
Also, I would like to know what is the best assist of Firebrand in general.