As I’ve been playing Elena I’ve noticed that against anyone who blocks, it’s not always easy to get Elena’s SA2 in there. The two hit confirms that I’ve spent time with are cr mp and jump in roundhouse. both of which just get blocked or parried (respectively) most of the time.
So what is the best way to get people to eat SA2? I had a couple ideas, maybe you can tell me if I’m barking up the right or wrong tree:
make them so deathly afraid of kara throws that they start whiffing throw on close situations or wake up and then I can get the cr mp into SA2.
stand in front of them at a close-ish range trying to get them to hit a button so I can parry and then do my thing.
In the ballpark? Is there more as well? I’m leaning towards just discarding the jump in RH into SA2 altogether, I can’t think of any way I can make that work that isn’t really obvious.
The only other useful one I’m aware of is the UOH into SA2. If I understand correctly this has to meaty on a crouching opponent to work, right? Which means I can only use it on their wakeup or on a reset?
I don’t really understand what you’re asking us, cause it feel like you have problems with the fundamentals of the game and not the character. Read the 3s wiki to find what you can hitconfirm into super, learn to punish stuff on whiff and block.
Okay I can already use it as a punish. I get use out I’d it off whiff/block/parry already. I know what cancels into sa2 already. This is not a fundamentals question. I’m asking how does Elena’s sa2 function in the neutral game if at all. Since its never a high low mixup.
uoh doesn’t have to be on a crouching character or meaty. it just has to hit late in the animation, and that can be achieved under normal grounded conditions as long as it’s spaced properly.
#1 isn’t one specific scenario. it’s more like 95% of what elena wants to accomplish in a nutshell. if the opponent doesn’t fear kara throw, they aren’t going to have problems defending against other things that are dependent on them being afraid of it. that’s also one reason why b+hk is so good. crushes low tech and beats throws in one move.
#2 is a little vague. it depends on the opponent. standing just outside of throw range hoping to parry something is more or less a roll of the dice unless you’ve conditioned them to expect certain things or if they have obvious patterns. you don’t want to be guessing, you want the other person to be doing that.
most supers in 3S don’t really have their own neutral game. usually, they’re just damage extensions of things you would have already been doing. iirc one of her command overheads can also link into sa2 if it’s really meaty. but this doesn’t mean you change the way you fundamentally play. it’s just that certain options might become a little stronger once you have meter.
Cool thanks. That’s what I needed to know! Sounds like if I’m gonna keep exploring Elena I better get those Kara throws working. Supers being an extension of what I was already doing, that makes sense. I’ve been basically looking for opportunities to throw it out. It feels like other characters I play (Ken/Chun) have a lot more options when it comes to their SA. Mixups that lead to it either way etc. Can’t approach Elena quite the same way I guess.
*Exactly. They have stronger more varied options that leads to good damage compared to Elena. Redparrying, parry bait, whiff punishing and making people fear the throw is how I get my confirms into sa2. Plus sa2 isn’t very fast so you can’t reversal many moves with it like you can with Jinrai or Houkensen. Elena offensive pressure is more like throw/hit instead of high/low/throw which she has but her low options are rather paltry. *