Hey everyone,
I bought SFAE a while back, and I was messing around with a bunch of characters, trying to figure out who I wanted to stick with. I decided to go with Hyper Blanka, so I have a few questions.
First of all, I decided to stick with Blanka kind of early because I liked his attacks, range, and speed. I went with Hyper Blanka because I really liked his upwards ball attack since it hit on the way down also. I felt a few nice mindgames could be mixed in with that. Now, compared to the other Blankas, what’s the difference between them? I think Hyper is a huge upgrade over CE, except maybe in overall damage per hit. Super just felt like a downgrade, with nothing to really offer. Super Turbo has the super, the slide, and the easy combos into the Rolling Ball that Hyper doesn’t offer. So, besides those differences, what else is noticeably different about the versions?
And finally, can I just get some general tips? I usually use upwards ball to avoid fireballs because that keeps me in charge. Is that smart because I’m not sure. The competition I’m facing isn’t the greatest.
The main pokes I use are C.MK, C.FP, S.FK, and C.WK.
And… that’s about it, I guess. Any help is highly appreciated. Thanks.
HF Blanka is a wise choice. I also prefer him over the others.
Here is some random stuff…
Learn how to zone with him. His varying ball attack speeds will setup some ball into bite opportunities. You need to learn how to recognize distance and what speed to use to do so effectively.
If you connect with a ball attack on the way down immediately do the F. ball right after for a quick 2-hit dizzy. Assuming you’ve been buffering your next attack.
After ANY knockdown, ALWAYS ball attack next to your opponent and start your mixup game. You can do electicity, meaty double headbutt or knee or bait a wakeup and counter with a bite or whatever.
The key to using Blanka effectively is mounting a serious offensive once you get a small opening and stay on top of your opponent. He is one of the few characters that can beat you faster than a blink of the eye if you don’t pay attention.
Play these peeps for some Blanka 101. Maxstah and 10K Volts
I’m always game if you want to look me up. I use HF Blanka.
Hope this helps.
EDIT: Duh, Jake is right - HF Blanka recovery is sick. If you trade with anyone and you both fall down you can land next to your opponent BEFORE they get up and start your mixups. He’s THAT fast!
Thanks a lot for the info guys. I tested stuff out, and I can REALLY see the ball recovery difference between the Blankas. And Decoy, about using the ball to get next to the opponent to start my mixup game after a knockdown, that’s a great tactic and one of the first things I figured out early on.
And sorry guys, I can’t play you because I own SFAE for PS2 :karate:
yo decoy yea i’d say Rog is overall a horrible matchup for blanka just gotta get lucky with some good low fierces against rush attacks and score some random dizzies. against Bison I like the matchup as long as i’m not midscreen. If im’ anywhere near edge i can wait for the torpedo then if in corner go into fierce electric after he goes by and if done as reversal will hit every time or if just right outside of corner let him pass then get him with low rh as he recovers then into ball wake up mixup stuff. Lot of straight up and down jumping and ticking keeping him off his charge. DJ’s normals are just blanka killers in general. far screen jump short is bout only thing that’ll clean the dj upkicks. Basically gotta get in and once u do keep up the jump up down rh shananagins to keep dj off his upkick charge so you can keep the pressure on. Now Honda Personally I love that fight I think i’ve won about 95% of my online matches in this fight. Never jump at him(duh) always creep to about character length away then jump straight up and down Rh it’ll clean the headbutts and if he goes for the belly flop thing you’ll be out of range or in time to recover. Keep mixing up midscreen jump up and down with forward,rh to catch those headbutts. If yuou miss and he went by u can usually reach him with a far low rh and course ball into wakeup crap. Remember to throw in as many quick strong electricitys as possible cuz headbutt dies clean to it every time (except against sfII honda headbutts wtF)after some of your jumping up down rh’s ect. throw in few Stand shorts to hit a late headbutt clean also. Also after knockdowns i always do jump over fierce electricity on other side to keep his headbutt charge off. If the player is careless in general don’t use balls as anti air Use the back fierce lift normal as u can hit them with that then ball behnd them as they fall (strong ball) then time stand strong,electricity for a quick easy dizzy and good cheap factor.
Chunli yea its a bitch fight against jump short but again another matchup where the back fierce lift normal is a monster. In a bad lag game its impossible to use on reaction though. if she throws fb’s try to jump back and time it so that the fb dissipates and u land right into a strong ball. the chun player will usually f0ollow up wiht another fb which by time it comes out you have advanced with strong ball and can now jump in combo her for free wihtout her seeing it coming. then once in of course standard blanka 101 rules apply keep her off upkick charges ect with alot of Blankneto triangle jumping. Also she’s a great person to use the bite/tick bite trap against
Ball into bites is bigtime against most any character. Even though I know my spacing well enough with Blanka that I can land bites most of the time, there are 2 techniques I use as “spacers” to land it almost everytime.
When performing an attack string on your opponent in the corner, always end it with low RH. This move pushes you away to exactly the perfect distance to do a jab ball into bite. I’ve had people drop on me after this heh!
Whenever I don’t perform a low RH after an attack string. I might get random and do a J. ball attack. What you want is for them to block it so that you can repeat the move but the next time hit the fierce when its about to hit cause you will be chomping on their head lol.
A third more advanced technique requires for you to really know your spacing well. Disguise a bite attempt with jump back electric and make it look random. Then, the next time you jump back (remember, you have to know your spacing) don’t do the electric but instead do whichever ball attack will land the bite. Killer!
So what beats electricity on wakeup? I know that when I’m playing Balrog and someone does electricity to me while i’m waking up, I can’t get a reversal headbutt or super. Is that guaranteed or something? Or just really hard to hit? Can Blanka bully characters with invincible DPs the same way?
Rog has little options on wakeup - especially on Live. I have been grabbed out of electricity by Rog players if I’m right next to them as opposed to right on top when I start to do the electricity. Still, it’s tough. Besides, Blanka needs SOME advantage! He loses on everything else lol.
As for shotos it’s much easier to reverse. I get DP’d out of electricity on wakeup by some of the better shoto players on Live all the time. I still do it anyway cause it’s still like 60-40 in Blanka’s favor because they have to guess which side I’ll be on. I just play the odds. If I lose, I lost to a superior opponent.
Last night I played Fox Kids UK - one of the better shoto players on Live and I ALWAYS have a tough time fighting him. He keeps me at bay with firball after fireball (similar to DGV) and he makes it tough to get at him. Jump-ins are VERY risky cause I almost always have a jab DP waiting for me. I counter with early jump ins or c. F.P. exchange. I do electric meaty attacks on EVERY knockdown lol.
The reason i asked was because i can usually get a “reversal” message using the piano method, but i don’t think i’ve ever gotten it in that situation. Thanks for the breakdown.
fireball u using jab headbutt? i believe thats only one that’ll hit quick enough on wake up?
Decoy: yea ditto. I usually use the electricity when they get up if i know opponent sucks on reversals or if the opponent is good and i have a large enough lead in health i’ll test his reversal skills. Or against people like Tech Monkey and Endy who are 9 for 10 on wake ups i’ll just stop it right as they get up and let them reverse right on up and punish as they land.
Although Hyper Blanka is the best version of him I still think Blanka is a pretty weak character. I havn’t bothered reading every single post but Im just curious as to whether ppl on live use LP (jabs) against you, they are very effective against Blanka and Guile would give you alot of trouble too.
Jabs are effective against most characters not just Blanka. As for being weak? I would disagree. Most characters have bad matchups in AE: Hyper and Blanka has his fair share but he is far from weak. HF Blanka is more than a handful for most characters. In some cases he just plain dominates. (see Vega)
