Noticed not much talk about this SA and recently I’ve had a bug up my ass to use it. That and I’m bad at doing 360’s and I’m trying to overcome that.
Disadvantages: 3 frame startup. Not as free to use EX as you’d like but I’m going to argue this point later. Unlike Hugo Alex doesn’t have a really good special that leaves you in blockstun where he can keep pressuring.
Advantages: Alex has a legitimately scary move he can do on wakeup now. Throw range is extended to Hugo’s throw range. Massive damage. Can bait parries and cancel into it. Has total invincibility and can go right through Aegis.
It seems like it’s not used as much because of the longer bar but there doesn’t seem to be any difference in the amount of time it takes to build an EX. However, you don’t get as much EX to play with which can hurt his AA game and how he punishes.
But the two things I find interesting is the range Hyper Bomb has and baiting parries. For example: You knock them down, you do st.MK as they wakeup, they parry, you cancel into SA1, if they pressed a button than it’s GG. They can still jump out but how often does someone parry than jump? If you anticipate this correctly you can bully them all day with a loaded SA1.
Or they can just simply block the st.mk and then you dont have any advantage anymore : (
I think SA1 is shitty and is only good at punishing shit when parrying. Using a super that you can escape on reaction when you didnt press a button is imo as bas as using any other super in the game hoping that the opponent pressed a button. Not solid : (
I can never land this because you basically have to bait a parry. I was wondering though: how effective is it after a jump in parry? That one is easier to bait, but is it too slow?
if you mean parrying the other person’s jump-in move, it’s guaranteed if you can catch their vulnerable landing frame (meaning you do sa1 a bit early). they can’t escape it. but when the only way to land a super is to parry something, that’s how you know it isn’t good.
if you’re talking about doing a jump-in move, then the other guy parries it… well they can hit you before you can block or do anything. that’s one of the main repercussions when your air move gets parried. if the opponent botches their punish and you sa1 them, you lucked out.
Really the only parries I feel confident with are against Ryu’s fireball and dragon punch. My friend and usual opposition played Ryu, so I figured that out. But yeah, I see the point in not needing the parry to get the move out.
I don’t use this SA so much any more, now that I go with Stun Gun for all the ridiculous SF4 mashers who can’t be bothered to learn this game.
If I were to use it though, I’d be looking to Super Jump over them, and then bust it from behind, because if they stay on the ground and press a button, most likely they’ll get snatched. You can do a double dash up and input it as well occasionally. The trick is to blend in over rounds how you attempt it. If they’re jumping away in anticipation, do an EX Knee Smash (DP + KK).
I was honestly thinking of Stun Gun just because it mixes up the game plan and that’s what I need now until I’ve really got the game (and character) down. Alex has enough close range attacks that I’d rather be proficient with, and I don’t want a close in SA that temps me into using it too soon or doing something predictable.
Truth be told, I was never that great at this game. I mean I love the game, and I put this up there with Yoshi’s Island for two of the only games to ever be as close to perfection as games can get, but I know I’ve got a lot of progress to do now that I’m not just playing against a few friends.
The problem with Hyper Bomb and Stun Gun Headbutt are that they’re extremely risky/gimmicky to use on the opponent and the setups become extremely situational. For instance, doing the dash-up twice into Stun Gun setup requires that you know your opponent is going to commit to something. If he does, then congrats, you out-thought him. But chances are that you won’t get that opening. Alex’s dash, albeit very mobile, also leaves him wide open on his recovery. Beyond that, if you don’t land it, congrats, you lose momentum/eat a free combo if you were read/lose all your meter (which means no EX, which Alex is very dependent on).
No matter what anyone says, the gold standard is still to use SA2 because of the options it affords you. At the most basic, you can burn an EX and still (potentially) have a super in case you need to confirm close s.forward into it, etc.) Beyond that, EX Slash Elbow is too good of a reversal to pass up, EX Flash is always good, and… well, you get the idea.
If you’re moving around and pressing buttons though, he can bust an EX special and still build SAIII. The meter’s so short you can often get a couple of shots at it per round, and you only gotta land it once for sick damage. The jab version is a pretty good wake up as well. SAII can actually be way harder to land if you can’t hit it off crouch jabs, or random Slash Elbows. Doing it off stand forward is kinda easy to fluff as well.
This is XBL casual games of course, not the SBO grand finale I prefer actually using and landing a super (and a damn cool one at that) over just winning with EX moves.
If SA3 means developing good strategies for 3S’s wakeup game then that’s one reason to try it. I’m seeing a lot more benefit from having plenty of meter for the EX Splash Elbow though. Doing the trials, it’s a lot more feasible to get down the EX into SA2 than combos involving SA3.
well, this is a strategy forum. please understand that nobody is going to care what you do against scrubs online who have 10 minutes logged into the game. sooner or later those players will disappear and your anti-scrub strats would’ve been a waste of time to learn. it’s also incredibly ironic to refer to them as not bothering to learn the game when… yeah, i think you know where i’m going with this.
This works, but it’s not worth picking SA1 for. Cancel into SA2 in said situation and it’s also GG if the opponent pressed a button. Don’t forget about SA2’s mad invincibility.
And for the record, I don’t think you can jump out of that set-up because you can’t jump out of parry freeze. If someone parries your move and you cancel into Hyper Bomb, they need to do a move with invincibility, like Ryu’s EX shoryu. It’s not hard to do and if your opponent knows about Hyper Bomb they are much less likely to press a button as soon as they get the parry.
Maybe one would say, “That’s the point, to make people fear punishing you” but Alex doesn’t have Chun good normals to own people with, he needs that EX as stated previously in this thread (and elsewhere in this forum over a period of years), plus without SA2 you’re forfeiting good shit like your only damaging low combo that doesn’t whiff on crouchers and overhead into super. The only solid way to use Hyper Bomb is after parrying a normal that isn’t cancellable (because if you try to Hyper Bomb a cancellable move, once again the opponent can cancel into something that will beat it) which makes it a pretty crappy super in terms of versatility.
I played a match the other night where my opponent picked Stun Gun and I picked Hyper Bomb. I avoided all of the Stun Gun set-ups and there was only one chance I got to land a guranteed Hyper Bomb (after a parry) and by that point standing forward xx flash chop was enough to finish the job. Fun supers to fuck around with, though.
you can’t jump out during the freeze, but parrying a MK yields an additional +3 advantage before hyper bomb could be activated. you could jump during that. i believe you could also parry and immediately throw alex before he can cancel. the same rules work in reverse too: alex could get a guaranteed hyper bomb after parrying a normal (even if it’s cancellable) as long as you do the motion fast enough. not saying it’s good though.
If you’re practising for some kind of Evo Alex shocker, then good luck to you bro, but there’s many, many people who read these forums who just play fairly casually over the online networks. At that level, Alex is great fun to use and for sure, you can go with all 3 supers, just changing tactics around a little. SA1 is always gonna be a one shot deal with no EX though, certainly, but some people like that risk/reward element when they play. Indeed, 3s is full of guessing games, dare I say, yomi… that’s what keeps many of us coming back year on year.
I will admit they’re fun, but long-term play with those supers tends to build bad habits, IMHO. I mean, yeah, I dick around with SA1 and SA3 from time to time but I try not to let myself get used to them.
I prefer actually using and landing a super (and a damn cool one at that) over just winning with EX moves.