The thing about Akuma’s Tatsu is that it doesn’t go full screen so it’s horizontal range is a little limited. It’s a great ‘get off me’ assist and it works well with Dante but I think you should try Doom’s Plasma Beam as well since it blows up a lot of other assists and is great to call during a forward or back roll and will help full screen as well.
If i went with doom I’d probobly go Missiles as i feel that’s a better assist overall, but the beam gives nice options for dante. And yes, the akuma tatsu was mostly a choise for get the F off me.
Chris Boulder Punch, Dante Weasel Shot Strider vajra. each character will benefit from said assists.
If you will use Hawkeye use Poison Tip to pressure with chip damage or use Triple Arrows to help Chris take control.
Hi all I’m a recent Chris convert and I was hoping you guys could help me out.
The team I’m thinking of using is Chris (Machine Gun) Frank (Shopping Cart) & Strider (Vajra)
I. Do Frank and Chris have good Synergy in getting Frank to lv. 4 or 5?
II. If Frank and Chris don’t play nice I’m willing to drop Frank for another character (except Sent.) who would you suggest to combat Chris’ weaknesses?
III. Do you see any glaring weaknesses to my team? (I know Strider’s damage isn’t fantastic)
Thanks for all your help!
This specific team has a kill combo that almost builds a bar, so that’s always a plus. I think Shopping Cart is good for Chris since it comes out so quick and functions as a ‘get off me assist’. You can get about two flamethrowers off any hit with Chris (with this team) so leveling up Frank shouldn’t be too difficult. I think Frank and Strider have some good synergy as well since Frank can OTG pretty easily off the hard knock down of Vajra and works well with Chris for obvious reasons. Also, anchor Strider is always solid so I’d say the team works out well. Keep me updated on how it works out.
hey everybody! i’m trying to play chris simply because this nigga hurts lol the team i had in mind is chris(punch)/spencer(slant)/doom(missiles)
Very solid team. Chris and Slant Shot is great for easy combo extension and Doom Missiles works well with both Chris and Spencer although you’ll have to learn to play Chris without a defensive assist, which is almost an art at this point. If you have any questions on whatever just let us know and good luck man.
thanks! one of the reasons I “needed” to play Chris was because I play too much Magnus and wanted to learn defensive play without being too cheap a la morridoom. plus chris is just too cool not to play.
in lab i found out some things regarding combo punches + slant shot but i have yet to find anything with missiles except for some good neutral zoning
Yeah, your BnBs probably won’t have Missiles in them. Missiles is a lock down assist which means Chris gets to land his signature mix up afterward, which is pretty much to throw or not to throw. I use Drones but basically I’ll just walk forward to the opponent and as soon as they leave block stun (you’ll have to practice the timing), I’ll either go for a cr.lk or a throw. It’s pretty much a universal mix up but it’s one of the few Chris has. You can also go for a cr.lk into throw but this can be pushed blocked and it can’t be hit confirm so you might land a throw after the cr.lk hit, which would have lead to much more damage. Also, this goes without saying but protect Doom as much as you can when you call him. Be wary of characters who can reaction super or THC when they seem him come out and try not to call him when your opponent is pressuring you.
Chris should be able to protect Doom with SMG ( to prevent crouchers, or Shotgun) . Spencer Slant will at least give Chris a guarunteed full damage with the Nade super.
your DHCs are gonna be unsafe though…
If Missiles are in play I would say ignore the ‘mixup’ as his mixup is weak and just prep for chip damage (free fire grenade, spam guns)
As a point of advice, if you use flame thrower and get push blocked out, you can cancel it to guns/nades
How is the mix-up weak exactly?
compared to other characters his mix up is weak IMO. Then again take it with a grain of salt as I am primarily a defensive minded player and I prefer setting up for guaranteed chip.
I know Chris’ mix up game compared to others is weak, 100% agree with you on that, but this mix up is a true 50/50 for everyone. Chris having a 50/50 mix-up is almost like a blessing for his non-existent mix-up game and with his high damage output, a throw or hit leads to death for a large portion of the cast (my team nets 920K off a throw and 1.15 million off a hit) so that’s why I stress the mix-up. It’s available to all characters and is just as effective no matter who attempts it, although other characters have other options. Basically Chris’ horrible mix up game shouldn’t lead you to believe he doesn’t have any strong mix ups at all, since this universal one exists to those who use a lock down assist. The defensive play style is definitely another way to look at the situation though and I respect that game plan. Although I’m starting to stray away from the idea that Chris is a ‘chip monster’, as I’ve heard him be called every now and then.
He can chip. but he doesnt compare to Morridoom, Arthur and an angry dorm.
I feel Chris’ chip is subtle as opposed to morridom (its obvious and happening) Arthur (keep throwing shit) and Angry dorm in control
It’s just that the thing about those characters is that they’re chip is guaranteed and takes away a massive amount of health while Chris’ guaranteed chip does about 150K before the opponent can move again. Best case scenario is three incendiary grenades in the corner but after the push block, the only thing Chris can land is one machine gun. After that the opponent is free to move. You can cancel the machine gun into Grenade Launcher to get you about 150K chip but unfortunately it only connects on certain characters full screen and probably isn’t worth the bar unless you have Drones or Missiles coming simultaneously but then even with that, another machine gun is all Chris can land and that will get you just above 200K.
It’s the fun of Flamethrower. A lot of times when I do Flamethrower they push block. I cancel to land mine or toss a fire nade. they’re so desperate to hit you that when they do they eat the mine/fire nade instead and die.
Unlike Dorm and Arthur though, he can defend himself with a solid airthrow and a (better) comboable OTG
Yeah, canceling into a grenade or gun from a Flamethrower is the way to go after a push block but to be honest, I don’t even use it in the corner because bottom line is, I don’t wanna be full screen away from my opponent. I know you might think I’m crazy, but being full screen against my opponent allows for both of us to act, making it a neutral position, while having them cornered allows me to pressure them without letting them act, giving me the advantage. If I finally get a Zero, Magneto, or Vergil pinned down in the corner, I can’t let them escape and start moving again. I have to take that rare instance and kill them right then and there. If not, they’ll unload their offense and I’ll have to block it all in order to get them back in the corner again somehow. I personally don’t think about 150K of chip and being pushed full screen is worth letting Vergil teleport with Disruptor backing him up on me. Having your opponent in the corner is just too rare to let them live in my opinion. I know Chris being a chip monster is a pretty established view at this point but I encourage anyone who plays him to think out side the box and test other play styles. The notion that Chris can deal heavy chip was sort of quickly assumed early on in the game’s life span and for some reason has been hanging around ever since but I feel like if this character’s gonna move forward, people need to start looking for new ideas and possibilities for him. I’m not talking to you directly Densou, it’s just more of my public service announcement. I’m not ruling out chipping as a legit method with Chris either, I’m just encouraging everyone to explore different options, especially as the top tier begin to seperate themselves more and more from the rest of the cast.
I learned that the hard way and I agree completely. This is why in the corner, if flame thrower comes into play its the land mine to stop movement, or shotgun (as SMG is too easy to push you clear away as you mentioned, and people can duck Magnum).
Now if I could just get consistent with TK Shotgun to move forward and abuse f+M.
I think what should be stated is this:
Yes, Chris can chip. yes, you should chip. But when you chip and get the opening for damage, be it from you forcing a mistake or otherwise, go for the damage.
This is kind of why I had doubts about putting Storm with Chris. whirlwind’s got good knockback and could allow Chris to get them to stay in the corner etc
I think f.m is something really special and underutilized with Chris that’s gonna help strengthen his game greatly. I hope that it’ll be used before almost every special someday, since there isn’t much reason not to and it stops dashes in their tracks. That and prone I think can help push Chris to a higher competitive level, we just have to find ways to implement them more.
I definitely zone a majority of the match when I can but when I get those Drones going and my opponent starts blocking, I like to get in close and be there when they slip up and make a mistake. I’ve been working on using medium grenades in the corner instead of incendiary due to the push block and lack of chip as we’ve discussed. I know corner pressure with incendiary grenade is also something that’s been established, but outside of incoming mix ups, I just don’t think it’s as strong as people once assumed, although its still useful. Medium grenades still have that fear of explosion and can only be push blocked once so you can still land a f.m and TK Shotgun even when they push block to keep the pressure coming. I’ll update with my progress with the medium grenades in the corner when I get more time with it. I haven’t had much time to go to hostings and casuals as of late and online just doesn’t really do it for me but when I do, I’ll post on what I find.
Getting this back on track with team building, I think Storm’s Whirlwind and Vergil’s Rapid Slash could be pretty effecient if Missiles were backing you up too. I think there’s room for a solid routinely call of Whirlwind/Rapid Slash and then Missiles when they’re full screen. Could be interesting.
Also, on the topic of corner pressure, Dante’s Jam Session doesn’t allow characters without teleports to leave as soon as they can super jump and fly. I’m looking into ways to combo off of it when they super jump or just somehow keep them in the corner after they get hit by it but if anyone’s thinking of using Dante, Jam Session has an almost endless list of benefits for Chris and that’s one of them.
Well since you use drones, I figure sure they can push you out, but why not just call Sent drones and wave dash right back in? That should be possible.
I’m kinda torn with Jam Session and Weasel Shot. Weasel Shot can hold them down at medium range, but I like it since I’m positive Strider can use it far better then he can use Jam Session, but again thats a training session away from figuring stuff out.
I think Storm has a lot of potential with Chris. just involves proper assist calling, and her safe DHC plus it hitting OTG (as well as Chris’ nade hyper) means whoever the third character is can just go at it with a THC.