Timing is indeed everything. In KOF jump recovery is only 1 frame, so it takes some practice to hit that one frame consistently when trying to low-attack-anti-air.
i want to pick up kof 13 so much after watching evo,im gonna try pick it up cheap somewhere. will i need an online pass to play kof online ?
damn this game looks fucking nice
fuck street fighter 4 lol
Nope. You don’t need an online pass. The EX characters are DLC exclusive (even though they’re on the disc) and cost $5 a piece.
The online is kinda’ meh. Some connections are better than others and it’s rare to find people who actually know how to play KOF. Pick it up if you have an offline scene for sure.
Wow, Laban and cygnus’ posts articulate what’s wrong with KOF13 so well. I tended to think the same way about the game from the get-go but nowhere near as in-depth. For me it amounted to more of a simple gut reaction to how the mechanics played out relative to '98. Jump-ins leading to 60-90% really puts a damper on the options in neutral game – especially the reward for preventing that situation is landing a normal that isn’t nearly as useful or damage as it was before. From what I’ve observed, other games that have systems like that compensate for it with interesting spacing games or creative setups.
It’s like, in 13 the type of space normals cover seems so curtailed – I kinda wonder if it’s the proportion of the character to the size of the screen space(?).
Note that I am a shameless '98 Ralf scrub so you can see why I’d get impatient with the game. It’s just too different and not what appealed to me about KOF at all.
As somebody that isn’t an old-school KOF player, I love KOF13. I did play 98… back in 98… but that’s the last KOF I played even remotely seriously.
That said, I don’t see all the issues that others seem to. I feel like defense in KOF13 is pretty strong. I feel like I anti-air well, and it’s RARE that people can just low jump in on me, and get big damage. To me, the neutral game in KOF13 is very interesting, and very robust. I don’t consider it lacking, just because I don’t get to mess up 8 times per round.
If you don’t know me (and why should you?), I’m a CvS2 player at the core, so I’m used to a game with a really strong basis in footsies… that also allows for you to just fucking die if you happen to mess up, or get outsmarted in that footsie game. The reward for knocking K-Sagat out of a low jump while he’s raged, is nowhere NEAR the reward he gets if he tags me, but hey… that’s the game. Some options are going to be better. In KOF13, being offensive lends itself to more damaging output than playing more defensively… but that’s how it should be. The aggressor is taking more risks. I DEFINITELY feel like KOF13 allows you to destroy shitty, braindead offense, with very simple defensive tactics… so blindly rushing doesn’t work at all. In the end, only smart offense is effective, and that’s not just hopping in, and hoping for the best.
That’s just my take though. I think KOF13 is really good. I think HD combos are a good mechanic. They keep pressure high, while still forcing players to be smart about their use. Again, this is from a CvS2 player though… not an old-school KOF dude… and I used A-Groove in CvS, so maybe I just have an affinity for long, shadowy combos.
Totally off-topic, but I felt I should say I feel guilty when people address me as Hav. 
Dou has no reason to poke Ralf, Ralf gets rushed down hard and when Dou gets in Dou has his way with him.
You shouldn’t. You should be offended.
Clark’s best AA options: I think Vulcan might be his best bet. But you have to do it right when you think they’re going to jump in. Clark’s air-to-air normals get beaten out by the top characters (Iori, Billy, Karate/Takuma, etc) and it’s extremely difficult to have A Gatlin’ charged to AA. A and EX Gatlin’ AA but you have to be charged to use it right, and if you’re moving in it’s extremely difficult to get that charge.
A Vulcan is a pretty good choice. His standing normals will get beaten out by top characters’ jump ins.
Feeling is mutual with Ralf. Ralf can punish any teleport from Duo and will win a trade war if it comes down to that.
On jumpins you can get ballsy and try and throw out an airgrab. It has 1 frame startup and does 100 damage.
I feel like if I try to jump and grab with Clark I always eat an air-to-air. ESPECIALLY if I’m fighting Iori, Kyo, or Karate.
You know, I’m testing it out in Training and yeah, seems like a really good move to do if they’re just within mid range. But if they’re at mid-range then forget about it. His s.C is very good if you react early enough to their jump ins and can be a good move to push them in the corner and get in range to jump grab or do whatever.
Been really digging Ralf lately. What is everyones thoughts about him? I think he is pretty solid, not great, but solid. I feel like he has his share of bad matchups but could be one of those pocket characters you have that could blow up some of the higher/top tier characters (especially if your opponent doesn’t know what Ralf is capable of.
I think Ralf is very good but people don’t pick him too much because (IMHO) he has too many inputs mapped to his punches. I have no idea why they gave him a QCF Punch and a charge punch because it’s so easy to accidentally get one or the other out, not to mention his Vulcan if you accidentally tap either Punch more than twice during an HD combo…
If you can take the time to get his execution down then he’s a very good 1st character. And you have the advantage of not a lot of dudes knowing the matchup. His CD into Punch will also counter Billy’s toward A and a lot of his jump ins too.
they made ralf a little more difficult to use but after watching bala’s match I think he’s still pretty good. The only thing he needs is his grab back
I like Ralf but he’s kind of ass, feels like he doesn’t have a single matchup in his favor and after talking thing out with Sytha I kind of agree with him about that.
You’re basically using footsies to get in with Ralf, he doesn’t benefit as much jumping in as other characters but he has a very good CD he can cancel into punch. Plus his instant overhead jD. Basically how you win with Ralf is bully them, push them in the corner, and try to open them up.
But most other characters get better rewards from pushing you to the corner and have an easier time doing it. He’s just to free when getting pressured, if he really had some real way of keeping people off of him and stray hits were actually damaging in this game he’d be pretty legit. As it is the only character I really see him having a clear advantage over is Mai.
True. But as I said he makes up for it with pressure. See for example Combofiend’s Ralf. I think he works best as a point character though.
Point is where he shines because then they really have to think about using GCR to get out of his pressure. I just wish he at least had his old St. B and DF+A was on a different button combination.