You’re lying if you say you wouldn’t watch that show. Or at least more mature than I am, I’d hella watch that. Anyways, making this thread to clear up some issues regarding the ball. In this 1st post, all times I use “blanka ball” or “the ball”, I’m referring to the horizontal ball. The 2nd post will detail EX up ball and EX rainbow roll.
Flight path of the blanka ball.
The ball starts as a ground move with all the properties of a ground move. It can be thrown during startup and roughly during the first rotation or so even though the animation may have him fully off the ground at this point. Even though this is true, he is not immune to air-only attacks during immediate ball startup such as Hakan?s Ultra #2. Yes, you get the worst of both worlds. On the plus side, being considered a ground move at first allows you to FADC the ball during early rotations and to super cancel the ball.
Once past this stage, the ball is an air move that flies very low to the ground. It can be stopped reliably by moves without much air contact such as a shoto low forward for example. Low forward is probably Ken?s anti-ball poke of choice in all honesty, which just feels wrong. Contrary to early test reports, the in-flight height of the blanka ball is essentially unchanged in Super SF4.
Blanka ball pushback.
What irritates me the most about ball threads is that they inevitably turn to ?what punishes the blanka ball? discussion. And of course we?re going to do that in the course of this thread. I guess this means I hate myself, but you already knew that?I play Blanka. The problem with this is that people assume that the ball has a consistent pushback. It does not. Pushback on the blanka ball depends on proximity, stage placement, whether your character is standing or crouching, and a ?random? factor.
Some quick examples on the different properties of pushback. In this example we?re going to use Sagat because Lord knows we all didn?t see enough of him in vanilla. His primary blanka ball punisher is reversal EX low tiger (reversal is important). We?ll use Blanka for the training dummy with Blanka set to do fierce balls and blocking afterwards for a period of 2-3 seconds (just to be safe so there?s no period of accidentally not blocking).
Stand vs. crouch. Stand about half screen away and block low. Try to reversal EX low tiger. You will notice that it doesn?t work. Now try stand blocking the ball (try and stay about half screen away, this will become important) and doing an EX low tiger. You?ll find that this works about 95% of the time. Why does this happen? Character widths (and thus how Blanka interacts with the opposing character) are different depending on stand or crouch. Specifically crouching characters are slightly wider than standing characters. This is probably the most easily controllable punishment variable and is fairly well known.
Stage placement. This doesn’t need much explanation. Since part of the recovery of this move is a retraction, if either you or your opponent are in the corner it will affect whether or not you can punish the ball. Obviously if Blanka is the one with his back to the corner it will be significantly easier to punish. Again, fairly well known. Does not play nearly as much of a factor in Super as it did in vanilla.
Proximity. Now we get to a situation that ISN?T so well known. Your proximity to Blanka will affect your pushback. As we learned in the first example, reversal EX low tiger from Sagat on crouch does not punish the ball. Now, position yourself right next to the Blanka training dummy and block low, then try to punish with EX low tiger. This time, it works! Why does this work? Your guess is as good as mine. If you put a gun to my head and made me give you an explanation, I?d probably crap myself then tell you that the ball interacts differently with the opposing character when the game considers it a ground move as opposed to an air move. Is that the exact answer? No idea. I don?t know why it works, I just know that it does. A ball in close proximity to the opponent is considerably less safe than a mid-flight ball.
Randomness! Alright, for this example, we?re going to use Guile. Guile?s blanka ball punish is reversal EX sonic boom from standing. Test out from mid-screen a few times. Take a couple steps forward then try it. Then take a couple steps back from that spot and try it. You?ll find that occasionally Blanka will block it?but sometimes he?ll eat it. It isn?t directly related to proximity since it?s not a case of ?at X distance, Blanka gets hit every time, but at X+Y, he blocks?. At X+1 he may block, but at X+4 he gets hit! This is frustrating for practical gameplay because you don?t want to go for a ball punish but find out that this time the game decided you?re going to whiff. It?s one thing for a character like Guile to miss because the game ?randomly? decided you?re going to come up short. It?s entirely another thing for a character like Rufus who may decide to punish you with low fierce or for Gouken who punishes with jab palm. If that thing hits, fine. If it misses, you stuck your hand out directly in front of me. I can slide?or I can ultra that.
Now, nothing is truly ?random? when it comes to a video game. That?s just not how it works. What likely causes the random element is that as a different part of Blanka?s animation comes into contact with the opponent, his bounce will be ever so slightly different. For reference, this video. [media=youtube]jriRcv7Luhg[/media] . As you can see, Blanka isn’t “round”, he’s a rotating square as he’s rolling. It obviously makes sense that if you hit with a corner, the impact is slightly different (including animations) than when you hit with a flat edge. The problem is that Blanka is rotating quickly. Unless your vision and your reactions are far, far superior to mine, there?s just no way you can eyeball that every time. It sure would be useful though if there were pre-canned situations where you could know you?re going to get a safe ball, wouldn?t it. That leads us to?
The concept of the ?safe ball?.
This is in quotation marks because I ?like? quotation marks, but also because the safe ball is not really safe. It?s just as good a name as any for this. Anyways, as theorized above there are some points on the ball that seem to create a different and slightly safer pushback. We can be sure of one particular spot on the ball that creates as safe a pushback as you?re going to get. That spot is at the very tip of the jab ball, just as Blanka is about to touch down on the ground.
For the example we?ll use 2 Blankas. First, set the training dummy to do a fierce ball. You crouch block it and punish with slide. This is a pretty easy punish, you?ll trip him as he lands. Do it a few times from different ranges to convince yourself that even with the above randomness factor, a blanka ball in mid-flight can be reliably punished with a slide from crouch. After you?ve proven this to yourself to your own satisfaction, now set the training dummy to do a jab ball instead and position yourself just at the tail end of the jab ball?s range (it is about 1 of the large training mode squares). Now try to slide and punish it. This time, you don?t trip the slide as it?s about to land?this time you come up short! And while I can?t confirm that the timing is different, it sure feels like the timing on when you get to hit the button is somewhat different.
This is the concept of the safe ball. One of the exciting developments in Super is that Blanka?s jab ball actually was reduced in range. While on the surface this seemed to be a somewhat non-sensical change, when you consider the properties of the safe ball, it opens up a set of possibilities. One of the most frustrating things about playing Blanka is getting hit back after landing a ball combo. Maybe you can now combo into the safe ball and it would make some things that were previously unsafe on hit now safe? Suggested combos such as low forward, s.jab xx jab ball or low short x3, s.jab xx jab ball might put you in the right range.
At the time of writing this I have not been able to find any concrete examples where a combo into safe ball is any safer. Previously it was thought that the safe ball protects you from Balrog jab dash punch, but after further testing it just appears that any ball on hit not directly next to Balrog is now safe from dash punch (I used low forward xx fierce ball and short, short, jab xx jab ball and Blanka could block on both). This possibility is still open for the future but as of now I have no concrete examples yet. If anyone finds something, it will be added post haste, that would be pretty interesting stuff.
Punishing the ball.
This is the reason that the majority of people click on a blanka ball thread to begin with. After laying out all the different variables involved in the ball and adding in a random factor, we?re going to attempt this anyways including any necessary conditions.
Abel: Soulless. Works under any condition on hit or block.
Breathless. Works under any condition on hit or block, some situations you have to actually hold it for a beat though.
Fierce COD, 1 hit only. Must be blocked standing. May have randomness issues.
Dash in towards + fwd. Must be blocked standing. Definitely has randomness issues.
*Adon: * Short jaguar kick on block, all scenarios.
Jaguar revolver on block, all scenarios. Timing get all hits is difficult, safe ball changes timing.
*Akuma: * Ultra demon on block, all scenarios.
Balrog: Jab dash punch on block, all scenarios.
Super on hit or block, all scenarios.
Ultra #1 on block, all scenarios.
Jab dash punch on hit, extreme proximity (non counter hit).
Blanka: Slide on block, immune to safe ball while crouching.
EX horizontal ball on block, all scenarios
Shout of Earth ground version on block, all scenarios.
C.Viper: Fierce or EX seismo on block, all scenarios.
Cammy: Gyro drive smasher on hit or block, all scenarios.
RH or EX spiral arrow on block, all scenarios.
RH spin drive smasher on hit or block, all scenarios.
*
Chun-Li:* Hosenka on hit or block, all scenarios.
Super on hit or block, all scenarios
Cody: Short ruffian kick on stand block, can be safe balled, may have slight randomness issues?
EX ruffian kick on block, all scenarios.
Ultra 2 on hit or block all scenarios. Getting all hits is quite a trick. You need to be standing on hit to get all hits consistently. On block you need to take 1 step forward first or the followup to the dust will miss.
Dan: No punish outside of corners.
Dee Jay: EX sobat, all situations on block. Interestingly enough due to the path of the safe ball, the safe ball is actually LESS safe and much easier to get 2 hits against.
Walk forward, RH Sobat Carnival hit or block all sitautions. Last hit may whiff vs. safeball.
Walk forward, forward Sobat Carnival on stand or crouch block. Can be safeballed.
Walk forward, Sobat Festival, on block, standing or crouching. Can be safeballed, seems to come up short vs. safeball.
Dhalsim: s.fierce (among multiple other normals) on block or hit. RH slide on block, can be safe balled. Yoga Shangri-la on block, all situations.
Dudley: Fierce or EX MGB on block all scenarios.
Rolling Thunder on stand block, has randomness issues.
E.Honda: EX or fierce headbutt on block, all scenarios.
Super on block, all scenarios.
Ultimate Killer Head Ram on block, all scenarios.
*
El Fuerte:* Habanero dash + RH slide on block, all scenarios. Punishing safe ball is possible, timing is slightly different.
Flying gigabuster on block, all scenarios.
Habanero dash, stop, ultra spark on block, all scenarios. As with the slide, safe ball changes timing but is not a guarantee of safety.
*
Fei Long: * Second hit of strong rekka series on block, all scenarios. Safe ball is not immune to this, but timing is changed.
Gen: Mantis super on hit or block, all scenarios.
Mantis ultra on block, all scenarios.
Dash forward, s.fwd in mantis stance on stand block, has randomness issues.
Gouken: Jab palm strike on block, must be standing. Can be safe balled. Random factor applies also.
Guile: EX sonic boom on block, must be standing. Can be safe balled. Random factor applies also.
Guy: Run into slide on block, all scenarios.
Hakan: Fierce slide on block, all scenarios.
*
Ibuki:* Fierce neckbreaker on block, all scenarios.
Juri: Dash into EX pinwheel on block. Safe ball on crouch is slightly more safe. After many trials, I could not get her to land more than 1 hit of EX pinwheel (which does 30 damage and leaves her unsafe). More testing is required to see if she can effectively punish safe ball while crouching. Also proximity plays a factor. She can get 180 damage in close, 120 damage when safe balled.
*
Ken:* None outside of corner.
M.Bison: Forward or RH scissors on block, all scenarios.
Slide on standing block, all scenarios.
Super on standing block, all scenarios (may be button dependent).
Makoto: Fierce hayate on block, all scenarios.
Rose: Fierce super on standing block, all scenarios.
Ultra #1 on standing block, all scenarios.
Rufus: Big Bang Typhoon on block, all scenarios.
Low fierce on block, can be safe balled on crouch. Randomly can be punished on crouch with step forward low fierce, inconsistent.
Ryu: Fierce super on hit or block, all scenarios.
Sagat: EX low tiger on standing block, can be safe balled.
Tiger Cannon on block, all scenarios.
Kara tiger uppercut on stand block, can be safe balled.
Sakura:
Dash -> lp.shouken on standing block.
May suffer from randomness, I have a very hard time getting this to work.
Seth: S.fierce on hit or block, all scenarios not involving counter hit.
EX kicks on block, all scenarios.
Super on block, all scenarios.
Tanden stream on hit or block, all scenarios.
*T.Hawk: * None outside of corners.
Vega: EX dive forward on block, all scenarios.
Splendid claw on hit or block, all scenarios.
Bloody high claw backwards on block, stage positioning a factor.
Dash forward, low strong on standing block, can be safe balled. Has randomness issues on crouch block.
*Zangief: * Kara ex glove on standing block. Can be safe balled, has randomness issues. Only consistent in close proximity.