Alright so I’ve finally put some time into the other important part of developing Nova/Strange/Ammy, which is actually playing it.
After about two weeks of grinding it out my opinion has changed in some ways and stayed the same in others.
Basically, it’s a downgraded Nova/Doom/Ammy… until Nova dies. Bolts is pretty great for Nova but there are certain things I prefer about Plasma Beam and Molecular Shield in the majority of matchups. For instance Plasma Beam will break armor, it’ll come out faster, and it has a way safer hitbox than Bolts. Molecular shuts down rushdown really well. So as expected it’s great for counterpicks but I won’t be switching away from my main team for it any time soon.
That said… If Strange lands I think Strange/Ammy is actually slightly better than Doom/Ammy at turning the tides in your favor, dramatically. First part of that was discovering that their THC actually IS a good incoming blender even if you don’t use XF, you just have to time it early and only get 2/3 mixups instead of 7. Second was learning how to use Cold Star for mixups. You get some really stupid high-lows with that assist that I just didn’t know about, in addition to the obvious left-rights which are stupid hard to block.
Another thing I’ve found that really helps the pair out is, after killing a character with Strange using XF2 and don’t have two bars/midscreen positioning for the THC, I’ll tag Ammy in for some really stupid mixups with Bolts and get the kill anyway cause she does enough damage.
Speaking of which: corner XF1 hard tag from Ammy into Strange-
ground series xx 22M, MS neutral jump j.MM xx 236H, wait, hold assist button and charge 5H (whiffs), Strange hits, IP etc. Kills Thor meterless.
There are also a lot of XF2 combos with or w/o hard tags that allow Ammy to kill really efficiently.
It depends on the mu which assist is actually better, but overall I feel Bolts is better for the majority. You have to play it WAY different than Plasma Beam though. Against Hulk, Doom is probably better since you have infinite and yeah, all the hits. Doom fights better than Strange though. He isn’t so free to rushdown, but Strange does better against zoning.
Bolts overall is significantly better vs Magneto and Doom based teams… One of the characters I’d play Nova/Strange/Strider against.
Bolts, it seems like you have to weave in and out a lot. Nemo protects the assist by trying to box in the opponent, basically being on the opposite side of Bolts and mixing them up there. Gotta learn how to do that more easily.
Plasma is like, lol hold forward and get in that ass homie
Nova/Dante/Strider default. Against Wolvie/Nova/Spencer/Taskmaster/Vergil and teams that don’t play fullscreen it’s the better choice. Weasel Shot is surprisingly perfect for Nova in the sense that it doesn’t push the opponent back (which leads to multiple setups). You get Better resets, more damaging DHC, and Dante beats more characters than Doom 1v1. Also the better choice when zoning isn’t an option and you need to rush down. (Zero/Doom for example)
Nova/Doom/Strider vs Armor based teams. aka Hulk, Haggar. Also, the better option vs drone based teams or jam session based teams (Zero/Dante)
Nova/Strange/Strider vs Doom/Ammy teams and Magneto. Bolts is just so amazing vs Mags that it’s worth playing it. Nova/Beam just ain’t the same. You’re significantly more oppressive against Magneto when paired with Bolts. Solid choice against Morrigan as well and a good choice against drones. Strange also makes Doom/Ammy incoming much less threatening.
Doom/Dante/Strider vs Morrigan. Personally, I feel Morrigan absolutely destroys Nova. You either get her at the start or it’s gg. Doom/Dante/Strider fights her so much better. It’s strange to think Doom does better than Nova at a point mu, but he does fairly decent against Morrigan when paired with Jam Session and Vajra. You get multiple chances at hitting her and if you fail, Doom has enough health and flight options to delay her AV time and get Dante in with either plasma beam or missiles.
This is what I’ve been labbing for the last few months to prepare for FR. Hope this helps on what I’ve considered Nova’s assist choices.