So one of the things that worries me most about MvC3 is Advanced Guard. I don’t know very much about Push Block in MvC2, other than rush down/trapping was still a highly viable strategy. I was hoping someone would mind talking a litle about Push Block in MvC2, how lax/strict it is and how it effects gameplay, as I rarely see it used and in comparison, it seems far more useful in MvC3 than it needs to be.
check out MVC2 Advanced Tactics Video 1 and 2. Most of it is pushblocking; pretty strict but easy. Pushblocking isn’t spammed in mvc2 but is still important to the game
pushblocking and guard canceling is very weird in mvc2 since its glitched based. lets define the terms first. Pushblocking is just that, basic 2p’s when you’re blocking. Guard canceling is slightly more tricky, after you pushblock, you have to go to neutral, then back to blocking. This neutral input makes all block stun significantly lower and you’re are able to move. Guard canceling from what I can tell is about a 1 second window.
Certain normals that were once safe in basic marvel are actually not safe in high level mvc2. Take a basic poke series from magneto, c.lk+psylock, c.mk, dash back in c.lk, c.mk.
if you pushblock the first c.mk and magneto still dashes back in for c.lk, c.mk, and you guard cancel properly, you can can actually punish magneto’s c.mk. Normally, this move is really safe on block but due to guard cancels, a safe normal becomes risky.
Alternatively magneto can do c.lk,+psy, c.mk, you pushblock, magneto dashes back in and instead of attacking immediately, magneto does a delay c.lk, c.mk. This delay overlaps your guard cancel window and you’re stuck. Magneto has really short chains ground chains but characters like strider\spiral chain forever which is why its slightly more complicated to guard cancel those guys.
guard canceling comes in 2 forms, high and low guard cancels. When pushblock high, neutral, marvel will leave you in a high blocking state but you’re vulnerable low during your neutral input. Its the same for the low guard cancel as well. If you pushblock low, neutral, your character will remain in low block for a bit. In the low situation you’re vulnerable high. To properly get out, you have to work this whole mind game about whether or not he will try to hit you high or low depending on the guard cancel situation. On the basic magneto layer, c.lk+psy, c.mk, dash back in c.lk, c.mk, pushing this series high can get you hit low so in this situation, you actually want to start your pushblock with dwnbck.
all the technicality for mvc2’s guard cancel\pushblock game is watered down in mvc3. So far in mvc3, it looks like they combined the early release timing with the pushblock. Basically, they skipped all the glitches you had to do to trigger it.
This form of pushblock and guard cancel has been around since xvsf and maybe even COTA.
To add that in some tiny tiny windows and using instantly and mostly invulnerable startup moves… you can pull some shenanigans with pb but going strait from nuetral state into one of said moves.
Easiest example to make happen is ryu blocking mashed juggs headcrush. Ryu can pb first hit… neutral… shoryuken and hit juggs out of head crush. Ryu similarly can pb first drone wave of hsf… neutral… dp xx super. Simple example’s where you’ll find holding back you can’t dp… but pushblock to neutral to dp… you can.
To add that in some tiny tiny windows and using instantly and mostly invulnerable startup moves… you can pull some shenanigans with pushblock by going strait from nuetral state into one of said moves.
Easiest example to make happen is ryu blocking mashed juggs headcrush. Ryu can pushblock the first hit… neutral… shoryuken and hit juggs out of head crush. Ryu similarly can pb first drone wave of hsf… neutral… dp xx super. Simple example’s where you’ll find holding back you can’t dp… but pushblock to neutral to dp… you can.
hey shoultzula,
does this guard cancel apply to air blocking? i never knew about canceling the pushblock with just a normal block, but when in the air, it seemed like i could cancel my air pushblock with a special move (teleport, banana kick, etc) depending on the situation. i don’t think guard canceling would work within the normal jump since we get guardbroken and all that but maybe it works in the super-jump scenario? let me know what you think please.
In SJ state, you can guard cancel strings. For instance if you’re playing against storm\cap and you SJ, pushblock mando AA. Typically storm will follow this up and if she ends her air strings with mediums, you can punish her on recovery.
note: in this situation, top players will strike, super @ the first sign of a guard cancel. Even in the air against certain characters, guard cancel mind games are still applicable.
One of the benefits of SJ, guard cancel is that the neutral input doesn’t quite fuck you like it does on the ground. You can still go neutral and the opponent crosses you up and hits you free but these setups are very specific and really hard to pull mid game consistently.
This should flesh my game out a bit more and i’ll try to break some bad habits, so thanks for real. Now for my offense. I been paying attention to some things you said about Charlie in his character thread so I’ll probably ask another question over there…
maybesomewhat relevant [media=youtube]WKSBKHNWV-o[/media]