Seth help

Ragnarok · December 23, 2011, 8:17pm

I suppose I should go ahead and post this here…since the other two spots i’ve posted this really are not ‘‘bearing any fruit’’ so to speak o.O…but anyways.

Alright, so I searched before I posted this for like a ‘SSF4AE Noobs guide’’ or something and did not seem to find one stickied or through the first or second page…(or maybe I didn’t look hard enough if there is one o_O?) so I figured i’d just see if I could get the communities help with this. I do not seem to understand I suppose the basics (I think) with this game. I play against my friend Doromac (you know, the guy who has a UMVC3 combo video on the front page?) a lot and it is obvious that he is more experienced than me (he ‘‘freelances’’ characters [as in just plays whomever he feels…even though he’s maining Akuma and Dan] but is still able to outsmart me whenever we play even playing characters that he does not know!). Anyways, I recorded a video of one of our matches we played today to provide more…’‘evidence’’ (I guess that’s the right word for it…) to help determine what areas (if not all of them) that I need work in…

Video: [media=youtube]VVzoUbKIMiQ[/media]

Note: Yes some of the things I did in the video I did not mean to do…but idc anything helps. Also if you didn’t catch on i’m playing Seth he’s playing Akuma. Oh and excuse the quality…I do not have a capture card (lolhepoor ಥ_ಥ) so I had to record with my phone…so bear with me a little).
edit: Doronote: I don’t play this game don’t criticize my Akuma :I

So what exactly do I need help with? Seth does not seem to have the best pokes in the world…and in some situations (like if someone is fireballing me to death [even though he didn’t do that] or sitting back and Focus my Sonic Booms to build Ultra meter) I have no clue as to what to do…and of course I really have not grasped his BnB’s yet. And I guess the fact that I do not understand how to read the frame data charts yet plays a huge role into it (…) but whatever.

So yeah. Any help will be awesome. Thanks.

Yes I expect trolls…

Metroxylon · December 23, 2011, 11:55pm

You seem to be trying to zone Akuma out, which isn’t the best idea since he has one of the better tools for getting in (demon flip). But since you’re not real comfortable with Seth yet, it’s understandable. Pick U1 in this match up.

Aside from that: After landing an SPD, you need to apply pressure/go for a safe jump. SPD is risky, so maximize your reason for doing SPD by using Seth according to his design and go for oki.

You seem to be playing pretty heavy on reads (as in just doing a DP without reacting to anything) which isn’t bad, but it’s also risky at certain ranges. Try to incorporate tandem engine like right outside of footsie range, or right inside of Akuma’s far HK range. If you’re successful, you get way more damage than just an uppercut. Only drawback is it leaves you pretty open to get jumped on, so don’t get predictable with it/overuse it.

Dive kick on block usually leaves you at neutral frames with the other player. This means your best bet is to throw/throw tech, block, teleport, or uppercut. Even dive kick on hit, when landed high enough, also leaves you at neutral frames. If you’re looking to combo from dive kick, you have to land it lower, so you either have to be further away from the other player when you jump, or you have to be using it on their wake-up, or if you catch them crouching.

My biggest recommendation to you (and this shouldn’t be taken as an insult), but it might be a good idea to switch to a character that’s more straight-forward like Guile or Bison, just so you can get more comfortable with using normals, and being more decisive with when you can and should reversal. Like run with Bison for awhile, and don’t even look at him as a charge character. If you can get in on characters as Bison without charge, and you can win using pokes and throws, your Seth will benefit from that practice (plus getting more acquainted with teleport on defense (but that’s also not always a good idea)). Also practice forward dash to c.LKx3 xx LK scissors as Bison. That’s his go-to oki/pressure option and will help with performing Seth’s combos.

Lastly: Search for Poongko on youtube. He’s basically THE Seth running the show. Watching him will teach you a lot, except for actually being able to execute all he does.

density · December 26, 2011, 3:07am

You are jumping nonstop. To succeed as Seth you need to practice getting around using dashes, you can’t be doing flips nonstop as they will get you Raging Demon’d like at 1:04
You aren’t really doing much besides trying to hit a cr.HP and mashing DP every now and then. You have to realize that basically everything Seth can throw out there is unsafe. Mashing DP really won’t get you anywhere if you don’t know what you are doing.
You need to go into training mode and practice doing sonic booms. If you just barely mess up the motion you will get a SPD due to the overlap of commands.

Essentially, you don’t really know Seth theory, etc usage of normals, movement, and what you should be trying to do mixup wise. Most Seth players have been there at some point, whether you were attracted to Seth’s moveset or maybe you liked one thing or another about him but you aren’t even slightly acquainted with how a Seth should play. Just watch some vids of some good Seths on Youtube: poongko (as mentioned above), hiropon, and roxas-seth are all good options.

Godot · December 30, 2011, 12:58am

(1) You’re jumping so much it’s ridiculous. If you could fix one thing, that should be the thing you change.

(2) I know it’s already been said, but switch to Ultra 1 against Akuma. Especially in 2012 it’s so easy to catch fireballs now, and you can catch a demon flip if you delay it enough.

(3) Fewer random SRK (at least OS the second SRK with MP + MK) so that you can make it safe if he blocks.

(4) After an SPD, dash once, either wait a second before jumping in or walk forward a couple steps for a cross up, and do j.HK. If you time it right it should be safe against 3 f reversals provided you go into block.

(5) cr.HP has 10 frames of start up, so don’t use it unless you just caught him with a Tanden.

(6) After a blocked cst.HP, cr.MP, cr.MK, or cr.HP you can cancel into LP Tanden. He can SRK out of it if he sees it coming. Still I catch people with that every now and then, and if I think they’re expecting it I’ll block or teleport, and punish their SRK.

(7) Work on your pokes: cr. MK, far st.HP

I think it’s kind of a hard match up just for the fact that if you make one mistake Akuma can ultra you for >60% of your bar, but you have a good answers. If he jumps in on you, you can SRK or cst. HP; if he does far st.HK you can Tanden; if he throws fireballs, you can Ultr; if he demon flips, you can SRK or Ultra; if he Teleports and ends up next to you, you can st.HP xx w/e.

Ragnarok · December 30, 2011, 6:24am

Very good info. Thanks a bunch :)!