Soul Drain Setups

Karsticles · May 22, 2012, 9:32am

The purpose of this thread is to catalog ways to combo into Morrigan’s Soul Drain. I think this is an untapped part of her play that we should explore. The thread will be split up in a simple fashion. First, solo combos, divided into TACs, solo combos, and X-Factor combos. Second, team combos, divided by character, with each character having a section for THCs, DHCs, and assists that allow for Morrigan to combo into Soul Drain. Hopefully, with Morrigan becoming more popular, people will chime in and share their setups. Videos are especially welcome to help demonstrate techniques.

The goal isn’t to find the best combos, so if there’s a setup I will just be listing a summary name – see the Notation list for specifics. It would be impossible to optimize all of these setups, but I don’t turn optimized combo suggestions down, either.

Notation:
L - Light Attack
M - Medium Attack
H - Heavy Attack
S - Launcher Attack
c. - Crouching
s. - Standing
j. - Airborne
sj. - Airborne Via Superjump
-> - A DHC is taking place.

- Two moves are being used together near-simultaneously.
  Launch Combo – Flexible combo involving a launcher and j.S ender.
  Ground Combo – Ground or Jump-Cancel series.
  … - Omitted moves to allow for variance.

Normal Solo Combos

Spoiler

Launch Combo, Soul Drain, Shadow Servant
In corners, Soul Drain must be canceled ASAP, or it will float past your opponent before it hits. Mid-screen, you need to land with enough time to pull off a Soul Drain and a Shadow Servant OTG, which is harder than it sounds.

f.M, Soul Drain.
Requires low hitstun decay to function properly.
j.S, s.LM, c.M, f.M, Soul Drain, works.

TAC Combos

Spoiler

This video provides a great, basic option for each TAC direction:
Morrigan Soul Drain TACs

X-Factor Combos

Spoiler

Shadow Blade (XFC) Soul Drain
Works off of Shadow Blade in all instances, at all X-Factor levels.

XF1:
Shadow Blade, Soul Drain
Seems to only work at low hitstun levels in combos.

XF2:
s.H, Soul Drain

f.H, Soul Drain

Shadow Blade, Soul Drain
Works up to at least medium hitstun levels in combos.

XF3:
s.H, Soul Drain
It seems as though s.H cannot be canceled in XF3 before the move completes. The link is a little more difficult than in XF2 for this reason.

f.H, Soul Drain
For example, the following combo works: j.S, s.LMH, f.H, Soul Drain, Fly, j.S, s.LMH, c.H, s.S, sj.MMH, Shadow Blade M, Finishing Shower.

Shadow Blade, Soul Drain
Works up to at least medium hitstun levels in combos.

Karsticles · May 22, 2012, 9:34am

Akuma

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Messtasu-Gohado Ungyo -> Astral Vision
Corner only, standing beam only.

Assists:

Amaterasu

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Throw, Veil of Mist -> Astral Vision
Works in corners only, and you can land 8 Soul Drains, but meter is not stolen due to Veil of Mist’s team effect.

Okami Shuffle -> Astral Vision
Mid-screen, DHC right after the first hit of Okami Shuffle – the ice will still connect. In corners, DHC after the ice is done hitting.

Assists:
…f.H + Cold Star, qcf.H, Astral Vision, qcf.S…

…f.M + Cold Star, qcf.S…

Arthur

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:

C. Viper

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Burst Time -> Astral Vision

Emergency Combination -> Astral Vision

Assists:

Captain America

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:

Chris Redfield

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Grenade Launcher -> Astral Vision
In corners, you can cancel on the last hit and land Soul Drain. Outside of corners, you need to cancel as soon as the first (ice) grenade is fired.

Assists:

Chun-Li

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:

Dante

Spoiler

THCs:
Shadow Servant + Million Dollars
You recover with enough time to land 3 Soul Drains in corners with fly-canceling and good timing.

Shadow Servant + Million Dollars, Astral Vision
A variant of the above. You have so much time that you can link Shadow Servant into Astral Vision and land Soul Drain still.

DHCs:
Crazy Dance, Devil Trigger -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Grapple, Devil Trigger -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Million Dollars -> Astral Vision
Corner only.

Assists:
Ground Combo + Jam Session

Deadpool

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Cuttin’ Time -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Assists:
Katana-rama! (OTG) + Soul Drain

Doctor Strange

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Daggers of Denak M, Spell of Vishanti, Astral Vision
Corner only. Daggers of Denak M hits after Spell of Vishanti, which gives Morrigan just enough time to land Soul Drain.

Assists:
Eye of Agamotto
See the following video: Eye of Agamotto Combos

…f.H + Eye of Agamotto, qcf.H, Astral Vision, qcf.S…

…f.M + Eye of Agamotto, qcf.S…

Dormammu

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Chaotic Flame -> Astral Vision
This is theoretically possible, but I haven’t spent a lot of time on it. DHC from Chaotic Flame on the first possible frame while in a corner. Call Dark Hole and do Soul Fist H while grounded to keep the combo going, and then fly-cancel into Soul Drain as your opponent falls into the Dark Hole. It may be alternatively possible to do Shadow Blade M, fly-cancel, j.S to lower the opponent into Dark Hole.

Stalking Flare -> Astral Vision
I really want this to work, and I’ve gotten extremely close many times. Many someone else can get it to work. Use any setup that lets you combo into Stalking Flare while lifting your opponent up, then DHC to Astral Vision. Superjump away from your opponent ASAP, Shadow Blade H, fly-cancel, Soul Drain.

Assists:
…f.H + Dark Hole, j.H, Soul Drain, Fly, ADD, j.S…

…f.H + Dark Hole, qcf.H, Astral Vision, qcf.S…

…f.M + Dark Hole, qcf.S…

Dr. Doom

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:
Morrigan Launcher + Hidden Missiles
Call Hidden Missiles right as you perform Morrigan’s launcher; do a basic MMHS combo in the air. When Morrigan lands, Soul Drain immediately, and it will connect right as Hidden Missiles OTGs. In corners, you have enough time to fly-cancel the first Soul Drain into a second. You can also fly-cancel into Shadow Blade, Finishing Shower.

Felicia

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:

Karsticles · May 22, 2012, 9:36am

Firebrand

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:
Ground Combo + Hell Spitfire H
You want to time Hell Spitfire so it can pick your opponent’s character up and juggle him/her forward while Soul Drain fires off.

Frank West

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Survival Techniques -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Assists:

Ghost Rider

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Spirit of Vengeance -> Astral Vision
H follow-up to Spirit of Vengeance, extremely touchy based on screen position.

Assists:

Haggar

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Rapid Fire Fist -> Astral Vision
DHC on either the first hit or after the ground bounce.

Assists:

Hawkeye

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Scatter Shot -> Astral Vision
Corner only.

Assists:

Hsien-ko

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Chireitou -> Astral Vision

Tenrai Ha -> Astral Vision
The OTG juggles from the spiked cannons lets Soul Drain hit.

Assists:

Hulk

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Gamma Quake -> Astral Vision
OTG juggles from the rocks lets Soul Drain hit.

Assists:

Iron Fist

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:

Iron Man

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:

Jill

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Raven Spike -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Assists:

M.O.D.O.K.

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Hyper Psionic Blaster -> Astral Vision
Use Hyper Psionic Blaster at superjump height.

Killer Illumination -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Assists:
Ground Combo + Balloon Bomb
There are a lot of ways you can make this work. You can use the assist during a jump-cancel series, during s.H, after a Shadow Blade canceled early, etc.

Magneto

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:
Ground Combo + Hyper Gravitation
There are a lot of ways you can make this work. You can use the assist during a jump-cancel series, during s.H, after a Shadow Blade canceled early, etc.

Nemesis

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Biohazard Rush -> Astral Vision
Soul Drain after the ground bounce.

Bioweapon Assault -> Astral Vision
Soul Drain after the ground bounce.

Assists:
Ground Combo + Launcher Slam
There are a lot of ways you can make this work. You can use the assist during a jump-cancel series, during s.H, after a Shadow Blade canceled early, etc.

Karsticles · May 22, 2012, 9:40am

Nova

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:

Phoenix

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Phoenix Rage -> Astral Vision
The wall bounce on this makes the timing and spacing tricky, but it works. Someone creative might be able to find a way to build all your meter back.

Assists:

Phoenix Wright

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Steel Samurai Maya Smelting! -> Astral Vision

”Order in the Court!” -> Astral Vision

Assists:

Rocket Raccoon

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Mad Hopper -> Astral Vision
See the following video: Mad Hopper Combos. You don’t need to start with the net. You can combo Mr. Flapper into Mad Hopper.

Rock ‘n’ Roll -> Astral Vision
DHC right as the last bullet is coming out of Rocket Raccon’s gun. Any earlier and you won’t get the floating state. Any later and you might not have time to land Soul Drain. Works from anywhere.

Assists:
Morrigan Ground Combo + Pendulum
Call Pendulum at any time during a ground or jump-cancel series to create a wall bounce. You always have enough time to land Soul Drain, and also fly-cancel it into an air dash to connect j.S.

Ryu

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:

Sentinel

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Hyper Sentinel Force -> Astral Vision
You have enough time to land a Soul Drain, fly-cancel, and land j.S from anywhere into a full combo. This was tested from Sentinel’s ground throw into OTG Rocket Punch.

Assists:

She-Hulk

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Taking Out The Trash -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Assists:

Shuma-Gorath

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:

Spencer

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Bionic Lancer -> Astral Vision

Bionic Maneuvers -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Assists:

Spider-man

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Maximum Spider -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Assists:

Storm

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Elemental Rage -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Ice Storm -> Astral Vision
You can land one Soul Drain.

Assists:

Strider Hiryu

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Legion -> Astral Vision
Near corners only.

Assists:

Super Skrull

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:
Ground Combo + Stone Smite
There are a lot of ways you can make this work. You can use the assist during a jump-cancel series, during s.H, after a Shadow Blade canceled early, etc.

Ground Combo + Tenderizer
There are a lot of ways you can make this work. You can use the assist during a jump-cancel series, during s.H, after a Shadow Blade canceled early, etc.

Karsticles · May 22, 2012, 10:03am

Taskmaster

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:

Thor

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Mighty Tornado -> Astral Vision
DHC early to get the floating landing.

Assists:
Morrigan Ground Combo + Mighty Smash
The ground bounce provides tons of time to land the Soul Drain. There may even be time to go into Astral Vision with the proper setup.

Trish

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Round Harvest -> Astral Visiion
Superjump with the scythe.

Round Harvest -> Raw Tag
Superjump with the scythe.

Assists:

Tron Bonne

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Lunch Rush -> Astral Vision
Easy to do, lets you connect at least 2 Soul Drains (4 hits due to Astral Vision.

Assists:

Vergil

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Dimension Slash -> Astral Vision
Works best if you DHC while your opponent is still being hit by the slashes.

Vergil Air Throw -> Devil Trigger -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Assists:
Morrigan Corner Combo, Rapid Slash, qcf.S, qcb.S, qcf.S…

Viewtiful Joe

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Desperado -> Astral Vision
Corner only.

Assists:

Wesker

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:

Assists:
Morrigan Combo, Samurai Edge OTG + Soul Drain

Wolverine

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Fatal Claw -> Astral Vision

Assists:

X-23

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Weapon X Prime -> Astral Vision
Vanilla DHC glitch-like spin out.

Assists:

Zero

Spoiler

THCs:

DHCs:
Rekkoha -> Astral Vision
Jump with the rainbow.

Assists:

Contributors:
Byakokoko – For creating the extraordinary Dr. Strange and Rocket Raccoon videos.
Mr. Bubble – Creating a video showing the various TAC Soul Drain inputs.
Pat728 – Typing out the TAC Soul Drain inputs here.

Oerba · May 23, 2012, 5:39am

Ah, great idea! Once I have some free time on my hands (probably this weekend) I’m probably going to test some set-ups with Ammy, Doom, and Strider.

chirp · May 23, 2012, 9:13pm

Jam Session lets you combo into Soul Drain easily. Easiest way is to just call the assist at the same time you do 5H, cancel into Soul Drain, flight, into whatever. It’s not pretty and it scales to shit, but it works. You can do it midscreen, but I’ve yet to find a way to keep the combo going since Jam Session knocks them back.
The better option in the corner is whatever combo, then when you get to the launcher call Dante at the same time. Superjump, j.H, Soul Drain, flight, j.S.

I’ve got Shadow Blade assist, which gives Shadow Servant as THC. Million Dollars as the other hyper gives you time to do Soul Drain a couple times. The most I’ve gotten is 3 in the corner, but I haven’t experimented with it (which is odd because I it was the reason I originally chose Shadow Blade assist, lol.) Most I’ve gotten midscreen is 2.

pat728 · May 24, 2012, 8:41am

I’ll repost my TAC stuff here:

Midscreen DOWN or SIDE TAC:
-ADD, soul drain
-ADD, soul drain, fly, ADD, j.S, soul drain, Shadow servant (sample combo that takes 60%).

Corner SIDE TAC:
-soul drain
-ADD(cross under), soul drain

XF corner DOWN TAC:
-ADD, soul drain

XF UP TAC corner or midscreen
-ADD, soul drain

*extra notes on XF: these work in 1, 2, or 3(3 is impossible in a real match since you need 2 character to TAC). You can be already in XF before the TAC or use it after the TAC at the first possible moment. The previous ones that don’t need XF work in XF too.

*General notes: you have to cancel your air dash very early for these to connect

Karsticles · August 17, 2012, 3:33am

Updated with what has been provided and what I know. There’s still a ton out there to discover, but this is a start. Some things are listed as theoretically possible because I hope to inspire people to look into possibilities.

jimmyhelu · August 26, 2012, 12:46pm

Hi. How are you?

Is there a video anywhere that shows some of these?

Karsticles · August 28, 2012, 1:11am

If I have a video, I put it in the thread, TLC.

Husteen · August 30, 2012, 12:24am

off topic but morrigan can air dash to put her opponent back in the corner after a side TAC! cool, didn’t know that.

just to add to this, dante can do his corner combo or a midscreen combo that carries to the wall, end with million dollars, DHC into astral vision while dante’s firing the last big projectile of his hyper, soul drain, jump, air grab. the air grab works no matter which direction the opponent techs. you can also fly after the soul drain if you want. the more HSD dante’s combo caused, the faster the opponent will tech the soul drain. for example, this is the full corner combo i do:
dante: st. :l:, st. , st. :h:, stinger, Bold Cancel, Volcano, forward jump, air , air :h:, Killer bee, st. :s:+morrigan’s meter assist, super jump, air , air , air :h:, Sky Dance, land, Reverb Shock, Fireworks, Million Dollars>** Morrigan: **DHC Astral Vision, Soul drain, Fly, float up+forward a bit, air grab.

i suggest going for the airdash mixup after her air grab since it would be stupid to waste astral vision for an OTG shadow servant. i also suggest you do this when the opponent that’s caught in million dollars has really low health and finishing shower isn’t needed, if you just want to steal meter from a certain character, if dante’s about to die and/or you need astral vision for an incoming character, i.e. spencer. if the opponent’s health is really low while they’re getting hit by million dollars, you can forget about mashing to make the DHC possible.

Karsticles · October 14, 2012, 11:52pm

It turns out that you can XFC Shadow Blade into Soul Drain at any time, and it connects.

Chrisis · November 20, 2012, 10:32pm

If you start Astral Vision right after summoning Viper’s burning kick you can go into the Soul Drain loop, trying to find the optimal hitconfirm for it, but it seems really powerful. If possible, I want to use the burning kick and Jam Session to try and steal 4 meters. >.>

Karsticles · November 21, 2012, 5:47am

Let me know when you got it down! I have some similar tech I’m working on.

Karsticles · November 25, 2012, 11:19am

I updated the thread with a lot of DHC combinations that work, along with some setups that I have been working on for the team I use.

Chrisis · November 26, 2012, 9:46pm

If you DHC just as the last hit of Burst Time hits it lets you summon an assist and start Soul Drain which should pretty much always allow you to get a full meter stolen if you don’t kill them earlier, often more.

Disabel · December 3, 2012, 1:52pm

[media=youtube]2iK63ZW74_4[/media]
Came up with some stuff with Doom missiles. Sorry if it’s been posted already.

pat728 · December 30, 2012, 2:07pm

Solo you can do your standard pre launch bnb to:

s.S, superjump, j.H, qcf M, qcb S, ADD, j.S(hits 3 times), (land), soul drain, shadow servant.

This is fairly basic and there are plenty of variations you can come up with. I’m assuming most people here are familiar with this.

Here’s the new morrigan+strider stuff. (Corner or close to corner):

j.H, s.L, s.M, c.H, s.S, (super jump), j.H, qcf M, qcb S, ADD, j.H, qcf M, qcb S, jump forward, j.M, j.M, j.H, qcb M, qcb S, ADD, j.H, qcf M, qcb S, s.S (+call vajra), j.H, dp L, qcb S, ADD, ADB, j.S, qcf S, shadow servant.

I came up with this for use with vergil DHC so having to use shadow servant to get a soul drain in may not be worth it if you’re using a different character second. There are a few more combos/variations to this as well but it’s all based on vajra knockdown into soul drain to shadow servant.

Also here’s one against vajra assist. (when vajra is called and your back is to the wall):

Super jump up back, j.H (hits strider), qcf S, qcb S, ADD, j.H, qcf M, qcb S, (land), shadow servant. (kills strider assist if its not interupted).

Oerba · January 15, 2013, 9:51am

This thread is way too quiet, JRosa dominating opponents using Soul Drain is a sign we need to step it up and find some stuff.

With Ammy (in corner): s. :l:c.:h:f.:h: j.:h:Soul Fist:l: xx fly ADD j.:h:Soul Fist L xx unfly s.:h: and Cold Star Soul Fist :s: xx fly j.:s: s.:s: :h: Shadowblade /:h: Finishing Shower

You can also cancel s.:h: into AV before you Soul Drain and get two Soul Drains in instead. My goal is to try to optimize Soul Drain combos to make them my BnBs. It’s not even about taking my opponents meter; having an AV or two after every combo is too good to pass up.

EDIT: If I recall correctly, the combo should do 440K w/o Finishing Shower.