Given that this is one of the first things that new players come across, I’m surprised that it seems so difficult to find a definitive guide on this. It’s like people don’t seem to talk about it- but you obviously need the skill to even be able to proceed.
So. Help me out here- I’ll lay out what I do know, and maybe we can flesh this all out?
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When a projectile is thrown, you have to deal with it in some way. If you block, you’ll take chip damage, and lose ground due to pushback- blocking enables you to think about your next move, but it lets your opponent think as well.
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You can neutral jump, and walk forward when you land. Because the opponent can only have one projectile on screen at a time (barring EX) this will slow down their “RPM”. Newer players may be confused when they go to input a projectile and a normal comes out.
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You can absorb a projectile with a well-timed FADC. You should only do this a max of 2 times though because one little poke and suddenly your white health is gone. If your timing or spacing is bad, you can be hit out of your focus, or hit while dashing in.
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You can jump in and attack- but you have to be close enough in order to hit the opponent before they recover, and you have to almost predict when they will throw the next projectile. If you are too far away, you’re still in projectile range; if you’re at the wrong distance, you’ll be anti-aired. If you have the right distance but the wrong timing you will be anti-aired.
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All of the above methods change timing depending on the speed of the projectile thrown. It’s easy to be hit attempting any of these if your timing is off (e.g. neutral jumping too early or too late).
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If you manage to crawl over the wall and get close, you have to carefully watch your response, since your opponent has been relaxing while throwing projectiles on autopilot (while you have been spending brainpower dodging). If you inadvertently try for the same thing repeatedly you may be repelled and have to start all over.
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If you don’t have a good plan when you get in, you might tap the opponent for a miniscule amount and he escapes, or end up giving up ground and resetting the situation. You have to know exactly what you’re aiming for when getting close; if your mind blanks out they’ll just run away.
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Some moves have projectile invincibility frames or other evasive properties that can bypass projectiles- but using them requires good timing, and you have to be at a certain range for them to work properly.
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Ditto for moves with full invincibility (reversals, Supers/Ultras, etc.)
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Projectiles have (relatively) slow startup frames, so you can interrupt an opponent for trying to throw a projectile (though you have to be close to them in the first place).
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Characters that have projectiles with fast recovery (Guile, Gouken, Chun, etc.) completely change the above dynamic. This is a sticking point for me- it seems fighting this requires exact timing, or a projectile of your own (do these characters lose projectile wars?)
I think that’s all I’ve got. If you have corrections or additions or anything, please feel free to post, as I don’t feel at all that I’ve learned this completely.
Komatik
2
Chun’s Kikoken recovery is not that amazing, it’s good, sure, but still “normal”, if on the fast end of that.
And yes, they do lose projectile wars. It’s worth noting that while Chun’s mp/hp kikoken last only 41 (~30 frames of recovery) frames and Guile’s Sonic Booms only ~30 (so ~20 frames of recovery which is amazing), both have a 55 frame charge time which sets a hard limit to how many fireballs they can throw and how fast. Watch a Guile and a Ryu fight a fireball war from full screen, and you see that Guile is the one that has to give up and jump a fireball first. Ryu’s advantage isn’t that big - he can’t just blow Guile up fullscreen like Akuma with his red fireballs can, for example - but it’s definitely there and a useful asset to a patient player in a hard matchup.
Guile’s amazing frame data really shines more at mid range, where the fast startup means booms are basically unreactable and you can use the recovery to AA or get free backfists out of fireball trades.
if i am not mistaken, this is the place to ask a newbie question, not a place to share your theory and invite discussion. This seems like a better thread for SSF4 section.
