you can make c.lkxxsa2 “hit confirmable” by buffering the first qcf motion, like
:qcf: , :d: + :lk: , :df: :r: … “see” if the c.lk hits and then press :p: to do the boomerang raid. It’s not a 100% hit confirmable but it’s better than nothing. of course the qcf motion would be notorious on wake up but you can “hide” it, say during a dash or an empty jump. an example would be after mk, ex flashchop, dash, c.lkxxsa2.
Ah…gotcha. I thought it did after watching one of the FFA vids, but I looked at the combo counter after Ty did it…only 5 hits. Thanks for the clarification!
Yeah, if Alex could C.Sht xx C.Fwd xx SA2 he’d be much higher
Vs a shoto like ken how do you structure your poking ? Can you outpriorise the low forward with a crouching strong or standing forward ? What do you do at mid-range?
Oh and this combo is theorically possible (one frame link between the fierce flash chop and the strong, but there may be an error):
Fierce flash, Strong flash, s.strong xx ex elbow slash
It stuns for 53 dots, usual bar is 64 dots(akuma 56 and hugo 72).
I discovered the mp xx ex slash elbow stuns more than mk© xx ex flash chop but does less damage.
(data from a japanese translated web site)
mk xx ex flash chop: 305 dmg, 23 stun
mp xx ex slash elbow: 260 dmg, 29 stun
You’re basicly trading 45 dmg for 6 stun.
Against shotos, your MP (any of them) will beat most normals, but you’ll have to be careful about using it too often, since it won’t beat SRK.
Just about in every matchup cr. strong and st. forward are you’re friends. I can’t remember right now if shotos cr. forward is faster than cr. strong or has a longer reach or both, but st. forward beats their cr. forward. When playing shotos I mostly stick out cr.strong, st.forward and just playing footsies in general; always going in and out of their attacks but mostly going in cuz I want to powerbomb! And occasional dash ins.
I’m sure that Fierce flash, Strong flash, s.strong xx ex elbow slash won’t work. If it did it must be hella hella tight.
If it did, you’d probably be seeing it more in matches. Biggest problem is landing a fierce Flash Chop outside of stunning your opponent, anyway. Couple that with one frame to link. That’s almost inhuman timing, isn’t it?
Inhuman is the word indeed. The Fierce flash chop gives +15 and the strong chop starts in 15, it’s either impossible or a one frame link I don’t know.
I also found an even better combo for stun than the ex slash elbow one:
5mp x ex rising knee grab: 270 dmg, 30 stun
And for your info(from here):
Alex’s Standing forward: 11 frames
Alex’s low strong: 7 frames
Alex’s toward+strong: 7 frames
Chun-li far fierce: 9 frames start-up
Ryu low forward: 7 frames
Ken/Akuma/Chun-li low forward: 6 frames
Ryu standing forward: 6 frames
Akuma standing forward: 5 frames
Shoto sweep: 9 frames
I’m building up a mixup tree I want to use, I want your opinion:
Main mixup (2lk blocked):
(2lk-2mk
2lk, 5mk/mp
2lk, throw/jab-powerbomb)
2lk x mk stomp (throw counter)
2lk, 2lp, 6mp/uoh/2lk-2hk (throw fake trap)
2lk x strong flash chop (4f trap)
Secondary Mixup:
meaty Whiff tick or UOH, throw/stomp
6mp
5hp
Actually, I was just playing in practice mode today, and I noticed that s.mk x EX Knee Press did just as much damage and possibly better stun than s.mk x EX Flash Chop. Can anyone confirm the stun damage?
Hell, if nothing else, the EX Knee Press just looks cooler than EX Flash Chop.
ex rising knee does more stun and less damage than the ex flash chop
Same for the s.mp and c.mk.
s.mp: 100 dmg, 11 stun
c.mk: 105 dmg, 9 stun
ex rising knee: 170 dmg, 19 stun
ex flash chop: 200 dmg, 14 stun
Okay, I just tested this out on the PS2, and it turns out that EX Knee Press does do less damage and more stun than EX Flash Chop by itself (27 points vs 28 points, respectively).
Combo it from a s.mk or j.hp, s.mk and the combo will end with the same amount of damage. I suspect this is due to damage scaling, as EX Knee Press is one hit whereas EX Flash Chop is two. The thing is, using s.mk x EX Knee Press will do significantly more stun than s.mk x EX Flash Chop, although if I stick a j.hp in the front, it becomes tough to tell the difference. Anyone want to try this and give more conclusive results?
The problem is that EX Rising Knee is a lot more punishable on block, as EX Flash Chop pushes away, whereas EX Rising Knee is going to have half the way up and the whole way down open for whatever the other guy wants. Since EX Rising Knee’s visible advantage is without the j.hp, that means you’re going to have to be able to hit confirm s.mk if you want to be using it for reasons other than style.
I’m still thinking about SA1, sure SA2 is hit confirmable, but Alex is no Chun or Shoto, alot of his power-play comes from his intimidation factor, especially on wakeup and corner wakeup.
On paper SA2 looks far more helpful, but a Alex player with a strong wakeup presence can force hesitation just by having the SA1 available.
I think I remember seeing an Adolfo match in FFA where he used a strong corner pressure game with Alex, obviously its not full proof, but I think most players underestimate his distance and wakeup/corner pressure game, and just try and focus on jump-in and wakeup hit confirms, a safe option certainly, but I reckon other play options haven’t been explored by Alex players fully.
You may have that intimidation factor and mindgame, but then you lose out on the options, namely, Alex’s EX moves. And when you use EX, you lose out on the mindgame because you lose your super.
I do recall seeing Joel B. use SA1 in the latest Interface video…he makes good use of it, but I’d still stick with SA2.
The problem with SA1, I think, is that you have to be near-psychic (or, at the very least, extremely intimidating such that your opponent messes up) to land it with any consistency. It’s even worse when you consider that wake-up jump will easily avoid it during wake-up pressure. And, of course, you’ll be missing out on your EX moves, which are really good.
What else can be down with the down+HP?
Here’s what I’ve figured out on my own:
while opponent’s jumping, down+HP, it hits once, then do a knee slam (favorite), or an EX Flash Chop, or a forward+HP. What else is there? And is there anything that can come from an upclose, twice-hitting, Down+HP?
Is a meaty stungun any good? Since it can’t be escaped by jumping I suppose it would work great, even though the timing required is insane.
If I mid/fierce flash someone from max range will back+fierce always reach, because I always mess-up when that happens ( I don’t know what to do)?
Oh and charge partitionning from whiffed standing moves into ex stomp is mad fun.
I also changed my “mixup tree” to something more usefull :
(knockdown)
I’ve been dabling with Alex for a while now, but I still havent figured out how to use him as effectivly as I can with other characters. I try to stay on top of them and play around with a few meatys, but besides keeping them back, playing games with the stomps and getting in close for the super, I don’t know really what else to do. With someone like Ken or Gouki you have so many options, but with Alex it seems kinda restricted to certain things. I can pick them off in the air concistantly, but that depends on what they’re doing, it still doesn’t add to helping my preasure game.
I always use SAII, I never seem to find enough opertunities to land SAI without being stuffed or being jumped out of so I tend not to use it. But still, trying to get in for short, super or a jab, jab super is noticably harder on characters like the shotos and urien. But you still have to concentrate on keeping him away while trying to fit EX’s in and going for the knock down, so definate damage feels less likely. If I parry anything it’s only going to be pokes from me after anyway unless I catch one on wake up, but then again that’s a pretty dangerous game too. What else should I be concentrating on? It just seems a bit bleak to me.
short short super is not even possible. In order to build-up a solid alex I focus on zoning and simple mixups like:
knockdown stomp:
another stomp/meaty powerbomb/low short x strong flash
Is 2lk x ex flash possible ?
Alex’s c.LK doesn’t cancel into any of his special moves. So no, it’s not possible. If it was it would definitely make him more dangerous, that’s for sure. What sucks about Alex is that you really don’t have to fear much when he hits you low. The worst is c.LK to powerbomb or linked into c.HK. He can’t verify any big damage off of his low attacks. The most he can do is c.LK to SA2 but that’s not verifiable so it’s not something you really have to fear. You either get it or you don’t and then die.
Deja vu…? 
c.LK does cancel into all his special moves, but none of them are fast enough to combo after it, except EX knee catch, but that’s risky as hell. EX slash elbow isn’t fast enough even though it looks like it should be.