Random observation, here (and once again tying Kuma back to Hakan): Kuma’s s.lp works very similarly to Hakans in that can stuff people up close from the correct distance. It’s not the fastest poke in the world, but the animation seems to be long enough that you can get it in three times or so and force people to back off.
Also, using light Megaton from distance to fish attacks is fun (especially on Dhalsim).
I don’t know if it’s consistent, but I’ve managed to land c.lk c.lk EX Frolick. The hardest part is getting the first hit, but after that it seems like Kuma floats them a bit beause of how the animation looks.
I’m not completely sure on that one though. I’ll get back to you.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they share so much in common. Their normals, jump arch, and playstyles are very similar. I don’t mind this at all.
LOVING Kuma! His mixup game is so good, he can really lockdown people down for a long time. G-clef cannon is such a good move, you can confirm it on hit, and while it’s unsafe on block, you can can cancel into LP Megaton to make it safe, and then you have the option of Headbutt if they’ve been blocking high for the over head, too sick.
You can also make it safe by cancelling it into Kumas charge move and backdashing out, or you could even dash forward and go for a grab!
Fun to use; hard to use. Limited in some senses, but I think we’ll find some interesting tech for him later. May need a patch to be a big threat, but I think if you put a lot of time into him, you’ll find some gems (that you don’t have to pay for).
Disagree. He has too many bad matchups to be really, really good. When 5 frames is the fastest move you got and you don’t really have any BS to go along with it, you’re asking for trouble. I imagine he’s going to get eaten up by a good Ryu for free (zone from distance and when close, just do st. jab pressure, if you have to pressure just cancel into H donkey kick or dash cancel fireballs).
I won’t disagree with you as things stand. I don’t want to get tooo far ahead of myself on how good Kuma is until it’s been proven over a long period of time. Say like 4 months at least. A Ryu that plays near-perfect is definitely a problem, for sure. I think Kuma has acceptable methods of getting in, though. We’ll see how the game evolves.
I’m not too concerned about one combo hurting. I want a combo that hurts that leads into a setup for another combo that will kill. Kuma’s archetype (slow-grappler) relies on setups for more damage OR incredibly good footsie tools. In this game, pretty much any well-designed team in the game will be able to do at least 60% damage once the characters get figured out. Many teams ALREADY get that. Kuma has to struggle to get in and if he only gets like 65% damage, I don’t think he’ll be rising in the tier charts anytime soon.
I’m not saying he’s shit tier, don’t pick him. But I am saying he has a lot of weaknesses and it’ll be hard to get wins with him at high level IMO.
I think Bison’s a bit better overall. I just don’t think you should play him like it’s SF4. He’s also not an easy character. In fact, against scrubs, Kuma is probably a much better character. That being said, play him differently than SF4 and you’ll see better results IMO. I’ve had a ton of tests so I haven’t been able to test him out that much but from the little time I had, st. fp was a godlike anti-air.
I wouldn’t say Bison is a bit better then the animal. He’s my dude and in my main team however this game is going to be hell for him in the up coming months if some type of tech isn’t discovered soon.
Bison still has 27 different reversals to get himself out of bad situations and he also has a 4 frame move which, even though it’s not 3 frames, still better than Kuma’s 5 frames. He gets decent damage I guess and has pretty good footsies. Oh well, I’m just waiting for Blanka to come out. Blanka/Kuma will be trolltastic.
Kuma game is defnantly solid enough in my opinion. If their was patch buff I would request is a bigger hitbox on his alpha counter.
Besides that I haven’t seen any crazy hard match up that spells automatic lost. Unlike SF4/MvC3, TFxT in its basic form provide enough mechanics to cope with most stuff. No doubt Kuma is tamed since he relies on meter to make his stuff safe. This game still developing and I see stuff like Alpha counter, and cross assault still being undermined. Not to mention good blocking (swear some people people can’t block for shit)
Hmm interesting, so the second hit of double wild slap crumples the opponent, which leads to G-clef cannon in the corner! Pretty sweet. Although if it’s blocked you’re going to have to use a bar to make it safe. But then, wouldn’t it be better doing the whole combo into EX hp megaton claw?
Also I said you couldn’t do max range bear smash into a combo, but actually on counter hit the first hit of bear smash causes another sort of crumpled state, and so it can lead to a hefty combo from max range!
M.Bison is pretty limited in this game at this point, Very good players are placing him in ass tier slot. The drug lord has less then he did in SF4, all those get out of jail cards can be punished pretty easily, his all around priority has been nerfed, his pressure game is terrible, mix up game/open someone up is non existence especially with the nerf to thorws, I mean his main game at this point is poke with st.mk into launch combo, play super lame and punish whiff’s. Not to mention alpha counter bodies Kness press, Bison is just limited in this game atm in my opinion.
Im not going to write Bison off nor place him in the ass character slot, however I will say Kuma has a lot more going for him high level wise at this point, I hate to turn the Kuma thread into a off topic Bison discussion, we can continue the Bison discussion over in the dictator section.