I think better when asked questions. If you ask me a question about how something works I’ll come up with a better answer than trying to come up with it on my own.
So basically, AMA about Strange. Allow me to articulate. I’m pretty sure I know enough about the character, and I need to be sure before I write anything major. So ask tough questions. Grace formations, Illusion dashes, mid-flight flame modifications, safe strings, whatever your heart desires.
I will answer everything.
In what matchups do you use which grace formations, how do you use flight to alter these patterns?
What should be the most commom formation used by Strange players is, in the corner, ground level 1R(1), jump height 1Y(2).
The first number indicates how many of the graces should be in that spot (some formations group graces together), the letter indicates the color, the (number) indicates the preferred order of deployment. This actually matters. You should probably always deploy red graces first.
So it should look like your red grace is overlapping your opponent, and the yellow grace is directly above them. This is a very good formation.
The main use of this formation is to apply mad corner pressure. As long as you’re on the ground, the flame will be directed to the red grace on the ground. You want this. This way, the opponent can not duck under the flame, and you can cancel anything into flame and give yourself frame advantage. Assuming you position the red grace well, you also get access to your throw game, since you can use the red grace to OTG after a throw. This formation also gives you 2 extra combo extensions if you land an odd hit.
The yellow grace comes into play when the opponent escapes. If they super jump away, or otherwise don’t get hit by the flame, the flame will go from the red grace to the yellow, and you will still maintain advantage. You can also access the yellow grace immediately by jumping and throwing the flame. This will usually guarantee your advantage.
But really, you just need to exploit Flames a lot. When you have a red grace on or behind your opponent, just spam it. It’ll hit them and you’ll be super plus.
Midscreen, I usually just group yellows, or make a linear formation of yellows and play off that. I’ll have to define more formations.
Now, mid flight modification is hard because it requires a triangular formation, and you have to throw the flame far away from the first grace. It’s also really situational and I only had it become relevant in one match personally. I’ll have to explain it in the tutorial because it’s kind of complicated. But basically, if you had 3 graces out, and you throw a flame, and create a new grace before the flame reaches the first grace, you can do some cool shit.
I recently decided to give Strange a try since Bolts turns out to be a freaking awesome assist for Skrull. How do you move around the screen with him? His wavedash is subpar and it seems like his teleport can be attacked on reaction. Is it just a matter of being patient, waiting for your opponent to do something dumb and teleporting in or just slowly working your way towards them? Or is there something else that move Strange around the screen quickly/safely?
First off, if your gameplan is meteor smash + bolts, you’d be better off using Rocket Raccoon’s Spitfire Twice assist as it is infinitely better for this exact same purpose.
Anyway, most of the time you’ll be moving backwards instead of forward. If you’re going to go in, you’re teleporting. Plink dashing does do a good job of compensating for slow speed, but it’s not going to be your primary movement option.
Here’s what I have written down on the guide currently that should explain what to do here.
Basically, your goal shouldn’t be to out-maneuver your opponent, because you can’t. Use an assist to give you time to set up your first spell (usually Eye) and play from there. In this case, throw out Skrull’s Orbital Grudge assist.
You can not think of Strange like you do any other character, because not only are you not supposed to “patiently get in,” you can’t even if you tried. Set up a proper grace formation behind Eye of Agamotto, throw out an assist and some Daggers to teleport safely, and play from there.
So I’m starting to play Strange/Doom/Ammy now. What are some ways to go about starting the round with Strange? I usually backdash Mystic Sword M call Missiles then go from there.
The 99 second duel isn’t the best place for Strange. His walk speed isn’t fast, his noramls have tons of recovery, etc. The best opening you can do is st.M, assist, mystic sword L. It will beat the most options if you stay outside of throw range, but it does open you up for punishment if they avoid you.
You can also try to jump around, and right as the round starts, do an impact palm in the air as you’re falling so you will quickly land.
But usually you’d probably want Strange second.
Hm, I’ve been looking at Dante/Strange/RR lately. Anyway I should run this team?
Can’t wait to see this. New strange player looking to get an overall grabs on this char.
Definitely put on Spitfire Twice assist. Strange is a good Jam Session user too. Team order works out too.
I guess what i’d ask is… What assist would allow strange to easily pressure your opponent?
Another would be what assist would allow strange to best zone your opponent out?
Beams. Aaaand beams.
Iron-Man is probably Strange’s best partner overall. Unibeam is probaby the best horizontal assist he can use, except maybe Gold Arthur Daggers. TAC infinite capable, THC is fantastic.
Any good horizontal assist is practically a requirement to stay close with Strange. Jam Session works too, generally.
Ironman is a terrible partner for Strange.
This is straight false. Iron-Man’s a great partner for pmuch anyone
Except the fact you have to play Ironman. Making the team worse overall. lol
Especially when their are other beams like Dooms, Mags, MODOKS, Thors
delete
What do you think of mazios mystic vortex and do you think its a reliable mixup all stranges should use?
Also, what’s the most efficent way to place graces without an assist?
The best reset you can do with Strange is the FChamp 5-way. When you got flames loops going on in the corner, you can reset by TAC’ing in either direction, doing a jab on the way up instead of an impact palm, and catching them mashing TAC with another impact palm into a combo (teleport M, st.L,) or reset with the jab and go for a throw.
At the end of the day, the Mystic Vortex is a 2-way reset. Not reliable enough in this kind of game. Having a suitable TAC partner is a big boost for Strange because you have access to this reset. Preferably, you should just kill when you can, but if you get a highly scaled combo or you need to keep meter, go for the 5-way.
As for deploying graces, the safest way is to deploy them whenever your opponent is preoccupied with something else, usually an assist or Eye of Agamotto, or even a previously fired Flames of the Faltine. Ideally, you want the last grace your flame will hit to be as close to your opponent as possible. If they can’t, they should be in line with your opponents movement vector so it has a higher probability of connecting.
If you’re playing defensive, you can go for a vertical formation, like ground Y(1), mid-sj height Y(2). (Lay one yellow on the ground, then lay another one between normal jump and super jump height.) It’s best to do this formation when you have screen behind you, so you can play defensive and back up, then when you’re opponent is closer to them, you can fire the flame, or deploy a third grace before throwing the flame.
Other than that, be sure you can get plenty of opportunities to deploy graces during combos, using assists preferably.
Hello I have a question.I play a team of Wesker Strange Vergil so since I feel my Strange is my weakest character,What’s a good way for Strange to get in and to keep him safe with Rapid Slash assist. Do you think I need to change the order? PS I case your wondering what my assist are is Wesker low shot, Strange Bolts and Vergil well you already see it.
Really it’s just not a good team. Strange has some use for Rapid Slash though. It’s probably one of his better assists for keeping opponents full screen. One of Strange’s big problem is, he fights his best between mid-high range and full screen, but in order to get any combo on his mixups, he has to teleport in and end up doing something unsafe. Vergil will push opponents back to full screen if that mixup fails and keep Strange safe and time to set up again. He’s also good for combos as Rapid Slash ensures Strange will always reach the corner.
If you want to get Strange in safely, throw out a Round Trip and just hard tag. You can even do this in combos to transition to FoF loops off a Vergil combo. Once you hard tag, call Vergil again to push full screen and get some bonus round trip assist hits. By that time, you should be able to set up a grace and an eye.
I suggest taking out Wesker and adding a better horizonal assist. Plasma Beam is the default answer here. Jam Session works well too, but won’t reach full screen.