The journey continues. This past Sunday
was a huge day for me in USF4. I pretty much played Endless all day
with Decapre. I had some awesome fights and learned a lot. The more I
practice and dive into things, the more everything becomes clearer.
I've been watching some other replays on YouTube, usually from
YogaFlame24's channel, which shows all the top tier SF fights off of
USF4's Replay Channel, mainly trying to find how other players are
playing Decapre. Odd enough, I'm playing the character a bit
differently from what I have seen so far(not sure if this is good or
bad).
Combofiend, an FGC highly known and
respected player, started to release some vids on the Capcom
Fighter's YouTube channel about how the characters should be
played(at least, what he thinks). With Decapre, he pointed out the
target combo, stand close MP > stand RH, which is a launcher that
can lead to an air grab or even Ultra 2, her far standing MP which is
good for spacing, and Decapre's really quick Scramble abilities(use
to confuse, mix up, etc). Also, that the jump LK can cross up but you
want to delay it so you can combo after it(which I knew that it
crossed up, but I didn't know you wanted to delay it to combo, good
stuff!). But one thing I noticed he showed that I then notice all
players doing in the Decapre replays I've seen. She has a multi-hit
attack that is used by mashing the punch buttons, much like Honda's
100 Hand Slap or Blanka's electricity. Yeah. I never really use that
thing. He pointed out that it is good to get out there, because
Decapre is safe on block when the attack is done. That's cool, but I
never find myself in a position where I remember to use it.
For example, when I start a combo
string, say, cr LP, cr LP, cr MP, I want to end it with Decapre's
uppercut(charge down, then up + P). I like doing this because it
knocks the opponent down at a specific distance. Then, when the
opponent wakes up, I like to use her MK Scramble to either ground
pound in front of or behind the opponent(which isn't safe on block,
by the way) or hit LP, which brings Decapre back to her stating
position in an attempt to bait something out, or just let it go, hit
nothing and fly by the opponent, once again, trying to bait something
out. Most of the time, I try to use the ground pound on the other
side, which will knock the opponent in the air, and you can follow up
with air grab or ultra 2. I like this set up more than multi-hit
attack. Maybe that's just me, but now I see all players doing that.
In fact, I don't really see too many players trying to mix things up
with her Scramble. I don't know if I'm playing her wrong, or if no
one has really found out the proper balance yet. We'll just have to
wait and see.
I do have some uploads for your viewing
pleasure, but before I go into that, I just want to go back to
playing on Sunday. I played a lot of Endless through out the day, and
that night, my good friend(also heard on some eps of TORT) Scorpius
Jones jumped on and we screwed around with some characters. At first,
I thought Hugo was useless. After just screwing around with him(and
fighting against him) I see what he can really do, and I want to say,
I think I'll start trying out some things with Hugo as well. Really
sad thing is, I haven't really payed much attention to the original
SSF4 cast. I've just been focused on new characters, primarily
Decapre. I should be practicing with Balrog, but I'm having too much
fun. Now, with Denver Comic Con around the corner, I don't think I'll
be playing USF4 until after I get back.
Without further ado, the matches. I'll
have my own critique, and believe me, I'm not perfect. But once
again, I urge you guys to add some comments, notes or any feedback
you'd like to provide.
Match #1 -
I fought this guy about 4 times. Won
each fight, but, I messed a lot of stuff up. First off, this was my
first time playing against a Hugo player. So, I should have won that
first round. I was being careless and got caught by the ultra. While
fighting Hugo, I played footsies(hence the constant back and forth)
and was trying to poke with st F and st RH. I used some throws a
lot(only because he didn't seem to be teching them) and you can see I
used the Scramble to bait. But, a stupid jump back RH(winks to you
Voltech) got me in trouble and he came back and won. After that, I
think I had it solved. In the second round, I dropped a cr LP, cr LP,
cr MP into uppercut combo(sigh) and I really got throw greedy. But, I
learned that Hugo is totally free if you block the lariat. Also,
there was a point where I baited Hugo's command air grab, and instead
of capitalizing with a combo, I jabbed three times and walked up
throw. That. IS. STUPID. I also didn't connect a LP, cr LP, cr LP, cr
MP. I should start trying to use cr MK instead of cr MP because it
has more length.
Match #2
This player and I went back and forth.
I won, he won, I won, he won, until I won two in a row. This first
match, I lose both rounds. I get focused twice, I didn't jump safe
and ate some great anti air ex tatsus(dude had nice reactions), I got
baited to use my ultra 2, and, I JUST ATE FIREBALLS. Seriously, I
took them like it was my job. Also, I did two random ex Scramble
slides that I should have just not done. I needed more patience and
not just guess, even the one I landed was just an attempt to make
something happen. I didn't tech all the throws, but I did tech
some(big improvement from not teching any). Only positive thing I can
state is that I got the target combo landed with the air grab follow
up. Either than that, I sucked.
Match #3
Running it back, I performed better,
though at the beginning, it doesn't even look like I was really
thinking. Walking into fireballs and combos and kind of going crazy.
Wouldn't be able to get away with that if I was playing higher
leveled opponents. I eventually got it together, still got focused
though, but calmed down, broke a focus attack. Also, using the mix up
scramble is working for me. I darted to the other side with a ground
pound and he woke up ex demon flipped. Now, I don't know if that's
what he meant to do, I'm thinking he meant ex-tatsu, but I'm
thinking(or hoping) that because I was on the other side, it screwed
up the input and made the ex demon flip come out. You have to admit,
the reaction to air grab was without hesitation and pretty cool,
probably the only moment so far in USF4 I'm actually proud of. Second
round was better but still rough. Baited a tatsu but then screwed up
the follow up air grab on the target combo(don't know why, but some
times the LK will come out when I attempt to grab). I did lose some
focus in the middle when I got grabbed and then ultra'd, but I got it
together again, and finished it by using the ex scramble slide
CORRECTLY.
Good games to these dudes.
I'm really liking USF4. Of course, I
need more practice and I need to actually fight the full cast. But
I'm playing with more confidence. Maybe next time I'll have some new
characters, or maybe some fights with Scorpius Jones? Ha ha, his ego
would love that.
If you didn't catch Part 1, check it here.
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