[CS Edition] Taokaka General Discussion

[Ronove]

Boss TaoFTW greenlighted it, we both agreed that this area kind of lacked activity and discussion other than the combo thread(s).

So here you have it your CS general discussion thread for all things Tao related, hoping this will revive the subforum a bit. :kitty:

And since we need some kind of starting topic, how have you guys been faring so far with CS Tao? I'm still adjusting to all the old matchups, Litchi so far has been the character that's been giving me most trouble, I swear her 5A and 5B scare the shit out of me, not to mention her freaking abare :psyduck:

Oh and while I do like the guard primer system (we can finally block for a while!) I really need to get used to her low health. Screwing a jump-in > punishment > 1/3 of Tao's healthbar gone x_x

[XDest]

How do you deal with a good Hazama player with Tao?

I'm finding it really hard to simply just get past 5D and 214D~..A. If I run directly forward (for a 5B, 5C or possibly 6C), I get 5D'd. If I IAD j.C/j.B or j.4D (or any drive for that matter), I just get 214D~..A'd by its huge hitbox. If I triple jump, drive cancel in the air, or crawl, one of his other chains gets me. It's like it's a mixup that's heavily in his favour every time I move and try to get close.

It's really frustrating even getting in on him.

[Ronove]

I only played against an Hazama a month ago at a ranbat and it was my first time getting familiar with that matchup, so I know what you're talking about when you say that at first you need to get around his zoning. Since I still lack enough experience I can't really give any solid tip but one of the things I noticed works well when they're zoning the air (in case we jump/IAD/j.5D) is to go for j.4D and a lot of ~C feints, trying to make him guess wrong. However it's certainly not as easy to get in as it was against Nu in CT or Lambda in CS, or maybe we simply still have to figure out a better approach. :v:

Oh yeah, at full screen distance maybe 214A/B could be useful, they're not THAT awesome but they might keep the Hazama distracted long enough to close the distance atleast near midscreen or 3/4

[RinHara5aki]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Goc3MXkkiB8

Mod background commentary = priceless XD

[CakeWasBannedd]

Hazamas a fun matchup for me actually, landing a 6C to high damage combo when he tries to get in with chains feels really good. And then theres the thing Kazu demonstrated on almost day one of CS: Pounce super is unavoidable if Hazama chains in.

[Ronove]

This is kind of a general question, not specifically related to a particular match-up: how are you guys approaching the opponent now in CS? I noticed that a lot of the japanese Taos like to j.5D~B to get close, because it's fast and doesn't have excessively long recovery with the new ~B cancel. It's weird though, because while 5D~B on ground is still unsafe (on block, and even on hit you can only do as much as block after or 2a/grab in a few cases) it should be the same for j.5D...

I still use all the jumps when necessary, but seeing all these japanese players effectively closing in with j.5D~B makes me want to try it more. In certain matchups (like vs Litchi, I am beginning to hate her :psyduck: ) getting in while avoiding any pokes/AA has become a little problematic, especially since she has such low health I can't really let myself get hit by situational hitconfirms (again, Litchi...). :v:

[CakeWasBannedd]

This is kind of a general question, not specifically related to a particular match-up: how are you guys approaching the opponent now in CS? I noticed that a lot of the japanese Taos like to j.5D~B to get close, because it's fast and doesn't have excessively long recovery with the new ~B cancel. It's weird though, because while 5D~B on ground is still unsafe (on block, and even on hit you can only do as much as block after or 2a/grab in a few cases) it should be the same for j.5D...

I still use all the jumps when necessary, but seeing all these japanese players effectively closing in with j.5D~B makes me want to try it more. In certain matchups (like vs Litchi, I am beginning to hate her :psyduck: ) getting in while avoiding any pokes/AA has become a little problematic, especially since she has such low health I can't really let myself get hit by situational hitconfirms (again, Litchi...). :v:
What I do is throw a projectile (214A) to freak them out, dash forward into range of a 6C, do a 6C, it gets blocked, mixup time. There are tons of ways to approach with tao though. I like j.214D near the wall then jumping off it. Seems pretty safe to me, and covers TONS of ground.

[Ronove]

Oh yes, forgot to mention I've been using 214D/IAD into airthrow a lot in CS, since it leads to 4k+ damage. It's actually become even more useful than it was in CT since her ground throw got nerfed so much that all my previous setups and mixups that I adopted in CT are simply not usable anymore (or require to input a dash which basically provide room to the opponent for jabbing or teching the throw on reaction). Kara-throw at close range gets stuffed in a lot matchups. :psyduck:

[XDest]

This is kind of a general question, not specifically related to a particular match-up: how are you guys approaching the opponent now in CS? I noticed that a lot of the japanese Taos like to j.5D~B to get close, because it's fast and doesn't have excessively long recovery with the new ~B cancel. It's weird though, because while 5D~B on ground is still unsafe (on block, and even on hit you can only do as much as block after or 2a/grab in a few cases) it should be the same for j.5D...

I still use all the jumps when necessary, but seeing all these japanese players effectively closing in with j.5D~B makes me want to try it more. In certain matchups (like vs Litchi, I am beginning to hate her :psyduck: ) getting in while avoiding any pokes/AA has become a little problematic, especially since she has such low health I can't really let myself get hit by situational hitconfirms (again, Litchi...). :v:

Are you sure it's still unsafe? I'm was really sure they changed that so that it's advantageous on hit and slightly disadvantageous on block now. I could be wrong, but I haven't been punished for it yet. Also yeah, I unintentionally used j.D~B to get around in CT as well. Didn't really think it was that great, a bit of a habit. Who knows if it's actually a good thing or not.

[Ronove]

Ground 5D~B on hit is still not completely safe. When I played our local Litchi player last weekend I got a nice counter from her 2A right as I landed on the other side while I was attempting to 2A as well. However in other occasions I did manage to sneak a 2A or do a grab/block. I am still trying to figure out why sometimes I would be caught in counter, I think it might depend on whether the opponent has buffered their moves during the blockstun making them come out at the first available frame while ours is still in its activation ones. Jumping out of it is a big no since they'll just 5A/5B/whatever fast normal they have as ghetto AA.

And if you think about it, I've rarely seen japanese players using 5D~B even in CS, they seem get punished for it even when it does hit, they prefer doing 5D~C to reset their pressure or 2D~B/jump.

j.D~B apparently seems to have less recovery so that might be why they like it so much to use it.

[XDest]

Not completely safe isn't unsafe. Unsafe is guaranteed hits. If something can be blocked/DP'd afterward, it isn't unsafe (~90% of moves are disadvantageous on block). It might simply be very stupid to do anything other than block, based on the matchup, but it's still very possible to walk away from the situation without taking damage. If you don't take damage, that's safety. Whether or not it's an offensive/pressure tool will depend on the match-up.

That's because B cancel whiffs are range dependent based on when you canceled and where you did the drive in the first place. Things that are blocked will always recover the same way. But who's going be jumping back blocking all day? You can't predict where she'll end up exactly, therefore you can't predict the amount of recovery and which move to use. Add A and C cancels as well as triple jumps, air dashes and j.4D/j.2D, and you have no goddamn clue where she'll end up, how to punish her, and IF you can punish her until it's too late. And because it recovers quicker, you can always do a second j.D with the cancel of your choice right after it. So you don't know if she'll even land after it or do an attack.

And that's why j.D~B can close ground against a good amount of characters. There's too many options for her after a midscreen jump and too many options just for j.D~B alone to predict for an appropriate punishment, and you're not going to react quick enough.

[Ronove]

True, I suppose that's what makes her j.D~B not that easy to predict. I noticed a lot of Taos were succesfully able to get in and sneak a 5B/2A upon landing since their opponents had little time to react given the reasons you stated.

Regarding ground 5D~B on hit: yes in the end all I could do was block, and sometimes throw if I was expecting a move with a long startup (longer than the throw). But I guess it'll depend on matchups. For sure I can tell you that against Litchi anything beyond blocking after a hitconfirmed 5D~B is not going to be safe if the Litchi player is mashing on 2A/5A.

[Ronove]

With the recent news about the rebalancing in the console version I think we can safely assume that the taunt loop is probably going to say goodbye. Which kind of makes me feel like an idiot for having spent a lot of time (and money) for the purpose of learning it.

Oh well, I am sure that without her loop she's probably going to become less intimidating in terms of learning curve and manuality, but I also hope that they're going to change other aspects of her game for the better to compensate for the removal of that loop, else she's going to end as a bottom tier character...

[CakeWasBannedd]

They'd better not remove taunt loop D: I love it. And if they do, they had better buff her amazingly in other areas otherwise she'll just suck. I really would be disappointed if the taunt loop was removed, I really like doing it on opponents.

[Ronove]

I like the loop for the plain fact that executing it succesfully really feels rewarding, but at the same time I agree that it is something that probably wasn't intended to be there and looks pretty much "boring" to see (atleast to all the other people who don't use Tao). We'll probably still have our regular single taunt/double taunt combos, I hope...

[CakeWasBannedd]

I like the loop for the plain fact that executing it succesfully really feels rewarding, but at the same time I agree that it is something that probably wasn't intended to be there and looks pretty much "boring" to see (atleast to all the other people who don't use Tao). We'll probably still have our regular single taunt/double taunt combos, I hope...

Tao was good for once. Not broken, certainly not amazing, but good. I'm just afraid if they rebalance her she'll be terrible again.
They either A) Intended taunt loops and their good damage at the cost of low defense or B) Wanted her to stay the same as in CT but lose oki and damage but gain a bit more speed on a couple of moves.....:psyduck:

[zValor]

Tao was good for once. Not broken, certainly not amazing, but good. I'm just afraid if they rebalance her she'll be terrible again.
They either A) Intended taunt loops and their good damage at the cost of low defense or B) Wanted her to stay the same as in CT but lose oki and damage but gain a bit more speed on a couple of moves.....:psyduck:
Tao has always been good. Also knowing Arc the loop will stay, MU-12 will probably be biggest difference the arcade and console versions

[CakeWasBannedd]

Tao has always been good. Also knowing Arc the loop will stay, MU-12 will probably be biggest difference the arcade and console versions

Not really. Not going to go into detail, but there were much better characters in CT.

[TaoFTW]

As far as I'm concerned, the arcade version will not be any different than the console port. Taunt loop will still be your #1 choice in BnB, but not your only option. Also, CT Tao was A-/B+ tier...and still is high up on the tier ladder. Even without the Taunt loop, she still does decent damage.

[Ronove]

As far as I'm concerned, the arcade version will not be any different than the console port. Taunt loop will still be your #1 choice in BnB, but not your only option. Also, CT Tao was A-/B+ tier...and still is high up on the tier ladder. Even without the Taunt loop, she still does decent damage.

What? So the taunt loop is going to survive from the rebalancing they've announced?

[edit] oh wait, I realized that maybe you still don't about the fact they're going to rebalance the game for console release? I was making assumptions based on the latest news since chances are that the developers might remove Tao's taunt loop as part of that process. It wasn't referred to me giving up on the loop (how could I, after spending so much effort to get it down). If you were aware of the news then completely ignore this edit. :v:

Anyway, I'd find it odd for ArcSys to announce a rebalance and then in the end leave the taunt loop as it is. It would make sense if they removed it and then improved Tao's damage output through other means in order to not weaken the character will taking out an "undesired" aspect of her game (supposing that the Taunt loop was unintended on the developers' side).

[XDest]

As far as I'm concerned, the arcade version will not be any different than the console port. Taunt loop will still be your #1 choice in BnB, but not your only option. Also, CT Tao was A-/B+ tier...and still is high up on the tier ladder. Even without the Taunt loop, she still does decent damage.

In CS, she does 3400/4400 instead of 4200/6800 if you don't do the taunt loop. That is actually pretty significant if she loses all that damage but still retains her 9500HP.

As well, she loses any oki game if she loses taunt loop. In CT, she had it off everything, so the damage could easily be compounded with the right wakeup guesses.

So yeah, if you get rid of Taunt Loop, you have to make some more changes to make up for it.

[zValor]

As far as I'm concerned, the arcade version will not be any different than the console port. Taunt loop will still be your #1 choice in BnB, but not your only option. Also, CT Tao was A-/B+ tier...and still is high up on the tier ladder. Even without the Taunt loop, she still does decent damage.
this is pretty much how I feel, and I doubt removing the loop would be as simple as people think

[MacArthur Blunts]

Guys, taunt was obviously intentional.

Someone knowingly made taunt do damage, reverse proration, be special cancelable and have hit/blockstun.

It will most likely stay in her game after this "rebalancing" occurs. Maybe doing a little less damage. Or they may not even touch her at all.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Guys, taunt was obviously intentional.

Someone knowingly made taunt do damage, reverse proration, be special cancelable and have hit/blockstun.

It will most likely stay in her game after this "rebalancing" occurs. Maybe doing a little less damage. Or they may not even touch her at all.

ASSUME THE WORST BRACE FOR IMPACT
I was actually just talking with my friend about that yesterday. They obviously knew about taunt loop in CT, so I don't see any way for them to accidentally make a loop.

[Ronove]

Of course taunt combos were most likely intentional, but the loop? Well, we'll see when game comes out on console, I guess.

[PlasticChicken]

What's wrong with the taunt loop? What's with this talk about removing it. o:

Even with our high damaging combos, it wasn't easy to get compared to bang, litchi, and ragna. I can tell you 100% that the loop was intended.

[Silfer]

I'd love for them to leave the loop but add more options that dont require such precise timing. Anything to make tao more online friendly. Its probably a selfish request (as I only play online), but I'd love to see it done.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Yo dawgs critique my tao http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTtBA6-qDRQ

[Ronove]

- don't charge the j.C
- use j.D~B to approach as an air to ground, you can always j.D~B again or jump if it gets blocked and if it does hit you'll have enough time to land and hitconfirm your 5B/2A/Throw
- too much 5B > 6A that whiffed, you should only used that string when you're close. If you are not 100% sure of the distance between you and your opponent use other blockstrings (5B > 5C > etc , 5B > 2B > etc etc, you get the idea)

[CakeWasBannedd]

Awesome, thanks for the input. I agree I was doing 5B>6A too much that match when it was whiffing. Isn't charging the j.C a good mindgame though? It doesn't really seem like it would make a difference if I charged it or not.

[XDest]

Also, if you land far away from them with the B cancel, j.4D~any is also an option.

And all of these options are also available off 4D.

I'm pretty sure these drive cancel options opened up because of the cancels' lowered recovery overall. Pretty cool. I don't think those kinds of options were available in CT, and if they were - they weren't as effective.

Edit: Maybe more j.B is needed? You were doing j.C for air-to-ground a lot, but it's not as good for that now.

[Ronove]

Awesome, thanks for the input. I agree I was doing 5B>6A too much that match when it was whiffing. Isn't charging the j.C a good mindgame though? It doesn't really seem like it would make a difference if I charged it or not.
The point is that in a couple of occasions you jumped behind your opponent and charged j.C, that didn't allow Tao's sprite to flip and left you completely open for the opponent to counter as he wanted.

Also as XDest said j.B is a better air-to-ground tool in CS, j.C is still good as air vs. air and for air footsies in general.

Right now I'd say that j.B is good if you're already close to the opponent and you're either attempting a crossup, neutral jump j.B or in case you're ending your blockstring with a jump-cancelable move. It's basically her best jump-in tool. However j.D(with drive cancels) is a better air-to-ground tool if you're approaching the opponent from the distance. In order to get in safely Tao needs to force the opponent to commit a mistake either in blocking or in choosing the wrong moment to do something that's not blocking the right thing, so that's why her j.D~B (or even ~C) are so good in CS, because it leaves you with a good number of options at your disposal depending on how the opponent behaves when you're approaching, and if it connects it will cause enough hitstun for you to mixup your hitconfirm/pressure string of choice.

I think this is what has really improved in Tao's offensive game compared to CT which had to be more linear and was more about pressuring than baiting mistakes due to her ~B canceled drives being all risky save for the 2D, coupled with the fact that in CS her 5B and her 5C are now level 1 and level 2 moves (meaning less blockstun/hitstun).

[CakeWasBannedd]

What do you guys think of making a Taokaka critique/advice thread? It would be a good place for people to post videos of them playing and then for other people to give advice on them. Thoughts?

[Ronove]

I think we could use this thread? It's not like it's overly crowded here, heh.

[RinHara5aki]

Dunno where else to put this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irn24ya3Go8

Cake needs combo suggestions. Creative combo's. What do you guy's suggest? Hopefully you guys don't just say "combo thread *point" :gonk:

[Ronove]

*points to the com-

oh wai

sorry. :kitty:

Looks cute. I can't exactly think of many creative combos, but this one has rarely been featured (and it's actually a legit combo, if I am not wrong either Chikua or Whistler use it quite often):

5B > 3C > 5D~C(no hit) > j.2D~B > Taunt loop (can't recall the exact amount of repetitions though but it was certainly not more than 6 times) > ender of your choice

[RinHara5aki]

Cool! I haven't gotten any negative feedback about the 'tage yet. So i'm sure once Cake gets his stick back, and starts bustin out combo's, we'll be throwin around some questions about cool combo's.

5D~C No hit into TL? That looks interesting... but that does look like a corner combo. Is it? Usually off of 3c i just 5d~b -> 5b -> taunt~, but that looks more fun.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Cool! I haven't gotten any negative feedback about the 'tage yet. So i'm sure once Cake gets his stick back, and starts bustin out combo's, we'll be throwin around some questions about cool combo's.

5D~C No hit into TL? That looks interesting... but that does look like a corner combo. Is it? Usually off of 3c i just 5d~b -> 5b -> taunt~, but that looks more fun.

I actually messed around with 3C>5D~C no hit taunt loops a while back, and it works midscreen on pretty much anyone except carl. Will definitely record that :D

[Ronove]

Oh by the way, slightly off topic: I recall Rin used Dazzle to record his stuff, right? Is it good? Me and my friends of the local scene were looking to buy some of this equipment to record our games at ranbats/tourneys. What do you suggest? :X

You can answer me with a PM just to avoid getting this too OT.

Going back in topic, there's one cool thing that Whistler did against Satoshi in one of the recent G3 vids: basically as he landed with an empty 2D~B he did 5A > grab. Normally 5A is a move that is rarely used because of its awful range, however if the opponent is cornered or if you space well a 2D~B it becomes useful as mind-game tool. Satoshi was expecting to be thrown since he noticed the empty 2D~B and was ready to tech the grab but the 5A (which is faster than the grab) countered first allowing Whistler to counter-grab.

Considering that Tao's throw range in CS has been nerfed a lot this little setup is actually pretty cool, once you use it you'll put the opponent in a situation where he has to guess a little on whether it's good for him to preemptively use a 5A or an other quick move to avoid being caught by the same setup, while Tao still has more options with a 2D~B.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Oh by the way, slightly off topic: I recall Rin used Dazzle to record his stuff, right? Is it good? Me and my friends of the local scene were looking to buy some of this equipment to record our games at ranbats/tourneys. What do you suggest? :X

You can answer me with a PM just to avoid getting this too OT.

Going back in topic, there's one cool thing that Whistler did against Satoshi in one of the recent G3 vids: basically as he landed with an empty 2D~B he did 5A > grab. Normally 5A is a move that is rarely used because of its awful range, however if the opponent is cornered or if you space well a 2D~B it becomes useful as mind-game tool. Satoshi was expecting to be thrown since he noticed the empty 2D~B and was ready to tech the grab but the 5A (which is faster than the grab) countered first allowing Whistler to counter-grab.

Considering that Tao's throw range in CS has been nerfed a lot this little setup is actually pretty cool, once you use it you'll put the opponent in a situation where he has to guess a little on whether it's good for him to preemptively use a 5A or an other quick move to avoid being caught by the same setup, while Tao still has more options with a 2D~B.

I don't think anyone really cares if we get off topic. It's kind of relevant to Blazblue, so meh :v: Dazzle's are good and really easy to use, the quality isn't HD since you're using AV cables to record, but it's definitely better than a camcorder. If you want to record the computer needs to be relatively close to the console, which shouldn't be a problem if you have a laptop. If you want to record CS from the cab though, you'll have to ask Rin or someone else. I haven't a clue about that :vbang:

[XDest]

There's a small problem when using Dazzle: It only supports audio in its own program. Therefore, you need to get a red/white -> 3.5" audio converter and put that in line in for it to work properly. Other capture cards don't have that problem.

[Ronove]

These days I've been thinking... If they really have to tweak Tao again with the console release, I just hope they give her a little more health. As it stands right now she's become a "kill or die" kind of character, with little chance for comebacks save a couple of matchups. Taunt loops aren't game-breaking at all and despite the reward being pretty good they're still really risky. Although a couple of decent combos that don't require the loop have been discovered I still see a lot of Tao top players often screwing up her BnBs and eating a fat punishment (many times costing the round). I am fine with Tao being even more execution based than she was in CT, but if she had her CT health (or 500 less if they really had to lower it down) then there'd be less depressing games that are like "Tao tries to get the damage > combo miss > punishment > round over/burst wasted".

Oh well, enough of my ranting. :\

[CakeWasBannedd]

These days I've been thinking... If they really have to tweak Tao again with the console release, I just hope they give her a little more health. As it stands right now she's become a "kill or die" kind of character, with little chance for comebacks save a couple of matchups. Taunt loops aren't game-breaking at all and despite the reward being pretty good they're still really risky. Although a couple of decent combos that don't require the loop have been discovered I still see a lot of Tao top players often screwing up her BnBs and eating a fat punishment (many times costing the round). I am fine with Tao being even more execution based than she was in CT, but if she had her CT health (or 500 less if they really had to lower it down) then there'd be less depressing games that are like "Tao tries to get the damage > combo miss > punishment > round over/burst wasted".

Oh well, enough of my ranting. :\

I personally don't mind the low health all that much, although that might be because the only character I fight is Carl. I dunno, I'd be willing to have bad health in exchange for 6k off of a move that's safe on block, has good range, and punishes airdashes on reaction. I just play really defensively with her, and don't take many risks. That's just my opinion, though :kitty:

[XDest]

If you wanted to go for a defensive and safe style, there would be a lot better options than Taokaka. In my opinion, Taokaka is made for complex movement/evasion, as well as speed and damage. To balance this out, she has poor defense (no real AA or DP, 9500HP, 4 guard primers), and her pressure isn't great either (not many moves with good blockstun).

Just look at all her movement options. Several drives at any given time with 6 cancels (5,6,A,B,C,RC), 3 jumps, 2 air dashes. And of course the speed and damage are self explanatory.

I don't find her all too safe either. Because she doesn't have great pressure via blockstun, she has to rely on her mixups, gimmicks and movement to try to make up for that. Therefore, you have to take risks, or not open your opponent's defense up. And because she can't defend for all that long, that's not very safe either.

Don't take this as criticism, this is just my general opinion on the character.

[Ronove]

It's true though that the new guard primer system allows her to block more in certain matchups which isn't bad per se. My "complaint" was only regarding her really low health. While I do understand why they made it like that, the fact that her BnBs are still not totally reliable in terms of success rate (and again, even top japanese players miss them A LOT in comparison to players that main other characters) lead to frustrating situations where all the advantage that was built is basically lost with a single combo + eventual resets.

It kind of pains me to see the likes of Kazuhira and others do really well, then "oops", missed the ender or taunt loop string opponent recovers and it's back to square one. :\
I'm fine with her not having a lot of tools to defend, I'd even dare to say that she's actually improved a little on that aspect (6a is slightly better when an opponent is neutral jumping/falling in front of Tao), just a little health buff would be a welcome change in my eyes. Heh.

[Mystic d]

It's true though that the new guard primer system allows her to block more in certain matchups which isn't bad per se. My "complaint" was only regarding her really low health. While I do understand why they made it like that, the fact that her BnBs are still not totally reliable in terms of success rate (and again, even top japanese players miss them A LOT in comparison to players that main other characters) lead to frustrating situations where all the advantage that was built is basically lost with a single combo + eventual resets.

It kind of pains me to see the likes of Kazuhira and others do really well, then "oops", missed the ender or taunt loop string opponent recovers and it's back to square one. :\
I'm fine with her not having a lot of tools to defend, I'd even dare to say that she's actually improved a little on that aspect (6a is slightly better when an opponent is neutral jumping/falling in front of Tao), just a little health buff would be a welcome change in my eyes. Heh.

It's that challenge that makes it fun :3 Besides, Tao is basically at the center of the tier list with a +10 Rating overall. No matchups less than 45-55 and none more than 60-40 makes it basically a toss-up every match between evenly skilled players. The matches should be close and more exciting at the same time. At least, that's my view on it

[Ronove]

Well if I wasn't interested in challanges I wouldn't be sticking with her, so I am not complaining about that. It was just a rant on how sometimes it feels frustrating to lose all the advantage you build with one hitconfirm, it kind of feels like one didn't really deserve it but that's how Tao is anyway.

[Mat-]

Hi people! My first post here. I bought CT a few days ago and decided to play Taokaka for no other reason than her raw awesomeness. However I've read here that moving from CT to CS with her can be quite difficult. So I'm tempted to just screw around with another char and wait until CS is released to get serious with Tao. This way I won't have any bad CT habits to get rid of or stuff like that. What's your opinion on this? About how much of CT mechanical training with Tao (drive loops, etc) would be transferrable to CS? I'm kind of a long term gamer so waiting a few months (if CS is still scheduled for July) is really not a big issue.

[Mr Oso]

I dont play tao but it seems like you would pick up better habits from playing her in CT rather than waiting for CS to hit.If you wait then your forced to learn Tao from stratch rather than having some sort of expierence. Personally if its a char your going to main i figure its better to hit the ground running. If not that you could at least sub her in CT and mess around with some other char til CS.

=3

[CakeWasBannedd]

Have to agree. A lot of tao's setups, combos, etc can be used in CS, with little or no alterations required. And getting taunt combos down in CT will prepare you for taunt loops in CS, at least a little bit. So basically, I'd recommend learning tao in CT, then transitioning to CS when it comes out.

[Mat-]

Yeah, from what I've understood as well reading other threads, taunt combos which are Tao's BnB in CS are also partially doable in CT - it's just that most people ignore them and rely rather on drive loops. Right?

So Tao it is. I was pretty much screwed anyway since the other char I like is Arakune and he's getting a lot of changes as well apparently, so he wouldn't even make a decent sub once CS comes out and I main Tao.

Since I have to learn all the BB basics, I don't think the CT/CS differences are going to matter that much at first. I'm just going to play solid, to get familiar with stuff like barrier/instablocking and Tao's normal/special moves (only 4 attack buttons but with all the moving/jumping variations that's about 30 REALLY different moves T_T). And try to throw in a taunt combo when I get the chance. I'll have a look at the combo thread to figure out which ones I can practice on CT, or at least how they start so I can understand which kind of situations/setups I must aim for.

Quite a long road ahead but with Tao I'm sure it's gonna be hella fun. She already makes my friends cringe. :3

[Ronove]

Yup. It's better if you stick with her in CT if you plan to use her in CS. It will make the transition a lot easier than just learning her basics from scratch.

[Sindelian]

I'm not feelin what they did to Taokaka in CS. All I see in match videos is her loop combo. In CT, I saw Tao as a character chock full of a large variety of challenging combos.

I also hate what they did with j.236B... The areal zig-zag combo was my favorite =-/

[XDest]

I'm not feelin what they did to Taokaka in CS. All I see in match videos is her loop combo. In CT, I saw Tao as a character chock full of a large variety of challenging combos.

I also hate what they did with j.236B... The areal zig-zag combo was my favorite =-/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPULRMRccyg

[CakeWasBannedd]

Ok so, now that I'm unbanned, I'd like for you guys to critique my tao again. Take your pick!

Match 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCqongdTR4Y)
Match 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_sGketKvuU)
Match 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOsHYnl5HLg)
Match 4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPqljKr5nOc)
Match 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fGthSu25Hk)
Match 6 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixCSVqzwbWQ)

So about my Tao: I can loop fine, but I honestly don't know what I'm supposed to be working on right now. Yeah, I make stupid mistakes like continuing to charge j.C and occasionally whiffing loops, but other than that I can't see anything. One thing I'd like to learn is CH j.C>land>66>5B>6a>taunt loop.

[Ronove]

Just train yourself to do regular j.C > land > 66 > 5B in CT. You can do this constantly on the training dummy using her 2D~B to quickly switch sides and keep doing it until your execution improves. At the beginning you'll probably be mashing 6 to find the right timing, to avoid doing a 6B pull stick on 4 when you're going to do the 5B (4B = 5B for Tao, doesn't make a difference) then 6A. This is just to adjust your rhythm and prevent mashing, once your muscle-memory learns it you won't need that trick.

I've only watched the first vid (I'll watch the others later, I'm on break, damn uni exams :psyduck: ). You lost almost all of the aerial battles for one plain simple reason: when you're jumping next to the opponent unless you do a meaty j.C out of his range you'll always lose against the air jabs, and that's natural because j.C, as good as it may be, is a poke tool hence the "long" startup. You need to use more Tao's j.A everytime you and your opponent jump close to each other, j.C is only viable if you are approaching from the distance or in air-to-ground situations (and in that aspect j.B now is actually better).

You'll notice this yourself if you watch these vids again. In plenty of situations you dashed in and attempted a j.C when you were in his airjab range, obviously being countered. So you either preemptively do a j.C out of his range (and this will require you to have grasp of the distance, the opponent's range and his mobility) or if you're close just j.A. Who cares if j.A prorates badly, you have to avoid eating an air CH (especially in the air, just think if you were versus a Litchi rather than a Carl, all those situations would have turned into free 4K combos against you).

One more thing: if you rely too much on 5B > 6A the opponent will adapt too fast to your blockstring, afterall you don't have plenty of options after a blocked 6A. When you jump cancel a blocked 6A don't be in a hurry to get in: do a double jump to bait if you think the opponent is mashing a reversal, or jump back and then dash->airgrab or dash j.A/j.C (again depending on who's the opponent, range etc) if they're jumping away. You can't play risky until you condition the opponent on not being too carefree, and the proper way to achieve it is to use her mobility and make them whiff all you can whenever they're carelessly mashing a normal or a reversal inbetween the holes of Tao's offensive game. If you keep them honest you'll have an easier time mixing up risky stuff (6C, 236C, 5D~B, etc). This is a general rule, and of course depending on the matchup and the opponent things may vary but it's important to know that you can't rushdown mindlessly, if the opponent reads your blockstring it's ok just use her mobility and her jumps to retaliate for a second and create one more opening.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Thanks for the tips. I think if you watch the other videos I get hit by j.A a lot less, but I know it's something I need to work on.

[GKHiryu]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPULRMRccyg

DAT COMBOES! :vbang:

[Ronove]

Did you guys see the hitbox video for Tao? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttnQNvzQqzQ)

I honestly thought that her 5B and 5C had a larger offensive hitbox. I'm a little surprised. Basically the defensive hitbox is slightly larger. Heh.

Atleast her 6A's 1st hit and 3C's 3rd hit seem to have a slightly larger hitbox.

[CakeWasBannedd]

I'm really happy with 6A's hitbox, happy I'm using at as an anti-air from time to time. I'm also going to show my buddy 6C's hitbox, he thinks it's impossible to avoid or something :(

[Ronove]

Heh, I don't think 6A has become a reliable anti-air yet, but with a bigger hitbox it should whiff less on blocking opponents. That was something that made a blockstring of 5B > 6A pretty risky in CT in certain matchups (hello Noel, Rachel)...

[RinHara5aki]

This is why I sometimes hate this game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtgNJue84u0

[CakeWasBannedd]

This is why I sometimes hate this game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtgNJue84u0

I'm kidnapping you and taking you to Canada and making you not so pessimistic.

[Ronove]

Is that why you're quitting Tao? Come on dude you can't be serious. You did well in that match, what you need to fix is that you need to abuse more Tao's ability to double and triple jump when you're expecting the opponent to mash a reversal. Especially against Tager you need to have patience man. Always remember when you're landing next to a Tager whether you kept him in blockstun or not, because he might be buffering a command grab as soon as you touch ground, so always ALWAYS bait that shit with double jump > j.A/j.B . Same thing as the end of that vid with the astral, double- hell triple jump/sticky kitty just to get the hell outta there. It's just that, really. There's no reason for you to quit Tao, you're good at pressuring and getting in you only need to keep your cool and eyes open on moving around your opponent.

[XDest]

5D~B is -5, j.4D~B is -4, I probably should have looked at what j.2D~B was. There's the final answer for that one, unless I read it wrong. Still don't know about the A and C cancels, but the B cancels now have 8 frames less recovery than CT.

[Ronove]

-5 is still pretty safe.

[k336]

"canceling 5D with B with different timing will change the cancel's recovery period: (Timing, Recovery) (1-21F, 23F), (22-26F, 22F), (27-28F, 21F), (29F, 20F), (30F, 9F)"

Sounds like -5 is the worse case scenario as well. 5D is a lvl4 attack with 18 frame blockstun. So the further away Tao is when using 5D, the recovery time is faster if it's B-canceled on block.

[Mystic d]

"canceling 5D with B with different timing will change the cancel's recovery period: (Timing, Recovery) (1-21F, 23F), (22-26F, 22F), (27-28F, 21F), (29F, 20F), (30F, 9F)"

Sounds like -5 is the worse case scenario as well. 5D is a lvl4 attack with 18 frame blockstun. So the further away Tao is when using 5D, the recovery time is faster if it's B-canceled on block.

last one should be 19 frames

[Vhaeraun]

All I see are taunt loops

Watch Tsujikawa's Taokaka. Although sure he still uses those taunt loops(but doesn't abuse it), he abuses Tao's mixup more, plays Tao aggressively and is just more fun to watch than Keita, Kuzu

[XDest]

"canceling 5D with B with different timing will change the cancel's recovery period: (Timing, Recovery) (1-21F, 23F), (22-26F, 22F), (27-28F, 21F), (29F, 20F), (30F, 9F)"

Sounds like -5 is the worse case scenario as well. 5D is a lvl4 attack with 18 frame blockstun. So the further away Tao is when using 5D, the recovery time is faster if it's B-canceled on block.

Yeah, that's definitely what it feels like to me. It makes sense.

Edit: Oh nice, it seems they uploaded the whole thing. A is -2, B is -5, C is +2. And that's worst case scenario. Hell yes.

Also, quite confused by the "(30F, 9F)", does this mean if you just framed the B cancel to the 30th frame, it would give you 14 less recovery (the normal one is 23F recovery)? That would result in a free hit for you, wouldn't it? This sounds pretty insane. I think I'm just interpreting it wrong.

Other interesting notes about the exact changes between CT and CS Tao:
- Projectiles have 7f less startup, 4f less recovery than CT
- Almost Becoming Two now has 1f startup invincibility, eh?
- 6C fully charged gives +5 on block.
- j.B has a 2f faster startup, and of course the horizontal hitbox change to go along with it.

[k336]

Yeah, that's definitely what it feels like to me. It makes sense.

Edit: Oh nice, it seems they uploaded the whole thing. A is -2, B is -5, C is +2. And that's worst case scenario. Hell yes.

Also, quite confused by the "(30F, 9F)", does this mean if you just framed the B cancel to the 30th frame, it would give you 14 less recovery (the normal one is 23F recovery)? That would result in a free hit for you, wouldn't it? This sounds pretty insane. I think I'm just interpreting it wrong.

Other interesting notes about the exact changes between CT and CS Tao:
- Projectiles have 7f less startup, 4f less recovery than CT
- Almost Becoming Two now has 1f startup invincibility, eh?
- 6C fully charged gives +5 on block.
- j.B has a 2f faster startup, and of course the horizontal hitbox change to go along with it.

Read 2 posts above, as Mystic suggests, its likely a typo and should be 19 frames instead, since it's decrementing by 1F at a time.

[XDest]

That makes a hell of a lot more sense.

[Ronove]

I don't think I quite get it yet, in regards to the 5D~B

Is the note referring to a case where the player cancels before hitting the opponent (so without causing blockstun)?

[XDest]

It's a matter of how long the 5D has been out for. You have 30 frames to cancel it (it seems), unless you touch an opponent (in which case you would have less). Let's say you're at max distance from the opponent, barely touch the opponent and are able to B cancel on the 30th frame the 5D is out. That -5 is now a -1, since you have 4 frames faster recovery.

Therefore, the -5 is the worst case scenario, and the -1 is the best, depending on your spacing and timing. I think that's a proper interpretation of that data.

[Ronove]

I see, thanks for making it clear.

Well that's pretty sweet. -5 as worst possible option is still safe (you can atleast block/jump).

-1 should even allow her to low profile most of the opponent's 5A. With the right mindgames you can crawl > throw, crawl > 2A/5B, jump/etc. Kara-throw might still be too risky though, I guess it'll depend at what distance Tao lands.

Oh, ~C being +2? Sweeeeeet. Means we can end blockstrings with 5D~C or even include j.2D~C as last segment of a blockstring. I should have tested this on arcade on what her options are on a hitconfirmed 5D~C/j.2D~C. If it's possible to hitconfirm from these two into a taunt loop/combo that'd be really really sweet, as proration from any of her drives is pretty good.

Can't wait to get my hands on the game and finally try this stuff in a proper training mode.

[XDest]

Well, since it's +2 on block, the move after the 5D~C is the option you should be worrying about. Personally, I think the C cancel was already pretty good at -3, we didn't get that many new options out of it being adv, since the opponent still has anti-airs (possibly). Of course you can put in another jump to bait the anti-air and beat it out, but if they run away, there goes your pressure.

But the A and B cancels being safe is huge. Since they would have to react fast and use a jab, or use a DP (and if that is baited without having a burst/rapid, Tao's opponent can say goodbye to 70% health, if you have the execution), the easy option of an anti air isn't there. And jabs can be low profiled by 2A/2B, so the best option after A cancels would be another person's 2A, which really limits the other player. And of course there's the fact that the opponent has to guess/react to the correct cancel to choose the correct option. The same option is not right for A/B/C/RC.

And then on the other side of the offensive game, her jump cancels got a few nice options, because of the extra range on j.B and 6A. And the ability to crossover with j.B if close enough, with slight delay after the jump cancel. There's other gimmicks you can do from them too, play around with them.

So you do have interesting offensive options in CS vs CT I think. I don't think it's insanely good, but at least it exists in a more proper form.

[Ronove]

The cool thing about 5D~C is that if you're expecting them to jump away from pressure now you can safely airdash->airthrow. I've seen this done a lot by Tsujikawa and Denpa, and I think we finally know why. :kitty:

[k336]

Another thing to mention is the j4D~B cancel. The notes in the frame data suggests it eliminates the first 2 tiers of recovery variation... to quote:

"canceling j.4D with B with different timing will change the cancel's recovery period: (Timing, Recovery) (until 22F after landing, 21F), (23-29F after landing, 20F), (30F after landing, 9F)"

So from mid range where you cannot guarantee sufficient distance to use 5D~B, it's almost always better to use j4D~B (as long as you're out of opponents reach since this method will require longer startup).

Also, I think the frame advantage should be -3 for j4D~B (worst case) since 18 -21 = -3 rather than the -4 that the frame data page suggests.

[Ronove]

Yeah, j.4D looks pretty sweet. I'm loving how she has so many more safe options in approaching and pressuring the opponent.

One thing I'll make sure to test is how we can make good use of her throw despite the fact that its range got nerfed a lot. I might be wrong but ~A cancel leaves her a little too far from the ideal normal throw range (kara-throwing still possible though).

4 frames crawl is also really sweet.

[XDest]

It has just been brought to my attention that 6A is indeed an anti-air in CS between frames 5 and 10. Between that and its improved hitbox, that's very nice. A needed buff.

[CakeWasBannedd]

It has just been brought to my attention that 6A is indeed an anti-air in CS between frames 5 and 10. Between that and its improved hitbox, that's very nice. A needed buff.

Obvious antiair is obvious

[Ronove]

About the damn time.

Although I'd still like to test it out in certain situations. Doesn't still look as good as Ragna's 6A but atleast we can now use it more often other than combo fodder material or air-tech punish.

There's so many things I want to test in training mode, my copy of CS better arrive this week, I'm really getting impatient.

[XDest]

Obvious antiair is obvious

It wasn't an anti air in CT though. We didn't know for sure that it was made into a real anti air until the frame data was posted.

[Dacidbro]

Tao's AA is really, really good. Fast, two AUB hits with air invincibility. Nice.

[Twin Rhapsody]

Glad to hear Tao has a good AA now. Any good/practical use for her 22C or AB2? I know the former at least takes off a Primer at the 6th(?) hit. Haven't been in the Tao forums for a long time, need to catch up for the 27th.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Glad to hear Tao has a good AA now. Any good/practical use for her 22C or AB2? I know the former at least takes off a Primer at the 6th(?) hit. Haven't been in the Tao forums for a long time, need to catch up for the 27th.

Nope. You can end taunt loops with 22C, but there's really no point. Almost Becoming Two is the same as in CT, seemingly worse. I like to throw it out if they're almost dead and in the corner, though.

[Ronove]

Tao's AA is really, really good. Fast, two AUB hits with air invincibility. Nice.

I almost forgot about the air invincibility. Won't probably beat j.A kind of attacks in a few situations (unless you throw it as a "meaty" before the opponent does something) but this could finally be a good answer to one of the major weaknesses that she had in CT (which was defending against characters with a good air-to-ground game).

Gotta see how important is the reward for a well placed anti-air 6A (besides of course defending and countering), and what kind of combo is possible after that. Judging by what I've seen so far it doesn't look like she can safely go into taunt loop from that (it really depends too much on the positioning), but it looks like it might lead into a cat2loop combo (meaning no oki, but decent damage).

Really... so many things I want to properly try out. I haven't had enough time to mess with coin-op CS especially during the past month and a half due to uni exams, I really wanna grind that training mode in console CS to discover all the cool new things that Tao can do.

[edit]
I completely forgot that if the height is not too much Tao could try to setup a taunt loop on a CH 6A by following with a j.5D~B ...
That would mean a lot, because characters like Litchi or Arakune would finally have to respect Tao a little more when approaching from the air.

Again, gotta test this out in training mode.

[Diend]

Hey guys I have a question in regards to controller setup with Taunt. I have just begun playing Blazblue in preparation for CS (wanted to wait for CS to release in U.S. to play hazama but I caught an interest in Taokaka.) As far as tournaments go, I'm unsure as to whether or not button mapping is allowed and I wanted to know what button Taunt is generally assigned to (If Button-mapping is banned or not.) I'm a Type-B player currently using an HRAP3-SA so any insight will be highly appreciated. Taokaka looking mad fun.

[XDest]

It's generally assigned to left bumper by default.

[Ronove]

I don't think there's any strict rule regarding taunt mapping, considering that on arcade the move is associated to the start button, and that the layout on console sticks may be different from the arcade ones (heck it's different from arcade to arcade).

I usually map the taunt on the third button of the bottom row, with Type B layout so it's like:

A B C
D _ Taunt

[Twin Rhapsody]

Nope. You can end taunt loops with 22C, but there's really no point. Almost Becoming Two is the same as in CT, seemingly worse. I like to throw it out if they're almost dead and in the corner, though.

Figured as much. Although, a friend of mine told me you can do a few reps of the Taunt Loop, activate AB2, and do 2 j.2D-Bs, and end it with the Pounce Super. He said you gain the 50 Heat for the Pounce after the AB2, any truth to this combo? I personally think he was blowing smoke, as I was under the impression Tao didn't gain meter during AB2, or she gained it VERY slowly.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Figured as much. Although, a friend of mine told me you can do a few reps of the Taunt Loop, activate AB2, and do 2 j.2D-Bs, and end it with the Pounce Super. He said you gain the 50 Heat for the Pounce after the AB2, any truth to this combo? I personally think he was blowing smoke, as I was under the impression Tao didn't gain meter during AB2, or she gained it VERY slowly.

Even if that were true, you're spending 100 meter to get back 50, with no benefit other than the combo looking cool.

[Twin Rhapsody]

Even if that were true, you're spending 100 meter to get back 50, with no benefit other than the combo looking cool.

My thoughts exactly, Tao's better off saving that meter for getting out of hairy situations.

[Ronove]

Not just counterassualt or supers though. I have the feeling that in CS we finally might see RC used more often if it does allow her to get into the good taunt loop setups. Rapid Cancel wasn't a crucial part of her game in CT (only as a way to keep pressure), but in CS it might finally provide some really nice reward, even better than actually using that meter for a super.

[RinHara5aki]

hiyah random torakaka picture because its tao general and i suck with tao~ (つω-｀｡)

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee165/kira47/BBCSTaokakaStoryIllustration04.png?t=1278625956

[Twin Rhapsody]

^ D'AAAAWWW :3

[Diend]

I don't think there's any strict rule regarding taunt mapping, considering that on arcade the move is associated to the start button, and that the layout on console sticks may be different from the arcade ones (heck it's different from arcade to arcade).

I usually map the taunt on the third button of the bottom row, with Type B layout so it's like:

A B C
D _ Taunt


It's generally assigned to left bumper by default.


Thanks for the insight :)

[KM Riku]

Not exactly a CS question...but...if I turn off recovery at CT traning mode and train taunt loops it will help me when I start playing CS?

[Mystic d]

Not exactly a CS question...but...if I turn off recovery at CT traning mode and train taunt loops it will help me when I start playing CS?

yup. spacing will be slightly different because of character hitboxes, but it will really help with timing and execution for CS. u should be able to get two loops before black beating. if u manage to get arakune in a taunt loop (even a black beat) please let me know, because i swear it's not possible.

[Ronove]

Not really... I'd say that just double taunt loop combos in CT are already a good training.

Anyway... I finally got CS. Time to grind that training mode. :3

[XDest]

yup. spacing will be slightly different because of character hitboxes, but it will really help with timing and execution for CS. u should be able to get two loops before black beating. if u manage to get arakune in a taunt loop (even a black beat) please let me know, because i swear it's not possible.

If you're not in the corner, you have to pretty much start with j.D~B instead of j.2D~B. And it has to be started with a bit of a delay that's not in regular taunt loops. But the loop itself is exactly the same. Just starting it out for BnBs can be different. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, I've almost never got 6A JC j.2D~B Taunt against Arakune.

[Ronove]

Yeah it's impossible, Arakune bounces too high after 6A > j.2D~B

[edit]

CAT2loop is really easy.

Taunt loop is still giving me a little of trouble in consistency. And the reason is not because of the 214D >[delay]> j.2D~B but because I noticed in CT I had the habit of delaying the taunt as much as possible while here you really can't delay it at all, so it was happening that the dummy recovers right before the taunt connects. Height was alright, but I've got to hit sooner the taunt I guess. It's good to finally have a dummy at hand, coin-op version didn't really allow me to notice all these little details.

Corner taunt loop on the other hand is pretty easy, and from 3C you can easily get into 5k damage, freaking sweet.

Oh well, it's day 1 of practice, I suppose that within one week I should feel more comfortable even with the midscreen taunt loop.

[edit 2]
after 2 hours of non-stop practice my consistency is MUCH better. A good tip to memorize the right timing is just turn the volume off completely and focus your ears on the rhythm of the buttons on the stick. Once you figure out the right timing doing 6 reps out of a 5B > 6A setup becomes definetely less troubling to do. I want to furtherly refine my consistency before getting to work on all the possible enders (oki ender, max damage ender, possible cat2loop enders etc). Forgot to say I am using Litchi as training dummy for the taunt loop because she seems to require a much more strict timing than other characters.

Then I'll work on no-taunt loop setups since I am pretty sure doing full taunt loops online will be impossible for me given that my internet connection is amazingly poor. But atleast I should be covered for the local offline tournaments, heh.

[Mystic d]

I am using Litchi as training dummy for the taunt loop because she seems to requite a much more strict timing than other characters.

Make sure to practice on jin, hazama, and arakune as well. i'm not sure if they're more difficult, but i had a harder time with those than the other characters. also, great idea with the volume off. when i get cs, i'm definitely going to do that

[Ronove]

I had less trouble doing the loop on Jin than on Litchi. o_o;

I think it's related to the fact Litchi kind of bounces on the ground differently (not as weirdly as Arakune).

[Cryingvoid]

Hi guys, sorry in advance if the question is stupid. In couple of matches I've seen on you-tube Tao was doing j4D turning it into a throw when reaching the opponent. But I have no idea how to pull it out, it seemed to be changed into a throw in an instant. What's the trick?
(umm... I've seen it in CT, but I guess the trick is the same in CS)

[KM Riku]

Taokaka challenge 6-10 combos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6Zlxw4aCG8&playnext_from=TL&videos=coPkEQ8V8Ck)

...Anybody else noticed the thunder effects? :psyduck: Anyway I'm disappointed with the lack of taunt loop combos.

[CakeWasBannedd]

Taokaka challenge 6-10 combos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6Zlxw4aCG8&playnext_from=TL&videos=coPkEQ8V8Ck)

...Anybody else noticed the thunder effects? :psyduck: Anyway I'm disappointed with the lack of taunt loop combos.

They probably just added the thunder effects in because that's supposed to be the pikachu palette :kitty:

[XDest]

On a completely unrelated note, I love her new j.B on so many levels.

[Cryingvoid]

(Guys, if my question was offtopic or smth, please redirect me to where it should be asked).

[lurch_E_bean]

Hi guys, sorry in advance if the question is stupid. In couple of matches I've seen on you-tube Tao was doing j4D turning it into a throw when reaching the opponent. But I have no idea how to pull it out, it seemed to be changed into a throw in an instant. What's the trick?
(umm... I've seen it in CT, but I guess the trick is the same in CS)

Most likely an A cancel into the throw, or maybe a rapid cancel if the j.4d hit. Have to see one of those videos to know for sure, but I would imagine it has to be one of those.

For Tao's challenge mode, I was expecting a whole lot more taunt loops, too. At least it won't be too hard to fly through those, though.

[Cryingvoid]

lurch_E_bean
Oh, you are right, it was a rapid. The video was an arcade cabinet camrip with shitty sound and picture >.<

[XDest]

Taunt Loop -> 5C/236CC -> 2D~6 -> j.2D~C -> 66 .. -> j.B+C -> Taunt Loop

lol green grab resets. I think this works against backwards/forwards air tech. For neutral I believe you substitute j.2D~C with j.D~A.

This also works in CT, but is less effective because you haven't done most of your damage yet, and air grabs do 3000 instead of 4500.

Anybody got any other green grab resets?

[CakeWasBannedd]

Taunt Loop -> 5C/236CC -> 2D~6 -> j.2D~C -> 66 .. -> j.B+C -> Taunt Loop

lol green grab resets. I think this works against backwards/neutral air tech. For forwards I believe you substitute j.2D~C with j.D~A.

This also works in CT, but is less effective because you haven't done most of your damage yet, and air grabs do 3000 instead of 4500.

Anybody got any other green grab resets?

After the oki ender (Taunt>214D>2D~C>5D~A>Taunt>214D>j.236BBBB) If they immediately tech you can just superjump and throw them. That trick only works for a while though, eventually they learn to just stay on the ground and deal with Taos oki.

[XDest]

Well, all of these tricks are like that, but it gets people to respect certain things, and allows us to get in their head a bit more. Nobody wants to eat 4666 damage just after they were just combo'd.

Edit: Not to mention, we don't get knockdowns anymore, so getting the opponent to go on the ground and stay there is a good thing.

[Mystic d]

hey guys, quick question. i know jin has a move (2A?) that if u time it correctly and use it during his dash as the opponent is teching which allows him to do a crossover under the opponent as they tech. i know tao's 2B can do this as well, but i seem to get punished for doing 2B under the opponent due to recovery frames. does anyone know of a different way to do a crossover during an opponent's tech besides using a drive? (since drive cancels also have some poor recovery frames, and 2D is just too obvious; please correct me if i'm wrong)

[xSagez]

hey guys, quick question. i know jin has a move (2A?) that if u time it correctly and use it during his dash as the opponent is teching which allows him to do a crossover under the opponent as they tech. i know tao's 2B can do this as well, but i seem to get punished for doing 2B under the opponent due to recovery frames. does anyone know of a different way to do a crossover during an opponent's tech besides using a drive? (since drive cancels also have some poor recovery frames, and 2D is just too obvious; please correct me if i'm wrong)

6B.....

[Naki Feralkin]

Is it normal to be discouraged like this when a new game comes around? I'm playing Tao right now and it seems way different to play her than usual. I'm well aware that drive loops are much less important (People can TECH out of these now?!) and the execution of CS2 is even more difficult now. The videos I'm watching show to finish off with CS2 from an A-cancelled j2d which seems very hard to pull off.

Also. Taunt Loops are techable after 2 taunts? Is there any way to make that last longer?

[Ronove]

They're only techable if you're screwing the timing. Of course, if you're talking about online play than anything that Tao does is going to be "easily techable" considering that some of her moves in CS have even less blockstun/hitstun. Either live with it or just don't use her online.

In any case there are a couple of really stupid combos that anyone bare people with 0 quality connections should be able to do.

One of these is:
5B > 3C > 5D~6 > j.C > 5D~6 > j.C > wait > 9D~9 > j.C > 9D~9 > 3D~3 > 236Bx5

you can even end it with a cat2loop up till x3 repetitions for around 300 more damage.
This is really a stupid dumb combo that you can use online and still do fairly decent damage with. You won't go past 4K (unless you start the combo with an unprorated 3C) but atleast you'll still be dealing enough damage.

Even single taunt combos should be quite autopilot online (all depending on the quality of the connection, obviously).

[Twin Rhapsody]

In all my time playing Tao, I never knew 4D was controllable. It seems fairly reliable for getting out of some pressure, as well as making starting a Taunt Loop from 6C a little bit easier. Don't suppose there's any good shenanigan cross-ups on oki with it is there? lol

[TaoFTW]

In all my time playing Tao, I never knew 4D was controllable. It seems fairly reliable for getting out of some pressure, as well as making starting a Taunt Loop from 6C a little bit easier. Don't suppose there's any good shenanigan cross-ups on oki with it is there? lol

4d is excellent if you can get a hitconfirm them out of the air. It's like getting bombed with a 6c. If you do manage to get a hit in, then do this combo;

4d~b -> taunt -> (214d -> 2d~b -> taunt) x N

The only other time 4d worked for me was when I did burst bait setups.

[Taokakaism]

Remember guys, if you're around 400-500 damage short of killing the opponent after an ender on the air.

Combos into -> 236BBBBB.

Rapid, Gold Burst, Land, 236236C!

Very useful actually!

[TaoFTW]

Remember guys, if you're around 400-500 damage short of killing the opponent after an ender on the air.

Combos into -> 236BBBBB.

Rapid, Gold Burst, Land, 236236C!

Very useful actually!

That...is amazing.

[Taokakaism]

But please time your Hexa-edge nicely. If you do it wrongly, the whole move will whiff.
If done correctly, 3/4 hits including the last 'impact' hit will connect.

[XDest]

More green grab resets.

Taunt Loop -> 214D -> 66 -> j.B+C Forward/Backward
Taunt Loop -> 5C -> JC -> .. -> j.B+C Neutral
Taunt Loop -> 214D -> .. -> j.2D~B -> 9 -> j.B+C Forward only

And the ones from before:

j.2D~C -> 66 -> j.B+C Forward/Backward
j.D~A -> 66 -> j.B+C Neutral

[CakeWasBannedd]

More green grab resets.

Taunt Loop -> 214D -> 66 -> j.B+C Forward/Backward
Taunt Loop -> 5C -> JC -> .. -> j.B+C Neutral
Taunt Loop -> 214D -> .. -> j.2D~B -> 9 -> j.B+C Forward only

And the ones from before:

j.2D~C -> 66 -> j.B+C Forward/Backward
j.D~A -> 66 -> j.B+C Neutral

"Hey XDest you whiffed that taunt loo-WHAT THE FUCK"

[Taokakaism]

More green grab resets.

Taunt Loop -> 214D -> 66 -> j.B+C Forward/Backward
Taunt Loop -> 5C -> JC -> .. -> j.B+C Neutral
Taunt Loop -> 214D -> .. -> j.2D~B -> 9 -> j.B+C Forward only

And the ones from before:

j.2D~C -> 66 -> j.B+C Forward/Backward
j.D~A -> 66 -> j.B+C Neutral

Just to add it to your stack of awesome..

Taunt Loop -> 236CC -> 2D~B -> wait.. Jump cancel into j.B+C.

[Twin Rhapsody]

These green grab resets are quite nice, any useful or practical resets/setups into the Pounce Distortion? I know you can at least land it if they block a 5C high enough in the air.

[XDest]

By the way:
j.C taunt loop gives you 38 heat
5B taunt loop gives you 44 heat
6C taunt loop gives you 57 heat

[XDest]

Rapid, Gold Burst, Land, 236236C!


It's even more hilarious with 214214C, but it once does +100 to +300 instead of +500. On the bright side, it doesn't have to be precisely timed.

[Taokakaism]

I'd like to point out Taokaka's 6A has invul startup for the first few frames. So it's basically supermini shoryuken.

It's very very often where you 6A with approaching from air, you get hit but it trades. In most cases, when something like that happens, mash B to link up, while the opponent is floating on midair after trading hits from the 6A. Taokaka will be out of the hitstun just before the opponent can recover.

I got this fighting many players, and a very skilled Arakune(who was in Mikado 2v2 back in May or was it April). You know how Arakune's j.664B is so seemlingly powerful.

[Taokakaism]

Sorry for the double post, lol


It's even more hilarious with 214214C, but it once does +100 to +300 instead of +500. On the bright side, it doesn't have to be precisely timed.

I think it actually does less than 100 damage IIRC.


These green grab resets are quite nice, any useful or practical resets/setups into the Pounce Distortion? I know you can at least land it if they block a 5C high enough in the air.

1 - Launch a 6C on the ground, if blocked by opponent, Pounce Distortion!

2 - Launch many Bowling Balls. If the opponent is jumping to escape and lands on the rolling ball of doom, blocked or not, Pounce Distortion!

3 - When Litchi's daisharin is activated while you're neutral or just about to wakeup. Mash Pounce Distortion while the screen freezes.
75% success rate, or so I believe judging from experience

4 - Lambda's oki 5D, 4D and various other ranged nonsense, Pounce Distortion!

5 - Tager sledging through bowling balls, but a well-timed 2C/6C would seem more fitting here.

6 - (This takes practice) After ending your combo with Cat2x5. You will be directly below the opponent for a brief period of time. Some opponent techs away, while some techs neutral. Those who tech neutral and tries to approach from the top, watch your direction(the little bubble portrait of taokaka when opponents are too high off) and just before they launch their attack for a nice and safe landing, POUNCE DISTORTION. Your distortion invul will be the only defense against their from-the-top attack. Which is why this requires tons of practice.

[Diend]

I'm having so much fun with Taokaka...

I'm having so much fun with BBCS period. I finally did 9 reps of the taunt loop today and am glad that I got a sense of the timing for Ragna, Lambda, Tager, Tsubaki, Hakumen, and Bang now. I still have trouble with Ragna though since it feels slow compared to the others.

But now come my questions! Is Taokaka played quite a lot by people or is she one of the few characters you see in play? Also who are some of the top Taokaka players in the states? I've usually just been watching videos of Kazu's Taokaka for helping me understand more about her game.

[CakeWasBannedd]

I'm having so much fun with Taokaka...

I'm having so much fun with BBCS period. I finally did 9 reps of the taunt loop today and am glad that I got a sense of the timing for Ragna, Lambda, Tager, Tsubaki, Hakumen, and Bang now. I still have trouble with Ragna though since it feels slow compared to the others.

But now come my questions! Is Taokaka played quite a lot by people or is she one of the few characters you see in play? Also who are some of the top Taokaka players in the states? I've usually just been watching videos of Kazu's Taokaka for helping me understand more about her game.

Taokaka is sort of an underplayed character, it's rare to find a good one in tournaments. Good players in the states are...TaoFTW :v: That's about all I can think of exclusively in the US, in Canada there's XDest.

[Diend]

Taokaka is sort of an underplayed character, it's rare to find a good one in tournaments. Good players in the states are...TaoFTW :v: That's about all I can think of exclusively in the US, in Canada there's XDest.

Pardon me for forgetting to include Canada. Thanks for the response, I don't understand how she's underplayed! She's too cool. Hoping Florida gets quite a few people to have a scene and build something because I plan on going to tournaments and demolishing.

[Pirateyoshi]

Well, I am moving up to Orlando for UCF, and I happen to play Tao quite a bit as well. :3

[Diend]

Well, I am moving up to Orlando for UCF, and I happen to play Tao quite a bit as well. :3

Ohhh awesome, looking forward to meeting you sometime man! Turns out I'm only comfortable with the taunt loop while I'm sitting down on a chair with my stick on my lap... couldn't get it out at all elsewhere. Definitely gonna take a while.

[Ronove]

Taokaka is sort of an underplayed character, it's rare to find a good one in tournaments. Good players in the states are...TaoFTW :v: That's about all I can think of exclusively in the US, in Canada there's XDest.
I don't know about the rest of Europe (I know one Tao player in Austria, Bachmut), but over here Tao is actually one of the most played characters (although I'm like the only Tao of the local northern scene, the other Taos are in the central italian scene), much to my amazement. Even our girl gamers of the local scene use her. :3

But heh yeah, in general she is not really as used as one would think. One reason might that she's not exactly a pick up'n'play kind of character.

[KM Riku]

Finally I got my CS (it's a pain in the ass getting a new game here in Brazil). Anyway, I need some simple combos to train somethings like drive cancel in combos and the cat2 loop, what would be the best combos for that? Since I have been training the taunt loop in CT, it wasn't too hard to get it right, I just need to calm down in real matches to do it...sometimes I drop it for stupid reasons when I get nervous.

[XDest]

Well the most common reason is rushing the delays (namely between JC->j.2D~B and between 214->j.2D~B). Just keep your cool.

[Ronove]

just do it like you're "drumming" on the stick, keeping the same rhythm and you'll be autopiloting her regular 5B > 6A > taunt loop almost every time. It's not a rushed motion, but it's steady.

[KM Riku]

Thanks you both...even though the main question was not answered :v: I had some matches against another brazilians and I could get it right almost everytime (I screwed up more doing some finishers/drive cancel in combos than doing the taunt loop :vbang:)

[Ronove]

Simple combo to train cat2loop? 5B > 3C > 5D~B > 5C > 2D~6 > cat2loop

with as many reps as the combo allows you to (usually 3 reps). It's a piece of cake to perform because the window to perform each rep is pretty huge. You don't have to rush it at all.

[Yukikaze]

Could someone tell me how to do challenge 3... I get pushed too far back and im 2 hits short, whats the trick?

[KM Riku]

Hun...just me or you can't air grab->taunt against Noel? Also some combos seem to be harder to do on her than against Carl.

[eruvisu]

Could someone tell me how to do challenge 3... I get pushed too far back and im 2 hits short, whats the trick?

do it from a dash, you get less pushback.

dash > 5b ...etc

[Taokakaism]

That is correct. Only on Noel.

You can DASH after the throw, then taunt. Timing is akin to Jin's 623C (CH) -> 66 -> 5B

[KM Riku]

Today I finally finished to build my arcade stick...and god, it's so fucking different...I can't even do a 236236D or 214214C :v: I hope I get used to it

[eruvisu]

i can almost never get a 214214C, 22C always comes out >_<

[Cryingvoid]

i can almost never get a 214214C, 22C always comes out >_<

That's because you don't value tuna that much :(

[Ronove]

i can almost never get a 214214C, 22C always comes out >_<

Rushing the input may cause that. Just do it fluently and you should always have the pounce super come out.

[Cryingvoid]

BTW, 22C-fail frequently occurs due to online lag, when your input of 214214 is yet to take effect, you rush the C on the wrong (earlier than needed) frame. Hence = 2142C.

[Ronove]

A good way to avoid that is to input something else inbetween the motion, possibly something that won't cancel the input.

For example 214B214C, your pounce super will still come out and you'll "time yourself" while avoiding to see other stuff coming out. I also do this with her berserker barrage super, 236B236D (while being on ground of course) works wonders just as well.

[CakeWasBannedd]

I just found out that muting my TV and listening to music while playing BB allows me to taunt loop in any connection, even 0's. Assuming there's no lag spikes, that is. But even then, I managed to finish a 7k loop without blue-beating. God damn cool.

[eruvisu]

muting my TV and listening to music while playing BB

*high-five*

[Speculosity]

Guys I have trouble. I cant do the taunt loop for the life of me. I use a xbox 360 controller. What button settings do you guys use to pull it off? (for those in my situation?)

[Mystic d]

in ct, i put the taunt on the right bumper and could do the single taunt combos fine. then i bought a fightstick and life became a lot easier

[Warahk]

taunt loop just takes practice, the difficulty lies in the timing. bigger buttons aren't going to make taunt loop easier

[ShadowHail]

I'd like to pose a question to the rest of the Tao's out there. It's been a while since I posted Anything here, and even then, I didn't post much, but... The Taunt Loop.

I can see the reason why people use it a lot. It's a difficult move to master, but once you get it down, you can do a lot of damage off of most of your attacks. Statistically it's a superior combo, and pulling it off can give you a sense of pride that you learned this difficult, but powerful combo. But let's face it guys, it's kind of... Boring. Watching (And performing) the same combo over and over again can get very dull, and take a lot of the enjoyment out of the game, at the very least for the opponent you face. Tao's taunt loop has given her a bad name from what I've seen, and I can't exactly blame any of the haters: I dislike the thing myself.

I've seen plenty of interesting combos for Tao, that can do a lot of damage, so.. Why is it that all people ever use is this thing? I really don't understand and would love to be informed. I just really think that it's a shame that Tao gets wasted on this one rather bleh combo.

[XDest]

Off 5B, it does 600 more damage.
Off 6C, it does 2000 more damage.
Off throws, it does 1000 more damage.

That's a big deal in competitive matches. Especially when you only have 9500HP yourself.

Good players just use the max damage available to them. It's the developers fault that they didn't catch this. I hope it's removed in the patch, and Taokaka gets back her knockdowns and HP.

[Ronove]

It's not just about damage only. Her other combos require character-specific spacing and different timing, while on the other hand her Taunt Loop is basically universal which definetely makes it more practical in a lot of situations.

It's always a given that players in general prefer more practical combos that can be performed against everyone. It used to be like this in CT as well, if you recall it japanese players would always use her "5B > 3C > 5D~6 > j.C > 236B > j.2D~B > etc" among her combos because it was the most practical one and could be used against any character on any position of the screen, despite the fact that it wasn't the most damaging combo off a 5B starter.

[Taoeon]

i just got the taunt loop down and i use a controller, i had taunt set to my left bumper and it makes it easy
thats also because i play melee competitively and its almost the same motion as wavedashing, but thats just my preference :]

i agree with ShadowHail, the TL is incredibly boring to watch and it has brough taos repuation down
that being said i can imagine why you would do so in a tourney match with money on the line. there are some match up that feel almost impossible without it imo

[Low Diver]

so i can do taos combos in training mode but then i drop stuff online because it lags a lot, how do i beat this?

edit: also when i yell at people online and call them trash and run out the clock with tao they leave why is ths?

[Diend]

Am I the only one that enjoys watching Taokaka's taunt loop? I like listening to the sounds, shit looks nice too.


so i can do taos combos in training mode but then i drop stuff online because it lags a lot, how do i beat this?

edit: also when i yell at people online and call them trash and run out the clock with tao they leave why is ths?

l..o..l

we being trolled?

[Cryingvoid]

Taunt Loop is boring to watch for newbies only, since they have no idea how complicated the move and its repetitions are. TL doesn't drop Tao's points, it just stresses her fooling around (in our case - trolling around lol) personality; and, yes, don't you get the wrong idea: TL is not boring for others to watch - it is pissing for others to watch, and that's exactly what Tao's style of fighting is meant for. "How can this fooling idiot defeat the proud me?" - it works like this :) Taos' expert matches in the eye of the beholder look more like playing around than fighting, look at Tsujikawa's matches for example.
And I don't think the developers increased the hit stun her taunt causes occasionally. Nor do I think, they will change something fundamentally with a patch. At least nothing that will force to fully reconsider her tactics and combos.

[iSadClown]

I just ducked ragna's 5B... 2C'd him for a fatal and 5K'd him...... wow... Try ducking Jin's DP on wake-up and Ragna's rush strategies... It Helps amazingly...

[Taoeon]

alright so now that i have my taunt combos pretty solid i need a way to get in and use them :[
i can really only consistently land combos off random 6Cs and 3Cs from pressure
i have alot of trouble dashing in with pokes, any advice on how to improve?
im usually good about hit confirming 5Bs into combos, and as of late ive been getting in with 2Bs
still help please lol im getting tired of being a rag

[Cryingvoid]

Taoeon
Drive-hit confirm on counter (from fullscreen or whatever), then casual 5B>6a>JC>J.2D~B>Taunt Loop. Or Drive-hit confirm on counter in air, then "catch" the falling opponent with TL. That's what JP experts use every single minute.

[Cryingvoid]

Taoeon
Drive-hit confirm on counter (from fullscreen or whatever), then casual 5B>6a>JC>J.2D~B>Taunt Loop. Or Drive-hit confirm on counter in air, then "catch" the falling opponent with TL. That's what JP experts use every single minute.

In other words: j.C for spam, j.D for a hitconfirm!
Guns for Show, Knives for a Pro (c) Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels

[Taoeon]

lol ok so most of my approaches are going to be with j.C or mixing up drives?

[iSadClown]

Can someone give me a good fatal combo? Right now I'm using... 2C FC 6C 214D 2D~B Taunt 236CC 2D~6 j.c 9D~9 j.c 9D~3 3D~3 236BBBBB for just 4~k... I can't do taunt loops effectively yet but I cannot get it to confirm off of 2C FC 6C for some reason lol.

[Mystic d]

Can someone give me a good fatal combo? Right now I'm using... 2C FC 6C 214D 2D~B Taunt 236CC 2D~6 j.c 9D~9 j.c 9D~3 3D~3 236BBBBB for just 4~k... I can't do taunt loops effectively yet but I cannot get it to confirm off of 2C FC 6C for some reason lol.

Tao's Challenge #10

[Cryingvoid]

Can someone give me a good fatal combo? Right now I'm using... 2C FC 6C 214D 2D~B Taunt 236CC 2D~6 j.c 9D~9 j.c 9D~3 3D~3 236BBBBB for just 4~k... I can't do taunt loops effectively yet but I cannot get it to confirm off of 2C FC 6C for some reason lol.

I've used it at first too. But fatal is sometimes coincidental, sometimes a good luck, and eventually you'd come to understand the casual "drive CH/5B B'n'B" necessity and irreplaceableness (wow, what a word...) since Tao is just damn-arse-WEAK without the said! So get yourself steady on a chair, since TL training is a long process ;(

[Hawkk]

I'm trying to learn Taokaka, and I'm having some confusion about her taunt loop that I'd like to clear up before I get back to practicing it, so I don't develop any bad habits.

First, I've been attempting the loop off of a charged 6C > dash > taunt, I have no idea if this influences the timing of the loop itself or not. 6A > JC > j.2D is just pure evil, so I'm not going to bother with it right now, even if it is apparently very useful.

Anywho. I'll Taunt > 214D > j.2D, and I'll go through them with the j.2D and land on the ground next to them almost 100% of the time without even B cancelling. Is this supposed to happen? I thought her drive attacks were supposed to bounce off of them on hit if no input was supplied. Am I unknowingly direction canceling it or something? Is the B cancel still required (i.e possesses quicker recovery) to do the loop than whatever possibly accidental cancel I'm doing, or can I cancel the j.2D the way I am now and still get a valid combo? I haven't had the time to get as far as getting either to connect yet.

Thanks!

[Cryingvoid]

Hawkk
OK, let me introduce my own tutorial, that helped me in the first place.

First of all, about the starter, do not do 6A > JC > j.2D, do 5B > 6A > JC > j.2D. I must confess, I have never taunt looped or taunt comboed off sole 6A. Only 5B>6A. It is easier to time your "blind" input for the jump cancel, since it requires the same amount of hold time, as '6' for '6A' part, and it can be felt clearly only off 5B as a starter. In other words, you need to input 5B, then 'blind' 6A, and then 'blind' 8. And the hold time for 6A (after 5B) is the same with 8, that's all. The tricky part here is the B-cancel itself. Most of the times it whiffs not of the delayed, but of the harsh input. Try 'delaying' yourself, as if playing a lazy-assed old fart :) The thing is - you have to input ~b cancels as late as possible, and hence - the whiff of a late cancel is better than the whiff of an early cancel! Remember that!

Now to the tutorial.

First, forget about actual practice for the beginning. All you have to do now is to teach your fingers to hit the right buttons in successive repetition without mashing, and with the same rhythm.
Your very first exercise is to go to the training mode, set the opponent emergency rolls on, set the air tech on 'backward', set block to 'none', and then push him to the corner. As he is standing in the corner before you, it is time to practice your TL inputs. They are: Taunt>214D>WAIT>j.2D~b. First, look at your stick buttons (or a dual shock ones, whatever), and make sure, you can hit each button one after another, without looking at them, the following way (T - for the "Taunt"): T,D,,,,D,,B (comas show the approximately right rhythm, but later about that). When you learned the button input succession, and can hit them for eternity, time to work on your left hand. You need two directional inputs only, they are: 214 and 2 ('2' is not to be confused with '1', by doing so you will freak up the whole process, since j.4D (j.1D also) is another move). So try to input directions together with the buttons, 214 come before first 'D' input, and '2' obviously before second 'D' input.

If you did first step correctly, now you must know the general execution and approximate rhythm of the taunt loop. Time to return to the training mode we set to parameters mentioned above. As your opponent stands in the corner, you will practice the Taunt Loop against him STANDING, so you could polish your rhythm and inputs with the visual clue. You start your pseudo-loop with a taunt (Taunt>214D>WAIT>j.2D~b), and you aim to hit the standing opponent with first hit of a Taunt, then Kitty Jump cancel it, then hit him with j.2D, and right the moment j.2D hits the opponent - cancel it with 'B' input. If it hits him, and you still manage to cancel it, then it is successful. Try it until you can do it automatically.

Third stage of your training is the actual Taunt Loop, but the easier version - corner Taunt Loop. It is much easier to TL in the corner, since you get a bunch of free frames not to freak up it if you go faster or slower. For this step you will need to turn your monitor's sound off, to grasp the feel of the right TL without sound distraction. Best way is on arcade stick: it lets you hear the actual inputs. You will practice corner TL with 5B>6A starter. Forget about 6C for the time being, it is not used that often in actual matches, and it is slightly different from TL mechanics off 5B>6A.

If you learned to TL successfully in the corner with sound off, then all is left is to turn sound on and first to corner Loop with sound, second to Loop FROM corner TO corner. That's the most difficult, since the window for j.2D is quite tight in full screen.
After that stage you are free to try different starters and enders!

The whole process took me myself a week or so, and I still fail many times. But for Tao - efforts are always rewarding! And you can learn some things subconsciously, meaning, you didn't see any progress when training yesterday, but today somehow you do much better!


Hope these few advises will help you clear it out. Good loop... luck! :3

[Taoeon]

can we get a list of of good tao players to search on youtube? :]
i was gunna start a new thread asking but i figured this one would be just as fast

so far i got kazu, rin, xdest and taoftw

maybe we should start a thread for this?

[KM Riku]

can we get a list of of good tao players to search on youtube? :]
i was gunna start a new thread asking but i figured this one would be just as fast

so far i got kazu, rin, xdest and taoftw

maybe we should start a thread for this?

Go to Nico and search タオカカ, you can find some good videos for learning new things. It helped me a lot.

[Cryingvoid]

Tsujikawa and Keita also (if they were not mentioned in Kanji above).
PS: But Kazu is still the best! The BEAST!! :3

[XDest]

Tsujikawa always has some pretty awesome new ideas.

[DopeSauce]

so i decided to pick up tao because ive always like her since i first saw the game and i never played CT but i picked up CS and i feel so overwhelmed with trying to learn her is there any tips from where to begin? cause im thinking i should learn some of her non loop combos before even thinking about doing the taunt loops and all that crazy shit so any help at all is welcomed please! :D o and im just wondering do you guys have a hard time transitioning playing from home to playing at the arcade because the taunt button is placed in a different place and usually not with all the other buttons?