[CS1] Hazama Gameplay Discusson

[Fireryda]

Yes. I do that often to bait out anti airs... If i get the spacing right ><;

Or to make drive entrys safe.

5D~D > j.a whiff > barrier.

5D~C also works for this but it's a bit harder to land off if the other person is familiar with his moves.

[Ghost Beef]

depends on the character.

Tager

Stance. 214D~B beats out everything of his and he's too slow to punish it.

Litchi / Jin

Back-dash. Would jump back air-dash j.6d but their AA options are pretty rape. My local Litchi likes to open with Itsuu.

Arakune

6D.

Everybody else

Either dash 2a/3c, j.9d or if i really feel like some ghetto stuff dash 214d~b. works better than it should ><;

Hmm... do all Arakune's still jump at the start of a match like in CT?

and how safe is dash 3C really? You can just hit it without dashing anyways can't you? Why dash? O_o

[Fireryda]

You can't. You hit it if they come to you.

It isn't very safe but sometimes people just stand still at the beginning to see what you do. 3C is pretty fast so they might get hit by it. You'll want to dash and half-way cancel the dash with 3c to hit them at almost the furthest range (but not too far to follow up with 214d~c on hit). It's pretty safe then unless they run at you and throw something. Low profile also helps it avoid some stuff :3

Not sure if all arakune's still jump at the beginning of 6d but so far the ones i've seen do. They can't do anything about you throwing out chains at that distance anyways.

[Ghost Beef]

Is Venom Sword (jabaki) any good for opening? It comes out too slow I'd imagine, but it'd be a funny counter hit opener

[Arifureta]

If you're fishing for a CH, sure. You're at a horrible disadvantage if your opponent IADs to your face though.

Here's my flowchart for openings:

Do I know he's going to IAD backward (most common opener sadly)? 6D

Do I know he's going to IAD forward? forward dash 2C / j.B+C

Do I know he's going to rush me? 3C

Do I know he's going to dash back? 5D

The other openers aren't really as easy to punish so I just let them go.

Also, ballsy opening: IAD j.2C for crossup.

[Ghost Beef]

Nice, I'll have to take note of these. It'll be so nice fighting the NOT AI

[Ouroboros]

An annoying opening would be a Hazama vs. Hazama match... I expect lots of clash going on there.

Then again, all mirrors are annoying to start up. In the end, it comes down to who can hit the button faster for a move to come out. Or who can block it and punish it.

[PhoenixBR]

In BBCT I used to IAD foward and grab them sometimes, it's interesting since it forces them to stay on the ground when the round begins. Once they stop falling for it, then you're pretty much free to apply pressure on the ground right off the bat or just 3C if you know they're going to dash in and try to hit you. You should, however use this sparingly, otherwise you'll obviously be AA'd.

Don't know if this is a question that should go to the FAQs thread, but is it really possible to make Jakou hit all the characters after a 214D~C (either from 3C or Jayoku) > 5B (crossup) on the corner? Sometimes it just whiffs... I've noticed there are some who need to be hit with chains twice while others can only be hit once.

[Arifureta]

Hazama mirror is like worst mirror ever. Chains freakin EVERYWHERE.

On the plus side, no DPs to worry about until someone gets the meter.

Crossup combo works on everyone, but it's all about where they are in the air when it happens. Characters with smaller hitboxes need to be further from you compared to characters with big hitboxes when you throw out the Jakou.

[Eclipse]

True. Hazama mirror can be frustrating. And Hazama's can still use 214D~B as a DP if you're overly agressive and rash. With any experienced players, it won't be happening though. I think almost all mirror matches suck. But especially ones with excessive zoning and strange tactics. Ex: Hazama, Arakune, Lambda-11, etc. For some reason, I can see Tager mirror matches being awful. But I wouldn't main Tager in this millenium so it isn't an issue, haha.

[Arifureta]

There is that, but then whoever gets the first knockdown is going to have an easy time applying pressure since nothing Hazama has on wakeup can beat out 2A. Of course, if someone flies in on a blocked chain then that's just asking for a punish.

Now that I think about it, Arakune mirror might be more retarded than Hazama mirror. So many things on screen.

[Fireryda]

My experience of the most retarded mirror matches.

Arakune

Tager

Rachel

Taokaka

Hazama

Litchi.

Everything else is not really that messed up imo.

[Mizzet]

I've got a question guys. Is Hazama pulling himself in on blocked chains safe? In training mode I can punish him by making him smack into something, but online with latency involved it's a little uncertain. It'll be nice to know definitively.

[Fireryda]

no. definately unsafe. just AA him with 6a or whatever noel uses depending on his angle. the only way to make it safe is early j.b (still unsafe) or j.a whiff barrier.

[Mizzet]

Thanks, I guessed as much, I guess it's the latency. Online is full of Hazamas doing this, haha.

[Fireryda]

you have to watch out for the cross-ups though. that can make your AA whiff if you do it too early and he gets a free combo off it which does like 2.5k+ builds 30 heat at least.. if he has meter thats 4k~ right there.

[Eclipse]

What do you mean by the crossups? 5D~C? Wouldn't you still be able to AA someone on reaction for that? Or did you mean j.A whiff to a crossup?

[Fireryda]

yeah 5D~C. the thing is that if you do your AA too early you'll be hitting the wrong side and he can get a free j.b/j.2c on you. Have to be alert and do it at the right time. The only character it won't cross up on hit is Tager (unless you hit him from above)

[Eclipse]

Oh, wow. So the C follow up for Ouroboros is that fast? So fast that people actually need to be cautious and change their timing completely? Is this is an easy tactic for professionals to get around? Or is flying in on a block chain > C followup actually safe once in a while?

[Arifureta]

Uhh, C follow up is still pokable. You get hit before you even have a chance to actually crossup.

If they're not poking though, you're golden. Of course, this is the case for any of the drive followups.

[Fireryda]

Uhh, C follow up is still pokable. You get hit before you even have a chance to actually crossup.

This is true but the timing is tight unless you have a huge AA hitbox. *cough* HZ 2C/ Jin 2C / RC 6A.

C follow-up isn't safe at all but it's good every once in a while. keeps them on their toes.

[LeFartknocker]

Quick question, I was just messing around with Hazama the other day (I hope to eventually make him my main) and I noticed that sometimes when I attempt 214D~C>5C>2C>4D~D sometimes instead of the 4D~D coming out I'll accidently do another 214D instead, since I only play at a nearby arcade I can't really practice minor stuff that well and I was wondering if maybe I was just inputting the 2C>4D~D too quickly and it's coming out as a buffered 214D instead or if there is something else I'm missing, I really have no idea as I'm relatively new to Haz... Lol

[Ouroboros]

You need to quickly let go of the stick after 2C and then press 4D... That's the only way I can think of how to do it, because you're right, if you go from the 2C to the 4D while going through 1 then you will probably get the 214D =P

[Eclipse]

Yeah, that was one of my problems when I first started playing Hazama an extremely long time ago. Ouroboros is right. Let go of the stick/pad.

Don't roll over from 2C > 4D. Quickly let go, and go from 2C to 4D~D. You shouldn't really slow down. But you can slow down if you really need to.

[LeFartknocker]

Agh, I was afraid so, I guess I just need to practice it, but what a pain in the ass... Some of his stuff is fluid like 3C>214D~C and other stuff like this is more rigid with inputs like this, it's quite a difference from playing Tager (my current main) where I'm rolling that stick all day long, lol...