[CSE] Hakumen Q & A: New players check here first

[WallJumpMan]

2- Second one is basically my trademark online. When I do the kishuu-enma bnb leading near the corner, I jump back to land another j.C then I airdash as soon as I can into airgrab/hotaru depending on the heigth. It's amazing how many people think they can punish your airdash only to be hit by a FC hotaru in the face (leads to so much damage)

ex: 5C > Renka(1) > Enma > falling j.2C > 2C > j.2A > AD > j.2A > j.C > land > j.C > AD into techtrap

There's more but they revolve around the same ideas so I won't list them

ya about that one

i have done this a few times before at the arcade but the timing for the airdash after the second J.C is pretty tight

can u give me some advice and getting that airdash into hotaru right after it?

[Zellyka]

Not really sure where to put this, feel free to move or delete if it doesn't belong in the Q&A. I was wondering what some of his quotes in japanese were (spelled and translated). I speak 0 japanese but he sounds so much cooler in japanese, but idk what he is saying

At least could u just quote it from youtube or something?

For the meaning, u can easily switch it to english version in gallery>voice mode. Check this out.

[Tofu Warrior]

Sort of a general question:

After only playing Tager since spring of '09 (CT arcade), I got fed up with him and picked up Hakumen a few days ago. That being said, outside of Tager vs. Hakumen, I'm very unfamiliar with how Haku works. Like what's Hakumen's "mission statement?" What is he trying to accomplish? For Tager, and any grappler, it's simple: make your way in, try to land command grabs, punish your opponent for trying to avoid command grabs. Would you categorize Hakumen's play style as generally defensive? Where does most of his damage come from?

From the videos I've seen, most Hakumen players turtle early in the match, in order to build stars. Rush down style play seems to happen later, when you have some meter to make guesses. So in general, does Hakumen try to turtle and zone until he can create an opening and capitalize on it? Spark does this particularly well. He plays generally defensively until he sees an opening, and then he's on his opponent like a bulldog. Hakumen players also abuse their air priority in order to play keep away or to approach. A well placed IAD j. 2C or j. B seems to pay off.

I've noticed that Hakumen players deal the majority of their damage off counters, throws, TK overhead, TK DP and frame traps after 2A and 6A. Am I on the right track? The Hakumen guide is a little vague on, as the mix up portion remains empty. Thanks guys.

So far my experience with Hakumen is limited to training mode; practicing combos, pressure strings, spacing, etc. I'm just trying to get a sense of what to do in a match environment.

Edit: Also how often do you guys burn meter outside of combos? Like do you do 5C xx 623A as a block string and go for a throw often? And is IB > drive counter viable? I feel like my IB game is really strong, so it'd be good if I could make use of that.

[SteelCoil]

Most of the stuff you said sounds about right. Usually Hakumen has to turtle the match until he gets about 4/5 stars. IAD should only be used sparingly for approach since almost everyone in this game has an op AA, but if you have meter IAD hotaru is a great way to bait those out. Hakumen's mix up sucks outside of the corner, but his grab range happens to be a little bigger than average which makes it perfect for tick throws. Someone correct me if i'm wrong but i think 5C xx 623A isn't safe but it's pretty sneaky and you can follow it up with some tick throws. And IB counter is definitely viable but don't treat it like a dp, only use it once you've figured out your opponent's block string and know what moves they're gonna use. If there's anything left i'm pretty sure one of the better hakumens can fill you in.

[Tofu Warrior]

So I should expect to be turtling the whole time until I get 4 - 5 stars? Hmm interesting. Thanks for your response!

[BladeOfJustice7]

Feel free to combo or punish once you have 2-3 stars. But yea ib and only counter one in a while when you understand your opponents block strings and you can ib.

Be careful with the distance that you use 4c and make sure to learn how to use jc close to the ground to limit rush downs on you and reduce recovery. CS allows hakumen to play more aggressive compared to ct. Watching videos of suzume/tenchi/0/a-92 really help.

[Sophisticat]

Haku specializes in picking apart another's offense. If he's got holes, you put a wedge in and hit for 4-6k+. He plays defensively until he finds an opening, basically. He has to be more offensive in CS now because of his loss of CT 6a and change of range, which might be a bit hard to get used to since his mixup isn't that good, though he's got a couple tricks to overcome that limitation.

I wouldn't really say there's any general rule regarding when you should turtle/rushdown since you can still get 3k even with 1 star. Haku simply doesn't get his big damage/mixup options until he hits 4 stars (mid-screen). Overall, depends on how you want to play Haku. He can be rushdown or he can turtle. He isn't that limited by star count, imo.

Overall, you have to be very aware of your space, match flow, and mag management. Play smart, put cracks in their armor, and you're in damage heaven. It just takes a bit more work to get it than most characters.

[Spark]

You don't have to wait on till you have 4 or 5 stars before you start attacking. But you should just be aware that you won't be able to capitalize on all of Hakumen's mix up mid screen without at least 5 stars.

I've noticed that Hakumen players deal the majority of their damage off counters, throws, TK overhead, TK DP and frame traps after 2A and 6A. Am I on the right track?

Counters: (I don't use these too often, but you get pretty decent damage off of them)

2D: You can get a bit over 3k for 2 stars.

6D: Does a little more than the damage from 2D.

j.D: You get more than 4k for 2 stars.

Throw: (I throw a lot, I would say about half of my damage comes from throws)

Mid screen: You average about 2.8k with 1 star and it makes the meter back while pushing them to the corner.

Corner: You get around 3.5k on everyone with 1 star and you actually gain more meter than you lose with the corner combo.

TK/Dash j.214C:

Mid screen: I don't use it here much because you need 2 more stars to really follow up with a combo, but you do break 5K if you have the 2 stars to follow up.

Corner: A great option in the corner because you can get 4-5K without needing to spend more meter to keep the combo going.

TK/Dash j.214B:

I mainly use this for beating out certain reversal supers and as a way to beat anti-airs, but you do get good damage if you land it.

Frame traps:

Using 2A and 6A I don't get too much damage, I just go for a knock down. I guess if you wanted to you could combo in to the 214B BNB for a bit more than 3k. Though if you frame trap with 214A or 214B you could break 4k.

Also how often do you guys burn meter outside of combos? Like do you do 5C xx 623A as a block string and go for a throw often? And is IB > drive counter viable?

Well for using meter outside of combos it's worth doing a 214B after a IBed 2A just to see if they're going to try and poke out. If they are then you just keep special canceling your 2As for free damage, or if they don't then you can start doing 2A > 66 > (whatever) for pressure and mix up.

5C > 623A is okay when I do that after the dash I walk forward for a split second then I TK j.214B or TK j.214C to bait their throw attempt.

The IB > counter like everyone said is something you can use, but you should be sure you know what string they're going to use before you try it.

[BladeOfJustice7]

Yo spark I got a question, I'm pretty damn good at ib'ing in cs now, but what are the best non counter moves when instant blocking? I haven't exactly observed any moves to use via vids and I'm hoping you could provide with some. Interesting tidbit on kt/hop 214b/c though, I'll be sure to remember that then just throwing it out lol.

[mAc Chaos]

His counters aren't what they used to be. IB > counter isn't what you want to fall back on anymore... you have to rely a lot more on zoning.

As for Haku's mission statement... I always played him in a jiu-jitsu like style: make them overextend and make them pay for it. I used counters a lot more than other people though.

You'll need to block a lot, and you'll need to get just as good an understanding of your opponent's options and blockstrings as they do.

[Fatal By Nature]

How good is Hakumen and where do you think he would fall on the Tier list?

[B.P.M.]

Above Tao and below Ragna...

That's just personal opinion, though.

[Sophisticat]

Officially, he matches up about evenly to most of the cast with a few bad matchups, and slight favor over a couple of the low tiers. He's in A tier, with only Carl above him in there, I believe. So he's ranked about 5th best.

Personally, he's as good as you make him be. He has the tools, but nothing that gives him an immediate advantage. He's solid in just about everything, but nothing is overpowered. If you win, you worked for it. A good, solid character is about as high as I'd put him.

[Yoshi13]

Hi I'm Haku-men.

I press my drive button if I'm in danger and I press my C button if I'm not.

A victory well earned.

[Ronin Jinobi]

Hi I'm Haku-men.

I press my drive button if I'm in danger and I press my C button if I'm not.

A victory well earned.

Cool story, bro.

[Edge Reaper]

Edit: Fuck this post.

[Ronin Jinobi]

You could learn how to block and punish effectively. Just a thought.

side edit: having good yomi helps too.

[Edge Reaper]

Pft. That would be too much work.

[Zellyka]

Officially, he matches up about evenly to most of the cast with a few bad matchups, and slight favor over a couple of the low tiers. He's in A tier, with only Carl above him in there, I believe. So he's ranked about 5th best.

Personally, he's as good as you make him be. He has the tools, but nothing that gives him an immediate advantage. He's solid in just about everything, but nothing is overpowered. If you win, you worked for it. A good, solid character is about as high as I'd put him.

Agree!!

That's why I like him. I've picked him because I saw someone played solidly. That was really moved. Make your foes respect your basic skills *0*

[Spark]

Yo spark I got a question, I'm pretty damn good at ib'ing in cs now, but what are the best non counter moves when instant blocking? I haven't exactly observed any moves to use via vids and I'm hoping you could provide with some. Interesting tidbit on kt/hop 214b/c though, I'll be sure to remember that then just throwing it out lol.

Depending on spacing you can get IB 5B to work because Hakumen leans way back, so you can dodge attacks and then hit them. If you're really consistent with TK j.214B you can do it after IBing Ragna's 2B and it will beat everything he does afterwards (except for maybe 6A?). Though if he does nothing you might get punished.

[BladeOfJustice7]

Depending on spacing you can get IB 5B to work because Hakumen leans way back, so you can dodge attacks and then hit them. If you're really consistent with TK j.214B you can do it after IBing Ragna's 2B and it will beat everything he does afterwards (except for maybe 6A?). Though if he does nothing you might get punished.

Pending if he does nothing, and if it's blocked and not whiffed, if blocked you can d or barrier anything he throws out. I didn't know you could tk hotaru though, thanks. I've learned to prefer tk over hop, since you can wake up tk hotaru, which is very useful but shouldn't be abused either.

[B.P.M.]

Hey spark, you mind if I go compile some challenge mode stuff?

(It might be useful, and will help peeps get achievements)

[Spark]

I'm not sure what you mean by compiling challenge mode stuff. Do you mean tips for doing them? Or a list of the challenge mode combos?

[currentlemon]

I sub Hakumen and I have never used Hotaru(j.214b) mainly because I don't know when is the right time to do it. I know how to TK it but when is the right time to use Hotaru?

[BladeOfJustice7]

I sub Hakumen and I have never used Hotaru(j.214b) mainly because I don't know when is the right time to do it. I know how to TK it but when is the right time to use Hotaru?

Whenever you think they least expect it, best when the fight is down to the wire iad and hotaru usually works, use it when you think they least expect it. Step your yomi game up, like tk hotaru on wake up occasionally.