LK's GAMEPLAY RELATED QUESTIONS ONLY cs2

[Getselious]

Yo LordKnight I have a couple of questions:

With Tager's increase in Combo Rating do think he will have better matchups across the cast?

This might be old though, you just came from Season's Beatings, How do you think the Midwest Scene is faring? Any new players over there you think can be strong in the future?

You mentioned in your last episode that you think Valk is the best Character in Extend. What Specific Buff or Change you think pushed him to S Tier?

[Linear04]

tager is fundamentally bad from a neutral setting. he is getting better but many of the characters in bb have great amounts of advantages over him such as air dashes and double jumps, and basic stuff like that is much more important than getting a combo rating

valk is looking to be the best character in cse because he was already nearly top tier in cs1 due to his mobility and wolf mode, and he barely got game changing nerfs while other top tiers got much of their game changed. basically he is close to his cs2 counter pat which makes him a really strong character in cse again. no specific buffs or changes, just the nature of the nerf bat hitting hard on some characters and missing him

[Nini Heart]

don't forget his mixups. hellz yeah instant overhead RC

[Lord Knight]

Yo LordKnight I have a couple of questions:

With Tager's increase in Combo Rating do think he will have better matchups across the cast?

This might be old though, you just came from Season's Beatings, How do you think the Midwest Scene is faring? Any new players over there you think can be strong in the future?

You mentioned in your last episode that you think Valk is the best Character in Extend. What Specific Buff or Change you think pushed him to S Tier?

Tager's damage output didn't go up too much, what's more important is that he gains more meter. It gives him more offensive options faster, that's good for him. However, he's still a big slow grappler, so he'll have problems.

I don't really know how the midwest scene is fairing, because most people didn't even know there was a BB tournament at SB.

Last episode I said I thought Valk was 2nd best in CS2. As far as CSE, he's still in the top group of characters, mostly because they didn't change him much at all. I think the "nerf" to w5b actually benefits him a bit (I don't know the damage they get off it now) but if they trade they go to Human before confirming.

For now, it's still a bit early to really know who are the top characters in CSE. Right now it's all the easy characters/characters that haven't changed much, but that's to be expected.

[Xx_Hoshi_xX]

how do you go about bettering your adaptability as a player? like I adapt (they mash, I frame trap. They use 2a cross over, I use 421D OS.) but sometimes I feel like I'm not adapting enough and I think this is why I lose matches so much. Please help!

[Achtzehn]

These are gonna be alot of dumb questions that I'm sure won't be answered by you LK but I'll ask anyway.

1) I'll play matches against you and fair well (I'd like to think at least) however I notice that I do horribly against stupid tactics and bad play. Is there any advice you can give to work around this? (I'm pretty sure this has been asked a dozen times, probably more, I just want your spin on it for me since you know my playstyle pretty well.)

2) What are your thoughts on relius from what you've seen?

3) You've played me alot over the past couple years, however I've often never asked you for any kind of analysis on our matches and advice on what I could do better. I know there have been a few cases (like when you would tell me I was being too passive as tager in CS1 against your litchi or other litchis). Is there anything from the recent matches we've played (you can answer for melty from our matches on saturday too lol)?

4) Is there a character in BB that you think would fit my playstyle better? I'm lost at the moment in terms of finding a main, and I seriously just can't commit to one character now that I don't know who to play which is killing me.

[Star-Demon]

LK - what Litchi challenges should I not bother practicing when I hit up CS2 at school?

What challenges should I pay attention to when I get CS:E?

[OmniSScythe]

So from the CSEX footage we got release so far, which japanese players do you personally feel best represent their characters?

You don't have to comment about characters that still needs more time to be develop.

[Lucien]

Hi LK, with the death of my PS3, I have been without access to play BBCS2 in any way, shape, or form. I'm getting kinda worried about how much the break from BB will hurt my skill, it's been about 3 months and counting now.

(I've never been in a position where I've had to take an extended break from playing)

What's the best way to train without actually playing?

Upon my return to BB, what should I try to relearn first?

How long does it take, in your opinion, to re-develop muscle memory?

Thanks in advance!

(I'm a Jin main btw)

Edited November 7, 2011 by Lucien

[Lord Knight]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afOUzr01gTM

This week's answers!

[xDaRkNeSsx JiN]

Whats up LK? We've netplayed a couple of times and i notice that when i keep the match neutral, i can manage to scrape out a few rounds. But then when i get pushed to the corner all hell breaks loose. I was wondering if you have any advice on how to escape litchi pressure with Jin outside of trying to I.B - DP everything

[Haven]

Lord Knight,

This is SCAM 4 LIFE on XBL. Considering that you have fought me recently, and considering your experience in the matchup, what should I do in the Jin v. Litchi matchup? What am I doing wrong, what mindset should I have when fighting a solid Litchi, what are Jin's strongest ways to approach Litchi, and what tactics did Jin players like Dennou and Tetsu use against you when you fought them in Japan?

Thank you.

[TD]

hey lk, l have two questions ask you. theyre related to one another.

the first, how do you properly execute a frame trap??? l do know what they are but applying them has been somewhat of a mystery. l netplay alot, and l want my foe to respect my pressure so that l can do better things. the problem though is that, every time l go for a frame trap/anti jump the foe dosent bite! and when l dont, l can get anywhere from thrown to fc'd to killed trying for mixup.

l try hard to adapt and use everything l trained with against most people, so if l visually see my frametrap blocked, next time i'm going to try a mixup... the end result is usually me wondering wtf just happened. l just died. (im talking about with rach btw; l know she has safe mixup but im not always point blank to fully use/abuse it.)

l try to use my knowledge of the the game to compensate for my....horrible... reflexes. but is there a such thing as overthinking? or maybe even underthinking. and what do l do about it? turtle harder? :s

[Tong]

hey lk, l have two questions ask you. theyre related to one another.

the first, how do you properly execute a frame trap??? l do know what they are but applying them has been somewhat of a mystery. l netplay alot, and l want my foe to respect my pressure so that l can do better things. the problem though is that, every time l go for a frame trap/anti jump the foe dosent bite! and when l dont, l can get anywhere from thrown to fc'd to killed trying for mixup.

l try hard to adapt and use everything l trained with against most people, so if l visually see my frametrap blocked, next time i'm going to try a mixup... the end result is usually me wondering wtf just happened. l just died. (im talking about with rach btw; l know she has safe mixup but im not always point blank to fully use/abuse it.)

l try to use my knowledge of the the game to compensate for my....horrible... reflexes. but is there a such thing as overthinking? or maybe even underthinking. and what do l do about it? turtle harder? :s

1-Apply it until you net a fish. Sometimes your opponent just likes to block and won't fall for it, this is the time to try wider traps or expect some reaction from him. If he likes to block, a pressure reset/throw work very well.

2-You're either being read or just randomed out. This is part of the game and how your opponent plays, just adapt to it.

3-Yes, sometimes wondering too much will lead you to make bad choices, like "If he could read my trap, then he knows about it. I must refrain from repeating", that's overthinking. If you made that assumption off 1~2 occurrences then that may be wrong. Maybe he just doesnt know about your stuff, it just got mashed out/guessed. Underthinking is when you fall prey to the same stuff, aka being predicable and not making correct choices. Typical flowchart.

Of course, these concepts apply to every character and most matchups.

[Tonberry]

How do you deal with rage?

[DLM UNDEAD]

How would one go about improving their defense?

[OmniSScythe]

How do you deal with rage?

Downback

How would one go about improving their defense?

Downback

[Linear04]

what happens if theres an over head

[OmniSScythe]

Press buttons

[zeth07]

LK, do you think characters that have "Mode" Distortions are meant to be played with that as a basis or goal of their match strategy?

Obviously there are individual player styles and maybe match-ups that make them ineffective, but if we just look at the character's tools and gameplay mechanics by design, do you think that's how they were intended to be played or should be played?

And regarding that, do you think they should make changes to put more emphasis on using the mode playstyles? I guess more so in the ones we don't see often ( Hakumen / Tsubaki ) since Bang, Ragna, and Taokaka actually put theirs to use from time to time.

Or do you think it's better to just have them as an alternative playstyle and less like Arakune needing Curse mode?

[Lord Knight]

Whats up LK? We've netplayed a couple of times and i notice that when i keep the match neutral, i can manage to scrape out a few rounds. But then when i get pushed to the corner all hell breaks loose. I was wondering if you have any advice on how to escape litchi pressure with Jin outside of trying to I.B - DP everything

First I'd say buff your neutral some so you get caught less. But obviously it isn't possible to do that 100%, Everyone tries to get you to respect pressure, but in Litchi's case it's a bit different. When she gets you to respect her, it opens up significantly more options than most characters. Additionally, staff and staffless pressure work very different, and she moves in between them rather quickly. The best way to deal with her (or really, anyone's pressure) is to actually learn what she can do from what normals. Staff is pretty linear (besides putting the staff down) and she can only do 4D off 5A, 2A, 2B, 5B, and 5C (either hit). She can't put the staff down after 6B.

Staffless however is much more difficult to deal with. There are a couple of additional things to keep in mind. First, 623D/421D have a special property on them. When she moves the staff forward, despite it being a 22f move, she can act on the 17th frame, and when she moves the staff backwards, she can act on the 18th frame. So essentially, she has a feint move that can cancel into another normal, that's a little faster than an overhead. When used pointblank, if you guess (or if you can react to it) you can simply mash/jump out. A lot of weaker Litchi players either won't use this move at all, or they will use it at the end of a string (after 5c,2c or 3c). When used from a distance, it can be used as a legitimate frametrap (usually anything > 5C > more stuff).

On top of that, there are her gatlings into 5D/2D. These moves, although they are 48F/30F duration (respectively) are cancellable on the 12/13th frame, opening up new pressure routes (most normals > 5D > 2A are airtight). I see less players using this, but it's much harder to deal with imo.

Essentially you should treat her pressure the same as anyone else, you can use the same escape options - this block of text is just to help you fundamentally understand how she works so you can pick better ways to escape. Hope this helps.

Lord Knight,

This is SCAM 4 LIFE on XBL. Considering that you have fought me recently, and considering your experience in the matchup, what should I do in the Jin v. Litchi matchup? What am I doing wrong, what mindset should I have when fighting a solid Litchi, what are Jin's strongest ways to approach Litchi, and what tactics did Jin players like Dennou and Tetsu use against you when you fought them in Japan?

Thank you.

My good friend Tonberry had a great post about how to fight Litchi here

I only played Tetsu 2 games before giving up, because I wanted to save money before dinner and people were leaving soon. I sat down to play Dennou once at the end of my trip for a short set. Playing him was very refreshing - I feel like almost all the Jin players I play against don't really pay attention to my positioning (especially the position of the staff) when I play. Dennou pays very close attention to where I set the staff and was very content to not commit to anything in the air, or not even move at all until I launched the staff, then he'd try to approach. Outside of that his play was pretty standard (although very good, I lost more games than I won).

hey lk, l have two questions ask you. theyre related to one another.

the first, how do you properly execute a frame trap??? l do know what they are but applying them has been somewhat of a mystery. l netplay alot, and l want my foe to respect my pressure so that l can do better things. the problem though is that, every time l go for a frame trap/anti jump the foe dosent bite! and when l dont, l can get anywhere from thrown to fc'd to killed trying for mixup.

l try hard to adapt and use everything l trained with against most people, so if l visually see my frametrap blocked, next time i'm going to try a mixup... the end result is usually me wondering wtf just happened. l just died. (im talking about with rach btw; l know she has safe mixup but im not always point blank to fully use/abuse it.)

l try to use my knowledge of the the game to compensate for my....horrible... reflexes. but is there a such thing as overthinking? or maybe even underthinking. and what do l do about it? turtle harder? :s

Frame traps punish mashing. Either you're not being random enough, or your mixup is being telegraphed in one way or another. That, or develop new frame traps, or do things that actively encourage mashing. It's good that you're visually confirming the block/hit of your frametraps. Likely you just don't have enough experience with enough type of players.

Thinking too hard is bad.

How do you deal with rage?

Stop playing, switch characters, troll them (in game), play Zelda, exercise, drink liquor, writing a poem, etc etc

How would one go about improving their defense?

Depends on the player. I personally used to block way too much - improving my defense involved learning when was it a good time to poke out, dp, or jump out. You'll have to reflect on it on your own, based on your own matches, but for 3/4th's of people it's block better, for a smaller group of others it's learn to use system defenses better (backstep, barrier jump, etc) and for smaller still how to poke/reversal out well.

[E3vE3 WAZ HEA]

i feel as if im playing litchi wrong, my pressure is predictable, i panic way to easy so if i try to do something diffident and start to choke up, i go back to what they can already predicted(for example when the staff is set i have a habit of jumping before i launch it). i can say im okay with combos but once i feel pressured, i do nothing but block, which u may think its okay im sapose to block but its to the point were im cornered im not throwing my dp or bursting at all (i once when through a whole round blocking and lost and i still had both bursts), then i get grabbed (which im bad at reacting to even if its a purple one >.>) as for the bursting, im either i found that lately ive been bursting too early in the match or too late. to get to the point, besides keep practicing, what can i do that i can stay calm when blocking so i can get out of it easier and get better with litchi

[Dusk Thanatos]

I can't remember if you've answered this before or not, but:

How does your offline mindset differ from your netplay mindset, if at all?

[Guymam]

Can you teach me how to dougie?

[TD]

thanks tong and lk for the responses :>