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Skankin Garbage

[VS] Gallon: The Wolf Man

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If you have a question about Talbain, I will answer it to the best of my knowledge instead of saying "LOL BC" or "LOL J HP" as most other people will.

Go

EDIT: Here's some resources:

http://vsav.mizuumi.net/wiki/Gallon - Talbain wiki page updated mostly by me. Contains basics, move analysis, combos, etc.

http://vstalbain.blogspot.com - My personal Talbain blog. I'm not sure how often I will update it; however, I do make a point of recording every detailed explanation (from Dustloop or anywhere else) I give about Talbain in this blog, so it's a a bit easier than scanning through this thread and various other ones.

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Skank, I heard you're arguably the best Gallon in the states. I main Gallon myself, but I've been bored with him lately and dabbling with other characters. I can't really think of any super deep questions about gallon right now, but one thing that's been on my mind is how not to be super repetitive and mix it up with wolf. It's super easy to go auto pilot with wolf because of how easy he is to play at his core but when playing against people who really know their shit that could get you bopped. So I guess what I'm trying to get at is how do you keep everything fresh with gallon and keep your opponent on his toes when they already know what to look out for. Something different than w/e into BC, empty jump command grab, DF throw gimmick, and close HK option select.

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The difficulty in creating effective mixups is the one and only hole in Talbain's offense. While it seems negligible at first, the problem becomes more obvious as you play opponents with greater skill.

The immediate goal in mixing up with Talbain is not necessarily to land hits; but rather, to avoid getting AG'd, as AG really hurts Talbain compared to other pressure rushdown characters.

Here's some tips on how to accomplish that:

1. Know your pressure strings.

When you're in on the opponent, do small, intermittent block strings, mixed in with Quick Move (D+3K) to stay on top of your opponent. Doing repeated C.Lps, C.Lp -> C.Lk, C.(light) -> C.(medium), and C.Mp -> C.Mk with varied timing in between will catch your opponent's AG attempt. This won't do a lot of damage, but it will give you an effective way to gauge your opponent. For example...

- Based on whether or not your opponent is getting hit by the strings with frequency, you can tell if they are trying to AG, counter attack, or are simply sitting there blocking.

- Based on how frequently they are AG'ing your attacks, you can determine how long you can keep up the pressure strings before attempting a mixup/frame trap.

It's important to cancel C.(light) and C.Mk into Quick Moves at time, since Talbain has no other way to move forward while applying ground pressure. Quick Move has a bit of a mixup built into it as well:

C.Mk xx Quick Move is the standard cancel; it is safe on block, and it keeps Talbain at roughly the same distance away from his opponent from when he started the move.

C.Lp/C.Lk xx Quick Move is the fancy cancel; this maneuver will actually cause Talbain to gain some ground on his opponent and allow for some more tricky stuff (walk-up throw, easier dash cross ups, or even just variable blockstun pressure), but it is NOT safe on block. You CAN be hit out of this cancel, so it's important not to just do it all the time, and especially not against an opponent who is jamming out on AG, as they'll hit you out of this without even thinking about it.

2. Be aware of all your mixup options.

When establishing ground pressure, you actually have a lot of options:

- C.Mk xx ES BC: this one seems really obvious, but keep in mind that this is a frame trap from certain distances. If you know your spacing, you can do this from a distance in which it won't combo, making it dangerous to just blindly AG. This might seem scrubby, but it's probably Talbain's most important deterrence against people who just one-hit Tech and immediately rush in afterwards.

- Dash: Depending on your opponent and your placement on the field, you have a few different options. D.Lk/D.Mk are the typical overheads, and will be used most of the time - D.Lk can also cross up against shorties (Talbain, Morrigan, Lilith, BB Hood, Q-Bee, and...someone else, I forgot lol). D.Mk -> D.Lk is a good one for midscreen against tall characters (Demi, Anak, Vic, Rik, Jedah, Bish), especially after landing a damage chain, as it usually sets up the spacing just right.

- Normals: There's a lot of untapped potential in Talbain's normals for mixup. Light attacks obviously will continue block pressure, but also, C.Lk is especially good for baiting Guard Cancels. Throwing in C.Mp or S.Hp after a Quick Move is really effective for variable block pressure, since the slight differences in timing will catch people who AG mechanically. S.Mk and T.Mk are good proactive defensive options, as they are good for pegging people who try to jump out of your block strings and cause resets.

- (Walk foward), C.Hk: This is Talbain's only low knockdown option, so while it's not that flashy, it's still a powerful tool.

- Tick throw: You could command throw; but, even if the opponent techs the throw, they are likely to be cornered, which is wonderful for you. I'd just do the normal throw. Command throw can also queer up the Throw option select.

- Anti-Air BC: Also another proactive option for people who try to jump out of your block strings. This is a wonderful option against high/low rushdown characters.

- Normal BC: The normal BC has a mixup in and of itself; you can do 66 with staggered timing between the first and second hits to try and catch AG'ers, 64 to avoid being reset by an AG attack, 6 (cross behind) 4 for a cross-up, and even 6, throw/command throw to catch people who are too catatonic.

- TK Air BC: The proper way to TK Air BC is 23696+P. This is admittedly not particularly good at punishing any specific thing; however, it does lead to big damage if it hits, and it's very safe on block if done low to the ground, allowing you another mixup option, or even the opportunity to bait an attack so you can hit them with your own GC.

- Jump: The jump has its own built-in mixup, too. You can mixup between jumping in with a normal (vary the timing and the attack for AGs) and empty jump into command throw for people who are blocking too much, You can also do J.Mk xx Air BC, which is an extremely low-risk frame trap (when done from far away), combo (if done right on top of them), or reset (if they tried to jump away). Jumping in and chicken guarding is beautiful against characters with DPs, as you can then counter the blocked DP with J.Hk or Air BC. Finally, jumping backwards and doing Air BC is a slightly more defensive variation of TK Air BC.

- C.Mk xx Dragon Cannon or C.Mk xx Quick Move, Dragon Cannon: This is an extremely gimmicky option used only for opponents who are on the verge of losing a life and are panicking. Don't do this if you have the opponent in the corner, or they will have all damn day to react to it.

Here's a match of me vs. Mar which showcases several of the options I've mentioned here. Keep in mind that, since Anakaris can't tech hit, many of the really long ground pressure strings I did are a bit stronger here than they are against other opponents: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc-iWhJRvp8

3. Reset smart.

Take advantage of good air resets. If your opponent is going to land far away from you, do a meaty dash. If your opponent is going to land close to you, mix up which side you are going to be on when they land and do a ground chain. If they are landing close, and you think they are going to jump or AG, do a meaty S.Hp -> C.Hk for a knockdown. Do a throw sometimes. Jump straight up and run a jump mixup.

If you wanna mix it up with Talbain, you've gotta dig a little deep. But, it's worth it; if you wanna WIN with Talbain in high-level play, you'll learn how to mix it up!

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Thanks for that detailed write up, I'll see what I can do with that knowledge at ECT if I go this weekend.

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Good write up man. I have been thinking about trying to up my doggy game up and I start to realize some of the stuff you wrote when I was fighting and watching the korean gallon player Pixies fight.

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I only caught the last half of what Ken was explaining about Gallons unblockable when he was talking about it in GGPO. Is there somewhere I could look up the details, or maybe you could elaborate on it some?

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What?!?!?!?

I thought his UB was crossing up ES Cannon a certain way. :psyduck:

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Fuck it is ES cannon crossing up a certain way. For some reason I thought it was like Zabels. When you push them out of the corner with it the next strike is unblockable.

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What?!?!?!?

I thought his UB was crossing up ES Cannon a certain way. :psyduck:

If you jump u/b it wont work with es bc.

For some reason I thought it was like Zabels. When you push them out of the corner with it the next strike is unblockable.

What's that? I only know about the unblockable j.lk.

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Alright, so here's what's up with unblockables for Talbain...there's two of them. I'll do my best to inform you, but my understanding of them is not absolutely thorough, as they are both a bit gimmicky and I don't use them much. For the sake of understanding, I've underlined the unblockable attacks in the combo notation for this thread.

1. ES Beast Cannon unblockable: When an opponent blocks a BC that's going straight downward (2), the next hit, if done quickly enough (6 or 9) will be unblockable. I don't know exactly why this works, but it's not a crossup, because you can do it midscreen...although it's hard as hell to do. I'm 99.99% sure that you need to do the 2 into 6/9 fast enough for it to count as a block string in order to get this unblockable to work.

As far as practical applications go:

- If your opponent is just sitting in the corner and blocking, you can do a 6 9 2 6/9 8 ES BC, and the last two hits will connect for marginal damage, and more importantly, a knockdown. Again, this COULD be done midscreen, but it's much harder and you have better things to be doing.

- You can also bait DPs to land the unblockable by doing 6 9 8 2 6/9. The 8 will (hopefully) avoid the DP entirely, and then you can come straight down on them and set up the final hit of the ES BC to be unblockable. If you are playing high level players, this will probably be the only way you see this unblockable come up in play.

- You can also mix it up by doing 6 9 2 and then landing. This allows you do just do a Throw option select, or even block to bait a DP.

2. Dark Force Unblockable: The very first attack that Talbain's Mirage does after starting a Dark Force is not unblockable, per se; however, it doesn't cause an opponent to guard if they are holding back. Thus, if you can find a way to make your very first attack in Dark Force a meaty attack, you can set up a situation where the opponent gets up into a meaty Mirage attack, which they won't be able to block.

While this sounds totally sexy, the reason why this isn't broken is because Talbain's Dark Force randomly picks between two different variations, where one set of Mirages hits faster than the other. Since there's no way to predict which one you're going to get, there are no 100% guaranteed setups for this unblockable (e.g you can't get a knockdown, activate Dark Force, and have a 100% chance of landing any meaty combo you can think of).

What we do have, however, is a setup which will either get the unblockable or wind up being extremely safe, courtesy of KENGALLON:

- Activate Dark Force, P Throw, C.Mk xx Quick Move, C.Mk xx ES BC

When an opponent techs Talbain's P Throw, Talbain can do C.MK at the earliest possible moment, which is a 100% setup with one of his DF speeds. I've attached a flowchart to help understand how this will pan out in a real match. It's important to remember that Dark Force is a defensive maneuver. When you activate the Dark Force, it's not to do the unblockable; it's simply another way for us to get a knockdown and safely escape pressure. Enjoy.

post-1143-139515161505_thumb.jpg

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvsmrACc0-8

mirror of the "combo" (tutorial) movie for gallon on vampiresaviour.com, the original link is dead.

edit: i don't play this game anymore, but i might as well share what i know.

- you can cancel gallon's dash with "4", it will make him fall down faster. you can connect a j.MK that way. you have to be at the apex of the dash-arc, then do 4~MK (or LK),\/ -> combo (eg. c.LK; ES beast cannon).

- the higher red damage combos involve the upkick, for example after a j.236P,\/, upkick or ES upkick (should be in the vid).

- in the corner, the easiest way to hit with all hits of the ES beast cannon is by doing 9~drum all Ps after the initial hit whenever you make contact with your opponent.

- j.LK(crossup) -> 2LP~5MP, 6,LK~MK is a viable setup for the "raging demon". if you're fast enough, gallon will cancel the 5MP into the special.

- dashing MK, \/, command grab works if you do the j.MK intentionally late (so that the opponent recovers while you land). unsafe, of course, but a viable setup now and then.

- jump j.HK, falling j.MK all day long. even builds meter. don't try to anti air with c.HP, jump in combos do way too much damage to make it viable to rely on slow ground normals for AA like this one. take it to the air.

- when you have them knocked down in the corner, take a step back, jump up, if they roll forward -> j.HP, if not, j.MK or j.HK. depending on where you stand if they roll, the j.HP will cross them up (or not).

- tick throws are really good with gallon. you can pressure your opponent with c.lk or c.lp, walk forward, repeat or throw.

- you can corpse walk over your opponent after you have knocked him down if you hold 6 long enough (won't happen immediately). you can also fake it and attack from the front once they get used to it.

- c.mp is a really good poke. doesn't lead to much, though.

- dark force has invulnerability during the activation (when gallon howls). you can use it as an anti air -> activate, throw. can't say if it's guaranteed, but it's useful nonetheless.

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What combinations of ES cannons connect every time?

9,7,9,2

Corner:

9, 9, 9, 9

What's the "Stair step" variation?

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i usually do 236P - delay 9,7,9,2. if you're far away, it's 236P,9,6, then either 9 or 8, 2. can't guarantee this is right, but in any case, some examples should be in the vid i linked.

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Here are the basic ES BC patterns. Interchangeable parts of the variations are noted. Any one of these variations can also be started from an ES Air BC (4).:

1. The Zig Zag: 6 9 7 9 2, OR 6 7 9 7 2

This is the most basic variation; it leaves the opponent in roughly the same position on the play field (relative to where they got hit), and the downward finisher sets up Talbain for a pursuit attack or just a long time to set up his wakeup game. The second version is good for switching sides with your opponent.

- Against some characters, it's easier to connect the final hit with 1 instead of 2.

2. The Staircase: 6 8 6 8 6/3

This is another very important variation, as it will corner an opponent from almost anywhere on the playfield. It's advantage in positioning is huge; however, the trade-off is that you're left in an awkward position: the opponent is in the corner, but you are cornered. Thus, your options afterwards are limited to either a late pursuit (places Talbain on the opposite side), or to dash away from the wall. Despite that, I hope the advantages of being able to corner your opponent at any time underscores how important this variation is.

- Note that this variation can not be started from an ES Anti-Air BC (9).

3. Stairwell: 6 9 4 9 4/1, OR 6 7 6 7 6/2/3

There's no technically important reason to know this variation, other than that it's by far the easiest to land all the hits with. It's good to practice this variation for no other reason than if you panic or hit an ES BC unexpectedly (not because you threw it out randomly!), you can have this variation in your muscle memory to ensure the maximum amount of damage possible. The second version switches sides with the opponent.

4. Corner Variation: 6 8 9 9 3

Fuck 6 9 9 9 9. If you really want a good corner variation, this is the right one. Every direction change has a logical explanation:

- 6 is the first hit...logically.

- 8 is the second hit, because 6 9 will whiff against Demitri and Rapter.

- 9 is the third hit, because 6 8 8 (or 6 9 8) will whiff against Lilith...and only Lilith, that bitch

- 9 as the fourth hit is the only reliable way to set up a downward finisher against the majority of the cast (you can use 8 as a fourth against wide characters)

- 3 is the only downward finisher that will reliably connect against the entire cast as well (2 works against fatties)

Thus, this is the only corner variation with a downward finisher that works universally against the entire cast. Learn it, love it.

5. Guard Cancel: 9 1 8 4 8

Though most of the variations can be started off of 9, this is probably the easiest one to do off of a Guard Cancel. Keep in mind that while you'll start out in one direction, you'll be moving in the opposite direction in the second half.

- Not that I should HAVE to explain this; but for completion's sake, know that you can't do this variation off of any other starter than 9.

6. The Elevator: 6 9/7 8 2 8

...Because, hell yeah, lol. Like the Stairwell, it's a good muscle memory habit to know that you can do 8 2 8 after landing a diagonal upper (9 or 7). Using 7 instead of 9 switches sides with the opponent.

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2. Using kara-BC, you have a pretty cool option select that can be useful against opponents with SRK-type attacks or other anti-air normals/specials. Though, in actual practice, it's not foolproof, it's still pretty damned useful:

As you're descending from your jump, press J.Mk and kara-cancel it into a BC. Preferably, you want to do the J.Mk from a distance where it'll whiff. What happens here is, if they jump at you, or try and counter you with a normal, you'll beat them with your J.Mk. If they try instead try an SRK, it will whiff and they will instead be hit by your BC.

could you explain this a bit more? are you canceling after the j.mk? it doesn't make to sense to call it a kara bc if you are. i just didn't think you could cancel moves on whiff like that.

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Well, a Kara-Cancel by definition is canceling a move that doesn't connect. While the most common applications of Kara-Cancels that we think of (i.e Kara-Throws in 3S) don't/can't take advantage of the canceled move's active frames, there are plenty of examples where you use the active frames in tandem with the move you're canceling into - a good example is ST Ryu's foot sweep.

In Vampire Savior, many normals - especially air normals - can be kara-canceled while the active frames of the attack are out. All of Talbain's cancelable air normals can be kara-canceled during active frames (they can, of course, be canceled before the active frames, but that's for building meter, and isn't a practical offensive maneuver). I'm pretty sure all of Morrigan's can, too.

Another thing I didn't mention is, this is the only way in the game that most characters can throw out a normal move on the ascent of their jump, and still do a special move. Normally, if you do a normal attack in the air, you're forbidden from doing specials until you land; however, Kara-Cancels will bypass this effect with any character that has air specials.

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Ehh. Some fights, that's just better, honestly. There are some matches where it's no good to fly around like a jackass until you have the offensive advantage (vs. Demi, Victor, Felicia), while some matches are best fought by jumping as if the floor was covered in hot coals (BB Hood, Bishamon, Rikuo). Let haters hate - when you gotta jump, jump.

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I'm having trouble getting Talbain's air throw off at all. I just can't do it. I was told to use jumping medium kick, and your opponent has to be above you. I'm not sure what else to do. Can you elaborate on what all needs to be done to make this move work, and to make it effective?

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Well, figured it out myself. Looks like I was informed incorrectly about the kick. Gallon apparently has to use a punch. Thanks anyway, but if there is anything you can elaborate on for this, that would be appreciated. Thanks again.

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