zeth07 Report post Posted February 2, 2013 (edited) *Note* - When browsing the Azrael forums please follow the rules of the site, failure to do so will result in a Infraction. If you do not know the rules you can check them here -> Site Rules. *UPDATED 12/05/13* ---Added Player Critique Thread link and (updated) Unlimited Azrael section. Please read this thread in it's entirety before asking questions, this is so we don't have to answer the same questions several times. For Azrael Frequently Asked Questions please see the second post of this thread at the bottom or click -> HERE! Please take any match-up specific questions to the Azrael Match-up threads found HERE -> http://www.dustloop.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?270-Matchups Please take any Azrael story discussion to the BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Story Thread found HERE! -> http://www.dustloop.com/forums/showthread.php?14880-Chrono-Phantasma-Story-Thread Please take any off-topic Azrael discussion to the Azrael Group found HERE! -> http://www.dustloop.com/forums/group.php?groupid=106 Character Profile: Name: Azrael Height: 203cm Weight: 160kg Birthday: October 10th Japanese VA: Hiroki Yasumoto "Azrael is a member of Sector Seven who spends most of his time moving from one battle to the next in search of a strong opponent. He is entirely obsessed with using his own raw power to fight, and has never used a weapon. However, due to his super-human strength, he can't go all out in battle; thus, he has imposed a limiter of some sort on himself." -BlazBlueWiki / Famitsu Article Story-Related Info:Once sealed away in a prison for committing a grave crime, this uncontrollable warrior has been deployed to Ikaruga under someone's orders.Bullet and Azrael were both specifically created to have a major impact on the plot.Azrael was created as a character that actually has a reason to be fighting the entire cast.Azrael has a "deep relation" with both Tager and Kokonoe.Please take any further Azrael Story-Related discussion to the Chrono Phantasma Story Thread - HERE Gameplay Overview:Health: 12,000Play-style: Offensive, Power, FootsiesMovement Options: 1 Double Jump/Air Dash, Teleport-Type DashAzrael's general gameplan is to use his movement and pokes at neutral to get in and land a hit so that he can apply his weakpoints. With weakpoints Azrael's combos tend to do big damage even meterless, without weakpoints his damage is average at best. Knowing this, you want to make sure you always try and get a weakpoint applied, in some cases you might be inclined to do combos that lead to getting both weakpoints for big damage on the next combo or getting a possible unblockable from Black Hawk Stinger.Azrael's forward dash and back dash are teleport dashes very similar to Slayer from Guilty Gear. Each one moves him slightly forward or backward, and he is able to go through the opponent with his forward dash even if they are in the corner. His forward dash can be jump-canceled (and from that special canceled), though his back dash cannot. His backdash has a lot of invincibility, which is useful for avoiding attacks and creating space at neutral. His forward dash only has 4 frames of invincibility however.Pros/Strengths:Good amount of health.Does solid damage on average (Weakpoint damage considered).Does great meterless damage with weakpoints.Has a great back dash.Has a decent DP (214B - Growler Field), that can also absorb projectiles and gains one of his own in return (up to 3).Because of his health, back dash, and DP, he has relatively good defense overall.Valiant Charger combos give great corner carry and good damage.Cons/Weaknesses:Large body, relatively slow character.Teleport-type movement could take some getting used to when you're just starting out.5A/2A have short reach, doesn't have a good balance of move ranges.Has some combos that involve links, if execution is a problem for you.Lacks "continual pressure" strings and "proper" okizeme tools.Big damage combos require you to have weakpoints already applied in most cases.Because of the above it means Azrael has to get multiple chances to land good damage.Because of the above it is easier to burst against Azrael, and consistent damage is hard to get.Potentially has some noticeably bad or tough match-ups. (Hazama / Jin / Hakumen / Taokaka / Valkenhayn / Tager as examples.) Move Descriptions: Normal Moves5AA very short-range uppercut. Basic poke, can cancel into itself up to 3 times.5BAn upward swipe with the hand. Seems to be a decent anti-air due to the hitbox, must be barrier blocked in the air as well.5BB A headbutt. Knocks aerial targets to the ground, and ground bounces on CH. Is + on block. Has repeat proration. Useful for relatively easy hitconfirms from 5B.5C A far-reaching straight kick. Fatal Counter. One of the few mid/long-range moves Azrael has.2A A crouching punch. Hits low. + on block. Typical go to move to pick up no techs as well.2B A swinging strike at their feet. Further reaching crouching poke, mostly a combo extender since it isn't an actual "low". Must be special canceled at all times because it is - on block and even hit (apparently).2C Azrael raises a slab of stone from the ground to hit the opponent. Counts as a projectile. Has repeat proration. Somewhat decent anti-air, head invul. from 9-21f. Relatively good move all-around.6A - A shoulder tackle. Combo filler, somewhat useful at neutral against "Body" attacks due to body invul. Wall bounces near corner. Has repeat proration.6B An big-swinging uppercut. Launches the enemy, can�t be jump-canceled but can be dash-canceled. Situional anti-air due to the nature of the move but does have head invul.6C A swinging kick after a short jump, similar in style to Terry Bogard's Crackshoot. Not an overhead, but is a fatal counter. Somewhat useful mid-range move. Is + on block.3C A Kanji-like dropkick. Hits low, but knocks the opponent away. Typically special-canceled into Sentinel Dump (22C), but can be linked after by certain moves. Can lead into an almost invisible overhead if you RC into j.A, but doesn't lead to big damage. Has repeat proration.j.A A downward punch. Hits overhead. Basic air poke.j.B Azrael swings his jacket downward. Hits behind him as well. Hits overhead. Can easily cross-up opponents. This is probably one of Azrael's best normals.j.C An upward kick. Hits overhead. Typical follow-up to Hornet Chaser. Used in almost all of Azrael's advanced combos.j.2C Azrael stops for a moment, then falls down with a kick. Knocks down on hit. Landing j.2C in Hornet Chaser combos cause them to spin. Not overhead.Forward Throw (B+C) - An uppercut, blows the enemy about one step forward. Can be followed up by multiple attacks. Doesn�t wall-bounce in the corner.Back Throw (4B+C) - Azrael slams the enemy down behind himself. Can be special-canceled.Air Throw (j.B+C) - Grabs the opponent and slams them straight to the ground. Can be followed up by a few moves, like 2A.Taunt - Has a hitbox.Counter Assault (6A+B during blockstun w/50%) - Invincibility of his counter assault expires shortly after it goes active.Crush Trigger (A+B w/25%) - Can be used with 25% to guard crush your opponent. Can be barrier blocked to not cause guard crush. Adds some more combo-ability to combos, as well as increases damage. Has repeat proration. Is +4 on block. Drive MovesDrive: The Terror Azrael's drive attacks reveal weak points on the opponent when they hit the opponent, either applying an "Upper" or "Lower" weakpoint. Weakpoints are active for roughly 17 seconds before disappearing if not used.5D A double-handed strike after a short jump. Overhead, applies upper weakness. Can be followed-up on Counter Hit without weakpoint. Has repeat proration on weakpoint version.2D A crouching kick at their feet. Hits low, applies lower weakness. Can be followed-up on Counter Hit without weakpoint? Has repeat proration on weakpoint version.3D Stomps at the enemy�s feet. Hits low, applies lower weakness. Can be followed-up on Counter Hit without weakpoint? Somewhat deceptive animation. Has repeat proration on weakpoint version.6D A heel kick stomp. An overhead, applies upper weakness. Can be followed-up on Counter Hit without weakpoint. This is your typical ender/extender for BnB combos to get a weakpoint or with weakpoint. Has repeat proration on weakpoint version.j.D An aerial smash. Overhead, applies upper weakness. This is your typical air combo ender/extender for/with weakpoint.j.2D A roundhouse swipe horizontally. Causes knockdown, wide crossover range, hits overhead, and applies lower weakness. Most of the time you will be using j.D instead, but if you have or want a lower weakpoint this is what you'll use instead.Overdrive: Mind ColosseoList of Overdrive Effects:Azrael's drive attacks now reveal weak points even on block. Weak points are not used up when you hit the opponent with weak point moves.Weak points do not disappear over time like they normally would.Black Hawk Stinger and Scud Punishment are enhanced.OD BHS: *OD version of BHS has full body GP during start up. *Can follow up with 2C on CH close to the corner.(character specific) 22C and phalanx work,too. *Leads to about 9K for a weak hit confirm by the time OD runs out. *OD BHS CH>OD BHS does about 5.7k damage. Duration of Overdrive: (halved if canceled into, bonus if used in mid-air.) [*]At 51-100% Health = 3 seconds. [*]At 11-50% Health = 6 seconds. [*]At 1-10% Health = 12 seconds. Drive Overview Red (upper) weak point moves: 5D, 6D, j.D, 236D Yellow (lower) weak point moves: 2D, 3D, j.2D, 214D These moves gain new properties when you hit the corresponding weak point. This consumes the weak point, but you can re-apply it in the same combo. Of course, the moves apply the same weak points that they get the additional properties from. All regular ground drives gain the same properties on CH without weakpoint, j.D/j.2D/Valiant/Hornet do not. Hornet (and possibly Valiant), can be followed up on CH with a regular-style combo, and you can use the weakpoint earned within that very same combo. Each drive's "weakpoint version" has repeat proration. The properties the moves gain: 5D - Staggers, can go into 5B>~ for a combo. 2D - Knockdown, which can be followed up with 2A>5A>5B to aerial. 6D - Bounces, goes into 5B>TCL,etc. 3D - Bounces, Goes into 5B>~. j.D / j.2D - Ground bounces the opponent into the air to follow-up with a combo. 236D (Valiant Crash) - Knocks the opponent away, enabling Valiant Charger. Can repeat (6>5C) a few times for insane corner carry, or various other attacks in the corner. 214D (Hornet Bunker) - Sort of like GG's Dust. Enables Hornet Chaser to be used, followed up with aerial combos. 236236D (Black Hawk Stinger) - Can't be blocked high with UW, or low with LW. Unblockable with both but can be Barrier blocked if in the air. Special Moves [*]Gustaf Buster (236A) - A lunging-punch. Is + on block. This is one of the moves to use at neutral or ending pressure. --- [*]Tiger Magnum (236C) - A backfist blow with short reach. Seems relatively fast, especially if you do it after a cross-up teleport dash. Goes into Azrael's "rekka chain", Tiger>Cobra>Leopard. --- [*]Cobra Strike (46C during 236C) - An upward kick. Follow-up to Tiger Magnum, followed by Leopard Launcher usually. For some of Azrael's more advanced combos you will go into other moves off this instead of Leopard Launcher. --- [*]Leopard Launcher (6C during 46C) - A fierce straight punch. Screen-bounces, allows for follows up depending on the distance. -Tiger>Cobra>Leopard = 3 stage "rekka". Can chain on whiff, and is pretty much a guaranteed punish if the 3rd hit is blocked. Each move has repeat proration. --- [*]Growler Field(214B)(Chargeable) - Azrael gives off an aura surrounding him. Anti-projectile guardpoint. Has a hitbox and does damage if next to opponent. Blows the enemy away and knocks down and can be used as a reversal due to start-up invincibility, has Head, Body, Foot invul. You can absorb a projectile while Growler Field is active. Azrael is also invincible while absorbing the projectile. You are capable of storing up to 3 projectiles, and each hit of a multi-hit projectile counts separately. After absorbing a projectile you can then use Phalanx Cannon. 1-11 frames invul., 53-117 projectile guard point (absorb). Has repeat proration. *Special Note* - In certain match-ups (like Taokaka), Growler can be punished ON HIT (non-CH) because of the way the move works and some character's ability to get in quickly even after teching. Taokaka was able to get a CH combo that did 4.7k meterless+oki. So you really need to think before using it. --- [*]Phalanx Cannon (After absorbing a projectile with 214B, 236B) - Fires forward a projectile. Considerably fast. You can use this after you absorb a projectile with Growler Field. Can store up to 3 Phalanx Cannons. This move has a lot of priority over other projectiles and will blow right through most of them. Can combo into itself, as well as Black Hawk Stinger. --- [*]Sentinel Dump (623C or 22C on downed opponent) - Azrael jumps and slams to the ground, sitting on top of the opponent. On a not-downed opponent, it launches them in place and hits them as they land. Is + on block. * 22C version tracks the downed opponent. * 623C makes Azrael jump about 2 character spaces forward. * Can cross up if opponent is crouching. * Seems to have a hitbox on both sides. * Attack attribute is partially a projectile. * Has guard point against all attacks on start-up. * GP duration is short making it kind of hard to use under pressure. * Loses cleanly to multi hitting moves or rapid fired jabs for example. --- [*]Valiant Crash (236D)(Chargeable) - A kick that blows the enemy away. Overhead. Applies upper weakpoint. Has some super-armor during the active frames, wall-bounces if the enemy has the upper weakpoint and can be followed up with Valiant Charger. Weakpoint disappears after hit if it was already applied. Has repeat proration (2A). Can possibly be followed up on CH as a starter with a regular combo (not Valiant Charger), and the weakpoint gained can be used within that combo. --- [*]Valiant Charger (When upper weakness applied, 6 during 236D) - Charges at the enemy. Can follow-up with multiple attacks, while pressing 6 for follow-up after each move as long as it is within the time duration of Valiant Chargers effect. Has huge corner carry when using multiple 5C attacks. Can also do jump attacks mid-followup, particularly in the corner. --- [*]Hornet Bunker (214D)(Chargeable)- Azrael makes a table-flipping motion, launching the enemy. Low. Applies lower weakpoint. Weakpoint disappears after hit if it was already applied. Can be followed up on CH with a regular combo. Situational anti-air. Has repeat proration (2B). Has GP from 10-(active~12)GP. --- [*]Hornet Chaser (When lower weakness applied, 8 during 214D) - A homing jump, like after Dust attacks in GG. Almost always followed-up by multiple j.Cs>j.2C>~ Distortion Drives [*]Black Hawk Stinger (236236D) - Long distance rush followed by a huge punch. Covers lots of space, has quick start-up, but does not have any real substantial invincibility. Standing unblockable with upper weak point and crouching unblockable with lower weakpoint. Unblockable if both weakpoints are applied. Anything with special cancel can go into BHS for the unblockable. Can still be air barrier guarded though. Mostly used as a combo ender for extra damage. Overdrive BHS CH leads to huge damage. 7th frame invincible only. OD version 7-13f invincible. --- [*]Scud Punishment (214214D) - Short range multi-hit attack, Azrael gains an after-image that looks like Yang's "Seiei Enbu" but the function is completely different. Applies both weaknesses on successful hit. Damage is somewhat low, around 1100 raw, so it is mostly for the effect you gain. While the after-image effect is still present, weaknesses will be automatically reapplied after the combo ends, this lasts for about 20 in-game seconds. Even if you use the weakness with a move, the mark will be reapplied automatically after knockdown. Can be used on the end of some combos to gain both weakpoints and the added effect. 1-21 frame invincible, it has 19 frames of startup though, so I don't recommend using this as a reversal in most situations. Astral Heat [*]Patriot Apocalypse (632146C) - Azrael releases the limiters he placed on himself, then smashes the ground causing a huge explosion that catches the opponent. The opponent lands on the ground, as Azrael proceeds to literally lift up a huge slab of the ground tossing it high into the air, the opponent along with it. The camera then shows Azrael�s face from above, as he performs a massively powerful uppercut and sends a gigantic pillar of fire after the enemy. Finally, Azrael poses with his back towards the camera, Raging Demon-style. Can be combo'd into very easily and seems to have a pretty big vertical hitbox (like Bang's Ashura). 1-30 frames invincible. Very punishable. Unlimited Azrael Differences *Info from Lucalibur/Yuhoke* [*]Backdash can be jump cancelled. Unlike Slayer's jump cancelled backdash, it does not keep the invincibility frames of the backdash during the jump. [*]Most links are now gatlings. An exception seem to be 2C>6D\3D\3C, which still requires some delay, but everything else is as simple as with any character's gatlings. [*]5BB 'removed'. Its new input is 214C, and works much like AOA's in Persona 4 Arena, requiring the mashing of the A and B buttons to get the best possible damage and ending with either a launcher© or attack that blows the enemy away(D). Has repeat proration. [*]6C was changed. Has 2 hits now. The first one comes out fast and floats the enemy, while the second one downs them slowly. Very likely impossible to follow up on normal hit. FC causes a groundbounce so long both hits connect or the second one hits the enemy in the air, and can be followed up easily. Apparently works like Sol's Bandit Revolver/Bringer. [*]All D moves work as if they had their respective marks applied, and each have repeat proration. [*]Growler has much shorter recovery, to the point it's not punishable at all on hit, and a phalanx stock is gained each time it's used regardless of hit or whiff. Can still be charged. [*]Scud and BHS work as if they were in normal OD. Scud's startup is MUCH faster than normal, easily reaching 1F or even 0F after superflash. During OD, BHS does 4625 damage if done raw and Scud has its damage increased as well. Both versions of Scud have positive P2, allowing for massive damage combos. [*]Has Musou Tensei from HnK. New super's input is 214214A during OD. To have Azrael avoid an attack when it's active, move forward the moment the attack would hit him, much like as if you were IBing the attack. [*]Has all of the benefits U.chars have, such as higher HP and always 1% HP OD duration. Also has Scud's aura around him at all times. [*]Unlimited Azrael Video Sample --> http://youtu.be/A9Ro1haqaU0 FAQ: Azrael FAQ Match-ups: Azrael Match-ups Wiki: Azrael Wiki Frame Data: Azrael Frame Data Strategy Guide: Azrael Strategy Guide Links/Combo Theory/Combos: Azrael Combo Thread Player Critique Azrael Critique Thread Videos: Azrael Video Thread Colors: Azrael Default Colors Azrael Alternate Colors Group: Azrael General Discussion Group **Special Thanks and Credit to: SoWL / hakimiru / Circuitous / Suzaku / YoYoCheese / Kurushii / Isuna / yonah / Nokita / Lucalibur / Yuhoke / the jbbs / the JP Wiki** Edited January 13, 2014 by zeth07 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zeth07 Report post Posted May 24, 2013 (edited) Azrael - Frequently Asked Questions: 1) Who are the best Azraels / players to watch? -Dogura / Tahichi: Both players qualified for the Finals of Arc Revolution Cup, with Dogura making it into Top 4. They are also two of the highest ranked Dans for Azrael. -Tochigin / Senchou: Both of these players were Area qualifiers for Arc Revolution Cup. They are both also relatively high ranked Dans, and tend to show up a lot in the videos uploaded. -Shirou Madoushi (Shiroma): He appears a lot in the videos uploaded due to playing at Game Chariot, and he is also a decently ranked Dan. -There are a lot of other good Azraels but the ones above tend to appear in videos more often than others. So please visit the Video Thread for a in-depth Player List sorted by Dan ranks which can give you an idea of how good they are. This only applies for Azraels we actually have videos of. You can find that thread -> HERE! 2) Who is Azrael most similar to in other fighting games? -Most notably Slayer from Guilty Gear. -Because Azrael is pretty heavy on Footsies and has a “rekka chain”, you could draw some similarities to Fei Long in Street Fighter. In a sense you might also say Dudley as well, but those two are just in a very broad sense. -If we had to pick a character from Persona 4 Arena that is similar to Azrael it would probably be Akihiko, but there aren't really that many similarities besides just a general sense of playstyle. 3) How do you cancel Azrael's forward dash? -Azrael's forward dash can be jump canceled, and from that you can also cancel into specials by “Tiger Kneeing” the input of the special, this more or less means you are inputting a jump as part of the specials motion but it is being canceled anyway. Example: Gustaf Buster is 236A, so you would do 662369A very quickly (notice the 9 input acts as the jump cancel). 4) How good is Azrael / where is Azrael on the tier list? -Azrael is considered to be a fairly good character. The general consensus seems to be that he is a solid “A Tier” character. Compared to the characters in “S Tier”, Azrael has some character gameplay flaws and/or has some tough match-ups that leads to there being an entire small group of characters better than him. In no way is he a “bad” character though. 5) What are Azrael's bad/tough match-ups? -I'm not going to apply a number like 4-6 or 4.5-5.5 just know that these characters will probably make it a tough match regardless. -While it is hard to give a real answer at this point for obvious reasons, some match-ups that at least appear to be harder than others would be Hazama / Jin / Hakumen / Taokaka / Valkenhayn / Litchi (all probably considered “S Tier” coincidentally or not). -Then you might say Mu/Carl (possibly Nu/Relius) / Tager from a pure character playstyle stand point, with Mu and the others making it hard for Azrael to maneuver around and Tager being dangerous at close-range where Azrael wants to be as well. 6) What are Azrael's “Reference Colors” and who do they reference? -All color #11s are reference to Guilty Gear characters, all #13s to Anime or something else, all #14s to other BlazBlue characters, and #15s to Persona characters. #11 = Johnny from “Guilty Gear”. #13 = Kamina from “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” (Anime). #14 = Bullet from “BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma”. #15 = Takaya Sakaki from “Persona 3”. 7) What is the reason most Azraels tend to end their combos with “Upper Weakpoint”? -The main reason Azrael players end combos with UW instead of LW is because of “Valiant Charger” Combos. These combos have HUGE corner carry and also do big meterless damage. “Hornet Chaser” by comparison is just not as good. -Another reason to consider is that Azrael has no other “normal” overheads besides 5D/6D, so if you want to land an overhead you might as well land one while you have an UW to get good damage or so you can actually get UW for the reason above. Not to mention the fact that Azrael at least has other lows besides 2D/3D in 2A/3C. 8) How do I play Azrael? -Please check the Strategy Guide Thread -> HERE! 9) What are those crazy kicking combos Azrael does, where he kicks them across the screen repeatedly, turns pink for a second, and says "Gomikuzu" a lot? -Those types of combos are Azrael's "Valiant Charger" combos. If you hit the opponent with "Valiant Crash" while they have an "Upper Weakpoint / UW" applied you can follow up with "Valiant Charger" by pressing 6. From this you can follow-up with multiple attacks with the "Valiant Charger" property still in effect and repeating the "Valiant Charger" input after each one (thus the pink color you see him as). -The typical combos off "Valiant Charger" involve multiple 5Cs, this is the kicking move Azrael does with his jacket. This is also the move where Azrael will usually say "Gomikuzu", and since he's repeating the same move he tends to say it a lot while doing these combos. To answer the question of what it means, both Gomi and Kuzu mean "trash" so you get the idea of what it means. -This combo is important because it provides corner to corner carry and deals good meterless damage as long as you have the upper weakpoint applied. It is literally the "go to" combo when playing Azrael. 10) How do you do "Valiant Charger" combos in general? What is the timing for it? -After you land 236D with upper weakpoint applied all you have to do is press forward (6) and it will make Azrael go into his Valiant Charger (the purple looking dash). From that you can press a button for an attack, then press forward again, and repeat as needed for the combo. You have a lot of time to visually confirm it so the timing really should not be an issue if you just take your time to press the directions and buttons correctly. The typical Valiant Charger combo involves looping 5Cs, this is incredibly simple to do. Land 236D, press 6, let the stick go to neutral (or whatever on pad), press 5C, press 6, press 5C, repeat. Everything should be very smooth as there is no rush when doing the 5C loop. 11) What is the red shadow/after-image that Azrael sometimes has in videos, and what is the difference between Scud Punishment's effect and Azrael's Overdrive effect? -The red after-image appears when Azrael successfully lands Scud Punishment. It is a visual indication that SCP's effect is still active. -OD makes it so the weakpoint is reapplied immediately after use, thus you could use multiple attacks that use the same weakpoint within the same combo, but realize most (I think all) of those attacks have SMP so you can't just do multiples of the same attacks. SCP on the other hand immediately applies both weakpoints, then for the next ~20 secs or so both weakpoints will be reapplied AFTER the combo has ended. When combined together the combos are obviously even stronger. 12) How do you do Azrael's Challenge Mode combos #25 and #30? -#25 = Do a Crush Trigger combo that does over 4,000 damage = CT > 3C > 22C > 5B > TCL > 5B > 2C > 5B > OD > OD BHS -#30 = Use all of Azrael's drive related moves within the same combo = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7DfrSKs6Xc Edited December 9, 2013 by zeth07 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
