Jam v. Order-Sol (GGACR)

[Amadeous]

5-5, Even:

Overall:

A fairly even matchup, Jam and HOS are both similarly designed characters, relying on gaining momentum and bowling over their opponent. While HOS lacks Jam's maneuverability, he makes up for with strong normals and a great ability to condition his opponent. While Jam does have some tools to keep HOS in check, playing this matchup involves a lot of runaway and butting heads. HOS got stronger from GGAC, able to retain his momentum through pressure and combos due to the changes to his charge gauge, and can get knockdown off of many more hits now. If Jam can reverse that momentum though, HOS has to make hard call-outs and reads to Jam's pressure, putting himself at risk.

Opener:

HOS's openers include 2S, 5H, and Superjump jP mashing. His 2S will stuff almost anything you do here and recover fast enough if you go in from the air, so if a HOS wants to play it safe he'll use 2S 6H as his starter. Starting the round with IAD jS is ill-advised, due to it putting you perfectly in the spot to get CH by his 5H, and it usually loses to him jumping and mashing jP. Sitting and waiting to see what he does or IADing away are both your safest options, but if the HOS likes to use 5H dash up 2S will net you a juicy CH at the start of the round.

Neutral:

Your neutral will both consist of you searching for random hits into knockdown to begin pressure. HOS's 2S and 2D are his most common pokes here, and give him the chance to charge a bit, and confirm into combo or start okizeme. Dashing 2S will beat his 2D done early enough, giving you a perfect chance to start your momentum game. Dealing with his 2S is a bit harder, as you have to do 6H very early to beat it; 6H also loses to his 2D so it's risky. Doing a low to the ground j2K will beat both of his options here, though it doesn't get you much without meter. If you're rushing in your best choices are fS and 2S. Your fS will beat just about anything he does other than his 2S and 2D, and your own 2S can stuff both of those options if you're doing it first.

HOS loves to use his low jump angle as his other angle of attack. Him mashing jP is very hard to deal with, outside using your DP. His jH is a very strong jump-in, and is almost impossible to anti-air. At low enough heights you can beat it with your 6P, but it's best to parry it. HOS can also use his jS as a cross-up tool now in ACR, but it's somewhat slow and thus easy to parry. Jumping in against HOS is also a tricky situation for yourself, as Jam's low IAD means he can use an early 5H to stuff you, and doing IAD 214K is very risky when HOS can Gun Blaze on reaction to the move. Apart from these however HOS doesn't have much in the way of AA, so being unpredictable with your jump-in can keep him from punishing you.

Offense:

Your offense against HOS is stronger than against the regular Sol, but his 2S is still just as much of a threat. He can mash 2S against puffballs, or just if you leave a big enough gap. Using 6H to beat it is possible but you have to be FAR back from the move. Some HOS's may try to Gun Blaze out of your pressure, but simply using lots of 5K and 2S will stuff that move (shame he's not in CH state during it). A smart HOS will only Gun Blaze when he sees you go into the air, so throwing TK j2K in your blockstrings will stuff that and keep him from mashing Gun Blaze. Overusing 5K, 2D, and 2S will give him the opportunity to Fafnir as well. HOS may even try to reversal Fafnir to beat meaty 5K, so watch his tension.

HOS's DP doesn't become very useful until he has at least level 2 charge. His level 1 DP is very slow, slow enough you can do a meaty 5K and whiff, then recover in time to block it and punish him. His level 2 and 3 DPs have more invul and start up faster, though most HOS will not bother doing a level 2 DP as it's not worth the charge meter; it's still a bit slow and doesn't get him much reward. After blocking his DP, you can airgrab him out of his action charge and charge your own card, or mash 5P to catch him falling and confirm into a combo.

Defense:

If HOS starts his pressure game on you it's a scary scenario. Without resources, his options are limited to going for basic high/low/throw mixup, and crossing up with Gun Blaze. His goal here is really less to try and hit you, and more to put himself into a safe position to action charge and get some meter. When he reaches level 2 or 3 charge and has meter, he becomes much more intimidating. Bandit Revolver Prototype is a very fast overhead, that, at levels 2 and 3, is safe on block. His 2H is now throw and low invul, and on CH is a very damaging starter; though he needs at least 50 meter to confirm off of it without a CH. In addition, his 6K is throw invul, much like your 6H, and he will use it to bait your attempts to grab him out of his pressure.

HOS will often use a lot of 2K in his pressure to keep Jam from trying to Parry, but he can't always do this. Many HOS will use 2S 6H as their pressure string; IB the 2S and Parry 6H if you see it. Parrying Rock It is also useful, though it's hard to punish afterwards. HOS also likes to use jH during his pressure, this is another opportunity to Parry and reverse the situation. If you see him 2H or 6K to try to bait a grab, parry him! However, getting too confident with Parry is opening yourself up to Fafnir. He can't cancel into Fafnir, meaning it will often look like a frame trap. When he has 25 meter, be very careful trying to parry!

Other Notes:

Empty.