[Xrd] Sol Badguy Critique Thread

[VR-Raiden]

• Looking to improve your Sol? Post match footage of yourself in this thread for feedback from other Sol players.
  

[Orrax]

I guess I might as well start this off.

 

Here's some matches from a local tourney. I feel like I could have played better -- I had multiple dropped combos and missed inputs, to say the least -- but I'm really looking for some matchup specific advice, particularly for Sin, and for dealing with Slayer's new stuff (such as the long forward dash and Helter Skelter). I'll check the matchup threads, though. I should note that this was my first time fighting a good Sin player, and completely froze up on some obvious punishes. I also wasn't used to his slow overhead.

 

Rath (ZA) vs Orrax (SO). Win, win. Not much to say here -- Rath's pretty new to GG.

Kyoku (SI) vs Orrax (SO). Lose, win, win. Kyoku's always been one of the stronger GG players in Arizona, so any tips here are appreciated. He beats me in losers' finals later.

SSE Tsumuji (MI) vs Orrax (SO). Win, win. Again, not too much to say here -- I feel like I know the Millia matchup pretty well, and Tsumuji is new to GG. A lucky mistake won me the first match. =/

Winners' Finals: BT | Koogy (SL) vs Orrax (SO). Lose, lose. It's been so long since I fought a good Slayer that I pretty much forgot what to do for a while. Also, I'm going to need to rewire some muscle memory to deal with Slayer's long forward dash -- I'm too used to trying to throw it on reaction when done to cross up. Also, I did way too many Riot Stamps when pinned in the corner, and I paid the price. And I need to get better at reacting to Helter Skelter. It was also my first time fighting Koogy, despite his living in AZ for a while.

Losers' Finals: Kyoku (SI) vs Orrax (SO). Lose, win, lose. Similar to before, except I got caught jumping a lot by Sin's overhead -- I kept think it wouldn't hit as high up as it does. The end gets cut off, but it's continued here. Kyoku did well keeping me out that last round -- any tips people have for getting in on Sin?

 

So, that's it. I thought I had my combos down better, but I kept trying to do everything too fast in the tournament. I guess I need more time in training mode.

[Gramas]

Orrax 45.15

 

WT -> dragon install combo I think You woull have won the round with that

[MrSoulo]

http://youtu.be/02AYb_dpLnw literally my first match ever with sol it's weird lol

[king of heart]

Some of my ranked online prepatch matches:

http://youtu.be/omlp7_rbJWc

Momentum can be crashed at any second with these stuff

[D.R.F.]

That first game was too free.

Also, in that last Ky match, there where a couple times in the second round where you would have been better off not baiting and just making him use his burst to try and keep whatever momentum he had, since you would have started off round three with the advantage of having your burst.

Not that it mattered though, you simply were able to bulldog him down and he didn't have any way to challenge it.

[Gramas]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d76RyHKLY5U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3rp-e5CK_s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4QKLY05EU&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPYa3eTrLkA&feature=youtu.be

 

some matches of a long set against alioune elphet

 

I still have to refine my game and hit all the 5k anti air hitconfirm and some of my movement in neutral are not so good

 

the matchup is a nightmare in my opinion... her j.D, dive kick, champagne anti air, unblockable and even her hitbox is a problem

 

about the unblockable i tried IB the strawberry and then blitz shield but i dont know if it works

 

at the end I dped the dive kick as soon as i saw the startup animation/sound and combo after on CH, but she can always YRC or PRC for a bait I think

[Tofma]

You can use 6p against the dive too. It's harder to time but safer if they yrc the dive.

Depending on how good they are at doing the UB you can try blitz -> 2D to avoid the shot. But incase that wont work (as in their setup is done proper) reversal S VV will avoid the UB but it will get you punished anyway, the thing is though they'll be atleast forced to use meter if they wan't to get another UB set up so it's better than just sitting there. One thing I havent tried yet is blitz -> blitz but it just might work.

[Orrax]

I usually find I'm better off challenging Elphelt in the air with j.P or j.H than trying to AA her with 5K. 6P and 2H can sometimes work as AA, but that dive can mess with the timing. VV can work if the Elphelt player is abusing jump ins.

 

The champagne anti-air is something I just try to avoid and try to stay out of its range in the air.

 

My priority in neutral is to harass her with 5S(f) and control space with j.P, j.H, and Fafnir. I also think it's a good idea to just avoid grenades in general -- don't hit buttons when there's one right next to you, which I saw you do at least once, and stay away from them in neutral.

[HeroKing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO69dcD56qg

 

Me vs an Elphelt. 

 

I played several matches against this player without recording because I forgot. This one was really laggy for some reason.

[Kikuichimonji]

http://www.twitch.tv/nobodyexe/b/615545838

 

2:18:22 is my only match on stream, against a Zato, Scientician.

 

I did okay. Obviously I know that air dashing over someone midscreen is bad oki. Criticism is welcome.

[HlDEKI]

You looked kinda nervous during the first two matches.

Like you mention, your oki was never too threatening, and in most cases it put you at a disadvantage. Your combos were not looking too crispy, dropping a couple of bnbs.

But what I think was killing you the most was your meter management. You might want to use it more on oki for GF (YRC), and depend less on it for the neutral game, where Sol's pokes should shine both in range and speed.

 

From the other player's perspective, I don't think he was doing nothing too spectacular. He was just hanging out, waiting for you to burn your meter and put the noose around your own neck. Once you slowed down the pace on the third round, you quickly gained control of the match.

I think he realized you were unfamiliar with Eddie being able to spawn from his drills, so he kept catching you trying to regain momentum after a blocked drill.

 

Fighting Zato is a pain in the ass anyways, but I hope this helps you in the matchup. Unfortunately they don't have a detailed matchup section on the Zato sub-forum, so we can't analyze the matchup from their perspective. =(

[SBRJCT]

http://www.twitch.tv/nobodyexe/b/615545838

 

2:18:22 is my only match on stream, against a Zato, Scientician.

 

I did okay. Obviously I know that air dashing over someone midscreen is bad oki. Criticism is welcome.

 

Probably nerves, but is there a reason you went (or go) for dash 2H after BR(2) RC? I've never had Fafnir fail there.

 

I think in the corner you need to switch to 5k/2k-6p as your basic string since it's easy to hit confirm into big meterless damage or 2S on block to make it easier to stay in.

 

He kept relying on FD to give him breathing space. When you realized this he ate so many WTs. I would've liked to see more neutral jump falling jS, microdash 2k/WT (he didn't backdash much, just FD'd). Also, more cross-up jK > 2D/WT after midscreen VV > TO. You lost a lot of opportunities giving up those opportunities.

[Kikuichimonji]

Probably nerves, but is there a reason you went (or go) for dash 2H after BR(2) RC? I've never had Fafnir fail there.

Midscreen, I want a knockdown and damage. It's a shitty confirm and I should have done 2D GF RRC, but once you get to BR it's the best midscreen damage besides maybe the air dash j.S j.K j.D run j.K confirm that I've never practiced.

I think in the corner you need to switch to 5k/2k-6p as your basic string since it's easy to hit confirm into big meterless damage or 2S on block to make it easier to stay in.

I do that.

He kept relying on FD to give him bre athing space. When you realized this he ate so many WTs. I would've liked to see more neutral jump falling jS, microdash 2k/WT (he didn't backdash much, just FD'd). Also, more cross-up jK > 2D/WT after midscreen VV > TO. You lost a lot of opportunities giving up those opportunities.

I need to practice the nj.S stuff because normally I just do low air dash to beat delayed throw but 2K is better.

Also, I have a problem where I don't get dash 2K 6P often. Often I get Gunflame or nothing.

[Sadeyo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9QLrAhc3qM&feature=youtu.be

 

scrubbing it out like a boss. I don't have much time to learn the character because of college or you would've seen some better performance. At this rate I'm weighing my options whether I'll end up maining this character or possibly throwing another character in a test. This is an online match and the connection was sort of okay, I don't even know what I'm doing half of the times to be honest.

[Hollysmoke]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9QLrAhc3qM&feature=youtu.be

 

scrubbing it out like a boss. I don't have much time to learn the character because of college or you would've seen some better performance. At this rate I'm weighing my options whether I'll end up maining this character or possibly throwing another character in a test. This is an online match and the connection was sort of okay, I don't even know what I'm doing half of the times to be honest.

You may like Ky. Less combo oriented, more footsies/neutral. You can just sit and learn some basic BnBs off key confirms and just go at it. This also means less time learning more combos, more time studying in college. As for the video itself, Riot Stomp start is something you might want to avoid at start. Very punishable. 6HS should be used more as a punish or meaty than a poke. When you do VV, don't always use HS. Sometimes if you're not at the right distance in the air, you won't get TO to connect, and you really really really want that knockdown on Sol so you can start doing things such as Gunflame YRC oki. And most important. MOST. IMPORTANT. I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH:

PLEASE. MERCY. Turn off the English voices.

[Kikuichimonji]

When you do VV, don't always use HS. Sometimes if you're not at the right distance in the air, you won't get TO to connect, and you really really really want that knockdown on Sol so you can start doing things such as Gunflame YRC oki.

In my experience in Xrd, the jumping HS Volcanic Viper is much more consistent as a combo ender than the S Volcanic Viper. The HS one is more likely to only get one hit, but that still combos to Knockdown. Also, all versions of Volcanic Viper have enough untechability to be safe on hit unless you whiff the Knockdown. So if you know the follow-up will whiff, simply don't do Knockdown and accept that they recover in the air away from you.

[LockedAndClush]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9QLrAhc3qM&feature=youtu.be

scrubbing it out like a boss. I don't have much time to learn the character because of college or you would've seen some better performance. At this rate I'm weighing my options whether I'll end up maining this character or possibly throwing another character in a test. This is an online match and the connection was sort of okay, I don't even know what I'm doing half of the times to be honest.

First of, I don't want to sound harsh, but there's not a lot to like in your game. I saw some good uses of f.S for poking in neutral and a couple good on-CH GF-reaction run-ins. Except for that, a lot was wrong on a really fundamental level. You only got away with as much as you did cause that Elphelt player was pretty meh too.

I'm not gonna be able to stress enough how important combos are, but I understand that practicing them can be a pain if you don't have the time. Sol's basic combos are not really hard, there's like a couple things to learn (dustloop timing, 6P after Kudakero timing etc.). I'll try to critique your match basing on the knowledge you don't know combos.

Use less special moves. That's something I struggled with (and still do, really) a lot. Just throwing out special moves in situations, where it's not sure to hit or at least be relatively safe for you is not good. Mid-screen Riot Stomps, abundance of Fafnirs in neutral against a character that counters them well, bad Grand Vipers that mostly whiff completely or Kudakero where you can't follow up on it. Learn when to use specials. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use them at all in neutral, cause that is not true. GF is great for neutral, RS is good for surprise overheads when backed to a corner, GV can counter certain obvious attacks. Also, use Bandit Revolver more, I don't recall a single time you used it (or used it correctly) at the end of blockstrings.

Practice overall neutral. Try to use your normals and sometimes specials in neutral to cover space rather than attempt to deal damage every time. Notice pro Sol players throwing out a lot of f.S' in certain matchups when on ground and convert it to 2S whether it was on hit or block. That's cause doing that puts you at a frame advantage and allows you to harass your opponent from a closer and closer range, where Sol is most dangerous. You did have some times where you spaced f.S well, practice trying to convert these times into control and pressing rather than forcing on some damage with 5HS and putting yourself at risk with a special move.

You misused your meter. Either not using it at all, or using it bad. Let's face it, unless you have a consistent combo that does 150-200 damage using (red) Roman Cancel, you're better off not using it (save for finishing hits or maybe converting to a knockdown, but you didn't do that either). Use your meter more for Yellow Roman Cancels from Gunflame at this point, which I'll bring up again for the last point.

Try throws. Practice air throwing, punishing bad okizeme with wakeup throw and tick throws, which are particularly good with Sol thanks to Wild Throw. Practice doing run-in 2P (try doing it with 2K too), and after they block it (or even get hit) just run up again and to WT. Get a simple, consistent combo from there and if you get your okizeme on, the opponent will have to be afraid of basically the two best things Sol has already.

Okizeme. Practice options on your opponent's wakeup. Safejumps are best (jumping in such a way that you can hit them or be safe against reversals), but they're really hard to practice - once you get the hang of them they're not bad, so read on them (on Dustloop Wiki for example). The easier option is to try Gunflame YRC oki, or OTG 2k > Gunflame YRC and resume your pressure from there. It's simple, it's relatively safe if you don't just dash ahead of your GF and eat a reversal to your face.

These are very general tips, sorry but these are pretty much the very basics of Sol that you should practice a little. And really, do give combos some time. 15 minutes a day to practice midscreen BnB's and corner beatdowns with dustloop is enough to get it down after a while. Good luck and I hope you stick with Sol!

[Hollysmoke]

In my experience in Xrd, the jumping HS Volcanic Viper is much more consistent as a combo ender than the S Volcanic Viper. The HS one is more likely to only get one hit, but that still combos to Knockdown. Also, all versions of Volcanic Viper have enough untechability to be safe on hit unless you whiff the Knockdown. So if you know the follow-up will whiff, simply don't do Knockdown and accept that they recover in the air away from you.

 

Oh I forgot to mention in my previous post if you only get one hit of HS VV you have to do TO quickly or it won't connect (assuming the spacing when you started HS VV is correct).

[VR-Raiden]

It's about time I posted some of my matches, posting mine from Winter Brawl 9. Feel free to make any observations/suggestions.

I'm trying to list things myself that I notice as I rewatch.

In general I still drop way too many confirms, and feel weak on defense, some pressure, and neutral in some matchups. I do a bit too much 6HS in blockstrings, that CH is too tasty. Probably a bit too many neutral YRC's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EluTCBNTkFc vs Sol (win 2-0)

- I still deal with WT poorly I think.

- I miss a BR punish, and another one later in 2nd round. Should've IB > 5K. I get it once in the last match.

- I let him out of corner in round 2 for no reason, I actually intended to Kudakero but kept inputting it before my j.P recovered I think?

- Next match, I miss my 5K punish on the BR and get CH VV'd.

- Random YRC after his GF YRC was supposed to be a DAA but I waited too long, I started pressing 3 buttons for it for some reason. I was then confused and do a whack combo.

- 2K > GF in corner last round supposed to be 2K > 6P. This happened at least two or three times this tournament :/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awm7vrPWkqU vs Ram (win 2-0)

- I have to look at that j.D starter that hits me.

- Dunno why I did airdash j.S > j.K and not j.HS or j.D, ended up dropping combo because of it.

- Looks like a few confirms in this set could've gone to 2D GV for knockdown but I just go to 5HS.

- I finally IB her 2KK and punish but it wasn't enough to kill, I think 5K 2D GV then some OTG hits might've done it. I then lose the round cause I get hit by a sword for some reason, might've though I had time to jump but nope.

- I gotta work on IB 5K punishing Dauro.

- Dunno why I did jump over j.HS in round 3, maybe didn't realize I was going over. Should've j.K because I just get thrown for whiffing j.HS.

- 1st round 2nd match I get combo'd out of a stagger. I noticed I'm terrible at stagger recovery even though it should be easier with buttons now. I remember a few black beat stagger combos hitting me.

- I might have survived Transi but stopped FDing for some reason, I wanted to IB I guess but wasn't watching health.

- I was getting away with Fafnir abuse at the end (I do a ton of it in this matchup in general though, they seem to have difficulty hitting it without f.S available). and I misjudge the spacing for the WT, oops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQZuohP2K6c vs Zato (win 2-1)

- Me and Zato still don't get along. I feel like in general I still don't play this matchup well. I don't keep track of Eddie gauge well or use chances to kill it. I was low on energy at this point in the tourney and feel like I usually play it better than this but oh well this happened.

- 1st round is pretty awful, I run into pokes and drills and mash on defense at bad times.

- Jumping with shadow on top of me, probably not a great idea.

- I think I could've just blocked high for that "unblockable" in round 2.

- I do GF too slow on the 2D GF RC confirm so f.S doesn't connect...

- Bad idea jumping after that gold burst into summon, I die to Nobiru.

- 2nd match 2nd round I tried sideswap RS combo timing even though we were clearly midscreen

- that CH 6P would've hurt but I dropped the Fafnir. I noticed he was higher up and delayed Fafnir too much, should've just done a simple dustloop.

- 3rd round is a series of consecutive combo drops. I jump into Nobiru again.

- Dunno what I was doing with the air BR use, bad idea.

- I tend to overestimate the time I have when I neutral YRC a lot. I see him doing 5HS and try to counter it, only to get hit anyway.

- I do too many RS this set.

- 3rd round, that tk.BR in the combo was supposed to be hj.K, I still get that occasionally...

- I jump into another Nobiru!

- I go for cross-up GF but I think I was too far out. Then I lose the round. Bad idea to waste my burst while I'm just blocking, too scared and wanted the round too badly I guess. He throw punishes my BR, I was getting away with a lot til now. Jump into another Nobiru. Get hit by Nobiru for some reason, air tech into Nobiru. Try to poke shadow and get hit by Nobiru. And die to a black beat stagger combo. I threw this round away after failing the cross-up GF.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZCnGUxMFHk vs Venom (lose 2-1)

- Bad burst round 1, I do the same thing later. Should've waited til he was grounded to burst, if that.

- Running into a lot of pokes this round getting CH. This is how I lose most of my life in this set.

- I think I could've used VV here as I'm getting cornered, when he teleports or used Mad Struggle.

- Round 2 I do meaty j.D in corner into pressure, the 6P > GF was way too close for that to be a good idea, I think I wanted to YRC but didn't realize I hadn't gotten tension yet.

- I run up into pokes more. I get overly ambitious on offense a lot in this set.

- Really bad VV that doesn't get punished.

- Dash 6P was supposed to be GF but it worked out because the YRC let me catch his backdash.

- When I have him cornered and my GF YRC destroys his ball, I think I could've killed him with f.S but I didn't react quickly enough.

- I do meaty j.D again here at the end. I kept doing it because I thought he'd try jumping on wake-up but I take too long to realize he isn't doing that.

- Next match, my health is drained away as I run into pokes and balls. The Fafnir going behind his f.S was pretty funny.

- He's getting away with backdash on wake-up a lot, I wasn't acknowledging that and punishing.

- Another bad VV but it doesn't get punished.

- He was handling BR pretty well by at least stand blocking it, I kept trying to restart pressure after and it wasn't happening.

- I think this CH GF combo could've killed if I just got a little closer. After that I end up losing because I get some weird input error. I think I wanted to just dash brake and got GF feint?

- Another not punished backdash in the next round.

- Another meaty j.D, at this point I should've realized I could start using mixups.

- I do a nifty dash brake fake WT in corner, but brain fart and 2K > 2D when I could've 2K > 6P into way more damage.

- Mortal Counter slowdown screws with my timing of 2HS, I need to just visually confirm stuff in Danger Time.

- More running into balls and pokes next round. Burst gets baited, I'm supposed to know by now not to burst his c.S.

- Definitely should've VV'd this Mad Struggle in 3rd round. Then I try to FD when I have 0 meter and get 5P and die.

- Last match, 1st round goes well. In the corner 2nd round, another 2K > GF which should've been 2K > 6P. He lands 2 j.D hits this round, 2nd one kills me. I'm not used to dealing with that move.

- Bad burst again in round 3. The f.S hit I land, I really needed to convert to 5HS (RC), but I convert it to nothing, maybe I didn't think it would hit. Then I get pushed into corner and punished for bad escape attempts.

- I do another bad BR, I wasn't close enough to connect with 1st hit of 5K so I should've just blocked here. Then I get mixed up and lose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5egHhaZ0LIM&t=1m08s vs Millia (win 2-1)

- In general I do too much neutral YRC into getting hit. I miss a few air throws that were probably guaranteed.

- Perfect spacing for Fafnir YRC > WT, but I drop the dustloop...

- Doing too much 6HS in blockstring, at this point I should realize he's respecting it and use 2S advantage for other things.

- I escape with RS but try j.HS after it's blocked which gets 6P'd, I do this again later in the set. Neeeded to work double jump or Kudakero in there.

- When I get CH by 6K in the corner in round 2, you can see I'm starting up 2HS, that's a botched VV input :/

- When I land CH 2D in corner, I go for IAD route when I was close enough to just do dustloop. I end up dropping the j.P and getting thrown.

- Round 3 I get hit by another black beat stagger combo.

- 1st round next match, I land a crouch hit BR. I intended to link 5K before the 2D I do, but as it goes I'm ahead of myself with the inputs.

- I hit a lot of j.HS in this set which I don't convert to VV. I kept trying for j.K link because I figured she wouldn't get hit by TO. but I should've just done VV anyway because she was too high for j.K.

- I hit CH 6HS and expect a burst, after seeing no burst I wanted the f.S to connect and planned on going to IAD routes, but mistimed it.

- The time up caught me completely by surprise, if I had converted that j.HS to VV I probably would've won the round.

- Bad burst in round 2. I didn't know her j.D was safe to burst but makes sense since I'm so far away. I then fail to block any mixups and die.

- Next match, 1st round. This CH Fafnir made me mad. I haven't had this 5HS whiff ever before, so I was taken off guard by that. I can see why it happened but I didn't know it was an issue.

- When I GF YRC and he PRC I think I could've f.S > (GF hits) > BB? I reacted too slow or wasn't sure what he was doing.

- Meant to YRC the BR after 2D, not PRC, but not the greatest idea either way. I get anti-aired for it. I do a really bad Kudakero into corner but lots of input drops let me get away without much trouble.

- I whiff WT because he walks back, I should really use WT YRC while I still can. Should'nt have used it in the first place from that far midscreen, maybe I thought he would FD.

- I think when I backdashed in the oki I meant to GV, YRC may have messed me up. I don't know what compelled me to try GV, or anything on wake-up there.

- Last round, I miss the GF YRC > WT. I think I input WT too slow. I have a pretty low success rate with that in actual matches even though I think it's much easier than it used to be.

- I try to dash brake > throw for the kill, missed my K input so I got 6HS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agd3aFy5H4M&t=43s vs I-no (lose 2-1)

- In general this match I'm constantly trying to bait and punish HCL but he wasn't biting. Dashing 6P too much and he realized that. I do some predictable bursting.

- Thought I was close enough to corner in round 2 when I hit the 5D but definitely wasn't.

- Round 2 end, I actually dropped 6P after Kudakero but it worked out nicely as a throw reset. Still bad I dropped something I intended to do though. Inputting stuff too fast.

- The VV I hit, I probably shouldn't have RC'd, that way I wouldn't have gotten stuck with the note.

- Next match, another black beat stagger combo.

- The CH 2D > GF, I think I could've dashed a bit longer before the j.K to reach a knockdown.

- Burst gets baited and I die.

- Last round goes well until I get hit by some HCL. I think that last one I probably was trying to DP but was still in stun.

I ended up writing a lot but let me know if anyone notices any issues. My game still needs work and I still do some dumb things. I don't know how much it would really help but I'm considering doing more straight up combo execution grinding.

[Tong]

Couple of matches vs a local Ram:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11wVFe_xF9Y

 

Things I'm aware and that need mprovement:

-2D> GV

-Paying attention to the summoned horizontal sword

-Enforce more pressure with GF (YRC) oki midscreen

-Stop making the controller think I want 6HS instead of Fafnir

-Grind j.HS> j.P link

 

Always open to critics, otherwise I wouldn't have posted here and I want to improve.

[Kikuichimonji]

Things I'm aware and that need mprovement:

-2D> GV

The only real advantage of the 2D GV vs Ram is that it works from slightly father away than 2D BR and it has more corner push. It's not that important.

-Paying attention to the summoned horizontal sword

I think that you're actually way too respectful of Ramlethal in general. Your f.S is better than hers. You have 2D. You have VV RRC. Ramlethal is twice as good when you let her get stuff out for free. That guy really didn't zone you out, you just expected to get zoned out and accepted that he would control the matchup. That's a losing move.

When he has swords out, why do you jump forwards and FD? You're just

sacrificing meter and letting him dash up 5P you anyway.

If he's doing j.P chains air to air, you can IB and air throw.

Challenge him air to air with immediate rising j.P and j.H. Air to air chasing is one area where Sol shines.

You don't really use run jump much. It's a much better alternative than just normally jumping forwards because the momentum makes chasing much easier.

-Enforce more pressure with GF (YRC) oki midscreen

Honestly GF oki midscreen is mostly gimmicks and a waste of meter. I'd rather do a safe jump and then YRC in blockstring to get back in if necessary. Instead of worrying about "oki," worry about never letting them out once they start blocking.

Your safe jump oki is very weak. You never empty jump low, and you don't mix up your options well enough on j.S or j.H. Microdash 2K/5K, 2S dash 5K, raw dash up WT, blockstring into 2D, blockstrings into GF, blockstrings into max range BR for frame advantage, 5H jump cancel IAD, 2S dash f.S... there's so much you just didn't use in that set. Your offense was basically j.S, couple 2Ps, frame trap 6P 2S 6H every time. You don't bully your opponent enough, and that's where Sol excels - he forces immediate and drastic actions with simple offense. Even doing dashing VV RRC in offense is a legitimate way to force respect.

-Stop making the controller think I want 6HS instead of Fafnir

You're probably missing the 4 input in the 41236H if you're like me.

-Grind j.HS> j.P link

Do j.H j.K (jc) j.S j.H H VV. j.K is Sol's only air normal that really hits above him besides j.H.

You missed a LOT of corner combos. Do you have the normal Dust Loop run j.S j.D dj.S j.D H VV ender down? I personally think it's the best confirm in a lot of scenarios. Also, you should just always follow Fafnir with dash 6P 5H j.D Break 6P BR.

[Tong]

First of all, thank you for taking your time to evaluate my performance, it really means alot.

Now let me adress to some things.

 

 

If he's doing j.P chains air to air, you can IB and air throw.

Yea I tried that on many occasions, but IB just wouldn't come out and when it did something else other than airthrow would come out. I think throw range was probably the issue, but yea I know how to punish that.

 

 

Challenge him air to air with immediate rising j.P and j.H. Air to air chasing is one area where Sol shines.

I did that on a number of occasions, it's a nice move.

 

 

You never empty jump low, and you don't mix up your options well enough on j.S or j.H. Microdash 2K/5K, 2S dash 5K, raw dash up WT, blockstring into 2D, blockstrings into GF, blockstrings into max range BR for frame advantage, 5H jump cancel IAD, 2S dash f.S... there's so much you just didn't use in that set.

Pretty sure empty jump low loses to Throws outside GF (YRC) oki or when not properly spaced after BR ender. Whenever it was possible or reasonably safe I went for them. If there's any way to get tight empty jump low setups that wont let them jump out or throw me, let me knowing!

And I did all of these blockstrings, even landed a couple of WTs, except for max range BR maybe. I wanted a compromise between safe/anti jump out blockstrings to keep him honest.

 

 

You're probably missing the 4 input in the 41236H if you're like me.

The pad eats the 1 and becomes 4236HS. Really dumb, but I gotta grind this shit lol

 

 

You missed a LOT of corner combos. Do you have the normal Dust Loop run j.S j.D dj.S j.D H VV ender down? I personally think it's the best confirm in a lot of scenarios. Also, you should just always follow Fafnir with dash 6P 5H j.D Break 6P BR.

I know my combos/confirms, even the overly optimal stuff I dont use in matches, but hey it's GG+Netplay so mistakes are prone to happen. Ram's hurtbox is fat so the combos are super easy on her.

 

The jump forward FD is a really bad habit from BB haha, but it's GG and I gotta get rid off it because meter goes away pretty fast.

 

Thanks for watching and helping btw!

[Gramas]

It's about time I posted some of my matches, posting mine from Winter Brawl 9. Feel free to make any observations/suggestions.

I ended up writing a lot but let me know if anyone notices any issues. My game still needs work and I still do some dumb things. I don't know how much it would really help but I'm considering doing more straight up combo execution grinding.

I have read and watched all and well I think you are too hard on yourself but thats how you improve(especialy in GG)...I honestly dont know how many non japanese sol are better than you atm

 

I will try to post last tournament matches I had later

[Orrax]

I had a tournament not too long ago, and took 3rd (for the 3rd time in a row). I'm mostly looking for information against Bedman, since I really don't know the matchup. I'm also aware I dropped a lot of combos -- tournament nerves make me try to do everything too fast. I just need to slow down.

 

Here are the matches (I think there were some issues with the internet during recording so the audio is really desynced):

HF Blade (Ky) vs Orrax (Sol): win, win. I've played HF a bunch, and we usually go back and forth. I think I know the matchup fairly well, but I'm dropping a bunch of stuff.

Kyoku (Faust) vs Orrax (Sol): lose, lose. I think I would have done better if I hadn't dropped some key combos. I also really screwed up that last round.

Orrax (Sol) vs Ean (Bedman): win, lose, lose. This is where I'm looking for the most advice, because I do not know the Bedman matchup at all. I've played only a handful of casuals, and this is my first time playing it in a tournament. I was doing all right at first just playing a spacing game, but I wasn't able to keep it working. I dropped some key combos here as well, and I was definitely being too disrespectful on defense. The last 15 seconds were cut off (the rest can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyrIzot8i4E).

So, those are the matches. Any advice is appreciated.