Constructive Video Criticism

[Phrekwenci]

God, I hate Dizzy. Always trying to catch my food.

[Zoogstin]

You got a pretty wild Zappa. Good stuff. I love your determination for getting Raoh. I swear the Dizzy v Zappa matchup is 5-5. Unfortunately its all about who can get the momentum going first, then the other character is screwed.

[Umareru]

HellSap, i think you play pretty well! I can't really say much because i think I'm probably around your level, but here are some things i noted: Against HOS: 1)Your sword work was really good overall, you cornered him often and pressured the shit out of him. 2)Your ghosts, however; you fire all 3 too often. Sure it gets more orbs and more summons, but you are often left lonely and end up eating hits after. Also your block strings aren't tight enough, and you aren't using the FRCs to keep him blocking. I have the same problem too, so I'm trying to work some 2HS into my block strings to keep them nailed in the corner. 3)Raou. You Edguy like its pressing p or k, lol. Against HOS its especially a nono, a cornered HOS facing Raou will normally go for the gunblaze to go under it. 2S and 2HS work well against gunblaze, a CH 2HS leads to big damage. You also did this strange combo off a K darkness anthem, i think you got a RC'ed Edguy in and then did this un-impressively short combo, finishing him off with a run in 2S>Edguy. What i would've done off a K darkness anthem hit is j.HS, edguy(RC) into the 6HS darkness anthem loop. But maybe you knew that short combo was good enough to finish the job, so whatevs :P Against Dizzy: 1)It looks like you don't really know the matchup too good. Try and picture the fish as super armor frames for Dizzy, there were a few incidents where you rushed in with the summon only to kill the fish and stand there waiting to eat a big combo. 2)Your air game. I would've liked to see you high jump>dash to get away more often, or high jump and shoot P or K Ghosts at Dizzy. 3)You were offensive, which is the right way to fight Dizzy IMO, but offensive in the wrong way. You kept leaping head first into big pokes. Backdash often as feints, it helps to keep them guessing. Fighting Dizzy is a very "Who corner's who first wins" type of game, so be patient and wait for her to do something big and then punish her for it. Overall i still think you're a good player. Would be nice to see more turtling with with your dog and ghost though. Zappa has 4 summons for a reason, change the pace of the game by rushing him crazy one moment and then suddenly playing like a coward the next. Unless your name is Nang-In, hes the only Zappa player i've seen who goes full offence 100% of the time. But lets be honest, none of us can pull that off Do upload more vids! Now i wish i had a cam, would love to get some criticisms on my gameplay too. Sigh.

[Zoogstin]

Hellsap one thing I also wanted to comment on was your frequent use of Last Edguy. I'd highly recommend not using so much unless you want to get hit by HOS's forcebreak.

Do upload more vids! Now i wish i had a cam, would love to get some criticisms on my gameplay too. Sigh.

you got it.

This is a FT5 match set between me and Pacstrife. I'd recommend watching the whole thing, but if you get bored with the vids you can skip to the last video.

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8nUu8xmqOM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvpn7jwzpi0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sgRV_8G2rA

[Zeero]

u guys ever get a feeling that "In this situation, i'd do <insert attack here>" and it immediately happens? watching these vids, I do

[Zoogstin]

Great Zappa players think alike.

[Umareru]

Zoogstin i watched your videos, you play really well! Great comeback in the last round. Your cautious play style is a refreshing sight to behold. And the part about watching you play and thinking "yeah i would have done just that"? Whenever you sword rushed into a gunflame, i was like, yeah, i've done that like a million times but i still go for it every single time. To be fair, we get a counter hit on it if we're like a split second faster.

[Valentine]

I finally got off my ass and got these scrubby vids to be posted. It's me playing my roommate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CytQTUtq4-s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FDtNAyX6rM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K12Z-eqahn0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsJ5mtsomJo

Thanks for the advice in advance!

[Zoogstin]

Well first off I would say that most of your losses came not necessarily because of your quality of play but because of how good of a player FD was. Unfortunately FD, who has a really good Sol, not only knows the Zappa matchup well but I could tell that he knew YOU very well and read a lot moves. With that said, first thing I wanted to point out was your sword game. Your ground game didn't seem to be very strong. I saw too little 5S and 5HS's. Sol's gunflame is a problem yes with this summon but because of your lack of poking he completely dominated the ground and you seemed more comfortable in the air which isn't great because Zappa's air to ground game sucks. Also because you weren't controlling the ground, there were times where you just stood still while sol was spamming gunflames all day. Never stand still, BUILD METER. It seems to me that you weren't gaining a lot of meter during most of your matches. That's understandable because his Sol was on top of you a lot so you had to block or FD causing you to lose meter. When the match is neutral like that move forwards then back, forward then back forward then back. Make sure you move more forward than you do back so you don't get a negative penalty. If you get too close then you can airdash back if you want. You'll notice when I had the sword or ghosts I moved back and forth because i was trying to gain meter while the match was neutral. Plus it keeps you on your toes. As for your ghosts. How proficient are you with the ghost FRC's? I saw very little of them. You need them when sol is near so you're not stuck in the ridiculous recover. Plus it would have greatly helped with your pressure whether sol was blocking your ghost strings or not. Learn how to pressure properly with the ghosts. Their lock down is just as good as the dog's. You were zoning with them pretty well with the HS bombs. But if you get a knockdown, try to go for crossups and mixups with them more. Dog: Sometimes you unsummoned the dog. Was that on purpose? Also there were times when sol was doing a blockstring on you while you were on the ground and he was in the air but you used the dog's 4DD to try to get him (and missed) instead of the dog's 8D. Try to go for that. Its much faster. Just concentrate on pulling it off while you're in blockstun. Raoh: Sol's gunflame alone prevents Raoh from getting in. Although it really is not big threat to you this makes the match awkward because you can't move in on him as easily. When you do get in I noticed a lot (but not all) of the time you would do 2S into either nothing or an uppercut. Both of these are bad ideas. If you do 2S into nothing you gonna let him get away. Go for another 2S and then another its one of the best blockstrings he has. You can go for a 5D mixup from there. The only problem with this is that his 2S is neutral on block so Sol can uppercut if he feels like it. Makes sure you mix things up so you can keep him blocking. Also instead of going into 2S 214S. Go for 2S 5HS. Its a better hit confirm. If you hit him and he's close you can go for a last edguy. If you hit him and he's too far, go for a K Darkness anthem. If it picks Sol backup you can go for a combo. If not then usually sol will be forced to block the DA on wake up and thus you can continue your pressure. If he blocks the 2S 5HS, then go for either a K DA to prevent or scare him from using a grand viper, or go for a S DA to stop jump outs. You can also do 2S straight into DA so that the ball forms right on top sol. Just don't shoot it!!! By doing this you have frame advantage on him. Don't do this too often because sol and can uppercut between the 2S and DA. Also use 2S 5HS Bellows Malice (632146S) to keep Sol at bay and drain his meter. No more 2D bandit revolver RC sidewinder combos from hiim. =D Seeing how skillfully and wildly FaultyDefense uses his VV's if you're using Raoh's DA's in block strings he might get smart and will run at you in between your 5HS and DA and HS VV you. If he starts to do that. Then when you form the DA, DON'T SHOOT IT. Raoh's recovery will hopefully be fast enough to block. Hope this helps.

[Valentine]

Thanks a ton for the advice! I'm hitting practice mode when I get home :D

[Umareru]

Ugh, the Sol Zappa matchup is pretty disgustingly bad for us. Volcanic Viper beats summon, sol's command grab rapes summon too. The only advantage we have really, is that crouching around mid screen makes riot stomp whiff completely, its even a free combo sometimes. Still hits full screen tho. I can't really do a play by play of your matches cos i get off work soon, but from what i can tell Valentine, you are missing out on alot of opportunities. I saw your last video, your raou does singular pokes and then leaves it. You also seem to like poking with 2S naked(4:20), don't. 2K is faster and reaches slightly further. If i had to give you one big piece of advice, it'd be that judging from your playstyle, you are really afraid of him. I think you miss alot of big combos because you fear he might VV out of nowhere or something. Thats not how GG is played! You might say its cautionary play, but trust me, its not. Cautious play would be like a crouching panther stalking an antelope. No i don't know if panthers share the same habitat as antelopes, in fact i doubt they do, but stay with me here. If you wanna turtle, you gotta be ready to pounce. Argh, i clearly can't make any animal analogies. Never mind that. Strike fear into his heart! Run at him and FD! Teach him that spamming VV isn't gonna do him no good! Also, a friend of mine once told me regarding Sol: Make the Sol player pissed off, and hes bound to start throwing out big moves like bandit bringer, grand viper and volcanic viper. To some degree its true. So maybe you can try pissing your friend off, then play like a little wussy. HOHOHO

[HellSap]

More of my vids! lol

vs Dizzy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLBBrgkt7vU&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiOsqTeXZUU&feature=channel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34G9dXhtfVU&feature=channel_page

vs Bridget

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6m9NgHFkf4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi3zIFgufYI&feature=related

More US Zappa players need to post vids! Bridget is going to be an annoying one, need more practice...

[Zoogstin]

Congrats on placing 2nd. You have an very good Zappa. One thing that I can say about the bridget matchup is that I'm really patient with it. I'll "time out" the crap out that matchup.

[blipples]

Good shit I like it. I just have a few critiques though. When you have the dog out and get an unblockable set up, you always use 2hs which is odd. I know if you do 2d, 2hs that you get an aerial j ks jc ks. It just loses your opponent, I believe it is more efficient to use f.s or j.p for a few reps. It is free orbs, and a good way to get them to throw out their burst. Then you could simply end with a 2hs before you lose them into an aerial. This is just my opinion though. I was just curious as to why. Also, with ghosts, why don't you frc your ghost throw after a 2d? You still get a recurse and it adds extra damage with an aerial j ppp jc ppp 236hs. Not to mention you then get a reset as well or they get pushed into the corner depending on how they tech. Your raoh is epic though, I really liked that. It was good shit. Also, this is more of a question. Why do you kick so much when naked in the dizzy match up? I have never seen a zappa do that, I use a kick transition in my naked instant raoh combo so I am not sure if their was reasoning in that. It is something I am just not used to seeing and was woundering if you pr someonecould clarify why you do so. Overall I really liked these videos, these will help me out a ton in my Dizzy matchups. Thanks for posting. I will try and post some local match videos soon. Due to college it has been hard for us to meet lately. I will definitely post some though as soon as possible.

[Zoogstin]

Well bridget, Baiken, ino, and may can all tech from a 2D depending on the situation. If your opponent knows that then you might as well go into an air combo for extra damage before you let them get away. Although you could air grab them.

[blipples]

What would these situations be? I was not aware of this, I have never had a problem performing the 2d unblockable loop on bridget or baiken.

[Zoogstin]

Well in general if you hit them less than around 7-8 hits before the 2D hits then they can tech since they are so light. At the 7-8 hit mark they will be able to tech depending on what move or moves you do before the 2D hits. I forgot what the two combos that I was doing were, but one of the combos allowed the 2D to knock them down while the other combo allowed them to tech after the 2D hit. Both combos were the same number of hits. I could repeat these two combos and I always got the same results. I never understood why. Anyways once you get past around 12-15 hits, then the 2D will knock them down because they'll fall faster. I think one of the combos were 4DD 2K (unblockable) cS fS 5D 66 2p 2k cS 2S 2D I noticed little nuances like this in 3rd strike. The height at which a move launches (in our case the dog's 2D) depends on the hit stun animation the opponent had right before they got hit by the launch move.

[blipples]

That is very interesting, I never really let my combos with the dog get that high unless I am doing the 2hs crouching dog loop. That would probobally be why this problem has not occured for me yet. I will definitely mess with this when I get home from college though. I don't see as to why the 2d would not link in the combo if not executed early enough though. This is definitely worth looking into. Thank you for the feedback. ^.^

[HellSap]

5k goes over dizzy's best poke 2k and CH it. it can stuff 2s early and basically is one of the best tools when poking her when shes on the ground. Use 5k to beat pesky lows (like slayers anything, or pot slide) that and my execution sucks... Yeah, first time I hit 2d I was like "sick!" and then I realized I was fighting bridget and she gets out, I havent learned to deal with unblockable loops on those characters, because after 1h they get out. just gotta throw them more, but the one time I got it I forgot that fact. I thought you need to aim for 8+ hits in the dog loops into unblock to get them to fall... If theyre teching before the 2d, its not a combo, right? lol

[blipples]

Interesting, I suppose it is just the characters I have to play in my local area. I have a Faust, Baiken, and a Johnny. All of which beat my ass for using 5k.....so I just never used it. Thank you for clarifying though.

[Zoogstin]

No no no, the 2D hit is always comboing. Its just that depending on the hit before the opponent will either be able to tech after the 2D or hits or they'll fall to the ground.