XRD Slayer critique thread.

[koufdell]

Friend came back from japan mountain training. Needless to say it was quite effective. But I was more happy with my defense than my offense and execution.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxspXv7fr7E

just one thing i've noticed : you are not escaping the corner like you always should with BDC super jump air dash footloose other than that i really enjoyed watching your slayer defenitely solid

[fogelstrom]

Thanks for the kind words koufdell. I wish I could agree with being solid. The more I watch myself the more flaws and bigger holes I find. But I'm staying positive since I can spot my own weaknesses I can adress them.

I'm really bad at escaping corners with Footloose but it's one of the things I want to add to my gameplay a lot more. At the moment my reversal BDC is really weak... too much online I guess

[fogelstrom]

vs Russia (SI, RA, KY, ZA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeOKjhg_dd4

vs 
Baszoo (IN)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra-I0CMS4KE

[daymendou]

Watching the Baszoo video since that's one of my problem matchups too. You had issues in the beginning but adapted pretty well after the first 3-4 games.

Work on your CH confirms. After 5K air hit should be 6H or P Dandy. After 6H should be K Dandy.

Your improvised air combos need work. It seems that if you don't get a standard starter you have a hard time extending and getting knockdown.

Stroke is super annoying. If you can react, 5H or 2H or forward dash for counterhit is great. I think BDC Bite is ideal if he has meter to YRC but that's difficult. 2K gives the most time but only adds 2D. If you're in the middle of Dandy, you have to YRC or Helter. After breaking stagger, you can AA 2P > 5P air combo if he does hover dash. Backdash is probably safest in case he does Stroke again or dive.

You're using a lot of j.K and it whiffs many times. I'm pretty sure her 5P can beat j.K and S so try more j.H or D depending on height.

2D > Meaty 2D timing needs to be earlier. Basically can only tap left or right once before 2D on Ino. Also need to mixup with 6K. Wakeup Stroke will beat 6K but you can punish wakeup Stroke with meaty 5H > K Pile or possibly 6P to also beat super.

Probably should FD more. I think against hover dash, normal block or IB j.P and FD the rest.

Mappa/Pile RRC into Undertow whiffed everytime he used FD so pay attention to that. Probably go for Under Pressure mixup instead.

You could probably get more Bites in corner pressure since he doesn't VCL or jump out that much. Should be a good 150+ damage with RC.

At 37:30 you get 100 RISC and hit with IL but you do 2 K Piles when RISC was flashing. Should do 5H K Pile 5H K Pile or 5H K Pile K Pile.

Work on your Bursts. IMO it's safest during VCL or dive loops. Really do not want to burst beginning of hover dash or ground strings because of Stroke.

I would try K Dandy YRC midscreen to deal with dash pressure. You can't always get a punish after but at least you stop her mixup and meter gain for a bit.

[fogelstrom]

Thanks for the input Daymendou.

It was less than stellar performance but you make good points and I've already got much of the same ideas. Having another set of eyes looking over never hurts and I'm glad you took the time to watch and point out stuff. I was trying out some new approaches as well did Baszoo.

What's Bite? Never heard of it... after each set I also note all of these things and I just need to be able to analyze myself better during actual play not just waking up from some coma after 1½ having 100 epiphanies

[fogelstrom]

vs Tofma (SO) from Finland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=virJ-kquKRs
I autopiled way too much at the beginning and he picked up on it and rekt me. It gets better about halfway when I activated my brain.

vs Slimmy (MA) from Finland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6q41MbVO7E
Some obvious errors but felt like a good day for me. Especially looking back at our previous set as the win counter has swayed into my favour quite heavily though I didn't catch the result. One thing I noted in this set that a friend also called me out on is my burst bait punishes are terrible. 5K into j.S that doesn't connect all the damn time.

[ShinsoBEAM]

vs Slimmy (MA) from Finland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6q41MbVO7E
Some obvious errors but felt like a good day for me. Especially looking back at our previous set as the win counter has swayed into my favour quite heavily though I didn't catch the result. One thing I noted in this set that a friend also called me out on is my burst bait punishes are terrible. 5K into j.S that doesn't connect all the damn time.

You gotta work on buffering your random 5Ps to 6H or another 5P.  I blitz the beach ball more too, I know it can be beat.  Also damn your friend gets CH alot by too late.
 

[fogelstrom]

New matches vs Finland up.

vs Kura (RA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EygDU1k8N4

vs 
Satsu (CH)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztlmxhnrhs8

Besides obvious drops I wasn't too upset with my performance. Still having trouble dealing with Ram and swords as well as always losing the air battle. That OS against HS though...

Also just as a side note I think on 24th of October I will play with self commentary since I got the flat for myself. Then you'll be able to hear all the upsets and salt haha.

[fogelstrom]

Dustloop back?
Time to fill up my ego then.

vs Loulaim (RU) (this guy is seriously my bane)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ieSNQfK9FE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhPX55baIyk

vs Goga (RU) (likely best RU player and likely one of the top players in EU)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtUNdpk5vFQ

vs Starfire (ZA)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWDySWWbqEU

Not overly long clips this time so quite managable to actually watch.

[fogelstrom]

vs ShootingROCCAT (AX/SWE) - Seriously OG player.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L13HsjzniJY

 

[fogelstrom]

vs DNioR (VE/RU) - Stronk Venom. I dislike the PC version and running Xsplit + Xrd gave some slight performance issues (slight drop in FPS gives slight input drops). Even so I enjoyed the matches a lot and felt I had a good evening so wanted them saved.
 

 

[Zerosleep]

4 hours ago, fogelstrom said:

vs DNioR (VE/RU) - Stronk Venom. I dislike the PC version and running Xsplit + Xrd gave some slight performance issues (slight drop in FPS gives slight input drops). Even so I enjoyed the matches a lot and felt I had a good evening so wanted them saved.
 

 

I watched the first 20 minutes or so during dinner last night and the thing I remember recognizing is that in the corner there was a fair amount of c.s f.s 6h strings you were doing in the corner and being poked out of. I recently noticed this in my own game and I think that's why I picked up on it. Mixing in some cs fs 5k to Iad j.s j.k restart pressure, or even throwing in some fdc bite/normal throw attempts helps too. Depending on the poke they use if they anticipate a 6h I've had good luck with fdc bite catching them on whiff/going back to blocking

 

This may have been corrected later in the set I didn't watch the whole video though

[daymendou]

Venom is probably my most played matchup since there's 2 of them at locals

 

• You seem to IAD a lot in neutral. I think 6P and c.S make this very unsafe
• You use very little FD and it definitely hurts you in the corner. My approach is to FD everything then IB c.S(2) or 2D, which is generally when I see S Carcass, and jump out. If they switch to H Carcass, you can react with Long Dash for a crossup. If they delay their S Carcass, I think there are a few spacings where Long Dash will still crossup.
• There's a lot of moments where you're respecting balls too much and blocking instead of just jumping out. I think a lot of this requires experience since you have to pay attention to what normal the Venom used to hit their ball, but generally you shouldn't have to block charged balls in neutral if they didn't spend meter.
• I like to use Bite to abuse Stinger charge. If they try to c.S Throw OS on reaction, they will get Stinger if they were holding charge. Since this Venom is using FD against almost all your strings, you can probably get away with a lot of Bite. On a side note, whenever you go for Bite reset, you always end in 2K; you might be able to condition people with the 2K and go for CH 6P/Pile instead.
• When he doesn't have meter for Stinger YRC, I think you could try being more aggressive with Dandy Steps. Sometimes he might react with 2S but Venom gets nothing afterwards so abuse the imbalanced reward of CH P Pile.
• You really need to AA with 2S or air throw. In Xrd, 2S destroys all of Venom's non-ball air options. Also, your random c.S/5P AA confirms need work.
• You overuse 5K, 2K, and Mappa in your blockstrings and get pushed really easily. Think about it this way: if you're just going to backdash after blocked Mappa, why cancel into Mappa in the first place? Against characters with no reversals like Venom, I really like c.S f.S > walk to stay in range.
• I would work on air hit 6H K Pile confirms. You lose a lot of damage by going for P Pile RRC. On Venom, you might be able to do 6H delay P Cross 6H K Pile if you're close enough?

[Melo]

14 hours ago, daymendou said:

• I would work on air hit 6H K Pile confirms. You lose a lot of damage by going for P Pile RRC. On Venom, you might be able to do 6H delay P Cross 6H K Pile if you're close enough?

I never knew air 6H Kpile was a thing. 5H2H RRC delay K Cross, 6H Kpile, 5H2H, c.S, J.KD does 237 on Sol and works from just inside half screen, damn.

P cross, 6H link is hard as hell though.

[fogelstrom]

Thanks for the input guys and cudos to you daymendou for your insight and specific points. I don't have all that matchup experience against Venom and he's quite though to handle. I will definitiely put your critique into my next set against a respectable Venom when I get the chance.

[xbocax]

Hello there, folks!

It's been a long time since I've posted a video in here, but now it's time. I feel that even though I was unable to play GGXrd for some months, my gameplay now has improved, as well as my strategies, but nothing is ever perfect, is it?

So, I'd like opinions from more experienced players such as Daymendou and Fogelstrom, I'd like your critical eye over my strats and routes as Slayer.
I know for a fact already some points I'll have to improve, those are things that I've noticed but I hope you guys reinforce, extend or even present me with more options if possible. My flaws for now are:

Lack of Dandy YRC
Air Throws (difficult as fuck)
BDC Bite on wake up
Strolling too long in the air using 2K and eventually getting countered
Difficulty on pinning down some characters such as Ramlethal and Millia.


So, here's me playing for half an hour with some decent euro players like meself. Hope to hear from you, lads!
Thanks in advance!
 

 

[fogelstrom]

First of all cool that you call me out so I'll gladly give some of my time.
I'm not sure on how specific you want me to be so I'll just give some general thoughts (in no particular order)

Don't waste meter on random SDD, it's too valuable and the random hit isn't worth it outside of Hellfire
j.2K has landing recovery and good players easily catch on and call you out on it. Most instances it's better to IAD or just land. Don't forget to FD.
Try and get a better feel for when teching so you don't get j.S or j.K. In some instances teching into your opponent with j.S can be good but it's situational.
Don't use j.K randomly in the air due to recovery. Always j.P to random catch people and learn to confirm with either j.PPK, dj.SHD2K, j.D or "os" into j.PK, dj.SHD2K, j.D

You are mostly using double jump j.2K, 6H and Dandys as your movement so you don't really have any footsies or neutral game. You should definitiely stick to the ground more and this is probably the thing that I think you should really think about the most. Analyze En and Hase for this. I leave out Taka because he plays a wild style so for better learning and understanding the Slayer neutral and footsies En and Hase are better.

When pressuring you are not using any Bite or IAD pressure and letting a lot of your dandys rip instead of doing empty when you are getting pushed out. These situations I tend to empty dandy and go between 5K, 2H, 6P, 6H, IAD or long dash.

On the topic of pokes. You are not using 6P or 2H, also due to lack of neutral and footsies.

When doing UP on block I see you altering between IL and 2K as one normally should but you should also do regular throw once in a while. Then people are more prone to start trying stuff after UP and you'll hopefully land IL CH

When landing Helter Skelter you're using j.D, FL. Should instead go for j.H, c.S, f.S, 5K, 2D or j.H, 2K, 2D etc. Different spacing and different characters... but still falling j.H into better knockdown.

You are not using any BDC Mappa or BDC Dandy neither offensivly or defensivly. Learning these... down the line it will just surprise you of how extremely good tools they are.

5D midscreen imo... just don't use it or extremely sparingly to clutch someone out. I rarely even use it in corner these days.

Combos can't be left out. You should work on 'em. Getting knockdown is so important for Slayer. Also learning a stable oki game. There has been discussion on this and I personally am a huge fan of UP wiff oki all the time.

I watched 22 minutes.

This is in no way meant as a beatdown and it can look daunting... but there is a lot of room for improvement and I hope you take it to heart and want to become a better player. Slayer is a lot of fun and he's even more fun when you learn all the in and outs

[daymendou]

Hello Boca, it's good to see that you are still playing Xrd. I think we played online once last year? 

I do agree you have improved but I think you need to play a lot more against stronger players. Just watching you play, it seems like you play the same against every character, with no regard for spacing, frame advantage, punishes, etc. You won many of these matches but you took very serious punishes when the opponent waited and reacted to your movement. If you play mindlessly, then stronger players will defeat you very easily just by waiting for you to move. It does feel very safe to jump and Dandy Step when the opponent doesn't know how to punish, but it's very unsafe when the opponent does know how to punish, such as the Potemkin player in your video.

I do not think you should be thinking too hard about BDC or Dandy YRC yet. Once you find the need to adjust your spacing and mixup, then BDC/YRC will be more important. Dandy Step is a bad habit for you right now and you shouldn't get into the habit of spending meter to YRC it since you really need meter to deal damage against players who are better at blocking. For now, focus on learning on every characters' offensive and defensive options.

Characters like Ramlethal and Millia have strong air options that allow them to move more safely in the air. Ramlethal is difficult to airthrow and she can stay in the air for very long so you need to be patient and make sure you don't let her swords activate when she has an airdash, usually by using fast moves like 2P/5P or by dashing out of range. Millia's hairpin makes it difficult to stop her from jumping, so you have to move around carefully and wait to attack so you don't get hit by the hairpin.

 

So again, find some stronger opponents, lose very badly to them, then come back and ask us for help.

[Thomson]

Hello everyone,

since this is my first post i'll quicky introduce myself aswell. 
I'm from germany and have been playing fighting games since the release of SF4.
Mainly sticking with SF4 and usually only scratching the surface of most other fighting games.
Roughly half a year ago I've started to pick up Xrd more seriously with slayer.

Here is a casual offline set against a venom player.
Even though i've won almost all of the matches when just recently i used to lose alot against him
there is still alot to be improved especially within a matchup specific context.

http://www.twitch.tv/sumpfauge/v/38201672?t=03h39m28s

I was approaching the matchup with the mindset that taking damage is just part of it and that i'll 
have to take risks to get in but once there i can win the round in one sweep.
My biggest trouble move has to be Stinger YRC followed by 2D as they would often hit me during dandy steps.

[xbocax]

Wow, I didn't imagine you guys would be so quick on your responses and I deeply appreciate it!

Addressing Fogelstrom notes:

It seems that I do like SDD A LOT, and eventually I get people with it and hopefully I can finish a round with it or with its dizzy following up with c.S f.Sx2 Mappa. But yeah, I know what you mean, when against more experienced players they seem to wait for it and punish me, even though I'm not so far behind on frame advantage.

I also have some problem on executing IAD properly, which I usually only try in the corner and after a 5HS, most of the times I just get the normal jump and then get punished to it, but yeah I'm trying to improve it. About j.P, never though about it and rarely use it, gotta note that down and try to implement it on my game.

I've watched loads of Hase's matches, but man, it's like impossible moving the way he does, lolz. The thing is, almost every time I try to BDC P Dandy I get hit, or end up doing a high jump. Guess I'll have to train execution, right? There's actually three match ups I kinda abuse of it, which are against I-No, Potemkin and Axl, specially against Axl, it's just so good to BDC Mappa on his face after he tries to get you with 5P or 2HS, but yeah, I'll try to use it more. What would you suggest for a better movement? Roughly, based on the footage you've seen.

I'm currently implementing bite on my game but sometimes people online just don't respect you that much, so I try to condition them first, same thing with empty Dandies. I can usually bite after a K Dandy on the corner, and then follow up with 2D for knockdown, but like I said, most of the times people don't respect, even though I get them cornered, they usually spam 2P or 2D on me, finishing my advantage.
 

6P, yeah, I always forget that ploughing move. It just feels so slow, and even though I've got the invincibility from it, I rarely successfully connect it on people. It's like PB to me, a hell of a move, but unlike PB I do think twice before doing it. I'll try to incorporate as well, but would you tell me how or when to use it? Would it be reactional or just when I think they'll dash in?

2HS I usually throw after a 5HS on the corner, to confuse them in case they def standing. Great against Ky, but like 6P, I just forget to use it often.

About my oki, I usually got UP IL or UP 2K as you've noticed, today, when trying to throw I got 2p'd the whole time, couldn't do it successfully. Sometimes even I get thrown, if I don't time IL correctly or if they mash throw on wake up.

About Helter Skelter, you were completely right. This combo is really better, though if they FD I get so much push back that my moves whiff, with j.D FL sometimes I get a knockdown and even if I get pushed back I can Mappa them. I've been trying Helter Skelter > j.HS, c.S, f.S, 2K, 2D and sometimes HS > j.HS, c.S, f.S, 2K fdc Bite, it has been working wonders, but sometimes I get Blitzed. ;(

Anyway, I really appreciate you taking time to read and watch the video and typing those tips for me, It's really important to me and I'll try to follow all of it, just after I get rid of the muscle memory lolz!
Thank you very much Foggy!


Addressing Daymendou:

You are absolutely right, mate! I do play rather carelessly, since I'm still learning and trying things out but I know what you mean. I know some weak spots on my most common match ups which are against Sol, Ky and Sin, sometimes Leo. But you are right on saying that I play the same against every character. Would you mind deepening a little bit for me? You don't have to type, just give me a vid or something to "study" so I'd know where to aim!

Would you mind on expanding and explaing why currently Dandy step is a bad habit for me? I just don't see myself using it out of the blue, and if it's really an issue i'd like to correct that.

We did play against each other and if I'm not mistaken I got thrashed lolz! Anyways, any tips from you guys shall be warmly welcomed!

 

Thanks for your time, both of you, and I hope to hear from you once again soon!

Cheers!

[daymendou]

Look at the round vs Sol at 3:24. You used a lot of Dandy Steps after your blockstring ended. In other words, you put the opponent in a situation where Throw was a strong option for them. If Sol had chosen to use 6H instead of Bandit Bringer, 2D, etc., he could have punished you for 200+ damage.

Same situation in the match vs I-No at 6:54. I-No has a fast 6H that has the reach to punish Dandy Step. She can also beat Dandy Step pretty safely with Stroke the Big Tree.

If you try to Dandy Step this way against Potemkin, it's very easy for Potemkin to catch Dandy Step with mashed Buster, 5H, 2D, etc.

Most of your opponents did not choose to block, so your Dandy Steps seemed to work out very well. However, if they do decide to block, most characters can punish Pilebunker/Crosswise for 75+ damage and knockdown.

If you want to use a lot of Dandy Step, you need to put yourself in a spacing where their options can whiff or lose to your own pokes.

[fogelstrom]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M07fPfvdq8

SFV ftl, Xrd ftw. Trying to get my groove on before KI PC release
Had some fun matches versus Gerran! I definitely saw some things I need to try out next time I play vs him or other Venoms

[Boom Cube]

From FR last weekend

I definitely need to work on vs. Ram specifically; the few times I actually tried to hit the sword summons, I wound up just wildly whiffing j.p and my conversions definitely weren't optimal. Also committing to poorly placed CW and not doing anything effective after IB'ing darou. I have been wanting a match to put up for critique for a while though, and I think this is a solid one.

Edit: found my matches against Go1 and Lost Soul as well.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[fogelstrom]

46 minutes ago, Boom Cube said:

From FR last weekend

I definitely need to work on vs. Ram specifically; the few times I actually tried to hit the sword summons, I wound up just wildly whiffing j.p and my conversions definitely weren't optimal. Also committing to poorly placed CW and not doing anything effective after IB'ing darou. I have been wanting a match to put up for critique for a while though, and I think this is a solid one.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

You should definitely work on the bursts. Especially focusing on placing them in burst safe moments and not just burst instantly. Maybe a personal flavor but I don't like to be that aggressive about it. Trying to be smart ^^

I also don't agree with the CWHs even though I know what you are going for Ram can stall herself in the air, and most likely will all the god damn time, so you either end up wiffing or blocking since you can't predict. Obivously don't throw it out the window but during a high jump and sword placing you can instead use long dash to position yourself better and minimizing risk.

The dropped combos from Helter and 2K, c.S, 2D I bet you already see yourself, could have been quite useful :/

With random hits in air you didn't convert any of the two times instead going for instant j.PD that can even be teched and doesn't give knockdown. Should get j.PPK, dj.SHD2K, j.PD into muscle memory or you can even stepdown j.PD2K, j.PD2K, j.PD but funky... catching people randomly in air is always hit or miss kinda hard to react to height difference and adjusting combos accordingly.

Matchupwise I don't recommend 6P all that much since as said earlier she can just stall herself in the air giving you huge chunks of recovery and eating swords. I tend to favor 5P mashing more in this matchup. I also don't like trying to take the air-to-air fight with Ram since her j.P/j.K bodies Slayer. It's boring letting her fly around but... ye not much to do except as also stated earlier try to utilize dashing for positioning instead.

Other than that 3-4 hit RRC CWH gives 5H, j.SHD, dj.SHD for max damage and you can 2K, c.S, j.D, DHD Ram which is quite valuable for extra hard hitting mixup between UP wiff IL and UP wiff 2K

In the corner BDJC is not really the best idea a lot of the time since the swords will still net you and just throw you back down. If you got anyone to play casuals against I'd advice to not rely on BDJC and find other ways to deal with it like abare and/or fuzzy guarding to learn what can be done where.

Still nice matches and nice reppin' of Slayer. I approve!

[Boom Cube]

I remember watching a stream a long time ago, where the commentators mentioned that Japanese players would burst immediately when they first got hit because they knew they would get it back by the next round. I think that immediately instilled in me a crappy habit of slapping burst right out of the gate, regardless of what I was getting hit by. Definitely something I need to break. Thanks for the feedback!

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