WonderTonic

An easier thing to do after 5d is to neutral jump or jump back (easier imo) and hit j.A, land, 5A -> combo. I just press jump maybe a quarter second after thanatos bites the opponent to properly time j.A right before i touch the ground. Another way to get use to the timing of falling j.A is to time a whiffed 5A to come out at the same moment as Thanatos's bite and hold the desired jump directio Edit: Actually, j.B, 5B after a 5d can be easy too. Just hold 8 or 9 as the grab connects depending how far from Thanatos you are, and hit j. B when your feet are around Thanatos head level (on the way down) and then 5B upon landing. You'll hit the opponent at the earliest possible so that Thanatos never really throws him. Re-Edit: After testing you can aso use the first timing i listed for j.B > 5B as well. The only difference is you will hit j.B just a bit earlier in order to get j.B to hit in both directions before you land. The first method is probably preferrable as it applies to j.D too.

I am hype for the extensive changes given to the game overall, but man on paper it seems like zappa got the shaft. Though like phrek says, things could be improving for the better depending on how the new properties of of the summons. With the opponent being knocked back with orientation with the dog, there should be opportunities for some crazy midscreen pressure. Naked far S having additional recovery will make it harder to follow up after an unblockable (4D->D + Low Spit) but it seems they are leaning away from a lot of unblockables in this game anyway. Dog nerfs were seen coming, and I guess it will call for some new dog gameplay rather than 'push to corner -> knockdown in corner -> rape in a dark alley' although I loved rape in a dark alley. Follow up attack immediately after 8D and 6D could lead to some mean stuff provided follow-up maintains its overhead properties. The increased knockback from hitting airborne opponents with dog could be nice for safer dog positioning provided theres some small increase in untech time. Ghosts seems really beefy, and with the damage increase, I am hoping it will end up being an AC ghost movelist + #R ghost damage =D. "when using ‘sono mama kaette konaide kudasai’ during haunt mode, you’ll get the ghosts you started with, with 2 ghosts haunting the opponent"... so now we can double haunt? That is friggin lovely along with minor banana buffs (one could only hope for overhead flowerpots, but that'd be ridiculous). Does this mean we will have 2-3 ghosts available with a double haunt? I'm kinda torn on sword's changes . Airblocking sword standing normals without FD is beat. That was my single favorite thing about the sword along with 2H counter hit combos. "after attacking, sword will now stay on the spot"... I wonder if this will allow for full blockstrings on return trips from the sword, I really want to see what can be done with this, I have a bad feeling this will end up leaving Zappa open more often than anything. With that said, I am really excited just to learn a new Zappa regardless of his overall standing. Enough theorizing from me for now, I'm ready to play My only guess is that it may be used like Sol's Bandit FRCs in which it will be used to maintain upward momentum in aircombos, it would be tricky at first considering the timing is similar to Robo-Ky's H. If we are lucky maybe we got two FRC points.

Damn, It's been years since i heard from you. Don't even know if ya remember me lol. The hype for this has had me hook up my ps2 for the first time in over a year. Can't have a rusty Zappa.

the two hit versions of Jin's Ice car are 2D and 6D-able after IBing the first hit, however no good jin would just throw the two hit version out for no reason.

Yea, as mentioned above you can use the double jump to do j.214 C, and possibly do a falling j.B/j.C. What's everyone's followup to a TK'd/Dash Canceled j.214B non counter hit? I've been doing 5C, 236A, 5C. i guess you could also do 214B(1 hit), 41236C after 5C stars permitting.

You can follow J.D if not mentioned earlier J.d, j.214B, djc, j.214C. Cancel the j.D as early as you can (advanced input or w/e its called helps alot), double jump and do 214C at the peak of your jump. The height you are at after the j.214C usually allows you to follow up with a j.B on descent. If you actually land the counter at a decent height(near peak of first jump) you may be able to follow up with a J.C on descent. Whether or not this is worth the stars is beyond me. As for a follow up to a TK'd 214C i believe 2k, 236A into whatever is doable on most characters. However a dash canceled 214C can be followed up with 2C or 5C into a combo of your choice. If you also TK'd or dash canceled a j.214B, it can be followed by an immediate j.214C followed by 2c/5c, etc. Again whether or not its worth it is up to you guys I guess. For 5.D follow ups you can do 623A, 2C, jc, j.2C airdash j.C midscreen. or you can do 623A, 5C, 236A, into whatever depending on position. 236A dash 2C can be a decent followup (It was mentioned earlier I believe) but it doesn't work on Noel and possibly some others. Stars permitting you can just do [214B(one hit),41236C,whatever] after either both 2D and 5D Note that pretty much all the follow ups mentioned require you to cancel the counter as early as possible (again that 5 frame button hold thingy helps alot)

Im pretty sure it depends on the range Zantetsu hits. Most of the time im able to connect 5C 623A>A afterwards.

I kinda learned that FRC by mistake, I had counter hit on, and it ended up being that I just FRC as the announcer begins the second syllable in "counter". So every time I use it, I say "counter" in my head regardless. Weird I know, but it works for me.

Yea thats kinda how I use it now. It's great how if the opponent blocks a max range 5s, then 2h will still reach them most of the time. Ah well

Hey do any of you ever use Ghost: [2s(whiff), 2h] at all? Using 2h before the ghost returns to Zappa increases the range of 2h quite a bit (farther than Ghost: 5s) My problem is I can't find any real situation that I could use it rather than some other option. It is a deceivingly long poke though but if you consider whiffing 2s as startup, then its ridiculously slow. I try to look at the 2s whiff as a space keeper or something more so than startup but I dunno. I catch people off guard with it every once in awhile, but it never comes to mind to try it outside of training mode. Any ideas?

Some silly things I'll add to this. As most (if not all) of you know when using 236p and getting Dog. Dog is able to move before you recover. I tend to tap 8D anytime I get a blocked 236p. Now this wont stop people from punish you with quick pokes, but there are chances someone screws up punish timing or try to use slower pokes to punish for whatever reason. Dog will sometimes take the hit for you. Obviously this only works if you luck out and get Dog on blocked 236p. I'm not sure if this was shown in a video before (I want to say it was), but on 236 I tend to tap 2D and if Dog is out, it will start the bite. This wont otg the opponent, but if you hit them with an otg 2p or 2s before the bite connects it becomes a simple 6 orb combo. It's use is pretty limited since in order for dog to be in range for the bite, you have to hit with a stand alone 236p or a small combo like 2p,2k,236p or 6p,236p. Opponents that were airborne are usually out of range as well. Now for something a bit more useful, with 2-stage Doggy my fav old string from #r and slash is usable! 2k, c.5s, 5h, 5D now becomes 2k, c.5s, 5D, 5h, 5D <---Some variations of this leading into 2HS semi-inf were shown in "Song for" Before, my friends knew to just hit me after c.5s (I failed at mixup) 2 stage doggy now makes 5h much more usable, abusable in my case. 5s, 4d->d is now one of my favorite things to do to meaty cornered opponents. Outside of reversals I haven't seen many options that will stop a well timed 5s from connecting (block or hit). Combined with well timed 4D->D it is virtually unblockable; true unblockable it seems, but I am not certain. If I am correct, it cannot be instant-jumped (or w/e its called). Correct me if I'm wrong though. The only reason I do this instead of the 5s, 2D is that 5s,4D.D can be done when dog is out of 2D range. This can also be used in conjunction with the prior, usually when the dog is too far to connect another 2D. Another advantage this has is one can combo after the 4D>D while still leading into a knockdown, providing some extra damage. If the opponent stands when hit with the 5s,4d>d combination, you can dash, 2p,2k,c.5s,2D,5s(2D connects) for a knockdown with dog usually at the edge of 2D's range If opponent crouches one can dash (2k),c.2HS semi of your choice. If you like, you can end loop with 4D>D, dash, 2p,2k,c.5s,2d,5s(2D connects) for a knockdown since 6H is gay now Another benefit of 2 stage doggy is that there is now an easy way to wedge dog in corner behind opponent. With this, you can simply far 5s, 2D forever. Anytime the dog is behind the opponent you can gatling into 2D>4D. Dog will flip into the corner allowing forever-rape to ensue. Midscreen 6D, dash, 2p, 6D, 2k, 6p, c.5s, 2D, 5s, (2D hits)>4D. The second 6D travels over the opponent and places doggy in great position for this. I wish I had a capture device for a better visual but I don't . On hit, this string works great. On block, however, it works provided your opponent doesn't FD or DA. Still working on a shorter setup for this.

That's also the same for 4D->D not being overhead if its the second attack.

Yea, even on pad I find this easy after awhile. Maybe its because I have a big thumb or something, but pretty much I press and hold HS then roll my thumb over PKS almost as if i was attempting in IK but pressed HS first. If I do multiple HS FRCs in succession, it kinda looks like a fish out of water.