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[Updated 8/8] [CP] Platinum The Trinity Character Guide (Work in Progess)

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Table Of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Legend of the One-Armed Loli: My take on Platinum
  • Item Management
  • Neutral, Offense and Defense
  • Okizeme
  • Comboing
  • Decisions, Decisions....
  • Dos and Don'ts
  • Gimmicks and Mindgames
  • Happy(Depressed) Magicka

I. Introduction

 
This is the Platinum Strategy guide. It’s here to teach anyone and everyone as much as I know about this character as well as anything anyone else to provide. I will be going over everything from the basics, to managing items to situational awareness. I’ll try to be as in-depth as possible with what I’m talking about and try include visual examples as well, though I’ll start off with basic things first. If there’s anything anyone wishes to add, simply let me know and I’ll look it over and add it.
 
In this guide, I will not be giving you a load of numbers. If you like numbers go check out the wiki for frame data. This introduction will be basic for the most part. I will tell you about the tools she has and allude to their uses without going into huge detail. But as the guide goes on detail will get a lot deeper and I may even start to smack own numbers.
 
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Health: 10500
Play-style: Balanced, Situational (Item dependent)
Movement Options: 1 Double Jump/Airdash, Run-Dash
Platinum’s defining trait is her Drive: Magical Symphony

Upon use Platinum is granted one of her 7 items. In the beginning of the match you randomly get one of her items once you press 5D and the icon on the left afterward is the item you’ll get next.
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214D Throws your physical items in certain arcs and launches your projectiles in certain arcs as well.


Platinum’s Items:

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Piko Hammer
Stock: 2

Special property: Guard Break on normal block.
Advantage on Block: -4

CH Property: Groundbounce
 

Platinum’s Hammer item is a close-ranged offensive weapon that can be used for combos, guard breaks and cross-ups if you want. The most useful property behind this weapon is the fact that it guard breaks on normal block, earning you a free combo from anywhere on the screen. The air version is used for combos. Hitstun on the air version is decided by the height at which you activated the move. The same goes for plus frames on block.
 

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Magical Bat

Stock: 3

Advantage on Block: -11 on groundblock.
CH Properties: Wallstick on ground near the corner, Wallbounce on air anywhere

This is Platinum’s best defensive option, close-ranged and can be used for combos if you really want to as it guarantees Oki and safejump. Just try not to use more than one per set. It has invuln from frames 1-11, but you only get 3 of them. So, it’s best to use them wisely and try not to get them blocked as with any DP. But even more so since you have usage limitations here.

 

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Magical Cat Hammer

Stock: 5
Advantage on block: Varies

CH Property: Groundbounce

 
Platinum’s longest range melee weapon. Done right off the ground gets you a very quick overhead from about four character lengths away. Since you get groundbounce on CH, it’s very easy to confirm into damage even at max range. This is an amazing tool to establish your presence.

 

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Magical Frying Pan

Stock: 4
Advantage: +1 on air block, seems to be slightly minus on the ground depending on range.
CH Property: Groundbounce on J.D, Spin state on 5D

 

Platinum’s pan is a close-ranged offensive tool. Can be used for combos, but the best use comes out of j.D.

J.D used off 5C or 5A gets you an instant overhead, which leads into great corner carry always.

 

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Magical Missile

Stock: 3

Advantage: Varies
CH Property: None

Platinum’s long range tool for getting in against zoning characters. Missiles are amazing for many reasons. Once of the first being that it covers horizontal range with durability that even cancels out even Sparkbolt. 214D covers a lot of vertical and horizontal range and not only that, but the Missiles hang on the screen for a few moments before being fired instead of going all at once.

 

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Magical Bomb

Stock: 6

Advantage: Varies

CH Property: None

Platinums Bombs are multipurpose as they don’t disappear even when she’s hit. While the Missiles don’t either, the reason this is better for bombs is because of the multiple angles of fire. Close, Mid and long range abilities to launch the bombs to cover certain space.Doubles as an offensive and defensive tool. 214D with bombs is often used as an Oki tool or a chipping tool with low health OD.

 

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Magical Dreamy Box

Stock: 4

Advantage: Varies

CH Property: None

 

Platinum’s presents work as defensive tools, and another use of controlling space. They’re pretty much traps you set on the field either at  specific points or using 214D which throws both out at the same time. One mid-range and the other long range. In 1.1 one drops close range the other at mid-range.
 
 

               Normals

               
Platinum’s normals are not amazing. They however get the job done because they’re definitely not terrible. I will not give you a wall of text for each normal, but a small and simple explanation of its main usage. As you read, you’ll learn more and more usage for these normals.
 
5A – A short, jump-cancelable normal that’s -1 on block. Chains into itself up to three times and is good for staggers and tick throws.
 
5B- Longest normal outside of 3C. Usable as a poke, but there’s a hurtbox up to where the heart is. Some normals will beat this normal straight up, so be careful with it.
 
5C-Another one of her good normals. Gatlings into 6A/6B and is jump-cancelable as well. This is what you want to use to punish most things.
 
2A – A short *Low* normal that’s also -1 on block. Chains into itself up to threes times and is also good for staggers and tick throws.
 
2B- A mid-ranged low. Has low-profiling capabilities and is good for meaties.
 
2C- This is your anti-air for anyone that thinks it’s safe to jump right over your head. Headinvuln from 9-22 and the hitbox can stuff cross-ups. Starts up in 15 frames and has 24 frames of recovery. You don’t want to whiff this move.
 
3C-Your second longest poke with a lot of knockback. Causes hard knockdown and combos into 22C at max range. A low.
 
6A – Your go-to Anti-air for situations when opponents are coming from the front. Head invuln on frames 6-15 with 12 frames of start-up, so be careful.
 
6B- Platinum’s grounded overhead. Combo’ing off of this normal depends on the range you did it from as frame advantage and hitstun will vary. -6 on block from upclose, wallbound on airhit in the corner.
 
6C-Causes Fatal Counter on CH. Invuln to lows from frame 3 onwards. Special and Jump-cancelable on block. Also cancels into air normals.
 
J.A – Okay air-to-air when up close. Gatlings into itself and J.B forever. Very safe.
 
j.B- Very good normal downward. Fast, good recovery, hitbox allows for cross-ups and gatling’s into j.A as well as being jump-cancelable.
 
j.C- Your best and longest ranged normals and air-to-air. Has some landing recovery.
 
j.2C- Hits high up to three times. Jump-cancelable with very low hitstun.
 

Specials and Supers

 
Platinum has a variety of specials and supers that help her do what she wants to do depending on your playstyle. Oki tools, projectile invulns to a counter, she has a lot of tools for varying situations and setups.
 
Air Persia (236A)
This special is used in combos and has the ability to bait bursts with projectile invuln from frame 8-34. When followed up you have the options of inputting A/B/C up to three times. A version makes them slide forward, B causes groundbounce and C  ender sends them behind you. Also Fatal Counters.

Example: 236AAB would cause a groundbounce while 236AAC would send them behind you.
 
Dream Sally (214X)
Platinums put out a bubble on the field. Different versions have different trajectories and are used to limit different options for your opponent. On hit, the opponent is locked into hitstun for a good amount of time, allowing you to combo. It’s the main source of your Oki in the corner.

 

 

A Bubble                                               B Bubble                                                       C Bubble

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Mami Circular (236B)
The infamous heartcar. Mostly used as a combo filler, but has uses as a punish tool with good reads and reactions. Wallsticks in the corner. Very minus on block (-24)
 
Swallow Moon (j.236C)
A pretty good special that when TK’d put you very very low to the ground, allowing for a quick j.B overhead. Has use a three way mix-up during pressure. You can control it with the directional buttons when active. Halts air movement for the most part and can be used to avoid some supers and projectiles because of this.

Fallen Melody (22C)
A OTG move that’s useful for combos and getting a bit of damage off max range 3C.

Mystique Momo (214D)
This move throws your currently equipped item at a 45 degree angle. Pretty much an Anti-air and way to get rid of unwanted items.

Dramatic Sally (41236D)
A running command grab. Start up ranges from 24-45 frames. On hit, this move restocks your current item to full or equips the next item in line if you’re itemless. Can be rapid cancelled.
 
Happy Magicka ([2]8)
A counter done by a charge input. This move activates on everything that isn’t a throw. Be extremely cautious when using this move however. Whiffing this is literally an invitation to death.

 

Supers

 
Cure Dot Typhoon (6321456C)
Full invuln from frames 1-12, which means it has use a reversal super. But remember that the invuln only lasts until the first hit and nothing after. Restocks your equipped item on hit or equips your next item if itemless.

Miracle Jeanne (236236D)
Has invuln during superflash and equips an upgraded version of your NEXT weapon upon sucessful use. Can be used during combos to increase damage.
 

Important Links

Platinum The Trinity: Crush Trigger Combos

Dustloop Wiki Page

Frame Data

Platinum The Trinity Combos[Part 2]

Platinum Combos + Neta

The Miracle Jeanne Bible by Moy_x7

How to Combo After 22C by Moy_x7

 

          

II. Legend of the One-Armed Loli: My take on Platinum

 

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You see, Platinum has a problem. She’s a gambling addict. She got into gambling a couple years ago around 2010. It wasn’t amazing per say, but she did pretty well for the skills she had. Platinum very much enjoyed the aspect of luck saving her ass from peril. But that luck soon caught up with her because she met someone who was better at gambling than she.
She bet her left arm since she was broke and had no money for the money match. Of course Jin stepped up. What did he have to be afraid of? This girl was unorganized and relied solely on luck to get her through life. He however was very organized and clean. His 2D, 5D and J.D among his other moves were always safely tucked into his toolbox for quick access. It seemed to him she prefered to reach into a grab bag with no guarantee of success.
“Another arm for my collection.” Jin mused as they took a seat at the table. He ignored her shit talk and started to deal cards. “5C CH Overdrive cancel.” This bitch was free. There was nothing she could do to him as the game went on.
Naturally she lost, as each time she went fumbling for a tool for the situation, he just smacked her with one from his toolbox. There was nothing she could do about it. It didn’t matter how prepared you were if everything wasn’t easily accessible. Naturally, this was a first to five, so this continued to occur until he hit the 5-0 mark. After lopping off her arm and leaving, he went home to display it next to his Nee-san’s.
It was years later around 2013 that he saw her. Naturally, he laughed in her face. She didn’t learn her lesson the last time. Now it seemed she even added a new item to her collection. Of course he hadn’t changed. Still, he was organized and efficient. And she could do nothing but talk shit from over there.
“At least my car is a low.” He boasted to her one day. He wasn’t surprised to see she had nothing to say. Without fighting her again, he sent her on her way with with a Yukikaze. “You don’t even have a real counter..” Was the last words she heard before passing out, cursing ASW from under her breath.
 

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I’ve always thought as Platinum as a worse version of Jin. This is because, like Jin, she has tools for every single situation you could find yourself in. The issue is that they’re not readily available and there’s an RNG factor to go through to get the ones you need and on top of this, you can only hold one at a time. This makes Platinum an extremely situational character. This is actually what I like about her. As much I love a solid character with the ability to do everything, I also enjoy diversity.
What Platinum has that Jin doesn’t have the amount of CH/hit properties, usages and combo variety that Platinum has. Each one of her items has a cool effect on hit in one way or another. Pan groundbounces as an instant overhead, Hammer breaks guards, missiles are moving walls of Fuck you.

One of the other reasons I stick with Platinum after all this time (since some of CS1) is because no one really plays her. She’s what I consider a rare character. When you jumps into the arcades on BBCP, you probably won’t see a Platinum for a while, even less often will you see one that has an idea what they’re doing. I enjoy being one of the few people who play this character and do well with her. You get a match-up advantage too because not many people have Platinum experience.
This character has pretty much always been smack-dab in the middle of tierlists or close to the bottom. That’s pretty much what I like, I like playing lower tier’d characters myself. Even more so if they can do cute shit. Something about beating on Azrael that I enjoy.
While Platinum is some effort, you have mindgames and gimmicks for years and days and that’s probably my favorite thing. There’s nothing like looking at the guy’s face besides you as you show them treasure island.
 
Super fun, cute, diverse, and even has the capability to be a scumbag.
This is obviously the character for you pedophiles if these things sound appealing to you.

 

III. Item Management

 

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Managing your resources is extremely important for many reasons, but the most obvious reason is because you have limited resources. Which is pretty fair. If Platinum had an unlimited number of the item she picked up, she’d probably be way higher on the tierlist. Even more so if she could choose her items at will.

 

Let’s start with a very common scenario:

You have cathammer and you’re fullscreen against, let us say, Ragna. There are tons of Ragna’s out there, right? So, yeah, let’s say we found a wild Ragna in the tall grass and we wanna beat him on the head.

Now, rule of thumb in this match-up is that, if possible, don’t let Ragna near you. Zone him. Zone his edgy ass back to the Church he came from. But, your next item is Bat. So, you should be able to zone him for two rotations. But, you have your trusty cat hammer. It’s long and a quick overhead. You might even catch Ragna trying to poke you with 5B and get a counterhit. That’s what you want.

In your desperate attempt to keep him out, and maybe you *really* wanna just beat him on the head, you mash your cathammers away within 5 seconds of getting them. 3/5 whiffed and the other two were blocked.  Now you don’t have an item and we all know that Ragna likes little girls. So, you can imagine what’s probably going to happen to you if you can’t get that next bat in your hands.

But, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Let’s go back to how bad you are at Whack-a-mole when it’s a two-player game. Item Management is also Threat Management.  If you don’t understand, here’s another example and some finer details to boot.

Cat Hammer J.D is a very fast overhead that reaches about 4 character lengths. Outside of counterhit it causes a soft knockdown where if they don’t immediately emergency tech, you can blue beat them or if they late tech, you can catch their roll with a dash 2A/2B. If they emergency tech, they have to tech in the same spot, which puts you at advantage. But, this isn’t what I mean by Threat Management.

The very presence of Cat Hammer means that they will primarily block high if they don’t want to get hit. Even if you don’t pop out a single cat hammer, if they know anything about Platinum, they won’t want to get hit by the Cat Hammer.  3C is your longest low and Cat Hammer is your longest overhead. This means you can play mindgames a good portion of the time with 3C and J.D against your opponent making them guess and you can start chipping away damage or confirm 3C > 22C into damage and carry with meter.

In movies you often see people fake having guns sometimes when robbing individuals on the street. You know why, right? Because the very presence of the gun makes someone afraid.
“Now I have to be careful.” Is the mindset you’d normally run into. That, or you decide to be Rambo and do something about it or you might just get lucky. But, you’re playing Platinum, I doubt you’re a very lucky guy. You’re probably a masochist.

The same principle goes for Pan, except you don’t have all the range you’d have with Cat Hammer. I feel like with Pan, the mindgames are even better. If your opponent doesn’t want to get stirfried by J.D, then they’ll want to block high on your blocked 5A/5C a good portion of the time. 5A goes into 2B and 5C goes into 3C which can often be confirmed into 236AAB midscreen or 236AA(Delay)A into the corner for damage + KD and Oki. You have four pans to play this game with. Some opponents will need to be trained for these things, but presence of an item is just as important as the item itself.

When I get an item into my hand, I have a certain thought. For example, when I get pan, I think, ‘This is four instant overheads, four ways to get a knockdown off an air combos, four ways to get corner carry, and fou ways to open someone up on Oki and one anti-air.’
Let’s say you get a J.D to open someone up midscreen and you decide to go for a corner carry route. To me, this is fine, but only if you use one pan in any given combo that won’t kill. There’s a bunch of reasons for this and i’ll actually list.

1.) J.D has SMP (My opinion on using one pan per combo doesn’t change in 1.1 when SMP is removed, either.)

2.) Using two pans into a combo means you’ve lost half your options in a single combo.

3.) Tk Swallow moon is *not* an instant overhead and gets beat out by mash. Making this better on Oki.

Now I have them in the corner, which 3C > Bubble Oki. Since I have an instant overhead, there are a couple things I can do from here. For example:

 

  • Run forward so it seems I’ll grab. Do J.D and get a CH.
  • 5A > 2B > 6B Overhead
  • 5A > 5C > J.D
  • 5A stagger to bait a grab > J.D
  • TK Swallow Moon J.B > J.D
     

 

My options go on for a while. J.D can be used for a lot of things, but it’s main use is Mixup and baiting things. Also, J.D grants you knockdown where you normally wouldn’t get it going into an air combo provided you haven’t used it once already. Simple J.C > J.C > 3C > Oki is how it works. Depending on your starter, the combo even continue from there.

 

With Hammer, you have two guard breaks and if your opponent knows what Hammer does, you can go for grabs if you think they’ll get barrier happy trying to avoid the break. Bombs should be used wisely as well. They’re tools for getting in and 4D is a cool way to keep the area in front of you off limits. Missiles are moving walls as I’ve said before, another way to get in on the opponent. Presents can be used for defensive purposes, but I personally hate them with a bloody passion. I want them off my person as soon as I possible can so I can get to a good item. At the very least, if you manage to ever get them away from you, they make certain areas off limits for a bit.

The most important thing you can manage is probably your Bat. It’s your best defensive option and you get three of them. They can be baited and punished like any other DP which is kinda the glory of it. People have to respect Plat on wake-up for once. This lets you go for grabs and whatnot and take advantage of them baiting the bat if you can. But, this is pretty much her only defensive option, so be smart with it.

 

    A perfect example of how to not manage your items. (First Three Matches)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0yHU0jA7rc

 

 

First combo this man does uses two hammers. I understand the first hammer I guess if he wants corner carry. But the second OTG hammer was completely unnecessary. Only defense option that Bullet has is 623B, getting her to block a meaty 2B into Hammer is also an option.

At 4:55, He goes for a weaker combo route into a purple grab when could've killed with treasure chest loop. Azrael had no burst and he had low health OD.

Various other occasions, he's mashing bat, or pan in bad spots, exchanging items he'd need for items that would be detrimental in his situation. etc etc

 

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IV. Neutral, Offense, and Defense

 

 

 

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Neutral
 

I see a lot of potential  Platinum players asking about neutral in particular, so I’m going to start off with this. How you handle neutral will often change between match-ups as the tools you want to use the most will differ due to the other character’s playstyle. But, to sum it up, how you handle neutral will often depend on the current item in your hand. But, I’ll first list off your neutral tools.

5B, long poke, albeit slow and situational
3C, long poke, unsafe on close range block and especially on IB.
Missiles and Bombs
Mystic Momo
Bubbles
Presents
Cat Hammer

These are pretty much what you’ll be using for neutral in any match-up outside of waiting for a punishing any mistakes your opponent would make on their own approach.

5B is a great tool to use at max range for when you know your opponent has nothing that can reach you.  It has 11f of start-up however and her hurtbox ends right before the heart on her staff. So, it’s not something you ever want to whiff. You want a hit or a block. There have been times where I’ve whiffed this and gotten hit and CH’d by a max ranged Ragna 5C because of the hurtbox location for the normal. It’s a poke and punish tool.

3C kinda works the same way as 5B. Great as a max range poke that can be cancelled into a bubble on block and confirmed into 22C for a combo and small confirm. Has recovery, of 24f and is -8 on block. No whiffs if you can help it.

Missiles and Bombs feel self explanatory, but they provide you both with ways to zone, defend yourself and turn a neutral situation into an advantageous situation. They’re amazing neutral tools that limit your opponents options and allow you to easier predict movements.

Bubbles do the same as Bombs and Missiles. They control space for you and make certain areas off limits. A bubble on the screen will always make your opponent thing twice before making a particular movement and you can take advantage of that.

Presents can be set to try to keep a certain area off limits. Most opponents will jump over them since the vertical hitbox isn’t huge. People normally won’t just run into them, so take advantage of this where you can.

Cat Hammer is your long ass overhead poke for CH fishing and controlling space. This is an amazing neutral tool because it really forces your opponent to think about how they’re going to approach Platinum while not getting tagged.

 

Defense

 

Defending yourself as Platinum is going to be pretty difficult considering her defensive options are very lacking outside of Bat.

Her 2A is short and 8f, so it isn’t very suited for mashing at all. Don’t mash 2a. Ever.

 

5A is 6f and hits crouchers, so it is much better to mash on if you find that you really need to mash.

 

Bat is amazing as a reversal since it’s 1-11f invuln, the only issue is that it’s RNG, so you don’t have it readily available and sometimes you won’t ever get it at all.

Happy Magicka has its applications as a reactionary reversal, but I’ll go more into applying Happy Magicka to your game in a later section.

Overall, I feel like your best defense is a great neutral game and being able to punish your opponents mistake to the best of your ability. You don’t want to have to be on complete defense because that’s where Plat crumbles and withers. If your neutral is good, you won’t ever have to worry about being on defense..... Well, unless your item draw is bad. Then you’ll probably have some problems. Gambling addictions, yeah? You win some and you lose some.

 

Safejump (Courtesy of Cirno)

 

"ah yes. uhh basically as long as the combo isnt too long (max length short starter, hammer combo normal starter) you can 6a 6b after mami ender instead of 3c bubble, so long as you havent used 6b in the combo yet. time j.b > (rising) j.b (landing) the falling j.b will catch most things (j.c works too but not on chars with 8f or faster reversal options since landing recovery kagura reversal is 8f so you have to j.b, but you can also get a fuzzy if you j.b low enough. timing isnt too difficult."

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E66tbHL7jUU&feature=youtu.be&a

Blows up mash, blows up throws, blows up dps. I have no idea have to safejump stuff midscreen yet, but I'll work on that.


Offense
 

Platinum has a pretty good offensive game since she has so many options to irritate the opponent. Remember that offense isn’t just RTSD, much aggravating your opponent in general. Your neutral is a form of offense as well. You’re establishing your presence to your opponent.
“You should be afraid of this tool.”
Once you see someone actively avoiding something, you can capitalize on that if you know how. If you don’t, go watch that replay and figure out how to deal with that option.

Your offensive tools are literally everything in your arsenal. Hammers to break guards, instant overheads, long pokes, projectiles and traps. Your offense will be how you use these tools to your advantage to open people up.

To give some small examples
5A/5C > Pan J.D is Instant Overhead

2A > 5C > Hammer is not only a frametrap between 2a and 5c, but it’s airtight between 5C and Hammer. Meaning if they don’t barrier, they’ll be guard broken and you get a free combo.

Training your opponent to block high with Cat Hammer/Pan in blockstrings

Command Grab is straight gimmicks, but works when you want respect. If you can train them to start mashing, you can go for frame traps again.

There are a lot more options, obviously. Learn how to use your tools once you get them as your offense is mostly decided by what you have in your hand.

 

You also have your Crush Trigger

It is about 2 and a half character lengths long.
While the point much of the time is to do it when the opponent isn't expecting it at maybe close range, doing it from max range with opp in the corner against some characters is amazing.

The idea to use the pushback on your normals on block to get you at max range and pop CT, confirm break and go to town.
 

V. Okizeme
 

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The corner is where your Oki really shines. Midscreen your oki will be really basic and will probably be between catching rolls and reapplying pressure until you score that hit that puts them into the corner blender. Now, it is no longer possible for Platinum to get Oki off everything she touches you with in the corner due to how SMP works now. You can only fit 2 Heartcars in your combo, so you won’t be finding the kind of hitstun needed to end in 3C super often.

I’m going to start at how you get to your Oki route. Your best Oki is anything ending in 3C > Bubble/Treasure Chests etc etc. So, what you want more than anything is 3C for a untechable knockdown. But, due to how her combo routes work, you often have to choose between damage or Oki. So, the most common used route is any route where you can do 5C > 6A > 6B > 3C > Oki. General rule is that you won’t get any Oki off an air combo.

There are two items in particular that can negate this rule where you can only get oki off ground routes and those items are Bat and Pan J.D. This is because Pan causes a groundbounce and Bat causes a wallstick. A properly timed 3C can be  connected and you can go into proper Oki from there.

Your Oki after that will often consist of resetting pressure or TK swallow moon and putting them back into the same situation. TK Swallow is somewhat a 3-way mix-up.

Off TK swallow moon you can:

Do a quick J.B overhead
Barrier Cancel into a Low
Barrier Cancel into a Throw
Barrier Cancel to bait reversals

TK Swallow Moon however is very prone to mashing, so you need some degree of respect to use it. Forcing them to block first is usually the best means of doing this instead of trying to do it raw. So, be careful with this.

Bubble Oki is good, as it allows you to bait DPs as you recover first. However, Hakumen can counter them with his drive and grab you, so be careful using bubble on him as an Oki tool.

Once you’ve got them blocking, you can do all sorts of fun shit. Overhead pans, command grab setups etc etc. Remember your options and always include the usage of your items into your options. Pan makes an amazing Oki option since her mix up is lackluster otherwise. Which is why I reccomended only using 1 pan per combo for better Oki later on.

Treasure Chests make an amazing Oki item because your opponent is practically guaranteed to get hit no matter what happens. If they press a button, they’re likely getting popped. Hakumen, again, however can 5D them or Yukikaze them, so this won’t work on a Hakumen who knows he has this option. If you backdash however, he’ll be stuck in spot since he has to commit to D counter. And he’ll end up getting hit by chests even if he holds.

 

VI.Comboing
 

[insert Cute Image Here]

 

This section is not to teach you *Combos* but, *Comboing* properly with Platinum. I’m not going to tell you entire combo routes, but how you should go about comboing off your hitconfirms and what combos into what.

First off, I’m going to start with the issues of comboing with Platinum.
That is SMP, 3C pushback, new combo timer system, new SMP system and character hitboxes

 

Normals with SMP:

6B
2C
6C

Specials with SMP

Mami Circular (236B)
Dream Sally (214X)
Fallen Melody (22C)
Air Persia Third follow-up (Example: 236AA[Ax2/Bx2/Cx2] using the final button follow-up twice in a combo activates smp)

Items with SMP
Pan (5D and J.D are separate.)
Bat (5D and J.D are separate)
 

You see there’s a lot of SMP going around here. And in the long run it isn’t a *huge* problem, but it gets in the way off some things. Now I’ll tell you the main use of these moves in combos.

6B is more often than not used for 3 routes depending on what you want.
 

6A > 6B > 3C – Your KD route into bubble Oki
 

6A > 6B > 5C – This route is used to go into an air combo of some sort. Either way, you’re taking them off the ground and more than likely losing your hard knockdown going this route.

 

6A > 6B > 6A > 6C – This is a route you’d normally go depending on whether you’ve used your heartcar yet or not. If you haven’t, this is what you’d end in. 6A > 6C > j.236C > J.C > 6A > Mami into 3C.

2C is used for Item Get and Item Replacement Routes and as anti-air.

 

2C having SMP isn’t a huge problem due to it not having much use in combos anymore.
However, when you use this move for an item route, you’re pretty much forced to end in Air Persia unless the next item is pan for a J.D into 3C KD.

6C having SMP is an issue because it’s one of your ways to keep your opponent in the air and go into 22C and is used in most of her BnB’s.

The rest are not gigantic issues, but when you want a long combo, the SMP will build up and it gets difficult to find the proper route to go into.

Since Platinum’s combos are long by nature, you don’t get much off A starters. With B/C starters you get more time, but the laws of SMP still apply. 6B and 6C SMP mean you won’t get huge damage since you can’t do the same thing twice or they get to leave. With BBCP, Platinum’s combos became much more item-centric due to normal changes and SMP.
 

Think of SMP as the cards in your hand. You only have one of each and you have to use them perfectly in a combo whilst trying to get the best possible outcome. If you’ve already used one, it’s used and you gotta improvise from there with what’s left.

To go around the “No KD off aircombo” rule, you need Pan or Bat. They lose SMP in 1.1, but you shouldn’t be using more than one in any combo anyway. Pan J.D groundbounce lets you get a 3C and Oki, and Bat J.D wallsticks for the same thing. Hammer can also be used in this fashion, except you have to do 5C > 6A > Heartcar > Oki so you can’t have already used your heartcar prior in the combo.
 

3C Pushback

 

In BBCP, Platinum’s 3C got huge pushback so it’s hard to combo off of midscreen at all without CH.
This issue also applies in the corner as sometimes when you 3C, the opponent actually pops out the corner *behind* you and then you’re at a disadvantage. This also happens with 6B in the corner with some characters.

 

3C only combos into 236X without Miracle Jeanne cancel or OD cancel or CH. In which case, a 5A or dash 5A will connect and allow you to continue your combo in the corner. Midscreen CH OD cancel lets you dash 5B 6A/5C > Heartcar even at max range and also opens up 22C to use since 3C connected.

 

 

Hitconfirming and Punishing

 

Hitconfirming is super important. If you know your combo routes, your only thought should really be: How will I get the most advantage off this combo? For the most part, you’ll be looking for Oki. I have no issue sacrificing damage for Oki unless it’ll kill.

3C midscreen outside of CH is usually a place you can just bubble or run up to try a meaty or roll catch with 2B. Or choose to return to neutral and shuffle through items or set up bubbles etc etc

 

Midscreen, you’ll likely be confirming into heartcar for corner carry.

Corner you can go the Heartcar routes or 3C routes that lead in the safejump setup.

As far as punishing things go, remember that 5B ch and 3C ch both lead into heartcar if you can’t dash in and punish something, but can still manage to get a CH.

Plat needs some specific resources to punish heavily, but punishing isn’t about doing huge damage, it’s about capitalizing the best you can off someone’s mistake.
 

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VII.Decisions, Decisions......

 

This part of the guide is not to teach you what decisions to make, but to teach you the mindset behind making decisions and the flowchart you’ll most likely follow when making choices with items in particular.

 

Getting an item

 

Round Start:
There are a couple ways to get an item round start, but your most important decision from the start of the match will depend on a couple of factors

Do I have to RTSD this character to win
Will my next item be useful in this match-up
Is it worth giving my opponent the advantage to get this item
Will I be at advantage when I get this item.

All in all, your question is: Will this item benefit me more than it’ll be detrimental for me.

To give an example, you’re fighting Relius. Your item coming up is Pan.
If Relius gets started, you’re probably going to die because lack of defensive options.
You don’t wanna be pressured by Relius.
Plus,  he has to get the waifu out as well.
If you try to get an item, he’s practically guaranteed to get out the wife.
So, you’re much better off chasing Relius to get your game started before he gets the waifu out and try to get an item later.

If your next item was, say, missiles, it’s kinda up in the air. I’d rather rush Relius.

With an Item in your hand:

There are a lot of questions you’ll be asking yourself here.
Is this item beneficial?
Can I make the item in my hand useful anymore?
Is the next item going to help me any?

Of course this will change with the situation.
But the mindset when switching items for another will normally be the same.

But, here’s the issue with switching items. You’re going to have to find three different chances in neutral or in a combo.

1. Getting Rid of item.
1B. Using the item to the point it gets to zero. Start-ups are various.
2. Getting the item
3. Using the item
 

This whole entire process could take anywhere from 3 seconds to more depending on the character you’re playing. So, often decisions have to be made fast. Being able to make decisions on the fly will become easier and easier as you go as you’ll have experience and can react faster.

 

In a Combo:

5B > 5C > 236B > 5c > 214D (Melee) > 6C > 22C > 5C > 2C > 5D (Item Get) > J.C > J.C > 236AAA

One of many item get combos. Covers all the basis for you. Whether get oki depends on whether the item you get is bat or pan so you can end after the j.c instead of 236AAA.

 

VIII.Dos and Don'ts
 

 

Let us start with the Don’ts since they’re the most important to me.
 

Don’t do random Heartcars
Why: It’s minus 24 on block. If you’re going to do heartcar raw use it as a punish tool. Sometimes if your opponent is just running forward, you can heartcar them as well, but this is risky. I often give the advice to run and barrier brake against plat in general if she likes to heartcar.

Don’t always end blockstrings in 3C into Bubble
Why: 3C is minus and going into Bubble isn’t any sort of frametrap. Meaning if they IB 3C, they can punish you for free. For example, Ragna can 5B punish you. They can even just jump away from bubble on normal block. This is a good idea sometimes, but I prefer not to let my opponent know when my blockstring is finished. 3C is a move you only have special cancel options after, so be careful.

 

Don’t do ABC blockstrings
Why: The more you make your opponent block an airtight string, the more awareness they have. Doing 5A > 2A > 5B > 2B > 5C > 3C > Bubble takes about 3 seconds. That gives your opponent a crap ton of time to react to anything you do. But, more importantly, there’s no mix up in these strings. Autopilotingblockstrings is bad, but a blockstring without mix up options is useless. It’s just pressure without threats. Always mix things up. *Always*

5A/5C Goes into TK Swallow
2A > 5C is a frametrap
2A > Command Grab
2B > Command Grab

 

Always remember your options. Even without items, remember that you have ways to open up your opponent.

 

Throwing Bat against RTSD characters

Why: Because you fucking love baseball and a blocked bat is safer than using Happy Magicka. Remember that this is your best defensive option and you don’t wanna be blocking RTSD characters. So, keep your Get Off Me button handy. I’ve seen way too many Plats throw out bat against Noel or something and die when they needed space.

 

Burning meter on Miracle Jeanne
Why: Honestly, this is a bit of a gray area for me. I’ve only seen one Platinum player that made blowing meter on Miracle Jeanne whenever they got it work out. And that players name is Pops, an American player. MJ’d weapons have great properties added to them, but some are more useful than others. In this case, it’s a matter of whether you think you can make use of the weapons. Well, I’d prefer to word it as ‘If you KNOW how you want to use the weapon.’

It’s a matter of preference, honestly.
It’s important to know what 50 meter means to Platinum which is why I put this in the gray. 50 meter is a counter assault, Miracle Jeanne, Cure Dot Typhoon ender(To Kill), Side Switch combo, Rc’ingMami, confirming off 3C > 22C for corner carry, rapiding your 6B at close range, etcetc

TL:DR- Manage your meter smartly.

 

IX.Gimmicks and Mindgames
WIP

X.Happy (Depressed) Magicka
WIP

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