Frame Trap: Difference between revisions

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There are other forms of frame traps which are not easily covered in this primer. These include delayed cancels, assist frame traps, and more.
There are other forms of frame traps which are not easily covered in this primer. These include delayed cancels, assist frame traps, and more.


=====Delayed Cancels=====
=====Delayed Gatlings=====
Similar to the delayed blockstrings mentioned above, players can do the same thing, but with special/super cancels instead! This is usually much more risky, but follows the same principals as described above.
Depending on the game and character, you don't have to immediately cancel from one attack into another. The attacker can create gaps in their blockstrings by delaying the second attack!
 
Example:<br>
In [[BlazBlue: Central Fiction]], {{Character Label|BBCF|Jin Kisaragi|32px|BBCF_Jin_Icon.png}}'s 2A is -1 on block, but has a large window to cancel into other normal attacks. By delay canceling, Jin can create a gap after 2A to act as a frame trap.
 
=====Delayed Special Cancels=====
Similar to delayed gatlings, players can do the same thing, but with special/super cancels instead! This is usually much more risky, but follows the same principals as described above.


=====Assists=====
=====Assists=====

Revision as of 02:29, 24 June 2020

What is a Frame Trap?

A Frame Trap is a way of leveraging frame advantage to bait an opponent into attacking after blocking with the goal of counter hitting the opponent's startup frames.

A frame trap has the following basic flow:

  1. Player One forces Player Two to block
  2. Player Two exits block stun and attempts to attack
  3. Player One hits Player Two with an attack before Player Two's attack becomes active.

To put it simply: A frame trap is when a player intentionally leaves a gap in their pressure where their next attack will hit the opponent if the opponent tries to attack during the gap.

Setting Up Frame Traps

There are a few common ways to set up a frame trap. We will cover the three most common ways to do so.

Plus Frames

Plus Frames are the easiest and most common way to create a frame trap. Simply force the opponent to block a move which has frame advantage (plus on block) and the follow up with a move which takes long enough to become active that the opponent will have a few frames to press an attack but is fast enough that you will hit the opponent out of their move.

Example:
In Guilty Gear XRD Rev 2,  Leo Whitefang does 2S, 5K.
Leo's 2S does not gatling into 5K so we don't have to worry about canceling recovery frames. After 2S, Leo will recover from his attack 4 frames before the opponent does. Therefore, if Leo presses 5K and the opponent presses an attack as soon as they can, Leo will counter hit the opponent and win the exchange.

Leo created a frame trap using frame advantage.

Natural Gaps

Some characters will have frame traps naturally built into their block strings. These usually occur when a character can cancel one move into another and this cancel results in a gap that the opponent cannot succesfully hit them during.

Example:
In Guilty Gear XRD Rev 2,  Slayer does 5K > 6H.
This is a gatling for Slayer, therefore 6H will cancelTo bypass the remaining time or frames in an action by proceeding directly into another action the recovery frames of 5K with the startup of 6H, but because of 6H's long startup there will be a few frames where the opponent can act. If the opponent chooses to attack during this gap Slayer will counter hit them.

Slayer created a frame trap using a natural gap.

Speed Advantage

Sometimes a character will have an attack that is so quick to start up that it will hit the opponent's startup even if the player does not have frame advantage.

Example:
In Guilty Gear Plus R, Sol Badguy's 5K has a startupThe time before an attack is active including the first active frame. of 3 frames. This means that if Sol linksTo perform a second action after the first action completely finishes its animation, usually in order to create a combo. into 5K after a move that is ±0 on block there will be a 3 frame gap. This means that Sol's 5K will come out fast enough to beat all except for the fastest moves.

Sol created a frame trap by being faster than the opponent's fastest options.

Other Types of Frame Trap

There are other forms of frame traps which are not easily covered in this primer. These include delayed cancels, assist frame traps, and more.

Delayed Gatlings

Depending on the game and character, you don't have to immediately cancel from one attack into another. The attacker can create gaps in their blockstrings by delaying the second attack!

Example:
In BlazBlue: Central Fiction,  Jin Kisaragi's 2A is -1 on block, but has a large window to cancel into other normal attacks. By delay canceling, Jin can create a gap after 2A to act as a frame trap.

Delayed Special Cancels

Similar to delayed gatlings, players can do the same thing, but with special/super cancels instead! This is usually much more risky, but follows the same principals as described above.

Assists

Some characters can create frame traps by using assists to hit after unsafe moves to create frame traps. The assist is timed to hit the opponent while you are recovering from your attack.

A common case of this is puppet characters like Zato-1 from Guilty Gear or Carl Clover from BlazBlue. Others like Kum Haehyun and Arakune can use delayed projectiles for the same purpose. Almost everyone can do this in team based games where partners can be called in for assist attacks like Dragon Ball FighterZ and BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle.

Escaping Frame Traps

Frame traps are designed to condition you to block so that the opponent can remain in control of the pace of a match.

Instant blocking an attack reduces the amount of blockstun received, which reduces the frame advantage the opponent has and may give you enough time to counterattack or to jump/backdash out.

Barrier/Faultless Defense is also an option. This pushes you further away, possibly far enough to be out of range of the opponent's attacks unless they spend time to run back in (preferably into your fist!).

Invincible moves like reversals and backdashes are a strong tool versus frame traps because while they may be the fastest attack, they have invincibility, allowing them to go through the opponent's attack!


All of these options have their own advantages/drawbacks and may not work against certain frame traps. In the middle of a match, you will need to learn what frame traps the opponent likes to use and have a counter prepared to maximize your punishes.