The General Gameplan
Your Opponent's Gameplan
Spacing & Advantage (By Screen Position)
Up Close
Round Start Range
Long Range
Full Screen
You've got note, but then he has charge and you don't want him to do that.
You should be able to safely get a note onto the screen at this range. Now it's a matter of baiting what he might do as you advance. If you let him stay at full screen he's going to get charge and it's going to make your life worse. Unlike some other matchups where the other character can build up something at long range (like RoboKy using his mat to get meter) the situation isn't as favorable since HOS is really dangerous with lvl 3. His main weakness is that he needs lvl 2 to get much of anything without meter, and it's harder to build than say, Johnny getting lvl2 Mist from his coins.
So while safely shooting a note to advance behind is a good thing in general, it's not the best thing in this matchup. 2/3 screen makes you more vulnerable to Rock-It, but it's easier to punish him for trying to Charge.
Button Interactions
- 5P:
- 2P:
- 6P:
- 5K:
- 2K:
- 6K:
- c.S:
- f.S:
- 2S:
- 5H:
- 2H:
- 6H:
- 5D:
- 2D:
- j.P:
- j.K:
- j.S:
- j.H:
- j.D:
Special Moves
Pressure
You need to be careful of his counter-mash tools, but it's similar to fighting Sol. He can try to low profile escape with gunblaze (and that should go under j.K). He can DP, but it's less threatening at lvl 1 and more threatening than VV at lvl 3 due to the extra combo-starting hit. He can try to 2D under your stuff too, 5K to countermash with a 3f normal, and if you let him jump out at the wrong ranges he can steal a turn with j.P or j.H.
In the corner (such as after knockdown), keep just enough distance that you don't get bopped by Gunblaze or risk 5K mash. That should also make it easier to deal with him if he correctly jumps when you leave a gap he could use to jump, since you're not totally screwed by j.H if he swings at you.
Fafnir can wreck you for trying to check him with 2S to make sure he doesn't just run forward or push a button while minus. This is kind of funny because it makes j.D a more viable "just do it" button in this situation. The big punish against you would be a CH 5H starter, but if he jumps forward odds are he either airthrows you trying to j.H, or hits you with j.P into a smaller reward than he would otherwise get. But you'll beat most of his ground options if your spacing is right and you do this when you have frame advantage. The reward for the j.D even on regular hit is pretty good, so IMO it's worth the risk.
If you predict Gunblaze or 2D you can try to fish for a 5H counterhit and blow him up. This will force him to respect a bit more at that range, which can be enough for you to shoot another note and reset pressure with another mixup into another blockstring.
Though it's used more as a neutral tool, lvl 2 Savage Fang can blow you up for going into a move's animation at the wrong time, so it could be used as an escape tool when you leave a gap. Be aware of that too and try to block it.
Escaping Pressure
What's mostly dangerous about HOS is that there's so much mental stack with how you should counterpoke if you're going to attempt that. He can 2H to beat throws and lows for a meterless starter, and can use it as a mixup when he has meter to RC. Fafnir is a long-range low that crushes lows, and it's crucial to be aware of this due to how we use our 2S which loses to Fafnir. Rock it is a fast forward-moving hit to catch you sleeping or jumping. He's got that super threatening 6H that can gatling from 5P (scaring you with tick throws that lead to combos in the corner) and his 2S. His 2S is one of his few nicely disjointed moves that's very difficult to contest, so he's going to make you block with it and then you run the risk of eating a 6H into major pain. He's got the great Sol 2D to work with as well as a 3f 5K, but his 5K isn't anywhere near as good as Sol's in terms of utility - it's only packing the close range speed. So he has a ton of tools to keep you on the ground, and then has his strong jump-in tools.
For the most part you have slightly more wiggle room trying to countermash against HOS, but the risk is so high that you should play it like you're dealing with a Moroha ABA that doesn't have Danzai. Use IB to create workable gaps, but mostly use FD to create space to force him to overextend. However, really good katame on HOS's part will position him to Gunblaze crossup, and since crossup protection goes away when you FD, you're going to get opened up by that.
Oh, and all this hasn't even mentioned that he can become plus on almost all of his normals with charge canceling. So he can gatling to stuff to frametrap, or charge cancel to set up tick throws, or do something else while plus. If he gets in your face it can be quite scary, but unlike Pot he has some mobility to work with to get there.
HOS's jump-ins
The trick with HOS's j.P and j.H is that he shrinks his hurtbox. What's really weird is that there's a hurtbox on his arm on his j.H, but because he lifts his body upward so much, odds are you're going to whiff your 6P as his arm reaches past the hitbox in the back. The only way to really Anti-Air his j.H is if he spaces it wrong (too far away horizontally), and in that case you could beat it free with 5P or 5K by hitting his hand.
I-No's j.P can contest HOS's j.P with proper horizontal spacing (wont work if you're rising to meet him usually, so don't try that here). And even in that usage case it's unreliable since his j.P is 1f faster, so on a clash (which is likely) he's going to beat you by mashing his j.P again, which is what he's doing by default. And we have to be precise with our j.P timing since we can't self-gatling on whiff, whereas he can just mash that shit. A key thing to know is that the disjoint on his j.P is enough that it'll clash our 6H, which is all hitbox and swings up from underneath him. So trying to directly challenge j.P from conventional HOS pressure is borderline impossible, and you can only challenge j.H when HOS screws up. You'll need to get really good at IB the previous hit in the ground string > airthrow, or FD the hit in the ground string > backdash to make the jump normal whiff, or other tools to create space and escape, then get him to overextend trying to bait your escape attempts when you don't go for them. You can even try to IB the previous hit, then jump and IB the j.H since the blockstun is more greatly reduced on air IB, then work with your window when you're both back on the ground. His ability to jump forward with normals you can't reliably challenge gives him a lot of "free" opportunities to reset pressure if you're not trying to stop him.
But to be fair, if the HOS is just flying around in neutral with sj.PPPP at the wrong time, you can probably VCL him and convert from it. And you can probably also at least challenge it with j.236D (though I think it's likely to clash). That's not the same when he's got you under pressure since you wont have enough time to start either of these moves, but this guide is WIP and I'm sure someone is going to read this and start complaining that I didn't test ways to challenge his buttons thoroughly enough. Tossed your burst with my guide, scrub.
His j.K is an air-to-air that reaches more upward, so while j.P is a more common go-to, you may see him use j.K for the extra reach in certain circumstances. And you'll see him use j.S to set up fuzzy overhead mixups and crossups. If these moves are used incorrectly you should be able to anti-air them with your conventional tactics, so keep that in mind even though you're not likely to see him doing short hops from blockstrings at you into these moves.
Gunblaze
This move is overused at entry and intermediate level and is really easy to just block, or even throw or 2K on reaction if your opponent screws up. The trick is that a higher levels it'll start getting worked in at ranges where you're not as able to successfully block the crossup, or to punish you for trying to create space with FD since give up crossup protection. This use will have different timings & methods for punishing, which of course can then be punished by HOS.
Special/Notable Confirms
He's got the Sol/HOS air hurtbox, so it can be harder to diveloop him and you can't 6P > 5H unless the 6P makes contact super close.
- Use 6P > f.S conversions if you have no other choice. The damage is low due to the forced prorate, but at least you can combo and end in knockdown.
- Force yourself to skip 6P in combos, and convert with stuff like:
- j.S > c.S > 5H > HCL 6FRC6.
- 2S > 5H > HCL 6FRC6
