Mixup

From Dustloop Wiki
Revision as of 07:15, 2 June 2018 by 24.205.78.117 (talk) (Created page with "Mixups occur when an attacking player forces a defending player into a situation where they risk getting opened up to an attack. Generally speaking, there are 3 basi...")
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Mixups occur when an attacking player forces a defending player into a situation where they risk getting opened up to an attack. Generally speaking, there are 3 basic mixup types universal to fighting games however they are NOT mutually exclusive (meaning that one mixup situation can contain more than one type of mixup).

  • High attack vs Low attack
  • Left side attack vs Right side attack
  • Strike vs Throw/Unblockable


A simple jump can be turned into a threatening mixup that includes more than one basic type and is available to most characters in any game.

  • The attacker can hit a very low High air attack on their way down.
  • The attacker can land and hit a fast Low attack (commonly referred to as "Empty Jump Low").
  • The attacker can land and throw the opponent (commonly referred to as "Empty Jump Throw").

Creating Mixups

There are several factors to consider when creating mixups or evaluating whether a mixup that someone else did is effective and worthwhile.

  1. Speed. Speed is the biggest factor in what makes a mixup effective or not.

    Take for example Ky's basic Dust high/low mixup in Guilty Gear Xrd. The Ky can attack low with 2D or attack high with 5D. However, 5D takes 28 frames to come out, almost a full half second, making it only effective against newer players in most situations.

    In contrast, compare the high/low mixup that I-no has in the same game. She can hover dash up into an 8 frame j.S high attack or go into her 5 frame 2K low attack. Given how I-no is airborne after her dash in 4 frames, this mixup is so fast that (for the most part) it is unreactable!
    Generally speaking, mixups are unreactable if each of the possible attacks/throws will hit in ~15 frames or faster.

  2. Visual Noise. Obscuring what is coming next can make an otherwise mediocre mixup become difficult to block.

    Let's look back at Ky's Dust high/low mixup. Doing this raw on an opponent who is getting up from a knockdown is somewhat easy to block especially with the big orange circle indicating a Dust overhead. However, if the Ky player puts out a projectile like Charged Stun Edge or its grinder variant, it becomes slightly harder to tell what is going on and in turn makes it slightly harder to block.

    Some characters in certain games can take this to the extreme by totally obscuring a portion of the screen. This can create unreactable mixups even though the mixup itself would normally be considered reactable. One such example is Naoto Kurogane's Divine Reaper rapid mixup. By totally obscuring the screen, the opponent is deprived of visual information and is forced to guess between blocking high, blocking low, or using Counter Assault.

  3. Investment and Reward. Just because a mixup is unreactable however does not make it worthwhile.

    For example, a lot of characters in Guilty Gear and Blazblue have unreactable mixups that require 50% meter. On the flip side, the damage that can be converted off of these mixups tends to be lackluster. There are similar mechanics in other fighting games like King of Fighters where most characters can use an unreactable, uncomboable overhead at the cost of the attacker's offense.

    While all this sounds pretty bad, that doesn't make these mixups useless! Tricks like these can be used to finish off low health opponents which can steal you a round.

Defending Against Mixups

Before a player can consider how to defend against mixups, it's important to first know what a character's mixup options are and what the correct "answers" to avoid getting opened up by that mixup. Once those are known, there are several things that can be done to better the odds of defending against a mixup. As a general rule, it is best to guard low by default and respond to overheads/throws.

  1. Avoiding the situation While not the most glamorous solution, it can be the most important. Some characters have unreactable or multilayered mixups that should be avoided at all costs. Playing the neutral game well and not letting them set up their deadly offense is sometimes the only way to deal with such characters due to how potent their abilities are. Some examples of such characters include Millia and I-no from Guilty Gear along with Arakune and Rachel in Blazblue.

    Other ways to avoid mixup situations entirely can involve using other defensive tools. Using a reversal to break out of an opponent's offense is a risky but valid tactic. Increasing pushback with mechanics like Faultless Defense, Barrier, or Z Reflect can push an opponent out so that some attacks in a mixup will whiff. Using other mechanics like Dead Angle Attack, Counter Assault, or Vanish can assist in escaping.

  2. Option Selects Mixups often follow certain patterns or behaviors that can be taken advantage of. Overheads often hit slower than lows and therefore can be automatically guarded against using a Fuzzy Overhead option select. Normal Throws will not grab jumping opponents and can be automatically avoided with Fuzzy Jump option select. Characters with a meterless reversal can (in some cases) input that move backwards to option select against left/right mixups. Other option selects can be applied to other situations to improve a player's defense.