From: scott@athena.mit.edu (Scott D Bradburn)
Subject: Re: Capcom f*cks up TCE
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Distribution: alt
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 00:27:25 GMT

In article <GRIGSBY.92Apr14165301@occs.cs.oberlin.edu>, grigsby@occs.cs.oberlin.edu (Spiral Death Trap) writes:
|> 
|> Far be it from me to post a message about TCE here in the midst of this 
|> stupid flamefest, but I've noticed something that makes some characters
|> intrinsically better than others.  I'd like to be wrong: if anyone has 
|> counters or other strategies that even things out, do tell.
|> 
|> 1) Some characters have combos which, if the first hit happens, the rest are
|> *guaranteed* to happen with proper timing.  Examples:
|> Bison's jab-jab-jab-fierce
|> Several Ryu/Ken punch-punch-sweep combos
|> Ryu/Ken/Bison/Guile's sweeps/slides that will automatically hit a character
|> landing from a jump
|> Vega's fast slashes (OK, this isn't so bad, but still.)
|> <Add your faves here -- Guile's combos w/razor kick, Ryu/Ken's w/uppercut,
|>  and more>
|> Several characters, to my knowledge, do *not*.  I have found no such sequence
|> with Blanka, for instance, and know of none either.
|> 
|> 2) Some characters, if they knock the opponent down, get further damage
|> _guaranteed_, with no possibility of avoidance.  Examples:
|> Bison knocks you down and torpedoes over you as you get up.  You must block
|> and take damage - over a fierce hit's worth!
|> Chun Li knocks you down, jumps in and starts the YAP kick.  You must block
|> and take damage - usually a bit more than a fierce hit's worth!
|> 

1 and 2:  Big deal, don't get put into this position, and it won't happen.

|> 3) Throw priority does exist.  Try, for instance, throwing Bison after
|> blocking his torpedo.  I am a poor Ken and can do this about 30% of the time.
|> I am a much better Blanka and can bite about 5% of the time -- I've stopped
|> trying since unless the person is clueless it never works.  This makes 
|> characters with lower throw priority (or execution delay, or whatever) 
|> almost useless, since throws are the ONLY thing that will damage a low-
|> blocking player besides jump attacks (I'm not counting the tick of damage
|> from missiles), except for the next case.
|> 
Throw priority is actually the combination of throw range, block delay (how
long before you can move from a block position into attack position), and
when you press the button.  I recommend trying to jump back with poor
throw range players.  Ken/Ryu/Vega can usually beat bison coming out of the
torpedo, others can't, so run away.

|> 4) Some characters have invincible moves and range attacks, and some don't.  
|> This only makes a difference when a character without them plays a character
|> with them.  Examples:
|> Ryu/Ken's haryuken/fireball
|> Guile's sonic kick
|> Guile is extremely annoying here - when he gets ahead on damage he can sit
|> in a corner charging for boom/kick, and wait for you to jump in over his 
|> boom.  If you're too far, no problem, you're not a threat.  If you're medium
|> close, he sweeps you as you fall.  If you're close, he sonic kicks you.  It
|> is possible with PERFECT timing to get through this with a character without
|> range attacks, but the advantage is immense.
|> Ryu/Ken are a little better balanced, since they have to push the fireball
|> a long ways before they recover, so this isn't absolute, but still.
|> 

Don't get behind, some attacks can penetrate a poorly timed shield kick.
Get ahead of guile and YOU sit back and wait for him to come to you
when he can't be charging things.

|> A final question:  is it possible *AT ALL* for Blanka to bite a crouch-
|> defending person?  Every time I try it I just get a fierce, and get smacked
|> for my trouble.  This means that anyone playing Blanka can simply defend
|> at the right times and take NO damage from ANYTHING AT ALL except a little
|> tick from the cannonball.  Add to this the fact that good players can shake
|> off the bite within microseconds, and you're fucked!  Blanka becomes great at
|> killing mid-level players, but becomes totally useless when facing an 
|> expert of just about anything besides Chun Li, Honda, Vega, and maybe Dhalsim.
|> (I don't know about Balrog or Sagat since no one plays them here.)
|> 

Blanka's bite can be used in the same manner as a throw.  You must be out
of range if you're getting the fierce move.  A local Blanka master makes a
habit of climbing up on people who block low following a jump kick.  If they
don't block low, he roundhouse sweeps them instead.  This is the equivalent
of any other player's jump kick/throw and jump kick/sweep combos.

|> I'd like to be proved wrong, especially on the last, but right now I'm being
|> forced to learn Ken due to these circumstances -- everyone here plays either
|> him, Bison, Guile, or Chun Li (the exception -- the guy was Delaware state 
|> champion, and I believe it -- he consistently thrashes my Blanka, who is a 
|> great anti-Chun character, but a reasonably good Bison will still kill him.)
|> Any wizards with counter-strategies (or Blanka ticks) should feel free to
|> help the world.  (No fierce-strong/crouching forward suggestions either unless
|> you can prove it to be unblockable.)
|> 
|> // g


Scott
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