Starting out with Vanessa

Note: This post is a combination of 3 articles written by Kaibutsu and translated by Modelah.
Additions by others are marked (*).

Kaibutsu's VF5FS Beginner's Blog Posts:
Vanessa- Defensive Style
Vanessa- Offensive Style
Vanessa- Intercept Position

Hi, my name is Kaibutsu. I'm from the west side of Tokyo, and play as Vanessa. I started off with Brad, tried Lau, then Blaze, went back to Lau and finally settled on Vanessa after VF5R was released. At the time I really wanted to play a character no-one else seemed to be using. In another FG I play Algol. Sorry for babbling on, I wasn't sure what to write, oh well.

Vanessa's Characteristics, Strengths and Weaknesses
Vanessa has two fighting stances at her disposal; Defensive Style (DS) and Offensive Style (OS). This makes her unique as she has more tricks up her sleeve than the other characters, and during matches you can change between DS and OS with or (*and charge - erdraug). With DS and OS Vanessa effectively has twice as many moves as other characters, meaning you have more choices on how to deal with your opponents. She's a lightweight though, and can end up eating a lot of damage from the likes of Jeffry.

Vanessa's Defensive Style
DS Characteristics, Strengths and Weaknesses
If you're at disadvantage, DS has a lot of great evasive and sabaki moves. Her DS and throws are good with 70 and 60 points of damage respectively but she lacks moves to effectively break down defensive 'yutori' type players. If you find yourself trading blows with opponents, you'll probably struggle to keep up in DS.

Basic DS Skills
・Elbow class
WS- Executed while standing (WS) from a crouch. In the absence of a decent mid elbow attack in DS I use this and (see below) when at slight advantages. It's speedy at 13f and since it staggers on counterhit it's very useful. It becomes even more versatile if you can do this out of a standing position (I use ). Be wary of it's short range, though.

・Upper class
- A 16f half-circular mid. Strings from this move are (mid, mid) and (mid, high, mid). The follow-ups are really delayable, use this to fool your opponents into dropping their guard early. If the second hit from hits as a counter, you can follow-up with a hit throw. It's a good idea to always input the whole string anyway with .

・Knee class
- A 17f half-circular high. One of the few DS moves that can net you decent damage.

Combo:
, , - a stable combo for all characters​

・Circular class
- A full-circular mid with great range, and safe to boot. For okizeme pressure, and a throw is a simple but very effective nitaku tactic. In other situations it's kind of slow so use it from mid distances to be safe.

・Throws
- A damaging throw at 70 damage points.
- Does 60 points of damage. Opponents can tech-recover from this, keep the pressure on if they do.
- Even if the opponent tech-recovers from this you will still be at advantage.
- Follow this up with a down attack.

Other Useful DS Moves
- A great move in DS, this parries the opponent's elbow and high punch attacks with a nasty kick. You'll be at a large advantage after a successful sabaki so apply nitaku with a strike or throw next. The is a rather risky high, so hitcheck that to lessen the risk.

- This will sabaki what doesn't; kicks and knee attacks. If guarded you can fuzzy but as the sabaki startup frames are slow don't get too confident.

Combo:
(successful sabaki), , - works up to middleweight characters​

- At 10 frames, Vanessa possesses the fastest move in the entire game. This will interrupt a lot strings when other characters can't, and leaves you at a great advantage on hit. Cool to use against opponents who try to punish you with a throw. Be careful of its very short range.

- Insanely strong, this thing crushes highs and sabakis lows (but not circulars). Of course it sabakis so it's a very, very handy move.

/- An attack that shifts you slighty off-center, and causes a head crumple on anything greater than a minor counter. There's a knack to using it well so I haven't been using it much, but there was one Vanessa player who made it one of his signature moves!

Combo:
/, ,
(*/, is easier to do and should be just as (if not more) damaging. It works on everyone including Taka except Shun in open stance- erdraug)​

- 2 mid hits with decent range, also safe on guard.

- On guard this leaves you at -1 and crouching, if your WS is quick enough it can't be interrupted. On counterhit you can combo, so hitchecking is important here.

Combo (counterhit):
CH, , - for all characters except Taka​

- A full-circular low that sees you recover in a crouching state. Leaves you at -5 on normal hit, 0 on counterhit. Not a bad move, but on guard it's punishabe by a knee-class attack so don't get predictable with it.

Basic DS Strategy
・In situations where the opponent can fuzzy go for a crouch throw, string, , .
・In situations where the opponent is unable to fuzzy go for a standing throw, string, , , .

Rather than trying to force a nitaku guess in DS you should concentrate on lows, fighting at distance, and string attacks. Chipping away at your opponent is the better approach when in DS. Use your sabaki moves to turn the opponent's offense against them and break them down. Of course this method has its risks and isn't so great for dealing damage quickly so switching to OS when the situation calls for a different approach is advisable.

Vanessa's Offensive Style
OS Characteristics, Strengths and Weaknesses
A style with a heavy emphasis on striking attacks. There are a lot of moves in OS that leave you at advantage when guarded so this stance is great for keeping the pressure on opponents. For those 'yutori' type defenders, fuzzy-guarders and evaders there's the catch throw, a type of move sorely lacking in DS. Vanessa has a lot of strong high and low moves in OS so watch out for opponents who like to crouch and punish.

Basic OS Skills
・Elbow class
- A general 14f elbow. This elbow has strings; and . Hit confirm the and go to against crouchers or when you get a counter hit. For starters though, doing and then should cause enough trouble for your opponents.

・Upper class
- A great OS move, this is a 16f half-circular special high. On counterhit it will cause a head crumple giving you a combo opportunity. requires you to hold forward and hit , tapping the direction will give you , a totally different move (*this move can also be buffered by inputting - steelbaz). It's tricky at first but this is a great move that you should practice and integrate into your game. Try doing it after . Instead of releasing the direction so it returns to a neutral position, you might find easier to hold forward after executes.

Combo (counterhit):
(CH), , - for all characters​

・Knee class
- (aka "the Flaming Swedish SpamKnee") A jumping knee attack. This move is great for crushing lows and as an abare tool. If you're gonna go down, go down fighting in a blaze of glory with this move!

Combos:
, , - will work up to middleweight characters
, , , - for heavyweights (omit against Taka)​

・Circular attacks
- A half-circular in the opposite direction to . On counterhit enter to enter the Takedown position. Be sure to always enter anyway. On hit this move leaves you at a slight disadvantage so use with caution.

・Throws
- The most damaging throw from OS. Go for a follow-up after this.
- This transitions to the Takedown position. I personally never use this move, I prefer instead.
- This has the same properties as DS.

Other Useful OS Moves
- A catch throw that transitions to the Takedown position. An excellent move that easily takes care of the 'yutori' defense and fuzzy guard.

- Vanessa's most devilish tool. A special high that crushes lows, so use this when you think the opponent will try a . If guarded, keep the pressure on with or .

Combos:
, , - for lightweight characters
, , , - for all characters except Taka​

- Similar to DS but the second hit causes a stomach crumple on counterhit.

Combo (counterhit):
CH, slight delay, , , - for all characters (omit against Taka)​

- A mid kick that floats on a counterhit.

Combo (counterhit):
CH, ,

This move will also stagger crouchers so hit the follow-up . The hit confirm for this is tight, though!
Combo (on a crouching opponent):
, , ​

- The Switch Shoulder. This can be done in OS and DS, and allows you to switch from one style to the other. Do it repeatedly and you'll lose track of what style you're in, . It's only -2 on guard and it's especially handy when going from OS to DS as you'll be ready to employ those defensive DS moves off the bat.

Basic OS Strategy
・In situations where the opponent can fuzzy go for , , , , and .
・In situations where the opponent is unable to fuzzy go for , a throw, , , , and .

You can fight a relatively 'standard' fight in OS. Suppress your opponent's abare with your arsenal of striking attacks, and when they start locking up and defending more go to the catch throw to break through their defenses. At mid distances using , and to at least make contact with the opponent will make it easier for you to keep the pressure on and overwhelm them.

Vanessa's Intercept Position
Let's take a look at the Intercept Position, otherwise known as 'the Inoki' (see this Ali vs. Inoki match to see what he means- Modelah). Sorry for getting carried away with all the frame information here. If it's a little too much to take in, when you're in the Inoki just hit , and when the opponent locks up hit a low. And that's all you need to know for the time being. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

How to enter Intercept Position
1. DS- A low half-circular kick.
2. DS- A high full-circular kick.
3. In DS, whenever you've been knocked down and you're face-up-feet-toward the opponent hit as you're landing and instead of tech-recovering BANG! You're doin' the Inoki!

Moves from Intercept Position
1. - Stomach Break (aka "the Flaming Swedish ScrubKick").
A mid kick, and your main weapon when doin' the Inoki. On hit you'll still be in the Intercept Position and at a large advantage so from here you can mix in again, or try or . If guarded you'll be at +3 but will still lose to a strong low that is 16f or faster (the fastest moves from Intercept are and at 20f each). Use (see below) to avoid lows. That being said, if opponents aren't used to 's properties they will have a hard time dealing with it. Don't forget you can Quick Roll away if things don't work out with // or .

2. (hit)- Sink Rush (hit) Raid Bottom.
Your secondary weapon when in Intercept Position, this is a half-circular low that can link to a hit throw. Ideally you should be trying to hit this whenever you're in Intercept. If it's guarded though, say your prayers! If things don't go according to plan get ready to hit to avoid getting hit by a low.

3. - Brush Off.
This will sabaki low and attacks, but not circulars. You will recover standing regardless if you get a successful sabaki or not. The amount of advantage frames you recieve upon a successful sabaki depends on the move it was used against; if you sabaki a kick is guaranteed, if you sabaki a punch go for a throw.

4. - Spin Kick.
A full-circular high, you will recover standing. On counterhit is guaranteed. One the longest reaching moves out of Intercept Position, at times this can even hit back-jumping opponents.

5. - Intercept Nightmare.
A catch throw that leads to an Emelianenko Fedor-style MMA beatdown straight out of the Inoki. Usually hard to apply as opponents shouldn't be using a standing guard against Vanessa's Intercept Position.

6. // or - Crawling.
A way to move around while you're in Intercept Position, though it's so slow I don't know why the developers even put it in the game.

7. // or - Quick Roll.
Rolls you in your direction of choice and leaves you in a standing position. The roll generally leaves you within range of your opponent, and therefore leaves you extremely vulnerable to an attack.

8. - Beck.
A 'Come at me!' gesture. The only move in FS to have no meaning whatsoever other than to taunt, so naturally it doesn't have any tech or hit properties at all. There's absolutely no reason to use this, and whatever you do, don't do it after KOing someone! Don't go there!

As you can see, there's quite a lot you can do from the Inoki but I generally only use 1, 2, 3, 4, and on rare occassion, 5.

'From' Moves into Intercept Position Frames
from - You'll be at +4f. Your Intercept Position or will be defeated by an opponent's strong low attack if it is 15f or faster. Don't use this move at all if the opponent uses lows to hit you out of the Inoki.

from - You'll be at +5f. In most cases you should be OK following up with Intercept Position or .

from 'Ukemi Intercept Position'- The frames depend on what move was used to knock you down.

The 'Peek-a-Boo Inoki'
It's quite easy to catch opponents by surprise from the 'Ukemi Intercept Position' especially after moves like Pai's and , Aoi's and :, Lei-Fei's Dokuritsu-shiki and Brad's Neck Clinch . I also recommend recovering in the Inoki after getting hit by a slow combo ender such as a somersault kick.

The 'Double Inoki'
As you're already very low to the ground, when you get hit out of Intercept Position you can re-enter the Inoki very quickly. It depends on what moves the opponent uses of course, but this can make it very hard for the opponent to read what you're going to do. Be careful not to get too predictable with it though.

The 'Inoki Fake-out'
Getting into Intercept Position and doing nothing at all is actually a great way to dodge attacks, like Shun's , for example. When recovering into 'Ukemi Intercept Position' you may be tempted to lash out against your opponent's okizeme attempts, but you'll find that most often you'll eat a counterhit instead. However, if you stay in the Inoki and the opponent's oki attempt goes over you, you can hit for big damage.

So, there's a lot to the Intercept Position though the commands for each move are quite simple. It can be difficult, however, to get consistently good results with the Inoki. Still, it's unique in the fact that only Vanessa has a knockdown recovery like this, and all kinds of wonderful mischief become possible depending on how it is employed.

I guess the best thing is just to do the Inoki, and get a feel for what works and what doesn't work for you.

Well, that ended up becoming quite long so I'll end my post there. Thanks for reading!

Kaibutsu

 

I was leaning towards making you get working with this at last,
but here it comes apparently - looking forward to it's completion indeed!

( And i think "yutori" can be translated as "players insisting on cheating by blocking vanessas 9K in immoral and scrubby ways". that must be what it means to be a "yutori"-player! )

 

Oho, I can see what you did there modelah, baaaaah!

But there is a grain of truth to that, so i will keep this.. this "slandering" in mind for the next time we fight , touché my frie..bastard!

 

Thank you for undertaking this task Modelah - translating Vanessa-related posts must be intimidating since they have to be twice as long.

 

Good translation thanks for doing this modelo ^_^

I thought it was a bit odd he added the buffer of WSP, but not the buffer for OS 6_K. OS 6_K can be buffered 236K, other than that good stuff from kaiB.

 

Very interesting mainly when it comes from mr kaibutsu... Big thk for the time u spent translating this...

 

Some reminders about two moves mentioned briefly by Kaibutsu:

When spacing, OS knocks down on any hit, has massive reach and pushback, making frames on block irrelevant. It also sidecrumples on side NH so it's actually also useful up close, after a successful evade.

OS is somewhat more complicated since its followups require hit-checking:

OS blocked IS can be interrupted by moves 19f exe or faster (eg. loses to )
OS NH IS will be interrupted by (i) 10f jabs (loses to DS , also tested with Sarah's ) (ii) anti-MP attacks (eg. DS MP sabaki)
OS CH IS can only be interrupted by anti-MP attacks.

OS blocked IS can be interrupted by 19f exe NON-LOW moves or faster
OS NH IS can only be interrupted 10f jabs (only Aoi can reverse it, for zero damage)
OS CH IS cannot be interrupted (Aoi can still reverse it though)

OS blocked IS can be interrupted by moves that are (i) crouching (ii) back turning (iii) airborne (tested with ; moves that don't jump from the first frame, such as OS might still lose though) (iv) standing and 17f exe or faster (counts as counter hit) (v) standing and 18-24f or faster exe (counts as recovery hit) (vi) throws
OS NH IS can be interrupted by (i) crouching (ii) back turning (iii) airborne (iv) standing and 17f exe or faster (counts as recovery hit) (v) throws
OS CH IS can be interrupted by (i) crouching (Aoi's ) (ii) back turning (Aoi's ) (iii) airborne attacks.