Airegin's VF5:FS Blog

Hey hey everybody!

Over the last few weeks I've really enjoyed reading Social Ruin's personal blog, and after reading SMB's comment about there being interest in other bloggers (along with some prodding from my good buddy East Bay Kage), I've decided to go ahead and give it a shot. I've decided to color code my entries as well, thanks to Social for the inspiration and overall format.

I'll start with some background knowledge. I've noticed people often have a rough time pronouncing my name. It's Air-a-gin, with the g making a j sound, like the drink Gin. It's an old jazz standard that I became a big fan of after hearing it for the first time on a Wes Montgomery album. If it's a bit too cumbersome for you, my real name's Roger, feel free to use that.

I grew up loving video games as a kid, and growing up with an older brother meant competitive games saw the most play at our home. The original of these was of course Street Fighter 2, in the arcades and especially on the Super Nintendo. I remember sitting and playing each other for hours at a time, and mostly him absolutely destroying me every chance he got. This literally went on for years. A new fighting game would come out, we'd pick it up, he'd annihilate me. It seemed like nothing I did ever helped. He'd always find a way to pull a round out on me, or figure out some new strat that I couldn't handle. After years of that, and of course after I'd grown up a bit and finally had a more steady head on my shoulders, I started to fight back.

I believe this beginning is what has given me my thirst for knowledge. When I approach a game now I try my hardest to immerse myself in it, and truly figure out the bones, so to speak.

My first VF was VF1 in the arcades. The 3D graphics were mind blowing. I was just a kid at the time, so the game for me mostly consisted of picking Jeffry and spamming the kick button, and then hoping to hear his epicly digitized "I WIN!!" quote. VF2 was a game I don't remember seeing in a lot of arcades around the area at the time. I also never owned a Sega Saturn, so my little experience came from renting the console at Blockbuster and playing it for weekends at a time. I mostly remember how awesome Sarah's coliseum stage was with the darkness & lightning, and of course the rockin' soundtrack. I'm really looking forward to the re-release in a few months.

Then came VF3. I remember seeing it for the first time in '96, and being completely blown away by it. The graphics at the time honestly were the pinnacle of awesomeness. Aoi's snow stage, Jacky's skyscraper, Sarah's subway, and my personal favorite Wolf's desert; were all so fully realized and felt so alive. The characters looked so fluid and real. The evade button made it actually feel like you were playing something truly different, you could actually avoid moves! In short, I loved it; and years later I got it on the Dreamcast and played the hell out of it. A classic.

VF4 vanilla and evo was when I decided that VF really was my favorite franchise, and after immersing myself in them was when I began to step back from the other franchises and really only see myself as a VF player. Instead of getting together with my buds and playing some Tekken Tag or Guilty Gear, suddenly I just wanted to play VF4; and I began to really recognize what I saw as superior mechanics and a wonderful focus on fundamental play. When VF5 vanilla came out I was going through a lot in my life, and as such I never got into it like I should have. Now, with FS, I've really tried to emerge from my shell and become a part of this wonderful community.

Alas, this has been a long introduction, so I'll be brief for the rest. What you can expect from this blog in the future is a detailed analysis of: my practice routines, my research methods, as well as my general approach to playing the game. I plan on posting an update every other day or so (don't hold me to that too tightly ) and want to highlight fun matches, great competitors, and my general love of the game and desire to improve. Thanks for stopping by.

Also watch the IPW stream this Friday, 11/9/2012, at http://www.twitch.tv/iplaywinner/ and enjoy No Mercy Fridays live from Southtown Arcade in San Francisco, California!!!

- Airegin

 

Kage vs Wolf since high school

 

Thanks for the compliment

I look forward to reading your updates and seeing how your routines/research differs from mine.

 

Woot woot. awww YEAAAH. I'll be reading all of these and posting in here from time to time. look forward to it

Okay, time to read the newest blog hotness on vfdc.

EDIT:
Finished the blog post. thoroughly enjoyed it.

Airigen,

Man do i hear you. I remember seeing VF1 for the first time ever at fronteir city (amusement park in oklahoma) while on my 6th grade band trip. It was so damn amazing, one of the first polygonal games i think i ever saw. Just blown away. Silly to think of it now, when i go back and watch it on youtube.

I really just used akira and spammed 66kk.

Then then then, VF2 came out, saw the commercials, and had to play it. omg, looked like the greatest graphics ever (again, silly now, going back and watching it.) Just like you did, airigen, me and social ruined rented the sega saturn--from hastings, our local blockbuster equivalent--and played it on numerous a weekend. I think shun was my favorite. Social used jeffrey just to do his triple knee throw.

Such good times, such good memories. Then evo, then vanilla. Didn't make any attempt to learn the mechanics of the game or be competitive till vanilla though. And even then, i didn't really understand what it was i was trying to do, and never bothered to be fundamentally sound. I was more of an abare rushdown machine with both pai and lei fei. worked well enough, but i hit a glass ceiling, and then got bored of the game and quit. (mind you after a couple years of playing. it took a while to burn out, and i was pretty deadly with my abare no defense style. )

Now i'm trying to relearn the game on a more cerebral, defensive orientated level.
look forward to reading more blogs, and playing you more games.
thanks for sharing

 

Hey hey,

I'd like to start this entry by discussing my philosophical approach to learning in general. I believe humility is central to getting anywhere when it comes to something you care about. Be it your hobbies, friendships, even relationships. Ego will always rear its ugly head, but as difficult as it is, it needs to be kept in check. As soon as you start to believe that you're "better than everyone else" and that "everyone is beneath you" is when you need to move on from whatever it is you're doing.

Now fighting games in general seem to appeal to people that really enjoy making disparaging comments about others. Sometimes this is done in such a way to foster further growth and share knowledge, but other times it is done to humiliate. In my own personal experiences, I can remember going to arcades ever since I was little, and of course being bullied by other players that were older.

In a more recent case, I remember enjoying some rounds of Capcom vs. SNK 2 a few years back with my brother and my girlfriend at the time. We were just chilling at the machine, having fun, making jokes; generally enjoying ourselves. After I closed a narrow set out against my brother, a guy that'd been hovering around the machine proceeded to kinda elbow his way in and challenge me. Long story short, he beat me pretty handedly. But in the aftermath, as I said "good game!" and was about to walk away, he gave me the dirtiest look and started laughing.

That kind of attitude disgusts me. I don't know quite what it is, but fighting games seem to attract that mentality. I will be the first guy to stand here and say I'm not an amazing player. I don't think of myself as particularly good. I have a lot of bad habits that I'm trying to work out, but it takes serious time. When you have people belittling others just for the sake of it, not to mention belittling the obvious time they've been investing in their game, then you have a serious problem.

When I play someone, I give them nothing but respect, and I expect nothing less in return. Remember that we all started somewhere.

Sorry for the wall of text.

Anyways!! This last Friday was the second No Mercy Friday of the season, and I was absolutely pumped because I was sure Crazy Drunk & Renzo were going to show up. Last time the date was confirmed pretty late and a lot of regulars weren't able to make it out. I took first place, but to me it felt like I didn't get to earn it because the two top players weren't there.

In the past tournaments, Crazy Drunk had a knack for destroying my momentum and sending me out of the brackets, so I understandably felt like I really had to step my game up. Part of it was definitely my lack of match-up knowledge against Shun, but also he was just fundamentally a much stronger player than I was. The desire to test myself against both him, and of course Renzo, has been the direct catalyst to me hitting the dojo as hard as I have been for the past couple months, and this week I got my chance.

Despite being embarrassingly free against Crazy in our first match, I came back and secured second place; an achievement that means a lot more to me than my win last tournament. Crazy Drunk, if you happen to be reading this, I really want to thank you man. The way you destroyed me the past several tournaments really made me want to step it up, and that led to us having a great match. I look forward to many, many more.

Then I finally got a shot at Renzo's fantastic Brad. I think this was my fourth tournament overall, and in my time at Southtown I'd never had a shot to play this guy. It might be hard to explain, but I was a big vf fan for a while, and I watched a ton of streams. I got to really like a lot of the players, and to be able to come out and actually compete against them now is almost unreal. I had a good start against him, but he adjusted quickly and swept the Grand Finals. Thanks for exposing my extremely weak jab game, now I know what to work on for next tourney.

Thanks to all the great players that came out. Nothing but respect to all of you and I hope to see even more next time.

Here's the archive if anyone's interested.

 

Hey bud, we need to get some games in sometime. I need wolf practice...well, need everyone practice lol.

 

Great blog man. Looking foward to our matches!

 

Roger try to come through next weekend and bring thru the eastbay crew. Renzo and crazydrunk chilled to almost 2:30am last night terrorizing us lol. Unbelievable how much you can learn from some of those beatings. Not just his Brad. And I had a really long set with me (EI) and crazydrunk (AO) using our pocket characters and i impressed myself and others with my Eileen play even tho I hadnt played her in a true set since FS came out. Renzo said i should probably use her at the next tourney which I may. I think norcal as a whole can level up by playing against you. I doubt its just wolf i bet any character you choose would be top level. Its scary as hell to play against your wolf tho. It used to be like that against Renzo but im getting better and i got a game off him convincing in a ft10 when it used to be so hard to get a round. Many of the other games were close also instead of the usual complete murderfest. Well let me know bro the door is always open to you and the crew.

 

Yay, we need more posts on blogs, i like this.

 

Practice, practice, practice. If you want to become proficient at anything, then you're going to have to repeat it again and again until it becomes second nature. When it comes to fighting games, that equates to spending excessive amounts of time in practice or training modes. I personally like to call it woodshedding, and to me woodshedding is the very foundation that one must lay to have any skills to seriously compete.

I like to begin every solo play session by first hopping into free training. I pick my main and, depending on the day, usually like to switch up the opponent I choose. In VF, depending quite heavily on the character you use, combos can differ pretty wildly between weight classes. Wolf has it pretty easy and can get very solid damage from a few universal combos, but someone like Akira, or Lau as I've been learning, has to do a lot more changing up on the fly. So I like to keep those changes fresh in my mind when I play. One day I'll choose Taka, the next El Blaze, then Jean, and so on. That way my mind doesn't get stuck doing "canned" combos that don't work on certain weight classes.

If I want to work on my ring awareness, then I'll switch up different stages as well, but most of the time I like to woodshed in Wolf's Snow Mountain stage. I find it very peaceful and calming. A lot of it comes down to the music. As my earlier post mentioned, I love VF3, and a lot of this love comes down to the music. Wolf's desert theme in particular stirs a lot of nostalgia, and I think it's a very soothing theme to listen to while practicing inputs and warming up your hands. Plus the walls in the stage give you a canvas to play with for wall setups.

The first thing I like to do is work on movement and try to loosen up my wrist. Until FS, I used to always play VF on pad. I never felt like movement was particularly intuitive on the pad, and so I was always a little stiff when it came to evades and dashes and all that. Now that I play on stick, I feel like so many more options have opened up, but my hands are taking a while to catch up. Therefore, the movement exercises are extremely key to forcing new ways of playing into me. Box stepping, stair stepping, evade dash canceling; pretty much anything that encourages rapid, precise movement is what I like to focus on.

After that it comes to character specific stuff: combos, setups, practicing the more difficult inputs to make them second nature. For Wolf it's usually doing some bread and butter combos for whatever weight class I'm fighting, practicing hit throw timings, making sure I can throw out those fastest input Giant Swings and easily perform the 270 degree rotations for Burning Hammer and F5; pretty much anything I know I'm gonna be using a great deal.

Then I practice my wall setups from all the positions I know just to hammer them into my muscle memory. My wall game is still pretty new to me. I've only been doing it for a few weeks now, so I still drop things I shouldn't be. However, every time I do it in dojo it just strengthens it, and i feel it getting stronger every day.

I like to end by drilling the movement again a few times, then I move on into actual playing. Lately though, I haven't been spending a ton of time in Ranked like I used to. I've realized a big hole in my current game is matchup knowledge. When it comes to fighting someone that really knows their character, and all the tricky setups, I tend to get lost and my relative inexperience rears its ugly head. Something that I've noticed helps a bit for that is turning the AI up all the way and trying to defend and punish against a character that you don't know very well. Of course, this is no real substitute for a great player behind the controls, but when it's just you its still a tool to use to improve. This is definitely better for some characters than other. Shun in particular feels like a totally different character in the hands of a player comfortable with his various "Shun-anigans", but you'll still get a more solid idea of what the characters strings are and what kind of punishment they have available. And of course, researching gameplay outside of the game through internet videos and streams helps immensely, but that's another topic for another blog some time soon.

Another much more difficult step I've taken to improve my game is picking up another character. I feel Wolf has a few built in attributes that make it so you can ignore parts of the game and still be extremely solid. A lot of it for me comes down to throw punishment being so strong, and the fact that I can sometimes ignore frames and just work on throw setups. I don't like this, and to better facilitate getting my head to approach it differently, I've been trying to pick another character up to "fill-in the gaps" so to speak. That character is Lau. I feel like in many ways, he's the anti-thesis of Wolf's style. He requires an extremely strong foundation of fundamentals and extensive frame knowledge for proper punishing. His combos are much more difficult to execute and his throws are fairly weak. To put it simply, all his strengths are qualities I really need to work on, and I feel like getting him up to a solid level would improve my Wolf play dramatically.

But I digress, this is my usual routine. What ritual do you guys follow when you load up the game? Feel free to comment!

 

If you don't start VF by holding circle to hear the old Sega music queue at the title screen then you're playing this game wrong.

 

Blog again my friend.
We need a blog into the mindset of the 'wolf flow chart'. The nasty relation of wolf groundthrow massacre. Also into the wolf 2p uppercut (ducking thingy) vs p throw followups. I know that's not the actual flow. And i know flowchart is a buzz word to denote lack of skill. I don't mean that at all.

I want an actual look inside the mindset of a wolf who uses the powerful tools. Oh yes, also the powerful full chop on wake up. how do we defend this intelligently. If you don't want to give a break down of 'how do i beat me wolf' i understand lol.

But i think a first hand look in a strong but not elite wolf's mindset will greatly help a strong but not elite player.

Again not an insult at all. For my money flash is the elite wolf. I think shangster is there but i do not know as i have not played him. I plan to do similarly with my goh, altho i don't know goh has the necessary frame traps to work. I will probably just outline good ideas for p sabaki grab. Keep up the good work. and bump bump bump

 

It's coming. And don't worry about the elite talk, I'm not an egotistical player. I think a lot of the success I keep having is from people not knowing how to approach Wolf quite right. It'll all be explained.

 

A) Don't tech and let it whiff
B) Tech and evade it (the P+K charge is half circular though)
C) Tech and jab it out as fast as you can

There could be more ways to deal with it, but this is what I use.

 

this is not your blog!! hehe.
Thanks for the tips, in alaska my connection is iffy rendering many timings of recoveries difficult. I definitely need to work on these.

Also, i would still like to request Airegin gives us the wolf's mindset into this set up. When/why/what prompts wolf to go for this. I noticed the timing syncs up very strongly with shoulder/shoulder combos.

P.S. congratz Eastbaykage on tourney $$ winnings.

 

Hey hey!

After some input from other players, and some comments in general that I've heard in streams and such, a lot of people seem to have a lot of trouble with the Wolf match up in FS. When this game first came out I remember there being a lot of talk about how individual match-up knowledge really wasn't the key to success, like it is in say SSF4. VF was more a game about knowing your opponent and making the right choices at the right times.

While I overall still agree with that assessment, the further you get the more you need to be prepared against solid play, and know how to fight someone that really knows their character. Thus, in order to make good reads and the right adjustments to succeed, you need to know what you're up against. This makes match-up knowledge golden.

Wolf at first glance seems like a very simple character. Yet, I think that initial impression is especially deceiving. One would probably expect him to have slow, straight forward attacks and strong throws. However, in FS he's become a generally very well rounded character. His real strength is his extremely strong ability to keep the opponent guessing at all times, and if you make a wrong guess it'll mean extreme damage. A Wolf that can stay on the offensive has all the tools available to make it very difficult for their opponent to find a way to take the reins of the match.

However, it's not all gravy with Wolf. I've heard some people say lately that they think Wolf is easily a top five character; that he's easily one of the strongest in the game just from a technical perspective. I believe this is extremely false. Wolf is definitely very strong in this, I'd say much stronger than when I played him in VF4, but the fact is so is the rest of the cast. Wolf is no where in the same league as the top tiers in this game, he's about as mid-tier as you can get. I can say with absolute certainty that at least: Akira, Jacky, Taka, Lion, Jean, Brad, and Shun are leagues ahead of Wolf in terms of options and tools to succeed.

The problem with Wolf is that he's honestly a little limited when it comes to his options. I've heard a lot of complaints from people that say all Wolf players look exactly the same when it comes to move selection and combos, and the reason for that comes from the fact that he really doesn't have a ton of different options. Compare this to a character like Shun, where you see everyone play him differently, and you'll see what I mean.

The trick is to be able to identify the options that work with Wolf, and to be able to counter them effectively. I'll start by breaking down the abilities that I think are most key to understanding Wolf.

Screw Hook ( )

A quick 14 frame mid with a high follow up that will beat out a lot of moves from the cast, as well as cover an evade direction since it's a half circular. Since it's a mid, if your opponent tries to use a "tricky" move, like a crush, you'll usually beat it out. And on top of all that, it's safe on block.The screw hook is one of the abilities that truly makes Wolf a fearsome opponent. If someone just starting out in VF fought a Wolf that knew how to use this ability, they'd probably think this is a "god move". On round opening, and even on Oki, this move is a bread and butter that you will see used again and again by just about every Wolf. Yet it has its weaknesses. If you're fighting someone that isn't hit checking, then you can duck the second hit and punish an otherwise "safe" move. Also, since it's only a half circular, if you evade to his belly you'll have the advantage.

Vertical Smash ( )

A 16 frame mid that's safe on block and leads to a heavy stagger on counter hit. This is a move I hear so much complaining about, mostly because of the stagger component. The easy solution is play moral. This is a move that's usually used to destroy players that like to abare. If you play moral, it's just another mid-speed attack. This move is often preceded by a , and if the hits then the Vertical Smash gets a +4 advantage, making it jab speed. Know this situation, and if you see it coming either play moral, or evade and punish since both moves are linear.

Level Back Crush (, can be charged)

Affectionately referred to as "The Flair Chop", the real power of this move is only present when it becomes fully charged. At full charge, which takes 45 frames, this is a mid attack that leads to a heavy stagger on hit or block. Plus being a half circular, it gives you protection against one type of evasion. Like most charge moves, this is mostly a psychological attack that is used when you think you have the opponent scared and they won't remember how to fight it. However you need to remember this takes 45 frames to execute. You'll usually see this ability used in an Oki situation, and in this situation you'll have a few options to beat it. First off, don't tech roll. Wolf will begin to charge and you can just wait it out, then get up safely. Second, evade to his back and you'll have the advantage. Third, use a quick attack, like a jab, to knock Wolf out of his charge and negate the whole ability.

Quick Shoulder ( )

A 16 frame mid that does colossal damage on counter hit and can cover a lot of ground. The big use for this ability is whiff punishing, like after avoiding a wake-up kick. - 15 on block, so it's a possible combo punish from most of the cast. Another ability that encourages moral play.

Jump in mix-ups (while descending and while descending )

On Oki, Wolf has two very strong jump in options to keep the opponent guessing. The jump in does a jumping elbow mid at 41 frames, that on hit gives a guaranteed low throw opportunity. It's safe on block, but it's also a linear attack; thus it's susceptible to evasion. The jump in is a low drop kick at 35 frames which either leads to a stagger on normal hit, or a knockdown on a counter hit. It's -18 on guard and also linear. A good way to deal with both of these is just evade in either direction when you see Wolf hopping in, which will negate both options.

Catch & Change mix-ups ( , )

I believe this simple mix-up is what makes people so salty about fighting Wolf. Wolf's wall game damage is around middle of the road I'd say, but he has a lot of great setups into it. Catch & Change both give Wolf the ability to throw his opponent in front of him, and Catch gives him the option of throwing behind him as well. These are a nightmare against an opponent that doesn't know the breaks. If Wolf has a wall in front of him, break neutral ( ) . If Wolf has a wall behind him, break . And on top of that, if you reverse nitaku right, it's very hard to catch someone in Catch & Change. Remember you can't be thrown while doing other abilities, so if you abare then it's going to be very hard to get you in this situation.

Ground Throw mix-ups ( , )

Much like Catch, the ground throw game mostly just makes the opponent watch their ring positioning. If you are near a wall, there's a good chance Wolf will chose the throw to throw you into a wall and start a combo. If you're not near any ring hazards, he'll probably go for a throw for the damage. Keep your eyes open and respond accordingly.

Standing Throw mix-ups

Wolf has one of the strongest throw games of the whole cast, having the potential to do 100 damage from the direction and 75 damage from the direction. This usually means breaking to make sure no Burning Hammers get through. However good players will switch up their throw directions a lot, and you'll have to get a feel for your opponent to know which to break, but even then it's a guessing game.

Low Throw mix-ups

nets you 80 damage, nets you 65 damage, and nets you 60. That's the priority, other than that it's a guessing game.

Heavy Middle Kick ( )

A 24 frame mid kick with relatively long range that's safe on block. This is one of Wolf's main combo starters, and it can lead to big damage combos even on normal hit. It's also a half-circular, so it's often a great Oki ability to catch evaders. With the relatively long start-up it can be easy to see coming, so either beat it out with something faster, block it, or evade to Wolf's back and gain the advantage.

Mow Down Chop ( )

A 20 frame mid punch with solid range that leads to a hard knockdown with a strong Oki follow up potential. This is usually used as a bound ability in just about every combo Wolf has, however by itself it's still a solid attack with a good Oki setup. It's safe on block, and the only real downside it that it's 20 frames. Either block it or evade it, as it's linear.

Rolling Savate ( )

A 26 frame mid kick that leads to a medium stagger on normal or counter hit. If this stagger isn't broken then half life combos become a very serious reality with this ability. Luckily it's not a terribly difficult stagger to break. The ability also has some very odd properties. During certain active frames to seems to eat highs and even lows. Yet, after a good amount of testing I can't quite hammer down exactly where this "sweet spot" is. Since it's a slow attack it can be jabbed out pretty quickly, and it can even be jabbed out right before it hits, yet somewhere in the middle it will eat a jab. Maybe someone else has the answer to this mystery. It's safe on block and it's also a half-circular, so evade to Wolf's back for a successful evade.

Body Blow mix-ups ( )

A 16 frame mid punch with two very solid follow-ups and mild hit-checking ability. The follow-up is a second mid body blow that's - 15 on block, so that's a possibly combo punish from most of the cast. The follow up is a high half-circular that can easily be ducked and punish, much like the Screw Hook. An evade to Wolf's back will also give you the advantage.

Catch throws

Wolf has two catch throws that cannot be escaped that both give 50 damage.. has very deceiving range and is good against someone trying to space you out. has normal throw range but is still a good mix-up against someone expecting an escape-able throw. These are good options for unavoidable damage, but reverse-nitaku can still beat it out.

Those are the big "gimmicks" that I can think of off the top of my head. If there are any other trouble moves, drop me a comment and let me know and I'll try to throw something together for it. I hope this helps people wrap their head around Wolf a bit better, and maybe they'll realize that Wolf isn't as strong as they once thought.

 

Yikes looks like the direction smilies didn't format right and just came out as numbers. Not sure how to fix it, but the numbers should still be clear cut.

edit: fixed thanks to the technical wizardry of EastBayKage.

 

As noted on first frame kills blog:

You can still do multiple throw escapes vs wolf (sort of) if u have good reaction time. You can hold to escape 4p+g or p+g and still slide to 6p+g if u see the burning hammer duck animation. It's tough to execute for me, but i've been fortunate to get it a few times.

"All wolf's play the same"-> that is something i don't like about my character goh as well. Sometimes i wish i could play a more personalized style, being a former Lei user.

Nice write up Airegin.

 

I'd be interested to know how many people actually use this technique. I read about it too and I found it pretty intriguing.