Starting out with El-Blaze #1

Note: This was written by Donburi and translated by Modelah

Donburi's VF5FS Beginner's Blog Post

Hi! I'm Donburi, a Blaze player from Saitama, Japan. I've been playing since VF4. In VF4 and VF4 Final Tuned I mained Lei-Fei, and since VF5 I've been using Blaze (though I dabbled with other characters from time to time). I was able to participate by some freakishly good luck in the Fighter's New Generation 5 (格闘新世紀5) tournament, an official Japan-wide event held by VF5R and Sega.

This is written for beginning Blaze players and will cover the basics. I'll keep the jargon to a minimum and split basic combos into 2 categories; Taka and everyone excluding Taka.

Blaze's Characteristics, Strengths and Weaknesses
Fighting in his high-flying Luche Libre style, Blaze's unique movements and attacks are great for perplexing opponents.

Blaze has a variety of weapons at his disposal, in particular very good full-circular attacks and a variety of strings. This makes Blaze especially well-suited for close range fighting.

Blaze's reach is very short due to his small stature meaning he doesn't fare so well in long range engagements. He's also classed as a super-lightweight, so the combo damage he takes from being launched is particularly high compared to almost every other character.

Basic Skills
: A 14f mid. A punch that closely resembles the common elbow attack of other characters. This is your basic go-to attack when you're at advantage. On counterhit or against a crouching opponent you can follow up with , if you don't you'll still be at advantage so you can choose to to attack with a mid or a throw for nitaku pressure.

: A 19f half-circular low punch. Use to chip away at the opponent's health bar or as a final match-winning blow. Puts you at a slight disadvantage on normal hit.

: A 16f mid. Blaze's signature upper-class attack, it will float opponents on counterhit giving you opportunities to follow up with a combo. For a character with such a short reach this is a comparatively long-reaching move for Blaze, so use this if you think the opponent is out of 's range. Use with caution as this move will leave you in a back-turned state.

Combos:
CH, BT, - against everyone
CH, BT, , - against Taka
​

: An 20f mid. aka 'the Vaulting Box Jump'. Slow but will crush lows. Starts combos on normal hit making it useful against crouchers and fanatics. Leaves you at a sizeable disadvantage on guard but relatively safe as no attacks are guaranteed except for Wolf's .

Combos:
, , - against everyone
, - against Taka
​

: A 31f mid. A chop with a slight retracting animation that can dodge certain attacks and hit with the right timing. Use this at slight disadvantage when the opponent's attacks whiff. Can start combos but if you're far from the opponent you won't connect.

Combos:
, , - against everyone
, - against Taka
​

: A 17f mid. On hit press to go to Rocket Discharge (RD). Get used to inputting all the time, as you'll only enter RD on hit anyway.

(hit): A 20f special-high hit throw. As I mentioned, Blaze's reach is really short. Even you cause the opponent's attacks to whiff by backdashing in most cases his own retaliatory attacks won't reach. This is one move with good reach however, so it's great to use after backdashing (). This move is a half-circular special high (it'll mid-hit crouching opponents) and is relatively safe on guard so I think it's one of Blaze's better moves. Don't forget about the throw on hit.

: A 22f special-high. Slower and has a shorter reach than . "So what's the point of using it then?" I hear you ask- Well, when you get used to it this move can really screw with your opponents. On guard hit to enter RD at great advantage, on hit it will cause your opponent to stumble, pressing will enter RD. From there, hit RD to practically guarantee a combo for extra damage. So basically once you enter entering again will allow you to enter RD on hit or guard.

(hit), RD, , - against everyone
(hit), RD, - against Taka​

: A ???f special-high. Great for using as a surprise attack as it starts from so far away it seems like nothing will connect. Hit to enter RD on either guard or hit. On hit it causes a stagger so like , the RD will practically guarantee a combo. At first it can be hard to hit confirm, but even if it's guarded enter RD and go for anyway, this will beat most attacks apart from the opponent's or .

Combos:
(hit), RD, , - against everyone
(hit), RD, - against Taka
​

: A 17f high full-circular. In fact probably one of the best high full-circular attacks in the entire game. Full-circular so the opponent cannot evade it. Hitting it from the front will side-turn the opponent. After that, try to get a read on how your opponent will react but I think or are good to start with. If gets you a side counterhit try these combos.

Combos:
(side CH), , , - against everyone
(side CH), , - against Taka
​

Special Movement
: Rocket Discharge (RD), Blaze's special run. Good to use as okizeme with good timing. Your main options after this are:
(mid), (mid,mid), (mid, high guard break), (catch throw), (high unblockable). If hits basic combos are:

Combos:
, , - against everyone
, - for Taka​

or : Blaze's Tiger Step (TS). This is also good for okizeme. Options after this are:
(hit)(mid to hit throw) and (on success)(catch throw).

Throws
Throws here are front throws only listed from high to low damage. Wall, side and back throws have been omitted.
Standing throws:
or (70)
(60)- Good for ringouts if the opponent is near the edge.
(60)
(55)- Can start combos if opponent is near a wall:

(wall hit), , - against everyone
(wall hit), - for Taka​

(50)
(50)
(45)- A catch throw
(40)- Good for ringouts if you are near the edge.
(wall hit- 21)- Good for ringouts if you are near the edge. Hit to enter RD.

Low throws:
(60)
(55)
(20)- You can combo after the throw:

, , - against everyone
, ​

(0)- After the throw, is guaranteed.

, , - against everyone
, , , - for Taka
​

Basic Strategy
Well, that was long-winded but here we are, let's get into basic strategy for matches! (there's always more than one strategy of course, just use this for reference)

Close range (touching distance):
Hammer out those 's, 's and 's, then go for that upper. for evaders, and or a throw against standing guard. Throw out if things are getting dicey. For okizeme, use RD or TD against those that tech-roll, and for those that don't hit with a down attack.

Mid range (about the reach of a middle kick):
Restrain yourself with and , then close the gap in an instant with an upper or . Use that sneaky backdash to attack . If your attacks whiff, go to .

Long range (when a middle kick will not reach):
Don't rush in to attack. Wait patiently and look for chances when the opponent's attack whiffs. If you really want to attack with something, try to catch them by surprise with to RD. You could of course just guard against attacks and get closer to your opponent to apply your close range game, too.

From the author
The combos here are very simple, and there are many more out there. Some of the more damaging combos depend on the opponent's character and foot stance so once you're comfortable with the basic ones here, you should look around gaming sites for more ideas or experiment for yourself.

For people just getting into this game there'll be many hurdles to overcome but whatever you do, don't get discouraged! Don't give up!! Don't forget this and best of luck! (yes, I know what I'm talking about!)

Donburi

Additional posts- These can be found after the main post (edited)
No. 107
What should I do after a successful evade?

-Tamango
​

No. 109
It's difficult to say, it really depends on the move you evaded and the amount of frame advantage/disadvantage you had. For starters though, I recommend or . If counter hits a side-turned opponent you can go for a combo. Use this if you evade or another attack from a crouched postion. If the opponent stands and guards is effective. On contact inputting will put you into RD. From there, RD can crush your opponents attacks in most cases. When it hits, use for starters. When opponents start to get wise to RD and guard or try to evade, switch to RD to throw them.

-Donburi
​

Go to Starting out with El Blaze #2

 

Great! I like a lot these translations thanks!

will be a translation for Goh?

 

I think 46 P is another move beggining blazes should know Great for high interrupts with out the downsides of 2P with string follow ups

 

Yes indeed. Is a good option also after your -5 attack gets block to keep pressure going. And whats great is that you can follow up that string with a mid as well. I've been trying to keep using that string more often since I got back into playing the game again.

 

Updated: Check it out @daRockReaper and other Blazers.

 

One thing I've been wanting to add to this --

is a really important blaze move that goes into RD by pushing on block or hit

The reason this is so important starting out is because it teaches you how to watch your opponent, and introduces you to RD mind games.

The basic rule is to watch your opponent's reaction after . If they attack, chances are you have an abare opponent, in which case you'll focus on counter hits and whiff punishes. If they block, you have a more defensive type, which for any blaze player means you should throw more to open them up. You can use this information to decide how to handle your opponent.

Based on your opponent's reaction to , you have the following answers:

Standing & Blocking:
+ catch throw (guaranteed on counter hit)
+ unblockable

Crouch Block (they may start to do this after a few catch throws):
+ low catch throw
+ mid cartwheel into combo

Low Attack (especially ):
+, low crush into RD combo
goes over lows and under highs, into combo
jumping drop kick, can set up a ground throw or okizeme
drop kick that doesn't combo, but looks cool and gives a wall splat
flying elbow that looks ridiculous, but gives you advantage if you both tech roll

High Attack:
see above, goes under high attacks
++ roll into dragon uppercut , also combos

Mid Attack:
jump cancel, not a damage option, but if followed up with +, you can catch someone by surprise

I call a "litmus test," because it can give so much information about my opponent. The way they react to this string will dictate how I play against them for the rest of the match.

 

Awesome post, @Phoxx!

 

Nice! I like this whole starting out with series. Who is next in the pipelines?