Jacky Quick Start Guide

INTRODUCTION
This guide is for VF4 version C (the current PS2 version)
Some of it will apply to Evo, and some will not.
I welcome any additions from people who play evo regularly, and if I can get
more evo play, I'll figure out how to add evo tricks.

CONTENTS

• I. MOVELIST
  
• A. Top Tier Moves
  
• B. Second Tier Moves
  
• C. Third Tier Moves
  
• II. OFFENSIVE STRATEGIES
  
• III. DEFENSIVE STRATEGIES
  
• IV. COMBOS
  
• A. PRACTICAL
  
• B. IDEAL
  
• V. QR/TR SYSTEM
  
• A. SETTING UP BACKSTAGGERS
  
• B. BACKSTAGGER COMBOS

• jab --> throw. It takes eight frames to throw, and a MC jab stuns the
  opponent for 9 frames. A throw isn't guaranteed (they can attack you out of it)
  but punch-->throw happens so quickly, it often works because they don't react
  in time. The same thing works if you use a jab as a guaranteed counter to a
  blocked attack: If you have a guaranteed jab, you also have a guaranteed throw.
  An opponent who knows that might be expecting you to throw, and they'll be
  entering throw escapes to get out of that throw. By doing jab-->throw, you will
  screw up their escape timing and get the throw anyway.
  
  
• jab --> elbow. This is a strong flowchart. It's like doing your fastest
  attack immediately followed by your second-fastest attack. Generally, even if
  the jab is guarded, the elbow will interrupt any attack the opponent tries to do
  after your jab. This is a safe way to poke and encourages the opponent to block
  after they see a jab (which means you can start mixing in jab --> throw)
  
  
• jab --> beatknuckle or knee. This is the other half of the 50/50 guessing
  game I referred to. If you eat a jab (either as an interrupt, or as a guaranteed
  counter to a blocked move) you are stunned long enough that jacky can do a slow
  attack like +, or +... and your high punch/low punch can't come
  out in time to stuff it. On the other hand, if you don't attack right away, you
  leave yourself open to the jab --> throw trick.
  
  
• P and PP canned combos. Jacky has awesome built-in options after one or two
  punches... he can hit at any level, and some of the attacks are quite good.
  After punch, you can perform a quick sweep with d+K which is a fairly safe way
  to irritate people into guarding low. After two punches you can go into f+P
  vs. people who like to crouch, or poke with d+K vs people who always guard
  high, or use u+P vs spastic opponents who try to low punch right away after
  seeing PP. If the opponent is very defensive, you can go into all the elbow
  combo variations (PP,elbow,backfist,sweep for example) or you can push them
  back with P,P,b+P,K. You can also gamble with PPf+K, hoping the small delay
  between the second punch and the knee tricks them into eating it.
  For the most part, the mixups are fair. If the opponent always guards high,
  they can only take a little damage from P,d+K or PP,d+K. However they may fall
  for P,P --> throw if they always guard high.
  
  
• +jab --> if you hold forward on the stick while pressing P, you get a longer range
  jab, and it's a little stronger (it always has +1 advantage if blocked). Also, some combos
  require you to do the long range jab. So get in this habit.
  

• low punch --> throw. If I had to name the single best "trick" or strategy in
  VF4, this is it. You're using the fastest attack in the game (pretty much) to
  stun the opponent, and low punch's speed and the fact that it hits low means
  it has priority over almost everything. It gives you +5 frames advantage, and
  if the opponent doesn't react right away with an attack, your throw will
  succeed. If they DO keep somehow beating the throw, you can mix this up with
  stuff like low punch --> knee or low punch --> elbow.
  
  
• low punch --> dodge. After a low punch, the opponent is frequently tempted
  to attack in order to regain the advantage. Often they will attack with their
  own low punch. So if you do a low punch, dodge (or even low punch, back dash..
  or low punch, backwards crouch dash) ...it will avoid that counterattack and
  allow you to nail them during their attack recovery. So use low punch as bait
  and then find a way to make the opponent's attack whiff.
  
  
• low punch --> FC uppercut. If a low punch interrupts their attack, an
  uppercut (FC, +) will beat any attack they try. If you successfully
  interrupt their attack, the uppercut produces a heavy stagger which virtually
  guarantees a nice +,, combo. If they decided to block, Jacky's
  uppercut has very safe recovery.
  

• elbow stagger --> throw. If the elbow hits a crouching opponent, it will
  cause them to stagger backwards, which gives you a lot of initiative. You can
  throw the opponent as soon as their stagger animation ends, and the only way
  they can prevent this is by struggling to recover fully and then attacking you
  before your 8-frame throw finishes executing. If they prove they can do that
  successfully, mix up elbow stagger --> throw with elbow stagger --> knee.
  ---If you want a small amount of safe, guaranteed damage.. you can watch for the
  elbow stagger and then simply tap K when you see you got it. The kick comes out
  fast enough to hit them while they're still staggering.
  
  
• elbow --> throw. A MC elbow stuns for eight frames, and a throw comes out in
  eight frames. Your opponent must use an attack to stuff the throw, and
  by attacking they risk getting interrupted by a combo starter like jacky's
  beat knuckle or knee. This is the exact same 50/50 guessing game as listed
  above for MC jabs.
  
  
• elbow, backfist (+,). This is a great canned elbow combo, maybe the best
  in the game. The second hit is a fast "special high" which means the opponent
  must duck under it in order to get guaranteed punishment against jacky (and even
  then, they barely have time to throw him). If they try to low punch after the
  elbow, the backfist crushes it (and any other attack). If they block both hits,
  jacky is relatively safe. Abuse the crap out of this move until the opponent
  proves they know how to deal with it, and then start being more cautious with
  it. You can also occasionally do +,,+ to catch people trying to
  punish jacky after the first two hits.
  
  
• elbow stagger --> b,f+K+G. This works because after an elbow stagger, people
  like to recover and low punch or dodge. b,f+K+G is one of those rare attacks
  that can beat BOTH options.
  
  

• It can be tech rolled, which means that you can play tech roll mindgames afterwards.
  If the opponent fails to tech roll, you have a chance for at least a ground kick.
  That's 78 points of damage total, which is very close to the maximum throw damage you'll
  see in VF. Lazy opponents and average players may eat an + pounce if they fail to TR.
  
  
• Using the built in crouch dash allows Jacky to zoom in from halfway across the screen
  with this throw, the risk is that if you delay the second for too long before pressing
  +, you will zoom in and do a weak + throw.
  
  
• This is a great throw to use after elbow staggers, since an elbow stagger sometimes
  pushes the opponent a little too far away for an immediate throw.

• If you dash into this throw, all you really need to do is enter ++.
  In that sense, dashing into this throw is as easy as dashing into a ++ throw.
  
  
• When you finish the throw, the opponent cannot TR and you can play wakeup guessing
  games. Expert players may prefer this throw because you have a much bigger advantage
  against a grounded opponent than you do against someone who TR/QRs.
  
  
• If you're in a crouch and need a quick throw, this is the best to use. You need to
  only move the lever twice to do this throw from a crouch: once to forward, once to back.
  If you want to enter the throw command, you need to go from a crouch to neutral,
  then back to , then back to neutral, then back to . That means entering the
  trip'n'hammer is just a tiny bit faster than entering a sadistic hanging knee. That slight
  difference in speed could matter in situations where you barely reacted in time to throw.
  
  
• You will be open stance after this throw no matter what. If you prefer closed stance
  or want to switch Jacky's foot position for his , combo, press P+K+G after this throw.
  
  

• This turns into a killer throw if the opponent's back is to the wall. The clothesline
  wall throw does 65 points of damage and leaves Jacky in a pretty good position.
  
  
• This throw reverses the ring (switches your position with your opponent's) even if it's
  escaped... however if your back is at the edge of the ring and you use this throw, you lose
  any chance to turn the tables on the opponent, they can roll to safety afterwards while
  you're still struggling to get up. The trip'n'hammer is better in these situations.

• Use it any time you just want quick surefire damage against an opponent who is very
  good at escaping throws. This is rarely escaped.
  
  
• If you use the ground kick after this throw, you lose a little time to position
  yourself for okizeme (pressuring the downed opponent). You may prefer to forego the ground
  kick and instead try to hurt the opponent for trying a rising attack.. for example, you
  can hold and to hop over the opponent's fallen body, and if they try a rising
  attack right away you can connect with a backturned + into their back. This sets
  up a very damaging combo for you. You can also try sticking close to the opponent and
  attempting to interrupt their rising kick with a knee for a damaging float combo.

• if a move starts a float combo, it's usually throwable.
  
• if a canned combo that is three hits or more, you can often throw after
  blocking it.
  
• a lot of basic combos are throwable if blocked.
  
• if a move does a ton of damage, it's usually throwable if blocked.
  
• if a move leaves the opponent sort-of-on-the-ground but not technically
  grounded (i.e. they can't choose how to get back up), you can throw. For example
  kage's +++ causes him to land on his ass and get up slowly.
  Pai's +, leaves her in a splits position on the floor, jeffry's missed
  pounce leaves him facedown on the floor, etc.

• The move must have -8 recovery or worse. Check VFDC's movelists to see
  recovery frames.
  
• The move must recover close enough to throw. Lion's ++ is not throwable.
  Akira's double palm LOOKS too far away to throw, but actually is throwable.
  
• Some moves are hard to throw because they're only -8 or -9 recovery. Akira's
  knee is a good example. So is jacky's sidekick. You need good reflexes to throw
  these before the opponent can recover and attack you.
  
• Even if you get the timing for throwing blocked moves, you need to mix up
  your throws. All of jacky's throws can be escaped, and your opponent is allowed
  to enter 2 or 3 escape commands during the recovery of his move. So don't do a
  predictable throw like ,++ every time. Mix throws often.
  
• If your opponent proves pretty good at escaping throws, you can use a big
  attack instead and crush them during their throw escape attempts. If this seems
  too risky and unreliable for you, you can use the safe and fairly reliable
  P-->throw trick outlined earlier.

• If you go into the elbow combo right away after this move staggers, the elbow might
  whiff if the opponent doesn't struggle. You can handle this 2 ways: Dash a tiny bit
  and then elbow, which is still hard to struggle out of, or gamble on a big move like
  a knee (hoping the opponent is intentionally not struggling at all).
  I think the half dash is the best, safest bet.
  
  
• On a normal hit, Jacky is +2 frames, which means an elbow will stuff the opponent's
  low punch (or any other attack). So if you ever hit with this move without getting the
  stagger, an elbow is a pretty good idea anyway. The only way to avoid that elbow is for
  the opponent to dodge or guard, which means you can start mixing up throws.

• blocked elbow-backdash-+,. Learned this from blonde-one. After a
  blocked elbow, jacky can simply back dash for a half step and avoid most kinds
  of retaliation... a punch, a low punch, an elbow... then if he cuts loose with
  an immediate beat knuckle, he can catch the opponent during the recovery of
  their whiffed attack.
  
  
• +(hits)-backdash-+,. Works on the same principle as the above trick.
  
  
• +(MC)-+,. The + stuns the opponent for 5 frames, so by
  the time they can execute a low punch, jacky's beatknuckle has already arrived
  and smacks them out of it. That's assuming they have trained themselves to
  react to low punch with their own low punch. A lot of opponents just freeze (see
  the low punch section).

• puntkick-puntkick. After the first puntkick, the opponent's instinct may be
  to struggle and immediately low punch. However a second puntkick will usually
  beat that low punch due to timing and range issues. You can put the opponent on
  their ass again and at this point they've lost almost half their life and are
  staggering. A third puntkick or a "brain throw" would be pretty demoralizing
  here.
  
  
• puntkick-throw. This works best vs. poor strugglers, they way elbow
  stagger-throw does. It also is a nice mixup to puntkick-[attack]. Note that
  good opponents can get out of this 50/50 guessing game (and pretty much all of
  the 50/50 games I mention) by doing a dodge-throw escape. However this is
  difficult to do, takes a lot of inputs (so it's easy to screw up), and not
  everyone is aware of the trick. On top of that, you might do E-DTE
  perfectly, only to eat one of jacky's throws that you didn't predict.
  
  
• +(MC)-puntkick. This is exactly like + -> +, listed
  above. Jacky has stunned the opponent for five frames, so if they try to
  /+, the puntkick will arrive just in time to crush their jab. The
  puntkick also has nice forward range and will catch a backdash.

• Lau's big lifting palm, upknife-palm, dodge attack, or -+- combo
  
• Akira's shoulder ram, yoho, bodycheck, jumping kicks, or dodge attack
  
• Kage's PPPK, cartwheel kick, or f,f+K
  
• Pai's double swallow kicks or PPKK combo
  
• Jacky's beatknuckle, elbow-heelkick, KK, double sidekick, or dodge attack
  
• Sarah's dragon cannon, elbow-knee, triple sidekick (any variation), PPPK
  (any variation), any rising knee combo, and puntkick-sidekick
  
• Wolf's b+K+G (or b+K+G,K), also f+P,P (bodyblow, overhead hammer)
  
• Jeffry's shot knee-elbow, b,df+P-P (either hit), dodge attack
  
• Shun's dodge attack, OMP, +,, +,(any variation), mule kick
  
• Lion's meteor punch or
  
• Aoi's cancelled + variations, ,
  
• Vanessa's +, heel sword, dodge attack,
  
• Lei Fei's knife hand-lifting palm, puntkick, or dodge attack

• Heel Sword vs rising sweeps. If you stand just a hair outside of sweep range
  and use a heel sword, you can squash your opponent's low rising attacks. It's
  easier vs. short opponents, taller opponents have longer legs, so they might
  interrupt your heel sword.

• +(MC)-knee. The low punch gives you +5, the knee barely has time to stuff a
  punch or low punch. However you need to commit to doing +, + without
  any delay. The problem with committing to +, knee is that if the low punch
  didn't MC or didn't hit, your knee is gonna lose. You can't wait and see if the +
  interrupted, then decide to knee. Either way, there's always the danger your knee will
  just be evaded/blocked. So this trick isn't that hot.
  
  
• Knee-vs-throw: throw this out when you think the opponent will try either a
  throw or a throw escape.
  
  
• Knee-vs-dodge: Vs. a predicted dodge, if you throw out the knee the instant
  AFTER the opponent starts to dodge, it often smacks them as they slip to the
  side.
  
  
• Knee-vs-rising attack: It's hard to stuff high rising attacks, but the
  move I find has the easiest timing for it is the knee. If you start it at
  about the same time the opponent's leg starts moving, you'll knock them out
  of high rising kicks, and occasionally your knee will hop cleanly over rising
  sweeps. When that happens, you can try for an elbow stagger, but a find mind
  game might be to wait for the opponent to hold guard, then throw.
  
  Knee combos: See my complete list later. These will get you started.
  
  + -> ++, -> ++ -> + (ground kick) [89 points]
  This is by far the best knee combo, it pretty much never fails except vs. wolf
  and jeff, who are too heavy. Vs. anyone else, it's an easy 44% of their lifebar.
  
  + -> -> ++ -> + (ground kick) [83 points]
  This is the variation you can use on wolf and jeff. It's only 3% less damage.
  

• +-dodge attack. The opponent's first instinct after +, even if it
  they didn't successfully block it, is to try to elbow stagger jacky. Nobody can
  resist attacking here.
  
  
• puntkick-dodge attack. This works only at long range, where the opponent
  cannot throw you. Jacky is only -10 after the puntkick, so if they cannot throw
  you they have no guaranteed counterattack. That doesn't stop people from trying
  anyway.

• The best combo is + (crumple) -> ++ -> + (pounce) for 88 pts.
  To set that up, you need a situation where you have a little frame advantage and the
  opponent is tempted to do throw escapes. One such situation would be after blocking
  the opponent's high rising attack.
  
  
• If you don't do the max damage combo after the low backfist, you can set up a very
  damaging backstagger combo. For example, if you do + (opponent crumples) -->
  ,,+. The opponent will land facedown, head towards. If someone ever tech
  rolls in a face down, head towards position, you can time a sidekick at the end of that
  tech roll to hit them in the BACK, which obviously cannot be guarded. The result is
  a nasty backstagger animation. Use the backstagger to land a knee or b+K+G combo on
  them. It's not guaranteed but they really need to be prepared to struggle out of
  the backstagger in time to block your attacks.
  Remember, it can only happen from certain setups, like high backfist --> PPknee.
  
  LOW BACKFIST
  [command] +
  [exe] 15
  [guard] -8
  [MC] +2
  [damage] 15 pts.
  
  Strategy: This is a relatively weak low poke, but it gives enough
  initiative on MC to force a throw-or-elbow guessing game. It's also rarely
  blocked since it hits low, and is pretty much jacky's only good low attack.
  It's not elbow counterable if blocked, which is nice. That makes it effectively
  uncounterable except to immediate low throws. On MC, the low backfist combos
  into a sweep for a nice 40+ pt knockdown. It's worth occasionally committing
  to both hits.
  
  low backfist tricks:[list]
  
  
• LBF-kickflip. This old bastard has been around forever. If the low backfist
  MC's, a kickflip (at 14 frames) comes out fast enough to beat any attack they
  try, including a low punch. It's demoralizing to eat the kickflip, and the
  damage (over 1/4th lifebar for just the kickflip) makes it almost worth the
  gamble.
  
  
• LBF-dodge. The opponent might be tempted to elbow you after the lbf, so dodge
  and you might get a chance to at least try for a side throw.

• p-sidekick, throw. Works the same as elbow stagger, throw. The same guessing
  games apply.
  
  
• p-crescent(MC), throw. The crescent gives +9, so a throw is a good gamble.
  If they don't react right away, it will surprise them.. it's much less common
  than similar tricks like P-throw or elbow-throw.

• +-kickflip. Works best if the LBC interrupts. Kickflip owns a low punch here.
  
  
• blocked rising sweep-kickflip. The idea is to catch people who try to get
  cute and dash in to throw you after blocking a rising sweep (a very common VF
  trick).

• see the notes on +, for some possible setups for this.

• Stick to safe moves like punch, low punch, and elbow... use these to set up
  bigger, more rewarding attacks... like throws or combo starters.
  
  
• Elbow backfist a lot until the opponent proves they can deal with it.
  
  
• Low punch, throw. A lot. Any time you're getting rushed down, this is your
  catch-all way to take back the round. About four of these wins the match.
  
  
• Look to elbow stagger predictable low punches, you only need +2 for an elbow
  to beat a low punch. Realistically, +1 is enough (i.e. you stun them for 1 frame
  after they block your jab).. by the time the opponent reacts and tries to
  attack with something like +, they will probably have wasted a couple
  of frames. So your elbow should win.
  
  
• From long range, ++ and ,+ aren't bad to gamble with. If
  you're too far away to interrupt with a jab or low punch, you're probably not
  going to get interrupted at all. So worst case scenario is you allow one of
  these moves to whiff.
  
  
• Keep an eye out for both guaranteed throws and throws that will work due to
  psychological conditioning. When you have a guaranteed punch counter (after
  blocking something), work the P-throw until your opponent figures it out.
  
  
• Mix up throws when using the paksao reversal or in other situations where the
  throw is guaranteed.
  
  
• Crouch dashing into the , throw is very strong. It gives the throw some
  built-in extra range. If I stagger the opponent and want to throw them
  afterwards, this is the first throw I think to use. It also works as a long
  range surprise approach against cautious opponents who like to fuzzy guard or
  dodge when they see jacky crouch dash up to them.
  A good mixup to , --> [throw] is --> [FC uppercut]
  
  
• If the opponent uses E-DTEG a lot, there are tricks you can use to foil it.
  One is to use a "third throw"... a throw that isn't likely to be escaped by
  either a single or double throw escape attempt. Jacky's 'third throws' are
  + and ,++. Another useful way to deal with EDTEG is delay a
  throw (grab them after their slow dodge is almost done). Some attacks will also
  catch failed dodges for a nice reward, like jacky's knee.
  
  
• The delayed throw technique listed above also works against opponents who
  fuzzy guard a lot. The preferred throw for me is , ++ because it
  has the built in advantage of causing them to freeze up when they see jacky closing in.
  
  
• After a from-crouch uppercut, if the opponent is staggered, jacky's +,,
  is almost guaranteed. However if they don't struggle to get up, an immediate +
  may whiff. It helps if you do ,,+ (a half dash into +).. but by doing
  this you risk giving the opponent enough time to recover and guard your elbow-backfist.
  
  
• If you want to screw around with blindfighting, jacky's backturned +
  gives him monstrous frame advantage, and at point-blank range a throw is
  guaranteed (they cannot attack jacky out of it). Attacks that cause guaranteed
  throws are rare, so if you're going to do a risky attack, you might as well do
  the most rewarding one. Also, people who have played VF for a long time are
  used to seeing turn-towards sweeps, not the less common turn towards mid attacks
  (which started cropping up in VF3/4).
  
  
• Some rarely used and difficult to anticipate attacks that will kill someone
  with a sliver of life:
  lightning kicks (up to three)
  ,+
  ,+
  +,
  +,
  
  ----------
  Defensive strategies
  ----------
  
  
• Try to move in a crouch. Crouch dashing forward and back is better than
  regular dashes.
  
  
• One particularly good use of crouch dashing: crouch dash backwards after your
  moves are blocked, but only crouch dash juuuust far enough away to make their
  attack whiff. Tap guard to cancel the backwards crouch dash and then immediately
  do an attack. An example: Jacky's low punch is blocked. If jacky tries
  anything, the opponent's low punch wins. Jacky has buffered a backwards crouch
  dash after his low punch. Predictably, the opponent elbows and jacky scoots
  backwards, so the elbow misses. At the same moment, jacky presses guard to stop
  his crouch dash, then +,. The end result: The opponent whiffs an elbow,
  and jacky's +, smacks them before they can recover and block it. Jacky
  went from being slightly disadvantaged to being able to hit the opponent for a
  decent chunk of life.
  
  
• Learn to throw escape, especially when your big moves (like a knee) get
  blocked. Remember you can enter 2 and even 3 throw escapes if you've got quick
  hands.
  
  
• Speaking of quick hands, learn to do TE-G or DTE-G.. enter one or two throw
  escapes, and when you press [direction]++ for the second escape, let go of
  and keep holding guard. If your timing is good, you will recover in a
  guarding position... yet you will also escape throws if the opponent tries them.
  
  
• A harder and more rewarding version of the above technique is E-TE, E-DTE,
  and E-DTE-G. That's a dodge followed by a fast throw escape, or a dodge followed
  by two escapes, and finally a dodge followed by two escapes followed by the
  trick outlined above. The theory is this: If you have a move blocked and they
  have a guaranteed throw, you will
  A: dodge any attack they tried
  B: escape up to two possible throws
  C: If they did a delayed attack, a two part attack that tracks, or whatever
  else.. you come out of your dodge with your guard up.
  
  
• Learn to fuzzy guard. It's a LOT easier than the crazy stuff listed above, and
  almost as rewarding. The idea is simple: When you are in a bad spot and have lost
  initiative, or if you just want to stay safe and wait for the opponent to screw up,
  you only need to do the following:
  
  
• press down+Guard
  
• release the stick after about six or seven frames
  
• keep holding guard.
  
  If you are close to the opponent and not sure if they will do a midlevel or a
  throw, this technique can defeat both... you're technically going into a crouch,
  so if they tried a throw, it whiffs. At the same time, you only spend about 6
  frames ducking and another 6 standing back up, so if they did a typical fast mid
  attack (like a 14 frame elbow) .. you will stand up in time to block it. Good
  players fuzzy guard constantly. You can stand up from fuzzy guarding faster if
  you press on the stick as you hold guard.
  
  
• Don't be scared to use the paksao reversal. It's risky, but it's the most
  potentially rewarding reversal (damage-wise) in the entire game.
  
  
• When staggered, your best options are to struggle and guard, struggle and
  dodge, or struggle and low punch. If you think you're hot shit, try struggling
  and doing EDTEG (which is outlined earlier).
  
  
• When escaping throws, know your opponent's two best throws, at LEAST. Ideally
  you recognize every throw by its animation and know the escape, so when you see
  yourself eating a particular throw, you'll know what to do with it next time.
  
  
• A lot of defense is character specific, so I'll be adding that gradually.
  

Practical/Bread'n'Butter combos


• + -> ++, -> ++ -> + (ground attack)
  [89 pts]
  works vs anyone except wolf and jeff, vs them you should use in place of
  ++,.
  
  
• +, -> ++ -> + (ground kick) [68 pts]
  works on medweights up to lau, vs. heavies use +,,
  
  
• + -> ++, + (pounce) [88 pts]
  works on anyone.
  
  
• FC,+ -> +,
  works on anyone, but the opponent may struggle out of it, and if done too
  early the first hit will whiff

• + followups
  -------------
  >> +, -> ++ -> + (ground attack) [97 pts]
  [LW, either stance, may need max range interrupt in closed]
  >> +, -> ++,, -> + (ground attack) [95 pts]
  [MW up to lau, closed stance]
  >> ,, [93 pts]
  [MW up to lau, can substitute + at the end to be safe]
  >> ++, -> ++ -> + (ground attack) [89 pts]
  [MW]
  >> +,, [88 pts]
  [HW, closed stance. It is possible to land a miracle ,,+
  sometimes vs. HW in closed stance. This does 89 pts if you pull it off]
  >> + -> ++ -> + (ground attack) [83 pts]
  [HW, open stance]
  
  
• +, followups
  ----------------
  >> + -> ++ -> + (ground attack) [73]
  [MW up to shun. Open stance only for Lei Fei and heavier. Vs Lei, use
  + at the end of the combo in closed stance]
  >> ++ -> + (ground attack) [68]
  [MW up to lau. more reliable than above in closed stance]
  >> + -> ++,, -> + (ground attack) [71 pts]
  [Lau, open stance]
  >> + -> ,+ [67 pts]
  [Akira, open stance]
  >> + [69 pts]
  [Akira, closed stance]
  >> ++,, -> + (ground attack) [65 pts]
  [HW, open stance]
  >> FC,+ [61 pts]
  [HW, closed stance]
  
  
• FC,+ followups
  -----------------
  >> +,, [84 pts]
  [ALL, tough to struggle]
  >> +, -> ++,, -> + [90 pts]
  [MW up to Kage, closed stance, tough to struggle]
  >> +,, [82 pts]
  [ALL, somewhat tough to struggle]
  >> ++ [varies]
  [ALL, easy to struggle. See ++ combos below]
  
  
• ++ followups
  ---------------
  >> + -> ++, [83 pts]
  [LW (up to lei/lion, but not pai), easier in closed stance vs. lightest,
  vs. others requires max range open stance]
  >> + -> +, [83 pts]
  [LW up to Kage, max range open stance]
  >> + -> ++ [81 pts]
  [Pai, requires max range in open stance]
  >> + -> ++ -> + (ground attack) [80 pts]
  [MW, easier in closed stance vs. lightest, vs. others requires max range
  open stance]
  for 79 pts, same conditions vs. Vanessa]
  >> + -> + -> + (ground attack) [80 pts]
  [LW, easier in closed stance vs. lightest, vs. others requires max range
  open stance]
  >> + -> + -> ++ [79 pts]
  [AOI, requires max range max range MC in open stance]
  >> + -> ++ -> + (ground attack) [78 pts]
  [LW, open stance. Alternative combos: +, +, or ++,
  ,,,+ for 77 pts, same conditions up to vanessa]
  >> + -> + [81 pts]
  [Varies... vs. Lion in either stance, close range. Vs. Aoi and Lei closed
  stance, close range. Vs. Kage closed stance, long range. Vs Jacky open
  stance, long range]
  >> + (pounce) [70 pts]
  [HW]
  
  
• + followups
  -------------
  >> ++, + (pounce) [88 pts]
  [ALL]

• Press +++ or +++ to tech roll after a knockdown.
  You'll learn from experience that some move slam you to the floor in a special
  way and can't be techrolled. Also, moves that cause you to hit the ground while
  spinning are harder to tech roll (you need tight timing). Sometimes you'll hit a
  wall and land on your face and cannot tech roll.
  Tech rolls let you avoid taking extra damage after a combo, such as ground
  hits and pounces, but they put you into a position where you're forced to guess
  what the opponent will do next. You can't be hit during the tech roll, only
  at the end of it. There's no guaranteed way your opponent can hurt you if you
  choose to TR.
  
  
• A strong option at the end of the tech roll is to just guard. You can block
  any attack at the end of your tech roll, as long as you correctly guess whether
  to block high or low. Fuzzy guarding at the end of the TR works too.
  
  
• The opponent may notice you like to block after tech rolls and go for
  a throw (or low throw). If you want to stuff most attacks and avoid being
  thrown, a low punch is a pretty good attack to use at the end of the roll.
  
  
• A rarely used trick when tech rolling is to make sure you don't press any
  buttons (especially guard). If you do this, you won't align with your opponent's
  attack and it's likely whatever move they try to hit you with passes harmlessly
  to the side. You can punish this whiffed attack immediately or you can dodge. A
  dodge in the same direction as your roll is especially effective, it places you
  nearly behind the opponent. The method used to defeat this trick is to dash
  up and throw you while you start to stand up.
  
  
• Quick rising (press ++ when you land) is another way to avoid combo
  damage, and simplifies the guessing game for you. When you quick rise, you have
  only 2 options... block high or block low. If you block high the opponent can
  throw or sweep you, if you block low they can hit you with a midlevel attack
  (elbow, knee, etc). They cannot low throw you, thankfully. It's a simple 50/50
  guessing game in their favor. Generally a TR is safer than a QR, but there are
  some situations (listed below) where you don't want to TR.
  
  
• If someone tech rolls from a face down, head towards position... they will
  end the tech roll in a backturned position for a very short time. They then
  automatically turn around and start to stand up. If you catch them TRing from
  this position, you can use a perfectly timed attack to hit them while they are
  backturned. Not only can they not guard your attack, they can be backstaggered
  and then combo'd.

• 1. The opponent is crumpled. Use a head or stomach crumple, foot
  crumples leave you face up.
  
• 2. The opponent is hit during the crumple with one or more TR-able
  attacks, and they choose to TR.
  
• 3. A well timed sidekick/elbow/other move hits them the exact
  instant the TR ends (while they're backturned and in a crouch)
  
• 4. opponent is backstaggered.. enjoy your 'free' combo.