VF5FS Brad: Now With More Shoo Shoo!

A vid showcasing Brad's punishable moves.

 

The video showcase for Final Showdown Version A displayed at least one change for Brad.



At 25 seconds in Brad performs Slipping . I'm not exactly sure what animation Goh was starting, but the elbow interrupted crumpling him on a counter hit. Probably, the move will still lead to a combo on any hit. I think the video was meant to show how quick Slipping is compared to before. Ducking was usually the go to stance, as it was faster than Slipping and generally had better options. This latest change might lead to a better balance between using Ducking and Slipping.

 

Looks like Goh 6p.

 

Thanks Shiny.

According to the Masters Guide, Goh's is 14 frames as opposed to 15 frames in Version C. So apparently the video is meant to show how Brad's Slipping will beat the fastest elbow off a guarded . Nice.

 

In the first round, the Brad player lands a CH and attempts to combo with Ducking . The last part whiffs, unlike in the previous version I think.

In the fourth round, the Brad player attempts , and it combos on CH only up to the second hit. This was Brad's best launcher, and a pretty big nerf in Version A.

The fifth round shows Sway Back . It has been reduced to 22 damage from 30 damage, and appears to be an unblockable high.

 

I have to respect Bokkiakia's reactions to those lows. He's one of the best Brad's around, and he nearly won a tournament once, coming in second place.

 

I REALLY hope they make a vid for all characters just like this...

 

I found a couple for other characters too. Too bad i didn't save them somewhere. So far i saw, lion, shun, vanessa.

 

If opponent fails to recover from 46p+k (happens A LOT online) dash in 2p, 2_3p, 9k

Edit: You can also do dash in 2p > 44p bt 2P (bounce) on LW's here for big damage. This 2p refloat applies to a lot of situations where the opponent doesn't tech even though it's really hard in some cases.

Example; 66k hit opponent doesn't tech. Dash in 2p, 2_3p, 9k (72dmg).

The key is to already be buffering your forward dash.

Easymode clinch 4p+g (wallhit) combo = 46k+g, 9p+k, 44p 2p, p, 9kk (92dmg)

 

Opponent doesn't tech 46p+g use 33P to refloat and do damage instead of "normal" instant 46k+g

 

Random talk about Brad and Okizeme after about 500games and hitting the lab (sorry if I go off on a tangent):

At first you might be tempted to see it as some sort of mixup between p+k+g grabbing midkicks in oki (or in some cases even evading semicircular ones) and doing 9p+k against lows but swayback K is what you should be using as it both gives more damage and wins against both options. You can do some fancy stuff like jump the low and do 2p+k6p or evade a semicircular and do 6k+g etc for style points but 4p+k+g K is really where it's at.

Semicirculars have gone up in value with the new CH system. You should be using them more in okizeme. This means that moves like 6_K and 1p and even 4pk are really good (if you come in with 4pk on any hit the opponent can't interupt ducking P+K,P with ANY attack so you have a mixup between that and his catchthrow).

Against opponents that ETE after a techroll you'll be surprised now how much you can get 1p on CH for instance to a full combo. K+G will act as a ch always against evade and is both -5 on guard and with pushback also (guaranteed k+g 2k+g against evade) - a good place to backdash evade cancel from.

Right here a intermission is needed as many newcomers and onlineplayers (scrubs) simply will refuse to evade and definitely not in okizeme hardly knowing what ETEG for instance is. Against people on this level 4p+k+g P+K (guardbreak high +15 on guard free 6p+k launcher) and 4p+k+g K (mid normalhit launcher -9 safe) works pretty much as a very strong mixup. Even if the 6p+k is ducked you will probably not get punished hard for it if you do GTE.


Back a bit to circulars - of note is that Brad's real power semicircular is 6_K (which is a special high) so people that are aware in general will want to move towards Brad's stomach. Where we only used to have 4pk for this (which ones again is great with his new moves; ducking p+k not being interuptable and for sabaki's you have ducking k+g mixing it up with) now we have the new low 1k+g in this direction also which will net 30dmg and a +4 adv on CH. On normalhit it's -3 but the distance between you and your opponent is quite good. It's a decent poke.

On wakeup against techrolls Slip K+G has also gone up in value and is amazing. It's semicircular also so hitting someone in a evade with it will give a free PK netting you 67dmg and +4. On normalhit it's +8 and on guard it's +5 now so followups can be 6p+k (14f), 4pk (15f), 3p+k (hitscan), p (16f) etc. Against people who evade delay 6p+k. For some reason this seems to hella work for me - probably cause people aren't used to it yet; Slip K CH > 4p+k (guaranteed 12f) > 66p+g

What's really important to note about this move now is that since Brad can do it regardless of direction he slips it's semicircular to different directions depending on the direction you slip before doing it (!). This means that if you read someone always goes a certain way (or you train them to go a certain direction) or guards it's a win win. Specially against peeps who don't know about it.

For delayattacking vs ETE as always you have 6p+k and the harder to time 6k+g. You really need to hit the lab to get the timing right but so far in FS I'm sort of surprised watching people play how they've forgotten about how to delayattack launch people sidestepping.

Remember though that the usual old Brad tech of doing slipping P+K still exists and kills evades also. It hurts a shitload. You can't really cancel the slip on reaction if nothing is happening though you have to commit but since you also have slip K people won't be ducking to much even if you abuse it.

Combine this with the amazing mixup of ducking P+K (-5 on guard so you can fuzzy after) and his catchthrow and you'll find that Brad is a pure monster in Okizeme and versus evade. Catchthrow can lead to wallcombos both forward and back and cause people are scared of it it can basically mean they'll always escape that direction when close to a wall giving you free damage. You can use a hitscan of ducking p+k, p cause once again it's a combo on normalhit. The stagger icon if they crouch will even make the hitscan easier and now there is no damage reduction against a croucher (36dmg on both standing and crouching) leading to big combos.

 

Well, tracks to Brad's stomach while and track to Brad's back. I've found one of Brad's best tools to set up these moves is his . I don't usually use the followup, since the damage potential of hitting an evading opponent is too tempting to let pass. Counter hits are what you want. Try to hit check, and after a counter hit, will beat attempts. You can also use throws and moves tracking to Brad's back to mix things up. I've been landing counter hit a lot online, and it seems as though the opponent isn't staggered backward anymore? I'd have to test, but prior to FS I'd always have to dash for a throw afterwards. I don't remember having to do this once in FS, making throws a more viable option in this situation. For mids, the options are very good. has a lot of damage potential, but I'm more worried than ever about my opponents crouching the second hit. On guard, I'll mix up defensive maneuvers. Fuzzy guarding is possible, as you're at -5.

feels like it has less range now. I used to be able to punish Body Check with this, but now I can't. is what I use in its place a lot of times now. It seems to be a much better launcher than it was in VF5 against standing opponents on mC.

is an awesome move. This and are Brad's best stance entry tools, so it's important to learn their characteristics. Slipping I believe will beat everything 12 frames in execution and above on guard. It does 25 damage, so nothing 12 frames should deal more damage. Against moves that are faster, even Vanessa's 10 frame punch, Slipping can be used instead. It has an even better damage potential than Slipping , but it's a high. Even without stance entry, is a great move. Enter and hit check the . If you get a counter hit, proceed with or to create the side turned situation. Against Heavyweights, end with instead to create a powerful combo. If guarded, you can end with , since it's mid, or go on the defensive. You might even get away with throwing.

is Brad's other great stance entry move. On counter hit, Ducking is guaranteed. You can opt to throw afterwards, enter a stance, or delay the third hit of the string. On Taka, counter hit Ducking is all guaranteed, with stance entry as an option afterwards as well.

 

Thanks for the notion about 6pg(hitcheck CH) 6_K I'll try to work that into my game. I do however prefer to go for the free damage if I'm already hitchecking and I think everyone with a character that has 6pk should cause that's a strength of the character. The reason is A) You're giving away about 20 free points of damage (25 vs 43dmg) B) You can set up the exact same guessinggame after they techroll from the knockdown anyways (6_K beating everything etc) cause you're over +7 (so it's more a case of you gaining even more advantage / even more options of attack through the knockdown). But we all have our personal preferences ofc.

6p and midkicks don't stagger anymore (general change) but give a set +6 for elbows and +8 so it's this systemchange that makes things different. Note that the midkick is +8 so you can use 6_K after for spammers and every situation 6_K beats out 2p after is gold. Doing Brad's midkick still feels pointless to me but it's something to keep in mind. After 6p go with 2p+k hitscanning if you believe 2p might come.

Regarding 3p; why is everyone using 3pp instead of 3pk? I can't think of a single reason. 3pk is 37 dmg, 3pp is 35, but 3pk gives you a knockdown (and the secondpart is fully circular) which, ones again, gives you hella adv on the techroll while 3pp is only +2. What in hell is the advantage of ever using 3pp over 3pk?

The problem for with P+K is that it's sort of hard to set up something that is a 14f high on someone's guard (and as interupts he has much better tools with 4p+k and 6p+k, 6p). Imo the p+k,p,p is shit. This is due to when the opponent gets p+k,p on his guard the only thing to stop him from doing a 2p is the midoption with p+k,p,p but that last hit has no CH properties, is only 20dmg, and is a whooping -16 on guard.

Libertine I think you're missing what really is golden about p+k on guard in practice and maybe you're overcomplicating things. The best thing to do is hands down ducking p+k(p) over everything else. It's the same situation as with the knee (will beat both p and 2p even anything 12f and up) but it's much better cause its higher damage, you can fuzzyguard after ducking p+k (-5 as compared to knee -7) etc. Everything else sort of fades compared to this cause in reality you basically have a nitaku between catchthrow and ducking p+k on guard from p+k which is borderline insane honestly. No point in hitscanning p+k,p if you can hitscan p+k ducking p+k instead the same and it's even easier.

 

I find hard to set up too, but I think that it is totally worth the effort against the Heavyweights. The last two hits of will combo on a counter hit. It seems to be a good anti-RAW move.

I didn't commit the stats for to memory. Yikes! -16 is pretty bad. You're right in general I guess about the stance entry. I'd also add that you can use Ducking or . It will track evades depending upon which direction you input. It's high, but it's safer and kind of a good setup for on guard because of the push back. Also, using it might condition the opponent to crouch guard, whereupon Ducking can land more often.

 

It's as you've stated. is an awesome move. Slipping seems to be a good oki option afterwards, though I haven't experimented with that yet. Wall combos are possible with this too. If the opponent crouches, you also have . There's a lot of delay time to hit check this.

The only time when I use is after Neck Catch . It's guaranteed to hit and the opponent is left side turned. to stance options is pretty powerful in this situation. Also, counter hit or Slipping is guaranteed on the side.

 

Yeah +5 and sideturned is awesome but what's going on after the 4p+g is weird if you test it against yourself. If you just just hold guard from the catch push 6p+k for instance becomes guaranteed giving a full combo while if you don't touch a button it will whiff over your head. The same goes with 3pp - if the opponent doesn't hold G or struggle you will not get a sideturned situation after 3pp at all. The frame data here is false stating +11 while in reality there's some weird shit going on. This would mean in theory that simply not struggling or holding guard at all after the catch push is a great option for the opponent. If Brad was to majorly read this he could do 6k+g right in for launch for instance (will only be -9 if guarded in the sideposition anyways) for instance though.

I don't fully understand at all what's going on (why can you for instance 2p a 6p+k attempt but if you hold guard it's guaranteed) at this point.

 

Yeah, I never understood the +11 either, since is guaranteed to hit. Here's some stuff that I've tested from Neck Catch :

isn't guaranteed to hit (I think it was pre-Version A.), but if the opponent guards it the side turned situation is there for the and catch throw nitaku from Ducking. If the opponent doesn't guard and lets the kick hit him, then the side turned situation doesn't occur.

is guaranteed to hit. The opponent can jump away to negate some of the damage, though.

Ducking will catch an opponent trying to jump away nicely for a combo. I briefly tested combos and found that works.

looks like Brad's best guaranteed damage. It does one less point of damage than , but the opponent can't jump away from this.

 

Oki thanks.

Imo than 4k is the powerful mixup to all of this since 4k gives ducking pp guaranteed on CH and if the opponent is guarding you will get nitaku between uninterutable ducking p+k and catch anyways on your opponents guard.

So to summarize;

Opponent holding guard > 6p+k and combo.
Opponent tries to CH out of it or holds guard 4k > ducking (pp if you hit anything, ducking p+k / catch or g-cancel throw mixup otherwise). If 4k hits and PP hits it's 53 dmg and you're +4 meaning 2p+k6p will launch spammers and win against 2p for instance.

If you want your guaranteed damage and knockdown 3p+k,p or 3pk and pressure the knockdown. From my experience so far, it's better to go from flowcharts it just adds up to so much damage fast but it's a personal preference.

3pp on opponents guard gives +5, will hit regardless of if they're guarding or not (but only if they're guarding you'll have a sideturned position otherwise you're +2) and as such 6_k is great. Inputting 6_k as qcf K makes it a much easier move to use. You need to see the position and go for 6p(hitscan)k otherwise.

Specialcase; throwing into the wall back. Not actual impact just close to the wall and you want to go for major damage.

Opponent holds guard; 3pG (wallstagger) 46k+g (wallsplat) > wallcombo.

Opponent doesn't hold guard; 4k (wallstagger) 46k+g (wallsplat) > wallcombo.

If you happen to throw them into the wall do 46k+g at once.

Normal wallsplat move is 4kG > 46k+g.
As a low you can use 2k+g (I believe only low circulars work in VF for wallsplat now) but they really have to be close to the wall.

A nasty little thing you can do is since people fear 4k mid do 46p+k on their guard and get +2. If they try to do anything after this do 6p (wallstagger) slip p+k.

46p+k on normalhit will give a fullcombo they can't tech with 2p, 2_3p, 9k for instance.

p+k on someone's guard near the wall as usual leads to an uninteruptable ducking p+k,p. But at the wall you can do a 9p+k (bounce) 44bt2p as a combo netting you about 100damage (116 with 3 bounces against LW's).

If opponent tries interupting with an elbow for instance ducking K (wall) 46k+g > 2_3p > 9p+k for hella damage.


Clinch > 6p+g I'm not sure what to use feels a bit character specific in weird ways.

Vs Brad for instance Clinch 6p+g > kpk > 46k+g (93dmg)
Vs Sarah 6kp 46k+g (86dmg)
Vs Vanessa 44p2p (bounce) > p > 1p+k (bounce) > 66k (98dmg)

Edit: Btw ducking p+k is so good it's scary. I've gotten people evading with it when delaying the secondhit etc also to my surprise. Right now I see no point not to always base your oki around ducking catch (or ducking G cancel throw) and ducking p+k honestly as it's a true 50/50 unless the opponent has sabakis (and even then you can use ducking k+g). It's just really really really good with ducking p+k being so hitscannable and normalhit launcher that's fuzzyable on guard. Hell cause the second hit is so delayable you can get away with murder such as throwing on guard. And only -13 on guard of the second hit? To fucking good.

Edit 2: Random wallswag:

46p+k (on guard expecting a 2p) 44k bt p+k2p
slip k+g (on guard) 6_k (you're +5 so will interupt everything) 33p > wall > p > 9p+k