How to put pressure on opponents with Nightwolf

[TheTrillz]

I understand that Nightwolf has a beastly shoulder but I was wondering what are some of his safe strings that I can do against my opponents to lock them down to get them turtled up to crack open my mix up game.

What I have been doing with NW is spamming Shoulder but I've noticed a lot of opponents ducking it and once that happens I'm getting hit with an uppercut and losing any advantage I had from the start. The second thing I've been doing is f2 since it seems to cover a lot of ground but it is also duckable and seems to be extremely unsafe. I've tried working my way in with d1 d3 pokes but everyone just jumps in since he doesn't seem to have a reliable AA (Well I'm a Sektor player so my definition of a reliable AA is different than others:bombs and I end up losing 30 to 40% of my life...

So NW mainers/players, what normals or combos are good/safe to keep safe pressure?

 

[Zandorath]

Forward+3,1 is exellent!
There is a natural delay between the 3 and 1 so it can be hard to tell for your opponent if you are going to go for F+3 or F+3,1 or F+3,1~hatchet.
Try to mix the diffrent variations up and stay unpredictable. After a completed F+3,1 a d3 or d4 can annoy and keep them blocking for you to restart again.

 

[Badboy Takuma]

i didn see this in nightwolf guide: f-3,b-4

a VERY important one, and for me the ONLY reason to do a sweep, because his sweep is the worst of the game..
u can do nice mix ups, i never see i nightwolf doing f-3,b-4, it is rly good.

 

[N0rdicNinja]

1221 and B221 are both safe on block. The last 21 in both string both hit medium as well so if you can train them to start blocking low with F3B4 and low pokes it's a great way to get a launch: 122~Hatchet or B22~Hatchet.

F3 really is your greatest tool however. that delay between the first and second hit of the combo is obnoxiously huge and messes people up ALL the time as long as you don't always finish it.

F3, F31, F3, F31~Hatchet is pretty straight forward and will catch a lot off guard, and don't forget to throw out a throw occasionally to make them want to let go of block every now and then. As well as the occasional F3B4 but don't use that to much, as stated NWs sweep is horribad.

As far as pressure is concerned F3 is probably your greatest tool.

 

[TheTrillz]

:Soap: That f3 has almost no range to get in and I get jumped over 100% of the time before it comes out. I was wondering if there is something ELSE besides that WORTHLESS f3 pressure.

I'm sorry if I seem extremely salty but I almost ask how is he even to suppose to be played? I come from playing Scorpion and Sektor and now I feel like I have to zone everyone since if someone gets inside on my I have to either spam the fuck out of shoulder or I have to poke my way out of it and if I'm down and can't zone I get completely FUCKED by how shitty his normals are and whenever I try to put any pressure on my opponents I get jumped over or ducked under. Only thing I have going for me with this guy is being decent at reading wake ups.

Again, I apologize for being salty but I'm losing 90% of my matches due to not being able to put pressure on my opponent. ant:

 

[Badboy Takuma]

add me 4 some matches, i show u f-3...

but dont be salty after

 

[N0rdicNinja]

Shitty normals? What Nightwolf are you play? My experience has been nothing like yours, but I don't play online... ever. I exclusively play offline where I have far greater control.

That being said his basic 1221 combo is perfectly safe and builds meter like a beast! If they block it 3 times you've just built up a full bar and then some. The first poke is also 7 frames I believe, which is fast as shit! The last two hits of the combo are also overheads and will break through crouches. His basic combo is damn good.

If people keep jumping over your F3 just think about that for a sec. You've now trained your opponent to do the same thing over and over again whenever they expect a F3. Just throw out a hatchet, if they're trained to jump they just put themselves in a juggle for you.

It sounds like you're looking for something more set in stone that will work against the vast majority of opponents. Nightwolf don't play that way. In my experience he's a punisher first and foremost.

 

[DRCMessiah]

add me 4 some matches, i show u f-3...

but dont be salty after

lol

NW is my main and I find a lot of people anticipate the shoulder because so many NW users dont know he has other moves.
Try to limit your use of shoulder. Using it as a wake up can get predictable. So try and mix it up and dont use it consistently. One thing to do is learn the range on the shoulder so you can bait people with it or get in quickly. Also, learn his OVERHEADS.
Although F3 has little range, It is very effective. you can dash into a F3 as well giving it more range. Hitting F3 at any point will cancel a dash like any other move.

Try to link your shoulder more than just throwing it out there. J.k to shoulder, combo to shoulder etc.
If your on PSN, ill play some matches with ya as well.

 

[G4S KT]

I recently picked up Nightwolf as my second main (I previously have only main'd Smoke) I gotta say his straight up pressure is absurd. Not counting shoulder/lightning pressure, up close d3/d4 and f3 pressure is RIDICULOUS. It's so good, it blows my mind anyone could think it's worthless.

And AA's? 7 frame uppercut for quick punishes, hatchet for full combo punishes and d+1 to dash cancelled jab combos to punish cross ups.

I think you might be suffering from a case of online fever.

 

[MagicMan357]

He has a move for everything and pressure from his f3 is just straight mind games

And he has high damage, i dont even think he needs a guide seriously

 

[Crackpipe]

I've been playing NW solely a lot online (maybe around 300+ games) and a few sessions offline for the past 3 weeks. I read through the minimal amount of NW threads and videos (there isn't as much information and activity for NW threads) and got some solid advice from other NW players.

My experience is that he has a higher learning curve than most of the cast and spamming shoulders isn't going to work, especially if your opponent knows to just duck (no block) and then uppercut to punish shoulders. NW doesn't have any distance free-combo moves (aka scorpions spear, sektor's teleport, subzero's ice blast, reptiles forceball etc) so this is where i think the majority of new NW players struggle (just a guess). You could argue the EX lighting is a distance combo starter, but I have yet to see anyone land a combo off of it. Basically NW has to put in work and pressure to win.

Here's my take (I'm a mid-level skilled level):

As others stated: his F3 + 1 is his best tool. Don't always finish the string with F3-1-Hatchet. Mix it up and do a F3,1 and jump over with a punch and another F3 string. One string to throw in there occasionally is F3,1 Throw which is very hard to react to. The pause between F3,1, and hatchet makes it very hard for the opponent to react to your next move. Good opponents are always going to block high up close because NW has no low strings other than his F3,B4 so make sure you throw that in there as well. It's hard to get good players to open up (no low strings) so you have to keep chipping away and pressuring. If they don't open up keep chipping and give them a throw occasionally.

His beastliest move IMO opinion is his uppercut and I always use that as anti-air over his hatchet. His uppercut is one of the quickest in the game and is quicker and more forgiving timing-wise than his hatchet. When rushing down your opponent, if you get pushed back or space is created between you and your opponent, from my experience your opponent the majority of the time is likely to jump in at you. Have that uppercut ready...

BTW I like the fact that NW isn't top tier and that not many people use him and I don't see many people jumping on the NW bandwagon.

 

[Jimmypotato]

:Soap: That f3 has almost no range to get in and I get jumped over 100% of the time before it comes out. I was wondering if there is something ELSE besides that WORTHLESS f3 pressure.

I'm sorry if I seem extremely salty but I almost ask how is he even to suppose to be played? I come from playing Scorpion and Sektor and now I feel like I have to zone everyone since if someone gets inside on my I have to either spam the fuck out of shoulder or I have to poke my way out of it and if I'm down and can't zone I get completely FUCKED by how shitty his normals are and whenever I try to put any pressure on my opponents I get jumped over or ducked under. Only thing I have going for me with this guy is being decent at reading wake ups.

Again, I apologize for being salty but I'm losing 90% of my matches due to not being able to put pressure on my opponent. ant:

F3 is awesome man, it stuffs a ton of wake up moves. It can also stuff mileenas D4 actions and get you into full combo.

You absolutly can not spam that shoulder against a good player, they will eat you up. His EX grab has armor, Hatchet is just a friggin awesome move, and his naked 3 or F4 (can't remember right now, at work) is like a damn brick wall that stops almost any incoming close attacks (even some air attacks)

on cross overs do 1,dash,1 dash,1 dash,1 hatchet shoulder to punish him them for jumping around alot, (Warmouse taught me that lesson)

Nightwolf has the tools man, you just gotta use em.

 

[N0rdicNinja]

If Brady makes good on his word and jumps to NW though you will see a huge spike in wagon jumpers! =P

I generally agree with Crackpipe, just one thing to add:

- NWs uppercut is godly fast and is great for AA on reaction. However if you're reading that your opponent is going to jump, use the hatchet. The hatchet generally isn't quick enough to be used on reaction but if you're reading the jump it will allow you to take over %30 of their health.

And to state it cleanly look at the following options with F3 pressure:
- F3, F3, F3...
- F31, F3...
- F31, Jump over F3...
- F31, Throw
- F31~Hatchet

Get used to doing all of the above and make sure to cycle through all of them. And throwing out the occasional 1221 is good to, especially if you need to build meter.

 

[B W1zZ]

I recently started playing nightwolf, and I have to say he's a damn good character...but hard to get used to. His F31 throw seems to always connect for me, although I have a bad habit of doing F31 hatchet when I know it's going to be blocked, just because I've been practicing his combos and want big damage.

Mixing up his F3, F31 shenanigans with low pokes seems to be effective, it just seems kind of difficult if you're fighting a poke-happy opponent who jabs you out of your mixups and creates distance, or decides to cross you up after you throw the first poke out. I'm basically trying to find new methods of keeping my opponent trapped in my mixups instead of being able to freely jump out of them. I suppose throwing out a hatchet every once in awhile might do the trick? Also when I'm being poked to shit 1221 and B221 seem a little too risky to attempt.

Lightning seems really good after you have the opponent trained to counter shoulder charge, it's a 50/50 game somewhat.

Does anyone ever use 234? Seems like it can catch people off-guard if thrown out there once in awhile.

I'm thinking throwing ex hatchet into my F31 poke mixup game after say a D4 sweep distance might be effective for jumpers, but have yet to really try it out. Also I gotta work on countering crossups with 1 1 juggles etc.

Are there any real uses for his command grab when it comes to his pressuring game?

Any other Nightwolf pro-tips would be appreciated.

 

[Jimmypotato]

I aint a pro but

his command grab is a great wake up in close if they are waiting for you to wake up shoulder.

I don't use 2,3,4, mostly because......I don't know why lol, F3 is just the bomb thats why.

Get good at hit confirming that F3 and your set. Reflect one projectile on reaction and they'll think twice about sending more.

His EX reflect gains life back too and can be helpful in a close match if you think to use it.

EX lighting followed by a sholder does good damage and is usually a great way to end a match if a guy is turtling with little to no life left.

I'm only a week in with him so I'm still learning as well

 

[N0rdicNinja]

If timed correctly eLightning is guaranteed after a Shoulder unless they do a forward advancing wake up. Also if you finish his BnB combo with a shoulder you can throw out another shoulder to close the gap (it wont actually hit anything obviously) perfectly safely.

As for pressure don't be afraid to throw out the occasional naked hatchet, especially if you're NOT nose to nose with them. People are generally trained to think that NW needs to be an inch away to cause damage with all the F3 everyone throws out. The hatchet actually has some range to it though, and just throwing it out there with a few paces between you and your opponent does catch people off guard.

 

[Ruuku1012]

I have two questions: did his f3 hit low pre-patch? And is it just me or does 1 whiff sometimes after landing a jump in punch? It happens against Sub Zero.

 

[N0rdicNinja]

No his F3 never hit low in release, I'm pretty sure that was balanced to hit high in testing. And yes if you're touching your opponent after a JiP and attempt to follow up with 1 it will whiff every time, if there is a small gap between you and the opponent after the JiP it will connect from my experience.

Also as a general note, following a JiP with B22~hatchet (or B11~hatchet, but B22 is easier to be consistent with) is the most damaging launcher Nightwolf has.

 

[Ruuku1012]

Thanks for the clarification; I never played Nightwolf pre-patch. On a random note, jip b11~hatchet on block builds about half a bar. Also, shoulder crosses up a blocking opponent in the corner.

 

[TheTrillz]

Okay after going back to the lab after losing 40 or so matches I think I'm starting to understand how he is played. I apologize for my outburst, I just kinda wanted a Easy win button without having to put in any of the work.

Anyways, just fired up the 360 and I'm starting to see the f3 pressure and it seems to be extremely safe but has a slow start up but seems great on the jip. I don't know I guess I've gotten spoiled with Sektor's flame and his EX TU, NW seems to be a punisher more so than a rush down character and I've been using him wrong trying to rush in with shoulder spam and jip with his f3 1 string over and over again. I just have to be more defensive and get in off mistakes.

 

[6Blood6Bath6]

I've been using a bit of NW lately. The pressure from down 3's and 4's is great. mix that with f3, and b22 and you have a great mixup game.

 

[Random_Name_63]

Okay after going back to the lab after losing 40 or so matches I think I'm starting to understand how he is played. I apologize for my outburst, I just kinda wanted a Easy win button without having to put in any of the work.

Anyways, just fired up the 360 and I'm starting to see the f3 pressure and it seems to be extremely safe but has a slow start up but seems great on the jip. I don't know I guess I've gotten spoiled with Sektor's flame and his EX TU, NW seems to be a punisher more so than a rush down character and I've been using him wrong trying to rush in with shoulder spam and jip with his f3 1 string over and over again. I just have to be more defensive and get in off mistakes.

As a fellow Sektor and Nightwolf mainer, I can understand exactly how you feel.

The one thing to take from Sektor is you can zone, and punish, just as brutally. Nightwolf also seems better at rushdown, simply because his strings are so excellent.

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

I'm gonna make a guide...stay tuned guys!

 

[EVETSdaMONSTER]

I'm gonna make a guide...stay tuned guys!

Sweet... How soon?

 

[AK L0rdoftheFLY]

About 1/3 done.

Epic!!!!