Eddy Wang
Skarlet scientist
One of the most unique things in Hat Trick, is how limitless you can use the variation, the Hat Trap works as an extension of Lao itself, and depending on how you set it up, you can change the game pace, layer your gameplay and make big statements on your intentions, this variation is very tricky as well, because is the only Lao that can perform visual bluffs, and he can punish things that some characters can not even if still situational.
Trick nº1 - Bluffs
one of the most important tools of Hat Trick is definitely the Bluff, it can be presented in different aspects of the variation, such as:
1. Hat-a-rang Bluff / Hat Trap Bluff - As the variation animation of Hat toss and hat trap are somewhat similar, is actually difficult to see which one is being use, even if you pay attention to the meter, Hat-a-Rang comes fairly fast enough in time to hit anyone while his brains are still functioning to recognize if Lao is bluffing or not, so most of the time, opponents end up charging blindly through Hat-a-Rang thinking is a Hat Trap and vice versa. So, when they think you will hat trap you should Hat-a-Rang, and when they think you will Hat-a-Rang you should Hat trap. If they think they can avoid both, then you should spin or ex spin.
1.1. Round Trip - The first part of the Hat bluff is the Round Trip, performed by placing and immediately calling the hat back, it has 3 goals: Frustrate the opponent reactions (Places doubt on your next move) Builds meter fast, controls a determinate space by zoning.
Opponents that feel intimidated by round trip will always commit a mistake, either by just standing there fearing the hat, running in between hat trap and hat call back period to punish Lao before they get hit by the hat, jumping in, or using a special move fast enough to punish Lao, can either be a projectile or a advancing special, or a teleport
1.2 Round Trip Bluff - This is how you blow up, special moves or projectiles, running, and jump ins, plan all your bluffs ahead of your opponent's goals, depending of how fast they think they can react to the trap.
2. Hat-a-Rang game - Hat-a-Rang has its own setups from full screen, the first thing you need to know, is, never use Hat-a-rang from blast radius if its not going to hit it has a gap that is armor punishable and Lao will not be able to block. The opponent can low profile the second hit, if he does it, the hat goes over him and returns to Lao, however if you're fullscreen while the hat is returning Lao gets a few options.
This is currently my favorite and a tough one to master, its set from a very specific combo a and allows for a lot of options, surely many people try to run away from this which in return they get blown up a lot by the situation they put themselves into, the away hat trap needs to be respected, more so if Lao gets two bars, lets say you land the following combo:
11212~spin/F23~spin, Jk~dk, B321~Trap
The B321 part is an untechable knockdown, so they can't tech roll out of it and are forced to standing wakeup, they can still use wakeup attack surely, but not advisable if whiffs against a crossing up Lao that will punish into a hat call back from the opposite side of the screen
Now this is how its going to go, if you wish to keep your opponent in midscreen, use away hat low trap, the setup take a slightly bit longer for Lao to recover, but only the user is the only one that can tell since the hat will aways be placed outside of the screen where your opponent can't see. This situation will trigger opponent's decisions, which can all be countered if you placed the right trap.
1. Away Low Hat Trap - By placing the hat behind and low where the opponent can't tell, their first decision will be staying away from the trap because they don't know what you're planning, also because in this instant Lao gains different options, including a Overhead/Low or vice-versa mixups with crossup J2~44 and J2~4~Hat call back, J2~Hat Call Back , J2~F4, air Hat Call back or empty jump into Hat call back. So most of the opponent's back away or jump back to avoid this setup, since the air Hat call back blows up some ground wakeups due Shaolin Hovering , and the options Lao gets if they wakeup blocking.
If their intention is to back away from the trap to avoid the mixups, you get a free poke (D4) that will blow up their attempt of escaping. And Dive kick will punish backdashes or jump backs attempts out of the ground.
If this happens, your Hat Trap will become more dangerous if you since you covered more ground away from the hat, now Lao has the option of landing any string into Hat Callback and Crossup J2 or Dk for an ambiguous low and overhead mixup. which you can now choose which one to hit first.
Away low hat trap (Low hat Trap Bluff) if place an away hat trap that is not low, be sure you have two bars of meters, If they try to escape the Away hat thinking is a low hat trap, your ex tele will blow up back dashes, jump backs, wakeups for a throw coming out from the opposite side you place the hat too, when this happens you get a chance to land a very damaging combo into Hat Call back and Spin all in the same combo, its a huge blow up that the opponent who gets hit by it, will need to bow down to you.
Not in the corner? No Biggie, build a corner in your opponent's mind with a Forward Hat Trap, now backdash Mofo.
Same combo above, by ending with a regular Hat Trap, its almost the same as cornering your opponent, their first though will be to not back away because Hat call back can punish backdashes, a wakeup can be blown up for a max combo damage potential since they're already in between Lao and the Hat, and no one will want to get caught with that. So basically the effect of having a hat behind their back is like having a grim reaper hauting them, waiting for the right opportunity to captialize a mistake.
From this point on, Lao gets to throw his opponents mostly for free, apply pressure for free, be wary that there is a 50% chance of opponent risk a wakeup, but that at their own risk, also the hat of death can convert a hat call back from a dive kick, If you jump back and they poke and you get the chance to punish with a dive kick, you can D4 into Hat Call back which grants lao a 30% combo if well executed, its insane.
The Hat of Death is much more effective in the corner, since the opponent doesn't have a place to run, you can keep more than half of the caracter in the corner except of course they have a teleport which can nulify the trap.
The low Hat of Death setup.
By placing a Low hat instead of a regular one, Low get to mixup his opponents with F4 and low hat call back, or 44 or F4~Hat call back. Its still works as a wall against the opponent which prevents them to go back.
The pressure applied in the opponent its also big since the low hat trap gives KL a Lao starter even if he loses the overhead, it becomes tough to choose which way to block, because that can be exactly what Lao want's you to do, so he gets free pressure, free throws and the most importat thing, he prevents your wakeups mentally.
To have an idea of what the Low Hat Trap can do midscreen if not respected, please watch this video:
The Low Hat of Death becomes a true 50-50 mixup in the corner, which Lao can start a combo from hat call back, or with B22 when the hat is on his head.
I didn't had time to put up some videos for this, so i will make sure to make a proper Hat Trap video, i borrowed my console so Smith can level up a bit.
Some notable combos designed for Hat Trick
Dive kick, D4~spin, S1, B321~trap
Lao in corner.
11212~spin, run under, S1, B321~Trap
Spin, Run under, S1, B321~Trap
11212~spin, run under, Jk~dk, B321~trap
Hat trap behind the opponent (Midscreen)
Dk, D4~Hat call back, B32~spin, B1,2, 2+4
Hat Trap Behind lao.
ex Tele~MBThrow, B321~Hat Call Back, Spin, Jk, Dk, 21 (lots of damage)
Tele3, 4~Hat Callback, B321~spin, JK~dk, 21
Tele3, 44, Hat call back, 4~spin, JK DK, 21
Hat Trap Further Behind Lao
Tele3, 44, run, B321~Hat Call Back, Spin, Jk~dk, 21
Opponent cornered, Low Hat Trap behind the opponent
Low hat call back, Spin, JK Dk, B321~trap
Low hat call back, B321~spin, Jk~dk, 21
Low hat call back, B321~spin, B321~trap
112124~Low hat call back, B321~spin, B321~trap
F23~low hat call back, B321~spin, Jk~dk, 21
Opponent Cornered, Hat trap behind the opponent
(Anti- crossup )S1, Run under, S1, B321~Hat Call Back, 21
Jumb back1, J3~dk, 4~Hat Call back, B321~trap
" Bag of Tricks "
Trick nº1 - Bluffs
one of the most important tools of Hat Trick is definitely the Bluff, it can be presented in different aspects of the variation, such as:
1. Hat-a-rang Bluff / Hat Trap Bluff - As the variation animation of Hat toss and hat trap are somewhat similar, is actually difficult to see which one is being use, even if you pay attention to the meter, Hat-a-Rang comes fairly fast enough in time to hit anyone while his brains are still functioning to recognize if Lao is bluffing or not, so most of the time, opponents end up charging blindly through Hat-a-Rang thinking is a Hat Trap and vice versa. So, when they think you will hat trap you should Hat-a-Rang, and when they think you will Hat-a-Rang you should Hat trap. If they think they can avoid both, then you should spin or ex spin.
1.1. Round Trip - The first part of the Hat bluff is the Round Trip, performed by placing and immediately calling the hat back, it has 3 goals: Frustrate the opponent reactions (Places doubt on your next move) Builds meter fast, controls a determinate space by zoning.
Opponents that feel intimidated by round trip will always commit a mistake, either by just standing there fearing the hat, running in between hat trap and hat call back period to punish Lao before they get hit by the hat, jumping in, or using a special move fast enough to punish Lao, can either be a projectile or a advancing special, or a teleport
1.2 Round Trip Bluff - This is how you blow up, special moves or projectiles, running, and jump ins, plan all your bluffs ahead of your opponent's goals, depending of how fast they think they can react to the trap.
- If they try to react as the hat is returning, if they throw a projectile, they let themselves open for a J2 which grants a full combo depending on distance.
- If they're charging as the hat trap is being set, they're open for 112124, or F23 strings.
- If they jump on a correct distance as lao places the trap, the safest bet is to backdash, however you can anti-air opponents with standing 1 if have some practice with it or trip guard them as they land with F2 if you feel you can outspace the jump in in time, if they jump on a bad distance with a bad timing, hat callback will still anti-air out of a regular round trip.
- If they fire a projectile after you place the trap, you can tele into a throw, if they projectile recovers much slower (reptile) you will know exactly what to do.
- On correct distances you can round trip into Hat-a-Rang most of the time they can't understand what has hit them until is too late.
2. Hat-a-Rang game - Hat-a-Rang has its own setups from full screen, the first thing you need to know, is, never use Hat-a-rang from blast radius if its not going to hit it has a gap that is armor punishable and Lao will not be able to block. The opponent can low profile the second hit, if he does it, the hat goes over him and returns to Lao, however if you're fullscreen while the hat is returning Lao gets a few options.
- You can input Hat Trap immediately if the opponent blocks the hat on its way back, the hat will disappear and be placed on the default distance, if you run up a bit you can safetly put the trap behind the opponent without him being able to react in time due the block stun. Its possible to setup away hat trap the same way but this one is more advanced and very specific, more on away hat traps further below.
- While running you can F4 to punish opponent's trying to D4 under the hat, F4 is a low crushing move and will hope over lows, however it only grants a knockdown, and is -13, so be careful with this.
- If you delay your run and wait for the hat return into your head, you will be able to B22 without reaching the opponent line of ranged attacks, in some cases you will still catch players crouching because they will take a while to recognize that the hat as already passed, or will be under mental pressure of block strings.
This is currently my favorite and a tough one to master, its set from a very specific combo a and allows for a lot of options, surely many people try to run away from this which in return they get blown up a lot by the situation they put themselves into, the away hat trap needs to be respected, more so if Lao gets two bars, lets say you land the following combo:
11212~spin/F23~spin, Jk~dk, B321~Trap
The B321 part is an untechable knockdown, so they can't tech roll out of it and are forced to standing wakeup, they can still use wakeup attack surely, but not advisable if whiffs against a crossing up Lao that will punish into a hat call back from the opposite side of the screen
Now this is how its going to go, if you wish to keep your opponent in midscreen, use away hat low trap, the setup take a slightly bit longer for Lao to recover, but only the user is the only one that can tell since the hat will aways be placed outside of the screen where your opponent can't see. This situation will trigger opponent's decisions, which can all be countered if you placed the right trap.
1. Away Low Hat Trap - By placing the hat behind and low where the opponent can't tell, their first decision will be staying away from the trap because they don't know what you're planning, also because in this instant Lao gains different options, including a Overhead/Low or vice-versa mixups with crossup J2~44 and J2~4~Hat call back, J2~Hat Call Back , J2~F4, air Hat Call back or empty jump into Hat call back. So most of the opponent's back away or jump back to avoid this setup, since the air Hat call back blows up some ground wakeups due Shaolin Hovering , and the options Lao gets if they wakeup blocking.
If their intention is to back away from the trap to avoid the mixups, you get a free poke (D4) that will blow up their attempt of escaping. And Dive kick will punish backdashes or jump backs attempts out of the ground.
If this happens, your Hat Trap will become more dangerous if you since you covered more ground away from the hat, now Lao has the option of landing any string into Hat Callback and Crossup J2 or Dk for an ambiguous low and overhead mixup. which you can now choose which one to hit first.
Away low hat trap (Low hat Trap Bluff) if place an away hat trap that is not low, be sure you have two bars of meters, If they try to escape the Away hat thinking is a low hat trap, your ex tele will blow up back dashes, jump backs, wakeups for a throw coming out from the opposite side you place the hat too, when this happens you get a chance to land a very damaging combo into Hat Call back and Spin all in the same combo, its a huge blow up that the opponent who gets hit by it, will need to bow down to you.
Not in the corner? No Biggie, build a corner in your opponent's mind with a Forward Hat Trap, now backdash Mofo.
The Hat of Death setup
Same combo above, by ending with a regular Hat Trap, its almost the same as cornering your opponent, their first though will be to not back away because Hat call back can punish backdashes, a wakeup can be blown up for a max combo damage potential since they're already in between Lao and the Hat, and no one will want to get caught with that. So basically the effect of having a hat behind their back is like having a grim reaper hauting them, waiting for the right opportunity to captialize a mistake.
From this point on, Lao gets to throw his opponents mostly for free, apply pressure for free, be wary that there is a 50% chance of opponent risk a wakeup, but that at their own risk, also the hat of death can convert a hat call back from a dive kick, If you jump back and they poke and you get the chance to punish with a dive kick, you can D4 into Hat Call back which grants lao a 30% combo if well executed, its insane.
The Hat of Death is much more effective in the corner, since the opponent doesn't have a place to run, you can keep more than half of the caracter in the corner except of course they have a teleport which can nulify the trap.
The low Hat of Death setup.
By placing a Low hat instead of a regular one, Low get to mixup his opponents with F4 and low hat call back, or 44 or F4~Hat call back. Its still works as a wall against the opponent which prevents them to go back.
The pressure applied in the opponent its also big since the low hat trap gives KL a Lao starter even if he loses the overhead, it becomes tough to choose which way to block, because that can be exactly what Lao want's you to do, so he gets free pressure, free throws and the most importat thing, he prevents your wakeups mentally.
To have an idea of what the Low Hat Trap can do midscreen if not respected, please watch this video:
The Low Hat of Death becomes a true 50-50 mixup in the corner, which Lao can start a combo from hat call back, or with B22 when the hat is on his head.
I didn't had time to put up some videos for this, so i will make sure to make a proper Hat Trap video, i borrowed my console so Smith can level up a bit.
Some notable combos designed for Hat Trick
Dive kick, D4~spin, S1, B321~trap
Lao in corner.
11212~spin, run under, S1, B321~Trap
Spin, Run under, S1, B321~Trap
11212~spin, run under, Jk~dk, B321~trap
Hat trap behind the opponent (Midscreen)
Dk, D4~Hat call back, B32~spin, B1,2, 2+4
Hat Trap Behind lao.
ex Tele~MBThrow, B321~Hat Call Back, Spin, Jk, Dk, 21 (lots of damage)
Tele3, 4~Hat Callback, B321~spin, JK~dk, 21
Tele3, 44, Hat call back, 4~spin, JK DK, 21
Hat Trap Further Behind Lao
Tele3, 44, run, B321~Hat Call Back, Spin, Jk~dk, 21
Opponent cornered, Low Hat Trap behind the opponent
Low hat call back, Spin, JK Dk, B321~trap
Low hat call back, B321~spin, Jk~dk, 21
Low hat call back, B321~spin, B321~trap
112124~Low hat call back, B321~spin, B321~trap
F23~low hat call back, B321~spin, Jk~dk, 21
Opponent Cornered, Hat trap behind the opponent
(Anti- crossup )S1, Run under, S1, B321~Hat Call Back, 21
Jumb back1, J3~dk, 4~Hat Call back, B321~trap
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