Realtalk, youtube Kompetitor Johnny Kombat Cup. I’ve been trying to steer the General Discussion thread away from all the bitching to avoid giving new players this impression, but I see I was too late, my son. I couldn’t save you then, so let me save you now.
F344 is a god tier normal. It’s one of the easiest hitconfirms. If it lands, cancel into nutpunch, amp, micro dash b2, micro dash f4 nutpunch. If it’s blocked, it fully resets neutral and puts you at a great range to mess with the opponent. Jump in, back dash, do it again, whatever you want. Observe their patterns when they block one of these.
The main problem landing f344 is that it’s high. 2 ways to mitigate this. The first is f44. Solid safe mid string. Can cancel f4 into caged rage, the unblockable. Once it’s blocked once, it becomes 15f and if you do 12 into caged raged it’s a true block string.
The other way to stop people from crouching your f344 is using d4. Johnny has one of the best d4’s in the game. It’s +17 on hit. That means if you practice your timing, you can jail them into a f344 after a d4 hits. They cannot do anything except block, not even duck, or they eat the f344. Use this for mindgames, d4 into f3 throw. D4 into dash throw, etc. If you end combos in nutpunch, your opponent has to guess between D4 and your throw.
Forceballs are the 2nd best projectile in the game behind Sonya’s rings. Pepper them in as often as possible to disrupt your opponent’s rythm. If you’re getting outspaced, try shimmying (walk in and out) and throwing them in midrange. Amped forceballs are also + on block, so you can use them off of f344 or f4 for even more pressure. They also jail in block strings.
This applies to all new players, not just Johnny mains- jump ins. If you land a jump in 2, it combos into f344. If they block jump in 2, they’re jailed into f344 (have to block it). You have to input f344 while still airborne, but practice this. Creates an innate mixup between jump in 2 and a string, or jump in 2 into throw.
Finally, if you wna play Johnny, get comfortable moving. Fuck wavedashing. Too much work for not enough reward. Get comfortable cancelling single dashes into blocks repeatedly, or into normals. Link 2 dashes at most.
Good luck. If you put in the work, you can body everyone you meet with Johnny.
Oh, but I wouldn’t play him into female characters. Forceballs whiff them on block right now due to hitbox bugs.
If you’re on PC, I can help more.