Baraka General Discussion

[ReD WolF]

I also still think Cyrax is the most viable option for Baraka. To be honest, he perhaps is even MORE mandatory, as his damage was nerfed. Only difference is now you cant be safe everytime with horizontal helicopter, or throw random air deathspins anymore.

I was thinking that as well, if the dmg nerfs didn't exist I would be far more inclined to move off CyraX.

 

[The Ultimate]

'Been watching some match vids of post patch Baraka. It's looking like Stryker is in contention for Baraka's best kameo. He kind of allows Baraka to play a little ignorant, and that's because grenade toss is very deceptive. If you do something like death spin into low grenade toss, Stryker damn near appears off screen during the grenade toss, so your opponent could try to punish your death spin and then get a face full of unexpected shrapnel. The grenade toss kinda forces opponents to respect him in neutral and also respect his blockstrings. Baraka's standing 2 has enough reach that you can sometimes combo off of errant grenade hits in neutral. I don't think blockstrings into Stryker grenade jail quite as hard as Cyrax copter(or jail at all, for that matter), but again, it's something the opponent has to respect.

But aside from that, Stryker also has the low and OH baton strikes. While these by themselves don't really offer much in the way of damage, they're a good tool for mix, and also blockstrings; OH baton is +6 on block, and low baton is +1 on block, and they're on a 10 second cooldown!

With Stryker, you don't gain combos off of back throw and off of anti-air db+1, but you gain more of a solid consistent neutral since Stryker's cooldowns are 10-12 seconds total across every move. Baraka wants people to block, since chip damage is his gimmick, even without Cyrax.

 

[1man3letters]

Yea was playing some game switching kameos.
Cyrax/goro/stryker/kano=lao

Cyrax still netting the most damage it seems for baraka yea and the combos off the throw which i think obly darrius can do mid screen?
(Know jax can back to corner)

The other other 3 ambush chars do what old baraka/cyrax did by using knife or ball/grenade/up punch.
But obviously less damage than cyrax (thats known now anyways)

Lao is low hat, still very very good.
Not much else say there

Just think time to rethink things as baraka players, explore more. Like much like the throw combos mentioned above is there other chars baraka can combo of his armor move from for example, to my knowledge only char who can do it both midscreen and corner is kameo scorpion

Edit: i really hate idea of picking a kameo that makes me lose health though :/

 

[StormGoddess]

 

[BarakaTile]

It's a nice touch that the Invasion Bosses aren't completely copy and paste, sure they have gimmick moves that are pretty cool like turning bigger or summoning Bullet Hell attacks.

But then they're doing stuff like the Grounded Blade Spark, MK11 Spine Burst and the classic Baraka spin.

 

[1man3letters]

That they changed where the gap in to armor in df2, bit odd

And with kano/stryker with alot of moves the ball/knvies or grenades will end up trading with the armor, very intresting stealth buff, kinda...

 

[ticklebandit!]

I've still been using cyrax as a kameo as well just because of the combo potential, but I am looking at other potential kameos. Stryker seems interesting but only from a blockstring/pressure standpoint. @ticklebandit!, How did you like Baraka/Lao team? He's on my radar as well.

he’s very good, better than I thought he’d be. But I put that entirely on kung lao’s shoulders lol. He’s still so good right now. Delayed low hat into f3 is just so good, but pretty much any character can delay low hat into a jump in for the same thing. Better zoning too, but I feel like a poor man’s Shang tsung. Teleport to get out of negative frames works better than it ever should too lol, for sure a gimmick tho, I get away with it soooo often. I will say low hat point blank doesn’t feel as plus as it use to but I could be wrong. Also I’ve noticed only f4 jails into low hat, but I’ve noticed that across the cast, very few strings atually jail into low hat. You can just jump out, or armor.

all that said, Kano has been my go to these days. You can time df2 Kano knives to be soooo plus on block, and it’s much easier to hit confirm than Stryker. Stryker you kinda have to call it asap to truly jail and get the plus frames/safety. I basically play baraka/Kano like berserker baraka, lots of safety and lots and lots of chip. Ending combos in EN db1 into 21 df2 Kano b3 df2 Kano d4 on block feels so cheap. Buuuut I’m probably on a leaky boat with all this since they can flawless block df2 to negate the chip. Can’t negate the plus frames tho (I think).

 

[ReD WolF]

he’s very good, better than I thought he’d be. But I put that entirely on kung lao’s shoulders lol. He’s still so good right now. Delayed low hat into f3 is just so good, but pretty much any character can delay low hat into a jump in for the same thing. Better zoning too, but I feel like a poor man’s Shang tsung. Teleport to get out of negative frames works better than it ever should too lol, for sure a gimmick tho, I get away with it soooo often. I will say low hat point blank doesn’t feel as plus as it use to but I could be wrong. Also I’ve noticed only f4 jails into low hat, but I’ve noticed that across the cast, very few strings atually jail into low hat. You can just jump out, or armor.

all that said, Kano has been my go to these days. You can time df2 Kano knives to be soooo plus on block, and it’s much easier to hit confirm than Stryker. Stryker you kinda have to call it asap to truly jail and get the plus frames/safety. I basically play baraka/Kano like berserker baraka, lots of safety and lots and lots of chip. Ending combos in EN db1 into 21 df2 Kano b3 df2 Kano d4 on block feels so cheap. Buuuut I’m probably on a leaky boat with all this since they can flawless block df2 to negate the chip. Can’t negate the plus frames tho (I think).

Thanks for the info. I will have to test him out. I still use Cyrax as a kameo (lol) just because of the extra dmg I get that was taken from Baraka with the most recent patch, plus comboing off throw. I really wish they didn't touch his dmg. The cyrax nerf was inevitable, even though they were a bit overzealous IMO, but the back walk speed nerf in addition to a direct dmg nerf hurt our boy.

 

[LEGEND]

Kano and Cyrax both feel the best to me. It just depends on the MU, whether it be the individual or character.

I've been trying out Mustard's corner bomb setups and they are working out really well. Didn't think it would be worth it at first but Baraka has such good corner carry that you'll almost always get there after a combo so it comes up pretty often.

 

[Ardet]

Is there any video of that setup?

 

[LEGEND]

Is there any video of that setup?

Not sure, the K&M Twitch channel might have VODS of past streams where Mustard has used it.

Just end a corner combo with 4 - > Forward Kameo, or hit 121 at the end of a combo (usually has to hit kinda high in the air) then call Forward Kameo. You should be able to block a D1 or Shao's 7F wakeup.

If you block and they press, then they get launched.

If they block and you forward throw, it'll be a shove into the bomb (can convert for meterless 20%)

B3 also launches without having to commit to the B3(1).

 

[1man3letters]

Wouldnt rocket up the tier list or anything but i wish they made barakas b32 safe (mid ender one), special cancelable def would be a big change but even if just left it safe be really nice

 

[ReD WolF]

He's just not as fun anymore IMO. He just feels too generic with nothing special. I still enjoy his ability to stuff armor with B3 and 444 if timed right on opponent's wake up but that's about it. In the last 20 years he was shown love for about a month lol.

 

[The Ultimate]

I would personally like more ways for Baraka to get and enforce his bleed/chip damage debuff. I think one way is that Baraka can spend one meter on his normal throw; that part where he first stabs the opponent with both blades. I think if you meter burn it right there, he snaps his blades off, debuffing the opponent and causing a restand where Baraka is plus enough to establish pressure with any of his standing buttons on the now debuffed opponent. The opponent can try to armor out or flawless block to avoid the incoming chip, but Baraka should really get more ways to interact with this new debuff he has.

 

[LEGEND]

Wouldnt rocket up the tier list or anything but i wish they made barakas b32 safe (mid ender one), special cancelable def would be a big change but even if just left it safe be really nice

the only reason i would want that is because it comes out on accident when part of B3 clips and the DF2 input was dialed in. Hit confirming B3 solves that whole situation though.

I would personally like more ways for Baraka to get and enforce his bleed/chip damage debuff. I think one way is that Baraka can spend one meter on his normal throw; that part where he first stabs the opponent with both blades. I think if you meter burn it right there, he snaps his blades off, debuffing the opponent and causing a restand where Baraka is plus enough to establish pressure with any of his standing buttons on the now debuffed opponent. The opponent can try to armor out or flawless block to avoid the incoming chip, but Baraka should really get more ways to interact with this new debuff he has.

It is weird that they designed that mechanic for him but then made him extremely easy to flawless block. Or like, how his fatal blow gives the debuff but knocks the opp full screen so you can't do shit with it.

 

[1man3letters]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1726708270147289099

Doomsday earthshaker reborn lol

Maybe do something with db1 aswell with this

If anyone finds a way combo baraka throw with tremor tag me, have to go to bed for work in a few

 

[ticklebandit!]

That looks awesome but I'm confused, how do you make Tremor's attacks work as ambushes?



EDIT: Never mind I figured it out. You just hit his stance change and can directly do any attack out of it from the stance you've changed into. Costs all of your kameo meter. Seems interesting tho.

 

[Bloody]

If anyone finds a way combo baraka throw with tremor tag me, have to go to bed for work in a few

You can combo into a corner reliably. Throw,Aftershock Up Ambush(while he stabs like in the cyrax throw),21~df2ex,1~df2 - 255.90dmg. You can probably optimize it more or end with a bleed. You can also do it midscreen but it's much harder to hit.

 

[LEGEND]

So, what is everyone taking from Tekken Master's UFA win?

So far I've got:

- Commit to B31 (close nade). When done against knockdown it can armor break wakeups and launch like normal, but is also plus on block vs either wakeup timing? Not bad just used at sweep range in neutral either.

- not afriad to just throw out F3 with grenade coverage. Can't really be wiff punished and ends up being + on block anyway. Hit confirm was ready for the grenade to clip as well.

- DB1 ender or back throw into close nade + jump in. Not afraid to give up corner position in order to enforce this situation.

- blockstring into DB1 vs people that have answers to DF2

- jump back 2 is good to keep people from chasing your jump back. Allows you to create space more safely?

- D4 -> DF2 is a pretty good check. Making people respect D4 even on block looks strong.

- B4 isn't that great? I don't think I saw him use it at all, could be wrong though.

- sometimes just throwing nades to cover a raw jumpin in neutral can be a safe way to get something going. Seems like this was used after a period of neither player committing to anything so it felt safer to call out.

going to rewatch footage to see if I can notice anything else.

 

[ticklebandit!]

I agree with everything in your post and appreciate the break down @LEGEND

I felt like Tekken Master had a very unique game plan not just for Baraka but for a fighting game in general. Like his gameplay was tailor made around the kameo system, specifically the ambush part. He never did a optimal corner combo (Baraka/Stryker can get up to 40 1 bar), and he always gave up corner position in favor of safe armor breaking jump in after the db1b combo ender.

His management of his kameo bar was perfect. He constantly covered himself with the nades to the point that it'd catch people off guard. A lot of his damage came from the pick up after b31 nades. A lot of Baraka's (mostly me lol) kinda just use nades to make specials safe/plus but I've since had success in using them after safe strings or normals to catch my opponent mashing.

 

[TH3DISTURBED1]

I picked up Baraka last Sunday due to Tekken Master. I hadn't played him before, he feels strong (maybe it's the game plan that fits me). I agree with @LEGEND on the points made. The only one I didn't pick up was the jump back 2. I've had good success using DB1 to throw them out of the corner and abuse the grenades with a jump in. I knew about Stryker's weakness in the corner for a while, so when I saw him throwing them out of it, I knew exactly why he did it (grenades whiff most or all of the time)

 

[1man3letters]

Think on to something using sub kameo new ability to cancel ice armor into shoulder.

I think it may stop cage being able to ex parry punish df2. (Wont stop ex shadow kick, shoulder trades with ex nut punch)

24 seconds cooldown till full bar back though, 12 till half.

 

[ReD WolF]

So what do you guys think? Is Baraka in the top 10 conversation at this point in the games life/meta? As a Baraka/Stryker main I believe he is. Not solidified like some other characters in this game but a contender.

 

[Immortal]

I'm still not convinced that he is top 10 at this point. I think Tweedy and TM are great players and make Baraka look way better than he really is. IMO he is mid tier. Thou Tweedy also thinks he is mid tier.

 

[LEGEND]

There is something to be said about a solid character with a straight forward gameplan and well rounded tools. You're just going to beat up on anyone that's not a better player than you, and that feels great. I haven't played a character like that since MK9 Jax.

Also like MK9 Jax, He does lose some of his power vs people that know the MU. But he has ways of adjusting.

I don't think Baraka is in conversation for best character in the game but the separation isn't big enough to be concerned about.