Strategy Baraka Kommunity Guide/General Discussion

[TotteryManx]

I know some of you will stick with Baraka through the horrible match ups, but after playing Pig of the Huts Kenshi.....no. I tried moving in quickly...fail. I tried being patient and using ex blade charge cautiously...fail. At the end all I got was babied lol. I'm attending a couple of tournies soon and going in there with just Baraka seems like a horrible idea. I can deal with most of the cast with him, but Kabal, Kenshi, and sometimes Freddy can cause me too many problems. I need a serious back up to put time into if I run across these characters. Suggestions?

 

[SunnyD]

Kabal....

 

[Tim Static]

Sounds like you need a main.

 

[TotteryManx]

Sounds like you need a main.

Baraka is my main, but those matchups are horrible. 3-7 or even 2-8 match ups are not something I wanna bring to a tournament lol.

 

[Tim Static]

Baraka is my main, but those matchups are horrible. 3-7 or even 2-8 match ups are not something I wanna bring to a tournament lol.

 

[Enigma642]

I would go Sonya. Since you play Baraka you are probably footsie oriented already and that would complement Sonya's rushdown nicely.

 

[TotteryManx]

I would go Sonya. Since you play Baraka you are probably footsie oriented already and that would complement Sonya's rushdown nicely.

I'm debating on her and Kabal. I just think Kabal is a worst matchup for Kenshi/freddy players.

 

[Enigma642]

I'm debating on her and Kabal. I just think Kabal is a worst matchup for Kenshi/freddy players.

Tough decision. If you can get kabal's execution down that's probably best.

 

[1man3letters]

I know some of you will stick with Baraka through the horrible match ups, but after playing Pig of the Huts Kenshi.....no. I tried moving in quickly...fail. I tried being patient and using ex blade charge cautiously...fail. At the end all I got was babied lol. I'm attending a couple of tournies soon and going in there with just Baraka seems like a horrible idea. I can deal with most of the cast with him, but Kabal, Kenshi, and sometimes Freddy can cause me too many problems. I need a serious back up to put time into if I run across these characters. Suggestions?

it doesnt sound like u need a new main, just an alt to deal with the 3 MUs u mentioned.
kabal would do u better in the 3 MUs than sonya imo but if u can play kabal why play baraka at all if your worried about bad MUs?
i have problems with kenshi also because he beats both my chars pretty bad,
to a lesser case kung lao also,he has a adv of both mileena and raka,
same with radien but ive just made the choice to stick with mileena for that one


also TotteryManx im just going to move this thread to the general discussion thread

 

[Zoidberg747]

I know some of you will stick with Baraka through the horrible match ups, but after playing Pig of the Huts Kenshi.....no. I tried moving in quickly...fail. I tried being patient and using ex blade charge cautiously...fail. At the end all I got was babied lol. I'm attending a couple of tournies soon and going in there with just Baraka seems like a horrible idea. I can deal with most of the cast with him, but Kabal, Kenshi, and sometimes Freddy can cause me too many problems. I need a serious back up to put time into if I run across these characters. Suggestions?

Freddy is 4-6 at the worst. I will try to get my huge writeup of him done tonight in the bad matchup thread, you will see what I mean.

 

[1man3letters]

Freddy is 4-6 at the worst. I will try to get my huge writeup of him done tonight in the bad matchup thread, you will see what I mean.

id still call it 3.5-6.5 imo at the moment but i wouldnt dismiss a 4-6 at all so i look forward to your writeup,
that thread seems to be working out alot better 2nd time around

 

[EVB SomeCubanGuy]

I play BuryMeInBlack a lot, and he mains Freddy, but he used to main Baraka. Him and I both agree it's 6-4 in Freddy's favor. The only 7-3s are Kabal and possibly Kenshi.

I play Ashenar's Kenshi offline as well, and his Kenshi is decent, but he's never beaten me, and I've played teef back when he played the game. Have yet to play Pig or Blackula though, and Blackula says it's 7-3 so I don't know...I don't like .5s in MU charts cause I don't think they are necessary.

Kabal imo is most definitely 7-3 since I play Kevo regularly and played soonk at Final Round. It's probably 8-2 on Rooftop Day, and 9-1 if it's Rooftop Day REO lol.

 

[1man3letters]

I play BuryMeInBlack a lot, and he mains Freddy, but he used to main Baraka. Him and I both agree it's 6-4 in Freddy's favor. The only 7-3s are Kabal and possibly Kenshi.

I play Ashenar's Kenshi offline as well, and his Kenshi is decent, but he's never beaten me, and I've played teef back when he played the game. Have yet to play Pig or Blackula though, and Blackula says it's 7-3 so I don't know...I don't like .5s in MU charts cause I don't think they are necessary.

Kabal imo is most definitely 7-3 since I play Kevo regularly and played soonk at Final Round. It's probably 8-2 on Rooftop Day, and 9-1 if it's Rooftop Day REO lol.

are you calling freddy 4-6 because you dont like .5s or because u think its that? if u used .5s i mean

that could just be the thing with ashenar(and of course of offense meant to them) but just that your better than him so the MU numbers become void,that hes never been able to beat u? or even doesnt understand the MU?
id beaten a kenshi in tourny before but another time lost twice to a different kenshi in the same tourny.
at this moment in time i would not be comfortable with calling kenshi 4-6 at all,
its either 3.5-6.5 or 3-7 at the minute in my eyes

kabal 3-7 no doubt, agree with the rooftop day stuff also

on another note i really like .5s, thinks it tells more of the story of the MU but each to there own

 

[Zoidberg747]

id still call it 3.5-6.5 imo at the moment but i wouldnt dismiss a 4-6 at all so i look forward to your writeup,
that thread seems to be working out alot better 2nd time around

It is up. Tell me if there is anything I need to add, I did everything I could think of.

 

[EVB SomeCubanGuy]

I mean, you can really make an argument for both. The thing with me is I just know a lot of dirty tricks against Kenshi that cause him to waste/lose meter. For example, if he blocks 221+2, and you do a D+1 while he goes for any safe armor, he'll get meter drain glitched. Shit like that that exploits flaws in the game. Of course that's when you get in, and the reason the matchup is bad is because Baraka has a rough time getting in. I suppose I look at it like this, if he's playing keep away it's 7-3, but if he's trying to out footsie you, or rush you down, it's 6-4. Since matchups are hypotheticals which are predictions to the outcome of a set of matches where both players are at equal skill and both know the matchups perfectly, the Kenshi player will play keep away, so the matchup is closer to 7-3. Point is, whether it's 6-4 or 7-3, it is definitely Baraka's 2nd worst matchup.

 

[1man3letters]

I mean, you can really make an argument for both. The thing with me is I just know a lot of dirty tricks against Kenshi that cause him to waste/lose meter. For example, if he blocks 221+2, and you do a D+1 while he goes for any safe armor, he'll get meter drain glitched. Shit like that that exploits flaws in the game. Of course that's when you get in, and the reason the matchup is bad is because Baraka has a rough time getting in. I suppose I look at it like this, if he's playing keep away it's 7-3, but if he's trying to out footsie you, or rush you down, it's 6-4. Since matchups are hypotheticals which are predictions to the outcome of a set of matches where both players are at equal skill and both know the matchups perfectly, the Kenshi player will play keep away, so the matchup is closer to 7-3. Point is, whether it's 6-4 or 7-3, it is definitely Baraka's 2nd worst matchup.

man i fucking love the 22 1+2 d1 meter drain trap! works on everything but xray..and im rembering ex nut punch was a exception for some reason,ill go and check and edit if im wrong.

any more filth for kenshi? or just filth in general?
baraka doesnt have enough filth going for him now a days

yes thats very sound reasoning off the matchup alright,
even if the kenshi plays the MU wrong were still at a disadv, much like a kabal who would rush us than zone

 

[TotteryManx]

I seem to handle myself well against Freddy as I've said before. Getting in on Kenshi is another story altogether. I always patiently walk and block so I can press my opponent near the corner, but chip damage is chip damage. A good Kenshi can also take the offensive at mid screen which leaves Raka at a guessing game. It's a really tough match up and I feel as though going to a tournament with just raka is crying for elimination. There will probably be tons of Kabal's/Kenshi's as time goes on.

 

[1man3letters]

I seem to handle myself well against Freddy as I've said before. Getting in on Kenshi is another story altogether. I always patiently walk and block so I can press my opponent near the corner, but chip damage is chip damage. A good Kenshi can also take the offensive at mid screen which leaves Raka at a guessing game. It's a really tough match up and I feel as though going to a tournament with just raka is crying for elimination. There will probably be tons of Kabal's/Kenshi's as time goes on.

yea its a tough one alright and if you dash block in hes building meter for breakers or ex moves, the blind fucker!

well baraka has a pretty shitty MU chart but i dont feel picking baraka "crying for elimination"
@flippin Flava got top 8 at a major with him,1st person in america to do so with him
not to toot my own horn but CURRENTLY i have not finshed outside top 3 using him atm.
james mk did well with him at MLG also
and the other baraka tourny users do ok for themselves aswell

it is no news baraka is a bad char,hes not unexpolred or untapped or under rated(unless your callin him bottom)
in a game were so many chars have so much BS he falls short but can still do well

4-6 isnt so bad when u have the matchup down so in reality if you only need to counter pick two matches(three imo atm ) if you really dont to use baraka for them, hell ive said ill never play raka vs kang by choice in tourny setting again but thats just me
so thats kabal and kenshi, two chars that rape alot of the cast, thats not so bad, alot of chars have them as bad MUs
the third i was talking about is radien but again thats just my opinion,
(alot of the other guys see it as 4-6 but imo at the moment i see it as 3.5-6.5)

 

[XXFleshtrapXX]

I want every ones opinion on a few things, do you feel like d4, standing 4, canceled into slices is a viable pressure option if the d4 connects or is blocked? Do you think its viable to be used after resets?

I ask because my main midscreen resets I got for are 2,2,1+2, B3,1, F4 followed by B3,2, slices pressure. The timing is tricky at first as the F4 has to hit the opponent while they in high in the air, or they can jump out of the B3,2, slices. But I honestly have no problem do this offline. And, B3,1, B3,1. B3,1 followed by B3,2, slices. But in all honesty, the window for getting the B3,2, slices to be inescapable after three B3,1 strings is far to small.

D4 is neutral on block, and if it hits is +13 giving you enough frames to 4 and cancel into slices. Not only that but it make it possible to continue pressure on his low hitting resets "The ones that are supposedly not that useful", as although they were reset closer to the ground, the D4 still has time to make it home.

I don't know if Baraka players have been doing this or not, if so I have not seen but it seems useful, just wanted to see what everyone else things.

 

[1man3letters]

I want every ones opinion on a few things, do you feel like d4, standing 4, canceled into slices is a viable pressure option if the d4 connects or is blocked? Do you think its viable to be used after resets?

I ask because my main midscreen resets I got for are 2,2,1+2, B3,1, F4 followed by B3,2, slices pressure. The timing is tricky at first as the F4 has to hit the opponent while they in high in the air, or they can jump out of the B3,2, slices. But I honestly have no problem do this offline. And, B3,1, B3,1. B3,1 followed by B3,2, slices. But in all honesty, the window for getting the B3,2, slices to be inescapable after three B3,1 strings is far to small.

D4 is neutral on block, and if it hits is +13 giving you enough frames to 4 and cancel into slices. Not only that but it make it possible to continue pressure on his low hitting resets "The ones that are supposedly not that useful", as although they were reset closer to the ground, the D4 still has time to make it home.

I don't know if Baraka players have been doing this or not, if so I have not seen but it seems useful, just wanted to see what everyone else things.

4~slices is good for pressure/meter yes,
d4 slices not so much, the pushback on block makes the slices whiff if at max range, even on hit the opp can can get of it and if they got hit from the d4 ducking they can NJP the slices and full combo you, imo d4 should only be canceled into charge for use in combos and when d4 hits a airborne opp, d4~charging the crap out of jaxs dash punch is a example of were its useful

yea if they jump out of b32 is bad times, i really like f2~slices/spin after midscreen resets, know its 2 frames slower but f2 advances baraka alot and if they jump and f2 hit,all of slices and spin will still connect were the odd time if b32 catches a jumping opp sometimes all the slices hits dont connect

 

[TheTetraSpirit]

4xxSlices sounds good for the meter building department, but what I'm worried about is, will it catch people trying to jump after you land a D4?
People always get jump happy after you poke them, so F44 has always been my go-to string to counter that.

If 4xxSlices catches them and all the hits connect, I might just have to start using it.

 

[1man3letters]

4xxSlices sounds good for the meter building department, but what I'm worried about is, will it catch people trying to jump after you land a D4?
People always get jump happy after you poke them, so F44 has always been my go-to string to counter that.

If 4xxSlices catches them and all the hits connect, I might just have to start using it.

unless d4 is hit at touching distance a half dash will be needed or 4 will whiff and 4 is bad on whiff.
4~slices will not connect on a jumping opp midscreen, only in corner
4~spark will hit jumping opp midscreen and is unbreakable as second hit is projectile, unsafe if blocked though

 

[XXFleshtrapXX]

I have actually killed opponents by D4, "If it hits" half dash 4, cancel into slices. They can jump out but now that I know that can NJP if they are crouching I can see it's a bit risky. The main reason I thought this could be useful after resets is obviously the timing isn't as strict as it is with the B3,2, slices, and the 4 hits crouching opponents even low hit box characters and makes the slices connect every time. So you guys think I should leave the D4 out all together after the reset and just dash 4,slices?

Also, we all obviously end our pressure with slices/xxslices, what do you guys recommend follow with after slices leaves me neutral on block?

 

[1man3letters]

Also, we all obviously end our pressure with slices/xxslices, what do you guys recommend follow with after slices leaves me neutral on block?

i prefer to end in spin than slices when ever possible personally.
after slices u can either d1/d3, bait there d1/d3, crossover etc etc your at neutral frames so there lots of options.

 

[1man3letters]

was playing vanilla baraka yesterday...why oh why couldnt they of made f4 special cancelable again after they fixed the chop chop juggle