Barking Irons Guide by Sage

[Sage Leviathan]

(Pretend it's orange.)

Erron Black Barking Irons Guide
Version 1.0 (12 February 2020)

!Preface - The Plan

BI prideflag Erron Black is a slot machine/random number generator whose sole purpose on this planet is to get in and toss three-sided coins.
The general gameplay loop follows thusly.

1. Be within sweep distance.
2. Do a back throw, stagger, or commit to a 50/50.
3. On a hit confirm, cancel into amp slide.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until they die.

!Chapter 1 - BnBs (or, What You'll Read First Anyway)

2121~amp slide (192.25)
B222~amp slide (196.73)
B222~cattle toss (221.10, amp = 261.71)
B2u4~slide cancel, 21, f3~cattle (256.87, amp = 287.41)

21212 KB, b222~cattle (348.53, amp = 375.00)
D2 KB, b222~cattle (366.88, amp = 399.37)

*Note: may replace b222~cattle with f32~amp slide

!Chapter 2 - Blockstrings

I'll keep this brief. The slide cancels are real.
They are not reactable. They are not plus. But they are absolutely real guesses.
Staggers will consist of s2, 21212, and slide cancels anywhere an overhead would occur.
For instance: b222 (the 2nd hit comes out in 19f) and b2~slide (slide comes out in 21f).
Very difficult to fuzzy.
Now observe—b2~slide cancel (-11).
The opponent is sitting there waiting for an OH or a low, tapping down in an attempt to fuzzy the mixup.
By the time the cancel has occurred and they've caught on, 11 frames have passed already and they're in the middle of being thrown.
This works especially when they've been conditioned by the complete safety of 21212 and b22/b222~slide cancel.

Since the removal of the flawless block OS, Erron's f3 is now a true 50/50.
F3~cattle is a tick throw.
F32 is a mid.
Cattle toss is a high command grab.
If they try to duck/hop/jump the cattle toss, F32 will hit.
If they try to flawless block the gap, F3~cattle toss will hit because cattle toss comes too soon before they can release block.

Strings and staggers.
Block data in parentheses.

S2 (-4)
21212 (-7)
B222 (-15 but you'll never actually do this)
F32 (-3, flawless block gap here: F3_2)

That's it. This is all you need.

Expanded.

212~slide cancel (-13)
2121~slide cancel (-16)
B2~slide cancel (-11)
B22~slide cancel (-4)
B222~slide cancel (-7)
F3~cattle

Midscreen you should prefer back throw. Keeps them closer.
Both of Erron's throws are +19.

!Chapter 3 - Notes and Misc.

1. Erron may have the best set of pokes in the entire game.
D1 is 6f, -5, +11. Jails into s2.
D3 is 7f, -3, +11. Jails into s2. Can low profile and even AA.
D4 is 8f, -3, +16. On hit earns a b2 check or a throw.
Additionally, b4 is 11f, +28, -1, and low profiles a lot of attacks.

2. Cattle toss is an 11f high command grab that does 12%. When amplified, 17%.
The normal version is +14 on hit. The amp version is +33.
Enjoy the oki.

3. For no reason whatsoever he has one of the fastest short hop attacks.
Hop u2 is 10f and -13 on block with decent range.

4. Erron's rifle contains 8 bullets. Each bullet does 1.75% chip damage.
Assuming the opp. has no last breath available and every bullet is blocked, they can die to chip death at about 13% or less.
Save your bullets.

5. F4, the 26f running OH dropkick, can be canceled in this variation.
F4~cancel into throw seems to hit everyone. See for yourself.

6. TNT can be amplified to shoot a single bullet.
The bullet does 7% on hit or 1.87% chip. This may be useful to you.

7. After amp slide, an opp. who gets hit by cattle toss straight away will be thrown onto the acid.
This is true for b222~cattle and the f3 tick throw.

!Chapter 4 - Pros and Cons
Pros:
-stellar mid; it almost doesn't get better than b2
-top tier pokes and an aggravating sweep
-a constant stream of 50/50s like beer on tap
-amp slide knockdowns tend to lead into more knockdowns
-a command grab!
-damage is higher than you think it is; without scud shot, you always have meter to amplify slide

Cons:
-because most of Erron's damage is unbreakable, the opp. can likely use breakaway when you land a KB
-poor anti-airs; d2 is serviceable
-f3 (on hit) into cattle toss is not safe, so be careful
-forward throw sends the opp. fullscreen; not helpful to this variation
-back throw is painfully and barely not loopable
-TNT replaces acid toss
-floaty jump arc
-can be zoned quite harshly; Erron cannot wave dash
-b222~fatal blow whiffs on hit vs. females; use b22

!Rattlesnake Slide cancel data so you don't need to have two tabs open:

Spoiler

Move linked into cancel: Block Advantage

1: -16
11: -17
111: -13
B1: -15

2: -17
21: -16
212: -13
2121: -17
B2: -11
B22: -4
B222: -7
B2U4: -3
F2: -8

S3: -7
F3: -19
F32: -1

S4: -6

D1: -24
D3: -19
D4: -15

Slide by itself is 21f fast and death on block.

 

[Sage Leviathan]

A word:

This is my newest contribution to TYM. Rather than turn away entirely from a community of *people whose opinions I find both uncouth and unseemly, I instead channeled my energy into something more useful.

BI prideflag Erron is very rewarding to play. The cancels make him technical, I love command grabs, and amp slide makes you always feel in control. Some matchups aren't nice. Cetrion isn't nice. V3 Frost isn't nice. But he's really fun and I hope this guide encourages you to play this version of him.

If you have questions let me know.

 

[Darth Mao]

Great work, bro. Was curious about this variation after Liga Latina Finals, i'll lab for sure.

 

[Zviko]

I don't play Erron and probably never will but I appreciate the work! This is what we should see more on this forum instead of constant complaining.

 

[DarksydeDash]

There's been a surprise increase in barking irons and honestly, this variation is good.

Erron loses Scud shot but who cares when slide goes under most projectiles and now you can cancel it as a safe advancing special. Also, F4 tends to hit a lot more in this variation because everyone eventually starts jumping when they think a slide is coming..

 

[Evantabes]

I think you pretty much nailed everything about the variation, just a few things I would add. F3 xx command grab/F32 is still OSable, it's just a lot harder to get the flawless block timing now. Something you didn't touch on that I think is worth mentioning is the use of Rifle as an added layer of mixups during blockstrings. If the rifle comes out it forces another guess. They pretty much have to hard read the rifle to get a clean interrupt and having access to a pretty fast overhead in bop opens up a bunch of options. If they try to mash out of bop, they risk getting clipped by high shot/low shot/Rifle stance 2 since they're all fast as shit. Try to block overhead and get knocked down by low shot into mix. Start respecting low shot and you get bopped. Also if you're feeling really disrespectful you can put away rifle and keep going. Even if they guess right on their mash timing, their poke might not even reach.

A couple things about F4 cancel. Aside from F4 cancel into throw hitting everyone like you mentioned (this is literally untechable), I think this variation is the only one that can really get the double F4 kb. F4 into F4 cancel into F4 again seems to work every time tbh. Definitely a good okie doke. Something else with F4 cancel I've been trying to incorporate recently is using it as a form of movement, specifically against projectile heavy characters. It covers a unique amount of distance really quickly, something Erron can't really do because of no wavedash. It seems to have some use to close the gap in between projectiles, but in the end the mus I think this would be useful in (I'm thinking primarily about Cetrion) I would probably just pick 52 Kard. This is a concept I still have to flesh out.

Some final random thoughts. The nerf to 21 really sucks imo and kinda came out of nowhere. I guess st2 stagger functionally does the same thing, but having the second hit mid to stop d2 mashing was nice. You're definitely spot on about his anti airs sucking. I've pretty much given up on all his normals and just try to flawless block u3 everything now. U2 never hits shit and with u3 at least you get your turn back and an attempt at a knockdown/melting them. Lastly, I think the worst thing about this variation is that he functionally loses access to breakaway since he can't run his offense without defensive meter. I find in the rounds that I have to breakaway immediately, I just kinda slowly get strangled to death and it's not fun. I almost never breakaway anymore unless it will save the game.

Super sick post man keep up the good work.

 

[Inzzane_79]

Thank you for your hard work! Appreciated

Never looked into Erron but I might give him a try now

 

[Braindead]

For instance: b222 (the 2nd hit comes out in 19f) and b2~slide (slide comes out in 21f).
Very difficult to fuzzy.

You don't need to fuzzy. You can just react to a 21f slide IMO. There's a good running start up animation, easy to react to this offline. Cancels complicate things though in this variation.

 

[NHDR]

Wait, Erron can't wavedash with this variation? I thought all characters and variations could wavedash?

 

[Qwark28]

You don't need to fuzzy. You can just react to a 21f slide IMO. There's a good running start up animation, easy to react to this offline. Cancels complicate things though in this variation.

imagine reading this in a guide nearly a year after the games release when top players were reacting to it free 2 months in

 

[Slymind]

VGY's brother playing barking irons:

Decided to share, maybe there is something valuable for you guys here.

 

[Dreamcatcher]

I used to vouch for this variation, but it really is chocked full of gimmicks that are either reactable or OSable. Erron has a hard enough time in his best variation 52KPU, there’s almost no reason to play this one unless you’re really just messing around. It’s extremely expensive in meter for the lack of reward too.

The slide cancels being “real” is a fallacy. You could literally just mash as soon as you see and hear the obvious cue on almost all of them. The F4 cancel can come out of nowhere but is a harsher commitment. You wanna see “real” cancels, that’s Kabal and Jacqui’s department.

In the video right above, not even one minute in and the guy reacts to the slide cancel. Lol

Not having scud is immediately losing half of Erron’s stock. The CG is the best part of the variation actually, but it’s a high and it IS completely OSable from F3 tick.

Oh, and the TNT is complete garbage. Literally one of the worst moves in the entire game next to Cassie’s flipping out and very few others. Insane that startup hasn’t been changed or anything.

Great work on the guide, and it’s not to say that a good player couldn’t make something of the variation. But I just don’t see why competitively anyone would ever pick this or V3 over 52KPU.

 

[Sage Leviathan]

In the video right above, not even one minute in and the guy reacts to the slide cancel. Lol

When Josh does b222~slide cancel, he's not doing it to make the last hit an OH or a low guess. He's doing the cancel to make the string safe. In 52 Kard, scud cancels can be punished on block by characters with fast jabs. B22~scud cancel is -9. B222~scud cancel is -12. Without offensive meter there's no guess; you might as well let go of block and try to get your standing punish.

And yes, TNT is garbage. And yes, just as flippin' out is also garbage, and just as Cassie players can choose to not use it, you too can choose to not throw TNT.

 

[Szkarad]

And yes, TNT is garbage. And yes, just as flippin' out is also garbage, and just as Cassie players can choose to not use it, you too can choose to not throw TNT.

Thing is, TNT takes place of one of the best specials in the game, the acid. If TNT was DB3 or whatever V2 would instantly become much better

 

[nightcrawlers]

going to update this with the patch?

 

[The Farmer]

B2u4~slide cancel, 21, f3~cattle (256.87, amp = 287.41)
This combo is you B2u4~slide cancel, 21212 cattle toss is 270 and 299 amp.

 

[scrubjesus111]

going to update this with the patch?

Looks like TNT just became more useable, there might be new setups like Hayatei’s corner setup. 1,1,4 is slightly more useful (2f less recovery). Beyond that idk

 

[scrubjesus111]

I can’t do B2u4~slide cancel, 21, f3~cattle to save my life. The 21 comes out as a single s1 almost every time, and if I do get the 21 then the f3 won’t come out in time. Help?

 

[Pyrosis]

Can anyone assist on the timing for B222 into Cattle? Specifically when in the string do you input the grab?
Edit: Nvm, I just just inputting it way too fast