MachinayRequiem
Noob
This post is for intermediate to higher level players and for those playing against others of similar level. This is not for playing against low level players or people who don't understand the game or match-up because quite frankly, you could beat those levels of player by literally doing anything you want.
This post also kind of serves as a guide on how to defeat Spawn's Variation 1, From Hell. I have been seeing way too many people (On Youtube especially, some on here) talking about how V1 is his best variation and how good it is. It simply is not. This isn't subjective. It is very much fact. You can go lab these thing in this post and see for yourself.
Blaze of Glory (DB1) is a low automatic gun shot style move that also has a low melee parry attached to it that grants a Krushing Blow. You can hold 1 to delay the parry, press down on the D-Pad to cancel the move (Allows for a full combo which makes the KB pointless), or you can Amplify the move. The Amplified version hits high after the low shots.
Gun Blazing (BF1) is a high automatic gun shot style move that shoots a plethora of bullets at about a 45 degree angle in front and above Spawn's head. This move can be Amplified to shoot gun shots in front of Spawn as he walks foward. The bullets do not go full screen for some weird reason. They could have at least made the bullets go full screen to make this complete useless move somewhat useful.
In my opinion, these two moves are complete useless. Not only that, but they are garbage.
The Damage
Lets start with the combos shall we. (I am not going to use any KB combos because all the damage is roughly the same across all variation and is pointless to mention outside of the fact that Soul Shattering War Club can guarantee your damage in V1 and V3.)
The combos are as follows (All combos were done on Scorpion for consistency):
F21 xx DB1 Amp ~ 222.46%
F413 xx DB1 Amp ~ 222.46%
11 xx DB1 Amp ~ 192.46%
34 xx DB1 Amp ~ 221.46%
B12 - 24 xx BF1 Amp ~ 301.59%
B1 xx DB1 Amp ~ 201.54% (This combo is only viable used with DB1, but I'll go over this later)
Now, if you look at the damage you can say that it is pretty decent damage and you would be correct. However ...
First of all, you should be hit confirming every one of these starter strings except B1 which should be used as a punish or if you know for a fact it will hit which it should never hit outside of a punish if the opponent is fuzzy guarding (I'll go over this later).
Now, I say, why cancel into Blaze of Glory when you could cancel into Amplified Fatal Phantasm for more damage. If you are playing V2, you can get a full 30% combo into the Fatal Phantasm restand which guarantees a F4 which leads to staggers, full combos, and once conditioned can lead to stand 1/11/11HoldB2 staggers/pressure, grabs, and short hop/sweep mix-ups. (And people are saying he doesn't have pressure. That is because you aren't playing the better variation, V2.)
Combo Damage With Fatal Phantasm Ender:
F21 xx DB3 Amp ~ 248.82%
F413 xx DB3 Amp ~ 248.82%
11 xx DB3 Amp ~ 218.82%
34 xx DB3 Amp ~ Doesn't Combo
B12 - 24 xx DB2 Amp ~ 309.39%
The Problem With 34:
Stand 34 is a crazy good spacing tool and a key to Spawn's game plan at its respectable range seeing as it is his fastest move at that range and his chains have no hurt box on them. In V2 he can cancel 34 into BF1 Amp to keep it safe and keep the opponent spaced out. In V3 he can cancel into DB3 Amp to keep the opponent spaced out. Both variation are safe using these tools. In V1 however, you get no follow-up after standing 34 and it is punishable. In a nutshell, you lose a major spacing tool in V1.
One could argue that ending a combo with DB1 will give him a restand and that is true. However, DB1 restand leaves you at a range where you have to dash in just to get a F2 to land. Why do that when you can end with DB3 which gives you a restand leaving you standing right next to your opponent for a guaranteed F4, all kinds of pressure, and more damage.
As you can see, using the guns are completely pointless to use as an ender to combos.
Blaze Of Glory and It's Parry
This post is for intermediate to higher level players and for those playing against those level of players. This is not for playing against low level players or people who don't understand the game or match-up because quite frankly, you could beat those level of players by literally doing anything you want.
This post also kind of serves as a guide on how to defeat Spawn's Variation 1, From Hell. I have been hearing way too many people on Youtube especially talking about how V1 is his best variation and how good it is. It simply is not. This isn't subjective. It is very much fact. You can go lab these thing in this post and see for yourself.
Blaze of Glory (DB1) is a low automatic gun shot style move that also has a low melee parry attached to it. You can hold 1 to delay the parry, press down on the D-Pad to cancel the move, or RB/R1 to Amplify the move. The Amplified version hits high after the low shots. Gun Blazing (BF1) is a high automatic gun shot style move that shoots a plethora of bullets at able a 45 degree angle in front and above Spawn's head. This move can be Amplified to shot gun shots in front of Spawn as he walks foward. The bullets do not go full screen for some weird reason. They could have at least made the bullets go full screen to make this complete useless more somewhat useful. In my opinion, these two moves are complete useless. Not only that, but they are garbage. Now, in order to educate you to help you better understand why, I will state facts to back my opinion. Yes, facts.
The Damage
Lets start with the combos shall we. (I am not going to use any KB combos because all the damage is roughly the same across all variation and is pointless to mention outside of the fact that Soul Shattering War Club can guarantee your damage in V1 and V3.)
The combos are as follows (All combos were done on Scorpion):
F21 xx DB1 Amp ~ 222.46%
F413 xx DB1 Amp ~ 222.46%
11 xx DB1 Amp ~ 192.46%
34 xx DB1 Amp ~ 221.46%
B12 - 24 xx BF1 Amp ~ 301.59%
B1 xx DB1 Amp ~ 201.54% (This combo is only viable used with DB1, but I'll go over this later)
Now, if you look at the damage you can say that it is pretty decent damage and you would be correct.
First of all, you should be hit confirming every one of these starter strings except B1 which should be used as a punish or if you know for a fact it will hit which it should never hit outside of a punish if the opponent is fuzzy guarding (I'll go over this later).
Now, why cancel into Blaze of Glory when you could cancel into Amp Fatal Phantasm for more damage. If you are playing V2, you can get a full 30% combo into the Fatal Phantasm restand which guarantees a F4 which leads to staggers, full combos, and once conditioned can lead to stand 1/11/11HoldB2 staggers/pressure, grabs, and short hop/sweep mix-ups. (And people are saying he doesn't have pressure. That is because you aren't playing the better variation, V2.)
Combo Damage With Fatal Phantasm Ender:
F21 xx DB3 Amp ~ 248.82%
F413 xx DB3 Amp ~ 248.82%
11 xx DB3 Amp ~ 218.82%
34 xx DB3 Amp ~ Doesn't Combo
B12 - 24 xx DB2 Amp ~ 309.39%
The Problem With 34:
Stand 34 is a crazy good spacing tool and a key to Spawn's game plan at that range seeing as that is his fastest move at that range and his chains have no hit box on them. In V2 he can cancel 34 into BF1 Amp to keep it safe and keep the opponent spaced out. In V3 he can cancel into DB3 Amp to keep the opponent spaced out. Both variation are safe using these tools. In V1 however, you get no follow-up after standing 34 and it is punshible. In a nutshell, you lose a major spacing tool of Spawn in V1.
As you can see, using the guns are completely pointless to use as an ender to combos.
Blaze Of Glory and It's Parry
This is the only useful part about this move and even still it isn't very good. The poke war in this game is very prevalent and can be very annoying. This move may seem good because after you poke you can cancel into DB1 Hold 1 and it will punish the opponent for trying to poke back. This means they will have to hold the poke and be patient for the follow-up. This isn't completely true, however. Blaze of Glory only parries low pokes which means the opponent can always counter poke with D1 making the parry now, you guessed it, useless. Lets pretend for a minute that D1's were a low too. This means you would have to hold the Spawn's poke wait for him to use another move or you could make a 50/50 guess on if he was going to do the parry or not. This would allow Spawn to mash two or even three D1's of his own in a row. Seems pretty good right? Well, it would be except for one problem. After Spawn pokes, you can simply micro step back or neutral stand and whiff punish him for trying to poke multiple times. If Spawn is playing against a character with a 9 frame mid then they don't even have to counter poke after his poke. Whether he pokes multiple times or does a D1 xx DB1 you can simple block the first D1 and punish him. For Cassie, Jax, and Jacqui this means they are getting a full combo and their 9 frame strings are hit confirmable.
Parrying On A Read:
Lets say you are playing an opponent with an Overhead and Low starter like Sub-Zero or Terminator for example. On a hard read that they are going for a low starter then you could do DB1 parry and punish them for it. But then again, in the other two variations you could just block and punish so is the parry really even needed? That is up for you to decide. For Terminator you would have to block the low and stand 1 through the low overhead gap and Sub-Zero you would have to punish with a grab if they are hit-confirming properly, but the gist still stands.
The parry could be used at the beginning of a match in a counter poke war to let your opponent know they need to be more patient. It can be used throughout the game to keep the opponent patient in the counter poke war. It can be used very effectively against people who don't know the match-up, but as I mentioned in the beginning, most intermediates and high level players are going to have this knowledge or be able to adapt pretty quickly.
The B1 Overhead/Low Mix-up - Too Stronk ... NOT
The seemly overpowered mix-up I have been hearing about through a ton of comments in Youtube and have been seeing working in many videos (Mostly Super when he play scrubs) is this:
B12 is a mid, overhead which leads to a 30% combo
B1 xx DB1 Amp is a mid low which leads to 201.54%
Instead of the first hit being the hit you have to guess on, it becomes the second hit on which you have to guess on which means if the opponent blocks the first hit and guesses wrong on the second hit they get fully comboed. This means now the damage becomes:
B12 34 xx BF1 Amp ~ 264.83%
B1 xx DB1 Amp ~ 159.52% (Not hit-confirmable)
Risk vs. Reward:
Both of these combos are punishable if the opponent guesses correctly and punishes. Most characters in this game can get around 30% on a punish.
*Damage is rounded up
30% (Opponents Damage) - 26.5%* (Your Damage) = 3.5% (Damage Difference)
30% (Opponents Damage) - 16%*(Your Damage) = 14% (Damage Difference)
As you can see, the opponent is getting rewarded more for guessing right than you are of guessing right. This means essentially, 50% of the time, you will be taking 3.5% or 14% more damage then you are dishing out to your opponent. Then again, if you are good at guessing or your opponent is bad a guessing then it really doesn't matter, but in reality it is still a coin flip and it is live by the mix or die by the mix. (cough Dead of Winter Sub-Zero cough)
I'd also like to point out that any string or B1 cancelled into DB1 (and the Amplified version) are BOTH punishable if blocked. Another flaw to a cancelled Amplified DB1 is when the low gun shots change into the high gun shots when it is Amplified, there is a gap so there is no reason to never not go for your punish after the low gun shots. Whether they Amplify it or not, you will always be able to punish DB1 after the low shots end.
The 3.5% from the B12 isn't bad, but B1 xx DB1 not being hit-confirmable and the difference being so high makes this mix-up not even worth attempting because it is ALWAYS a coin flip. However, this isn't even what is so bad about it the mix-up.
The B1 Overhead/Low Mix-up Being Completely Useless
What if I told you that there is a way to make this mix-up completely non-existent? Well, there is. Have you ever head of Fuzzy Guarding?
Fuzzy Guarding is a way of Option Selecting Blocking an Overhead/Low mix-up by blocking one way (high) and blocking another way (low) by default to cover both mix-up options without having to react or guess which option the opponent will choose. You don't necessarily have to block high then low. It can be done a few different ways as I will explain one below.
When playing against Spawn's V1, you will always want to be blocking low by default when you decide to block. The only time you want to block high is when they are jumping in or doing a short hop which are both reactable. Short hops will usually came after a Fatal Phantasm restand which you have enough time to react to unless they have you conditioned.
The reason you always want to be blocking low by default is because that is the stance you have to be in in-order to fuzzy guard.
How To Fuzzy Guard:
First you want to be blocking low. After you block the B1 you will want to stand block and then immediately crouch block again. This will cover both mix-up options and you should never get hit by this mix-up and easily be able to punish Spawn for doing this trash mix-up because they don't understand the character they are playing.
Why It Works:
This works because in-between B12 there is a 21 frame start-up and between B1 xx DB1 there is a 7 frame start-up. That means there is a 14 frame gap in-between the overhead and low meaning you have plenty of time to change your block stance to cover both options. In fact, if your reactions are on point, you can block low and react to the overhead. Try both ways and use which ever is best for you.
How To Practice Fuzzy Guarding:
Now, for sure Spawn will hit some people with these mix-up every once in a while if they don't know how to fuzzy guard, if they don't know the match-up, is just not that good, or simply because of the hustle and bustle of the match. It can be extremely fun and seem like V1 is really good, but against someone competent you'll have to ask yourself, "is it really worth going for if you are going to get punished that hard?"
Conclusion
If you want to play Spawn as a mix-up character then play V3. He actually has a Overhead/Low mix-up that you can't fuzzy guard in B12, unsafe and /B1 xx DB3 Amp, safe. B12 also forces the opponent to block high so now they are in another guessing game on if the command grab is coming and if they guess wrong the low will hit them. V3 is the mix-up variation, not V1. V3 also has Soul Shattering War Club.
V1 can break armor for guaranteed KB damage, has bootleg mix-ups that aren't real, and should be spacing baiting, and whiff punishing to win. V2 uses spacing, baiting, and whiff punishing, but has high damage to win. V3 uses spacing, baiting, whiff punishing, can break armor for guaranteed KB damage, and has mix-ups to win. V2 and V3 does everything V1 does, but better ... way better. If you like V1 because the guns look cool then be my guest, there is nothing at all wrong with that. I'm just explaining why V1's tools are useless and are not competitively viable. With being able to take away his Overhead/Low mix-up in V1 and making his low parry useless, he is essentially V2 but slightly worse. He can make up some of the damage from using Soul Shattering War Club to keep the opponent from breaking out of his Krushing Blows, but how much of a difference is it really making up? This is all reliant on if you are even getting the Krushing Blows and if in V2 if you are going for the KB's when opponent has meter or not so they can even break out. There is way to much "If" on the Soul Shattering War Club move to even say if the damage is actually made up for or not. I guess that is where the opinion comes in. Which one is worth using over the other. I think it all comes down to Soul Shattering War Club and if you want to use that move or not. If you do, then play V3. If you want to use War Club and the guns because they look cool and you like taking risks then go for V1. In my opinion, the guns are lack luster looking and are way too risky.
Bonus
I personally think V2 and V3 are tied in how good they are compared to each other. It all depends on your Krushing Blows and if you can get them. Specifically the grab KB and D2 KB. V2 has a pretty cool set-up into the KB where as V3 you have to try to get some gimmick invisibility set-up to get it. This is all outside of just simply doing it while having your back to the corner. This is about getting it easier and more consistent that the regular way.
V2 Grab KB Set-Up:
Opponent in the Corner and you land a confirmed starter
Starter xx BF3 Amp - Dash Under The Opponent to corner yourself and as they fall back down - 1 xx DB3
From here you can do one of two things. You can either go for the Foward Throw KB or go for a Back Throw.
I will usually always go for the back throw first always assuming my opponent knows and not underestimating them.
If you are facing a competent opponent they should know what you are going for and either tech it, D2 KB, or combo punish you.
The back throw will give you a ton of information, especially early in the set. They will either D2 or combo punish you or get an escape throw failed.
If it is early and the D2 KB is used then good, it is out of the way and you are still in the corner where you can continue to fish for the KB with a F4 /1/B1 stagger. This works great.
If they don't try to punish or don't get an escape throw failed then you know they don't know about the KB, forgot about it, or just didn't go for it. From here they are still in the corner where you can continue pressuring them, shimmy them, and when you get a hit, confirm into the set-up again and then go for the KB. Usually by the second set-up you will have won the round or close to it and you can just wait it out till the next round which you can then go for the set-up again.
This is a great way to set play in the corner.
This post also kind of serves as a guide on how to defeat Spawn's Variation 1, From Hell. I have been seeing way too many people (On Youtube especially, some on here) talking about how V1 is his best variation and how good it is. It simply is not. This isn't subjective. It is very much fact. You can go lab these thing in this post and see for yourself.
Blaze of Glory (DB1) is a low automatic gun shot style move that also has a low melee parry attached to it that grants a Krushing Blow. You can hold 1 to delay the parry, press down on the D-Pad to cancel the move (Allows for a full combo which makes the KB pointless), or you can Amplify the move. The Amplified version hits high after the low shots.
Gun Blazing (BF1) is a high automatic gun shot style move that shoots a plethora of bullets at about a 45 degree angle in front and above Spawn's head. This move can be Amplified to shoot gun shots in front of Spawn as he walks foward. The bullets do not go full screen for some weird reason. They could have at least made the bullets go full screen to make this complete useless move somewhat useful.
In my opinion, these two moves are complete useless. Not only that, but they are garbage.
The Damage
Lets start with the combos shall we. (I am not going to use any KB combos because all the damage is roughly the same across all variation and is pointless to mention outside of the fact that Soul Shattering War Club can guarantee your damage in V1 and V3.)
The combos are as follows (All combos were done on Scorpion for consistency):
F21 xx DB1 Amp ~ 222.46%
F413 xx DB1 Amp ~ 222.46%
11 xx DB1 Amp ~ 192.46%
34 xx DB1 Amp ~ 221.46%
B12 - 24 xx BF1 Amp ~ 301.59%
B1 xx DB1 Amp ~ 201.54% (This combo is only viable used with DB1, but I'll go over this later)
Now, if you look at the damage you can say that it is pretty decent damage and you would be correct. However ...
First of all, you should be hit confirming every one of these starter strings except B1 which should be used as a punish or if you know for a fact it will hit which it should never hit outside of a punish if the opponent is fuzzy guarding (I'll go over this later).
Now, I say, why cancel into Blaze of Glory when you could cancel into Amplified Fatal Phantasm for more damage. If you are playing V2, you can get a full 30% combo into the Fatal Phantasm restand which guarantees a F4 which leads to staggers, full combos, and once conditioned can lead to stand 1/11/11HoldB2 staggers/pressure, grabs, and short hop/sweep mix-ups. (And people are saying he doesn't have pressure. That is because you aren't playing the better variation, V2.)
Combo Damage With Fatal Phantasm Ender:
F21 xx DB3 Amp ~ 248.82%
F413 xx DB3 Amp ~ 248.82%
11 xx DB3 Amp ~ 218.82%
34 xx DB3 Amp ~ Doesn't Combo
B12 - 24 xx DB2 Amp ~ 309.39%
The Problem With 34:
Stand 34 is a crazy good spacing tool and a key to Spawn's game plan at its respectable range seeing as it is his fastest move at that range and his chains have no hurt box on them. In V2 he can cancel 34 into BF1 Amp to keep it safe and keep the opponent spaced out. In V3 he can cancel into DB3 Amp to keep the opponent spaced out. Both variation are safe using these tools. In V1 however, you get no follow-up after standing 34 and it is punishable. In a nutshell, you lose a major spacing tool in V1.
One could argue that ending a combo with DB1 will give him a restand and that is true. However, DB1 restand leaves you at a range where you have to dash in just to get a F2 to land. Why do that when you can end with DB3 which gives you a restand leaving you standing right next to your opponent for a guaranteed F4, all kinds of pressure, and more damage.
As you can see, using the guns are completely pointless to use as an ender to combos.
Blaze Of Glory and It's Parry
This post is for intermediate to higher level players and for those playing against those level of players. This is not for playing against low level players or people who don't understand the game or match-up because quite frankly, you could beat those level of players by literally doing anything you want.
This post also kind of serves as a guide on how to defeat Spawn's Variation 1, From Hell. I have been hearing way too many people on Youtube especially talking about how V1 is his best variation and how good it is. It simply is not. This isn't subjective. It is very much fact. You can go lab these thing in this post and see for yourself.
Blaze of Glory (DB1) is a low automatic gun shot style move that also has a low melee parry attached to it. You can hold 1 to delay the parry, press down on the D-Pad to cancel the move, or RB/R1 to Amplify the move. The Amplified version hits high after the low shots. Gun Blazing (BF1) is a high automatic gun shot style move that shoots a plethora of bullets at able a 45 degree angle in front and above Spawn's head. This move can be Amplified to shot gun shots in front of Spawn as he walks foward. The bullets do not go full screen for some weird reason. They could have at least made the bullets go full screen to make this complete useless more somewhat useful. In my opinion, these two moves are complete useless. Not only that, but they are garbage. Now, in order to educate you to help you better understand why, I will state facts to back my opinion. Yes, facts.
The Damage
Lets start with the combos shall we. (I am not going to use any KB combos because all the damage is roughly the same across all variation and is pointless to mention outside of the fact that Soul Shattering War Club can guarantee your damage in V1 and V3.)
The combos are as follows (All combos were done on Scorpion):
F21 xx DB1 Amp ~ 222.46%
F413 xx DB1 Amp ~ 222.46%
11 xx DB1 Amp ~ 192.46%
34 xx DB1 Amp ~ 221.46%
B12 - 24 xx BF1 Amp ~ 301.59%
B1 xx DB1 Amp ~ 201.54% (This combo is only viable used with DB1, but I'll go over this later)
Now, if you look at the damage you can say that it is pretty decent damage and you would be correct.
First of all, you should be hit confirming every one of these starter strings except B1 which should be used as a punish or if you know for a fact it will hit which it should never hit outside of a punish if the opponent is fuzzy guarding (I'll go over this later).
Now, why cancel into Blaze of Glory when you could cancel into Amp Fatal Phantasm for more damage. If you are playing V2, you can get a full 30% combo into the Fatal Phantasm restand which guarantees a F4 which leads to staggers, full combos, and once conditioned can lead to stand 1/11/11HoldB2 staggers/pressure, grabs, and short hop/sweep mix-ups. (And people are saying he doesn't have pressure. That is because you aren't playing the better variation, V2.)
Combo Damage With Fatal Phantasm Ender:
F21 xx DB3 Amp ~ 248.82%
F413 xx DB3 Amp ~ 248.82%
11 xx DB3 Amp ~ 218.82%
34 xx DB3 Amp ~ Doesn't Combo
B12 - 24 xx DB2 Amp ~ 309.39%
The Problem With 34:
Stand 34 is a crazy good spacing tool and a key to Spawn's game plan at that range seeing as that is his fastest move at that range and his chains have no hit box on them. In V2 he can cancel 34 into BF1 Amp to keep it safe and keep the opponent spaced out. In V3 he can cancel into DB3 Amp to keep the opponent spaced out. Both variation are safe using these tools. In V1 however, you get no follow-up after standing 34 and it is punshible. In a nutshell, you lose a major spacing tool of Spawn in V1.
As you can see, using the guns are completely pointless to use as an ender to combos.
Blaze Of Glory and It's Parry
This is the only useful part about this move and even still it isn't very good. The poke war in this game is very prevalent and can be very annoying. This move may seem good because after you poke you can cancel into DB1 Hold 1 and it will punish the opponent for trying to poke back. This means they will have to hold the poke and be patient for the follow-up. This isn't completely true, however. Blaze of Glory only parries low pokes which means the opponent can always counter poke with D1 making the parry now, you guessed it, useless. Lets pretend for a minute that D1's were a low too. This means you would have to hold the Spawn's poke wait for him to use another move or you could make a 50/50 guess on if he was going to do the parry or not. This would allow Spawn to mash two or even three D1's of his own in a row. Seems pretty good right? Well, it would be except for one problem. After Spawn pokes, you can simply micro step back or neutral stand and whiff punish him for trying to poke multiple times. If Spawn is playing against a character with a 9 frame mid then they don't even have to counter poke after his poke. Whether he pokes multiple times or does a D1 xx DB1 you can simple block the first D1 and punish him. For Cassie, Jax, and Jacqui this means they are getting a full combo and their 9 frame strings are hit confirmable.
Parrying On A Read:
Lets say you are playing an opponent with an Overhead and Low starter like Sub-Zero or Terminator for example. On a hard read that they are going for a low starter then you could do DB1 parry and punish them for it. But then again, in the other two variations you could just block and punish so is the parry really even needed? That is up for you to decide. For Terminator you would have to block the low and stand 1 through the low overhead gap and Sub-Zero you would have to punish with a grab if they are hit-confirming properly, but the gist still stands.
The parry could be used at the beginning of a match in a counter poke war to let your opponent know they need to be more patient. It can be used throughout the game to keep the opponent patient in the counter poke war. It can be used very effectively against people who don't know the match-up, but as I mentioned in the beginning, most intermediates and high level players are going to have this knowledge or be able to adapt pretty quickly.
The B1 Overhead/Low Mix-up - Too Stronk ... NOT
The seemly overpowered mix-up I have been hearing about through a ton of comments in Youtube and have been seeing working in many videos (Mostly Super when he play scrubs) is this:
B12 is a mid, overhead which leads to a 30% combo
B1 xx DB1 Amp is a mid low which leads to 201.54%
Instead of the first hit being the hit you have to guess on, it becomes the second hit on which you have to guess on which means if the opponent blocks the first hit and guesses wrong on the second hit they get fully comboed. This means now the damage becomes:
B12 34 xx BF1 Amp ~ 264.83%
B1 xx DB1 Amp ~ 159.52% (Not hit-confirmable)
Risk vs. Reward:
Both of these combos are punishable if the opponent guesses correctly and punishes. Most characters in this game can get around 30% on a punish.
*Damage is rounded up
30% (Opponents Damage) - 26.5%* (Your Damage) = 3.5% (Damage Difference)
30% (Opponents Damage) - 16%*(Your Damage) = 14% (Damage Difference)
As you can see, the opponent is getting rewarded more for guessing right than you are of guessing right. This means essentially, 50% of the time, you will be taking 3.5% or 14% more damage then you are dishing out to your opponent. Then again, if you are good at guessing or your opponent is bad a guessing then it really doesn't matter, but in reality it is still a coin flip and it is live by the mix or die by the mix. (cough Dead of Winter Sub-Zero cough)
I'd also like to point out that any string or B1 cancelled into DB1 (and the Amplified version) are BOTH punishable if blocked. Another flaw to a cancelled Amplified DB1 is when the low gun shots change into the high gun shots when it is Amplified, there is a gap so there is no reason to never not go for your punish after the low gun shots. Whether they Amplify it or not, you will always be able to punish DB1 after the low shots end.
The 3.5% from the B12 isn't bad, but B1 xx DB1 not being hit-confirmable and the difference being so high makes this mix-up not even worth attempting because it is ALWAYS a coin flip. However, this isn't even what is so bad about it the mix-up.
The B1 Overhead/Low Mix-up Being Completely Useless
What if I told you that there is a way to make this mix-up completely non-existent? Well, there is. Have you ever head of Fuzzy Guarding?
Fuzzy Guarding is a way of Option Selecting Blocking an Overhead/Low mix-up by blocking one way (high) and blocking another way (low) by default to cover both mix-up options without having to react or guess which option the opponent will choose. You don't necessarily have to block high then low. It can be done a few different ways as I will explain one below.
When playing against Spawn's V1, you will always want to be blocking low by default when you decide to block. The only time you want to block high is when they are jumping in or doing a short hop which are both reactable. Short hops will usually came after a Fatal Phantasm restand which you have enough time to react to unless they have you conditioned.
The reason you always want to be blocking low by default is because that is the stance you have to be in in-order to fuzzy guard.
How To Fuzzy Guard:
First you want to be blocking low. After you block the B1 you will want to stand block and then immediately crouch block again. This will cover both mix-up options and you should never get hit by this mix-up and easily be able to punish Spawn for doing this trash mix-up because they don't understand the character they are playing.
Why It Works:
This works because in-between B12 there is a 21 frame start-up and between B1 xx DB1 there is a 7 frame start-up. That means there is a 14 frame gap in-between the overhead and low meaning you have plenty of time to change your block stance to cover both options. In fact, if your reactions are on point, you can block low and react to the overhead. Try both ways and use which ever is best for you.
How To Practice Fuzzy Guarding:
- Go to practice, pick your character of choosing and pick Spawn (From Hell T1 Variation) as the AI.
- Go to Record, set the Block Mode to All and in Recording Slot 1 record Spawn doing B12
- After the string ends, immediately crouch block for 2 seconds and Stop Recording
- Go to Record, make sure Block Mode is still set to All and in Recording Slot 2 record Spawn doing B1 xx DB1 Amp
- After the string ends, immediately crouch block for 2 seconds and Stop Recording
- Go to Playback and set Recording Slot to Random Hidden Playback
- Hit Accept and now practice Fuzzy Guarding Spawn's fake and useless mix-up
Now, for sure Spawn will hit some people with these mix-up every once in a while if they don't know how to fuzzy guard, if they don't know the match-up, is just not that good, or simply because of the hustle and bustle of the match. It can be extremely fun and seem like V1 is really good, but against someone competent you'll have to ask yourself, "is it really worth going for if you are going to get punished that hard?"
Conclusion
If you want to play Spawn as a mix-up character then play V3. He actually has a Overhead/Low mix-up that you can't fuzzy guard in B12, unsafe and /B1 xx DB3 Amp, safe. B12 also forces the opponent to block high so now they are in another guessing game on if the command grab is coming and if they guess wrong the low will hit them. V3 is the mix-up variation, not V1. V3 also has Soul Shattering War Club.
V1 can break armor for guaranteed KB damage, has bootleg mix-ups that aren't real, and should be spacing baiting, and whiff punishing to win. V2 uses spacing, baiting, and whiff punishing, but has high damage to win. V3 uses spacing, baiting, whiff punishing, can break armor for guaranteed KB damage, and has mix-ups to win. V2 and V3 does everything V1 does, but better ... way better. If you like V1 because the guns look cool then be my guest, there is nothing at all wrong with that. I'm just explaining why V1's tools are useless and are not competitively viable. With being able to take away his Overhead/Low mix-up in V1 and making his low parry useless, he is essentially V2 but slightly worse. He can make up some of the damage from using Soul Shattering War Club to keep the opponent from breaking out of his Krushing Blows, but how much of a difference is it really making up? This is all reliant on if you are even getting the Krushing Blows and if in V2 if you are going for the KB's when opponent has meter or not so they can even break out. There is way to much "If" on the Soul Shattering War Club move to even say if the damage is actually made up for or not. I guess that is where the opinion comes in. Which one is worth using over the other. I think it all comes down to Soul Shattering War Club and if you want to use that move or not. If you do, then play V3. If you want to use War Club and the guns because they look cool and you like taking risks then go for V1. In my opinion, the guns are lack luster looking and are way too risky.
Bonus
I personally think V2 and V3 are tied in how good they are compared to each other. It all depends on your Krushing Blows and if you can get them. Specifically the grab KB and D2 KB. V2 has a pretty cool set-up into the KB where as V3 you have to try to get some gimmick invisibility set-up to get it. This is all outside of just simply doing it while having your back to the corner. This is about getting it easier and more consistent that the regular way.
V2 Grab KB Set-Up:
Opponent in the Corner and you land a confirmed starter
Starter xx BF3 Amp - Dash Under The Opponent to corner yourself and as they fall back down - 1 xx DB3
From here you can do one of two things. You can either go for the Foward Throw KB or go for a Back Throw.
I will usually always go for the back throw first always assuming my opponent knows and not underestimating them.
If you are facing a competent opponent they should know what you are going for and either tech it, D2 KB, or combo punish you.
The back throw will give you a ton of information, especially early in the set. They will either D2 or combo punish you or get an escape throw failed.
If it is early and the D2 KB is used then good, it is out of the way and you are still in the corner where you can continue to fish for the KB with a F4 /1/B1 stagger. This works great.
If they don't try to punish or don't get an escape throw failed then you know they don't know about the KB, forgot about it, or just didn't go for it. From here they are still in the corner where you can continue pressuring them, shimmy them, and when you get a hit, confirm into the set-up again and then go for the KB. Usually by the second set-up you will have won the round or close to it and you can just wait it out till the next round which you can then go for the set-up again.
This is a great way to set play in the corner.
