Tech - Smoke Keeping your advantage while midscreen with Smoke

[God Confirm]

I hear ya , I like to play keep away as much as I can and make them want to run in at me. Ending in air throw or f34 constantly frustrates ppl and makes them want to close the gap. Eventually their going to do something unsafe to get in on you -run , slide , tele etc. Not always great depending on that match up of course

no doubt, I'm not saying doing it like the way in this vid is the right way, everyone has their own style of play, this is just to be able to press their advantage midscreen with Smoke, because it's not really obvious how to do it and took a fair bit of experimenting to find the most consistent ways to do it that don't sacrifice much damage, so all the combo's and tech from me in this thread is purely for this concept

 

[Boss Savage]

I'm hoping someone can help me out here.

I'm having trouble consistently connecting the 4 after Starter~Bomb, NjP. I've been trying several different ways to get it to connect with varying results.

The only thing that seems consistent without run canceling, is if I barely press forward before I input the 4. But that seems overly tedious considering that I'm able to connect the 4 half the time without pressing forward at all.

I'm honestly having a hard time telling if this is a timing issue on my part, or if the combo itself is just wonky. If anyone knows the secret to consistently land the 4 after starter~Bomb, NjP then please let me know.

 

[God Confirm]

I'm hoping someone can help me out here.

I'm having trouble consistently connecting the 4 after Starter~Bomb, NjP. I've been trying several different ways to get it to connect with varying results.

The only thing that seems consistent without run canceling, is if I barely press forward before I input the 4. But that seems overly tedious considering that I'm able to connect the 4 half the time without pressing forward at all.

I'm honestly having a hard time telling if this is a timing issue on my part, or if the combo itself is just wonky. If anyone knows the secret to consistently land the 4 after starter~Bomb, NjP then please let me know.

you gotta do just that, after NjP hold towards them, let go the second you press 4. Tedious or not its how the combo work

 

[Boss Savage]

you gotta do just that, after NjP hold towards them, let go the second you press 4. Tedious or not its how the combo work

I see. Thanks for the help.

 

[xSamuel]

@Boss Savage I found it was easier to do with a later NJP which gives you more frames to take a step forward and do S4 forward phase.

@False God Confirmed Have you tried this for a corner combo:
Starter x Smoke Bomb, JI3, 21, Instant NJP, 114 x Spear, JI2, ender/50/50 ?
I think it's like 27 or 28% when ended with 21. I find it's pretty consistent and is easier, for me, to time than S4 x Phase.

BTW, thank you for this guide! It really reinvigorated my interest in Smoke. I undervalued the additional options in F4 and B2 string(s) and have since changed the way I play him. Good stuff, keep it coming

 

[Boss Savage]

@Boss Savage I found it was easier to do with a later NJP which gives you more frames to take a step forward and do S4 forward phase.

Really? I'll try that out now. Thank you.
EDIT: Yeah that made a huge difference! It actually feels far more consistent now. Again thank you

@False God Confirmed
I couldn't help but notice that in the video it sounded like you were using a fight stick. Is it a regular fight stick, or is it a hitbox?

 

[xSamuel]

Really? I'll try that out now. Thank you.

@False God Confirmed
I couldn't help but notice that in the video it sounded like you were using a fight stick. Is it a regular fight stick, or is it a hitbox?

No problem. The clicking you hear is the stick moving around. Hitbox just sounds like a mash of buttons lol I have one but haven't taken the time to relearn characters on it. F12B2 x3 with Raiden took too long to have to relearn lol

 

[Boss Savage]

No problem. The clicking you hear is the stick moving around. Hitbox just sounds like a mash of buttons lol I have one but haven't taken the time to relearn characters on it. F12B2 x3 with Raiden took too long to have to relearn lol

I have a hitbox too so I was curious. Lol

Also yeah that Raiden combo is a straight up bitch with or without a hitbox. I couldn't imagine learning it on a controller and then trying to relearn it on a hitbox.

 

[xSamuel]

I have a hitbox too so I was curious. Lol

Also yeah that Raiden combo is a straight up bitch with or without a hitbox. I couldn't imagine learning it on a controller and then trying to relearn it on a hitbox.

I had to sit and relearn run cancel timing because it's a couple frames of a dash and then a run that you have to buffer off a string. I gave up for a while because I was trying it on bigger hitboxes, thinking it would make it easier, and found it impossible to do. Lil Majin actually pointed out it was easier on females. I can get it like 70% on females, 50% on males, and don't even try on big hitboxes lol.

 

[Boss Savage]

I had to sit and relearn run cancel timing because it's a couple frames of a dash and then a run that you have to buffer off a string. I gave up for a while because I was trying it on bigger hitboxes, thinking it would make it easier, and found it impossible to do. Lil Majin actually pointed out it was easier on females. I can get it like 70% on females, 50% on males, and don't even try on big hitboxes lol.

That's odd. You'd figure that the bigger hitbox would make things a lot easier. But considering that this is MKX I'm not surprised. Lol

 

[xSamuel]

That's odd. You'd figure that the bigger hitbox would make things a lot easier. But considering that this is MKX I'm not surprised. Lol

Yeah I think that bigger hitboxes fall at a different rate and female hitboxes just have smaller vertical hitboxes. It makes it harder for this juggle because they fall so differently but females tend to stay airborn longer. It's weird, I had a similar issue with Johnny where I had to adjust nutpunch charges for them otherwise it would whiff.

 

[6ixty9]

@Boss Savage I found it was easier to do with a later NJP which gives you more frames to take a step forward and do S4 forward phase.

When you say do a later NJP, do you mean do an instant jump but delay the punch till the way down. OR. Delay the jump then punch instantly on the way up.

Does that make sense? Not sure which part I'm supposed to delay lol

 

[Boss Savage]

When you say do a later NJP, do you mean do an instant jump but delay the punch till the way down. OR. Delay the jump then punch instantly on the way up.

Does that make sense? Not sure which part I'm supposed to delay lol

From my experience, doing an instant jump, and then delaying the punch is the way to go for consistently getting the S4 to connect. The longer you delay the punch, the more + frames you'll have. I hope that helps.

 

[God Confirm]

hes right but dont leave it TOO late, theres actually a sweet spot

 

[Boss Savage]

hes right but dont leave it TOO late, theres actually a sweet spot

I've been noticing this in practice. I haven't actually found it. But I'm getting close.

 

[xSamuel]

When you say do a later NJP, do you mean do an instant jump but delay the punch till the way down. OR. Delay the jump then punch instantly on the way up.

Does that make sense? Not sure which part I'm supposed to delay lol

Instant jump with delay punch. If you hit the opponent at a later timing during a jump then your opponent is it at a higher juggle height when you have recovered from your attack.

 

[TwiztidOne]

I found a way to get 2% more damage off the corner deep jik combo and its actually a little easier

deep jik, 21, 114~spear, walk back jip, s4~sb, njp, f43~airthrow for 38% meter less

doing an air to air jk causes it to scale more but it's still 37% meter less

 

[God Confirm]

I found a way to get 2% more damage off the corner deep jik combo and its actually a little easier

deep jik, 21, 114~spear, walk back jip, s4~sb, njp, f43~airthrow for 38% meter less

doing an air to air jk causes it to scale more but it's still 37% meter less

nice find! and to improve it even again

JiK, 21, 21, 4~Trident, walkback Ji2, 4~bomb, NjP, F43~Throwdown


does 39% meterless niiiice

 

[TwiztidOne]

nice find! and to improve it even again

JiK, 21, 21, 4~Trident, walkback Ji2, 4~bomb, NjP, F43~Throwdown


does 39% meterless niiiice

very nice!!

doing that combo from an air to air jk causes it to scale to 37%

so you can do
air to air jk, 21, 21, 114~spear, walk back jip, 4~sb, f43~air throw for 38%

that combo does 39% for jik's on grounded opponents, but the 114~spear tends to drop so it's not worth it

EDIT: your combo also works super well for catching jump outs in the corner

s1/d1, 21, 21, 4~spear, walk back jip, 4~sb, njp, f43~air throw for 36%

I haven't been able to find any other anti air combos so they're might be more damaging options, but that's what's been working for me