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Strategy My Thoughts and Opinions on The Joker and appreciation toward the community

Fromundaman

I write too much.
Zatanna doe :confused:

I guess as far as playing the neutral game goes, Joker's is the hardest to accomplish. But execution doe....
I admit I don't know how tough Zatanna's execution is, but she is very hard pressed to match some of the stuff Joker can do.
In fact, do the timings on her combo change based on the character?


Lol! On a less salty note, I finally got to play a sick Joker the other day (@Fromundaman) and just wanted to say GG again.
Are you the Harley player who showed up at our event on Thursday? If so I will tag you in the writeup I'm doing and congratulate you on finding ways out of those setups surprisingly fast considering the lack of experience in the matchup.




Again that's talking about the Joker vs BG mu, and I'm not asking about that I'm asking about why you think Joker's neutral in general is better than Batgirls neutral in general. We'll discuss the actual BG Joker mu in the mu thread when it comes to it.
I'm going to copy my post from the Joker chat in here:

Boohoo Cartwheel is punishable IF I GUESS RIGHT (Or manage a stupid strict timing to option select all 3 options). Oh no, B12 is slightly negative on block! Some characters can punish B2U3! *LE GASP!*
I mean sure, you can make it safe by doing B2D1 into whatever that special is where she smacks you 12 times then knocks you up for a full combo, but that costs a bar to convert into a vortex on hit, meaning I may not be able to use my aerial armored super later.
Or you can just cancel into cartwheel to force me to make several consecutive correct guesses in order to have the chance to punish.

Seriously, I'm not going to say that she's unstoppable, but whoever thinks her neutral is ass has obviously never touched a character outside of the top 10.

That said...

I feel like some of my fellow Joker players may not have much Batgirl experience...

Cartwheel is most definitely punishable on the overhead and high options with 11 and D1. On the low, while not punishable we get a 50/50 with B13 or B1>crowbar since B13 will cross up. This also works when you block B12 since if you B1 fast enough you will catch her out of backdash and jump attempts, meaning she has to block and guess. This may not be the best punish ever, but it's better than nothing, and we are safe on both options. On hit we get a knockdown setup on both options (We can punish all of her wakeups after a B13 with a neutral/forward jump setup which also allows us to set up pressure if she blocks. That said, forward jump punishes 2 wakeups and neutral punishes 2, so you still have to guess).

She can NOT punish gunshot on reaction. She can punish a movement on reaction. However if she takes the time to identify whether you did gunshot or switch stance before inputting teleport, you will catch her out of the startup. This means if you mix the two, she does have to guess/read correctly or risk eating a full combo punish.


Also since someone mentioned this:
I do want to point out that while you can backdash B2D1, it's not like we really get anything for doing so, especially since with Joker's shitty backdash range we are still in range for cartwheel/B1 if we try to jump, throw teeth or dash to put pressure on. You're actually better off blocking and keeping her in check with B13/B1>crowbar since she doesn't have a LOT of + frames or punishing cartwheel cancels if you guessed right.
 

Emperor Eevee

Learn to take a joke pal!
@Youphemism
btw crowbar is a good move but once you block it then Joker is forced to take what follows due to slow normals and in 90% of the casts case, a 50/50 mixup
The only thing BG can do after blocking Crowbar that will reach Joker is Cartwheel and Joker can punish the overhead with B1 then cancel into Crowbar and as you know you can duck the High of the Cartwheel and that gives him a 11/21 into full combo punish(?)

Joker has ONLY ONE safe option from a D2 cancel and that is acid.
Canceling D2 into crowbar is decent as well. As Youphemism said, crowbar essentially makes Joker safe because it pushes your opponent away from you. I tried to punish with Aquaman and his B12 can't reach and B2 is too slow. I'm pretty sure and am willing to test/bet this applies the if not the rest, then most of the cast.
 
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The PantyChrist

Rest in Pantiez
Guys.. All 3 cartwheel options are punishable by joker.. Oh is 11 rlg and straight kick and low you can d1 crowbar punish. Straight kick is +8 sou you're not punishing it..

Also Fromunderwear that string is b2d3...
 

Fromundaman

I write too much.
Guys.. All 3 cartwheel options are punishable by joker.. Oh is 11 rlg and straight kick and low you can d1 crowbar punish. Straight kick is +8 sou you're not punishing it..

Also Fromunderwear that string is b2d3...
Oh my bad >.<

Also D1 reaches after the low cartwheel option?

I just learned two things :D
 

Vengeance135

Saltiest Joker Player
You
The only thing BG can do after blocking Crowbar that will reach Joker is Cartwheel and Joker can punish the overhead with B1 then cancel into Crowbar and as you know you can duck the High of the Cartwheel and that gives him a 11/21 into full combo punish(?)



Canceling D2 into crowbar is decent as well. As Youphemism said, crowbar essentially makes Joker safe because it pushes your opponent away from you. I tried to punish with Aquaman and his B12 can't reach and B2 is too slow. I'm pretty sure and am willing to test/bet this applies the if not the rest, then most of the cast.
Between D2 and crowbar can be neutral jumped into full combo punish... are we talking about the same thing? Also I have played BGs that blocked crowbar then went for a low into vortex or high. Maybe its because they were in the corner and it worked for some reason
 

Emperor Eevee

Learn to take a joke pal!
You

Between D2 and crowbar can be neutral jumped into full combo punish... are we talking about the same thing? Also I have played BGs that blocked crowbar then went for a low into vortex or high. Maybe its because they were in the corner and it worked for some reason
She can not neutral jump and the reason she went for the vortex was because you were in the corner.
 

Johnny Based Cage

The Shangest of Tsungs
@Fromundaman Oh no, no Harley here. My XBL GT is No snakes aLive. I'm the Bane whose jump back body splash somehow beat out your a2a options lol to give me the win in ranked the other day at Mess Hall. It was only one match but I recognized your name and you did not disappoint!
 

Vengeance135

Saltiest Joker Player
She can not neutral jump and the reason she went for the vortex was because you were in the corner.
Bro, every character can neutral jump between D2 and crowbar for a full punish on reaction. Characters like Grundy have a hard time doing it but they can just 11 out, but in BGs case she can just flying bat between it lol and I wasn't in the corner, she was. But is also hasn't happened in the corner. Sonicfox has done it to me quite a few times before midscreen.
 
Zatanna doe :confused:

I guess as far as playing the neutral game goes, Joker's is the hardest to accomplish. But execution doe....
Zatanna is hella easy to use lol (well, except levitate cancels - those take some practice).

But yeah, Joker is a lot of fun both to use and to play against.
 

StevoSuprem0

I'm gonna make this skill gap... disappear.
Cartwheel is most definitely punishable on the overhead and high options with 11 and D1. On the low, while not punishable we get a 50/50 with B13 or B1>crowbar since B13 will cross up. This also works when you block B12 since if you B1 fast enough you will catch her out of backdash and jump attempts, meaning she has to block and guess. This may not be the best punish ever, but it's better than nothing, and we are safe on both options. On hit we get a knockdown setup on both options (We can punish all of her wakeups after a B13 with a neutral/forward jump setup which also allows us to set up pressure if she blocks. That said, forward jump punishes 2 wakeups and neutral punishes 2, so you still have to guess).

She can NOT punish gunshot on reaction. She can punish a movement on reaction. However if she takes the time to identify whether you did gunshot or switch stance before inputting teleport, you will catch her out of the startup. This means if you mix the two, she does have to guess/read correctly or risk eating a full combo punish.
Hmmm. I remember testing it with KDZ when he was running Batgirl for a while, but I guess we must have messed it up? I seems to recall always getting pushed out of d1/11 range. I stand corrected, we can 9% on one, options, a decent punish if we duck the straight kick, and block pressure off the third. :D:confused::oops:
I beg to differ on the smoke bomb not being able to punish gunshot. I've had it done to me. Furthermore, she doesn't really need to punish it, just has to be in a situation where she ducks and you're holding the gun out, in which case you have to guess when she's going to jump, get over the shot, and full vortex bs punish you.
Lastly, we're not really arguing the matchup, we're deflecting the assertion that Joker has an easier neutral game than Batgirl, which is, well... :joker:
 

Fromundaman

I write too much.
@Fromundaman Oh no, no Harley here. My XBL GT is No snakes aLive. I'm the Bane whose jump back body splash somehow beat out your a2a options lol to give me the win in ranked the other day at Mess Hall. It was only one match but I recognized your name and you did not disappoint!
There is a very good chance that you played @AL Eevee on my account as I rarely, if ever, play online since I suck ass online (Unless it was last Wednesday, as I did make the error of going online that day due to boredom).


Hmmm. I remember testing it with KDZ when he was running Batgirl for a while, but I guess we must have messed it up? I seems to recall always getting pushed out of d1/11 range. I stand corrected, we can 9% on one, options, a decent punish if we duck the straight kick, and block pressure off the third. :D:confused::oops:
I beg to differ on the smoke bomb not being able to punish gunshot. I've had it done to me. Furthermore, she doesn't really need to punish it, just has to be in a situation where she ducks and you're holding the gun out, in which case you have to guess when she's going to jump, get over the shot, and full vortex bs punish you.
Lastly, we're not really arguing the matchup, we're deflecting the assertion that Joker has an easier neutral game than Batgirl, which is, well... :joker:
Well yeah, I agree that obvious point.

Also the 11 punish is for the OH option, though I believe it also works for the straight kick though I always tend to react too late to punish that one for some reason.
 

Vengeance135

Saltiest Joker Player
There is a very good chance that you played @AL Eevee on my account as I rarely, if ever, play online since I suck ass online (Unless it was last Wednesday, as I did make the error of going online that day due to boredom).



Well yeah, I agree that obvious point.

Also the 11 punish is for the OH option, though I believe it also works for the straight kick though I always tend to react too late to punish that one for some reason.
How do you get your MU and character tech knowledge if you don't play online? Thats legitimately the best place to get tech knowledge and character experience besides major tournaments
 

StevoSuprem0

I'm gonna make this skill gap... disappear.
How do you get your MU and character tech knowledge if you don't play online? Thats legitimately the best place to get tech knowledge and character experience besides major tournaments
Footage of others playing shows you all the tech, labbing it shows you how to beat it.
 

Youphemism

Gunslinger since pre patch (sh/out to The Farmer)
Oh shit.....lol

List of communities not to mess with: Nightwing, Joker
@Youphemism
My dude, idk what Joker player you are playing but you need to lab the Joker or actually start to use him to realize his true struggle in neutral. With the exception of acid, EVERYTHING Joker throws is negative or on reaction easily unsafe. You want to beat Jokers jumps then J1. Joker has to RESPECT everybody's neutral game regardless of character because in neutral, on the ground Joker has NOTHING that deserves respect besides D2 which as I said earlier is HIGH risk. All you need is one good hit, Joker needs to be patient, smart and educated in the MU to stand a chance. Gun cancels are ass because they can be blown up on reaction due to Jokers ASS dashes ESPECIALLY by Batgirl. Joker has ONLY ONE safe option from a D2 cancel and that is acid. Worse case you lose 10%, best case you block and lose 2%. Re-think about the risk/reward factor, as well as the tools in which each character has. Gun can be punished on reaction by teleport at full screen so playing mind games with a character that has the touch of death is a hard bargain. All in all Batgirls options may be unsafe but so are Jokers with one exception and Jokers options limit him severely while batgirl can convert most of her options to your death. Her neutral is better because of the options she has, and btw crowbar is a good move but once you block it then Joker is forced to take what follows due to slow normals and in 90% of the casts case, a 50/50 mixup and Joker has no true mixups off a blocked or hit J3 lol J3 is +1 on block but has decent pushback and almost all of Jokers moves are reactable, on hit he can throw teeth but any follow-up can be pushblocked and putting him back to neutral where he struggles hard. Bro make Joker your main then you will truly see the struggle through honest eyes. @StevoSuprem0 did I miss anything?
I have labbed him as well as playing matches with him, so everything I'm saying is from experience/testing/what I've read on the forums from you guys. Jokers d2 is being downplayed SO hard right now it's unreal, it's a long-reaching (both horizontally and vertically) mid that can be cancelled with a gun cancel to be made safe on block (you can't punish with flash's flying uppercut or batgirls flying bat...) or can be converted on hit into a setup. J3 is a great air normal, and no Batgirl uses j1...even if we did every conversion we could possibly get off of that would require meter for about 30%ish damage. Anyone needs to be patient, smart and educated in a mu, duh. Yes Joker requires effort to get in but so does Batgirl, as Stevo said we can't throw out teleport willy-nilly to get around zoning. Gun can be punished with teleport IF you don't cancel it, but that's enough of a mindgame in itself that we're taking too much of a risk by teleporting and so a smart, patient player won't risk that. But for the last time, I'm talking about his neutral in general so continuing to use the Batgirl matchup as a comparison isn't helping. What do you mean "ESPECIALLY by Batgirl"?! She can't punish d2~backdash gun cancel. Also d2~acid blossom is still good, listen to what you're saying (moreso what you're omitting) on hit 10% and +4, on block 2% but +5. You're still plus and that's a free jump attack. Again we'll discuss the BG vs Joker matchup in the discussion thread. That's my point, our good options are unsafe but you at least have one that isn't. Have you seen the pushback on crowbar? Normals are irrelevant unless you're Martian lol. If someone pushblocks then fine but it's the same with Batgirl, if someone pushblocks us we have to be patient and make good reads to get in safely since we don't have a safe move with as much reach as your uppercut has. Main Batgirl then you'll see it's not just cartwheel cartwheel cartwheel b1/b2. It's actually harder than that since we don't have the jump normals you do. Oh and I tested out BGs j1 against Jokers jump normals and that only works if you do that preemptively. Joker's j1 if you do it early beats out FLYING BAT.
Gun dash cancels are uber punishable on block and only net you a conversion of about 15% on hit, with techroll escaping any setup, unless you are near a BGB.
Yeah... so don't teleport willie nillie. Sonicfox stopped doing it, and look what happened. You have a punishable teleport? Use it as a tool to punish unsafe zoning/interactable rather than just spamming it. Problem solved.
Joker actually can't punish Cartwheel if I remember correctly. At -9, we have nothing that reaches at the range that it spaces us out to on block.
Like Vengence said, all we have on the ground that's safe is ending things in flower, which is easy enough to block confirm into in regular strings and puts us at advantage, but has to just be a read off of d2, in which case it generally whiffs if d2 hits, and if you're using it against people on block, you aren't really gaining anything unless they are in the corner and you are spacing them out. D2 teeth, d2 crowbar, d2 gun dash cancel, and d2 canister are all punishable on reaction on block. So I have to rely entirely on unsafe reads in an attempt to blow you up for 15%? Cool.
What the hell are you talking about Batgirl doesn't have anything safe... her 50/50 options are -2 and -6 on block, i.e. safe as shit. And lead to a vortex. A meterless vortex. That has good wall carry. Where she does 50%+ or 40% into more vortex. Having to block a followup doesn't make something unsafe, it means you have to block a followup. That's called "playing fighting games". Stop it.
If you let Joker jump around, he can cause problems and get setups going even on block (though, not against batgirl because her small hitbox causes whiff issues that negate this tech). Even still, you make it sound like he has 50/50's after you block a ji3. He doesn't. He can do b1 (low), crowbar (overhead, 20+ frames), various strings (all mid), or b2 (overhead, 20+ frames, pointless knockback move outside of specific setups). Block low, react if you see something other than b1.
If it try to pull the gun out against you, you hold down, then I have to try to guess when you're gonna jump and go for the teleport. If I guess right, I get 8%. If I guess wrong, vortex city.
Joker's gun is like this in many matchups. Aside it whiffing on some of the dumbest things in the game (Batman's FUCKING FORWARD DASH for instance), it's got hella recovery and can be whiff punished by many zoning heavy characters as long as they wait and simply react to the shot, as well as batgirl with teleport. What? Try using canisters to zone? Oh that's true, I think the one that I started throwing in training just now might finish the animation sometime a few minutes after I finish this post, so I'll get back to you on how effective that is.
Everything Joker does to get close to someone requires a ton of risk with little reward. That is why he is a bad character. Once he is in, he can get a decent amount of stuff going if you're in the corner, near a BGB, or in some other precarious situation that I can exploit to pressure you and open you up, but otherwise you have to make a mistake for Joker to catch you.
So, I'm gonna go ahead and disagree with you. Again. Batgirl's neutral is not as difficult as Joker's. To say otherwise is just...
Fair enough, but that's still 15%. And I'm sure you can do something off of that conversion into crowbar/MB so you have oki/otg and wall carry.
I never said I was abusing teleport, I rarely use it.
Nope you remember wrongly, he can punish every option with standing 1.
D2 gun dash cancel is safe, you can't punish it with even 6 frames like flying bat and flashs flying uppercut. And followups to d2 give you a mindgame in itself so there's a big part of your neutral game you can use. Cancel into: crowbar? Interruptable but rarely as far as I've seen and safe on block. Flower? +5 on block. Gun dash cancel? Too far back to punish/followups can be beat with delayed gun. High/mid canister? Yeah fair enough you could get blown up because that's pretty slow. Low canister? Same as other canister but in reality how many people out of everyone you've played doesn't respect that? I'm not saying that means it's a viable option I'm just asking :)
I never said she didn't have anything safe, I said she doesn't have an option that isn't punishable, backdashable or negative. And boohoo, she does so much potential damage from vortex. Like Joker she shines in the corner, and midscreen Batgirl actually does less damage than him. b12 is -2 but it's still negative. The block advantage on b2u3/b2d3 is irrelevant since you can just backdash out of those anyway. This is one of the reasons I made my tech thread, so more people realised you don't have to be stuck in the vortex all the time. If you block a b2 backdash after it.
Fair enough Joker's gun has whiffing issues but it's a high, what do you expect? Haha
Batgirls batarang is the same unless you MB it.
I'm not disputing that he's a bad character, I'm just saying that he has more options that you seem to give credit for. I mean have you seen the length of his sweep?! -14 fine but even cartwheel can't punish it from max range! Joker can make his way in more safely with jump normals, since his are arguably the best in the game, and at least has a far-reaching 12 frame uppercut that tends not to get punished raw in anticipation of a cancel whereas Batgirl has a hell of a time getting in with a not-so-far-reaching b1, punishable cartwheel options and easier to anti-air jump normals/backdashable followups. She's a good character when she gets in to do her thing otherwise it's just tedious and annoying, just like Joker.
I wanna double check. But here's some thoughts. Our dash cancellable projectile is +4, but high as fuck. Yours is mid, plus as fuck, and leads into vortex or full combo. You have an off the bat mixup with b2/b1 which both are safe and great range. B2d3 is interruptible and backdashable? Use b21. It's +3 and it will condition people to respect it. Cartwheel is a decent tool, along with smoke bomb and flying bat. Both of the latter lead into vortex. Being full combo punishable is the only thing that stops this game from being injustice: batbitches among us. Also I can't tell you how many times I've had batgirls dash right up to footsie range on me because I'm terrified of smoke bomb and straight up mix me up or when I think they're going to try to hit them first and they smoke bomb(which has great priority btw) jokers dash is worse and has nothing like that. A super high gunshot that leads to nothing except 8%. He is worthless outside of far teeth range and even then from startup until the teeth become active is between 60-90 frames. Also batgirl has a LOT of strings you can use for conditioning and unreactable. I think her 21 is +5 and if I'm not mistaken also leads into a mixup. But I'm surprised of the bgs I've fought I only see like 4 strings. Now if we're comparing her neutral to characters like aqua or mmh then you may be right but almost the entire cast suffers in neutral against them. But against joker I'm sorry but you can't make the case that his neutral is better
Ours is mid, but it's also easy to jump over on reaction and potentially whiff punish at the right range.
B1 does have good range but it's still 14 frames and doesn't reach as far as say your uppercut or your sweep. Every b2 string is backdashable after the b2. Including b21.
Cartwheel is ok for whiff punishing but it's tech rollable, and punishable by blocking it the way PL does in the video he put up. Smoke bomb take 20+ frames to hit and is -18 on block. Flying bat has ok range, and although it's 6 frames it's -17 on block.
If you're letting Batgirls dash up to you for free then you're doing something wrong...punish them for dashing. Also if you're scared they're going to smoke bomb you after a dash I don't know what Batgirls you've been playing that've made you afraid of something like that but that's weird, none of us do that lol
21 is only +2 and has very little range and is only good when you get in, in terms of her neutral it's useless.
The reason we only use 4 strings is because none of the other ones are really useful. I found a good use for 12b2 if you read my tech thread but in terms of practicality it's not hugely worth it. We only use certain strings because they're useful and play to the strengths of the character, ie what one's give most damage in a combo or which ones are good for vortex/mixups.
A difference in opinions is fine, I'm not going to sit here and say Joker's is definitely better because I know someone who likes to force their opinion down your throat as if it's right and I don't like talking to him about things very much because it's useless lol. All I'm saying is Joker definitely has viable safe options in the neutral game that Batgirl doesn't.
Guys.. All 3 cartwheel options are punishable by joker.. Oh is 11 rlg and straight kick and low you can d1 crowbar punish. Straight kick is +8 sou you're not punishing it..

Also Fromunderwear that string is b2d3...
Thank you. You can actually punish low with 11 rlg aswell. Straight kick is only +2 though but whiffs high if you block low for the first two hits of cartwheel...
Both b2u3 and b2d3 are backdashable after the b2 so the block advantage on them should be irrelevant.


I am sooooooooooo sorry that had to be so long but yeah there's my opinion lol. Remember that guys, it's an opinion and even top players have differing opinions on this. With that said....I'm whipping out the only person who might actually be able to offer an opinion from both sides.

@SonicFox5000
 

Sonic Lionheart

Starfire - Canary - Supergirl
How do you get your MU and character tech knowledge if you don't play online? Thats legitimately the best place to get tech knowledge and character experience besides major tournaments
we are very lucky to have a decent amount of character variety in our scene. We also travel out of state to play others like GGA for example. Other than that when you see something stupid you lab it up against it and figure stuff out. Soon though like GGA we will all pick up some characters to help train each other up a bit as well.
 

StevoSuprem0

I'm gonna make this skill gap... disappear.
A bunch of misinformation
It's not an opinion when you are stating incorrect facts.
Joker cannot punish every option off cartwheel with standing 1, only overhead and straight kick if it whiffs. Otherwise, yes I was wrong. Had messed up when I tested this previously.
I'm almost positive you are wrong about gun dash cancel off d2, and d2 in general. It is either punishable at worst or placing yourself into pressure at worse, which will get you 50/50'd against batgirl every time. If you're talking about backdash, that's really only useful in a couple of matchups that Joker has decent zoning in, which isn't really a thing and easily dealt with by pressing down. All other options from d2 except flower are interruptable. Saying you don't always see them punished is a moot point... people I play punish them. Constantly. You have to play with it to understand it. You constantly have the guess whether they are going to block or not, and it converts into almost nothing compared to the footsie tools of other characters. As an AA, it is INSANELY overrated. It's aerial hitbox is incredibly inconsistent against a ton of characters, including Batman Superman Wonderwoman, Flash, Lobo, and pretty much everyone. You have to learn which characters to delay against and how long that delay has to be in each one of them to use it effectively, and even then, it will still whiff for no reason sometimes. Other d2's in this game that are as good in terms of their hitbox are much more consistent in this regard.
Batgirls batarangs do not have the same whiff issues. Being able to duck something isn't a whiff issue, it's a high. Whiff issues are them whiffing when they aren't supposed to. There are innumerable situations in which Joker's gun is the only high projectile in the game that whiffs while no other high projectile does.
Backdashing b2u3/d3 is great and all, but you can read that and blow them up for it just as easily, so by the same logic you're using for Joker's d2 options (which leads to nothing compared to a fucking vortex), it shouldn't matter. Not easy to react to either, though I guess you can just plan ahead, holding back to guess the overhead and immediately backdash at the correct timing.
This isn't some fucking pity party we're throwing ourselves. If anything, we've been upplaying Joker for a long time saying he's somewhere in the mid tier while everyone else was saying he was worst in the game. The caveat is that he is incredibly difficult to play and has a very tough neutral game. Probably the hardest in the game. I believe SonicFox said the same in his trolly "Joker top 10" thread. It's not a bash towards Batgirl players or anything. She simply has an easier neutral game. It's not incredibly easy and you have to actually think about several things rather than just throwing shit out there like some characters, but that doesn't make it worse than Jokers. He suffers the same problems, and then some. He doesn't even have as good of options as her when he opens someone up, whereas she has the potential to instant kill anyone WITH THE SAME tech in all matchups as opposed to different setups based on the matchups (insert Joker problems meme). It's seriously no contest man.
I don't know why I'm even still debating this lol. It's a pointless discussion.
 
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