The following is a repost of a submission I made a little while ago on the reddit boards. This was before the most recent patch, so any strategies or meta involving his single trap damage is not going to be included. It's possible the numbers might have changed a small bit as well because of the patch, but for the most part everything is accurate. I'd play with you if I was on XB1, but I'm a PS4 man myself. Anyway, hopefully this will give you a place get started:
I remember a few months back deciding that the concept of Master of Storms intrigued me. I went into practice mode and messed around with setting up his traps and seeing how they worked. It was different. It felt strange and I didn’t realize how I would use any of it in an actual match, but I was compelled to try. I went into my first ranked match with him, set a couple traps, and caught him. The moment I saw him get hit and I had a full opportunity to do whatever I wanted, I was in love.
Now, let’s dispel the idea that this is the real strength of MoS. Actually catching them in a trap is a wonderful circumstance, but it’s not going to be what happens most of the time. Realistically, you’re using your traps to create a unique kind of pressure. You don’t want to just throw out random orbs and hope you get a full combo punish, you want to use them in a way to make everything you do super safe and give your opponent as few opportunities for offense as possible.
Ideally, you want to have an orb out at any given time. This isn’t always possible if you’re being pressured hard by your opponent, but it’s important to try to set one up whenever you can. I’ll put one out after every hard knock down, or any knock down where I’m not within wakeup range. With one ball out, you can keep some serious momentum going. If I have an orb behind me, and I attack you with any string and then cancel an orb out behind you, my pressure is still going. The strings that work best for this are 11 because it’s fast and advances a little, and f2(2+4) because the reach is so amazing you can do it from about half screen. You can’t try to punish me unless you’re using armor. Even if we trade, I’ll still win with a wakeup Superman while you’re caught in the lightning. Let’s go over the possible outcomes of a scenario.
Orb 1 is out, I attack and cancel an orb out behind them. Their options are as follows:
- Attack. Nope, now they’re eating that lightning and taking full combo.
- Block. Perfect, now you have them stopped dead long enough for you to get an overhead/low read and go for full combo, or just go for an easy grab.
- Low profile. Oftentimes when they start to catch onto what’s happening your opponent will start to throw out low pokes because it keeps them safely under the trap while throwing out some type of offense of their own. You can simply go for a jump in attack, or better yet, throw out another orb and repeat the whole process. I’m perfectly willing to keep the same pressure going while building meter.
- Back dash. There’s not much you can do about this, but on the plus side they’re working their way further into the corner where Raiden wants you anyway. If they start to become predictable with it then you can immediately set up your second trap (third orb) while the first set is sizzling. Now you’re right back where you were a second ago except they’re closer to the corner and you have more meter.
- Armor. This is just about the only thing you have to watch out for.
While MoS has a harder time building meter than TG, you still can’t hesitate to meter burn for an instant full trap. Sometimes it’s the littlest shift that can alter your momentum greatly. If I’m in a position where I’m being relentlessly attacked and my opponent is great at giving me no breathing room, I’ll try to get a little space and set a full trap. Usually the moment I set it out I’ll immediately throw another orb just so I have a second one in the works. Meter burned full traps are great at catching teleporting Kung Laos, teleporting Shinnoks, divekicking Sonyas, etc. What’s even better is you can set up the second trap (third orb) and still have time to punish in these scenarios. Oftentimes when I knock somebody down in the corner, I’ll back up a few steps and burn a full trap just to eliminate their wakeup options while keeping pressure.
So that’s what I mean when I say that catching them isn’t necessarily what makes MoS so deadly. In keeping this staggered rhythm to your offense, you’re forcing them out of their usual gameplan. The moment you have to second guess your punishes or anything that you have strict muscle memory for, Master of Storms has gotten into your head and is doing his job. Eventually the psychological toll just becomes too much for some people. However, catching them is great! Let’s go over some options for what you can do if that happens.
As we get into combos, let’s keep in mind the most overlooked thing about MoS that makes him wonderful. 112, f2(2+4), and f12b2 are all strings that TG also has. However, instead of spraying lightning and shooting your opponent away from you, for MoS these act as simple Karate attacks. Oh, and they’re all +2 on block. That’s right, +2. That means not only are they great tools on their own, but you can combine strings in combo that isn’t possible for TG and allows MoS and Displacer to actually have higher potential damage midscreen. The biggest way you can achieve this f2(2+4) into f12b2. This is his best punish for orb traps and any meterless combo enders. I won’t go into every possible combo, but I’ll give you some of his ideal ones and let you work from there.
TRAP PUNISHES – once your opponent is caught in a trap, these are my go to follow ups. Keep in mind that the gravity for f2(2+4) can be very strange. It will seem that it pops your opponent up at inconsistent heights and makes it difficult to either land or follow up with. I mitigate this with a run. Once I’m running into their body you’ll get the same result each time that you can work with. This will work whether you’re right next to them or full screen.
Meterless:
34xxbf3 – 21%
Njp 34xxbf3 – 24%
F2(2+4) b11(1+3) – 27%
F2(2+4) f12b2xxbf3 – 28%
Njp f2(2+4) f12b2xxbf3 - 30%
1 Bar:
F2(2+4) f12b2xxdf2EX b14xxbf3 – 38%
MIDSCREEN – The highest damage combos you’ll get from midscreen involve neutral jump punches after an EX Shocker. This timing for this is very strict and requires a lot of practice. You’ll also notice slightly different timings depending on when you actually do the punch. If I do a raw EX Shocker into njp, I can wait a moment before I have to hit the punch. If I do a b2 beforehand, I need to hit the punch just about the moment I jump to connect it. Anyways, here are my go to midscreen combos:
Meterless:
B2 run f2(2+4) f12b2xxbf3 – 33%
34 f2(2+4) f12bxxxbf3 – 33%
F12b2 run f12b2 run f12b2xxbf3 - ? (I’ll have to look at damage later. This is his best punish).
1 Bar:
B2 df2EX njp f2(2+4xxbf3 – 34%
B2 run f2(2+4) f12b2EX b14xxbf3 – 42%
Df2EX njp f2(2+4) f12b2xxbf3 (armored reversal)
B33xxdf2EX njp f2(2+4) f12b2xxbf3 – 38%
214xxdf2EX njp f2(2+4) f12b2xxbf3 – 41%
34 f2(2+4) f12b2xxdf2EX b14xxbf3 – 41%
So you’ll notice that those midscreen combos are all basically different variations of the same theme. I’m showing you basically what the max damage is for overheads and lows using either one or no bar, but there’s plenty of room in there to use your imagination. Also, it should be noted that while b14xxbf3 is my go to combo ender, you have other options. I use this one for the damage and the corner carry (getting them in the corner is where you truly want to be), but you have other choices depending on the situation. Any time you do an EX Shocker, you can end with a b11(1+3) instead of a B14xxdf3 and (usually) get the same damage. There’s no corner carry, but it’s a hard knock down and guarantees that you can get an orb out safely while also keeping them at a good distance for your next setup.
Your other combo ending option is to go for the projectile instead of bf3. Now, you’re probably asking yourself why you wouldn’t take the corner carry and knockdown. Well, it might be the better choice if you already have an orb out when you start the combo. If I have one behind me and I do a combo, I can end with the b14 restand and cancel into db1 instead of bf3. Then go for the run. Unfortunately it sometimes doesn’t do as much damage as bf3 (you just have to experiment with this), but after a run you can go for 11xxorb. The 11 will be blocked, but now you have them inside a full trap for that OH/low read or the grab once again. You can’t fireball run cancel like TG to extend the combo, but you can let the projectile go to continue pressure this way.
And now for the corner. I like to set up a standing reset into 50/50 vortex using the same setup we’ve illustrated with the projectile above. In this situation, there’s no need for a run since you’re against them in the corner anyway. What db1 gives you is 9 frames of advantage. The b2 overhead starter and b3 low starter are each 13 frames, so they either need to guess or use an armored move within a 4 frame window. You can also go for the easy grab, making this a very powerful setup if you ask me.
CORNER:
Overhead starter: b2 b2 214xxdf2EX b14xxdb1 – 42%
Low starter: b33xxdf2EX b2 b14xxdb1 – 35%
Since a grab is 10 frames and you have 9 frames of advantage, you’re almost guaranteed to land it. In all the time I’ve been doing this I think I’ve had it teched maybe once or twice. This means that for just the one bar you can get yourself 54% off an overhead and 47% off a low.
The last thing I’ll touch on is 21. Because MoS is missing out on Fireball Run Cancels and other tools he uses to set up his 50/50 game as TG, you have to get a little more creative with yours. After knockdowns, start going for 214. It blows up a lot of armor moves, and the 4 being a low catches a lot of people off guard. 214xxdf2. 214xxdf2. 214xxdf2…keep doing it again and again until they start to respect that it turns into a low. Once you see that you’ve trained them to recognize it, start going for 21 and then stop. If you see that they go into a low block after this, hit them with the b2 for full combo. If they start to catch onto that, you can 21, and then when they fuzzy guard the low into OH you can give them a b3 into a full low combo. Or, once again, go for the easy grab. It’s a tricky little tool to work with, and if you throw it into your corner game to mix up your vortex you are sure to get into their head. You can use this same tactic after a midscreen b14xxdb1 run to mess with them even more and give them no chance to relax or regroup.
So that’s about all I’ve got right now that can really be put into words. After playing thousands of matches as MoS there are some things you just have to “feel.” You recognize certain tendencies you can exploit amongst cast members you see all the time. You get an idea of which of your opponent’s tendencies you can punish and where the gaps are to fit in a little extra pressure. It would be impossible to type out every possible option, but I hope I’ve shed some light on the true pressure you can use with him and how something seemingly slow and gimmicky can be used as a weapon of physical and mental warfare. Once again, this is far from a complete guide, but I feel like even the very basics of his game plan aren't plain to see and I hope this will encourage folks to take a second look at him who might have been scared away by his seemingly clunky nature.
