Nightwolf General Discussion Thread

[Sutter Pain]

To get a reversal on any special move ( and only special moves) you buffer the first part of the special move before the opponents move recovers so that the move comes out on the first frame. Usually on any other characters special move, say something like kollectors db3, you would input d right before you can move and then input b3 on the first frame or right at the absolute last frame before you can move, making his db3 come out in exactly 8 frames on the first frame. As for a weird input like dbf3 ... I don't know if you would have to input DB before the frames are done being active or bf3 after you can move... My little brother can do it Everytime though and has gotten it almost every match in game against me.

Does not need to be a special move I did it from Raiden a high low mid string f121 I think it is.

 

[Zviko]

Yes! My wish came true! He has a command grab brutality, live now in ToT, bottom left platform. It's so sick. Not a great requirement though, not the worst either.

 

[Orochi]

Yes! My wish came true! He has a command grab brutality, live now in ToT, bottom left platform. It's so sick. Not a great requirement though, not the worst either.

How long is the tower up?

 

[Zviko]

How long is the tower up?

10h 16m left.

 

[Ashesfall]

that Brutality is amazing!
(16/21 unlocked progress)
Watch this nice Brutalizer out of his command grab DBF3 (need 50%+ life and no fatal blow used)

Spoiler: 18+ restriction (guts and gore)^^

 

[Jowabunga]

The arrow brutality is pretty great too. The two from the non-tournament abilities (Spirit Tracks and the Ancestral Light thing) are decent but nothing spectacular.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

I'm having trouble doing Night Wolf Crushing Blow off his Cmd grab. The requirements says after a reversal punish but I'm not getting anything? Any tips?

You have to reversal it. Which requires you to input it within 5f after the opponent ends their turn. It also has to be more negative than the startup if his CMD Grab to get Reversal Throw Punish.
For example Nightwolf's AmpedShoulder on block is perfect or his Launcher on block. Or anything -15 or more. You can buffer it to come out on the next possible frame by inputting it early and finishing input within 5f of them doing the unsafe move.

His other KB is great the 221+3 can be used on punishes -10 on block or more. Easy 30% then you have the universal KB's like Both Throws (super strong) and Shoulder which is setup by doing a back throw and his 312. He really has amazing KB's

 

[Hor_PeT]

Hi, I picked him today (Matoka Warrior) and it looks pretty fun.

Of course I am not high level with him yet (or ever) but he is worth a shot.
I like his toolset, movement and buttons.

 

[Hor_PeT]

Sry I did not read the old pages so maybe it was mentioned.
I just practice corner combo.

I found that on male characters AMP Tomahawk whiffs as male has better juggle but therefore meterless D1x3 link is easier.
On female the AMP Tomahawk does not whiff (so can use for combo if not meterless) but the meterless D1 link (and even the ender) is much more difficult (not impossible but very difficult).

Is it the case in general? I just tried few male and female char.

If it is the case it looks like practical corner combo against females needs a bar. But I just started practicing though.
For the first glance male combo is practical and not that difficult (will see online) but female will be worth a bar for consistency (and a bit more damage for that bar not just "easier").

 

[Juggs]

I feel like NW goes at least even with Liu Kang.

NW wins the zoning war. His projectile is a little faster, but the strongest part of the zoning war vs Kang is reflect. If Kang amplified his FB and NW reflects, you both trade 1 FB and Kang loses a bar of meter.

You have to space out the flying kick which isn’t hard to do. You can space it out to whiff punish or even bait it out and block punish. So full screen NW has a big advantage. Kang has to come to NW.

Mid range seems to be about even. You can’t react to his FB’s at mid range, and he can always yolo flying kick. So you can’t just sit at mid range and play normal footsies, but those are the only things to really worry about mid range. If he tries a normal approach he has to work to get in.

Close range obviously is in Kang’s favor, but you’re rarely gonna be close range vs Kang in neutral if you play the MU correctly. If you’re close range it should be because you already won neutral and are applying pressure.

Obviously need more experience in the MU and with NW in general, but that’s my thoughts on the MU so far.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

Does not need to be a special move I did it from Raiden a high low mid string f121 I think it is.

You can't reversal with normals only with specials. To my knowledge

found that on male characters AMP Tomahawk whiffs as male has better juggle but therefore meterless D1x3 link is easier.
On female the AMP Tomahawk does not whiff (so can use for combo if not meterless) but the meterless D1 link (and even the ender) is much more difficult (not impossible but very difficult

None of his buttons wiff in corner or midscreen on females or males. Its the timing of amplified tomahawk that causes it to wiff in the corner. YoU want to delay Amp on Axe launcher after F12/F2121 & B34 in the corner.

I was having the same problem until I delayed my amplify and then it connects.

Midscreen you need to dash cancel fast to catch them higher and amp quickly with certain strings.

 

[Hor_PeT]

You can't reversal with normals only with specials. To my knowledge


None of his buttons wiff in corner or midscreen on females or males. Its the timing of amplified tomahawk that causes it to wiff in the corner. YoU want to delay Amp on Axe launcher after F12/F2121 & B34 in the corner.

I was having the same problem until I delayed my amplify and then it connects.

Midscreen you need to dash cancel fast to catch them higher and amp quickly with certain strings.

Oh thanks I did not know that the AMP can be timed - such a yolo possibility to make it safer (not really for me as I use hitconfirm).
I found it just in corner yet.

MID screen I use just the simpliest combo I found (I dunno if it is optimal but could not find better):
Any starter xx tomahawk AMP, DASH, 111xxBF4.

More Bnb will be used over time - I figure it out, see it in forum, on youtube, etc.
Anti air B2 combo you (?) posted is fancy but need a bit practice. D2 into D1xxDF2 is good too if the opponent is close. That works on everybody so far.

Yesterday I played a Kotal his disc is a clear punish with reflect even almost full screen... nice.
Against Cetrion it worked well too and she was not that horror to fight against but I am weak against Cetrion kind characters in general.

 

[Sutter Pain]

You can't reversal with normals only with specials. To my knowledge

Well unless raidens F112 is a special I did it in match and just now in practice.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

Oh thanks I did not know that the AMP can be timed - such a yolo possibility to make it safer (not really for me as I use hitconfirm).
I found it just in corner yet.

MID screen I use just the simpliest combo I found (I dunno if it is optimal but could not find better):
Any starter xx tomahawk AMP, DASH, 111xxBF4.

More Bnb will be used over time - I figure it out, see it in forum, on youtube, etc.
Anti air B2 combo you (?) posted is fancy but need a bit practice. D2 into D1xxDF2 is good too if the opponent is close. That works on everybody so far.

Yesterday I played a Kotal his disc is a clear punish with reflect even almost full screen... nice.
Against Cetrion it worked well too and she was not that horror to fight against but I am weak against Cetrion kind characters in general.

I Anti Air with S1,D2 & FB.

Main combos are:

JIK, 31, 111xxCMD Grab
111xxAmp-Arrow 20% unbreakable restands

For Matoka I use:

F2121xxDF2-Amp, DashCancel, 31,31, 111xxBF4

Corner:
F2121/f12/B13/B34/111xxAmp-DF2, s4xxDF2-Amp, 31, 31, 111xxBF4 (38-42%) with buff (60%+ to 70% with Fatal)

Meterless:
F2121xxDF2, D1,D1,D1, 111xxBF4 (30%)
Starter xx DF2, 31, 31, 111 xx BF4 (31%)

 

[Hor_PeT]

I Anti Air with S1,D2 & FB.

Main combos are:

JIK, 31, 111xxCMD Grab
111xxAmp-Arrow 20% unbreakable restands

For Matoka I use:

F2121xxDF2-Amp, DashCancel, 32, 111xxBF4

Corner:
F2121xxAmp-DF2, s4xxDF2-Amp, 31, 111xxBF4 (42%)

Meterless:
F2121xxDF2, D1,D1,D1, 111xxBF4 (30%)

Thx for the summary.

To be honest none of these combos work to me lol.
Mid screen JIK then 31
Mid screen that extra 31.
Corner 2 bar is strict too especially against Females.

And I find F21xxDF2 more practical for hitconfirm but F2121 is not a big deal either.

You might have been doing really optimal stuff which is just not practical to me, yet.
So for the start I stick to the easier combos recommended and presented by Sonicfox. It works fine to me even on 160 ping yet.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

Oh thanks I did not know that the AMP can be timed - such a yolo possibility to make it safer (not really for me as I use hitconfirm).
I found it just in corner yet.

MID screen I use just the simpliest combo I found (I dunno if it is optimal but could not find better):
Any starter xx tomahawk AMP, DASH, 111xxBF4.

More Bnb will be used over time - I figure it out, see it in forum, on youtube, etc.
Anti air B2 combo you (?) posted is fancy but need a bit practice. D2 into D1xxDF2 is good too if the opponent is close. That works on everybody so far.

Yesterday I played a Kotal his disc is a clear punish with reflect even almost full screen... nice.
Against Cetrion it worked well too and she was not that horror to fight against but I am weak against Cetrion kind characters in general.

I hit confirm all of his strings and then Delay his Launcher. The one that wiffs the most is F12 in the corner.

For his F2121 I press F21(slide) and slide up to 2 and after hit confirming I press the last button 1. That way it stops at F21 if they block.

For his combos I've Bern getting high damage using:
Starter xx Amped Tomahawk, s4 xx Amp-DF2, 31, 31, 111 xx BF4
If you get the two 31's it does a shit tone if damage and FB ender does 600-730

 

[Hor_PeT]

I hit confirm all of his strings and then Delay his Launcher. The one that wiffs the most is F12 in the corner.

For his F2121 I press F21(slide) and slide up to 2 and after hit confirming I press the last button 1. That way it stops at F21 if they block.

For his combos I've Bern getting high damage using:
Starter xx Amped Tomahawk, s4 xx Amp-DF2, 31, 31, 111 xx BF4
If you get the two 31's it does a shit tone if damage and FB ender does 600-730

Oke I see your hitconfirm point now.

I block confirm into F214 which is safe.
But yes F21 is safe too as -9 but out of jab and throw range... So even if the opponent knows the frame data it is a tricky situation.
-9 out of throw range or -6 up close.

Does delay launcher make sense? Will the combo be easier (with that extra 31)? Or only in the corner? Yes in the corner I just saw that for males needs that delay but for females it is not neccessary.


"For his combos I've Bern getting high damage using:
Starter xx Amped Tomahawk, s4 xx Amp-DF2, 31, 31, 111 xx BF4
If you get the two 31's it does a shit tone if damage and FB ender does 600-730 "

Haha I could not even sneak in one 31 because the 111xxBF4 ender whiffed (3rd hit of 1). So it might be super thight.
But using 1 bar is fair damage to me (+90 than meterless) with 1 31 and an extra D1. I tried 2 31 hard but was not successful.

Which is not consistent to me after 20-30 tries I state it inpractical to me.
But I can try it again if I have everything else fundamental is perfect with the char and that extra damage is needed.

 

[Surielx]

Guys, I must confess. I spent HOURS in lab with Nightwolf in between matches and... it is hard to master. I feel like I have the gameplay set but when it comes to online... I lose. If something interrupts me, I'm lost. It wasn't like that with Kabal, there I always had a backup plan.

Simply (Matoka), if someone breaks your pressure, it's hard to restart.

Seems like he could be anywhere on the tier list depending on your skills. Unlike Liu Kang or Skarlet.

 

[Juggs]

Guys, I must confess. I spent HOURS in lab with Nightwolf in between matches and... it is hard to master. I feel like I have the gameplay set but when it comes to online... I lose. If something interrupts me, I'm lost. It wasn't like that with Kabal, there I always had a backup plan.

Simply (Matoka), if someone breaks your pressure, it's hard to restart.

Seems like he could be anywhere on the tier list depending on your skills. Unlike Liu Kang or Skarlet.

He excels more at spacing, footsies, zoning, etc. He definitely has pressure options, but they aren’t oppressive like other characters. So essentially, don’t play him as a rushdown character. Play as patient as possible. Make the opponent come to you and force mistakes.

Aside from that, you just need a lot of MU experience. What I tend to do is when I play someone good in KL/Ranked with a character I don’t see too often. I message them for games. They usually ignore me or even say no, but sometimes you’ll get games this way.

 

[Hor_PeT]

I agree with Juggs you just need to play more netural if the opponent is not freezed by the new unknown character.

I am not even a pressure mindset player but rather footsie and I experience that I try to play footsies but always goes into madness pressure and oki horror for the opponent lol.

Probably because I approach from different way by default but do not deny his pressure capabailities. And everything comes naturally after finishing a combo or hit, etc.

I practiced his D3 into S3 jail pressure and unfortunately it works only almost from up close D3 which can be tricky. So most of the time I go with other stuff.
And I need to get used to his B3 spacing too as its range is pretty short.

Unfortunately walk back whiff punish does not work with him AS GOOD as with Scorpion (not that fast walk back , D1 catches me lot of times or just the natural spacing) so I realized that it is better going forward and autoshimmy (which is not available for Scorpion that's why I walk back with him).
Different char.

But to be honest I did not play with a well prepared good player yet - I am not veteran with Nightwolf either.

 

[Jowabunga]

I played a ton of both variations last night vs. both variations of SubZero and Noob in offline play. It my first time playing Ancestral outside the lab. The results were really mixed.

--I bodied him hard with Matoka vs. Dead of Winter. That's been pretty consistent.
--Matoka and Ancestral were more dicey against Thin ICe because a. it was my first time playing against Thin Ice and b. that variation has a lot more 1/2 to 2/3 screen checks to be wary of. I got bodied for a bit before I adapted and turned it around.
--I normally come up roughly 60/40 against my friend's Noob but I went through a stretch last night where I got untouchably BODIED for about half an hour in my first matches against him with Ancestral. Some of that was getting accustomed to the new vartiation, but other bits were needing to remember that Nightwolf is NOT a rushdown character and needs to played like the spacer/reactive guy he is. I feel like matchups vs. better spacers like Noob and Skarlet might prove problematic once those players get matchup experience.

At some point here someone alluded to his stubby normals - you have to remember that ALWAYS playing this character. When I play I try to include all of a character's tools at some point to avoid becoming predictable and give the opponent more to remember. For Ancestral, that meant trying to find ways to consistently incorporate his new strings (b34-1+2 and 22 1+2). I tried to be really aggressive at first, but that was a nightmare because of Noob's extra length on his downpokes and clone-based normals and I got absolutely bodied. I started playing more patiently, content to sit 3/4 or full screen, snipe, and occasionally engage long enough to get some hits and/or kd, then back off to try again, all to make my buddy start making mistakes, jumping in (which he's prone to do), etc. I ended up turning it around and winning the last 4 or 5 matches of the set.

To summarize, his combo starters:

B3 and 2 are SUPER stubby so you'll have to be extra mindful of spacing when you break them out. To test: J2 into B34 (to see if blocked J2 gets you close enough to B3 on landing).

B1 and F1 are 17 and 13 frame SU respectively. You don't want to be throwing these out raw in close quarters because they'll get eaten by most things.

F2... 24 frames, nuff said.

I don't use 3/31/312 as often as I'd like because my usual opponent is pretty poke heavy, i.e., i tend to minimize use of Highs in general. Do any of you break that one our often?

Moral of the story: spacing, spacing, spacing.

 

[Mandolore1123]

Is there a nightwolf discord I can join?

 

[TyCarter35]

Super annoyed that spirit arrow amp whiffs on crouching females even when crouch blocking smh. Man I get how Johnny Players feel in a way

 

[Hor_PeT]

Super annoyed that spirit arrow amp whiffs on crouching females even when crouch blocking smh. Man I get how Johnny Players feel in a way

I think it is intentional with that MID/HIGH properties. Amp spirit arrow is not for pressure or block string.

 

[xNewske]

I need help with his 111 BF4 ending combo string. For some reason I can’t do it every time. Instead, I’m shooting an arrow at the end instead of the shoulder dash. Any tips? I’ve straight up tried for 2hrs yesterday and a little this morning.