So I was invited to IGN in Australia to play Injustice 2 early, and I got about an hour and a half to myself and labbed Scarecrow. I thought id share my first impressions of the character as well as some details that may or may not be known.
(While pretty much everything was playable including story mode, this was still pre release so some things may be subject to change)
Specials:
DB1 - The move where he spins the chain around, its cool. Its pretty minus and starts up pretty slow but I noticed it was difficult to punish if you made the last strike hit them at max range. Though granted the monitors were pretty laggy. leads to decent damage midscreen with just starterxxdb1(mb), b3, j2, f21xxbf1 does about 34-38%.
BF1 - The common ender. Good when cancelled into, but has really slow startup and is fully punishable on whiff. I forgot to test how plus the MB restand was. The non MB version leaves them about 1 dash away after combos, which is about the ideal range u wanna be with Scarecrow.
DB3 and DB3 (Air) - Not as safe as I thought it would be, as in this build it was -13 with slight pushback. great for sending people back at the end of combos, as it does comparable damage to bf1. The air version starts up slightly faster and is slightly safer (at about -10). And u can combo off the instant air db3 in the corner for low 20%. Maybe you can get more, but I couldnt do anything more than db3 (air), d1, 11, 11, 123xxender.
BF2 - The vemomous spray move. I couldnt find a good use for it. It builds up the trait bar about 20%. But it starts up in 20 frames and it gets poked out easily even when cancelled into. All ticks seem to be unsafe varying from -18 to -28. The mindgame may still be there since they have to react to you letting go, but it doesnt seem to be worth it imo. I forgot to see how plus it was on hit, maybe there is some applications in doing short combos that leave them standing with bf2 into more pressure.
DBF3 - The command grab. Starts up in 11 frames, so its pretty fast. Range is meh, but he has some good tick throw options. d1, d2, 2,2 and b2,2,1 all tick throw. However I dont think I ever got the d2 tick to work as usually theyre too far away. I didnt explore its viability as a combo ender, but it does leave them about midscreen, which is where u want them.
DU - Teleport. Starts up really fast (1f), but has about 60 recovery frames. You cant choose where to go, you will always appear behind them. Its ok. Its easy for them to bait it out and punish it, and in some instances I read a projectile, teleported and still got punished. i did have one instance in the corner where I ended a combo low to the ground and teleported and I teleported in place, but that may have something to do with there bein no space for me to occupy behind them. Dunno what to think, maybe you guys will figure out something cool with it.
DB2 - My favourite move. Not for the reasons it was intended for. Its pretty rubbish as a projectile parry. You cant really do it on reaction, has to be a read. Its his best wakeup. Regular move is -1 on hit, -10ish on block. But the MB version was +11 on block, and launched. However it launched too far away to link anything miscreen. It may link into traumatise but I didnt test it (the practice mode option wasnt working for me to have traumatise auto fill, so I didnt do much traumatise testing cuz Id have to constantly fill up the bar). In the corner you can get low to mid 300's off starters, and i think u can hitconfirm the MB. It being +11 means it jails into s1, s2 and d1. Its his best upclose pressure tool imo.
Trait - Bar takes a while to fill up, but once its activated it lasts about 15 seconds. However when u activate the trait scarecrow does an animation that takes about 70 frames to recover, so its risky. But I purposefully ate a projectile just to get it off, as as you dont need to wait for the whole animation to end before the DoT starts. Its pretty difficult to get the trait filled in one use. But using the trait instantly fills about 20% of the bar, so as long as u get 3/4 of it filled the next use should instantly give you traumatise. Traumitise felt underwhelming. As soon as u get 100% of the bar it starts draining, and it lasts about 10 seconds before its gone. So u have to be ready for it. The move itself starts up fairly quick, I didnt check but it felt somewhere between 10-15 frames. It hits mid and it was -9. The move itself can be interrupted, as once I was hit by a projectile trying to punish it on reaction and the trait bar was used but the move didnt fully come out. So first impressions of the trait is that its ok. It has potential but it has plenty of things keeping it "fair".
Normals:
I wont mention every move and string, just the standouts.
Scarecrow in this build had alot of gaps in all of his strings. Everything except 11 had a gap after the first hit in the string, however if u commited to the strings like 1,2,3 and b2,2,1,3 you can catch backdash attempts.
s1 was 8 frames and something like -1 or -2. leads into 1,1 which has really fast recovery, allowing corner juggles and decent stagger. 1,2 leads into a low, for combo openers. Scarecrow has no overhead starters apart from f3, from what I saw anyway. I mightve missed one, but the strings that had low, overhead mixups, every overhead was the ender or lead to a knockdown. 1,2,3 was a really good string, +2 on block and can be special cancelled even though the ender is a knockdown. So u can cancel into teleport or into db3 to knock them further away. Also gives him stagger options.
His d1 was 6 frames but -8 on block. So you generally want to cancel it into db3 or db2. Can cancel into db1 as well but theres a pretty big gap I noticed. Sweep was +6 on block but started up in 20 frames, didnt see much use for it. s2 was a really good mid, 9 frames. However the followup 2,2 doesnt link into db1 on hit, so if u wanted a 9 frame punish u have to commit to s2xxdb1.
B2 is a 15 frame mid, and leads to his best pressure string and combo opener. B2,2,1,3 is mid, mid low, low. Every hit can be special cancelled, even the last hit that knock down, so u can do stuff like b2,2,1,3xxdb3 to knock them further away, or cancel into db1 for more chip. However there was a gap between the first 2 hits of the string. The third hit of the string, the first low is tick throwable, so he has decent pressure options with the string on whether ur gonna do the tick throw after the third hit, or continue the string.
F2,1 is a decent ender, and a decent footise tool. has good range and can be cancelled into bf1 to end combos. However the string on its own has a lot of recovery frames, so you cant combo meterlessly midscreen. In the corner u can link a d1 for a small conversion. F1,3 is also a decent footsie tool. Its the launching headbutt. It starts up in 20 frames but it goes nearly halfscreen. I used it often to get in, as the full string is neutral on block.
I noticed alot of his slower strings were close to neutral and his faster options were punishable. Hes got alot of gaps and no safe specials outside of db2(mb). His f3 is ehh. It hits nearly full screen, but aside from traumatise I was unable to get anything off it fullscreen. I couldnt even land another f3, as it starts up in about 30 frames, but that may have been the input lag from the monitors we were playing on. on Whiff its death, with nearly 80 frames of recovery, and its very minus (somehwere in the 20's). B3 is +6.
His jump ins are okay. His jump 2 has amazing horizontal range, great for air to air trades, but doesnt do well as a jump in. J1 is better for jump ins but doesnt go very far. Jump 3 is great for jump ins but knocks down, so I didnt do much jumping as I got blown up every time. The times I did jump I generally cancelled into db3, as it knocks down on hit.
Thats about it. Combo damage is decent. But he needs meter. I couldnt combo meterlessly midscreen, only in the corner and even then I couldnt break 30%. For a bar i was getting around mid to high 30's and with traumitise you can get high 20's to low 30's without meter, and mid 40's with meter. I didnt use his super often. It starts up really slow, but it is +15 on block.
Again, everything is subject to change, but I did have alot of fun with the character. I have my concerns, like how im gonna be able to keep people in the optimal midscreen range. But my 1 hour mucle memory wasnt doing so well against everyone elses legacy characters.
(While pretty much everything was playable including story mode, this was still pre release so some things may be subject to change)
Specials:
DB1 - The move where he spins the chain around, its cool. Its pretty minus and starts up pretty slow but I noticed it was difficult to punish if you made the last strike hit them at max range. Though granted the monitors were pretty laggy. leads to decent damage midscreen with just starterxxdb1(mb), b3, j2, f21xxbf1 does about 34-38%.
BF1 - The common ender. Good when cancelled into, but has really slow startup and is fully punishable on whiff. I forgot to test how plus the MB restand was. The non MB version leaves them about 1 dash away after combos, which is about the ideal range u wanna be with Scarecrow.
DB3 and DB3 (Air) - Not as safe as I thought it would be, as in this build it was -13 with slight pushback. great for sending people back at the end of combos, as it does comparable damage to bf1. The air version starts up slightly faster and is slightly safer (at about -10). And u can combo off the instant air db3 in the corner for low 20%. Maybe you can get more, but I couldnt do anything more than db3 (air), d1, 11, 11, 123xxender.
BF2 - The vemomous spray move. I couldnt find a good use for it. It builds up the trait bar about 20%. But it starts up in 20 frames and it gets poked out easily even when cancelled into. All ticks seem to be unsafe varying from -18 to -28. The mindgame may still be there since they have to react to you letting go, but it doesnt seem to be worth it imo. I forgot to see how plus it was on hit, maybe there is some applications in doing short combos that leave them standing with bf2 into more pressure.
DBF3 - The command grab. Starts up in 11 frames, so its pretty fast. Range is meh, but he has some good tick throw options. d1, d2, 2,2 and b2,2,1 all tick throw. However I dont think I ever got the d2 tick to work as usually theyre too far away. I didnt explore its viability as a combo ender, but it does leave them about midscreen, which is where u want them.
DU - Teleport. Starts up really fast (1f), but has about 60 recovery frames. You cant choose where to go, you will always appear behind them. Its ok. Its easy for them to bait it out and punish it, and in some instances I read a projectile, teleported and still got punished. i did have one instance in the corner where I ended a combo low to the ground and teleported and I teleported in place, but that may have something to do with there bein no space for me to occupy behind them. Dunno what to think, maybe you guys will figure out something cool with it.
DB2 - My favourite move. Not for the reasons it was intended for. Its pretty rubbish as a projectile parry. You cant really do it on reaction, has to be a read. Its his best wakeup. Regular move is -1 on hit, -10ish on block. But the MB version was +11 on block, and launched. However it launched too far away to link anything miscreen. It may link into traumatise but I didnt test it (the practice mode option wasnt working for me to have traumatise auto fill, so I didnt do much traumatise testing cuz Id have to constantly fill up the bar). In the corner you can get low to mid 300's off starters, and i think u can hitconfirm the MB. It being +11 means it jails into s1, s2 and d1. Its his best upclose pressure tool imo.
Trait - Bar takes a while to fill up, but once its activated it lasts about 15 seconds. However when u activate the trait scarecrow does an animation that takes about 70 frames to recover, so its risky. But I purposefully ate a projectile just to get it off, as as you dont need to wait for the whole animation to end before the DoT starts. Its pretty difficult to get the trait filled in one use. But using the trait instantly fills about 20% of the bar, so as long as u get 3/4 of it filled the next use should instantly give you traumatise. Traumitise felt underwhelming. As soon as u get 100% of the bar it starts draining, and it lasts about 10 seconds before its gone. So u have to be ready for it. The move itself starts up fairly quick, I didnt check but it felt somewhere between 10-15 frames. It hits mid and it was -9. The move itself can be interrupted, as once I was hit by a projectile trying to punish it on reaction and the trait bar was used but the move didnt fully come out. So first impressions of the trait is that its ok. It has potential but it has plenty of things keeping it "fair".
Normals:
I wont mention every move and string, just the standouts.
Scarecrow in this build had alot of gaps in all of his strings. Everything except 11 had a gap after the first hit in the string, however if u commited to the strings like 1,2,3 and b2,2,1,3 you can catch backdash attempts.
s1 was 8 frames and something like -1 or -2. leads into 1,1 which has really fast recovery, allowing corner juggles and decent stagger. 1,2 leads into a low, for combo openers. Scarecrow has no overhead starters apart from f3, from what I saw anyway. I mightve missed one, but the strings that had low, overhead mixups, every overhead was the ender or lead to a knockdown. 1,2,3 was a really good string, +2 on block and can be special cancelled even though the ender is a knockdown. So u can cancel into teleport or into db3 to knock them further away. Also gives him stagger options.
His d1 was 6 frames but -8 on block. So you generally want to cancel it into db3 or db2. Can cancel into db1 as well but theres a pretty big gap I noticed. Sweep was +6 on block but started up in 20 frames, didnt see much use for it. s2 was a really good mid, 9 frames. However the followup 2,2 doesnt link into db1 on hit, so if u wanted a 9 frame punish u have to commit to s2xxdb1.
B2 is a 15 frame mid, and leads to his best pressure string and combo opener. B2,2,1,3 is mid, mid low, low. Every hit can be special cancelled, even the last hit that knock down, so u can do stuff like b2,2,1,3xxdb3 to knock them further away, or cancel into db1 for more chip. However there was a gap between the first 2 hits of the string. The third hit of the string, the first low is tick throwable, so he has decent pressure options with the string on whether ur gonna do the tick throw after the third hit, or continue the string.
F2,1 is a decent ender, and a decent footise tool. has good range and can be cancelled into bf1 to end combos. However the string on its own has a lot of recovery frames, so you cant combo meterlessly midscreen. In the corner u can link a d1 for a small conversion. F1,3 is also a decent footsie tool. Its the launching headbutt. It starts up in 20 frames but it goes nearly halfscreen. I used it often to get in, as the full string is neutral on block.
I noticed alot of his slower strings were close to neutral and his faster options were punishable. Hes got alot of gaps and no safe specials outside of db2(mb). His f3 is ehh. It hits nearly full screen, but aside from traumatise I was unable to get anything off it fullscreen. I couldnt even land another f3, as it starts up in about 30 frames, but that may have been the input lag from the monitors we were playing on. on Whiff its death, with nearly 80 frames of recovery, and its very minus (somehwere in the 20's). B3 is +6.
His jump ins are okay. His jump 2 has amazing horizontal range, great for air to air trades, but doesnt do well as a jump in. J1 is better for jump ins but doesnt go very far. Jump 3 is great for jump ins but knocks down, so I didnt do much jumping as I got blown up every time. The times I did jump I generally cancelled into db3, as it knocks down on hit.
Thats about it. Combo damage is decent. But he needs meter. I couldnt combo meterlessly midscreen, only in the corner and even then I couldnt break 30%. For a bar i was getting around mid to high 30's and with traumitise you can get high 20's to low 30's without meter, and mid 40's with meter. I didnt use his super often. It starts up really slow, but it is +15 on block.
Again, everything is subject to change, but I did have alot of fun with the character. I have my concerns, like how im gonna be able to keep people in the optimal midscreen range. But my 1 hour mucle memory wasnt doing so well against everyone elses legacy characters.
