Hello Mr. Brady, long time no see!
btw, I've got a few random questions/thoughts for the rest of you guys:
- What's smoke's best anti-air? Right now I've just been using uppercuts and my own jump-ins, but unless the distance is right, that's not a great plan.
- Is TK teleport punch unsafe on whiff? I was messing around, and an opponent I faced earlier had problems with doing anything about it.
- What's the best mixup options after forward smoke? I've usually been doing j.1, or b.4, f.4 or throw. It seems that forward smoke is very good vs zoners, although you have to watch out for certain things like Sektor's flamethrower.
- Is whiffed teleport punch after an air grab a good way to get close to do oki? I've been having some pretty good success with it lately. Man, is Smoke's b.2 overhead fast.
- What are some other good oki/reset setups we can do? In the long run, these types of things benefit in any fighter.
- What is Smoke's best ranged poke? I've been using f.4, but I'm sure there's better options. I don't know if it's even needed with all the ways Smoke has to get in vs. zoners...
- Smoke's combo starters are:
- 3, d+1, 2
- 3, d+1, smoke cloud
- j.1, 3, d+1, 2
- b.2, 4, smoke cloud (enhanced needed in corner)
- b.2, smoke cloud
- 2, smoke cloud
- (corner) 2, 1, 4, smoke cloud
- low to the ground j.4, air throw, smoke cloud
Anything I'm missing?
--- Anti-Airs: 2/ d2/ b4/ j.K/ nj.P imo are his best options depending on angle, distance and timing of incoming jumper. Everything besides d2/b4 lead to AirThrow, SmokeCloud combos.
2/ d2/ j.K/ nj.P will force them to react with an early attack, while b4 will punish anything but the deepest jump-in attacks. This creates a nice guessing game for jump-ins. Of course, DiveKicks/Air moves change all of this.
If you have enough time you can SmokePort Forward or Back to reposition. If have less time and have meter to use, you can ExShake to counter attacks, or ExSmoke port to reposition.
--- TK TelePunch/ground Telepunch: Both are punishable on whiff. They can both be naked ducked under and punished harshly, but most people block on reaction instead of naked ducking. If you TK Telepunch high enough to barely whiff standing block, the opponent tends to wait needlessly for the second part and bounce. If they do not react fast enough, I just land and throw.
If you do Telepunch enough times they will catch on and start naked ducking it to punish you with uppercuts or full AA combos. I mostly avoid using TelePunch and hope they forget I have it, then use it when they least expect it. If opponent's back is in the corner, I look for an opportunity to land this:
--- Corner TelePunch Combo: qcb4, d1~qcb2, ff, pause, 32, 32, 214~d,u3(+BL) 28-31% (cannot remember exactly)
This allows you to continue with close range mixups/pressure while Invisible/EXInvisible [EVIL][/EVIL]
Inspired by Fenixy's post in the Smoke Combos! Thread (Thanks!):
http://testyourmight.com/forum/showthread.php?3989-Smoke-Combos!
--- Oki Options: I prefer Forward SmokePort after Airthrow combos to position closer. I like it better than TelePunch repositioning and SmokeCloud Finisher since it opens more options. After the port, jump over to j.P to chains and mixups. I like crossups since they reverse wakeup commands. Or you can just stay on the same side and do other wakeup mixups: b4, b2, Throw, SmokeCloud, etc.
--- Pokes: I like to poke with b4 or b23~qcb2. They have the best range of his normals, are pretty fast, safe on block, and force an immediate blocking decision: part of the reason I love Smoke!
--- Random Notes:
--- B&B Combo: j.P~3d12, j.K~AirThrow, otg qcb2, ff, 3d12, j.K~AirThrow 49ish%?
To connect the jk~air throw to otg qcb2, delay the jk~air throw to connect on the way down After the apex of the jump! I read that doing it lower would help. I read that as "do it as fast as possible after the launch", but it is the opposite! You can also add a nj.P before the first jK~AirThrow for about 2-3% more damage.
B&B Combo w/Notes: j.P~3d12 (JumpForward and Wait), j.K~AirThrow (Low to the Ground, on the way down), otg qcb2 (Buffer in air, hit 2 asap when landing), ff, 3d12, j.K~AirThrow
--- Not sure why this was not mentioned, but unless training mode is wrong (which is possible) the Second hit of 3d12 is Overhead! Disclaimer: I have not tested this with human blocking.
--- d3 and d4 are both low and special cancellable. You can cancel to SmokeCloud to check for retaliation and get the +1 frame advantage after the low poke if blocked. d4~qcb2 is a nice low poke when you do not want to b4 sweep to ground them.
--- Imo the only thing Smoke is missing is a fast punishing combo starter and maybe a low combo starter (can't have it all =)). If 2~qcb2 works that might be the best he has, but the range is short horizontally. I wish I had Frame Data!
I hope this helps. 2nd post on TYM, but I have been scouring the internet for info since MK9's release, and this is the best place for it.
Thanks to all for sharing such helpful info!
