Karnage
Ancestors give me Strength!!
Yo guys, I have some ideas written down on how I believe Shazam should be played. Once Shazam is in, he needs to stay in and make them sweat. All of Shazams command throws can be followed up nicely as ive written down below. I really believe its part of Shazam’s game to train the opponent to wake up, once they are trained, Shazam is in perfect position to punish, Shazam will be in a sweet position to block and full punish, end the combo how you see fit and follow up the pressure.
When playing Shazam I pretty much say to myself…
“KEEP IN RANGE of Herculean Might/ Achilles’ Clutch or J2 crossup.”
Ps. Sorry if I have some things wrong, just wanted to show how I personally play him and the follow ups I use, there probably are some characters that will beat some of the things I have written down here, but I didn’t have enough time to go through every character in the roster to test.
I didn’t bother writing any exotic combos in this, they are in the combo threads, this is purely my ideas on pressure/follow ups strategy.
So here goes, hope this makes sense for you guys...ive written this as a road map for Shazam.
Combo: f223, 2 xx Achilles Clutch 21%
Follow up Options
1.Herculean Might
2.Cross up j2 (will beat some standing wakeups) – not green lanterns might
3.Teleport towards if they use normal wakeups and full punish
4.If they start using advancing wakeups just block and full punish
Combo: f223, 22 Herculean Might 24%
Follow up options
1.In range of b2 although unsafe – can anyone tell me if teleport towards after a blocked b2 is safe at all? I doubt it. Either way you are in position for Herculean might after a blocked b2 teleport.
2.If they start using wakeups – go to #teleport towards after Herculean Might
Follow up options
1.22 mixup
2.B12 mixup – 8 frame start up, for me this string is just for pressuring. On hit +8 follow up with d1 Achilles Clutch/Herculean Might, risky again.
3.F12 – this is +3 on block and overhead, only on hit you can connect HM/AC
4.If they don’t wake up and you have teleported, you could be punished for it.
5.If they wake up (advancing) they will go through, safe distance, but you will lose the gap. However usually, characters with advancing wakeups are those who you don’t mind if you have bit of a gap.
6.If they wake up normally – free combo using the above strings
There are certain specials im sure can cause different results, like deathstrokes swordflip. However once you have teleported, you are in range of a b2 and will punish them, or at least safe. With certain characters you may have to move slightly forward then teleport to end up behind them. – Deathstroke is one of them, again not enough time to test all characters.
Combo – f223, 22 HM MB, 112 teleport towards follow up options:
1.If they don’t tech roll/wake up in range for command/low throw
2.If they wake up you have a guaranteed j2 cross up (unless its advancing, if you know the character/player likes to use advancing wakeups bait it and punish on block)
3.If they tech roll – b2 will hit
4.If they tech roll AND wake up then you can block the wake up and b2 throw punish
5.If they tech roll AND wake up (ADVANCING) you have time to teleport backwards/block (to where they are advancing to) and punish.
Basically, if they don’t tech roll or wakeup, they have to guess the throw. If they wakeup its an easy j2 cross up, if they use an advancing wake up, you can teleport backwards and still be able to block it and punish.
112 teleport is BY FAR my favourite string, the follow up pressure is awesome.
I think certain advancing wake ups on characters may have different results, this still needs testing, but I haven’t had the time to do so yet, but I just wanted to put my ideas on here.
B12 = -2 on block
B123 = -6 on block
B2 xx Teleport Towards = on hit you are in range to j2 crossup
B2 xx Teleport Away = will put you at full screen(if you need to be) can get punished by reversal attack.
F12 – +3 on block, follow up with d1 and mixup the throw – dangerous though. Once people know shazams strings, they probably wouldn’t even duck on this string because the 2 is overhead so I would probably go with Herculean Might. If you catch them with the overhead in the string you can use either Herculean Might or Achilles’ Clutch and it will connect.
D3 – 10 frame startup, if blocked you are at -11. If you hit, good range for j2 crossup, or teleport and start punishing wakeups.
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Thats pretty much all i have at the moment guys...hope this will be of some use, or at least get people thinking on different follow up strategies.
Thanks for reading.
Karnage
When playing Shazam I pretty much say to myself…
“KEEP IN RANGE of Herculean Might/ Achilles’ Clutch or J2 crossup.”
Ps. Sorry if I have some things wrong, just wanted to show how I personally play him and the follow ups I use, there probably are some characters that will beat some of the things I have written down here, but I didn’t have enough time to go through every character in the roster to test.
I didn’t bother writing any exotic combos in this, they are in the combo threads, this is purely my ideas on pressure/follow ups strategy.
So here goes, hope this makes sense for you guys...ive written this as a road map for Shazam.
ACHILLES CLUTCH
Ending a combo in ACHILLES’ CLUTCH– in my opinion this is the hardest to follow up with pressure on, you dont get a huge amount of time do anything after this lands.Combo: f223, 2 xx Achilles Clutch 21%
Follow up Options
1.Herculean Might
2.Cross up j2 (will beat some standing wakeups) – not green lanterns might
3.Teleport towards if they use normal wakeups and full punish
4.If they start using advancing wakeups just block and full punish
HERCULEAN MIGHT
Ending a combo in Herculean MightCombo: f223, 22 Herculean Might 24%
Follow up options
1.In range of b2 although unsafe – can anyone tell me if teleport towards after a blocked b2 is safe at all? I doubt it. Either way you are in position for Herculean might after a blocked b2 teleport.
2.If they start using wakeups – go to #teleport towards after Herculean Might
HERCULEAN MIGHT + TELEPORT TOWARDS
Teleport towards after HM – will beat most wakeups if not all.Follow up options
1.22 mixup
2.B12 mixup – 8 frame start up, for me this string is just for pressuring. On hit +8 follow up with d1 Achilles Clutch/Herculean Might, risky again.
3.F12 – this is +3 on block and overhead, only on hit you can connect HM/AC
4.If they don’t wake up and you have teleported, you could be punished for it.
5.If they wake up (advancing) they will go through, safe distance, but you will lose the gap. However usually, characters with advancing wakeups are those who you don’t mind if you have bit of a gap.
6.If they wake up normally – free combo using the above strings
There are certain specials im sure can cause different results, like deathstrokes swordflip. However once you have teleported, you are in range of a b2 and will punish them, or at least safe. With certain characters you may have to move slightly forward then teleport to end up behind them. – Deathstroke is one of them, again not enough time to test all characters.
KEEPING IN THE THREAT RANGE OF ACHILLES CLUTCH/HERCULEAN MIGHT
IMPORTANT STRING!!!!!
112 + Teleport towards
OptionsCombo – f223, 22 HM MB, 112 teleport towards follow up options:
1.If they don’t tech roll/wake up in range for command/low throw
2.If they wake up you have a guaranteed j2 cross up (unless its advancing, if you know the character/player likes to use advancing wakeups bait it and punish on block)
3.If they tech roll – b2 will hit
4.If they tech roll AND wake up then you can block the wake up and b2 throw punish
5.If they tech roll AND wake up (ADVANCING) you have time to teleport backwards/block (to where they are advancing to) and punish.
Basically, if they don’t tech roll or wakeup, they have to guess the throw. If they wakeup its an easy j2 cross up, if they use an advancing wake up, you can teleport backwards and still be able to block it and punish.
112 teleport is BY FAR my favourite string, the follow up pressure is awesome.
I think certain advancing wake ups on characters may have different results, this still needs testing, but I haven’t had the time to do so yet, but I just wanted to put my ideas on here.
OTHER STRINGS:
B123 – weird string really, can cancel the last hit for Achilles’ Clutch or 3 for the low. If it knocks them down you can cross up. However if they wake up you will be punished in the air. Obviously if you can bait the wakeup and block, you are in range of f223 combo starter or Herculean MightB12 = -2 on block
B123 = -6 on block
B2 xx Teleport Towards = on hit you are in range to j2 crossup
B2 xx Teleport Away = will put you at full screen(if you need to be) can get punished by reversal attack.
F12 – +3 on block, follow up with d1 and mixup the throw – dangerous though. Once people know shazams strings, they probably wouldn’t even duck on this string because the 2 is overhead so I would probably go with Herculean Might. If you catch them with the overhead in the string you can use either Herculean Might or Achilles’ Clutch and it will connect.
D3 – 10 frame startup, if blocked you are at -11. If you hit, good range for j2 crossup, or teleport and start punishing wakeups.
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Thats pretty much all i have at the moment guys...hope this will be of some use, or at least get people thinking on different follow up strategies.
Thanks for reading.
Karnage