Video/Tutorial The Kurtis Stryker Guide to Riot Control & Police Brutality

[Vulcan Hades]

Hey guys, just thought I'd let you know.. I received a reply from Paulo Garcia when I asked about Stryker. Here's what they're planning to give him:

+ B1, 2, 2 is gonna be a lot safer on block (finally!)
+ Grenade Toss will have less recovery frames (not sure if start up will remain the same)
+ EN Baton Sweep will have less recovery frames (not sure if start up will remain the same)
+ EN Roll Toss will have longer armor. (This can't be hotfixed though. He said it needs to be in a patch)

- Stryker still won't be able to block after gun cancel (this will likely never happen, we better forget about it. Could make Stryker seriously good if he could instant block after a gun cancel)

I'm happy about these changes. They're not much but it's more than welcomed and certainly better than nothing.

What I'm most exited about is the reduced recovery on grenade toss. This could seriously improve Stryker's zoning game. Right now he loses zoning advantage if opponent blocks a grenade. Hopefully now he'll keep adv.

And of course EN roll toss having longer armor. This will really help vs Ermac, Kabal, Reptile, Cyrax, Liu Kang, Sindel and Noob.

 

[PoliceBrutality]

Hey guys, just thought I'd let you know.. I received a reply from Paulo Garcia when I asked about Stryker. Here's what they're planning to give him:

+ B1, 2, 2 is gonna be a lot safer on block (finally!)
+ Grenade Toss will have less recovery frames (not sure if start up will remain the same)
+ EN Baton Sweep will have less recovery frames (not sure if start up will remain the same)
+ EN Roll Toss will have longer armor. (This can't be hotfixed though. He said it needs to be in a patch)

- Stryker still won't be able to block after gun cancel (this will likely never happen, we better forget about it. Could make Stryker seriously S tier if he could instant block after a gun cancel)

I'm happy about these changes. They're not much but it's more than welcomed and certainly better than nothing.

What I'm most exited about is the reduced recovery on grenade toss. This could seriously improve Stryker's zoning game. Right now he loses zoning advantage if opponent blocks a grenade. Hopefully now he'll keep adv.

And of course EN roll toss having longer armor. This will really help vs Ermac, Kabal, Reptile, Cyrax, Liu Kang, Sindel and Noob.

Longer armor on EN Roll Toss is what I have been dreaming for. YES!!! YES!!! YES!!! AND YES!!! stryker will definitely be a lot fearsome now. Like you mention Vulcan, the noob, reptile and ermac matches and I would like to add sub zoning will definitely get a lot easier. If only he could have armor during the entire animation (one can only hope), but I wonder if that is too much to ask

 

[D_Matt_Ma]

Really, the only thing I saw of importance there was reduced grenade toss cooldown. All the other buffs reduce the risk. Only grenade toss cooldown reduction increases reward. I said it before, but all I want is more reward for making good reads, not an airbag for when I mess up.

 

[Vulcan Hades]

A few people asked me what I meant exactly by "zoning advantage"... I already talked about it a little in the guide. But I figured I'd try to go in more detail with it. (especially since I made some mistake while explaining it before)

"Zoning Advantage" is a term that Tom Brady came up with in the very first days of MK9 when he wanted to talk about "speed priority" in the projectile wars. When two players throw a projectile at the same time, they will trade as you all know. But this is only true if neither player has "zoning advantage". If no player has adv then it means they're both on equal footing. But as soon as a player has zoning advantage over the other player, then it means they won't trade anymore. Instead, only the player at a disadvantage will get hit. A player with adv will *most of the time* cancel out the opponent's projectile even if it was already on the screen. (this however depends on the projectile speed. You can still trade vs characters like Noob or Kabal because their projectiles come out faster)

Simply put, one guy's gonna be faster than the other and get the projectile (or whatever special move) out on the screen quicker. So we're basically talking about SPEED. Frame advantage.

Again, as a reminder:

What makes Stryker GAIN zoning advantage:

-Any special move that HITS but doesn't trade
-A reset
-An uppercut or standing 4
-A throw

What makes Stryker LOSE zoning advantage:

-Any special that gets BLOCKED
-Getting knocked down
-Getting HIT by a projectile
-Waiting too much


I made a small video to illustrate zoning advantage better:

Utility of Gun Cancel:

Ok, so contrary to what some people seem to think, Gun cancelling isn't entirely useless. Far from it. In fact Stryker can't possibly survive without mastering this technique vs certain characters.

I've loosely explored possible uses of gun cancel in mixups up close. But I just realized I haven't really talked much about it's uses from far away (which is where you'll likely be 70% of the time).

So here are the most important ones imo:

1. Gun cancel into Gun Shot or Gun Shot hold

This is used to: build meter, bait the opponent into compromising, make the opponent drop his guard etc. Don't use it vs teleporters. Mostly useful vs characters with poor zone game.


2. Gun backdash cancel into Grenade

High grenade to catch jumpers, control the air

Low grenade to catch crouchers (only works at full screen dist)


3. Gun cancel into Roll Toss

This is mostly used on reaction when you have lost zoning advantage. You pretend you're wanna trade but switch to a roll toss. Again, not so good vs teleporters.


4. Gun dash cancel into instant crouch tech

Now this one is the most important to learn imo. Because it can shut down ALL teleports in the game.

How does it work? You hold your gun for a fraction and dash cancel it straight into an instant D1, D3 or D4 (whiff). This will basically avoid transition frames from stand to crouch that usually make Stryker vulnerable after gun cancel. So with this trick you don't even need to block (because most teleports hit high).


5. Gun Forward Jump cancel

This is canceling your Gun with F, FU. Basically, you skip the dashing animation and go straight into a forward jump.

This is used to: avoid bad trades (like vs sub), jump over slides, rolls and low projectiles.


6. Gun dash cancel into standing 3, standing 4, D4 or throw

This is used to: stuff slow specials, counter dash blocking / pressure, anti-airing baited jumps etc.


I honestly think those are the most important things to learn as a Stryker player. Because Stryker's whole primary gameplan entirely revolves around those 2 concepts.

 

[PoliceBrutality]

WTH!!! I had no idea standing 3 could cancel out the sub slide (even the EN version). Suddenly the sub match go a lot easier for me because I use Gunshot against them a lot to prevent clones but I always get countered with the slide. Dang man everytime you put a video out I realize how wrong I have been playing stryker lol. As always, GOOD STUFF MAN

 

[Vulcan Hades]

Yeah, stuffing EN slide with standing 3 is pretty awesome lol. Downside is you'll likely never pull that off on reaction (unless you're at full screen dist). You literally gotta be a Jedi to react that fast. Standing 3 really isn't that fast so most of the time it's gonna be an educated guess (you know, when you have a feeling your opponent is going for a slide).

That being said I think jumping over the slide after gun cancel is much safer though.

Of course if you can crouch block and punish the slide with a combo do it. Those tricks are mostly for when you've already commited yourself to a gun hold and you can't block anymore.

 

[Carefoot]

Yeah, stuffing EN slide with standing 3 is pretty awesome lol. Downside is you'll likely never pull that off on reaction (unless you're at full screen dist). You literally gotta be a Jedi to react that fast. Standing 3 really isn't that fast so most of the time it's gonna be an educated guess (you know, when you have a feeling your opponent is going for a slide).

That being said I think jumping over the slide after gun cancel is much safer though.

Of course if you can crouch block and punish the slide with a combo do it. Those tricks are mostly for when you've already commited yourself to a gun hold and you can't block anymore.

I'm guessing I could stuff reptiles dash the same way? Which by the way I also figured its better to just jump out of the way and not get hit by it

Also at the lowest point in a jump away if you kick just as your are to hit the ground (possibly getting hit by a slide) if you kick you can also stuff a slide like that too. Again, need to be from coruscant.

 

[Vulcan Hades]

I have no idea about Reptile's dash lol. That shit is fast. Doubt standing 3 even comes out. I haven't tested standing 3 on Reptile's and CSZ's slide but I'm guessing it also works.

By the way, KingBigBud send me a PM sharing his BnB. Basically all he did was change 1 xx gun shot into 2 xx gun shot. Once you get it down it's worth it imo because it deals more damage.

Jump in punch, B1, 2, 2, NJP, dash xx 2 xx Gunshot, dash, 1, 2 xx Roll Toss. 39% 12 or 13 hits.

I like it primarily because you don't have to wait for them to fall before you use 2xxGunshot, like you do with 1,2xxGunshot, which is EXTREMELY helpful online when it's laggy.

 

[PoliceBrutality]

Jump in punch, B1, 2, 2, NJP, dash xx 2 xx Gunshot, dash, 1, 2 xx Roll Toss. 39% 12 or 13 hits.

I like it primarily because you don't have to wait for them to fall before you use 2xxGunshot, like you do with 1,2xxGunshot, which is EXTREMELY helpful online when it's laggy.

I know about that BnB the only problem for me is landing the 1,2 after the gunshot. This is extremely difficult to pull online (well at least for me). i do it occasionally but I usually replace the 1,2 with 1xx roll toss for 36%.

Also someone gave me his corner kombo using 1 bar for 44% damage. What do you guys think? I think I already know Vulcan's stance on using 1 bar in a Kombo lol :-P.

here is the combo: B3, 2, 1, 2, gunshot, 1, 2, ex gunshot, uppercut = 44% damage (without jps)

EDIT: You know what else I have been working on for Stryker's kombo? walk across the screen with the oppenent after a juggle by doing dash cancel 1 repeatedly. Watch the video and forward it to 0:40 mark.

I think we may have some serious potential with this if we can do it after a B1,2,2 NJ1, dash 2 xxgunshot or EN Gunshot, then walk across the screen with them doing the dash 1 cancel. So far, they are dropping too fast after the Gunshot or EN gunshot, and im kinda slow too. I also noticed that I can do a dash 1 into dash 1,2 xx Roll toss etc

 

[Vulcan Hades]

here is the combo: B3, 2, 1, 2, gunshot, 1, 2, ex gunshot, uppercut = 44% damage (without jps)

Use the meter in combos if you want. But never end with uppercut if you got them cornered. That's just going to help them get out.

Doing more damage is nothing compared to having an opponent trapped in the corner with nowhere to go but up.

 

[PoliceBrutality]

lol, use the meter in combos if you want. But never end with uppercut if you got them cornered. That's just going to help them get out.

Doing more damage is nothing compared to having an opponent trapped in the corner with nowhere to go but up.

Yeah I tend to do B3,2; 1,2; 1,2; 1,2 low grenade dont remember the damage but it still keeps them in the corner. But to be safe I also cut the 1,2 juggle to two instead of 3 hehe

 

[Vulcan Hades]

Countering-Counters? Emergence of a new playstyle

Now this is pretty advanced stuff. These tricks requires top notch execution and full understanding of zoning, spacing, footsies, conditioning and frame advantage to be really effective. I also suggest you practice them and try to understand the theory as a whole before you start using this online/offline.

I'm not saying "you should play Stryker like this". I'm just exploring different techniques and other possible ways to play Stryker other than the usual zoning and counter zoning approach. I came up with this "new playstyle" idea while learning/studying the Mileena, Nightwolf and Jade matchup.

COP TRICKS

These are basically gun canceling tricks. Everytime you put your gun out and have frame advantage, you can hold your shot and go for one of these:

Good Cop

Gun hold xx dash cancel into mixups (D3, throw, 4, 2, B3 etc)

Use sparingly. Good Cop is especially effective after you've conditioned the opponent into respecting your Cool Cop / Jumpy Cop / Dirty Cop.


Bad Cop

Gun hold xx dash cancel xx gun shot

This is used to fool people into believing you have no intention of shooting. Can bait crouching opponents to stand up, blocking opponents to lower their guard, zoning characters to try and throw a projectile.

You can of course hold your second shot and cancel it into any other cop trick you want.

I don't recommend using Bad Cop vs certain teleport characters that are more invulnerable during their start up animation (Ermac, Smoke, Raiden).


Cool Cop

Gun hold xx dash cancel xx Stance xx Block

You need to do this very fast. The dash has to be canceled in it's most early start up frames into stance and you need to immediately hold block as you are switching stance.

Cool Cop is used to bait and counter special moves/wake up attacks. This will condition the opponent and make him respect your defense. Consequently, this trick will allow you to use Good Cop up close with more success.

I don't recommend using this trick if you have 3 bars of meter (your x-ray will come out lol).


Dirty Cop

Gun dash cancel into instant crouch tech (D1, D3 or D4)

This basically cancels the transition frames from stand to crouch.

Use Dirty Cop to bait/avoid/stuff specials that hit high (teleports, shoulder etc.). This will condition the opponent and make him respect your defense. Consequently, this trick will allow you to use Bad Cop and Tricky Cop with more success.

Obviously not recommended vs teleporters/sliders that hit crouchers (Quan Chi, Mileena, Reptile, Sektor, Sheeva).


Jumpy Cop

Gun hold, F, UF (or B, UB)

Cancels the dash animation on the earliest of frames. Makes you go from a gun hold to an instant forward/backward jump.

Use this sparingly to bait very fast EN special moves and jump over them. Or to jump over low projectiles. This will condition the opponent and make him fear or anticipate jump ins. Consequently, the opponent will less rely on low projectiles.


Tricky Cop

Gun dash cancel xx another special move

Cancel you gun into Low grenade to hit crouchers at full screen. High grenade to catch jumpers. Roll Toss to go under high projectiles. Baton Sweep to catch roll backs, jump aways etc.

Remember that enhanced versions of Roll Toss and Baton Sweep can be used as parry attacks since they both absorb 1 hit of armor.


+FRAME RESETS

The following resets leave you at an ideal frame advantage. Why is this important? Because it allows you to take your gun out safely before the opponent is even able to respond with a reversal/wake up attack, allowing you to effectively bait or condition your opponent. Ending your juggles with +frame resets ensures that you will always have speed/priority/zoning advantage.

They were designed to fool the eye (opponent thinks you're going to continue the combo, but instead you stop it short surprising the opponent and catching him off guard).

Most of these resets also force a quick stand. The opponent is prompted to react with less time to analyze the situation (and hopefully make mistakes or poor reads which is what you want).

Beatdown Reset
B1, 2, 2, gun hold

Kop Out Reset
End juggles with 1, 2 xx gun hold

Gut Reset
End juggles with 3 xx gun hold

Jab Reset
End juggles with D1 xx gun hold

Gun Reset
Gun shot, gun hold

Baton Reset
End juggles with Baton Sweep

Pain Reset
End juggles with 2, 3 xx gun hold

Uppercut Reset
End juggles with D2, gun hold

Roundhouse Reset
End juggles with 4 xx gun hold

Twirl Reset
B2 xx gun hold

Low Reset
B3 xx gun hold


So you can go from a Reset into a Cop Trick. And from a Cop Trick into a Reset or another Cop Trick. That's the gist of it.


I feel this is a whole different playstyle altogether (I like to call it Counter-Counter). Stryker is known to be a good zoning and counter zoning character. But this style / game plan is more about baiting/countering, footsies and 50/50 mixups. The goal is not zoning or dealing damage, it's controlling the flow of the match, building meter and conditioning your opponent into adopting certain habbits and reacting to your actions. So you win by countering your opponent's reactions and baiting the opponent into wasting meter for no good reason.

I feel this playstyle is especially effective vs counter characters and characters that can get around Stryker's zoning. After spending hours practicing it I feel confident this style can have as much success as his primary game plan (zoning/counter-zoning). And I also think it might be the key to winning vs our bad matchups.

If opponent tries a wake up reversal, he eats a combo. If he tries to roll away, you win because he just created space which is what you usually want. If he tries to attack low or stay grounded, that's a free safe jump for you. If he doesn't do anything or just block, then he pretty much gives you free meter (blockstring) and opens himself up to a possible mixup / throw attempt. So basically all ending scenarios leave Stryker at an advantage while limiting the opponent's options (you condition him into not using counters and wake up attacks).

Once the opponent realizes he can't use reversals, counters and wake up attacks safely anymore. Then you can start zoning safely or start playing more aggressive up close.

 

[D_Matt_Ma]

I like the teleport punishes. They're just so hard to time right without proper advantage on the opponent. I was disappointed there was no attempt to uppercut raiden off his superman off his gun cancel

 

[Helter Skelter]

Vulcan Hades, I really wanna see you put up match videos now. Your Stryker is beastly and I really wanna learn more from the things you do. Do you think you could get at least 5-10 videos up a week? It'll definitely be worth it.

 

[GNG Iniquity]

Stryker has been so overlooked, it's ridiculous. Whenever I play a good Stryker I have NO IDEA what in the hell is going to happen, he's extremely unpredictable and in a skilled player he's so deadly.

 

[D_Matt_Ma]

Stryker has been so overlooked, it's ridiculous. Whenever I play a good Stryker I have NO IDEA what in the hell is going to happen, he's extremely unpredictable and in a skilled player he's so deadly.

Would I be one of those Stryker's you've played? I seem to recall running into you on PSN.

 

[GNG Iniquity]

Would I be one of those Stryker's you've played? I seem to recall running into you on PSN.

We may have, I'm not sure, I tend to avoid online for the most part these days...just too many issues with it!

 

[Vulcan Hades]

Vulcan Hades, I really wanna see you put up match videos now. Your Stryker is beastly and I really wanna learn more from the things you do. Do you think you could get at least 5-10 videos up a week? It'll definitely be worth it.

Sorry man, I'd like upload matches but I don't even have xbl for the time being. I barely play online and when I do I'm all scrubby lol. It's almost impossible to react to/punish certain specials and blockstrings online, that's why I hate it. I heard online got better though.

I play offline but they don't record matches so it's tough. Once I get back xbl I'll put some matches up for sure.

Stryker has been so overlooked, it's ridiculous. Whenever I play a good Stryker I have NO IDEA what in the hell is going to happen, he's extremely unpredictable and in a skilled player he's so deadly.

Yeah I agree. When I say to people stuff like: Stryker wins vs Kitana, Kano, Nightwolf and Sub-Zero they think I'm crazy. But they just don't understand what Stryker is really capable of. He can outzone almost anyone and shut down their counter-zone options. He has great footsies, combos, resets and mixups. Plus he can seriously mindfuck you from anywhere on the screen.

He's really a great character and in my opinion mid-tier at worst. But he's just so damn hard to use and execution heavy. Negative edge really hurts sometimes (Especially when you try to take your gun out after D4 or standing 4) but I got used to it.

 

[PoliceBrutality]

yo V. I have been a stryker player since day 1 and still dont have a second main yet. I gotta admit that the last piece of technology you put out there is on a whole other level. I try to do and integrate the gun canceling into my game plan, I will say this, IT IS THE HARDEST THING I HAVE EVER HAD TO DO WITH STRYKER THUS FAR. I guess the reward is that I will become a jedi if I can come close to mastering it secondly, this is not something that a regular stryker player can pick up in one day. This thing requires hours and hours and hours of practice. Well thanks again man or all the hard work ;-)

 

[JJocelot]

I'm happy to hear Stryker's getting some buffs. I to have been using Stryker since launch so it's nice to see him getting some love. I think my problem with Stryker is that I was trying to play him like any other character. It kinda works, he has some pretty good juggles, but Stryker's true strength is his mixups and zoning. I've been trying to play Stryker as more of a mixup/react n punish playstyle with favourable results.

Still getting there, however.

 

[PoliceBrutality]

I think im just gonna stop playing online for a while so i can focus on his mixups for now. So far this whole approach seems foreign and darn right impossible to me atm lol. my fingers are hurting so bad right lol. I think this is going to be a two weeks to a month project. I gotta focus on each separate mixup/read one at the time. Trying to crank everything at once is pure madness lol. Damn you V :-P

 

[Vulcan Hades]

yo V. I have been a stryker player since day 1 and still dont have a second main yet. I gotta admit that the last piece of technology you put out there is on a whole other level. I try to do and integrate the gun canceling into my game plan, I will say this, IT IS THE HARDEST THING I HAVE EVER HAD TO DO WITH STRYKER THUS FAR. I guess the reward is that I will become a jedi if I can come close to mastering it secondly, this is not something that a regular stryker player can pick up in one day. This thing requires hours and hours and hours of practice. Well thanks again man or all the hard work ;-)

Exactly. Don't get discouraged if you can't get it right the first time few times you try. I've been practicing some of these almost everyday since 1 or 2 months and I still haven't completely mastered them. It takes a while to really get comfortable with those techniques.

If it can help, I suggest you try to use negative edge to your advantage. For example: B2, F1 will go from a baton twirl directly into a gun shot. Standing 1 (hold), B, F release 1 will get a gun shot out.

Just don't go to crazy with this, and remember this is mostly helpful vs your bad 4-6 matchups (characters that can get around your zoning). So you don't really need all this vs 75% of the cast.

IMO the most most most important tricks to learn is cool cop and dirty cop. You condition your opponent with these. Once they respect your defense, they'll stop mashing reversals, counters and wake up moves. That's when you can start moving in with dash cancel throw and whatnot.

 

[D_Matt_Ma]

I think the first round of buffs to Stryker come on Tuesday with the compatability pack. Then hotfixes come after on Wednesday.

IF I AM WRONG, we will probably not see Stryker in top placements at Evo. Those buffs need to come out on Wednesday or they won't make it to Evo.

 

[salvificblood]

That's some fantastic Stryker, Vulcan.

 

[Pakman]

I think the first round of buffs to Stryker come on Tuesday with the compatability pack. Then hotfixes come after on Wednesday.

IF I AM WRONG, we will probably not see Stryker in top placements at Evo. Those buffs need to come out on Wednesday or they won't make it to Evo.

Wow, Stryker's getting buffs? What are they? This is honestly the first I have heard of this.