Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 13:15
My regular team (actually more like my only team: I blame the fact that I've been away from arcades and KOF in general for more than half a year until recently) consists of Kyo, Malin and Oswald, and both Kyo and Malin QS into Oswald's Ace combo pretty readily if you've practiced it: Kyo from the 2nd hit of his Dokugami (qcf C) chain, and Malin from the 2nd hit of her taser (qcf b). Malin's is slightly trickier in that it normally requires more delaying of the C after the -fwd A, or requires a jump C/jump a from Oswald instead of a Jump D at some distances.
I just read through your post again and noticed that you've only included characters that end their QS from a launcher - you *can* actually land the Ace combo from most any combo, although admittedly, like I mentioned above for Malin, sometimes getting the correct jump attack is tricky depending on where you and your opponent are on screen.
Actually, let me take this opportunity to just write up some of the things I've learnt about Oswald since Empyrian's been egging me about not writing anything for ON...
Oswald is probably the most complex character I've ever had to learn for competitive play in KOF - yes he's got *very* damaging combos and lots of ways to land his LDM etc, but what hits when, where is very dependent on timing, and positioning of both you and your opponent.
To begin with (and going back to Kane's post): it is my personal opinion that if you're going to learn how to play Oswald, you'd better damn well learn how to connect the ACE from a QS from at least one, if not both of your other characters. The ACE finisher is just such a game winner, it can swing the direction of the match in your favor if you're losing, or make the gap between you and your opponent insurmountable for him. There's that famous video floating around Youtube that teaches most of the common setups for the ACE combo, the 2 I find most useful are (outside of corner,QS in) -> jump D, A,(slight delay depending on what you QSed from) C, b, e, and (inside corner, QS in) -> jump C, A, b, a, b, e.
2 things about the corner only combo: If you're having trouble performing the b after the -fwd a, try doing dwnback,down, dwnfwd, b. Also, since most people tend to block low automatically after blocking the first hit in an attack string, QS-ing in by surprise will often land the incoming jump C for you, which leads to an ACE combo. Since Jump C has problems hitting outside the corner, this has limited applications outside of the corner, although if you're gawd-like you might want to try messing around with Jump A instead, although that requires much stricter timing.
Bread and Butter combo strings: Everyone should know (dwn b, a)/(dwn d, A) p, a, b by now. You should also know that there are plenty of people you can't really do this against on block, because the b does have openings through which people can squeeze a stand a/gato palm super/Malin Hammer LDM etc etc.
Then there's the also standard (dwn b, a)/(dwn d, a) p, a, a, which seems to be the string that most people do if they discover that the opponent is blocking. it's pretty safe, but you can still get hit by stuff like Gato's palm super, etc.
There's the 'combo' string I tend to use which has saved my ass plenty of times: d, cancel first hit into b, a, a, a. The b is subject to all the weaknesses that the first standard b&b combo is, so be careful about that. In return, however, this combo string gives you:
1. A nice block low/block high game. Note that the b will NOT connect in a combo even if the d hits, that's why I put combo in quotes above. However, the b retains all its overhead properties, and if the b hits, the rest of the string combos.
2. Safety upon block. This is the string I've found that's the safest. The a at the end pushes you back by about half a screen or so, which makes it pretty hard to punish even by Gato's palm super. At least, I haven't been hit by anything upon this string being blocked.
3. Pretty much a combination of 1 and 2, but important enough that I think it should be mentioned: the string has its lag/opening (in the form of the b) in the *middle* of the combo, not at the end, which makes catching the right opportunity to punish it a lot harder than normal.
4. Damage possibility: While the last a will not connect if the opponent has been hit, a super cancel into his a randbu super will. C version will connect with strict timing for almost all hits in corner. Pretty nice chunk of damage too.
Overall defence:
This is the part I struggle with most for Oswald, but:
Stand a/dwn a are your friends. Stand a provides good defence against persistent hoppers, and even leads to an LDM if you're quick enough about it/have been charging for it, but it tends to miss against crouchers.
Vertical hop E is also a great move in Oswald's defensive repertoire. Provides good air defence, hit deep enough to connect even against crouchers. Only thing is (and this just might be me being a crappy player) is that stand E has a tendency to come out instead, which just leaves you friggin' open.
Moon slash super is totally invulnerable, I'm pretty sure. Empyrian has tried to Gato air grab out of me before, but all he got for his efforts was counter DM damage. Also negates projectiles, if I remember correctly. Only thing is that it *does* have noticeable start up, against fast hoppers like Ash I often perform the move, notice that the DM freezes the screen with their kick in my face, only to see them land and block the move in time. Very annoying. Learn to predict when your opponents will hop/jump in, and make them hurt.
Last thing: the card projectiles (dp a/b/c/d) are vastly underrated, I find. While it is true that they're pretty slow, and will disappear if Oswald is hit unless it's already on the way down, the projectiles, if not interrupted, allow Oswald to advance while there's a projectile on screen. This is never a bad thing, for any character. Due to the start up, the safe/common set ups are after a successful b combo finish, or when you're about a full screen away.
That's all for now...
I just read through your post again and noticed that you've only included characters that end their QS from a launcher - you *can* actually land the Ace combo from most any combo, although admittedly, like I mentioned above for Malin, sometimes getting the correct jump attack is tricky depending on where you and your opponent are on screen.
Actually, let me take this opportunity to just write up some of the things I've learnt about Oswald since Empyrian's been egging me about not writing anything for ON...
Oswald is probably the most complex character I've ever had to learn for competitive play in KOF - yes he's got *very* damaging combos and lots of ways to land his LDM etc, but what hits when, where is very dependent on timing, and positioning of both you and your opponent.
To begin with (and going back to Kane's post): it is my personal opinion that if you're going to learn how to play Oswald, you'd better damn well learn how to connect the ACE from a QS from at least one, if not both of your other characters. The ACE finisher is just such a game winner, it can swing the direction of the match in your favor if you're losing, or make the gap between you and your opponent insurmountable for him. There's that famous video floating around Youtube that teaches most of the common setups for the ACE combo, the 2 I find most useful are (outside of corner,QS in) -> jump D, A,(slight delay depending on what you QSed from) C, b, e, and (inside corner, QS in) -> jump C, A, b, a, b, e.
2 things about the corner only combo: If you're having trouble performing the b after the -fwd a, try doing dwnback,down, dwnfwd, b. Also, since most people tend to block low automatically after blocking the first hit in an attack string, QS-ing in by surprise will often land the incoming jump C for you, which leads to an ACE combo. Since Jump C has problems hitting outside the corner, this has limited applications outside of the corner, although if you're gawd-like you might want to try messing around with Jump A instead, although that requires much stricter timing.
Bread and Butter combo strings: Everyone should know (dwn b, a)/(dwn d, A) p, a, b by now. You should also know that there are plenty of people you can't really do this against on block, because the b does have openings through which people can squeeze a stand a/gato palm super/Malin Hammer LDM etc etc.
Then there's the also standard (dwn b, a)/(dwn d, a) p, a, a, which seems to be the string that most people do if they discover that the opponent is blocking. it's pretty safe, but you can still get hit by stuff like Gato's palm super, etc.
There's the 'combo' string I tend to use which has saved my ass plenty of times: d, cancel first hit into b, a, a, a. The b is subject to all the weaknesses that the first standard b&b combo is, so be careful about that. In return, however, this combo string gives you:
1. A nice block low/block high game. Note that the b will NOT connect in a combo even if the d hits, that's why I put combo in quotes above. However, the b retains all its overhead properties, and if the b hits, the rest of the string combos.
2. Safety upon block. This is the string I've found that's the safest. The a at the end pushes you back by about half a screen or so, which makes it pretty hard to punish even by Gato's palm super. At least, I haven't been hit by anything upon this string being blocked.
3. Pretty much a combination of 1 and 2, but important enough that I think it should be mentioned: the string has its lag/opening (in the form of the b) in the *middle* of the combo, not at the end, which makes catching the right opportunity to punish it a lot harder than normal.
4. Damage possibility: While the last a will not connect if the opponent has been hit, a super cancel into his a randbu super will. C version will connect with strict timing for almost all hits in corner. Pretty nice chunk of damage too.
Overall defence:
This is the part I struggle with most for Oswald, but:
Stand a/dwn a are your friends. Stand a provides good defence against persistent hoppers, and even leads to an LDM if you're quick enough about it/have been charging for it, but it tends to miss against crouchers.
Vertical hop E is also a great move in Oswald's defensive repertoire. Provides good air defence, hit deep enough to connect even against crouchers. Only thing is (and this just might be me being a crappy player) is that stand E has a tendency to come out instead, which just leaves you friggin' open.
Moon slash super is totally invulnerable, I'm pretty sure. Empyrian has tried to Gato air grab out of me before, but all he got for his efforts was counter DM damage. Also negates projectiles, if I remember correctly. Only thing is that it *does* have noticeable start up, against fast hoppers like Ash I often perform the move, notice that the DM freezes the screen with their kick in my face, only to see them land and block the move in time. Very annoying. Learn to predict when your opponents will hop/jump in, and make them hurt.
Last thing: the card projectiles (dp a/b/c/d) are vastly underrated, I find. While it is true that they're pretty slow, and will disappear if Oswald is hit unless it's already on the way down, the projectiles, if not interrupted, allow Oswald to advance while there's a projectile on screen. This is never a bad thing, for any character. Due to the start up, the safe/common set ups are after a successful b combo finish, or when you're about a full screen away.
That's all for now...