This is it! You’ve broken through your opponent’s defense and landed a powerful strike, sending him reeling. Now, while the time is right- don’t back off! He is weakened on the ground- you can end this, right here and now! Step forward and deliver the coup de grâce!
Putting pressure on your opponent is a crucial part of Soul Calibur. Nowhere is this more apparent than the situation called “okizeme”. Unlike other games, in Soul Calibur an opponent is extremely vulnerable on the ground- there are no invincibility frames to protect them. Many powerful attacks used in normal play will hit a downed opponent, and so it is possible that your foe can be knocked down once, and not get up again for the rest of the match. Exerting your power in this high-advantage situation is key to ending fights quickly.
So what is “Okizeme”?
Okizeme is a Japanese term, referring to the situation that happens when an opponent is knocked to the ground. You may have heard it referred to as “ground game” or “wakeup game”.
(Why we use this term instead of the English ones, I’m not sure. Normally the shortened “oki” is used, I think this may be easier to say.)
With okizeme, the dynamics of the fight change dramatically. The opponent no longer has access to all of his attacks- in other words, his options are reduced. Any time you have more options than your opponent, you can more easily control the match.
However, you have to know what your options are. Not everything you have will work on a grounded opponent- try and use the wrong attack, and you’ll whiff over your opponent’s body. Even in this position, the opponent can take advantage of your whiff- so it’s important to recognize the shift in gameplay and start responding appropriately to a grounded situation.
Recognizing Suitable Attacks
If you don’t know them already, you need to make a list of attacks you should use when your opponent is on the ground. There’s a way to check for this, using settings in Training mode.
Go into the Control Settings, and set Moves Slot 1 to “Down State”. Any down state will do. The computer will lie still on the ground.
Go through your movelist and see what attacks hit the opponent. Does your 3B hit? 2B? 1A? 2K? Try everything and take notes on what is hitting.
These attacks are most likely what you want to be using when your opponent is grounded- especially so if they are powerful. Don’t discount the weak, quick attacks, however; we’ll talk about those in a second.
An opponent who is on the ground will have a hard time attacking; they will have at least a -15 frame penalty when attempting to strike from the ground. With this much advantage, you can actually start setting up slower moves: throws, heavy guard breaks, frame traps, etc. However, if the opponent doesn’t actually stand up into them, these won’t be effective (they’ll whiff over your opponent).
That is when using quick ground-hitting attacks work the best. Pester a grounded opponent with these and he will rise to guard them eventually. When you anticipate this, instead of using a ground attack, use your slow move instead. This is how you can use things like throws against a grounded opponent- if they are trying to prevent getting hit on the ground, they will stand and guard, right into your offense.
If you have more powerful ground-hitting attacks, you can use those, but using quick attacks to force the opponent up into your mixups is something that every character can do, so keep it in mind.
Advantage on Wakeup
Not all knockdowns are created equal. Different knockdowns will give you different options, and this is usually based on how fast you recover after knocking the opponent down.
This is something that is “hidden” numbers-wise, but is still very real- advantage and disadvantage still exist in okizeme situations.
What can you get away with? If you launch the opponent, can you run over to them while they are flying in the air, so you can apply okizeme pressure? Or are you stuck recovering while your opponent gets away? If you use a slow move, do you have enough advantage not to get interrupted?
This applies to all knockdowns, including throws and the situation right after using an okizeme attack.
Nightmare’s A+G throw puts the opponent right in front of him, and they cannot ukemi. Nightmare can then pretty much do whatever he wants because of how fast he recovers. Compare to his B+G throw; the opponent is farther away, and can ukemi to cut their recovery time. Attempting to run forward and apply pressure at this point may end up badly for Nightmare (as he is losing frames by running forward to get closer).
Patroklos’ 236K on a grounded opponent does a lot of damage, but recovers very slowly and knocks the opponent away, effectively giving them time to get back up and recover safely. Patroklos’ 3B, however, recovers much faster and leaves the opponent very close to their original position, making it so that Patroklos can continue to apply pressure.
Pyrrha’s 3A+B does not do a lot of damage, and is one frame slower than her 3B (which is already hard to punish). However, it does give a knockdown. She recovers extremely fast, so she can run forward and use any of her ground-hitting attacks (1K, 4K, 3B, 66B, etc.) or she can attempt to throw an opponent who wants to stand up and defend, her throws having notoriously good okizeme situations. (Shoutouts to Xeph for pointing this move out.)
If you can perpetuate your okizeme by keeping the enemy close and on the floor, you can abuse the naturally high advantage you have in this situation. Don’t let up, stay close and keep kicking them while they’re down.
Okizeme Sequences
Because the number of options are reduced, there are only a limited number of possible moves you can take when the opponent is on the ground. You need to map these out and dissect your options so you can respond accordingly.
I learned the importance of laying out your options from Belial and the Mitsurugi SA; the topic in question is here:
http://8wayrun.com/threads/a-taste-of-hell-restaurant-okizeme-tech-traps-moved-here.11281/
After each move that knocks down, you need to look at your options. If the opponent does X, I need to do Y to stop it.
You can check your situations by setting up a mirror match in Training mode and using the record function. Record your okizeme sequence, and then play it back and try to defend against it.
You need to take into account:
- Sideroll. Opponents can dodge some of your attacks by siderolling to the left or right. What can you do to stop this? Some attacks that don’t hit grounded normally will work great on opponents rolling to a certain side.
- Backroll. Some opponents will want to get extra breathing room and try to backroll out of the way. How can you punish them for it? Can you run up while they are backrolling and throw them when they stand (force a mixup)? Maybe you can hit them before they have a chance to backroll, or use specific moves that stop backroll. For example, Omega’s DNS B, while normally whiffing on grounded opponents, will be able to hit in this situation for good damage.
- Standing guard. If the opponent holds G when knocked down, most of the time if you attempt to attack him he will pop up immediately into a guarding position (there is no “get up” animation when defending against an attack). Treat this like an advantaged position- use your lows, throws, or slow moves as if you put your opponent at disadvantage in neutral play.
- Crouching guard. The same applies to guarding low attacks- the opponent will pop up into the crouch block position. If you have a mid launcher that hits grounded, this is a great place to use it- if they try to defend against any lows you were using, they’ll get launched. If they stay on the ground, your launcher hits grounded, so they’ll still take damage.
- No guard. You should have already made the list of attacks that can hit in this situation. Always remember that this exists; one of the easiest ways to defend against some players is just to lie on the ground. They will whiff over your body instead of using the proper attacks to hit you with, and you will either be able to gain the advantage or get a whiff punish from the ground. Do not miss over your opponent’s body- you need to be hitting them!
- Guard Impact/Just Guard. This becomes an issue when you are using slower attacks against experienced players. In some situations, the opponent can recover just barely enough to sneak in a Just Guard or Guard Impact and completely reverse your advantage. For example, after Mitsurugi’s 4B, he can 66A+B to stop backrolling or put on guard pressure. It’s possible however to tech out and Just Guard the attack, removing any pressure that was built up. You may not see this very often, but you need to keep it in mind so that you don’t freeze like a deer in headlights when it happens.
- Ukemi. In some knockdowns, the opponent can tech roll away from you, putting distance between you and making it much harder to hit them. It may cause your attacks to whiff, or even open you up for punishment. How can you stop an opponent who decides to tech? Do you have enough time to run up and force mixups? Do you have any “tech traps”? (Those can be very effective depending on which character you are using.) An ukemi is a powerful option to avoid okizeme pressure, so you need to be prepared to deal with it. On the flipside, a knockdown where the opponent cannot ukemi is called “untechable”; you need to know which of your moves have this status, as they usually give some of your most deadly okizeme situations.
Check every situation. What can you get away with? What can’t you get away with? Check your character’s Soul Arena, or ask around. Your goal is economy of movement- every action you take should have some type of purpose behind it. You do not want to stand around idly while your opponent is on the floor, and you do not want to whiff a BB over his head when he is down.
Lay out your options- you’ll be more efficient, as you won’t have to really think about what you’re going to do next- you can just focus on hitting your opponent.
In Closing
I hope this gets you thinking about okizeme. Remember, when you have the advantage, press the advantage. You need to recognize that when you score a knockdown, you generally have the advantage. Unless they are unconventional (or new), the opponent is focused on defense. Take the opportunity and don’t let your chance slip away!
Here is a clip from SCIV Houston Regionals, 3 years ago.
I hit him, he floats away, and I just let him go. He is on the defensive, and I just stand there.
He runs up and ends up throwing me!
Don’t do this.
If you can apply pressure, then apply pressure. Run forward and keep your offense going. If you let your opponent recover and catch his breath, he may gain the strength to come back and defeat you. Don’t let it happen!
Putting pressure on your opponent is a crucial part of Soul Calibur. Nowhere is this more apparent than the situation called “okizeme”. Unlike other games, in Soul Calibur an opponent is extremely vulnerable on the ground- there are no invincibility frames to protect them. Many powerful attacks used in normal play will hit a downed opponent, and so it is possible that your foe can be knocked down once, and not get up again for the rest of the match. Exerting your power in this high-advantage situation is key to ending fights quickly.
So what is “Okizeme”?
Okizeme is a Japanese term, referring to the situation that happens when an opponent is knocked to the ground. You may have heard it referred to as “ground game” or “wakeup game”.
(Why we use this term instead of the English ones, I’m not sure. Normally the shortened “oki” is used, I think this may be easier to say.)
With okizeme, the dynamics of the fight change dramatically. The opponent no longer has access to all of his attacks- in other words, his options are reduced. Any time you have more options than your opponent, you can more easily control the match.
However, you have to know what your options are. Not everything you have will work on a grounded opponent- try and use the wrong attack, and you’ll whiff over your opponent’s body. Even in this position, the opponent can take advantage of your whiff- so it’s important to recognize the shift in gameplay and start responding appropriately to a grounded situation.
Recognizing Suitable Attacks
If you don’t know them already, you need to make a list of attacks you should use when your opponent is on the ground. There’s a way to check for this, using settings in Training mode.
Go into the Control Settings, and set Moves Slot 1 to “Down State”. Any down state will do. The computer will lie still on the ground.
Go through your movelist and see what attacks hit the opponent. Does your 3B hit? 2B? 1A? 2K? Try everything and take notes on what is hitting.
These attacks are most likely what you want to be using when your opponent is grounded- especially so if they are powerful. Don’t discount the weak, quick attacks, however; we’ll talk about those in a second.
An opponent who is on the ground will have a hard time attacking; they will have at least a -15 frame penalty when attempting to strike from the ground. With this much advantage, you can actually start setting up slower moves: throws, heavy guard breaks, frame traps, etc. However, if the opponent doesn’t actually stand up into them, these won’t be effective (they’ll whiff over your opponent).
That is when using quick ground-hitting attacks work the best. Pester a grounded opponent with these and he will rise to guard them eventually. When you anticipate this, instead of using a ground attack, use your slow move instead. This is how you can use things like throws against a grounded opponent- if they are trying to prevent getting hit on the ground, they will stand and guard, right into your offense.
If you have more powerful ground-hitting attacks, you can use those, but using quick attacks to force the opponent up into your mixups is something that every character can do, so keep it in mind.
Advantage on Wakeup
Not all knockdowns are created equal. Different knockdowns will give you different options, and this is usually based on how fast you recover after knocking the opponent down.
This is something that is “hidden” numbers-wise, but is still very real- advantage and disadvantage still exist in okizeme situations.
What can you get away with? If you launch the opponent, can you run over to them while they are flying in the air, so you can apply okizeme pressure? Or are you stuck recovering while your opponent gets away? If you use a slow move, do you have enough advantage not to get interrupted?
This applies to all knockdowns, including throws and the situation right after using an okizeme attack.
Nightmare’s A+G throw puts the opponent right in front of him, and they cannot ukemi. Nightmare can then pretty much do whatever he wants because of how fast he recovers. Compare to his B+G throw; the opponent is farther away, and can ukemi to cut their recovery time. Attempting to run forward and apply pressure at this point may end up badly for Nightmare (as he is losing frames by running forward to get closer).
Patroklos’ 236K on a grounded opponent does a lot of damage, but recovers very slowly and knocks the opponent away, effectively giving them time to get back up and recover safely. Patroklos’ 3B, however, recovers much faster and leaves the opponent very close to their original position, making it so that Patroklos can continue to apply pressure.
Pyrrha’s 3A+B does not do a lot of damage, and is one frame slower than her 3B (which is already hard to punish). However, it does give a knockdown. She recovers extremely fast, so she can run forward and use any of her ground-hitting attacks (1K, 4K, 3B, 66B, etc.) or she can attempt to throw an opponent who wants to stand up and defend, her throws having notoriously good okizeme situations. (Shoutouts to Xeph for pointing this move out.)
If you can perpetuate your okizeme by keeping the enemy close and on the floor, you can abuse the naturally high advantage you have in this situation. Don’t let up, stay close and keep kicking them while they’re down.
Okizeme Sequences
Because the number of options are reduced, there are only a limited number of possible moves you can take when the opponent is on the ground. You need to map these out and dissect your options so you can respond accordingly.
I learned the importance of laying out your options from Belial and the Mitsurugi SA; the topic in question is here:
http://8wayrun.com/threads/a-taste-of-hell-restaurant-okizeme-tech-traps-moved-here.11281/
After each move that knocks down, you need to look at your options. If the opponent does X, I need to do Y to stop it.
You can check your situations by setting up a mirror match in Training mode and using the record function. Record your okizeme sequence, and then play it back and try to defend against it.
You need to take into account:
- Sideroll. Opponents can dodge some of your attacks by siderolling to the left or right. What can you do to stop this? Some attacks that don’t hit grounded normally will work great on opponents rolling to a certain side.
- Backroll. Some opponents will want to get extra breathing room and try to backroll out of the way. How can you punish them for it? Can you run up while they are backrolling and throw them when they stand (force a mixup)? Maybe you can hit them before they have a chance to backroll, or use specific moves that stop backroll. For example, Omega’s DNS B, while normally whiffing on grounded opponents, will be able to hit in this situation for good damage.
- Standing guard. If the opponent holds G when knocked down, most of the time if you attempt to attack him he will pop up immediately into a guarding position (there is no “get up” animation when defending against an attack). Treat this like an advantaged position- use your lows, throws, or slow moves as if you put your opponent at disadvantage in neutral play.
- Crouching guard. The same applies to guarding low attacks- the opponent will pop up into the crouch block position. If you have a mid launcher that hits grounded, this is a great place to use it- if they try to defend against any lows you were using, they’ll get launched. If they stay on the ground, your launcher hits grounded, so they’ll still take damage.
- No guard. You should have already made the list of attacks that can hit in this situation. Always remember that this exists; one of the easiest ways to defend against some players is just to lie on the ground. They will whiff over your body instead of using the proper attacks to hit you with, and you will either be able to gain the advantage or get a whiff punish from the ground. Do not miss over your opponent’s body- you need to be hitting them!
- Guard Impact/Just Guard. This becomes an issue when you are using slower attacks against experienced players. In some situations, the opponent can recover just barely enough to sneak in a Just Guard or Guard Impact and completely reverse your advantage. For example, after Mitsurugi’s 4B, he can 66A+B to stop backrolling or put on guard pressure. It’s possible however to tech out and Just Guard the attack, removing any pressure that was built up. You may not see this very often, but you need to keep it in mind so that you don’t freeze like a deer in headlights when it happens.
- Ukemi. In some knockdowns, the opponent can tech roll away from you, putting distance between you and making it much harder to hit them. It may cause your attacks to whiff, or even open you up for punishment. How can you stop an opponent who decides to tech? Do you have enough time to run up and force mixups? Do you have any “tech traps”? (Those can be very effective depending on which character you are using.) An ukemi is a powerful option to avoid okizeme pressure, so you need to be prepared to deal with it. On the flipside, a knockdown where the opponent cannot ukemi is called “untechable”; you need to know which of your moves have this status, as they usually give some of your most deadly okizeme situations.
Check every situation. What can you get away with? What can’t you get away with? Check your character’s Soul Arena, or ask around. Your goal is economy of movement- every action you take should have some type of purpose behind it. You do not want to stand around idly while your opponent is on the floor, and you do not want to whiff a BB over his head when he is down.
Lay out your options- you’ll be more efficient, as you won’t have to really think about what you’re going to do next- you can just focus on hitting your opponent.
In Closing
I hope this gets you thinking about okizeme. Remember, when you have the advantage, press the advantage. You need to recognize that when you score a knockdown, you generally have the advantage. Unless they are unconventional (or new), the opponent is focused on defense. Take the opportunity and don’t let your chance slip away!
Here is a clip from SCIV Houston Regionals, 3 years ago.
I hit him, he floats away, and I just let him go. He is on the defensive, and I just stand there.
He runs up and ends up throwing me!
Don’t do this.
If you can apply pressure, then apply pressure. Run forward and keep your offense going. If you let your opponent recover and catch his breath, he may gain the strength to come back and defeat you. Don’t let it happen!
