Ok, so I was able to test the new Ivy for a few days on Paris Games Week. But before I start, me and Malek also had a personal meeting with Ivy.
Malek probably hates me for taking this picture but I had to take the risk =)
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS:
The game itself is much more fun than SC4. The system is very interesting, the BE, CE, JG and quick step make the game more dynamic, flashy and enjoyable. Not to mention technically it's above every other fighting game we have seen so far. The music is amazing, too. At this moment SC5 is what SC4 should have been.
For the moment the best characters in the game have to be Siegfried, Mitsu, Pyrrha, and Asta. Some other characters (like Maxi for example) also seem strong, but maybe it's because they are completely different (different stances, moves, frame traps) and it's hard to play against them at the moment to say more.
The movement feels very similar to SC4, it's nothing like SC2 or SC3. The game appears faster because almost all characters have better step, dash and backdash. There is also quick step which renders normal step pretty useless.
The new SCV Ivy is exactly what we have seen on the videos - a very simple and straightforward character. Malek had already written a lot about her
here so I will focus more on the move properties and what not.
She has a lot of problems now. Mainly it's her weak NH damage compared to other characters (even Maxi). Other characters can do even twice more damage than Ivy without counter hit. Her wakeup game is more risky because 214K is punishable on block. She has no really good low now with FC 3B gone. Everything else can be easily blocked on reaction and punished. Another bad news is almost a complete lack of mid step killers apart from 3[A], which sucks.
BRAVE EDGE:
Surprisingly, her BE attacks are quite decent.
A+G BE - old SS. The flash is quite obvious and some players (like Keev) could duck it on reaction but apart from that the move can be pretty good when used rarely. It only works with A+G throw.
1B BE - just as I assumed, the second BE hit forces block even when the first 1B is blocked. It has positive frames on guard.
66B BE - always launches on CH or during stun combos. Seems like a very decent move, when combined with 6B8 BE or 9A+B it does a lot of damage.
22B BE - I was very skeptical about this one but it turned out crazy - on hit it always combo with the new-old SC4's SEA236A. On guard it forces the GB move to be blocked (opponent cannot jump, GI, probably step/quick step as well, but this needs to be checked), Ivy ends up in BT with frame advantage and opponent is very close to her. The only problem is that BT 2K doesn't KND in SC5 so the mixup isn't very strong.
6B8 BE - new Ivy lick with a crazy animation and nice damage. It also wallsplats and possibly ROs (we are not sure yet). I don't know if it does more damage than 9A+B.
MOVES:
AA - terrible CL AA has returned. The second hit can be ducked on reaction and whiff punished. It has nice range and advantage on hit but should be used mostly as a punisher.
66[A] - this move is absolute trash. Not only it's possible to interrupt the second hit with AA, it cannot be delayed, does small damage, no stun on CH. Nothing! It's also easy to JG the second hit and punish it even harder. It will only work a few times on people who aren't used to Ivy.
66A - normal 66A is probably her best step killer. It does more damage than in SC4 but it's high so it loses easily to TC moves.
BB/[ B ] - BB is very good, but it does less damage than in SC4. The second hit does not track at all. [ B ] is similar to SC4's WP 44BB. Both hits hit grounded and they have a lot of range but it's
launcher punishable on block. The second hit comes out slower, it's probably possible to step it and GI on reaction (in SC5 a guard impact means guaranteed ~90dmg CE is you have 125% of meter)
2A, 2K,2B all seem the same.
A+B,A - 3rd hit still not fixed in the new build which I played on the main stage.
9B doesn't stun anymore on counter but it appears to do more damage on tip range (about 40)
1K (old 22KSW2A+K) still has super TC (window for STC is much shorter, though) but the move itself is slower and more unsafe than in SC4. Tip range 1K>9B seems to do most damage because 9B is stronger at tip range.
1A+B (old SW 2A+B) has no pushback at all, it's also slower (to me it seems like a i30 low, almost everyone blocked it without any problems so...) but less unsafe. Combo on NH.
bK (old SW 214K) is even more terrible now. It's unsafe on block (at least -15), does less damage on grounded ans still negative on hit. I does appear to catch all rolls, though.
4A+B,B - it's true that the move aGI's every move in the game but the aGI pushback is still random and you can easily get whiff punished on a successful auto-GI with a Critical Edge for about 90 dmg.
6B2_8 - super risky. Unless you know the first hit is going to hit/get blocked, you must be very careful because the second hit has a 70% of whiffing. It rarely catches step. Also it seems more unsafe on block, some characters can do a quick dash and punish it on guard, ridiculous.
FC 1B_[ B ] - one of her best moves, like in SC3. The combo on NH is very strong and the move is pretty safe. It has two versions, if you hold B it will become WP WS BB.
6B8K - does more damage as a punisher and in combos. You can also punish with 6B8 BE but the kick doesn't come out then (does about 40-50 dmg, hard to say). The K cannot be delayed.
3[A] has no stun on CH, also slower and very unsafe on block.
4K stuns on CH like in SC3. I usually did 1B+K as a combo, maybe there is something stronger. I don't know about the frames but it appears to be one of her best moves right now.
3[K] - same as in SC3, except the tracking. It's about +3~4 on block. The stunned character falls down very fast, you don't have much time for your guaranteed followup.
3B works exactly like in SC:BD. You can get a NH 6B8 combo only at point blank range. The good thing about this move is its pushback on block.
WS [A] (old W WS A) seems to be a lot slower.
4A - same move as SC4's SW 4A now stuns on CH but you can only use bK a guaranteed combo.
22A - (old sw 44A) the move now has the same stun properties on CH like in SC3. The best combo I could find was CH 22A, 66B BE, 6B8 BE. It uses 100% of special meter, though.
214B - it's almost safe, like Malek had already mentioned earlier. Since there are no stances, there is no stance transition. It's negative on hit , does not track and step is slightly worse (but better than in SC:BD) but it's still one of her best moves. Both hits hit grounded opponents.
22B, BBB can be interrupted with AA or 2A. BBB tracks to one side.
CS/iCS - the new command throw seems to be very difficult to do. Malek has told me it took him 3 or 4 hours of training to get the first one. The motion is very annoying and extremely difficult to do on analog stick. We don't know if iCS exist - if it does then it's gonna take a while before we can do it. I think she says "Now sing for despair!" during the throw or something similar.
5 HIT-JF - still a mystery! We haven't been able to do it, not even the first hit! haha The timing for the first hit is different than anything we have seen so far in SC2/3/4. I imagine it's gonna be possible to JG this move in between hits and punish it.
CE - I don't quite understand how this works. I had numerous situations where the CE animation started when the opponent was standing and then he immediatly ducked when there was the grab sequence...
Some of her best SC4 moves are gone (SW FC 3B, SW 66K, SW/CL/WP 6K, WP 6B etc) but there was no command list so maybe these moves are hidden under some different inputs (but it's doubtful)
I hope you guys can find the answers to your questions. If there's something else don't hesitate to ask.
