Natsu Questions And Answers / General Discussion

I like k2.
Even though it's quite linear, it has some kind ot tech step to the front, that makes some vertical punishment attempts whiff when it is stepped.
It is also mostly safe (-8) and has excellent guard gauge damage (even better than 66B)
Range is also good, can help against Mitsu 4B and similar backstep attacks (also because it's two fast successive attacks)
A problem: it think it can be easy JGed with 1 G tap (like 22_88B) rarely or never happens to me though.
 
So I'm having an extreme amount of difficulty facing Pyrrha's who utilize a lot of BB, 66A, BB, 22K. Basically a poke heavy Pyrrha. Any tips? I can't get close enough to make use of Natsu's 2A/2K or even 2BA
 
So I'm having an extreme amount of difficulty facing Pyrrha's who utilize a lot of BB, 66A, BB, 22K. Basically a poke heavy Pyrrha. Any tips? I can't get close enough to make use of Natsu's 2A/2K or even 2BA

You can try to zone her a little bit and use 6A+B4 to interrupt her pokes thanks to that move's fantastic range. If you do manage to get in close, you can try to beat out BB's with your own AA's, though I find it preferable to try and fight Pyrrha around Mid-range-ish so that you can work in some A+B's or even some 4A+B's if your spacing is good. Like Slade suggested, 22A is a nice close range poke thanks to its TC ability (Pyrrha's 22K is a high if I'm not mistaken).

Natsu's 2KK has ok-ish range so it shouldn't be too difficult to get off and 2A is pretty much just used to set up her WR or FC moves. Don't worry about 2bA too much, try using 6KA.
 
besides what has been said (A+B, 4A+B, 6A+B4),

I, too, love 22A, its my favorite way of dealing with Siegfried's 3(B)~SCH.
another move with a fast TC is 3A.

I think 2K is nice because natsu steps forward, and every bit of range is welcome,
but I prefer 4A; its slow, but better range I think, better damage, TC, goes into PO, and I believe tracks better than 2K, although even though this is A its not a reliable step killer. 4A ~ PO B+K near the end of a round works more often than I thought.

speaking of lows, best range but unsafe, would be 11A. gives KND on CH leading to combos but as I said its unsafe due to the second hit being high and whiffing, so if Pyrrha blocks the low, Youre in trouble.

if You want to fight from mid range, in addition to already mentioned moves,
I find both 66K and 44A quite useful. They are both unsafe, especially against Pyrrha, but 44A from mid range when the second hit is blocked gives so much pushback that it is difficult to punish it. damage is great, kills step and it gives STN.
and 66K is better used when You know she's gonna step to the sides or backstep - tremendous range, nice dmg, TC, TJ. but when blocked its as bad as blocked 66B

when fighting from mid range you can also try mixing up 33A and 33AB, because 33AB is unsafe.

seems I suggested every unsafe move possible lol :)
 
You forgot 22B or PO A+B lol. Counting all the unsafe stuff. Sorry Hates, didn't even know you said that, you told me a lot of stuff, hard to keep track of everything lol.

2K is nice, but it seems to have long start up. I'm going to try more 4 A+Ba to see if that works. Otherwise, gotta just weather the storm of pokes and try to keep finding an opening.
 
You forgot 22B or PO A+B lol

22B on block is -12 and has a lot of pushback so I think it can be considered safe-ish. at least not stab-punishable.
as for PO A+B...yeah, dangerous to use lol

anyway, neither me nor majority (if not all) of my opponents are tournament goers, so I still find useful some of the more unsafe moves. Just trying to use them sparingly and in the right situation to minimize punishment.
but if more experienced natsu players have any thoughts on why 44A should never be used (except for alpha pat MU, where it really should not be used) or why 4A or is a bad move etc, It would be nice to learn.
 
22B on block is -12 and has a lot of pushback so I think it can be considered safe-ish. at least not stab-punishable.
as for PO A+B...yeah, dangerous to use lol

anyway, neither me nor majority (if not all) of my opponents are tournament goers, so I still find useful some of the more unsafe moves. Just trying to use them sparingly and in the right situation to minimize punishment.
but if more experienced natsu players have any thoughts on why 44A should never be used (except for alpha pat MU, where it really should not be used) or why 4A or is a bad move etc, It would be nice to learn.

22B is a little slow but is usually safe from punishment and grants a nice launch on hit including tip range. 44A is a slow move and is -14 on block so you have to be careful with its usage. It does give you a nice stun knockdown if it connects however. You have to bait the opponent to come after you and whiff in front of your face or use some slow attack that can be interrupted for 44A to be useful. 4A is handy move for a sneaky 22 damage to end rounds but it is a little slow and the PO stance transition hinders you a bit if the opponent knows how to deal with the mix-up.

I've been liking 2KK more as my go to low poke thanks to its safety and decent speed (i16). Though 1K is faster, it's disadvantage on block or hit. As for 66K, as long as you're not fighting someone that can punish -16 hard, feel free to abuse the hell out of this move. It really is awesome against zoning characters or characters that rely a lot on constant movement like Ivy or Nightmare.
 
As for 66K, as long as you're not fighting someone that can punish -16 hard, feel free to abuse the hell out of this move. It really is awesome against zoning characters or characters that rely a lot on constant movement like Ivy or Nightmare.
Yes, exactly!
Since I started using 66K, suddenly Ivy, Nhtmare and Siegried became a lot easier.
It kills players who love to backstep a lot, and I also like to use it as a punisher for CEs that have strong pushback, like Sieg's.
But yes, -16 is a lot of disadvantage...and since 66K positions you right in front of the opponent, I think every character can punish it :/

EDIT
as for 4A into PO transition, I try to use 4A when I have a t least half a bar for an emergency PO BE, and also from time to time use PO 2 and PO 8 to confuse opponent, but I understand that these shenaningans may not be viable in high level play ;)
 
Is this known?
66K beats Algol's 4BA's second hit after the first one is blocked, even though it's mid
all other moves including A:6 do not work
 
And similar situation as above for Nhtmare:
slightly delayed 66K beats Nhtmare's 22AA's second hit, even though its mid and no other moves work
 
Any suggestions on how to keep pressuring after a knockdown? (Assuming my opponent knows not to fall for the bombs). Usually after the 4a+b bomb knocks my opponent back, I possession run to him for a PO B+K/ PO B/ PO A+B mixup. Sometimes I might go for a 1A after the knockdown if I know that he's going to play dead. I read earlier in this thread that there's a potential 41236 B/ 4A+B mixup after an aerial A+B, so I might try that.

But generally, I feel like I lose a lot of my advantage I gain from knockdowns after my opponent plays dead on my bombs. Is there any other way to pressure? Or am I just not using the bombs correctly...?
meh, this is probably what I get for taking a 6 month break from SCV/8WR :\
 

After a knockdown just run up to them and 1B or 2K them. 4A+B and 2A+B do minimal damage and unfortunately knock the opponent away so you want to avoid these if the opponent looks like they won't fall for it (i.e. they know to just stay down). If you have the opponent cornered, then you can try to lock them down with bombs. Beware of Mid-hitting jump attacks though like Patroklos'9K. 1A is risky because of how unsafe on block it is, though it is a nice roll-kill. The way how Natsu continues to pressure an opponent is by staying in their face and maintaining advantage. Don't sweat her ground oki too much. Just stay on your opponent's ass.

If you can get a ground splat after an aerial knockdown. Feel free to throw out 41236B until the opponent techs it.
 
Not all ground rolls are created equal and as such 41236b after aerial a+b has different levels of effectiveness against different characters. I'm going to compile a list soon, but so far there are a couple different classes.

Characters that can easily sideroll to both sides by just holding 2 or 8

Characters that can easily side roll only to their right

Characters that have to time a last second side roll to their right

Characters that can't side roll at all and are forced to tech.
 
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