X-ier than you; Part 1 - Research

Serge2HOT4U

Serge2HOT4U

[09] Warrior
Whats up X players (and X player haters), i finally decided to write a guide on how to play X in what i think would be the most efficient manner possible. I have seen a few guide for a few characters, but, barring certain exceptions, they mostly concentrate on describing moves, while avoiding topics such as match flow, setups, times of use, etc.

Goals of this guide:
1) To win with X
2) To constantly apply pressure with X
3) To play a more low risk-high reward style
4) To shut down as many of your opponents options with as few of yours as possible
5) To leave the opponent with so few options, that you can predict them much easier.


Who is this for:
1) New X players
2) Aggressive players
3) Thinking players
4) Old X players

Who this is not for:
1) Bitches and Hoes
2) Turtle style players (imo other characters are better at this style)
3) People that hate on X

Goals of THIS THREAD:
1) discuss specific moves and situations and everything involved with them. Which means the good and the bad things, application, etc.
2) Maximizing your X output (wins son)
3) Removing inefficient strategies


Who the fuck am I?
Yo, I'm Serge. I've been playing X for a while, and have for the most part played her very aggressive. Sure, you look at my X vids form SC3 and will probably call me a cheap whore, but i was a calculating cheap whore that won a lot. I spent a decent time in practice mode figuring out the most low risk/high reward strategies. If that makes me a whore then bring on the dicks.


Parts of the guide - subject to change as i update this shit:
Getting inside
Playing at an advantage
Playing around even frames
Playing at a disadvantage
Brazilian Status (mad wakeups and ground game)
Individual move dos and donts
Anti character strategy.


Special Shoutout: Shen Yuan, Cha Cha, SkatanMiller, Kayane, Neoshinji, and the crew of NYC and NJ.
 
*** Getting Inside ***
Since X's effective range IMO is up close, we need to get to it as quickly as possible. This situation usually occurs either at the start of the match or when you and your opponent have a certain distance between each other and are "feeling each other out".
the Best:
66A+K. Tracks steppers, -1-0 on block, and a good advantage on hit or counter. It even jumps to to avoid certain lows. Great range
Disadvantage: its slow, so i tend to not spam it as much against people that constantly attack. When using this move make sure your opponent does not hit you out of it
66K - Great all around move, use the "Serge Input" - [6]k to increase tracking. Decent speed. Good frames on hit and counter.
Disadvantage: on block you are at a disadvantage.
44AA - usually i like to back up a bunch and wait for the opponent to come to me and flinch or anticipate a move, so the input ends up being [4]AA. With this type of setup the move is much more likely to hit and put you at advantage (either on hit or counter). This move has deceptive range and even the best opponents will be hit by it as you back up and pretend youre gonna turtle. Notice how X steps forward when she does the move. On block its around -1 so you can continue the pressure
Disadvantage: the second hit is a high, so if the opponent blocks the first hit he can duck the second, or if u choose to go to SXS it wont matter - since the opponent is already anticipating a high they will be in a prime position to attack. So make sure the move hits!!

44K mixups - Same theory as above - back up, input as [4]K, and be ready to react - on counter go for the second B to transition into ground game, on block either do the second B (i hit with it a lot), or once they expect to block it do SXS stuff.
Disadvantage: if its all blocked you might get punished

Mediocre:
22K - good range - on block it forces crouch and puts you around +2. On hit 1BB seems guaranteed
Disadvantage - very stepable, and in the "closing the distance" type of scenario people tend to step a lot. Also rather slow so you might get hit out of it
A+K mixups - closes the distance fast, great options available (more on that later)
Disadvantage - you can get hit out of it easily. In this situation A+K becomes steppable, so be carefull
1A and 11A+K - both are about the same on hit and block. Since its a low you'll get it to hit more, but this comes with a certain risk of being punished.
66B mixups - Great range, lots of options - SXS or the second B, but there are varying degrees of safety. 66BB is a soul gauge damager.

***Playing with advantage***
This usually happens when you land an attack (or counter hit) and you have a good number of frames going for you, but not enough for guaranteed damage. Most of the stuff from the "playing around even frames" section can work well here. But here are some more things. Usually, you need to be able to predict if an opponent will still try to counter you or just sit there and block
3B - here is where you can fish for counters.
Disadvantage - if they block you are left to reset your attack pattern
4A+B - if you are close enough you might as well throw this out - safe on block, and it takes about 4-5 of these to brake the soul gauge.
Disadvantage - you are no longer at advantage
Throw - throw em son
Disadvantage - they can duck it, but they usually wont be able to counter it.
Non standard SXS setups - by that i mean dont use 1 i seem to have a lot of success usung a[k] in this situation
66A+K - if they have an affinity for blocking in this situation, throw this move out to keep the frames in your favor on hit or block.
Disadvantage - slow as balls, so they might hit you out of it. However this isnt likely to happen right away since most people tend to instinctively block in this situation.

***Even Frames*** This is what happens when you are around -1 to +1. This is a perfect situation to fish for counters, especially if the situation comes off a blocked 66A+K
AA - great option, interrupts about everything, be sure to check if you hit on counter, so u can add the B in the end, or if you hit on regular hit so u can hold the second A to go into some guilt free SXS game
Disadvantage - can be hit with tech crouched moves or blocked to put you at disadvantage, thats when you transition to the stuff below
2A - stuffs all tech crouch moves
Throw - it throws lol

*** Disadvantage *** I love doing this - your opponent thinks its his turn to do work - nooooooooooooooo.
44B- great all around move - especially with the removal of advanced guard. Since most fast moves tend to be short ranged, this will very likely dodge them all. After one or two of those your opponent will try to anticipate the 44B, either trying to step right away or throwing out a longer range move.
Disadvantage - certain strings can out reach the 44B. Not so hot on people like Hilde, Nightmare, Sigfried, since these guys dont have that many speedy moves to dodge in the first place.
AA and 2a - once they learn to fear the 44B
66A+B - most long range moves are linear - this still gets around them.
Disadvantage - doesnt do much else, tends to miss at times.



Brazilian Status - Mad Ground Game son!!!!
If they are at your feet and close:
1BB - this should be your first choice move. If they dont get up right away they will end up eating this move. In certain situations you can tech the second hit of it - and if your opponent starts doing that just start doing SXS mixups.
22K - once they start getting up right away - use 22k. On block its awesome (see more later), and on hit you get 1bb (idk if that applies to a grounded hit)
66A+K - doesnt hit grounded, but since they are scared of 1BB they will get up and be forced to block. Mixups ensue


If they are knocked farther away:
A+K mixups - close the space fast, lots of mixups available, keeps the pressure constant
22K - same shit different range.


***Individual move Dos and Donts***
1BB - DO use it in your ground game and once in a while to set up SXS. DONT use it as your only source of SXS Setups
44B - DO whore it, especially when a character loves to use stances. Dont overwhore it, after a few uses assume that your opponent will refuse to attack at certain situation in fear of it or will try to eal with it, and make him pay.
22/88B - DO use it when u are sure your opponent will do a linear move, get into a sidewalk to avoid your opponents move. DONT use it otherwise - pretty sure its punishable
2/8*B - DO throw it out and own people with it. DONT rely on it when you assume your opponent will do a linear move - 22/88 B will hit more
B+K - DO throw it out if your opponent eats a 1BB standing. In the best case scenario - they dont shake the stun and you get a big combo. In the worst case scenario - they shake the stun but its hard to block low after shaking a stun
SXS Buffed - DO make it count. Prefferably you would like the guard crush to hit - but watch the opponent and your setups, if the opponent hasnt seen your setup before or its a nonstandard one - he is not likely to interrupt your SXSB B guard crush. If he starts stepping - throw or do the SXSB A - which in this stance variety guarantees a bunch of damage.
Wall game - DO learn some of it - X has many wall combos. my favorite and easiest one - 4K (wall) 4A+B, 1kAAB
22K - DO use this in your ground game and occasionally while you're both on your feet. On hit you get 1BB for free, on block you get +1 or +2 frames AND your opponent is crouching. A lot of times BB, 6B become uninteruptable. Play with the options here and see what u like. DON'T spam it when both you and your opponent are standing - its very steppable
A+K mixups - Do use them on grounded opponents and passive opponents. Buffering rules of SC4 don't apply to this move (thanks Neoshinji) , so you can buffer all sorts of moves during A+K just like its sc3. My favorite - A+K buffer 66A+K. DONT spam them on aggressive attackers
Crybaby (grounded A+B) DO: use this move, a LOT. I have won matches with it, hit people out of the air with it, etc. A lot of times, people with aggressive wakeup game will try to hit you, and you will interrupt them, giving you some good time to get up. DON'T attempt this move when you cant do it (I'll explain in a second). Also, avoid spamming it as you will eventually get punished (although it might take the guy 4 tries lol). NOTE: Crybaby works only in two positions - when you are on the ground, on your back, with your feet toward the opponent, and when you are on the ground, on your tits, with your head toward your opponent. It seems to cover about 45 degrees from the center axis of the move, after that you end up doing other moves when you input A+B. Many opponents will begin stepping around you to avoid the reach of the move - so be smart and use this opportunity to stand up and re-engage.

*** Individual Strategy ***
I'll fill this in later


So yeah - lets get to communicating
 
First of all I'd like to say thx for putting this up, some great info. So far I only have one question, I'm sure there will be more later :)

When opponent eats 1BB standing you say throw out B+K. I wanted your opinion on using 6A+B. I believe it's a bit faster and if they don't shake stun you get a free 66B+K. Just wondered if there was any good reason NOT to use 6A+B.
 
wow!!! nice!!! i've been thinking of making X as my 2nd main and this guide surely will be of great help since I've never used her before. thanks and hope that you post soon serge
 
good shit serge! ... now i know what you'll do before you do it! ... jk

once ur done writing this let's go have some sex with mad nyc hoes and play some matches
 
Hello. This is Shen Yuan from CF lol.

I ripped this from my blog with a few edits.... I hope the information will help...
I am pretty convinced a tourney X will really just need stepB, 6B+K and 1kA for mids lol... 1A/1K/11A+K and throw fill up the rest of the mixup too nicely... and you also just need GI and 44B/1B+K... and lots of 22K and 6BA... safe and good reward :/

Serge: Feel free to use the info :D

Strategy:

The aim is to force a two-choice using the abovementioned main middle and low attacks (Step B/throw, 1A/3A/6B+K, 1K/1ka) to do good damage with Xianghua. In order to make the opponent commit to wait and guard, baiting whiffs at advantage and punishing with 44AA, FC 3B and 2_8*5B is very effective against short ranged characters. It is also ideal to counterhit attempts to interrupt with 2A, 6B+K, AAB and 6BA. It is important to note that when 2A hits on CH, FC 3B is uninterruptable by most attacks, and throw is uninterruptable by standing attacks. Hence a mid/throw mixup is very powerful after CH2A.

If the opponent is knocked down, moves such as 1B, 1K (together with 1kA, which might make people stand and guard, since they look so similar), 66K are very good on opponents who stay grounded. A+K into throw/2K/1A/11A+K or the B+K/FC3B/6B+K/WSK are also very strong. 22K is also good as it hits grounded opponents, and on guard, it leaves X at advantage.

At disadvantage, 44B is immensely powerful against short ranged characters, since it does so much damage, and it can be made safer with the optional B auto-GI afterward. 44A and FC 3B are strong ducking punishers that deal good damage; however, FC3B should not be used to avoid strings with multiple highs, as FC3B sends Xianghua into a standing state. CH AAB is very strong in interrupting the opponent's pressure effectively. It leaves Xianghua at neutral afterward. 1B+K is powerful, as it leaves X at advantage on hit... and is safe on block, although it leaves her at big disadvantage. aK is also a very strong move as it jumps and ducks, and it is +4 on hit, and can be varied. If an A attack is expected when at disadvantage, 4A+K and 4A+B are painful auto-GIs to apply. For more defensive players, parry will be really useful because it will recharge the soul gauge, and it will leave opponent's grounded to face Xianghua's strong okizeme. For offense, repel will drain the soul gauge, making her mixups more devastating, and will also give her a free throw.... and Xianghua's throws are pretty painful.

For opponents who are careful at advantage and bait for moves at disadvantage such as 44B, 2_8*5B, AA by sidestepping, backstepping or guarding, 44A, 3A/1A, aK and throw are very strong. 44A kills backstep and sidestep well, and on guard, they are still under the mixup; opponents who guard the second A are left at disadvantage. Those who try and duck and punish immediately will get hit by 44A 44B/2_8*5B/1B+K/9K. 3A and 1A are also strong as they kill sidestep and are low; the difference is that 3A on normal hit leaves X at disadvantage (Which is not a bad thing), and 1A leaves X at +1. aK kills sidestep and backstep well, and on guard they are still in a mixup due to the rest of the string. If opponent's just stand and guard, throw will make them reconsider doing so again.

Xianghua's string variance game is very strong due to her great range of evasive attacks, and her SXS stance. When a string is guarded, Xianghua should mix between an interrupter (e.g. AAB), evasive attack or SXS. Interrupters are strong against opponents who react immediately when they recognise that a string has ended, when they expected the rest of it to come. A simple example will be that of B to AAB, where the AAB can land on CH because people expect the second B to be performed, and react slower. Evasive attacks like 44B deal with people who retaliate thinking that they can interrupt the upcoming SXS or interrupter. SXS deals with people who are willing to guard passively after a string is guarded.

The SXS mixup branches out to many different options.

In Earth Stance, the mixup IMO, is with the timing. This means that the opponent has to guess if (for example) SXS K is coming early or later when Xianghua transits into stance. In fact, against patient opponents, ending SXS and then performing a throw/mid is viable. From experience, it is immensely difficult to react and interrupt SXS upon sight, especially if the Xianghua does SXS K immediately.

In Heaven stance, things take a turn. The mixup between the K and the throw is stronger. Another important feature is the SXS taunt, in heaven, as it leaves Xianghua at neutral, making AA a powerful tool.

In SXS3 (buffed), things can get messy :D SXS3 B is a guard crush that garuantees a free FC3B on many characters. However against some characters such as mitsurugi and voldo, 66B+K is the other confirmed followup. This must be avoided to Xianghua's right while standing and while on the ground. SXS3 A works well with opponents who step, or willingly eat the B; it gives a free crouch throw or free 3B. SXS3 K and throw also work very well together. Moreover, taunt in SXS3 has an interesting application: It is -7 on guard, however it really pushes out the opponent. Hence, experienced opponents who realise thay have to move in might move in and guard patiently, since moving in gives Xianghua time to recover. Hence, she can play a mid/throw/low mixup from the guarded taunt. IF the opponent chooses to attack immediately after being pushed out, a backstep into a FC3B can punish whiffs... Step B will also keep opponents who run in to attack immediately out.
 
ioKain said:
When opponent eats 1BB standing you say throw out B+K. I wanted your opinion on using 6A+B. I believe it's a bit faster and if they don't shake stun you get a free 66B+K. Just wondered if there was any good reason NOT to use 6A+B.
Click to expand...

B+K is a low, i think its harder to to block a low after shaking a stun - and if they dont shake, you get massive CH B+K combos

Shen Yuan - thanks for sharing the info. I'll check it out on a clear head since X is serious business and probably put some of it in my guide
 
Updated the second post with info on crybaby and proper crybaby usage. Shen Yuan, thanks again for the advice.

Anyone know the guard and hit frames on B+K?

Also, i need some help (this is a research thread after all).
A few days ago i played my homie Tidus in what had to be the dirtiest first to 10 ever - X on Amy (kinda made me want to play Amy). So i got a few comments and questions about her.

Comments: [4]AA seems really hard to hit in the "getting inside" situation. She seems to have so much priority. Damn near perfect timing is required to get inside. 44B dodges her stuff pretty well, besides 66A+B

Questions: what should X do to shut down 3ba? 33B? 1A on hit(heard it gives some sort of disadvantage, but amy is fast as fuck so does it really? lol)? Anyone got some good anti amy strats cause the girl seems to tech crouch and dodge everything and drain the soul gague like its noone's business.
 
Best bet seems to be to jump the last hit of 3B, since it murders the Soul Gauge and nothing seems to hit after blocking the low if Amy decides to guard. 1A, has anyone else been able to hit wr K after blocking it? I have but I'm just wondering if that's correct, lol (Have Amy guarding as soon as 1A is done).
 
I've been playing the character since SC1, but I never really used the crybaby much... I actually got final blows on 2 opponents yesterday with it. LOL
 
TrippalHealicks said:
I've been playing the character since SC1, but I never really used the crybaby much... I actually got final blows on 2 opponents yesterday with it. LOL
Click to expand...

I don't use it much anymore in SC4, but I used it quite a bit in SC2 and 3 (I never owned a Dreamcast so I never played SC1 that much). I've defeated many of my friends using it. It is funny to defeat people with it online. I've done :1::(A):+:(B): just so I can do the crybaby move. It actually throws people off at times, cause they expect :1::A:+:B: to hit and then when you lie on the floor, you can throw out the crybaby move right away, and even if they expect that and decide to guard low, you can just do WS:K: which hits mid to finish them off.
 
Got a really nice win with it today. We were both down to a shred of health and he put me on the ground. One cry and game over.....it almost didn't seem fair. :D
 
ioKain said:
Got a really nice win with it today. We were both down to a shred of health and he put me on the ground. One cry and game over.....it almost didn't seem fair. :D
Click to expand...

My 2 wins yesterday were the exact same story. 5th round, both at like 5% HP. lol

I just did it again against an Astaroth ranger. lol I just laid down, and he ran over to me, and I swear I ate off like 15% of his HP and killed him. LOL

He just kept coming at me. lol
 
I've gotten several kills online with the crybaby move online, but I have 2 memorable ones.

The first 1 I was fighting a Taki. She was down to a shrivel of health, I still had a 3/4. I backed up and just waited cause I was thinking that she was going to try for a ring out and I didn't want to risk a stupid loss (since it was a ranked match and I was going for the lvl 20 honour). Anyway I stood there for a bit, building up my SXS and doing the taunts and then I decided to just lie on the ground by using 1[A+B] While doing that, Taki did some jumping move (I think it was that jumping horizontal slash that she does after doing the sideway cartwheel kick that) She landed right infront of me just as Xianghua finished the animation of 1[A+B]. So then I threw out the crybaby move and I won the match. It looked so perfectly timed.

My 2nd story involves a lizardman. I was winning by quite a bit, and then he went into his crawl stance. I wanted to finish him off with a specific move (don't quite remember which one) but he kept up with the pressure and all and kept knocking me down. (He even put me into a corner) So finally I just gave up going for a 'stylish' kill and just threw out the crybaby move after he knocked me down again, and it finished him off. To me it was funny cause he was on this huge rampage and totally mauling me and then one temper tantrum and he's down for the count hahah.
 
Here's one for you guys, had this guy laughing.


Btw, don't be stealin on my X CAS bishes. :)

BtBtw, we should probably get back on topic before the ever generous Serge stops givin us tips. :D
 
lol trust me i can always appreciate a good crybaby story, i have more than my fair share.

I make people fear that move so much that their wakeup game is pretty much neutralized in many cases.

Just remember - on your tits with head towards your opponent, on your back with feet toward the opponent, plus 45 degrees on each side. Every time im knocked down - the first thing i do is observe my position to see if i can crybaby.
 
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