Today I played a lot more SF than I usually do.  I’ll be honest, it wasn’t necessarily high caliber play, but I still managed to learn a bit.  Andrew and Francis came over,  a Chun and an Abel respectively.

Francis’ Abel hasn’t changed much since last time we played.  He wasn’t as focused this evening as he usually was, so I can’t really make any comments on his playstyle.

Andrew was the big surprise of the evening, he seemed to take Chun very seriously and really gave me some issues in certain matches.  I still ended up sweeping him most of the time (I think he ended up getting one victory on me out of the 40 or so games we played), but I used that opportunity to diagnose his playstyle.  Maybe he’ll read this, who knows?  But basically, after the first couple of matches when I made a comment about Chun’s j.HK having mad priority and basically cutting me out of the sky, he started using that more often.  This negated a big part of my burning kick crossup air game, and so I could only perform these crossups when I was certain he was charging something.  Crossups are great for fighting charge characters because switching sides will cause them to lose their charge.  Andrew’s very new at using charge characters in general, and I noticed that he was less willing to give up his charge once he dedicated some time to save it.  Thus, when he planted himself firmly on the ground and didn’t move forward, I knew it was time to chuck a burning kick.

Still, the burning kicks ultimately amounted to small pokes at his health bar.  The real damage came from on the ground.  He was particularly susceptible to my thunder knuckles, and so I used my common c.MP/MK xx m.TK line over and over while mixing in feints and throws.  He got pretty good at throw teching too.  Still, if I managed to land a forward throw, he would always fall for the SJ m.BK crossup.  I didn’t even get a chance to mix him up, he never really caught on how to block it.  And, if I managed to land a backward throw, rape would commence because it became a simple ambiguous j.HK, c.HP xx EX Seismo, etc.  Also, if  I managed to get him into a corner and knock him down, there was a 75% chance he would jump straight up each time.  I don’t think I capitalized on this quite as much as a I should have because I didn’t want to just start throwing h.TKs out there and get punished for them.  This neutral jump habit is worth looking into, and I should make a point to break my own neutral jump habit soon too.

Practiced:

j.HK, c.HP xx EX Seismo SJC FADC Ultra. Nailed this two times, on my weak side of all things.  Need to work on using this more often though, I had plenty of opportunities but still did a SJC BK out of habit.
j.HK, c.HP xx EX Seismo SJC m.TK, h.TK. Nailed this a couple of times too.  I think I’ve officially phased out my old corner combo!
c.LK, s.LK, c.MP xx m.TK. Still don’t have this link down 100% in the heat of  match but it’s definitely progressing!

Matchup notes:

• Chun’s EX Bird Kick is pretty much asking to lose the match.  Can beat it with a very quick light BK, a meaty Viper Elbow, or c.MK xx m.TK on block.  Just have to remember to jump at the right time and watch the meter to bait it, I have some trouble with that.
• Chun’s Wakeup Ultra isn’t so scary anymore, Viper Elbow will go right over it and give me a free EX.TK.
• Chun’s j.HK is a beastly move.
• Chun’s Ultra can hit me from full screen when I’m doing a seismo.  Feint and bait that shit!
• Abel’s Ultra can also hit me from full screen, feint and bait that shit too!
• Be careful when Ultra-ing after Chun’s Ultra.  She does a little flip and leaves the ground at the end, causing Viper’s Ultra to miss

All in all, a pretty good training day, especially for Andrew.  His Chun’s coming along really well.  Eric will be surprised next time they fight, and hopefully by then I’ll be able to pull off my SJC FADCs in a match at all possible times.