Help with Aganos match up

Hi guys.

I just had a real ■■■ whooping by a really good Aganos player and to be honest there was one particular thing he was doing that I just had no idea to stop or get out of.

On hard knock down he would shoot a boulder as I stand then stamp his foot (HK?) and it hit me every time. I main Hisako and was just stumped, everything I tried didn’t seem to work.

Any help/ideas would be appreciated.

If its a low rolling rock, counts as low attack and must be blocked low. You should block low the stomp too, and then you are more or less in neutral frames

Don’t try anything. Just block.

The light payload assault that rolls on the ground actually hits high up close and then low as it rolls along the ground, but if you’re far enough away the 1st hit auto-whiffs and the 2nd hit still hits low. The same actualy applies with the foot stomp - if you’re in close, it’ll hit twice, with the 1st hit being high and the second being low (if he does the foot stomp from far away, then the 1st hit will auto-whiff and the 2nd hit still hits low, just like with the light payload assault). So, what @Dayv0 says is (mostly) correct - block low and you should do fine, unless Aganos hits you with 1 of his 2 overhead attacks, 1 of which requires his peacemaker and the other to be in-close with a MP, or a neutral jump into an in-air overhead attack (basically EVERY jump-attack).

Don’t “try” anything. Just block.

Just to be precise in terms, the light payload and foot stomp both hit mid on their earlier frames. They aren’t overheads, so just low block and you’ll be fine. Aganos’ only non-peacekeeper overhead is pretty close range and he has no counterable low attacks, so it’s not a normal you tend to see very much in this MU. You’re pretty safe generally just blocking low against Aganos at all times with Hisako. If you think a button is coming then high counter, but for the most part you’re really ok just blocking.

I believe the proper term in KI is “high” not “mid” - unlike other FGs, KI doesn’t really differentiate between the 2 (in the sense that high-attacks whiff on low block whereas mid-attacks get blocked by low block); there are only high attacks (which, technically speaking, includes both high and mid-attacks by other FG standards), low attacks, and overhead attacks. :wink:

Not really.

Within practice the game gives the dummy the option to “block highs” or “block lows”, but the proper terms are still low, mid, and overhead.

The distinction is actually pretty important for Hisako, as her counters are keyed to block overhead/mid and low/mid. It’s the reason low counter is considered the default counter - there are plenty of moves with relatively high hitboxes in the game, but there aren’t very many moves at all that hit overhead. It’s important to know that Aganos’ relatively “high” hitting normals are still mids (which is why you can generally safely crouch block), and that some things that hit “low” (Sadira’s fang for instance) might still get caught by a high counter.

A “high” attack is the same thing as an “overhead” attack in KI terminology.

“Mid” means can be blocked high or low. If an attack totally whiffs on crouchers (like Aganos st.HP or something), it doesn’t have a special name in KI like it would in MKX or something. We just say “it’s a mid that whiffs on crouchers” or whatevs.

So, basically regardless of whether it’s called high or mid (and yes, the latter does seem to be correct in this case, I admit), we’re basically discussing the same exact thing, but have been referring to it by different names.

I’m not entirely certain why this was brought up in the 1st place. It’s kind of off-topic anyways. Oh well, moving on…

Apologies if I seemed nitpicky. I brought it up because you said Aganos’ stomp and light payload hit “high” first. When I hear “hits high” in Killer Instinct I think “overhead”, which stomp and light payload definitely aren’t. For most characters this isn’t a huge deal, but since Hisako’s game kind of revolves around knowing how things hit (so she knows how to counter), I thought the clarification was important. The TC should feel quite safe in simply blocking low throughout either move, and I didn’t want that central point to be confused.

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Thanks for the replies guys! Main issue was I have very little experience fighting him, I rarely see him online. I will throw myself in training with Aganos.