Close quarters tips

Characters Sabrewulf
1

Let’s get this out of the way – I’m not that good. But I’m trying to get better. Just want to say that first to be clear this is probably going to be a noob-ish thread.

So with that said, I love playing as Sabrewulf. It seems obvious and it’s often repeated everywhere that Sabrewulf wants to be up close. I get that.

But… what exactly do you DO when you’re up close? I mean, I get he has mix up capabilities with his Hamstring and Leaping Slash. I also understand he can fluster an opponent by left-right mixups based on his dash-through ability.

However… I dunno, am I just too slow with things? When I try to get things going up close, just seems like people magically have an answer to everything I"m doing. I try to Hamstring but people default to blocking low. I try to leap slash but it seems by the time he starts his jump and actually slashes, they just hit me first out of the air or they simply block on reaction (though I know that’s not necessarily easy to do).

And I try to throw in the dash-through here and there, but seems like when I try, they just hit me while I’m dashing through (I’m not invincible while I’m dashing through…right?) or after I finish the dash they just throw me right there.

When I’m in close I mostly just try to do some pokes and cancel into special moves to startup combos… but that’s not really unique to any character (I mean, that’s what I do with EVERY character, not just Sabrewulf).

I try to read lots of guides and posts on this subforum and Infil’s guide and all that and they all say just “keep up the pressure” but I’m not entirely sure what that means. Like… how?

I guess what I’m getting at is what makes Sabrewulf particularly special when he’s up close. What techniques can I try to flummox the opponent when I’m so “fearsome” up close? As mentioned, I know he has mixups off of his Run but that doesn’t seem that unique to me compared to other characters that have some overheads and low-hitting special moves. And his dash-through I know is indeed unique but I guess I just suck at actually working it effectively into my game.

Thanks for any help!

2

While I’m not a sabrewulf player you should check out xflash666x and his twitch account. He has one of the best Sabrewulfs out there and he usually streams daily. Watch his videos and I’m sure you’ll get the jist of what sabrewulf can do.

2 Likes
3

@TwopackShaker76

But… what exactly do you DO when you’re up close? I mean, I get he has mix up capabilities with his Hamstring and Leaping Slash. I also understand he can fluster an opponent by left-right mixups based on his dash-through ability.

What you will do depends on the match up: Sadiras? Glacius? Kan Ran? Gargos? Jago?, etc…
But in short what you have to do is stay close when you knock them down (not close enough if they have a chance to throw you or then expect a wake up grab form the opponent) and make them guess if: you are going to hit low, stand, overhead, dash and throw.

If they are countering all you do then maybe is a timing thing. No person can wake up with a non invencible and hit a button when you are doing meaty c.MK away from throw distance (specially for wake up “jab mashers”). If they have no invencible and try to wake up back dash c.LP x2 will stop them. I do not recommend to spam overpower on wake up. however remember that after overpower you can press buttons while they can’t (unless invencible!) so play with that =)

If they are stopping your dashes then let them think you are going to dash and use overpower instead (it leaves you positive for more pressure) and then dash. This is because overpower (back + HP) has a nice blockstun. Of course they may expect you will do that so watch out your reads. Mashers don’t care much about anything so you may think they are reacting but they are just doing stuff and getting those gaps. Honestly a player that is watching what you are doing would play in a different way and may be caught in dashes more often (unless they have a read on your gamestyle that’s why you must adapt and keep chaging or adapting your approach).

When I’m in close I mostly just try to do some pokes and cancel into special moves to startup combos… but that’s not really unique to any character (I mean, that’s what I do with EVERY character, not just Sabrewulf).

It’s not unique to Wulf, true, but his buttons are nice to play footsies. By the way, watch out for shadow counters. If they have bar they may try it. get a hit close and then grab them, knock them down again and keep them guessing. They will do dp? then mash as if you are going to do something and bait them.

I try to read lots of guides and posts on this subforum and Infil’s guide and all that and they all say just “keep up the pressure” but I’m not entirely sure what that means. Like… how?

I like going to the lab and mirror match. Record the Wulf doing different stuff and then trying to get out of it or check what things I can use depending on the situation.

The best thing we can do is play and have some mirror matches. Add me if you want we can play some sets and mirror matches. You will get the idea =)

GT: Maru MDQ

While I’m not a sabrewulf player you should check out xflash666x and his twitch account. He has one of the best Sabrewulfs out there and he usually streams daily. Watch his videos and I’m sure you’ll get the jist of what sabrewulf can do.

I do believe he has some stilysh combos and he is the best juggler I’ve seen out there. He’s also very fast and base his gameplan on opponents not reacting (and a lot are being afraid to hit buttons or breaking running uppercat after juggles). He also doesn’t capitalize in damage, because of stylish juggles (using shadows without making the best damage cash out). I do think his style is entertaining for what he does, but not as reference for competitive gameplay. Again, I do like some things and respect him and he is a cool guy, but honestly I prefer MyGod’s Wulf better and also if we think about DaytonJ’s Wulf being very defensive we can see very VERY good Wulf smart gameplay. Just my preference.

2 Likes
4

It sounds like you’re getting hit out of everything, which means you aren’t making them afraid to push buttons. Use Wulf’s frame traps to keep them from pushing buttons. Either they’ll catch on and stop pressing buttons so you can start going for dash through or overhead, or they’ll just keep hitting buttons and get counter hit letting you confirm into combos.

5

Do you use his chain combo much at all? It’s particularly useful for confusing less-experienced players, because they think the 1st hit is an opener rather than all 3 and may give you a free lockout by attempting to break during the 2nd attack of your chain combo.

In case you don’t know what I’m talking about (you should since you read Infil’s guide), it’s simply LP, MP, HP - and in that order. You can even skip the LP and just do the MP and HP to confuse your opponents.

The HK version of your run is safe on block.

6

st.HK is also a really useful button as a meaty against throw attempts. cr.LK is like his best normal, besides Overpower both of which can keep you in close and not let them push buttons in between. b-f.HK is also plus but mashers will probably get lucky and punish you more often than not (that has been my experience, though I could have been pressing buttons too late).
As Geek also mentioned, his target combo is very useful for hit confirms or just safe-ish pressure. You can start it with either st.LP or cr.LP, then press MP and HP in succession. If you follow it up with a Shadow on confirm, none of the hits are breakable until your first input after the Shadow.
Flipout resets are amazing. You have to make a couple more good decisions, but you can choose to trade damage for confusion and throw it out there. I tend to use them a lot because people get caught by the dash-through shenanigans, but you should mix in cr.HP for the hard knockdown every once in a while. Setup with b.HP or dash through grab/Eclipse/cr.LP. For those that do block the left-right mixups, I think(?) Wulf is able to dash-through and use Diveslash to get back on the other side. I haven’t had much success with this either because I’m too slow or I haven’t used the setup in the right situation but its an option.

1 Like
7

I did not know you could start his chain combo with c.LP… Cool beans! :grin:

8

Nah, it’s not mashers itself, running uppercut is -2 . If you are using Wulf and another Wulf does that to you and instant grab after that or back dash you can punish it with c.lp (x2). Whatever they try to do after it you can stop them first because of that -2
I use it to close the distance and to punish people trying to run away. It’s fast! not as good as Powerline, but quite good indeed =D

2 Likes
9

Thanks for the help so far everyone

Definitely need to work on that meaty c.MK timing. I see that mentioned a lot but haven’t really been able to get the proper timing for that.

So far I am not utilizing his chain combo at all. Now looking at it I can see it’s a pretty nice tool to add to the arsenal. When in close, I do so many c.LP or c.MP to Ragged Edge pokes I probably get way too predictable.

Overall I probably need to have a more focused mental gameplan about what to do when they’re on the ground. I know I have a lot of options, but I think in the heat of the moment I just throw crap out and hope the opponent happens to “do the wrong thing”. Need to engage in more mindgame with the dashes and throws and meaty attacks and whatnot.

10

Simply put: use your mix ups. Strike with different high and low attacks to try and poke your opponent’s defenses, once you have them open be careful of combo breakers but, once they’re locked out, you can go absolutly bonkers and get some seriously good damage.

Basically, by pressure you have to keep attacking them (don’t do crazy moves yet until you have them open but keep poking with light attacks and such, moves that give you advantage)