So when I got into this game one of the first things I did was hunt for videos, writeups, and other such tech to try and get me started. What I found was, not much. So instead, I went looking for stuff myself.
Mostly what you’ll see here are safejumps. If you don’t know what a safejump is, it’s a form of option select in which you time a jump in in such a way that if your opponent does something invincible, (DP etc) you’ll land and have time to block it. Otherwise they either get hit, or they have to block the jump in.
This first video here is actually the most recent one I made, which sort of ended up being everything rolled into one. The fancier thing in this video is the meaty fireball after a level 4 Endokuken ender, allowing you to have a large amount of frame advantage afterward. It’s also standard reversal safe, as you’re too far away anyway. If they try a projectile invincible Shadow, you’ll have the meter to Shadow Counter it. Some character’s shadows have nonstandard interaction, so I’ve made a list of how this interacts with everyone below:
Lvl 4 Endokuken ender - Whiff st.LP, throw Charged Light Endokuken, walk
Any standard reversal (DPs etc) whiff completely even if you just man up and walk forward. If they block the fireball, you have a ton of advantage to pressure/frametrap/confirm if they got hit etc. If they spend meter and try a Shadow, the ender and combo from it will always get you the bar needed to Shadow Counter. Interactions listed below:
Normal Interaction (block 4, SC 5th): JA, FU, SJ, RI, CI
3 Hit Shadow (block 2, SC 3rd): SW (overhead), MA (can SC 2nd or 3rd hit), RA
4 Hit Shadow (block 3, SC 4th): GL, SA, GA
They can’t do ■■■■: TH, OR, KA
Spinal: Teleports can get him out. Shadow Shieldbash hits 5 times if he does that, spending a skull on heavy bash forces you to block and is safe. yuck.
TJ Combo: Roll lets him get out meterlessly. Might be able to react/anticipate and punish.
Omen: Shadow form lets him escape. If he does Shadow slide, its -8. Punish. (5 hits)
Aganos: Armor makes it iffy. If armorless, Shadow Punch is super unsafe, and Shadow roll hits 5 times.
Hisako: you can SC any point of her Shadow Rekka
Aria: Shadow Cresendo has a hit of armor but is -12. Shadow Shotgun Blitz is -9.
Kim Wu: Due to her size, the meaty hits deep behind her. She can use the Shadow overhead to sort of shift and escape, but it’s -7 on block. Also 5 hits.
Tusk: Shadow Shoulder can either hit no times if he presses no button, or 5 times.
Arbiter: If he has Shield he can ignore it, or spend a bar on Shadow burst to get out. If he does Shadow overhead its 5 hits.
Mira: Can Mist form. Shadow Trephine hits 5 times
Gargos: Shadow Reckoning hits 4 times. Be prepared to block heavy reckoning as well.
General Raam: Shadow run can be jumped on reaction. Shadow Emergence ■■■■ kills the projectile, but easy to whiff punish.
Like I said, the above video covered this too and even went indepth to some setup examples, but here it is anyway. Cast interaction listed below:
Sweep - hold upforward, j.MK
Works on: SW, TH, TJ, KA, CI, AB, RM
Can psuedo work if you empty jump: JA, SJ, OR, FU, TU, EY
Opponent has no meter: GL, SA, MA, RI, OM, RA
Special cases: AG (if no chunks), GA (if no Instinct), KW (parry), HI (parry)
Spinal can escape with teleport but you could OS it with windkick or something. Safejumps Shadow version.
Lastly here’s some stuff off of a backthrow. For some reason my notes regarding this disappeared. Still, it’s useful, and can probably put ideas for more stuff to try in peoples’ heads.
I hope people take advantage of these and level up their game, and I hope people get inspired to go hunting for more stuff like this themselves as well.
