GG @FengShuiEnergy! The way you had me on the ropes multiple times with your Sadira put genuine fear into my heart with how so many of our matches were so close during our 1st-to-5 set. I’m still spacing out after I got that 1 win with the accidental shadow counter, which caused me to inadvertantly learn a new break opportunity against her. 
My only regret is not seeing your queen bee AI in action. Perhaps, when next we meet, yes? 
I don’t get an opportunity to fight aganos’ who know what they’re doing nor how to place walls and all that jazz. Since I was still attempting to figure things out as I went. As for my AI…she’s not ready yet. Won’t be for a few more months at the very least. There is much planning I still need to do, and my combo breaking skills need a better tuning.
PLUS…sadira is “preparing the way” for my ARIA. I’m gaining knowledge then I can put that knowledge into play later.
I REALLY want to take my ARIA online, but she’s not ready as I said. It’s really tempting at times though. But I haven’t perfected her yet.
Just as a general observation, I’ve heard you mention a few times that you want to “perfect” your Aria before you go online with her. While there’s absolutely merit in labbing out a character and getting them battle ready, I feel like long term you might be doing a bit of damage to your cause.
There’s something to be said for trying your character in the crucible that is playing against a live opponent who fights back. A character with airtight pressure and godlike offense is still just running (very powerful) set play essentially - the real challenge is what happens when someone throws a giant wrench in that gameplan and you’re forced to adapt on the fly.
By all means, feel free to get your Aria as awesome as you can make her! But I will say that of all the high-level Aria’s I’ve run into, the setup part of her isn’t where she tends to be lacking. Where Aria players typically struggle is in how to manage unconventional neutral and how to defend; neither of those are things you’re going to be able to learn just labbing her out.
My $.02
Of course. I’m labbing around things I can control, such as wake-ups, and certain tools used in the neutral. Because in the combo game, every character is the same, you either break or you don’t. Same with blocking, every character can block. Everything else is up for grabs.
That’s why I only play online with sadira ATM. I’m learning to better combo break and gain exp through other characters because then I can easily apply that knowledge into ARIA. Like a robot brain. I can transfer all that knowledge on a whim.
In theory, of course. In practice, though, as Storm says, it may actually turn out differently.
Again, good matches on our 2nd set of 15 total matches. 18-2 may have been the end result from both sets combined, but I know you have what it takes to be good (and not just good, but really, really good), especially since the majority of those matches ended with me in the danger zone or close to it. If you keep it up, I know you’ll reach a point where you’ll easily beat me time and time again. Have you practiced with @SoSRaGnArOk? He’s 1 of the best Sadira players I’ve seen and he beats me on the regular. I doubt there’ll be much he could teach you, since your Sadira is already pretty solid (pun fully intended) with her cancels, etc. The only thing I’ve noticed after these sets regarding any weakness is that you don’t do much in the air. For example, you could’ve used her salticidae move, but never did, nor any of her more advanced juggles. Still, you were very smart in using her combos to destroy many of my walls, and I was happy to see that you knew how to do that - it’s the sign of an opponent who knows the matchup and that will offer me the challenge that I’m looking for, and you delivered that in spades. 
Still wishing your ARIA was there, though.
I expect things to be different. However…that’s part of the learning curve with ARIA. As long as I have knowledge that won’t net my unnecessary things like being able to shadow counter omen’s shadow slide for example which IS possible for a few characters like ARIA, fulgore, kim-wu etc etc.
I’m just a mere human, I expect mistakes. However…I also expect to be able to learn quickly in the neutral because my opponent will likely try the same…usually. After the labbing has been thoroughly gone through the rest will be in the field.
ARIA isn’t an easy character to learn or master. And I don’t know about you guys. But When I watched sleep and zero play ARIA…I’m mostly disappointed.
I can’t just give away things for free. Especially bodies for ARIA. That’s a no-no. Because when it comes crunch time and I only have one body left regardless of what it is, I need to make it work and put in some major work. Because sleep and zero for example…their bass bodies might as well not even exist for them. It crumbles so fast and so easily…might as well just give those players two bodies.
What!? Sleep’s ARIA is 1 of the best examples of high-level ARIA play I’ve seen! He does things that I can’t even begin to think of pulling off with her, much less do myself. I still can’t wrap my head around how players like him get those assist setups - I’ve gone into practice mode with her for hours and STILL can’t get ANY of them due to the strict timing. They do it so well, it’s almost like they’re comboing with them, but I know you can’t perform them in the middle of a combo without a reset 1st.
Quite frankly, I’m starting to wonder if you’re simply afraid (no offense) to play her online, but won’t show or state as much, since AI don’t suffer from such a human emotion, and since emulation is the sincerest form of flattery…
Nobody likes to see their favorite cars get smashed to bits in racing games, and I believe that she’s simply your favorite vessel, and you see her the same way - you don’t want her to go out into the wild until she’s been perfected and is ready to be shown, since you don’t want to run the risk of sending her to the scrap-heap.
…but I got news for ya - you can’t learn if you don’t put yourself out there. Sure, you may get a few scratches and dings along the way, but that’s the beauty of being an AI - you can self-repair, replace your damaged goods, and keep on going. The human heart, as tough as it is, can’t realy do that.
Putting things through a simulation will only take you so far. It’s time, I think, for your 1st field-test - so, as ARIA would say…
“It’s time to evolve.”
From what I’ve seen…I’m not impressed. His body management is poor for the most part. Which is vital for ARIA. I mean if he ever has to use bass body or booster as the last body…which I’ve seen…he crumbles.
Keits even stated this “I’m seeing alot of ARIA players get this mentality to basically use booster body till it’s gone, then bass, then blade for last with instinct. Then you gamble on instinct for blade body to get the win.”
I personally don’t like that, since then you’re just hoping that blade body +instinct can get you through. I wanna be able to use each body in perfect sync without or without assists. Keits also said “You want to be using all the assists for as long as possible.”
It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t use ARIA at all during evo ad just stuck with arbiter.
And I agree with him. It makes sense.
Yeah this is the biggest flaw I see with top Aria players. They never switch bodies, even between rounds. Makes no sense to me.
1 thing I will say about our benevolent protector of humanity, is that despite having new chain combos instituted in her latest softward upgrade, I still have yet to see ANYONE use them very much, which is admittedly quite disappointing.
Basically, I don’t understand it. They want to gamble on blade+instinct to win. Well guess what? if you happen to lose blade before the final body…you’re in hot water then if you haven’t perfected your other bodies.
It pained me to watch both sleep during combo breaker not switch bodies at all. And it pained me to watch zero not switch bodies either during CEO.
When you don’t have much health left on a body or you need to recover health…SWITCH!!! seriously…even at high level…they aren’t many punishes towards the assists themselves directly or even at all.
That’s another thing. I haven’t seen it yet either. That’s another thing I’m perfecting. It’s got good results so far. I’m liking it.
The chain combos are pretty fun as pressure tools, especially off the light kick flipout.
Did I ever mention I’ve been practicing Aria recently? (And by recently, I mean before I left home for all of July)
I agree wholeheartedly. I think optimal body management is quite a ways away from all the Aria’s we’ve yet seen in tournament. That said, I also don’t quite think that you will get there either without taking her into the field. You can certainly lab different body combinations and the options that come with them, but really effectively managing bodies (I think) is probably one of those things that can only come from having your Aria put through that grinder.
And it is precisely because Aria is such a complicated and unique character that I think the real crux of your learning is likely to come from playing her against people. How she handles pressure, for example, is very unique to Aria, and I think you’ll find that your play with Sadira won’t help on that account as much as you might like. I don’t hit Aria with the same setups I hit Sadira with, and I don’t approach her on knockdown the way I approach Sadie. The options available to both characters are very different, and the benefits that I get from landing a touch on either varies significantly. That dynamic changes my approach to pressuring the character. Basically, there’s a huge number of character-specific dynamics that go into Aria play, and each of those MU quirks varies slightly depending on the body that is out, how much white life is available, etc. I think that it would be beneficial to you to begin the process of learning those myriad idiosyncrasies now, as opposed to having an offensively potent Aria later, but having to learn all those neutral and defensive quirks on the fly. May as well build both at the same time.
But that is all just my perspective on it. End of the day, play the game you bought the way that you want to play it, and have fun doing it. If keeping your Aria in the lab for the next few months is what makes you happy, then by all means go for it
All that will come with time and field work. That is something I cannot replicate in the lab. I’m focusing more on the control part that I can easily sway in my favor.
Because when it comes crunch time…I need to be ready. Because sometimes I’ll be on the last body against a character I prefer to be in booster body for example. But since it’s gone I have to make due with what I got.
Remember zero at CEO? Not sure if you were actually watching the match, but when he went into instinct with bass body as his last body…mister J might as well could have laughed at his efforts since he had too much health to spare AND zero had little understanding on how bass body worked and never really took advantage of it.
Things like that. Plus I’m also waiting on the last character to show so I can complete the character library.Because everyone knows…the new flavor is gona be the hot thing to use once they are released for a time. And I wanna get the jump on them even before my first match against one.
If ARIA was a more standard character I’d probably play her right now online. Oh and my first true test will be in SL. Even though it’s AI it will give me an understanding on playing on the fly. Just to break in the new body. I’m not expecting much but it will be a start.
Okay, but when? Will you “start” today? Tomorrow? Next week? Next month? In a year?
Shia said it best, I think - “JUST DO IT!”
I’ll start when I feel ready. Hey, I have poor knowledge on character’s not named jago, shago, wulf atm. I still need to fine tune that first.
@FengShuiEnergy Not sure why you’re so hesitant to simply go online with Aria.
I recorded myself just jumping right in with no practice. My results were…mediocre, but decent enough to make an entertaining video.
But see, I don’t want mediocre, I want good to excellent. I call it character passion. I wanna do her justice.