Watch this video here first where Keits goes through Tusk’s gameplay:
Now let’s go through what Tusk has to offer:
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Archetype: Tusk will be a melee ranged heavy hitter, or a “bully”, as Keits describe him. He is all about swinging that greatsword around, putting lots and lots of pressure on the opponent.
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Trait: During some of his mid and heavy sword attacks, he will flash white which means that if the opponent hits him during the flash, they will be deflected and pushed back. This is not meant to be timed, but simply just something that just happens while putting pressure on the opponent.
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Instinct Mode: Called “A Thousand Years of Training”. When the Instinct meter is full, Tusk’s back tattoo will glow red hot with smoke coming from it, and when activated, his sword will glow red hot as well. During Instinct Mode, Tusk can cancel any special move into another special move.
Throws:
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Sword Slash: Tusk’s back throw, he does a shoulder charge at the opponent in the front, spins behind them and then slashes them in the back.
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German Suplex: Tusk’s front throw is a German Suplex, grabbing the opponent from behind, flipping them backwards and slamming them into the ground.
Noticable Normals:
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Medium Punch: Tusk slashes his sword into the ground, has a great mid-range to it. His duck version is a stab, has a slight more range.
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Heavy Punch: Tusk slashes his sword upwards two times, can hit the opponent behind him. I first thought this was his “Web of Death” special move, which he does not have anymore though.
Command Attacks:
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Backstab: Forward + Medium Punch. Tusk can spin around the opponent if close and slash them in the back. But if he is away from the opponent, he will spin around himself and stab his greatsword into the opponent, doing immense damage!
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Spine Splitter: Back + Heavy Punch. Tusk can charge this move up and then skewers his sword into the ground, creating a wave of fire pillars in front of him, which can cancel out fireballs.
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Skewer: Up + Heavy Punch. When the opponent is down, Tusk can jump up and crash down onto the opponent, skewering his greatsword through them.
Special Moves:
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Skull Splitter: QCB + Punch. Tusk slams his sword into the ground, the main combo opener, leaving the opponent staggered. Can also be done in air, making him fly downwards and slams the sword into the ground.
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Conquerer: DP + Punch. A dragon punch/jumping upwards slash with his sword, seems to be the damage ender in combos.
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Immortal Spirit: QCF + Kick. Also called “Spirit Step” by Keits, Tusk does a forward step which can dodge under some fireballs. It has three follow-ups:
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Light Punch/Kick: Shoulder charge.
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Medium Punch/Kick: Sliding kick
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Heavy Punch/Kick: Overhead slash
Can also be followed up with his throw.
I am extremely happy with how Tusk has turned out and can’t wait to play as him. <3
I’m glad he no longer has the Boot Kick as that is more or less just like Jago’s Wind Kick, but instead has the Immortal Spirit with different follow-ups. His Instinct Mode is absolutely beastly and he overall seems to be a hella lot of fun to play as!
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Guess no signature moves from Guile & Charlie to add on. Ah well. Tusk is great so far!
If that is indeed his Web of Death, Then I’m not impressed.
the german suplex is a command grab. Tusk’s normal grab is a sword swing.
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With all that damage. I wonder if a tusk player would be better off doing short combos with him. Also I can see hisako being a problem for him. You can see that sword coming from a mile away. Well there is a 50/50 front step so, that would help him out against her.
Not so sure about that. From what I can tell from the videos, seems like his back throw is the sword swing, while his forward throw is the suplex. Keits didn’t mention any command grabs in his rundown with IGN, and called it just a “grab” when he was showing how instinct allows for fun mixups.
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I thought about this as well, but it wasn’t confirmed yet. However, I will edit the top post as soon as we know. ^^
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I see a little bit of Alex in him just as I thought. Lol.
Something I noticed with Skewer that slightly concerns me, but trying not to make any premature judgments on it: it’s guaranteed damage.
Watching the IGN fight vs Kim Wu, Tusk uses Skewer on her to nearly finish off her first life bar (she survives via magic pixel), and tries to go for the Counter Breaker.
The noteworthy part of this is he still got the damage despite missing the Counter Breaker, which means if he scores that knockdown and you have less than %5 life you die. Seems fitting as an execute of sorts, but if it’s an attack that I can break in the clutch final moments of a game, I should be able to survive the attack for making that gamble, but in reality it looks like Tusk can just throw it out in this scenario and go for the Counter Breaker every time without risk.
Looking back at the showcase video where Adam demonstrates it being broken, it still dealt a small chunk of damage to Jago.
I think OTGs are pretty cool and all, but in a game where the core hook of the combo system is that you can defend yourself at all times with proper decision making, getting slain by something like this could feel really ■■■■■■. Perhaps the damage should be reversible upon successful breaker?
I’d like to hear what you guys think.
It’s not functionally all that different from finishing someone off with juggle ender->DP, or an opener->ender combo for the kill. There are already strings in the game that are quite breakable, but if done when you’re low enough on life will kill you before you get a chance to break.
If Tusk misses on guessing how much damage that skewer will do and gambles on the counter, then he’s left fully open for a punish. The Kim player in the video isn’t very good and so doesn’t punish it, but that’s not going to be a likely occurrence in play between intermediate or above players.
So I think it’s mostly fine. It’s pretty similar in practice to how Sadira gets to juggle after all her enders right now, except that Tusk’s post-combo addition is highly telegraphed and highly breakable.
This is truly a glorious month for large, blonde men.
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Updated the top post according to the livestream.
I think I saw various times a Web of Death like linker and Super.
Here is the stream in Youtube version BTW.
Great post!
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This is how the entire game works. Combo breakers do not ever remove or prevent damage already dealt, including the current hit you just broke. You take the damage, period. You are just removing any remaining white health (potential damage) and getting the opponent off of you.
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Donald Trumpsk alternate costume?
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At 10:55 they straight up say that the suplex is not a command throw. It is his forward throw.
You got it right.
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