When @scarace360 queried in the matchmaking thread about whether or not anyone knew a 6k+ damage combo with Filia using no assists and one meter I thought to myself, as the resident combologist, that I probably should. After burning through the Tutorial mode (mostly out of curiosity, I mean I know how this dance is done) I hadn't spent any time with Skullgirls because of other distractions like my continued addiction to ME3 multiplayer and LoL sessions with my BFF. The fact that I had just upgraded my PC to once again be able to handle my capture hardware cinched it, it was time to make some new combo videos for the WMFightClub (CBSiFightClub?) YouTube channel.

As with most fighting games, I was going to have to invest a significant amount of time acclimating my hands to the timing of the cancels and the general pace of the game. As a father of a now very active nine-month-old, I wasn't sure how I was going to pull this off, and at first opted to build the combo in segments.

So what came first? Well, since I was dealing with a juggle system a la MvC or BB the first thing I wanted to figure out was how to relaunch. After testing out her various normals I realized I could get some extra damage and height by chaining Filia's cr. into her . This, combined with her air-dash and multi-hitting j. gave me an easy way to bring the enemy back down to the ground for another chain into launcher. In between chasing my baby around the house I managed to grind it out, launcher>air chain>relaunch. In the end the notation looked something like this: +>+>+>>xxSJF, Air >>xxADF, , Land, >>+>>

Now I had to figure out if I could get another relaunch out of the combo. With the vague knowledge I had about the Infinite Prevention System I knew I couldn't abuse her j. again so I started looking for a ground-bounce. A few tests later and I found it in her j.. This time I worked on launcher>ground-bounce>relaunch which looked something like this: >>+>>xxSJF, Air >>(1 hit)>, Land, +>>

With them back in the air it was time for the ender. This ended up being Air xx+(3 hits)xx+ , Land , >>xx+ On paper this all seemed to make sense and so I offered up the following combo for testing despite the fact that I didn't actually know how much damage it did or if it would even work: Air xxADF, , Land, +>+>+>>xxSJF, Air >>xxADF, , Land, >>+>>xxSJF, Air >>(1 hit)>, Land, +>>, Air xx+(3 hits)xx+ , Land , >>xx+

Of course I couldn't leave it at that and kept grinding it out until I made it past the ground-bounce and, fuck me, the infinite prevention system kicked in. I couldn't understand why, I thought the rules stated that I couldn't start two chains with the same attack which I definitely didn't do, but I kept working at it making minor tweaks the further I got. In the end I found that I had somehow broken the infinite prevention system three times. A little research told me that the actual rule was no starting a chain with ANY attack used after the first two chains. A few adjustments and I recorded the following combo for the interwebs: Air xxADF, , Land, >>+>>xxSJF, Delayed Air >xxADF, , Land, >>+>>xxSJF, Air >>(1 hit)>, Land, +>+>xxSJF, Air >>xx+(3 hits)xx+ , Land, >>+xx+

At this point I was feeling pretty good. I had met @scarace360 's goal of 6k damage and had a pretty snazzy looking combo. Unfortunately it wasn't long after posting this combo to Shoryuken that disaster struck. You see, due to the understandable limitations of an indie development team the training mode in Skullgirls is devoid of AI options. As a result, I could not set the training dummy to auto-guard or, more importantly, auto-tech. Because of this I was forced to undergo the crushing revelation that a blue impact circle indicated a ground-bounce that could be teched out of. My combo was not a "true combo."

In my frustration and exhaustion I did something stupid. I tacked on a ridiculously impractical jump-in to boost my damage and simply cut the entire second relaunch out of the combo without any significant thought. Here's the offending combo in question: Air xxADF, >, Land, >+>>xxSJF, Delayed Air >xxADF, , Land, >>+>>xxSJF, Air >>xx+(3 hits)xx+ , Land, >>+xx+

Again my good friends over at SRK.com called me out on my bullshit. It was already midnight and I was running on 4 hours of sleep 20 hours ago. I was exhausted and my baby was being angry about going to bed and honestly I just wanted to close my eyes and let it all fade away. I suppose it was fortunate that it was a particularly fussy night as I was forced to sit on the sofa with my daughter and surround her with blankets and pillows while waiting for her to fall asleep. Since I was there I figured why not give these BnBs another try.

Maybe it was because the onset of delirium was giving me clarity of mind, but I finally really started to think about how I could make the infinite prevention system work for me rather than against me. That's when I realized that I didn't have to give up the second relaunch. After all, where a ground-bounce fails a wall-bounce may suffice and that's exactly what Filia's Gregor Samson Blockbuster provided me with. Two-and-a-half hours later with my baby passed out in a pile of pillows I was finished recording the absolute best practical BnB I could conjure up for Filia in one, two, and three-meter varieties: +>+>>xxSJF, Delayed Air >xxADF, , Land, >+>>xxSJF, Air >>xx+(3 hits)xx+ , Land, >>xxSJF, Air >>xx+((3 hits)xx+ , Land, >>>+xx+[xx+])

Bleary eyed, I tucked my baby in to her crib and flopped down on the bed. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't dream of combos that night. But at least I was able to sleep satisfied in the knowledge that I had come up with a 100% practical BnB that was better optimized than any of the other BnBs I had seen online. Also with her ridiculous 2.9k damage jump-in she can hit 6949 damage for one meter so I still met my original goal.

Thanks if you stuck with me this far, I know I threw a lot of jargon out there and this probably wasn't interesting to most of you but the way I rapidly uploaded these videos offered a unique insight into the way the combos I develop evolve. I figured why not share? Now that I can finally use my capture card again I'll probably continue doing combo videos as time allows. I'm trying to decide between tackling Cerebella, Peacock, or Valentine. Any thoughts?