" @Hockeymask27:  Thank you, now I can't unsee it. "

I think I will make an ask me thread. I will detail how to never kara focus correctly, how to miss your links 75% of the time, and most importantly, how to rage properly. Look for it soon.

Do you know any neat tricks for a semi-competant new Rose player? I understand the importance of c.MP and c.HP and she has a great ambigious crossup but that's about it. What's the deal with Rose!?

" @haunts: Hey man, I want to thank you because when I first started playing this game the guide on MyCheats really helped me out in learning the basics for each character. I think you should continue all the good work you're doing on iplaywinner and stuff.   My question for you is:  Do you have any tips for doing Balrog's dash ultra? It seems to be all the rage with Rog players I watch recently. And I can tell it's really useful because it basically gives Balrog something like Abel's soulless as a full screen fireball punish. But my execution sucks real hard and although I haven't practiced this much, I almost never get it, even in training mode. Do you have any tips for this other than just practice? "

" @Symphony: Duh. With haunts here, we are one step closer  to being srk. All we need is few more big ego's and we are there. "

" @haunts: Is it possible for you not to make a useless SFIV topic?  I mean since you can just ask a question to EVERYONE by making your own topic. "

" @StaticFalconar: Do what I do. Hold down back and tap jab + short in line with each attack. If he continues his string, you will continue to block. If he throws, you will tech. If he tries an overhead, you will do a crouching short. Option selects are your friend. "

Couple of questions.  Played a lot of SFIV and am planning on getting back into it with SSFIV coming out soon.  
I play Vega (Claw).  A lot of my game revolves around mind-games, wall/throw shenanigans, and pokes to win.  However, against really good turtling Balrogs and Blankas (among a few others), I feel like I don't have many options.  Any tips you can give me to maybe change up my game and be able to push the offense against guys who like to turtle and counter? 
Also, I play with a Fightpad.  I've always felt more comfortable playing with my thumbs over anything else.  However, more and more I'm feeling perhaps a bit limited with this setup.  I understand switching to a stick will likely have me go through a fairly long recovery period as I learn how not to suck with it, but feel like it could be the best route to go overall.  Any thoughts on this matter? 
Any help will be much appreciated.

" @Stang: I'm not saying option selects are tantamount to being a mashing scrub. Its just the situation of my back is against the wall and I'm throwing out cr. back lp+lk fishing for a reversal like someone mashing DP while being under a link combo. But this is the world of SF where if its in the game it ain't cheap and even DP mashers can be punished if figured out so it's not like I'm going to be using this option select on reaction to being in a block string unless I am predicting they will tick throw me.  "

" @StaticFalconar said:

" @Stang: I'm not saying option selects are tantamount to being a mashing scrub. Its just the situation of my back is against the wall and I'm throwing out cr. back lp+lk fishing for a reversal like someone mashing DP while being under a link combo. But this is the world of SF where if its in the game it ain't cheap and even DP mashers can be punished if figured out so it's not like I'm going to be using this option select on reaction to being in a block string unless I am predicting they will tick throw me.  "

I don't agree, 3rd strike people fished for guess parry, this is similar. Many top players use all sorts of option selects, even Daigo. "

when playing as sagat is there anything that honda does that you find frustrating?

Welcome to the forums Haunts.

" @lordofultima said:

" @StaticFalconar said:

" @Stang: I'm not saying option selects are tantamount to being a mashing scrub. Its just the situation of my back is against the wall and I'm throwing out cr. back lp+lk fishing for a reversal like someone mashing DP while being under a link combo. But this is the world of SF where if its in the game it ain't cheap and even DP mashers can be punished if figured out so it's not like I'm going to be using this option select on reaction to being in a block string unless I am predicting they will tick throw me.  "

I don't agree, 3rd strike people fished for guess parry, this is similar. Many top players use all sorts of option selects, even Daigo. "

Again, not saying option selects is scrub play, just that particular option select for tick throws "FEELS" like one. If you listen to Gootecks earlier podcast back when he still played 3s you would know that the only type of player he would hate to play the game with are people that don't even block and would rather try to fish for every hit often making big comebacks as a result. Just like option selects, Its more something we have to live with, but not necessarily like. If not embracing every option select is what separates me from the pros, then so be it. Maybe I'll change my mind sometime down the road but right now this is just how I feel about that particular option select. "

" woah woah woah! Haunts as in.... the Haunts who works on iplaywinner.com? OMG wiag *woah*. dude keep up the good work man!
 

@haunts

said:

Also keep in mind that backdash has 8 frames of invincibility (I think) so backdashing will get you out of a lot of situations when they are up close. 

Wow i did not know backdash had frames of invincibility, I should work on that. hmm trying to think of questions... So when teching throws, you have to look for tick throws right? Then you mash? What exactly are footsies? I think it's something to do with your character's hitbox, spacing, baiting. I always hear during matches, the commentators saying stuff like "X footsies are on point" or "this char has no footsies to speak of", what does that mean?  oh, and what exactly is option select? "

" Is it the best Street Fighter? "

@AniMoney

"  @haunts: Hey man, I want to thank you because when I first started playing this game the guide on MyCheats really helped me out in learning the basics for each character. I think you should continue all the good work you're doing on iplaywinner and stuff.   My question for you is:  Do you have any tips for doing Balrog's dash ultra? It seems to be all the rage with Rog players I watch recently. And I can tell it's really useful because it basically gives Balrog something like Abel's soulless as a full screen fireball punish. But my execution sucks real hard and although I haven't practiced this much, I almost never get it, even in training mode. Do you have any tips for this other than just practice? 

@Scooper

" Do you know any neat tricks for a semi-competant new Rose player? I understand the importance of c.MP and c.HP and she has a great ambigious crossup but that's about it. What's the deal with Rose!? "

@haunts: my only question is about lag and teching throws? sometimes when I'm in a block string (doing the blocking), the other guy will just do a tick throw. Oh cool, goes in my mind, until it repeats over and over to the point that I'm literally shouting at the screen he will throw me now while I try to mash LP + LK. this is because my timing is off or some lag effect where my tech just doesn't come in time. Also happens in other situations like LP blanka ball whiff to throw as well. Just wondering if this is legit play (and I can't tech a throw even if I see the set up coming cause my timing is off) or just people abusing lag tactics.  "

@DanielJW

"  @haunts: What do you know about Dhalsim? I'm really new to the game, and I've enjoyed the heck out of Dhalsim. I've been told there's a rather large learning curve, especially when I'm going at him as a first character.   I guess I'd just like to know any tips. As of now I've really just been suffering through loss after loss to try and get a grasp on what I need to do to win some. "

@ImperiousRix

"

Couple of questions.  Played a lot of SFIV and am planning on getting back into it with SSFIV coming out soon.  
I play Vega (Claw).  A lot of my game revolves around mind-games, wall/throw shenanigans, and pokes to win.  However, against really good turtling Balrogs and Blankas (among a few others), I feel like I don't have many options.  Any tips you can give me to maybe change up my game and be able to push the offense against guys who like to turtle and counter? 
Also, I play with a Fightpad.  I've always felt more comfortable playing with my thumbs over anything else.  However, more and more I'm feeling perhaps a bit limited with this setup.  I understand switching to a stick will likely have me go through a fairly long recovery period as I learn how not to suck with it, but feel like it could be the best route to go overall.  Any thoughts on this matter? 
Any help will be much appreciated.

"

It's really awesome how much time Haunts is spending writing really usefull advice. Totally didn't expect that. It just shows how awesome this forum is!

" @haunts: Love the Honda response, so true. When I play Sagat (play as him) I enjoy it up until I get rushed down and mixed up a bunch. I don't really play him seriously but would like some advice on how to squeeze out of those situations other than reversal uppercut. I just end up locking up and blocking a bunch, then getting hit by something and being mixed up until death. His move speed is just so slow, hard to toggle between Akuma and Sagat mode. "

@PantyshotMQN

" When are you usually streaming and on PSN? My cousin and myself would like to get a round with you. "

I don't think random buttslams are disrespectful, especially against sagat it's one if honda's only ways to get in. Assuming the buttslam hits and they block it without focusing/uppercutting it leaves honda right next to the other guy and only at a 2 frame disadvantage for lk, mk, and ex buttslamm.
 
But yeah random headbutts are pretty stupid unless you're just going for chip. They don't advance honda towards the other player or anything

" I don't think random buttslams are disrespectful, especially against sagat it's one if honda's only ways to get in. Assuming the buttslam hits and they block it without focusing/uppercutting it leaves honda right next to the other guy and only at a 2 frame disadvantage for lk, mk, and ex buttslamm.  But yeah random headbutts are pretty stupid unless you're just going for chip. They don't advance honda towards the other player or anything "

well the only time I'd do it is when I think they're going to throw a fireball and either still be in recovery or more likely not have enough time after recovery to throw anything out

Well I'm not saying the move is completely useless or anything, I was more referring to a honda doing buttslam after buttslam on wake up more than anything else in my original post. Really in that match up almost anything Honda does can be punished so I guess it's all pretty risky at the end of the day. :P

Alright here's a more interesting question related to the last one: Stuff like buttslam on wakeup, tick ochio, and inputting ex headbutt during blockstrings where you think they will throw are all gimmicks that might waste meter or get you punished...but they usually work against the people I play against. I know that I should play it safely and just stick to hhs combos, but I also know that all those gimmicks will probably work. So should I resist taking the free damage when it's just reinforcing habits that might hurt me against harder players? This is something I've always struggled with when trying to level up my game. It seems like for each 'tier" of skill/experience I go up against there are specific rules to the midgames that you have to follow or you will either take damage or miss free damage. For example, at the very first level of skill there are no mindgames and the only rule is that everyone dps on wakeup no matter what. Even though that's stupid and unsafe you have to adjust your game to it. As you go up these levels the mindgames get more advanced and seem to take on different rulesets. That's very frustrating if you're trying to analyze your game. I'll watch a video of myself and think,,,.."hmm...that was very unsafe but it worked because the other guy didn't know any better...' and there's nothing to be learned from that.

alright i got another simple question. From what I understand, for every attack there is normal damage and stun damage, and once there's enough stun damage the character gets stunned. But I hear sometimes for example, Rufus just had half his life taken out by Viper and the commentator says, "one more combo and he's stunned" then Rufus gets off a BnB and the commentator says, "oh that was close." So my question basically is how does the game calculate stun damage, given this example.

Hey Haunts I heard you double-perfected Poongko because he's super free. Some say he should start doing children's parties because he's Freezo the Clown. Is this true? :D

Freezo the Clown. Oh lawd!

He's Donezo the Clown when he plays me -- slap a wig on him!

" Alright here's a more interesting question related to the last one: Stuff like buttslam on wakeup, tick ochio, and inputting ex headbutt during blockstrings where you think they will throw are all gimmicks that might waste meter or get you punished...but they usually work against the people I play against. I know that I should play it safely and just stick to hhs combos, but I also know that all those gimmicks will probably work. So should I resist taking the free damage when it's just reinforcing habits that might hurt me against harder players? This is something I've always struggled with when trying to level up my game. It seems like for each 'tier" of skill/experience I go up against there are specific rules to the midgames that you have to follow or you will either take damage or miss free damage. For example, at the very first level of skill there are no mindgames and the only rule is that everyone dps on wakeup no matter what. Even though that's stupid and unsafe you have to adjust your game to it. As you go up these levels the mindgames get more advanced and seem to take on different rulesets. That's very frustrating if you're trying to analyze your game. I'll watch a video of myself and think,,,.."hmm...that was very unsafe but it worked because the other guy didn't know any better...' and there's nothing to be learned from that. "

Yeah I usually go ahead and do the gimmicky shit if it works but when I play somebody better I have a hard time changing up my mindgames to adapt to the harder player. Actually changing my playstyle is one of the big things I struggle with. For example, If I play 10 matches against a shoto and then play against rog I still play the matchup as if I was playing the shoto. I know my matchups and everything but I have a hard time transitioning between them. At tournaments I usually lose because the other guy changes characters and it takes me too long to adjust to the new matchup. Is there anything you do to change mindsets when facing a different opponent/character?

I don't think you get to decide who gets their own threads...it's up to the mods and the community as a whole and both of those groups are appreciative of this thread. I highly doubt that google or maybe even srk would be able to provide as insightful answers that a high level player such as haunts could provide. Justin Wong even has a blog (soon to be podcast) dedicated to answering questions. This thread already has 1000 views; it's a worthwhile thread. You're about to get a lot of hate for that last post.

demotium, 
 
open your eyes, you're the one with the ego. i know I'm new here but either contribute or stop trashing this thread. There is actually a lot of good discussion going on here.  
 
@Thrawn said: 

" Yeah I usually go ahead and do the gimmicky shit if it works but when I play somebody better I have a hard time changing up my mindgames to adapt to the harder player. Actually changing my playstyle is one of the big things I struggle with. For example, If I play 10 matches against a shoto and then play against rog I still play the matchup as if I was playing the shoto. I know my matchups and everything but I have a hard time transitioning between them. At tournaments I usually lose because the other guy changes characters and it takes me too long to adjust to the new matchup. Is there anything you do to change mindsets when facing a different opponent/character? "

" I don't think you get to decide who gets their own threads...it's up to the mods and the community as a whole and both of those groups are appreciative of this thread. I highly doubt that google or maybe even srk would be able to provide as insightful answers that a high level player such as haunts could provide. Justin Wong even has a blog (soon to be podcast) dedicated to answering question. You're about to get a lot of hate for that last post. "

" @Thrawn said:

" I don't think you get to decide who gets their own threads...it's up to the mods and the community as a whole and both of those groups are appreciative of this thread. I highly doubt that google or maybe even srk would be able to provide as insightful answers that a high level player such as haunts could provide. Justin Wong even has a blog (soon to be podcast) dedicated to answering question. You're about to get a lot of hate for that last post. "

Exactly. The only one who seems to have a problem with this thread is demontium. I've personally enjoyed reading through this thread even though I don't understand a whole lot of it... :) "

Hey Haunts can we expect a gaintbomb themed Haunts vs the World stream? :) 
 
@demontium:  Stop being a dumbass, haunts is just here help he knows more than prolly everyone on here. So having a thread where you KNOW your question will be seen is a great idea. Don't like it? Leave

Yah, I'll probably set one up on Monday? I would do one today but im sitting around watching LA Riots and other streams feeling a little hung over from last night. lol.

" Yah, I'll probably set one up on Monday? I would do one today but im sitting around watching LA Riots and other streams feeling a little hung over from last night. lol. "

lol omg KAI WTF..hahaha...that ultra..