Part one: Standard gameplay tactics and Strategies

Upon learning a new game, people tend to develop new habits, Comeup with new ideas and strats that may or may not work depending. The same is true for Monster. The more i play this game the more freedom i realize I have to come up with sooo many different things. I am sure that the japanese players and other american plays feel the same way. The ability to customize and develop your OWN style of play to me is priceless and monster gives that to you for free.

This section is going to focus on general things all Monster players should do. The things in this post could apply to all games in general.

1. Blocking

Now this might sound a bit retarded to even bother putting on this list. But Through several experiences I believe people take Blocking for granted or dont block at all. In monster blocking is alot different that other fighting games. In Monster you develop points(will be discussed later) The more points you have in monster you are at a type of advantage on your opponent(If your points are higher then theirs) This puts your opponent in a "powerbreak situation" Powerbreak occurs when 2 moves clash on the same frame. The person with the lower points will be powerbroken and whatever points they had will be added to the person who performed the powerbreak. This is why blocking In monster is important. When you have more points than your opponent you kind of keep them in a confined attacking state. Meaning that They have to be very careful with attacking so much or they are going to lose alot of life thus putting you back in control of the match up. You can be guardbroken of course due to high low mix ups. Ryougen, othello, and Siely have the best "high/low" mix ups in the game. Blocking the "mix ups" is not an easy thing to do especially if your opponent keeps mixing up(I will go into mix ups a bit later) Blocking your opponents attacks puts pressure on you but also puts pressure on your opponenet in Monster. Attacking has to be mindful and intellegent in order for you or your opponent to be successful.

2. Points

This will probably be one of the most important things to remember in regards to monster, The point system. You generate points by doing several things

*Blocking
*Landing hits or combos on your opponent
*Throwing your opponent(only throws with actual"hits" do this)

As explained in the last section, Points are very important with in gameplay. They can net you attacking advantage OR defensive advantage depending on your situation.

*Ex: Attacking advantage
Player One: Monster Othello
Player Two: Tranquility Orju

Othello is known for being the most offensively based character with in the game of Monster. His combos generate alot of points, giving him attack advantage over his opponent. IN this example othello with have generated14 points through a combo. Orju will have generated 4 points through blocking. Now Orju is at a heavy disadvantage because Othello has higher points, Orju Will be risking being powerbroken if one of his moves clash with Othello on the same active frame. So if Orju was to try shifting out of an attack string and othello decides he wants to use a move that will connect on him at the same time that Orju attempts to shift, Orju will be powerbroken for 18 points because his points will be lower than Othello's points.

*Ex: Defensive advantage
Same characters as above

Now we are going to take the above situation and just change the point value and the outcome. Orju has 14 points from blocking now and othello has 4 points from landing a 4 hit combo on Orju. Both of them use an attack on the same active frame(for the sake of arguement we will say the shift at the same time) and Orju breaks othello for 18 points due to his points being higher.

Points are reset through out the round when a new combo is started or a new block string occurs. You can also use the pointsystem as a way of baiting your opponent into resetting their own points hehe. Alot of tricks you can use With the point system. In another post I will go into detail as to how to take advantage of your opponent having higher points.

3. Mixups and Movement

This is EXTREMELY important when attacking your opponenet. Mixups arent really to easy to explain with out going into alot of detail. The best way to discribe a mixup is as an attack pattern that breaks your opponents defensive options. If you are successful you have just"mixed up" your opponent. There are several types of mix ups:

*Throw Mixup
*High/low mixup
*Repetition (aka the same shit) Mixup
*Crossup mixup

Throw mix ups and high/low mix ups are very commonly found in alot of match ups. Throws are great for opponents who love to block all of the time while high/low mix up are good for confusing an opponents gaurd. Repetition mix ups arent really mix ups. Instead they lead your opponent to believe you are going to mix them up and then you continue to do the same thing. Thus setting them up for later potential mixups. Remember that repetition often becomes very predictable and easy to counter( as with all mix ups) so be sure to be careful using mixups. Cross up mixups. Confuse your opponents gaurd by changing the direction in which they block Freedom Orju and Freedom Ryougen are famous for these types of "mixups". Not all characters are going to have the same mix up options. So it is up to you as the player to figure out what options work best for each character in a specific situation.

Movement is also very important. Knowing where to be and how to get there is very important. Using movements such as forward dash(66) and backdash(44) are key components to movement and overall attacking and defense. Movement also allows you to properly space your moves(Spacing will be explained in part 2) Jumping is also very important when you want to escape certain situations however jumping for certain characters isnt as safe as others. So jumping must be used in a very intellegent fashion.

Key things to remember about movement:
* You never want to put yourself in the corner for the most part. some characters who's mix ups involve you to be in the middle of the screen(ex: Freedom maya) Are often very useless in the corner. But The majority of the time you do not want to put yourself in the corner. It makes escaping pressure situations VERY HARD on you and very easy for your opponent to keep you there.

* Backdashing is good to use everyonce in a while. Using backdash on a repetitive basis is now punishable so if you are thinking of doing it over and over, Think again. That will get you nothing but failure and a lot of pain the come with it. Be smart about how and when you backdash.

Part2 will cover more advanced gameplay tactics such as Combos, Spacing, and situation escapes.

DIfferent Strokes: Maya & Rail

Been messing with the new patch since its official release and I must say im both disappointed and impressed at the same time. The patch brought forth quite a bit of new suprises for most people. Changed alot of character outlooks and created new possibilities as far as combos and gameplay is concerened. Maya, While once one of the best characters in the game, Took the biggest hit of all the characters in the game. While most changes were thought to be improvements turned out to be horrific changes.

Maya's 236A took a serious hit. Being turned into a different move all together, This move is alot less useless than it used to be. Beforehand, Maya could seriously do some major damage with this move. Now the move is next to useless(outside of being shifted. We will get to that later) She recieved a new j.2c move which at first everyone thought was an overhead. Not even close, The move can be cancelled into an air version of 236a. But the move is so bad as it is, Why even bother with it in the first place???? Its just that shitty. In order for maya to be any sort of a threat to her opponent she has to be shifted now.( much like orju) If maya isnt shifted, then she isnt worth jack shit. Sad but true, Maya has taken a huge leap to the bottom of the barrel.
The worst thing of all is her forward dash. At first, I thought that making her forward dash have more range and giving it more speed would be a good thing considering her old dash was pretty ass already. NEGATIVE! Couldnt have had a bigger mistake. Her forward dash now has even LONGER recovery then it did before. A huge mistake that was made and needs to be fixed. Maya really got the shit end of the stick. Maybe in the next patch, We can hope for actual"improvements"

Now rail didnt really get any new changes, however There seems to be alot of people jumping on the rail train. Xiii, Xaqshinor(who already played rail) and Turbovec have all decided to jump on the Rail train. Rail seems rather random. I have been considering taking him up as a second main character but I am starting to notice rails bad matchups. Othello, Siely Katze, and Orju REALLY give rail headaches. Learning to properly use rail is pretty hard considering his spirit ends up in random places at random times. Rail reminds me of Testament from Guilty gear. When the skull hits you and the crow is attacking you have to constantly be paying attention to the pattern that was used at that point in time to know where the next hit will be. It is very similar with rail in that respect. While most rail players tend to run away, Jump around doing random nonsense. The ONLY Rail player(other than fooligar who isnt a rail player) Who is using Rail the way that I believe he should be played is Xiii. Using the Tranquility shift for Rail is hard in that of itself. Xiii is learning to attack and Use rails spirit as defense. Xaqshinor has a decent rail in his own right. But he gets caught in patterns. Xiii does too but he is learning around those. I play Freedom Rail. Freedom rails range and speed on alot of moves arent the same as Monster rail and Tranquility rail. So I am starting to think that Freedom rail is the weaker link out of the Rail group.

Hoping that the mistakes of this patch will be seen, Maybe maya will get some legit changes in the next patch that wont hurt her too much anymore, because now. Using her is next to useless in all respects.

1.01 Patch released: Gameplay analysis

Alright its been a few days since the new patch was finally released. Alot of hard work went into the release of the patch and it was thought that this patch would have very distinct changes to the gameplay. In a nutshell, It did. Maya has completely went from the Easy mode character that she once was to a much more technical character. It was Shok's intention to make maya more techincal due to the fact that she was so simple to use in every aspect. Giving maya a new move and giving her some new portals really nerfed her. She is nolonger the goddess of the game rather she might be subjected to midteir status. Siely has also recieved soem improvements. She has a really wicked mix up game now. She now has a new air backdash that really helps her out. She can actually run away and keep running until she has a shift meter. She did get some nerfs in tranquility though. Air 214B is now punishable and DOES NOT cross up in the corner anymore(that was SUCH a pain to deal with) But now its gone.

Delga REALLY got hit hard, This command grab now is no longer completely invincible unless it is in tranquilty shift. That is REALLY good news for alot of players who had serious problems with the grab. Pretty dark day for delga players(namely spootz=P) due to the fact that delga can NO longer do OTG Super grabs. Those used to land over 60% life easy for delga. Just a little too powerful. Now its gone. Kinda most of my character breakdown for delga. I think i might take a break on the character break downs for a little while.

I played a pretty awesome set this morning with a player by the name of RogueYoshi. We had some pretty nice games today. Something i want to point out about our games was Freedom Othello and Freedom Orju. Freedom othello is really good now. His rush down is really solid and EXTREMELY hard to break through. A+B is really fast and nets othello lots of frame ADV. You cannot jump out of his rush down, Ive tried several times lol. It just doesnt work. Rogue played othello very wisely Much props to him. I was playing Freedom orju for alot of matches against Rogue. His rushdown at first seemingly had no gaps whatsoever. It took alot to adapt to his style with othello. It was very impressive. I caught on later on and started rushing him back. Freedom orju(while mostly unchanged), also has a really solid rush down Against othello Its hard for Freedom orju to get in. He has to work around othellos LONG pokes, Which Rogue used very well. To close this Freedom othello is going to be a really dominant rush down character. Probably the best in the game.

Monster: The Beginning

"The beginning" is the name of the american monster combo movie. What started out as a collective video from the community only came down to 4 people creating the combos for the entire video. No worries though, I had alot of fun coming up with new combos for Othello and Orju. This video doesnt push the limits of the combos that are possible in the game, rather, it shows the skill and execution of the people who helped make it. Alot of the combos in the video were pretty hard to come up with since the game itself has pretty flashy combos already. So we had to take it a step further.

As far as the video itself goes. I cannot stress enough that it WAS a rush job and it LOOKS like complete and utter shit in terms of quality. No worries though. The next video will look 10000% better than this one with very very very new combos and a completely new outlook on Monster as a whole.

I would like to extend my thanks to the guys that helped with the combos of the video. Spootz fooligar and Xiii. With out them.... well i prolly could have made the vid myself <3. But it was best that these guys helped with the combos. They all worked pretty hard to make awesome and unique combos for the video so thanks guys!

1.01 is RIGHT around the corner and Shok mentioned something about"monster mode" Which in essence might be completely different from "monster shift" I am still trying to figure that one out.

Ill post up the rest of delga's character breakdown at another time.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/wof3az THis is where the video can be downloaded like i said. DOnt expect much lolz. Its pretty crappy

Character Breakdown: Delga

As of late, There have been alot of people playing Delga. Most people have been taking him up due to his overpowered command grab(41236A) The command grab allows for so many damaging possibilities both burstable and unburstable combos alike. I stated something earlier in my blog about Delga having to use his command grab to win matches the majority of the time. I would like to state that I have been proven wrong in that statement.

A really good Delga player named Spootz proved me wrong in this aspect. Showing me that delga can indeed be a threat with out having to whore the command grab. Rather using it when the opponent least expects it to be used. Delga has pretty decent zoning tactics to keep his opponents in the range of his liking. 22b used at mid-max distance of the opponent can really be annoying to the opponent because the opponent has to think of ways of getting in. If he does something stupid, then he will be punished with ease by delga. He can and WILL command grab if you are running in on Delga. Rushing Delga mindlessly will only lead to you dying faster as his combos deal really good damage.

Delga's main spacing tool is 2b xx 214a. The sweep has decent range and speed. It also combos into 66a 623B xx shift into random combo. In freedom This has potential to do more than half a life bar. At somepoint i will ask for replays of this and post them in this blog post. 22B as already stated is pretty good at keep an opponent out and keeping them away. Use this for when you want to try to create some distance against rushdown type characters(katze, ryougen, siely, and delga mirror is especially important)

As the last part of part one I will try to explain Delgas command grab uses. Really this move is nearly all purpose. Anti rush, Anti defense, and sometimes even can be used as an anti air with the use of a backdash. You can tick into the command grab but honestly there isnt a real good reason for it. J.a is probably his best tick as far as the command grab is concerned. It kinda sneaks up on you. Sometimes even though you can know its coming you dont expect it. A few other ticks are 66A 662A and 2A. Also keep in mind that you CAN combo his command grab from connected normals. This leads to many many damaging possibilities. If you manage to connect 2A or 66A you can command grab on reaction and deal alot of damage using various combos. One last thing in regards to the command grab. The command grab has alot of invinciblity frames in it. Meaning you can use it to grab through character attacks, specials and even through some supers. If your going to learn Delga make sure to find every possible instance that you can use the command grab.

In part 2 of the break down ill explain delga match ups combos and some replays to help out newcomers.

Character Breakdown: Orju pt 2

I was going to add to the addition from yesterday but I decided against that due to the fact that i actually learned some more new things in the last 24 hours of playing monster.

Orju while non shifted can be dangerous but isnt really a threat to some characters. Orju has pretty easy BnB (bread and butter) combos His standard combo being 2ab5c 662c 214a. That is his standard bnb. With this bnb, he actually has the ability to do alot of damaging shift combos pending on the shift of course. Not really going to go into too much detail about his combos here. But i will probably focus more on how to play the character instead and different match ups. But remember to keep his Bnb in mind through out this entry.

Match ups:

Orju Vs Katze: Pretty easy match up actually. If you suspect katze will wake up with 623A, as Orju, You can actually hit under the move of at max range with 2b to avoid it on wake up. If katze decides that he wants to backdash on wake up instead you can use 662C or 662b against them to attempt to punish the move. Even if they block it they arent able to do anything in retaliation AFTER the backdash because they are forced into a neutral situation. THis works on pretty much all characters so keep this in mind. Watch out for katze's overhead too. Its a pretty weird move thought it is pretty slow, on block it does have advantage on it(not exactly sure how much though because we dont have access to frame information) With this in mind you wont really be able to retalitate with anything. So best option would be to backdash(orju has a really good backdash) and then punish the move as it whiffs. Katze CANNOT take to the air against you because almost any move that he can do against you will be completely beaten out by J.C.

Katze also has really quick low attacks as well. His 2c reminds me of db+1 in tekken 5 from jack-5. The move is stupid fast lol. So you have to be on the look out for those moves. You shouldnt really have too much of a problem against katze. Just make sure not to jump in on him. and you should be fine.

Orju vs Maya: This is the match up where T orju really begins to shine. He can take advantage of the fact that maya has no ground overhead. Now at first you might be like" why does that matter???" Well If you think about it. It means for the most part Orju can just block EVERYTHING maya does to build up his points. By doing this he can keep maya completely at bay when he is shifted. For the most part, Maya cannot do anything to stop him any attack she does will be completely stopped by being powerbroken when orju is shifted and green "nature" enchanted. He can powerbreak at will against maya because she doesnt really have a high low game; Not that maya needs one or anything. Maya just cannot get around orjus ground and air pressence while he is shifted in Tranquility. If maya does start getting in on you just be patient and look for your chance to powerbreak or shift out of the situation. This is a match up that T orju owns for the most part. So in this match up, I suggest playing T orju all the way.

If maya is using tranquility, Make sure to try keeping her from gaining her shifted 236A. This move will cause you alot of problems. Try to trick the shadows (236b) Running backwards making them pretty useless. If she uses them properly They will become a serious pain in the ass. Alot of maya pressure is based on her ability to soft lock her opponent down you have to make sure that you are constantly pressuring maya to keep her from gaining ground. While you are unshifted, You dont really have anything on maya. She has better everything for the most part. Just try to prevent her from gaining ground and you should be fine.

Orju vs Delga: Now This is a odd match up. There isnt really too much to say about the match up. If delga jumps do jumping C to beat him out of the air. If delga stays on the ground try to keep him away from you so he doesnt grab you. If delga manages to land a grab on you, YOu are losing alot of life. So going close to delga isnt really a good suggestion lol, Unless you like being grabbed all day of course hehe. Just keep your distance. When delga comes in at you, You have to pretty much hit and run the fuck out of there. Get your damage in and roll the fuck out. best suggestion i can make at this point. F orju does really damn well in this match up because he is so damn fast. Probably the fastest character in the game while shifted next to ryougen.

Orju vs Ryougen: OMG, This match up is just silly. Ryougen has you beat in so many damn ways it will make your headspin over and over. Well, That isnt exactly true, Tranquility orju has a really solid chance of beating Ryougen. Staying in ryougens face is a pretty good idea. Try to bait his counter(623a) and his parry (4b) and then punish his ass hard as fuck. IF he manages to hit you, Kiss your life bar goodbye lol. The man is just too powerful. You cannot do anything really against his jump ins. Being patient is probably your best bet. Just sit tight and wait for the right time. You can win the match up as long as you play smart against ryougen. He has longer pokes then you do so you arent going to be out ranging him in anyway. Zoning for the most part will not be happening. If you are enchanted (non shifted) try to land some dots around the screen to make it harder for ryougen to get in on you.

These are the match ups as i have seen them very recently. I will post more match ups when i play more match ups against other characters.

Character Breakdown: Orju

Well, I Think that it is about time to start breaking characters down as much as we can. This game is consisted of many different types of characters with very unique playstyles and moves. The game is VERY balanced as far as alot of characters go(with the exception of ryougen; Who deals insane damage with very little effort much like othello) But This portion of the blog is going to focus on Orju.

I have been playing orju ever since the release of Monster. The fact that he is a rat who is "half human" is awesome lol. He has cool looking moves and has very awesome chracter design and development. He has the ability to rush down and the ability to sit back and wait patiently. Orju is a very well rounded character. Coupled with alot of different skills from various different plays and playstyles, Recently People have been starting to pick up orju. He has alot of tools at his disposal that take care of alot of characters. His match ups, While at first were thought to be completely beyond hope, are suprisingly in his favor or even with. Some match ups he does have a problem in, But he has no "unwinnable" match ups.

Monster orju is pretty shitty honestly. He doesnt really have shit going for him other than a crappy ass timestop that is only good if the opponent is in the air. Good luck with that one. His specials are pretty ass while shifted so they dont really do him any justice so dont even bother using them.

Tranqulity Orju is REALLY good. Possibly Orju's best shift mode. Standing 5c shift enchanted(Shifted 236A) Dubbed"Powerbreak HAX" Is a really REALLY good move. When the move starts up it allows the controller(orju) to create a ring that has a really large range. When this move is used if your opponent attacks with in the rings range(even the outside of the ring), then it will powerbreak the opponent if you have more points then them. In most cases Orju will probably make sure he has more points than the opponent. A smart orju player would anyway. Orju also has "unblockables" with his Green dot(236b Shifted). Its a move that poisons the opponent as well and they lose a small ammount of health for a good period of time. This becomes really useful when your opponent is low on life. Though it will not kill the opponent, It does chip away really well bit by bit. 214a with orju shifted is your"oh fuck I need to get out of this shit" move. Shift enchanted 214a leaves a trail of leaves behind. This move become a really REALLY good move for His wake up game keeping pressure on the opponent and allows for a free mix up. The only move that doesnt really do too much for Orju is 623A. It's ok, but the move still cannot be used as an anti air unless enchanted by any enchant. Pretty depressing hehe.

Freedom Orju is wow, I mean wow. I have seen some INSANE shit with freedom orju. That is probably because I do most of that crazy shit with him lol. Oh wait... I do ALL of the crazy shit with freedom Orju. He has really good mix ups and a really solid pressure game. Nice frametraps and REALLY damaging combos midscreen and corner. Shifted 214a can create unlimited mix up potential if used properly. Freedom Orju also moves really fast with the use of 214A. The move is just silly and should be used to create mix ups. If the move is enchanted while shifted the blue trail is unblockable AND it knocks down. This could lead to all kinds of tricks for Orju. Orju's throws become VERY important in freedom mode because one throw could mean you taking half a life bar with just one shift. Too powerful( well not really i just say that)

Ill update this entry when my hands arent tired lol

Change of Thoughts....

Well, It would seem in my last post I talked about tiers. And why some characters were placed the way they were placed in both american and japanese tier listings. Funny thing in regard to the tier lists is that So many things can change the outcome of how the tiers are looked at. The game is still fairly new and people are starting to wonder who is the best character(well not starting its been something people have been talking about for a long time) We already know that Ryougen is a Top character. Let me rephrase, THE top character of this game. But the uppertiers to me seem a bit shakey. The characters that tend to stand out the most with me would be, Othello, Delga, Maya, and (OMG) Orju. These 4 characters are standing out to me alot. As of late, I have been wondering where these characters place. Its really becoming puzzling to me.

Othello, while orginially being thought NOT to be a top character has really started to prove to me otherwise. Infection(blood we will call it for not) Is really good. It is all purpose; the move is THE anti air and the anti rush of the game. Ignition stops both of those things from happening and then some. Othello is also really easy to combo with and both monster and freedom othellos are very formatible. I have been playing with freedom othello for a little while now. And while he doesnt have very damaging combos on the surface, He does have un-shiftable combos in both the corner AND midscreen that really help his game make up for what he doesnt have from monster mode. I personally REEEEFUSE to use monster othello. To me it just seems"too easy". Othello Would probably be the only character that i see equal to Ryougen in tiers.

Maya at first glace seems kinda basic and simple to play. While this isnt the case for her, she is quite hard to get used to and play properly. Most people who just start playing maya spam 236a like its the best move ever. In previous versions the move used to cross up an opponent at random. This was removed in version 1.0c( we are currently on 1.0d) I have been speaking with the japanese players in regards to all characters and they firmly believe if maya had a better forward dash, She would be a very broken character. I Just might have to agree with this. Maya is extremely solid in both offense AND defense in her respective shifts. I do now believe that maya is a TAD bit overrated. Yes she is good. Yes she is a very solid character. But i dont think she measures up to the above mentioned othello or the next few characters that I am about to mention. She has the tools and the ability to beat every character in the game. But for some characters she has to work alot harder than Ryougen, Othello or even delga has to.

Delga COMPLETELY destroys your ground game with his command grab. It makes no damn sense how fucking good that move is. That move with out the shadow of a doubt MAKES delga. Not even makes delga a threat. It just MAKES him as a character. If delga didnt have that grab, He would be complete shit(no offense to delga players). Delga doesnt really have good pokes to speak of. His 2b is good at a distance for zoning. BUT WHY DO THAT WHEN YOU CAN JUST MASH COMMAND GRAB LOLOLOL. Not to mention off of a simple powerbreak of only 1 point delga CAN take off about 3k easy. Delga is a powerhouse and shouldnt be underestimated. The only thing that would keep me from making him top tier would be the fact that ryougen shuts him down completely. I personally believe othello and delga is a pretty even match up. But Its all a matter of thought.

Orju, Now I know what I said about orju in my last post, And some of it holds true, but as I have been watching and paying VERY close attention to how orju plays, The more i realize that orju IS NOT A LOWTIER CHARACTER. Honestly I cant even consider him a Mid tier character either. I think he is top 3 honestly. Orju can powerbreak WITH EASE against any character. His combos deal a large ammount of damage and getting in with orju is shockly easy. In the last few days I have had VERY little problems getting in on my opponent using orju. No matter what character they used. Othello, Ryougen, Maya or even siely and delga, Orju, in my opinion, Is a VERY wellrounded character. Against othello, Seems a little off considering othello outranges orju in every way. But orju is quite fast and can move around othello. Orju has a REALLY good back dash(not to mention cool looking as fuck) and his level 1 supers are worth stocking up(if you use freedom) Tranquility mode has no real reason to stock up supers, Green enchant is a super plus some other shit. Orju Also has good "anti-backdashing" tactics as well. If an opponent was to mash backdash against orju, then they are really asking for pain. The ability to powerbreak at will is too good to ignore. It is something that all orju players should learn to use. It isnt easy to use the ability but once you learn how to use it, Its just too fucking good.

My thoughts on the tiers are as follows

*S class: F Ryougen, M-F Othello
*A class: F-T Orju, T-F Maya
*B class: M-F Rail, All Shift Delga
*C class: T Katze
*D class: T Siely
*E class: Aleksander(doenst fucking matter what shift lol)

This is how i see the tiers as of right now. If not for Ryougen or othello having an overwelming advantage against the lower characters, I would probably have Orju being top 2. Not fan picking or anything. This is just my opinion of how things look as of right now.