Lenin

I don't really see how Ermac can land any of his BnB combos outside of punishment situations. All his starters are slow as dick. Cyrax though... 50% for 1 bar? Nope. Try this: Yeah, 73% off one bar. You can even get it up into the 80s and 90s for the same meter, but that's situational. People thought the bomb trap was broken. The best part is that there's actually a thread on TYM filled with people saying that it's totally balanced that Cyrax can do this and it shouldn't be removed, and not only that, if it's removed THEN BAAAAW HE CAN'T COMPETE. I'd take never-ending nerfs to Sub-Zero if it meant a buff to the community's brain cells. Like I said, Sub-Zero got his shit toned down because scrubs were complaining that they kept jumping into ice clones. And dude, I'd rather it be anyone but Sonya and Stryker. Fuck it, give the dipshits what they want. Green CSZ suit for Reptile, and alternate fucking one for CSZ. Blueberry and lime. Why the fuck not. Costumes aren't really an issue for me until they start creating all new ones for DLC. Also, I've decided I don't need the block button against Kenshi. Seriously. I've been wasting Kenshi's all day and just babalitying them until they QQ out. Then I send them a message that says "I WROTE THE BOOK ON KENSHI. WHO ARE YOU?" and then tell them to google "Kenshi Living Guide" so they can learn to play him like their brainstem is connected to something other than their ass. Oh well, I guess.

I'm sick, and I have really no response for the first five paragraphs, so I'll pick up at the skins by quoting myself from TYM: I'd actually pay for an alt for CSZ at this point. I'm not getting particularly sick of looking at the Artic Warfare Predator x Samus Aran lovechild... but Jesus Christ, motherfucking Mileena has FOUR costumes before he even gets two. WTF? And I'm not rejecting the notion of MK3 Sub-Zero/Reptile. I'd be TOTALLY FINE with the possibility of unpatched Sub-Zero, despite the fact he's still top-tier and spreads a serious case of rapedface everywhere he goes, I honestly think the freeze scaling is a little ridiculous. It only happened because scrubs can't stop jumping into clones since they don't have the required level of brain cells to compete in the Special Olympics. But the DLC costumes only seem to reject the 1.02 patch. I don't particularly want unmasked Subz at all though. Maybe the UMK3 classic Subz costume will have a glitch wherein the Ice Puddle becomes not worthless. Also, I figured out why I can't get away from playing CSZ and Subz. CSZ obviously because he's gdlk. Subz because... Well, okay, look, Street Fighter spreads AIDS worse than a mobile bathhouse filled with South Africa, that's a given. And 3s is just an exceptionally AIDSy portion of the AIDS riddled repertoire of diseased filth known as Capcom fighters. BUT Urien is an awesome character. Ice Clone = free Aegis Reflector. Can't ever stop playing Subz now. Still hoping Rain's got the shit to help me vary this up a little.

I believe there was a tweet a while back from Paolo Garcia (I think), that said all the DLC characters would be designed with advanced players in mind. So far that seems to be the case. I think it's only fair considering how braindead easy a good portion of the cast already is to play successfully in (at least) mid-level matches. But he's Rain, you can expect to see A LOT of people playing him. And you can expect random control orb xx uppercut/super-roundhouse/coolest looking string to be the most damaging thing they will ever do to you. And random teleports. Rain honestly reminds me a lot of Sektor from that trailer. If he has solid BnB that you can spend meter to beef up like Sektor can, I think that'd be cool. If it's a Shang Tsung situation, wherein he needs meter for his combos, then that's just the third DLC character that's not going to offer me any real incentive to move away from the Sub-Zeros. I'll still learn to play him effectively enough to force ragequits so I can send voice messages of me singing the Purple Rain intro to those QQing bitches, though. That's what's really bothering me, not liking the DLC characters. I didn't really have any hopes for Skarlet beyond "New character, hope she's awesome!" but I got her and didn't like her. Then there's Kenshi. I literally wrote the fucking book on Kenshi, he has EVERYTHING I look for in a character, and I don't like playing him. The fuck is that shit? Maybe the inability to enjoy the characters as much as I do the Sub-Zeros is because of an unacknowledged love affair with untechable time. Maybe the control orb will work out for me. As for the Kenshi combo, the highest damage I've seen him pull in an X-ray combo is 59%. I don't have the exact inputs for it so I haven't posted it in the guide. If you can figure it out, awesome. It's in TylerLantern's Kenshi combo compilation. I was planning on really shaking that guide up with the addition of a bunch of new corner shenanigans, alas I can't find a way to combo into 2,1,f4. Not that I really tried too hard. And thinking on it more, most of my Rain-gameplay-trailer hype centers around the fact that the countdown to the reveal of the mystery character has officially begun. I don't care who it is, but they're just being so damn secretive with it I just really want to know who it is. Everybody seems to think it's Shinnok. I actually don't mind that. It's lame, yeah, but Shinnok is also pretty cool. Reiko would be awesome too. Frost is still my preferred option. ... Just not Fujin or Tanya. That'd make me groan.

HitBox sticks are interesting. They have the same control layout for attacks as every other arcade stick ever, but they use buttons for directional inputs instead of an actual stick.

Some people like MadCatz. I only buy HORI. Their Real Arcade Pro line is of acceptable quality and price, I think. Though I use their VLX myself. Easy as dick to mod.

We've been using the same BnBs. And yeah, it's really hard to break 30% on the low starter without a corner. Check the guide again, there's some stuff in the corner starting with it that goes to about 31%. Can't believe I didn't post the 2,1,b2~db1, dash, f3,2~bf2 combo in there. AND FUCK YEAH RAIN. Can't wait to start the guide for him now. Unless he's a braindead character, in which case somebody else can fuckin' do it. EDIT: I updated the Kenshi guide again. As of now (the 10th), I'd say it's basically complete. It's severely lacking enhanced move combos, but with Kenshi... who fucking cares? Hype as fuck: The control orb is... so cool now. And I like how he's wearing a veil instead of a standard ninja mask. Looks like they did a really good job on this guy. Here's to hoping you don't have to burn meter to get good damage out of him.

I am acceptably high right now. An observation: Bringing auto-tune to Jamaica has produced lots of blues and purples. Probably doesn't really take the sting out of the likes of Jar-Jar Binks making it impossible for anyone to take your culture seriously, though.

I'm psyched as hell for Rain. Bitches don't know. Probably here on the 19th. HYPE AS FUCK. I really like Kenshi, though. And what I said above wasn't an honest assessment of him, it was just based on the videos that were out at the time. And not "rape-tier", rape-ee-err. Haha This isn't true. df4 and dbf4 are safe because of the range (I don't know if this applies to the likes Reptile and Raiden since they can punish everything, but I'll find out more tomorrow), bf2 is safe on block. f22b2 gives you advantage on block (you can even go f22b2~bf2 and that's still safe, though Reptile can interrupt it). f22b1 is safe on block as well, as are 21b1 and 21f4. His df3 is only unsafe at closer ranges. db1 is flat out unsafe, the enhanced version isn't though. Which pretty much all makes sense, considering cross-ups, a simple aspect of this game, are his demon. He should be very good at keeping players the fuck away from his side of the screen. Regardless, I agree with you on Kenshi so far. I was absolutely trashing people earlier today with him, his zoning is really good, but it's all done on reaction. It can be motherfucking hell to get in on this guy though. His d,f4 reminds me of A.B.A.'s Danzai from Guilty Gear, not that it's as good. It just feels kind of similar. He's good at doing simple punishes that equal good damage and totally re-zone your ass too. I like this. Also glad that this guy is just not going to end up being mega-popular. He's way too technical and easy to fuck up for the scrubs... well, the zoning game. The misfortune here is that his combos are brain-deadeningly easy and look awesome, so some dipshits are just never going to give up. That being said, I couldn't believe it when it happened, but it did; I'm so not used to playing a character that has to respect Smoke. God that's the most tedious fucking fight. Nightwolf wasn't any fun either, but I only fought the one. It was mostly Scorpions and Kenshis searching for lost brain cells. His fatalities are so satisfying though. And I still want Rain yesterday. EDIT: bf2 and df4/db4 are amazing together. bf2 is completely safe all the time, unless your opponent reads it and jumps over it. Take that into consideration and predict their asininity to swat them back down to the ground LIKE A FUCKING BOSS. The combination really shines in the corner. Also, Kenshi seems to have a distinct advantage after your opponent breakers your combo unless he gets breaker'd into the corner. The whole thing just starts all over. Kenshi covers his ass well, and is overall a very safe character. Just don't get crossed up. EDIT 2: I started this thread. It lacks information, which will change soon enough. Working on filling in the corner combo/strategy sections as we speak, but if you have anything you want to contribute, go ahead dude.

Where did he say that? I read Tom Brady saying over at TYM that she should be banned at Evo because of her dagger bullshit, with my own eyes. Haha. Her only bad match-ups are the anti-zoners. Having some almost impossible match-ups with the anti-zoners is a hell of a lot more reasonable than going 8-2 and 7-3 with everyone who isn't Nightwolf, Raiden, Smoke, Kung Lao or Noob. Just thinking on it more, I guarantee you they won't nerf Skarlet because no one will complain about it ever, since no one online will ever be able to do it. And that's the only thing that motivates NRS to change anything; bitching scrubs. I honestly don't care if they nerf her because that just means a new patch that will probably completely fuck up the game again. Regarding Kenshi, he's out on the PS3 but probably not going to be on the 360 until tomorrow. There's a fuckin' surprise right? Some sort of announcement on it is supposed to be coming up shortly. EDIT: Kenshi reminds me of Rose from SSFIV + Liu Kang + Ermac, only rape-ier.

I wouldn't really say I'm a "hip-hop guy." I like what I like; you couldn't call me an aficionado. I agree with you on Talib Kweli, though.

Well, stage presence is no big concern for me since I'm way too lazy to ever really go anywhere at all, let alone a concert. Bummer if he doesn't though. Glad he's known in hip-hop circles. I wouldn't know because I'm a pasty white Irish guy with freckles and everyone looks at me funny when I try to talk about it.

I'm not a HUGE fan of rap/hip-hop/whatever, but I can listen to some of it and this guy is way up there on my list when I do: I like his beats, lyrics, voice, flow and the fact he actually has diction. It boggles me that he's not more popular.

Come to think of it, Stryker should've had an AA-12 in one of his fatalities... I can 100% guarantee you that they're going to fix Skarlet's bullshit. NRS is really good about that. All they need to do is remove the on-block pushback on her first kunai and the whole thing is fixed. But I can also tell you not to be surprised if they nerf the start-up and recovery on the moves as a whole because players online dislike being zoned.

Torchlight is a good theory. Now how the fuck does his taser work on Raiden? Dude, I have STILL never been combo'd by a Scorpion. Scorpion is only the Ken canonically. This game's actual Ken is Liu Kang, just when measured on the fagometer. I would ask for Kenshi to have an unpunishable, 2 frame start up anti-air reversal launcher, like Kung Lao used too. And an ice clone.

True. So, despite the fact that I have played at least eleven trillion Scoprions, he's apparently only been picked 5.9 billion times. EDIT: noobde RT @DFA807 DAMN IT BOON! HOW DOES STRYKER GET KENSHI INTO HIS X-RAY? DUDE IS BLIND! Noobde: Not worth getting upset over, he can see light. ED BOON WINS. FLAWLESS VICTORY.

Just reading about that workout program gave me a six pack.

Well, they took out the ability to combo from Ermac's 2 2, 3 1 2 and CSZ's 1 1 1 because you shouldn't have been able to do it in the first place outside of juggles since those are complete strings. I can't think of a single logical reason to nerf Kabal, though. So I think it's the lag. You know, I shit you not dude, just last night I decided to start working more on my CSZ, not necessarily to main him since I think this game is doomed to not have a character I like well enough to main. And I am SO happy about that bomb trap. For the way those bombs have been an absolute hindrance to how I feel like I should be playing CSZ (dash in 3 3 2~slide isn't possible and it should be) it's about time those things worked for something other than pissing off the ∞% of people who just decide they're going to hold down and hit uppercut whenever I get close to them. I've been digging him because he completely facefucks Raiden. The natural lunge of 2 1 ~ freeze means that sweet spot where superman is safe doesn't exist. That string completely rapes his teleport too. Raiden can barely move in that fight without eating a bare minimum of 32%. If only ice parry could catch the superman too. I was owning people last night with him so hard I just started leaving the matches when I saw "FINISH HIM" and sending my opponents messages saying "You're welcome." Ragewin. Playing CSZ makes me really hate Kitana, though. The real advantage to playing him is that he'll never be nerfed since he'll never be popular. That bomb trap IS bullshit, though. But that won't stop me from turning it into my BnB combo.

I have a bad track record with psychedelics. I know I can't really drop acid or smoke salvia without getting extremely paranoid that the wallpaper is trying to kill me. Oh, and brain-bears. Would DMT be any different?

Overwhelmingly purple, in several different shades.

Lead guitar is yellow and white in the center, the rhythm part is orange with a red trim. Drums are black. Vocals are a dull white. Does Windows Media Player still do that thing with the backgrounds that swirl and shift around as the music plays? It's basically exactly like that. It's not something that really obscures your vision, though. But when I close my eyes while listening to music, there's no darkness, only color.

Yeah, don't expect any fighting game company to take any sort of action with this law backing them. Activision on the other hand... This whole thing is literally bullshit of the highest order. There are currently three wars the US is engaged in, a recession that's getting fucking worse as time goes on, the middle class has disappeared, Wal-Mart's rampant sexism was federally sanctioned and there are thousands of corporations headquartered in one house in Wyoming and are currently taxed at a lower rate than people right above the poverty line because of it. And it turns out that somebody who once posted a video of them being good at a game is DESTROYING THE FUCKING COUNTRY to such a degree we need a law to stop it. But what happens on Wall Street, yeah, we can't make that shit illegal.

Black, with blue dots all the way through. Pretty neat actually. Not in the sense that genre A is always color X and genre B is always color Y. It's more like, genre A tends to have X color pattern because there are common musical techniques that run through the genre. Those two videos you posted up actually have the same dark red, hazy orange and bright yellow colors to me because musically, they aren't really incredibly different. The angry metal guys have black vocals (shocker) and the Castlevania tribute band has grayer vocals, but only because of the actual notes being sung. EDIT: "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall" by Coldplay is the color of awful.

I honestly think this shit with Skarlet was just an oversight. Remove the pushback on the first kunai and her df3,4~up slash plink and voila, balanced character achieved. (Edit: here's some really stupid shit to read through if you're interested. HOW CAN PEOPLE BE SO FUCKING RETARDED!?) Since I started going hidden cursor, I've noticed a drastic drop in the amount of Reptiles I play. It also really speeds up the rate at which people pick Scorpion, the counterpick to winning. EDIT: Goddamn online play is terribad. I can do Kabal's f3,2~dash cancel about 23~ times or so offline without fucking it up. Online it doesn't even like me to connect the f3,2 on block. Works EVERY time on hit though. Only fucks up on block. I know hotfixes don't work for the 360 offline (I think that's what I heard), and NRS is prone to nerfing stupid shit for the benefit of the crybabies. Did they remove the Kabal's ability to get f3,2 as a block string or something? Or is online still that laggy? At least it doesn't feel like it's under infinite water anymore, but it's still completely unacceptable.

The game right now is all about counterpicking. You should have waited him out on the character select screen until he picked Kang again and then done a mad dash for Noob. 7-3 in Noob's favor. Haha. This counterpicking bullshit is why I actually just go for hidden cursor selection. You'd be amazed (well, probably not) at the amount of people who just ragequit on character select when you do that. Also, I forgot to address this: Brady actually agrees with REO. REO didn't even mention it until Brady brought it up, actually. Then REO posted this: She'd be less effective if she had a command grab that red-ringed your Xbox. Granted, it's not actual match footage. But anyone could pull it off with at least relative consistency after maybe... two or three hours in training mode. On a scale between Liu Kang (1) and Kabal's old block infinite (10), I'd say it ranks about a 5 or 6.

The only matchups she has out of her favor are the anti-zoners. Her grounded kunai on block (the first one) has the same level of pushback as Noob's shadow tackle, she can dash cancel after kunai 1 and immediately--motherfucking IMMEDIATELY--throw another one. This negates dash blocking in, and jumping in is negated by air kunai. Sub-Zero gets destroyed by her. Liu Kang's combos being easy mode doesn't really bother me. It's the fact that actually using him in a fight is easier than learning how to masturbate. You can just get in somebody's face and slap your dick on buttons and just do safe 50/50s all day. Then again I've been playing Kabal mostly so I hate that faggot for a number of reasons. I miss it from back in April when every Liu Kang player decided unanimously that the only move he had was Bicycle Kick Dude, I once flawlessed a dude with Quan-Chi and got a voice message tirade about how I was a tier whore. MK online is where brain cells go to have their corpses raped. That Big J guy was really pissing me off though. I don't know how many times that guy proved he was too stupid to read my clear concise english in that thread, but I'm glad all Sektor players aren't like that. Which is more than I can say for Liu Kang players.