this post is blowing my mind...i am a street fighter player for years and years but MKx caught my attention. I am akin to plinking but I cant really grasp the concept of this 100%.... can someone type the input command for one of these? i.e. subzero's ball string. Would be much appreciated and hopefully i will understand what it is about the mechanics that allows for this. I main Johnny Cage a list if anyone knows an option select for him would be much appreciated
BTW someone mentioned hit confirming is better. If this is as reliable as plinking and can be done off of a single hit I cant see hit confirming being 50% that good.
I'll use Sub's b33 df2 as an example.
When you press b33, there is a specific frame in the animation of this string where you will no longer be able to cancel into a special. This is called the cancel window.
So just assume that frame 1 is when you press b33.
Frame 35 is end of the cancel window (it's not actually on frame 35 this is just an example, but it would be somewhere in the ball park of frame 35).
The end of the cancel window is usually in the first few frames of recovery. So basically, immediately after the last move in the string makes contact.
The game is programmed to allow a special input, anywhere from the time you input the b33, up until frame 35. If you complete the df2 input any time before frame 35 has passed, your ice ball will come out.
If you complete the df2 input on frame 36, then your ice ball doesn't come out. You missed the cancel window.
Understand that concept? Okay good.
If you were to input your df2 well in advance, on frame 20 for example, the actual move still comes out on frame 36, after the cancel window has passed. This is called an input buffer. In this example, your df2 is stored in the input buffer for 15 frames.
The game allows you to remove a special from the input buffer, with an additional directional input. So for this example, if you input df2 on frame 20, and then press back on the dpad any time before frame 35, your ice ball will not come out.
The rules for cancelling into a special, and removing a special from the buffer are the same. You must input the special, or the additional directional input, before frame 35.
So what creates the option select, is something called hitstop. When your b33 is blocked, there will be a few additional frames of animation as a result of your opponent blocking. These additional frames are not considered part of the b33 frame data. They are extra. So what happens is frame 35 (the end of the cancel window), now becomes frame 36, or 37, or 38... whatever. Depends on the move.
This means that if your opponent blocks b33, the cancel window gets extended to frame 37. But if he gets hit by the b33, the cancel window remains at frame 35.
So if you train your muscle memory to input df2 on let's say frame 25, and you always press back on the dpad on frame 37, then your iceball will always come out on hit, but it will never come out on block.
Opponent gets hit: You press back on frame 37. Cancel window has already passed, so your back input does not remove df2 from the buffer. Ice ball comes out.
Opponent blocks: You press back on frame 37. Cancel window has been extended, your back input removes df2 from the buffer. Ice ball doesn't come out.
TL;DR
Just press back on the dpad 1 or 2 frames after Sub-Zero's foot makes contact with his opponent and the ice ball will come out on hit and not on block.
Hope that helps
