Vulcan Hades
Noob
Part 2 of some intense Labwork I'm doing. I decided to split it up in multiple threads instead of one bigass thread with too much random info.
Ra Power (b2,3, u,1+3)
Ra Power is the most damaging ender of b2,3. It causes a hard knockdown and leaves Black Adam in the perfect spot to play footsies. This ender should mostly be used if you want to keep pressuring your opponent or if you want to bait wake up attacks and whiff punish them. And of course when you're trailing from behind and need to make a comeback.
1. Dash mixup
Ra Power is +9 but after a dash you are at -6. Despite being in negative frames I am often still able to pressure and mixup up close because the opponent can have trouble reacting to the dash. This is due to the fact that they are anticipating a jump in and jumps need a lot of focus to block or AA properly. So they sometimes are surprised when I quickly dash up in their face like that. Use this sparingly.
Dash up to the opponent and mixup with the following:
j2 right after Ra Power will cross-up, but only if the opponent stays in place. If the opponent is holding back to block, then j2 will hit in front. However, now if you do a late Far Dive Kick MB it will cross-up. Actually depending on the timing the dive kick can hit in front or behind. Sometimes both hit in front but you appear behind them. Point is, it's very tricky and they not only have to fuzzy guard they have to guess which way to block and which way you'll end up.
Obviously, you can also decide to cancel your cross-up with a Close Dive Kick MB. But with this particular knockdown that will not work very often. This works best in other types of knockdowns where they get up closer and are still in cross-up range even when holding back.
Note that Dive Kick MB is +frames on block so it's very good even if the opponent manages to block it.
3. Unpredictable Zoning
At this range, Lightning Strike is probably the last thing your opponent expects you to do. If you wanted to zone, surely you would have ended with u1 right? That's right. And that's why they'll get caught off guard from time to time. After this knockdown they fear Black Adam's oki dive kick MB the most. They usually expect you to dash in or jump in so more often than not they will backdash or press buttons. But Lightning Strike will hit them if they do.
4. Whiff Punishing
Because sometimes it's just fun to let your opponent hang himself.
5. Anti-Air bypassing
Some moves are designed to knock stuff out of the air. They usually have a similar diagonal hitbox aiming upwards. These were designed to counter normal jump ins. But Black Adam isn't normal is he. No sir he can alter his jump arc trajectory at will and at any point while he's in the air. IA Dive Kick is a way to land sooner and avoid or beat certain AAs.
But in addition to that, he can also modify his hurtbox using j1 and j3. These will make Black Adam's horizontal hurtbox smaller, causing again some AA moves to whiff that would normally hit an empty jump or a j2.
Ka Servant (b2,3, u,1)
Ka Servant sends the opponent full screen, the ideal place for zoning. This ender should mostly be used if you're looking to protect the life lead. Getting sent full screen like this can be frustrating for rushdown characters. It can make your opponent impatient and get them to commit hasty mistakes. Not recommended against superior zoners or when you're trailing from behind.
1. To Lightning or not to Lightning?
First, this knockdown is techable and thus its frame advantage is relative to gravity scaling. The more hits you do during a juggle, the quicker the opponent will fall to the ground and the quicker they will be able to get up while your recovery is unchanged. This is important to know for a few reasons.
Every little frame altered this way matters because it can be the difference between a meaty Lightning Strike that will chip FTW and a failed Lightning Strike that will cost you the match.
This combo grants an inescapable Lightning Strike that must be blocked:
-b2,3, u1 > Lightning Strike
This combo makes Lightning Strike only avoidable via a back roll jump:
-j2, 1,1 xx trait, b2 xx Lightning Cage MB, b3, j3, b2,3, u1 > Lightning Strike
These combos make Lightning Strike not hit meaty (can be jumped without needing to roll back):
-j2, b2,3, 1,1 xx Black Magic, dash, b2,3, u1 > Lightning Strike
-j2, 1,1 xx trait, b2,3, 1,1 xx Black Magic, dash, b2,3, u1 > Lightning Strike
You should try to anticipate and preemptively punish the jump ins. Or react to them with black magic.
Now with that in mind, these are the suggested zoning followups after Ka Servant:
Just like zoning after Ra Power, it can be smart to rushdown after landing Ka Servant. Why? Because your opponent expects you to throw things at him. That's the whole point of why you sent them full screen in the first place. It's to keep them out. So the most natural reaction after getting up from Ka Servant is to crouch block or jump forward in anticipation of a Lightning Strike. But if Black Adam happened to dash in / dive kick instead then it becomes scarier for the opponent.
Ra Power (b2,3, u,1+3)
1. Dash mixup
Ra Power is +9 but after a dash you are at -6. Despite being in negative frames I am often still able to pressure and mixup up close because the opponent can have trouble reacting to the dash. This is due to the fact that they are anticipating a jump in and jumps need a lot of focus to block or AA properly. So they sometimes are surprised when I quickly dash up in their face like that. Use this sparingly.
Dash up to the opponent and mixup with the following:
- d1 xx Lightning Storm (can catch backdash)
- d3 (catches backdash) / b2
- Throw / 3
- Block
- Walk back
- Backdash
- Forward Jump (to chase backdash)
j2 right after Ra Power will cross-up, but only if the opponent stays in place. If the opponent is holding back to block, then j2 will hit in front. However, now if you do a late Far Dive Kick MB it will cross-up. Actually depending on the timing the dive kick can hit in front or behind. Sometimes both hit in front but you appear behind them. Point is, it's very tricky and they not only have to fuzzy guard they have to guess which way to block and which way you'll end up.
Obviously, you can also decide to cancel your cross-up with a Close Dive Kick MB. But with this particular knockdown that will not work very often. This works best in other types of knockdowns where they get up closer and are still in cross-up range even when holding back.
Note that Dive Kick MB is +frames on block so it's very good even if the opponent manages to block it.
3. Unpredictable Zoning
At this range, Lightning Strike is probably the last thing your opponent expects you to do. If you wanted to zone, surely you would have ended with u1 right? That's right. And that's why they'll get caught off guard from time to time. After this knockdown they fear Black Adam's oki dive kick MB the most. They usually expect you to dash in or jump in so more often than not they will backdash or press buttons. But Lightning Strike will hit them if they do.
- Lightning Strike (catches backdash, loses to forward/neutral jump)
- Lightning Storm (catches neutral/forward jump, whiffs on backdash and back jump)
4. Whiff Punishing
Because sometimes it's just fun to let your opponent hang himself.
- Walk back whiff punish
- Jump back whiff punish
- Backdash whiff punish
- Cross-up cancel whiff punish
- Dash block punish
5. Anti-Air bypassing
Some moves are designed to knock stuff out of the air. They usually have a similar diagonal hitbox aiming upwards. These were designed to counter normal jump ins. But Black Adam isn't normal is he. No sir he can alter his jump arc trajectory at will and at any point while he's in the air. IA Dive Kick is a way to land sooner and avoid or beat certain AAs.
But in addition to that, he can also modify his hurtbox using j1 and j3. These will make Black Adam's horizontal hurtbox smaller, causing again some AA moves to whiff that would normally hit an empty jump or a j2.
- Altering jump arc trajectory with instant air Dive Kick
- Modifying hurtbox with j1 or j3
- cancelling j1/j3 into Dive Kick
Ka Servant (b2,3, u,1)
1. To Lightning or not to Lightning?
First, this knockdown is techable and thus its frame advantage is relative to gravity scaling. The more hits you do during a juggle, the quicker the opponent will fall to the ground and the quicker they will be able to get up while your recovery is unchanged. This is important to know for a few reasons.
Every little frame altered this way matters because it can be the difference between a meaty Lightning Strike that will chip FTW and a failed Lightning Strike that will cost you the match.
This combo grants an inescapable Lightning Strike that must be blocked:
-b2,3, u1 > Lightning Strike
This combo makes Lightning Strike only avoidable via a back roll jump:
-j2, 1,1 xx trait, b2 xx Lightning Cage MB, b3, j3, b2,3, u1 > Lightning Strike
These combos make Lightning Strike not hit meaty (can be jumped without needing to roll back):
-j2, b2,3, 1,1 xx Black Magic, dash, b2,3, u1 > Lightning Strike
-j2, 1,1 xx trait, b2,3, 1,1 xx Black Magic, dash, b2,3, u1 > Lightning Strike
You should try to anticipate and preemptively punish the jump ins. Or react to them with black magic.
Now with that in mind, these are the suggested zoning followups after Ka Servant:
- Lightning Strike
- Black Magic
- Delayed Lightning Strike
- Delayed Black Magic
- Mid/Far Lightning Bomb
Just like zoning after Ra Power, it can be smart to rushdown after landing Ka Servant. Why? Because your opponent expects you to throw things at him. That's the whole point of why you sent them full screen in the first place. It's to keep them out. So the most natural reaction after getting up from Ka Servant is to crouch block or jump forward in anticipation of a Lightning Strike. But if Black Adam happened to dash in / dive kick instead then it becomes scarier for the opponent.
- Dash, Lightning Storm
- Dash, Black Magic
- Dash, j2, b2 xx Black Magic
- Dash, Far Dive Kick
- Dash x2, d2/2 (loses to a lot of jump ins)
- Dash x3, b2,3