Hello fellas. I just started in the lab today. I was wonder, is 11, ice ball, jump 1, forward 1, 2 2, forward 4, 2, 1+3 possible? Also, other than just practicing combos...what do I need to be doing to learn this game?
Yes, it is possible, but there are better ways (and easier to time as F122 sometimes screws combos) to combo after an iceball. The most effective way is jump in punch, B2, Run, 4,2,1+3. You can put a F122 before the B2 but as I mentioned it can screw the whole combo and because of damage scaling, it will only make the combo around 1% better so not worth it.
Also consider using B1,2 Iceball as it does a lot more damage and B1,2 is safe. 1,1 is faster so it's a good option to punish a blocked combo though. In the corner (or against female characters no matter their position) you can use B33, Iceball to freeze from a low hitting starter.
There are 2 things you will have to practice a lot until they become muscle memory if you want to juice Cryomancer's potential:
B2, RUN, F4,2,1+3: This is the way you finish your midscreen combos.
B2,B2, F4,2,1+3: This is the way you finish your corner combos. It gets a bit tricky (using the opponent voice after each hit to known whan you have to throw the next one for the juggle helps a lot).
Throw in jump in punch before each one if you froze the target for a bit more of damage.
Once you have those 2 just learn when it's better to throw each of your starters:
*B1,2 can be blocked on any position, but it has long reach, is safe and combos into iceball anywhere. It's also the higher damage starter.
*B2 is an overhead so they can't block it while ducking, it's a bit slow so you want to get your opponent used to block low (D3 and D4 help with this, one is faster, the other one has more reach and staggers them a bit against the corner).
*B33 hits low but can only combo into iceball in the corner or against females so most times you want to use EX Icehammer after it. When you have any option to combo from B33 available you can pick between it and B2 to start a combo either low or OH.
*F33 the start up fast enough to punish some stuff and the second hit is a low. Most times I use this instead of B33 when I want to use EX Icehammer as the damage is greater and it has good reach and safety. If you don't have meter it can be used to keep the opponent away and throw an iceball to cover his wakeup (be careful if the opponent can teleport though).
*11 has lower damage but is fast and can combo into iceball anywhere
*123Slide is the only combo you will be using that doesn't end on your goto finishers and it's used to carry the opponent to the corner. The second hit is a low, if you have meter you can do 12EXHammer for a low-OH mixup on top of a fast starter.
*Your upercut is awesome as it reaches far and eats aerial targets for breakfast. It's relatively safe when blocked because it puts you at some distance, but many characters still have tools to punish it so be careful.
*Remember that even if it has a slow start up, your Iceball is a ranged projectile (sometimes SZ players end up forgetting it has range because they focus on using it during combos) that in this variation with more damaging tools "hits for 24% damage" as it's a free combo. Even if you're hit by a knock back projectile most times (there are exceptions) you can still reach the frozen target in time. Most KB projectiles send you to full screen so if you wake up with a slide from that range you will land right next to the target without unfreezing him. Be careful with faster teleports and projectiles interrupting it though.
*The slide as mentioned is awesome to move. It's really fast (you can surprise a lot of opponents off guard with it) but if blocked is punishable. If it missed the target it can be used as a "super dash" as explained above, allowing you to close distances at a really high speed (and it also ducks under all high projectiles and many mid ones too).
*Try to save as much X-Meter as you can. This variation depends a lot on that bar, specially against male opponents, so if there is a situation where you can get a good combo without burning meter, it's preferable to go through that route. You meter gives you armor and a much better mix-up arsenal specially when you don't have your corner options