THE FOOTSIE HAND BOOK
Hey everyone! This is a competitive guide to footsies within PSABR. Footsies is a subset of zoning dealing usually with close range normals. It is not only my favorite part about Fighting Games, but is usually the difference between a decent and phenomenal player. Needless to say if you want to truly compete, you need to learn about them. However in a game as PSABR ( and Smash) the typical rules for Footsies is different. Most FG members tend to ridicule these unconventional fighters for this particular reason. However, once you understand the differences you can focus on the myriad of similarities present. This is what this guide is for as well. Ill be adding more in the following weeks to come.
ENJOYYYYY!!!!!!!
Note: If you have clips displaying these particular aspect of footsies or have questions regarding certain situations please let me know and ill be sure to make additions!
“A lot of people make the mistake of assuming that footsies is something you whip up on the fly. While you certainly can do it that way, and while freestyling footsies is certainly a valuable skill, the fact of the matter is that Alex Valle knows more about footsies than you’ll ever know. The real problem is you don’t even know that you’re supposed to know these things.
Footsies as a whole is such a dynamic, complex subject that it’s impossible to convey or grasp at once. So we’re going to try something different. Let’s approach footsies like a collection of situations and try to come up with elemental solutions to each scenario. Practice these one by one until you’re comfortable enough with them to incorporate them fluidly into your gameplan.”
– Maj, Creator of the PSABR Combo System , FG Analyst and Combo Video Maker
Basic Footsies
This is going into the elements that are the foundation of footsies. These are essential for anyone trying to go competitive!
Element 01: Momentarily step into your opponent’s poke range and quickly back out instead of attacking. This is huge in traditional fighters and has a strong presence in brawler fighters with the inclusion of air control of jumps, ADs ( air dodges), and rolls.
1 a): here Pheracus ( Dante) steps in the range of Minkikitty’s ( Sackboy) jet dash to bait the move out and then subsequently rolls to avoid the attack and whiff punishes. The bait ends up netting Pheracus 2/3s of Minkikitty’s life bar ( 2 stocks) http://www.twitch.tv/crouchingfiercetv/b/383555759?t=2h30m38s
1b): another text book tactic used by Pheracus ( Dante) using basic whiff punishing by gun zoning at the tip of StalkingFlare’s ( Sly) range only to pull back and whiff punish StalkingFlare. http://www.twitch.tv/crouchingfiercetv/b/383555759?t=2h43m20s
1c): Vindabess steps into Dominos spike range; knowing his tendency to look for a knock down here he uses a Godly bait and whiff punish all in one move to net a kill. http://www.twitch.tv/crouchingfiercetv/b/383114403?t=4h10m18s
Element 2: When appropiate footsie presence is given an opponent can feel a ton of pressure. In these kinds of scenarios dropped combos and resets thrive due to panic defense. In PSASBR and majority of brawler fighters, the most notable panic option is rolling. If you can read your opponents rolling habits then KCs and AP burst will come sooner than later.
2a) iiGGY ( Toro) registers than he has dropped the combo and waits for the panic option. The Drake rolls and iiGGY lands a potential KC. http://www.twitch.tv/crouchingfiercetv/b/387512234?t=52m16s
Element 3: One strong tactic that takes use of pressure are tick-throws; tick throws are the act of using a poke or combo on hit OR block and then grabbing the character as they leave block/hit stun. Tick throws are strong in brawler fighters because every character usually has some kind of rekka( Definition!!!) in the form of a jab combo. In PSASBR they are very strong because grabs not only be block and jabs up close but beat the often go to option of roll as well. Examples
Element 4: After utilizing a tick throw,setting up another tick throw situation and ending it with an air to air or launcher instead of throw is strong tactic. Why? Because grab punishes defensive options sans jumping and throw techs. Getting an opponent to respect the throw opens this avenue when pressing an opponent with pokes. Sometimes a good opponent will already respect the throw; thus bypassing the initial tick throw setup and going into counter tactic a good strategy. 1a) here myself ( Raiden) am aware of my opponents inherent skill. Knowing this, I disregard the potential tick throw and go into a launcher; thus landing me KC. http://www.twitch.tv/crouchingfiercetv/c/2066223?t=3h01m11s
Juggling
In a brawler fighter you will often see at ton of what is regarded as most terrible tactic in fighters; jumping. There is reason for this though; in a brawler fighter you have access to a natural change in the trajectory of your character, you can space aerial pokes , have air dodges, double jump defense, and more often than not characters have tools to outright change their trajectory or even stop it (ex: Toro Mochi Ball, Raiden Air Dash). Yet with all these tools jumping still falls to punishment in this game due to two iconic tactics: anti airs and landing traps. Anti airs may be familiar to FGC players but landing traps are slightly different than normal. In brawlers, there is a landing penalty for utilizing airborne moves; this is what balances the poking freedom you receive from air pokes. This penalty, otherwise known as landing lag, allows a guaranteed punish; if you can catch those few frames. This is a major facet of these fighters.
Element 1: While landing traps are strong, they may often be thrwarted by a player who mixes up his landing options. Utilizing your characters moveset to augment your jumping trajectory can allow for a safe landing and at times a potential punishment on the landing trap itself.
1a) here iiGGY (Toro) notices the abuse of Drake’s strong landing trap of run-and-gun. He not only reacts to it and avoids the traps, but actually flies over to Drakes blind spot and punishes in spectacular fashion http://www.twitch.tv/crouchingfiercetv/b/387512234?t=53m13s
Element 2: In PSASBR a ton of lvl2 supers have invunerability to everything sans lvl1s and lvl3. They are perfect tools to punish landings. Even lvl 1 with their range and great priority are strong in this regard.Note: certain moves like the a.d1 of Sir Dan dont allow anyother action after they are utilized in the air. This allows for hard punishes from the moment the hitbox is inactive to their landing. Add on landing lag and a good opponent gets an easy punish
2a) Domino (BD) scouts the aerial HC of Sir Dan and promply rolls to open himself up to a guaranteed punish. Note: certain moves like the a.d1 of Sir Dan dont allow anyother action after they are utilized in the air at a particular height. This allows for hard punishes from the moment the hitbox is inactive to their landing. Add on landing lag and a good opponent gets an easy punish http://www.twitch.tv/crouchingfiercetv/b/387512234?t=1h22m27s
Corner
Here we are focusing on the major advantages gained by cornering your opponent. In all fighters since the beginning of time,the space behind a character is hearled as one of the most important things. Why? Because it is what you ulitilze to change spacing in safe manner. By removing this valuable asset from an opponent you are able to inflict a ton of pressure and damage/AP on your own terms due to their limited position
Element 1: Once you have an opponent cornered, try to establish a safe position outside of their reach AND potential roll out of the corner. Throw safe pokes, worst case scenario you made trade with a defensive poke of their own. However, you get to dictate the spacing. Wait for them to tilt ( perform an action as result of pressure), then and either punish their panic option with an attack or just a reset via grab. Raw supers gain more viability in this scenario due to the fact they can cover 3/ 4 potential wake up options.
1a) Domino(BD) with great meter awareness and corner pressure realizes he can just trade jabs with Kat all day; unless she rolls out. In the eventual scenario that happened he could track that down with a grab. He eventually gets the meter of multitude of trades and pops the lvl2 for easy kill http://www.twitch.tv/crouchingfiercetv/b/387512234?t=1h14m36s
1b) Domino (BD) corners his opponent, sets a trap to limit his opponents options and goes for a ground pound. While it seems that his opponent made the right choice in blocking, he actually was caught in a frame trap via BD’s lvl2. Domino sees the poke and punishes with his lvl2 securing another kill. http://www.twitch.tv/crouchingfiercetv/b/387512234?t=1h21m20s
1c) Domino ( BD) drives his opponent to a corner area where his character thrives. Note how long he is able to keep Jak at disadvantage. Although he misses what shouldve been easy lvl1 setup he continues to build meter for BD’s strong lvl2 and destroy the Jak’s morale by dicating the spacing. http://www.twitch.tv/crouchingfiercetv/b/387512234?t=1h25m19s
Supers
In all fighters, supers are basically how you get solid damage. yes you can get a couple of hit in all day, but a super whats really going to take down that life bar. In PSABR the only way to take a down that 3 part life bar is through the use of supers. Understanding their use in the make up of PSABR is truly the difference between competent or not in this game.
Element 1: In PSABR there is an interesting property to all supers; they are unblockable. Not only that; even the lowest tier super ( LvL 1) has ridiculous amounts of priority. knowing how to utilize them to whiff punish particular attacks in huge.
Element 2: In PSABR Supers are also very valuable in terms of okizeme/tech chase because of their unblockable trait AND because most exhibit some solid range. Knowing what oki options your character readily react to with a Super for a guaranteed damage ( 1 stock/ one third of life) is huge.
Element 3: Part of PSABR is understanding what options of yours are limited once an opponent has a certain amount of meter. Knowing your opponents meter gain helps you guage what can poke becomes a KC and what not.
Element 4: When your opponent has enough meter and begins to fish for a KC, remember that this also a time some opponents can become very easily baited. walking into their strongest KC range often will get a blockable reaction out of them. From there you can perhaps punish the attack used and gain advantage or a KC yourself or you can out right counter your opponents KC (if your character has one). Note: that you want to be aware of quick supers if they actually have a Full Bar. This is why you should use escape options that take into account that options as well.
Short Hop Pressure/ Hopkicks:
This is a major reason why pressure via brawler fighters is different in regards to most traditional fighters ( however KoF utilizes this particular pressure just the same). Basically everyone in these game has some sort of attack that functions similarly in tactics to a hop kick ( not all of them are as viable, but they definitely have use). the reason these moves are good because they are quick offensive attacks that maintain a strong defensive presense as well. Utilizing appropiate SH pressure and knowing how to counter it is a brawler game hallmark.
Element 1: quick SH attacks tend to be in certain MUs very strong. They avoid regular ground attacks and certain ones can snuff out inadequate launchers, or even trade in advantageous manner. Usually the notable quick SH attacks require a large risk to curtail allowing a great risk/reward for you. Bait out the anti air and you can gain a potential grab, KC, or AP burst. These attacks can be quite quick as well and give a ton of advantage even if they are blocked due to maintain pressure and momentum. In a corner they can also be spaced to cover your escape roll route. Utilizing these kind of attacks is often critical maintaing a strong offense.
Element 2: When close, Quick SH attacks/hopkicks can be used to extend offensive pressure and and escape through poke string patterns. Also due to their strength, they end up forcing block out of opponents; setting up throw opportunities
Element 3: While Quick SH attacks/ hopkicks are more common in these type of fighters, there are more tactics to counter them. All quick SH attacks will have some form of landing lag, which may be small on block but properly timed whiff punishes do a ton of damage if the opponent is competent. So simply moving in and out of their ideal spacing is critical to a successful punish. Also once you are caught in that range; block and already have a counter strategy to your opponents strongest options from that pressure. No matter what game you are in, Dive kicks/Quick SH attacks/ Hop kicks usually arent the ones causing the damage. Its the result of the pressure. Dont be afraid to experiment with standing attacks that can work against these strong offensive attacks
Videos for these other elements will be posted soon ( if you have any suggestions for example clips please post them!!!)
GigaPunch 