Ver 0.2: Adding a versus section
Ver 0.1: Did my intro, special moves, super moves, strats (will add combos
and versus later)
INTRODUCTION:
Hey guys. This is my first time writing a faq so don't expect some heavy duty
ASCII art or anything like that sort of stuff. Gambit is has been and always
will be my number 1 character. Him, Guile/ Charlie will always be on the top
of my list. Gambit isn't one of those regular do-gooders, and he ain't
really a team leader, and he definitely isn't the strongest or the fastest.
These are some of the reasons I like him. He's different. He does what he
wants to do and nothing else. Playing Gambit isn't about getting all those
little hits in, it's about style, and in order to play Gambit you gotta learn
that style. He ain't a scrub, and he ain't power. He's tricky, but once you
get it, it pays off. (note: This is for intermediate to advance players)
GAMBIT'S SPECIAL MOVES
1) Kinetic Card: (d, df, f + punch)
This is Gambit's fireball. But it ain't just a regular fireball. It's fast,
it's invisible, and it's just too sweet. This is one of the aspects that
makes Gambit so different. Because it comes instantaneously, it can catch
people off guard. This move has absolutely no recovery time, and after
thrown, you can block immidiately if you miss. These babies can be thrown
from the air and they slow down the rate at which he falls, allowing you to
dump a whole deck on your opponent before landing. The punch determines how
long it stuns the opponent. Jab comes out fast, yet does not hold the
opponent for that long. Fierce comes out slow and holds the opponent
forever. It is possible to OTG air combo after doing this move if you're
fast enough. These babies are faster then a beam, I once pulled this move
just as Ryu was doing his shinkuu-hadoken, and I won out.
2) Trick Card: (d, db, b +punch)
Same thing as Kinetic card, but direction is at an angle. After nailing him
with the card, you can launch him into a royal flush. It's hard to time this
as an air defense, and should only be used as a "trick". Other then that I
can't seem to find a good use for it.
3) Cajun Slash: (f, d, df + punch)
This is an extremely useful move. It's a dashing type move, quick and free
from recovery time. A cajun slash can be comboed, used as a surprise tactic,
and has a lot of range and priority. Depending on the button pressed, Gambit
will do either of the following:
Jab: Gambit will take a big step and during that step takes a huge swing at
his opponent. This is the one I used the most. Lots of range, very quick on
the first hit, and high priority. This move is comboable but does not OTG.
Strong: Gambit will jump and take a slam his staff below him like his
jumping fierce, then he will add to additional hits with the last hit
resembling his crouching strong. I think this move OTG. It did in X-Men vs
Street Fighter. Anyways, the little jump allows him to avoid trips and hit
em on the way down. The range of the first hit isn't as great as the jab
cajun slash, but it's better then average. I use this version of the cajun
slash the least.
Fierce: This is a pretty useful version of the cajun slash. Gambit will
take three swipes with this one, and it OTG. It's got the most range, and
goes a little more then half a screen. I love comboing this version.
4) Cajun Strike: (d, u + punch or kick)
Gambit jumps from side to side then comes down with a kick or a flipping
staff smash. I don't know what to say about this move. It's got high
priority, but it starts up slow, and it's hard to control. I pulled this
move off by accident one time and I was eating Kikoken super on my way down.
The only have to say is don't do this move unless you're fighting the
computer.
GAMBIT'S SUPER MOVES
1) Royal Flush: (d, df, f + 2punches)
This is one of my favorite moves. Gambit tosses his staff into the air,
shouts "Royal Flush" then unloads 37 cards upon his opponent. Does a lot of
flashes when it hits, and drains a lot of life. It's alright for chipping,
although it shouldn't be used for that. The twirling staff in the air can
hit opponents right back down into the cards, but a lot of people air block
it. Man they should make the staff unblockable since it's so hard to hit
people with it. Anyways, this super starts out real slow, (at least not as
slow as WarMachine's Proton Cannon) and it also has a little bit of recovery
delay (again, not as much as WarMachine's Proton Cannon). The only supers
that can probably tag him after his royal flush are, Gambit (gotta be really
quick), Ryu (easily done), captain commando, and shadow Lady (i'm not too
sure about this one). Anyways, this move can OTG, but I never try to OTG
whenever the opponent is in the corner. Sometimes it doesn't hit, and it
leaves Gambit standing with a big bullseye in his belly.
2) Cajun Explosion: (d, df, f or d,db,b + 2 kicks)
This move resembles an angled Magnetic Shockwave. Gambit jumps to one wall
or the other (forward if you do the fireball motion, backward if you do the
hurricane) and throws a kinetic card which turns into a huge wave. This is a
surfing super, but it only gets in about 5 hits and little damage. I can't
seem to nail an opponent with this one. Even with their backs to the corner,
they are still able to block it if I jump behind them. It's pretty decent at
chipping though. Oh well, it works great on computers.
MY LITTLE GAMBIT STRATEGIES
Playing Gambit requires a lot of cancelling, quick and tactical thinking,
knowing your opponent and a mix of defense and offense.
Strat # 1: Cancelling
Whenever I play Gambit, I always cancel my normal moves into a lot of special
moves. Gambit's not as fast as Spider-man, so a lot of his offense is
blocked.
To remedy this, I always cancel the last hit of my combo into a special move
leaving Gambit relatively safe and also chipping away at my opponent's
lifebar.
Crouching roundhouses take a lot out of Gambit. After it's blocked opponents
can easily combo the crap out of him. I throw in a jab Kinetic card after
every blocked crouching roundhouse. It comes really quick because it's
instantaneous, it catches people that are trying to dash in on you for that
combo. If they block the kinetic card, throw in a cajun slash. They always
think the kinetic card has recovery time, but it doesn't and soon, they'll
get smacked in the face. If they don't fall for it... who cares... you're
doing a little chipping for every kinetic card. Sometimes I encounter people
that jump when I pull off the Kinetic card. Again because of the little
recovery time, I get these guys with Gambit extremely useful launcher. Don't
ever let your guard down. Let these guys know that they're gonna take the
chipping damage, or take the air combo. Canceling with specials after normal
moves should be second nature to Gambit players, and getting it you should
encorporate it into every single tactic you use. Even after blocked
launchers, I pull off a kinetic card, and if they jump again, another
launcher into a kinetic card and maybe a cajun slash. Standing fierces
should be cancelled with kinetic cards if they're blocked or ducked.
Strat #2: Quick and Tactical Thinking
One of my big weaknesses with Gambit is that I get way too predictable. Sure
I can corner them and chip em to death until they make a mistake, but those
that don't make a mistake can be pretty troublesome for Gambit. For example,
I was playing a friend of mine who knew exactly what my patterns were.
Jumping fierce, jumping roundhouse, dash, ducking short, ducking strong,
ducking fierce, jab kinetic card, jab cajun slash. He knew my cancelling
pattern, and waited me out. I did this for the third time, and when I threw
the kinetic card, he jumped and stuck out venom's long hands in my face.
After that I was eating an air combo with a venom fang finish. I got up, did
my pattern again, but this time instead of pulling off a kinetic card, i
pulled off a jab trick card. He fell for it when he jumped, and I was able
to launch, super. One thing that Gambit players should do but I find very
hard to, is never fall into the same pattern over and over again. When you
play an opponent for the first time, it's hard for them to notice the
pattern. But after they learn it, it can be really trouble for you. One of
the things I'm trying to do is copy my friend's philosophy by never using the
same pattern more than twice in a row if they don't fall for it. It's really
hard to do this. Also one of the really big things that I do is the dash
behind the jump launcher move. Gambit's got a pretty quick dash and it can
often catch people off guard. When they jump, quickly dash behind them and
launch.
Strat #3: Knowing your opponent
There's no one way to play Gambit. A good Gambit player knows exactly what
to do in every possible situation. He should sum up the odds, and follow the
strategy that's best layed before him. Different players require different
ways of attacking. Players who constantly are on the offense are very
susceptible to dashing and crouching attacks. A lot of these guys try to get
in every single hit in a combo, and are not thinking about their defense and
just want to get the applause. Punish their mistakes by pulling off a
launcher when they jump, a kinetic card when they're far away, and a jab
cajun slash when they dash in on you. Don't ever try any patterns on these
guys as for some reason, I don't know why, they manage to dodge you and pull
off a combo. Turtlers are some of the easiest people to handle with Gambit.
Gambit's jumping fierce, to jumping roundhouse catches tons of turtlers off
guard. No one expects another strong attack after a fierce punch. Turtler's
and keep aways can't handle it up close, and after you hit them with the
jumping roundhouse, follow it up with an air combo. After you land, jump
straight up and repeat with jumping fierce jumping roundhouse. Turtler's are
so busy trying to block every single attack that they won't risk try to
attack you unless you make a big mistake. With your cancelling kinetic cards
and cajun slashes, you should be relatively safe from any attack and thus,
not making any mistakes. There's a ton of different players out there and
you just got to figure them out. See if they launch you if you jump, if they
do, they're probably a rusher. If they block, they're probably a turtler.
Of course there's those people who are mixed, and those guys are the
toughies. There's no one way to play against these guys, and it just
requires a mix of tactics.
Strat #4 Mixes of OFFENSE and DEFENSE
Gambit can both go offense and defense. Because of his range, he's got
pretty good priority and because of his priority he's got pretty good
defense. Offensive tactics require a basic knowledge of Gambit's attacks.
Jumping fierce has a lot of priority, and can combo into jumping roundhouse.
Ducking short is quick has okay range. Crouching fierce is powerful and
sends opponents sky high.
Standing strong is extremely high in priority. Know which moves to use for
offense and which for defense. Whenever jumping in on a ground opponent
always jump with fierce, then cancel into roundhouse. The first hit has a
ton of priority and damage, and the second just adds up to more damage. They
go well together. After this dash in and pull off a combo. If they block
the combo, end it with a kinetic card and then a cajun slash if they block
the KC. When your on defense, remember that Gambit's launcher is a pain for
other characters. Also, Gambit's jump is extremely high and slow. Watch out
for those guys that like to dash under you and launcher you. Your Jumping
fierce won't hit anyone behind you so you better block accordingly. Gambit's
classified as a mid-tall character. Watch out for the double kick jump in
from other characters. For defense, just basically watch your blocking and
pull off your high priority moves (launcher, jab cajun slash, standing
strong) when they least expect it.
Versus characters strategies: (human opponents)
This is where I'm gonna discuss specific strategies for specific characters.
(note: this is for human players...not that easy computer). Anyways, each
section will have a paragraph, outlining specific details, and also will have
a set of "Do's" and "Don'ts". The Do's and Don'ts are not neccesarily true,
but it just tells you that you shouldn't pull off the don'ts without
thinking. Like, for Ryu, if you can combo the royal flush, great, but if
not... don't ever pull it off. Anyways... on with the strats.
Vs Ryu:
Ryu's a very very old character and you'll see a lot of the same strategies
from Marvel vs street fighter and Xmen vs sf that are used here. I used to
find it so hard to fight against Ryu. When I first played I always jumped
against my opponent with a roundhouse. They always uppercutted me into that
air shinkuuhadoken. Always jump at Ryu with a jumping fierce chain into
roundhouse. Your fierce will beat his launcher, and the extra kick gets you
the extra damage.
Only pull off this chain when they're on the ground. After you hit em with
this, they're probably gonna try to meet you in the air with a jumping
hurricane kick while you're jumping. Always ALWAYS pull back on your jump
and dashes. When you're blocking the hurricane kick, Ryu will follow you
down and try to follow up with a series of ducking attacks. Always block low
after blocking an air hurricane kick. After they finish they're little
ground combo, jump at them, but air block. Most likely they'll do another
hurricane kick, and repeat that ground combo. Now, this time don't jump at
them. A lot of Ryu players will do the air hurricane, and you can launch em
and follow it up with a combo. Ground kinetic cards are safe, same with
super jumping, but don't ever pull off a normal jumping kinetic card. You're
gonna eat an air super in your face. Also don't pull off royal flushes
unless comboed. Ryu can hit you while you're in your stun animation. Ryu
doesn't have any good priority jump-ins so you can launch this baby without
feeling worried.
Vs Captain Commando:
This guy has pretty devastating comboes, but if you're extremely careful with
him, you can get the best of him. He's got a slow dash so it's pretty easy
to spot that dash behind launch into captain sword. His standing roundhouse
leaves him pretty open unless he cancels into a captain fire or a captain
corridor.
If he does the captain Fire when he's up close, block, then pull off a cajun
slash. Don't try dashing in cause it won't be fast enough. Not a lot of
strategy here since Captain Commando players are extremely predictable.
Also, roll roll roll. Getting hit by a captain corridor leaves you in a
world of hurt. If he plays keep away, just super jump and keep on tossing
those kinetic cards. You'll be able to block the captain sword if he pulls
it off, and if he doesn't, he'll probably get mad and try to chase after you.
I always dash behind this guy when he jumps to launch him because his jumping
fierce will beat Gambit's launcher. Watch your jump ins, a captain corridor
or a launcher isn't too good for you. I'd prefer dashing in on this guy.
CONCLUSION: Anyways that's about it for now. I'm gonna add a few comboes
that I love to do and versus strategies for specific characters later.
Anyways Thanks goes out to MIGS for his excellent site (some of the
descriptions and strats are from his awesome site). Thanks also goes out to
all the Gambit fans out there, because skilled players pick Gambit.
Unskilled players pick Strider. Yeah, well I'm gonna mail this in now. See
ya later.
