In-depth Blanka FAQ
-------------------
Author: Pee-tah / Peter Ng
Version: 0.99
Date: 12th March 2001
Credits:
--------
- Me. Names of all moves have been named myself. Blanka's moves are rather
basic looking, and its pretty obvious what you mean when you say
'electricity' so I thought researching the real names of moves would sound
too flashy, and would be too confusing for practical purposes.
- Kao Megura, tho I don't think I've read any CvS or fighting FAQ of his as
yet, he definitely deserves credit as the ultimate FAQ-write known to the
history of gamefaqs writing.
Version Update:
---------------
Version 0.99: My first FAQ! I might not be bothered ever to update this, so
this poor thing may never reach version 1+ status.
Copyrights etc.:
----------------
This document Copyright 2001 to me. Though I doubt something THIS in-depth
would ever amount to commercial value. You can try it, but your book won't
sell.
Terms:
------
c - charge
B - Back
F - Forward
D - Down
U - Up
P - punch button
K - kick button
PP - both punches
KK - both kicks
LK - light kick
SK - strong kick
LP - light punch
SP - strong punch
Ball Roll cBF+P
Vertical Roll cDU+K
Hop Back Roll cBF+K
Surprise Back B+KK
Surprise Forward (F+)KK
Slide Tackle DF+SP
Head butt B+SP
cr.FK DB+SK
Ball Super cBFBF+P
Roar Super cDB,DF,DB,UF+P
The Basics
----------
Move list
---------
I'm gonna go thru all of Blanka's moves, and give a detail description of
how to use them. Won't talk about moves I find useless. Will tell you about
moves that you might find useful but actually useless.
Crouching Fierce
----------------
THE poke move. It's range is amazing, but nevertheless learn its limits. As
long as this hit connects, blocked or not, you are safe from retaliation.
Okay, MAYBE if you used it right in front of them, but you wouldn't. If you
whiff you'd be open for any sort of sweep thrown at you, cos blanka's body
is outstretched while retracting. Stay within range and, unless you're up
against Dhalsim, wait for the sweep, and punish on reaction. The stronger
your opponent, the more you'll end up relying on this move.
Slide Tackle
------------
In most situations you would use the above in place of this. Too close and
they'll retaliate, whiff and you'd eat just about anything they throw out
cos it's got horrible recovery. It does push the opponent away if it
connects tho so safe in that respect. Only useful because it has quick start
up time so good for slide tackling fireballers (a golden move vs pesky
Guiles)
Crouching Forward
-----------------
This has got more range than it looks. If up close, use this move instead
of cr.FP, due to its ability to link. Once pushed out of its range, use
cr.fierce to continue your poking. Cancel into fierce ball roll if it hits,
it will ALWAYS connect. Also good to cancel this into surprise forward, but
more on this later.
Head Butt
---------
Not as good as cr.FK, not as far reaching, and not low hitting. Double hit
up close, but up close you've got lots of other more interesting options.
Use it on somebody rolling up to you. Hit back and fierce the minute you see
somebody rolling at you. Either headbutt or a punch throw will come out
depending on your reaction time and how quick the roll is. Headbutt comes
out for two hit damage, and throw comes out if they get close. Quite
valuable since roll distances vary much in this game. Practice this to the
extent where you'll do it on reaction, and you are guaranteed to stop the
roller doing whatever he was planning to do.
Crouching LK
------------
Close poke of choice. Learn how to chain two/three of these in a row. And
learn how to chain it into cr.FK. And learn how to chain cr.FK into Ball
Roll and its super version. A must for all blanka experts.
Ball Roll
---------
Blanka's signature move. Learn it. As competition gets better, you'll find
it harder to utilise. It'll lose to jumping stick moves (e.g. Ryu's jumping
jab), rapid crouch jabbing, DP's on reaction. Furthermore people will learn
the moves that can retaliate Blanka in his recoil. Almost all characters
have at least one move (L3 super) that can hit, so you can't just throw this
out without consideration. However, there are characters that cannot tag you
in recoil, and this is where you can abuse this move like a scrub. I won't
go into detail here, cos this IS intended to be an advanced FAQ. The fierce
version can be used as a long range mistake punisher, or to go under jumping
opponents if they're trying to cross you over. The jab version can be used
as a teleport like move. If you get the distance down, this will become a
lethal part of your arsenal. Do it so that you stop in front of them and
you're pretty much guaranteed a techless throw.
Vertical Roll
-------------
Evil. Roundhouse version is a good anti-air. If you manage to anti-air
them, the distances and times for recovery are perfect for wake up games.
Alternatively you can activate electricity for free chip damage when they
get up. Against crossover jumps, the short version is better, cos the
roundhouse would whiff. Apart from that the short version should be left
alone. Roundhouse version has an extra use. It covers insane horizontal
range. If you've pushed somebody up to the corner with cr.fierce, and he's
just out of your cr.fierce range, he may just jump up and down with a stick
short kick to gather his wits as a safe defensive move. You can nail him
from there.
Electricity
-----------
Apart from the method above, I don't see any other use for this. I used to
roll into it, like how shotokan's roll into a DP. But it doesn't share the
same invincible properties as a DP so I gave up on it.
Hop back Roll
-------------
Useless. No wait... you could use it for... wait... no... it really IS
useless...
Surprise Back
-------------
Blanka is so versatile. This is faster and shorter than his back dash.
Various uses, especially in mind games and distancing.
Surprise Forward
----------------
Use this. It will crossup and jump over any crouching kicks. At most blanka
would be hit out of it and since he's airborne, damage to him is limited.
Use it while they get up for a crossover. Learn its distance and its
vulnerable frames. Learn how to throw the minute you land.
Standing Roundhouse
-------------------
Some people use this for anti-air. I don't.
Jumping Roundhouse
------------------
The stretch and extra range you get from pressing roundhouse is unrivalled.
Again, learn its distance. Don't ever jump deep at anyone with this. Jump at
them so that your very toes are in their face. The vertical jump can also be
used as a defence mechanism. As anti-air it is very reliable. Throwing a few
vertical super jumps a distance away is rewarding as well. You can stall the
match and gather your wits knowing that your roundhouse can nab them out of
any advancing move they try.
Jumping Fierce
--------------
If you are intent on fighting air-to-ground battles, use this move instead.
It's got more downwards range which is what matters against anti-air, and
this move is better than roundhouse for deep jump-ins.
Jumping Short
-------------
Blanka's jumping crossover move. Learn the timing and learn how to combo it
into several cr.LK. IMO the super jump version works better, but in an
actual fight, I find you have more chances to distance a normal jump version
than the latter.
Ball Super
----------
L1 version: Can be used for anti-air especially vs crossover, don't use it
in combos.
L2 version: Can chain off a punch throw into wall a slight distance away.
Learn what distance. I don't think its worthwhile using it in other combos
since its not worth losing 2 super meters for a whiff.
L3 version: ARGH! FRESH MEAT! Nasty. Blanka with an L3 bar is played VERY
differently with a Blanka without. LEARN THIS! It can chain off a punch
throw ANYWHERE. It can replace Ball Roll in ALL of blanka's combos. It can
anti-air. It can punish anything you want. And for huge damage. The
difference between L1 and this is about double. Sweeeeet. Most lethal
property is that it can super THRU fireballs. In the initial frames of the
super blanka is invincible (these initial frames is sufficient to go thru
King's double strike). If Guile is a crouching fierce away, and he throws a
sonic boom at you, if you super just as the projectile gets close you WILL
hit guile. Guile has the fastest projectile recovery in the whole game. So
at even further distances away, you can super thru projectiles and still nab
the guy looking so smug hiding behind his little fireball.
Your opponent either does know how dangerous the L3 version is or they
don't. If they don't, punish them. If they do, they will begin to play very
VERY defensively when you've your L3 bar... no problem here... jab ball roll
towards them, punch throw them, and super them regardless...
Roar Super
----------
Anti-air of choice. Jam the punch buttons for more hits. Don't ever think
of using L2 or L3 version, its pointless. It actually doesn't do that much
damage. And occasionally some jump in attacks can knock blanka after the
first hit. But it does serious psychological damage to the opponent. Staring
at the paused screen with blanka in his roar pose, getting juggled sky high,
watching the hit meter rack up, watching you ram the controls for more hits,
and the simple fact of getting hit by a super makes them think twice against
jumping at you again. So, learn how to pull this move out as fast as you can
a DP. My trick is to charge downback (duh...) and then very quickly whip a
half circle from downforward, rolling all the way up to upback. And remember
it is always better to hit the button early than late and tapping twice for
backup. CvS system uses negative edge, i.e. special moves can be activated
by releasing the button as well as pressing it. Don't worry about a standing
jab coming out because the super will override its frames and come out
instead in good time. Other uses include rolling into it like you would roll
into a DP (safe-ish cos the recovery time is quick and hard to predict when
it finishes), and also comboing it from a wall punch throw.
Combos!
-------
You MUST learn these combos if you ever intend to be any good. I'll give a
few pointers on how to get good at them, and when to use them.
*** moves in brackets are optional. Use if you can to rack up the damage ***
(1) (j.SK) -> (cr.LK -> cr.LK) -> cr.FK -> Fierce Ball Roll
First one you should learn. Do it in your sleep. Start off learning how to
chain 3 cr.LK's. Then learn how to tag on the cr.FK at the end (timing same
as LK's). Then practice cancelling the cr.FK into the ball roll. Then do it
all from the j.SK. Sometimes negative edge will make you do Hop back Roll
instead cos you released the roundhouse button from the cr.FK just as you
flip the stick forward. MAKE SURE THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN. You'll go from juicy
damage, to a sitting duck. Do this over and over again until 10/10 times the
whole combo comes out WITHOUT the Hop Back coming out. Its okay if the chain
breaks, but whatever you do, correct the Hop Back problem.
The cr.LK's are not necessary, since if you've charged back since leaving
the ground for your j.SK, you should be able to land and go straight into
cr.FK. But you should get used to throwing a few in, since it gives you more
charge time, and more time to realise whether you're opponent is blocking. I
usually only use one cr.LK, since two might push them too far. One is
optimum, giving you plenty of time to decide whether to go all the way or
stop and throw.
Obviously you don't need to start with j.SK, so use this liberally in your
ground game (e.g. punish rollers, punish mistakes)
(2) crossover j.LK -> cr.LK -> cr.LK -> cr.FK -> Fierce Ball Roll
The next one you should learn. If you've got the timing for the above down,
this shouldn't be hard. Learn how the crossover lands. And make sure you can
chain the j.LK into the cr.LK as the timing is quite tight.
Here you NEED two cr.LK's cos the crossover will ruin your charge. Also
instead of chaining into a cr.FK you have enough space to chain into a Head
Butt instead, which you can cancel the first hit into a Ball Roll. The
advantage of this is that the Hop Back problem won't occur since you're not
negative edging a roundhouse, instead you're negative edging fierce which is
what you want. Its your choice. But for combo (1) I recommend you stick with
cr.FK cos the Head Butt isn't as far reaching and would whiff easier.
Furthermore a whiffed headbutt is much easier to punish than a whiffed
cr.FK. Its okay for this combo tho as the crossover guarantees the distance.
(3) Charge downback, downforward, downback, upback + LP
If you don't recognise this you should be shot. I cannot stress it enough
that to become good you have to be able to throw his roar super out in any
situation. That's why I put it in the combo section. So you'd learn it.
Don't stop practicing it until you can do it as fast as a DP.
(4) Punch throw -> L2/L3 Ball super, L1 Roar super
Its a mashable throw, so make the most out of it. Especially with the
capcom glitch. The way I do it is for the first three or four hits mash and
shake, for next few hits mash buttons and start charging back, and as the
throw ends STOP PRESSING ALL BUTTONS. The first few seconds you're opponent
will not have started anti-mashing yet, so your mashing and shaking is very
productive. You need to charge for the super so start charging downback, but
you can keep mashing buttons. You must leave at least a split second to stop
mashing before the end of the throw otherwise Electicity would come out. The
super has to be executed FAST.
L3 super can be done anywhere, regardless of the wall. L2 super needs the
wall otherwise the body would have fallen too low to connect. Note that for
L2 you can be quite some distance away from the wall and the super will
still connect.
The L1 Roar super has to combo off a throw pretty much right up to the
wall. You'd be using L2/L3 ball super more often but occasionally, you're
left with L1 super, you should do with the best of what you got.
(5) j.SK -> cr.LK -> cr.FK -> cr.FP
A blocked version of (1). People are always waiting for their turn to
retaliate. Pause a bit between the block cr.FK, and then whip out that big
ass crouch fierce.
(6) j.SK -> cr.LK -> cr.FK -> Surprise Forward (Surprise Forward) -> Punch
Throw
A blocked version of (1). After the blocked cr.FK, release the stick and
hit both kicks. Don't try to push the stick forward, cos then you'd get the
dreaded Hop Back Roll again.
After several combo (1)'s and combo (2)'s you've conditioned them into
thinking they're stuck for a while. The cancelled Surprise Forward is very
fast, and all cancelled moves keep the opponent psychologically locked into
thinking they should keep blocking. Especially when blanka is advancing.
Prime time to throw them, and continue into combo (4). Alternatively you can
Surprise Forward again, whereby you cross them over for a throw, or combo of
choice. Kick ass...
Note that this activates the glitch perfectly as the blocked cr.FK is
registered as a blocked strong attack. You are almost guaranteed to dish out
tonnes of damage. Remember to pick the direction of the throw so you can get
the benefit of a wall if need be.
***NOTE: for combos (1) and (2) you can replace the Ball Roll with L3 Ball
super. It takes a while to get the timing down (especially not to activate
that DAMN HOP BACK ROLL!), but it does separate the men from the boys.***
Tactics:
--------
All the above I've written is the basics. Any person who's played blanka to
some depth would already have grasped those concepts, and there isn't much
space for argument. They are straightforward. What I will say next will be
less familiar, more radical, and more open to debate. Because this is where
I describe how I myself play blanka. Everybody plays their characters
differently, and with as versatile a character as blanka, there are many
ways of playing him well. Naturally I believe my way of playing him is the
best way to play him. I may be wrong, and I'd be happy for somebody to show
me I'm wrong, cos then I'd change and make him better. But keep in mind that
everybody's style of playing is unique to themselves so don't get offended
if I make the way you play blanka sound retarded, nor try to copy my style
to the extent that you lose sight of your own. I would love to get any
feedback on this, so I get some insight on other blanka's out there.
Capcom or SNK?
--------------
Originally I was SNK. But having found the deadliness of L3 ball super, and
the abusability of the glitch, Capcom is overwhelming attractive. SNK does
offer you the extra move of charging up. It serves as a taunt, and a useful
taunt at that, since it gives your opponents a reason to try stop you.
Desperation mode does little to blanka, as he can't abuse L1 supers as
efficiently as others. In fact that makes his L3 super even more
predictable. Capcom is more suitable. Your L3 threat is standing throughout
the match. Glitching into the throw pretty much guarantees you a super.
Where to play him?
------------------
If you're being cocky you can play him first, with the intent of taking out
your opponent with blanka only. Don't laugh, its possible. Especially
against scrubs. But I normally place blanka last. He's my confidence guy. If
you've got a better confidence guy, I suppose you should put him last then.
After losing your second last man, you should always be left to think 'ah
well, that's okay, this guy hasn't yet seen my BLANKA!'
Apart from that place him behind a battery character (Capcom mode of
course). Blanka coming in with an L3 super waiting for him is very
promising. Play defensively, unleash a 60% throw -> super combo on him.
Finish him off, and wait for next.
First move
----------
I feel that you should always have A first move. Or two. Just something to
get the game going. Could be something risky, could be something safe, but
start the match at least feeling familiar seeing the animation of blanka
doing Surprise Back. My personal starter move is cr.fierce. It will hit ALL
fat characters, and nab anybody who tries to do anything, and also those
jumping forward. If not, I just sit holding downback, and watch what they
try to do. A majority of people playing against my blanka tend to jump
backwards with a stick jab or roundhouse to knock me out of a potential
fierce ball.
Ground game
-----------
Imagine CvS was changed. They've disabled jumping, or maybe both controls
have lost the 3 up directions. Blanka's crouch fierce looks SO attractive
doesn't it? How on earth are they going to get close to you? This is the
ground game. This jumpless wonderland doesn't grow on trees, you have to
create it. If you constantly eliminate his option of taking to the skies,
we've turned the game into one where blanka has a distinct advantage. So
let's talk about anti-air first...
Anti-air
--------
There are 3 types of jump-in attacks. (1)(a) Far away (1)(b) Deep (2)
Crossover (3) Special (e.g. Dhalsim, Kim).
For (1) the prime move is of course your L3 ball super. If you're not sure
of the timing, then your L1 Roar super works perfectly as well. But if you
don't know if you've got a super, the roundhouse version of Vertical Roll is
the move of choice. If you lost your charge (shit happens... your phone
rings... you had to scratch your ass... whatever...), then jump straight up
with a roundhouse. Either he'll knock you out, or you'll knock him out, or
you'll knock each other out. Chances are you'll win. Note if you're not sure
if you've charged down enough still hit up + roundhouse, either the ball
will come out or jump roundhouse. If its a very deep jump-in, or perhaps
even your opponent doesn't know whether he's trying to cross you up or not,
then consider jumping backwards and roundhouse. Less agressive, seems more
like running away, but does the job.
(2): Crossover attacks are more tricky. Firstly you might be stuck in
crossing over frames making your attacks come out a split second too late
(that IS the beauty of crossover attacks). Secondly your L3 ball super is
rendered useless by the fact that you're being attacked from behind.
Thirdly, your Roar super is risky as the crossover might screw up your
directions. Personally I'd roll fierce across the screen. Keep a distance
between you and your opponent. Second option would be to Surprise Back, but
you have to react quick enough so that you never actually get crossed over,
otherwise you'd get hit by the attack anyways. Third option would be to roll
which should place you in cr.fiercedistance of your landing opponent.
(3) Depends on the special, some of them blocked would lead to a throw, so
it may be better to block them anyways. Otherwise just stuff them with a
roundhouse Vertical Roll.
Anti-air from getting up
------------------------
Different situation here. Naturally you should always use delayed get up
(hold PP). A whiffed jump in attack would mean a throw -> super. But
supposing that your opponent got the timing right you'll have to block it.
If there is even a sliver of a gap, then roar super immediately. I cannot
stress enough the importance of being able to whip this move out of nowhere.
If the guy crosses you up, you're stuck. If the opportunity presents itself,
roll out of it.
Back to the ground game...
--------------------------
Mark your territory. Ever played against a good dhalsim player? Find
yourself always ready to block when you're in range of his dreaded
roundhouse and F+fierce? You want to impress this on your opponent. With
blanka, you've got 3 attacks that dominate space. Crouch fierce, jump
roundhouse, and fierce ball roll. Push them away to the brink of your crouch
fierce, whiff once, and then start super jumping straight up and show off
your roundhouse. And that's basically it. Your aim is to stop him advancing,
and anticipate your opponent. If you set your mind to it, and really
concentrate (I mean completely focussed attention here), you can keep the
opponent at bay, and fire off that L3 ball super the split second you see an
opening (roll, fireball, jump-in, special move e.g. king's tornado kick).
Jump in game
------------
Blanka's jump in game has always been my personal favourite. In the days of
the original SF2, I used to always pick Blanka and my brother always used to
pick Chun Li. Back then, blanka's anti-air moves were limited, without his
vertical roll. Both his standing fierce and roundhouse had difficulty
dealing with the Chunsters off the wall stomp kicks. So whenever my brother
got close, I had to roll across the screen. Running is not the way to win so
I figured out how to do it without, of course, using Ryu or Ken. The trick
is to keep Chun Li from jumping in the first place. Blanka's jump was
nastier back then, it had shorter horizontal distance, went up quick, came
down quick. I would jump in with a fierce, then jump back straight up again
with a roundhouse, and again, and again, until I've pushed him too far away,
and I jump ahead with the fierce again. It kept Chun Li in a LOT of block
stun, and without dashes, she had had no where to go. Jumping back would not
get away as she'd still eat my jumping roundhouse. Ah... the good old
days...
Enough of that.
Generally speaking I don't rely on a jump-in game. Some characters have
very effective anti-airs (e.g. Ken's DP, L1 DP super, L2 kick DP super), and
it would not be worth your while to throw in a few to test your opponent.
But against some characters without invincible frames of anti-air, you could
easily work it into your wake-up game. I can't tell you how you'd work this
into your game, cos I don't. My blanka doesn't knock down people too much
(by-product of choosing cr.fierce over slide tackle). But you do have
opportunities now and then, and I'll point out the most common ones that you
should be prepared for.
Refer to the anti-air section above about types of jump in attacks. Of
those categories, the best attack for the 3 available him are:
Far away : strong kick
Deep : strong punch
Crossover : light kick
But I would never recommend jumping in deep. Just keep it to far away
jump-ins and crossover jump-ins.
Far away
--------
* Wake-up opportunity:
* - After a successful ball or vertical ball.
Remember that you can hit from a VERY far distance away. Learn the maximum
distance and use it to your advantage. When you've got that distance down,
learn to jump in WITHOUT using it. Yes that's right, DON'T use it. At a
certain position in the air, you have the option of attacking them or not.
If you choose to attack, your opponent either tried to block or anti-air,
therefore he'd either block your attack, trade hits, or hit you. If you
choose not to attack, again your opponent either tried to block, in which
case you will land safely, or your opponent will try to anti-air you.
Presuming they've got no long reaching anti-air (e.g. guile, blanka) chances
are they've whiffed and standing wide open for cr.forward -> ball roll. As
you can see, it's actually far more beneficial to you NOT to attack, however
be ready to hit that roundhouse regardless in case your opponent whiff's an
attack, or jumps towards you.
If it connects, link into combo (1)
Crossover
---------
* Wake-up opportunities:
* - After a crossover anti-air vertical ball. Move back slightly first.
* - After anti-air roar.
* - After a successful ball roll. Dash forward first. It may be too late to
count as a wake-up tho.
Crossover games are fun. Crossover them, tick them with one or two cr.LKs,
then jump over them for another crossover, lather rinse repeat. This is
where your combo (2) above steps in.
Playing with the L3 super
-------------------------
It's very predictable if you're crouching there all day waiting to super
him. But if you think about it, there's not much they can do about it can
they? You can super thru his fireball, throw him into the super, or super
his jump-in attacks. Concentrate on pure anticipation, and don't mess up,
MAKE IT COUNT. Alternatively you may run into some people who really are
quite flawless in execution leaving you no gaps. For example, mega pokers
like Kim, Terry and Guile will give you a few problems, if they decide to
continue poking thru out the match. Then you'll have to change your tactics.
You can only create more situations by moving around, and this means you
can't sit there charging back all day. This means that the only way you can
throw out the super is if you combo it or throw him into it. This is where
learning how to chain the L3 super off a cr.FK becomes so valuable. As long
as you've learnt how to stop the hop back roll coming out, you can do
delayed pokes all day, buffering the command for the super, and only hitting
both punches if you see the cr.FK connect.
Playing without the L3 super
----------------------------
So you've landed that super, and your opponent is roughly at half a life
bar. It seems that the smart thing to do would be to play defensive. But if
you've landed that super early on, you should go all out offensive. Three
reasons: (1) you've earned yourself a bonus by taking off so much damage so
early, you really should make that bonus count by finishing him off quick
and getting a juicy time-life reward; (2) getting hit by an L3 super would
make your opponent want to do the same to you ASAP, and thus if you're
constantly attacking (e.g. multiple crossovers) he's more likely to try get
out of it and end up making more mistakes; (3) since after the super you are
superless, you no longer have the anti-air roar super option, so by
attacking you won't need that anti-air as desperately, and also you'd charge
up supers much faster: aim to get one super bar ASAP, and afterwards aim to
have all three when you finish him.
In a situation where the lifebars are about similar and you haven't got L3
yet, you can afford to play defensive. Poke with cr.fierce and j.roundhouse
to keep them at bay, and ball thru any jump-in or roll attempts. However, I
feel that its really no fun to play that way, and its worthwhile to
sacrifice the win just to play Blanka savagely... MUAHAHAHHAHAHA...
One thing to remember, without the 3 super levels, your primary aim should
be to get up to 3 bars ASAP, cos Blanka is far more dangerous then. So the
punch throw has become your friend, and any chance to activate the bug is
golden. If you do it right, chances are you'll activate the bug, and can
combo that L3 super immediately off the throw.
That's all I've got to say right now...
hatemail to:
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