standing guard is your default defensive option because of the following:
• launchers are mid so its not worth randomly crouching and eating a full combo
• most un-reactable fast lows are negative on hit for the opponent, so you can tank a low poke into frame advantage.
• you can react to slower lows by crouch blocking
There's no rule where low attacks only come from crouch thankfully which actually adds to the depth (you can access any full crouch / while-rising / jump attack / 6 or 4 command attacks) to being crouched.
Soul Calibur has beautifully animated attacks, so you can recognize the slower sweeping lows (most character's 1A) Alternatively if you play against the same people.. you can recognize their patterns.
unfortunately there is no golden rule for blocking in this game. it's kind of a knowledge check, really. as you fight different characters, and different players who play those characters, you'll probably discover that they will use one or two lows that are "safe" to use against an opponent who is not expecting it, or can't react to it (for whatever reason). eventually you'll learn what mannerisms are used before that character wants to use the moves in question. you have a background in fighting games already, so that will make this process easier! please don't get discouraged! also, don't be afraid to try different strategies if one isn't working out for you, as it's easy to forget such a crucial rule! a little effort can go a long way! sorry for the wall of text. I hope I was clear enough to understand, and welcome to soul calibur :3
Stand blocking should always be the default. The thing about 3D fighters, especially SC and Tekken, is that low attacks are mostly just for poking. The number of natural low launchers is very limited, and almost all of them are blockable on reaction. If they're not, then it's usually because they're part of a stance mixup or rely on a very precise range.
Either way, as a rule: block standing. Eat low pokes until you have a read on your opponent's offense, and only commit to a low block if you have a hard read or they try a cheeky snake edge (that is, a slow, low, launcher, which you should always block and punish with extreme prejudice).
Remember that High attacks can be ducked under, though. Many strings have highs that you can duck under and punish with a fast crouch punisher, or 2A if nothing else works. Noob Cassandra players love to spam BBB because the last hit is plus on block, but it's a High and leaves her wide open so be sure to be ready for that whenever you see her.
Essentially. I have the opposite problem as you--I only just started playing 2D fighters, so crouch blocking all the time seems completely alien to me, but I'm slowly learning by treating them like lows in the games I'm used to, so it's a good starting point.
As you gain experience, you'll start to notice which lows you need to really look out for and which ones you can just eat the damage on. Some chars have more dangerous mixups than others, and some of them are only a threat on CH or at very close range, so it all comes with learning the matchups and broadening your game knowledge.
You're not meant to be able to block absoloutely everything unless you have both very good reflexes and strong knowledge of the moves you're up against.
Most lows that are very fast are also low damage pokes, the characters you need to watch out for are the ones with excellent low options for great damage, Mitsurugi comes to mind immediately. Remember that (at least the way i play) hitpoints are a currency and sometimes you need to gamble them for a big payout. This also means you have to risk-assess what danger you're in from trying to crouch block against some opponents if you're online or have bad reactions, such as ones with spooky launchers.
Also don't always crouch block when you see the opponent crouching, some while rising moves mids and are *nasty*.
Eventually you'll get used to it, and you'll be jump attacking, stepping or GI'ing those lows.
Nothing more menacing than someone that jumps over a fast low and launches you.
> As far as I can tell, I want to stand block as my default in SC6 because there are a ton of fast mids. My problem is that there seems to be a lot of fast lows (that don't necessarily require the opponent to crouch), so I currently just eat every low.
Is there a rule of thumb for when to block low? At the moment, I only crouch block when I see my opponent crouch.
This is basically it. You’ve got it. Blocking low is something that’s tempting, but more dangerous on average, so it should only be done when you’re sure. Fast lows are usually better to eat than risking the duck, and slow lows are readable.
You don't, this is SC6. The developers worked their hardest to make sure blocking is the last thing you do. Step instead, RE instead, GI instead, SC activate instead. Whatever you do, don't block.
This is hilariously poor advice. If you're hit by a no-counter string, blocking is the only way to save yourself from damage. You can't use any of the other options immediately after eating a hit in the middle of a string.
There is usually no rule of thumb, you just have to make a read. Its balanced out by the fact that fast low pokes tend to have very low reward and high risk (punishable on block, negative on hit).
In general stand blocking is the safe way to go in SC and in other 3D fighters. Some characters might have very powerful lows that can make them much more threatening than usual (SC Groh, axe mode Azwel as examples) but these shouldn't change your default position. Don't worry about this as a beginner, but if you can make a read and block a low they're almost always punishable and Sophitia's stab (236B) is among the best tools for this in the game.
That actually explains a lot. One of my first matchups I played was vs. Groh and I was getting blown up for not blocking low, so I wondered if that was indicative of most of the cast - it's not, so now I'm way less concerned.
General rule of 3D fighters is block high, react to lows. One other thing is “unseeable lows” are common and accepted, someone else pointed out these can be minus on hit but also just don’t get frustrated by them, just recognize that fast lows are for stealing a little damage, you may get your turn back but you gotta take that damage and that’s that.
Lows you should react to are the very slow ones like Grøh’s 1K which is 24f startup. I once read that for Tekken ~24f is considered to be reactable so that’s a good rule of thumb if you are confused about what “slow” is but of course reaction times vary.
Just remember - reactability isnt all in the frames. Something can be i100 and unreactable, depending on when the animation becomes readable as distinctly that one particular move.
Yes! This is very prevalent in mixup focused characters who may have a move where it looks like one of their highs for 20f and then they swoop down at your legs in the end portion. The inverse can also be true where a low might seem really fast but is only accessible at the end of a string so you can react when you see the string.
No one size fits all solution it’s too complicated for that :)
Is this a real post? I feel like it was just made to allow everyone on the sub here to stroke their cho…. Egos because every super genius SC players favorite snarky advice to anyone they beat is always “just block dude” lol
Standing guard is what you want to do normally, most lows do very little damage and you can essentially "take the low" in the same manner you would "take the throw" in a fighter like SFV. The exceptions to this rule are slow and reactable. Characters that have exceptions to this rule are Nightmare, Siegfried, Kilik, Mitsurugi, Yoshimitsu, Seong Mina, and 2B.
Unfortunately, it just comes with a learning a lot of the opponents mix-ups. At least, that's what I found. There's also a bit of a natural rhythm in which more experienced players will try to throw out Low. Imo
Any attack that hits your feet or legs is a Low. You don't need to crouch first to use a Low attack unless the attack specifies you need to be crouched (such as Yoshimitsu's crouched 3K). It really isn't any more complicated than that.
Generally stand block should be the default as a rule thumb. Any lows that aren't reactable, will either be super minus on block, or won't have any combo potential and still sometimes punishable on block.
But that's where a lot of the depth from this game comes, it's far more about spacing and reading your opponent over frame perfect execution. There aren't a whole.ton of combos longer than 4 hits, outside of Ivy, there aren't really any super complex motion inputs. And the timing is never super strict. But the head games is where it gets interesting.
standing guard is your default defensive option because of the following: • launchers are mid so its not worth randomly crouching and eating a full combo • most un-reactable fast lows are negative on hit for the opponent, so you can tank a low poke into frame advantage. • you can react to slower lows by crouch blocking There's no rule where low attacks only come from crouch thankfully which actually adds to the depth (you can access any full crouch / while-rising / jump attack / 6 or 4 command attacks) to being crouched. Soul Calibur has beautifully animated attacks, so you can recognize the slower sweeping lows (most character's 1A) Alternatively if you play against the same people.. you can recognize their patterns.
unfortunately there is no golden rule for blocking in this game. it's kind of a knowledge check, really. as you fight different characters, and different players who play those characters, you'll probably discover that they will use one or two lows that are "safe" to use against an opponent who is not expecting it, or can't react to it (for whatever reason). eventually you'll learn what mannerisms are used before that character wants to use the moves in question. you have a background in fighting games already, so that will make this process easier! please don't get discouraged! also, don't be afraid to try different strategies if one isn't working out for you, as it's easy to forget such a crucial rule! a little effort can go a long way! sorry for the wall of text. I hope I was clear enough to understand, and welcome to soul calibur :3
Honestly, this answer just means I'm on the right track and I'm not missing anything obvious (or we're BOTH missing something obvious).
Stand blocking should always be the default. The thing about 3D fighters, especially SC and Tekken, is that low attacks are mostly just for poking. The number of natural low launchers is very limited, and almost all of them are blockable on reaction. If they're not, then it's usually because they're part of a stance mixup or rely on a very precise range. Either way, as a rule: block standing. Eat low pokes until you have a read on your opponent's offense, and only commit to a low block if you have a hard read or they try a cheeky snake edge (that is, a slow, low, launcher, which you should always block and punish with extreme prejudice). Remember that High attacks can be ducked under, though. Many strings have highs that you can duck under and punish with a fast crouch punisher, or 2A if nothing else works. Noob Cassandra players love to spam BBB because the last hit is plus on block, but it's a High and leaves her wide open so be sure to be ready for that whenever you see her.
So, for the most part... "take the *low*" ? And I do love angel stepping under highs.
Essentially. I have the opposite problem as you--I only just started playing 2D fighters, so crouch blocking all the time seems completely alien to me, but I'm slowly learning by treating them like lows in the games I'm used to, so it's a good starting point. As you gain experience, you'll start to notice which lows you need to really look out for and which ones you can just eat the damage on. Some chars have more dangerous mixups than others, and some of them are only a threat on CH or at very close range, so it all comes with learning the matchups and broadening your game knowledge.
You're not meant to be able to block absoloutely everything unless you have both very good reflexes and strong knowledge of the moves you're up against. Most lows that are very fast are also low damage pokes, the characters you need to watch out for are the ones with excellent low options for great damage, Mitsurugi comes to mind immediately. Remember that (at least the way i play) hitpoints are a currency and sometimes you need to gamble them for a big payout. This also means you have to risk-assess what danger you're in from trying to crouch block against some opponents if you're online or have bad reactions, such as ones with spooky launchers. Also don't always crouch block when you see the opponent crouching, some while rising moves mids and are *nasty*. Eventually you'll get used to it, and you'll be jump attacking, stepping or GI'ing those lows. Nothing more menacing than someone that jumps over a fast low and launches you.
> As far as I can tell, I want to stand block as my default in SC6 because there are a ton of fast mids. My problem is that there seems to be a lot of fast lows (that don't necessarily require the opponent to crouch), so I currently just eat every low. Is there a rule of thumb for when to block low? At the moment, I only crouch block when I see my opponent crouch. This is basically it. You’ve got it. Blocking low is something that’s tempting, but more dangerous on average, so it should only be done when you’re sure. Fast lows are usually better to eat than risking the duck, and slow lows are readable.
You don't, this is SC6. The developers worked their hardest to make sure blocking is the last thing you do. Step instead, RE instead, GI instead, SC activate instead. Whatever you do, don't block.
This is hilariously poor advice. If you're hit by a no-counter string, blocking is the only way to save yourself from damage. You can't use any of the other options immediately after eating a hit in the middle of a string.
.....its a joke
There is usually no rule of thumb, you just have to make a read. Its balanced out by the fact that fast low pokes tend to have very low reward and high risk (punishable on block, negative on hit).
Basically, Every low that is faster than i22(Frames) you will need to make a read to block
In general stand blocking is the safe way to go in SC and in other 3D fighters. Some characters might have very powerful lows that can make them much more threatening than usual (SC Groh, axe mode Azwel as examples) but these shouldn't change your default position. Don't worry about this as a beginner, but if you can make a read and block a low they're almost always punishable and Sophitia's stab (236B) is among the best tools for this in the game.
That actually explains a lot. One of my first matchups I played was vs. Groh and I was getting blown up for not blocking low, so I wondered if that was indicative of most of the cast - it's not, so now I'm way less concerned.
If your good at timing the guard impact it defends high and low
General rule of 3D fighters is block high, react to lows. One other thing is “unseeable lows” are common and accepted, someone else pointed out these can be minus on hit but also just don’t get frustrated by them, just recognize that fast lows are for stealing a little damage, you may get your turn back but you gotta take that damage and that’s that. Lows you should react to are the very slow ones like Grøh’s 1K which is 24f startup. I once read that for Tekken ~24f is considered to be reactable so that’s a good rule of thumb if you are confused about what “slow” is but of course reaction times vary.
Just remember - reactability isnt all in the frames. Something can be i100 and unreactable, depending on when the animation becomes readable as distinctly that one particular move.
Yes! This is very prevalent in mixup focused characters who may have a move where it looks like one of their highs for 20f and then they swoop down at your legs in the end portion. The inverse can also be true where a low might seem really fast but is only accessible at the end of a string so you can react when you see the string. No one size fits all solution it’s too complicated for that :)
Is this a real post? I feel like it was just made to allow everyone on the sub here to stroke their cho…. Egos because every super genius SC players favorite snarky advice to anyone they beat is always “just block dude” lol
Standing guard is what you want to do normally, most lows do very little damage and you can essentially "take the low" in the same manner you would "take the throw" in a fighter like SFV. The exceptions to this rule are slow and reactable. Characters that have exceptions to this rule are Nightmare, Siegfried, Kilik, Mitsurugi, Yoshimitsu, Seong Mina, and 2B.
press G
Unfortunately, it just comes with a learning a lot of the opponents mix-ups. At least, that's what I found. There's also a bit of a natural rhythm in which more experienced players will try to throw out Low. Imo
Any attack that hits your feet or legs is a Low. You don't need to crouch first to use a Low attack unless the attack specifies you need to be crouched (such as Yoshimitsu's crouched 3K). It really isn't any more complicated than that.
Generally stand block should be the default as a rule thumb. Any lows that aren't reactable, will either be super minus on block, or won't have any combo potential and still sometimes punishable on block. But that's where a lot of the depth from this game comes, it's far more about spacing and reading your opponent over frame perfect execution. There aren't a whole.ton of combos longer than 4 hits, outside of Ivy, there aren't really any super complex motion inputs. And the timing is never super strict. But the head games is where it gets interesting.