System Sidestep Question

[RiBu]

So I've seen this once or twice in videos, and had it happen to me I think twice online:

Really quick movement around to the right of a character; every-time I've seen it done it has been going with 88. I can't find anything about it on here, but it seems like an interesting concept. From what I can gather it's related to being in either open/close stance?

 

[Yaguar]

Free stepping. Some characters are great at it and some are awful.
I use it some times to reposition myself on Christie to make sure her hits them against a wall. She has a great free step.

 

[AkaShocka]

Some characters have good free steps (Lisa, Jann Lee, Rig) so they would free step a lot more. Free stepping is a very good tool. Like when Hayabusa does those teleport things, free step can evade all of them, even the throw.

Now side stepping. Very effective against some characters (Kokoro, Eliot) and aren't very good against others (Ayane, Christie). I never really sidestep when I face Ayane since pretty much everything she does tracks lol. But with Kokoro sidesteps are very good. Everything from her heichu is sidestep-able.

A few characters, like Christie, give others tough times. Christies special sidestep (jakhehio) messes with a lot of characters tools. Kokoro has 2 tracking high moves and I think 2 other tracking mids, the jak automatically crushes that highs due to it putting Christie in crouching status. And Eliot, he has many strings that can end with a mid punch, low punch, and a high kick (like Kokoro) the jak evades all of those. See, whenever I fight Kokoro and when I see certain things like her heichu or 3k I automatically sidestep. But if she does 3kk I'll get hit due to the tracking high. But Christie won't worry about that because of her handy dandy jakhehio. Christies jakhehio also kind of toys and messes with a few of Momiji jumping things. Aside from her jakhehio her roll stance thing evades all highs as well.

The Jakhehio evades all of:
Kokoro heichu stance moves (even the throw)
Lisa's Capoeria stance moves (even the throw)
Kasumi's HOSH stance moves (even the throw)
All of Ryu's teleport things. (I think he can catch her with the throw if she jaks once, but if she bak jaks or double jaks I don't think he'll catch her)
And it evades all of non-tracking mids and lows and all highs.

Christie is good at:
Pressure
Mix-ups
Combo damage
Fairly decent in the spacing game
Mind games

Christie is bad at:
Safeness. Very unsafe. (thats why good Christie players won't finish strings. She is very vulnerable to throws if she finishes strings. Same as Kasumi)
Little hold damage
Little throw damage


Sorry for the giant Christie speech here lol

 

[tonyz723]

Out of curiosity, what defines a good free-step? is it speed, or something else? And I'm sure this is an obvious question, but is free stepping just inputting 8/2 and holding it?

 

[AkaShocka]

Out of curiosity, what defines a good free-step? is it speed, or something else? And I'm sure this is an obvious question, but is free stepping just inputting 8/2 and holding it?

A good free step is when you easily just walk around something the opponent throws out. Not sidestepping, just simply walking right around it. (see what I'm getting at?)

Yes holding 8 or 2 is free stepping.

Need an example? When you see Ryu go into the teleport thing, don't panic, block or duck. Just simply move left or right and you'll be fine. Another good free step (really strict timing, you'll have to know when this is coming) is walking around Lisa's BT 8T (jumping OH). Those are the ones that come to mind. There are other things that can be free stepped but these two are good examples.

 

[tonyz723]

A good free step is when you easily just walk around something the opponent throws out. Not sidestepping, just simply walking right around it. (see what I'm getting at?)

Yes holding 8 or 2 is free stepping.

Need an example? When you see Ryu go into the teleport thing, don't panic, block or duck. Just simply move left or right and you'll be fine. Another good free step (really strict timing, you'll have to know when this is coming) is walking around Lisa's BT 8T (jumping OH). Those are the ones that come to mind. There are other things that can be free stepped but these two are good examples.

I've actually been wondering how to beat out his teleport move, that's really helpful!

 

[AkaShocka]

I've actually been wondering how to beat out his teleport move, that's really helpful!

Anything to help.
Free step beats all of his teleport options, the kick, punch and the throw. Free step is your best option against that teleport.
Glad to help

 

[Matt Ponton]

Free Step Dodging is a more advanced technique and doesn't tend to work across the whole cast. Its effectiveness depends on the attack being FSD'd and the character performing the FSD. For example, Bass is terrible at FSD due to his slow walk speed and size. However, smaller, thinner, characters are much better like Hitomi or Christie.

You can perform an FSD with just or . However, some characters do a better job at it if you cancel the initial step into a holding step such as or . Obviously in order to perform it you would not be able to set your sidestep command to /

Also, lastly, the closer you are to the opponent, the faster it is to get to their back as it's less difference around the circumference, and you move closer to the opponent when you Free Step.

For example, in DOA2 it was possible to stun an opponent with Jann Lee's to cause a lift stun which puts the opponent in a thinner state due to the lift. Then walking towards Jann Lee's back (so Jann Lee is Free Stepping while walking backwards) would put him behind them while in stun. The opponent has to be extremely close for this to work and which is why it wouldn't work all the time for .

It's always faster to FSD towards your character's back, rather than switching stance to change directions.

 

[RiBu]

Thanks for all the info. I'd like to know more about characters with good/bad ones. I've seen it done with Leon before and was under the impression he had bad movement overall...

 

[Matt Ponton]

He is bulkier, but again it depends on the character he was fighting against, and the move the character was performing at the time Leon stepped.

 

[tonyz723]

@Mr. Wah

That's some great information on sidestepping. I'll try messing around with cancelling into holding the side-stepping later. I'm curious, do the majority of people play with sidestep being /, or /? I feel like using keeps you from accidentally side-stepping on accidental inputs, as well as makes it so that if you wanted to do multiple side-steps in a row, they're more likely to come out correctly.

 

[Matt Ponton]

Yes, most players in the competitive circuit I see use the notation. That's also because people accidentally step when they do (both on a pad and arcade stick).

 

[virtuaPAI]

@Mr. Wah

That's some great information on sidestepping. I'll try messing around with cancelling into holding the side-stepping later. I'm curious, do the majority of people play with sidestep being /, or /? I feel like using keeps you from accidentally side-stepping on accidental inputs, as well as makes it so that if you wanted to do multiple side-steps in a row, they're more likely to come out correctly.

-I actually prefer doing / because it allow you to have smoother and faster transitioning from free stepping. However, I had to switch due to accidental stepping from crouch dashing.