Comboing into Moment Slice from a Dash - everything you need to know

Moment Slice is probably one of Talbain's best attacks. Moment Slice combos typically result in the highest Red Damage of any of Talbain's combos (Though ES BCs do more total damage), but the problem is that there aren't many setups for Moment Slice (where, on the other hand, you don't even need to set up an ES BC unless you're playing a very good player).

The typical Moment Slice setups all require crossups; thus, the more obvious setups are to actually set up the spacing for a crossup J.Lk, or to do the Moment Slice OS: after knocking an opponent down, do a neutral J.Lk from the distance where your opponent would be directly under you if they attempted a forward roll. When the J.Lk connects, land and do the Moment Slice combination, while tacking an Hp at the end of it. If you are on the right side, you will do (J.Lk \/ C.Lp -> C.Mp xx Moment Slice). If you landed on the wrong side, you will still get (J.Lk \/ C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp).

These setups are gimmicky and obvious, though. What you need is a good way to incorporate it in your normal mixups, instead of largely telegraphed, elaborate setups that anyone can see coming a mile away. Unfortunately, the only good way at that point is to combo it off the dash. Unfortunately, the difficulty and setups can differ greatly from character to character; some characters will be very easy to hit with any setup, while some characters can only be hit by a crossup. Some characters can't be hit by Moment Slice from a dash at all!

Hence, I've made this list which indicates all the information you might need about comboing into Moment Slice from a dash attack on any character. Per each character, I've listed whether it's possible (and if it's just really hard), whether they can be crossed up by a D.Lk (or if they can ONLY be hit by Moment Slice with a D.Lk crossup to begin with), and which common dash attacks (D.Lk; D.Mk) and dash links (D.Lk, D.Lp; D.Mk, D.Lp) can be used. I've also compiled a list of some of the most simple setups, which you might using to establish the threat of a dash already:

Pursuit: This indicates whether or not a successful pursuit attack will set up a D.Lk \/ C.Lp -> S.Mp xx Moment Slice.

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: This indicates whether or not the following chain will set up a D.Lk \/ C.Lp -> S.Mp xx Moment Slice from point blank or roughly point blank. This setup can be used with the D.Mk, D.Lk Dash Link.

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: This indicates whether or not the following chain will set up a D.Mk \/ C.Lp -> S.Mp xx Moment Slice from point blank or roughly point blank. Notice that this setup requires a D.Mk, not a D.Lk like all other setups do. This setup can be done with the D.Mk, D.Lk Dash Link, and they might even be required in this setup against Jedah and Rikuo.

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: This indicates whether or not the following chain will set up a D.Lk \/ C.Lp -> S.Mp xx Moment Slice from point blank or roughly point blank. This setup is typically used to set up a crossup D.Lk, and thus it's going to be assumed to cross up unless noted otherwise.


As a bonus, since Dashing into Moment Slice doesn't work on the whole cast, I've added the most damaging chain combo that knocks an opponent down. This can also be useful on an opponent who can be hit with a Dashing setup into Moment Slice, as you won't always have meter. The three typical combos are:

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> S.Mk -> C.Hk
C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk
C.Lp -> C.Hp -> C.Hk

ONE FINAL, IMPORTANT NOTE: THESE SETUPS ALL ASSUME THAT YOUR OPPONENT IS CROUCHING. THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THAT ALL OF THESE SETUPS WILL WORK AGAINST A STANDING OPPONENT. Then again, why are you doing a dash if you think your opponent is going to be standing? And, of course, you can still land Moment Slice in other ways; this list is ONLY about comboing into Moment Slice off of a Dash attack.

Without furhter ado, here's the master "Dashing Damage" list:


1. DEMITRI

Possible: Yes

Crossup: Yes - unlikely

Single Hit? Yes, both

Dash Link? Yes, both

Setups:

Pursuit: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk


Thoughts: Demitri might be the easiest person in the game to hit with this combo. Who knows why? Maybe cos he's just so damn fat when he's crouched. Either way, all setups work on him relatively easy, and - although I wouldn't go out of my way to set it up - you can even cross him up. The only real downside is that the Meterless Knockdown combo is the least damaging of any variant. ...Who cares? You can Moment Slice the shit out of Demi.



2. VICTOR

Possible: Yes (moderate)

Crossup: No

Single Hit? Yes

Dash Link? Yes

Setups:

Pursuit: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes (does not crossup)

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk


Thoughts: Victor is a little difficult to hit with Moment Slice, but every setup works. If you are rockin' out against your opponent, I'd give it a shot; but, I wouldn't go out of my way to set it up.


3. ANAKARIS

Possible: Crossup only (difficult)

Single Hit? Yes, D.Lk crossup

Dash Link? No

Setups:

Pursuit: No

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> C.Hp -> C.Hk


Thoughts: Completely impossible, except in the unlikely event of a crossup. I would have never guessed, since Anak seems to get the shaft in virtually every regard. However, the Meterless Knockdown combo is the strongest possible variant, and you'll have to go out of your way to make it miss. That's good, right?



4. FELICIA

Possible: Crossup only (difficult)

Single Hit? Yes, D.Lk crossup

Dash Link? No; in addition, D.Mk, D.Lk is impossible against Felicia

Setups:

Pursuit: No

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk


Thoughts: Screw you, Felicia. I figured that testing this might help me find an edge in some of Talbain's harder matches, but you can only land this from a Dashing crossup and the timing is extremely tight. On top of that, you can only use the weakest possible Meterless Knockdown variant. Blah.



5. B.B HOOD

Possible: Yes - only by crossup or corner (corner is difficult)

Single Hit? Yes, D.Lk (crossup or corner)

Dash Link? No; Dash Links are impossible against B.B Hood

Setups:

Pursuit: No

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> C.Hp -> C.Hk


Thoughts: I would virtually never go for this in the corner. It's very random, and your success seems to be dictated by your spacing - you can't just be right on top of her when you go for it, and the exact range appears to be so pixel-precise that I couldn't even figure it out...either that, or it depends heavily on factors like how late you hit D.Lk before landing, and how fast you cancel S.Mp into Moment Slice. But, if your timing has to be that tight, why risk it? Besides, crossing her up is stupidly easy anyways, and that's very hard to mess up.



6. BISHAMON

Possible: Corner only (difficult)

Crossup: No

Single Hit? Yes, D.Lk

Dash Link? Yes, D.Lk, D.Lp; I could not get D.Mk, D.Lp to work even once

Setups:

Pursuit: No

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: No

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk


Thoughts: I really thought this was gonna be different. You can land a Dashing Moment Slice off a D.Lp or the D.Lp, D.Lk Dash Link. Either way, it's pretty hard.



7. JEDAH

Possible: Yes (moderate)

Crossup: Yes (difficult)

Single Hit? Yes, D.Lk

Dash Link? Yes

Setups:

Pursuit: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> C.Lk -> S.Mk -> C.Hk


Thoughts: Well, it's not easy, but you can hit him with the combo in midscreen, the corner, and even by crossup. As for his Meterless Knockdown variant, the spacing is a little tight. If you're not landing your Dash attack off of one of the recommended setups, you might just opt for C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk anyways.



8. Q-BEE

Possible: No; Moment Slice does not hit Q-Bee when she's crouching.

Cross-Up: No; crossup is possible and easy to do, but Moment Slice still does not connect.

Single Hit? No

Dash Link? No

Setups:

Pursuit: No

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: No

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> C.Hp -> C.Hk


Thoughts: This didn't exactly take a long time to test. I already knew that Moment Slice was useless against Q-Bee because she can just crouch under it. The only valuable thing to take away is that you can do the most powerful Meterless Knockdown variant on Q-Bee, and since her defense is very low, it does a whopping 29% of her lifebar before damage scaling. Suck it, Q-Bee!

Also, this might be slightly out of the scope of this article, but if you are really looking to do damage to Q-Bee off a dash, you can use the old D.(something) \/ S.M(p) xx ES BC combo (in other words, replace the optimal S.Mk which will whiff Q-Bee, with S.Mp which will not). The full combo with pursuit will do exactly 50%. But, we are not looking at combos that deal with ES Beast Cannon right now. Moving along.



9. HSIEN-KO

Possible: Yes (difficult; corner impossible)

Crossup: Yes (difficult)

Single Hit? Yes

Dash Link? No; in addition, D.Mk, D.Lk is impossible against Hsien-Ko

Setups:

Pursuit: No

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> C.Hp -> C.Hk


Thoughts: I don't even know, dude. I know for a fact that you can land this combo on Hsien because when I began the tests, I landed the full combo on my very first try. However, absolutely none of the common setups work, I can't seem to hit her with it at all in the corner, and it's difficult to cross her up. Oh well - this fight is like a total blowout, anyways; having this on top of all of Talbain's other advantages would be ridiculous. Meterless Knockdown combo is as good as it gets though, so at least that's something.



10. J. TALBAIN

Possible: Crossup only

Single Hit? Yes, D.Lk crossup

Dash Link? No; Dash Links are impossible against Talbain

Setups:

Pursuit: No

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> C.Hp -> C.Hk


Thoughts: Normally, all of Talbain's bullshit works very effectively against himself. Here...well, it's not perfect, but landing the crossup combo is very easy, and the setup works nicely. Meterless Knockdown combo is the most damaging possible variant.



11. LILITH

Possible: Yes; much easier with crossup or corner

Single Hit? Yes

Dash Link? No; Dash Links are impossible against Lilith

Setups:

Pursuit: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk


Thoughts: ...So. It's definitely possible midscreen, and all the variations that are set up by a single D.Lk will work. But, they are honestly very hard, for the most part. Thankfully, crossing her up is very easy, allowing for an easy Moment Slice. Also, for whatever reason, landing the combo against her when she's cornered is much easier. I would have guessed this would be the case against most of the cast; however, Lilith is one of the last characters I tested, and this was the first time I ran into this phenomenon.

TL;DR: Do it when you've crossed her up or when she's cornered. Meterless Knockdown combo is the weakest possible variant, but Lilith dies so fast it probably doesn't matter.



12. RIKUO

Possible: Yes (difficult; corner impossible)

Crossup: Yes (difficult)

Single Hit? Yes, D.Lk crossup

Dash Link? Yes, D.Mk, D.Lk

Setups:

Pursuit: No

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk


Thoughts: I don't think it's worth it to try your luck against Rikuo. The only setups that work are the crossup, which is very, very hard to do against Rikuo; and the setup for Talbain's Dash Link, which aside from having the highest possible margin of error already, will whiff Rikuo unless you step just a hair forward before doing the dash. And, honestly, in that hair of a second, your opponent could very well do anything but sit there and wait to get hit by your dash. Meterless Knockdown combo is the weakest possible variant.



13. L. RAPTER

Possible: Yes

Crossup: Yes (difficult)

Single Hit? Yes, D.Lk crossup

Dash Link? Yes, D.Lk, D.Lp; in addition, D.Mk, D.Lk is impossible against Rapter

Setups:

Pursuit: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk


Thoughts: Holy shit. Everything about this test has defied my expectations. As it turns out, Rapter might be one of the easiest characters to land this combo against. The only thing that's difficult is hitting him with a crossup - ironically, the only thing I expected might be feasible. It's possible to get him in the corner with either a single D.Lk or the D.Lk, D.Lp Dash Link; however, the Dash Link requires very accurate spacing and is easy to mess up. Since it's virtually impossible to miss otherwise, I'd say forego the Dash Link. Meterless Knockdown combo is the weakest possible variant...but who fuggin' cares? You can hit Rapter with a Dashing Moment Slice combo!



14. SASQUATCH

Possible: Crossup only (difficult)

Single Hit? Yes, D.Lk crossup

Dash Link? No; in addition, D.Mk, D.Lk is impossible against Sasquatch

Setups:

Pursuit: No

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk


Thoughts: What. A. Dick. The only way you're ever gonna land this against Sas is if you cross him up, which is super-hard to combo into. To add insult to injury, your Meterless Knockdown combo is the weakest possible variant.



15. MORRIGAN

Possible: Yes (...kind of difficult?)

Crossup: Yes (difficult)

Single Hit? Yes

Dash Link? No; Dash Links are impossible against Morrigan

Setups:

Pursuit: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk: Yes

C.Lp -> C.Mp -> C.Mk -> S.Hp: No

C.Lp -> C.Mp/Mk: Yes

Meterless Knockdown: C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk


Thoughts: I dunno...it's like, hitting her with this combo is not as easy as possible, like it is against Demi or Rapter. But, on the other hand, it's not mind-bendingly difficult, like Hsien-Ko or Rikuo. It's easy enough that even though there's a margin of error, I'd still personally go for it. Meterless Knockdown combo is the weakest possible variant.

______________________

SIMPLER YES/NO LISTS

For the people who don't want to peruse the entire document, here are a lot of do/don't lists. I've made a lot of lists, depending on how people like to take in the information, so there's going to be a bit of redundancy.



The following characters can be hit with DMS (Dashing Moment Slice) combos, midscreen and corner, very easily:

Demitri
L. Rapter


The following characters are easier to hit in the corner:

Lilith (also easy with crossup)


The following characters are best to hit with a crossup:

B.B Hood
J. Talbain




The following characters can be hit with DMS combos with a slightly higher margin of error in the midscreen and corner:

Victor
Jedah
Morrigan



The following characters are very difficult to hit with DMS combos, yet it can be done midscreen:

Hsien-Ko
Rikuo


Corner only...and the corner combo is very difficult:

Bishamon


Crossup only...and the crossup is very difficult:

Anakaris
Felicia
Sasquatch


The following characters can not be hit by Moment Slice while crouching:

Q-Bee


I wouldn't try crossing these characters up with a DMS combo:

Demitri
Anakaris
Felicia
Jedah
Hsien-Ko
Rikuo
Rapter
Sasquatch
Morrigan
Victor (crossup impossible)
Bishamon (crossup impossible)
Q-Bee (because fuck you, Q-Bee)


I wouldn't try DMS combos in the corner against these characters:

B.B Hood
Bishamon
J.Talbain
Anakaris (corner impossible)
Felicia (corner impossible)
Hsien-Ko (corner impossible)
Rikuo (corner impossible)
Sasquatch (corner impossible)
Q-Bee (STFU)


Strangely enough, you shouldn't try DMS combos midscreen (not counting crossups) against these guys:

B.B Hood
Hsien-Ko
Lilith
Rikuo
Anakaris (impossible without crossup)
Felicia (impossible without crossup)
J.Talbain (impossible without crossup)
Sasquatch (impossible without crossup)
Bishamon (impossible except with corner)
Q-Bee (impossible except with hax)


Overall safe to try midscreen (not counting crossup):

Demi (easy)
Rapter (easy)
Morrigan (moderate)
Victor (moderate)
Jedah (moderate)


Overall safe to cross up:

B.B Hood (easy)
J. Talbain (easy)
Lilith (moderate)


Overall safe to hit in the corner:

Demi (easy)
Rapter (easy)
Lilith (easy)
Morrigan (moderate)
Victor (moderate)
Jedah (moderate)


Meterless Knockdown master list for C.Lp -> C.Hp -> C.Hk:

Anakaris
B.B Hood
Q-Bee
Hsien-Ko
J.Talbain


Meterless Knockdown master list for C.Lp -> C.Lk -> S.Mk -> C.Hk:

Jedah


Meterless Knockdown mastery list for C.Lp -> S.Mk -> C.Hk:

Demitri
Victor
Felicia
Bishamon
Lilith
Rikuo
Rapter
Sasquatch
Morrigan


Enjoy!

Talbain Vs. Demitri Analysis

Alright. I'm a bit late, but here's my first matchup analysis: Talbain vs. Demitri. I did this one first mainly because I've been playing it a HELL of a lot, lately. But, I also thought it was important to do right away because I think most American players in general play this match incorrectly (and I'm talking, any character vs. Demitri). Novice players have no idea how powerful Demon Cradle is, and they get rocked by it all day. Higher-level players are possibly TOO scared of Demon Cradle, and spend the entire match trying not to get hit by it. My new outlook is somewhere in the middle, and I just wanted to talk about it.


Matchup: Almost every tier list since the beginning of time lists this as 6-4 Talbain. I'm gonna call it 5-5.

Here's my reasoning: Talbain doesn't have a lot of great ways to bait a Demon Cradle. He has no fireball, he has no forward-momentum attacks where he can easily stop his momentum (like, say, almost anyone with an air dash), he has no long-range normals to punish Demon Cradles (yes, Beast Cannon is long-range; but it's not fast enough to hit a whiffed Jab DC on reaction), and his GC-baiting attack has to be one of the worst in the entire game, not to mention it's at a rather dangerous range to be at when fighting Demitri. He has some success with his jump mixups; but overall, Talbain is a rather easy target to hit with a Demon Cradle, which makes him work harder than most characters at avoiding them - and, consequently, avoiding disadvantageous situations.

On the other hand, since a large part of Talbain's game is converting his opponent's whiffs to big damage, and one of the primary ways of beating Demi with ANYONE is to make him whiff attacks, Talbain, too, gets a lot of opportunities for big damage that not only does Talbain not get against most other characters in high level play, but also opportunities for free damage that most people can't get against Demitri.

Basically, both of them can beat the everliving shit out of each other in stupid ways that they probably shouldn't be able to. Most tier lists have this as 6-4 Talbain, but in practice, Demitri controls the match in virtually every video of Japanese high-level play I've ever seen. I don't think I'm out of line calling this one 5-5.

Your Goal

Talbain wants to make Demi whiff a lot of Demon Cradles and sweeps. This way, he can counter with hard-hitting attacks; anything from stray S.Hps to well-placed ES BCs. Likewise, Talbain also wants Demitri to do a Batspin when he should do an Air Fireball, and vice versa. This will lead to easy damage and knockdowns.

Alternatively, your secondary goal is to do attacks that are difficult to Guard Cancel. This means doing dashes, very erratic block strings (moreso than usual), and any setup where the outcome can be several things (i.e jumping). These will allow you to deal damage without having to bait a Demon Cradle, as Demi will be forced to block more often. The more difficult you are to read, the more leeway you have to attack.

The most important thing to keep in mind when fighting Demitri is his Demon Cradle. You can't be scared of it! If you get hit by a Demon Cradle, so what? It does the damage of like...a medium punch. And yes, it knocks you down, but who cares? Demitri has to not only guess right to land next to you, but he has to THEN guess what your action is going to be. Instead, learn what situations you find yourself getting hit by it a lot, and figure out how to mitigate that.

...BUT! Fear the Demon Cradle in the corner. This is because he can force you to be right next to him. Since his ES Guard Cancel is unblockable, you are very unsafe if you attack right next to him. Never be right next to him! Don't attack in the corner until you can put some distance between you and him!


Demitri's Goal

Demitri's goal is to hit you with lots of Sweeps or DCs - whether through predicting your attacks or by way of Guard Cancels. This sets up virtually all of his damaging options. It also has the added effect of giving hesitation to his opponents, which allows him to get in some free jump-ins. Since Talbain has no 100% reliable way of anti-airing Demi, this has the potential to go really bad for him.

A secondary goal for Demi is to corner you. From there, he has about a million options: Throw, Bliss, any chain that will punish Talbain for trying to jump, any jump-in, or a buffered GC, (remember, Demitri's ES Guard Cancel is unblockable, which makes it a very bad idea to try and attack Demi when he's got you cornered. You have to counter him!).


Ideal Distance

In neutral situations, you want to be outside of Demitri's sweep range. This way...well, for one, you can't get swept, but for two, it's a great place to be if Demi tries most things. An air fireball OR a bat spin can be dangerous if predicted, you are close enough to counter any random DC, and you are too far away to try and AA Demi's jump-ins, which will force you to deal with them properly by either MOVING for AG'ing it.


When you have the offensive advantage, the best place to be is right inside of his sweep range - the max range of your jump attacks if you were to neutral jump. You are in a good position to bait and avoid a lot of sweeps, and you can also do many tricky jumping maneuvers to psych Demitri out. If you can get your Demi opponent into a catatonic state, you also have free reign to walk in and throw - not an easy thing for Demitri to deal with.



My various matchup notes: These are things I probably have summarized above; but there are also a lot of very specific tips under here. It may be slightly disorganized, but it's worth it to take a look.



- Do NOT let him jump in on you. Stay too far back for him to tick with Bliss, jump into his jump-in and chicken guard it, AG it, and as a last resort, try to anti-air it. But, never JUST block it!

- As an extension of the first point, NEVER be close enough for him to cross you up, ever.

- If you're going to get crossed up, just walk under him. You can walk under him and throw him, or walk under him and attempt to hit his landing with a chain combo (this is a bit risky). If you're CORNERED, you can walk under him and jump backwards, allowing you to come down on him with a jump-in combo (watch out for Demi players who know this trick - don't do it every time!).

- Chicken Guard is your buddy in this matchup. Meet on his descent (NOT is ascent or you will get thrown), and mix it into your own jump-ins.

- Concerning the "chicken guard Demi's jumps" tactic: Don't do it in the corner. If you're cornered, just AG or try and jump clean over him (risky - he can air throw you for free).

- From just out of the max range of your jump attacks, you can do a neutral jump to try and bait a DC.

- If your Demi opponent likes to dash a lot, feel free to throw in some "random" C.Lps.

- You absolutely have to respect Demi's dash, as he can either throw or DC you. It's true that jumping can theoretically handle both of these; however, you can be DC'd out of your prejump animation, and jumping is also a dangerous thing to do if you're cornered/near the corner. Hence, it's not safe to ALWAYS jump back. On the other hand, since jumping back has the potentially to stop Demi's dash mixup in its tracks, he would be equally crazy to always try it, so you're safe for the most part.

- Empty jump is pretty powerful in this match, as Demi players are going to want to hit you with Demon Cradle. On the flipside, S.Mk can beat a LOT of your attacks (and obviously, it will beat your empty jump), so you can't just jump at Demi with impunity.

- You have a lot of options against Bat Spin; if you anticipate one, you can neutral jump (hold back!!!) and swat him with an air attack. If you anticipate being close enough that he flies back at the end of it, you can block it and counter with an ES BC. If you suspect that Demi is going to land just in front of you/behind you, you can punish his landing frames.

- When you pressure with Air BCs, make sure you are far enough away that you can't be punished (because you will be punished against Demitri - trust).

- Dashing in against Demi is a powerful move; but, it's never more important to mix up your Dash/Jump/BCs/Wait against anyone else as it is against Demi, since Demon Cradle is not only an attactive option for Demi, but it's very high risk/high reward in this matchup. As an added bonus, mixing in neutral jumps from the ideal dash range is a very good move against Demi (good against everyone else - better on Demi).

- As an addendum, a really skilled Demi player will throw a S.Lp first in most situations where he expects a Dash, since it can beat the dash and without rendering him unable to defend against any of the other options.

- Beast Cannon wisdom: 6 9 7 9 1. Ending with 2 will frequently miss. If you just wanna land close to him, however, 2 is fine. In the corner, do 6 8 8 9 3; 6 9 will completely whiff Demi.

- Beast Cannon wisdom: Don't attempt BC strings against Demi, as he can easily Demon Cradle between directional changes. If you happen to get into a situation where he blocks a BC, try to either end it before he can DC you, or try and evade. For example, in the corner, you might get away with 6 8 before he attempts a DC. So, do 6 8 1 (DC whiffs) 3 \/ ES Climb Razor. If you're lucky enough to get up into the air before getting DC'd, don't stay above him!

- Don't fear the Demon Cradle too much; but, at the same time, you've gotta respect it, too. It is Demi's primary way of setting up his wakeup games, which is - incidentally - his main method of dealing damage. Don't be too scared that you never attack; but don't get angry and reckless, either.

- If you get knocked down, remember that Demi still has to figure out where you're going to roll afterwards to set up a perfect wakeup game. A good Demi player will stay on top of you either way; but, it's your job to make sure he lands right next you as infrequently as possible.

- How to punish Demon Cradles? First off, you can't really punish it on block, only on whiff. As for whiffs...Well, you can try and time an attack to connect as he lands, but this is very hard since Demi only has one landing frame. Instead, it's best to peg him with an attack in the middle of his whiffed Demon Cradle. Some players like to sweep; however, I find the reset much more attractive; since it's hard for Talbain to high/low an opponent who's getting up, they have a much better chance to successfully Guard Cancel whatever you try to do. A reset sets you up for all sorts of mixups, and your punish will do more damage than a sweep.

- If you manage to bait a whiffed Demon Cradle, you can punish with a full ES BC (I find it's easiest to punish with 6 8 6 8 6). However, if you hesitate for even a moment, you'll be hit.

- Seriously? Do NOT get cornered. You can escape the corner by getting yourself some breathing room and baiting a DC, walking under a jump, or even BC'ing under a jump.

- But seriously, DON'T GET CORNERED! You will get fucked up by his throw/bliss/DC/some-random-chain-to-stop-you-from-jumping mixup. I would dare say that if you're on your first life and Demi is on his second, it's worth it to take a ton of damage trying to roll out of the corner. It is no sweat at all for Demi to take a full life off of you if he's got you cornered.

- Remember, it's valuable to pressure Demi by walking forward. His best ways of stopping you will leave him completely vulnerable - DCs can be swatted, and sweeps can be jumped over, for you to punish him with just about anything.

- Your only reasonable GC-baiting attack is max-range C.Lp.

- It's not impossible to punish Demi's air fireballs; but, you have to KNOW he's gonna do it; if you go for a punish and Demi does a normal jumping attack on his descent, or does a Bat Spin, you are going to hate your life. The safest way to try and punish it is to SOMETIMES jump up, block it, and chicken guard with an Air BC. But be warned, even this can be punished rather easily.

- When Demi has no meter and you get knocked down, there's virtually no reason to ever do anything but hold down+back and prepare to tech hit. He has no overhead, and no guaranteed damage other than to chip with a Demon Cradle or do a normal throw. Anything but a normal throw will reset the situation, and you are in the clear anyways if you just tech hit. When Demi HAS meter, he can Bliss you for trying this, so THEN you have to be more careful.