Lion:VF2

VF2: Lion guide ver 2.0

by Alan Tan

List of moves and their uses
Dodging
Lion's redeeming qualities
1) His height
2) Speed
3) Stance
Fighting techniques

1) Oki-zeme
2) movement
3) running throws and attacks
4) guard cancel
5) Reading
6) Punishing the opponent
7) Win by time out
8) RO by pushing
9) Machi

The following guide is not an update for the Version 1 (I've lost it) but a new thing altogether. Lion is that young dude who looks real cool except that he wears a stupid life jacket. So always choose the other outfit. Lion has a slight advantage over Lau and Kage and a disadvantage over Sarah and Wolf. 789 456 6=forward, 4=back, 2=down, 3=down/for 123 Ex: 3k = down/for+K ie sidekick, 2kk = up+K,K 2_6p= hold down then 6p (akira 's palm)List of moves and their uses. 1) ppp2k This move is use to counter slow recovering moves after you block them. Use only after moves that you do not have time to throw. The moves are: Jacky's 3k, Sarah's 6pk, Wolf's 3k, Jeffery 3k, shun's 2_6p, 2) pp This move is to be used when you are not certain that it will connect as it is uncounterable. (meaning if opponent block he can't hit you definitely) If the two punches hits, follow with a down+P move. If the opponent block, you can't continue attacking. Use after blocking: Sarah's 2k, Jacky's 66k, Kage's 2k+g 3) 2p This is one of the most important moves in the game. Use to get back the attacking advantage, ie once you block something that takes quite long for the opponent to recover but not long enough for you to ppp, do a 2p. Then followup with the following if the 2p hits, a) 3pp this does the two low pecks, safe and very useful as if you do this often sooner or later the opponent will crouch after a 2p. Actually, it is not very safe vs Akira. It seems that if Akira blocks your 3pp, he can dashing palm you and stumble you which is very bad. However, the timing for the dashing palm is very tricky. b) 8k this is for people who interrupts your 3pp with a low punch. You can pounce after this move but sometimes the high pounce miss because you are too near. c) 3k this is for people who crouch after the low punch. d) 663214p+g this is for people who blocks after you low punch. Mix all this up intelligently. 4) 3k this is the most damaging safe move Lion has. This move comes out quite slow but has tremendous range. So you must predict when the opponent is going to attack and hit 3k before him. All this is timing. Lion's sidekick is used to interrupt moves.Watch the opponent's movement and your own, Movement is the key to using sidekick. See later. This is actually quite dangerous to sidekick if you are playing with good players as one mistake (you miss totally) means you get thrown which might kill you on the spot. So you should do it when you are very close to opponent. When Lion sidekick, his seems invulnerable to low attacks. One use is when opponent is getting up with a low sweep, you can sidekick over the low sweep. If the opponent is crouching at the moment you hit him, he will stagger. Do a 3p immediately, he will float, follow by a high pounce. The timing for the 3p is pretty lenient if the opponent is not struggling. However, if the opponent is shaking his joystick madly, you can still hit your 3p if the move comes out in the first few frames. However not all of us is inborn with computer-like reflexes so you might have difficulty connecting the 3p. So instead of a 3p, move in and do the piggyback throw. (you can only do a throw if opponent is struggling) If he staggers near the edge, then do 3PP instead. If the opponent floats (happens when you interrupt his move), follow with a high pounce. If opponent blocks, retreat. 5) 6p This is Lion's elbow. Currently I can't seem to find and much use for it. One interesting thing is, at very close range, if you stagger the opponent, you can follow up with a 4p+K throw 100% irregardless of whether the opponent is struggling. (only in close stance) 6) 2k This is a good low attack with better range than 2p but your attack ends there as its recovery is way to slow. Don't try to add in the second kick as its too dangerous and the damage is just not worth the risk. A trick to use: do the k+g after 1/2 sec. The delay spinning kick might catch people by surprise. BTW, certain good players can do a crouch throw if you miss. However all these tricks are useful only for a certain period. In the end it is timing and reading that matters the most. 7) 3_pp This is the crouching two pokes. Used when you block the opponent rising low sweep. Hits most of the time. Can be thrown too if missed so don't miss. 8) 1pp This move is quite useful as it has okay range and superb recovery time. Follow up with: a) 2k+g. This catches the opponent quite often but its dangerous is your opponent blocks it. b) 3k. to stagger the crouching opponent but they seldom crouch. c) retreat and come back and throw. d) 44k+D or 44K. Good damage if you can get in a 2k after it connects. (Dangerous to try) 9) 8p Looks really cool. Used only when you want to show off as it does pathetic damage. Or when you block a low move that do not allow you to sidekick and you need something that does damage and comes out fast enough to hit crouchers. 10) 44k+g Fast in coming out but slow in recovery as your back is turned. Hits high only so its quite useless. Does good damage when you can hit the 2k after the move but its not 100%. You can high pounce after 2k hits. Dodges low attacks. Can be used in Oki-zeme(hitting the opponent when he is getting up) as it will dodge the favourite getting up attack the low sweep. However the timing is tricky, very tricky. I think it was in the Act two book. It says do this move to dodge the low rising kick and then hit with the 2K. I can't do it as the timing is difficult. 11) 4p Usually used after a 2p. Dodges high and med range attacks but the timing is extremely tricky and depends more or less on luck so quite a dangerous move to try but useful vs dashing elbow of Akira. Can high pounce if it connects. Dangerous to use alone (without the 2P to judge how far the opponent is) as it will probably miss. 12) 6p+g Slow in coming out and hit high only but very good recovery and allows you to high pounce. Sometimes, can dodge high punch. 13) 8k Not a very good move to start attacking with as it comes out very slowly. Do it from far and tempt the opponent to close in and attack, then hit them with the second kick. The idea is to do 8k from far, then 8k k. (the space being a slight pause) Do not try these tricks more than once. (not recommended vs good players) 14) 9 P (hop then wait then press P) Quite a safe move (if opponent blocks) Seems to catch good players often as they see you hop, thinking you are vulnerable and will try to attack but the poke comes out quite fast and probably will interrupt him and allowing you to high pounce after that. Don't use it often. 15) 66P Good move to try vs Wolf. Can use to interrupt wolf's down punch. Does very good damage followed by a high pounce. Can be reversed by Kage and Pai. When in open stance, it doesn't hit crouchers. Superb recovery. If blocked, retreat. The moves I've not mentioned are too dangerous and useless to try. (unless I've forgot about them)Dodging Lion can dodge forward by 3g and backward by 1g. IMHO, they are pretty useless but I'm sure many people will love to use them because they think it is soo stylish to dodge then piggyback throw. Well, dodge forward then piggyback throw is quite useful but be warned that you recover quite slowly from the dodge and might actually get thrown instead. During part of your dodge, you are immune to all Med and High attacks. Certain moves like 4p makes you immune to Med and High attacks for a short while. One use is to do a backwards dodge at the beginning of the round to allow you to fight in the diagonal. Useful vs Akira and Kage.Lion's redeeming qualities1) His height. Lion cannot be hit by certain Med attacks when crouching. However, during a move like down+P, you can be hit and thus staggered. Lion cannot be hit by the following in close stance (close stance=your leading leg is in front of the opponent's lagging leg; open stance= your stance mirror the opponent stance) Kage's elbow, Jacky's elbow, Lau's elbow, Lau's 3_p (UpKn), Lion cannot be hit by the following in open stance Lau's elbow, Lau's 3_p Against Kage and Lau, crouching is a good idea as the only other attack or getiing into a m-UpKn rush When Kage, Jacky or Lau misses an elbow in close range, hit p+g. You can throw in a crouching position, if they are not in range you'll do a crouch punch which is quite good to followup.2) Speed Lion is the fastest character in the game, Always punish every move with a throw as his throwing range is quite remarkable due to the fact that he can close in very fast from very far. Learn your piggyback throw. I can do the piggyback throw if I block a punishable move but I'm not fast enough I do it if someone misses a move like sidekick. I do the 4p+k instead as it is irreversible and if you miss, you do a punch which recovers very fast. Due to the fact that Lion's step is very far, he needs the mostdistance to start running. This is a disadvantage. Howver, Lion can cover huge distance with 6666. He can often catch retreating opponents with 6666 then throw or 663k. If opponent blocks your sidekick, a 44 will get you out of any trouble. (most of it anyway) Lion should not get stuck in a closed in battle. He should keep his distance, move in and attack and then move out immediately.3) Stance Lion is very difficult to throw or be thrown in open stance. He cannot use his down+P effectively in open stance (not enough range). He cannot be hit by certain med attacks in close stance when crouching. Lion is the only character whose stance affect him so much. So watch your stance. I keep to close stance as I like to crouch. BTW, lion can do his P+G throw at crouching position.Fighting techniques1) Oki-zeme Highly important. Wait for Joji Akira FAQ ver 2. Meanwhile, pressuring the opponent when he is getting up is very important. One of the easiest ways is to keep moving forward when the opponent is down and move back when just before the opponent gets up and crouch block. The high kick will go over your head (allows you to throw) and you'll block the low kick which gives you initiative. Alternatively, vs characters with weak rising attacks (Akira, Jeff, Wolf, Lau), you can stick close all the way, and try to block the rising attack. This method is ideally the best as even if the opponent do not get up with an attack, you can still retain initiative and strike. My way of blocking, is to crouch block and try to see if the opponent is using the high rising kick. If he is, I'll release the joystick. Its possible, but I can't do it really well yet. One of the major weakness of Akira is his rising attacks are really weak. After blocking his rising high kick, you can throw him. After blocking his low kick, you can 8P or maybe sidekick. His rising attacks does soo little damage so its worth it to try and block it. Lion's sidekick allows him to dodge low attacks and thus can be used when you predict that the opponent is getting up with a low sweep.2) movement Lion's speed is his most powerful attribute and thus movement is very important for Lion. Lion 6666 (two steps) movement is very fast and covers a lot of range. Its very difficult for opponent to react in time to it. Taking two steps and then throw is very difficlt to counter. Mix it up with a 66663k. People will see you move very close and they will react but will be probably too slow and your sidekick will interrupt him. The natural state for Lion should be moving forwards and back and doing 2P frequently. Don't stand still. Correct natural movement should be random and something like 66G44G66G66G44G. Mixed it up with running in sometimes. All this makes you much more difficult to be thrown and it causes the opponent to misjudge the range and miss his attack, allowing you to throw. Its exceptionally difficult to judge the movement of Lion as his step is very huge. Lion movement is also safer as he spent the least time in taking a step so the time he's vulnerable during movement is also very short. (natural movement=this should be done at all times other than when you attack or is being attacked)3) running throws and attacks Running throws and attacks refer to running in and then attacking. To 66 (hold) then release when you see the character run then do your attack. Lion can do the 66_4P+K. This causes Lion to run and try to do a 4P+K throw. The 4P+K throw is slightly better as if you miss, you do a high punch. I think the running space each character needs to start running is equivalent to two forward steps of the character. Thus Lion needs a lot of space to start running. The P+G throw can also be used in running throws. The way to stop running throws is to just 2P frequently. It's very diificult to react in time when you see the oppenent starts running. Thus usually I'll do 2P just for fun when the opponent is 2 steps or more away.4) guard cancel Guard cancel means moves like PG6P which lets you do an elbow after the high punch. Without the guard, you will do two punches instead. Guard cancel is not very useful for Lion but is a very powerful tool for other character so I'll mention it. After blocking a high punch, the opponent still has inintiative, ie if both of you high punch after that, our opponent will win. The best thing to do after blocking a high punch is crouch block or crouch dash backwards or dash backwards. There is another form of guard usage which is to pull back the kick of a PK move. Lion cannot do it but other characters like Sarah can. If you see a PKG, the best bet is to continue blocking. Depends on who you are playing against. Vs weak throwers like Sarah, the better option is to block. Guard can be used to help you stop and recover fast when you are running in. However when running in to throw, one cannot use tyhe guard to stop as you will not come within range.5) Reading Meaning one must observe the opponent's tactics and how he moves. Usually I do not attack until I see something advantageous or I feel I can predict what the opponent is going to do next. See how the opponent moves. Some people just stand there (worst), some people move 66g44g66g44g66g like some robot (bad). Against such people the way to win is to predict when they are moving forward and sidekick. Alternatively, running throws can be done but Lion running throws are quite weak. Better players mixed up their movement with punches that will stop running throws. Watch what the opponent like to do after you blocked their moves. Like after you blocked and Akira's elbow, what does the Akira do?? He can either do another elbow or block or low counter or med counter. If you can predict what he likes to do the most often, you can win. (After blocking an Akira's elbow, 3P is quite good) Reading is esp important for Lion as his power moves (sidekick) are slow in coming out. You must predict and do your move earlier. This gets more and more important when people gets better as there are no longer clear openings as they no longer use moves that makes them vulnerable, like sarah's d+K,K. Instead most moves are just punch and guard and elbow and down kicks and throws. So one must know what the opponent is going to do after you block his move. For example: The famous m-UpKn,P of Lau. (f,d/f,d,d/f+P,P,G) When you block it, what should you do?? That depends on what the opponent is going to do next. If he does another m-UpKn, a low crouch then throw is the best thing to do. If he does an elbow, a low crouch then throw is also to way to go. If he does a sidekick, high punch will stop him. IF he does a DnKn(d/f+P), err.. block?? But after the DnKn, you can definately fight back.6) Punishing the opponent When there is an opening that allows you to damage the opponent, you must seize it. My ver 1 FAQ has a section on good counters to various blocked or missed moves. One general rule: most missed moves allows you to throw them. Notable exceptions: Jacky 4K and Sarah 1K+D. One thing, Lion's speed allows him to punish missed moves very easily even if the opponent is quite far.7) Win by time out. When there is 10 seconds or less and you have more blood, stop attacking. Keep the distance between the opponent at 1 1/2 steps to 2 steps. Don't retreat suddenly to the edge of the ring as then you are trapped. Move back and forth but not let him close in. Do 2P at the range of 2 steps to stop him from running in and throwing you. When time drops to 2 secs retreat away fast if there is space. If there isn't, retreat and then sidekick.8) RO by pushing When you float the opponent near the edge of the ring, quickly tap 6666.. you can push the opponent out before he lands.9) Machi Machi translate roughly to wait, meaning one do not attack at all until an opening is given. It seems to be frowned upon in Japan but in Singapore it is perfectly legal. The arguably best player in Singapore, David, plays Lau and uses Machi all the time. I once asked him how to beat Kage using Lau. He said don't attack. Wait for opponent to attack then counter elbow, sidekick and 62K. You should see the way he blocks. Really remarkable. He can read the game really accurately. I'm digressing. One should play Machi to win. I play Machi sometimes. (I try to) But playing Machi not as simple as it sounds. You must spend all your concentration in trying not to get hit or thrown. Not point in waiting and then get thrown. I can't really say how to play machi as the main element is reading the opponent's play. Know how the opponent is going to attack. Lion has an advantage in his speed lets him control the distance easily. The way to counter a machi player is to do what is unexpected. Okay, the above sentence is redundant and obvious. Lion speed helps a lot in shocking the opponent by closing in Fast and forcing him out of Machi.