Matchup discussion

[Lord Shmeckie]

Since when was he broken?
In DFF he was easily mind gamed and he still relies a LOT on the person's reactions. Not to mention that the majority of characters have either Guard staggering/breaking moves or HP attacks that can be pretty hard to Omni-Guard. Oh, and lag > Exdeath.

Well to be honest he could be pretty god damn broken in DFF, though mastering him to the point where he became such took a shitload of work. Hence the very few Exdeath mainers. What made him broken? Two words:

EX Block.

And he was no easier to mindgame than any other character. it all depends on the player.

Also, no, the majority of characters do not have moves difficult to Omni Block when one learns to use Omni Block. Just the opposite: very few characters have moves difficult for him to block. ESPECIALLY in 012, with Omni Block's buffs.

[Bloodsword83]

She DOES launch like a bullet during her HP attack charges and she can realease it when she wants as well. This is very difficult to omni block at point blank where tifa will be. Her HP moves can be dodged but even that can be punished if you\re too early and exdeath has bad mobility to boot.

Assists won't cover you when she plows right throught them with her attack, trust me and that's a poor use of assists anyways. And that's the thing you don't know when she's going to attack at all. The pressure is on you and it's a big guessing game and Exdeath has the disadvantage.

She'll come at you, feint, see what you do and react accordingly. She's a disadvantage.

Okay, so one of Tifa's HP attacks will be hard to block (the flip kick one). Just dodge backward once or twice and wait for it to whiff (or for Tifa to not follow up the feint). When it does, either punish with RP or an Assist. Exdeath doesn't need to Omni Block everything.

I think the pressure is on Tifa. If she's going to be close to Exdeath all the time, she had better find a way to deal with Reverse Polarity -> Assist shenanigans.

Better yet, I think some actual matches would be a good idea, rather than all this theory fighting. I've never had a problem with any Tifa (I think I even got to play Dave's back in JPN version.)

[Lord Shmeckie]

Well I got my new Ethernet cable today, so later tonight I'll hopefully be able to further test the Tifa matchup, but Bloodsword has a great point: Exdeath can retaliate with attacks beyond blocking. Hell, one of his best tools against Jecht is to dodge toward him (to get above him), and use Grand Cross as soon as Jecht uses Jecht Blade; as long as it's not at the top of the screen, it's a guaranteed hit.

And from what I'm seeing of Tifa players, they're going to use feints vertually every time, so a good option to block and counter them is to wait until they feint, and pull out Turn Guard, and just tap it (or at least keep it active for as little as possible). If they fake you out and don't attack, you won't be hampered by massive downtime. To get around those feints, you need to learn to read the specific Tifa player, not just Tifa herself.

[Pifreak]

Watching xffixbmlx's online replays, I noticed something. Exdeath doesn't need to guard and counter to succeed in DDFF. Ehx simply spams (strategically of course) Reverse Polarity, and assist combos off a ceiling rush. Bam, Grand Cross/Almagest! In my opinion, Tifa will be no problem, guys.

And I just wanted to say one thing. Exdeath was never broken, because of his very very very steep learning curve. I gave up trying to learn playing him after a few days. Yet again, in my opinion, there were only two Exdeath players you could consider professionals: Bloodsword83 and xffixbmlx.

[Lord Shmeckie]

....

Anyway, that steep-ass learning curve was what let him get away with how ridiculous he was. Also the EX Block was ridiculously difficult to learn (sadly, I wasn't able to master it until just a few weeks before my old Ethernet cable died, but I did manage to get a few replays before it happened), but learning it made him, quite literally, invincible.

But to add to what you said, yes, RP+Assist combos are another great, viable way to handle people making it difficult to block them, like feinting Tifas.

[Zero_Ruzai]

....

Anyway, that steep-ass learning curve was what let him get away with how ridiculous he was. Also the EX Block was ridiculously difficult to learn (sadly, I wasn't able to master it until just a few weeks before my old Ethernet cable died, but I did manage to get a few replays before it happened), but learning it made him, quite literally, invincible.

But to add to what you said, yes, RP+Assist combos are another great, viable way to handle people making it difficult to block them, like feinting Tifas.

No need to guard her moves.

Watching xffixbmlx's online replays, I noticed something. Exdeath doesn't need to guard and counter to succeed in DDFF. Ehx simply spams (strategically of course) Reverse Polarity, and assist combos off a ceiling rush. Bam, Grand Cross/Almagest! In my opinion, Tifa will be no problem, guys.

And I just wanted to say one thing. Exdeath was never broken, because of his very very very steep learning curve. I gave up trying to learn playing him after a few days. Yet again, in my opinion, there were only two Exdeath players you could consider professionals: Bloodsword83 and xffixbmlx.

I would put EHX over blood, from what I've seen, blood wouldn't be considered superior. That's just opinion though.

I might just mention that that's what I've been saying about Exdeath's meta-game. I DID switch from Black Hole to RP and I just play ceiling matches. I wouldn't consider Ehx a better Exdeath player than I, since we do pretty much the same thing (except I gain assist a helluva a lot faster than him since I do blodge techniques and he does not) except I use a different assist, which in my opinion is better but we all have personal preferences.
Exdeath's only bad matchup I think is FC, and he's almost to the point of being outlawed anyway.
Like I've mentioned previously, I only use guards 3-4 times per battle, other than that, I keep exdeath pressuring opponent with long range attacks, RP w/ ceiling rushes, etc.
Exdeath is almost to the point of being untouchable if used right. And with assists, he pretty much is to that point. If you play him right.

[Bloodsword83]

No need to guard her moves.


I would put EHX over blood, from what I've seen, blood wouldn't be considered superior. That's just opinion though.

I might just mention that that's what I've been saying about Exdeath's meta-game. I DID switch from Black Hole to RP and I just play ceiling matches. I wouldn't consider Ehx a better Exdeath player than I, since we do pretty much the same thing (except I gain assist a helluva a lot faster than him since I do blodge techniques and he does not) except I use a different assist, which in my opinion is better but we all have personal preferences.
Exdeath's only bad matchup I think is FC, and he's almost to the point of being outlawed anyway.
Like I've mentioned previously, I only use guards 3-4 times per battle, other than that, I keep exdeath pressuring opponent with long range attacks, RP w/ ceiling rushes, etc.
Exdeath is almost to the point of being untouchable if used right. And with assists, he pretty much is to that point. If you play him right.

In order:

I don't know who's Exdeath is better. Nor do I care.

FC is NOT a bad matchup for Exdeath. Protect Block makes quick work of that one physical brave attack, and Omni Block takes care of everything else. I would call it 50-50 at least, maybe even 60-40 in Exdeath's favor. All it requires is experience in the matchup.

[Enuo]

Orphan's cradle and Ulti's castle is going to present huge issues for Exdeath. The both have no roofs, thus exdeath will need to block or assist punish dodged attacks to get HP damage in(Both these levels have no wall rushable roofs, you just teleport away).

[Zero_Ruzai]

FC is a bad matchup. With Protect guard, he still staggers you. His attacks are so quick that you don't always know when to block. Most of his moves are safe, meaning no RP punish. I'm not sure how many times you've faced FC, but yes, he's a bad matchup. The most Protect guard can do is stagger you both.

I actually found both of these stages to not be too much of a problem. With Kuja assist, Hurricane>Kuja assist>Grand Cross is a combo with no wall rush. I just make good use of that. I know there's no wall rushes, other than the floor (so with Exdeath, that's no wall rushes period). But 90% of characters will suffer from this on Orphan's Cradle.
Ulti-Castle is kind of a bummer, but at least Banish traps deduct 10% of BRV from opponent. this adds up over time.

[Bloodsword83]

FC is a bad matchup. With Protect guard, he still staggers you. His attacks are so quick that you don't always know when to block. Most of his moves are safe, meaning no RP punish. I'm not sure how many times you've faced FC, but yes, he's a bad matchup. The most Protect guard can do is stagger you both.

I actually found both of these stages to not be too much of a problem. With Kuja assist, Hurricane>Kuja assist>Grand Cross is a combo with no wall rush. I just make good use of that. I know there's no wall rushes, other than the floor (so with Exdeath, that's no wall rushes period). But 90% of characters will suffer from this on Orphan's Cradle.
Ulti-Castle is kind of a bummer, but at least Banish traps deduct 10% of BRV from opponent. this adds up over time.

Protect Guard isn't staggered by Brute Force. I was using it against Shine to good effect. :/ Protect Guard has Melee High priority, whereas Brute Force has only Melee Mid.

FC players generally use only two brave attacks in the air. Brute Force and Splinter. You can safety dance Brute Force, and you can easily Omni Block Splinter from almost any distance. Also, Ventus Ire (the most used air HP attack) can be punished with RP/Assists.