Them's Fightin' Herds/Oleander/Strategy
Neutral
Offense
Oleander's basic offensive structure is to threaten frametraps from her normals, and then dash in to reset pressure or go for a throw/throw bait.
5A, 2A (-2) and 5B (-3) are your main stagger point normals. They are fast, have good frame data and recover quickly with plenty of cancel options available. Example strings:
5A 5A 5B 5A -- 5A 2A 5A -- 5A 2A 5A 5B
Once your opponent is conditioned to not pushblock, you can start incorporating 2B and 6A rebeats into your pressure. Example:
5A 5A 5B 6A 5B -- 2A 5B 2B 5A 5B -- 5A 5B 5A 5B 2B 6A 5B 2B
Going into your 5C normals or 6B gives you high damage frametraps, but also makes your pressure much more linear and potentially unsafe.
Your remaining options will be special cancels:
-236A/B/C, which end your turn and are punishable on IB up close.
-22C which returns you to neutral.
-236A/B trapS which leave gaps for reversals and projectile invulnerable moves, as well as being an inefficient use of magic.
Okizeme
Not an okizeme setup per se, but sweep (2C) is a perfect time to safely hit 5D to generate a Magic stock (2C gatlings into 5D making it safe).
On hard knockdown from a 2C, a trap (214A) can be set for the opponent to wake up into.
In situations where the opponent is able to ground tech roll, there is potential to use these traps to cover at least some options. For example, 3C > j.A > j.B > j.2C > j.214A will drop a trap on top of the opponent, forcing them to either roll, or wake up in place and deal with the trap.
Defense
Matchups
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| Because Tianhuo is going to try to stay in close range and keep up pressure, you will have much less opportunity to safely generate Magic with 5D / j.D. Instead, focus on good defensive play to keep Tianhuo out using 6A, j.C, 236X, and j.236X. 22D is also useful here as Tianhuo is less likely to be playing defensively and thus more likely to be caught by these.
Because Tianhuo's gameplan relies heavily on movement, you will want to make heavy use of j.C to control air space. Use 6A to shut down Tianhuo's jump-in attacks when possible, or also 5B and 5C to threaten the space in front of you. 214X can also be used to control space, though you will likely have less opportunity to generate Magic with Tianhuo moving in on you - so make them count. Simple 236X > 214X combos can push Tianhuo away from you while setting a trap to make it tough for her to get back in. |
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| Oleander can use 236X / j.236X to play her own ranged game against Velvet's while generating stocks of magic with 5D and j.D. j.D can be especially useful for its unique movement to help avoid Velvet's ranged attacks. Your goal at long range should be to avoid Velvet's ranged attacks while generating Magic, but eventually you want to move in to start a mid to close-range offensive. Teleports can be used to close the distance of course, but the Magic is probably better saved for other offensive tools; therefore, practicing moving in the old-fashioned way with patience and space-threatening normals (j.C, 2C, etc.) is important.
22B can be useful for intercepting Velvet if she tries to escape the corner back to midscreen. Be mindful of Velvet's Magic Ice Eruption which has invincible startup when pressuring her in the corner. |
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