Skullgirls/Beowulf/Strategy
Strategy
Beowulf's goals:
- To use his straightforward yet limited neutral tools to space out or close in on his opponent.
- Pressure them with a high/low/throw mixup using his hop-dash once he's in.
- Use Grab Stance finishers to set up his oki-game or tech chase.
Beowulf is a character that has decent mobility, good disjointed buttons, high damage, strong frame traps, with a good oki-game and tech chase potential that struggles at getting in on his own. He is very strong on the ground and weak in the air due to his lack of an air super and air mobility.
Beowulf's mobility lies in his fast walk speed (fastest in the game) and his short hop-dash that, when repeatedly used, can cover a lot of ground. Although Wulf Blitzer gives him a surprising amount of mobility, he leaves himself vulnerable for the entire duration and has to recover when he lands, it's better to dash jump at them if you need to close the distance.
Despite his neutral being potent and straightforward, it leaves him predictable with his main neutral tools being his chair-on normals, Wulf Blitzer, and his hop normals. His heavy normals that use The Hurting also allow him to play in the mid-range effectively.
- j.HP allows Beowulf to space himself in the air with it's disjointed hitbox or allow him to advance as a jump in. Landing a counterhit with this move typically leads to a lot of damage and possibly a dead character with the correct spacing.
- Wulf Blitzer gives Beowulf quick mobility and the ability to challenge character's buttons that will either beat or trade with them.
- Hop normals help Beowulf in the mid-range and catch any overextending button from his opponent.
- s.HP's, c.HP's, and c.HK's disjointed hitboxes allow Beowulf to score hits and play in the mid-range with relative safety.
Once Beowulf is close-range, this is where he shines with his quick hop-dash overheads like j.LP and j.LK to add with his low/throw threat. His main tools at this range are c.LK, throw, and his hop-dash.
- c.LK is his fastest grounded low and an all around good button.
- s.LK is a standing low that can catch people off guard due to it's slightly longer startup than most lights.
- His hop-dash gives him fast and, sometimes, ambiguous overheads that leave him at a frame advantage on block. Standard hop-overhead will use either j.LP or j.LK due to how fast they are.
- j.MP or j.MK are good options due to their amount of hitstun and blockstun, but j.MK can deceive some due to its very similar animation to s.MK. Although both are much slower than their light counterparts.
- His throw allows him to restart the high/low/throw threat after Grab Stance if he restands or to begin his oki-game or tech chase.
Beowulf's Grab Stance enders/finishers allow him to position himself and his opponent for either an oki setup or a tech chase. Canis Major Press is an oki tool while the rest of his enders/finishers let him tech chase when they're in the corner and try to tech out.
- Canis Major Press is important if you choose to play heavily with oki as it will force a Hard Knockdown, even if you have used OTG prior, and spending a level of Hype will give you more oki/setup options.
- Being unpredictable after you use this move will increase the potency of Beowulf's already strong oki game.
- His other Grab Stance enders/finishers allow him to tech chase when done in the corner, although Diving Wulfdog will allow him to do it even midscreen on a read.
- Wulf Press Slam to throw them into the corner will allow a tech chase when if they decide to tech away from it.
Keep these in mind as basic guidelines of Beowulf's gameplay and his goals.
Counterplay
Beowulf while strong, once he's in, *has* to get in to start his game and he struggles to do that on his own. With his mobility and neutral being outmatched by the entire cast in one way or another, Beowulf has to work harder or take bigger risks compared to the rest of the cast to be effective.
How to beat this character
Beowulf has a hard time against characters that can keep him from approaching so he can start his game, whether it be out-ranging him, zoning him, or having better mobility than him. Another thing Beowulf struggles against is being reset in the air and left/rights, leaving him to either block correctly or take a risk with a falling button or using Wulf Blitzer Some examples of characters that do this would be:
- Parasoul - Having superior space control through her long reaching, disjointed, normals and tears keep Beowulf out. She also has the ability to reset Beowulf in the air and left/right very consistently.
- Filia - Very fast mobility allows her to weave in and out of his range and can consistently leave Beowulf to guess between a left/right on top of her high/lows.
- Peacock - Beowulf has a bit of trouble getting through her zoning due to his wide hurtbox. He can take a risk and use chair-less c.HK to bypass her zoning, but it leaves him open to Argus Agony, M Bang xx Argus Agony or H Teleport into a full combo.
Counters to common techniques
- j.HP can be beat with a fast air to air up close, or invulnerable anti air if your character has one.
- H Hurting Hurl can be thrown, armored, reversaled, and land canceled. Certain crossup moves will avoid it as well, and depending on how advantageous you are, certain moves are fast enough to recover in time to block.
- http://skullheart.com/index.php?threads/punishing-beowulfs-anti-air-super.6973/
- Arm countermeasures video
- Chairless c.hp xx Airwulf punishes pt. 1
- Chairless c.hp xx Airwulf punishes pt. 2
