Melty Blood/MBTL/Michael Roa Valdamjong/Strategy

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Combos

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Strategy

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Match Database

#MBTL_RO

General Strategy

• THIS WAS WRITTEN PRE-MASH/NECO UPDATE, READ WITH THAT CONTEXT IN MIND
• Roa got better range on air normals & j.2C for meterless aerial conversions & safejumps which are some specific areas of note.

Zone with 214X specials. 214A for ground control, 214B to protect airspace in front of you. 214[B] also covers a lot of space and is useful if you are not in a position the opponent can jump in on you. 4BC is an amazing moon skill which can be converted to full combo with meter, just be wary of the deadzone in front of Roa, and that if close enough the opponent can jump over it on a read and punish. 214C starts over your head and can be EX cancelled from 214X, so use it if someone unexpectedly jumps over your lightning needles. Roa's ground to air game is especially strong with 214B/C and 623B (risky!) specials, as well as 4BC and 3BC Moon skills. However Roa does not operate too strong in air to air situations. Not to say you should never air to air, with strong "air footsies" and thoughtful spacing you can succeed. Just keep in mind Roa's subpar air normals when going up against characters with a strong air game.

You can rush down too. Roa's airdash has very great horizontal reach and works well for IAD pressure. With this airdash it is fairly simple to setup good pressure situations like overhead to low, double overheads, fuzzies, etc. Roa's rebeat pressure is also second to none, so experiment with that. A short example is stuff > 2C > 5Aw > (2C/IAD). It puts you into a range where you can hit them with 2C but their A normals will whiff. There are a myriad of combo enders with safejump or 236B setups. 236B as an oki tool is great because of it's ability to feint and plus frames when spaced properly. With some setups, you can hit meaty, be reversal safe, and feint into 214A if they go for wakeup tap shield. 236C can work to shut down opponent zoning and get you oki, but be very careful when using it. It is very punishable on block, so you want to use it on an especially long duration opponent move. In addition the opponent can Moon Drive and block 236C on reaction, so make sure they have less than half moon gauge.

Also 214C is your everything tool, it does almost everything for you. It is a combo extender, combo ender, amazing plus frames, zoning conversion tool, your air unblockable setup tool. Just be careful using it raw, as it can be shielded on reaction fairly easily, since that's exactly what your opponent wants to do. Try keeping them in hitstun or blockstun before you use it. 214X~X is good to use before 214C generally.

In general zone when you want to, go in when you feel like it. Put them into tough pressure situations and loop your oki once you get a hit. Careful of knowledgeable opponents who stay in your deadzones high in the air, where your zoning specials cannot reach and subpar aerial normals may struggle. You then may instead have to utilize universal melty blood neutral concepts if they spend time outside of Roa's strong points. Well spaced air movement, air fatals, catching landing etc.

Okizeme

Notation Help
Disclaimer: Combos are written by various writers, so notation may differ slightly from this notation. For more information, see Glossary and Controls
X > Y	X input is cancelled into Y.
X, Y	X input is linked into Y, meaning Y is done after X's recovery period.
X+Y	Buttons "X" and "Y" must be input simultaneously.
X/Y	Input "X" or "Y" can be used.
dl	There should be delay before inputting "X".
w.X or Xw	Attack "X" should whiff and not hit the opponent.
j.X	Button "X" is input while jumping or in the air.
dj.X	Button "X" is input after a double jump.
jc	Jump cancel the previous action. Will occasionally be omitted due to being obvious. Will occasionally be notated with 7/9 to indicate backwards/forwards.
sj	Perform a superjump, which is performed by inputting 2~8.
sjc	Superjump cancel the previous action.
IAD	Instant Air Dash.
AT	Air throw, often used as a combo ender that leads to knockdown.
md.X	Perform a micro-dash before performing "X". Unused in favor of writing "microdash."
tk.X	Indicates the motion "X" is input immediately after leaving the ground. Stands for tiger knee.
(X)	Input "X" is optional. Typically the combo will be easier if omitted.
[X]	Input "X" is held down. Also can be known as "Increase" or "IC" for short. Depending on the character, this can indicate that this button is held down and not released until indicated by the release notation.
]X[	Input "X" is released. Will only appear if a button is previously held down.
{X}	Button "X" should only be held down briefly to partially charge the attack, instead of the full increased version.
X(#)	Attack "X" should only hit # of times.
X~Y	This notation has two meanings. Use attack "X" with "Y" follow-up input. Input "X" then within a few frames, input "Y". Usually used for option selects.
(...) OR (...)	Use only one between the two alternative routes.
RB1/2	The first or second hit of Rapid Beat auto combo.
CH	The first attack must be Counter Hit.
FC	The first attack must be Fatal Counter.
MD	Perform a Moon Drive, which is inputted by pressing 5B+C.
Heat	Perform Heat, which is performed by inputting A+B+C.
AD	Perform an Arc Drive, which is performed by inputting 236B+C. Characters with more than one Arc Drive will have theirs notated by input.
LA	Perform a Last Arc, which is performed by inputting A+B+C+D or successfully Shielding in Blood Heat.

Concepts

Make sure to have glossary links to common terms like fuzzy guarding and such

Jab Shield Option Select

Say a few words about 2A/5A shield OS, when to use which version of 2A 2AD, 2A 2BD, 2A 2CD, etc.

There are more details that someone needs to fill in, but A normals can be cancelled into shield, which allows this OS to exist. It lets you hit an A normal meaty and have enough time to cancel into shield if the opponent reversals out. It will also enable you to keep offense if they do not reversal.

There must be enough time the opponent is down so the reversal does not come out before you can shield, and not mistime the meaty A normal to late either. Below will have a few setups which enable this technique.

Safejump

What is a safejump? It lets you hit a jumping attack meaty (or close to meaty) and lets you land fast enough so that if the opponent executes a reversal, you will land be able to block/shield in time. It exists in nearly every fighting game. Some of the methods detailed below will help you consistently executes safejumps instead of guessing or extreme timing on manually timed safejumps.

236B Oki

236B is plus, most setups also protect from certain options, here are common conceptual ways to set it up!

• Specific combos with low AT (can't use 3C!)
• 214C into AT

Knockdowns

Single Jump Airthrow

Sequence	Type	Frame Advantage	Fuzzy Guard Difference	Meter Required	Location
3C > j.xx (anything) > AT > j.9 > 9AB > (j.A whiff) > falling j.X~D	Safejump				Anywhere
Options Covered Reversal Heat, Invincible Reversal, jump, throw 5A/2A, Block
Counterplay 5D, Moon Drive, backdash midscreen
Midscreen single AT safejump. Requires 1f link between dj. and AD, so 9~1f~AB, which is fairly tough to execute consistently. New tech by whiffing j.A then j.X makes a more lenient safejump where landing recovery is reduced by 2 frames, providing easier execution at cost of some damage link Can defeat Shield counter A if timed correctly. Plink D when the attack would make contact to OS reversal heat
3C > j.ABC(BCA) > AT > dl.dj.9 > j.A/j.C ~ D	Safejump			0%	Corner
Options Covered Reversal Heat, Invincible Reversal, jump, throw 5A/2A, Block
Counterplay 5D, Moon Drive
Corner only safejump after single jump AT combo. Delay the double jump approximately where Roa's foot is at the height of a standing character's knees. Should be safe from Shield Counter A, needs testing on others. Can use remaining options to mix up from safejump (e.g. empty jump low/throw, delay AD overhead, etc.)

Ground Throw

Sequence	Type	Frame Advantage	Fuzzy Guard Difference	Meter Required	Location
Throw > w.5A > j.9 > j.X	Safejump				Anywhere
Options Covered Reversal Heat, Invincible Reversal, jump, throw 5A/2A, Block
Counterplay 5D, Moon Drive, midscreen backdash
Easy safejump from ground throw anywhere. Can forgo safejump for 50/50, mix with multiple overheads, etc.
Throw > w.5C > 236A > 236C~B				1 Magic Circuit / 50% Moon	Midscreen
Options Covered Reversal Heat, Invincible Reversal, jump, throw 5A/2A, Block
Counterplay 5D, 2D, Moon Drive
An expensive Oki which covers nearly every option. (Needs more notes explaining in depth)
Throw > microwalk > j.9 > 2A~D	Left/Right				Midscreen
Options Covered Reversal Heat, Invincible Reversal(?), jump, throw, 5A/2A, Block
Counterplay 2D, Moon Drive, midscreen backdash, BE Heat
Gives left/right depending on microwalk. Has to be manually timed

623C

Sequence	Type	Frame Advantage	Fuzzy Guard Difference	Meter Required	Location
stuff > 623C > (w.5A > j.9)/(w.4A > j.9)	Left/Right	WIP	WIP f	WIP %	Anywhere
Options Covered WIP
Counterplay WIP
Gives ambiguous left/right mixup, difference is the microwalk back or not which is hard to see.

214C

Sequence	Type	Frame Advantage	Fuzzy Guard Difference	Meter Required	Location
214C > IAD(run up jump works too) > AT > land > 236B~C		~+4f?		1 Magic Circuit	Midscreen
Options Covered Some Invincible Reversals, block, 5A, Throw
Counterplay 5D, 2D, Some Invincible Reversals
Video goes into more detail link Holding BC will OS BC shield escape Can 236[B] to bait shield Some character specific reversals will whiff on you, and others like Mash DP will beat you.

236BC

Sequence	Type	Frame Advantage	Fuzzy Guard Difference	Meter Required	Location
Stuff > 236BC > w.5B > j.9 > j.X~D	Safejump			3 Magic Circuits	Anywhere
Options Covered Invincible Reversals, block, 5A, Throw, Reversal Heat
Counterplay 5D
Safejump off of arc drive ender

236C

Sequence	Type	Frame Advantage	Fuzzy Guard Difference	Meter Required	Location
WIP	type	WIP	WIP f	WIP %	Anywhere
Options Covered WIP
Counterplay WIP
WIP

Old Okizeme Notes (Reformatting into tables progress)

Single AT anywhere combo: 9~AB (tight timing, needs to be a 1f link between 9 and AB. Cannot buffer or be too late) Be wary of using empty jump on this, since the recovery of empty airdash is quite large

Ground throw oki safejump is 5A(w) j9

Throw > 5A(w) > 5A(w) > 236B

236B can hit meaty with this throw setup but loses to shield + reversal link

6C~C > 623B > 2A(w) > 2C

Corner combo ender for specific oki. 2A framekills then 2C will catch any forward techs out of the corner for a full combo. Neutral tech hits 2C meaty. No tech has 2A hit invalid combo. Can do midscreen but opponent can back tech to escape.

236B oki stuff > 214C > IAD AT > 236B Easy 236B oki, hits meaty, reversal safe, plus frames. Can feint for wakeup shield and 214A to hit recovery. Hold BC during 236B to OS BC shield counter if they shield. Cannot use in corner.

j.236C oki options: After a j.236C combo ender midscreen, 4 way mixup.

• sj.9 > dj.7 > Backwards AD > j.C

• sj.9 > dj.7 > j.A whiff > land 2A

• sj.9 > dj.8 (drift forward) > j.C / land 2A

Corner j.A safejump

Launcher > j.ABC > AT > dl.dj.9 > j.A

Can do all other common options that come with safejump, eg. delay airdash, empty jump, OS landing shield on whiff etc. delay the double jump approximately where Roa's foot is at the height of a standing character's knees

623C ender

623C > walk back 1-2f > 5A(w) > j.9 left/right mix

Resources

Magicrider Combo & Oki Video