User:SaveChopper

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Mmm Chopper Sad 2.pngStop Using Chopper.gifMmm Chopper Sad.png

Which Dog?

Pom has five distinct dogs she can summon with magic, an amount that may seem overwhelming. Here's a quick rundown on their advantages, versatility, and beginner-friendliness.


TFH Pom 236B.png
Bitey (236B)
Bitey is considered by many to be Pom's best and more versatile dog, and a very beginner-friendly dog.

Bitey's underbite (3D) is the fastest of all dog attacks, coming out at 17 frames, and has a very low profile letting it dodge some attacks in neutral. 3D's fast startup also makes it a good defensive tool with sheepherding—he's the only dog fast enough to hit the opponent during [4]6A's invuln period, and with the right timing can make Pom safe or even plus afterward. 3D also hits low, giving Pom high/low mix options unique to the entire roster. With sheepherding and Pom's air mobility this can be turned into four-way setplay.

Overbite (6D) is slower, lacks a low profile, and hits mid, making it directly worse in neutral, defense and oki. The primary advantage 6D has over 3D is MUCH higher damage on hit and block and longer hitstun. 6D is a great combo tool and provides better reward if it does open up the opponent.

There are no matchups where Bitey struggles in relative to the other dogs. Grounded rushdown characters like Arizona, Paprika and Shanty are especially disrupted by bitey. A Tianhuo player who stays in the air as often as possible might be able to avoid it in neutral, and getting Bitey in position might be hard against Velvet, but still excels on offense and defense in those matchups.


TFH Pom 236C.png
Big Mama (236C)
Not a very beginner-friendly summon but a powerful one in the right hands. Mama has a very large hurtbox and is the only dog made vulnerable when rallied, making it a risk to move her into position, and can be killed in a single combo if you let the opponent do so, leaving you with no dogs and no magic for a precious few seconds. This combined with her very slow attack speed, as well as the 3.1 patch disabling her if Pom ever blocks, make her a higher risk to use than anything else Pom can spend her magic on. However, the armor on her attacks and her counter can make challenging her very dangerous for the opponent, and Pom can leverage that for strong neutral control and pressure.

Big Mama's bark (6D) is a counter active on frame 1, and the only dog attack as of 3.1 to not be disabled when Pom blocks. It is the centerpiece of Mama's kit, compensating for her weaknesses and punishing the opponent severely for poking at the wrong time or trying to mash against Mama's approaches. The move can be used as a reversal, though its input means Pom is vulnerable to lows, and after it's triggered Mama enters an autoguard state where she blocks all attacks, turning her into an invulnerable wall against zoners. Pom can use this to approach or scare the opponent into not attacking so Pom can run some light pressure.

Big Mama's bite (3D) is multihit, frame 55 strike with one hit of armor and high chip damage, useful in pressure situations capable of locking the opponent down in conjunction with Pom's attacks. The move has a large gap between its first and second hit that Pom has to cover to prevent Mama from getting mashed against, and Mama will stop attacking if Pom blocks during this gap, making the move not great in neutral. The move also has okizeme potential, giving Pom a left/right mixup, and it can pull the opponent out of the corner for a crossup.

Big Mama's gnaw slam (9D) is an extremely slow and telegraphed command grab with limited neutral utility and no defensive potential, but can be used for a tick throw mix with Pom's lows. Pushblock extending the opponent's blockstun means it doesn't work well in blockstrings, use it with okizeme.

Mama's 6D gives her a niche as an approach tool against zoning from characters like Velvet and Texas, and can give rushdown opponents enough pause for Pom to make a move. 3D can threaten air approaches, and even her rally hurtbox can eat jump-ins, a relevant factor against Tianhuo.


TFH Pom 236A.png
Digging Pup (236A) and Following Digging Pup (214A)
Digging pup has one attack, a slow multihit mid. Digging pup is cheap, costing only one magic and recovering magic almost instantly when it leaves, giving it synergy with Bitey, but doing little outside pressure on its own. Digging pup can make Pom's very unsafe attacks plus and can open up the opportunity to summon another dog or regain magic after bitey leaves the field. The attack also works as a cheap, low-risk meaty. Digging pup also holds a special niche in the matchup with Arizona, a character with a strong grounded approach but no alternative movement options besides magic dash. Pom can use digging pups as a zoning and spacing tool against her, able to summon successive ones quickly to keep up the wall.

Following digging pup behaves identical to the normal summon, but follows Pom without a hurtbox instead of being moved manually. This version can be easier to pilot for new players because of this, but contains multiple severely detrimental bugs that have existed for five years and counting without being patched. To avoid most of these bugs, avoid summoning more than one following digging pup at a time.


TFH Pom 214B.png
Chopper (214B)
Chopper is, to be diplomatic, a very flawed summon with limited strengths and severe weaknesses. Chopper tracks the opponent automatically, an appealing trait for the beginner player, but struggles to accomplish anything. Chopper's tracking is so sluggish that it has trouble getting in range to attack. Counterintuitively, chopper's tracking also sometimes moves it out of a range where it would have been able to connect its attack otherwise.

Chopper's pierce (6D) is an air-to-air. The threat of the move can condition opponents to jump less, though the most airborne character Tianhuo can use her magic options to get above its range while approaching. The move can be used as a combo tool after Pom's launcher, extending the combo without using Pom's ground bounce. 6D also hits Texas standing.

When the opponent is on the ground, chopper's weaknesses really show. Swoop (3D) is one of the slowest overheads in the game, but an overhead nonetheless giving Pom some potential high/low mix. The move has a very limited horizontal range, and the opponent can avoid it by walking, dashing or jumping away from the direction it comes from. It has a very small hurtbox and a very large hitbox, making it easily hit by most moves in the game, even the average 2A. Worse than that, the move is difficult to convert into a combo when it does hit, causing a tumble state that Pom does not possess the tools to easily follow up on.

Old footage of Pom will show players using the summon very often, but cumulative nerfs to chopper and to Pom's dogs as a whole have eroded its high points and amplified its problems to the point that some Pom players will say to never summon the dog.


Best Uses of Meter?

Pom's bread-and-butter meter tool is her level 1 super, Stampede. The attack leaves Pom extremely plus on block, letting her summon a dog and/or set up a mix, can be looped in combos for high damage, and can be used as a panic option after a very unsafe button or her Sheep Herding. Many characters have at least one tool that can punish the move raw and some can punish it from a blockstring gap, and everyone can throw it on reaction to the super flash up close, but the move remains one of the most vital tools in Pom's kit and shapes her game plan. Some Pom players exclusively use their meter on Stampede due to its strengths and the weaknesses of her other options.

Pom's level 2 summon is Big Papa. Big Papa has three moves, all strikes that can be blocked mid. 3D is a slowish strike, a very large gap, and a second strike, and can be used for high-damage combos or to bolster Big Mama's lockdown. 6D is an ultra-slow strike with infinite armor, but falls flat because all the opponent needs to do is make Pom block to disable it, and 9D is a mid with extremely low damage, a high JD increase and which uses Pom's one stagger per combo, serving no real purpose besides comboing into Big Mama's 9D. Big Papa can only be used four times, a use is consumed if he stops due to Pom blocking, Pom's other dogs cannot attack without also commanding Big Papa and taking away one of his uses, and he can be comboed away like all of Pom's other dogs, weaknesses that compound into a very flawed super.

Pom's level 3 super is a move that exists. Spend all your meter, which Pom may not be able to build up in a match, on a counter that takes 13 frames to become active, which you lose said meter if hit before it's active, which loses to throws, which loses to armor breaking moves like certain supers, which has two full seconds of recovery where Pom can be counterhit, which when triggered has a large gap with slowdown before the flash where the opponent can act unless it's triggered by a close-range grounded strike, which has a 1f gap or larger after the flash, which can be air blocked, and which can be counterhit after the active frames if dodged. If it's triggered and it hits, Pom is left +0 at a very special range where her own 5A cannot hit but every other character's 5A can, putting her at effective disadvantage. You can use this move if you want to.

Cross Canter, the universal defensive tool that costs half a bar of super, can get the opponent off Pom. Like all CCs, it leaves Pom +0 on hit and very, very minus on block. It's not a horrible option for getting the opponent off you but Pom doesn't have great tools to follow up on it. Sheep Herding into her level 1 super provides more reward and only slightly more risk, but cannot be done during a gapless blockstring so there is a niche for Cross Canter.

Neutral

Important Normals

  • 5B: Decent poke with almost no hurtbox extension, making it Pom's best disjoint.
  • 2B: Move has low profile on frame 5, a better one on frame 8, and is jump cancellable on hit. Can duck under certain normals in neutral and serves as an anti-air even when Pom has charge. Be wary of its frame 1 hurtbox extension.
  • 5C: Long-range poke with strong pushback that can be used to get dogs onto the field safely. When cancelled into a summon it becomes Pom's only safe blockstring ender without dogs or super. Terrible on whiff.
  • 2C: Pom's only long-reaching low normal and her only hard knockdown. Her best ender for okizeme and resets, she can cancel it into a summon or Sheep Herding and remain very plus. Also terrible on whiff, as well as on block.
  • j.B: Multihit overhead, very important for pressure. Instant Air Dash j.B is Pom's fastest overhead option, a strong approach tool, and a tool to keep on the opponent after being pushblocked.
  • j.C: Pom's most immediately appealing button. Very long-range aerial that at different points hits above, below and even behind Pom. Has the potential to dominate neutral but is easily anti-aired due to its large hurtbox extension, use with moderation.

Pom, being a puppet character, does not want to be caught without one. Her jabs are bad and leave her unable to punish or challenge some things that most characters have no trouble doing, and her pressure is linear without dogs due to limited ground buttons that are all jab-punishable on block besides the aforementioned jabs. Pom's only safe ender without a dog or super is to press 5C and then cancel into a dog summon. Her A and B summons leave her -2 and -4 on block respectively, safe enough to avoid a normal jab punish but not safe enough to avoid an IB jab punish, while 236C is -8. 5C has significant pushback on normal block, though, meaning Pom can sometimes safely summon Big Mama despite.

Most of Pom's pokes have significant hurtbox extensions before the move comes out, but 5B has almost none. Pom's 2B is in many cases her fastest attack that can hit, and its low profile that starts on frame 5 and becomes even lower on frame 8 lets her dodge certain pokes from the opponent. 5C is one of the longest pokes in the game and can get a dog on the field safely at range whether the opponent blocks it or not, though it can be both backdashed and jumped over and it has the longest recovery of any ground normal in the game besides a few 3Cs, so do not throw it out willy-nilly. 2C is similar to 5C but can only be made -9 with a summon cancel, a more dangerous button to throw out but her only low with range besides Bitey's 3D, making it important for calling out opponents who jump back or try to dash-block in.

Pom has strong anti-projectile tools. Sheep Herding ([4]6A/B) is fully projectile-invulnerable, even after it becomes strike-vulnerable, forcing a zoning opponent to call it out when used as an approach tool. Bark ([4]6C) is projectile-invulnerable for its startup and active frames, letting it challenge close-range projectile attacks—especially useful against Velvet whose blockstrings require projectile attacks. Barking a projectile also lets Pom cancel it into a summon, giving her a chance to get a dog onto the field against zoning and using the dog to bolster her approach.

While Pom's ground buttons are flawed, her air buttons are all above average. j.A is an important air-to-air due to its speed. j.B is a strong jump-in that can let Pom run offense immediately after if not pushblocked, and performing an instant air dash into j.B is one of Pom's best approach tools at footsies range, albeit not a fast one. j.C is a normal with both fantastic range and a horrifically large hurtbox extension. Many newer Pom players over-use this move, which can be anti-aired fairly easily from far away, but it provides high reward on hit. You can air dash forward after the move is blocked to gain distance, or air dash backward to gain distance, the latter taking you about fullscreen if j.C is pushblocked. Against newer players who aren't comfortable anti-airing you on reaction, j.C can and will win games by itself, but using the tool incorrectly will get Pom killed against a good opponent.

Overall, Pom is not a character who wants to play footsies if she can help it. Some of her grounded buttons have nice assets like 5C's range and 2B's low profile, but their flaws and Pom's linear gameplan make it a riskier game for her than most other characters. Use them to get a summon up at a safe range if possible, and use Pom's air buttons for a more consistent threat. See the overview on dogs to determine which dog is best to summon, but in general bitey provides an immediate and easy-to-use threat, Big Mama can threaten a powerful counter that the opponent is forced to play around while she's up, and digging pup is a fast and cheap filler option.

Movement

Pom is the only character besides Tianhuo with multiple air movement options, giving her unique mobility. Pom's air dash moves her diagonally down in the direction input. By performing an Instant Air Dash (IAD), most easily done through the input 956, Pom will jump and then immediately dash downward, making a triangle motion. This allows Pom to cover space while dodging low-hitting moves like Arizona's stomps, and lets her threaten approaching overheads while moving at a speed similar to her dash speed. Being able to IAD on command is one of the most important things for playing neutral as Pom.

Pom's other air movement option is float, performed by holding the up button in the air. Pom falls slower and can steer herself while floating, and gradually accelerates the longer Pom steers in one direction. Floating away can be a faster option to retreat than chaining backdashes. Performing a float at the peak of Pom's jump height lets her dodge some anti-air attempts to whiff punish, especially if steered backward, it can be used to delay jump-ins and potentially cross up. If Pom performs a float immediately after leaving the ground and holds it for a few frames, it will cancel Pom's upward momentum and act as a pseudo-shorthop.

Air dash and float crucially are not mutually exclusive options and Pom can perform both of them during one jump. Besides the multiple cancels this afford Pom, this also lets her fine-tune her jump arcs even more than using one alone. Examples of combining the two would be air dashing and then immediately floating in the opposite direction to cancel its momentum, or floating to set a specific momentum and then performing an air dash. Pom can bait an anti-air by jumping and floating, then air dash forward from the float to get a whiff punish, or just wear down the opponent's patience with false approaches.

Pom's forward and backward dashes both provide good overall distance, though she does not gain any extra speed from wavedashing. One quirk to note is Pom's puppy will always bark upon Pom dashing if it isn't already in an animation, giving her dash a distinct sound cue that the opponent may be able to better react to. Like all characters though, Pom can crouch cancel her forward dash, so this may be useful as a misdirection.

Offense

Pom's dogs are a crucial part of her offense. Without dogs, Pom has some okay options for mix and pressure: j.B is an overhead for the first hit the opponent blocks and a mid for the remaining hits, but it can be cancelled via air dash or float into itself for a second or even third overhead. Cancelling j.B into j.C causes Pom to fall faster, giving her an opportunity to quickly use her low 5A or 2A or go for a tick throw. This high/low mix will catch some opponents off-guard but can be beaten with pushblock and absolute guard. Pom can also use her float to slow her fall and cross the opponent up before j.B hits, but this has the potential to lose to anti-airs. Instant Air Dash j.B can get Pom back in after being pushblocked, but this leaves a large enough gap for Pom to be anti-aired.

Pom's easiest and most potent dog on offense is Bitey (236B), specifically with Bitey's 3D. 3D hits low, even while Pom is in the air and can use her overheads. Bitey's 3D and the strategies with Pom's j.B above layer over each other nicely—Pom can perform a high then a low, or a low then a high. With float cancels, Pom can make that a high, then high, then low, or a high, then low, then high etc. Crossing the opponent up with float or Sheep Herding expands this into a full four-way mix. A lot of layered mix with Bitey can lose to mashing, however, especially Sheep Herding crossups where Bitey can be hit during the startup of 3D.

Big Mama's 3D can be used as a stagger pressure tool, or to pull the opponent away from the corner for a crossup. 3D has a gap that can be mashed through, requiring Pom to run either a stagger or gapless string to keep Mama safe, but Mama's three uses let Pom lock the opponent down for quite a while. Pom can also leave a gap on purpose and use Mama's 6D to bait the opponent into mashing, granting considerable reward on hit.

Digging pup, if commanded to attack away from the opponent with 3D, can also pull the opponent out of the corner for a cheeky crossup. Beyond that, digging pup's main use on offense is to keep Pom safe. Digging pup can be used to make unsafe moves safe, or to keep the opponent blocking during a reset. One popular option is to use digging pup to cover for Pom summoning Bitey, and then continue offense with that dog.

Without dogs and without meter, Pom's only safe blockstring ender is 5C into a summon, and even this is not safe if Instant Blocked. Against an opponent trying to IB that button, resetting on a technically unsafe 5B or 2B can give Pom the chance to backdash and get enough space to 5C from a range where she cannot be punished, or Pom can attempt a wider stagger and throw off the opponent's timing. Pom's level 1 super, however, is extremely plus on block and Pom can gaplessly blockstring into it from 5C at close range. Doing this gives Pom the opportunity to summon another dog and get in position to pressure or mix the opponent afterward. It is possible to lock the opponent down with Big Mama's 3D, stall with stagger pressure, go into super from 5C or bark, perform more stagger pressure after the super, and regain the magic needed to summon another dog, including Big Mama who can lock down the opponent even longer.

Okizeme

Pom's 2C is her only hard knockdown, but fortunately a good one. If Pom does not have a dog summoned, 2C into summon can leave her up to +35; this is plus enough to run okizeme by herself, but not plus enough for the newly summoned dog to become controllable. j.B offers an ambiguous left/right mix as well as a high/low mix, as outlined at the start of the Offense section, and can be used as a safejump.

If Pom has a summon, she could follow up on 2C either with another summon while using the first as a meaty (example would be having digging pup, summoning Bitey for mix, and using digging pup as a meaty before Bitey can be controlled), or get better positioning with Sheep Herding. 2C into [4]6A leaves Pom +21, plus enough to perform IAD j.B and counterhit most anti-air attempts. Crossing the opponent up this way can mess up some reversal attempts and remove a charge character's charge. Bitey offers immediate four-way mix after a hard knockdown, while Big Mama's 3D can be used for both ambiguous crossups and double crossups.

Big Mama's 9D is a command grab, albeit one too slow to reliably use in most situations. If set up from a knockdown, however, it can be used with Pom's lows for an unreactable 50/50. Pom can not only make the opponent guess between the low or the throw, but can use a low for a tick throw—and then perform a second low as an alternative. The opponent can pushblock after blocking the low to gain immunity from the grab, but cannot easily do so on reaction, meaning Pom can bait a pushblock and make the opponent whiff, leaving them open to the grab.

Defense

Pom's dogs, formerly a group of defensive menaces that could be used to punish the opponent during blockstring gaps, have been changed to stop attacking when Pom blocks as of patch 3.1. While this was a massive blow to her defense, Pom still possesses tools to get her out of a bad situation, albeit with more risk.

Sheep Herding, Pom's command dash, is strike-invulnerable on frame 1. This can be used with Pom's dogs as a reversal, and Bitey is by far the best dog for it due to 3D's fast speed. [4]6A, the shorter dash with shorter invulnerability, is more easily punished by jabs but offers easier conversions if a dog hits the opponent during it and its quicker recovery can throw off the opponent's punish timing. [4]6B gains more distance, making it harder to punish by characters with shorter buttons, but its longer recovery gives characters with large, fast buttons more time to react and punish. Both should be used to prevent the opponent from getting comfortable. Very important to note, all versions of Sheep Herding are throwable during its startup, making it easy to call out.

Big Mama's 6D, the counter, is the only dog attack to not stop if Pom blocks, making it one of Pom's only consistent defensive options. The opponent must respect the counter by either avoiding triggering it or using setups that let them block it, e.g. safejumps or certain attacks with low enough recovery. Because Pom has to input the attack standing and dog attacks cannot be buffered, it loses as a reversal to meaty lows; Sheep Herding and 6D together get around this issue at the cost of taking away Pom's ability to tech throws.

Pom can cancel Sheep Herding into her Level 1 super. This can be used as a turn steal if the opponent whiffs a button, but most characters have at least one option to punish this and all characters can throw Pom after the flash. Pom also loses her strike invulnerability the first frame the super is input, opening her up to getting counterhit and wasting the meter. If Pom is struck after the flash, any dogs spawned prior to the hit will continue running, potentially giving Pom a trade that she can combo from. It does not always work, but it is a high-risk option that can steal entire rounds.

Beyond these options, Pom struggles to challenge most characters' pressure. While Pom possesses a standard frame 5 5A, it has the shortest range of any light button in the game, and 2A has similar range. Pom will find herself unable to challenge some pressure gaps that other characters have no difficulty with, and must either find larger gaps that her frame 8 2B can punish or use 2B against attacks that it can low profile, as the low profile occurs on frame 5 where a character's 5A would punish wholesale. Pom must rely on system mechanics like pushblock and her reversal options to get out of pressure.

Matchups

TFH icon Arizona.png
Arizona
[Character Page]
Your goal as Pom against Arizona is to not let her get magic. Arizona has stubby normals and her approach tools like magic headbuck and magic dash require her to have gotten it through a raw rope grab or a combo into rope. Without magic, Arizona is forced to dashblock in and go for stomp/rope mix, something Pom is equipped to handle. Instant Air Dash (IAD) dodges Arizona's stomps and her ground ropes, and limits the time Pom jumps high enough to be grabbed by Arizona's 4D; she can still grab Pom, but the timing is much tighter. Pom can also punish Arizona mindlessly dashing in by using 5C to get a summon ready, or beating Arizona's dash block outright with 2C, though if blocked the latter is -9 at best with a 236A cancel.

Successfully getting past Arizona's stomps or ropes gives Pom the opportunity to punish with j.B for a full combo. Arizona's defensive options are all tied to super and magic, so landing a hit before Arizona builds magic gives Pom carte blance to run okizeme. With magic, Arizona has access to an armored attack, a counter and a projectile-invulnerable command dash that can avoid all of Pom's dogs, but these three options all lose to throws. Reading the magic use and throwing Arizona gives Pom a counterhit and takes away one of Arizona's magic stocks. This does not work against Arizona's supers, however—Pom must block those and then punish.

When Arizona does get a hit and begins running offense, she explodes in potential. Arizona's 2D causes a HKD and side-switch, taking away a built up charge that Pom could have used to try and sheepherd away. If Pom does sheepherd, Arizona has a harder-than-average time punishing the [4]6B version due to her stubby normals; just be cautious about Arizona using magic headbuck or super to close that distance. Arizona can perform a full jump after 2D to either hit same-side if Pom blocks standing or crossup if Pom crouches—Pom can press 2B on reaction to the jump to anti-air this setup. If Arizona runs safer, meaty pressure and keeps switching sides to prevent charge moves however, Pom has to hold the offense and wait for Arizona to overextend. Arizona's 236D is a built-in frametrap, and with super meter she has the potential for multiple frametrap enders to test Pom's patience.

Grounded dogs are the best to hold Arizona down in neutral. Arizona lacks teleports or any kind of aerial movement, forcing her to approach from the ground and go through Pom's dogs. Digging pup, due to its low magic cost, can be used to lock Arizona down. Bitey pup works as well, a more committal option with better reward and a larger range. Big Mama is slower and cannot threaten as quickly, but can keep Pom safe if Arizona is somewhat close and would want to poke at Pom. Arizona also requires super meter to punish Pom's level 1 super in neutral, and gets little reward for doing so unless she has a second bar for the followup super.

Overall, Pom wants to use her ranged buttons, IAD, and dogs to stay just outside the range of Arizona's stomps and ropes, punishing mistakes and keeping Arizona from ever starting her offense. Tools like IAD j.B give Pom a means to close the distance while dodging Ari's ranged threats, and Pom can turn a single hit into a series of mixups that can take the round. If Arizona gets a hit in, however, Pom might not escape the vortex either.


TFH icon Paprika.png
Paprika
[Character Page]
Paprika lacks any kind of low attack past the range of her 2A, something Pom can take advantage of to be evasive in neutral. At roundstart Paprika has almost no means to stop Pom from backdashing and cancelling the dash into upback—characters in TFH cannot block when jump cancelling a backdash, meaning Pom can gain distance without being forced into preblock. At a distance, Paprika either has to get in the old fashioned way or use high-risk options that can all be blocked high to try and catch Pom during an action. Patient play completely shuts down Paprika unless she also plays patient. The solution to moves like [4]6C and [6]4C is to just block and then punish. Some of Paprika's preferred approach tools like [4]6A can be dodged and whiff punished with a forward air dash into j.B.

If Paprika can make Pom block her [4]6A she can start running actually threatening offense. Paprika can cancel [4]6A into her 6CCC rekka, the latter two hits being overheads, or reset into her low 2A. The reset can be challenged with 5A, a move that can actually reach Paprika after [4]6A, and unless the reset is done straight from [4]6A Paprika is not safe, so watch Paprika's habits and figure out when they want to reset. Paprika can also frametrap into her command grab from the rekka, even after the third hit, so Pom may want to hold upback while blocking the rekka to dodge the grab as well. Pom's defensive tools aren't the best against Paprika, as she possesses both the range to punish sheepherding and a command grab to beat all defensive options. Be patient and either challenge the rekka after watching Paprika's habits or try to escape during delayed staggers. If Pom does sheepherding in a gap before [4]6A, however, Paprika is too far away to punish without super, making it a weak point Paprika must cover by preventing a gap or calling out with a throw.

Paprika's main defensive tool is her [2]8A/B/C, a low-profile flash kick with no invulnerability. Pom can beat this with lows or moves like 2B that hit the floor, but must use j.B very close to the ground to not get hit by the move. Paprika's level 1 super is invulnerable on frame 1, but loses invulnerability before the move can hit Pom, making it somewhat unreliable. Very importantly, Paprika has zero means of punishing Pom's super whatsoever outside throw range, turning what can be risky as a raw option in other matchups into a neutral skip tool with no accountabilty.

Bitey pup is a heavy challenge to Paprika's neutral offense, able to call out her approach and beat staggers in conjunction with sheepherding. Bitey can force Paprika to take larger risks that can be punished, can catch [2]8A/B/C and generally make the opponent want to tear their hair out.

Overall, stay out of Paprika's 2A range at all costs. Utilize jumping, dashing and floating to keep Paprika chasing you, and then punish her for chasing you. Keep an eye out for teleports and block her overheads, and you can potentially stop Paprika from ever running offense.


TFH icon Pom.png
Pom
[Character Page]
The Pom mirror is a wild free-for-all. Pom uniquely has trouble punishing herself due to the bad range of her lights, making summoning relatively easy for both players. 2B can duck under certain moves like 5B and 5C, and can anti-air IAD j.B very well but often loses to j.C. Pom can deal with the opponent's j.C by using 6A, backdashing and whiff punishing from range, or using her own j.C first.

Pom is generally better at retreating than approaching, so the Pom with a life lead will want the other Pom to come to them. A passive Pom wants to utilize their buttons to punish telegraphed approaches, while an aggressive Pom wants to force the opponent to whiff their laggy buttons and then get a punish. Unless Pom is using an explicit anti-air she has a hard time dealing with jump-ins, something the aggressive Pom can exploit by making air approaches and trying to bait 6A.

Pom cannot perform sheepherding if crossed up unless she was already holding charge in the other direction. Ending combos in a side-switch lets Pom continue offense with much less of a challenge. Bark is a stronger-than-average abare in the matchup, as all of Pom's dogs are considered projectiles. Bark can also be used to dodge bark; the bark to come out second wins the exchange.

Pom doesn't directly have a way to punish her level 1 super, but can cancel it out with her own level 1 super. Pom's bark will instantly delete any dog with a hurtbox, including Big Mama and Big Papa. Because of these things, neutral late into a round can often become messy as both sides fill the screen with puppies. Bitey is excellent in this matchup as it is in most, especially as okizeme after a side switch. Big Mama is a very high-risk option because of bark, but can slow the pace of the game to a crawl, especially if both players summon her.

Overall, the best way to win the Pom matchup is to know what your character can do and what they cannot punish. Your opponent has the same stubby jabs and the same laggy pokes as you, making the way to win neutral abusing the same things your opponents abuse when fighting you.


TFH icon Tianhuo.png
Tianhuo
[Character Page]
Tianhuo has a plethora of ways to approach from the air, and stopping her from getting in and running her powerful pressure is the key problem Pom needs to solve in the matchup. Tianhuo contains a very good poke in her 5B allowing her to play a decent footsies game as well, and particularly daring longma can use her flips and firecrackers to gain a lot of distance very quickly to catch Pom summoning or using a slow button like j.C. It takes a lot of adaptation and a good understanding of what buttons cover what angles to keep Tianhuo in control.

Pom's j.A is more important in the Tianhuo matchup in most, a fast air-to-air that recovers quick enough to be mostly safe on whiff. Pom might want to j.C to cover Tianhuo's superjump or flight approaches, but the button's long startup and large hurtbox extension makes it a high risk that loses to Tianhuo's air dash or firecracker attacks. j.C does have a purpose, catching a Tianhuo who stalls, but must not be overused or used predictably. 6A and 2B cover different angles and serve as options to cover Tianhuo's non-delayed jump-ins while still acting as pokes if Tianhuo does not jump in or fakes it. A good Tianhuo player will rotate their options to cover all of these whether it be making her grounded anti-airs whiff or catching her air-to-airs before they can reach, and Pom must rotate her options in turn.

Tianhuo's pressure with magic is very scary, but becomes more linear when she runs out of magic. Tianhuo can cancel any of her grounded buttons into flight and then steer that flight in eight directions, and challenging it is an RPS. In theory, Pom's reversal 6A covers most of what Tianhuo can do without magic after a flight cancel, but Pom's nature as a charge character means she would need to regularly let go of block during pressure to prevent charge from building up, else the move be unavailable to her entirely on defense. Pom's 2B will beat Tianhuo if she immediately cancels flight into a button, but will whiff against Tianhuo staying in place or flying upward. Conversely, j.A will beat Tianhuo if she stays in the air, but will lose to an immediate button. Pom can sheepherd afterward, something Tianhuo can beat but must call out by flying backward, which ends her pressure if Pom doesn't sheepherd.

With magic, Pom has a much harder time challening Tianhuo's pressure. Tianhuo's 4D into j.B is a fast overhead that Tianhuo can cancel into from any button and continue pressure afterward. Frametrapping with the button is a tight link that Pom can challenge with 2B if done too late, but with perfect execution Tianhuo can frametrap from any of her B or C buttons. Pom can risk a sheepherding there, but executing it forces Pom to stand and be vulnerable to lows. It's sometimes best to hold it and wait for Tianhuo to run out of magic.

As of this write-up in 5.0.0, Tianhuo's only reversal is 7D, a magic attack that launches her in the air but which can be hit from the ground by all of Pom's buttons barring her jabs and 2C. 7D no longer needs to be called out and instead loses to stagger pressure, as well as to throws. While pressured, there is not much Tianhuo can do to escape Pom.

Tianhuo is at her scariest when she has two bars of super meter. With the meter, Tianhuo can convert any hit into her Ran Shou Feng install, giving her access to extremely damaging combos and mix that Pom has no defensive options against. With Tianhuo's install, her 236C can pull Pom out of the corner, side switch to remove Pom's charge and then perform a four-way mix. Just try to block it and pray you guess right.

Big Mama is a versatile and powerful tool against Tianhuo. Not only can 3D serve as an anti-air, but Mama's hurtbox itself can stop jump-ins. Performing rally with 5DD brings Mama to Pom with a vulnerable hurtbox, which can eat Tianhuo's button as she jumps in. 6D also covers Tianhuo's pokes, both aerial and grounded. Chopper may seem like a good pick, using its 6D to stop Tianhuo in the air, but its slow homing speed makes this difficult and provides little reward unless it hits Tianhuo toward Pom.

Overall, Tianhuo provides a laundry list of challenges to overcome in neutral and disadvantage. Know your buttons and exactly what range they cover.

Pom Air Coverage


TFH icon Velvet.png
Velvet
[Character Page]
Velvet needs to be handled differently than most matchups, but Pom has the tools to play the matchup just fine. Velvet excels when Pom is too far away to play neutral but suffers when Pom is in range to poke or closer.

The most important thing to know against Velvet is how drastically bark disrupts her blockstrings. Bark is projectile-invulnerable, which means it goes through:

  • 236A/B/C
  • 214A
  • 214C
  • 623A/B/C
  • 5D
  • 623D, though bark can trade or lose depending on timing

Being able to go through Velvet's 214A and 214C gimp Velvet's ability to perform blockstrings against Pom. Velvet's 5C and 2C are both -13 on block, meaning they get punished by the 11f bark and most of Velvet's cancel options from them get counterhit by bark. Velvet can both chain 5C into 2C and the reverse, and Velvet can cancel either into 214B or 3C, giving her some frametrap options, but all of these are very punishable on block making the odds against Velvet. Velvet has to often stop at her safe B normals because of this, limiting her pressure and giving Pom the opportunity to start hers. Important to note that Velvet can cancel 5C into an icicle spawn and be only -10, which can beat bark, but Pom can punish that with a more standard button like 2C.

Velvet's goal is to stop the above situation from ever happening by zoning Pom out for the entire match. Velvet's projectile low stops Pom from mindlessly dashblocking in, and while Pom's command dash is fully projectile invulnable Velvet can punish it by sliding in and striking. On hit, Velvet can send Pom as far as fullscreen in the ensuing combo, punishing mistakes severely. Don't lose your head; Pom needs to play patient and rotate her approach options so she doesn't predictably fall into Velvet's setups.

Even at fullscreen Velvet is capable of punishing all versions of sheepherding on reaction, thanks to her slide and the range of her advancing 5C. The move has a lot of utility to get in, particularly the light version that recovers faster, but only if Velvet isn't watching for it. Dashblocking, or dashing forward then holding back to block mids, can help Pom gain distance but loses to 623A/B/C. Pom can crouch cancel the dash to block low, but this decreases the distance gained. Pom can jump toward Velvet and even hold float to accelerate, but her momentum will stop when she blocks a projectile and she cannot block at all while floating, and Velvet can spend magic to push Pom back with wind while she's airborne.

To get in against Velvet's onslaught of projectiles, Pom needs to recognize Velvet's gaps. Her ground icicles have variable startup before firing making it more of a challenge to find the timing, but Velvet can only have one up at a time and her air icicles are fixed. When Pom blocks a 623A/B/C and Velvet isn't about to frametrap with an icicle, Pom can safely jump forward without being hit by a second 623A/B/C. If Velvet uses 623A/B/C and then sets up an icicle instead of another 623A/B/C or 5D Pom has enough time to summon, which may help her get in. Velvet's 5D can plug up holes in pressure, but Velvet has a finite supply. If Velvet is using a lot of snowflakes, Pom can just take the chip damage and wait for Velvet to run out, where Velvet's zoning becomes much weaker.

Velvet does not start with magic, making it difficult for her to get out of a bad situation if Pom wins the initial interaction or just finds time to summon. Velvet's 623D is a flawed move that can be jumped over safely and which loses its invulnerability on the first active frame, making it volatile. Make sure to play around it by either using air buttons or dogs on offense, because it can send Pom far away on hit and restart Velvet's zoning.

Big Mama, though the hardest dog to summon due to it taking the longest, excels in this matchup. 6D works against projectiles and gives Mama guardpoint after it's triggered, allowing Mama to soak all projectiles for 78 frames. Pom can use this to gain a lot of ground, and can gain even more ground if Mama is close enough to make Velvet block the counter. Once Velvet is cornered, Pom has an easy time exploiting Velvet's weaknesses. Bitey pup can interrupt Velvet's zoning with his low-profile 3D if he gets in range, though this can be difficult; Pom wants to sheepherd when doing this so her summon isn't interrupted by her blocking a projectile.

Overall, Pom can struggle when Velvet's game plan begins, but Pom has enough options to eventually get in. Once near enough that Velvet has to start using her normals Pom gains a lot of leverage and can either punish Velvet's blockstrings or force her into the corner. Don't get frustrated while being zoned and work your way in slowly, enduring the chip damage; Velvet may only need to be cornered once to lose the round.


TFH icon Shanty.png
Shanty
[Character Page]
Shanty has stubby normals, but also has multiple anti-projectile tools and can cover ground quickly with and without magic. Pom wants to fight from outside Shanty's normal range in neutral, but does not want to hang so far back that Shanty doesn't feel threatened by any of Pom's options, as it lets Shanty gain magic with 22A and gain access to her run stance and wall cling. Sometimes, however, disengaging can be important for summoning.

Shanty has subpar anti-airs except for her very unsafe Cutlass specials. While Pom shouldn't start jumping on autopilot, it takes more concentration from Shanty to anti-air Pom than the average character and Pom can more reliably threaten a well-spaced j.C. Shanty's 2B goes far and has a low profile, so Pom should always space herself around that move.

Be prepared to block a sudden advancing attack like 236B/C or 6C, moves that can come out from far but which are very punishable if blocked. If Shanty has super meter, she can frametrap Cutlass into her level 1 super, which is a reversal but even more punishable on block. Shanty's run stance lets her perform a high/low mix from extreme distances, but she is unable to block while running and can be poked out of it.

Shanty wants to make Pom block so she can run stagger pressure. Shorthop j.C can hammer on pressure; Pom can mash against the move if done multiple times, but importantly cannot punish it with 2B, as Shanty goes over it. 5B works in its place, or 6A if Pom does not have charge. Pushblocking doesn't have a great effect against Shanty's pressure, but if Pom can find a gap she can sheepherd out, which Shanty has a hard time punishing without calling it out via a throw. Cross canter is also effective against Shanty, as it pushes her out to a range where she's at positional disadvantage compared to Pom.

Shanty possesses no reversals except for her supers. This and her stubby normals gives her subpar defense, which lets Pom run offense freely. It should be noted that Shanty gains the most distance of all characters during the i-frames of her backdash, which goes so far that Pom cannot challenge it with a whiff-cancelled light. Call out backdash with IAD j.B instead.

Like other grounded rushdown characters, Shanty struggles against bitey. Shanty, being a grounded character with fast movement, may just run into bitey's attacks. Shanty does have the ability to ignore dog attacks with her projectile invulnable moves, however, so be sure to block just in case.

Overall, keep Shanty out with your comparatively good range in neutral, try to avoid getting caught in a blockstring, and take advantage of Shanty's lack of defense to push your advantage as far as you can go. The standard Pom gameplan works well enough for this matchup.


TFH icon Oleander.png
Oleander
[Character Page]
bad


TFH icon Texas.png
Texas
[Character Page]
Texas possesses a kit that shuts down a lot of Pom's, and the rest of the roster's, normal gameplay. Pom cannot poke into a summon without potentially hitting Texas's armor, Texas can punish Pom for trying to summon from up to fullscreen, and Texas's offense naturally ignores every defensive mechanic Pom's kit contains as he wants to grab and Pom does not possess a throw-invulnable reversal. Texas's large range and moves that are very safe for their range, against Pom's stubby A buttons and average range B buttons, makes it so Pom sometimes cannot punish Texas even after guessing and correctly blocking his enders. Neutral must be played very carefully for Pom to not immediately lose to Texas.

The range where Pom has the best chance against Texas is just outside the range of Texas's 2D, where Texas's 5C will whiff against crouchers. Unlike most normals, Texas's 5C is always a counterhit punish, letting Pom use an obscure combo to punish: 3C, on counterhit, is a true combo into j.C. Without this, Pom's best punish is 5C -> 2C -> summon. Texas, although his run is an incredible approach tool, cannot dash forward, forcing him to jump or commit to the run to get closer.

Texas has unique air normals with unlimited active frames; after they start, they stay active until Texas hits the ground. Texas's j.B is easy to anti-air, but his j.C is both disjointed and shifts Texas's hurtbox upward, making it almost impossible to punish with Pom's 2B If Pom jumps and blocks the move in the air, she can cancel her recovery by landing and get a punish, but this is not favorable for Pom if she does it against Texas's j.B If Texas telegraphs the attack by doing it from higher up, choose your option accordingly.

Punishing Texas's run can be extremely difficult. While Pom does possess a multihit normal in j.B, and while Texas has a taller-than-normal hurtbox that allows Pom to connect all four hits while rising, Pom must be very close for 3+ hits of that move to connect. Texas's run cancel, if performed immediately, makes him move almost zero distance and lets him retain armor for the entirety of the cancel. Pom must read that Texas wants to run cancel, dash forward before there's enough time to react to the run, and then perform rising j.B. Pom can gain more distance with IAD j.B, but this is so slow that Pom cannot land it on reaction to the run before Texas recovers. Digging pup also has enough hits to break run, but it too is so slow that it cannot work on reaction and must be done ahead of time as a read.

Beyond his run cancel, Texas's Run C followup is also difficult to deal with. The move retains its armor until after the active frames end, and it is at best safe on block and at worse plus on block. In theory Pom wants to whiff punish the move, but this is easier said than done as Texas can run faster than Pom can backdash and run for about a full screen length without stopping. Breaking the armor with j.B is at least more consistent when Texas uses Run C, but depending on the range may not be possible before the move comes out. Texas's run is throwable if nothing else, but if Pom is in range to throw Texas she is also in range to j.B him. It is an extremely bad time for Pom.

Because Pom cannot poke into summon safely, she wants to summon either in neutral—though this is very dangerous because of Texas's fullscreen stomp—or do so in response to blocking one of Texas's long-range specials. Texas's 5D is -14 and his 22X~22X is -12, giving Pom enough frames to summon any dog before Texas can hit with 5D again. The bullseye of 5D and the first 22X, however, are only -8. Pom has enough wiggle room to summon an A or B dog, but cannot safely summon Big Mama from it unless she is fullscreen where the bell cannot reach.

Texas's stomps do not do chip damage but the bell does; Texas is a massive threat at fullscreen but cannot overturn a life lead with his zoning alone. Do not attempt to use anti-projectile moves against Texas's zoning, as they are not considered projectiles for some reason. Texas's 5D has so many active frames that it cannot be backdashed through, it cannot be jumped over, and his 22X can be cancelled even on whiff, providing a frametrap that beats sheepherding. Pom wants to play as safely as possible at long range and focus only on getting a summon, as she lacks any meaningful tool to challenge his zoning without dogs. If Pom is close enough to dodge Template:5D's bullseye, she can crouch it, which may or may not give her the opportunity to get a 3C counterhit punish into a combo. Attempting to dash forward after ducking under it may get Pom caught by the later part of the move's many active frames.

Dogs are required more than any other matchup to stand a chance against Texas, and there unfortunately isn't one clear-cut "good" choice. Here is a quick list of pros and cons for each:

  • Bitey has an easier time hitting Texas than other characters due to a wide hurtbox behind Texas's center line, but it can be very hard getting bitey into position as both the dog and Pom have to dodge Texas's fullscreen stomps. Bitey also suffers in that it provides no utility at breaking Texas's run armor.
  • Digging pup can break Texas's armor, but is slow and has the same problem of getting into position as bitey.
  • Chopper actually has a substantial niche in the Texas matchup, as 6D can hit Texas standing. Texas's wide hurtbox and slow movement also make it possible to connect with 3D. Because chopper tracks the opponent, Pom does not need to worry about getting the dog in position. Unfortunately, Texas's buttons are extremely good at swatting chopper out of the air by accident, the dog cannot do anything meaningful to Texas's armor, and the blockstun is low meaning it does not provide much lockdown for Pom to get in if it doesn't connect.
  • Big Mama can punish Texas's specials directly with 6D, though if a normal like Texas's 5C triggers the counter he can cancel into run and armor through the move at no cost to himself but a bit of chip damage. Still, the threat of counter can stop Texas from using Run C and instead go for a trick like run cancelling into 632146X, giving Pom more opportunity to break his armor. Mama's 3D does hit three times, but not quick enough to break the armor: one thing that can be done is the latter two hits of 3D opening up Pom to break the armor with one poke.

On offense Pom wants to avoid staggers and use dogs to make herself plus. Texas's 632146X is the fastest move in the game at four frames and is invulnerable on the fourth frame, letting Texas punish any gap as little as three frames wide. Another issue with staggering Texas is he can go into his run stance and gain armor on frame 4. One quirk Texas has in the current version of the game is that he can cancel his run into a followup earlier than intended if his armor is touched; by inputting the run with the B button, because of the way input buffering in TFH works, Texas will automatically and immediately follow up with his frame 8 Run B, punishing Pom immediately.

One thing Pom can do if she finds herself touching Texas's armor is jump cancel her 6A or 2B so she can block the followup. If Pom already has charge built, she can cancel into sheepherding to try and dodge the move, though this leaves her pretty minus. If Pom hits armor with an air button, the safest option is to cancel into float and then immediately stop floating, letting Pom block whatever comes next.

After Texas gets a hit, he can pull Pom to point blank no matter where the first hit came from, and use his 2DD to restand Pom with no opportunity to perform a wakeup tech, even at max Juggle Decay. Pom completely lacks any kind of option select for the low/throw mix that follows; her reversals all lose to 632146X and backdash loses to Texas's whiff-cancellable 2BB. If Pom correctly blocks the low, Texas is plus. There is nothing Pom can do besides guess correctly and try to escape afterward. One successful hit from Texas, from anywhere on the screen, can lead to a loop of this 50/50 until dead. If nothing else, Pom can pushblock Texas after blocking the low to try and get him away.

Overall, Pom is extremely limited in this matchup, especially without a dog already summoned. Pom requires extremely dangerous and risky reads to accomplish anything at all, and making the wrong read may instantly end the round. Look for the sweet spot where you can punish 5C on whiff, use j.B and throw to try and stop Texas from running all over you, leverage different dogs to either try and interrupt Texas or limit his own options so you have more of a chance to do anything, cling onto any health lead you get and play as lame as possible. It's your best bet.


TFH icon Stronghoof.png
Stronghoof
[Character Page]
Stronghoof is a recently released character and the meta both for his strategies and counterstrategies have not had time to form. These are a few preliminary suggestions which may end up incorrect as the meta develops.

Stronghoof is a character with long pokes and dangerous close-range pressure but subpar mobility, no long-range lows and bad defense. Stronghoof's arsenal specials are very unsafe on block and, unless he has another arsenal set up for Vetr to use, lacks a means to make himself safe if the opponent crouchblocked; his 5D can jail a standing opponent into blocking, but will whiff if there's even a one-frame gap for the opponent to crouch. Play outside the range of Stronghoof's 2C so that you only need to block standing in neutral, avoid standing on Stronghoof's ice slick so he cannot gain additional mobility, and punish his unsafe options at range to gain a life lead that Stronghoof has a very hard time contesting. Big Mama can contest his neutral further, bitey contests his approaches well due to his lack of air mobility, and chopper's 6D hits Stronghoof standing similar to Texas. Pom struggles on defense due to Stronghoof's many staggers and a command grab that beats Pom's reversals; utilize pushblock both to keep yourself in blockstun against tick throws and to get Stronghoof out of range to hit with 2C or his throw, where he has to try and get back in. If Stronghoof is under an ice slick or has Vetr pushing his shield, Pom simply has to hold his offense until it runs out.

Overall, play at range so Stronghoof cannot meaningfully mix you and abuse his poor mobility so he is forced to use punishable attacks.