Using Oki to 100% Efficiency: OTG Attacks

In VF, after a opponent is knocked down, it's possible to OTG them if they decide not to tech. After a few frames, the opponent will go into an invulnerable state, and will have access to different wake-up options, such as rolling, or doing a rising kick.

In general, a player should always go for max damage whenever a launcher is landed. However, every character has moves that, despite knocking down, these moves won't allow for a combo.

When the opponent is juggled in mid-air, the more hits landed result in the opponent being refloated to lesser heights. This is called Juggle Decay. Eventually the opponent will not be able to be refloated.

Attacks that combo while the opponent is standing do not add to Juggle Decay.

Some characters can use P or 2P to pick up the opponent if they decide not to tech, and still get a good combo. A good opponent won't allow for this, and will tech to avoid eating unnecessary damage.

In some cases, if the opponent does tech, the player will still have advantage even after the P/2P whiffs.
If the player notices the opponent is teching from the knockdown often, they can start using meaty mixups.

Some characters have access to strings that can OTG. Some of these strings can double as a mixup to deal with an opponent teching too.

If you make your opponent afraid of your meaties, mixing them with OTGs will make any VF character much more deadly.

VF Meaties Explored

Meaty is a term used to describe a move that is executed early, so the opponent will be
instantly forced to deal with the attack in its active window as soon as they recover from
an invulnerable state.

This is a very important concept that can be used as a strong tool in many fighting games.
In VF, when an opponent techs from a knockdown, it's possible to use meaties. When a meaty
is applied in this situation, the only 2 options for the opponent to choose are either:
1. Guard High
2. Guard Low

The opponent cannot use any attack nor evade meaties in VF.

While any attack can be used as a meaty, every character has ideal moves to use.

Part 1
A Mid attack will be the most important option for every character. The best mids to use
will exhibit at least one the following properties:
    - Safe/Advantage on Block
    - Good Amount of Active Frames
    - Launch/Knockdown on Normal Hit
    - Force Stagger on Crouch Hit

While it's possible to use regular launchers as meaties, it's not recommended since they can be punished.

Part 2
Once the opponent expects the mid upon teching, it'll be important to have other options to
use as a mix-up. The best options are:
1. Guardbreak
2. Catch Throw
3. Throw
4. Certain Lows can be used as strong meaty options. The safer & more rewarding the attack is, the better.

These options will be best once the opponent respects the player's mids, since the opponent will also be able to get out of these with appropiate reactions.

Part 3
So to avoid meaties, the opponent will have to choose not to tech. If the opponent doesn't tech, the player can use OTG (Off The Ground) and down attacks to extend combo damage. Once both players understand the oki mechanics, the mix-up will be deciding whether its worth teching or not.

I should mention, combos with 2-3 hits or moves that instantly cause knockdown are the easiest for applying OTG combos.

Closing notes
The opponent can use late tech to get out of many meaty setups. In some cases, its possible for the opponent to tech late enough with time to avoid being OTG'd.
As an opponent, it's recommended to tech if you won't survive a down attack.

Sarah? Really?

Damn straight. I don't think I've ever been so serious about a character in VF before.

Fighting GentlemanThief's Jean has been a big VF wake-up call for me. We've seen people play their respective characters, but he's taken an identity with Jean, and is striving to perfect his game. With his success at Evo, and his greater success at Sega Cup, he's certainly proven one thing:

We don't have to suck. And now, we have no reason to suck.

But why Sarah? I feel that she's hella underrated, and I want to prove that fact to everyone. I have so many things I do with her extremely calculated, to the point where even the smallest mistakes on my part frustrate me. I've dropped all my other characters, and I've been working hard with her, developing the cheapest strategies, maxing out damage on every launch, figuring out wall gimmicks, etc. Her move set has so much potential, and Flamingo is better than it ever has been (certainly better than the garbage it was in vanilla.)

I don't want to get into any details just yet, but would rather use this 1st blog entry as an introduction to how serious I am with Sarah, and how willing I am to share my experience with her with everyone willing to know about it. My only fear is that my studies/discoveries with her will go unseen by other VF players. I will still post on VFDC, and now with this nice Happauge I got I can produce videos fairly easily and upload them.

I can't ask to be the strongest player alive - well, I guess I could. But shit, that's not happening anytime soon. However, we call can strive to be the strongest we can be, we all spend enough time playing the game, right? Hell, you've made it this far into this post, you must have some sort of determination! Whether that's to flat out kick my ass, kiss it, or to give or receive advice, at the end of the day it's all good.

SO,

Expect alot of my experimental Sarah tech to show up here. I might praise or talk crap about stuff, but in the end I want people to grow from their experiences with me, inside or outside of the game.

Time to Level Up!

P.S. thanks to EvenPit for encouraging me to start blogging again! It's a pretty neat way to organize thoughts.