Elena user unite!!

[Vatotitan]

Damn this section has been dead.
anyway as iv'e been getting better and i find myself dizzy'ing people more often. but im such a nice guy i can't force myself to just nail them with a super or rhino horn. what is proper elena etiqette for dealing with a dizzy'ed opponent. should i show mercy or set them up for a giant combo.

[shiningsoul]

um... if you dizzy them, then you deserve to unleash your sickest combo on them. or combo and reset into an overhead-super. that's how i sees it.

[ClosetRemy]

Unless you're about to kill them, "show mercy" if you have healing and are at really shitty life, because you can still do a chain or something against them and then have the advantage in life with healing.

The chain I was referring to was the standing mk to crouching hp.

[P-Soul]

I say let them have have it! Because if you are using SA2 your main goal is to land the super or cause as much damage as possible with the combo reset. I am a strong Elena player so I have lots more of personal fighting hints and how I use her to hang with the big boys. I will post my move list later on beacuse it has too much stuff to remeber and I dont have it with me! If anyone else has any good Elena tricks post them up, Elena is a strong character if used smart. Holla Back!

[Dasrik]

Elena is a friendly character. I think she would show mercy if that is how she was feeling.

[vapulus]

When I play, I expect no mercy. That's just the way I see it. It's a competition. Unless you're playing against a friend of yours that you keep beating over and over again, I say rip that sucker's hole wide open at EVERY opportunity. If I get trampled by some guy in the arcade, I congratulate him and play his ass again. He obviously has something to teach me. If he lets me sit there dizzied, I'd think he was weird for letting that opporunity pass. You work your way to a dizzy for a reason. Dizzys are sometimes what equals out a few of the characters. If Elena didn't dizzy so well, she'd probably be ranked lower. Necro, too. A big part of his game is earning that round-winning dizzy. So, the decision's up to you, but if you ask me, the dizzy is there as a reward to highly aggressive play. =)

[PROFESSORLESTER]

she has 4 overheads got to love her

[Wolfgang]

To me, it's a slap in the face if someone just stands there and lets me wake up from a dizzy on purpose. Instead of mercy, it feels like they're really saying subconciously, "I don't even need to try my hardest to beat this guy, so I'll just let him wake up and then beat him to add insult to injury."

Toying with your opponent is never good sportsmanship, but if you're on the dizzying end and you want to really rub it in, then let him wake up. Otherwise just put him out of his misery.

[Sailormoon]

Rick likes Elena and she seems fun so I think I will try her!

What's a good "Super Art"? Baby H says Rick uses Healing.

[ClosetRemy]

They're all good supers, though you may want to choose healing in certain situations as opposed to the damage supers and vice versa.

Spinning beat gives you an additional ex move with a fully-charged meter compared with brave dance. While it doesn't deal as much damage, you will get a full super quicker, and can still punish moves within a certain range. Unfortunately, you can get thrown out of it (granted it has to be specifically timed), and is very punishable if blocked.

Brave dance is fast, unthrowable, and does tons of damage. Still gives you enough ex meter to screw around and still have a super. Flaws are that if you guess wrong when going straight into the super, you are punishable when blocked, and that sometimes it won't connect if you cancel it off a max-range crouching strong punch.

Healing has some good setups which are almost completely safe. Elena's a good enough character that you can feel alright using ex moves in certain situations instead of feeling forced to always save up a full bar for the super. Problems are that it doesn't give you that much health, about 1/3, and the bar is long. Remember, though, you can bait with it to some extent when you're at distance because you can cancel the animation with three punches, and the recovery is deceptively quick. It lessens the life gain, but the bait might be worth it.

She is a fun character to use; Not limited to only a few normals, has good specials (for the most part, sadly many of them need to be ex specials to be truly good), and great mixups. Air chains and plenty of high and low mixups make sure that you have a lot of variety in your matches. She was long ago classified by some to be low-tier, and although she's not in the top, she can definitely compete with the better characters. Also a great character to return to after training with other characters to learn basics and specific tactics, so that you can create a synthesis from them all.

[Vatotitan]

thx for all the great post. keep em coming
ClosetRemy you looked cool in the Team Control Vid, but you guys haven't put any new vids up in like a week. let me know if you guys will actually go to the cal poly arcade. im there pretty much everyday. I would love to get owned by you guys.

[ClosetRemy]

Thanks, we haven't gone to tournaments as a team very much recently so our footage is lacking. Not only that, but our 60GB per month bandwidth always goes dry very quickly when we post several new videos. However, we'll have new vids up eventually, like the seiei combo vid.

Good to know that you play somewhat nearby, irvine is about 30 mins from cal poly... I'll pm you when we plan on going.

To contribute to the elena thread, a full ex combo will always deal more damage than any super, including the brave dance. However, this takes a little more meter, about 10% of the bar. To rectify this, you can substitute the ex scratch wheel finish with a forward uppercut. This deals two less damage than the brave dance super (63 compared with 65) with less meter, and six damage less than the full ex juggle. So unless you're close to killing him and want to make sure, the modified juggle should suit your needs for more efficient meter use. Note that when an opponent is crouching, even the modified juggle does more damage than the brave dance.

This also shows that generally, you shouldn't use the brave dance super in combos or at all unless range is a concern or you plan on a wakeup surprise. In my experience, after a parry, you may be too far to connect an ex spinning scythe after a low strong, so the super is a better choice (unless they're at max range, in which case you should go straight into the super or think of something else because there's a good chance the opponent will recover from the strong and block if you cancel late and they're far away). But, this means that with jump-ins, you have more damaging things to do other than a brave dance.

As a side note, you may want to use an ex uppercut on wakeup rather than a super because while you are still taking a risk, it will reduce the meter loss on your part, while still doing some good damage if you guessed right.

[nanitaberu]

If I dizzy someone with Elena in a dominating match, I'd use her two-hit taunt. Seriously, I think it's the coolest taunt ever.

A little off topic here, but the I think the coolest taunt would be Makoto's, after she activates SA3. A tai-chi palm to the groin followed by that really loud and flashy shit you get for finishing a round with an SA. woot

[SlaughterX]

Matoko's a girl, lol, didn't notice, as for the dizzy mercy, I say you kick em, cuz that's what that bitch does best, kick em in tha balls!

[Anti-Shoto]

Dizzy em, then PUNISH PUNISH PUNISH! Elena's capable of doing some good after stun damage even if you're into that phase of the battle.

No wonder SA2's capable of doing damage even after stun. I tried some combos w/ her last night and it was interesting how she can not only rack up the points but the number of hits with Brave Dance like nothing. Although the damage was lacking it was something I caught up with her. Now all I need to do is to practice and get that timing from ex scythe to her rhino horn perfectly..

I agree about the ex combo doing more damage than all of her supers, and that's what I mostly use against the comp and some people because of the effectiveness during gameplay. I've seen how combofiend did the bravedance while the opp. is blocking then surprise them w/ ex scratch wheel out of the blue to win one of his matches. I never knew the recovery time was that instant from after the dance to another move. Then again it probably was his reflexes...

And i know you could juggle her taunt as well, just forgot how...hmm..

Once again- Dizzy then PUNISH tha SUCKAS! :evil: :D

[ClosetRemy]

Originally posted by Anti-Shoto
I agree about the ex combo doing more damage than all of her supers, and that's what I mostly use against the comp and some people because of the effectiveness during gameplay. I've seen how combofiend did the bravedance while the opp. is blocking then surprise them w/ ex scratch wheel out of the blue to win one of his matches. I never knew the recovery time was that instant from after the dance to another move. Then again it probably was his reflexes...

I think you're referring to his match against a ken player, in which the guy tried to walk up and throw combo after the brave dance. If you can see them doing this, you'll be able to scratch wheel them unless they have a hella good kara throw.

The recovery on brave dance is quick, but it's not safe. If they time it well, they can combo into a super, or do a super just to be sure, but the opponent can always retaliate after a blocked brave dance, so beware of throwing it out when it's not guaranteed.

[CRAZY_SAGAT]

OOOOOH elena users unite!!! OOOOH i though you said Urien users unite!! my bad :D

[Anti-Shoto]

ahh see that's what I've been figuring out when I saw it.And yes, it was with a ken player

..Mostly I'm still tryin to get on my head whether I Should involve some SA3 healin strats just to set them off..So far I took some kens to the distance and made them feel bad just by healin them.. pretty good IMO but in the long run..is it WORTH it?

Time to decide whether if I stay w/ sa2 or switch to sa1..Be back when I can figure out some good stuff w/ her..

[ClosetRemy]

Spinning beat (sa1) is good, but brave dance generally allows you to play more conservatively, as there are many ways that you can reverse or parry and retaliate into brave dance, so you have to be a bit closer for the same stuff to work with spinning beat.

You get an additional ex move on a full bar and you get a super charged faster with spinning beat. Another nuance is that after parrying a jump-in, you might hit c.short a little too early and hit them while still airborne. In this case, if you cancel into super, spinning beat will at least connect most hits and not leave you open like brave dance can.

Brave dance is straight up easier to use, though, and people seem to get pretty discouraged after you land one.

[Vatotitan]

i strayed from my usual path and used healing today, i might i might make a permeanant(spelling is stupid) switch. with healing you can still dish out the big damage with the EX combos and you have some insurance incase you make a mistake and suffer heavy losses. but no doubt the best part of healing is the mind games. it forces you opp to stay close to for fear of losing thier hard earned damage. and someone who is focusing to much on preventing you from accomplishing the heal. or if your in the lead bust out the healing to bait them into attacking and then cancel it and do what ever . more to come. healing rules

[ClosetRemy]

Yes, it's true... healing is a damn good super, but I still prefer her others.

And I noticed that too, the fact that people tend to rush you down once you have a bar. The cool thing here is that you don't even need to do a full ex combo to dish out the pain: As someone outlined earlier, Kingraoh, I think, you can do the ex spinning scythe and finish with a normal roundhouse (less damage), jump after them and perform an air chain (strong, fierce... good damage), or wait a split second after kicking them up and bust a short scratch wheel (great damage for one ex move). After which you have only one third of the bar to charge, which can be accomplished by turtling.

It's good that you're not afraid to waste meter, since the ex scratch wheel makes a great wakeup. That kind of shit catches people off-guard when you have one of those one-shot special function supers.

By the way, vatotitan... will you be coming to the pre-evolution tournament at Family Fun in granada hills? I'd like to see your elena in action.

[Vatotitan]

hmm perhaps
but if i do go it will be to watch and for casual play rather than tounament competition for either my wussiness or lack of funds (five or ten dollar entry fee really add up overtime when knocked out first round, god i'm pitifull hee hee)

side note: alert to every one my dreamcast is broken, anyone wanna give me a good deal.

side side note: at evo do we have to pay to watch or anything like that

[SonicTH]

I've just started learning Elena (like in the past week). Her lack of effective specials can be a pain but maybe I'm just not doing it right.

It kind of sucks that I don't have any human competition to truly test my skills with.

[Vatotitan]

I use her more as a mix up and poke character.
i only use scratch wheel when comboing from pokes like c.LK or s.LK
never use spin sythe out in the open, it is there primarily to be used in its EX version
rhino horn. don't through it out casue it's kinda slow but uit's EX version is used in the EX combo. there also the bait rhino horn where it fininshes right before your opp and you go into super right when they are about to retaliate. this trick doesn't work on better people but since you said your still picking hre up and if the people in your area don't jknow much about elean try it out.
lynx tail , sometimes can be fun to combo into cause it looks cool and can confuss people cause downparryuing that much just isn't very fun and the length of the move varies depending upon the button pressed.
overhead smash, use for mix up most us lp version cause other are kinda slow.


also. attention please someone cool respond to this. when i first started playing some of the f.a.q's said that the lynx tail could cancel into super, so i would try this to know avail, does this actually work?????

[ClosetRemy]

A faq I've read said that you can cancel the ex lynx tail into super, but I wasn't able to do that, either. I tried cancelling at various points, namely every one of the damned hits. Linking doesn't really work in the corner either due to the knockback, and the damage would be low anyways.

I havent' tested the normal ones extensively, but perhaps they're mistakenly referring to the spinning scythe as the lynx tail, because the ex version of that can be cancelled into a super, but along with heinous damage reduction. So if you plan on ever doing it, only do it at the end of the round for more bass on the KO.

[Dingo Egret]

I just started playing Elena seriously a few days ago, and I'm hooked right away. Most of her moves have close to no revory time to them, and she has good reach and nice pokes. I've also found weak and medium anti air comes out really good with her, not to mention stops most all rush ins while allowing you time to situate yourself to a good position. If only I knew a few good combos with her.... the only thing I really ever combo into is Spinning Beat with low mk. Anyone got any good usable combos? If so, please do post them.

[Vatotitan]

well you can't go into spinning beat or brave dance from c.mk the ways most people go into to supers is from either c.mp or c.wk , anyway heres a list of things that connect to or cancel to super, s.wp , s.wk s.mp(it's a two hit move you must signal the super before the second hit ). c.wk , c.wp , c.mp and any jump in attack but i don't reckomend using wp as a jump in cause even though it is possible to connect to super from it, it pushes away, doesn't give you stun time and it looks awkward. Seriously she just shoots her leg out and it looks her leg is bending the wrong way , i don't want my sexy kenyan princess looking so wierd

more to come
come on people contribute, when we re-it-ter-rate stuff that was in old post we remeber it better and it gives us time to think about new stuff and how we can improve

[Dingo Egret]

Yeah, my bad. I meant mp, it's just my mind is so use to saying it from being a shoto whore all these years:bluu:

Well, anyways, thinks for the advice. One more thing.... which one do you all prefer: spinning beat or brave dance? I'm more of a spinning beat fan, cause you've got good stock with it (3) and the bar fills up in no time, not to mention it's so easy to hit off on people.

[Vatotitan]

Check out the stuff that closetRemy says on the last page it's good stuff and will help make your choice.
but i use all three depending on the situation. that is the reason that the SA system was made the way it was. but we can see from characters like yun, ken and chun that that isn't how the game works out sometime. aaaaannnnnyyyyywwwwwaaaaayyyyy if my arm is tired and i'm not having the reaction time that day to make brave dance effective i use healing.
Elena the Immortal

[nanitaberu]

well if you have good reaction, whore the cr.strong > the ex spinscythe rhino sratch combo

that's how i usually play elena. i dun use her much tho, but she's fun

[DirtyM]

I was curious, I don't have no knowledge really on Elena, but would you recommend going in for throws whenever I have the chance? Or does Elena have any other attacks to outpoke opponents?

What to you is the best steps to take, to learn her well? Should I learn to understand what her moves are good for and the timings? Thanks In Return!

[Vatotitan]

true, dash and throw is pown on most characters with elena it is fantastic porque her dash is really good, like after a shoto misses a sweep or just because you feel like, after a while you develope a six sense on when and how the opp will react. yea alot of her game mixup of pokes, overheads, dash and throw

[lord sharky]

her st.roundhouse is really annoying.
it's like chun's b+fierce...w/ less prowess thou

[Vatotitan]

which of elena's moves ,if any, are un-throwable??? meaing she cannot be thown out of. i know brave dance cannot. my DC has just died so i can't test stuff out myself

[ClosetRemy]

Don't forget the back roundhouse, though there are a few frames during startup where it can be thrown (I tested this with gigas). There are also a few frames where she's strictly considered "in the air" as well. Weird, huh?

Anyways, don't count on spinning beat dodging throws. It's not likely, but they might connect with a throw if you try to super on wake up.

All her uppercuts are unthrowable, I'm pretty sure... the weak version has low priority, though, and it's possible to jam all of them except the ex version.

[Jared3s]

which of elena's moves ,if any, are un-throwable??? meaing she cannot be thown out of. i know brave dance cannot. my DC has just died so i can't test stuff out myself

for anti-throw...

1. back+roundhouse can beat throw (and a HELLA lotta other stuff)if on even ground, or they are late to throw on your wake-up
2. tech throw if they time their throws well on your wake-up or try to "tick"
3. Elena's kara throw out-ranges all throws with the exception of Chun. they attempt throw/ tech throw, you punish with throw. not sure if it out-ranges Hugo's 360/720, Makoto's Karakusa, or Alex Power/ Hyper Bomb. prolly best not to chance getting caught by Hugo or Makoto (depending on "bar"), so mebbe better to continue footsie more often than throw on wake-up.

throws beat mostly every move if timed correctly on wake-up. to beat a throw you have to have a move that reaches hit frames before throw is active. throws are active on the third frame, with two frames of start-up, i believe. so, if executed at the same time there are very few moves that beat throws. you have the find a move that reaches hit frames before 3 frames! (of course this assumes that your move and your opponents throw are executed at the same time) prolly not the best idea to use a super to beat a throw, too random, unless you are saying your prayers and eating your vitamins.

Elena rules.

[Vatotitan]

totally, God bless b-roundhouse that move has saved me so many times, beats out SO many things, is so very rarely punished. the only times i personley have ever been punished is when i do b-RD against a opp waking up and it is my fault that is miss time it and i get uppercutted which happens rarely. other times when it gets parried i am usually to far to retaliate against. i throw out out so many b-rd that it is almost noobish, so very awsome that b-rd is indeed partly otg sometimes, but even better is that s.RD is otg MOST of the time. watch combofiend match vids and you see how often he punishes c.mk's and sweeps with roundhouse. broke my heart that he used oro at evo, strategically it was smart but still...

[SlimX]

Hahah. If Elena didn't have back roundhouse, she'd be unplayable. =)

[Jared3s]

Hahah. If Elena didn't have back roundhouse, she'd be unplayable. =)

agreed. she is borderline unplayable as is, but without B+Roundhouse and Low Strong Hit Confirm, she is total ass.

Combofiend used Elena and Ken at Evolution. i recorded his Elena stuff, then got disgusted when he used Ken. :)

[Vatotitan]

oh he did i must have missed it, my bad, but i did see him use oro

[Jared3s]

oh he did i must have missed it, my bad, but i did see him use oro

you prolly saw DreamTR, aka Jason Wilson, playing, he uses Elena/Oro.

[Strangevision]

I've just started to play 3s in SFAC, and I can proudly announce that I am Elena fanboy now. Is there a special ceremony for me or something? :wink:

Anyway, I've been browsing the various threads and theyve been a great help. I still have a few questions though.

1. What are Elena's best pokes? I tend to use c. MP in order to land Brave Dance. I use HK and b. HK as general pokes. But I'm kinda lost as to what I should use at further distances. Her slide seems very unsafe, and I'm not sure if I should use c. MK or maybe c. HK. Truth be told, outside her b. HK, I don't use Elena's standing pokes (besides overheads that is).

2. Why would I want to use the EX Spin Scythe -> Ex Rhino Horn juggle variations instead of c. MP -> Brave Dance? I see the EX juggle mentioned a lot, but I'm not sure what makes it so good.

3. Also, is the HCB+P (Mallet Smash I think) worth using? Same thing goes for the backwards DP motion+k (Lynx Tail).

Thanks!

[Vatotitan]

Yes there is a ceremony and i'm singing you a song right now. can you hear it? i have such a lovely singing voice and the radio city Rockets backed me up. also there is firework show when you start to pown people at arcades.
anyway, the ex juggle is use-fool incase you land a c.mp and you don't have enough meter to do a brave dance. or if your using healing the ex juggle gives you an offensive weapon
the mallet mash is good for mix up and for the most part is pretty safe except against fast supers
the lynx tail is good for flash and style, pretty much anytime you could use a lynx there is some other move that would be strategicaly better
poke wise as you get more experianced you'll find pokes you like for your style. you don't have to play the same way the rest of the elena players do(infact it helps us all if we all a use a different style so the lame ken players don't figure us out.) but yea hk, b-hk, both overheads, the slide(your experiance will let you realize when a good time to use it would be) don't use c.hk or c.hp as a poke, but the rest of of her croiuching moves will be pretty good.

[Strangevision]

Wow. What a lovely ceremony. It brings tears to my eyes. :lol:

Thanks for your help Vatotitan. Definitely some good things to keep in mind. The EX juggle definitely makes a case for using Healing.

Using Brave Dance or Spinning Beat, I'm guessing a good way to conserve meter is by simply using c. MP -> EX Spin Scythe -> Roundhouse Spike Wheel. Is there a way to combo into the Spin Scythe without having to use the EX version?

[ClosetRemy]

Using Brave Dance or Spinning Beat, I'm guessing a good way to conserve meter is by simply using c. MP -> EX Spin Scythe -> Roundhouse Spike Wheel. Is there a way to combo into the Spin Scythe without having to use the EX version?

When you choose the EX spinning scythe, I recommend using short scratch wheel instead of roundhouse, since all three hits may be difficult to time (or just not possible on some characters) and the one hit will thus deal more damage. If you have 2/3 of a meter, you can deal as much damage as brave dance minus a point if you continue with rhino horn and then follow with a regular scratch wheel, this time using the forward or roundhouse version.

And, unfortunately, I believe there is no way to combo into a non-EX spinning scythe. Possibly on a crouching character beginning stun, but that's not a likely thing to encounter.

[Strangevision]

When you choose the EX spinning scythe, I recommend using short scratch wheel instead of roundhouse, since all three hits may be difficult to time (or just not possible on some characters) and the one hit will thus deal more damage. If you have 2/3 of a meter, you can deal as much damage as brave dance minus a point if you continue with rhino horn and then follow with a regular scratch wheel, this time using the forward or roundhouse version.
OK. Thanks! I didn't think of the damage and hit differences between the short and roundhouse versions of the scratch wheel. I should probably start practicing juggling with the EX Rhino Horn too.


And, unfortunately, I believe there is no way to combo into a non-EX spinning scythe. Possibly on a crouching character beginning stun, but that's not a likely thing to encounter.
Too bad. I'll just forget about that then.

[Vatotitan]

don't scrap the regular spin scythe just yet. it stuill has it's uses. like just starting one and watching your opp reaction. you can bate them into doing something foolish. another thing is to do the spin scyth but not finish it and when opp is blocking expecting the next hit go for throw. i don't know where im stealing that idea from but it's fresh in my mind but it works pretty good if you only use it once and a while. thats the key not being repetitive will keep elena in the match. she far to many ways of screwing with peoples minds. come up with millions of little tricks and patterns and just keep changing them. this may sound obvious but the basics are what wins the match

also incases i hadn't mentioned this before. you can use a strickly well timed lk rhino horn when doing the ex juggle in the corner on most shotos and the slower falling charcters.

[Strangevision]

Good stuff. :tup:

Thank you.

[Strangevision]

Did you guys know that you can cancel a forward and roundhouse scratch wheel after the first hit directly into the Brave Dance? I just did this in training and all hits connected because I canceled before the opponent was lifted off the ground. I also tested cr. MP -> RH Scratch Wheel xx Brave Dance and it combo'd as well. The timing is strict so I'm not sure if this works with the forward version. Not sure if this is useful at all, but I just thought I'd post it since I didn't see it anywhere.

[Vatotitan]

indeedly doodily it works all the fk and hk versions after first hit but not sk. on other supers for other characters it is sometimes not a good idea to special cancel into a super but as long as you go from c.mp 0r first hit of standing mp to scratch your nuts wheel amd then cancel really fast to super you get a few extrat ticks of damage. if you don't use a jumpin it's worth it. other wise the damage of brave dance is either same or perhaps less

[Strangevision]

Seems better to stick with c. MP -> Brave Dance. Adding the scratch wheel just makes things complicated, and the damage doesn't seem to be that different anyway. Thanks once again Vatotitan.

[Vatotitan]

elena players, once again i call upon you to join in with a noble and just Cause. helping Me pown yun players. mostly vs the dive kick you can parry and counter but at times this becomes harder, like in the corner when your just getting up and it may or may not cross you up. should i try for wakeup super or scrath wheel, possibly try to parry the cross up. i ha d actually typed like a big ass long comment on this to post and right when i was about to press submit reply i got disconnected and when i signed on again i didn't feel like retyping all of it and i can't remember most of it. so talk about how you deal with yun as in the dive kick, defending against genei gin, getting impatient when they run from you trying to build meter for a genei, after the lp,lk,mp chain can i red parry the lp version of the shoulder, other than tat i got dis son.i get beat when i get hit by a dive kick or he gets the chain off which ultimatly leads to big genei gin combo. in the air elena beats yun, on power one brave dance puts you in the lead usually. i need help vs good yun players. ones that don't take chances by throwing out random dashing punshes and the rising kick move as an anti air.

[Jared3s]

elena players, once again i call upon you to join in with a noble and just Cause. helping Me...comment on this to post and right when i was about to press submit reply i got disconnected and when i signed on again i didn't feel like retyping all of it and i can't remember ...usually. i need help vs good yun players. ones that don't take chances by throwing out random dashing punshes and the rising kick move as an anti air.

VS Yun tips

back+roundhouse to beat dive kick when he is trying to get in. don't try to throw when you are on defense. you gotta knock him down! (you can actually beat Ken and Chun without knocking them down and beat them with footsies) you gotta take advantage of his less than stellar wake-up options) at a certain distance you can use standing forward and it'll keep Yun grounded if he's trying for some dive kick shinanigans. Turtle your ass off and build gauge, block like it's the only thing in the game! then set-up your Brave Dance.

oh, and remember, Yun is top tier. Elena is not. he has 2x more tools than Elena, so you are going to have to be disgustingly patient (i.e. Turtle your ass off!!!).

[Vatotitan]

aha indeed. i grant Jared3s the honorary award of excellancein the prestigous field helping of me. which is the second highest award i can grant with my current position of supreme awesome guy within a 10 ft radius of my house. for real b-hk never occured to me as anti-air as i usually use it as anti throw and to beat out wake up attemps by opponents or to beat out sweeps. and i can completly see how slowing the match down would give Elena more of a fair playing field against yun. i guess i gotta train myself to be more patient.

[Jared3s]

aha indeed. i grant Jared3s the honorary award of excellancein the prestigous field helping of me. which is the second highest award i can grant with my current position of supreme awesome guy within a 10 ft radius of my house. for real b-hk never occured to me as anti-air as i usually use it as anti throw and to beat out wake up attemps by opponents or to beat out sweeps. and i can completly see how slowing the match down would give Elena more of a fair playing field against yun. i guess i gotta train myself to be more patient.

Back+roundhouse hits clean at a certain range, once your Yun opponent catches on to this he should stop using dive kick at that range, limiting his dive kick options to get in. if he is doing dive kick up in your face back+roundhouse will not work. Back+roundhouse can beat all dive kicks clean at a distance but not if they use it close up. when you are stuffing your opponents dive kick at a distance he must try something else to get in, common methods are random shoulder tackles then cancel into GJ or activate GJ then shoulder rush or some people even do that lunging fist thing. (some peeps like Pyrolee (he's REALLY good and i basically never beat him, are really tricky and don't resort to such basic methods, so good luck when you fight someone at that level :)) at any rate get ready to parry and make them pay for such randomness. if and when your opponent breaks your mid range defense and has GJ just block your ass off. there are specific times when you can knock him outta GJ with cr. jab and possibly gain initiative (one time that comes to mind is when Yun is trying to pressure with forward+medium overhead while GJ is activated), but that's very iffy guessing at best as most Yun players have very tight GJ poke strings. again, best to block in my opinion. even if your opponent does land partial GJ it's okay because you will land Brave Dance 'cause of your mad set-ups!!! also, when your opponent is attempting multiple dive kick non-sense in your face, don't be afraid to jump straight up and use your strong,roundhouse chain to keep his hijinks to a minimum and avoid being locked down. Elena rules!

[Jared3s]

if you want some really god info on Elena and 3s in general you should go to bustkaratedojo.net Kingraoh is an exceptional Elena player, he's articulate, intelligent, well-read, and handsome too :party: . you can also get advice from other BKD members, such as Yi 5tar, Vic Vance, Rei, and Rockefeller (aka. Dr. Subzero). just post up on the BKD forums and you will be certain to get an answer from the most informed 3s players in America :)

[Vatotitan]

Your wisdom is exceeded only by your drop dead sexyness.

[Strangevision]

Did some tests concerning the EX Spin Scythe -> air chain:

EX Spin Scythe -> air MP -> HP will connect on:

Necro
Akuma
Ryu
Remy
Urien
Q
Dudley
Makato
Hugo
Sean
Twelve
Ken

EX Spin Scythe -> air MP -> HP will not connect on:

Yun
Yang
Oro
Chun
Ibuki
Elena
Alex

I imagine the results would be similar when it comes to connecting a Scratch Wheel after a Brave Dance in the corner. Not sure though. Must do more tests...

[Vatotitan]

good work. my laziness has keep me from going into to the dungeon and a creating just such a list. but the brave dance with a scratch wheel in the corner is different i have landed it on chun and alex. i have not tested it on everybody yet. once again good work

[50mOrEcEnTz]

i know you can combo brave dance off of her uoh, but can you somehow link brave dance off of fwd+mk? im a pretty big newb right now.

[Jared3s]

i know you can combo brave dance off of her uoh, but can you somehow link brave dance off of fwd+mk? im a pretty big newb right now.

you can link SA I and SA II off of a "meaty" fwd+mk.

[m3x]

you can link SA I and SA II off of a "meaty" fwd+mk.
ANy vids of this combo? Ived been trying to do this move and I just can't seem to land it.

[Vatotitan]

I cast the spell of "raise dead" on this thread.

Anyway, on a recent acho match vid my mind was blown away. Elena vs. Ken(<-screw this blonde, chessy, huge crossover hit box having sum-bitch) in round 2 Elena got of her EX combo like this,,, Ken misses a shoryuken with his back too the corner, elena c.mp ex spin scythe THEN WHAT I BELIVE TO BE THE FIRST TWO HITS OF LK VERSION OF SPIN SCYTHE finishes it up with EX rhino horn to rh.sratch your nuts wheel
this combo did more than half life and mos def more than c.mp brave dance, I assuming this only works in the corner so the blonde freak won't fly away. and i hope this works on other shotos(and i hope even more that it works on urien). the problem is i have not been able to recreate this at home. can one of you break dancing pimps help me out with this

[rikc]

wait, did she use the LK version of SS to juggle Ken after he was launched by the EX Spin?

[LazyYetCrazy]

it's mk. It's hard as hell to get the timing down but once you learn it it's really awesome. So you ex scythe, juggle with the first two hits of mk scythe then ex rhino then either rh. or ex scratch wheel

[rikc]

wow, I'll be trying that for sure.

does Spinning Beat combo into any of her EX combos? I would imagine it'd be nice for finishing juggles.

[Vatotitan]

ok mk version dats cool
does this work on all shotos?
othewr charcters?

[LazyYetCrazy]

pretty sure it works on all characters. pretty sure they need to be in the corner.

[NormalGuy]

I'm a new Elena player and I have some questions for her, she's fun to play but I am having some problems in certain situations where I don't know her moves that well to have a solution, so here it is. Oh I only use brave dance.

1. If I only have meter for one ex move, is the best thing to punish someone c.mp, ex spinning scythe, short scratch wheel?

2. How many ways can you link brave dance? I only know c.mp and UOH right now, can Elena do something like c.lk, c.lk, brave dance like the shotos can?

3. Reading up on the ex juggle combo, how fast do you do the ex rhino horn after the ex spinning scythe? Does it do 2 hits or just one hit?

4. What's a good anti air for Elena, scratch wheel gets predictable and can be parried, sometimes I use back mp?(the one where it does multiple hits, not sure if it is mp or mk) and it works but not consistently.

5. Somebody posted on this thread she has 4 overheads, besides towards mp and mk, UOH, what's the other overhead?

6. Does she have target comboes, how do you do the air one where she does 2 hits?

7. How are her match-ups? Against mainly the top-tier?

Thanks and I know there are lots of questions, but I am tired of my old characters and I am trying to learn Elena and hopefully have her compete in tourneys as well. We have some quality players over here as well, a great Yun player, bunch of good Ken players, good Hugo, Alex, Dudley, and of course Chun players.

[rikc]

I'm not an Elena master, but I know a few things, maybe I can help.

1. If it's a close match, that would probably be best. Otherwise I would really save the meter for a Brave Dance or for the full EX combo.

2. I don't know all of the possibilities, but one of my favorites is linking it off of a j.HK (hit right before you land)

4. c.HP isn't too bad, or if you know they're going to land in front of you, set up a Lynx Tail ahead of time.

5. Mallet Smash.

7. I personally think she decent against all characters, I don't usually feel like "shit, I'm at a huge disadvantage here". Her main problem is Chun Li. She fares pretty well against the shotos, although anyone who has a projectile can give you a hard time.

Hope that helps a little, sorry I can't answer all of your questions.

[Jared3s]

i use Elena.

1. depending on how much bar you have, you might be better off saving the bar for super and just punishing with something like crouching strongxdp+roundhouse. If you are far from getting a full super bar and have decided to burn ex (or going for the knock-out), then there are a couple of things that you can do. a.) crouching strongxx ex spinning scythe, jump up toward them and juggle with strong,fierce, air chain (doesn’t work on all characters), this resets them, then you can go for mix-up after. b.) crouching strongxx ex spinning scythe, small scratch wheel.
2. crouching strongxx brave dance is a late cancel. You can link super off of..,
UOH
Jumping Roundhouse
Jumping Fierce (one or two hit)
Jumping Strong, Fierce Chain (works on some characters, works on all characters if they parry the strong and eat the fierce)
Forward cross up
Meaty toward+strong

Elena has no way of hit confirming her super using a low move. You can do a hail mary crouching shortxxsuper (lottsa prayers and good set-ups to land this one outside of your opponent giving it to you.)

3. you gotta time the move to come out as soon as the previous move recovers. Just timing is all, no tricks. Not sure how many hits it does.
4. in my experience her best anti-air is standing strong. Best to just block in most situations. Make them beat you on the ground. Don’t give it away by guessing on jump-ins. (I should take my own advice).
5.
UOH
Toward+strong
Toward+forward kick
Mallet Smash
(Best not to use any of these too often or you will get parried and kilt. Set them up or die)

6. air chains: Strong,Fierce and short,forward
ground chain: standing forward, down+fierce

7. In my experience she loses to Ken (but I have seen good Elena’s take good Ken’s to town) gets raped by Chun. Does okay vs. Yun and Makoto.

8. if you are a serious player, better to use someone else.

9. hit confirm low strongxxsuper and Kara throw, else Elena is dead in the water. I really like Elena J

[NormalGuy]

Thanks rikc and Jared3s, that was some helpful answers and suggestions, I know Elena is not as strong as some of the top-tier characters but she's such a fun character to use when you're bored playing as say Chun or Ken. I have a deep hatred for Yun so there's no way I am learning him, Makoto is so random that knowing myself, I hate random games.

After playing some matches yesterday, I don't think she does well against Chun or Ken at all, Chun because her normals have better priority, does better damage, can low link into super, etc. Ken kills Elena because of her wacky hit box, the guys I play against don't kara srk but they were getting that extra hit pretty much everytime, and it hurts!!! :lame:

[lord sharky]

any rush down elena??
my friend's a rushdown elena(sa2)...
he parries a lot especially when he had a meter full.
and he does a lot of b+roundhouse(?).
and my makoto loses alot against her,outpoked. :(

[Jared3s]

any rush down elena??
my friend's a rushdown elena(sa2)...
he parries a lot especially when he had a meter full.
and he does a lot of b+roundhouse(?).
and my makoto loses alot against her,outpoked. :(

i think that Elena can be played more aggresively when your opponent does not have meter and when Elena has full meter (but doesn't that go for every character :karate: ). lottsa low short tick throws, kara throws, back+roundhouse, neutral roundhouse, and ummmm....short tick throws, and kara throws. if you attack and when you have nothing to back you up (i.e. meter)you are going to get kilt. basic strategy no? turtle for life!

[LazyYetCrazy]

Random tidbits...

People catch on to Elena's moves quick, mix up mix up mix up is the key. Obviously linking brave dance or ex combo should be a huge part of your game if you have the meter for it, which is why c.mp is such an awesome poke. Practice your c.mp links over and over, because from my experience if you can land brave or ex scythe every time off of c.mp (aka chun li) you can be as deadly as chun li.

Elena is like chun li in the sense that if she can land a single move she has potential to land massive damage. Brave can be linked off of so many things, while it seems like you're just throwing out moves to build meter you really are just setting it up. c.mp, c.lk, j.hk mallet smash, uoh etc etc..

Switch up your mallet smashes. Sometimes you can catch a miss-parry and then you're set.

I would rather play against a really good Chun then an average Ken personally.
Chun will often turtle and build meter, the same thing you should be doing. Meter less she will be using the same moves we all know already, including some variety of hp and hk. Just stay away from it, play smart. KNOW that she will out prioritize your hk with her hp if you dont catch it within it's last few frames. Hopefully you'll get meter first and go on the offence. Play your game, keep the mix ups and hope for the best.
Ken on the other hand will usually just start right in on you. His links and damage are ridiculously easy to execute and you'll always have to be anticipating either a crouch or an overhead. Just much more of an uphill battle for a much longer time period in the match as far as I’m concerned. Personal opinion probably.

As Jared already stated, her kara throw is a huuuuuge part of her game. Again though, just watch out for the parry. Her forward mp and mk are great over heads, but can be seen coming.

Same with her mallet smash, which is why it's key to switch the strenghts and ex ability of it up. If you land it once, be happy and move on. Don't figure it's a safe move. I've had that thing parried on me way too many times when i figured it was going to be completely safe. Do keep in mind though that people become more timid when they see the yellow flash of ex.

Ok I'm tired, i dont even know if what i'm saying makes sense. :xeye:

[m3x]

any rush down elena??
my friend's a rushdown elena(sa2)...
he parries a lot especially when he had a meter full.
and he does a lot of b+roundhouse(?).
and my makoto loses alot against her,outpoked. :(

Hey!!! Not fair getting strategies against my Elena....

My Bad!!! Now I have to change my strategy back to being a turtle...

BTW, can you really guys link Elena's toward+MK into SA? Coz i'm not sure if my timing ain't just right

[Soundbwoy]

Can anyone give some tips on air combat. I'm just not strong with that yet.

For example, I'm usually the one getting tagged if I try the strong, fierce air combo, especially if its that shoto air foward.

[rikc]

Elena's not very good in the air. I usually have luck with an early HK.

[m3x]

Actually her MP, HP air combo is really effective against a jumping opponent. I usually do this combo just after seeing my opponents jump. Although a shoto's MK may have better priority... Then a suggest you parry their MK then retaliate. A good Elena player shoud be good at air parries because Elena is can easily be the target of anti-air attacks also she can be juggled easily by other characters.

[locoghoul]

ANy vids of this combo? Ived been trying to do this move and I just can't seem to land it.

i have a match from some jap july tourney between M (elena) vs Asaba (gouki/akuma). at the end M kills Asaba with the f.mk, sa2 combo.

[rikc]

i have a match from some jap july tourney between M (elena) vs Asaba (gouki/akuma). at the end M kills Asaba with the f.mk, sa2 combo.

I would like to see this match just because I have trouble playing Akumas.

[Soundbwoy]

^^^Yeah, along with Yun, Akuma can be a hemorroid...irritating. My luck is to slow down his rushdown game and keep him just within dash range. Elenas got that reach, so I like to play that Lennox Lewis "pick you apart from the outside" game.

Akumas love to rush, and its funny how some act if you don't let them inside.

[CyanideAssassin]

does anyone have any links to some good Elena vids? I really want to learn her!

edit:So Ive been using Elena for about a week now, definatly gonna stick with her as my backup character. One important question though, its an embarassing one too! What do you use to charge meter? I used MP and MK , now Im using the Round Arc cause it charges a bigger portion of the meter. Which is the best?

[Soundbwoy]

I got this rekindled love for Spinning Beat now

I know Brave Dance is the popular super of choice, but I like all that stock I get with "Beat"

I also like how "Beat" is almost instant upon start up. I m able to punish whiffs with it.

I can't really land "Dance" without hit-confirming it. I can't use is to punish whiffs b/c my opponent is able to block/parry during that short time that she hops.

[LazyYetCrazy]

What do you use to charge meter?

rh, b+rh and c.forward

I wouldn't be banking on trying to punish with any of her supers in general. Stick with c.forward, f.rh or most flavors of her fast ex specials.

[Vatotitan]

Beat is cool esp when you see al the cool juggles you can do like in the slimex vids, but do to the fact that it is way more punishable then brave dance and you can be thrown out of it, i kind of avoid it. but if you are good at landing it, it really annoys your opp.
SPINNING BEAT HAH
but then again if your good at landing it you might as well use brave dance so you can hear Ken player go "damn that deals alot of damage"

[Strangevision]

I like Spinning Beat for the meter, but the super itself isn't that great. In my experience, it doesn't always combo after a c. MP. Maybe the first few hits will connect, but the rest are blockable. Anyone else have this problem?

[Vatotitan]

this can often happen at further distances or when you use it to counter pokes

[m3x]

I rather use Healing than Spinning Beat coz making your opponent feel that their damage is worthless makes my day.

[CyanideAssassin]

Sigh I suck with Elena, all these Kens just kill me, I have to resort to Chun and Urien to stand any chance. LazyYetCrazy, you should come down to SVGL again, your Elena is a beast , Ive gotta play you again. Actually I think I may have seen you a few weeks ago, do you also play dark brown Urien?

[LazyYetCrazy]

Thanks, yeah I want to come to SVGL again, it's only an hour away but i'm pretty lazy :-/. I started playing 3s with Hugo, and moved on to Elena shortly after. So really, I'm just comfortable with her, which means alot I guess when it comes to being able to instatly pick which poke to use or what not.

But yeah, play a character for 3 months straight and I guess that happens. Your Elena wasn't bad at all when we played a while ago, I think the comfort is just not there. Drop chun and pick Elena in her place, yessssss. Really though Elena is just Chun minus alot...ok that doesn't sound good but it's true. But you can take Chuns pokes etc and just do it with Elena. Less priority, less damage, but also less...clothing!

[CyanideAssassin]

I definatly hear what youre saying about comfort. Elena is an awesome character, the reason I have trouble with her right now is simply cause I often forget which moves she can use when, and I havent gotten used to her overall feel. Im taking your advice and switching back to Brave Dance, Healing is a lot of fun but I miss my EX moves.

Ive been playing Chun for about 9 solid months, and am very comfortable with her, so I dont think Ill drop her completely. However Ive been using Urien a lot lately, which has seriously cut into my Elena practice time, and I think Elena is a bit more my style. Poor thong man might have to be put on the back burner for a while:lol:

So yeah send me a PM whenever you feel like coming down, Ill be sure to be there. And I agree, priority and damage for less clothing is a fair trade in my book:lol:

edit: I forgot to ask, can someone explain to me the use of the EX combo? I looked at its data vs cr.MP xx Brave Dance, and the Dance combo does 1 point more damage, and requires the same amount of meter. Is the EX combo just there for some variety, or is there somthing Im missing?

[Soundbwoy]

I've been into 3S for about a year & 1/2 now. Although i've been tempted, I refuse to switch characters until I can master her. I know its a stubborn way of thinking. I guess the logic is to be one of those cats who can dominate with a non-top tier character.

The problem is that SF:4 would probably be out by the time this happens :sad:

[m3x]

I myself is a solid Elena player. The first time I tried to use her is when my other teammates are really doing good with those top tier characters so I said to myself that I won't settle in being the second best Ken or Chun player in the arcades... So that's why I been known by others by the one who uses Elena... To think of it, it gives me a nice feeling to be recognised by others that way.

Been playing this game for almost 3 years i think, and been joining tourneys in our place using Elena. Wish i could play with you guys but im grounded here. Do you guys have any good vids of Elena matches. I rarely see some vids of Elena in tourneys and mostly their Elena end up losing.... What I want to see is Vids of a good Elena player beating the crap out of those tier whores.

Long Live ELENA!!!

[LazyYetCrazy]

Playing other characters can really up your Elena game though. Sometimes it's good to give a character a break and then come back.

[Mikee_Showbiz]

edit: I forgot to ask, can someone explain to me the use of the EX combo? I looked at its data vs cr.MP xx Brave Dance, and the Dance combo does 1 point more damage, and requires the same amount of meter. Is the EX combo just there for some variety, or is there somthing Im missing?

If you can't hit confirm - and some people can't hit confirm to save their lives - then you only lose a small chunk of meter if the HCB + KK part is blocked.

The main reason I prefer the EX combo to cr.MP xx Brave Dance is that the EX combo allows you to throw in resets. After the EX Rhino Horn, you can reset with a late LK that puts them in MP Mallet Smash range. So you can catch a lot of people out by alternating between LK reset > MP Mallet Smash, LK reset > dash > throw. If the other player is being particularly dozy, you can even go for EX Spin Scythe > EX Rhino Horn > LK > EX Spin Scythe > EX Rhino Horn > Scratch Wheel. It's not going to catch many people out but if you mix up with her kara-throw, MP Mallet Smash, EX Spin Scythe, it's enough to be getting on with. I think the reset puts them in fwd + MP range too, I can't remember. But experiment and have fun with it.

Also, once you get used to doing the LK resets this way, you can use EX Rhino Horn as anti-air and reset off that too.

It looks cooler too :tup:

[Mikee_Showbiz]

Played around last night and the stuff you can do off the EX Spin Scythe > EX Rhino Horn > LK reset includes:
- twd + MP
- twd + MK
- MP mallet smash
- sweep (if it's blocked, it's almost max range so you're fairly safe)
- Lynx Tail (I wouldn't risk HK version)
- walk, throw
- EX Spin Scythe (rarely works but if it does...)

Sadly, the reset doesn't leave the opponent in kara-throw range but walk, throw is quick enough (especially if you kara throw). I alternate between throw and MP Mallet Smash. I can't remember if the range means you can cross up with MK though.

You can also reset off LP but you have to do this earlier. Also, because it's higher, it gives the opponent more time to prepare to block/tech throw. The timing is easier than LK though.

Also, EX Spin Scythe > EX Rhino Horn > LK reset > MP Mallet Smash does hefty stun damage, especially in comparison to cr.MP xx Brave Dance which hardly stuns at all.

[CyanideAssassin]

Thanks Mikee Ill have to try that out. I checked the guide and found that you can also do the LK reset, UOH XX Brave Dance. Not sure if its worth it but its at least possible.

[CyanideAssassin]

HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS, ELENA IS LIKE THE SICKEST CHARACTER EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cr.MP xx Brave Dance xx taunt= best. combo. ever.:lol::lol:

seriously though Im surprised more people dont play her, she is crazy!!!

[CyanideAssassin]

Are there any real uses for the regular version of Rhino Horn? The only thing Ive found it useful for is an anti crossup, and even then the EX is much better and there are a limited amount of places Ive found to use the regular ones that are safe. Any help would be appreciated.

Also , with the lynx tail, Ive been using mainly the LK version when I do use it, are there any circumstances when it would be preferable to use the other 2?

ALSO:lol: Regarding her LP LK air chain. I cant get it to work for the life of me. I found another thread about this and the person said to hit lk right as you see the lp connect. Ive tried this time and again and I cant get a chain, all I get is LP.

Any help would be appreciated, Im really taking Elena seriously now and shes quickly risen to being my favorite character (although Chun ties her, cause Ive been using her for so long).

Thanks anyone and everyone.

[KingRaoh]

ALSO:lol: Regarding her LP LK air chain. I cant get it to work for the life of me. I found another thread about this and the person said to hit lk right as you see the lp connect. Ive tried this time and again and I cant get a chain, all I get is LP.



you sure he's not talking about the lp, mk air chain? i don't think she has lp, lk.

[CyanideAssassin]

Youre right, my mistake. I had forgotten Id already partway figured this out last week:lol:.
I meant to say that I can get the chain to come out , but I cant get the MK to hit. It always seems to whiff no matter what height I start the chain at.

[m3x]

Try to use that air combo (LP,MK) to a standing Hugo player. After hitting Hugo's head with the LP... quickly press MK... then You'll see the combo

[CyanideAssassin]

Ill try that , thanks. Is that the only situation that it works in? Id assume that might work on Urien as well?

[LazyYetCrazy]

it works on standing ryu which would lead me to believe shotos in general.

[KingRaoh]

use the lp, mk air chain as a way to pester people who like to parry and set them up for super. if they parry the lp, they may get hit by the mk, but it really doesn't matter because you are using this move to set up your opponent to miss time a parry...
if your opponent thinks that you are jumping in with the lp, mk, and will try to parry again 'cause they are really smart and onto you, you can...

1.) do a deep fierce and hit confirm into super (hopefully, they will miss the parry because they are expecting you to do the lp, mk chain, and since you have to start the lp early right? (you'll get them on the "left side of the parry", just after they made a parry attempt, where they are vulnerable) so hit 'em with a deep fierce instead

2.) deep roundhouse, 1 or 2 hits, depending on your you timed it, you can confirm this one into super as well. you can change the timing on this jump into make it a different parry timing than the lp,mk chain. giving you an opportunity to land super as well.

3.) if your opponent gets hit by the mid kick in the lp,mk chain you can hit confirm mk into super.

4.) empty jump in, low short then throw, then you can start wake-up games.

5.) empty jump in, throw, (you can also do a low parry just before the throw if you wanna be a fancy lad.) then you can start wake-up games.

those are some uses for her lp, mk chain, that work on all characters. you can also use to for air to air mix ups. it's not good to jump anyway, unless it's against say, Hugo, otherwise STAY ON THE FRIGGIN' ground. she has really good normals. the stuff above is only suggested when you are playing against someone who likes to guess/parry alot. which is becoming less and less common as people learn about the game.

[CyanideAssassin]

Awesome, I tried it out on Hugo and got it. Also worked on Ryu, as you said, and I went ahead and tested the rest of the shotos (Sean included), and Urien and it worked for them too. I think I also tried it on Q but oddly I can't remember if it worked:lol:

Anyways, thanks for demystifiying this chain for me everyone:tup:

edit:thanks for a very good explanation Kingraoh (left side of the parry lol:lol: ) I learned a lot from that post(I thought that jumping roundhouse should hit confirm, but never got around to trying it.

[Joey Crack]

Me personally I would use healing for these reasons

1.Elena's a genarally weak character so having the ability to heal help even the odds

2.The spinning Beat is a weak super(but it is easy to combo into)

3.I find the brave dance difficult to hit people with

Best time to heal is when you knock your opponent down since you'll be done when he gets up

[LazyYetCrazy]

yeah, who needs ex.

[CyanideAssassin]

2.The spinning Beat is a weak super(but it is easy to combo into)

3.I find the brave dance difficult to hit people with

Best time to heal is when you knock your opponent down since you'll be done when he gets up

You said spinning beat = easy to combo into but brave dance is difficult to hit with....unless you only use cr.LK to combo into SA1, I dont see what the problem is, cr.MP for each.

And the best time to heal is immidiatly after a throw, like as they fly towards the ground. Sorry to nitpick your post but I just had to. :karate:

edit:I agree with you that Healing is a good super, but its harder to use than the others because of the meter building, you have to be able to rush down and mix it up really well to build meter, cause any smart opponant will rush you down if they see you standing in the corner building that long ass bar. Theres also, as Lazy mentioned, the issue of EX. I didnt think she needed it either when I started using her, but , as you said, she does weak damage, she needs all the help she can get!

Anyways. Im by no means saying Healing is impossible to use, and if youre having success with it the more power to you! But if youre just getting lucky against players who dont know what to do against a Healing Elena, I would recommend you seriously think about this. Again , Im really not trying to be a dick here, just trying to help out a fellow Elena (hence the title of the thread, Elena User UNITE!):lol::tup:

[m3x]

Healing can be used as a way to make your opponents uncomfortable in playing... hence it is basically a good tool for mind games. Also, it is a good super for those opponents who are very defensive(they oly wait for u to attack). Well you can fight fire with fire(defensively that is)... Build meter and wait for his attacks... hope your confident with your parrying skills. Just remember that you are also in defense mode... You can switch to offense anytime that you see your opponent is getting annoyed in which would affect his gameplay.

This strategy often works with me when playing with those players with very tight defense... turtle types

[Xenozip.]

Healing is absurdly easy to combo.

- Throw -> Healing
- MK, down+HP (TC) -> Healing
- (c.MP), dp+LK -> Healing
- (c.MP), rdp+LK -> Healing
- hcf+LK -> Healing
- qcb+LK, qcb+LK (finisher) -> Healing
- c.HK -> Healing
- oc.HK (slide) -> Healing

A full heal does the same ammount of (reverse) damage as Brave Dance. And it's the easiest hit confirm in the game.

However, EX is very valueable for Elena. Having EX gives her the wake-up option of using dp+2K (EX uppercut). Without EX, she has very limited wake-up options, since nothing she has will beat meaty attacks except dp+2K. Also, her EX combos do tons of damage and stun and are very easy to land. But without qcb+2K (EX Spin Scythe) she has no way of launching to set up juggles.

IMO, I think both supers are character-specific, though. For example, against Hugo you're obviously better off with healing. But against Ken, you're probably going to want to use Brave Dance.

Just my thoughts.

[DannyLilithborn]

I always use Healing, in the spirit of developing consistent strategies against all forms of competition.

[Vatotitan]

konichiwa bitches
Some help with urien would be nice
he has longer legs than elena so getting close enough to hit confirm can be difficult
his c.mk gets beaten out by elena's c,mp but he is too far away ususally for the hit confirmed brave dance to hit
I know the match up should be played carefully so you don't get knocked into a heart stopping juggle, but is there a common strategy used to fight urien

[m3x]

If you are playing against an Urien SA3 stay away from the corner coz he'll pressure you more once you're there. Try to anticipate his attacks.... that is parry his c.mk then do the c. mp xx SA2.... works for me.

Urien players always try to make you jump for an attack... Too bad for Elena, she is hard to use offensively without jumping that much.... But parrying an attack could give you an edge. Still, its up to you how you chip off his strong vitality.

[Mechanica]

Uh, regular Rhino Horn? I use the LK version after I land a super, just to build a little meter while I get closer.