KOFXIII Andy strats?

Hotdawg_SKA

Any Andy pros out there? What are the pros and cons of this character? What tier do you think he is? Can anyone post useful block strings, setups, etc? I've seen that most people just post combos but I want to learn how to "play" this character, not just focus only on his combos. Like for instance, does he have any safe jump setups? Frame traps? Keep in mind that I'm a SSF4 player so I'm going off of what I know from that game. Does all that apply to KOFXIII as well?

Spαrkster

You can think of Andy as a 'Ryu' of the game in that while he doesn't have directly crazy mixups like from a command grab, he can dominante at neutral, on defensive, and certainly on the offensive. He has a lot of safe specials which can frustrate the opponent or cause a guard break against a player that plays too patiently, and his normals are grand. He works well in any position since he gets good damage for little meter, and even with just one Drive Cancel he can really extend his damage output in the corner and his EX moves don't add any desperately-needed tools, though having them available is always a plus.

• His projectile is one of the better ones in the game. It's startup and recovery time allow him to hold up and win in a lot of projectile wars and should he fall behind his EX fireball can be utilized in the same manner as SFIV EX projectiles to punish opponents in fireball wars and score a knockdown which lets Andy get in closer or gain the initiative. Also, not too many characters can actually slide or maneuver under the projectile's hitbox which is a definite plus which forces opponents to find another way around it.

• Andy's weak DP is a strong anti-air for beating full jumps which can easily be provoked by throwing a few fireballs and then waiting for the opponent to try to jump in on Andy. It's really difficult to react and properly anti-air vs short hop pressure, but Andy can cover most angles with his standing jab, close heavy kick, and crouching heavy kick. Jabbing is effective for batting away at predictable/reactable hop pressure such as when cornered, close heavy kick is great for stopping any type of jump when running forward at the opponent and so it's a strong offensive tool, and Andy has the best old SF style sweep in the game since it's very easy to anti-air with that bad boy. Andy can cover most angles with anti-airs except perhaps the area just above his head, or deep toward his back (which can be exploited when an opponent corners Andy) though he can still block until an opening appears.

• His normals are great. Crouching light kick is a main tool for offensive pressure and creating blockstrings or hitconfirming (more on that below), though his sweep is another amazing low poke and crazy footsie tool, whiff punisher, and anti-air, though its biggest weakness is that it can't be canceled into specials. Andy usually has a half-screen reaching far standing heavy punch although it doesn't hit quite as far as before, but now he can cancel it into specials which increases its use in blockstrings or as a poke. His jumping attack options are linear, but his jumping heavy kick is pretty much his one-stop-shop for vertical jump-in and cross ups and for horizontal air-to-airs he's got jumping light kick and jumping blowback attack to claim air superiority.

• The weak Zaneiken is pretty amazing since it'll combo from light attacks into a knockdown, it's mostly safe on block, it builds meter, it moves Andy forward, and it's Drive Cancelable to continue comboing. Certain characters can punish it, though it usually takes a bar of meter to do so and Andy can always stop a blockstring or end with his Hishouken projectile instead. A common tactics you'll see is to get a knockdown from Andy's sweep or whatever and then do a Zaneiken or two to move forward and build meter. The hitbox on this move is just really great and it blows up the short hop space which can lead to 'accidental' anti-airs.

• For blockstrings, you can usually start from a jumping heavy kick or by running in close and starting with a crouching light kick. The first order of yomi layer business is to make a tight, hitconfirmable low blockstring which is done easily enough by chaining crouching light kicks. From there you can confirm and decide to go into f+A or cancel the low kick into his projectile or the weak version of Zaneiken. Once the opponent settles down and is more willing to be patient and block, it becomes more important to incorporate more exotic blockstrings with varying gaps. There's a lot of options available, but simple ones include; ticking with a crouching light kick, then walking forward just a sliver, and then stringing into close heavy punch; going from a crouching light attack into a crouching heavy attack, especially given how good his sweep can be (though the opponent can hop between the gap between a crouching light kick and crouching heavy kick and land on Andy for a combo, but this takes a smart read); doing a long string of light attacks and ending with standing heavy punch and possibly canceling that into either of his safe specials; checking the opponent with crouching light kicks and then running forward into more crouching light kicks or whichever blockstring of choice (running pressure is great, though the opponent can beat it by counterpoking as Andy runs in), and of course Andy can add in a hop which puts him back in prime blockstring range again.

• His blockstring options are generally safe and he can really lock an opponent into the corner by taking control of the spacial advantage the corner gives him. For instance, get the opponent cornered and then wait on the ground at about 1/3 the screen outside of the corner. From this range Andy can easily react and punish any attempts to roll out of the corner (a very common tactic of beginner players) or react and DP or anti-air jump attempts. Once the opponent feels the spacial pressure Andy can exert, he's more free to toss projectiles to start baiting mistakes or to then move in and start creating blockstrings or working toward a guard crush.

• If you want a safe jump setup, try landing his throw and then playing around until you get the timing for a deep meaty jumping heavy kick. Andy doesn't have very many ways to get a hard knockdown, but you can react to an unteched knockdown and try to feel one out or play around and find a hitreset that sets up a safejump. Bear in mind that safejump setups aren't quite as important in XIII as opposed to SFIV so don't feel discouraged if you don't get many, just try to keep pressing the advantage and applying pressure, even if passive, to bait unsafe actions and then punish 'em hard.

So Andy doesn't have too many weaknesses, though like I mentioned his jumping options are somewhat linear. More than likely his greatest threat is being outplayed and having one of his tactics countered, though most of his strategies and setups are really solid.

Also, a good amount of spacing and 2D fighting game fundamentals apply to KOF and can transfer over from SFIV, though the biggest difference comes down to understanding how normals work--especially with four instead of six buttons--and then learning how hops allow you to attack from more unique angles as opposed to Street Fighter and then implementing them as part of your offense, defense, and neutral game as well as anti-airing them.

Hotdawg_SKA

Thanks for the awesome info...takes some time getting used to but I'm sorta getting the hang of it. Is there frame data available for this game?

Spαrkster

There's isn't a frame data resource that I know of, but a few moves have known data like how Kyo's EX Orochinagi is a one frame super or how Ash's Sans Culotte can't be safe jumped. For the most part you can feel out how fast an attack's startup and recovery are, and if you really want to test how negative an attack is set the dummy to block a hit then jump and then hold up with your character. You can judge the advantage on block by seeing who jumps first and then seeing how much higher (and thus how much earlier one recovers) one can jump before the other recovers.

A lot of the normals in KOF have a standardized frame data. Close normals are a character's fastest attacks which are then followed in speed by light attacks. Crouching light kicks are usually neutral or slightly negative on block and crouching light punches are more advantageous but don't hit low (same as in SF, essentially). Also, even if you don't cancel a close normal on block or hit you're pretty much safe, and you can even continue pressure afterward if the opponent's being really respectful of your offense.

BshidoHEAT

Some of my local comp has picked up KOF and have begun playing Billy. I don't know if I'm right but I have a damn tough time against Billy with Andy, anything I can do in this MU?

Nagato/Kisame1992

BshidoHEAT, post: 6948117, member: 751 wrote:

Some of my local comp has picked up KOF and have begun playing Billy. I don't know if I'm right but I have a damn tough time against Billy with Andy, anything I can do in this MU?

HP/C Shoryuudan blows up Billy's foward+A option. Chunk plasma. Kuuhadan is great for beating billy out of his j.CD. Other than those things, you have to pressure billy, force him to go up elevators and punish. Don't let billy bully you.

Spαrkster

Nagato/Kisame1992, post: 6958014, member: 8090 wrote:

HP/C Shoryuudan blows up Billy's foward+A option. Chunk plasma. Kuuhadan is great for beating billy out of his j.CD. Other than those things, you have to pressure billy, force him to go up elevators and punish. Don't let billy bully you.

DPing f+A isn't really reliable. It works, but you have to commit to it nearly blindly, and the reward isn't in your favor.

PJS FoxDie

im a part time KOF player and i was working on some andy hit cofirms last night. enjoy!