Alright, I got a new pattern for you guys to try out! I've been messing with the Fair and trying to find some ways to set it up while being some what safe. Here's what I found.
TL's strong point is really directly in front of him due mostly to Bombs, Nair, and Zair. So with a Bomb in hand. Try these patterns to try to swing a random Fair at them.
- Bomb Throw Forward
- Dash
- Short Hop iFair
- DI Away
- You can also Second Jump away, Arrow Cancel, or Nair with the DI
In this case you're using a bomb to discourage your opponent from coming in at you. Dashing with an iFair right after the bomb make use of the bomb by helping making it safer in the beginning animation of the Fair. DI Back you have some counter options. Remember with JCT you have some dashing options even out of shield.
Now, the objective here is you're expecting your opponent to shield your bomb, and hoping he'll try to do something right after the bomb hits and you'll catch him with a the Fair. I'll talk about actually aiming to hit with the bomb with this pattern in better detail further down, but let me talk about something else first.
Defensively your fastest OoS KO move is undoubtedly going to be your Up Smash. Usually you have to hyphen smash it. Here is some data for you go ponder on. Up Smash connects on frame 11. With a dash with it you can add 2 or 3 frames. So assume your opponent does an attack that pushes you back it's going to take you probably 1/4 of a second to connect a hyphen smash. I'm sure most of you guys hate the defense of this game because there's not really much you can punish if you have a shielding opponent. So when you don't think you're fast enough with a hyphen smash, try OoS Dash Short Hop iFair and DI away. A Fair connects on frame 14 an adding 4 or 6 frames from the dash and the short hop you can expect it to connect at 1/3 of a second. Sure it's slower, but with the DI and counter options it's safer when you're sure you won't connect with the Up Smash.
As I stated before, when a character is in TL's KO range percentage, it's possible to connect a bomb to a Fair. So here's what you do:
Space yourself about 3.5 TL bodies between you and your opponent.
- Throw Bomb Forward
- Immediately Dash
- Immediately Short Hop
Watch to see if your bomb connect. If it does then SJ iFair. If it doesn't than retreat.
I've tested this in training I assume these factors.
- No DI
- No diminishing factors
- KO Point is set by the Usmash(For example TL can Up Smash MK at 100% for a KO so that's the KO Point)
- Estimating possible human recognition and reaction
Against a few characters and I determined that heavy characters fall into this pattern at around +4%, medium +7%, and light +10% to the KO Point. If you get a little closer it will shift the hit box of your swing over your opponent. You'll need a little more damage do to this so the opponent would be knocked higher into the air by the bomb. It sounds weird, but trust me on this.
Predicting the case the bomb is block and you need to retreat, it's probably best to iNair away and try to aim and catch the bomb. Hey, it's safer than running in with a hyphen smash.
Unfortunately, my friend and I can't play until next week so I've only tested this in training. I'm going to be busy the rest of this week so maybe some of you guys can test these new thoughts out and see how practical it is.
FYI, I'm not looking for how many times it'll connect. If anything most KO attempts fail. Think about it. How many times did you fail to KO with Up Smash having it shielding or dodge. I mean I'm sure we would land a few of them, but I'm wanting to see if we use Fairs in a safe way to poke at the opponent can we get away with it and put pressure on him or her.
Either way, I'll test this in actual match ups when I come back. Good luck!
