The King of Fighters XIII Beginners Guide

[DQsama]

Ko online alexf

[Alexk]

sorry dude, my online is bad enough when I play SF4. kof is like playing a slideshow for me :s

[MadeManG74]

KOF online is great if you enjoy turn-based strategy.

[Dark Chaotix]

Great work AlexK for gathering and formatting the info for other players to access. Sometimes good info like this gets missed and lost, so its good to have it all in one spot.

[AtomicX]

AlexK useful information

So the only way to beat Clark auto guard is to safe jump, not press a button then hop punish? Does the auto guard work a bit like Cammy and Fei Ultra 2?

BTW there's safe jumps in this game?

Thanks for the info!

[fkuspencer]

Does the auto guard work a bit like Cammy and Fei Ultra 2?

No, it is indefinite until Clark wants to hug you, then the autoguard frames wear off. You can do 3 cr.As and still get grabbed.

You can also use certain special moves (or even EX specials) that last fairly long to either blast through his post-autoguard frames (such as Andy's EX DP - may need slight delay) or (in rarer cases) collide into the autoguard frames and then punish the whiff throw (for example, Takuma can use B Hien [charge db~f+B] to jump kick to his Clark's chest when he does his B SAB, Clark absorbs the hit, whiffs the hug and then Takuma can whiff punish this with his own command grab into combo). However, these occurances are situational since Clark has plenty more ways to use B SAB.

You have 14f to react after he does his ＼（＾o＾）／. The startup of ＼（＾o＾）／ is 5f so altogether, you have 18 frames to react. Other than neutral hop, you can also reversal backdash but both options leaves you open for either cl.C, or vulcan punches (PPPP) if you have already committed (into a poor read). This also includes his B SAB mixups such as st.CD xx step, B SAB.

Whiff animation frames for B SAB are 36f, D version being 53f.

BTW there's safe jumps in this game?

Yes.

Ko online alexf

I would for lols, but my gold expired just yesterday.

[Dark Chaotix]

AlexK useful information

So the only way to beat Clark auto guard is to safe jump, not press a button then hop punish? Does the auto guard work a bit like Cammy and Fei Ultra 2?

BTW there's safe jumps in this game?

Thanks for the info!

Yeah, that setup will work. Not sure of a player that would use Clark auto guard throw in a safe jump situation.

Clark's command grab is different depending on strength used. If the opponent used "B" version, then it has auto guard properties which can absorb hits, and how many hits depends on attacks you do while he has his hands up. The "D" version is a 1frame grab but doesnt have the auto guard.

IMO Clark is still hard to deal with if you dont know how to handle his option once you have been knockdown. Colins Clark makes everyone cringe but that cos players cant deal with his mixup game on wake up, as Clark doesnt have any good matchups in kof XIII.

But in answering your question, yes that is one way of beating it as you cant be throw while you are in the air. That is if you anticipate the auto guard throw.

Watch this vid for an idea



Yes there are safe jumps which usually stem from a hard knockdown situation, which in turn limits on how you end your combo (not all moves have hard knockdown properties). But generally you want to end your combo with a hard knockdown. Safe jumps are good against characters that dont have a 3f or less move that they can use on wake up.

Safe jump in kof xiii is relatively new so there prob alot more options and outcomes to explore.

[Alexk]

lol I think this has just ruined all credibility but testing Clarks 1 framer just now has salvaged some of it.

With Kyo, I'm doing a jump CD safe jump after a throw. Due to Clarks 1 framer having invul (at some part of his body/all) and it being so fast, Kyo's jump CD is going through the invul and is still airborn after Clarks throw comes out. I should have tested that first but I think this still means Clark is safe jumpable.

DC, yeah Clark can throw with jump C and ex punch you out of the air but thats more to do with the neutral game and whether he reacts to certain situations outside of set-play. His wake-up options, I think, are all beatable. I'm getting the same thing with EX throw - its not grabbing Kyo.

I only played against Colin's Clark for a couple games. Colin is doing Clark's jump C on prediction and people are just jumping. The great thing about that situation is that, if they jump they get thrown; if they stand to block his jump C then they're back in block stun BUT I'm pretty sure its trip guardable. What do you think? It seems like Clark has to do the jump C early to catch the opponents jump, but if they don't and mash cB with specific characters then Clark should get hit right? I've tested with a normal jump from Clark but I don't know enough about this situation to say that trip guarding will always win. Of course you could always anti-air but if you know its coming and can get a trip guard combo then I say go for it.

Back to the safe jump with Kyo against Clark. I switched the safe jump attack to jump 2C and Clark is being hit. He is being hit out of his ex throw as well because the blue cloud is coming up and I'm getting a counter.

I still think his wake up game isn't that great but of course if he is patient after being knocked down then he will be able to get back in the game but those goes for most of the cast.

[Dark Chaotix]

I had to edit some of my info as it was wrong from when I last tested it. What alexk says is right, and you can safe jump and clark cant do much. Even on block, cant be thrown if they are holding back.

[Ero_Oyaji]

just watch tokido bully ogosho with karate. x-copy those stuff.

[MadeManG74]

So how do you guys use training mode/what is the optimal way to utilise practice?

I understand at a most basic level it's used to brush up on execution for combos and whatnot, but what other uses can we get from it?

Someone like me could use a lot of help in improving in this game, but I find it hard to just practice combos over and over, and with the horrendous netcode it's hard to get actual match experience on a regular basis.

One suggestion that was given to me was to set my stats to normal, then set the AI to max everything and the highest AI, just to learn to practice combos in an actual match situation rather than against a dummy and balancing building and using meter etc.

[Alexk]

In terms of HD combos, set your self against the A1 and do a raw activation. In KOF, the chances of dropping a combo a HD are high enough to warrent this sort of training, in my opinion. If have 50% of your HD left, then you've still got a lot you can do, such as guard-breaking, using overheads (if you have them) to cancel into specials, and using specials that are normally unsafe.

I'm gonna ramble about safe jumping for a few paragraphs but it all revolves around the same stuff, so if you practise for one thing then it will be easy to transfer to another safe jump technique.

Another big one is safe jumping. Shutting down guard-cancel blowbacks and wake-up DPs is a really important part of the game. I don't know what its like for most of the cast, but after a throw you usually get a safe jump. Set someone with a 4 frame dp, such as fireball Kyo, and set whoever you want for the second. For those that don't know, you have to set the buttons on your stick to record, play and loop. Record the 2P character throwing 1P (fireball Kyo), running up and then jumping with a normal that hits deep. Perform an ex DP with Kyo on wake-up and see if the 2P recordered character can  block in time. Keep recording the 2P character until it works. Its vital that you implement this in your game. If you can safe jump 4-framers, then you can safe jump anything. You generally don't have to worry about the A or B version of DPs/flash kicks because they don't tend to have invul like C and D versions. The trade off for the invul though is a slower start up time.

There are particular safe jumps in this game like in SF4, where after a knockdown you whiff a normal and then jump. You can check GuttsCL youtube page for that or hopefully you can find a one off video by 'some guy/gal' on youtube. However, knowing how to safe jump is a vital ability. You can safe jump off other moves that knockdown as  well but you have to be aware of the opponent tech rolling.

Another one is guard cancel safe blowback jumping. I'm separating this part to regular DP safe jumping because guard cancels are harder to punish. Set the 2P to 'whatever character' and turn on guard cancel blowback on block ( I forgot what the actual menu options were, soz soz). Do a meaty jump in attack with whatever character you want. This will cause the 2P to do a guard cancel blowback. If you do the meaty jump in attack right, then will block the GCCD when you land. The part that comes after depends specifically on your character because you will be pushed back a considerable distance. However, they are still vulnerable so since they're giving you an inch its best to try take a mile.

In DandyJ's tutorial I posted on the front page, he talks about jumping frame traps (I think that was the name). Try that one out as well.

[fkuspencer]

Another note to add, guard cancel attack option in the training mode menus always guard cancels at the first possible frame but it is nice to see them and react to them with a punish.

Lately, I've been having fun eying on the dummy's power meter with the GCCD option on and buffering supers/counters if the number decreases by one to counter/punish the GCCD. Too bad there's no "random GCCD" option. D:

Hmm, other than that, you can always try setting the dummy on random block whilst having the dummy on crouching and work on your hit confirms like that. When you are playing against CPU (even on hardest), they are free to low attacks most of the time so its good to change things up.

I also like working on different blockstrings and knowing my options in all the different ranges. Since hitstun and blockstun pushes back the same distance, you can also try out how capable you are hit-confirming your far pokes such as far.C that is special cancellable into a combo or into HD (and see how you need to perform your HD activation in order to connect due to greater distace) after a few lights on block. Add in some hops and jumps into the mix as well, checking the distance required for the jump attack attempt to cross up.

If you have a st.A that whiffs on crouchers, you can also try whiffing those to mixup the pace and since the throw invulnerable frames wear off when you do a whiffed st.A after one blocked light attack, you can either throw or to continue your blockstring pressure and attempt/pretend to hitconfirm any stray hits like a boss.

Additionally, if you have any specials/command normals that is unique to your character, such as Goro's st.B xx command roll into pick a command throw mix-up on block, Iori's cross up heel kick, Robert's action kick, Yuri's dive kick, Duo Lon's jumping stretchy leg and Vice's stretchy arm - you should practice them into your game in training mode; imagine how you can set it up, test them out and see what other things you can setup afterwards if it enables them too.

Lastly, if any situation is giving you grief then it is best to record this situation and figure out your options from there.

[Alexk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08KjKQ-L1R4
Maxima's Guard Point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl4zPQojQ14
Ryo's Parry move.

I've added them to the op.

[Dark Chaotix]

More safe jump setups