Additional Topic: Exploring the Nuances of Dee Jay's Front-Based Mix Up Game (AKA How To Focus Less on Cross Ups And More On Winning)
Since Dee Jay's initial introduction into SF4, Dee Jay players have been drawn to the potency of his cross up game, given the high ambiguity of his cross up Forward kick (which, to this day, can be very difficult to block consistently). That kick, in conjunction with his short range jump off the front hitting Knee Shot, created a viable mix up which formed much of his strategy in the earlier vortex-heavy versions of the game.
While Dee Jay players didn't often do big damage in one cross up this way, his ability to sweep with Forward kick at the end of any combo allowed him to reset his vortex and start it all over again. And although this served a useful purpose, it was not exactly an optimal approach, given that it placed a heavy emphasis on the random factor of "will the opponent correctly block?" When the opponent didn't block well, you got rewarded in great fashion. When the opponent DID block successfully, though, your work tended to be cut out for you. This, of course, is the weakness with any approach built on a single strategy - as long as the opponent falls for it, it will win you easy matches . . . but if the opponent ever finds a way to counteract it, you are left with nothing to beat your foe.
In addition to this inherent problem with the vortex approach, the strategy of going for frequent cross ups was further weakened in the latest version of SF4 (USF4) due to the following:
a) the new Delayed Wake Up mechanic softened much of the threat of Dee Jay's Forward Kick Vortex which (based on the way most people used it) was never great to begin with.
b) more wake up options allowed the opponent additional ways to not only escape your cross up pressure but then also turn it against you by countering and potentially placing you into a maul situation which increased your chances of losing in the long run.
Note that earlier sections of this tech journal have already addressed the dangers of going for frequent hits (including repeated cross ups) as well as the dangers of the maul situation. When SF4 was vortex-driven, you could at least argue that the benefits of repeated cross ups outweighed the potential risks. But what is a Dee Jay player suppose to do in USF4, now that this tactic has been diluted significantly?
Well, what if you didn't have to focus on cross ups exclusively to get your mix up game going?
The Purpose Of A Mix Up
All mix ups are designed around helping you break an opponent's defense, but what few people realize is that the mix up accomplishes this through two different (concurrent) approaches.
One, and the more obvious, is that an effective mix up allows you to do big damage to an opponent in a short period of time, optimally depleting much of their life bar quickly (either through big damage combos or repeated mix up situations which often end by placing an opponent in yet another such situation).
Secondly - and possibly more importantly - the mix up causes progressive psychological damage to an opponent's thinking as they become increasingly overwhelmed by their inability to block all incoming attacks and then begin doubting their every move. It is not unusual that, after falling victim to a mix up several times in a row, the opponent will completely throw caution to the wind and try a "hail mary" maneuver (such as a raw Ultra), in a vain attempt to stop the opponent's mix up game and even out the difference in life meters quickly.
More often than not, these hail mary attempts fail because the opponent's desperation, a visible result of the psychological damage they have taken throughout the round, makes their ill-advised gambit all the more obvious. A game built around repeated mix ups (known as a vortex) was a staple of SF4's earliest iterations, to the point where some characters (such as Cammy) became entirely focused on setting up that vortex situation and then repeating it over and over until the opponent was KOed. Although the latest version of the game introduced Delayed Wake Up, a mechanic which helped address the braindead nature of many vortexes, some remained largely intact (e.g., Ibuki's). Furthermore, characters such as Abel and Seth have always been mix up heavy, and that hasn't changed in the current version of the game.
The question therefore is not whether mix ups still exist in USF4 (they definitely do) but, rather, whether Dee Jay can also capitalize on mix up situations, now that his cross up vortex game has been significantly watered down. The answer is YES, but in a very different way than in the past. AND in a very different way from what any other character in SF4 can do. This is accomplished through what we will hereafter refer to as Dee Jay's front mix up game.
Element 1 of Dee Jay's Front Mix Up Game: Proper Use of Jumping Knee Shot
To begin with, always remember that the overall goal of any mix up is to make it more difficult for an opponent to block your attacks consistently and also make them more hesitant to attack or do another move for fear of getting struck down. It doesn't really matter in what manner this is accomplished, as long as it creates both actual life damage and psychological damage for your opponent over time. During the heyday of Dee Jay's cross up vortex, this was accomplished by forcing the opponent to choose whether to block left or right. With Dee Jay's front mix up game, the strategy instead shifts to forcing the opponent to block high, low, or have them repeatedly question the best manner in which to counterattack. Here's how this updated mix up strategy works in USF4.
First and foremost, Dee Jay's front mix up is primarily based around a jumping game, but one which occurs at a very specific distance from the opponent. This is drastically different from the repeated jumping that Dee Jay players have tried to do in an attempt to bully their foe into submission (a strategy we have noted before doesn't work too often in Dee Jay's favour). Instead, your aim should be to jump towards your opponent at a range where Dee Jay's Short Knee Shot will just barely contact your foe's sprite at the very front part of his Knee.
As mentioned in a previous post, the front of Dee Jay's Knee Shot has next to no hurtbox so, at the proper range, you are all but guaranteed to hit an opponent clean if they are not blocking or are attacking with a move that is not invincible. The success of this move, of course, is highly dependent on both your spacing from the opponent and your timing. As an example, you can successfully hit Ryu's low Fierce but not by jumping in on it from directly above. On the contrary, you actually have to know the opponent plans to hit you with that specific normal move and then space and time your Knee Shot so that the front of your Knee Shot will strike the front of his Fierce. At this distance, your Knee will hit Ryu cleanly, leading to all kinds of potential combo options for you if you can recognize where and when to do them.
Element 2 of Dee Jay's Front Mix Up Game: Switch Up With Jumping Forward Kick
So what happens when your opponent gets wise to your Knee Shot range and then begins shifting his/her timing and/or moves to hit your Knee from other positions? In this case, you can shift from using your Knee Shot to another powerful jumping move: Dee Jay's Jumping Forward Kick.
Dee Jay's jumping medium kick is a useful kick with a hitbox primarily on the bottom portion of his kicking foot. This makes it different from his jumping Short Knee which has its hitbox on the front; meaning, if you have spaced your jump properly, the medium jump kick will hit many anti-air normals the opponent might try when expecting a jumping knee instead. That shift to a different kick can then serve as a magnificent starting hit for some truly hard-hitting combos on Dee Jay's part.
This is not meant to imply that Dee Jay's jumping medium kick is god-like. Like most normal attacks, Dee Jay's jump Forward Kick is not all that intimidating when you know where and when to counter it. In any case, it doesn't matter for mix up purposes. The aim of his jump medium kick is not meant to hit opponents all the time but, rather, hit at those times when your opponent is instead expecting to counter your jump Knee Shot.
Switching between Dee Jay's Knee Shot and jump medium kick creates a useful mix up for Dee Jay because it forces the opponent to question which of their anti-airs will connect with your jump attack and what hit timing will be required. In many cases, by trying to hit your jump Knee Shot, the opponent will leave himself/herself open to your jump Forward kick. Similarly, if they start trying to clip your jump medium with an ant-air normal, they will leave themselves open more frequently to the Knee Shot. As basic as this mix up is, it provides many damaging combo options for Dee Jay, once you know the proper ranges at which they work (see this part of my second combo video here for examples of many of these).
Element 3 of Dee Jay's Front Mix Up Game: Shifting From High to Low
Well, that's all well and good, you say, but what if the opponent simply chooses to block rather than throw an anti-air normal that can be stuffed by your jump attack? In this case, you can begin changing the timing and arc of your jump Knee Shot, so that sometimes it hits and sometimes it doesn't . . . at which point you also start attacking low instantly upon landing. Now, the mix up your opponent is facing has shifted from guessing the right anti-air, to guessing whether to block high or low when you jump in.
Element 4 of Dee Jay's Front Mix Up Game: Using Knee Shot To Encourage Whiffs
If that were not enough, there is actually another option you can use here where you jump in with the Knee but throw no follow-up attack upon landing. At the right range, this becomes a version of a safe jump, a tactic that works especially well against special attacks which have some invulnerability during their execution (e.g., dragon punches). Rather than try and hit these moves outright with your jump Knee or jump medium kick, you instead jump at a range where their dragon punch (or similar anti-air special) will either miss or be blocked, allowing you a large combo opportunity when they come down.
Element 5 of Dee Jay's Front Mix Up Game: When All Else Fails, Go For Throw
Lastly, if your opponent still doesn't bite, you can always go in for a throw after your jump to keep them honest.
Dee Jay Front Mix Up Game: A Summary
In short, here are the elements that Dee Jay can use as part of his front mix up game:
1) Use jump Knee at a distance where it will hit opponents who are not blocking OR hit their anti-air normal attack before it hits you (note: the second option obviously requires you to jump in from a farther distance than does the first, given that you have to hit with the front of your Knee Shot for it to be effective against a normal anti-air attack).
2) When you have trained your opponent to be wary of your jump Knee and they regularly try and counter it, switch to your jumping Forward Kick which frequently requires a different normal and hit timing to counter than does Dee Jay's jump Knee Shot (in other words, giving you successful hit opportunities because the opponent chooses to counter at the wrong time).
3) When the opponent refuses to counter your jump attacks with their own attacks, try shifting between hitting high with the Knee Shot, or deliberately missing with the Knee Shot and instantly trying to strike low.
4) If your opponent is adept at countering your jump ins with invincible special attacks such as Dragon Punches, try timing your Knee Shots from a range where these special attacks will miss and thus give you opportunities to do heavy damage when they come down and are stuck in recovery.
5) If your opponent chooses to block constantly, force their hand occasionally by going for a throw.
What this means is that, from a single jump situation, Dee Jay can create four potential mix up situations (block high or block low, use normal anti-air A or normal anti-air B, use anti-air special or risk it whiffing or being blocked, and block versus eat a potential throw). That's a lot of different options, none of which require a cross up kick to make them effective. This is an excellent alternative, since cross up attempts tend to put you closer to an opponent and increase your risk of a maul situation. In contrast, by throwing your attacks at a very specific, farther out range, you mitigate much of this risk while also increasing your chances of hit success. So put these mix up options into practice and see how they work for you over time.
FINAL NOTE
Dee Jay's front-based mix up game is a natural extension of his 'kinetic rhythm" approach to the fight. Don't become obsessed with setting up these mix ups but do be aware when your kinetic rhythm offers you opportunities to put the mix up game into effect. By incorporating both - but focusing exclusively on neither - you will increase your chances of breaking through your opponent's defense and winning the match.
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mix ups are the way to much more of this.
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