Super meter is a precious resource for Dee Jay, possibly more than for any other character. That's because he needs it in order to make available some of his best options, among them:
- His heaviest damage combos and offensive pressure
- His best defensive measures (i.e., EX Upkicks)
- His ability to regain space (through a Focus Cancelled normal or special to a dash back into safety)
This is pressure of a different kind than, for example, a frame trap . . . but it still represents a useful form of mental pressure on the opponent because their options for attack become much more restrained than they were at the beginning of a match (as an example, a low Short Kick into Short Sobat will do about 120 damage; when your meters are both full, however, this can lead to a combo from a Short Kick that does well over 440 - that's a big difference for your opponent to be on the lookout for!).
Most Dee Jay players never take advantage of this strength because they are so anxious to land a hit, they will blow whatever meter they have on the chance of an easy short-term combo (or hit success). You need to get yourself out of this mindset and instead focus on the long game because, for Dee Jay, the longer you hold on to meter (and, ironically, the more you get hit), the more dangerous you become, NOT less. Conversely, by blowing your meter at every opportunity, you are really screwing yourself out of useful advantage during the later parts of the round by having nothing to put your opponent on edge. Why would you do that to yourself if you don't have to?
IMO there are two ways that Dee Jay players have traditionally wasted meter that could be put to later and better long-term benefit:
a) The most obvious one is when people blow a meter using EX Maxout in a fireball fight. Not only is this often ineffective, the damage return is frequently so small that there is no real point in doing it. Yet, time and time again, you'll see Dee Jays throwing these out just to keep the fireball war going. That's a waste because it usually gains you nothing and sacrifices your power in the long run. So don't even bother with using it this way. EVER.
b) The second one occurs when people cancel their medium Sobat Kick into some version of a follow-up link combo (often into special). While not as bad as the Max Out example, the problem with this approach is that the damage scaling after the Sobat makes it less useful a strategy than it should be. The only real benefits it has is that it allows some degree of corner carry and also a knockdown setup (if you finish the combo with a sweep or special that knocks down). Even in these cases, I would argue that the damage you receive still isn't worth the loss of combo capability (and thus mental pressure) that holding onto meter could afford you later in the round.
2024 UPDATE: A case can be made for doing a focus attack crumple from a medium dread kick into a dash followed by a low Fierce punch and special attack. The main time to do this is as a whiff punish from a low Strong punch since it keeps the damage scaling low and the stun high. This is one of the only exceptions to Fix #4 I would advocate, however. For more on such whiff punish possibilities, check out my later post here.
TLDR: don't blow your meter at every opportunity. Instead, focus on the many long-term benefits of a full super meter late in the round.
TLDR: don't blow your meter at every opportunity. Instead, focus on the many long-term benefits of a full super meter late in the round.
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| The sooner your meters start looking like this, the better. |
FINAL NOTE: Admittedly, some people don’t like the idea of having to
refrain from Dee Jay’s EX moves to build meter for Super. But the truth is that
Dee Jay can build meter FAST (especially if you know what to do to maximize it - see related post here), and all of his moves tend to be effective even
without the EX enhancements. It’s not much of a sacrifice at all. The only time
I use EX, in fact, is to stop meaties (for the low hitbox on EX upkicks which
doesn’t exist on the regular versions) or to do bigger damage when I am falling
behind in life late in a match (e.g., EX HyperFist to EX Dread Kick or Ultra 2).