LUCKY GLAUBER FAQ for KOF '98 by Shlomo Abraham (shlomo@i.am) I. INTRODUCTION As you probably know, Lucky Glauber is a member of the Sports Heroes Team in KoF '98. He is the basketball player, who can be played very deceptively with the right skillz. This FAQ will try to give you my impression of how to best play Lucky. Please note that this is by no means the definitive way to play Lucky. If you don't like the way I reccomend you play, thats fine. Then you can just read the other parts which will help you out with what normals are best, etc.. One last note, if you are "fighting game illiterate", ie. you don't understand what this last paragraph just said, I reccomend you check out Andy Seyoon Park's Beginner KoF FAQ, which will bring you up to par so that you will understand some of the lingo here. II. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION II. TABLE OF CONTENTS III. NORMAL MOVES A. Bufferable table B. Description of Normals 1. Close Normal Moves 2. Far Normal Moves 3. Crouching Normal Moves 4. Command Normal Moves 5. Jumping Normal Moves. IV. SPECIAL MOVES V. DESPERATION MOVES VI. STRATEGY VII. HELLA LONG CREDITS III. NORMAL MOVES A. Bufferable Table B. Description of Normals Close B Bufferable Low only? **--- Lucky does a kick to the shins, looks like Goro's far B. Need to check if this has to be blocked low. Isn't that usefull though any way you cut it, because f+B won't combo from here, but DP thing does. Close C Bufferable ****- High/Low Lucky thrusts out both his fists at about stomach height. It looks as if he is offering you a plate, just that there is no plate. This is going to be your main comboing move, like it or not. It doesn't suck at all, just that any combo that you will want to do will have to start here. It has average priority for a close C, has a tiny delay before it comes out. Just about always you will want to chain this into his f+B command attack. It will combo into that DP move. Close D Not bufferable **--- High/Low Lucky knees his opponent at around the mid-section. Your average close D. Doesn't suck, just that the close C is that much more usefull, thanks to being bufferable. No real reason to use it. Far B Not bufferable High/Low (will whiff against all crouchers, and some small standing characters) *---- Lucky does an upward kick, with the speed of your average B. If you find a use for it, do that, 'cause I sure as hell haven't found one yet. It can poke out hoppers if they haven't attacked yet, but it has miserable priority. Far C Not bufferable High/Low (will whiff against smaller crouchers) **--- Lucky lunges out with a high punch that has great range, but is too high. Doesn't really have a use. It can be ducked under, has a slight start-up so its easy to roll under. Pretty much bites. Far D Not bufferable High/Low ****- Lucky swings around with a roundhouse kick to the mid-section. Very good poke, great range. Probably Lucky's second best poke. This is a great follow up to any blocked basketball (push opponent back a tad). Low A Bufferable High/Low ***-- Lucky jabs at opponent. May be same animation as crouching C ('cept its a hella lot quicker). I don't think it will combo into anything from maximum range. May combo into DP move if close enough. Can link into itself. Can combo into A-Hell Bound. Low B Not Bufferable Low B ***-- Lucky sticks out a leg. Very quick, nice range. Can link into low A. Great for keeping opponent out. Just keep on whaling on the thing if you don't want opponent close to you. Low C Not bufferable High/Low ***-- Lucky does a ducking punch that hits rather high for a ducking punch. It can not be ducked under. This thing has nice range, and great priority. But Lucky has (believe it or not) better options. The Far D, and low D will almost always be better. If you want to be dead positive to out prioritize opponent, use this, it prolly has the most priority. But low D is almost always a better alternative. Low D Bufferable Low ***** Lucky does a quarter turn and in doing so, extends his leg along the ground. This comes out very fast, lags out a nice amount of time for it to be nice and "meaty", but has lag if blocked, and if you don't cancel it, some characters (esp. Lucky and Klensou) might be able to sweep you back. This is your money move, and you will be surprised how often it hits. If it doesn't hit, cancel into the f+B if you're close enough, or the Death Shoot or Death Dunk if you're further away. For a change-up cancel into Lucky Vision (teleport) or Death Bound. CD Bufferable High/Low ****- Luckey pauses then steps forward with a fore-arm check. Another money poke. His forearm is in front of his body, so it may go over short-ranged pokes. Somewhat similar to Yashiro's CD in terms of speed and priority. However it can't be used as air-D like Yashiro's CD. Bufferable, but won't cancel into f+B. Cancel into any special move of your choice. f+B Bufferable when buffered into High/Low ***-- Lucky does a weird kick that kinda juts upwards. His legs seem to have shrunk when they drew this move. Can be chained into from any bufferable normal except the CD. This is basicly Lucky's *gulp* combo move, sad as it may be. You can go from here to the C-button Hell Bound. Sometimes whiffs against crouchers. Jump A *---- Lucky jabs downwards. Literally no range. Don't bother. Jump B **--- Lucky does a knee. Looks like Ryu's jumping Short. I haven't really messed around with this. It might be usefull for jump-in, tick-throw. Jump C ***-- Lucky does a jumping punch similar to Rick's jump C in RB2, downward angled. His best jump-in. Jump D ****- Lucky does a kick horizontally angled. This thing has loads of priority and lags out there a nice amount of time. Use this in just about all air-air battles. Because of its horizontal angle though, its not the best jump-in. Jump CD *---- Looks the same as the Jump D, except the hit frames are out there for about .2 of a second. In short, this thing sucks. SPECIAL MOVES Death Bound (d,df,f+A/C) High/Low **--- A basketball comes from the sky, and Lucky scoops it and bounces it towards opponent. In the A-button version, Lucky scoops it with less force, so it bounces higher and slightly slower. If this goes full screen, at full screen distance, the ball will be at about the top of the screen. In the C-button version, Lucky scoops it with more force, so stays closer to the ground and goes ever-so-slightly faster. In this version, if the ball goes full screen, the ball ends up at a little higher than middle of the screen. This is only usefull at full screen range. If you do it any closer, opponant can jump-combo you, because the ball takes forever and a day to fall from the sky. This cannot be comboed. Death Dunk (d,db,b+A/C) High/Low ***-- Lucky jumps up and sends a ball to the ground (like Yuri's Raikoken). In the A-version, he uses one arm, like a windmill jam. In the C-version, he uses both arms, like a Shaq-style dunk. The A-version comes out faster, and looks more fluid. In the C-version he seems to hang in the air a little before throwing the ball down. Each has their use. The C-version is best used to go over fireballs. The A-version is best used (mid-range only) to keep opponent at bay. Death Shoot (d,d+A/B/C/D) A-button version=****- B/C/D-button version=*---- High/Low A ball falls from the sky, and Lucky hops up to tip it to one of four places on the screen. A-button is closest to Lucky, D-button is other side of the screen, B and C are in between. The A-version is so much more usefull because if opponent tries to attack Lucky while he is doing this, 7-8 times out of ten, the ball will still fall and smack opponent. Unlike Orochi Shermie's Lightning Kisses, the balls don't lag out there. So you have to worry about rollers a lot more than Orochi Shermie does. You can sometimes link from here to a sweep. You may even to get a low B, low A link, which would be great, since you could then maybe tack on a Hell Bound. Cyclone Break (d,db,b+B/D) ****- High/Low Lucky twirls in the air kicking the entire time with blue kick streaks. This thing has great priority if you do it early enough. The thing is it has start-up. So its great at anticipating for air-D, but not for reacting. If blocked, it is sometimes safe. If the last kick gets blocked (seems about 50/50 chance), then you're most probably safe. Otherwise, you're at your opponents' mercy. I haven't figured out what (or if) the spacing is to get the last kick blocked. I would regard it as pure chance/luck for now. It does 5 hits if you catch opponent airborne. If you're close to a dude on the ground, it will do 3 hits. Hell Dunk (f,d,df+B/D) ***-- High/Low Lucky leaps into the air with a rising knee, then slams his opponent to the ground with an aerial axe kick. This move looks good, even though it looks like a kick version of Terry's Power Dunk. As for usefullness, its Lucky's combo move when he doesn't have stock. It is also a poor man's excuse for anti-air. However its great for eating ground normals and its also great when used as a wake-up attack. The difference between the version is that Lucky leaps higher during the D version. Just like other "anti-air" moves, if you whiff this, you will eat a hefty combo. Lucky Vision (b,db,d,df,f+B/D) ****- N/A Lucky teleports across the screen, B is about 2/3 screen, D version is full screen. Use this whenever you want. If you ever feel opponent is too close for comfort, just use this. Cornered? This is your answer. Because of this move, Lucky should almost never CD counter or AB roll. Just make sure opponent doesn't have an attack out, and ZIP! you're out of harm's way. This also can be used in offensive tactics. Best examples are throwing a basketball then Lucky Vision, then a throw attempt. Also canceling this from one of Lucky's great pokes is another good idea. DESPERATION MOVES Hell Bound (d,df,f,d,df,f+A/C) ****- High/Low Lucky slams a basketball (or something) into the ground, and a beam of light about the width of a basketball comes out of it. For the C-version he steps forward before slamming whatever it is. Comes out very fast. A-version is flawless air-defense. C-version is Lucky's best combo move. On the SDM level, Lucky turns into Michael Bay and what looks like asteroids the size of basketballs rise from the ground (they go up, not down). Hits three times for massive damage (even when used for air-defense it will hit all three times). BTW, the Michael Bay thing was a joke. Other DM (d,df,f,d,df,f+B/D) *---- High/Low Lucky dives forward and then spirals upwards doing what looks like a Cyclone Break, except instead of going parabolicly, Lucky goes straight up. This DM HAS to have a use...I just haven't figured it out yet. It has some invincibility at the start-up. But the dive lasts too long to really make use of it. It isn't comboable, and won't go through FB's. And that aforementioned invincibility is only at the begining of the dive. So, if you find a use, e-mail me. Strategy As you probably have noticed when you played Lucky, his hop/jump is slower than....something really slow. On top of this, he doesn't really have a jump-in all that worth using. This, coupled with his lack of bufferable normals, and his unique specials, all but forces him to play keep-away, or at the very best, a hit-and-run-type offense. Lucky will want his opponent at about half-screen range most of the time. At this range, almost all of his specials are safe for use. If opponet is turtling at half-screen, daring you to crack them, don't hesitate. Best tactic is to chuck an A-Death Shoot (to make sure they won't dash up), followed by an A Death Dunk, followed by either a Lucky Vision (if they still aren't moving) or a Cyclone Break (if they're thinking of moving). Lucky has an easy time with turtles, this isn't your main concern. Where Lucky really needs help is the aggressive players. In close, Lucky's good normals become almost dangerous to use. The all are rather slow, and if you have an opponent roll through one of them, you can eat a nice combo. His best normals to use in close are the Low B, Low A links. The close B, which can be comboed into Hell Dunk. Also, if you're neigh-sure it won't be rolled through, a sweep canceled into a Lucky Vision. Also, if opponent is really pressuring you bad, just look for the tiniest of gaps, and do Lucky Vision. Will get you out in no time. If you can see a hop coming, A-Hell Bound will kill that. If opponent is at about 1/4 screen range, and is trying to break in, this is where Lucky's normals become that usefull. He has the far D, which if you're sure that opponent won't roll is a great keep-out. There's the low C, which will kill any sort of "safe rush move" (like a Terry Power Charge, a Joe Golden Heel, an Andy Zaneiken, etc..). And the CD, which will push opponent back, especially when cancelled into the Death Shoot or Death Dunk. The low D is also great, but again, should be used with caution, for it can be rolled through, and can be hopped. Its bufferable, so almost always cancel it. For air-defense use A-Hell Bound if you have stock. If not, use Hell Dunk. Another tactic worth using is jump back, and if opponent follows, push D. You will win almost all the time. Credits: Brian Koniv For founding T.H.E. G.A.N.G. Sheila Khosla For being on caffeine Tony Wedd For being clever/funny Matt Hall For swearing not to write FAQs, then breaking that oath twice Andy S. Park For hating dumb Mlers Raymond Leung For showing the world that not all people who live in LA are cool Bader "Jian" Ebrahim For being the second-coolest hotmail person on the ML Kabeer Ali For being the coolest Pakistani on the ML Yuhang For being the coolest Hotmailer in LA AOHellers For proving that there are 10 million+ people in this world dumber than me Philip "Punny" For proving that Aussies living in hick-towns are just as cool as other Aussies Bill Gates For screwing up my computer Joke-Of-The-Day For giving me most of my sigs "Ally McBeal" For employing my uncle easy.to For giving me my hella cool e-mail address "Yo Mama" For being the butt of the most jokes ever written "The chicken" For being in the most [lame] jokes ever Brian Koniv For being first in my credits Nobody For helping me write this FAQ Hank Moriarty For having the best KoF-info Yasakani For having the best KoF site and best Savage Garden midi. Jeff Nussbaum For being the coolest MLer to never post gameplay-info (Jeff, you're still cool. This ain't a knock on you) Onaje Evrett For wishing me peace, love, and righteousness... James Chen For embodying peace, love and righteousness... alt.games.sf2 For giving me a reason to give up Capcom games Namco For making Time Crisis UCLA's X-Cape For making KoF '98 25 cents Me For thinking up all the credits and writing the FAQ before it "Wrongfully Accused" For having hella long (and funny) credits, just like me --by Shlomo Abraham (shlomo@i.am)