Guilty Gear XX Accent Core/Venom

http://photobucket.com/albums/a347/givequicheachance/venom.gif

Accent Core

Basics

NORMALS

5P/2P - Most used to tap ball formations so they move hella slow. Also pretty good for tickthrows and forcing the kinda spacing you need for some setups.

6P - New animation. Not as deisel of an AA as the shit he had in XX or #R, but pretty damn good. New gatling to 6HS was added.

2K - Fast low, decent poke overall. I personally prefer 2D for my mix-ups in most cases since 2K prorates a lot, but this is definitely the better option if you're looking for speed and better pressure options. Great for ticks.

5S(c) - Hits up to three times, with the final hit launching for an air combo. This move is absolutely essential to Venom's combos and pressure game, so learn to charge effectively during it's animation. Been changed from older versions so that all 3 hits will now connect on hit or block, except vs Zappa.

5S(f) - Quick poke with tons of range. Good for bridging gaps in combos or putting distance between you and the opponent. Use it.

2S - Another good poke. Not as much reach as 5S(f), but good for interrupting strings since it hits kinda low (a lot of characters can 6P Venom's far slash). Also nice since you can canel into CR easily (doesn't combo, though...), which is kinda tricky with 5S(f).

5HS - Not much of a poke, but it packs a punch. 10F start-up, so I suppose it's pretty good for frame-traps. Doesn't gatling into anything which kinda sucks, but oh well. Now staggers on normal hit, and it's the only ground normal Venom can use to combo into Dub Curve now ;[

6HS - Funky move. Kinda good as pre-emptive AA since Venom will swat them out of the sky if your spacing is right, but if they're too close it'll whiff and it has essentially NO PRIORITY ;[. Much better now that 6P gatlings into it. The new ground bounce also allows for some hot combos.

2HS - Another weird move. Not really particularly good except buying more charge time since it hits 2x. I've seen it used as AA sometimes, but O don't really know why. Maybe I'm missing something.

5D - Not all that awesome, but okay to stick out every now and then since most americans can't block. Just don't expect to get much damage from it.

2D - Beefed up a bit from Slash. 6F of startup now, hitbox is less fucked up (horizontally at least). Also tweaked a bit to hit 2x more consistently.

j.P - Definitely Venom's best air-to-air. Aside from hitting balls and combo filler, that's pretty much all I use it for.

j.K - Great angle for jump-ins, and it's pretty quick.

j.S - Awesome move. Great in combos (gatlings to almost all of Venom's other normals) and cross-ups. Fuzzy guard mix-up potential too.

j.HS - Can give knockdown in air combos if used low enough to the ground.

j.D - I see a lot of Japanese players fishing for counter hits against airborne foes with it, but I haven't dabbled with it much.

SPECIALS

Stinger Aim - [4],6+S/HS (FRCable) - Used to be a really good combo move, but the FRC is much later in Slash than it was in #R and Venom doesn't need it so much anyway now that he has tensionless combos. Still good for maintaining pressure though, and it can be used to fill combo gaps. You also have the option of charging the shot for some funky mindgames or combos.

Carcass Ride - [2],8+S/HS - Alright, this move is absolutely essential to good Venom play. S version is great for combos, pressure, and ball tricks, while the HS one is mostly used for AA. How well you can utilize it is directly proportional to how much you will win. No joke. Even better now is that you can charge it, which is fucking awesome for oki.

Double Head Morbid - 623+S/HS - Pretty good move. S version has pretty good priority (no invul, though...) and is safe on block. HS version should only be used for damaging combos or against retards that can't beat fullscreen Dark Angel->DHM stratz.

Warp - 623+K - I dunno why, but it has foot invul. Good in some advanced oki set-ups and for baiting bursts. Mix-up potential too when used with...

Ball Summon - 214+P/K/S/HS/D (air or ground) - The meat and potatoes of Venom's game. Good ball manipulation can win matches all by itself occasionally, which is what makes Venom such a pain in the ass for some characters. I'm not going to go into much detail right now, but the potential is nearly limitless.

Dubious Curve - 421+P/K/S/HS/D - Dunno how to feel about the changes to this yet. Gives ground slide now (AKA no tensionless combos outside of corner) and can be cancelled into ball summons on block, but you can only combo into it with 5HS and juggles ;[

Mad Struggle - 236+S/HS(air) - GREAT pressure tool and it has some usefulness in mix-ups (TK the S version for an "instant" overhead @w@). HS version is used in some fancy-pants combos.

FORCE BREAKS Stinger Aim - [4],6+D (FRCable) - Uhhh.....don't know what this shit is for. It's faster than the HS one, but that's about it. There's a weird little trick where you can make the shot stationary by having it collide with other balls, but meh.

Carcass Ride - [2],8+D - More useful than the FB Stinger because of it's quirky angle and how long it stays on screen, but yeah.....

Double Head Morbid - 623+D - Yay, a useful FB. Does a bit more damage that HS version, and guarantees knockdown. Not something to spam, but good when you need it.

Mad Struggle - 236+D (air) - Hot damn. 14F of start-up, and a fat fucking launch on hit. The go into a pretty long stun on block, meaning you don't lose pressure if you air-dash back in. VERY NICE.

SUPERS

Dark Angel - 2141236+S - Sped up from #R, so now they can't FD an little and get away for free. Less coverage too, but that problem seems pretty minimal IMO.

Red Hail - 236236+HS(air) - use it in combos when the opponent is about to die. That's about it. I think you can air-dash and shit after it now, so it's at least a little better.