Darkstalkers 3/Anakaris

Introduction

Anakaris has made his most outstanding appearances in Capcom Fighting Evolution and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. BUT, the unfamiliar mvc2 players say "where the hell's this character from," & the CFE players generally just get pissed at anak's rushdown.

In Vampire Savior, Anakaris is a bit of an oddity among characters. He has no normal throw(but CAN still tech throw, so don't worry), and no teching(pushblock) ability. Anakaris is tiered low among the Vampire Savior cast. This can be due to Anakaris's lack of a tech(pushblock) ability, his slow ability to build meter, and his guardcancel, which REQUIRES 1 stock of meter. These three factors severely hinder his defensive game.

Nonethaless, Anakaris has the ability to overwhelm opponents with his magneto-esque rushdown. He can apply pressure variably enough to prevent opponents from properly gcing or teching, and can further mix up with hi-lo games using his tri-jump. Anakaris has a double jump, and can teleport from one end of the screen to another. Both of these tools allow for anakaris to excel at run-away(though quite a few characters are just good at rtsd).

On with anak...

Noteworthy Normals

Standing Normals

s.lp - the handshake; if you can imagine him trying to do that. Anakaris sticks his hand out and does a thrusting chop. He has frame advantage hit or miss(+8H, +7B), which allows for some interesting rushdown.

s.lp hits crouching characters(except a crouching Q-Bee), and due to the frame advantage, you can handshake some characters to death[explained in the Combos & Patterns section].

s.mp - the chop: This is my favorite among anakaris's normals. He does a chop akin to honda's standing fierce, only in a higher mummy sort of way. It does a great job of swatting characters out of the sky. There are of course quite a few moves that will simply just outprioritize it(felicia's j.hp, & lilith's j.hp come to mind), but the utility is there.
s.mp not only has hitboxes above[and in front of] his head, but hitboxes which also extend low enough to hit crouching characters(except qbee of course.. maybe others, but my mind is fuzzy). So, should you get too far from your opponent during a handshake rushdown, a dashing strong is a viable option. It covers aerial options that an opponent may try, as well as crouching opponents, who are smart enough not to jump. There IS a small window between the last s.lp and the dashing mp though, that an opponent(who knows/sees it) can take advantage of. Nonethaless, you can best avoid retaliation by properly varying when you dash in and such(you may opt for trijump over dashing back in).
The chop is also what you'll use for characters who are chest height when in their curse mode(i.e. succubus girls, demitri, jedah, qbee).

s.lk - You can change up the dashing lp with a d.lk. The only advantage it has is that it hits all crouching characters. It has significantly less range, and no coverage for an aerial maneuver from the opponent.
s.lk can also be used for the characters who are extreemly close to the ground when in their curse mode(i.e. gallon, aubath, felicia, sasquatch)

s.mk - a distant reaching kick, with a frame disadvantage on both hit and guard. Like s.lk, it does a decent job of hitting characters in curse mode who are lower to the ground. Its range is best when opponent charactesr a a half character away.

Crouching Normals

c.lp - c.lp hits mid. using it during a handshake rushdown is viable. Anakaris's range decreases significantly. c.lp also inherently makes your opponent block low(if they weren't already smart enough to block low during the s.lp's) in expectations of a chained c.lk into knockdown. c.lp and c.lk have slightly similar frame characteristics, but although the c.lp does not hit low, it does have hitboxes convenient enough to hit some opponents who attempt to jump away.

c.mp - c.mp goes approximately a character and a half away. A column of Anakaris's hands travels the distance, approximately half screen height. They make for an excellent anti air option, provided you can predict the opponent, and at least make them block it. Wiffed, a c.mp has horrible recovery. On hit, you MUST cancel into c.mk. It should be second nature to double tap c.mk whenever you use c.mp. should you not, you will likely get punished much in the same way that you would if you had wiffed the c.mp.

c.fp - c.fp is a vertical AA. Four columns of hands extend above anakaris, covering a nice area above him. It has somewhat slow startup(but then again, all of Anakaris's AA's have slow startup), and much like his c.mp, has horrible recovery. In similar fashion to the c.mp, ALWAYS double tap the c.fierce, should the opponent be hit, to recover significantly faster(in case the opponent recovers prematurely, which does happen).

c.lk - not much to describe reguarding his crouching short. It is essential in Anakaris's hi-lo mixup. Use it in his lp rushdown, and trijump mixup.

c.mk/c.rk - c.mk and c.rk are both low hitting kicks. use both to recover faster from c.mp and c.hp. Reguarding knockdowns(using c.rk), Anakaris benifits best from knockdowns in the corner. Midscreen, anakaris isn't as fast to react for strong wakeup.(but you will generally end your chains with c.rk, unless the opponent is blocking, where c.mk is more preferrable(not because the frame advantage is slightly better, but because you keep the opponent in blockstunn for lesser time))

Jumping Normals

j.lp - I believe, it is a viable choice for an air-air option, but have no recollection of it significantly standing out as one.

j.mp - A far reaching kick from Anakaris's main body. Great for hitting from afar, during a distant jumpin. It excells at hitting opponents pre-emptively should they jump, or do a move of some sort. The hitboxes though, are primarily around Anak's feet, which means that j.mp is not a viable choice for up-front aerial confrontations.

j.mk - A two hit kick, which comes from the ground to whatever height anakaris is at[in the air]. It does a well enough job for air-air confrontations, but there are some cases where anakaris really has no decent option(and must block).

j.rk- This move suits Anakaris best for chicken guarding. It hits quickly, and recovers decently enough for anakaris to defend himself. you can link a j.rk off of a j.mk in a jumpin, where you can potentially land, and do either a ground chain, or mixup.

Command Normals

s.B/F+mk - Anakaris does an axe kick that hits high. Its somewhat slow, but its hit boxes are active as soon as Anakaris raises his foot to his head. This kick has a huge area of reach, and is useable for swatting enimies out of the air, as well as hitting crouching enemies. Chain into a c.rk should you hit a crouching opponent. This is also a viable choice to hit opponents in cursed form. Outside of this, use Anakaris's axe kick sparingly.

s.B+RK(or s.F+RK) - Anakaris does a kick inside his coffin, while moving forward or backward. Not really good moving or stationary, since aerial opponents can block it. Don't use it.

j.D+KICK(or j.D/F+KICK) - Anakaris's second saving grace(the first being s.lp?). Anakaris forms a pyramid on his lower torso, and dives at the enemy. All kick strengths have the same startup(13 diagonally, 9 straight down). Getting the quick tri-jumps is essential for an effective anakaris. The dives give Anakaris a wakeup game, as well as a means to quickly get back to the ground.

B, B(against a corner) - Anakaris's infamous command dash that moves him from one end of a screen to another. He has a bit of startup and recovery that makes this move punishable. Use it accordingly.

Special Moves

====== Curse "Royal judgement/curse" ====== (QCF+P, air only) - A slow ass projectile, which doesnt nullify other projectiles. it travels slowly across the screen, & if you get lucky enough to hit your opponent, you put them into a curse form for a period of time, depending on the strength of "curse" you used. Since all versions have roughly the same startup time, and you should never be using this move if your opponent is close, always use the hp version, since it leaves the opponent in curse form for the longest period.

====== Hands "Idle Hands"====== (QCF+P ground only)

====== Snake "Cobra Blow"====== (B, F+P, no charge necessary)

====== Suck "Kotodama Kaeshi"====== ( QCB+K, can be done in the air)

====== Blow "Kotodama Kaeshi" ====== (QCF+K, can be done in the air)

====== Coffin Drop ====== (D, D+P/K, strenth determines distance, can be done in the air)

======Anti-Pursuit ====== (DP+K, during knockdown)

====== Guard Cancel ====== (DP+PP)

Anakaris Quirks

Circle Mailorder: ah, I also tried Anakaris. but I think he's probably too weird for me to learn right now gbursine: ya Circle Mailorder: he can't tech hit, but I guess he doesn't need to for that backdash screen change thing gbursine: don't learn anak gbursine: till much later gbursine: naw gbursine: he needs it gbursine: lol Circle Mailorder: : / Circle Mailorder: eheh gbursine: he gets locked down beginning of a match by some characters gbursine: lol gbursine: and has barely any options gbursine: w/ out meter or momentum Circle Mailorder: >.< then he's just a low-tier hero, played only for bragging rights? gbursine: yes and no gbursine: tiers are so close gbursine: he can still beat the shit of of the upper tiers Circle Mailorder: haha gbursine: ya gbursine: his rushdown is beastly Circle Mailorder: wow, I wouldn't have guessed that gbursine: ya gbursine: i think if he had just pushblock gbursine: he'd be upper mid easily Circle Mailorder: hmm, I see.. gbursine: ya gbursine: he has no AA defense gbursine: and has no way of keeping pple off him when he wants Circle Mailorder: the backdash screen switch isn't fast enough? gbursine: nope gbursine: its got a small yet significant amount of startup Circle Mailorder: ah...