A is for Arly

This is a video from a recent Melty Blood: Act Cadenza ver.B tournament at Family Fun Arcade in Granada Hills, CA.

Matchup:

For the record, this match is heavily against Nero’s favor. Red Arc’s full-screen punishing abilities, zero-startup aerial fireballs and high attack priority are all capable of shutting down Nero’s ranged attacks, summon setups and corner traps. Fortunately, Red Arc isn’t capable of dealing massive amounts of damage at a time like other top-tier characters, but her upgraded air fireballs between ver.A and ver.B gave her a pressure game so effective that few characters have an adequate method of stopping it. Also, Nero is a low-damage character, averaging between 2300-2800 damage per combo, but has the highest defense in the game. More often than not, he’ll have to rely on a strategy of attrition, especially against more agile characters who can do 4500+ damage per opening.

Melty Mechanics

One feature unique to Melty Blood is the Damage Reduction system. Players must press a button right before an attack hits them to reduce the damage inflicted. Good players can soak up to 10-12% of a combo’s damage through successful reductions.

Melty Blood also has something akin to a Parry from SF3:3rd Strike, which is the Ex-Shield. However, unlike Parries, an Ex-Shield carries a 60% damage reduction for the subsequent combo. For someone who relies on Ex-Shields to compensate for difficult matchups, this can be a pretty severe handicap. Here’s to hoping that the system is adjusted for the next game in the series, Actress Again.

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