Yamcha Discussion

Originally posted by SuperWolf on June 14, 2008

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After practicing with Yamcha for a couple of days, I've concluded that he's not as "bad" as many previously thought. In fact, I think he's pretty amazing. Not the best, but certainly far from the worst. He does have two Slam starters, "SS-" and ">S" which leaves him in position to continue with a stun/cancel combo. He's also equipped with a few stuns and some strings which can be Ki canceled.

His biggest drawback actually lies in his Slam starters. His "SS-", the one you'll most likely be using the most is only one hit. That might put him at a slight disadvantage in competitive play when compared to characters like Piccolo, Trunks , or Tien who have multi hit Slam starters. His ">S" is a long ranged diving kick which will go clear over shorter opponents. It may be useful for getting in close to Piccolo and avoiding moves. Still, it seems super situational and not too practical at the moment.

However, as far as combo damage goes, Yamcha is a monster. He's probably one of the more damaging base characters in the game, exceeding 2000 damage easily, as you'll learn later on. It's very easy to combo into his Wolf Fang Fist for ground combos and Kamehameha for juggles. Both of his ultimates are amazing and easily comboable as well.

Legend:

R = Rush attack
S = Slam attack
> = Towards opponent
< = Away from opponent
>> = Forward dash
<< = Back dash
/\ = Up on the D-pad
E = Energy Button
- = Cancel
~ = Sidestep cancel
* = Stun
' = Fully charge upcoming move
[HS] = Heavy Smash
[AS] = Activate Aura Spark

Yamchas Special Moves:

Kamehameha - [>E] 400 damage

- Yamcha's kamehameha is your basic everyday Ki based death move. It is slightly different from other beam attacks in that this is actually a single hit unlike the others which are multi-hit. That may have its uses. It comes out a little slow and Yamchas stuns aren't that huge so it'll be difficult to combo into this during ground stun/cancel combos. This is better suited as a juggle ender.

Wolf Fang Fist - [<EEEEEEEE] 380 damage/475 on backturned opponent.

- Yamcha's signature technique his melee based death move. Like all melee attacks, WFF does increased damage on backturned opponents. A weird property of this move is that time stops slghtly as Yamcha enters his stance(dark screen and all) which makes the attack actually as fast as the initial hit, which is VERY fast for a death move. This makes it easily comboable to some of the weirdest strings(like <RRR), and will be the ideal choice for ending ground based(non juggle) combos. DON'T try to juggle it.

- Another thing, the stop in time also makes WFF a great alternative to a Ki cancel since now you'll have plenty of time to prepare your follow ups.

WFF: Whirlwind Claw - [/\E] 905 damage/1133 on backturned opponent.

- Yamcha has the honor of being one of, if not the only character with a "realtime" melee based ultimate attack. That, of course means that it does more damage on backturned opponents. This beautiful attack comes out very fast and it's pretty easy to combo into. Generally, just about any string that is Ki/WFF canceled as well as his stuns can be followed up with this.

- Attacks like #18's Accel Dance or Trunks' Burning Slash, though physical, requires the initial hit to "hit" for the attack to activate. They also do the same base damage no matter what your position to the opponent is. Therefore, instead of classifying moves like those as "realtime", I consider them to be more like "Attack Throws".

Spirit Ball - [/\EEE] 1083 damage

- Yamcha's Ki based ultimate attack is perhaps his best move. It's the main reason behind his great damage potential. At 1083 damage you're probably thinking, "This move really isn't any stronger than any other ultimate". Actually, this moves base damage isn't the reason behind its potential. It's strength lies in the fact that you're actually able continue your combo after the attack hits for GUARANTEED extra damage. Once you've successfully ended a JUGGLE with this, you can then dash in and tack on an extra attack before the opponent lands.

Example: SS- RRRSE- /\EEE *dash in* SSS>E - Yes Kamehameha is guaranteed. The opponent cannot tech roll this.


Combos:

SS- >RRE- <RRRRRR >E [Kamehameha] = 906 damage

SS- >RRE- <RRRRRS[HS] >E [Kamehameha] = 1042 damage

SS- >RRE- <RRRRRS[HS]<E- SSS>E [Kamehameha] = 1223 damage

SS- >RRE- <RRRRRS[HS]<E~ <EEEEEEEE [Wolf Fang Fist] 1139 damage

SSE- <RRRRRS[HS]<E~ >RRE- >>RR<EEEEEEEE [Wolf Fang Fist] = 1277 damage

SE-[AS] <RRRRRS[HS]<E- >RR<E- /\E [WFF: Whirlwind Claw] = 1832 damage

SS- >RRE-[AS] <RRRRRS[HS]<E~ /\E [WFF: Whirlwind Claw] = 2017 damage

More to come.

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