Alex -- Central Discussion

[Shiranui]

***This will probably never be completed. At the very least I recommend looking through my grappler tips and basic setups. If you have any questions feel free to drop a question here or PM me :]

If you're here, you don't need to know Alex's history, or anything story related. You need Alex technology. I can help. We're here to level up, so lets get to it.

I. OVERVIEW

Pros & Cons time!

THE GOOD
+ Incredibly agile for a grappler
+ Huge damage output
+ Stun is inevitable
+ Has good normals
+ A healthy variety of specials

THE NOT SO GREAT
- Steep learning curve
- Requires a good grasp of range
- Wakeup options are limited
- Bad supers (comparatively)
- High/low mixup is limited.

Alex is not for the feint of heart. At the same time, if you put the work in with him, you will see results. There is a lot to learn and a lot to keep in mind when using him, but in my opinion it all pays off. Alex can move around great for a grappler, his damage is pretty much the outright highest in the game, and if you have your opponent downloaded (you know what he's going to do) you WILL stun him.

I'll be going over a large amount of things, and what you'll find very quickly is that most of what I have to say will be on YOU, not on Alex. With that in mind, lets begin with Alex related things, the most important being normals.

II. NORMALS (Summary)

An awkward yet swift standing jab. Comboing with this isn't a very viable, and would be more effort than it's worth. It's main use is to control space, such as when someone is trying to get into your face to grab, so spamming it will stop dashing for the most part. Also great for block stings. It's uses are limited, but don't forget about it.

Throws out his elbow. The range on this is very small, but it has some important uses. It's fast, so it can stuff out the startup of a lot of normals being thrown out. It is an excellent anti air, and you can cancel it into some tricky things. More on this normal later.

Alex throws an overhead noogie-looking attack. This normal is his only overhead normal, so it will hit a crouching opponent no matter what. It's slow though so you have to get creative to land it. It also does some great stun, making it worth the risk in most cases.

Do not exclude this normal. Its range is pitiful, but it is very fast and will beat out any movement of your opponent that isn't invincible. When you're keeping the pressure on, this is one of your best friends. Don't abuse it, but always keep it available. The more you use it the better you'll understand the range.

Alex makes his body horizontal and stretches out to poke you with his toe. This normal is great for footsies, but is a bit slow so don't be predictable with it. Used smart, it'll be very helpful in you keeping control of space.

The wtf kick. No don't argue this point, Alex even raises his hands and asks god why he has this crazy normal. The range is great, but the startup will get you raped if you are playing someone who knows about the normal. It is definitely Alex's least used normal. It's uses are extremely small, but once again don't forget about it. It's main purpose is for juggles in the corner, which are hard to pull off in the first place. Other than that, it's very situational. More insight on it later.

cr. Just as the standing version, you can use this to control your space. Other than that, this is your go-to normal for hit-confirming SAII. Again, more on that later. When the moment is clutch, this is one of your close buddies as it's fast and leaves you in a defensive position.

cr. In my experience this is Alex's best poke. It's fast and reliable with good range. You can't cancel it into anything but the number of hits you'll get per round will speak for itself. Pivotal for footsies.

cr. If abused, this head-butt-shoulder-thing will get you into trouble, but if your reactions are solid, this is a fearsome anti air, or corner option, among other things. This normal will have expanded explanation later.

cr. A fast low poke with limited range. It is cancelable, so it's useful for making slash's startup a bit safer but its uses are ultimately up to you and how you feel about it. Good to use to remind your opponent to block low.

cr. A slower low poke, but with much better range. Great for footsies and controlling your space. This normal isn't cancelable though, so it's only use is as a poke unfortunately.

cr. Alex's sweep. It's decent as far as speed goes, but it's real strength is the range. When you have an opponent scared, this is a huge part of Alex's high/low game. Learn the range and always keep it handy.

AIR NORMALS

j. This normal is really fast, with low hitstun, making it ideal for setting up a light command grab. Outside of setups, though, it has little use.

j. One of my personal favorites. Alex's cuts the air near-horizontally. The hitbox on it is really difficult to hit a standing opponent, but it looks like it's going to slap them in the face. That's when you land and SAI (unreliable -- not recommended) or light command grab (much more reliable). Don't try to make this land except as a neutral jump anti air (it's fast, and jumping in a direction makes it harder to hit).

j. THE air normal. This is where the money is. Alex chops downwards, and this normal has great damage, stun, and priority. Careful not to abuse it, with great power comes great restraint on stupidity.

j. You can use this just as you would j.lp.

j. An awkward looking horizontal leg swing... thing. Really great range on this, but it is a little on the slow side. Use sparingly, but definitely give it some use.

j. j.hp's sidekick. This normal lets you dominate the airspace, because it has great range, and it's active frames are pretty long. Neutral jump hk is one of the best ways to keep an opponent hesitant to jump in your air, and it can also be used to jump in safely-er. If you plan on going for a combo, opt for hp instead.

SPECIALS

FLASH CHOP : It's called flash chop, but I just call it slash. Call it whatever you want. Anyways, this special is Alex's best, because it's the only one that can be safe. Use it in block stings, and especially switch up the versions so you don't get parried (as easily). EX SLASH IS CRAZY FAST AND DAMAGING. Use it in combos if you can, it's really baffling how much it does.

POWER BOMB : The command grab. It isn't instant, so it's not great, but the light version is very quick, and reliable. No EX on this, and I can't imagine how they could do that anyways.

SPIRAL DDT : Alex's worst special. It really is laughably bad, but has it's uses, because at the very, very least, it can't be parried. Don't forget it, but at the same time, when you think you should use it, you should probably forget it. Many Alex's like to finish the round of with this. Don't do that. Don't be stupid. That's stupid.

AIR KNEE SMASH : Alex has an air grab. Problem is, is that IT CAN BE PARRIED. If you're like me, your mind is full of **** right now, because that makes it a lot less reliable, and makes no sense. But that's ok, it still has juggle uses, at the very least, and is good if your reactions are faster than your opponent's.

SLASH ELBOW : Nobody knows why it's used with a kick. You'll get over it in time. This special is really good for covering ground, and is safe if they block it, and you hit them with the tip of your elbow. In conjunction with SA1 and godlike reactions, this special is actually pretty great. You may be thinking SA1? How is that relevant at all? See the description for SA1.

AIR STAMPEDE (STOMP) : If you use this a lot, it's gonna get parried, simple as that. At the same time, it's pretty good, because it can cross up if you know the ranges. EX stomp also tracks, and is really fast, so learn the practical applications of it. Charge partitioning is also your friend with this, usually so you can use it after landing on the ground on a jump in. If you don't know what charge partitioning is, check the Urien guide, or just Youtube it. Alex doesn't need it enough to go in-depth about it.

SUPERS

SA1: HYPER BOMB 360 + -- This super does really great damage, and leaves for some decent oki if you follow up with mk elbow to cover the ground when it is done. The problem with this super however is two-fold: it only gives you one bar, and is a 3 frame super (I THINK, but it's irrelevant) which means if they weren't pressing buttons when you started it, they will always be able to jump out of it. The main uses for this super are to combo after a mp or hp slash, or to use after someone parries one of your attacks. The main example of this would be to use something like hk elbow (which is slowwww) and when they parry it, SA1. It works pretty well, and makes them not want to parry the elbow. This is my personal favorite super, but it's not for the unskilled player. You have to parry into mp slash if you want to combo it, and that's easier said than done. The most popular (and the super art I use, even though this one is my favorite) is SA2.

SA2: BOOMERANG RAID (x2) : This super is Alex's go-to super. It gives you 4.8 EX moves, when fully stocked (you get two stocks). The super itself does good damage for the size of the stock, and overall it opens up Alex's options substantially. You can hit confirm into it with two cr. jabs, and easily combo into it from a st.mk. Another important part of this SA is that it does a healthy amount of stun, and leaves for good oki (see 'the DDT gimmick' for one example).

SA3: STUN GUN HEAD BUTT (x2) : This could have been his best, but as it was implemented, is definitely, without a doubt, his worst SA. When Alex uses this SA, he jumps into the air before landing again. Not only does this take far too long, he also is vulnerable in this state, meaning you can just jab him out of it, or better yet, just MOVE OUT OF THE WAY. Never use this unless you're trolling the hell out of someone, because even Sean and Twelve have better supers than this.

[Shiranui]

Need space >:D

[Shiranui]

MOAR SPACE

[Shiranui]

SPACE GHOST COAST TO COAST

[Shiranui]

2 MORE METHINKS

[Shiranui]

Grappler 101

Alex is a grappler character in the same way that Abel is a grappler in SF4. He is fast, and he has a good set of tools to work his way in to land the grab, and then once he lands his grab, it’s all about setting up another one, or mixing it up for a nice combo. Unlike Abel however, Alex’s command grab has absolutely no invincible frames, and loses to other grapples. Because of this, it is extremely important to have a good sense of how your opponent will respond if you go for the grab, and to have a wide array of ways to set up a good grab.

I will provide a list of good, common setups for Alex’s command grab below, but keep in mind that knowing the setups does not mean they will work, or you will win more or less. Grappler characters are hugely reliant on you, as a player, to work correctly and efficiently. Because of this, I have a lot of tips and lessons that if you don’t already know them, can boost your game with Alex (and many other grapplers) very quickly and make you downright dangerous.


1.Know Your Spacing
The most important part of using Alex is to know the range on all three of his grabs. If you can get the spacing for his light grab memorized, then your game will rise greatly. A max range light grab is deceptively far, and in the heat of battle it is hard for an enemy to see it coming from its range. Medium grab has shorter range than light, and heavy has the least. Don’t worry too much about the range on Medium, and concentrate on knowing the range on Light and Heavy, because those are the two Alex really needs.

If the moment is tense, and you two are bobbing back and forth looking for an opening/preparing to parry, then it’s usually very effective to close the distance just enough for light command grab to work, or another option is to dash in for the grab. Heavy grab has a high chance of working only if your opponent isn’t expecting it at all – it’s up to you to know how your opponent reacts to dashes to know if you have enough time to land the heavy one or the light one, or neither.


2. Know the Start-up Time
When I say this I don’t mean you need to know literal frames, though it may help you to have them handy. Essentially what I am saying is you need to know how long it takes to go from startup animation to the actual grab. Light is very quick, but heavy is much slower, and you need to know the speed to use it right. Because it is so slow, you have to have a good sense of how your opponent reacts to you dashing in, know how he blocks, and know what he is looking for (such as waiting to parry something). Once you have a good sense of how long it takes for his grabs to come out, it becomes second nature over time to work them into normal play. Heavy grab can be especially useful for catching jump ins (surprising, I know) because of its slow startup. If you do it before they hit the ground, you can catch them on the frame that they touch the ground, which is very hard to avoid if set up correctly. Also knowing how fast each grab is will help you with your tick grabs, as you’ll know how long to pause after putting your opponent into blockstun for it to land properly.


3. Keep Them Guessing
Using the setups I recommend as well as whatever you come up with, make sure you don’t use one setup too often. Mix it up the best you can – if you like to use a particular setup often, have multiple variations of it. For example, if you like to cr.lk -> lk grab, and you have landed it a few times in one match, your opponent will start to get savvy to it. Instead, you can mix it up by doing cr.lk -> f.hp to catch a jump attempt, or cancel the cr.lk into a stomp. Remember that your setups are only as deadly as you make them. If you can learn to read opponents well, or if they are just an open book, being able to adapt to the situation with different setups can easily win the match.


4. Capitalize on Human Error
If you take any lesson from me after all of this, please never forget that humans make many mistakes. More importantly, most players make MORE mistakes when they are stressed. Your goal as Alex is to scare your opponent. The more scared your opponent is the easier your fight will go, and the more you can get away with. That may sound like a hard thing to do, and you also may be thinking ‘high level players don’t afraid of anything’, but this is not entirely true. Though high level players control stress better than an average player, everyone is susceptible to fear. Scaring someone is a large collection of factors, but the most important one is good, educated guesses. If your opponent thinks you know them better than they know themselves they are going to worry about what to do next.

Blocking correctly, grabbing any opportunity you can, and staying offensive all add up to how your opponent reacts to you. If you block very well, use your normals very well, and are able to push an opponent into the corner, once their back hits the wall, they will begin to panic. Guessing correctly on an opponent’s wakeup heavily tilts the round to your favor. Even though Alex’s light grab does very little damage, it does good stun, and demoralizes your opponent, as well as reminds them that they can’t rely on blocking.

Whenever you sense an opponent is scared of you, capitalize on it as best you can. If they are fidgety, try to bait something that you can punish. If they start to back away or turtle, dash in for the kill (heavy throw).The reason that grapplers are dangerous in any fighter is because they can do huge amounts of damage off of good reads. Learn to analyze your opponent. Make good reads, don’t go head-first into a fight, know when to rush in and when to move back. Practice is the only way to hone these skills, and the best way is to fight someone much better than you, and knows how to evade and keep a grappler out.

SETUPS

j.lp/lk -> light grab
(This setup is very effective, because you can do anything when you land)

(very close) cr.lk -> light grab
(This setup works well because it is near max range, and looks like you are pushed too far back. It is also very fast)

j.mp (miss) -> grab of choice
(The point of this is to distract your opponent and make them want to parry, or block the medium punch, giving you more time to land a grab)

(knockdown) UOH -> light grab
(Don’t abuse this, but don’t forget it. If the opponent doesn’t hold up or try to reversal you, the chances of this landing are high)

(Knockdown) early UOH (miss) -> heavy grab
(This uses the same principle as the j,mp setup. You are trying to make your opponent stand there longer by wanting to parry or block the overhead.)


Use your imagination! One of the best things about Alex is everyone has their own style!

[Liquid_Plumma]

Can't wait for more.

I think I may sub Alex if I can get used to him. Looking forward to more info so I can try this bad boy out. lol

[Shiranui]

Added a grappler discussion towards at the end, for lack of better place.

Currently working on screen-capping Alex's normals. More to come soon gents, I haven't forgotten about this!

[vsDenjin]

wow, that grappler section was a pretty good read. reminds me of all the times I've fallen victim to all the setups you just explained @_@ not happy times...

[Shiranui]

Thanks for reading!

I've always been a grappler haha, so I've gathered a good rounded knowledge on the subject over time. Glad you liked it! If you can think of anything else you'd like to see explained let me know.