The Bara Cancel (Bunker Cancel) Thread

[Arlieth Tralare]

Introduction
For those of you unfamiliar with Roll Cancelling or Kara Cancelling, these techniques exploit gaps between command inputs that are typically 2-3 frames wide, the amount of time that programmers allowed for two separate button presses to be counted simultaneously. While Melty Blood has extremely strict timing for throws (1f discrepancy), it has a technique that exploits the Shield Bunker (aka 'Alpha Counter' or 'Dead Angle Attack') into a command or special. This is known as Bara Cancelling. It may be easier to think of it as Shield Bunker Kara Cancelling.

Shield Bunker Mechanics
Shield Bunkers are done by performing a 214+D (QCB+D) while in blockstun. This requires 50% meter and has an extremely long startup (+30f), but may also carry clash frames (auto-parry). It may do little to average damage, but often has special properties such as wall-slamming.

Exploiting the Bara Cancel
To perform a Bara Cancel, an additional input must be introduced between or before the 214(QCB) and D. To give an example, because of Melty Blood's loose input rules, this command overlaps with 63214(HCB)+C and 214+C, which is a valid EX move for most characters, especially Nero Chaos. If Nero performs a 63214+D,C, as long as the C is pressed within the valid Bara Cancel frame window, Nero will instantly recover out of blockstun with his EX Phantom (that freaky claw guy) attack. Furthermore, on a successful Bara Cancel, because the Shield Bunker never activated, there is no 50% meter cost associated with it. However, if the Bara Cancel attempt is unsuccessful and the Shield Bunker does come out, the player must pay the 50% meter cost of the Shield Bunker. There are many other ways to sneak input commands before the Bara Cancel is attempted (i.e.: 2141236+D,C for a Bara Cancelled Arc-Drive), and with ver.B, Bara Cancelled Throws are also made simple through use of the E button.

A video by Linalys demonstrating this technique is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNH5MGsXZgY

Some characters have extremely useful moves that benefit from Bara Cancelling, which should be discussed in this topic.


Why can't I Bara Cancel this attack?
There is one other property that Bara Cancels absolutely require: Hitstop. Hitstop frames are a special window during the impact of an attack where one would typically cancel into other attacks or supers. Hitstop is NOT blockstun. You can think of them as impact or cancel frames. If you are finding yourself performing Shield Bunkers instead of Bunker Cancels, it's because you tried to perform the cancel too late. In short: You MUST activate Bara Cancels during Hitstop.

Because of this, Bara Cancels are best done on attacks with multiple hits. Because of Melty Blood's relaxed rules on block state (once you start blocking, it's hard to accidentally 'unblock' yourself), you can wind up the input for your bara cancel and then execute upon the impact of the next hit. Some moves have obscenely huge hitstop frames- these are the exception rather than the rule though. Rule of Thumb: Activate your Bara Cancel on the attack's impact.

[Dipstick]

Advice on practicing bara cancels:

In training mode, pick either V.Sion or Walachia and set them to Attack 1. They will perform their 5C (both of which hit three times, but at different rates), and you should then try to block and bara cancel out of the blockstun. While this is not perfect (as good players will vary their blockstrings and the timing thereof), this will let you learn the timing of the cancel -- how early you can buffer the motion, when you have to hit D, how quickly you have to hit the button after hitting D, etc..

Practice trying to bara cancel each hit of these normals.

[linalys]

For those stuck in FT, you can do what I did and practice with Shiki's 236c.  It lasts FOREVER and the last hit has a fair amount of stun making it relatively easy to practice the cancel.  Also note that you can cancel into pretty much anything with a command motion.  Throw, dash, super jump, etc. 

[Zaido]

i think for AC using Len and doing her 5C is good too cause you can try to bara cancel in between the first 3 initial hit part then Bara cancel before the last 2 hits make it.

[ಠ_ಠ Dizzynecro]

so this basically makes everyobody's supers into baiken counterz eh...cool.

[Kayin]

What about Bara Cancel Superjump? I'd like to know how to perform this before I go into training to practice it.

[F9|Chibi]

To bara super jump I believe you just do 214+C then 9, if I'm not mistaken.

;p

[hdphnz]

That sounds ridiculously easy. Is it?

[COD3player]

After you practice it for a bit it might.

[linalys]

To bara super jump I believe you just do 214+D then 9, if I'm not mistaken.

;p

Fixed it for you~

[AARP|ZTB]

That sounds ridiculously easy. Is it?

...yes...very much so. Ex knives/5cc + Zar = Sad ciel...everyone need to learn this because im tired of seeing ppl try to chip red life and/or burn the opponents regen  .

@ Linalys:
make a new bara vid...with bara sj's, dashes, throws, dodges, sj into aerial specials, back/foward dashes, etc. against more "common" offenses...like blockstrings (2abc? stop doing that plz), better blockstrings (vsion  ex katto), single 2a ticks (kouma says "NO!"), etc. Ppl need to see more practical ways of how its used. im surprised japan hasnt compiled some random vid for this yet. Go lin, get the jump on everyone!

[ikusat]

The reason why Japan hasn't made a bara vid is because they see it all the time in their matches.  The reason why the US has not made one is because not only do you need a recording gig, you also need two people in the same area who play Melty Blood.

Regarding bara cancels, you can bara into anything that is not a normal jump or normal attack.  This means you can do throws, command moves(like 4C and 6C with akiha), specials/EXs, front/back dash, heat activation, heat and blood heat.

From vaguely the easiest to the most difficult:

214 and 421 specials
backdash, throw, superjump
heat activation, front dash
blood heat activation
arc drive
any other special
command moves

Unless you're exceptionally coordinated, I think the realistic cut off is at front dash.  Blood heat activation is hard and quite risky because if you miss time it, you'll get a circuit spark, which may or may not matter.  Throws are generally minimally useful since they require you to be very close, and generally you're not going to be baraing at random pokes unless you're pulling some Umehara.  Don't even bother learning how to do command move baras, because if you can Ume them that much, you already won the game.  In terms of bara utility, I only look at how good the character's 214/421 moves are, their front/backdash, and their superjump.

Since everyone is interested with the bara super jump, you might as well know the startups for every character's super jump so that someone who plays Kohaku or Mech Hisui won't go OMG ZAR YOU LIED BARA SUPERJUMP SUCKS.

Super Jump Startup, courtesy of Veteru
6F: Hisui(Nyah suckers)
7F: Arcueid, Warcueid, Shiki, Nanaya, Miyako, Warakia, Satsuki, Ren
8F: Akiha, Aquiha, Sion, V.Sion, Ciel, Aoko
9F: Kouma
10: Nero
13: Mech Hisui
14: Kohaku

For reference, standard jump startup is 4F.

If you want to pull some real shenanigans, some characters with low dash startups can do bara front dash, and immediately shield for a red parry like effect.  If you do this while in blood heat, you'll essentially be doing a last arc bara.

[Sp00ky]

Character notes:

Kouma: One of the first popularized baras in his 214C. This thing is amazing and a staple of any Kouma's game -- staple enough to be a point of entry for this character. Either you can do this or you are a bad kouma. Mega invincibility, mega damage, very hard to counter. and to add insult to injury if he has no meter he gets bara 214A which is almost as good.

Satsuki: Underutilized by Japanese players, bara 214C is fast, does soso damage, and wallslams allowing you some breathing room. The cost of entry to Sacchin is rough though as she is a meter dependant character.

Shiki: Another amazing bara in his 214C.

Kohaku: This one needs some explanation. With Hisui as her partner, she can bara 214B, but the goals are different. It has no invinciblity and can be stuffed very early. The goal is to either trade with the opponent late in the animation so that you recover while hisui is hitting them for a combo, or do it at the end of their string when no more hits are coming to turn the tide on them.

Chaos: Similar to Kohaku, you want to force a trade with his bara 214C and profit. However it's too slow to use at the end of (most) of the opponents strings. Trading is the best option.

Warakia: Bara 63214C. Requires 150% meter or max/heat, and a tiny bit of spacing. Another underused bara by the Japanese, master this and profit by giving yourself an option none of the major wara players have exploited.

V.Sion: Lol.

Arc: 214C. Use at the end of opponent's strings.

Warc: 214C. Use at the end of opponent's strings.

Hisui: 214C. Use at the end of opponents strings. Leads to 'counter hit of death' in some situations.

Other characters: Beyond my scope of knowledge or I can't recall at the moment.

[Kayin]

Nanaya 214B bara is pretty reliable, I don't use it enough tho. Hahaha~

[linalys]

@ Linalys:
make a new bara vid...

The reason why the US has not made one is because not only do you need a recording gig, you also need two people in the same area who play Melty Blood.

So there you go!  Although if FT is okay, I could probably hack something out for that.  It really wouldn't be that good though.  One player doing everything without a GGesque Training mode record = very difficult.  Complex block strings? gtfo.  Doing it off of one 2a with Kouma who doesn't exist in FT? Nope.  =p 

[Dipstick]

Nanaya's 214B is useful for baras but don't use it in situations where you need a move with invincibility -- it's fairly fast but if you get hit out of it that's SCH/CH2 stun and you'll have a sad Nanaya. Useful for characters that can spam long-range projectiles that are normally +frames on block (R.Arc, Ciel, M-Hisui).

I really don't see why the Japanese don't use Satsuki's 214C out of bara more. It does ~2400 damage which is a very good return on meter used (unless you're looking to land anti-air 623Cs).

Personally, I find bara AD to be my personal limit, and since my execution is the suck I figure a trained Japanese player could do most specials out of blockstun (now doing that on a live opponent is another problem). And I guess bara SJ is the easiest one, just being 214+D78[9] (yes, you can hold 9 and get the SJ).

Technically you can bara into any normal, but only characters with dashes that have no startup and can be canceled on the first frame can do it.

[F9|Chibi]

To bara super jump I believe you just do 214+D then 9, if I'm not mistaken.

;p

Fixed it for you~

Ah, my mistake.

Thank you.

 

[ikusat]

We can all do any of the baras in training mode, but in a real match, I feel the upper limit, even for most Japanese players would be a front dash.  You'll see the occasional 236 or AD baras, but those are few and far in between.

Here's my arbitrary best bara list and some of this might overlap with what Spooky posted earlier.  Feel free to shoot any of it down though!  This list does not include back dash or super jump unless they're better than normal for some reason.

S Rank
Kouma: 214C, 214A, 22C
---214C: Unbelieveable range, grabs limbs, good damage.  If Kouma's around, some dunking better be going down.
---214A: Less range, about as fast as 214C, can lead to higher damage if you're in the corner
---22C: Not sure why you'd want to do this since 214C is available, but it's better than what most other characters have

Shiki: 214C, backdash
---214C: Stupid invincibility, if the first hit clashes somehow and the second hit comes out, he's got hyper armor for almost all of the 2nd hit
---Backdash: While it's been nerfed, it's still one of the best backdashes

Satsuki: 214C, 214A, 22C
---214C: Speedy, good damage, a little invincibility
---214A: Since it's jump cancellable on block or hit, it's pretty safe, and fast
---22C: 214C is probably better, but this has less positional requirements to land a combo after

Kohaku&Hisui: 214B, 624C
---214B: Instantly comes out and if you trade, Kohaku will usually recover before the opponent.  As an added bonus, if you mess up and the opponent hits both Kohaku and Hisui, you take greatly reduced damage since proration and scaling are taken into account for hits on both sisters even though only hits on Kohaku will count for damage
---624C: Arguably the best Arc Drive in the game(Hisui's)

A Rank
Miyako: 214A, 214B, 214C, 22A
---214A is fast, 214B is slower but has stupid super armor, and 214C has really stupid super armor + invincibility
---22A a quick low hitting stomp

Nanaya: 214B, backdash, 22C
---214B is somewhat fast, but will get stuffed by almost anything if they're still attacking
---Backdash is still the best in the game
---22C is the safest fake out, but the power comes from being able to mix up 214A-C, and 22A-C since they all look the same

Warakia: 624C, 421ABC
---624C is Warcueid summon, and it's really stupidly good even though it costs 150% meter
---421ABC is the teleport, very quick recovery, but don't get predictable with it

B Rank
Ciel: 22C, 214C
---22C is quick and will usually score a counter hit
---214C is actually very fast from close range and good damage, just make sure it doesn't get blocked...

Arcueid: 214B, 214C, 22C
---214B is quick and is safe on block
---214C is kind of a waste of meter, but it's probably the best bara
---22C has good invincibility and clash, but has pretty low range so don't whiff it

Akiha: 214A
---214A is pretty quick and often leads to counter hits for a free air combo

Kohaku: 214ABC
---214A and 214B recover before landing so it's pretty safe to do
---214C is only vulnerable to throws while she's in magical kohaku mode

Aoko: 214C
---214C, big stupid orb, what else do you need?

Hisui: 214C, super jump
---214C can sometimes lead to the CH of death, which is huge payoff, but it's average at best
---Super jump, fastest in the game

Mech Hisui: 214A
---214A missiles come out quite fast, so it might be applicable at the end of strings

Nero: 214C, 421C
---214C can trade hits sometimes, but tricky to use
---421C ex deer, if you can squeeze this out, you'll regain momentum immediately

C Rank
Ren: 421 moves
---Cat teleports are slightly faster now, but still marginally useful at best

Hisui&Kohaku: Super jump
---Fastest super jump

Aquiha: Nothing

Vsion: Nothing

I'll probably edit this later as I realize how wrong some of this is, just off the top of my head

[Zaido]

for mech-Hisui i find Bara 236C quite good...

[linalys]

If Miyako's 214a can be good because it's fast, then I'd think Shiki's 214a would be at least as good.  It's fast, hits low, gives him a smaller hitbox etc etc. 

Zaido:
But 236 falls below the line of what ikusat believes is realistically possible in a match.  At least the 22 specials can sorta overlap with the 214 motion with 2142D~A/B/C or something like that.  So of course the list has no 236/41236/623 motions. 

[Sp00ky]

How to counter bara cancels

Since I always end up being the guy who never gets to use all of these top tier tactics but has to counter them, let me share the secrets.

1) End strings early. Instead of 2AAABC 5A whiff, just do 2AAAB 5A whiff. Not only do you not offer them a level 3 move, (forcing them to bara a level 2 one which is a little harder) if you do this and they are buffering for a bara, they dont have enough time to react to your next rushdown pattern.

2) Chain staggering. Run a pattern like 2AB5B, then very late in the cancel window cancel to 2C. If they buffered their bara too early this will throw off their timing, and has the possibility of being a surprise knockdown if they buffered all the way back. Throw off their timing and they will attempt to bara you less and less. This is doubly effective if your character has a charge move like warc's 5B or Shiki's 5C -- partially charge it and let it go early to throw off their timing. Not only can you throw off their bara timing, but this effect is twofold in that it preys on their tendency to punish charge moves -- if you're buffering a bara, see a charge move coming and prepare to punish it, but that charge move suddenly comes early -- you see where I'm going with this. These types of mind games are very easy to execute and yet when they work they quickly tear your opponent down.

3) Throw more. Sitting there and waiting for an attack to bara loses to throw.

4) PUNISH THEM WHEN THEY MESS UP! I can't overstate the importance of this. If they fail a bara and get a regular bunker, KILL IT. Forcing them to take full bnb damage just for failing a bara will make them think twice about doing it again.

5) Just because you see a bara flash, don't give up. Mashing out a fast ex on response or ramming on activate can sometimes save you from a successful bara depending on the move they used and the move they actually bara'd. You can also take the first hit and circuit spark to regain your composure and prevent them from turning the tide of your rushdown. This is your last ditch effort but the one time it works out of the 8 times you try it is very worthwhile.

Master these techniques and you will minimize the damage you take from baras and teach the opponent to look for other options.

[F9|Chibi]

I sometimes bait baras by canceling into ex dust.

In fact I think ex dust beats said attempts clean out?

Yes / no?

[Arlieth Tralare]

Well, EX Dust is persistent, so I don't see why not? Unless it's a command grab or EX/Arc with invincibility.

[Zaelar]

I just want to remind everyone that when you bara you don't get any special properties on a move, like invincability.  If move A beats move B normally, move A will beat bara move B.  If you bara into something that doesn't have invincability and more hits are comming, you are going to get hit.  You pretty much have 3 options to go for when baraing.

1)Something with enough invincability to last though whatever is comming.
2)Something fast enough to hit before whatever is comming next.
3)Something that will move you out of the way of whatever is comming next.

You can also go for trading instead of beating cleanly, which is sometimes a very good option.

[KD0089]

ok that's good to know. i was always under the impression that bara moves were unbeatable most of the time.