Kasumi

Ok. I'm J.D.E. here to give you a brief rundown on my DOA5 main, Kasumi. Kasumi is character that is pure offensive rushdown material. Blow for blow, and pound for pound, you're objective with her is to stay in your opponent's face and control the pace of the match.

For beginners, she's very user friendly and very straight forward to use. Her moves and juggles a very simple to learn at first glance once you pick her up to start out.

However, for competitors (like myself), you have to work overtime and put in hours of lab work with her to make her a threat especially if you're looking for her to be that character to take you as far as you want to go in the competitive world. Plus, she's not a character that you can just "mash" with against a good player. She's very unsafe & have to find ways to keep her safe (P, PP, PPP, 4P 6P, 6PK, 3K, are some examples). Sometimes it's good to take a chance to get high potential damage with her.

Pros

•  Extremely fast, has a 9 frame jab (9i), 1 of the fastest characters in the game.
• Has very good juggle damage.
• Very dangerous when on stages has a ceiling and breakable wall. 
• Matches are all very winnable with either an even, good, or fair number (matches to be discussed)
• Good throw punishes (6T, 236T, 1T on crouch, 2T on crouch) 
• Good juggles & guaranteed setups
• Has quiet a few force tech setups

Cons

• Very Unsafe
• Timing have to be on point with some juggles. (236T, 46H, 1T juggles in particular. Along with the juggles when foe hits an object like a table). 

Notable setups (Few guaranteed setups)

H+K

• H+K 6K gives her PKK7K 6P+K KK (feather, lights, & mids) 
• H+K 6K KK7K 6P+K KK (Super Heavyweights but universal)
• H+K 66P 6K gives her PKK7K 6P+K KK (feathers, lights, & mids)
• H+K 66P 6K PKK7K P+K (Super heavys) 
• H+K 8K 6PK2K (Force tech univeral that puts her at +10)
• Tip: H+K works well with a few pokes that you mix in

PPK 

• PPK 6K PKK7K 6P+K KK (feathers, lights, mids)
• PPK 6K KK7K 6P+K KK (Super heavys)
• PPK 8K 6PK2K (Universal Force Tech that gives her a +10 advantage)
• PPK 66P 6K PKK7K 6P+K KK (Feathers, lights, mids)
• PPK 66P 6K KK7K 6P+K KK (Super heavys)
• Tip: PPK 66P 6K won't work if you use too many pokes

4H+K

• 4H+K 3P (Tip you may have to fee cancel to avoid 3PP)  PP7K 6P+K KK (feathers, lights, & mids)
• 4H+K 3P PP7K P+K (Super Heavys)
• 4H+K 3P 6PK2K (universal force tech that's +10)
• 4H+K 66KK PP6P6KK (universal)
• 4H+K 66KK 6PK2K (universal force tech, but strict timing. Gives her +10)
• 4H+K 66KK PP7K (universal)
• Tip 4H+K also work well if you mix it up with pokes

These are just a few of the setups that she has that she has to her exposal. She has more and I'm still finding some stuff along with a few others. I would advise people to explore with her more as well

Critical Burst (6P+K) Follow ups

• 236P KK7K 6P+K PP6P6KK (Feathers & Lights only)
• 236P PKK7K 6P+K KK (universal)
• 33K 33P 2P PKK7K (wall combo for feathers to mids only)
• 33K 33P 2P 4PKK (Super Heavys on the wall)
• 33K 33P 2P 6PK2K (Force tech that is +10)

These are a few CB follow ups that she has that does serious damage. You can also do more with 33K, but 236P is a very good CB follow up launcher than 33K. However, Kasumi is a character who really doesn't need a CB to win. 

Overall, there other things that she has that can be looked at as well such as her wall game. You just have to really explore. Honestly, I don't see a reason to trash this character. She is fine the way she is. My advice to people who want to play her is to keep looking deeper into her. I just gave a few facts about her to help jump-start the search for a well-disciplined Kasumi player. 

For more reference, you can find me here along with Allan Paris, B Boy Dragon, Shade Swifteye, Tenryuga, and a few others who play here competitively: http://www.freestepdodge.com/forums/kasumi.40/

Final Round 16:DOA5

Hey what's up. J.D.E. here. I am doing my blog here on blogger because not a lot of people have tumblr. I am here to tell you about the personal experience I had at Final Round 16 (FR16). My mind set that I had going into FR16 was to show to support, mingle with my friends that I don't see everyday, win at least 1 tournament match to see where I was, get some offline casuals, familiarize myself with more of the community, & enjoy my stay to be honest. Another honest fact (word to HajinShinobi, AP, Shade Swifteye, & Tenryuga) was that I came into FR16 not knowing which of the 2 characters I play would be my consistent character starter throughout DOA5.

I stayed over Blizkreg's house over the weekend & meet my homies, Master, Immerwolf, Sweet Revenge, E-Mann, & JFK Dallaz. They were all some chill guys. All of them are cool as fuck. Lopedo & CXThomas also came over for some casuals before we all took off over to the venue to do more casuals & chill with more people. I got to get some casuals in with AneManic, a very good Rig player & very chill. Also got to chill with B Boy Dragon, yet another Kasumi player. I also got to finally meet some friends up north, Chosen1, Rabies IP, CyberEvil, Something-Unique,  XCaliburBlades, Rikuto Blackula (from Virginia), Perfect Legend, Sorwah (the Bass look-alike), Rhythmik (GA) & this 1 caught me by surprise, but I got introduced to Tom Lee as well. Then, I ran into my dog, Allan Paris before I went back to Blizkreg's to get some sleep before the "real" fun began.  The next day, the tournament began. Before my pool started, I got to talk to Shin Ryujin my homie Shade Swifteye & Silent Legend before it was my turn to play & also did some casuals with E-Mann & BlackWhiteboi. Soon, my pool began.

Characters played: Kasumi, Ayane

My 1st match was against Yoyo to start my 1st tournament major. I played Kasumi while he played Lei Fang. I didn't know what to expect from him when I 1st played him because it was my 1st time playing him. I was a little bit rattled but I put in my music to keep me calm & composed. After the 1st round, I was settled in & got my rhythm & adapted to him well. I ultimately won the match 2-0 advancing to play Lopedo. He was developing his game more with Lei Fang. Once he spends more time with her, he'll be a very solid player with her. He's a really chill guy & asked me to sign his character book with the character I play which was cool!

My match with Lopedo didn't go as well. I couldn't really adapt to anything that he did in general. It was like he knew everything that I did before I did it. He ultimately beat me 2-0 to advance while I had to play in losers against Rocky.

My matches with Rocky were pretty intense. It was a Kasumi mirror match. He outsmarted me in ways when I would hesitate to attack. Both of the sets came down to either the 2nd round or the final round. After he took the 1st set, I switched to Ayane. The people watching before us were so into the match. I even heard them say "OH WOW NICE" through my headphones after I would do her advanced mid punch hold (64H+P) & then do 1 of her new juggle follow-ups from the patch (mad props to HajinShinobi for helping me develop her). I would still lose 2-0 with both matches coming down to the last rounds. I had like 3 people telling me that they liked the way that I played Ayane which was awesome, but at the some time, it was a humbling moment. He was a cool guy though. Talked for a while, while watching my homiess Awesmic & Immerwolf duke it out on stream. They done a hell of a job in my opinion.

Afters I chilled with Silent Legend. We played casuals & then I listened to him while he was telling me more things about the game. He also told me more about my characters that I play. Master & Ryujin & Blitzkreg also joined in on the conversation. They all convinced me to focus solely on Kasumi & keep Ayane as that "pocket" character. I am really grateful that they told me their thoughts piece-by-piece & why they'd rather see me use her instead. It helped me make my decision on who will be my consistent character:

Main: Kasumi 
Subs: Ayane (Main secondary), Kokoro (just announced but may stick with 1 sub)

After the wake up calls & the discussions, we went back inside to look at some more matches which turned out to be extra hype. The 1 I found the most interesting was AP vs Rabies. That was a hype match that everybody was into AND it wasn't even streamed! It was a great showing overall though.

When the 1st day of DOA was in the books, CyberEvil, AP, Sorwah, Shade Swifteye, Rikuto, Blackula, & I went to eat at Ruby Tuesdays. It was very good eating. I was also on cloud 9 when AP told me & Shade that he has an interest in using Ayane. I hope he does & if he does I can't wait to see what he does with her because it would be sick if all 3 of us played her AND Kasumi both. I believe he would be a beast with her.

The next day was the Top 8 of DOA5:

1.XCaliburBlades
2. Rikuto
3. Lopedo
4. Chosen1
5. Master
5. Emann
7.Sweet Revenge
7. Shade Swifteye

That was so hype! The whole entire community was into as well as a few other crowds! It was a great showing all around for DOA. After that, I ate 1 more time with the fighters before my trip back home. Congrates top 8! Congrates Calibur on the tourney win. Shout out to all of these guys that I met & chilled with all through the weekend! It was 1 hell of a time! I can't wait to do it again soon! You guys are alright with me! I almost forgot: Misson Accomplished! Now to level up my game!