==================================== GAMBIT-4-Marvel-Vs.-Capcom FAQ v1.1 Author: E.J. Date: 6-15-99 ==================================== Send comments, corrections, suggestions, and flames to: sheeme@uclink4.berkeley.edu ------------------ Table Of Contents: ------------------ - History of This Faq - Intro to This Faq - Disclaimer - Gameplay and Faq Notation - Who is Gambit, and Why Play Gambit? - Normal Moves - Special Moves - Super Moves - Combos - General Strategy - Character Match-Ups - Victory Poses - Beating Onslaught - Gambit's Ending - Credits and Closing Comments -------- History: -------- v1.1 = Okay, this will be my LAST revision (I think). I added a couple combos, overhauled the General Strategy and Character Match-Ups (I alphabetized the character match-ups so it's easier to find a specific match-up), added a Victory Pose section, changed some Normal Moves descriptions, and corrected the Cajun Strike/Escape description (I got their names mixed up). I tried to trim down some blabbering stuff, but since I added other stuff, this faq is probably even bigger now, oh well... v1.0 = I never thought I would do a third revision, but after looking back at this faq, I could not stand the sloppiness. My previous description of the Cajun Strike/Escape was horrid, and I've corrected/ cleaned it up. Some of my thoughts on special and normal moves have changed, and some of my Vs. strategies are changed also. Added a couple sections also. This will, in all likelihood, be the last revision... v0.2 = Added this "History" section and a "Good Partners" section. Added a couple combos. Changed strategies a little bit. Took out all the cuss words I could find (I'm trying to cut down on my swearing). I dunno, I made changes all over the place... v0.1 = The bulk of this faq, including all moves sections, combos, strategies, and closing comments... ------------- Introduction: ------------- Hey all you gamers out there. First off, I just want to let you know that this is my first attempt at writing a faq. So, if you read this thing and come to the conclusion that this faq really sucks and the author is a blithering idiot, well, screw you. No, no, J/K. Seriously, I'm writing this faq because I want to help anyone out there who's interested in playing a good Gambit. I ain't a great Gambit player, but I consider myself to be at least fair with him... anyhow. Enough about me. On with the faq... ----------- Disclaimer: ----------- (Uh, I don't know what this is for, but a lot of other faqs have this section. I'll just make up some stuff.) Don't use this faq in any manner for profit or financial gain. If for some ungodly reason you want to use this faq as a reference, give credit where it's due. The game Marvel Vs. Capcom is a product of Capcom (duh), and Gambit is the property of Marvel (that's what I'm guessing, at least). If I missed anything, gee, I'm sorry. Anyway, enough of that... -------------------------- Gameplay and Faq Notation: -------------------------- This faq is a character-specific faq only, and I am assuming that you know the basic gameplay of Marvel Vs. Capcom, such as push-blocking, super-jumping, dashing, switch-outs, etc. If you don't know what any of the previous terms mean, don't worry. There are tons of detailed faqs out there that explains everything for you. Go read them, then come back here. If you know the basic gameplay of the Marvel games, then go on ahead... Also, I am not going to draw a pretty picture of the controls like some of those other faqs out there. If you don't even know what the joystick and the six-button set-up of a Capcom game looks like, why the heck are you reading this?! Go away... As a matter of fact, I don't even know why I have this section in the faq. Forget this, let's get to the real stuff... but to avoid confusion, here's a couple quick notes on the terminology I'll be using (btw, I borrowed these terms from other faqs belonging to James Chen, Charles Washington, etc.): C. = Crouching S. = Standing D. = Dashing J. = Jumping S.J. = Super-Jumping /\ = do a Super-Jump \/ = land from Super-Jump XX = cancel into... OTG = hits Off-The-Ground QCF = quarter-circle forwards QCB = quarter-circle backwards DP = dragon-punch motion ----------------------------------- Who is Gambit, and Why Play Gambit? ----------------------------------- Just who is the Ragin' Cajun? Well, I don't really know much about him, because I never got into comic books or anything like that. All I know is that he is one of the uncanny X-men, a master thief, and a mutant who can charge up an object's potential energy into dangerously kinetic energy. And I'm not even sure about the last part. Anwyay... Why should you play as Gambit? I'll tell you why. Gambit is THE epitome of cool and style. The hair, the coat, the stubble, that finger- snapping mumble he does at the end of a Royal Flush... so much style. Man, he is just oozing with style. He should seriously loan some style to those boring-ass chumps like Ryu/Chun Li... style... yeah...can you tell I love that word? When I play video games, I always pick the characters that got style (e.g. Charlie and his kick-ass hair from X-men Vs. SF). And IMO, good video gaming is all about winning with style. Heck, even one of Gambit's winning quotes says something about style being everything... yeah, style, that's the way to go... ------------- Normal Moves: ------------- Throws - (Ground throws) Strong/Fierce version: Gambit grabs the opponent, charges them up against his staff or something, and tosses them away. It is definitely the more useful of his ground throws. The opponent can NOT safety-roll after you throw him, so in the corner, an OTG combo is guaranteed. And in some cases, you don't have to be in the corner to OTG afterwards (see combo section for further details)... Forward/Roundhouse version: Gambit dumps the opponent onto the ground, stands on top of him, and repeatedly smashes the end of his staff into his opponent's face. Wiggle the joystick like mad to make Gambit do more face-mashing. While this throw is visually more demoralizing than the other throw (demoralizing for the opponent, that is), I don't think Gambit can follow it up with any OTG stuff. The other throw is much more practical... (Air Throws) Roundhouse version: This is the only air throw I know of for Gambit so far. It has the same animation as the Forward/Roundhouse ground throw, except Gambit only smacks them once in the face with the staff. It has okay range, but guys like Wolvey, Spidey, and Strider will win in air-throwing battles. But it's nice to try, anyway, since his Jumping Roundhouse is a great air-to-air attack... Jab Punch - Standing: He does some wimpy backfist that has pitiful range. Don't use it unless you're really close to the opponent. Misses crouching opponents. Kinda sucky normal move... Crouching: Same thing as standing, except he's crouching. It is better than the standing version, in that it will at least hit crouching opponents. You can start in-close combos with it... Jumping: He sticks out another wimpy fist with mediocre range. It is directed more upwards than most other jumping jabs, therefore, it is nice for intercepting airborne opponents above you... Strong Punch - Standing: He does a downward slash with his staff, from above his head to around his knees. It comes out a little slower than I'd like, but it still has very good priority against opponents on the ground (Gambit's staff attacks have good priority, in general). If someone has jumped past you and is landing behind you, use this to catch him in mid-air. Chain it into a crouching fierce (his launcher), and pop him up for a nice and easy air-combo... Crouching: He slaps at the ground with his staff. Looks kind of dumb for such a stylish fellow. Is he trying to break the other guy's toes or something? Anyway, it's about the same as the standing version, except lower... Jumping: He swings upward with his staff. This move used to kick butt in XvSF, but it's not as great in MvC, since more people in MvC have range comparable to Gambit's. But still, it's pretty good for air battles... Fierce Punch - Standing: He lashes out horizontally with his staff using only one hand, smacking his opponent to the other side of the screen. It has GREAT horizontal range, although it will MISS over most crouching fellows. This move is extremely useful in certain situations, namely when your opponent is jumping in and landing a couple steps in front of you... Crouching: This is his only launcher. He swings upwards with his staff, the animation being quite similar to his jumping strong. It is one of the better launchers out there, but it takes some getting used to. Although it has really good power, reach, and priority against opponents coming down on top of him (including people trying to cross him up), it is a little slow and plagued with terrible horizontal range... Become familiar with it, because it is one of Gambit's few defensive options... Jumping: VERY useful tool. Using both hands, he swings downward with his staff to bash his opponent's head in. GREAT range, GREAT priority. Comes a little slower than Strider's J. Fierce, but faster than Captain America's. Can trade or beat a lot of launchers... One of his best air attacks, by far... Short Kick - Standing: He sticks out a short-ranged knee into the opponent's gut. Nothing special about it, though it comes out fast. The CPU is really good at ticking you with this, then throwing you afterwards... Crouching: He quickly sticks out a low foot with NICE range. By far the best version of his varying jabs and shorts. It's VERY good for harrassing and applying pressure... Jumping: He kicks out horizontally with his foot. If the opponent is in front of you, this kick has exceptional air-to-air priority. Good for air battles.. Forward Kick - Standing: He kicks out at waist-level with some sort of snapping rear-leg kick. Good range (better than standing strong, I believe), and hits crouching opponents. Okay poking tool from mid-to-close range. Mostly use it in ground combos... Crouching: Similar to crouching short, he sticks out his foot low along the ground. Same use as the standing version... Jumping: He kicks high up into the air. It looks like he's trying to punt a football. Nothing special... Roundhouse Kick - Standing: He spins about and delivers a high kick. It is a great anti-air against opponents who jump in and find themselves out of position. On the ground, it is not all that great. It is the only move that can combo into a Jab Kinetic Card, but at a distance, it misses high on a LOT of crouching people... Crouching: He leg-sweeps you off your feet. Like all sweeps, follow it up with an OTG if you want (you have tons of OTG options with Gambit)... Jumping: He kicks out horizontally with his leg. I have come to appreciate this move, since it does come out a bit faster than the jumping fierce and has NICE horizontal range. Think of it as a slower version of the jumping short. Use it a lot, you might get lucky and get an air-throw out of it... -------------- Special Moves: -------------- Kinetic Card (QCF, any punch; ground or air) - Gambit's projectile move, and maybe his best special move over all. On the ground, he turns away from the opponent for a moment, pulls out some cards from his coat, charges them, and chucks them at the opponent. The jab version has okay start-up time, the strong version has bad start-up time, and the sluggish fierce version is pretty much useless. Once the cards leave his hand, though, they travel INSTANTLY across the screen, and he recovers VERY quickly. If an opponent is hit with a Kinetic card, he will be immobilized for a moment, giving Gambit a chance to do more damage. The Fierce version immobilizes them the longest, but you can still do a lot of stuff after the Jab version, namely dashing up and OTG'ing them up into an air-combo... the air version can be a royal pain in the ass for your opponent, if you can aim it properly. When doing it, Gambit hovers in the air and throws a glowing card down to the ground at a rather steep angle, a bit less than 45 degrees. Once again, the card travels REALLY fast, and once again, it takes a little while for Gambit to yank out his card and charge it, jab being fastest, fierce being slowest. The area that the card actually covers is pitifully small, so you're going have to get used to it if you're going to hit anything with it. He just kind of hovers up there after he throws it, much like the air-fireballing Morrigan, so you can throw quite a few cards before landing from a super-jump. Note that I said SUPER JUMP. If you do it off a regular jump, and your opponent blocks it or avoids it, you'll just hover right there in front of your opponent and be a big fat target for a launcher attack... the jab version is exceptionally useful as an offensive, keep-away, and/or annoyance tactic. It combos only after a CLOSE S. Roundhouse, but still, there's a lot of other uses. If you have just air-thrown the opponent, Gambit will send his opponent down at roughly the same angle as his Air Kinetic Card. Throw out an Air Kinetic Card just when they get up, and see if you can catch them napping. If they block it, at least it's free chipping damage... after blocked normal moves, cancel into a Jab Kinetic Card for some chipping damage. But don't ALWAYS throw the Kinetic Card after blocked normal moves. People will get the hang of it and start jumping over you while you're throwing your card. But hey, that's when you can start fooling around with other things (like the Trick Card)... Bottom line: Great tool if you know how to use it (it is NOT a mindless keep-away tool). Only use the jab version, whether on the ground or in the air. If you feel playful, throw a fierce version while a fallen opponent is getting up, and get ready to throw a Royal Flush. If the opponent does not block for some unfathomable reason, you'll have lots of time to Royal Flush them into oblivion... be unpredictable when using this move outside of combos. If you are being predictable with it, most opponents will jump over it and punish you before you recover... Cajun Slash (DP, any punch; ground only) - Gambit says, "Cajun Slash!", and he darts forward a certain distance, whacking at the opponent with his staff a certain number of times. The distance traveled and number of slashes depend on the button used. The Jab Version is a single, quick swipe, while the other two versions are multi-hit. The strong Cajun Slash is a funky-looking hopping-and-slashing manuever that is great for OTGs, while the fierce version has Gambit sliding forward, slashing and ramming his staff into the opponent's midsection (well, if the opponent is tiny, a.k.a Roll or Mega Man, it looks like he's ramming away at their skulls, not their bellies). All have good recovery time, but I think the strong version recovers the fastest... okay, in XMenVSF, Gambit's jab Cajun Slash was one of the most important weapons in his arsenal, if not THE most important one. Its speed made it the ultimate counter move in that game. Unfortunately, it has been slowed down quite a bit, and the only moves it can counter now are blocked fireballs and some blocked sweeps (like Chun Li's roundhouse sweep). It used to be my favorite choice for ground combos; but now, the Fierce version is my premier comboable special move. I say this because if you knock down the CPU with a Jab Cajun Slash, the CPU can actually do a short roll, recover before you recover from your Jab Cajun Slash, and throw you! Blargh! So far I haven't run into any human opponents who can pull this off, but still, I like using the Fierce Version more now. It does more hits, looks cooler IMO, and has surprisingly good recovery time... Bottom Line: Not as useful as in XMen. But still, the Fierce version is, by far, his most easily-comboed move. Throw out the Jab version every in a while as a poke. Use the Strong version to tack on some low-risk block damage. If you observe that your opponent can't roll worth shit, keep tripping him up and use either of the two stronger versions for more hits until the opponent learns how to roll... Trick Card (QCB, any punch; ground only) - Gambit does the exact same thing as the Kinetic Card, except he throws the card up at roughly a forty-five degree angle... Okay, I used to think that this move was TERRIBLE. The card's hitting area is puny, the start-up time is as bad as the Kinetic Card's, and it seems to come out at times when it is the LAST thing you WANT to do (it can easily be the LAST thing you EVER do, if your health bar is low and your opponent is standing right next to you, watching you throw out your idiotic Trick Card right over his head). But still, it can be helpful. When you're getting REALLY predictable with Kinetic Cards and your opponent starts jumping over them, throw out a Trick Card instead of a Kinetic Card (the start-up motions for both look the same) and see if you can catch him off guard. If you connect, he'll be immobilized and you can combo him even further... this is a dangerous tactic that should be sparingly used, but if you land it, dash in and OTG combo the sucker... I dunno, that's about the only "good" thing I can come up with for this move... Bottom Line: Never EVER throw this out just for the heck of it. Cajun Strike (charge down, then up, any kick; ground only) - Okay, this move is kind of tricky. After the initial command, Gambit quickly leaps up to a wall; which wall he jumps to depends on whether you do down -> up-back with the joystick, or down -> up-forward. You can do several things while he's about to land on the wall: a) do nothing - as a result, Gambit will dart back downwards towards the center of the screen with a diving kick. b) press kick - same thing as doing nothing, I think. c) press the joystick away from the wall he's landing on - he will proceed to jump over to the other wall, then do his diving kick from there. this move doesn't combo into anything, but it is a good surprise move that is quick and confusing. I think the priority of this move has been toned down a little from X-Men, but the priority is still very good. And if you DO land it, the opponent will be knocked down and you can follow it up with an OTG COMBO, I think (see combo #9)... be warned, Gambit can't block anytime during this manuever, so watch out for huge, full-screen supers like Morrigan's Soul Eraser, Gambit's very own Cajun Explosion, a Hyper Mega-Man, etc... Bottom line: It's a better move than most people think, especially if things get hectic. Use its speed to startle your opponent, but don't throw it out every other second. Otherwise, you'll get punished sooner or later. Cajun Escape (charge down, then up, any punch; ground only) - This move is similar to the Cajun Strike, except for a couple details. For one thing, it is noticeably slower. Secondly, you can control him to a certain extent while he's bouncing from wall to wall. You can make him bounce from one wall to another just like you can in the Cajun Strike, but after two bounces, he will automatically curl up into a ball and drop down on the opponent. You control when he strikes out with his staff by hitting a punch button... like the Cajun Strike, this move has great priority. But since this move is a bit slower, I don't like it as much; there's too good a chance the opponent will be able to react and do some nasty thing to you... Bottom line: If you want to do some wall-bouncing, use the Strike, not this move. If you're playing a beginner, maybe you might want to use this and have a little fun with him, heh... ------------ Super Moves: ------------ Royal Flush (QCF, any two or all three punch buttons) - This super is THE essence of Gambit - it requires savvy for it to be effective, and it looks really damned cool. When you do it, he tosses his staff sky-high, whips out two handfuls of glowing cards from within his coat, and coolly eyes his opponent as he prepares to bombard the sucker. During all this he exclaims, "Royal FLUSH!" And when he says "FLUSH!", he lets loose a horde of kinetic cards that can connect for up to 30+ (37?) hits. Then he catches his falling staff, turns away from the opponent, snaps his fingers, and mumbles something that sounds really cool. The most stylish super in the game, by far... unfortunately, it isn't very easy to combo with it. It does recover much faster than the X-Men Vs. SF version (thank heavens), but it still has a bit of recovery time. Also, the Royal Flush lands all of its hits ONLY when the opponent is standing or crouching on the ground. If the opponent is lying on the ground (as in an OTG combo), you'll only get a few weak hits. If the opponent is vulnerable while hovering just above the ground, you'll only get a few weak hits... at least the Royal Flush still combos after his launcher, the crouching fierce. The flying staff has sucky range, though, so keep that in mind if you try to knock a launched opponent down into his kinetic card frenzy. As anti-air, don't even bother. 99% of the time you'll miss, and get killed in the process... Cajun Explosion (QCF or QCB, all three kicks) - This super is also visually quite impressive, although it doesn't quite have the flair of the Royal Flush. Depending on which motion you do, Gambit will fly up to either the left or right side of the screen (QCF makes him go to the right, QCB to the left). Then he does the same throwing motion as an air Kinetic Card, releasing several HUGE (I mean HUGE) kinetic cards that rumble all the way across the screen and obliterate almost anything in their path. Gambit then drops back down to the ground... Gambit's new super is a very useful one. It is best used for chipping damage, and it's great for mind games. The recovery is practically instantaneous, and he can even block as he comes down. You can't really combo it, so you have to rely on guile and a little luck to hit people with it... like the Cajun Strike, Gambit can be knocked out of the sky while he's leaping to the wall, and he will not be able to do his super. So don't just do this super without any worries whatsoever... yet another warning: if the opponent is standing next to the wall RIGHT under Gambit when Gambit lets loose his Cajun Explosion, the opponent might not be touched. That's the only part of the screen that isn't covered by the Cajun Explosion. If the enemy is under you, get ready to tech-hit out of a throw when you land... mess around with this super and figure out ways to land it, because it does worthwhile damage and is nearly risk-free... ------- Combos: ------- Launchers: crouching fierce punch Air Combo Finishers: Fierce, Roundhouse, Roundhouse Air Throw Team Counter: Jab Cajun Slash Team Super Move: Royal Flush Ground Series: ZigZag Jump Series: ZigZag Super Jump Series: ZigZag Man, Gambit must have been doing some serious weightlifiting between games! He is so much stronger now... but seriously, he IS more powerful & he is still versatile when it comes to combos, although he can't mix and match like Wolverine or Strider. I like to start off most of his ground combos with c. short, because it has better range than any of his other jabs and shorts. And a good Gambit player must ALWAYS be able to start a jump-in combo with J. Fierce -> J. Roundhouse. And when your opponent gets the hang of your double-hit jump-in, just use good old J. Fierce. Hopefully he'll still be blocking high for the incoming J. Roundhouse, and when you land in front of him, you'll be able to slip in a low attack if he isn't paying attention... here are just a couple combos that you can do to beat down your opponent... BTW, Gambit's air combo is kind of slow and quirky. For some reason, I find it easier to finish all five air hits with his Roundhouse, rather than his Fierce. It comes out faster, I guess... You can do most of these combos after a jump-in attack, or simply after a dash-in. Some examples of jump-ins are J. Fierce -> J. Roundhouse, or J. Short -> J. Forward... (1) C. Jab -> C. Short -> C. Forward XX Fierce Cajun Slash (2) C. Short -> C. Fierce XX Royal Flush (3) C. Jab -> C. Short -> C. Fierce /\ S.J. Jab -> S.J. Short -> S.J. Strong -> S.J. Forward -> S.J. Roundhouse (4) C. Jab -> C. Short -> C. Fierce /\ S.J. Jab -> S.J. Short -> S.J. Strong -> S.J. Forward -> Roundhouse Air Throw -> *Air Kinetic Card (5) C. Short -> S. Roundhouse -> jab Kinetic Card -> D.C. Short -> C. Fierce /\ S.J. Jab -> S.J. Strong -> S.J. Roundhouse (6) C. Short -> S. Roundhouse -> jab Kinetic Card -> Royal Flush (7) (in corner) Strong/Fierce Throw -> D.C. Short -> C. Fierce /\ S.J. Jab -> S.J. Strong -> S.J. Roundhouse (8) Strong/Fierce Throw -> Royal Flush (9) Connect with a Cajun Strike -> C. Short -> C. Fierce /\ S.J. Jab -> S.J. Strong -> S.J. Roundhouse (10) C. Short -> S. Forward -> S. Fierce XX jab Cajun Slash (11) D.C. Jab -> C. Short -> C. Forward -> C. Roundhouse -> Any of his OTG attacks (12) Connect with multi-hit helper (Colossus is ideal) -> Cajun Explosion/Royal Flush (13) Connect with multi-hit helper (Colossus is ideal) -> Fierce Kinetic Card -> Royal Flush (14) (you are close to edge of screen with your back to it) C. Short -> S. Roundhouse -> Rogue helper attack -> Fierce Kinetic Card -> Royal Flush (15) Trick Card -> D.C. Short -> C. Fierce -> S.J. Jab -> S.J. Strong -> S.J. Roundhouse Comments On Above Combos: (1) Standard bread-and-butter combo for Gambit. You can do variants of this combo, but you can only do the Fierce Slash after a Forward or Strong, not a Fierce or S. Roundhouse. Use the Jab Slash after a standing Fierce or Roundhouse... (2) One of his few super combos. Looks good, does more damage than in X-Men Vs. SF... okay, so it doesn't do more damage. Who cares? It's damage, and it still looks good. What more could a true Gambit player ask for?... (3) Standard air combo for Gambit. Unless you're good at dashing in after jump-ins, don't try to do this after a jump-in. His C. Fierce will most likely miss, due to its bad range. Sometimes it's better to skip the jab, to ensure that the C. Fierce does not whiff... (4) A variant of combo (3). The Air Kinetic Card at the end doesn't combo, of course, but your air throw will leave your opponent right in the sights of your Air Kinetic Card when he gets up. Free blocking damage if he is paying attention, a bit more damage if he is asleep at the joystick... credit for this combo (well, I tacked on the Air Kinetic Card part, bleh) goes to Sabre (sabre_y@usa.net) (5) I got this Kinetic Card-OTG combo from Min Sub Kim's Gambit faq in gamefaqs.com. More hits, more damage, more style! Good stuff indeed... (6) I also mooched this combo off Sabre's faq. More often then not, if you pull this off, you will be crying in despair at the pitiful damage the Royal Flush does afterwards. I don't think it does barely any more damage than combo (5), therefore it might not be worth a super meter. But hey, if you got super meters, use them... (7) Gambit's throw is so damned useful. His throw is the only one where people cannot safety roll out of it. Therefore, you are guaranteed a nice little OTG combo. Cool... (8) I was AFRAID of using this combo in XMen, cuz if I didn't time the Royal Flush just right, the opponent would get up in time to block Gambit's Royal Flush. And in XMen, Gambit was pretty much dead if his Royal Flush was ever blocked (especially against Cyclops, grrr). For MvC, the timing is just as demanding, but at least Gambit isn't guaranteed instant death (in some situations, at least)... (9) I found out that you could OTG after the Cajun Strike by accident. I had just landed a Cajun Strike on the CPU, and I was carelessly plunking away on the short button - whoa! My combo counter just jumped up to two?! I was so surprised, I didn't follow it up with any other stuff, but I'm sure you can do any combo after the Cajun Strike, assuming it starts with an OTG attack like C. Short. I'll have to pull this off a couple more times to verify this trick, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't dreaming. I think the kick has to hit a mid-air opponent for this to work. You know Strider's Teleporting Kick? I know for a FACT that you can OTG with Strider after landing his kick on a mid-air opponent, so it is quite possible that Gambit can do the same thing... (10) You gotta be quick with the Jab Cajun Slash to land this one. Not a practical combo, since the S. Fierce misses most crouching opponents. This works well only on the big guys, like 'Gief, Venom, and Hulk (I'm not even sure about Venom). But still, try to do this to your opponent. It looks like you're bitch-slapping him around with your stick... (11) Simple OTG combo, where you can use his Royal Flush or Strong/ Fierce Cajun Slash. This type of OTG combo is a bit risky, especially when the opponent is looking for you to end a combo with a sweeping roundhouse. The Kinetic Card OTG combos don't fall under this category, because the opponent cannot roll after being hit by a Kinetic Card... however, if your opponent is a dumb-ass button masher who plays EASY mode, go ahead and beat down on him with these combos, because you know an unskilled chump like him can't roll... (12) If you're good at landing helper attacks, this is going to be useful for you. Use the Royal Flush here, not the Cajun Explosion. The Flush will usually do at least the same amount of damage, and it does a lot more if you hit the opponent with the sweet spot of the Royal Flush... (13) This version of (12) usually ensures that you get the maximum damage out of your Royal Flush, since the Fierce Kinetic Card sets it up so well. This one will put a real hurting on the opponent. It takes time for the Fierce Card to come out, so do it early... (14) Credit for the idea of using Rogue comes from a Shadow Lady faq by CAlexandre. After I read the faq, I knew I HAD to try find a combo using both Rogue and Gambit ^_^. Anyway, this is not a practical combo, since the positioning of the opponent has to be just right, and Rogue is not exactly the best helper out there... and on top of all that, the Fierce Kinetic Card is a bitch to time; after Rogue connects, you have to pause a split second, then do the motion for the Kinetic Card. It's easier to just skip the Card and go directly to the Royal Flush, but the damage usually sucks then... spectators will love this combo if you pull it off... (15) I realized that I didn't have a Trick Card combo, so I just threw one in for the heck of it. The chances of landing a Trick Card are pretty slim, though, so don't expect to use this combo or any other variations too much... ----------------- General Strategy: ----------------- Okay, if you're the type of guy who likes to sit and block and let the opponent come to you, Gambit is NOT for you. IMHO, a good Gambit player never stays still, whether he's dashing forward, backwards, jumping, super-jumping, whatever. However, don't just run away; you should be using his mobility and elusiveness in order to find an offensive opening. Once Gambit is on the offensive, he can be a GREAT pressure character. He's not as fast as Wolvey-Spidey-Strider, but he is still deceptively quick, and his moves have good enough range and priority to let you poke and bother your opponent into submission... his offensive manuevers are numerous, and they often leave you in position to continue your offensive. If you're pestering a blocking opponent, finish up with a Jab Kinetic Card or a Strong/Fierce Cajun Slash; if they block them, you're virtually safe afterwards. Opponents can time it so they jump over the Kinetic Card, but you'll usually recover in time before they can hit you; if they do this a lot, occasionally use the Trick Card instead of the Kinetic Card. Even if they don't jump, usually they're waiting for a Kinetic Card or Cajun Slash, so the Trick Card shouldn't leave you too wide open. Sometimes, don't do anything at all after they block a punch or kick; just see what they do, and react accordingly... poke with a Jab Cajun Slash or S. Fierce if you realize that you haven't poked with either of them for a while. Don't get predictable with these two great pokes, or you might get a fireball or a super in your face. If you follow my advice and never stay still with Gambit, you'll often find yourself in position to use his S. Roundhouse a lot on jumping opponents who have over-jumped you. Follow up with a Jab Kinetic Card, and you can get an OTG combo afterwards. His S. Strong is also usable in this situation... use a lot of crouching attacks so you can charge for an occasional Cajun Strike. If they jump, do the Cajun Strike and it'll beat practically any jump attack they try. Your recovery afterwards is sensational, so you can continue to beat down on them afterwards. As a matter of fact, do a lot of Cajun Strikes, especially against the 3 pixies (they have no good defense against it); if they start getting impatient and you sense they may try something risky to knock you out of your Cajun Strike (i.e. Ultimate Web Throw, Fatal Claw, etc.), pull out a Cajun Explosion instead, you might nail 'em... if you can, trip them up a lot for OTG combos. If they're good rollers, don't follow up with an OTG; follow their roll and throw them with a S. Strong when they get up. THEN do an OTG combo off of Gambit's throw, heh heh... they'll become reluctant to roll then. Even if you miss, his S. Strong has such good priority, it'll beat almost anything they try, so follow up with a S. Forward -> Fierce Cajun Slash, just in case you miss the throw... Gambit's defensive options are not as sophisticated. First and foremost, his launcher: it's a little slow, but it's great once he gets his staff out. It has pretty bad horizontal range, it's better against people over the top of his head... jumping around like an idiot and using J. Fierce is okay, but it's boring and people can get around it... if things get too hot, super jumping and letting loose a couple Air Kinetic Cards will slow things down in your favor... if you can aim the Air Kinetic Card well, you can annoy your opponent a LOT with it... on super-jumpy opponents, you don't have to just wait for them with your launcher. Intercepting them with a quick S.J. Jab -> S.J. Strong -> S.J. Roundhouse -> Kinetic Card is good (the Kinetic Card doesn't combo, but if they block, it's free chip damage)... a Cajun Strike is usually safe to do as they're landing... if they jump ALL the time and do nothing but block whenever they descend, throw them... speaking of throws. if your opponent is a cheap booger, tick for throws. S. Short is a GREAT tick; it sets up his S. Strong punch throw very well. And when it comes to throws, Gambit's throw is one of the best. If your opponent is throw-wary and starts to thrash after your tick cuz he's trying to tech-hit your upcoming throw, make like you're going to throw, then do a chain like Gambit's C. Short -> C. Strong -> C. Forward (his C. Short beats a lot of stuff). If you see that your chain has landed on your opponent, just keep follow the chain and finish with something like a Fierce Cajun Slash... as far as who you should pick to be your helper, I guess you'd just have to join the crowd and pick Colossus by holding Start+Jab+Strong+ Forward (as if you didn't already know). Gambit's defenses are sub-par, and he needs a defensive helper to help bail him out of nasty situations... Gambit's team Counter is his Jab Cajun Slash, and it is quite useful as far as counters go. If your teammate needs to switch out and you're blocking a guy who's dialing away at you, do the counter (Back, Down, Fierce+Roundhouse). Chances are Gambit will hop in and smack the bad guy away... -------------------- Character Match-Ups: -------------------- Yawn. I'm starting to bore myself. Forget this crap, let's just get on to the character match-ups. Each character will be evaluated as both a potential opponent and partner of Gambit's... and there will be no how-to-fight-the-lame-CPU info here... BTW, just for the heck of it, I'm going to comment on each character's coolness/style factor, and see just how the others stack up to Gambit. Expect a little bias here and there because, after all, Gambit is the supreme being of style... and here are the characters, in alphabetical order (well, actually, all the secret characters are stuffed in at the end)... Captain America - As an opponent: Put Cap on the defensive if you can, since his defense is much worse than his formidable offense. If you find yourself at a distance from him, use a lot of Kinetic cards, he can't get around them that well. If he cartwheels, throw him or hit him as he is coming out of it... if he's being a retard and throwing his shield a lot, toss out a random Royal Flush; even if you guess wrong and he blocks it, he can't reach you with anything good... As a partner: I don't use Cap that much, he's a little slow for my tastes. It's a pity too, because everything else he has works for him: good air combos, super combos, his shield, his fireball... too many pixies run circles around my Cap when I use him, though. If you can use Cap well, though, this team is certainly a fearsome one... Style Comparison: Cap is, of course, a heroic fellow, something like Strider and Jin. His costume is a bit campier, though... his style points come from his Final Justice, which is in my opinion, the second-best Hand- To-Hand-Beat-'Em-Up Super in the game (Ragnarok is first)... nothing else really sticks out in my mind, however... Edge: Gambit, by a comfortable margin. Cap's style is solid, but mostly nothing spectacular... Captain Commando - As an opponent: He is one powerful newcomer. He can play keep-away, but he can just as easily go on the offensive. He has pretty good range and priority, but you do too, and you're quicker than him. Keep him on the ground and GET ON HIS ASS. A fireball war with Kinetic Cards versus Captain Fires is a bad idea. If you jump in and block a Captain Corridor, you have time to dash in and combo him. Block an up-close Captain Fire or Captain Sword on the ground, jab Cajun Slash him while he recovers. Most Cap Com players pick Colossus to set up his Captain Storm, be careful about his helper attack... As a partner: I don't play with him much, so I'm not sure about him. He doesn't have much variety in his gameplay, but he does have simple, effective combos. He takes damage like a BITCH though, and I find that he can't really keep up with the pixies in this game. He is a good partner for some people, but I don't think Gambit is one of them... Style Comparison: This guy definitely has style. His earth-shaking Captain Corridor is awesome, and when he first appears on the screen before the match with all those laser sounds in the background, he does it with a lot of flair... unfortunately, he really needs to take a good look at his entourage. That ninja guy is okay, the mummy is iffy... but what's up with that robot-driving, missile-launching baby?! The Captain's style points take a big nosedive for that one... Style Edge: Gambit. It would be really close if it weren't for Diaper Boy... Chun Li - As an opponent: Wow, she's got painful combos in this game. Her Head Stomp has GREAT priority, and in most cases, it will beat your launcher; so, if she's jumping in, by all means, don't stay still! Jump up with her, jump away from her, dash back and use S. Fierce, let Colossus take a run at her... basically, you want to keep her grounded. Ground battles are now a lot more bearable against her, since she is no longer invincible after her Lightning Kick super. Jumping in can be risky. Your J. Fierce can trade with or occasionally beat her launcher, but it's not worth the risk; getting launched and getting Air Demoned HURTS. Your projectile is superior to hers, keep dealing out those Kinetic Cards to her when you can... when blocking, watch out for that overhead Axe Kick... As a partner: I've gotten used to her style, and she is a GREAT partner for Gambit. Gambit can build up super meters like crazy, and Chun Li can use up supers like crazy with her brutal super combos. She has sick priority on the ground and air, takes damage moderately well, damn, she's a GOOD character in this game. Great team... Style Comparison: Well, gee, let's see here... hmm. She is pretty much the same old Chun Li. Lightning kicks, triple jumps, Kikkokens, yeah, yeah... she's a cute, butt-kicking gal, but she just doesn't have anything especially stylish about her. I must admit, though, her Air Demon super is pretty cool, with all of those stamped-out Chinese characters. When you connect with it, it is just so demoralizing for your opponent... but still, it's not enough. One cool move by itself can't carry her to victory against a style guy like Gambit... Style Edge: Gambit. Gambit - As an opponent: Be the more aggressive of the two, since Gambit's defense isn't too hot. However, it may be tough to pin Gambit down... block a Royal Flush, you can Flush him right back... I dunno, nothing I can say, I haven't played against many Gambits (I've played against two, to be precise)... play smarter than your opponent, that's all I can really say... As a partner: Not possible. Man, I wish you could have two Gambits as a team... in XvSF, it was possible, and boy, a double Royal Flush is pretty damned cool... Style Comparison: What do you know, a tie! However, I do like his 2-Player colors a little better than his 1-Player colors... Style Edge: A tie. At last, Gambit has an equal... Hulk - As an opponent: I dunno, I haven't played any real Hulk players yet. Right now, I'd say that when you're in close, make sure you put on the heat and dial away his super armor real quick. If he blocks a lot, that's ok; dance around and throw ground and air Kinetic Cards to bother him. If you are blocking his Rocks-From-The-Sky super, push-block him away and Royal Flush him while he's still summoning rocks from above... more on this guy later, maybe... As a partner: No clue. Never played the guy. He can chain his supers, so a team super (Gamma Flush) sounds good, but... I just have no idea if this is a good team or not. It could be... Style Comparison: Big Green is a likable lug, but he has no real style. All he does is hit you or throw rocks at you (of course, a strong guy like him doesn't really need anything else)... no showy special moves, no quirks in his gameplay... kind of boring, if you ask me. Shrug... Style Edge: Gambit, always... Mega Man - As an opponent: This will be an incredibly annoying fight, but it should be okay if you stay cool and patient. The bottom line is, get CLOSE to him and stay on his ass. If he's pounding you with Mega-Busters from a distance, that's okay; throw out an occasional Royal Flush and see if you can catch him in mid-fireball. Even if he blocks the Flush, he doesn't have anything quick enough to take you out from a distance. It's risky to jump in on him. It's tough to jump in on him, since he's such a small target; his launcher is also real good, and his Air-Hyper-MegaMan-Combo hurts a lot (most of you probably know this by now, though)... As a partner: I'm certainly no good with him, and I don't think he is really a good partner for Gambit. Neither have really powerful combos, which means that their damage potential compared to the opponents will usually be unfavorable... Mega is a keep-away artist, and I'm not a hard-core keep-away guy, although I will play keep-away sometimes. But hey, maybe a good Mega can complement an aggressive Gambit; too bad for me, my Mega kinda sucks... Style Comparison: This is really unfair for Mega-Man, because he was designed to be cute and funny, not cool and stylish. One thing I have to admit, his Hyper Mega-Man is one intimidating super. I'd be scared if a huge-ass beam was coming my way and I had to block it with a lousy staff and some Cajun stubble... Style Edge: Gambit, of course. I like Mega-Man, but he's just not style material... Morrigan - As an opponent: Morrigan needs room to fight, so you don't want to give her any. Go on the offensive and pin her down. She is WEAK, so trading hits with her is a good idea, she'll be dead long before you are. But your opponent will probably be aware of that, so he'll just throw ground Soul Fists, jumping Soul Fists, super-jumping Soul Fists, you name it. If you can't get close, just jump around with her and throw Air Kinetic Cards all over the place... if you block a Soul Fist up close, I think you can Jab Cajun Slash her before she recovers. DO NOT fire a random Royal Flush; if she blocks, her Soul Eraser is quick enough to get you before you recover. Her recovery time for her supers is kind of lousy. After a blocked Darkness Illusion or Silhouette Blade, dash in and combo. After a blocked Soul Eraser, you have time to hurt her, although not much... be patient. Morrigan can be very irritating and elusive... As a partner: Although she is pretty weak, I like to use Morrigan a lot. She has a keep-away game, combos, and a great command throw in the Vector Drain. Unfortunately, she dies way too fast... this team doesn't have brutal super combos, but you can use super meters in other ways (namely, abusing the unblockability of Morrigan's Level 3 Super, hee hee)... IMO, these two don't quite click as partners. Both play kind of finesse styles, and neither have brutal, brawling combos. A fun team, yes. A great team? Not really... Style Comparison: I dunno, sexiness doesn't quite equate to style, does it? She is about as provocative as a two-dimensional character can get, but I don't think she's really stylish... for some reason, I think her artwork isn't very good. She looks pretty poorly-drawn compared to the other characters... her Level 3 super is a riot, though. It doesn't do dick for damage, but I'll go ahead and give her kudos for that... Style Edge: Gambit, again. Ryu/Akuma/Ken - As an oppponent: These guys AGAIN? Yawn... you'll want to stay close on Ryu, although that could be difficult to do. In Ryu and Akuma mode, he will throw MANY fireballs (what's up, Young!). That's ok, bug him with air Kinetic Cards. If he jumps up after you, whack him with your J. Fierce, land with him, and pummel him on the ground. Block a Hadoken up close? Immediately jab Cajun Slash him, you will tag him before he recovers (smacks of XvSF, yes?)... stay close with him, you can push him around because you're quicker and have better range. Akuma's dive kick will beat your launcher a lot. One way to deal with that dive kick is to simply jump away and whack at his kicking self with your J. Fierce from a distance. It's not very pretty, but it works... go on a careful offensive to beat this classic (a.k.a. boring and dull) character... this grows tiresome... As a partner: He's a solid partner for Gambit, I guess. He can combo his supers in all modes, he has decent strength, speed, and fireball. Team super here is nice and comboable (Shinkuu Flush sounds so dorky, though)... this is a good team, but it's not a team for me. Ryu is too boring.. Style Comparison: Whatever. Style Edge: Gambit, by a landslide. Jin Saotome - As an opponent: Go on the offensive, because Jin's defense and counter-attacking is poor. Jin is much more effective as a crazily-jumping offensive character; he has great priority with his flaming attacks, and his J. Fierce gives Gambit's launcher some problems. If you end up being far away from Jin, however, then get really defensive and use ground and Kinetic Cards on the fireball-less Jin. Jin has problems against keep-away tactics... all of his special moves leave him wide open. Block a Blodia Punch, you have time to Jab Cajun Slash him, or if he's really close, dash in and combo him. After a blocked Blodia Vulcan, you can tag him with a Royal Flush after he drops out of the cockpit. His Super Typhoon can be really tricky in crossing you up in mid-air, be careful about that... you should never underestimate anybody, and Jin is no exception. He's one strong dude... As a partner: He's not a really great character, but he's still got some redeeming qualities. His easily-comboed super makes sure super meters don't go to waste, and a team super (Blodia Flush) will take off a LOT. This is definitely a fun team, although not a serious team... Style Comparison: I love this guy, Blodiiyaaaa! Of course, he isn't anywhere as suave as Gambit, since he's screaming bloody murder half the time, but he has this certain desperate, valiant manner that makes me root for him. You can tell that he's giving it all he's got, and you gotta admire him for that. Flaming normal punches and kicks, larger-than life mecha super moves, that wind-whipping scarf and bandanna... he's definitely got some style. Can you tell I'm a sucker for seemingly underdog characters?... Style Edge: Gambit. Jin's likable and all, but he's rough around the edges. Spiderman - As an opponent: Uh oh. Spidey can be tough. Is it just me or do his punches and kicks have NUTZ priority and do insane damage?! Well, I guess it's only fair since Spidey fights with only his fists, a couple web-shooters, his wits, and nothing else... this is a lot like fighting Strider, except Spidey takes hits better. Go on the offensive if you can, he's less effective when he's playing defensive. Spidey RULES the air and has incredible air-throw priority (see Strider on how to handle that air-throw priority)... I dunno, this fight is a lot like Strider, except Spidey has a more competent projectile to bug you with... just play smarter and quicker than Spidey, he doesn't have any glaring weaknesses you can take advantage of... As a partner: Spidey is a great partner for anyone, and Gambit is no exception. Neither have reliable super combos, but they still hit hard enough to be a very dangerous team. This team is fast enough to dance with any of the pixies, and quick enough to pin down turtling fireballers. Very good team, especially if you are feeling cheesy and use the 2-on-1 a lot... Style Comparison: Well, I don't know about this guy, he's pretty low-key. There's nothing really special about him. None of his moves really look all that good (well, his taunts are okay)... a Maximum Spider looks okay, but... you know, this guy is just plain bland. He's all about dashing and jumping and punching and kicking, with a periodic Web Ball or Web Throw. His punches and kicks can look funny and crazy sometimes (his wild thrashing Crawler Assault comes to mind), but that's not quite style... I like this guy, but not because of his style... Style Edge: Gambit, once again. Hiryu Strider - As an opponent: Oh boy. He can be really tough. NEVER stay still, don't let him get one of his lethal ground combos on you. Strider's sword is equal to Gambit's staff in range, if not superior. If you're launching a jumping Strider, make sure he is close over your head; at a distance, his J. Fierce beats Gambit's horizontally-challenged launcher. His air-throw priority is nutz during air-to-air battles, and it usually swallows any short-ranged jab or short. Use an early J. Fierce or Roundhouse on a jumpy Strider if his air throw keeps swallowing your J. Jab or Short. If he's up in your face, push- blocking and then quickly throwing out a random Royal Flush isn't such a bad tactic. If you catch him in mid-move, he gets hurt a LOT. If he blocks the Royal Flush, no big deal; he has no long-range super to hit you with... you have a fireball, he doesn't; therefore, play keep-away if you want. Use a lot of Kinetic cards, especially the air version... As a partner: I love this guy, even though he takes a damage like a baby. His sword and Gambit's staff give this team a RIDICULOUS advantage in range. Super combos are not really needed here; Strider can use up those super meters with his chip-you-to-death Legion and pester-you-to-death Ouroboros. Strider is a good teammate for a lot of people, and Gambit is one of them, IMO... Style Comparison: This guy is just too damned cool, what can I say? He's got that kick-ass funky two-handled Cypher sword, half of his special moves involve pointing a defiant finger at the enemy, and the Ragnarok super looks and feels so painful when you land it! He's got this heroic aura about him, and he damn well knows it. Why else does he do all that posing whenever he activates Ouroboros or aims his Legion of animals at you? Aggressive gameplay and lots of tricks up his sleeves. My gosh, this is gonna be close... Style Edge: Str-... Gam-... Str-... Gambit. Oh so barely Gambit... Venom - As an opponent: Hmm. Be more cautious when attacking, he is a good turtler. Gambit's J. Fierce will trade hits with Venom's S. Roundhouse at best... don't EVER get caught up in a multi-hit helper attack like Colossus; Venom'll do the Venom Web and it will HURT... Venom will throw out Venom Fangs for chipping damage; block them and laugh as you ram on S. Fierce to smack him back across the screen (don't forget to throw a Kinetic Card after the S. Fierce)... his Venom Fang does go over fireballs, even Gambit's Kinetic Card. So don't throw Kinetic Cards like there's no tomorrow... if you're in the air, get ABOVE him. His jumping Roundhouse Thrashing-Symbiote attack has great priority. If he gets you in his Web-Coffin throw, THRASH the joystick like nuts to get out as fast as possible... pester him with air Kinetic Cards from time to time, he can't do much about them... be patient. You have superior chipping damage to him, and he'll have to stop turtling and attack you sooner or later (most Venom players tend to turtle, IMO)... if you block his Symbiote-Wave super, a quick Royal Flush might get him before he recovers, I'm not sure... As a partner: I don't use Venom much. He only has that one really nice air-combo. Otherwise, he's kind of combo-unfriendly. Of course, he doesn't really need combos. His Fierce attacks and his Venom Fang are great pokes... if you're good with Venom, this could be a good team, I guess... Style Comparison: Heh heh, everyone knows that Venom is one bad-ass motherf*cker. He slinks around like a stealthy predator, flings about his symbiote with a lot of show, and has one bad-ass attitude. Like Wolverine, he doesn't really seem to care about style, but he still has quite a bit of flair to him... unfortunately, he has one small problem: he drools. A LOT. As in, he slobbers all over the place with a tongue that dangles down near his sternum. I know it's supposed to make him look more vicious and all, but it does absolutely NOTHING for his style points. Actually, the frothing mad-dog look knocks him down quite a bit... sorry, Venom... Style Edge: Gambit, yet again... War Machine - As an opponent: He is SLOW. Push him around, get in close, and keep on whacking at him with your stick. From a distance, his shoulder cannon can be really annoying, but it's relatively easy to jump over, and, if you block it in close, immediately Jab Cajun Slash him. Jumping in is pretty safe, watch out for the War Destroyer. Block a Proton Cannon, Royal Flush him. If he flies, use a Cajun Explosion (he can't block during flight). As a matter of fact, throw out more Cajun Explosions than usual in this fight. Maybe you'll catch him in mid-Flight, mid-Smart Bomb, mid-Shoulder Cannon, whatever. You can take him on ground or air, although ground is preferable. His Knee Dive gives your launcher a little trouble. If he's about to Knee Dive, jump up beside him and whack him with a J. Fierce or J. Roundhouse... As a partner: Hmmm, this could be an interesting team, although I find W.M. to be very combo-unfriendly. This team can bug you all day long, with Kinetic Cards, Smart Bombs, Shoulder Cannons, etc. 2-on-1's with the ultra-safe Cajun Explosion and War Destroyer can lead to HUGE chip damage... an interesting team, but probably not a good team... Style Comparison: Although War Machine is horrendously slow, I think this guy has potential. His special and normal moves have a lot of little tricks to them, and if I ever get the hang of them, I think he could be really fun to play... as far as flair goes, none of his special moves look all that great - no, wait, how could I forget?! PROTON CANNON! The BEST super beam move in the game! When someone pulls out from his ass a gun THAT huge, you just KNOW that you're messing around with some MAJOR power here. War Machine gets a big style- point boost because of that move... Style Edge: Gambit. But I must say once again, the Proton Cannon is awesome... Wolverine - As an opponent: Do NOT stay still! Do NOT let Wolvey slip in one of his lethal ground combos! Jump a lot and whack him with your stick, it's a lot better than testing Wolvey's priority on the ground. Wolvey, like Strider and Spidey, has sick air-throw range, be careful about that... but don't just turtle. Wolvey is fast enough to get around turtling, and eventually he'll get his punches in; and one of his super combos will win over a bunch of blocked fireballs anyday. As far as Wolvey's dreaded stomp kick goes, it isn't all that hard to deal with it. When you see Wolverine do it, jump up and let him stomp kick you while you're blocking in the air. Even if he cancels it into a J. Roundhouse, Wolvey STILL bounces away from you as if he has bounced away from just doing a Stomp Kick by itself. He is, of course, vulnerable at this point. You should land on the ground a moment before he does, and hopefully you can dash up and launch the descending Wolvey with a S. Strong -> C. Fierce -> air combo. Wolvey can get around this tactic, but I don't want to talk about it, since Wolvey is already too powerful as he is... As a partner: These guys were my fave team in XvSF, and he is probably the best partner for my Gambit in MvC. Their team super hurts like hell, and Wolvey's super combos alone hurt like hell. No sirree, using up super meters here shouldn't be any problem... what can I say, Wolvey's one of the best. Actually, I don't use Wolvey much anymore, therefore my skills with him have detoriated. But still, he and Gambit work very nicely together... Style Comparison: Although some people hate Wolverine's gameplay, I don't mind it so much. Up-close, in-your-face combat, pure and simple. He has enough tricks up his sleeves to keep things interesting (aimable Drill Claw, that DF+Fierce claw slide, and the D+Roundhouse Dart Kick, among other things)... he's quite a refreshing change of pace from turtlers and fireballers... but as far as style goes, let's face it: he's just a freakin' animal. He growls whenever he swipes at you, and he's barely able to spit out coherent words when he does his moves, like "BeserkerErGrPhlmx BARRAGE!" And while Gambit has stubble because he looks cool with it, Wolverine's stubble just makes the savage guy look unkempt. Don't get me wrong, I like Wolverine and his attitude. But he simply doesn't give a damn about style... Style Edge: Gambit. If you need more convincing, just take a look at Wolverine's wacko hairdo... Zangief - As an opponent: Um, I don't know. I haven't played any good Zangiefs yet. But I do know this; stay AWAY from him, unless you've got a good ground combo going. If he's Iron Body mode, don't even combo him. Just run away and throw a Cajun Explosion. Don't roll if he knocks you down, because he's waiting to throw you once you get back up from your roll. Kinetic card, Cajun Slash, J. Fierce, S. Fierce, use your range to beat this guy's face to the dirt. When I play a Zangief pro, I'll let you know some more... As a partner: Maybe someday I'll start using this guy. I can do the 360 motion and everything for Alpha and all that, but MvC is all about pretty combos (or, at least that's why I play it). And Zangief don't got no pretty combos... Style Comparison: Gee, let's see here... Zangief likes to wear speedos. Enough said. Style Edge: Give me a break. Red Venom - As an opponent: My gosh, when I first fought against Red Venom, I didn't want ANY part of this guy. He was so freakin' fast, and he looked so freakin' pissed, with his frothing mouth and all. He was all over the place, and Gambit looked like an crippled sloth next to him... I'd hoped that my Gambit would last long enough to maybe land a couple solid hits on the guy before he tore Gambit to shreds. So I got my solid hits in, hoping that my Strider would fare better - what the heck?! Red Venom was already DEAD! From a couple combos?! And that was when I realized this guy was nothing but a seething, frothing wimp. You have to play a little defensive against Red Venom, but don't turtle up. Get your licks in, and this guy will be out of comission before you know it... As a partner: No. Don't. He just takes damage way too bad. If you want to show off against scrubs, go ahead, but otherwise, this team (and any other team with Red Venom) is usually a bad team... Style Comparison: See Venom. Style Edge: Why are you even reading this sentence? You know who I'm gonna pick, don't you? Golden War Machine - As an opponent: Huh. GWM can be annoying if played right. When fighting him, hit him hard and get out as fast as you can, his throw range is exceptionally good. But you don't want to stay too far away, because he might try playing keep away all day. But still, he can't block, and you can. It shouldn't be too hard... BTW, GWM's Missile-Launching Proton-Cannon Ripoff looks really stupid, if you ask me... As a partner: Probably not a good idea. Thumbs down on this team. Style Comparison: See War Machine. Style Edge: See War Machine. Roll - As an opponent: Good LORD, what in the world was Capcom thinking when they put this character in the game?! She is SO weak, and her special moves are SO bad! Even Morrigan seems like a body builder next to this schoolgirl! Just shrug aside those Mega Busters and FLOWER BOUQUETS (?!), and send her back to whatever elementary school she came from... As a partner: Uh... if you're feeling adventurous or playful, go for it. I would not recommend it, though, if your opponent is lining up guys like Wolverine and Strider for HIS team... Style Comparison: I actually have a lot of fun watching people play Roll. I always root for them (unless I'm playing against them, of course)... her special moves and antics are hilarious, and it just boggles my mind that such an underpowered character could even exist. Cute addition to this game indeed, but cute does not quite equate to style. Sorry, Roll fans... Style Edge: Gambit is style incarnate! Shadow Lady - As an opponent: She's basically Chun Li, with keep-away capabilities and no readily-available super combos. Fight her just like you'd Chun Li, except stay on a little closer. Don't give her enough time to release all those weird butt missiles at you; hit her with kinetic cards while those missiles get launched... As a partner: Ah, I guess she could work, since Chun Li is pretty good in this game. But no real super combos between the two... not good. Decent team, I guess... Style Comparison: What style comparison? She's the same old Chun Li, except with butt missiles and that huge Big Bang Laser super. Where the heck did they come up with that stupid name anyway, Big Bang Laser? The super itself is actually pretty cool, kind of like the Proton Cannon in terms of sheer magnitude and power; but the name just ruins the effect... and I won't even start on those silly butt missiles... Style Edge: Who do you think? Orange Hulk, Lilith, and any other secret characters I missed - As an opponent or partner: Who cares? Style Comparison: Who knows? Style Edge: Who else? Final Score of This Faq's Coolness/Style Showdown: Gambit: 20 or so wins The rest of the MvC cast: 0 wins It's official, everyone! Gambit is THE shit when it comes to style... Note: If you had any problems with my scatter-brained logic, too bad. If you wanted the winner to be someone else, write your own faq... -------------- Victory Poses: -------------- This is an utterly useless section, but I'm throwing it in anyway. After you beat your opponent, you want to look cool for all the people watching, right? Well, here's a couple victory poses that'll make Gambit look stylish AND give you bonus points... The ending frames of a ground Kinetic Card - 1000 pts. The last slash of the Strong Cajun Slash - 1000 pts. The diving kick of the Cajun Strike - 1000 pts. Beginning of Royal Flush I * - 10,000 pts. Beginning of Royal Flush II ** - 1,000 pts. End of Royal Flush *** - nothing * = This one is HARD to time. You have to catch him JUST as he reaches inside his coat for his cards. His hands are buried inside his coat, and he looks REALLY slick since his arms are moving so fast, they're nothing but a blur. To top it all off, his coat is flapping in the wind... most of the time you'll miss this frame and end up with the one where he has all these cards in his hands (see next pose)... ** = This one is also tough to get. It's when he has JUST pulled out the cards from his coat. There are apparently several different frames of him holding the cards in his hands; the only frame that gets you points is the first or second one... looks nice, but not as cool as the previous one... *** = This one doesn't have bonus points, but I love this one anyway. If you hit Start and do the Royal Flush right after you've killed your opponent, Gambit will go through the entire Royal Flush animation and end up in his finger-snapping pose, with his back turned to the opponent. The victory pose frame will then freeze, you get a shot of Gambit with his back turned to you, and you will hear him dismiss his fallen opponent: "See ya, cher..." ------------------ Beating Onslaught: ------------------ Geez, beating Onslaught is a piece of cake for me now. You shouldn't have any trouble beating the first form, so pick Michelle as your helper so she can shoot the second form for you (Start+Jab+Short). Against the first form, wait until he pauses after doing one of his Special Moves. Then dash in and do a brief combo that ends with a Jab Kinetic Card, like S. Strong -> S. Fierce -> Jab Kinetic Card. Gambit's recovery from the Kinetic Card is so fast, he can block anything that Onslaught tries to do to him afterwards. All you have to worry about is Onslaught taking advantage of his super armor, but chances are that your combos will be so brief, Onslaught won't have time to do anything. The first form will die pretty soon, and then you will have a fun time trying to jump up and hit that elusive second form without getting blasted or clawed to death. Michelle will be useful because she roughly tracks Onslaught to wherever he goes. Kinetic cards will evaporate those pesky Hyper Gravs; also, if you bonk Onslaught while his Hyper Grav bubbles are still stationary, they will disappear. And last, but not least, if the second form of Onslaught is ALMOST dead, and you KNOW he's going to do that stupid ground-sweep with his claw, go ahead and throw out a Royal Flush just before he charges into the screen. Your cards will kill the bad guy before he can reach you, and it'll look good if you end the game with a super. And after all, looking good is what Gambit's game is all about... ---------------- Gambit's Ending: ---------------- Gambit and Morrigan are facing each other in their taunt poses, I think. Morrigan asks Gambit if he's done playing with his sticks and cards. Gambit is thinking to himself, wow, she's fascinating. And he blabbers about how she's as beautiful and thorny as a rose. Then Rogue suddenly dives in (the same animation as her helper attack), and she carries off Gambit, saying that Gambit shouldn't be playing around without her. Morrigan then says darn, and I thought I was going to have a little fun... pretty corny ending, but it's not too bad. It's better than all those stupid Ryu endings that have him wandering towards some sunset while spewing all this nonsense about honor and fight and whatever... --------------------------- Credits and Final Comments: --------------------------- *Thanks* Go Out To - Hyun for being so damned good at X-Men that I had to get away from generic SF and join the Vs. action... Young for being so terrible at X-Men and giving me an ego boost whenever I thump him in that game :) ... James Chen, Charles Washington, or whoever created the faq notation that I used... Sabre (sabre_y@usa.net) for combos (4), (6), and an exceptional MvC faq... Min Sub Kim (young@all.com.au) for combo (5) and a great Gambit faq... CAlexandre for the inspiration of combo (14) Everyone Else out there who's given out so much useful gaming info to me and the other gamers... Gamefaqs.com for a great site... *Grudges* Go Out To - Any Cheap Guys I've already played and will play in the future...