The Marvel VS. Capcom Team FAQ version 1.1 by Fluffy This FAQ is dedicated to a subject that is seldom discussed in most faqs, teamwork. I think that it is something of interest though. WHAT'S NEW for version 1.1 Damn near everything. THE IMPORTANCE OF TEAMWORK In Marvel vs. Capcom, teamwork is as important as combos. Good teamwork can improve your playing and keep you on the machine longer. Some different aspects of teamwork are: RECOVERY It allows your character a good amount of energy. The more energy that you have, the harder you are too kill. It also gives you better odds of winning when time runs out. This is a great thing for charcters with high stamina, ex. Hulk, Ryu, Venom, etc. because they don't have to spend such a long amount of time recovering. TAGGING Tagging serves as a main function for switching characters. When you tag, your teammate comes in attacking and taunts for a brief second upon arrival. When to tag - I make it a point to tag whenever I've taken a good amount of damage. There are some times when it is good to tag and some that are not so good time. If your opponent has just missed a move with lots of recovery time, it's a good time. If your opponent is turtling in the corner with a level 3 super meter charged, it's not a good time. There are certain times when it is safe to tag. Most obvious is when your opponent is open, like after a special. You can also combo a tag after a launcher. You partner will come in hit your opponent, land and his taunt before your opponent has recovered fully. If you are in the corner, then you can combo it off of a sweep. These combos work for everyone but Zangief because he does his flying body press when he comes in. Tagging can also be used as an offensive weapon when your window of opportunity is very short and you are all the way across the screen. It can hit your opponent out of a super that has a slight recovery, like the Crawler Assault, Royal Flush, Proton Cannon, etc. Tagging out is a great defensive tactic. Your other character coming in will take out almost any move, with a few exceptions. It can be used to halt an overly aggressive opponent and make them think twice about attacking you constantly. The thing to remember about tagging is to keep a cool head if you're about to die. You know you want to tag, but it usually isn't worth it to tag if that means you incoming character is going to suck major damage. Sometimes, it's better to just let that character die and make a comeback with the next one. This also works the other way too. People get paranoid when they are about to die, so they get desperate and tag at the wrong time. If you have someone to that point, don't be so aggresive if you think they are going to tag. Wait for the incoming character and destroy them when they get in. Crossover Counter - The counter is a great way to tag in. Not only do you get to tag, but you also will take out your opponent in the process. Once again, highly useful against overly aggressive opponents and is worth the level of super meter needed. Here is a list of which moves characters will come in doing and there usefullness. Most of these moves are useless against beam supers and you shouldn't try to do a Crossover counter when blocking one. CHUN LI - Kikoken Rank: C- Chun Li's counter is ok. There isn't anything special about it and it will hit most people out of their moves. It isn't the best to use against multi- hitting moves like beams or supers. It's also very slow compared to others. RYU - Hadoken Rank: B- Ryu's works about the same as Chun Li's, except it has more range and is faster too. Same problem with the beams though. KEN/AKUMA MODE - Shoryuken Rank: B In Ken/Akuma mode, Ryu does a Shoryuken. It works great on close-in attacks. It will even interrupt some supers, like the Crawler Assault. ZANGIEF/MEGA ZANGIEF - Flying Powerbomb Rank: B+ Lots of damage when done close and it has a little bit of range. It will suprise the heck out of most people. Mega Zangief will go right through some moves to grab you. MORRIGAN - Soul Fist Rank: B Same as Ryu's, only a little slower. CAPTAIN COMMANDO - Captain Corridor Rank: B+ Lots of damage and will send your opponent flying across the screen. Works best on close-in moves and supers. MEGAMAN - Mega Upper Rank: B Same as Ken's. STRIDER - Ame No Murakamo Rank: B+ It has ok range, speed, and damage. It just isn't that great at anything in particular. SPIDERMAN - Spider Sting Rank: B Same as Ken's. JIN - SAOTOME DYNAMITE Rank: B+ Jin is slightly invincible for a split second while this move is going off. That window can be used to keep him from getting hit by short beams, like War Machine's, and it will hit a close opponent. CAPTAIN AMERICA - Stars 'n Stripes Rank: B Same as Ken's. VENOM - Venom Fang Rank: B+ This works like his normal Venom Fang. Great anti-air move and will stop most if not all ground attacks. It works against some supers, but most beams will still hit unless you are really close. HULK - Gamma Charge Rank: A This is in my opinion, the best counter in the game. Hulk does the Gamma Charge, which has speed, range, priority, and super armor. What else can you ask for? Nothing really. Like most counters, this isn't too effective on beam supers, unless it is done really close to your opponent. GAMBIT - Cajun Slash Rank: A- Gambit performs his jab Cajun Slash and as usual, he does it with style. Works very good as a counter and has some decent range. It's best to use to counter a ground attack. WAR MACHINE - Rupulsar Blast Rank: B- This is a pretty good counter. It works well as both a ground and an air counter. Its only drawback is in the speed department. WOLVERINE - Berserker Barrage Rank: B+ Wolverine does his jab Berserker Barrage. Good for a ground counter, but not so much as an air counter. CROSSOVER COMBINTATIONS While the damage on both supers is toned down, it is still worth doing if you want to do mega damage. Some of these supers are great for damage, but only in the right circumstances. This is a list of the Top Ten Crossover Combination supers in the game as well as a list of honorable mentions. These achieve their ranks by more than just the amount of damage they do. I also count versatility, comboablity, and coolness factor. Here we go, tonight's top tep list: 1.) Captain Eraser-CapCom with Morrigan This double team is one of the most damaging in the game. It also combos off of Captain's launcher. When CapCom starts the Captain Sword, it will push the opponent down and right at the point where it gets horizantal, the Soul Eraser goes off. This super is so wicked that the screen often will look funny. 2.) Berserker Assault or Crawler Barrage X-Spiderman and Wolverine Wolverine does the Berserker Barrage X and Spiderman does the Crawler Assault. This comes in at number two for a couple of reasons. It does very good damage. It also can be initialed by either teammate and it still looks cool. The best thing is that both teammates can do a ground combo with it which makes it very versatile. 3.) Double Final Atomic Buster-Zangief with Hulk When Zangief is close and you initiate the Double Team Super, he and his teammate run at the opponent and grab. They both jump into the air and do a tandem piledriver to the helpless victim. This move is easy to set up and does a lot of damage. The damage it does depends on the partner you have. Since Hulk is the strongest, it will do more than anyone else. 4.) Death Wave or Gamma Bite-Venom and Hulk Venom sends his symbiot across the floor and Hulk rips up the floor with his Gamma Wave. The soon to be dead victim rides a wave of rock and, uh, something. These two supers work great together. They travel at the same speed and do a good amount of damage. Plus, either character can combo it relatively easily. And the names are cool too. 5.) Soul Cannon or Proton Eraser-War Machine and Morrigan Morrigan shoots her Soul Eraser and War Machine shoots his Proton Cannon. This one is up here for one reason-INSANE DAMAGE! This is by far the most damaging Double Team Super in the game. The only problem is that you can't combo it without a helper character. But, it still looks cool. 6.) Star Reppa-Captain America with Ryu (in Ken Mode) This is another damaging super that combos well and looks cool. Cap and Ryu follow each other with Shoryukens and Stars and Stripes. 7.) Blodia Lariat-Jin with Zangief Jin start out by hitting with his fist, followed by the giant robot hitting with its fist, and then Zangief jumps in and starts hitting with his fists and spinning. The number of fists that connect make this one hilarious. It also does decent damage and is easy to combo. I've seen it do up to 80% damage when you start it in the corner. 8.) Hyper Legion or Legion Megaman-Stryder and Megaman Stryder summons his legion of robotic tigers and birds and Megaman shoots a beam and fires off little glowing robots. The pure number of things on the screen at once make this one look really cool. No combo potential though. 9.) Royal Kyaku-Gambit with Chun Li Gambit does the Royal Flush and Chun Li does the Senretsu Kyaku. This one should probably be higher up, but it lacks the coolness factor that the others have. It is pretty easy to combo and does a good chunk of damage. 10.) Shinku Roll-Ryu and Roll Ryu execute the Shinku Hadoken and Roll does the Hyper Roll. Against the bigger characters, the Hadoken will knock them into the lighting beam of Rolls. This one doesn't do much damage, but it looks cool and it has Roll in it. Honorable Mentions Death Star-Venom with Captain America Hyper Flush-Megaman with Gambit Royal Roll-Gambit with Roll (all hail Queen Roll!) TEAMWORK DYNAMICS There are certain things that I should explain before I go any further. First of all, there are two ways to win in MVC. Either kill you opponent or run down the clock until time expires and you're ahead on energy. Some characters do one method better than the other. Some can do them both almost equally. While these seem like rather obvious things, sometimes we forget the small stuff. These are also some terms that I use in this FAQ Heavy hitter - This is the member of the team that you use to does the most damage. Usually the one who starts the match, but not necessarily. Heavy hitters are good combo characters and can usually chain supers. Sometimes I also refer to heavy hitters as hitmen. Same idea. Stallers - Stallers rely on their keep-away abilities to stay away from you and use their chipping abilities to chip away until time runs out and they're ahead. Stallers tend to try to zone you often or fight from as far away as possible to avoid close quarters combat. Bar Chargers - Characters that can charge the super meter relatively quickly. They can be used with heavy hitters that use a lot of super combos for a very deadly team. INDIVIDUAL CHARACTER DISCUSSION This section is more or less a discussion of advantages that certain characters have. Right now, it's rather small as I don't play every single character and some not at all. But, given time, it will be complete. CHUN LI - Chun Li works great as a heavy hitter. She can combo 3 of her 4 supers with relative easy, including the Shichisei Senkuu Kyaku which does incredible damage. Her stalling skills aren't the best in the game, but she can jump around for what seems like forever. She can be the slipperiest character sometimes. She has moderate bar charging abilities too. She works good as a starting character. She can do her damage and build up the bar for the other teammate and do her super combos if she gets an opening. Only flaw is that she can't combo her Crossover Combination. Then again, with the Shichisei, who needs to? Good Partners: Ryu, Venom, Zangief, Captain America, Captain Commando RYU - Ryu is the ultimate street fighter. He's such a great fighter, he can change his wardrobe in the middle of a fight. His Shoto-Switch makes him a versatile character and a versatile partner. Ryu has decent stalling abilities and comboing abilities. Ken can combo better, but can't keep away. Akuma can keep away and combo, but doesn't do as much damage as Ken and Ryu. In all three modes, he can combo his Crossover Combination, which means he plays well with a character the has a powerful, but uncomboable team super. Overall, Ryu can do just about anything. He generally works well with just about anybody. Good Partners: War Machine, Morrigan, Captain America, Captain Commando, Spiderman ZANGIEF - Zangief is a decent heavy hitter, but his real strength lies in his ability to charge the super meter like crazy. He can charge up to level three fast, do a DFAB, and still leave one bar left over for his partner. And all of this before your opponent can get a level 2 charge if done right. While Zangief is a heavy hitter himself, he also plays well with other heavy hitters that can combo supers easily. Good Partners: Wolverine, Hulk, Chun Li, Jin, Ryu MORRIGAN - Morrigan has some great stalling abilities. She also is no slouch at charging the meter too. She plays great as a second character. First, you use your heavy hitter, my favorite is Hulk, switch when your hitter has taken a lot of damage. Now, slow it down and super jump while raining Soul Fists down. When your opponent gets close, air dash past and start again. Eventually, you will have to get in close to them, but by then your other character will be healthy and ready for battle. Good Partners: Hulk, Zangief, Venom, Ryu, Captain Commando CAPTAIN COMMANDO - He's another well balanced character. He has decent speed, strength, stamina, and he can combo his supers, including his Crossover Combination. Combine that with the fact that he brings his army to fight with him, and you've got yourself one of the best characters in the game. He works good as a heavy hitter and can stall, but he's just not to great at it. He can keep you away enough to make you walk into one of his powerful moves. The only thing he's lacking is faster bar charging abilities. Good Partners: Chun Li, Ryu, Morrigan, Strider, War Machine MEGAMAN - A staller to the core. He has some of the best keep-away tactics in the game. He can throw two mega buster blasts out at the same time and still get his item out too. Just too many fireballs and stuff on the screen at once. It's hard to get near him. And if you mess up, he can punish you and put you further back than you were before. He's just a great stall character. Plus, he has the most damaging crossover combination in the game. And, he can combo the Dou Team Attack off of his mega buster. Good Partners: Hulk, Chun Li, Captain America, Gambit, War Machine STRIDER - Mr. combo man. Major heavy hitter with one small difference. He can't chain his supers. But, he can still dish out some massive damage without them. Which means he works great with characters that can chain supers. He also has a great Crossover Combination in terms of damage. Strider can be downright cheap when teamed with the right character. Start with him, build up meter and dish out some damage. Change characters, do super combos and chain a Crossover Combination to get Strider back in. Cheap. Pure cheese. Good Partners: Chun Li, Wolverine, Hulk, Ryu, Captain Commando SPIDERMAN - Spiderman is another one of those good, solid characters. He can be a good hitman at times and can stall when needed too. He just can do it all. The only problem is that he can't do it great. He's can do anything with the right player. He's a good overall character, just not great at anything. Good Partners: Ryu, Gambit, Chun Li, Venom, Wolverine JIN - I don't have a very high opinion of Jin. That's just my view. He can dish out some massive damage, but he's just too damn slow. But, he can chain his Crossover Combination and it does massive damage. Overall, he's a good hitman, not a great one. Good Partners: Zangief, War Machine, Mega Man, Morrigan, Ryu CAPTAIN AMERICA - He's another one of those good all around characters. He doesn't stall very well, so me is mainly a hitman. He has the benefit of a comboable crossover combination, so he can team with another character that has one that does lots of damage. Good Partners: Ryu, Morrigan, War Machine, Mega Man, Venom VENOM - Venom is an unusual character. He's one of the most well balanced characters in the game. He's a good hitman. He can combo his Crossover Combination off of a throw. He's also a decent staller. He can zone you with jabs and Venom Fangs until time runs down, or you make a mistake and eat a super. Good Partners: Hulk, Captain America, Captain Commando, Mega Man, War Machine HULK - Hulk is a heavy hitter period. He can't stall for crap. There's no way to evade that much with Hulk. He's just so big. Hulk has one major advantage for a character his size. He can combo all of his supers, including the Crossover Combination. Although it's difficult to do, it is a great asset for him. Good Partners: Zangief, Strider, War Machine, Morrigan, Gambit GAMBIT - The Ragin Cajun is a all around good character. He can be a very evasive character and at the same time, build up the super bar. He can even combo one of his supers and the Crossover Combination and on top of that, he can combo the Duo Team Attack. Gambit is just a great character and can go good with just about anyone. Good Partners: Strider, War Machine, Mega Man, Captain America, Venom War Machine - War Machine is a powerhouse of a character. He can dish out some serious damage with air combos and his supers are down right lethal upon impact. However, his speed leaves something to be desired, but he has his high and low beams to keep your opponent away. He can use those to chip away at his opponent while pinning them down and passing time. This makes him a great teammate for other staller characters. If you master his air combos, then you don't need to rely on your super meter and will actually build it up rather fast. Good Partners: Mega Man, Ryu, Wolverine, Strider, Hulk Wolverine - For as much complaining about him as people do, he's a great offensive character. He can easily (here's the complaint) combo his Berserker Barrage X which does way too much damage. He can also combo his Crossover Combination, which makes him a great partner for characters with a powerful one. He's not quite as fast on building up the super meter as he was, but he's still no slouch. Good Partners: Strider, War Machine, Zangief, Gambit, Captain America If you have any comments to say about the Team FAQ, please send E-mails to fluffmistr@AOL.com. All suggestions and comments are welcome, even stupid ones. I plan on putting a list of the top teams, but I think that I need more than just my opinion to do it. If you have a favorite team, send it in and tell why it's so great. Again, all comments are welcome. Credits Thanks Ross. Thanks to everyone who's responded. Copyrights I wrote this, not you. Give credit where credit is due. (Hey, that rhymes.) All characters are tradmarks of Marvel or Capcom, you figure it out.