- The pressure

Learn how to create effective pressure strings in BlazBlue: Central Fiction by studying attack properties, cancels, and string tightness for devastating offense.

Pressure is the term that includes ANYTHING that you do while the enemy is BLOCKING your hits.

To be able to create a pressure string (a sequence of attacks that are done while the enemy blocking), you’ll need to study each of your ground and air attack’s properties:

• How long does it take to come out?
• How far does it reach?
• What can you do RIGHT after each attack? = How can you cancel each attack? – Into either other attacks (like chaining normals or cancelling into specials or Distortion Drives), or movements (jumps or dashes);
• In case it’s possible to do another attack right after, does it leave any gap between those 2 attacks, OR is it a tight string*?
• Does it hit mid, LOW or OVERHEAD?
• Is it SAFE** to do if the enemy blocks? (does it leave you open/can you be punished if the enemy guards your attack);
• Does it have any special property? (such as invulnerability; guard point property; being UNBLOCKABLE, etc.).

* To test whether a string is gapless (tight) or not, set the training dummy to “block the 1st hit only”, and use your string against him. If the dummy blocks your entire string, it means it is a tight string. Against tight strings, you only need to block the 1st hit and your character AUTOMATICALLY guards every other attack, as long you’re crouching VS LOW hits (or standing VS AIR hits).

**An attack can be SAFE on block if it:

• Is positive on block (giving you frame advantage after you use it), or is just slightly negative on block (it can have frame advantage as low as -4 if the enemy blocks normally, or -1 if he instant blocks the attack);
• Ends at a distance from which the enemy can’t attack before you have time to guard;
• Is cancellable into a SAFE action (like a jump, or another SAFE attack);

If you have 50% heat meter, usually you can Rapid Cancel any move, making it SAFE. The same happens regarding the Overdrive, which can also be used to cancel most moves and make them SAFE.

Once you find all these aspects regarding each of your attacks, you’ll be able to put them together in a rational way, allowing you to do SAFE and EFFECTIVE pressure strings against your opponent.

Your GOAL in pressure is to break his guard. To achieve that, there are two main types of aggressive pressure: the _MIXUP pressure_ and the _PUNISHING pressure_. If you successfully balance and alternate them both, your pressure can be devastating. Finally, there’s a third type of pressure – the _“Range pressure”_ – which is a more passive one.