Pokkén Basics Chapter 3 Part 2 Field Phase Strategy

Now we're getting to the best part and focus of my guide which is strategy building. I am going to teach you how to create an effective strategy for winning field phase. This is my view on field phase developed over hundreds of tournament games, but is not an objective “truth” to how to approach the game.

Table of Contents. Use ctrl+F to navigate to the desired section.

3.5 Choosing your role
3.6 The Aggressor
3.7 The Counter Striker

3.5 Choosing your role

To win field phase consistently, you need a plan with a clear objective. Pokkén's objective is to either deplete the opponent's HP bar to zero or to have more HP left than the opponent when time runs out. Therefore, our strategy is going to focus on either one of those two objectives. Here is an analogy to help you pick which objective you want to pursue:

I think of field phase like a UFC or mixed martial arts octagon.

If you've ever watched an MMA match, you'll notice the fighters generally pick one of two distinct roles. The aggressor and the counter striker. The aggressor wants to close the distance and deal damage to the opponent. Just like Pokkén's objective, depleting the opponent's HP bar to 0. The counter striker wants to widen the gap between the opponent and avoid taking damage. They mostly sneak in hits when the opponent lunges at them, and they aim to win by scoring points from the judges. In Pokkén, that is like winning by time out. Which role you pick is going to be based on your own personal style, but it is important to also consider your character choice and the matchup. For example, if I am Shadow Mewtwo being a counter striker against Blaziken is easy. I do not have much trouble chucking Psywave Blasts at Blaziken and jumping and dodging all around the screen. But against Chandelure, trying to do the same thing gets my projectiles out prioritized, and if i'm playing defensively, I will get my shield broken easily all the way from full screen. So it is clear I need to be the aggressor in that matchup. If you don't know which role to pick, a good principle is if your zoning tools are getting out prioritized, you probably should be the aggressor. And if your projectiles are winning, you can just stick with being a counter striker. Once you pick your role in field phase, stick to it. You can branch out later, but for now pick one and commit.

3.6 The Aggressor 

Let's say I pick Blaziken who is like a Ronda Rousey type of character who likes to attack the opponent relentlessly. I will need to close the gap, but I cannot just dash forward in a straight line or I will get hit. I also cannot just start lunging from far away because my opponent, the counter striker, will be waiting for me to whiff and whiff punish me. If you want to safely and consistently close the gap as the aggressor, you need to do two things: 

#1. Occupy and deny the center of the screen. Not like kind of around the middle, stand in the actual center. Otherwise, the counter striker can move all over the stage indefinitely, nullifying your ability to close the gap and deal damage to them. You can often take over the center by simply walking and blocking and the counter striker will usually naturally back off a bit. But if they don't, moves like sY and fY are good for dislodging opponents from the center. If the opponent is also an aggressive type and refuses to move when you get close, then they do your job for you and now you can try to pressure them without even needing step two.

Stand here.

#2. Once you are in control of the center, the goal is to close the distance and force the opponent towards the wall. This is done by picking a specific point on the wall, doesn't really matter where, and walking the opponent towards that point. You need to cut off the angles leading away from that point. For example, if you are walking an opponent towards your desired spot and they start to run to their right, cut them off with something like a side Y and then when you see them walk the other direction, intercept them. Characters with traps like Shadow Mewtwo can set up things like side Y mirrors to one side and immediately cut off the other side before the opponent can escape. If your opponent is throwing projectiles at you, side stepping will avoid a ton of them while still advancing you forward. Good counter strikers are going to keep you side stepping and pushing you back with a barrage of projectiles, but that's okay. If the opponent starts to drift away from your desired point, pick a new one and keep slowly pushing them towards it. Be persistent. The reason you want the opponent at the wall is because now they can no longer widen the gap between you two and you don't have to worry about whiffing attacks and getting whiff punished. 

Pick any spot on the wall and push the opponent towards that point.

Now you're in! What you do once you're up close is character specific, but here are some guidelines. If the opponent tends to block by default when you get up close, use something that gets you frame advantage so you can do shield damage and get right in their face. If they like to counter, and you can usually tell because they'll be CADC'ing a lot as you try to approach, you'll probably want to start off your offense with something that counter pierces or is at least safe from or beats counter attacks. Or just walk close to them with just enough space to block a homing attack on reaction, wait for them to charge counter, and immediately grab it. If you don't know the opponent's tendencies, try to poke at them to see what they do before deciding how you want to pressure. Remember, throws seem like quick ways to open opponents up, but since homing cancels are very strong in field phase it is easier and safer to go for some sort of shield break. Speaking of, it is really tempting to rush in with a homing attack, but unless you're point blank, people are going to react to the animation with counter attack, and in general engaging with moves up close that don't pierce or avoid counters is quite risky. I tend to avoid using homing unless I am trying to whiff punish someone or to poke through the ending frames of a counter attack after it has been charging for a while. I have an upcoming video about specific ways to penetrate through an opponent's defenses.

Aggressor Summary

Slowly walk and block forward then side step projectiles. Take control of the center, push the opponent to the wall and cut off their escape routes, then rush them down. Apply this in your very next game!

3.7 The Counter Striker

The counter striker's objective is to have more HP left than the opponent when time runs out. So they want to widen the gap and avoid taking damage. There's a good chance they won't actually win by time out, but by making the opponent rush at them so they don't get timed out, they get a lot of free damage in the process. A counter striker could be a character like Shadow Mewtwo, Darkrai, or Braixen. Think of Holly Holm or Floyd Mayweather for a fighting or boxing equivalent. They constantly bob and weave away from the opponent's attacks and clip them when they overextend. Thulius, a two time Pokkén Worlds qualifier, fully embraces this style of play in field.

Use your lateral (side to side) movement to evade your opponent while staying near the center of the screen.

The key for the counter striker is lateral movement. As the more passive player, you would like to be in the center point, but you are more benefited by moving laterally -or side to side- around the center point. If the opponent gets too close, back dashing or depending on the character, jumping back can also be a good way to evade. Take advantage of the side Ys that move your character a far distance horizontally to maintain your spacing. Avoid the walls and never stay in one spot for an extended period. Make yourself hard to hit by becoming a moving target. The purpose of your projectiles is to push opponents back or chip at their shield. You can go for moves like fY to get an easy phase shift the opponent keeps rushing in. The counter striker's job is to bait some sort of lunge or whiff and then whiff punish. Alternatively, characters with good shield breaks can fire at the opponent from a distance and shift into duel safely that way. An example is Chandelure. 

Counter-Striker Summary

Use the threat of time out to get easy phase shifts and shield breaks. Most strong field phase characters combine good lateral movement with shield breaking. First you chip at the opponent's shield while moving evasively, to provoke actions. Then, if they lunge, whiff punish. If they are content to block, shield break. Setting up some sort of trap that beats counter attacks is an excellent way to get free shield breaks.

Conclusion

With that framework, you now have a consistent, battle tested field phase strategy that you can modify based on your own character and playstyle. Just remember the octagon, remember the aggressor wants to take the center, close the gap and push to the wall and the counter striker wants to play the clock. This means widen the gap, avoid the walls, and do chip damage and get whiff punishes. As soon as round 1 starts in your next match, implement these strategies, and start winning games.