I'm getting into the swing of what seems to be a CvS2 streak. This entry is going to be about something I’ve struggled with myself recently: performing RC’s that use the LP and LK buttons. The obvious difficulty here is that you need the same button to finish the input with as you do to roll. These are the different ways I know of doing it.

The cheating method: use the button configuration of the game to bind roll to a single button so you can perform RC’s with LP and LK just like any other RC. I don’t want to talk about this, it’s dumb and it’s probably not allowed in your console tournament, not to mention you can’t button bind in arcades.

The regular tap: just press and release the LP and LK buttons as quickly as possible. This method relies exclusively on negative edge to perform the special. An alternative way would be to press LP+LK twice quickly even though the second tap won’t be fast enough, at least this method ensures you let go of the buttons quickly. This method is only an option if there is either no input overlap for the character or if you want the LK to count instead of the LP. Just like when you press a punch and a kick button of the same strength the kick comes out, the same goes for releasing same strength punch and kick. Simultaneous release of LP and LK at the end of the motion with a character that has input overlap results in the LK special. This is why Ken’s RC funky kick is relatively easy to do; the chances of getting a Hadouken by mistake are quite small. Small, but it can still happen.

The double tap PLUS: use the normal middle- to index finger double tap method on the LP button, but in addition to this you use your thumb to tap and hold LK. This is hard to do if you have large hands like me, but the big plus side of this is that you actually do press the button twice, meaning you don’t have to rely solely on the negative edge of the released LP button. On the flip-side: this only works for moves ending in LP.

The auto-release slide: hold your thumb and index finger together like you would when inputting a roll then press the buttons and slide either your thumb or index finger off of the button for which you want the negative edge. Doing this for the LP is easier because you can position your hand and fingers so that sliding pretty much guarantees that LP is released before LK. Pressing and sliding your fingers off of the buttons is one smooth motion, unlike pressing down first then pulling your fingers up. As a result you can do it much faster and puts less strain on your hand.

I’ve found it’s easy to test your method of choice using a character like Rock or Maki that have QCF+LP as well as QCF+LK moves. The sliding method is my favorite because you can do it in sync with your motion, which makes it easier. If you’re having trouble with this, I’ve found it helpful to try and finish the motion and having my finger hitting some arbitrary point next to the buttons at the same time.