FAQ - Guide for Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age Of Heroes
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================================================================================== MARVEL VS CAPCOM 2: NEW AGE OF HEROES -------------------------------------------- Iceman FAQ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================================== _________________________________________ ____ | |/ __ \| _____| \ / | \ | \| | | | / \ | |____| | \ / | | \| \ | | | | | | _____| |\ \-/ /| | |_\\ \ | | | | \__/ | |____| | \ / | | || \ \ | |_|\______/|_______|_| \_/ |_|__||__\__\___| Version: 3.2 Last updated: 2/8/01 By: Silent J _________________________________________________________________________________ ======================================================================= This faq is copyright © 2000-2001 Jason Alexander a.k.a. Silent J. By reading this FAQ, you agree to the following : _________________________________________________________________________________ ======================================================================= 1) First of all Marvel has copyright to all of its characters, and Capcom has copyright to all of its characters, in no way have I tried to take credit for any of their creations, as my own 2) I, am not in any way responsible for ANY harm that anybody "thinks" came from this FAQ. Examples of this harm include physical ones (getting the crap kicked out of you because of something found in this FAQ), "emotional scarring", computer problems, etc. 3) This faq is free, plain and simple. 4) Give credit. I don't care if you use stuff from this FAQ, just please give me, or whoever I may have credited, full credit, for whatever you take. Plagerizing my work will piss me off. If you plagerize someone else's work, from this FAQ, they can sue you, and easily win. Yes I'm talking to you. 5) Last of all, if you are not willing to agree with any or even a little bit of the above, click off this FAQ, and read another one. ________________________________________________________________________________ ====================================================================== --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =================================== Table of Contents =================================== ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I.INTRO A.Reasons to Read this FAQ B.Why Choose Iceman? C.Special Feature(s) II.ABOUT ICEMAN A.Iceman the character B.Iceman Cheap? C.Playing as the "Human Popsicle" D.The "Shake Off" technique III.ABBREVIATIONS IV.MOVE LIST A.General Move Commands B.Basic Attacks C.Special Basic Attacks D.Special Moves E.Hyper Combo V.ASSISTS A.What and how assists help Iceman B.Iceman's Assists -Projectile Type -Variety Type -Launcher/Balance Type VI.PARTNERING UP ICEMAN A.How he pairs up B.The one move kill C.The best team? VII.COMBOS A.Intro to Iceman's Combos B.Essential Combos C.Various Combos VIII.ICEMAN STRATEGY A.General Offense Strategy B.General Defense Strategy C.Specific Character Strategies (General Strategy CPU) (VS Human) 1) Akuma (Gouki) 2) Amingo 3) Anakaris 4) B.B. Hood (Bulleta) 5) Blackheart 6) Cable 7) Cammy 8) Captain America 9) Captain Commando 10) Charlie (Nash) 11) Chun-Li 12) Colosus 13) Cyclops 14) Dan 15) Dhalsim 16) Dr. Doom 17) Felicia 18) Gambit 19) Guile 20) Hayato 21) Hulk 22) Iceman 23) Iron man 24) Jill 25) Jin 26) Juggernaut 27) Ken 28) Magneto 29) Marrow 30) M.Bison (Vega) 31) Mega man (Rockman) 32) Morrigan 33) Omega Red 34) Psylocke 35) Rogue 36) Roll 37) Ruby Heart 38) Ryu 39) Sabertooth 40) Sakura 41) Sentinel 42) Servbot (Kobun) 43) Shuma-Gorath 44) Silver Samurai 45) Sonson 46) Spider-Man 47) Spiral 48) Storm 49) Strider Hiryu(u) 50) T(ron) Bonne 51) Thanos 52) Venom 53) War Machine 54) Wolverine 1 (Metal) 55) Wolverine 2 (Bone) 56) Zangief IX.ABYSS STRATEGIES X.OTHER STUFF A.Using Iceman's "True Power" B.Animations C.Voices D.Storyline of MvC2? XI.BEATING ICEMAN XII.CHARACTER RATING A.Offense B.Defense C.Power D.Speed E.Recovery F.Comboability XIII.REVISIONS XIV.CREDITS ______________________________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ============================================================================= 1)- Intro. - ============================================================================= --------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================ - Reasons to Read this FAQ - ============================ --------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ is designed to teach you how, or atleast help you to kick @$$ with Iceman. Once you have finished reading this FAQ you should: -Know how to execute all of Iceman's moves If you're a Newbie, to teach you the basics of the game -Be able to determine who he pairs up best with -Know how to set up some traps for your opponent -Know how to pull of some of Iceman's combos -And to know how beat your challengers with out being (too) cheap. (Thanks to ReCharred Sigh for the idea for this section) --------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================== - Why Choose Iceman? - ====================== --------------------------------------------------------------------- Most people will either say that Iceman is cheap, because of his no block damage feature and the Icebeam's guard damage. Or they will say that he is a weak character that takes damage like a wuss. I personally agree with the fact that he takes damage very badly, but I guess Capcom fig- ured that by giving him the no block damage feature he would probably be overly abused by most players, so they tried to balance him out. Iceman is an excellent character with great versatality. His abilites to be both combo-crazy, and his keep away skills make him appealing to players of all styles, shapes, and sizes. And he partners up very well withanyone. Having these traits allows you the player, to "mold" him into your team. Iceman also has a special fea- ture that is unique to him (BELOW). --------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================== - Special Feature(s) - ====================== --------------------------------------------------------------------- In MvC2, some characters have special feature or two, that is in most cases unique to them. Iceman is one of the char- acters that is blessed with one. His special feature is known as the "no block damage " feature. His special reflective Ice sheild, entitles him to this. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ============== - Ice Shield - ============== --------------------------------------------------------------------- - Motion: back (to block of course) Description: On the ground, Iceman spreads his arms vertically, as some Ice quickly appears between his hands, forming the Ice Shield. In the air, the Ice forms on the shoulder that is facing the opponent, as Iceman ducks behind it. (Thanks to Kao Megura for the following Implementation) - Iceman can block certain attacks without taking damage. But surprise, surprise, it's not just 'beam' or 'energy' attacks. There's a whole load of stuff that he takes no block damage from, including: Akuma (Gouki): Gou Hadou Ken, Zankuu Hadou Ken, Messatsu Gou Hadou,Tenma Gou Zankuu. Amingo: Nothing Anakaris: Ouke no Sabaki, Hitsugi no Mai, all his HCs. Blackheart: Dark Thunder, Inferno, Armageddon, Heart of Darkness. B.B. Hood(Bulleta): Smile & Missile, Happy & Missile, Cheer & Fire, Cool Hunting, Apple For You (far range or blocked). Cable: Viper Beam, Hyper Viper. Cammy: Nothing Colossus: Nothing Captain America: Nothing C.Commando: Captain Fire, Captain Corridor, Captain Sword. Charlie (Nash): Sonic Boom, Sonic Break Chun-Li: Reishiki Kikou Ken, Kikou Ken, Kikou Shou. Cyclops: Optic Blast, Optic Sweep, both HCs, also the 'eye blast' ending of Rising Uppercut and Rapid Punch. Dan Hibiki: Gadou Ken, Shinkuu Gadou Ken. Dhalsim: Yoga Fire, Yoga Flame, Yoga Blast, Yoga Inferno. Dr. Doom: Plasma Beam, Photon Shot, Photon Array, Electric Chage. Felicia: Sand Splash, Hyper Sand Splash. Gambit: Kinetic Card, Trick Card, both of his HCs. Guile: Sonic Boom, Sonic Hurricane Hayato: Engetsu. Hulk: Gamma Slam, all HCs (except the 'hand' hit of the Gamma Quake). Iceman: Ice Beam. Iron Man: Unibeam, Repulsor Blast, Proton Cannon (except for the physical hit with the cannon barrel). Jill: Nothing Jin S.: Saotome Dynamite, Blodia Vulcan. Juggernaut: Earthquake Punch (except for 'hand' hit part). Ken M.: Hadoken. Magneto: E-M Disruptor, Magnetic Blast, both of his HCs. Marrow: Bone-merang, both HCs. M.Bison (Vega): Psycho Shot, Psycho Field, Psycho Explosion. Megaman (Rockman): Hyper Rockman. Morrigan: Soul Fist, Soul Eraser, Silhouette Blade. Psylocke: Psi-Thrust, Kochou Gakure. Rogue: Nothing Roll: Hyper Roll. Ruby Heart: Fant“me, Supremacion, Milles Fant“mes, Pare-tonn‰re, Tour de Magie. Ryu: Hadoken, Shinkuu Hadoken. Sabretooth: Armed Birdie, Hyper Armed Birdie. Sakura K.: Hadou Ken, Shinkuu Hadou Ken (either form). Sentinel: Plasma Storm. Servebot (Kobun): Kobun Fire. ShumaGorath: Mystic Stare. S. Samurai: Raimei Ken, Hyouga Ken, Homura Ken. Sonson: All her HCs. Spider-Man: Web Ball. Storm: Lightning Sphere. Strider H.: Formation B (If Ducked). Thanos: Death Sphere, all his HCs. Venom: Venom Rush, Death Bite. War Machine: Repulsor Blast. Wolverine: Fatal Claw. Zangief: Banishing Flat, Vodka Fire (in Mecha Zangief form). Abyss #1: Trident (splash part, not the actual trident), Blue Sparks, both HCs (Stomach Blast and Green Rain). Abyss #2: All of his attacks except the Green Bubbles. Abyss #3: The Ground Flames, Arm Pound Column, Horizontal Flames, and his Horizontal Flames SC. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ================================================================================== ============================================================================== 2) - About Iceman - ============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================== - Iceman the Character - ======================== ------------------------------------------------------------------- (Thanks to www.marvel.com for this information) Real Name: Robert "Bobby" Drake Birthplace: (Fort Washington) Long Island, New York Height: 5'8" Weight: 145 lbs. Eyes: Brown Hair: Brown History: Bobby Drake discovered his mutant power to create ice while he was in his early teens, but kept it a secret from everyone except his parents. One night, however, Drake and his girlfriend, Judy Harmon, were attacked by a bully named Rocky Beasley and his friends. To save Harmon, Drake temporarily encased Beasely in ice. When they heard what had happened, the local townspeople thought Drake was the real menace. They formed a lynch mob who broke into his home and overpowered him. The local sheriff took Drake into custody for the boy's own protection. Meanwhile, Professor Charles Xavier learned what had happened and sent Cyclops, his only X- Man at the time, to contact Drake. Cyclops broke into Drake's cell, but when Drake refused to go with him, the two began fighting until they were caught by the lynch mob. Cyclops and Drake were about to be hanged when they broke free. Professor X used his mental powers to stop the mob, and afterwards to erase their memories of Drake's powers. The grateful Bobby Drake then accepted Xavier's invitation to join the X-Men and took the code name Iceman. He was the youngest of the original five X-Men. Recently, Emma Frost, the White Queen, took mental possession of Iceman's body and was able to activate the full extent of his powers, turning his body to all ice. Since then, under Frost's prodding, Iceman has learned to transform his body into its "ice" state on his own. Known Powers: Iceman has the ability to freeze, or unfreeze at will, without causing harm to himself. He can also create objects, structures, etc., out of unusually hard ice, by freezing the air around him. (For more info. check out www.marvel.com) -------------------------------------------------------------------- ================== - Iceman Cheap? - ================== -------------------------------------------------------------------- Why does everyone complain that Iceman is so cheap? Just because he has lots of cheese damage on his Icebeam? Or because he takes no guard damage from some attacks? What about the fact that he has hardly any specials? Or the fact that he takes damage like a wuss? Or his poor priority? I use Iceman as something I like to call, an "Anti-Cheese" character. He takes care of Cables and Dooms very nicely. The best thing about him, the thing that separates him from most other "cheese" characters, is that he doesn't have to be played that way to win. It's almost like he can't be cheesed, a good player shouldn't need cheese anyway. I think that's what Capcom had in mind when they designed him. -------------------------------------------------------------------- =================================== - Playing as the "Human Popsicle" - =================================== -------------------------------------------------------------------- Iceman is a good character for you to learn. Beginners can use his Ice Shield, and Icebeam to their advantage, while experts can be creative with some ways to air combo into his Arctic Attack. No matter how good you are, you should primarily go on defense when playing as Iceman. He requires a certain level of prediction as well as some decent skill in order to play him to his fullest extent. Defense, and keep away are two diff- erent things. Any idiot can throw Icebeams all day, but what if your opponent get's close to you? That's what I thought. A good Iceman player can probably whoop you without even using his specials. Even though they will play a big roll in playing Iceman, they aren't his only chance. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================== - The "Shake Off technique" - ============================== ------------------------------------------------------------------- The "Shake Off technique" is one of the must learns, in order to master Iceman. This really is not a technique, but the way that Iceman's basic, and special basic attacks should be used. This consists of using your basic attacks (or even your assists if you have the right ones) to shake your opp- onent off of you. A certain level of timing, as well as pred- iction, and accuracy are needed in order to successfully use this technique. You will use a different move for each situation. These are the situations you will use this in. Every situation has a move, and an assist that I will suggest that you use. * means this move is not really suggested. ** means this move is okay, but there are better choices. *** means that this is one of, if not the best choice, for this situation. There are reasons that Capcom programmed the assists into the game, your main character may not always be able to do the job alone. Jump ins: * Launcher ** Shake Off kick ***Anti-Air Assist Dash ins: *C. Fierce ** Dashing Assist. ***S. Roundhouse Standing, or close next to you: *** "Shake Off" combo (See "Combos" section) Corner trap attempts: (physical attacks only) ***Guard Push ______________________________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =========================================================================== 3) -Abbreviations- =========================================================================== THC= Team Hyper Combo DHC= Delayed Hyper Combo QCF=Quarter Circle Forward QCB=Quarter Circle Back C.=Crouching (Ex: C.Fierce= Crouching Fierce) S.=Standing (Ex: S.Roundhouse= Standing Roundhouse) J.=Jumping (Ex: J. Short= Jumping Short) Launcher = C. Roundhouse For those of you who don't know: Jab= L Punch Short= L Kick Strong= M Punch Forward= M Kick Fierce= H Punch Roundhouse= H Kick A1= Assist 1 A2= Assist 2 _________________________________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =========================================================================== 4)- Move List - =========================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================= - General Move Commands - ========================= ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dash: Press; Forward, Forward Backdash: Press; Back, Back Iceman's dash is quick, and goes the full length of the screen. Use if you don't wanna jump, or to start air combos, but be careful, 'cause you are left open for a second while you use it. Guard Push: (While Blocking) Press; both punches Use this to push away a combo-happy opponent. Super Jump: Press; down, then up (Do not HOLD down, before pushing up, simply tap it.) By doing this, you are enabled to jump almost twice as high as you normally could. Use this to get close, or to run away. Roll: Press; back, down/back, down Iceman doesn't really "roll" he "slides". You definately have to learn this, or you will be hit by many, OTG's (off the ground hits). Always use this after getting knocked into the air, to have a better chance of escaping more hits. Tag Out: Press; both Light, or both Hard attack buttons Depending on which one you press, your first, or second partner will come in. If you look at your lifebar, you will notice your two buddies' lifebars under yours. The one directly underneath you, is the one that will come in when you press both Light attacks. The one at the very bottom, is the one that will come in when you press both Heavy attacks. Note, that when you tag out, the partner you tagged in taunts, leaving him/her/it open to attack for a brief period. Snapback: Press; down, down/forward, forward + A1/A2 A light effect occurs, then Iceman throws his H Punch attack. Depending on which assist button you pressed, your opponent's 1st, or 2nd partner comes in, if it connects. In other words, you can control the order in which your opponent's team members fight. Since most opponents tag, after their main character is hurt, you can use this to bring the &@$+@^% back in! This wastes one super bar though, so don't abuse it. Tech Hit: Press; the direction towards your opponent (while being thrown) Mastery of this is very important. If you time this right, that voice will say "tech hit" and you will not go into throw stun. Very important, that you learn this, because some characters, such as Guile, Iceman, etc., can combo their throws. Team Counter: Press; Back, Down/Back, Down + A1/A2 While blocking an attack, this causes either your 1st partner (if you pressed Assist 1) or your 2nd partner (if you pressed Assist 2) to jump in, do their Variable Counter special attack, then you switch. It uses 1 hyper bar, but it's probably the safest way to switch. It also counters most attacks. Variable Counter (THC): Press; Both Assist Buttons All three of your team members perform their selected super. For most characters, the type of assist you select, determines the super that they will use in the Variable Counter (For Ex- ample, when you pick War-Machine's Anti-Air type, you get an Anti-Air super. When you pick his projectile type, you get a projectile super. Note: not this does not apply to all of the characters). This costs 3 super Bars. Taunt: Press: Start (Dreamcast: L Kick + Start) Iceman unfreezes, stands up straight, and says, "Yeah!", then he re-freezes, and assumes his stance. Don't do this too often, because you are left open while you use it. Try it after you're opponent misses with a super, or after the match if you don't like your win pose. Dis-respect: After you K.O. opponent, press start. If you win a match by K.O. with only one member of your team, you can press start, and hit them while they're down. For the most "dis-respect" (with Iceman) try one of these four things: - Get close to your opponent, and after score is showed, drop an L Kick Avalanche on them. - Hit them with an S.Rondhouse, and chain an Arctic Attack afterwards. - Jump, and shoot them with some Icebeams. - Hit them with this combo: C.Short, C.Roundhouse, J.Jab, J.Short, Punch Throw. (This one may take some practice to get used to, but once you do, it looks kind of cool) Also, if you don't like the win pose, press, start, and make up one of your own. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ================= - Basic Attacks - ================= ------------------------------------------------------------------ Most of Iceman's Basic attacks have poor priority. However some are fast and long reaching which can get you out of some sticky situations. ===================== - Standing Attacks - ===================== Jab - A "Kung-Fu" style type jab. The priority sucks, and the reach isn't much better. An ok poking move, but a better starter for ground chains. Strong - Iceman turns the end of his hand into a cone shaped form, and performs a spinning back fist. Best used in ground chains. You can combo an Arctic Attack off this. Fierce - Iceman turns the end of his back hand into a small version of the Ice Fist, and throws an overhead style haymaker punch. This is NOT an overhead, but you can combo an Arctic Attack off this as well. This can nullify some projectiles. Short - Like the S. Strong, Iceman turns the end of his foot into a cone shaped form of ice, and throws a standard sidekick. Excellent as a poking move, or to chain an Icebeam afterwards. Forward - Your basic head kick. This pushes the opponent fairly far away, making it good for shaking off your opponent. Roundhouse - Iceman pivots both of his feet as some of his "unusually hard" ice, shoots up from the ground in the opponent's direction. I've seen Iceman use this move in some of his comic books. It has excellent speed and reach, and can DESTROY smaller characters, because of the fact that it hits both high and low at the same time. This can stop dahers, and to a certain extent, jump ins. Use it to keep your opponent from getting too friendly, as an ender to a ground chain, or even to chain an Icebeam afterwards. The priority is so high, it actually beats out some projectiles. ====================== - Crouching Attacks - ====================== Jab - Iceman throws an elbow, which has the virtually same use as the S. Jab, but is even better at poking, because of the fact that Iceman is crouching when he performs it. Strong - Huh? Iceman stands up, with his knees slightly bent, and does his C. Jab. The only purpose it serves, is comboing, but I wouldn't advise it. Fierce - Iceman's sweep. He swings his back arm in a horizontal choplike motion, as more of that "unsually hard" ice is shot in the opponent's direction. A good sweep, basically, the crouching version of the S.Roundhouse. Short - Iceman kicks with his lower foot(while crouching). Good for poking, or for starting the "Shake-Off" combo. Otherwise, a pretty wussy kick. Forward - Same as the Short, but with a longer reaching animation. Like all other mediums in this game, this can only be used for comboing. Roundouse - Iceman does a hand stand while kicking at a up forward angle. This is Iceman's launcher. It aims at sort of an up-forward angle, as the animation suggests. Use it to start air combos. ======================= - Jumping Attacks - ======================= Jab - Iceman strikes you with his back hand. Basically a standard Jumping weak attack. Used mainly for air-combos, or to jump-in. However you should only use it for air-combos, since you have the beat punch for jump ins. Strong - Same as the Jab version, but only used in combos, and with different animation. Fierce - This time Iceman strikes with his front hand. This actually has good priority in the air, because of its reach, and because it charges you up for an Arctic Attack. But still, the shake-off kick is better. Short - Same as the standing version, only this time Iceman kicks at a downward angle. Good for jumping in, or for air-combos. Forward - Same as the short, with longer reaching animation. Used only in combos. Roundhouse - The animation is the same as the standing forward. Can be used as a combo ender, in air battles, or to jump in. =================== - Throws - =================== Punch throw: (when close) <-(left) or (right)-> + H Punch. =========== Description: Iceman yells, "FREEZE", as he grabs his opponent, freezes them, and hurls them across the screen where they are still frozen. By far what I consider, the best throw in MvC2. In regular cases, the opponent is frozen enough for an Icebeam/assist to combo. In the rare case you corner the opp- onent and do it, it easily chains into a launcher, which of course leads to an Arctic Attack. You could also use the air version after a 2-hit air combo (SEE Various combos), land, and proceed to do another air combo into an ARctic Attack. Kick throw: (when close) <-(left) or (right)-> + H Kick ========= Description: Iceman grabs his opponent by the head, and slams it into some jagged-looking Ice (Ouch!). The damage isn't all that high, and since the punch throw stuns the opponent, this move is pretty useless. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ========================= - Special Basic Attacks - ========================= ------------------------------------------------------------------ Iceman has 2 Special basic attacks Beat Punch: ========== (while airborne) Press down+H Punch Description: Iceman swings his arms in an axhandle like motion, and releases a very weak projectile. Useful for basically the same thing as a jump in, except Iceman himself doesn't actually touch his opponent. (This beats out a shoryuken, if you are far enough away when you use it) Shake off kick: ============ (while airborne) Press down+H Kick Description: The end of Iceman's leg changes form for a short moment, as he throws a kick at sort of an up-forward angle. Useful against opponents that are airborne opponents that are close to you, but not below you. This is Iceman's most dominant air-to-air attack at close range. ------------------------------------------------------------------ ================== - Special Moves - ================== ------------------------------------------------------------------ Iceman has 3 specials Ice Beam: motion-QCF+either punch ======== (when grounded or airborne) Description: Iceman simultaneously yells "ICE BEAM!", sticks his arms straight out, and shoots out a very fast beam projectile from his hands (obviously). The L Punch version shoots straight out, while the H Punch version shoots at an angle (upward if you're grounded, and downward if you're airborne). Probably Iceman's most useful special. On the ground you can use it in a beam war, or to knock an air borne "web ball", or "proton shot" abuser out of the air. In the air this gives Iceman HUGE range. Just be careful not get too predictable with it, 'cause anyone could easily jump over, or maybe even duck under, it and nail you. Avalanche: motion-QCF+either kick ========= (when grounded or airborne) Description: Iceman points his hand up, then brings it down as a giant ice ball falls from the sky. The L kick version falls almost directly infront of him, while the H Kick version lands on the other side of the screen, or close to it if you're grounded. I strongly suggest you jump before using this move, so you can drop it on your opponent, and recover on the way down. Especially useful on a block abuisng Iceman. After the shake-off kick, or your launcher connects you could try to combo it. Could be used as an anti-air counter, but you should have a good anti-air assist so use it insted. Something that I learned from playing the CPU, is that if you want to get guard damage from an Arctic Attack, first, drop an L Kick Avalanche on your opponent then cancel it into an Arctic Attack. Since your opponent will probably already be blocking the Avalanche, their only choice is to block the Arctic Attack. Of course, this should only be done at close range (if your want long range guard damage use the Icebeam, unless you're playing against Iceman). Otherwise pretend this move doesn't even exist. Ice Fist: motion QCB+either punch ====== (when grounded) Description: Iceman grabs his hand, and a small light effect occurs. When he lets go of his hand, there is a small Iceball created on it. The ONLY TIME you EVER use this is when fighting someone that is bigger, or stronger than you. All this does is adds damage to your H Punch attacks. After three hit's, the Iceball breaks, and you'll have to repeat the move again. Make sure you are safe when you use this move. ------------------------------------------------------------------- =============== - Hyper Combo - =============== ------------------------------------------------------------------- This is Iceman's only Hyper Combo. Arctic Attack: motion QCF+Both punches =========== (when grounded or airborne) Description: Iceman brings both of his arms up, and yells "Arctic Attack!!!" NEVER, EVER throw this out at random. It starts up way to slow, and you will only get guard damage if you're lucky (the Icebeam actually does more overall guard damage than this). Anyone can easily super jump over this and nail you if you miss. The only way to safely get all of the hits, is to combo into it (this includes using it as a DHC/THC ender). (See combos sec- tion [BELOW] to learn how to combo into this.) _________________________________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================================================================== ========================================================================= ***************************************************************************************** 5)- Combos - ***************************************************************************************** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================ - Intro to Iceman's Combos - ============================ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Iceman is no combo machine. His combos are mainly used to either, shake your opponent off of you, or to set up the Arctic Attack. Some people have a hard time doing them. Well, here's some advice: First of all you have to get close. Do this by either dashing, or jumping in. The safest way to do this, is by jumping in with a beat punch, duck,(C. Short if you want an extra hit) launch, then proceed with the combo. If you've got guts, you can dash insted. A very common problem people have with air-combos are the combos themselves. By dashing in you can auto- super jump after the launcher, simply by pressing up. Dashing in however is risky, because you are left open for a second while you dash. Dashing can be predictable, and severely punished if you abuse it. However by doing it the "safe" way, people are faced with the problem of jumping after their opponent. Something I see alot, is people launching, then dropping an Avalanche on their opponent, in the attempt to jump after them. The key to air-combos, is control. After launching, let the control stick go to the center, then quickly press toward/up. True, it can be done by pressing straight up, but the aim of Iceman's launcher aims sort of at a diagonal angle so by pressing diagonally up you go with the launcher, rather than going against it. One more thing, (that I learned of ReCharred Sigh's Ryu FAQ) is that when facing smaller characters, such as Servebot, press the weak attack buttons slowly, wait almost half a second, this makes it easier to hit smaller targets. When facing larger characters, such as Juggernaut, press the buttons quickly, to get more hit's on a larger target. Keep in mind. That some of the power characters have super armor, and will not launch, unless they are hit at least once first. Anyway, these are the only combo's that you really need to know with Iceman. ------------------------------------------------------- ================ Basic Air Combo: ================ ------------------------------------------------------- C. Short, Launcher, J. Jab, J. Short, J. Strong, J.Forward, Arctic Attack!! You could dash in, but jumping in with a beat punch is safer. If you don't have the bar(s) for an Arctic Attack, or you just don't want to use it, it can be substituted with an Icebeam, or a Heavy attack. ------------------------------------------------------- ================== "Shake Off" combo: ================== ------------------------------------------------------- C. short, C. Forward, S. Roundhouse. This is part of the "Shake Off" technique mentioned earlier. It's RIDICULOSLY easy to pull off. You could also chain an Icebeam afterwards for more damage. Another must learn combo. ------------------------------------------------------- ========================= Air Combo, into a throw?: ========================= ------------------------------------------------------- Launcher, J.Jab, J. Short, -->H Punch (Air Throw) Personally, I love this combo! The damage is not too high, but it looks awsome! If your quick, you can chain another air combo into an Arctic Attack/Icebeam, before your opponent realizes what has happened. But because this ends in a throw, you'll have to wait about half a second in between the three air hits, and the throw. The reason for this being that the combo ends in a throw. Throws require you to hold forward, for a short time, and to be lined up perfectly with your opponent, in order to successfully be pulled off. If you're quick, you could add a J.Strong, and a J.Forward in between the two air hits and the throw. Don't get to predictible with the throw (opponents can easily tech. hit to escape predictable throws). ------------------------------------------------------- ============================= Iceman's killer ground chain: ============================= ------------------------------------------------------- Start with a J.Short, or J.Fierce, or Beat Punch, then; J.Forward, S.Short, S.Roundhouse, --> H Punch Icebeam This is an easy to do Iceman ground chain. You get 10 hits off of this combo, which is pretty good for a ground chain. You can also add in an S.Forward in between the S.Short, and the S.Roundhouse. But it's best, if you only do that in the corner. ------------------------------------------------------- ======================== Iceman's infinite combo: ======================== ------------------------------------------------------- For those of you who don't know what an infinite combo is, it just basically means that once you connect with a certain combo, you can repeat it over and over again, until your opponent is dead. Iceman has an infinite in the corner, and it goes like this: Jump in with a J.Short, now hold forward for a split second, but before your opponent can recover from the move stun of the J.Short, chain a punch throw. Now, while your opponent is stunned, repeat, as many times as you like! But, sadly, since there is a throw involved, your opponent can perform a tech. hit to escape. That's okay, 'cause since you are both in the corner, launch after the tech. hit and proceed into an air combo. ------------------------------------------------------- ============================= Iceman's Gruond to air combo: ============================= ------------------------------------------------------- Iceman does have a ground to air very similair to that of Cable's. It goes like this: Avalanche\/ c.short,c.roundhouse/\ sj.jab,sj.strong,sj.fierce throw,d.s.short,s.fierce-->Arctic Attack. Restrictions on this combo: 1)You must corner the opponent first. 2)The Avalanche must be done like the ground-to-air hyper viper beam.(down,down/forward,forward,up/forward+kick) 3)The Avalanche uses the light kick button. 4)The fierce throw is done when Iceman is the exact level as the opponent. Picture a horizontal beam that goes through Iceman's head and feet, and the opponent must be aligned in the same height. This one's mainly for show, because of the Avalanche's slow start-up. Looks very nice, and if you want, you can add the ice fist at the beginning, since it adds damage to the punches. (Thanks to ReCharred Sigh, and also, this time, to "The Kid", for this combo) _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________ - Various Combos - _________________________________________ LP=Light Punch HP=Heavy Punch Ground Chains: ------- - S.Rounhouse -->HP Icebeam - S.Jab, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - S.Short, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - C. Short, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - C.Jab, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - S.Jab, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam - S.Short, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam - C. Short, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam - C.Jab, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam - S.Jab, S.Strong, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam -S.Jab, S.Forward, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam -C.Jab, S.Strong, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam -C.Jab, S.Forward, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam - S.Short, S.Strong, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam -S.Short, S.Forward, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam -C.Short, S.Strong, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam -C.Short, S.Forward, S.Roundhouse -->HP Icebeam - S.Jab, S.Strong, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - S.Short, S.Strong, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - C. Short, S.Strong, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - C.Jab, S.Strong, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam S.Jab, C.Strong, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - S.Short, C.Strong, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - C. Short, C.Strong, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - C.Jab, C.Strong, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - S.Jab, S.Forward, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - S.Short,S.Forward, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - C. Short, S.Forward, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - C.Jab, S.Forward, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - S.Jab, C.Forward, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - S.Short,C.Forward, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - C. Short, C.Forward, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - C.Jab, C.Forward, S.Fierce -->LP Icebeam - S.Jab, S.Strong -->Arctic Attack - S.Jab, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - S.Short, S.Forward -->Arctic Attack - S.Short, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - C. Short, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - C.Jab, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - S.Jab, S.Forward -->Arctic Attack - S.Short, S.Strong -->Arctic Attack S.Jab, S.Strong, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - S.Short, S.Strong, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - C. Short, S.Strong, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - C.Jab, S.Strong, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack S.Jab, C.Strong, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - S.Short, C.Strong, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - C. Short, C.Strong, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - C.Jab, C.Strong, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - S.Jab, S.Forward, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - S.Short,S.Forward, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - C. Short, S.Forward, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - C.Jab, S.Forward, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - S.Jab, C.Forward, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - S.Short,C.Forward, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - C. Short, C.Forward, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack - C.Jab, C.Forward, S.Fierce -->Arctic Attack Corner Combos: --------- - J.Short, Punch Throw, -->Arctic Attack - J.Short, Punch Throw, -->LP Icebeam - J.Short, Punch Throw, C.Short, C.Roundhouse, J.Jab, J.Short, J.Strong, J.Forward, -->Arctic Attack - J.Short, Punch Throw, C.Short, C.Roundhouse, J.Jab, J.Short, J.Strong, J.Forward, -->Icebeam - J.Short, Punch Throw, C.Short, C.Roundhouse, J.Jab, J.Short, J.Strong, J.Forward, -->J.Roundhouse - J.Short, Punch Throw, C.Short, C.Roundhouse, J.Jab, J.Short, J.Strong, J.Forward, -->J.Fierce More Air Combos: ----------- - Launcher , J.Jab, J.Forward, J.Strong -->HP Icebeam - Launcher, J. Jab, J.Forward/Short -->Arctic Attack - C.Short, Launcher , J.Jab, J.Forward, J.Strong -->HP Icebeam - C.Short, Launcher, J. Jab, J.Forward/Short -->Arctic Attack _________________________________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================================================================= ========================================================================= **************************************************************************************** 6)- Assists - **************************************************************************************** ____________________________________ - What and how assists help Iceman - ____________________________________ (Thanks once again, to ReCharred Sigh for about 90% of this section) MVC2 is a game full of assists. There should always be at least one assist on the screen. Utilize assists to your advantage. There are 3 main ways to implement assists- *setting up combos *stopping offense-based attacks *distracting the opponent(so you can hammer em while they try to hammer your bud) Here is the complete list of different types of assists in MVC2: 1)=Capturing Attack Type= Description: Your partner jumps in, throws an unreliable projectile out, then taunts and jump out. The difference between this and the projectile assist is that when your projectile hits, the opponent is left stunned, or wrapped in whatever was thrown. Implementation: THE combo starter and lengthener. Attacks that usually don't combo without quirky startups can now combo off of these attacks(Arctic Attack), this also Get it to connect by the projectile crossup technique(see projectile type). More useful offensively by helping you set up your combos rather than def- ensive tactics preventing offensive rushes. You can also start a ground combo string, and call out this assist so that just when you hit the opponent with the standing fierce, the opponent is captured. Just remember, only one assist to one combo. Best version: Magneto's holds the opponent the longest for those attacks that seem impossible to combo, but Spiderman's is the easiest augmented, since it is most closest to a good projectile. Thanos's version is sort ot a com- bination of both. 2)=Ground Attack Type= Description: Your partner jumps in, performs his/her special attack that is stationed from the ground, and doesn't move anywhere. Sort of imagine a projectile attack from the ground that doesn't move anywhere.(Yoga Flame, for instance) Implementation: Not much to say, not many people have these attacks. Just have good judgement as to whether this assist will set up a combo(multi-hitting), stuff an offensive rush(good distance in attack/good startup), or just distract the opponent. Best version: Dhalsim has the best version, besides stunning the opponent long, opens combos up, and has great range. 3)=Expansion Type= Description: This is known in Japanese arcades as the "Moving Attack" type. Basically your partner moves slightly forward while attacking. They then taunt, and then move off the screen. Like a dash type, except with less speed moving forward. Implementation: More used as an offensive tool, in setting up super combos. There are many varieties, though, so realize which one is best. Best version: Akuma's Hurricane Kick is the best Expansion Type. His hurricane kick not only has high priority, it does great damage, and holds the opponent very long, so that many of your attacks will combo! Be very creative, and either launch after his attack into an air combo, or use this to set up an Arctic Attack! 4)=Dash Type = Description: Known as the "Rushing Attack" Type in Japanese arcades, your character jumps in, and does a dashing attack that in most cases, has high priority. They then taunt, then jump out. Implementation: A great substitute for the projectile type, this assist is great offensively and defensively. Many dash types can nullify projectiles, so it becomes great for stuffing offensive rushes. And in many cases, the opponent gets jacked into the air, enabling Iceman a free shot at an Icebeam. Best version: Captain America definitely has the best dash type. His goes full screen likeCammy's, but can also absorb projectiles like the Hulk! That means he is a great assist! He can also hit people trying to cross up Iceman. 5)=Launcher Attack Type= Description: Your buddy jumps in, and does their launcher. They then taunt, and then jump out. Implementation: Useful for turning defense into offense, or confusing. Many launchers are good for antiair, with less range, so back up while calling out your character. If the opponent gets hit, follow up with an air combo. Just remember that you must press down, up instead of just up. Best version: I would guess Magneto has the best version. His launcher has really good priority and range. 6)=Anti-Air Type= Description: Your buddy jumps in, does an attack that has great priority and has good vertical range, but so-so horizontal range. They then taunt, and then jump out. Implementation: Perhaps your all time best defensive assist. This attack prevents your opponent from becoming too aggressive with jump-ins. Throw one out every time you think your launcher won't come out in time to snuff the jumper. To a certain extent, they are also good for stuffing dashers, just wait until the opponent is really close. Best version: I would have to say Dr.Doom has the best Anti-Air assist. There are so many ways you can use it. On defense it can be used to stop jumpers, or dashers, or even for keep away. On offfense, either use the projectile cross-up tech- nique (see projectile type), or as a shield, while you throw a barrage of att- acks out at your opponent! Cap.C's is decent, but the recovery is kind of slow. Blackheart also has a good one, but his is suprisingly better for keep away! 7)=Throw Assistance Type= Description: Your partner does a special attack that is usually unblockable(exceptions to Omega Red) and then taunts and jumps out. Implementation: Anti-turtler assist. In most cases, these types of assists allow no follow ups, and sometimes they are easily seen, but these attacks are great against the turtlers. Start a ground chain, and when you do your middle attack, call in the assist, then continue hammering away to not arouse suspicion. After your opponent throws the opponent, you may have a chance (slim as it is) to combo with an Icebeam. Best version: Zangief of course! The master of throws must use this assist to really en- hance Iceman's game! 8)=Ability Assistance Type= Description: There are many types of assist names for this type, including Power, Defense, Speed, etc. Your partner jumps in and presents to you an item that boosts your attributes in some way. After you receive the item, there will be green letters on Iceman that say "*name of power-up*- up." Implementation: This assist is most useful in helping Iceman when you need it. Obviously, use your common sense. Depending on what increase of strength you get, you should use it that way. In most cases, go offensive whenever you get one of these power-ups, since all of them help Iceman's offensive game. Best version: I would have to say that I think Amingo has the best ability type. It halves the damage that Iceman takes! (making up for his seemingly short lifebar) 9)=Recovery Assistance Type= Description: Known as the life assist, it basically works like the ability assistance type except that you gain some of your red life back, and on Iceman it will say "Life Up." Implementation: Very, very useful. If you have one of these assists, you MUST keep using the assist during the entire match to almost double Iceman's lifebar! Just play offensively, and while the opponent is blocking Iceman's attacks, pull out the assist. Basically, keep poking at your opponent. This also adds a bonus; because you are throwing out attacks, you will gain hyper meter fast, too! Best version: Probably Jill. The fact is, sometimes she will present you with a green AND red herb, which adds even more life than just her green herb! 10)=Projectile Type= Description: Your buddy jumps in and does his/her projectile attack. They then taunt, and then leave. Implementation: By far what I consider THE most useful assist in MVC2! Defensively, they stuff offensive rushes! Call in your projectile while blocking a pixie's rushes, and then combo off of the hit stun! Offensively, you can think of them as the Sonic Boom, but pumped up! Call them out while hammering the opponent to cover Iceman's recovery on his heavy attacks! There is also a Projectile Cross-Up tactic that I learned off of Beta's Spidey FAQ, and it goes like this: Call your projectile assist while jumping to the other side of your opponent, then block. Your opponent can't block because you aren't attacking, so they only escape if they jump. I have found that this actually works better if you throw lots of weak attacks (high then low) to try to open your opponent up to your partner's projectiles. Of course, if the rojectile hits, combo away! Best version: Iceman has one of the best assists in the game. If you use him as an assist character, choose his projectile type. It's quick, and does good damage. If you are using Iceman as your main character, then choose Cable's projectile assist. It hits multiple, times and also does good damage. However, Iceman's is faster. 11)=Balance Type= Description: It's also sometimes called Variety Type. This one really varies with the character. It is "balanced" as the name suggests by one of two ways: De- pending where your opponent is, your assist comes out differently (ie Charlie does a sonic boom if his foe is grounded, but a flash kick it they are in the air) or the Variable Counter and assist aren't the same(Guile does a sonic boom as an assist, but counters with a flash kick) Implementation: Well, read the above assists, and decide how to use it. Best version: Probably Charlie's. You usually want to do a projectile if the opponent is grounded, and an anti-air attack if the opponent is jumping, and you get two in one when you pick Charlie. Storm has the best Variety assist. It auto- matically tracks the opponent, making it good for keep-away. ================================================================= ____________________________________ - Iceman's Assists - ____________________________________ These are Iceman's Assists. Iceman is just as good, as an assist character as he is a main character. If you use him as an assist, use his projectile type to your advantage. (Thanks to Prima's Official Strategy Guide for the names of these assists, their counters, and their THCs) primagames.com Projectile Type: Assist: L Punch Icebeam Counter: L Punch Icebeam THC: Arctic Attack This is Iceman's best assist. It is probably the 2nd best projectile assist in the game (Behind Dr.Doom's Anti-Air assist). Can be used to kill your opponent's assists, and projectiles, or as part of some- thing called the "projectile cross-up technique." (see projectile type in the "Assists" section) Variety Type: Assist: L Kick Avalanche Counter: L Kick Avalanche THC: Arctic Attack This is Iceman's MvC assist. It has been drastically toned down since then, and is no where near as good as it used to be. Pretty useless in this game. Launcher/Balance Type: Assist: L Punch Icebeam Counter: L Kick Avalanche THC: Arctic Attack. The Player's guide refers to this as the "Launcher type", but the actual game may refer to it a the "Balance type". When you perform an assist,(A1 or A2) Iceman performs his Projectile assist. When you perform a counter (QCB+A1 or A2) Iceman performs his Variety assist. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================================================================= ========================================================================= ******************************************************************************** 7)- Partnering up Iceman - ******************************************************************************** __________________________________________ - How he pairs up - __________________________________________ (Here's an interesting idea that I got from Evil Matt-MUN's Dan FAQ) Iceman is a very well rounded character that works fairly well with anyone. Just make sure you give him the right assists. The following secion is merely a rating of how each of the 56 characters in this game pair up with Iceman. Legend: * - I wouldn't pair Iceman with this character (unless...) ** - Good enough *** - This character and Iceman make an excellent team __________________________________________________ ================================ - Akuma - ** ================================ Iceman has perhaps the best keep away in the game, and Akuma probably has the best offense in the game. Traps could be a slight problem since his assists make you base your strategy primarily on either offense, or defense. Anyway, they are both from COA, which is cool, but they also have something that I call, the "Raging Avalanche". To do this, first charge up three hyper bars. Iceman's Variety assist, must be selected. Have Akuma as the main character. Get your opponent corner trapped, then call Iceman in to do his avalanche. While they are blocking it, have Akuma do the Raging Demon, but since IT can't be blocked, your oponent's only hope of escaping is to teleport. If they don't have a teleport, then their, just screwed. This may be a little hard to pull of at first, but if it connects, kiss about 1/3 of your opponent's life-bar goodbye! ================================ - Amingo -** ================================ Looks can be decieving. Even though he looks like nothing but a joke, he's actually quite good. His power, and lifebar compliment Iceman's speed, and comboability perfctly. Speaking of lifebars, Amingo's Enhance assist, doubles Iceman's, lifebar, letting him last a lot longer than usual! ================================ - Anakaris -* ================================ This guy is hard to pair up with anyone. He has average power, and slightly above average defense (lifebar, and block damage). His Coffin Fall as an assist, is kind of good, projectiles are usually expected to come either vertically, or horizontally, not from above. Whether he's an assist, or an active character, com- bining his Coffin Fall, with an Icebeam, is always a good idea, when you're trying to keep your opponent away from you. Overall, he's okay, but there are better characters to pick from. ================================ - B.B. Hood (Bulleta) - ** ================================ She has great, comboability, and a good THC, that really goes well with the Arctic Attack. Both Iceman and her are fairly small, and fast, and his keep away skills compliment her combo- ing skills perfectly. The only thing they lack is lifebar. You must figure out how to work around this. ================================ - Blackheart - ** ================================ Where did this guy come from? Blackheart is excellent as an assist character, but pretty sucky as an active character. If you pick him, you'd better use his assist well, because if he actually has to fight, he will get slaughtered by pretty much anyone in the game. Assist wise, use his anti-air, to track down a sword abusing Spiral, or airborne Ice Avalanche abuser. As a main character, mix up your projectiles and assists to keep your oppoent away. ================================ - Cable -*** ================================ This is a character that I'm currently finding very fun to use. I mean come on, he's got a gun in a fighting game! I think that's cool, you know, for people (like me) that are really into games like Resident Evil, it's kind of like playing a shooting game, and a fighting game at the same time. Combowise, he's equally, as cool. Cable, like Iceman has an awsome air combo, that actually stuns the opponent in mid air! Cable's version goes like this: S. Jab, S.Strong (His main launcher), J.Jab, J.Short, Electric Tap. Which can lead to an Air HVB. Alright, enough B.S. Cable and Iceman make a cool, but rather cheesey team. Both are very well rounded, and Cable's speed, and lifebar, fill in the spaces, where Iceman is weak. You can go combo crazy, or try to chip the h*ll out of the opponent. It's almost as if they were ment to work together. ================================ - Cammy -* ================================ There's just something about her that makes her different from anyone else in the game. She is basically just your average pixie. She's quick, and has a wide variety of moves but, they aim at unusal areas, making it sort of difficult to land them at times. Her anti-air assist could help you on defense, adn her dash type can help you on offense (See the Assists section to see how). But nothing too special. ================================ - Captain America - *** ================================ Captain America is a power/speedster character that works very well with keep-away/speedster characters like Iceman. Cap. A, also happens to have one of the best assists in the game. Him and Doom can really contribute to getting Iceman out of some tight situations. For Example: Against the dreaded Spiral, Cap.A's dash assist, can knock some of her swords out of the way, clearing a passage for Iceman to attack. ================================ - Captain Commando -** ================================ This Captain is very different from his counterpart. Cap.C, is very well rounded, perhaps better that anyone else in the game. As a main character, he has some decent combo skills, but an even better keep away game that is almost cheesey. Use his anti-air assist while playing keep away, or just to shake someone off of you. ================================ - Charlie (Nash) -** ================================ Guile and Charlie are very different. Guile is more of a power character, and should weaken the opponent. Charlie is better rounded, and should play a mix up game. Part of playing a mix up game involves projectiles, you never know when you will need to throw one (unless your opponent is THAT predic- table). Since Charlie is a charge character, he can't do this. But with Iceman on your team, you should have a good projectile assist, so use that insted. As an assist, choose his anti-air type. It helps Iceman on defense as part of a keep-away strategy, or to play offensively, while repeatedly calling this out to help cover-up your recovery on some of your basic attacks, and jump-ins. ================================ - Chun Li -** ================================ Well, good news, and bad news for Chun-Li users. The good news is she's quicker, and has more combo ability than she ever did. The bad news is that she does nowhere near as much damage as she used to. Especially her Kikou- Sho. Chun-Li is now forced to play like a pixie. Which act- tually works out well. Iceman works fairly well with pixies. Play her very aggressively, with Iceman's projectile assist. When it's Chun-Li's turn to assist, either play on defense, with her Anti-Air assist, or play aggressively once again, only use her Expansion Assist insted. ================================ - Colossus -** ================================ Colossus is one of the older power characters from COA. He seems to be a little quicker than most other power characters, and unlike them, he actually has a slight hint of comboability! Almost as much as Zangief (Hey Zangief's launcher is sorta quick, and it is an M Punch). His super armor, combined with some Ice beams, can make him, just unstopable! As an assist, use either his dash, or anti-air, to enhance your game. ================================ - Cyclops -** ================================ Iceman seems to pair up quite well with his old friend. For some reason these two have very similiar styles. Their beam attacks even shoot at the same angles, and levels. Cyclops and Iceman, I guess are supposed to be a new duo(Ryu/Ken, Guile/Charlie, Iron-man/War-machine, etc.). Both of thier beams, are good as assists, and they both are good as active characters. They balance each other out well. ================================ - Dan - ** ================================ Most people that think Dan sucks, are probably the same people that have tried to play him like a shoto. He wasn't designed to play that way, so don't, unless you're trying to lose. He has a good anti-air assist, and his lack of a good projectile is covered up by having Iceman as an assist. Dan actually has better coboability than that of the shotos. Use his anti-air assist (of course), while playing as Iceman. ================================ - Dhalsim -* ================================ He was sped up in this game, but he still is not that great. You will definately need Iceman's projectile assist to aid Dhalsim. His ground type can help shake someone, or thing, off of you, but it's slow, so be prepared to time it right. ================================ - Dr.Doom - *** ================================ As one of the MSH bosses, Doom is very powerful, and well rounded, but a bit slow. His power, and air skills compliment Iceman perfectly. As mentioned earlier, Doom's Anti-Air assist is very valuable. Having him as an assist character, can really get you out of some sticky situations. ================================ - Felicia -** ================================ There's nothing too special about Felicia. She's just your average pixie. You can play aggressively, along with her Variety, or Ground assists, to create corner traps, following with an Icebeam. She can do the same using the projectile assist. ================================ - Gambit -** ================================ If you're going to use him, you will definately need a good assist to capitalize on his recovery. Lucky for him, Iceman has one. As an assist, either use his expansion assist to knock your opponent back, or his projectile asssist to combo an Icebeam. His projectile assist has decieving range, and actually holds th opponent in place for a split second. ================================ - Guile -*** ================================ Guile dishes out lot's of damage, and he does this quickly too. Iceman is well rounded, fast, but sort of weak. Guile is very well rounded, very strong, but a bit slow. If Guile starts, try to have him weaken your opposition (with Iceman assisting him of course), then have Iceman finish them off. As an assist choose his anti-air type. It helps Iceman on defense as part of a keep-away strategy, or to play offensively, while repeatedly calling this out to help cover-up your recovery on some of your basic attacks, and jump-ins. Guile makes an excellent partner for Iceman. ================================ - Hayato -* ================================ His moves seem kind of unusual, and because of this it is hard to figure out a strategy with him at first. I'm not sure, but I think Hayato was designed to guard break. Just look at the angles of his basic attacks. His anti-air assist is decent, and Iceman's pro- jectile assist helps him to guard break, but he's just a little bit too slow. ================================ - Hulk -** ================================ Because of his ability, to "shave" his opponent's lifebar with his basic attacks, him an Iceman can literally, chip you to death. As Hulk, use the Icebeam assist to get close, and once you do, keep them blocking, Icebeams, and basic attacks. As Iceman, use Hulk's dash assist to give you some breathing room, or just to enhance your keep away game. ================================ - Iceman - ** (Dreamcast version only) ================================ Iceman, and Iceman work okay together but it's kind of stupid. They can easily chip an opponent to death in 15 seconds, but the Icemen die rather quickly. Partners that are too similiar to each other tend to have serious problems if your opponent figures out your strategy, then when the clone comes in, they are already too predictable, and easily beaten. ================================ - Ironman -** ================================ If you're all for keep away, then choose Ironman. His Proton Cannon is actually comboable, and he has three good assists. As Iron man, call out Iceman's projetile assist, then, almost simultaneously, jump up, and fire off a unibeam, or a mid-air smart bomb. As Iceman, call him out for a projectile assist, and jump up and fire off Icebeams, you determine the direction, based on the situation. If you prefer to stay on the ground, use Iron man's anti-air assist insted. ================================ - Jill -** ================================ Personally, I think these two make an awsome team. Just think about it for a second, a girl, from one of the most awsome games ever created, paired with probably the coolest member of the X-Men! Ok, enough of that. Most pixie characters, have good offense, but poor defense/keep away skills. Jill's defense is not that good, but her keep away skills, are acually pretty decent. Iceman's projectile assist, is not only good for cross-ups, but can also aid her in keep away. Playing as Jill, try something like; crow, assist, crow, assist/dog, dog, crow, etc. As Iceman, either use her heal type to regain some of your red lifebar, or fire off a couple o' Icebeams while she performs her dash assist. ================================ - Jin -** ================================ Assist wise, you can think of Jin as a toned down Dr.Doom. Like Doom his anti-air can stop just about anything coming your way, and you can use his as a "shield" as well. But the thing that makes Doom's so much better, is the time that it is on the screen. Jin's only lasts about half the time as Doom's, and doesn't do as much guard damage. As the main character, Jin is actually a power character. Use your projectile assist to your advantage (See Projectile Type) . ================================ - Juggernaut - * ================================ As perhaps the largest playable character in the game, behind Sentinel, this guy deals out alot of damage. However, size is not only his strength, but actually his biggest weakenes. His dash assist can screw up just about anything your opponent has planned, but anyone smaller than him, can just eat him with their combos. The only reason will ever pair them together, is because, in the newest comic book series, "X-Men Forever" (January/01) Iceman has teamed up with Juggernaut. It's kinda cool, to use an "official" team, from a comic book series, every now and then. ================================ - Ken -** ================================ While Akuma's offense may be slightly better, Ken's anti-air skills are still greater. Shotos are usually most succsesful when they cross you up. Since Ken's fireballs, don't go all the way across the screen, you might wanna get up close, and try the projectile cross-up technique (see Projectile type), while throwing lot's of weak attacks out at your opponent. Of course if on breaks through, combo away! If Ken get's badly injured, use his Expansion assist, while you go on defense, and try to buy yourself some time. ================================ - Magneto -*** ================================ The king of combos partering up with the king of keep away? THIS is an awsome pair! After you beat someone to death, you can finish them off, by chipping what's left of them to death. With Iceman's projectile assist to help him, and his capture assist to help Iceman, deadly combinations, and traps can be created (Iceman's best partner?"). ================================ - Marrow -** ================================ Marrow's Bone-Rang an be used kind of like Spiral's dancing sword, but with horrible recovery time. To make up for this, simply call out Iceman for an Icebeam, while Marrow recovers. Whether she is an assist, or an active character, the idea with Marrow, is to keep your opponents guessing. She plays just like any other pixie, but with an unusual set of moves. Be sure to use this to your advantage. ================================ - M.Bison (Vega) -* ================================ M.Bison kind of sucks in this game. Nonetheless, his Psycho field, combined with a jumping H Punch Icebeam can be useful. Capcom gave him more comboability in this game. But like Chun-Li, he doesn't do as much damage as he used to. His move commands are seemingly difficult at first, but once you get the hang of them you can kick some serious @$$ with this duo. One disadvantage for charge characters, is their inability to execute a move at will. Personally I love using M.Bison, but most people don't have the timing of his moves down. Don't forget that the Psycho field moves slowly, like Doom's anti-air, and because of this, you'll acually have some time to plan your next move. ================================ - Mega-man (Rock man) -** ================================ His H Punch is enough to make even Spiral users complain. It comes out just as quick, if not quicker that a "dancing sword",and can neutralize them. But unfortunately, it does zero guard damage. Mega-man/Rock-man, can be played like a pixie if you so desire, but his best bet is keep away. Use the Mega Buster to hold the opponent in place, while Iceman chips away at their lifebar. ================================ - Morrigan -* ================================ Like the shotos, Morrigan also finds the most sucess when she crosses you up. True, you could play her like a pixie, but that can be a little too predictable for her. Use Iceman's projectile assist to cross-up your opponent, while attacking with a series of weak attacks. If one breaks through, take advantage of her pixie like traits, and make your opponent eat an air combo. Just remember that she can't take damage too well, and two "weak" characters, usually tend to die fast together. As an assist, try her anti-air to help you with keep away. ================================ - Omega Red -* ================================ His throws have excellent range, but the fact that they can be blocked really knocks them out of the "throw" category. Always be calling out Iceman as an assist, especially while playing as him. Omega Red should do a good job at keeping the opponent guessing, and Iceman's Icebeam can sort of compensate, for Omega's throws' weaknesses. Many people don't realize this, but Omega-Red has some of the best comboability in the game. This allows you, to play him aggressively, along with a good assist. His anti-air assist allows you to use him effectively as "bait". Call him out, and if the opponent, is foolish to attack him, counter with an Icebeam. ================================ - Psylocke -** ================================ Psylocke plays kind of in a style all to her own. Both her and Iceman are fast, and well rounded, but as with most fast characters, their weakness is lack of lifebar. Try to work around this, by using Iceman's projectile assist to help her on offense, and by using her anti-air/balance assist to help out his defense. ================================ - Rogue - *** ================================ As an active character, Rogue is a combo/throwing type character with the ability to "borrow" one of her opponent's attributes. This gives her a good chance against anyone, with her only weakness being that she has no projectiles. But since Iceman has, what I think of as, the best projectile assist in the game, the two alone have no real weakness!! As an assist, Try to get your opponent corner trapped, and call out her assist. Just think, A (jumping or standing) fierce Icebeam, combined with a throw assist....... ================================ - Roll -* ================================ Compared to Mega-man , Roll just is not that much of a threat. The move command for her Roll Buster is more complex than Mega- man's, and because of this, it is not as quick. It will however cause some slight guard damage. Her Hyper Roll, starts up even slower than your Arctic Attack, but if that's not enough, it doesn't even cause guard damage. These two rely on teamwork to succeed, so make sure you are using an assist, to cover you while you attack. ================================ - Ruby Heart -** ================================ She has three very good assists, one which can even enhance the power of your moves! Whatever your strategy is, she can help you. Use her anti-air, while on defense, to help keep your opponent away, while you fire off some Icebeams, her capture type on offense to hold your opponent, while you go combo crazy, or her enhance type in either offense, or defense, to increase the damage you dish out! Increase the guard damage on your Icebeam, and/or the damage to your air combos. ================================ - Ryu -*** ================================ The old karate man is still kicking lot's of @$$. As far as flashiness goes, Iceman looks cool paired with anyone wearing the gi. Strategetically speaking, these two have all of the tools that two partners need to compliment each other. Ryu's average power, and slightly above average stamina compliment Iceman's speed, combo, and keep away skills perfectly. They both have some good "confusing" skills, and even thier assists compliment each other well. As Iceman, Ryu's Anti-Air assist makes up for Iceman's lack of a good anti-air, and as Ryu, Iceman's projectile assist, to a certain extent, makes up for Ryu's lack of cheesing skills. It can also be used as an enhancement to the Shinkuu hadoken. As you already know, Iceman has one of the best assists in the game, and can help Ryu on both offense, and defense. ================================ - Sabertooth -** ================================ Power and speed are a dangerous combination. Sabertooth has both. He's larger than Wolvrine, making him an easier target, but unlike Wolverine, he has one very damaging projectile assist. Iceman's projectile assist, fires at about the level of Sabertooth's knees, almost making up for Sabertooth's size. His launcher assist is decent, but these two work best when on offense, or while trying to chip their opponent's to death. As Iceman, you can call out his projectile assist, jump up and fire off an H Punch Icebeam, to try to chip your opponent. Or as either Sabertooth, or Iceman, use your projectile assists, to cover your back, or as part of the projectile cross-up technique (See projectile type). ================================ - Sakura - ** ================================ Like Captain America, her dash assist is one of the best in the game. I think Cap.A's is better though. Sakura can be a real pain in the @$$. You can use that to your advantage, and use her annoying voice, and her equally annoying moves, along with Iceman's no block damage feature to get your opponents frustrated, then capitalize on their mistakes. If that won't work, then, use her dash assist to clear the way, while you choose between chipping, and comboing. If you don't know how to use Iceman's projectile assist by now, see "Projectile Type". ================================ - Sentinel -** ================================ There is a cheesey keep away game that these two share together, and it goes like this: As Sentinel, repeatedly throw lots of Sentinel Forces, while calling in Iceman for a projectile assist. As Iceman throw lot's of Icebeams while calling in Sentinel, for a "ground" assist. That's it. Simple as that. Once you master the timing, you can keep your opponent away, and barely take any damage at all. (I don't reccomend trying this on Cable). ================================ - Servebot (Kobun) -* ================================ Most people are fooled by his size, and tricked into taking him lightly. As an assist, use his projectile type, an assist aimed at the feet, is never really expected. As a main character, try to land his assists. Servebot's size is good, but he dies to fast, and doesn't really do enough damage to fill his spot on the team. Use him to lure an opponent into a successful assist. ================================ - Shuma Gorath -** ================================ Shuma's only weakness is that his moves require charging. Use assists, while you charge then, fire, and repeat. Try to play sort of a combo crazy game using assists as either character. If you can get an opponent in the corner, call out Iceman, and use the Chaos Dimension to remove a good chunk of lifebar. ================================ - Silver Samurai - ** ================================ Man, if you thought Iceman was a good chipper, you were right, but so is this guy! Silver Samurai is a little too slow to play a combo game, but you can if you time your assists right. A cheap strategy, is to fire off H Punch Icebeams, while calling for a projectile assist. You should actually pick Iceman's Variety assist when pairing him, with Silver Samurai. It helps hold opponents in place, while Samurai, chips them to death. ================================ - Sonson -** ================================ As an assist, either play aggresively, while using her life-up assist, or, play defensively, while using her projectile assist. A well timed projectile assist from her, can realy help you. It moves slowly, pressuring your opponent, and at the same time, giving you a chance to recover from an Icebeam. Sonson is basically just your average pixie. Play aggresively against bigger characters, and play keep away against smaller characters, and you should be okay. Don't forget about your assists. ================================ - Spiderman -** ================================ The main idea with Spidey, is to try to be faster than your opponent, cross them up, and then open them up to a combo. Both Iceman, and Spiderman, can help each other, cross-up their opponent. The only thing they really lack, is priority, and lifebar. ================================ - Spiral -*** ================================ What can I say. These two alone make perhaps one of the best teams in MvC2. There are so many strategies you can use with them. On defense, as either character, call out the projectile assist, then immediately jump up, and fire off a projectile at a downward angle. On offense, play aggresively, while calling out the projectile assist. Both of their projectile assists cause massive guard damage, and can help get out of just about any situation. Also, Spiral's ground type assist, if it hits, can lead to some infinites. Try something like; Short, Forward, assist, Short, Forward, assist, Fierce, assist, etc. Spirals ground type assist allows her to "cheat" enabling her to use a Metamorphasis, with only one hyper bar, simply by pressing both assist buttons. Though the damage is pretty, much the same, the "THC" version can be blocked. ================================ - Storm - *** ================================ Her variety assist is very similiar to Blackheart's in the sense that it automatically tracks your opponent, but it is also sort of different in a way. Her version is slower, and causes guard damage, but his is quicker and does more overall damage. The thing that makes these two so different, other than the obvious differences, is how they do as active characters. While her assist, may not be quite as good, her size, combo, and flying abilites make her much better as an active character. ================================ - Strider - ** ================================ His variety assist can help you get out of some traps as well. But unlike Blackheart, and Dr.Doom, he is much better as an active character. Something I learned off of Strider_HiryuX's Strider FAQ, is the "keep away and run strategy". All you basically do, is try to stay away from your opponent, the whole match! Super jump, dash, block, do whatever you have to, to stay away. Strider, can jump around and teleport, in his attempt to stay away. And Iceman's Ice shield can absorb beams, while he super jumps, dashes, and blocks, while staying away. Both are fast, so it shouldn't be too difficult, just be sure to get a couple of hits in, so you will have more lifebar, when the match ends. This pi**es people off, but it's kind of fun to do! ================================ - Tron Bonne -* ================================ She doesn't really have a good assist, and the only thing she can really compliment Iceman on is power. Try lot's of combos, and lot's of assists with her. Pick her projectile assist. It does some good damage, if you can somehow get it to connect. ================================ - Thanos -** ================================ Definately choose his capture type. Not only do you get a good assist, when you pick it, but you get a good THC as well. Thanos is well rounded, and powerful but a little slow. This complements Iceman's low power, and quick speed perfectly. Of course using Iceman as an assist, can very well cover for Thanos's revovery on some of his slower moves. ================================ - Venom -** ================================ Venom is a dangerous character with some nasty air combos. Like Sabertooth, he is both fast, and powerful. Him and Iceman, can easily chip or combo their opponent to death. Venom's only real weakness is his size, but that's not even too much of a problem. ================================ - War Machine -** ================================ War Machine, like Spiral can either be Iceman's best friend, or worst enemy. If you insist on pairing them together, you will almost have to play Iceman like a pixie. Because War Machine's comboing skills are very poor, almost as bad as Juggernaut's. If you wanna be cheap, fire off lot's of Icebeams, while calling out War Machine's projectile assist. ================================ - Wolverine 1 (Metal) -** ================================ Ahh.. the "cheap" version of Wolverine. As you probably already know, Wolverine is a talented close range fighter, that dies quick. In fact he dies too quick. His aluminum calws give him good reach for a little guy, and combined with the Icebeam to cover his back, Wolverine can be very dangerous. This version of Wolverine, has some decent assists, that can help Iceman both offensively, and defensively. However, every team has a weakness, and one thing you really shouldn't do, is put Iceman and Wolverine on the same team, unless you're really good with both of them. They just die too fast. ================================ - Wolverine 2 (Bone) -** ================================ Same as Metal, Except: 1)Wolverine 2 dies even quicker than the 1st one. 2)His bone claws reach further, than the metal ones. 3)He does slightly more damage with his berserker barrage. 4)He has two less supers. Which cut back on his versatality. 5)This Wolverine, really doesn't have any good assists. The one I suggest you select, is the Ground Type. It can be used to get you out of cross ups, to stop dash ins, or to a certain extent, to stop jump-ins. ================================ - Zangief - ** ================================ Nothin' too special about him. Just another power character. Most People don't like the 360's, because pushing up makes them jump, before the throw is actually performed . One way to get around this, combo the throw from a spinning lariat. So, while your opponent is blocking the lariat, cancel it into a special move throw (which can't be blocked). This is twice as dangerous while an Icebeam covers him. While playing as Iceman, if you can get your opponent corner trapped, call out Zangief for an assist. Just think, A (jumping or standing) fierce Icebeam, combined with a throw assist....... ______________________________________ - The one move kill- ______________________________________ It is possible to kill your opponent in just one move. However, it must be done very specifically. Choose the team of Iceman, B.B. Hood, and Juggernaut. Charge up 3 hyper bars. Now get your opponent corner trapped, and stand about half, an inch away from them. Now push both assist buttons, and that's it, your opponent is dead! This must be done on Wolverine 2, in order to kill, but of course, it will still do massive damage, on anyone else. You can also use this to destroy assists. One last thing, the guard damage is not very good, so make sure it connects. _______________________________________ - The best team? - _______________________________________ Most people have said there is no best team. Well, they could be right, but one team has to be the best. Cheese seems to be the deciding factor in MvC2. MvC2 is not a game of combos, but in fact a game of traps. I would have to say the best team is Iceman, Dr.Doom, and Blackheart. Let me tell you why: 1)Iceman's no block damage feature, combined with the cheese damage on his Icebeam makes him an excellent keep away character. 2)Doom's anti-air, can help keep your oppoenents away from you. 3)Yes, I've heard of that Spiral, Blackheart trap. But with Doom's anti-air, you can corner trap her early, or use Blackheart's anti-air to track her down while you keep her away. 4)I don't think Storm's typhoons can chip you, so that kind of rules out the double vertical Storm/Blackheart trap. 5)The Strider/Doom trap can be eliminated with accurate timing of the Shake-off technique. 6)Any two of the team's members can create some truly devestating traps. I think thats all, but new traps are being invented all the time. That is just my opinion of who I think the best team is. Of course, Iceman should almost always be the active character. _________________________________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================================================================= ========================================================================= ******************************************************************************** 8) - Iceman Strategy - ******************************************************************************** _____________________________ - General Offense Strategy - _____________________________ The first thing you ever do before the match starts, is determine what kind of opponent you are fighting. There are mainly 5 types of opponents. Pixies (Strider, Jill, Wolverine, etc.) keep-awayers (Cable, Iron-man, Dr.Doom), all rounders (Shotos, Guile, Charlie) Power characters (Juggernaut, Zangief), and power-speedsters (Sabertooth, Venom). Pixies are usually smaller, and easily taken care of with an S.Roundhouse. You can actually play Iceman like a pixie against keep awayers, but defense is better for beating them, unless they can chip you. "All rounders" are usually weak in combos, or keep away. Their chipping abilities are not to good, and they can usually be easily beaten with lots of mix-ups between jumping in, and dashing. Both offense and defense will well on them. Power characters are very fun to fight. I like to use them as target practice. While they are far away, you can practice aiming your Icebeam. While close up, practice your air combos. Power-Speedsters, are the opponents that are the tough to deal with. Their more powerful than you, and just as fast. The only thing you've got against them is size, and keep away skills. Play a careful offensive game, or a good defensive one. Most people don't realize this, but Iceman has some very effective ground chains. Try to utilize them to your advantage. Anyways, here's some offensive tips, while playing like a pixie: Iceman has one of the best throws in the game. He grabs his opponent, freezes them, then hurls them across the screen, where they are still frozen. In regular cases, the opponent is frozen long enough for an Icebeam to combo. In the rare case that you corner the opponent and do it, it easily chains into a launcher(which of course leads to an Arctic Attack). You could also use the air version after a 2-hit air combo, land and proceed to do another air combo into the Arctic Attack. Iceman can confuse, sorta like Ryu. Jump in with lot's of beat punches, and throw out lot's of weak attacks. If one breaks through, make your opponent eat an air-combo. Never try to trade hits with someone, 'cause you'll almost always lose. Iceman's pri- ority, is not very good (exeptions to his C.Fierce, and S.Roundhouse). Also, try chaining air combos, after a successful Beat Punch. If ANYTHING goes wrong, switch to defense. _____________________________ - General Defense Strategy - _____________________________ This strategy works best against keep away characters that can't chip you. Simply shoot out Icebeams, simple as that. Use an anti-air assist, when/if your opponent get's close to you, if you have one (which you should). If they CAN chip you, use offense insted. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== ******************************************************************************** - Specific Character Strategies - ******************************************************************************** *************** Vs Computer *************** If you're trying to beat the computer with Iceman, all you have to do is Icebeam them repeatedly, because 99% of your projectiles will either hit, or do some good guard damage. Against Iceman, Just choose a good chipping assist like Spiral, or Doom. Otherwise, try to strengthen your weakest areas, that's what the computer is for. ************** Vs Human ************** Human Characters are usually much harder to beat. Here's some strategies that I've created based on my gaming experience. Dr.Doom's anti-air assist really helps out Iceman in most cases. I strongly suggest using him as one of your partners. ******************************************** Akuma (Gouki) ******************************************** Akuma is basically a weaker Ryu, with more specials. You will face two different kinds of Akuma opponents, the kid that throws fireball after fireball, and the master, who will get up close, and try to confuse the heck out of you. The fireball thrower, should be easy enough, just Icebeam all of his fireballs till he dies. The master, will most likely try super jump over you, expecting you to do an H Punch Ice beam. Don't do this. Insted, either meet him in mid-air with a shake-off kick, or dash around while he's airborne to throw off his aim. If he tries to land on top of you, block high, and make him pay. If he makes any mistakes, make him eat an air combo into "ARCTIC ATTACK!" If he just stays back keep in mind that your Icebeam will do insane guard damage, therefore forcing him to go on offense. At mid range use your C.Fierce or S.Roundhouse. Don't try to trade hits with him, cause 99% of the time you will lose. Insted, go all out on offense, or take advantage of your "cheesing abilities". (He takes so much damage now, that one air combo into an Arctic Attack can kill him) ******************************************** Amingo ******************************************** It's been a while since I've played against an Amingo player. The only advantage he has on you is his lifebar. You are much quicker, have better offense, keep away skills, and priority (with your S. Roundhouse). Your S. Roundhouse will actually beat out his litlle cactus trick, and at the same time, knock him back! Try to keep him on offense by jumping in with a beat punch, C.Short, Launch, jump back, or air combo if the beat punch hits. Remember, you're going to need a good anti air-assist for 95% of the game's jump ins. And while you are on offense, watch out for that verticle super of his. ******************************************** Anakaris ******************************************** One of the more tricky opponents in this game. If you'e going to play keep away, super jump alot, and fire off Icebeams. Don't stay on the ground, 'cause he CAN chip you (I think). Insted, go straight after him. Jump in with a beat punch, if it hit's air combo him, into your Arctic Attack if not, you will definately need your S. Roundhouse to keep some space between the two of you while attacking. Another thing, NEVER try to throw him, unless included in an air combo, 'cause otherwise he will almost always beat you to it . ******************************************** B.B. Hood (Bulleta) ******************************************** Iceman has his own way of dealing with smaller characters. Don't abuse your Icebeam, unless you are trying to kill her assists. Pixies have a bad habbit of jumping over/sliding under projectiles, and nailing you. Insted, get close. Now mix up you're C. Fierces, Launchers, and S. Roundhouses, and this little red pixie will be dead in no time. ******************************************** Blackheart ******************************************** The only effective strategy I have encountered with Blackheart user is using hisI nferno assist to do hold you in place, while someone like Storm or Doom, chips you to death. As an assist, you can either, dash and Icebeam him, or attack your opponent's main character like crazy to keep him from even calling out Blackheart. Your opponent probably won't use Blackheart as his main character. But if, or when, he does, just block all of the projectiles, 'cause his specials can't chip you. If he wants to get close, combo like crazy. The only thing I would look out for is those damned basic attacks of his that hold you in place. But those can be blocked. Blackheart alone, should be no threat to Iceman. ******************************************** Cable ******************************************** Iceman is probably Cable's most hated opponent. Why? Because he can't chip you. Heh-heh. His only chance is to rely on his assists (if he has one) that can chip you. If he STILL tries to beat you in a projectile war, Icebeam the h**l out of him!! Don't get too predictable with Icebeams though, he has a nasty habit, of jumping over them, and nailing you with Air HVBs. If he pulls out his assists, just, um...... Icebeam both of them!! Don't do this if he jumps though, else you'll get nailed. If he jumps, then super jump and block to avoid any traps he may have in store for you. Of course, he'll probably get REALLY P.O.ed, and come towards you! Iceman can fight a better close range battle than Cable can. So beat the crap out of Cable!!! (Learn to fight in real life too, 'cause he may try to beat the crap out of YOU.) ********************************************* Cammy ********************************************* When she uses her hooligan twist, jump back, and stuff her with an H Punch Icebeam. Never jump over her, she's just too quick. Just sit back and throw Icebeams, and S. Roundhouses. Shake her off if she gets too close, or use assists. Don't play her little guessing game, unless you're willing to lose Iceman. You've got your Icebeam, so there's no reason to. ********************************************* Captain America ********************************************* His moves do more damage. He has a longer life bar. And he can fight in the air a lot better than you can. You are quicker, and have a beam projectile. Let him make the first move. If he drops his shield, don't let him get it back. Iceman seems to have better comboing skills, so wait for him to make a mistake, then show him what he leaves open. Don't use the Icebeam unless the Cap. is at long range. Always be looking for something to counter. ********************************************* Captain Commando ********************************************* Your opponent probably knows that Captain Commando can't chip Iceman, so chances are he's going to play a very aggressive close range fighting game. Don't try to stay away from him, cause He WILL catch you, and NEVER use the Icebeam, unless your absolutely sure it will hit him. Just engage in a good mix-up game with him, and you'll be okay. ********************************************** Charlie (Nash) ********************************************** Charlie is not like Guile. He is quicker, weaker, has a projectile super, and does not have the air super. If he is stupid enough to throw a sonic boom, cebeam it immediately. Some Charlie/Guile users like to follow in the sonic boom using it as a shield. The reach and priority on your S.Roundhouse, are excellent, almost cheesy. It comes out lightning quick, destroying their little "shield". A well placed S.Roundhouse will stop jump in's therefore allowing you to chip him to death. If you get close to him, either, block and counter, or combo him like crazy!! All Charlie really has now, is his C.Short, C.Forward, cancel into Flashkick super comdo. Don't be afraid to use your helpers against this guy, 'cause he doesn't have the sonic boom typhoon. ********************************************** Chun-Li ********************************************** Chun-Li now plays like a whole new character. Now insted of being more of an all round character, she plays like a pixie, having more speed, comboability, and the ability to jump away like h**l. You're just as fast as her, have a beam, no guard damage, stronger basic attacks, a life bar just as long as hers, and a move (beat punch) that can stuff her launcher. She can be very annoying be 'cause of the fact that she can jump a total of six times before even touching the ground. To avoid this, try to keep her on the ground with your Avalanche, that's what it was ment for, but use the air-borne version, because 9 out of 10 times you'll get nailed by the recovery if you use it on the ground. Icebeam/S.Roundhouse her kikou-ken, and her spinning air kick. Arctic Attack, all of her supers, and use the shake-off strategy if she gets too close. ********************************************** Colossus ********************************************** A fellow "Child of the Atom". Keep him away as much as possible. You can counter ANYTHING he throws at you with an Icebeam. Use your assists to kill his. If he is somehow able to get through this, equip your Ice fist when you see him getting close, and get ready to do some serious comboing. When he uses his super Armor, THC him, or give em' an Arctic Attack, since he is left open for almost two seconds after he uses it. Don't worry about his Super Dive. Unless he uses it as part of a DHC, or THC, It will be highly predictable, and punished with, what else, but an ARCTIC ATTACK!! ********************************************** Cyclops ********************************************** Cyclops will fight alot like you do, only without the Ice shield, and with better combo-ability. There are 2 kinds of Cyclops opponents, the scrub that will fire Optic blast after Optic blast, and of course, the master. If all he does is shoot Optic blast after Optic blast, Icebeam him to death. If he is able to mix his game up well with him, then he is probably a master of Cyclops. In this case, I quote J. Christopher when I say, "May the best confuser win!!!". ********************************************** Dan ********************************************** Icebeam!! Icebeam!! Icebeam!! If he manages to get to you then, Combo!! Combo!! Combo!! The person who picks Dan is either a fighting game newbie, or a master of Dan. If he's a newbie, there's nothing really to worry about, take it kinda easy on him, but don't let 'em beat you. He may even try to play Dan like Ken or Ryu. He'll probably never air combo you, never dash, and probably keep calling out his assists, while mistaking them for attack buttons. If you notice that he is able to mix up his game well with Dan, then he is probably a master of Dan. If this is the case, get serious. Most people will write Dan off as a wussy character. He's actually got good power and comboability, and decent speed. His only real weakness, is his lack of range. Capitalize on Dan's weakness with your Icebeam, and assists. You're comboability is better than his, so all he's got on you is power, and priority. Basically try to either combo him to death, using the Beat Punch, of course, to jump in, or try to keep him away using the Icebeam, and using the shake off technique, or the S.Rounhouse --> H Punch Icebeam ground chain to keep him back. Or better yet, mix-up the two. Change between the two styles often to keep him geussing. ********************************************** Dhalsim ********************************************** He's slow, and he can't fight worth a crap. Nothing personal, I've just never ever played against a good Dhalsim player (maybe I have, I just don't know it). If he's a newbie you know what to do. If he is actually good with him, expect alot of teleports and drill attacks. Some Dhalsim users like to follow in the Yoga Fire using it as a shield. The reach and priority on your S.Roundhouse, is excellent, almost cheesy. It comes out lightning quick, destroying his little "shield". A well placed S.Roundhouse will stop jump in's, eh..uhm, his drill attack, therefore allowing you to chip him to death. Don't jump, unless you are trying to escape a teleport. Your H Punch Avalanche will take care of his drill attacks nicely, but then again so will your S.Roundhouse. This is one of the few, if not the only opponent where your Avalanche may prove most useful. *********************************************** Dr.Doom *********************************************** Iceman is probably the best Anti-Doom character in the game. Doom's Air proton shot strategy is useless against Iceman. When he shoots it, give him a nice H Punch Icebeam. L Punch Icebeam his Molecular shield. And block anything else he throws at you. Eventually he'll get frustrated, and try to combo you. In this case just engage in a nice confusers game, and look for openings in his defense, you mainly want to capitalize on his launcher's recovery. It's slow, and he's left wide open for a combo, if he misses. *********************************************** Felicia *********************************************** She is one of the top dialers in this game. Don't get corner trapped, and don't Icebeam over and over again. Insted, go straight after her, but vary your approaching tactics. Use jump ins, dash ins, whatever you need to do to get close to her. Once you get there, don't let up, until you kill her. Try to keep her on defense, and try lots of air combos into your Arctic Attack. ************************************************ Gambit ************************************************ Against Iceman, Gambit has really no choice except to jump in. Icebeam his Assists, and block his Kinetic Cards. If he tries to dash in, use your insanely prioritized S. Roundhouse. He's probably not dumb enough to jump up and try to hit you with Kinetic cards, but if he is use your Icebeam to knock him out of the air (people can do some desperate things when their low on life). Gambit has some very damaging OTG's, so guard carefully, and master the push block, and roll. Mix, up your offense, and defense against him. ************************************************ Guile ************************************************ Guile will probably be one of your tougher opponents. His lifebar is almost twice the size of yours, and he deals out a lot more damage per hit than you do. You are quicker, and have the Icebeam. If he is stupid enough to throw a sonic boom, Icebeam or S.Rounhouse it immediately. Some Guile/Charlie users like to follow in the sonic boom using it as a shield. The reach and priority on your S.Roundhouse, is excellent, almost cheesy. It comes out lightning quick, de- stroying their little "shield". A well placed S.Roundhouse will stop jump in's therefore allowing you to chip him to death. Keep him away as much as you can. Feel free to block anything he throws at you, but watch out for those throws of his, and NEVER get corner trapped. If you do, time a guard push, or C. Fierce right, to knock him back. At long range try to get some good guard damage. At close a range combo the heck out of him. But try to avoid fighting him at close range, since he can cancel his Sonic Boom or Flashkick super after any button. Use your S. Roundhouse/C.Fierce at medium range. ************************************************ Hayato ************************************************ Very easy to beat. Hayato, is probably the worst of the three swordsmen. Expect a few jump ins, but mostly, dash-ins. If he wants to use that little dashing special of his, capitalize on the recovery, with an air combo. Try to keep him away, and use your S. Roundhouse if he wants to get close. ************************************************ Hulk ************************************************ He's big, slow, and can chip you with his normal attacks! Don't worry, Iceman eat's power characters for lunch. Icebeam him. If he gets close, give 'em an air combo into an... ARCTIC ATTACK!!! Or just use your main ground chain. ************************************************ Iceman ************************************************ My favorite opponent. The guy that picks Iceman is either an idiot, or a master. Both can be equally annoying. First the idiot. There are two kinds of idiots, defensive ones, and offensive ones. The defensive one will just sit back and throw avalanches and Arctic Attacks at you hoping to get some guard damage. If he doesn't know that the Icebeam won't chip Iceman, then he'll throw those at you insted. He probably can't fight up close, so get up close, and beat the crap out of him. The offensive one, will keep charging, and dashing, and jumping in, hoping to catch you off guard, and combo you into an Arctic Attack. This is rather amusing to watch, and even easier to counter. Once again, you will be needing your S. Roundhouse to take care of the dashing and charging. And all you have to do is guard push his jump in attemps, or even just use the S.Roundhouse. Now for the master. It's going to come down to who the better player is. Try to get close, and capitalize on the Icebeam's recovery with a simple, S.Roundhouse, H Punch Icebeam combo. Cross-ups are good too. If you can't beat him, learn from him, watch his general patterns, and stuff like tendencies to air combo at certain times, and in certain ways. Then use what you have learned, to counter his mistakes. ************************************************ Iron Man ************************************************ Another easy match. Remember how energy based attacks don't give you any guard damage?? There you go. Block the unibeam, and even the Proton Cannon. If he actually tries to combo you, be very carefeul. I've learned that Iron-man's Proton cannon is actually comboable. If you're hit by the Proton cannon, you will lose lot's of lifebar. Use your S. Roundhouse and try to keep him away (because of the Repulsor Blast,you can't jump in with beat punches). Eventually he'll grow impatient, and use his mid-air smart bombs. When this happens, You can either use your H Punch Icebeam, or meet him in mid-air with an L Punch Icebeam. You must not forget about your launcher and S. Roundhouse, to knock him back if he gets too friendly. ************************************************ Jill ************************************************ She will try to combo the h**l out of you!! Your anti-air assist will take care of her jump-ins, your Icebeam will knock out those zombies, and of course, your S. Roundhouse, for the dash-ins, and jump-ins. When you use the S.Roundhouse as an anti-air, try to predict where your opponent will land, and try to make them land on it. Try super jumping, and giving her a mid air H Punch Icebeam. Play some good defense, or you'll be dead in no time. Also, I've learned, from Ms. "Aya Brea's" Jill FAQ, that little pixies, such as Jill, like to cross up guys like Iceman. If your S.Roundhouse fails to knock her back, master the super jump, or use a dash/expansion/projectile assist to help uncross you. The S.Roundhouse can even knock back her animals, and zombies. ************************************************ Jin ************************************************ Super jump, Icebeam. When he gets close, stay on the ground, beat him back then repeat. Arctic Attack his Jin Cyclone, and super jump his Blodia Punch. 'Nuff said. ************************************************ Juggernaut ************************************************ Don't let Juggernaut be a problem for you. Stay back and fire off Icebeams as fast as you can! If you don't want to look like a coward, then jump in with a beat punch, C. Short, C. Roundhouse, Air combo, ARCTIC ATTACK!! Or dash in if you want to, but you can easily get nailed if you do. If you can keep him guessing between jumping in, leading to an air combo, and ground chains leading to an Icebeam/air combo, he's as good as dead. I love it when he tries to land on Iceman with his body slam. The angle of your H-Punch Icebeam, is perfect for nailing him in the gut. ************************************************ Ken ************************************************ Mr. Close range -V.S.- Mr. Long range. All of Ken's most effective combos are jump-ins. Shotos will usually jump in, and almost NEVER dash in. Use your Anti-air assist, or your launcher, to take care of jump ins, and your S. Roundhouse to counter dash in attempts. Try to keep him away. If he gets to you, air combo him (they hate that) and repeat. Just watch out, 'cause like Guile, he too can cancel his horizontal super after any button. ************************************************ Magneto ************************************************ This will could be your toughest fight (aside from Spiral). He has a combo ability rivaling even Spider-man, and perhaps the best launcher in the game! You have your S. Roundhouse, and your Ice Shield. If he plays keep away, go on offense, unless he flies, then block everything, and try hitting him with an Icebeam, or an airborne Avalanche. Try jumping in with a 2 hit, Beat Punch, S.Roundhouse combo, and chain lots o' Icebeams from some S.Roundhouses. Use the S. Roundhouse to take care of dash-ins, and jump ins. Sound easy? Well, maybe.... ************************************************ Marrow ************************************************ Probably not a fight you'll come across that often. Marrow is going to either throw lots of bones at you, or try to combo you like crazy. Her keep away strategies can not match yours, so just fight cheese with cheese. If she tries to combo you, and she probably will, use the "Shake Off" technique that I've been preaching about this entire FAQ! (S. Roundhouse, Launcher...) ************************************************ M. Bison (Vega) ************************************************ Another fight that you're not very likely to come across. Bison takes damage just as well, if not better than Guile. Don't try to cheese him to death, he has too many ways of getting around this. Insted use a do just the opposite, and mix-up your ground chains, and air combos. ************************************************ Mega-man (Rock-man) ************************************************ Throughout my entire playing experience I've encountered two types of Mega-man players. The one who will jam the H punch button and try to combo you into it, and the one who pulls out his Juggernaut, or Dr.Doom assist and fires off Mega busters first one high then one low, and that's all he does. To take care of the H Punch jammer, try to hit him as much as possible. Jump in with an L Kick, then air combo him into an ARCTIC ATTACK!! If you're both on the ground, you will need your S. Roundhouse to keep some space in between you while that little midget eats the ice from your S. Roundhouse. That was easy, but this one may not be. Now for Mr. Mega buster. Don't stay back and block, insted super jump and fire off Icebeams as fast as you possibly can!! If he gets close, handle him the same way as the first guy. ************************************************ Morrigan ************************************************ Morrigan will fight alot like the shotos do, but she will try to DHC you into her Soul Eraser. She never really gives me that much of a problem. Keep a good look out if you sense an air combo coming, but try not to even let her get that close to you. Your S.Roundhouse can give Iceman total ground dominance. ************************************************ Omega Red ************************************************ Omega red has great combo-ability, and a keep away strategy almost as great as yours. Notice I said almost. Super jump alot, and try to keep him away. If he gets to you, shake him off as quickly as possible. Or play like a pixie, mixing up your S.Roundhouse chain into Icebeam combo, and your launcher that, of course, leads to air combos. Don't forget about his blockable throws. ************************************************ Psylocke ************************************************ Expect lots of combos, and corner trap attemps. Show her what she leaves open by answering her mistakes with some combos of your own. You're gonna need your guard push to get some breathing room. If she doesn't try to combo you, then she will try that cheap air Psy-blast game. Knock her out of the air with an H Punch Icebeam if she does this. You can see her teleport coming a mile away, so when this happens, stay back and block. She'll be left wide open if she doesn't connect with it, so punish away. ************************************************ Rogue ************************************************ Rogue is a good close range fighter, with that stupid kiss of hers. DON'T LET HER KISS YOU. If you play Iceman correctly against her, you don't even need to worry about that, 'cause you'll be keeping her away the whole match. If she is some how able to get to you use your S. Roundouse, Launcher or Shake-Off kick to get her off of you. Don't forget that an S.Roundhouse easily chains into an Icebeam. If she misses with a kiss attempt, capitalize on the recovery with an air-combo, or a ground chain, if you don't have the bar(s) for an Arctic Attack. ************************************************ Roll ************************************************ Roll is sort of like a toned down Megaman. If you're both on the ground, you will need your S. Roundhouse to keep some space in between you while that little midget eats the ice from your S. Roundhouse. Roll's fireball comand is much more complicated than Mega-man's so she probably cannot use Mega-man's fire ball strategy. If she can, then handle her the same way as Mega- man but don't worry about the H Punch charging strategy, 'cause she can't charge her Roll Busters. ************************************************ Ruby Heart ************************************************ The French Pirate gal will fight alot like Jin does, but with a Hyper Combo that is rediculously easy to combo into. Your best bet is to play keep away. Mix up your launchers, S. Roundhouses, and C. fierces to get her off of you, if she gets to you. You can actually super jump her ship super, if you time it just right. Don't worry about blocking her other supers, unless they connect, you'll barely suffer any damage at all. ************************************************ Ryu ************************************************ Ryu is probably the most misused character in this game. He is as average as average gets. Most Ryu users hate guys like Iceman, 'cause he is a "cheese" character. Iceman can confuse sort of like Ryu, so you'll have to base your strategy, on what he does. If you're playing against an old school Ryu, your Icebeam will literally, destroy him. If he actually knows what he's doing, expect lot's of jump ins. Use the S. Roundhouse to take care of dash ins. Iceman has a pattern very simmilair to Ryu's old Jumping H Kick, crouching H kick pattern. I've noticed, that some Ryu users like to fire off fireballs, and follow them in, and jump over you. Iceman's S.Roundhouse can easily rule out this strategy. Try jumping in with lot's of beat punches, since they can actually beat out Dragon punches, and then attempt a launch into an air combo. Ground chains have become Ryu's best friend. I think his Jumping H Punch, or Kick has better priority than your launcher, but not the S.Rounhouse. Force him to dash in by using your anti-air assist to beat out his jump-in attempts. Otherwise, just play like a coward, and fire off lot's of Icebeams. ************************************************ Sabertooth ************************************************ Chun-Li wasn't the only one that was drastically toned down. Even though Sabertooth suffered at the hands of Capcom in this game, he is still very powerful. Use your S. Roundhouse against him. Jump in alot, and combo away. Keep away is good too. Or try to get him to fight you in the air, and abuse your Shake- off kicks, Beat punches, and Icebeams. Just don't get caught in one of Sabertooth's nasty air combos, or you'll regret it. ************************************************ Sakura ************************************************ Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Personally, I've never encounered an effective strategy against a Sakura user. As you probably already know, she can be even more annoying than Servebot. Her only chance against you, is to play aggresively. Remember how you can push block in this game(press both punches while blocking)? Push block her Sho-ryu-ken, and Tastu-maki wannabees, and Icebeam or even use the S.Rounhouse on that crappy fireball of hers. Use the "Shake off Technique" if all else fails. ************************************************ Sentinel ************************************************ I take back what I said about Iceman, THIS GUY is my favorite opponent!! Sentinel is a perfect combination, of Iron-man and Colossus, only bigger, slower, and slightly stronger. Expect a projectile game, and fight cheese with cheese! If he has the nerve to try to beat you in a fist fight, make him regret it. Big opponents like him are like combo-magnets. Hit him with lot's of air combo's if this is the case, but be careful, 'cause, he only needs to land one of those cheap rocket punches to really screw you up. ************************************************ Servebot (Kobun) ************************************************ SERVEBOT!!!! This uh... thing, can be very annoying if you let him. Good thing you have your S. Roundhouse. And that's all you really need (unless he jumps, then you could use your launcher). Other than that, just Icebeam his assists, and of course, if he moves in on you, S. Roundhouse. Super jump his horizontal supers and Arctic Attack the vertical one. Servebot chooses his supers, by choosing an assist type. The Projectile type, will give him the horizontal lunch rush. The Anti-Air assist type, will give him his vertical super, and the balance type will give him the full screen super. No matter what assist type he chooses, he will always have his "King Servbot" super. Don't waste your Arctic Attack on him unless it's gonna connect. It just do enough guard damage for what it's worth. ************************************************* Shuma-Gorath ************************************************* Treat Shuma' kinda' like a "combo crazy" Guile. He actually has traits of the pixie, as this guy not only runs fast and combos hard, but he has anti-turtling properties and can regain life by throwing. Your S.Rounhouse will beat out all of his main projectiles. If he uses the Chaos Dimension, run away, and fire off Icebeams, and airborne Avalanches to keep him away till his Chaos Dimension time runs out. Stick to the ground and use your S.Roundhouse when he tries to get close to you. Mastery of it's timing is one of the keys to playing Iceman to his fullest extent. Otherwise, use your Icebeam to keep him back. ************************************************* Silver Samurai ************************************************* Keep him back! If he get's close use the "Shake Off" technique. If you don't you will lose a good fraction of your lifebar to guard damage. Most of his attacks seem to have slow recovery, so capitalize on this with.... anything! Just be resonable, obviously you will need to use a combo. Because of his sword, he can change styles when ever he wants, but he loses 1 power bar. You need not worry too much about this. But don't try to out chip him, even if you win, you'll be badly injured. If you gotta chip him, super jump, and fire some H Punch Icebeams down at him. This helps avoid some guard damage. Samurai is much slower than you, so look for ways to capitalize on his mistakes. ************************************************* Sonson ************************************************* Sonson is not used very often. But all she is, is another pixie. Beating her is quite simple. Mix it up. At long range, Icebeam her. At short range shake her off. Your S.Rounhouse actually beats out those little monkies of hers. I guess you could engage in a combo game if you want to... ************************************************* Spider-Man ************************************************* Spidey is like Iceman's opposite. Swat him out of the air if with an H Punch Icebeam he is dumb enough to abuse that stupid "Air web ball" strategy, but if he doesn't do this, he'll try to combo you like crazy! Show 'em what he leaves open with a move of your choice, once you beat him back, Icebeam him. If you just can't get him off, answer his combo's with some combo's of your own. If he tries to jump in, back-up, and try to make him land on your S.Roundhouse. The "Shake Off technique will prove most useful here. ************************************************* Spiral ************************************************* I hate her, in fact I think it's safe to say, that unless she's on your team, EVERYONE hates her. You're screwed if you can't time an Icebeam right. And even if you can, if she has the right assists (like Blackheart) you're even more screwed. In situations like these, you need to have the right assists as well. Either mix up your Icebeams, and Avalanches, or go for an instant anti-air assist (CapC, CapA) or just Dr. Doom. There are mainly two ways to beat her. Select Dr. Doom as one of your parners, and select his Anit-Air assist, you will almost have to RELY on this to beat her. If she doesn't have Blackheart, or Storm, stay back and call out Dr.Doom while you jump up, and fire off Icebeams, then land, and fire off Icebeams then repeat. If she does have Blackheart, and/or Storm, then at the start of the match, get close to whom- ever is starting. As soon as the voice says "BEGIN!", immediately, and simultaneously, jump up, and summon Dr.Doom. If you land on the other side of her, make a "Spiral Sandwhich" and use the projectile cross-up technique (SEE Assists section). Block as Doom's rocks hit her in the back, then follow up with an Arctic Attack, or just your launcher. If you land in front her, throw as many attacks as you can before Doom jumps off. Then repeat. ************************************************* Storm ************************************************* Most people will choose her, just so they can try to chip you to death. The only way she can chip you is if she uses her Ice Storm. Do not try to beat Storm in a projectile battle, it's just too cheap. Insted engage in a "combo crazy" game. Jump the to avoid her horizontal Typhoons, and dash or super jump to avoid her vertical ones. You could even Icebeam her before she finishes the word typhoon, to keep it from even coming out. The Lightning Storm can be super jumped, or blocked, and the Ice Storm, starts up almost as slow as War-Machine's Proton Cannon. Try not to let her fly away, when you see her go up, try to nail her with an Icebeam, or Avalanche.If she still get's away, super jump, and at the peak of your jump, try to hit her with an H Kick Avalanche (since there is no blocking in flight mode [applies to anyone that can fly]). While fighting in close quarters, keep an eye out for those nasty air combos of hers. If she starts dashing, around doing that crazy stuff, launch, or use the S.Roundhouse to stop the dashing, then punish away. She seem's to be good at air to air fighting, so try lot's of ground chains to puy her away. ************************************************* Strider Hiryu(u) ************************************************* Stay in the corner, simple as that. Since he's smaller, than you try lot's of S.Rounhouses to shake him off. Super jump when you see the Legion, or the Ouroboros coming. Other than that, throw an Icebeam, or two, then be ready to block, else, he'll teleport above you, and then, bye-bye Iceman. ************************************************* T(ron) Bonne ************************************************* What's the deal? How come she has a fourth character on her team? Oh well. Treat her supers the same way as you would Servbot's. I'm not sure if she can choose her supers though. Super jump, and Icebeam alot, and look for openings in her defense, for an opportunity to air combo into the Arctic Attack. ************************************************* Thanos ************************************************* The ol' Marvel Super Heroes boss is back. He's been toned down so much, that now, he RELIES on his assists more than he should have to. Against anyone you face you should always make sure you have the right assists (I reccomend Dr.Doom). Thanos will fight alot like Doom does, but slower, and more powerful. Don't jump in, 'cause 9 out of 10 times you get nailed by the Gauntlet Soul, or Gauntlet Space. Insted try to dash in alot, and air combo into your Arctic Attack. Super jump and Icebeam if you detect the Gauntlet Reality coming. ************************************************* Venom ************************************************* Fighting Venom, will be a mental test for you. Lucky for Iceman, one of his basic attacks has INSANE priority. Look for opportunities to Air combo into your Arctic Attack. Super jump and Icebeam alot to charge up you're hyper meter. If you get close, mix up your C. Fierces, and S.Roundhouses, and watch out for that hated throw of his, 'cause he can combo you from it. ************************************************* War-Machine ************************************************* This guy may be a little bit more of a probelm than his Armored friend. It just all depends on how you look at it. In case you haven't noticed War Machine can chip you (ALOT easier than Iron Man can). But even so, still an easy match. Deal with his smart bombs the same way as you would Iron Man's. Don't block his Shoulder Cannons unless you're willing to lose almost, if not, ALL of your lifebar to guard damage. Insted, duck the high one's, and Icebeam him. For the low ones, simply hop them and... Ice beam him. His Proton Cannon shouldn't be a problem either. Just super jump, and give him an ARCTIC ATTACK, before he can even finish the word "Cannon"!! Don't forget about your launcher and S. Round- house, if he wants to get close. ************************************************ Wolverine 1 (Metal) ************************************************ Another close range fighter. Stay back and Icebeam. If you haven't already guessed, use your S. roundhouse to shake him off, and launcher to stop jump ins. If YOU jump in, use the beat punch, but watch out for the Fatal Claw. ************************************************ Wolverine 2 (Bone) ************************************************ Doesn't get much easier than this. Handle him the same way as the first one, except you don't have to worry about the Fatal Claw 'cause he doesn't have it!! **************************************** Zangief **************************************** Not as easy as you might think. His Spinning Lariat thing can pass right through your Icebeam. Time it right, or fight close range. Seriously. Even though he's bigger, you still have more reach (with your S. Roundhouse), and you're still quicker. I just recently found, that Zangief can cancel either of his Spinning Lariats, into a Final Atomic Buster. To avoid this simply master the guard push. Also, be very careful in close quarters, one lucky Spinning Piledriver can easily hurt Iceman. =========================================================================== =========================================================================== ________________________________________________________________________________ ============================================= 9) - Abyss Strategies - ============================================= ________________________________________________________________________________ This guy is so easy to beat, it's not even funny. 1st form - I hate this guy. He is big, slow, and can't block. ======= Before the match begins, get as close to him as you can. As soon as the match starts, quickly hit him once, jump over him and give him an Arctic Attack, before he has a chance to turn around. There goes 1/3 of his lifebar. After you do that, jump over him, once on the other side, hit him with this combo, S.Short, S.Forward, S.Roundhouse, then as soon as he turns completely around jump over him and repeat. When the little blue energy spots come, if they do, super jump, insted of jumping to the other side of him. Then continue to repeat what you were doing. As soon as you get charged up for another super, give it to him in the back. Three Arctic Attacks should kill him. (NOTE: Block immed- iately if you see him stand up straight, and raise one arm. This means he's about to use his "rain" super, which shouldn't do any guard damage. Also watch out if his head goes slightly back, and his arms, go up. This means he's about to charge at you which DOES cause guard damage. To avoid this, either time a jump right, or super jump straight up so he will dash under you. Once on the other side of him, dash, don't walk, and be prepared for him to try it again.) 2nd form - This stupid looking green thing that just stands ======== there, laughs, and can't block. Two words. "ICE BEAM". Just do that over and over again till he dies. Don't fire them as fast as you can, 'cause that stupid beam, or that super, of his, will hit you while you recover from an Icebeam. Insted, fire an Icebeam, then block. Then repeat. When the bubbles come, all you have to do is super jump, and fire an H Punch Icebeam to pop all three of them. If he tries to "teleport" close to you to try and corner trap you, super jump to the other side of the screen, and continue what you were doing. Repeat this until he dies. Don't waste your supers on this form. 3rd form - This big giant red monster. It looks tough, but its ======= actually very easy to beat. You should be charged up after what you did to the 2nd form. At the start of the match, get as far away as you can, and block. You won't suffer any guard damage from the flames, so just wait for him to re-apear. As soon as he re- appears, get close to him, line up even with his head, and give him the Arctic Attack, if you don't have the bars for one, or don't think you'll be quick enough, stab him under the chin, with an S.Roundouhse insted. To get charged up for an Arctic Attack, super jump, away from him of course, and repeatedly throw J.Roundhouses. Ignore the ore, 'cause unless you're right underneath it, you'll likely get nailed if you try to hit it. Block anything that he throws at you. The only thing of his that will chip you is his "Venom Fang", so super jump to avoid it, if you can anticipate it. Repeat this til' you kill 'em. Did you get a perfect victory? ============================================================================= ============================================================================= *********************************************************************************************** ======================================= 10)- Other Stuff ======================================= __________________________________________ - Using Iceman's "true power" __________________________________________ To use Iceman's "true power", in this game, use the Ice fist (See Move list) and Iceman will create an Iceball that he can use in battle for a short time. If you do Iceman's taunt, He'll un-freeze himself, and you will get to see Human Iceman!![then he'll freeze again]) __________________________________________ - Animations - __________________________________________ Opening: - The word "ICEMAN" is spelled out in ice, and turned vertically on it's side, with the "N" facing downwards. It then chips away, as Iceman spins around and faces his opponent in his standing animation. Standing: - Iceman Stands in the classic Dhalsim stance. He stands completley still. If you stand there for a second, he will flash, as light reflects off him. I'm not sure about his fighting style. Walking: (Before match starts) - Iceman walks like.... a penguin? (After match starts) -Iceman walks while standing almost straight up, keeping his hands at his hips, moving only his arms and his legs. Blocking: - Iceman uses his Ice Shield. Win by K.O: - Iceman unfreezes, holds up two fingers, and says, "Yeah!" - Iceman creates an ice structure of his opening animation. He then folds his arms and leans against it. - Iceman creates an "Ice Statue" of himself. The statue is giving you a thumbs up. He then unfreezes himself and puts his arm around it like they are buddies. Win by Time Over: - Iceman unfreezes, and smiles at you. Lose by Time Over: - Iceman bends over, and puts both hands on his head, like he's ducking from something. Lose by K.O. - Iceman lays there, unconsious, with his stomach facing upward, his mouth open, and his eyes closed. Yet he still flahes as if he were still standing.......... __________________________________________ - Voices - __________________________________________ These are just the voices and sounds Iceman makes in this game, in certain situations. During (a[n]): Taunt/Some win poses: > "Yeah" Loss by K.O.: > "Aaaahh...!" Launcher/Some basic attacks: > "Ahll!" Shake Off Kick/ Beat Punch: >"Ahll!" Punch Throw: > "FREEZE!" Kick Throw: > "Ahll!" Icebeam: > "Icebeam!" Avalanche: > "Ahll!" Arctic Attack: > "ARCTIC ATTACK!" __________________________________________ - Stotyline of MvC2? - __________________________________________ Well, for the past 5 years or so, the X-Men have had a war going on between them, and the Street Fighters. But as the years went on, the war got more and more out of hand. It got to the point where it was not just the X-Men versus Street Fighters anymore, but now it was getting to where other Capcom and Marvel characters were getting involved. The war went on until one day, they learned that Apocalypse, angry over his past defeats, had created a monster called Abyss, that must be sealed up immediately. If not taken care of, Abyss could cause some serious damage. So the Capcom characters met up with the Marvel characters, and found out that Abyss was hiding out on a hidden island, somewhere in the sky. Ruby Heart, a french pirate woman, volunteered to take them on her flying ship. So they rode the ship to the island in the clouds, but the war between Marvel, and Capcom was still going on. Fights broke out on the ship, and kept on doing so after they arrived at the Island. When they arrived at the island, while everyone else was fighting, Ryu, a warrior from Capcom sent to help seal-up Abyss, began searching around the island looking for Abyss when he ran into a little girl, called B.B.Hood (Bulleta for the Japanease), and a cactus man called Amingo. Both were inhabitants of the island and knew where Abyss was hiding, and decided to take him there. Ryu explained the situation with the war, and how no- one could get along long enough to join together and seal-up Abyss. So, Ryu, B.B. Hood, and Amingo decided to to try and break up the fight, and teamed together. So they fought, siding with no-one, to try and break-up this catastrophy. After the war calmed down a little bit, the characters, finally stopped fighting, and decided to (temporarily) join together to defeat Abyss. When Amingo, and B.B. Hood led them to Abyss, Abyss like Apocalypse, was defeated, and the world was safe once again. Everyone boarded Ruby Heart's ship, even B.B Hood and Amingo, and went on home. Is the war between Marvel, and Capcom over? (That's just my version of the story. Actually, I don't think MvC2 even has a storyline. Look at the characters, and backgrounds, and past games in the V.S. series, and decide for yourself.) ============================================================================= ============================================================================= *********************************************************************************************** ========================== 11)-Beating Iceman ========================== Iceman is not a very easy character to beat. If all he does, is Icebeam the whole match, either pick a good long range chipper (War-Machine, Spiral), and chip him to death, or a good close range fighter (Jill, Ken, etc.), and cross him up. Actually, cross-ups are probably your best chance against him. Doom's anti-air assist, is good for cross ups. If it hits, it will open your opp- onent up to almost any move in the game. (If you don't know what a cross-up is, find out about the projectile cross-up technique in the "Iceman's Assists" section.) ============================================================================ ============================================================================ *********************************************************************************************** =========================== 12)-Character Rating =========================== These are the six factors that make-up a character (offense, defense, power, speed, recovery, and comboability). I have rated Iceman's attributes on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 being the lowest, and 10 being the highest. Offense - 5 - Iceman was not designed to be played offensively. His offense kind of sucks. He does have his S. Roundhouse, and a few other basic attacks, but he's nowhere near Wolverine, or Ken. On the other hand, he's not as slow as, Zangief, for example, and he has decent reach. I give Iceman a respectable 5. Defense - (Varies) - Iceman's defense all depends on who you are facing. Agansit opponents that use energy based attacks, he gets a 10, because of the fact that he suffers no guard damage from those kinds of attacks. Aganst, characters that can chip him, I would give him a 7.5 due to the fact, that his Ice Shield is useless against them. However, Iceman is blessed with good keep away skills, any keep awayer has good defense. Overall, I give his defense, a 9. Power - 3.5 - I counted power not only as the amount of damage that his basic attacks deliver, but also how he takes damage. Ice- man's basic attacks do "pixie" damage, and if a super hits him, then he can easily lose 1/4 of his lifebar. Power is Iceman's biggest weak- ness, he recieves a 3.5 here. Speed - 8 - He's no Jill, but Iceman has pretty good speed. Most of his moves have good start-ups, and are fairly quick. His speed is just good enough to recieve an 8. Recovery - 8 - His Icebeam, Avalanche, and all of his basic attacks have good recovery. His Icefist starts up slow, and the recovery on the Arctic Attack is not so good eirher. Iceman barely sneaks by with an 8. Comboability - 6 - One of the coolest things about Iceman, is that he is one of the few keep awayers with some combo-ability. He has better comboing skills than that of Iron-man/War-machine, and his combos do good damage, but they are not as easy to do as Spidey's, or Magneto's. Overall Rating - 7 - Iceman takes some practice to get used to, but once you do, you can win with him comfortably. He's is kind of an all rounder, and he can be cheap if he needs to be, but he is definately not the best character in the game (as far as skill goes anyway). In conclusion I give our frozen hero an overall rating of 7. =============================================================================== =============================================================================== *********************************************************************************************** - Revisions - *********************************************************************************************** 0.1 - Started faq. Typed table of contents. (11/16/00) 0.2 - Put in Move List. Typed Abyss Strategies. Did Abbreviations. Typed Specific Character Strategies Section, Vs Computer, Vs Human, Akuma(Gouki) - Felicia. Pasted in the Legal Section. 0.3 - Updated Specific Character Strategies section. 0.4 - Added more Strategies. 0.5 - Added even more strategies. 0.6 - Added Ryu and M. Bison Strategies, changed some other stuff. 0.7 - Added even MORE strategies. 0.8 - Edited strats some more. Edited the "About Iceman" section. Put in the "Shake Off technique" 0.9 - Switched some stuff. 1.0 - Added the "Combos" section 1.1 - Finished Specific Character strategis section. (For now anyway) 1.2 - Added "Cool Stuff", and "Iceman's Assists". 1.3 - Edited legal section, Put in "Iceman the character", changed layout. 1.4 - Corrected some spelling errors. 1.5 - Added "Beating Iceman", "Character Rating". 1.6 - Fixed some spacing errors. 1.7 - Added "Partnering up Iceman", and "What and how assists help Iceman". 1.8 - Added "General Offense, Defense" strategies. Edited "Best Partners" section. Put in "Cool Partners". 1.9 - Added "Animations". Fixed Some spelling errors. 2.0 - Put in Intro., General move commands, and basic attacks (Finally). 2.1 - Edited "Partnering up Iceman" section. Added Ice Sheild Info. 2.2 - Added, the "one move kill". 2.3 - Edited Specific Character Strategies. 2.4 - Added Iceman's infinite combo. 2.5 - Finished "Partnering up Iceman" section. 2.6 - Added Iceman's "Killer Cround Chain". Edited Character Strat's. 2.7 - Added "Storyline of MvC2?". 2.8 - Added more combos. 2.9 - Edited Abyss strats, and other character strats. 3.0 - Edited combos. 3.1 - Edited Abyss strats, and other character strats. 3.2 - Changed a few things (nothing major). Added the finishing touches. *********************************************************************************************** - Credits - *********************************************************************************************** Thanks to: - J. Christopher, for telling me how to write a(n) FAQ - ReCharred Sigh for giving me some FAQ writing tips - gamefaqs.com for posting this - Marvel for creating Iceman - My buddy, CKJoker, for giving me the idea for my new name - Those who contributed to this FAQ - And Capcom for creating perhaps the best fighting game ever (but where's Deadpool, and Ghost Rider, and Archangel?) Good Luck.