Ver 0.1: Did my intro, special moves, super moves, strats (will add combos and versus later)
INTRODUCTION: Hey guys. Anyways this is my first time writing a faq so don't expect some heavy duty ascii art or anything like that sort of stuff. Gambit is has been and always will be my number 1 character. Him, Guile/Charlie will always be on the top of my list. Gambit isn't one of those regular do-gooders, and he ain't really a team leader, and he definitely isn't the strongest or the fastest. These are some of the reasons I like him. He's different. He does what he wants to do and nothing else. Playing Gambit isn't about getting all those little hits in, it's about style, and in order to play Gambit you gotta learn that style. He ain't a scrub, and he ain't power. He's tricky, but once you get it, it pays off. (note: This is for intermediate to advance players)
GAMBIT'S SPECIAL MOVES
1) Kinetic Card: (d, df, f + punch)
This is Gambit's fireball. But it ain't just a regular fireball. It's fast, it's invisible, and it's just too sweet. This is one of the aspects that makes Gambit so different. Because it comes instantaneously, it can catch people off guard. This move has absolutely no recovery time, and after thrown, you can block immidiately if you miss. These babies can be thrown from the air and they slow down the rate at which he falls, allowing you to dump a whole deck on your opponent before landing. The punch determines how long it stuns the opponent. Jab comes out fast, yet does not hold the opponent for that long. Fierce comes out slow and holds the opponent forever. It is possible to OTG air combo after doing this move if you're fast enough. These babies are faster then a beam, I once pulled this move just as Ryu was doing his shinkuu-hadoken, and I won out.
2) Trick Card: (d, db, b +punch)
Same thing as Kinetic card, but direction is at an angle. After nailing him with the card, you can launch him into a royal flush. It's hard to time this as an air defense, and should only be used as a "trick". Other then that I can't seem to find a good use for it.
3) Cajun Slash: (f, d, df + punch)
This is an extremely useful move. It's a dashing type move, quick and free from recovery time. A cajun slash can be comboed, used as a surprise tactic, and has a lot of range and priority. Depending on the button pressed, Gambit will do either of the following:
Jab: Gambit will take a big step and during that step takes a huge swing at his opponent. This is the one I used the most. Lots of range, very quick on the first hit, and high priority. This move is comboable but does not OTG.
Strong: Gambit will jump and take a slam his staff below him like his jumping fierce, then he will add to additional hits with the last hit resembling his crounching strong. I think this move OTG. It did in X-Men vs Street Fighter. Anyways, the little jump allows him to avoid trips and hit em on the way down. The range of the first hit isn't as great as the jab cajun slash, but it's better then average. I use this version of the cajun slash the least.
Fierce: This is a pretty useful version of the cajun slash. Gambit will take three swipes with this one, and it OTG. It's got the most range, and goes a little more then half a screen. I love comboing this version.
4) Cajun Strike: (d, u + punch or kick)
Gambit jumps from side to side then comes down with a kick or a flipping staff smash. I don't know what to say about this move. It's got high priority, but it starts up slow, and it's hard to control. I pulled this move off by accident one time and I was eating Kikoken super on my way down. The only have to say is don't do this move unless you're fighting the computer.
GAMBIT'S SUPER MOVES
1) Royal Flush: (d, df, f + 2punches)
This is one of my favorite moves. Gambit tosses his staff into the air, shouts "Royal Flush" then unloads 37 cards upon his opponent. Does a lot of flashes when it hits, and drains a lot of life. It's alright for chipping, although it shouldn't be used for that. The twirling staff in the air can hit opponents right back down into the cards, but a lot of people air block it. Man they should make the staff unblockable since it's so hard to hit people with it. Anyways, this super starts out real slow, (at least not as slow as WarMachine's Proton Cannon) and it also has a little bit of recovery delay (again, not as much as WarMachine's Proton Cannon). The only supers that can probably tag him after his royal flush are, Gambit (gotta be really quick), Ryu (easily done), and shadow Lady (i'm not too sure about this one). Anyways, this move can OTG, but I never try to OTG whenever the opponent is in the corner. Sometimes it doesn't hit, and it leaves Gambit standing with a big bullseye in his belly.
2) Cajun Explosion: (d, df, f or d,db,b + 2 kicks)
This move resembles an angled Magnetic Shockwave. Gambit jumps to one wall or the other (forward if you do the fireball motion, backward if you do the hurricane) and throws a kinetic card which turns into a huge wave. This is a surfing super, but it only gets in about 5 hits and little damage. I can't seem to nail an opponent with this one. Even with their backs to the corner, they are still able to block it if I jump behind them. It's pretty decent at chipping though. Oh well, it works great on computers.
MY LITTLE GAMBIT STRATEGIES
Playing Gambit requires a lot of cancelling, quick and tactical thinking, knowing your opponent and a mix of defense and offense.
Strat # 1: Cancelling Whenever I play Gambit, I always cancel my normal moves into a lot of special moves. Gambit's not as fast as Spider-man, so a lot of his offense is blocked. To remedy this, I always cancel the last hit of my combo into a special move leaving Gambit relatively safe and also chipping away at my opponent's lifebar. Crouching roundhouses take a lot out of Gambit. After it's blocked opponents can easily combo the crap out of him. I throw in a jab Kinetic card after every blocked crouching roundhouse. It comes really quick because it's instantaneous, it catches people that are trying to dash in on you for that combo. If they block the kinetic card, throw in a cajun slash. They always think the kinetic card has recovery time, but it doesn't and soon, they'll get smacked in the face. If they don't fall for it... who cares... you're doing a little chipping for every kinetic card. Sometimes I encounter people that jump when I pull off the Kinetic card. Again because of the little recovery time, I get these guys with Gambit extremely useful launcher. Don't ever let your guard down. Let these guys know that they're gonna take the chipping damage, or take the air combo. Cancelling with specials after normal moves should be second nature to Gambit players, and getting it you should encorporate it into every single tactic you use. Even after blocked launchers, I pull off a kinetic card, and if they jump again, another launcher into a kinetic card and maybe a cajun slash. Standing fierces should be cancelled with kinetic cards if they're blocked or ducked.
Strat #2: Quick and Tactical Thinking One of my big weaknesses with Gambit is that I get way too predictable. Sure I can corner them and chip em to death until they make a mistake, but those that don't make a mistake can be pretty troublesome for Gambit. For example, I was playing a friend of mine who knew exactly what my patterns were. Jumping fierce, jumping roundhouse, dash, ducking short, ducking strong, ducking fierce, jab kinetic card, jab cajun slash. He knew my cancelling pattern, and waited me out. I did this for the third time, and when I threw the kinetic card, he jumped and stuck out venom's long hands in my face. After that I was eating an air combo with a venom fang finish. I got up, did my pattern again, but this time instead of pulling off a kinetic card, i pulled off a jab trick card. He fell for it when he jumped, and I was able to launch, super. One thing that Gambit players should do but I find very hard to, is never fall into the same pattern over and over again. When you play an opponent for the first time, it's hard for them to notice the pattern. But after they learn it, it can be really trouble for you. One of the things I'm trying to do is copy my friend's philosophy by never using the same pattern more than twice in a row if they don't fall for it. It's really hard to do this.
Strat #3: Knowing your opponent There's no one way to play Gambit. A good Gambit player knows exactly what to do in every possible situation. He should sum up the odds, and follow the strategy that's best layed before him. Different players require different ways of attacking. Players who constantly are on the offense are very susceptible to dashing and crouching attacks. A lot of these guys try to get in every single hit in a combo, and are not thinking about their defense and just want to get the applause. Punish their mistakes by pulling off a launcher when they jump, a kinetic card when they're far away, and a jab cajun slash when they dash in on you. Don't ever try any patterns on these guys as for some reason, I don't know why, they manage to dodge you and pull off a combo. Turtlers are some of the easiest people to handle with Gambit. Gambit's jumping fierce, to jumping roundhouse catches tons of turtlers off guard. No one expects another strong attack after a fierce punch. Turtler's and keep aways can't handle it up close, and after you hit them with the jumping roundhouse, follow it up with an air combo. After you land, jump straight up and repeat with jumping fierce jumping roundhouse. Turtler's are so busy trying to block every single attack that they won't risk try to attack you unless you make a big mistake. With your cancelling kinetic cards and cajun slashes, you should be relatively safe from any attack and thus, not making any mistakes. There's a ton of different players out there and you just got to figure them out. See if they launch you if you jump, if they do, they're probably a rusher. If they block, they're probably a turtler. Of course there's those people who are mixed, and those guys are the toughies. There's no one way to play against these guys, and it just requires a mix of tactics.
Strat #4 Mixes of OFFENSE and DEFENSE Gambit can both go offense and defense. Because of his range, he's got pretty good priority and because of his priority he's got pretty good defense. Offensive tactics require a basic knowledge of Gambit's attacks. Jumping fierce has a lot of priority, and can combo into jumping roundhouse. Ducking short is quick has okay range. Crouching fierce is powerful and sends opponents sky high. Standing strong is extremely high in priority. Know which moves to use for offense and which for defense. Whenever jumping in on a ground opponent always jump with fierce, then cancel into roundhouse. The first hit has a ton of priority and damage, and the second just adds up to more damage. They go well together. After this dash in and pull off a combo. If they block the combo, end it with a kinetic card and then a cajun slash if they block the KC. When your on defense, remember that Gambit's launcher is a pain for other characters. Also, Gambit's jump is extremely high and slow. Watch out for those guys that like to dash under you and launcher you. Your Jumping fierce won't hit anyone behind you so you better block accordingly. Gambit's classified as a mid-tall character. Watch out for the double kick jump in from other characters. For defense, just basically watch your blocking and pull off your high priority moves (launcher, jab cajun slash, standing strong) when they least expect it.
CONCLUSION: Anyways that's about it for now. I'm gonna add a few comboes that I love to do and versus strategies for specific characters later. Anyways Thanks goes out to MIGS for his excellent site (some of the descriptions and strats are from his awesome site). Thanks also goes out to all the Gambit fans out there, because skilled players pick Gambit. Unskilled players pick Strider. Yeah, well I'm gonna mail this in now. Seeyah later.
