The Art of Hit Confirming (Beyond 1,2,1)

Introduction:

While Dragunov is pretty light on hit confirmable attacks, he does have a few hit confirmable moves. Please note that nearly all the strings below require CH first.

Basic (Stomp Follow Up) Confirms:

Confirming at its lowest level, if these moves connect, then a free stomp is guaranteed.

CH d+1 - If the d+1 is CH, then they will be knocked to the ground giving a free d+3+4 stomp follow up.

CH 4,3 - If the 4 is CH or the 3 is CH, then they will be knocked to the ground giving a free d+3+4 stomp follow up.

b+1+2 - If b+1+2 hits them on CH or if they're crouching, then a free d+3+4 stomp is guaranteed. If they block the b+1+2 successfully, then you have +3 frames to play with.

Easy Difficulty Hit Confirmable Moves:

Here's a couple of moves that require basic hit confirming

4,4 and 4,CH 4 – The 4,4 string is an interesting move, on block, the string is about +3 which sets up WS 1,3 and WS 1+2 KNDs even though WS 4 is a much safer option. On normal hit, the final 4 KNDs but the 2nd hit on CH grants a f+1+2 style launch. As such you'll be confirming the CH to combo, otherwise use a WS option I mentioned above.

CH b+1 - A little trickier as the follow up isn't automatically input in the string, for b+1 on CH, a blue spark will appear signifying the f+1+2 launch follow up. Be warned though, when in rage mode, b+1 will spark on normal hit as well as CH making the hit/launch confirm much more difficult.

CH f,f+4 - Basic CH follow up, normally f,f+4 will hit them leaving them recovering WS, but on CH they'll be knocked to the ground giving a WS 4 follow up to 1,3,2 B! or similar style wall carry option.

Medium Difficulty Hit Confirmable Moves:

Moves that entail a little more risk or a little more skill involved to perform.

f+2,4 - Fairly safe to use though mildly hard to confirm makes f+2,4 a good candidate for this section. You'll be looking for abrupt animation stops as your f+2 comes out, then simply input the 4. Even without confirming, f+2,4 is safe on block and can even be delayed to bait out CH launches.

3,1,2 - While 3,1 isn't the safest move to throw out, the string is still useful near the wall due to being the final 2 being delayable as well as hit confirmable. When the 3 is blocked and the following 1 hits, then input the final 2 and you'll KND them slightly to your left.

(enemy) BT b+2~WS 1+2 - While not quite a individual move or string, it can still be a huge part of Dragunov's ground based oki game. BT b+2~WS 1+2 is primarily a close range oki option where the initial b+2 may catch the opponent BT as they recover standing. As such it should only be used as an option where it can catch the opponent BT. It's a fairly simple hit confirm, press b+2 and if it hits them as they are recovering, let the stick go neutral and hit 1+2.

b+4,2,1 - This one takes some practice, but once you can see it, you're in the clear. Since b+4 strings are i15, you'll be watching the initial hit for CH. If the initial hit interrupts their attack, then let the whole string continue. The difficulty in this NCc string isn't so much the hit confirm as it is improperly throwing the string out, the last hit does not jail leaving the possibility of being launched.

High Difficulty Hit Confirmable Moves:

The cream of the crop, these attacks represent the ultimate in risk required, skill involved, and possibly a combination of both. Not for beginners.

(enemy) BT b+2,1,3 - This one is tricky as the probability of getting a BT b+2,1,3 in BR is much less than it was in DR due to a few reasons, but overall it's still worth mentioning. Basically you're going to have to input the 3 command between the b+2 and 1 animation, which is a very small window, therefore the b+2,1 animation will act as the hit confirm. If you see the initial b+2 land (as you input 2), you can then input the final 3 for the sweep giving a miniature (or decent) damage combo depending on wall location. This is the big daddy version of BT b+2~WS 1+2 and the risk is much greater as well as the reward.

d/f+1,4 - A similar confirm to b+4,2,1 but with a smaller window to go by, it is much more difficult to properly confirm. With the lack of a damage sprite on CH, as well as lacking an extra "buffer" attack in between the two hits to create a window as there is with b+4,2,1, d/f+1,4 is very tricky to land successfully. Also similarly to b+4,2,1, d/f+1,4 ends high and does not jail, therefore can be ducked and launched. Therefore you need to be on top of your game to CH confirm the d/f+1.

d+4,1,3 - I was split as to whether I should post this or not, but it is possible to CH confirm the string, as such deserves to be mentioned. You'll be looking at their legs to confirm, on standard hit there is no abrupt animation and it looks like you barely nicked them where as on CH, their leg goes into the air which signals that the remainder of the string is guaranteed. Now d+4,1,3 and d+4,4 CH confirming is a two-fold problem, it's not only that CH d+4,1,3 is incredibly hard to confirm but also the properties on d+4,1,3 are absolutely terrible. Both d+4,1,3 and d+4,4 do not jail on hit and end high, therefore are launch punishable on initial (d+4) hit. So one may think, "Well d+4,1,3 doesn't jail and if I don't get CH, I'm getting launched, so how about using d+4,1 and confirming the final 3?" No dice, d+4,1 also does not jail on hit and is high, therefore is also launch punishable. So what should you do? Good question, I'll leave it up to you to decide.