- Neutral-to-Offense transition

Learn how to effectively transition from neutral to offense in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. Master hitconfirming, buffering, and mixups to break enemy guards and extend combos.

After the neutral game, once you reach the enemy with an attack, you’ll either enter the PRESSURE section (if the enemy guarded) or the COMBOS section (if the enemy got hit). Your mindset and desired actions will differ based on whether you are pressuring or comboing.

Blazblue attacks are fast with short hitstun, requiring early input for combos. A single hit is often insufficient to confirm if the enemy was hit and decide your next action. HITCONFIRMING—detecting if the opponent guarded or not—is crucial for combos and generally requires about 24 frames (nearly half a second). To hitconfirm effectively, input at least two predetermined consecutive buttons/attacks when approaching or countering. This provides the necessary time to observe the outcome (guard or hit) and choose your next move. The sooner you hitconfirm, the better your combo potential.

However, to be aggressively offensive and unexpectedly break an enemy’s guard, you may need to forgo hitconfirming. This means sacrificing the possibility of a combo from your initial spacing tool/attack to immediately employ a MIXUP or other aggressive PRESSURE strategy.

A useful technique, applicable in neutral or pressure, allows comboing after a single-hit confirm if the attack is strong enough (usually C or D) to induce sufficient hitstun. This technique is called BUFFERING motions, allowing an attack to execute even if its motion was inputted earlier. For example, Ragna’s 2D into Inferno Divider (623D): if 623D is unsafe on block, you only want to use it if the enemy was hit by 2D. Hitconfirming 2D and then inputting 623D for a combo is difficult due to timing. Instead, input 2D, then 623 (without D), hitconfirm, and only then input D. This buffers the special attack's motion, allowing it to execute immediately upon D input, enabling combos off 2D into 623D only after confirming the 2D hit.

Another example is Jin’s sweep (3C) into Hiyoku Getsumei (632146D). After 3C, input 632146; you then have time to hitconfirm if 3C hit the enemy before inputting D to combo, potentially finishing with a Distortion Drive.