Darkstalkers 3, or Vampire Savior, is currently approaching it’s 20th anniversary, having been released in 1997. Players have enjoyed the game for a good long while, and after all these years players are still discovering new tech. Today we’ll talk about the new way to Advancing Guard–commonly abbreviated to AG–quicker and with fewer inputs.

Really quickly, let’s cover AG first for people who never got into the game. In VSav, players can push their opponents away when defending against attacks. An AG is granted randomly after hitting between 3 and 6 buttons, with higher strength buttons pushing further away. This means when blocking, the quickest you can usually push them away is after hitting 3-6 buttons, which means that by the time you even can get breathing room you could have gotten caught by an unblockable or a nasty mixup.

With that brief exposition out of the way, the new tech that’s been discovered is apparently a way to 100% guarantee AG with only one input. This is done by buffering the inputs after getting hit–such as during a hard knockdown–without returning the stick to neutral; the game will save those inputs, then on the next blocked attack the defender can guarantee the AG on the next input without having to deal with pianoing inputs or probability, while also AGing as soon as anything touches you. Here’s what seems to be the first video showcasing the new tech, apparently discovered by player ririrililith, followed by additional example videos:

This tech seems like it will seriously impact a lot of characters that rely on knockdown into wakeup pressure. The VSav community is now seeing exactly how much of the current metagame is altered by this new tech.

[UPDATE: There seems to be some minor confusion of the correct execution for this tech. An offered clarification, based on in-video translation:

“When you block an attack your Advancing Guard–AG–inputs are stored. If you block another attack they are kept around. Once your character returns to neutral, your AG inputs are cleared. If you happen to be hit during a block string, your inputs are not cleared. When you come out of hit stun, your AG inputs are still around, so you can continue your AG attempt. This allows things like AG coming out 100% of the time with 1 input.”]

Sources: ririrililith (Twitter); egolei lei (YouTube); Chase LaCas (YouTube)