How to Perform Special Move Cancels in Injustice 2
Interrupting someone while they're talking is impolite. Interrupting your own attacks is instrumental to victory in Injustice 2.
Injustice 2 pays tribute to the history of fighting games by providing you with an ability called Special Move Cancel. The Special Move Cancel technique allows you to interrupt one of your regular attacks, such as a punch or kick, and flow seamlessly into one of your character's special moves. You can even perform a Special Move Cancel in mid-combo.
All you need is a sense of timing, knowledge of the button presses required to pull off your special move of choice, and the dexterity to press those buttons quickly.
How to Perform a Special Move Cancel
The technical intricacies of Special Move Cancels involve a deep dive into animation frames and the timing of animation cycles. It's an interesting subject, but you don't need to get bogged down by technical jargon and explanations to pull them off. Quite simply, you perform Special Move Cancels by inputting a special move immediately after performing a regular attack or a combo.
Timing is key. The idea is to input your special move before your character finishes executing the previous attack, be it a normal move or a combo.
How to Perform a Special Move Cancel from a Normal Attack
Let's use Bane, the man who broke the Batman, as an example. The Mercenary's Elbow special attack is performed by pressing Left, Right, and Medium Attack. The commas between each button indicate that you should press each one in a smooth, unbroken sequence. Go ahead and practice until you can pull it off flawlessly.
All set? Now try cancelling out of a medium attack and then transition into a Mercenary's Elbow. Here's how to do it: Medium Attack + Left, Right, Medium Attack.
The plus ("+") between Medium Attack and Left indicates that you should beginning inputting the controls for the Mercenary's Elbow special attack immediately after pressing Medium Attack.
Keep practicing this sequence until you've got it down pat.
How to Perform a Special Move Cancel from a Combo Attack
Pulling off a Special Move Cancel during a combo offers a number of strategic advantages, the largest of which is this: since you can cancel out of almost any part of a combo, your opponent stands a low chance of anticipating it.
Start off by learning two combos for your hero (or villain) of choice. Now look at breaks in the combo and determine where you could insert a Special Move Cancel to transition from the combo sequence into a special attack.
Referring back to our pal Bane, his Hard Time combo is as follows:
Light Attack, Light Attack, Medium Attack, Down, Light Attack
Special Move Cancels work best if you plug them in immediately following any attack button such as Light Attack or Heavy Attack. Try cancelling out of Hard Time by sticking a Mercenary's Elbow after the third attack:
Light Attack, Light Attack, Medium Attack + Left, Right, Medium Attack
Now try inserting a Mercenary's Elbow after the second attack:
Light Attack, Light Attack + Left, Right, Medium Attack
Remember, Special Move Cancels work with almost any combo. Experiment with your favorite character's regular and combo attacks to determine when and where to use cancels.
