zallard1 | Punch Out!! (Wii) - Great Tiger [0:42.16] @zallard1 | Uploaded January 2021 | Updated October 2024, 7 minutes ago.
Hoo boy, what a complicated fight this is. This ties the WR that Pottoww set several months ago to the frame, and is based off of the new strategy that Mysteryman found a while back.

I got EXTREMELY lucky in that I skipped straight to the WR time when my PB was still a 42.46. I wasn't nervous on this attempt until I got to the buffer for the final counter that I found the other day, and thankfully got the ideal luck for it to land so I didn't have any chance to mess it up, haha.

A couple of key components in this fight to keep in mind...

When you throw a hook as some of his attacks start up, he is scripted to disappear and duck down to a certain side to counter attack you. However, these attacks will have a counter window to get a star off of, meaning we'll be doing this *a lot* to deal damage fast.

Secondly, Great Tiger is one of the few fights in this game where you can manipulate the actual attacks he throws. With those ducks that Tiger does in retaliation to your punches, he can duck to the left or the right, and the window for getting a star off the duck to your right is MUCH faster than the alternative. Thankfully, we have some control over what direction most of these ducks come out on, since the game happens to determine this on an even/odd system in regards to how many punches you have thrown in the fight so far. This is why with the introduction of buffer strategies for the magic knockdowns, that I whiff that one punch in phase 1 after countering.

Let's get into the fight itself.

I start by throwing a left hook when the timer reaches 2:58, then buffer a right hook and do a delayed star punch such that he just barely starts his next attack so you skip it. Then counter with a right jab to gather a star, and whiff one punch to manipulate his pattern later on. From here, you need to throw a right hook so he appears into your punch, then buffer left hook and right hook to gather another star, then throw a left hook as he appears, then do right hook into a DELAYED left hook to gather your 3rd star. With this, you just need to throw one more set of hooks into him as he appears, then he'll go into his magic rush attack. You can buffer 3 ducks into 4 alternating hooks starting with your left hand to hit him on the first frame every time.

Phase 2 involves just unleashing the 3 star punch as soon as possible (I just mashed here), and then throwing a punch to make him disappear and duck to the left, to which a delayed hook to gather a star and throw it will send him to the mat for a second time.

Phase 3 starts with a right hook (I also just mashed here), with a left hook buffered after to pick up a star, then wait a bit so that my next hook will make him disappear and duck to the right, then buffer a right hook to pick up a 2nd star. From there, I delay very slightly until I see Great Tiger disappear, then I throw my 2 star punch such that it cancels his next attack. I then do a duck as soon as the *woosh* noise happens as a psuedo buffer to counter him with a right hook as the duck ends. I do one final delayed star punch that intentionally misses, which cancels his last move and goes straight into a 2nd magic rush attack. Once that star punch misses, you want to do 7 ducks to buffer a left hook to counter Tiger on the first frame possible if he stops on the left side. If he doesn't stop on the left side, you NEED to stop the buffer and counter the rush attack manually on the right side with a right hook.

I'm not sure if I'll revisit this fight any time soon after this. I feel like I skipped a huge grind by going straight into the 42.1X range without a horrible long struggle like Pottoww, did. I'll probably come back to this eventually when it's inevitably beaten though.

Either way, thanks for watching!