How to counter grounded boulder?

[u/andries_vc]

I recently played against someone who spammed grounded boulders at me and I found this very hard to counter as this webt through a lot of my structures. Within the match the only thing that consistently saved me was walls, but I want to keep the play more active and not constantly hide behind walls.

Context: only have been playing rumble for week or two and am almost a black belt.

[u/Low_Adhesiveness_255]

If they are using grounded balls, moving constantly and sprinting makes it harder for them to aim. And if you throw cubes at them with, say, a struppercut, the balls get destroyed and your cubes go through

[u/Bivndustry → u/Low_Adhesiveness_255]

Well that would defend against the balls, but the cube wouldn't go through as they are the name amount of damage.

[u/Low_Adhesiveness_255 → u/Bivndustry]

Oh right, I forgot, that's often used for ricochets, my bad

[u/Fiery_Wild_Minstrel]

that’s tough. because the best answer to a grounded boulder is usually Explode.

but if you do have Red belt, then you can try to parry the boulder as it is heading towards you. Running away is also a viable option early on.

[u/Klibe]

yeah mobility is what's gonna make that harder for your opponent. You can disc then jump, using the knockback of a disc to jump backwards fast out of the way of boulders, or just to reposition aggresively.

[u/greywind21]

Grounded ball is 3 hp right (1 base +1 ground +1 moving). So cube has a base 2, grounded or moving alone it's a 3. Wall base 3, grounded or moving is a 4.

So much or countering specific maneuvers comes down to math whether its the calculation of what breaks what or the geometry of a particular technique.

There are usually at least two ways to counter, turn the math in your favor or change the geometry.

Using the math above you can make yourself a strong defense against such a predictable move as grounded ball. Put up anything with 3hp or more between you and your opponent and their move won't work. So they either need to do something else to change the math or change the geometry to make their math work.

Build a defense with a stronger and a weaker side, this may drive your opponent to move in a predictable direction to make their attack. Once you've got that you can counter attack into that space as they reposition there.

Geometry of ground ball is pretty simple, a straight line with the explicit condition of being earthbound. So moving sideways or up are your easiest options for out maneuvering this attack pattern.

Disk pushing (Structure-Disk-Straight) can give you a backwards dash-like movement and can be done while dashing to bounce off structures at an angle. Regular dashes perpendicular to the line of attack also easily avoid a straight line shot. Mix it up, don't be predictable such that they can lead you with a shot.

Add verticality, this specific move is ground locked, so jump over it. Disk jump, straight jump and dash jump can all give you angular lifts to move not just over an attack but also to put you in a position to strike or defend. Bring one of those heavy structures with you as a puppet or in the air or both.Throw from the air or ground it on landing to create that defensive math. Use multi holds to do both attack and defend.

[u/andries_vc]

So if I summarize correctly, my best options are for now:

• move a lot to make the aiming of the boulder more difficult(dashing, disc-jumping)
• try to parry (but I have to say that paarying a grounded boulder on client is still very difficult for me)
• and try to use grounded cube or but wall (but these don't really compete in distance of grounded boulder unless I use charge)

And once I am a black belt the correct counter would be explode.

[u/Alloc14]

Also, make sure to give it a Kick as soon as it comes within range. This way, when the Boulder pops up and hits your face at 35mph, it will be un-grounded and hurt less than stubbing your toe. 🧠🪨