switch axe vs special investigation scorned magnamalo

i spent many many hours after getting this run trying to get a sub 5'50 that was cleaner, because i was really pissed that i fucked up between 3:30-3:42 and 4:15-4:26. i got several cleaner runs where i don't whiff a counter or get ragdolled like a dumbass, but they were all in the mid-high 5'50s. ultimately i decided to post this run instead because i'm a sweaty speedrunner, and i play pretty well outside of those cringe moments. i think what made it faster than the cleaner runs is stupid qurio pop damage rng.

variance in time caused by qurio pop damage was one of the main things that, until now, had discouraged me from doing anomaly monster runs. the other main thing i dislike about anomalies is exhaust phase. scorned's moveset is pretty bad when exhausted and his hitzones go to shit as well. he is really fun to fight when he's mad though - it can be a bit braindead with the counter spam but despite this, i see a lot of different approaches to fighting this monster and there is still plenty of room for player expression.

most people i've seen run scorned use poison swaxe and iframe certain moves to maintain status trigger uptime. i thought that it would be stronger to run amatsu swaxe and try to fit in extra counters on these moves - unfortunately i don't get to show off all these punishes during this run, but here's a couple notable ones:

- the tail flick into double paw slam
the most common response i see is to iframe the tail flick and counter the first paw slam
you can counter the tail flick and second paw slam in sequence, if you get the timing right you'll get all 4 hits
example at 31 seconds here https://x.com/juzzi2118/status/170796...

- the double tail laser
most people i see just iframe both lasers
at 1:37 i counter the first laser and get the ride. if the second laser hit i'd just super armour it and heal from bloodblight
here you can see an alternative approach courtesy of 不定型 where he positions himself so the first laser misses and counters the second laser    • 【MHR:SB Switch】特別討究：マガイマガド（怨嗟）　剣斧　06'...  

i started using a lot of fade morphs in this matchup, particularly when he doesn't have pink arms, because i find that after you counter you often end up inside scorned's ass. the fade morph gives you both damage and repositioning so you can prepare for his next move.

the one silkbinder dog is to reliably get ride during first pink arm state. without this dog the ride usually procs on exhaust state, which gives shit damage compared to pink arms. the silkbinder then also binds down scorned when he's exhausted and makes his moveset a lot more tolerable. silkbinders aren't too much worse damage wise compared to dual bladed chains on longer fights against monsters that aren't that weak to element.

music: yakuza 7 - millennium tower dungeon