The Good, the Bad, and Ugly as Hell Baiken Matchups

[Xiomar]

dunno if this was already discussed, but what suggestions do you have against Faust or (more importantly) an opponent that plays a really good long range / zoning game.

-Q

[IllogicalDreamr]

dunno if this was already discussed, but what suggestions do you have against Faust or (more importantly) an opponent that plays a really good long range / zoning game.

-Q

Pour on the pressure. Keep the fight in close so they can't get that advantage of a long distance fight.

[Hellmonkey]

Playing against runaway faust can be really difficult for Baiken. Your main methods of getting in are going to be quick iad tatami, as well as countering at the correct times (such as when you block the long scalpel move and youshijin counterhit it, allowing iad j.SD for usually a corner knockdown) He can outpoke her from anywhere around midrange, so you either need to be right in his face or far away looking for a way to get in. 6K is fairly strong against him, as well as j.S like everyone else. Make sure you don't get hit by his overhead or you are going to die. You can combo him a bit easier than other characters, as you can j.K j.D from almost any time you hit him in a combo, keeping him higher because of the j.K, even after air dash j.S j.P or whatever. Kabari needs to be used carefully, because he can crouch it or if he throws a hammer or poison you're pretty fucked. Catching him with a CH 5HS is really good, you need to play around with when to use which pokes. 2S is a better poke than 5S because 5S is too high. Don't jump in mindlessly against him or you will lose.

[Xiomar]

Thanx, I was just having a lot of trouble against people that would play ultra-defensive too. Like a runaway Faust constantly throwing shit, or a Testament that just sets up traps and runs away. Eventually I'd get tired of waiting and attempt to play a lil' more offensive, usually ending w/ me killing myself for not closing space w/ Baiken properly. I def need to work on my IAD tiamats and overall spacing with 2S and Kabari.

-Q

[demongodcrush]

Where's all the strats against Jam?

[rtl42]

Both SBing and FDing increase your hitbox the same, but any time that you are within the web activation area, a Slashback will always set it off and immediately successfully slashback it. FDing will set it off, but only if you FD long enough within the area. Just walk up to the edge of the web and test it out.

Easy to do, good to know.

how come you never posted this here :O

[Hellmonkey]

shruuuug

[Zakuta Asura]

Undercover tactics. Give him another 6 months and he'll tell us something else we didn't know!

[Hellmonkey]

when nobody posts questions here, it's hard to post answers to everything!

[Xkun01]

Strats against Millia?

[rtl42]

seconded, please.

[Hellmonkey]

Anything in particular you're having trouble with? Your goal should be to keep her out and keep her away from the pin if she's used it. How you play it really depends on the Millia you're fighting. Lots of j.S like always, 6P as main anti-air. Millia has a good mindgame for the first few hits which allow it to be used against Baiken like against anyone else, so you have to block well and punish or escape when possible.. basic stuff. Don't advance stupidly at her from the air or she gets free counterhits. Her hitbox is kind of hard to combo on so make sure you know what combos to do. If you do get momentum, Millia dies quickly so use youzansen or whatever your the options are to get in depending on meter and spacing whenever possible. That's all I can think of for now

[rtl42]

how do you use these attacks properly, in the Millia fight:

- chain

- ground tatami

- f.S

- 2S

- 2D

- 5H

[Hellmonkey]

You don't want to rely on chain in that match (or vs any other faster characters) because it's too easy for them to just avoid it/punish you. As for the other pokes, you use them the same way as against other people, the only question is in what situations they work. The focus of the match for baiken is zoning and keeping momentum, since Millia's poking game rapes baiken hard if you aren't careful with it. Don't poke with ground tatami in this match (or almost any other lol). I'd give more specifics but it's been a while since I've played the match and I don't really remember, if you're having trouble vs a certain playstyle or move that'd be easier to answer.. As for anti-airing, try jumping at them with j.P preemptively. Falling/jumping away j.S works great (like against most), be careful with 2S on the ground because it IS pretty slow.

If you do get knocked down, good luck. You have to react to her overheads, throws, roll throw etc or you will die. Good Millias don't make it easy.

[rtl42]

i forgot to ask, when is the best time to burst (very generally speaking)?

[Hellmonkey]

Millia-related or overall? It changes completely for every matchup. Against Millia I actually usually save it for a gold burst because it's free tension and it gets her off of you (and people rarely expect a reversal from Baiken unless they use super.. lol) Millia's wakeup game is in Baiken's face so it's not hard to hit with it. Having burst available is much more important than it's actual use vs most better players, so I try to save it until I think it's guaranteed tension or necessary to stop myself from taking a ton of damage (like almost anything from Eddie).

I've mentioned momentum, but haven't really talked about it. Getting a knockdown or getting out of pressure and gaining momentum is one of the most important things to do and to see in GG. People can know mixups, have good reactions, poke well, but not pay attention to the flow of the match and still do poorly. Especially as Baiken, who doesn't have great pokes that net her easy damage (especially from the ground), being able to analyze a situation and see if it's worth the risk to try and beat something out (or if it's possible at all) is very important. Once you've mastered combos, know your okizeme, and have good defense, reading the opponent and setting up situations in which you're most likely to win is the next step to getting better. At that point the most important thing is experience.. I can try to explain how to fight matchups or what to look for but the only real way to learn it is to find it out by playing.

[rtl42]

oh shoot, sorry, i meant in the Millia match-up, generally speaking (i didn't want you to get bogged down in specific situations that you and Millia could be in, hence "very generally"). but thanks for the pointer, i'll remember it.

[Hazard]

So I have a bad habit of reflexively yozansen...ing as soon as I connect with a jS and it's really starting to work against me now a days, any advice on how to kick the habit?

[rtl42]

hit D?

[Hazard]

Yeah, that's been what I have been doing recently. It works out a lot better against smaller targets for me.

[Hellmonkey]

In AC, ending in j.D for a free knockdown, relaunch, or corner loop from almost anywhere on the screen is mandatory. Every time you do a youzansen, punch yourself in the face, that should work

I'm not sure how often you play, but if it's spaced out a lot just go into training mode every now and then and mess around with her bnb combos. End everything in j.D, it should come naturally quickly.

[Hazard]

Yeah, I think punching myself in the face will do it. It's unconscious so I guess I just need to get a new habit is all. Should help me out against some of my new nemesis...es.

[Burnout]

I've been playing AC for, uhh, 2 days now so i'm still very scrubby at the game, so i'd like to know if its possible to counter Chipp's Running OD with the Tatami Mat

I'm more used to play KOF, so countering the DMs where the opponent just rushes towards you with a light punch is possible (and quite easy), but i'm not sure if this is possible in GG.

[rtl42]

do you have a copy of the game? you can try it out in training mode (set the opponent to "dummy", record chipp doing the overdrive).

anyways, though, you can't counter it unless the tatami is already out when he does his overdrive.

edit: well, unless he's really close, and then he might just go through the tatami anyways.

[Hazard]

Try her P on guard special? I think HS would overshoot and S would be too slow (sorry I forget the names of her on guards). If you can get him with that you should be able to follow up with a mat, probably. I could just be talkin out of my ass though, in which case sorry.