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

[rtl42]

dash->FD brake (-> insta-counter a la Sharon) shrug

[Zakuta Asura]

Sol

2S is a good poke tool, but it's still not that great against him. His sweep goes underneath it. The only pokes that beat his sweep (but may require some timing) are:

*K

*2K

*2D (timing too, as Sol's sweep is faster)

6K will beat it at range (eg. P -> S©, 6K). Not an anti-sweep move though.

None of Baiken's counters will really help you - Sol sweep beats them all!

You might have to introduce more throws in your game too. Might not sound like much, but it's one of the few ways you can get a grip on the match. Covering the air with j.S is good too as metsuke said.

If it weren't for his sweep, he wouldn't be so bad. =p

[MoonLessNight]

How about cleaning up this thread with the matchup information that everyone has contributed? I would like to see it done but if no one wants to do it thats fine too I suppose.

[metsuke]

One thing to keep in mind is that Sol cannot just sweep into nothing, because that's a free s counter for Baiken. Most of the time you will see sweep xx gunflame, sweep xx bandit revolver, or something of that sort. If you ever block sweep xx bandit revolver it's Sol's ass, so you probably won't see that too often. If you see sweep xx gunflame you can beat it with j.h (careful of gunflame fake), or sakura FRC (but this forces you to block the gunflame).

[Teyah]

If you can react within 25F to a BR after a mid to far-range 2D, you can just punish it with 6P into an aircombo, which is better than an iffy grab attempt at that range anyhow.

If Sol notices you're a bit too jumpy, he can try for 2D XX Gunflame FRC/Feint, then safely hit 5K if he sees you forward-jump to do a few things:

- 5K (clash) -> 5H CH -> Bandit Bringer -> 50% of your life, if you did j.H

- 5K CH if you did any other attack

- safe 5K whiff if you didn't attack or air backdashed away

[HaKaInEn_???]

ic. guess axls my only real problem

[metsuke]

If you can manage it, don't punish bandit revolver with 6p. Punish with 5s or 5h. Off of counterhit 5s you get iad.236k into dustloop. Off of counterhit 5h you get running 6h into whatever. Both are good for big damage (without tension if you're at midscreen or closer to the corner).

2d xx feint is a guessing game for him because of s counter. Also, if you see the clash you can cancel to j.623s to beat the 5h option. The safer but less damaging option for Sol is to just dp you out of the air. If Baiken jumps forward and then back airdashes, she can put down an air mat and go for pressure.

[Zakuta Asura]

2D -> Revolver can also be air thrown, but typically, you have to have good reactions and not get hit twice by the revolver.

2D -> Gunflame can be punished with j.H, but not all the time. If Sol FRC's the GF then it's your ass. :P If he does the feint then you should still be able to counter and hit him (you have a long time to whip out a counter - I don't see shy a counter wouldn't hit).

>>Thread Clean-up

The general idea is to have a match-up thread for each character (when the need comes up). At least then, people can look easily when looking for info on how to fight a certain character...I'll think of something eventually - there are a handful of matches people get pissed off about with this character, to be honest. lol...

[IllogicalDreamr]

Can anyone give some tips on how to fight Testament. A friend of mine plays a pretty mean Testament. I can get some wins off him sometime, but most of the time he dominates the fight. Too much crap flying at me at once, it's hard to get in close where I need to be.

I f.S through webs when he has them out, or J.p through ones in the air. He'll usually get me with those damn Gravedigger loops.

[HmR.kS]

I'm not that good but what I would do is wait for opportunities to clear his webs. I like to use j.S to clear webs and FD brake to clear tree mines (Hitomi.. right?).

Since Testament is slow I guess Sakura counter will work better on him compared to other characters... but of course it doesn't mean Testament will eat every Sakura you give him... ^^

And well, Mawarikomi (K Counter) his EXE Beast if he's doing that ground/pressure string on you.

I heard from a friend saying that Testament is not good at dealing with pressure because his attacks are slow and thus he's harder to poke out of pressure. So... rush him down? ^^

[rtl42]

i would sooner advise jumping out of EXE beast pressure than using Mawarikomi, unless you have tension to spare or you're not sure about whether the air above you is netted, but that's just me.

another thing you can try for clearing Zeinests above and in front of you, if you're at (almost) full-screen distance from Tesu, is to iad.j.D -- this should let you land more quickly than any jumping attack.

Within half-screen distance, use chain to bring him closer and apply pressure from there. Throw out tatami at its max range to keep him wary (and score a counter hit if he's not ;D).

I think you'll be jumping around in this match-up more than other match-ups, so don't be shy with j.S to keep Tesu from trying to nail you with a pre-emptive 6HS (or j.D?).

Also, am I wrong in thinking that you can clear Hitomis by jumping over them?

that's all i can think to say atm.

[HmR.kS]

Nah, you can't clear Hitomis from the air.

How would you jump out of EXE Beast pressure? I think all the pressure strings are linked.

[Zakuta Asura]

Try IB'ing the EXE Beast or IB'ing the hit before EXE Beast and backdash it.

[rtl42]

Nah, you can't clear Hitomis from the air.

How would you jump out of EXE Beast pressure? I think all the pressure strings are linked.

Actually I just tried in #R and jumping over a Hitomi activates it =o

I meant that, if you see an EXE beast coming at you, jump backwards over it so you don't get stuck in blockstun. If you're already being pressured by Testament directly, and he then summons an EXE beast, then yeah, Mawarikomi FRC is probably safest, next to IBing -> backdashing (I think).

[HmR.kS]

:O You can clear Hitomis in the air? I gotta try it out... =/

[Febreze]

I need help foghting may shes just so light

[Hellmonkey]

I need help foghting may shes just so light

6P, dustloop w/ frcs, backdash tatami a lot, end air combos with jc j.k youzansen, more 6P

[Febreze]

Alright that makes sense

[IllogicalDreamr]

Alright that makes sense

Also, if May is spamming 3K, block and punish with 2S>tatami. It'll be a counter hit, so you can follow up with whatever.

[Hellmonkey]

Or instant block and 6HS tatami

I was playing a really good may today and caught him with some random j.D and iad j.D's that I threw out. It might have just been him being too risky in the air, but it's something to try if you're having trouble getting hits in.

[Hellmonkey]

Anyone have suggestions with the Baiken vs Venom matchup? I've been trying out different things on them here (I'm in Japan atm) but there doesn't seem to be much I can do to get in past the balls :|

FD braking trying to get close didn't seem to be very effective... iad anything gets anti-aired..

[pulsr]

im not a baiken player but you could try picking may and using 3k.... :P ok ok, on a serious note try getting in using a normal jump ( 669) and bait the 6p with dj.

[Hellmonkey]

Hmm worth a try, I'll see if I can catch any venom players before I have to leave to the airport today.

[MiraiGen]

Anyone have suggestions with the Baiken vs Venom matchup? I've been trying out different things on them here (I'm in Japan atm) but there doesn't seem to be much I can do to get in past the balls :|

FD braking trying to get close didn't seem to be very effective... iad anything gets anti-aired..

My best guess would be try and stay close to him. Use claw if you need to, and a couple running blocks never hurt too badly.

I have this problem too, especially when he throws out Dark Angel. Usually if you're in the middle of it you can sidestep it (214K on block) and punish Venom for being a prat. He's a tough fight, however, because he'll just Ky it out and keep you at a distance.

[rtl42]

well Baiken's general gameplan with almost everyone is to stay close, and if anything, Venom should be punishing you for using Mawarikomi against Dark Angel.

if Venom has any balls set up, i'd be wary of using the chain, since he can either whack a ball at you, or teleport around you (depending on where the balls are set up) and take advantage of your recovery time.

and even if he doesn't have any ball seiseis out, if the situation is kinda neutral, I should think he'd be sitting on a Stinger Aim charge-up, waiting for an opening to a free counterhit (and i guess enough time to summon a ball). but idk, i was reading back on the old RC forums how chain was actually pretty good against Venom, so perhaps i'm missing something. (Is it hard to react to Kabari's start-up because of key frames or something?)

my question is: can he effectively AA you if you try getting in via iad.j.S? I seem to recall reading that 6P had some of its properties changed, and I'm wondering if that includes its hitbox. Will a well-timed j.S beat out a reactionary 6P attempt? That may be one way in >__>