[CS1] Litchi vs Taokaka

[Lord Knight]

Let's talk about how fun it is to play against Tao in this thread.

General Matchup:

5-5 Even Matchup.

Stressful matchup. Tao has the best neutral game. Good luck trying to hit her. The goal is to trade with her, not outright win. Litchi's reward off trading is way better than Tao's (for the most part).

Midscreen neutral:

-This is tough. . .

-Jumping and doing a low airdash forward/backward jC (as in, close to the ground) is great. Fish for trades - Litchi does 5000 off jC wallslam.

-jA, 5A, 2A are all excellent fast tools that can hit Tao out of moves. They have little recovery so they can't be punished unless Tao outright wins. Confirm these as best you can.

-Dash 6B[m]. Reward for trading with Tao is great.

-Really, don't try to actively approach Tao to hard - her maneuverability is too good. Set the staff if you have to, but I don't recommend it.

-Try to IB drives in the air > jA.

Tao's pressure:

-Not Bang or Valk level, but still great.

-IB 2A is good, gives you a chance to backstep or barrier jump.

-If you see a drive, jump - be prepared to break an airthrow.

-Watch out for Throw Reject Miss setups

-IB 236C > DP if they get too comfortable.

-2A jumpins.

-Watch out for gimmicks. Tao's like stopping combos and going into green throw - you don't need to have seen these before if you're focused, just be aware of it.

Litchi's pressure:

-Don't do anything fancy, just try to hit her.

-5B > Daisharin to bait Counter Assault.

-REALLY WATCH OUT FOR COUNTER ASSAULT. Her's is by far the best in the game, and you'll be punished hard if you aren't wary of it.

-For okizeme. . . . Daisharin is still the best option. Don't worry about keeping her in blockstun if she has meter to counter assault. Just do something that will prevent her from rolling or jumping out (196666 for example).

Edited December 15, 2010 by Lord Knight

[Spud]

So it seems like all her moves eat mine and leave me out of good range. Any easy way to stop her maneuvering around my moves so easily?

[ril213]

iad back j.c beats out her drive approaches when spaced right. you can also use 5d staff launch when she is in the air. All Litchi needs is 1-2 combos to kill tao though it is easier said than done. Thats all i kno for now.

[Zenmetsu]

Ya know, most Taos I play know how to do that low-stance>2Aor2B stuff really well, to the point where it beats Litchi j.B frequently enough that I notice it. But every once in a while a j.B pulls through and beats low-stance 2A/2B, and when that happens I realize the risk/reward ratio almost justifies being stupid and going for j.B all the time. Am I the only person that is stubborn like this? I realize the safest option is to not put yourself into this kind of situation where you're falling on top of Tao but I can never seem to pass up this jawesome gamble.

[ATGMantenbo]

I played my first solid Tao and I have to say the matchup is pretty even and if not, then slightly in Litchi's favor.

Expect the match to be 90% in the air and this means utilizing your best air options, j.C, j.B

Offense:

Launching the staff in the air pretty much shuts down her air game and remember if the staff scores you a counterhit, they can't tech until they reach the ground, so you can combo them while they are falling, but don't get too predictable with it as Tao's 5D will catch you in between set/launch.

j.C is your best tool in this match-up; just jump around and spam this move a lot .. it beats Tao's drive clean if spaced correctly and a counter hit from j.C nets you 5k+ dmg plus corner rape.

j.b is also good and is best used when they are below you, but be wary of her crouching-walk as that will make j.C completely whiff, and also j.B unless you delay it for a bit.

j.A works well when she is above you.

j.2D does wonders to counter her 2D when she's below you but use sparingly.

Defense:

she's vulnerable for a while when she goes for "turn around" after her drive(I believe -5F + landing recovery); you can punish that with 2A and go straight into a big combo.

Also, she doesn't have any real blockstrings as far as her normals go after her 6B overhead; you can DP your way out if you normal block or 2A if you IB but don't get too predictable with DP'ing her 6B as Tao can punish you really hard for it.

If you block her 2B and sense a small delay, then get ready for a tech throw.

Don't spam random moves when you air-recover but rather barrier block because a good Tao will be fishing for 2D CH, or call the staff then block if you're staffless.

Tips:

Be wary of her counter assault when you have her cornered with Daisharin as most Taos will go for it; hit lows on her wakeup, 2B and haku, because to do her CA she has to press "forward + A + B", grab works too, or you can go for DS input 138333 as the thrid DS will punish her CA; aside from that, I really do not know any efficient way of punishing it.

Don't chase her around because that's what most Tao's are gunning for; instead make her come to you.

will be editing more soon

[Lord Knight]

jC jC jC jC jC airdash back jC jA jA jA 6B

[ATGMantenbo]

jC jC jC jC jC airdash back jC jA jA jA 6B

Do you know any good way to counter her CA outside of Daisharin?

[Lord Knight]

It's too good, there's nothing you can really do about it.

[Dator]

I played xdest and that guy destroyed me, this matchup is tough

[Lord Knight]

Updated. This match is hard.

[crazycrackers]

Her CA is a bitch. Once she has 50 heat you really can't use much 2c or 5c at all. Although maybe you could react to her CA after a 5c lets say and cancel into daisharin. Luckily her CA is her 6c in CS2

[Lord Knight]

Her CA is a bitch, but there are answers.

If you're meterless, you can try jump cancelling a normal into airthrow. With meter, cancel a normal that would go into something laggy with Daisharin (make sure to cover above and behind you).