[CS1] Makoto vs. Arakune

[DC]

Thought I'd make this one because it seems like a pretty interesting matchup.

Makoto is a great rushdown character and Arakune gets rushed down pretty hard on the ground.

However Arakune is a wholly aerial character and Makoto's air to air game is arguably the worst in the game.

She has no safe attacks to poke with when he has a cloud around him (unlike some characters with projectiles, Ragna's j.C, etc etc) Sadly her projectile is very easy to see coming.

BUT in the case of rushdown style Arakune she has parry and a great DP.

Also it's worth mentioning that since he's a zoner, he can be punished for pulling out a cloud, 6d, 2d, j.b etc etc ON REACTION with Big Bang Smash (lvl3) FULL SCREEN. Very useful. If Arakune knows this you can use it as a scare tactic to stop him from pulling out clouds.

Anyways I'm not sure if I can give a matchup ratio just yet. It seems like it's in Kune's favor but I couldn't say how much. If he keeps jumping it's really hard for Koto to do any real damage. THEN AGAIN landing an air combo into 623c~d leads to ground mixup. Landing that aerial hit though against Kune seems pretty tough.

[Halcyone3]

im so free for arakunes it's not even funny. (but then again, i'm pretty free in general >_>')

i wouldn't say her air game is that bad, j.B is doing great for me, at least so far.

[farranpoison]

I agree, Makoto's air to air game is not the worst. j.B and j.A are amazing aerial pokes. It's her air to ground game that's complete shit.

[Big Red Tie]

yeah, her air to air game is fine.

arakune is hard pressed to set up curse in this match as he can't really exploit makoto's weaknesses

also you can parry bugs?!

[Kdash55]

J.B counter hit is a free combo, untechable I believe and it's pretty amazing imo :D.

[Halcyone3]

J.B counter hit is a free combo, untechable I believe and it's pretty amazing imo :D.

u dont need the CH o.o

j.B->jc->j.D(3)/(j.C->->j.B->j.623C~D)/j.2C

[Kdash55]

u dont need the CH o.o

j.B->jc->j.D(3)/(j.C->->j.B->j.623C~D)/j.2C

I know you don't, just saying, if you land a CH at an odd angle you can catch them with a 6a on the ground.

[DC]

Imo her air to airs against Kune is terrible. j.b loses to his j.b and his j.6abc are the bane of her existence. :p

[Halcyone3]

kune has an incredibly good air game

in comparison, yes, hers is subpar, but not in general.

[DJHUOSHEN]

Yes, you can parry bugs. If the Kune is close, you'll even get the stun off. Great for button flailing kunes during curse mode, since bad bugs = free stun, and any time you can kill during curse is great.

[Andarel]

On a random note his curse meter time goes down during the minigame of 236236D / 632146D, but slower. Blodia Punch is notable because in my bit of testing I think I chopped quite a bit (25%?) off during the animation on lv 3 due to how long it is.

For some reason, one time that I tried it it seemed to drain more the closer to full curse meter was.

Not terribly useful, but handy just in case. Parry loop is pretty time-consuming, so an Arakune in frenzy mode that gets hit by a hitconfirm...gonna lose a fair bit of curse meter. Though, good luck getting in that hit.

[DC]

Fyi while you are doing the D follow up for parry, you don't have invincibility, so you probably don't want to parry bugs.

Also don't forget that you have a DP during fever mode. I wouldn't abuse it but Kune's swear that everything is free in fever. I like to DP~D follow up and then when he techs I mash 2a on his wakeup for as long as I can to waste the fever meter.

[magikstik]

If you want to try keep kune on lock down try 2A, 5A, 5B, comet cannon and repeat. Kune doesnt really have any reversal options.

[Badguy]

If you want to try keep kune on lock down try 2A, 5A, 5B, comet cannon and repeat. Kune doesnt really have any reversal options.

this can actually be backdashed midscreen actually

[DJHUOSHEN]

Fyi while you are doing the D follow up for parry, you don't have invincibility, so you probably don't want to parry bugs.

Also don't forget that you have a DP during fever mode. I wouldn't abuse it but Kune's swear that everything is free in fever. I like to DP~D follow up and then when he techs I mash 2a on his wakeup for as long as I can to waste the fever meter.

True, but if you don't mash D on the parry, given how many hits bugs do on the usual, you'll be invulnerable for enough time to 'parry confirm'. also, remember, if kune's hit/parried, bugs will disappear, so once you stun him with the parry effect, bugs will clear and you should be able to go for broke.

Best way to deal with Kunes? DPs, jBs, and decent ground block strings.

Also, if you Comet cannon, he can 3C? (low profile) and you'll then eat a fatal counter full curse combo. Not a good idea.

[seyu]

man this is a bitch of a matchup. if you can get above him he cant do shit though and you can ground hm agains with j2C. its also good air to ground against him, since it clashes with his AA or even beats it. just gotta be careful not to get grabbed out of it(do it close to the ground so he cant jump)

i noticed that most aracunes wont backdash aways before you get them in a blockstring, but rather concentrate on dashing away and punishing. occasional throws help here.

oh and j2C also works against his reversal DD if you stay outside of the beamXD

does 214B~D>214C~D work against ara btw? or am i just to dumb to hit it?

[SolAscension]

what do I do against nubbish kune j.b spam?

[OmniSScythe]

what do I do against nubbish kune j.b spam?

Parry (DP trades or ends in his favor a lot), some of the best times to get ready are after he does a jump canceled 5D or after his j.236 air pokes into j.B

[SolAscension]

makoto's answer to everything is parry :D

[seyu]

to be honest i just block and sit out the little pressure ara has. usually its something into 5D or 2A>2A>6A which can be DPed before 6A.

[LordSpectreX]

to be honest i just block and sit out the little pressure ara has. usually its something into 5D or 2A>2A>6A which can be DPed before 6A.

I disagree strongly. Arakune's pressure may be bad, but j.b is damn good and curse moves still curse on block. Arakune's true weakness is defense. I think any character, including Hazama, should be very aggressive against Arakune. If you stay passive and defensive against any good Arakune, especially ones better than myself, then you will likely lose. Makoto has fantastic speed, ultilise it. Keep attacking Arakune.

Hell, when we had our matches Seyu, you did a lot better once you started being relentless.

Also, if you Comet cannon, he can 3C? (low profile) and you'll then eat a fatal counter full curse combo. Not a good idea.

3C does go under Comet Cannon, but it has to be spaced properly. Also, it's only Counter Hit, and you need 50% heat to make it into a 100% Curse Combo.

Unless you're talking about 2C, which is Fatal Counter in 100% Curse, but it doesn't go under Comet Cannon.

[seyu]

maybe it was just the desperationXD but youre right beeing agressive is a good idea in this matchup.

what would you advise against jB though? i think 6A loses clean and DP only works fine when you do very close to the ground. (im ignoring parry here since i allways mess that up when im under pressureXD)

edit: also we should do some more matches:3

[OmniSScythe]

6A works fine, it'll trade in Makoto's favor though if it's spaced right you'll flat out anti-air (this move should really get fixed) which is why I wouldn't want to use it near low health (plus the whole parry > PF > 6-9K damage thing is awesome)

[OmniSScythe]

MATCH-UP STRATEGY!

First off do remember Arakune is an aerial character, respect his air game.

Mid-screen:

When Arakune is grounded you got the option of going for a mix-up or breaking his guard with close range breakshots taking off 2 primers. Mix-up wise you can do blockstrings like 2A > 2B > 6A then either go for an overhead(6B) or jump cancel. On jump cancel you can either:

Grab him if he jumps, start an aerial blockstring like " j.B > j.A > j.B > land 6A or dash under 5A/2A for a cross up which will also punish barrier block" , forward air dash to punish his backdash, go for a low to ground j.C or empty jump and 2B. If arakune attempt a 5C and your attack whiff but your grounded do not try to continue your attack, instead if you don't want to block then DP or PF right away.

When Arakune is in the air try to bait his bird by empty jumping to close the gap, if he does j.6a/b/c then IB and j.B, it'll be a normal hit or if he was mashing a free CH j.B combo. Against j.B try to parry it (up to 6k meterless off of it) or at the least 6A. If he does a low bird then get ready to parry or DP his j.B. After you stop his j.B a few times a smart Arakune is going to start zoning, empty jumping with barrier or using his fakes. The best way to tell if a fake is happening outside of the weird jump/dash is by listening to the sound. Normal jumps and dashing all make a sound but Ara's fakes is mute.

Far-screen:

If your here that means he teleported or knocked you away. Just dash right back in and keep an eye out if tries to throw out a cloud or j.D, it can be punish by using AV B/C version into j.B or D.

Cursed:

Blocking? Block his mix-up as best as you can and avoid using barrier block unless it's for your last primer. If you have 50 heat you may even be able to IB PF if the bugs leave a big enough opening or you IB his 3C before the C bug makes it safe. If he tries to cross you up with the D bug by teleporting you can punish it.

Not blocking? RUN! If your find yourself near a corner just time the moment the A and B bugs aren't block the route and AV C barrier out of there.

Situational/Variant combos:

Parried j.B: 5A/2A or Dash 5A/2A > 5B > 2D(1) > 5CC > 2D(3) > 2366A~D > 214C~D > 214B~D > 6A > 5D > 2366A~D > j.7D > 2366A~D > BBS (6200+)

Forward grab: B+C > 214A~A > 5CC > 2D(3) > 2366A~D > 214C~D > 214B~D > 6A > 5D > 2366A~D > j.7D > 2366A~D > BBS (6000+)

Edited December 21, 2010 by OmniSScythe

[mAc Chaos]

Do Hakumen next. :3