[CS2] Hakumen vs Mu

[Spark]

Punishes:

623C - If you poke at her on wake up with just the tip of 2B if she DPs at best it will clash with 2B and you'll be safe. Also only the last 4 frames of this move are not in CH state, so if you block this you pretty much get the CH punish of your choice. This move has invincible auto-guard so if you try to counter it on their wake up your counter will actually get guarded though you'll still be at advantage after wards.

632146C - 6D, 2D, 236236D during the super flash if they have enough meter to RC.

Anti-airing:

5A - In general Mu's air attacks do not cover very far below her. So when she jumps in whether it's with j.B or j.C she has to wait on till close to the last second to use it making it easy to 5A her out of her jump ins.

6B - No longer punishable on IB in CS2, but on IB is negative enough that you get to start your pressure or go for a mix up.

623A(A) - When she's jumping in with j.C at a range where 5A won't reach her, you can use 623A instead to go under her and throw/start pressure or do the follow up and try to hit her out of it or out of the landing recovery.

63214C - The lower level versions of this move are punishable at -10 before IB, but if you don't IB you might be pushed too far to punish.

Zoning:

j.C - Has more range and is faster than her j.C and 5C, but if she hits you she has an easier time following up with a combo.

4C - Ok for cutting her (j.)236A, but as a poke it feels kind of risky. Hitting with it gets you ok damage and gets you in, but if you mess up you can take big damage.

j.2A - Good for cutting her projectiles in general.

Their game plan:

Using her drive lasers and command lasers to force you to deal with her mix up.

Charged stein shots can break primer, same with 63214C and stein explosion.

Strategy:

Mainly do what you can get to close enough to start your pressure. Keep in mind as long as you get her to block a j.C or a 4C the steins won't shoot.

If she uses the charge laser it counts up from newest stein to oldest. If none of the steins are in the ground that means you can command dash under the charge laser till it reaches the final stein and homes in on you. Though it's only a good idea to do this if you're trying to dash under a stein and counter it to catch Mu, otherwise cutting it is much safer and still helps you get in.

If she uses stein explosion on wake up against you just counter it to avoid the primer loss. If stein explosion is not done on wake up you can try to cut them or counter them to use them against Mu.

In this match up you are almost never forced to block any projectiles on wake up which greatly weakens her oki. She has no command grab, and her only ground overhead is fairly slow and (usually) only leads into damage in the corner.

Dealing with her block strings:

Anything into 6C: There is always a gap, so no matter what normal she uses before this you can always 6D 6C, if she's too close than you catch her with 6D if not then you don't really lose anything for countering it.

3C: After 3C watch for the jump or a stein cancel if she stein cancels if you IBed 3C you can 3C her, else if she jumps you can try for the air throw or attempt to anti air her. If she decides to do a special after 3C she is almost always going to be in range of 3C unless you've been FDing her block strings.

2C: Same deal as 3C except that she can chain it into 6C(try to 6D this), 3C(look above), or back into 5C if she hasn't already.

5C: Same deal as 2C except that she cannot jump cancel this and while it is punishable on IB you're never going to be close enough for this to matter.

Stein placement: Usually not punishable, but it means her pressure is done unless she jump cancels into more stuff or she decides to special cancel into something in which case if you stuck out a move on reaction to the stein placement you will probably beat out the special.

Char specific details:

j.2C > 5C > 5C (impossible without fatal counter?)

j.2C > 5C > 2C (still possible)

When you 236236D her 6C she's stuck in place and cannot dodge the counter.

Edited May 17, 2011 by Spark

[BladeOfJustice7]

I have a hard time closing in the gap against her when she decides to zone, kinda weird to deal with. Any advice besides the obvious "cut her lasers"?

[FACE CLAIMER]

I have a hard time closing in the gap against her when she decides to zone, kinda weird to deal with. Any advice besides the obvious "cut her lasers"?

yeah, thats one i have trouble with too. after i cut a laser, i move to approach but im stuffed short by another stein being made and im forced to block so it's a game of trying to push her to the corner when she has full control of the screen due to her steins and their placement. i do know how to punish pretty easily when she moves too close though but thats not often enough to get a solid victory in.

[BladeOfJustice7]

yeah, thats one i have trouble with too. after i cut a laser, i move to approach but im stuffed short by another stein being made and im forced to block so it's a game of trying to push her to the corner when she has full control of the screen due to her steins and their placement. i do know how to punish pretty easily when she moves too close though but thats not often enough to get a solid victory in.

Five words for this issue: IAD/super double jump jc.

This is something you need to use carefully when you see her in the air setting up steins. This will stuff her attempts of trying to zone. If you hit her, it stops her steins from shooting at you.