[CS2] Noel vs. Makoto

[SkyKing]

Matchup Ranking: Unofficially 5/5 or 5.5/4.5: Makoto advantage

To be discussed.

Recommended Playstyle: Cautious but not too defensive; Opportunistic

You'll need to look out for Makoto's various offensive and defensive options the entire match. Her normals can be confirmed for big damage if you're not on point with your spacing and pressure. Noel needs to be aggressive to open up her opponents, but be careful of being overly aggressive, or you may eat a parry, 2A, or DP for a quick reversal of momentum. Convert your combos when you have them, be defensive when you need to, any remember that both characters have so much comeback potential that you can focus on one thing at a time when you go back and forth with momentum.

General Strategy:

Do your best to control your space. Do not let Makoto get in for free. Drive enough to make Makoto second guess her pressure and tools, but not too much to the point where it is predictable, lest you eat 6K in one combo. Don't be afraid to concentrate everything on defense when the time comes for it, as Makoto can and will pressure you if she gets that one opportunity to. Be on point with your reads on block, and escape when you can. Also, convert your combos in order to stay on advantage, as dropped combos against Makoto is almost always a momentum shifting point.

Your Best Tools(For This Matchup):

2D/4D - Staple moves for dodging moves from aggressive characters that can be exploited with them. Makoto can be 2D'ed out of her 2A, and she can be 4D'ed out of her aerial approaches that aren't j.2C as well as her 5B if she throws that out for spacing and fishing for hits. As always, don't get too reliant on these moves, as the recovery time will leave you open to a Corona Upper or a 2A if she blocks/IBs your 2D.

2B/2C - Noel's lows can help keep Makoto from activating her parry since she can't parry lows. You really won't be getting much damage if you do confirm a hit with them, but ending strings and small gatling combos into 2C will keep you at advantage to continue to pressure her.

2A/6A/5B/5C - Noel's spacing normals. You will need to establish your ground game and make Makoto aware of your tools. You must not allow Makoto to freely pressure you by controlling space and making it troublesome for her to get inside. Both characters are best at extremely close range, so being able to space properly will pay off for your defense. If you can score hits in these little exchanges, you might even be able to confirm into a 2C which opens up offensive options for you.

Has A DP?: Corona Upper (623C). Also, be wary of her 6A which has head invulnerabilty from frames 4-10, and has good vertical and decent horizontal reach.

Has A DP With Heat?: Both of her supers can be used as reversals, although Big Bang Smash has been given increased startup frames from it's CS1 version. Particle Flare goes through a lot of things, and is a pretty decent reversal.

Things To Look Out For:

2A - Her poke of pokes. Outstanding pressure, leads into her mixups, and if you get tagged it will really hurt. When you end up blocking this, just continue to block until you can confirm that she uses another normal to continue her blockstring. She can stagger 2A to fish for a CH, and that will lead to corner carry and big damage on you, plus a possible oki setup if the combo she uses allows for it. You can 2D over this, but in general don't mash out anything until you can read how they like to pressure with this move.

j.2C - Dat tail~! If you are anywhere under her, just block it. If you try and counter it, most likely you will eat a CH yourself which will lead to Makoto's long combos, or will clash with the tail. She can use this during pressure after a jump cancelable move, during advancement after an air dash or the B/C versions of Asteroid Vision, and even as a surprise move after an aerial recovery if you decide to stay aggressive.

Comet Cannon (236A) - Makoto's oki option after a scored knockdown. If she sets this up correctly, you'll have no choice but to block and guess her mix-ups. It will catch tech rolls and can also be used as one of her many Primer Breaking moves if she decides to follow up to LV3 Break Shot. If you have the meter, you may Counter Assault out of the corner, but be very careful of getting your CA baited if you become too predictable with it. It's best to make Makoto commit to using normals after the Comet Cannon before using the CA.

Space Counter/Parry (46) - This makes poking Makoto from the air very dangerous. Parry will activate if you attempt to hit her while she's in the animation with anything that isn't a low hit. If she catches you in the ground, she can do the follow-up Punch and can RC it into one of her BnB combos. In the air, she can just let the hitstop from the parry recover and continue with her corner carry combos like the Corona Upper Whiff combo. Always be aware when you jump, as your options are very limited while in the air, and the range on Noel's moves aren't great so it allows Makoto plenty of time to activate the parry. Be aware of the player's tendencies with Parry, and counter by putting out more lows, throws, and possible baits in order to make Makoto think twice about reading your moves.

Edited July 25, 2011 by SkyKing