[P4A] Akihiko vs Mitsuru

[Skye]

TL;DR verdict: ??:??

Mitsuru's tools

Akihiko's answer to them

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Akihiko's tools

Mitsuru's answer to them

[Drill]

Having a difficult time with the length of her 5A. The thing has more range and seems to come out faster. Anybody have any good answers to it?

[E For Eugene]

You can hold 214C. Mitsuru's 5A, and charging lunge move will whiff so you can corkscrew on reaction. ShelledMenace posted in the technical/gameplay discussion thread that lists what moves will whiff.

[Skye]

Something about weaving on Mitsuru feels wrong, like there is an answer she has to blow it up, but since we're like week one she's not sure what it is. Sort of a "too good to be true" kind of thing.

In any case, yesterday I fought 3 Mitsuru players during MI week 1 p4u casuals and here are my summations;

TL;DR verdict: 6:4 Mitsuru's adv

Mitsuru's tools

5a - good anywhere

2a - Also a good tool

2b - Good enough to hit Akihiko in the air

j.a - Excellent air to air

j.b - Excellent air to ground

The Box - shuts down a lot of Akihiko's pressure

Coup Droit - Good abare in neutral situations, can tag Akihiko on jump start up

C Bufula - Shuts down Akihiko's approach options

Akihiko's answer to them

C Weave - Gets through Mitsuru's 5a, Coup Droit, j.a, D Bufula, and others, can corkscrew on reaction.

Good Reads required to get through The Box, no two ways around it, either punish with an air hit confirm, or be wary of Super Cancel into Bufudyne.

j.c to beat 2b attempts

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Akihiko's tools

5a - faster than anything Mitsuru has, keep watch of when she's in range. Enough recovery to not get FC'd by her B attacks.

2a - same

EX Kill Rush - beats jump outs midscreen and keeps Mitsuru honest when there is distance to close.

EX Corkscrew - can do on reaction to Bufula, can follow up on FC with at least 3k

EX Boomerang Hook, useful in Kill Rush blockstrings, punishes mashing, and has guard point so it will eat through The Box and recover in time to punish her.

Mitsuru's answer to them

The Box kills a lot of what Akihiko can do, so don't get cocky.

j.d can punish C Weave so be on the look out.

Her regular pressure strings are safe, opt for a Dodge or a jump out than a poke,

[Ajsnipes9]

TY! i hate fighting her shes so annoying to fight with Aki .....

[OFC Salty Santa]

I haven't felt more helpless in a matchup then this one

[g0th1k4]

Well I just fought my buddy who's maining Mitsuru...like what above post said...i couldnt win a single set at all...any time she coup in her 2a stuffs everything i have and its at max range so i cant even poke back as i get counter hitted, and her 5b jumps back and fatals me everytime i try something...how do you fight against her lol im locked down so hard

[KCommision]

Her regular pressure strings are safe, opt for a Dodge or a jump out than a poke,

this

[a Lisianthus]

guessing stinger is -6 or so on ib (5b punishes at 6f startup, 2b doesnt at 7f) for A/B/ex at worst (mid-close range)

if close range, 5b fc punishes. if a bit farther than 5b range, 5a>b kill rush combo works

her sweep is -5 at worst on IB, but she can cancel to special to frame trap - if she doesnt then just 5a>b rush combo. though her sweep beats raw kill rush clean in neutral though loll

[Eshi]

If you block Mitsuru's DP while she has 50 meter, prepare for noob-out super. Don't go for 5B fatal. The best ways to punish it IMO are CH 2C for an air juggle (kind of tricky), or 5AA once she lands. If she supers, 5A recovers first and it's punishable by dash 5B fatal on block. If she doesn't, you can still hit confirm for 2.4-3.4k.

C Weaving is decently useful in this match-up. 5A will whiff through it but it recovers WAY too fast to punish on reaction, so do not bother. If she does Coup Droit A into a weave, punish with Corkscrew A on reaction. If she does Coup Droit B, you can react with duck > Corkscrew A for a 3K combo. Like Skye said, EX Corkscrew eats Bufula with super armor and punishes on reaction. Don't even try psychic close-out blows, you'll just eat 2A's all day.

Almost everything this bitch does is safe on block so, be REALLY patient for an opening and respect the threat of the box.

Edited August 18, 2012 by Eshi

[Erionn]

Not sure if it's common knowledge or not, but you can instant block the lunge during her auto combo and fatal counter off of it.

[PozerWolf]

Tips on fighting the match up, you're going to be blocking a lot, so expect that much.

Her Stinger (lunge, coup, whatever) is minus, however a well played Mitsu will know how to distances herself. Basically, making Stinger hit max range and spacing you would with A.

Doing full screen weave will annoying a Mitsu player, but you'll have to be careful as she can do Sweep or jump persona whip into combo. You don't not want to eat her sweep, as it's Fatal Counter.

Dealing with Stinger and her 5A.

Stinger - When it comes out and you block it, if she's too far away to punish, continuing blocking. Late Stinger is actually 0 on block, and Aki is out of range to do anything. If you feel like she'll continue pressure after stinger, try using a counter, and not weave. When you weave, some Mitsu players will try to find that and counter it with a Sweep. Ducking in also works, as it goes through 5A no problem, and seeing as how you can cancel ducking into short hop made way thru, you can react to sweep animation and go for a short hop. Eating 2A from her will become a problem if you get too predictable with ducking, as she can do 2A (CH), Sweep, Stinger, and if in the corner this can lead into a 3k combo no problem.

Honestly, dealing with this move is going to be your main match up worry.

[Ikaru]

I used this four part video as a reference for the Mitsuru match up. Helped me out a loooot. Link should take you to a playlist I made for P4A. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e20eLt0cyd8&list=PL733D8838C2A53726&index=5&feature=plpp_video

Nice tips for the Mitsuru match up btw Pozer. After short hopping Mitsuru's sweep can you get any damage or is the recovery from the short hop too long?

[Eshi]

I used this four part video as a reference for the Mitsuru match up. Helped me out a loooot. Link should take you to a playlist I made for P4A. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e20eLt0cyd8&list=PL733D8838C2A53726&index=5&feature=plpp_video

Nice tips for the Mitsuru match up btw Pozer. After short hopping Mitsuru's sweep can you get any damage or is the recovery from the short hop too long?

you can follow up a counter hit after a short hop, but it's still reeeeally bad. :/

[Skye]

After a few more rounds vs Mitsuru, I have came to a bit of conclusions and some answers to her stuff.

5a staggers can be Dodge Striked, look out for these.

You actually can punish 5a whiff (c weave) on reaction with a corkscrew (not b).

Stay out of the corner, by all means.

[ChrisFGC]

Can you safe jump mitsurus DP?

[TheGreatReptar]

Can you safe jump mitsurus DP?

Of course you can. You can safejump any DP that isn't a counter that catches (like Hakumen's counter, not like Chie or Yosuke), or has frame 1 guardpoint. I think Mitsuru's DP comes out in something around 9 frames, so it shouldn't be too hard to do.

[ChrisFGC]

Of course you can. You can safejump any DP that isn't a counter that catches (like Hakumen's counter, not like Chie or Yosuke), or has frame 1 guardpoint. I think Mitsuru's DP comes out in something around 9 frames, so it shouldn't be too hard to do.

Ahhhh, I never knew that, thank you! ^_^

[kin3tix]

If you block Mitsuru's DP while she has 50 meter, prepare for noob-out super. Don't go for 5B fatal.

Just wanted to point out that you should always go for 5B fatal even if she has the meter, but when she's still in the air. It lets her float long enough for you to do C duck > C weave > double upper -> fat combo. Example here. Second part is just to show how far you can block it and still punish. Make that bitch pay, 50 meter won't save her. Hope this helps!

Edited September 13, 2012 by kin3tix

[Dacidbro]

This is probably Akihiko's hardest matchup, but it still doesn't feel too bad if played really clean.

-IBing Droit is really important, at a lot of ranges you can pull a punish instead of returning to neutral.

-C sway to make 5A whiff, corkscrew punish

-EX sway to force whiffs in her pressure (since she can't jump cancel most of her moves, she either has to gatling to another move or return to negative frames), then D duck grab

-Air approach gets 2B'd

-Your own air approach has to be called out really hard, her anti airs are relatively weak. High reward if she calls it though! Be careful.

-If stand blocked, her DP gets fataled no matter what. Catch her before she lands!

-If jump blocked, you probably have to make a read at most heights. At some heights you can get an improvised falling safe jump punish though, watch for it.

-DO NOT tech her grab mid screen, almost ever. It's not worth it. You would have to get grabbed 5 times midscreen to equal one grab bait's reward. Don't "React" to it, it's a guess and if you try to you're going to get blown up.

-If she has ice behind you or you're in the corner, you have to guess grab or bait. Good luck there, it's a true 50/50

[Skye]

No Mitsuru worth their salt is going to approach by air so deep that 2b will knock them out.

And I disagree that it's Akihiko's worst match up, it's bad, yes, but Akihiko can;

Get in on Mitsuru, more than what can be said about Yukiko.

Take advantage of guaranteed situations, more that what can be said about Kanji.

Really, imo, Yukiko and Kanji would have to be Akihiko's worst match ups.

[Dacidbro]

No Mitsuru worth their salt is going to approach by air so deep that 2b will knock them out.

And I disagree that it's Akihiko's worst match up, it's bad, yes, but Akihiko can;

Get in on Mitsuru, more than what can be said about Yukiko.

Take advantage of guaranteed situations, more that what can be said about Kanji.

Really, imo, Yukiko and Kanji would have to be Akihiko's worst match ups.

[Skye]

Kanji feels so terrible, I seriously doubt Akihiko's neutral is superior.

But on topic, getting in on Mitsuru is all about picking your moments, and baiting the DP is easy, bait it the way you bait any dp.

My favorite method is xx > 236a => 4a => 6c => 4cd

Ducking to EX Weave will make any DP whiff.

Punish with 5b.

Edited September 30, 2012 by Skye

[Dacidbro]

Kanji feels so terrible, I seriously doubt Akihiko's neutral is superior.

But on topic, getting in on Mitsuru is all about picking your moments, and baiting the DP is easy, bait it the way you bait any dp.

My favorite method is xx > 236a => 4a => 6c => 4cd

Ducking to EX Weave will make any DP whiff.

Punish with 5b.

This is actually exceptionally misleading, since Mitsuru has pretty much the only DP that doesn't whiff on any cross up and also has a spectacular vertical and horizontal hitbox.. so to bait it you are using choices that -patently- beat DP, and nothing else. EX Hook, EX Corkscrew, blocking, backdash, etc. You don't have the freedom of making it slightly whiff if you're in the pocket, like you do with pretty much every other DP.

I'm not saying that's unfair, I'm just saying your statement isn't 100% accurate and it does affect everyone's matchup with her significantly.

[Dacidbro]

New stuff stolen from NEC qualifiers, 236C 4C (Hold) to punish Droit with a -reaction fatal-

VERY SICK.