Killey

No, 3K is, at best, relatively safe if you space it out to hit at the tip; otherwise, it's hella unsafe being -7 on regular block. 3K is a level 3 attack so if they IB it and you mis-spaced it (remembering that IB reduces push back) you'd be -11 at worst. You're definitely going to eat a fat punish for using it improperly. If you make the read then 3K is something you can use in the match up but it's not really necessary, imo. I've been using Ky since X2 and I use him as a secondary in Xrd for match ups I don't like with Ramlethal, such as Millia. Ky can't zone Ramlethal for free because it's not difficult to maneuver around his stun edges while using j.6HS or j.6S to control his movements. If he messes up the timing of one stun edge then either sword will counter hit him, causing him to stagger, allowing you to either continue zoning with swords/cassisus or begin your offensive approach. If you're close enough to the counter hit then you can confirm into Daruo and get started from there. This is a match up where I have no issues launching both swords on him and play at full screen until I can approach. The match up is definitely in Ramlethal's favor but it really depends on who's playing a stronger neutral game. Ky is meant to be a strong fundamentals character with a very basic but effective pressure game. His go to pokes will be f.S, 2S, 5HS, and 2D. Stun Edges, j.D, and j.HS are good at controlling air space for him so be careful with your air approaches especially air dashes. Air dashing into an anti-air (he has plenty) or CH j.HS or j.D gives Ky an opportunity to get a full combo for good damage. If you're playing with Swords equipped then look to whiff punish his f.S with your f.S because it's horrible on whiff. If you have 50 meter then you can confirm your whiff punish f.S into an RC, Daruo for a full combo similar to Millia & Faust players. If you block f.S he'll just cancel into 2S to reduce the recovery. 5HS doesn't have as much range as your f.S so you can either out poke or look to whiff punish it. Ky's j.P and j.K are amazing air-to-air tools and can actually contest your j.P but if you want to win the air-to-air game you need to be pre-emptive with your j.P. If your air dashing in with j.P he'll either 6P/2HS AA or j.K and beat you clean. His j.HS is a good air-to-ground approach from a regular jump but the start up and recovery is slow so you can space your self out of it's range and CH him with your j.S (S sword equipped). Doing things like neutral jump S or IAD back j.S are good ways to land a CH j.S. If you land the CH j.S you can land IAD j.K, j.S, j.8D after wards and depending on how close you are to the corner, get a rep of the IAD loop and start oki. This technique is also good at beating out random Greed Severs. Approaching Ky from the air without swords covering your approach is dangerous since his 6P is an amazing AA tool (always has been and it's actually been nerfed from its AC+R counter part). 2HS is also a good anti-air but slowed and more preemptive then reactive unless your doing neutral or double jumps on top of him. Stun Edge YRC also gives him the ability to react to your air approach and either AA or air throw you so be careful on your attack angles in the air. His mix up potential with high/lows from a block string is terrible since he only has 5D or Greed Sever as over heads which are reactable though his 5D is faster in Xrd. If you get knocked down midscreen by Stun Dipper the most Ky can do is go for a meaty 6HS. Look for the spacing and timing on the 6HS because if they do it too close you can throw them on wake up but making that call out can be dangerous. If they mistime the meaty you can do wake up Blitz Shield. Wake up Explode will beat the meaty unless they time it earlier to bait it out. If the Ky player attempts a YRC CSE after a stun dipper knockdown (midscreen) it's not meaty at all and you can either up back or super jump FD to avoid it altogether or at least chicken block it. If you get knockdown down midscreen by 2D then the Ky player can either do meaty 6HS, meaty charged stun edge (CSE), or meaty YRC charged stun edge. If the opt to do meaty CSE with no YRC then the subsequent pressure is less since they can't really pressure you too much due to the recovery of CSE. At most they can try a run up throw just as CSE block stun wears off or they get a small block string that doesn't do a whole lot. YRC CSE can lead into empty low or late air dash double highs among other things but I'll talk about this more in his corner knockdown game. Ky's post knockdown game with meaty 6HS is mostly for pressure so his options after wards are frame traps, throw baits, and tick throws. You can try and Blitz Shield post 6HS strings but there's a ton of things Ky can do to bait and punish Blitz Shield attempts such as meaty 6HS, 6HS which blows up Blitz Shiled attempts after the meaty 6HS hard. Once he's got you respecting the post meaty pressure, he can start incorporating throws with run up FD cancel throw, run up throw, or tick into throw. Once you get afraid of the throw situation and start mashing you become susceptible to frame traps or throw bait situations like 5K/5S jc TK stun edge counter hit. While that's the jist of his pressure the Ky player can throw in Greed Server or 5D into the mix. The 5D can get tricky but it's still reactable. Of course, if you're playing online, Greed Sever becomes much harder to block on reaction so you'll see more of it in online play and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. There's a few ways you can deal with the pressure. If the meaty 6HS is spaced farther away you can IB the 6HS and then look for an opportunity to interrupt his subsequent pressure since he'll need to dash in to keep it going. You can Blitz Shield if he dashes in to do additional pressure but there's risk to it as mentioned above. You can definitely counter poke him if he has to run up for additional pressure. If your confident in your defense and the Ky player hasn't fully utilized all of his pressure options to make you second guess blocking then you can continue to IB his pressure for meter. You can Dead Angle the meaty 6HS but keep in mind that both hits are special and jump cancel-able so if they anticipate on a dead angle they can bait with either 6HS (1) JC and chicken block the DA or 6HS (1) xx Greed Sever which might go over the DA (I'll do more testing with this). If they're going for meaty CSE pressure then watch your DA timing as well because it's easy DA bait for him. You don't want to DA the fireball because if the Ky player doesn't commit to a normal they can just block the DA and punish you. You want to wait for a slower normal than his 2P's because that also allows him to bait DA's. Faultless Defense is also a really good tool to push Ky back on the 6HS or his subsequent pressure then SJ FD out of there to reset to neutral. It's particularly effective if they space the meaty 6HS from farther distances. Ky's best mix ups are corner only and he needs to combo into durandal call and go for 2D or stun dipper to get a knockdown to start Sealed CSE mix ups. If he YRCs the Sealed CSE you'll have to guess between empty 5K/2S low or a late air dash j.S, j.HS high. There's other variations he can add to the mix up like Greed Severs or 5D's but the empty low will remain the same. If you get hit by the empty low or late air dash, Ky can combo back into Durandal Call, 2D/Stun Dipper and repeat the situation. You can definitely block this mix up on reaction once you understand what his options are but it can be tricky to block at first because the block sparks mask where Ky is exactly. Fuzzy Guarding can help block the incoming mix up as well. Burst Timing with Ky is tricky because his basic combo string is really easy to YRC OS for him. From a ground string involving Durandal Call don't burst at the Durandal Call since that's super easy to YRC OS. Any juggle combos involving c.S, 2HS, jc or VT is also easily YRC'd OS or flat out jump cancelled into a chicken block. These are the most common points where Ky can burst bait you so don't fall into the typical traps. Once version 1.10 is released on consoles the YRC OS options are irrelevant but the jump cancel chicken blocks are still valid. Unless Ky is landing clean hits on you he's only going to win through war of attrition by solid fundamentals. All it takes is for you to land one hit on Ky and your going to corner carry him into your oki game. You'll easily make up the damage differential quickly.

When going through the general discussion I noticed that some of the safe jump setups weren't listed. Add the following to Midscreen 2KK Ender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsSoFZIpsns Setup: 2KK > j.6HS > j.K Swords: HS sword equipped. Info: You perform a normal jump and do j.6S at the peak then time a deep j.K as your falling for the safe jump. Reversal Safe: Yes vs Sol. Add the following to Corner Throw Ender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMajMt9a5dQ Setup: Throw > j.2HS > j.K Swords: HS sword deployed in the corner. Info: After the throw perform a jump and do j.2HS at the peak of the jump then time a deep j.K as your falling for the safe jump. Reversal Safe: Yes vs Sol. Add the following to Corner 5K4K Ender: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uquOQBp77b8 Setup: 5K4K > dash 9j.6S > j.K Swords: S sword equipped. Info: 4K knockdown pulls the oppponent out from the corner slightly allowing for this cross up set up. The j.6S after the dash forward jump needs to be at the peak of the jump. Then time a deep j.K as your falling for the safe jump. Reversal Safe: Yes vs Sol.

The match up is tricky due to the nature of the neutral game against Axl and his long range pokes. This is a match up where I like having both swords out against him because all of his normals out range your f.S. You don't get too many opportunities to be within f.S range but it's good at whiff punishing him when he fails at making a hard read AA. Staying in the air is kind of necessary in the match up if both swords are deployed but is equally risky due to the reach of his AA normals. You have to be really careful how you tech against Axl because good ones will always fish for the tech traps so be ready to FD after a tech. The DP is something you just need to be aware of and bait like any other DP character. I think it's safe on block as well or just really hard to punish but I haven't experimented with the punish scenario. There are also several DP safe mix ups that you can use to make him respect your oki game. You can blitz shield his over head and that cross up special of his. However, keep an eye on their meter because they can YRC both to bait out Blitz Shields and then punish you. Similar deal with his unblockable special, the natural reaction is to jump it but he can YRC then fish for an AA or go for an air throw after wards.

The wake up frames chart is just for face down timing and doesn't account for face up timing. If you check the dustloop wiki you can get the wake up frames on the entire cast for face up knockdowns. The meaty 2HS set ups I posted after a j.8D knockdown is for face up timing so I've proven off of certain set ups there's no wake up timing that prevents you from getting a meaty set up. However, Slayer will always be able to back dash cancel on wake up to avoid or mitigate sword oki. Yeah, you need a longer combo for the set up to work on characters like Millia. The combo starters I'm using are either the standard PK, KPP, PPP or (PK) c.S, j.8D, IAD j.K, j.S, j.8D, PPP. I'm basically looking for around 15 hits for the 2D, 2HS setup. I was actually playing around with PK, PK, PPK on Faust and I might be onto something with this but need to do more testing when I get home from work today. After figuring out meaty sword setups from Dei's corner deployed sword combos I wanted to figure one out when I had swords equipped or after a long corner combo. The meaty set up I figured out after Dei's corner combo only works if the starter is short but if you do a corner carry combo or a corner IAD combo you can't get the j.8D knockdown and the oki options after wards are different. I usually end up doing a 2D knockdown into a 2PPK YRC mix up but if I don't have 25% meter I find that my oki options after wards were limited and people's tendencies in that situation is to hold up back allowing them to block the first sword rather high up. I wanted a set up that stops people from holding up back on wake up and mitigating the mix up. If anyone has played around with the meaty sword set ups off of j.8D you'll notice that if anyone tries to up back on wake up they'll get hit during their pre-jump frames. They can't up back FD or sj FD either since 1f jumps don't exist in this version. They will always get hit before they can actually jump. So unless they have a fast enough invulnerable back dash they ain't escaping that first sword without considerable risk.

Yeah, I haven't fully tested on the cast yet. I know it whiffs on Faust as well and you'll have to do a delayed 2HS or do a j.2HS to time a perfect meaty. I'll be updating that post once I finish testing on the entire cast.

Another meaty sword set up for the corner. 2D Ender: Setup: PPP (wall splat) > dash c.S > f.S > 6HS > dash c.S/5HS > 6S > 6HS hits > dash c.S > 6S hits > dash c.S > 2D > 2HS > dash j.2S > 6K, 2D, air dash j.K or command grab Swords: S & HS sword equipped. Info: Requires a longer combo for the wall splat. This is a meaty sword setup in the corner when the swords are equipped. The post wall splat combo is a bit tricky as you need to add some delays for the 6HS to combo properly. The reason you start with 6HS instead of 6S is that the 2HS after the 2D perfectly times a meaty of certain members of the cast. 2S has too much start up and can't be used for a meaty. The other tricky part is that because you use 6S late into the combo the S sword doesn't recover in time after the meaty 2HS. You actually have to do a normal jump and wait a bit for the S sword to recover for the j.2S to activate. There's definitely a gap between 2HS and j.2S for the opponent to try something but it's reversal safe up to the j.2S. If you actually space it properly the 6K will be at max range to avoid some characters pokes such as Millia's 2K or 2P. You gain access to late air dash mix ups so it adds another layer to an already established mix up game. Meaty On: Millia, Sol (investigating the rest of the cast) Reversal Safe: Yes, up to the j.2S. Setup: PPP (wall splat) > dash c.S > 5HS > 6S > 6S hits > dash c.S > 2D > 2HS > j.2S > 6K, 2D, late air dash j.K, or command grab Swords: S & HS sword deployed near the corner. Info: Requires a longer combo first. Mostly used for confirms off of maximized confirms from sword oki. Works the same as the above set up but modified for when the swords are deployed already. Meaty On: Millia, Sol (investigating the rest of the cast) Reversal Safe: Yes, up to the j.2S.

Not really because he can use his 8 way air dash to maneuver around your swords. He'll also be tossing Task A from full screen which is slow but it comes back from behind so you have to be aware of it. It also depends on how many play backs he's got set up on screen because those replays control space and you need to either strike them or maneuver around them so that you don't end up blocking something otherwise your swords stop attacking. The swords are helpful for clearing out the replays but until they strike both characters are playing neutral in the air trying to avoid each others shit.

Okay, super confused in this match up. Bedman stays in the air just as much as we do and with his 8 way air dash he's able to move himself at awkward angles that she can't reach. In terms of his pressure game there's a couple of Blitz Shield points that I'm familiar with. His mix up game is kind of awkward with Task A teleports involved but you can get a feel for them after wards. I'm mostly concerned with the neutral game perspective from full screen, mid screen, and up close.

I've modified my post in regards to getting a meaty sword set up after j.8D. It's actually possible to get a meaty 2HS on the entire cast after a specific corner combo ending in j.8D. Some characters can back dash to make the first sword whiff and there's gap between the first and second sword to interrupt the mix up but the majority of her mix ups are kind of like that.

5HS has some pretty bad recovery though so it feels like Faust can just whiff punish with 2HS xx 236S into going my way (depending on spacing) or if he lands a CH 2HS he can cancel into his 41236K and get bigger damage.

I don't think that's a reliable enough game plan because all it takes is for the opponent to adapt and then delay their timings or throw different normals out to beat the 5HS. The fact that you say random means it's already not a solid game plan. Feel free to try it in matches and see how it works but I think in the long run against a good player it won't be reliable enough to counter poke Faust consistently enough.

It looks like either j.2HS pulls the opponent slightly out of the corner or the height and timing of the air dash j.K causes a brief change of direction. There's a few frames of cross up protection so the j.K doesn't hit as a cross up. Roz's RISC bar wasn't cranked and when the S sword hit you see "counter hit" pop up so there's definitely a large enough hole in that string for 2S to hit as a cross up. I'll try recreating this situation in training mode tonight and see what's up but it looks tough to replicate due to the height.

If you do neutral j.2S wait then go for dash 6K it's reversal safe. The reversal VV whiffs and j.2S clips them and you convert from it.

Create new section under Corner setups for j.8D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c072FpKqrMc&feature=youtu.be&t=53s Setup: Combo starter > dash j.8D > 6HS > j.2S > dash 6K, 3K/2KP/2D, or tick command grab Swords: S and HS swords deployed away from the corner Info: Requires a short combo for the wall splat in order for the set up to work. A long combo prevents the j.8D ender from connecting. When the swords aren't deployed in the corner there's additional start up for the swords to attack as they need to travel the opponent first. This additional start up time is the same whether it's midscreen, fullscreen, or just slightly out of the corner. This prevents the typical corner combo of c.S, 5HS, 6S from connecting. By doing c.S, j.2S, c.S xx Daruo you're accounting for the additional start up and getting a knock down through j.8D. The additional start up on 6HS to reach the opponent makes it meaty on a good portion of the cast. This allows you to set up j.2S and then go for a multi-layered mix up. This is only reversal safe up to j.2S so you can be interrupted if you push offense after j.2S. Meaty On: Reversal Safe: Safe vs everything except Ramlethal's Explode overdrive. Setup: Combo starter > dash j.8D > 5P (whiff) > 2HS > j.2S > dash 6K, 3K/2KP/2D, or tick command grab Swords: HS sword deployed in the corner near the opponent Info: Requires a short combo for the wall splat in order for the set up to work. A long combo prevents the j.8D ender from connecting. In the above scenario you use the additional start up time to set up a meaty but when the HS sword is deployed near the opponent you don't have that additional start up. Utilizing a whiffed 5P and the 2 variant of the HS sword deploy creates a buffer for the attack to hit meaty on most light weight characters. The follow up j.2S allows you to go for a multi-layered mix up. Against characters with no reversal options you can do dash j.2S, land, 6K, 2D, 2KP, or tick command grab to make the mix up harder to react to. While I've noted these as reversal safe, it's only reversal safe up to j.2S. If you push offense after j.2S you can be interrupted. There's also a few characters who can wake up back dash to cause the first sword to whiff. Meaty On: Millia, May, Chipp, Elphet, Ramlethal Reversal Safe: Safe vs everything except for Ramlethal's Explode overdrive. Setup: Combo starter > dash j.8D > immediate nj.2HS > j.2S > dash 6K, 3K/2KP/2D, or tick command grab Swords: S & HS sword deployed in the corner near the opponent Info: Requires a short combo for the wall splat in order for the set up to work. A long combo prevents the j.8D ender from connecting. The neutral jump for nj.2HS is to time it as a meaty against the characters that whiff 5P, 2HS doesn't meaty on. The nj.2HS needs to be done immediately after j.8D hits. The follow up j.2S allows you to go for a multi-layered mix up. Against characters with no meter-less reversal options you can do dash j.2S, land, 6K, 2KP, 2D, or tick command grab to make the mix up harder to react to. While I've listed that the set up is reversal safe, realistically it's only reversal safe up to the j.2S. If you push offense after j.2S it's possible to get interrupted. There's also a few characters who can wake up back dash to cause the first sword to whiff. Meaty On: Faust, Sol, Axl, Venom, Leo, Zato Reversal Safe: Yes. Setup: Combo starter > dash j.8D > slight delay j.2HS > j.2S > dash 6K, 3K/2KP/2D, or tick command grab Swords: S sword deployed, HS sword deployed in the corner near the opponent Info: Requires a short combo for the wall splat in order for the set up to work. A long combo prevents the j.8D ender from connecting. In order for the j.2HS to meaty you immediately jump after j.8D but delay j.2HS slightly. While I've listed that the set up is reversal safe, realistically it's only reversal safe up to the j.2S. If you push offense after j.2S it's possible to get interrupted. There's also a few characters who can wake up back dash to cause the first sword to whiff. Meaty On: Sin, Ky, Potemkin, Slayer, Ino, Bedman Reversal Safe: Yes. Combo Stater: c.S, (2D) > 623P > dash PPP (wall splat) > c.S >5HS > nj.2HS > c.S > j.2HS hits > j7.2S > air dash > j.HS > j.2S hits > j.8D Setup: Refer to combo starter > 5P (whiff) > 2HS > j.2S > dash 6K, 3K/2KP/2D, or tick command grab Swords: S sword deployed, HS sword deployed in the corner near the opponent Info: Requires a short combo for the wall splat in order for the set up to work. A long combo prevents the j.8D ender from connecting. The 5P whiff is to time the 2HS as a meaty. The follow up j.2S allows you to go for a multi-layered mix up. Against characters with no meter-less reversal options you can do dash j.2S, land, 6K, 2D, 2KP, or tick into command grab to make the mix up harder to react to. While I've noted these as reversal safe, it's only reversal safe up to j.2S. If you push offense after j.2S you can be interrupted. There's also a few characters who can wake up back dash to cause the first sword to whiff. Meaty On: Millia, May, Chipp, Elphet, Ramlethal Reversal Safe: Safe vs everything except for Ramlethal's Explode overdrive. Setup: Refer to combo starter > immediate nj.2HS > j.2S > dash 6K, 3K/2KP/2D, or tick command grab Swords: S sword deployed, HS sword deployed in the corner near the opponent Info: Requires a short combo for the wall splat in order for the set up to work. A long combo prevents the j.8D ender from connecting. The neutral jump for nj.2HS is to time it as a meaty against the characters that whiff 5P, 2HS doesn't meaty on. The nj.2HS needs to be done immediately after j.8D hits. The follow up j.2S allows you to go for a multi-layered mix up. Against characters with no meter-less reversal options you can do dash j.2S, land, 6K, 2KP, 2D, or tick command grab. While I've listed that the set up is reversal safe, realistically it's only reversal safe up to the j.2S. If you push offense after j.2S it's possible to get interrupted. There's also a few characters who can wake up back dash to cause the first sword to whiff. Meaty On: Faust, Sol, Axl, Venom, Leo, Zato Reversal Safe: Yes. Setup: Refer to combo starter > slight delay j.2HS > j.2S > dash 6K, 3K/2KP/2D, or tick command grab Swords: S sword deployed, HS sword deployed in the corner near the opponent Info: Requires a short combo for the wall splat in order for the set up to work. A long combo prevents the j.8D ender from connecting. In order for the j.2HS to meaty you immediately jump after j.8D but delay j.2HS slightly. While I've listed that the set up is reversal safe, realistically it's only reversal safe up to the j.2S. If you push offense after j.2S it's possible to get interrupted. There's also a few characters who can wake up back dash to cause the first sword to whiff. Meaty On: Sin, Ky, Potemkin, Slayer, Ino, Bedman Reversal Safe: Yes.

Yeah, I definitely think this match up is in Faust's favor during the neutral game and your oki tends to be limited since certain combos seem to not work very well against him. I usually have problems getting c.S, f.S, 6S, dash c.S, etc... to work on Faust properly after a long combo starter. Tend to have to end combos after wall splat with a 2D knockdown or c.S, 5HS reset. The only that makes this match up manageable is Ramlethal's damage out put if you can maximize it with IAD loops. I've seen Karinchu and Batako struggle in this match up greatly during the neutral game as well. The major problems with the neutral game is that he out ranges your best pokes with his far S, 2HS, and maybe 5K. The randomness of his item tosses is another problem because it can make the match inconsistent for both players. If RNG is bad and he gets a lot of food, spring boards, helium then you have more opportunities to find an entry point and apply pressure. However, if RNG is in his favor and he gets black hole, meteors, and mini-faust then the momentum instantly changes and a good Faust player is going to be on top of you and your defensive options are limited. The randomness also messes up your timing of approach or make you second guess your approach altogether. For example, you might want to counter poke after far S xx item toss and if they get something like helium or food you'll be able to push offense. If they happen to toss out a hammer you could get counter hit into a fat combo. If they toss food out you generally don't want to pick it up because Faust cannot throw another item until the food is gone. You can use that information to push offense knowing that they can't special cancel their attacks into item toss. You can also camp the food and prevent them from picking it up if they want to expedite the process and get their item tosses back. You can't really stick to the air with sword deploys as your approach because he'll just 6P, or 5K to anti-air as you're falling. If not, he can use j,HS to go air-to-air with you at farther ranges. Faust can also use drill FD cancels to prolong his air time and wait out your swords at super jump height. This also means you can't throw out Toranshi without locking them down with a block string first. Based on my experiences and what I've watched of Karinchu/Batako matches you generally want to keep the swords equipped so that you have some range in your attacks otherwise you end up in too many scrambles or playing defense if the swords are out. The start up of sword deploys are too slow against Faust's run speed and far range pokes. He'll usually force you to block something at a far enough range to cancel out your swords.

The mid range punish sounds like you have to make a hard read and throw far S out otherwise if they cancel into gun flame you get counter hit and they get a fat combo if you're close to the corner.

The match up is a lot more difficult then "not letting Sol run behind you and 5K while you're jumping." Against low level Sol's it's pretty easy to keep them contained and run your offense but against competent Sol players it gets harder than that. Watching Karinchou, Batako, and a few other Japanese Ramlethal players and they struggle with aspects of the Sol match up that I've mentioned. Hiding behind Toranshi against DI isn't a terrible idea but to make it air tight it requires you to lock him down first or get him into a block string to cancel into Toranshi, and there's risk involved with that. People who understand how to maneuver around the swords won't get easily locked down by a random Toranshi but I'm not implying that's what you were saying. I've forgot to mention a few of the actual reversal safe corner oki as well so I'll have to update that post at a later time.

SummarySol is probably an even match up for Ramlethal to maybe in Sol's favor. The neutral game is difficult to play against Sol because his normals and specials have interesting interactions against Ramlethal's that you have to be aware of. His movement speed allows him to close the distance on Ramlethal fairly quickly so understanding spacing is important especially when playing neutral with swords deployed. His reversal options will beat several of Ramlethal's oki set ups forcing you to use specific reversal safe oki, which limits variance in oki and pressure. His pressure and mix up game is straight forward but effective since it leaves him at high frame advantage making it tough to find spots to reset to neutral. It's very easy for Sol to crank up your RISC gauge and then land a command grab or frame trap into a huge counter hit combo. Sol's damage output is also fairly high so you need to match his damage out as well if you want to win this match up at a high level. Sol's the definition of middle weight so all of Ramlethal's max damage combo options will work on Sol ie. double Daruo combos, IAD loops, etc... Gameplan Neutral game: The round starter is in Sol's favor because his far S is faster than yours but he can also use 2D to low profile it or Grand Viper to low profile and beat it. Your best bet at round start is to play defensive and crouch block, instant air dash back, jump back, or jump forward P. It's risky to try and challenge Sol at round start especially if you haven't gotten a feel for your opponents play style. The neutral game is tricky against Sol because his normals and specials have interesting interactions with Ramlethal's normals. Your far S out ranges his and can be used to whiff punish his far S. Sol's 2D low profiles far S but this has to be done as a read on their part and not in reaction to far S. If you're over using far S then you can expect the Sol player to use 2D liberally to low profile it. 2D will also low profile Cassius and if done close enough will counter hit you. The best counter action to this is to just wait and let them whiff 2D and then whiff punish with far S after wards. 2D leaves Sol in a crouching state so you'll get a far S xx Daruo starter as your whiff punish. Sol's 6P has upper body invincibility during start up and then above knee invulnerability shortly after wards which can be used to counter poke your far S. It's harder to time on their part but it's something additional they can use during the neutral game. Sol's special moves plays a role in his neutral game though some have more risk than reward. The majority of Sol's special movies can be countered in some way.Grand Viper - Hits low and low profiles far S. Since it travels forward it'll punish your far S so this is something you have to be aware of this. It's not something you'll see too often with good Sol players because the risk/reward is stacked against their favor but against low level Sol's this is something they'll just throw out hoping for the best. There's nothing major you can do to really bait this so if you're playing defensive block low and punish the recovery hard.Riot Stomp - It can be used during neutral to cause your far S to whiff but it won't whiff punish far S. Again, not something you'll see too often from competent Sol players but with low level players you'll see this get thrown out often. It hits high, safe on block because it leaves him air borne with all of his air options intact. If you see Riot Stomp you can flat out counter it with 6P on reaction and you should be doing this against low level Sol players consistently because that's free damage for you.Bandit Bringer - Hits high and can be used to go over Ramlethal's f.S. The risk is some what low for Sol since it leaves him neutral on block but the rewards are high if it lands or counter hits. If Sol does raw Bandit Bringer during neutral you can counter it with j.P, Blitz Shield, air throw, chicken block throw on landing, instant block throw, instant block 5P. Fafnir - Fairly strong neutral tool for Sol because it moves him forward, has a large hit box, and leaves him +4 on block. It's an all purpose neutral tool which allows him to poke, counter poke, whiff punish, catch back dashes, etc... It allows Sol to start offensive pressure if blocked and high rewards if it hits or counter his. He can't special cancel to it so he has throw it out raw. You can counter poke it with far S and get a counter hit starter but there's definitely some risks to trying that. It's also a good frame trap tool after blocked gun flames, kudakero, and even from fafnir itself. You generally want to stay in the air against Sol due to the above reasons. It's just really difficult to play a solid ground game against Sol due to his various options to beat your best pokes. Ramlethal's j.P is still really good in this match up since it will contest all of Sol's jumping options; however, Sol's j.P is just as fast as her j.P so you may see it clash on multiple occasions. If you end up in a j.P clash war you'll clash all the way down but the Sol player can go for a reversal Volcanic Viper after a clash. Ramlethal's j.HS is also good in this match up and a CH can lead into IAD loops if you're close enough to the corner. Sol's j.HS has a really good hit box on it and hits twice. If he IADs and does an early j.HS it'll actually beat your 6P anti-air so you'll have to use sword equipped 2S/HS or 5HS to anti-air it. You can also IB both hits of the early IAD j.HS and throw him on his landing. Depending on the range there's enough time to anti-air IAD j.HS on reaction but the timing is tighter in comparison to 6P. Sol can fish for these anti-air attempts with double jumps into Kudakero (dive kick) to either counter it or force offense since it's +2 on block. If you have the swords equipped, Sol can use Gun Flame a bit more freely to control space. Once the swords are deployed they have to stop running Gun Flame at a distance because 6S/HS are fast ways to land a counter hit. If you're close enough you can Daruo after the counter hit and convert from it. If you're playing neutral with the swords deployed, Sol will try to chase you down with super jump j.P, j.HS, air throw, or 5K as your falling. 5K in general is really good for Sol since it's good at tech trapping, frame trapping, catching back dashes, or jumps out of command grabs.[/collapse] Offense: [collapse]In this match up you want to play solid neutral and try to convert off of stray hits and push towards the corner like usual. However, when running oki from any point on screen you really have to be aware of reversal Volcanic Viper or Grand Viper, as it'll beat the majority of your oki set ups and can be used in between sword pressure strings. It really limits the type of oki set ups you can run on Sol but there are several reversal safe oki options you can run. From mid-screen, after a 2KK or throw knock down a 6HS, 6K/2K/2D set up is not reversal safe against Sol. You can deploy the HS sword and then wait to bait out the reversal. Sometimes Sol's will do the reversal Volcanic Viper even if they know you're baiting the VV because the 6HS will hit them in the air and the post combo conversion can be minor in comparison to failing to block the mix up. If they know you're baiting the reversal they can back dash and avoid the sword altogether. The alternative mid-screen oki set up off of 2KK or throw knockdown that's reversal safe is with the S sword equipped you perform an immediate IAD past your opponent then do j.6S just as you pass over their knock down body. The sword deploy kills your air dash momentum and then you fall immediately at the spot you deployed the sword. While you're falling you do a j.K. This is a cross up/over set up so if you time this correctly the opponent has to manually correct their VV motion and even if they get the reversal timing it's still a safe jump and you'll block the VV. You might not want to run this set up if you've got Sol near the corner, as you don't want to lose positional advantage. The concept for running corner sword oki on Sol is to use a meaty sword deploy, deploy the second sword, wait to see if they did a reversal, then run a mix up during the cover of the second sword if they didn't reversal. If they reversal Volcanic Viper or Grand Viper it should whiff, one of the two swords will hit Sol, and then you can convert off of the stray hit. If you do block the reversal you can punish the recovery but try to avoid spacing yourself to block the reversal if they have 50%+ meter as they can RC it and start offensive pressure. The other method to run sword oki is to deploy both swords, jump towards Sol, and faultless defense as you're falling. You'll chicken block reversal Volcanic Viper and then you can punish the recovery. If they don't reversal Volcanic Viper you can attempt a mix up by either doing j.K or empty jump 2D. Defense: Sol usually end his combo's in either 2D, Bandit Revolver, Volcanic Viper, or Grand Viper as these moves cause knockdowns and allow him to set up the following mix up options: 2K OTG, Gun Flame - This creates a meaty Gun Flame that leaves Sol at frame advantage but limits what they can do after wards. This is where the opponent will usually go for a frame trap with f.S, 6HS, or Fafnir. (2K OTG) YRC Gun Flame - This gives Sol the same meaty Gun Flame but now the opponent has free movement after wards to run the same mix ups off of the initial set up. The opponent can also go for a tick command grab or just run up 5D.Neutral j.P (whiff), late air dash j.P, j.K, j.D or j.S, j.HS - The late air dash makes people want to block low because the timing of the jump makes you think of an empty jump. If you crouch block you'll get tagged by the jumping normals. This is a standard mix up often seen in other Arc System Work fighters. You can wake up 6P which will beat late air dash j.S but lose to the late air dash j.P (depends on their timing of the j.P). You can wake up Blitz Shield to beat both options. Forward j.P (whiff), j.S - It's a safe jump against reversals but can be Blitz Shield. Forward/Neutral j.P (whiff), empty jump 2K/2D - Sol conditions you with his safe jump or late air dash options and then goes low instead. It's not hard to react to but it's a tactic used to counter wake up 6P or Blitz Shield against his other oki options. You can reversal throw this option but you need to do it fast enough.j.S, dj.P/S - A fuzzy guard set up and no real way to properly defend against this given all of his other options. It's tough to time for the Sol player so you might not see this set up often. Sol's up close pressure will always contain the threat of a command grab and you have limited options against this pressure. The typical command grab escapes is to interrupt with 5P, 2P, 2K or back dash/jump out to make the command grab whiff. It's obviously not that easy because the Sol player can start frame trapping instead with dash 5K, c.S, 6P, etc... to catch the interrupt attempts while dash 5K will catch back dashes or jumps. Faultless defense can be used against the tick command grab set ups to try and push Sol out of range to hopefully give you enough room to reset to neutral. Sol can combat this by going for frame traps, or continuous dash 2P to close the distance and then eventually go for the command grab. Typical block strings you might see are 5K (1), c.S, 2S, (f.S), 6HS/2D/Bandit Revolver/Gun Flame. If you IB the 2S you can back dash out of his 6HS, 2D, or Gun Flame but Bandit Bringer will catch the back dash. If you back dash and avoid a 6HS you can Daruo to whiff punish it. If the opponent ops for f.S/2D xx Bandit Revolver you can IB f.S/2D and then either Blitz Shield the Bandit Revolver or beat it with j.P. Whenever you Blitz Shield Bandit Revolver or Bandit Bringer you have enough time to dash behind them for the punish since their stuck in the stun state until they land. This also allows you to avoid getting counter Blitz Shield if they have 25%+ meter. Other block strings can also involve YRC Gun Flame but unless done at point blank you can Blitz Shield the Gun Flame and have 11f of invincibility after wards. If the Sol player pushes offense with dash pressure or jump pressure it should whiff with your 11f of invincibility post Blitz Shield and then you can whiff punish or throw after wards. The match up dramatically changes when Sol activates Dragon Install as it increases his damage output, makes his movement faster, the start up of his normals/specials faster, and leaves him + on block on all of his normals and the majority of his specials. You really don't want to challenge Sol during Dragon Install nor do you want to block any of his attacks on the ground due to the huge frame advantage he gets. It's really easy for him to go for frame traps or tick command grabs and make a come back from there. The chip damage off of his specials and over drives are pretty significant as well so he can go for chip damage kills if you're low on health and meter to FD. Try to stick to the air as much as possible to out last the Dragon Install and then punish the huge recovery when Dragon Install runs out. When looking to dead angle out of Sol's pressure keep an eye on his gatling string and his meter. Sol can use 2D to low profile the dead angle and then punish heavily after wards. Alternatively, if he has 50%+ meter he can cancel into his Tyrant Rave Overdrive to use the invincibility frames to go through and punish the dead angle. Character Specifics Wake-up Timing: 25f face-up21f face-downReversal Safe Oki: Midscreen: Setup: 2KK > Instant Air Dash > j.6S > j.K Sword(s): S Sword Equipped Info: Safe cross-up setup. Opponent has to manually correct their DP motion as well. Reference: Video Setup: 2KK > j.6S > j.K Sword(s): S Sword Equipped Info: Normal jump and j.6S at the peak of the jump then time a deep j.K. Reference: Video Corner: Setup: Combo ending in j.8D knockdown > 6HS > j.2S Sword(s): HS sword deployed outside of the corner Info: Meaty 6HS set up against Sol. Setup: Combo ending in j.8D knockdown > immediate neutral j.2HS > j.2S Sword(s): HS sword deployed in the corner Info: Meaty 2HS set up against Sol. Setup: 2D > jc7 > delay j.2HS, airdash, delay j.K Sword(s): HS sword deployed in the corner Info: Corner safe jump. Refernce: Video Setup: Throw > j.2HS > j.KSword(s): HS sword deployed in the cornerInfo: Neutral jump and j.2HS at the peak of the jump then time a deep j.KReference: Video Setup: 5K4K > dash 9j.6S > j.K Swords: S sword equipped. Info: Safe cross-up setup. The j.6S after the dash forward jump needs to be at the peak of the jump then time a deep j.K. Reference: Video Lows:2K - 6f start up, -1 on block2D - 7f start up, -6 on blockGrand Viper - 17f start up, -56 on blockOverheads:5D - 24f start up, -13f on blockBandit Bringer - 32f start up, 0 on blockRiot Stomp - 10f after reaching the wall, +4 on block, leaves Sol air borne with all air options intact

Summary [collapse]Slayer's dash invincibility and dandy steps can make playing neutral and defense really annoying as you're not really sure of the timing and spacing to launch attacks on him. Overall, I have to say this match up is either even or in Ramlethal's favor but there are aspects of the match up that can make this challenging. You really have to capitalize on your damage output against Slayer since his damage and stun output off of counter hits and RC combos are high, especially against Ramlethal's low health. Much like the rest of Ramlethal's match-ups you want to work Slayer into the corner so you can run your sword deployed pressure and oki game. While he doesn't have meter-less reversal options against your sword oki, his back dash has invincibility frames on it then can help avoid sword oki mid-screen or flat out punish some oki set ups with back dash cancels. In the corner, he's not able to utilize back dash cancels as freely so you'll be able to pin him down to a certain extent. On the flip side, you don't want to get cornered against Slayer because his whiff punish & frame trap game is good against Ramlethal due to her far ranged normals being slow and her fast normals being short ranged. Her defensive options against Slayer's pressure is limited without meter as well so you'll need to IB to punish some strings or make good reads to reset to neutral or interrupt him.[/collapse] Gameplan Neutral game: [collapse]The round starter is a bit of a coin toss here because both characters have ways to counter each other's typical round starters. Far S will counter Slayer's round starting pokes or a Mappa Punch starter; however, Slayer's Dandy Step, back dash, forward dash, or a Back Dash Cancelled Mappa Punch will cause Ramlethal's far S to whiff and leave you punishable. A delayed far S will counter Dandy Steps but won't work vs his dash options but a 2S/HS will counter both of those but are riskier as a round starter. Round start instant air back dash, up back, or up forward are usually good neutral options that leave neither player at an advantage or disadvantage but can be countered accordingly. If Slayer reads this as your go to round starter he can use 6HS to counter it into good damage and corner carry. Obviously, this is countered with your far S and we end up in full circle on round starter options. This is a match up where you want to keep the swords equipped for the majority of the neutral game until you can find a good spot to deploy them for pressure. The S sword helps you counter poke his normals or poorly timed/spaced Dandy Steps. The HS sword is good as your air-to-ground approach with j.HS and help score counter hits vs Dandy Steps or attempts to anti-air you with 6HS. Be careful with the spacing though because it does leave you in a CH state so he's able to 5P (CH AA), 6HS xx Dandy Step~Pilebunker for good damage. Depending on meter and corner positioning he could RC and do some really nasty damage after wards. Both 2S and 2HS are also good at stopping Dandy Step, dashes, and air approaches. If you have meter be sure to YRC or PRC these on whiff. Once swords are deployed you have to stick to the air and pick your spots on approaching Slayer, as you'll have no normals to check his Dandy Steps, Mappa Punches, 5K, 2K, or 6HS. On the plus side Slayer has to respect the swords and play defensive to a certain extent. Some of his ways to avoid the sword is to super jump and utilize his j.2K command normal to prolong his air time to wait out the swords and then come down with a j.D. If you stagger your 2S/HS you may be able to counter this but other wise you can try to go air-to-air with j.P, air grab, or 6P anti-air. 6P is pretty tough to time because he can continue to use j.2K to throw off your timing and the j.P can be awkward because the j.2K changes his jump arc significantly. It's usually not a bad idea to leave one sword equipped so you can use the 2S/HS variant as a more reliable way to anti-air him on the way down. If you're using j.6/2 S/HS to stall in the air and then come down with a j.K or something you'll have to be careful with the height. At lower heights, Slayer can use 5P to anti-air you and if he scores a CH he'll go into the above mentioned combo of 6HS xx Dandy Step~Pilebunker. He can also use the dashes as an attempt to avoid the swords, which doesn't always work, but if it does it can also make your falling jumping attack to whiff as well giving him an opportunity to start offensive pressure.[/collapse] Offense: [collapse]You essentially play the neutral game with the swords equipped and try to find an opportunity to either whiff punish or counter an unsafe string from Slayer into a knock down. Once you've got the knock down you can deploy the swords and try to run Ramlethal's deployed sword pressure from there. You have to adjust the type of mid-screen oki you run though due to his escape options. Be aware that when Slayer has 50% meter you have to watch out for reversal D.O.T or Eternal Wings and both are super punishable on block. Slayer can use back dashes to make meaty sword oki whiff but they'll take this one step further and use back dash cancels to either punish or force momentum back in their favor. From mid-screen, after a throw or 2KK knockdown avoid doing the typical 6HS, 2K/2D/6K mix up. Slayer can straight up back dash to avoid it or back dash cancel into D.O.T (50% meter) to punish. I'm not sure if it's possible but a back dash cancel dandy step into whatever might be able to whiff punish 6K in that set up. If not they'll reset to neutral or gain offensive momentum if they force you to block something. If you want to try and make a hard read you can try to follow the back dash and punish the recovery or you can try to use Daruo to punish the back dash. It's more difficult to do this when they start back dash canceling into something since back dash cancels give about 6f of invincibility to the special they cancel into. Off of a throw, you can do 6HS, IAD j.K if they back dash you'll land and be able to punish with 2D into a combo starter. In the corner, they can back dash cancel into a chicken block to try and avoid the first sword during your sword oki game. The type of knockdown, timing of your sword deploy, and whether it's the 6 or 2 variant will dictate whether the back dash cancel will work. If you stagger the sword deploys appropriately he'll be forced to block the other sword. If they manage to block the initial oki setup and the follow up pressure and you try to to reestablish pressure with j.2/6 S/HS they can just forward dash during the start up and apply pressure during your landing. When pressuring Slayer up close, Ramlethal's forward dash will high profile Slayer's 2K and 2HS causing them to whiff on her completely. If the Slayer player likes to poke with these normals or use it to interrupt a pressure string you can use a forward dash to go over it and punish him. It can be useful to sneak in a command grab but keep in mind the Slayer player can just use 2P instead to interrupt this.[/collapse] Defense: [collapse]This is where it gets really tricky for Ramlethal because Slayer's pressure game isn't reliant on high/lows but rather a series of frame traps with his normals or built-in whiff punishes with his Dandy Step. What Slayer will try to do is crank up your RISC gauge and then try to land a hit through a bad read on your part so that he gets a huge counter hit combo. He does have a high/low game but it's not the center of his pressure game. He can also use his forward dashes to do left/right mix ups as well. Mappa Punch is only -1 (P version) or -2 (K version) on block so you can't punish it unless you IB it. If they space it at max range you tend to lose when trying to counter poke with 2K as their 2K has more range. If done up close then any poke will counter hit theirs. Instant Blocking the Mappa Punches will guarantee a punish for you with 4P, 3K2K knockdown allowing you to start setting up midscreen or corner oki. Typical block strings from Slayer involve c.S, f.S, 5K/2K, 6HS which is a frame trap string because the far S leaves him at +6 on block and his 5K is 7f start up but leaves him at +3 on block. The 2K is 6f start up and leaves him at +4 on block but both options leaves him at a far enough range where it's hard to poke him out of the 17f start up of 6HS. The 6HS is also really good at catching up backs without a faultless defense. c.S is -4 on block and leaves a gap in between the f.S string so if you IB it he'll be -7 allowing you to squeeze in a tight c.S punish, or an easier 5P, 3K2K punish; you can also back dash after wards to make the f.S to whiff. If the c.S is done from farther distances (not far enough to get f.S) then you can interrupt the f.S gatling with 5P. If you're in the corner in that back dash scenario you can whiff punish after wards. They can start whiff punishing your interrupt attempts by special canceling c.S into Dandy Step. If you IB the 5K and they go for the 6HS you can use 5P or 2P to interrupt the 6HS. Alternatively, you can use Blitz Shield on the 5K/2K, or 6HS to punish these strings. Slayer has a few options he can do after the f.S because it leaves him at +6 on block. He can either go for Dandy Step pressure, forward dash command grab, forward dash throw, forward dash cross over, or jump cancel into an IAD j.S for a cross up. It gets difficult to counter all of the possible scenarios on reaction. You can interrupt him on all of these options with throw, 2P, 5P or an air grab on the IAD but doing these on reaction can be difficult. You can also use up back FD to try and reset to neutral or Blitz Shield to counter some of their options. Slayer can go for these options on hit to create a reset situation so be aware of this. At any point in his block strings he can cancel into Dandy Step to try and whiff punish a counter attack. I find that 2KK will always punish all Dandy Steps before they can do a follow up so you can mash this if you spot the Dandy Step but they can start YRCing it in response to your 2K and try to whiff punish after wards. The safest option for the Slayer player in a post Dandy Step scenario is to use Under Pressure (S follow up) to keep himself neutral on block. After a blocked Dandy Step~Under Pressure Slayer can do the following mix ups: It's Too Late (S/HS follow up to Under Pressure) - 14f start up, +1 on block, 1-13f throw invincible, overhead. Probably his safest option for him and leaves him + frames if normal blocked or FD. 6K - 20f start up, -2 on block, over head, can be feinted or YRC'd for additional mix up options. Quick high but he doesn't get a combo after unless he RCs it. He can hold K to prevent the kick from coming out, you may see over head feint into 2K or command grab. He can also YRC the start up to leave him air borne and go for a jumping attack starter where he'll be able to combo if it hits. 5D - 24f start up, -9 on block, over head. Punishable on block with 2D or 2KK depending on distance and push back. If you IB you have enough time to dash c.S to punish. 2K - 6f start up, +4 on block, low. His best and probably only low option in this scenario (you won't see 2D in this scenario). Really have to be careful with this option because he can link c.S if he's close enough or just cancel into Mappa Punch RC combo. Forward Dash - 18f duration if short distance, 24f for full distance. If done midscreen it'll cross over and he can either do c.S, throw, or command grab. A good option for them to catch you sleeping but also side swap if their back is to the corner. Definitely be aware of this option in the mentioned scenario. Dandy Step - 30f recovery on P version, 38f recovery on K version. Less frequent option and a bit more gimmicky but can be used to try and continue pressure or whiff punish something like mashed f.S. If they do Crosswise Heel or Pilebunker and you block it you can punish severely. Helter Skelter is a possible option since it can cross up midscreen, +12 on block, and leaves him air borne for jump attack options. There's enough of a gap after Under Pressure that lets you interrupt his 2K, 6K, 5D, and forward dash options with 5P, 2P, or 2K. If he delays the It's Too Late you can interrupt with 5P as well but if he does it immediately there's no gap to interrupt. The best option available though is to IB Under Pressure to make it -4 on block and then punish with 5P, 3K2K combo or back dash to make the follow ups whiff and then whiff punish if you're in the corner. You can Blitz Shield all of these options except for the It's Too Late option if you didn't IB Under Pressure. If he counter hits you with Under Pressure it leaves you in a stagger state where you have to mash to recover. During this time he can go for resets by forward dashing through you and then do a c.S cross over. If you mashed out of the stagger you'll have to deal with the potential cross over reset. If you failed to mash out of the stagger he'll just combo off of the c.S. If Slayer knocks you down from mid screen with 2D or j.D his mix up game involves the following options: Forward Dash x 1-3 - This is a form of a left/right mix up by utilizing Slayer's dash to phase through your knock down body. Slayer usually only has enough time to do 2 dashes where he forward dashes once to get behind you, then forward dashes in his new facing direction to end up on the same side that he started the mix up. If they get a knockdown that pushes you away from them they might have time to do 2-3 forward dashes and be behind you instead. Back Dash YRC, Forward Dash - The YRC is to mess with your reversal timings and give Slayer more time to act after the forward dash, which will put Slayer behind you. Meaty 2D - Hits low to catch wake up buttons or back dashes. If blocked it leaves him at + frames. Meaty Dandy Step->Under Pressure (whiff)->It's Too Late - Overhead that leaves him + on block. You can Blitz Shield the meaty It's Too Late. Dandy Step->Under Pressure (whiff) ->2K - 2K hits low and is done close enough he can link c.S after wards. It's a basic high/low between It's Too Late and 2K. It's also good at countering wake up Blitz Shield against the overhead. You can wake up back dash to avoid the 2K or wake up throw the 2K but this will get you counter hit if they do It's Too Late since it's throw invulnerable during start up. Additional gimmicks you might see are Mappa Punch, RC, Under Tow for an unblockable. You can back dash out but the timing is awkward. If Under Tow hits it leads to a knockdown into a potential mix up.[/collapse] Character Specifics [collapse]Wake-up Timing: 26f face-up 20f face-down Reversal Safe Oki: Midscreen: Setup: 2KK/Throw > Instant Air Dash > j.6S > j.K Sword(s): S Sword Equipped Info: A cross up set up. Good for screwing up their back dash inputs. Reversal Safe: Yes. Corner: Setup: Combo ending in j.8D > 6HS > j.2S Sword(s): HS sword deployed outside of the corner Info: Meaty 6HS set up against Slayer. Reversal Safe: Yes Setup: Combo ending in j.8D > slight delay j.2HS > j.2S Sword(s): S & HS sword deployed in the corner Info: Meaty 2HS set up against Slayer. Reversal Safe: Yes Comments: Slayer can back dash cancel to avoid the meaty HS sword but still has to deal with the S sword after wards. Lows: 2K - 6f start up, +4 on block 2HS - 13f start up, -4 on block, low crushes Over Heads: 6K - 20f start up, -2 on block, feint-able & yrc-able for additional mix ups 5D - 24f start up, -9 on block It's Too Late (After Dandy Step~Under Pressure) - 14f start up, +1 on block[/collapse]

There's additional information about Leo to help understand his game plan, how to punish, and/or avoid certain situations. Standard Leo BT set ups to look out for: -~Rekka 1, 2, 3 ~ 236HS whiff - After a knockdown from the rekka series, Leo can whiff a 236HS which will corpse hop and put him into BT stance. If the Leo player mistimes the 236HS or tries to delay it to get a cross up, he is susceptible to wake up throw or fast buttons, as his BT.k won't be meaty anymore. -~Rekka 1, 2 - Leo can end his Rekka string at 2 and leave himself in BT stance. I'm not sure how much frame advantage/disadvantage he's at if he ends his rekka string here. -~Combo starter, j.236HS - If j.236HS hits it forces a re-stands and leaves Leo in BT stance. -If you're not confident in timing your punishes against BT.D, then just go for a throw and set up pineberry oki. -BT.k is throw invincible during frames 1-6. -BT.p low profiles and is throw invincible during frames 1-8. It's -3 on block but can be gatling into BT.k. Typically, Leo players will start with BT.k to test what players will do first in case their mashing buttons or throw which BT.k will cover if timed as a meaty. If you strongly feel the Leo player is going to go low then you can Blitz Shield it. BT.HS is ATK level 4 and is +5 on block and if done up close can be thrown, as previously mentioned. You can reversal 236236D or Blitz Shield it on reaction (definitely doable) and then punish. IBing the BT.HS is preferable since he'll be at +1 instead of +5 and makes interrupting his follow up pressure much easier. If you successfully block BT.HS you can try to back dash to reset things to neutral. If the Leo player reads this they can 236HS to chase you down but they're out of BT stance if they do this. If you FD it to push him away he's +7 on block and can still chase with 236HS. In the corner, Leo players can space themselves one back dash distance away and use BT.HS to prevent people from chicken blocking or IADing out. Keep in mind that it's slow start up make it's susceptible to Elphet's f.S or 5HS. Obviously, easier said then done given all of Leo's mix up options and general conditioning. BT.214HS can be poked, thrown, back dash, reversal, or Blitz Shield on reaction but you need to be situational aware of this option to react appropriately. This is something Leo players want to use more towards the corner to prevent certain options. It's something they will use when they've conditioned you to block their mix ups. Generally, on the defensive against Leo's BT stance you want to block low and react to the high, BT.HS, since it's slow on start up. The only time it gets tricky is when they start incorporating cross over dashes or BT.214HS. The cross over dashes are much harder to react and BT.214HS is something that doesn't get used often so it's hard to react to mid match if the opponent hasn't used it before. Blitz Shield really helps in countering more predictable strings and forces them to second guess their mix ups or stagger their timings to bait Blitz Shield, which makes interrupts a viable option after wards. You can FD to push Leo away to get back to neutral but there are ways for Leo to close the distance again. If you're in Shotgun stance then SG-HS is really helpful in interrupting his strings since normal SG-HS is 3 frames while powered is 1F. Leo's neutral game is horrendous against zoning and long range pokes. If you try to play full screen, he'll start throwing out HS fireballs to cover his approach. The hit box of HS fireball reaches normal jump height so you'll need to double jump or super jump to avoid it. Be careful with approaching Leo from the air against a YRC'd HS fireball. If Leo gets hit then his HS fireball disappears immediately. If you trade you'll fall into the the HS fireball and the Leo player may convert into j.236HS. If Leo just follows behind the fireball he can fish for 6P AA. Playing around with your air options will let you avoid the HS fireball but be careful not to place yourself at a disadvantageous position after wards. Leo's only good reversal option is his 2,8+S/HS. If blocked they're definitely punishable and if he RC's them while in the air you can try for a c.S anti-air if they try to swing on the way down. Other than that he's got little options against your offensive pressure especially if you've locked them down with a pineberry. He'll have to take more risks to try and reset to neutral at that point.

Bananaken created a video at the end of January for Ky escape options against her unblockable setup. The setup that he's using in the videos is ~combo starter xx 214K, RC, 2HS (2), c.S, j.K, dj.P, j.S, j.D xx 236P, j.K, j.HS, land, 2P (toss), Sniper Rifle full charge. The way this 'unblockable' works is that you're forced to block the falling grenade which puts you in enough block stun to charge the unblockable sniper rifle shot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ8ssSLQyGA The escape options are: 1) Wake up back dash - You take the hits from bouncing grenade & sniper rifle shot allowing you to tech forward to avoid the grenade blast. Elphet recovers while you're teching forward so you're still at a disadvantageous position but at least you're not eating the follow up combo into a loop situation. 2) Reversal S Vapor Thrust - The invincibility frames causes the falling grenade and sniper shot to whiff giving you enough time to block the grenade explosion. Elphet is still at positional advantage since she recovers while you're still blocking the grenade explosion. 3) Blitz Shield then back dash - Requires 25% meter for the Blitz Shield. You Bliz Shield the falling grenade, then back dash to avoid the charged sniper rifle shot. In the video you can do Greed Sever after the back dash to avoid the grenade explosion. I'm not sure if the Greed Sever can punish Elphet since the dummy is not set to block after the sniper shot or at least it doesn't look like it. 4) Reversal Ride the Lightning - Requires 50% meter. Ride the Lightning moves Ky forward is fully invincible during the first 25f but is projectile invincible during all active frames. Since it's projectile invincible and moves Ky forward it punishes Elphet by blowing through the grenade and the sniper shot. I believe some of these escape options may work on the 75% meter variant where she does a Bridal Express (214K) RC combo into a knockdown, then YRC's her pineberry toss into a charged sniper shot. The concept is the same as the meterless variant where she forces you to block the bouncing/falling grenade to set up the charged sniper shot. I believe in all of the situations in the video I linked, Elphet could try to mess with the timings of the escapes by YRCing the sniper shot. However, YRCing the sniper shot resets the charge time which may give you an alternative escape option.

During the neutral game you really have to pick and choose your spots on when to deploy the swords and when to keep them. During the start of the match I like to keep both swords equipped to gauge the type of I-No player I'm playing against. I find that 6P isn't the most reliable anti-air against I-No's dash approaches but 2S and 2HS can really keep her in check if you space yourself correctly when using it to AA her. Even 5P can help keep some of her dash approaches in check but that's pretty situational. If the I-No player tries to play full screen with Notes and Chemical Love then deploying both swords backed up by Cassius can keep her air approaches in check. Once your swords are deployed it's best not to over commit to 2S & 2HS. If you try to use both at the same time then the I-No player can super jump j.236K/S to get out of there in an instant and then you're at a disadvantage in the neutral game as you wait for the cool downs on your swords. It's best to stagger your usage of 2S/2HS so that if I-No does do j.236K/S to get out of a situation the second sword is waiting for her on recovery. You have to go into the match up knowing that if you get knockdown there's no way your going to block all of her mix up options on reaction. Having a good understanding of what her mix up options are and player tendencies are going to help you make better educated guesses at blocking her mix ups. You can call out non-meaty set ups with either 6P or Blitz Shield but there's a good amount of risk reward in these counters. As I get more familiar with I-No's options I'll do a more comprehensive break down on what she's capable of on Oki. The other thing that people need to get familiar with is I-No's combo routes. Usually I-No ends combos into a knockdown so she can continue her oki game going but there are points where they may drop their combo on purpose or know when a combo is going to drop and then go for a tech trap utilizing her j.236HS, which is an air grab but they're making a hard read on their part when going for the tech trap. Typically, keep an eye out for 5P enders because that's a tell that they're going for a tech trap after wards. Even ending a combo with chemical love high in the air can lead to a tech trap situation as well. You can get out of this situation by air teching forward, air teching late, or not teching at all. They can adapt their timing to catch air teching forward or late air techs but not air teching gets you out of the situation but can be dangerous since they can go for black beat combos or oki.

You should add the following under Corner 2D Enders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esPNiqJCryQ Setup: 2D > jc > j.2S > 2PPK > YRC > j.K/2D Swords: 6S deployed in the corner near the opponent Info: Requires lengthy combo starter so that 2D has significant push back for timing 2PPK > YRC > j.K/2D. The j.K option will whiff on heavy weight characters such as Bedman and Potemkin the 2D option still works on them. Reversal safe: Safe against certain reversal overdrives (ie. Zato-1's Amorphous (632146HS), Elphet's Judge Better Half (236236D), not safe against reversal DP (ie. Sol's Volcanic Viper), not safe against Blitz Shield. Notes: YRC timing is immediately after K to make Ramlethal airborne while giving enough time to do j.K. If done too late j.K won't come out or it'll whiff. The reversal overdrive and DP timings are tight due to YRC slow down. Most overdrives I've tested allow you to block making this is a frame specific safe jump. It loses to some reversal DP's but haven't tested with the entire cast. If you do the j.K option the opponent can mash Blitz Shield on wake up to counter it. You can make the opponent second guess the Blitz Shield with the 2D option. Add the following to Corner throw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esPNiqJCryQ&t=50 Setup: Throw > 6S > 6HS > Backdash YRC > j.K Swords: Both swords equipped. Info: Backdash YRC leaves Ramlethal airborne allowing for low j.K. Timing on YRC needs to be immediate otherwise j.K whiffs. Reversal Safe: No. Add the following to either PPP Ender or Wall Splat Reset. I'm not really sure if you're defining PPP ender as the wall splat or if you've already done a wall splat and PPP does a knockdown instead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esPNiqJCryQ&t=1m20s Setup: PPP > 2HS > 2PPK > YRC > j.K/2D Swords: 6S/HS deployed (any distance) Info: PPP needs to hit low to the ground so that the wall splat slides to the ground and the opponent is unable to tech recover. Requires lengthy combo starter so that PPP has significant push back for timing 2PPK > YRC > j.K/2D. Requires further testing on the cast but it does not appear to work on light weight characters. Reversal safe: Create a new category under Corner oki titled 5K4K Enders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCUT_v_pe7M Setup: 5K4K > dash jump > max height 2S > YRC > deep j.K > dj(7).K Swords: Both swords deployed at close distance. Info: Only works on Slayer, Zato-1, and Potemkin (maybe Sol?). First j.K is a cross up then dj.K is a fuzzy guard. Combo into 5K4K must be short otherwise 4K will whiff due to natural push back. Reversal Safe: No. Can reversal DP or Blitz Shield first j.K.

Leo's intros, outros, overdrives, and instant kill combinations. http://youtu.be/3_zOqhhY3Ns

It seemed that after 236S any button he was pushing was getting counter hit by my (Ramlethal's) 5P or close 5S. After 236HS, maybe you need to start the pressure with 5K since it's faster and hits low but Brynhildr 5S was getting beat. It could have been bad timing on his part or maybe online delay. Also, I'll need to correct some info on 236HS after watching some of the replays from last night. When I said you could jump out or blitz shield its because my opponent had done it after a long block string so Leo has to run farther before the cross over happens. It might not be possible to do any of that if he did something like close 5S xx 236HS.