Angry Guy of DE

@adelheid: Yeah I didn't really explain it in the right way...I'm not so much defensive as I am focused on baiting things and then pressing after the knockdown. Due to mitsuru's dp (7x7 ass hitbox) 8C is a good option if you can't get a laser in a position where Asterius can't be hit. Be very hesitant on doing lasers raw since mitsuru's D moves have alot of range, pull you in on block, and lead to a painful combo if you get caught. Honestly this matchup has a large wager on how much the mitsuru player can throw out dp's and whether or not you can utilize (and protect) Asterius's moves so he won't get broken and leave you very exposed...always be aware of coupe's speed and range...but if a mitsuru always tries to punish with it perhaps it can baited, meter provided with 236236C or BI A...I might test that out on "unsafe" block strings.

I have to give a shout-out to that Adelheid tech you showed with the 8C 214B mixup. I was in the Xanadu monthly this weekend and used that mixup as a reset mid Tetrichondria, effectively of a 2B FC I did two variations...one with only 50 meter and another for 150, the 50 meter reset pretty much was 4.5 or 5K since a raw 5C into the finisher didn't scale to its minimum 1050 damage...The other off the reset went 5C into BI A...Finisher...into a second Tetrichondria (no inputs). Until people learn more about this character this might be worth looking into further since you can decide whether or not they'll end up behind you. The best part is though is pretty much no dp will stop Asterius so you can just block and if they try a dp they'll get hit by 5C or get hit by the finisher regardless. Of course to be honest I did it spur of the moment in tournament but people had no clue how they ended up behind S.Lab of wakeup and ate the 5C...but since it worked and is a powerful reset even with only 50 meter I'm going to work it into my game some more.

Teddie pretty much only needs to 5B, 5D, and press BD sometimes for most of the match. Teddie can zone really well in this match because normally he can't cancel off a whiff but if he hits Asterius...yeah...5B to 5D. 8C gets Asterius out of the way and momentarily stops him from tossing items or else he'll eat a fist. Same thing with wake-up, 8C and mixing the C and D command grab is really useful since if he does his dp too soon (or too late with command grabs) he'll eat some damage and have to start to respect what you do. His 2B is good, but it seems pretty baitable if you jump over him and aside from the corner his damage is generally pretty tame without meter. His items however are able to do a ton of dirty stuff, two things come to mind with a Teddie I played at Xanadu: Buckets into Teddie Ball: Stuck in blockstun and you get hit by the unblockable ball. Muscle drink and Shuriken (or is it a wind spinner?): Get pushed into the drink when the spinner comes back, and then you get hit by whatever Teddie wants. Its a hard matchup, maybe 6-4 Teddie's favor, but use of 8C makes Teddie have to be reminded that 5B on whiff isn't cancelable into anything so it will make him have to think past that.

Something worth noting if a Yosuke likes to DP on wakeup, I've found that the D command grab has enough delay to catch him after he dp's. Mix it up since normal oki doesn't work well since the game decides that the trip animation is full invincible, so if they don't learn to block this will pretty much do a quarter of his life each time he gets grabbed.

Its a hard matchup straight up, no use sugar coating it. Honestly most of S.Lab's hard fights only require the opponent to do basic things and you have to find a way to get around it. The thing you need to learn when you fight someone is whether they respect what you do or just mash dp when they see fit. Unlike the Yu matchup Mitsuru's dp is airblockable so testing an opponent's habit of dp'ing on wake-up is important. My thought process is to always empty jump on the first knockdown, if they dp you'll get a FC off of 5B or 2B (and make them have to respect oki), or they may simply block and this is where Asterius comes in. Until you determine how dp happy they are use of 8C and D command is very good since Asterius is less likely to get tagged and 8C will catch most dp's you block (normally CH so you already have a 2K+ punish from it) or D will catch turtlers (again...2K). S. Labrys normally wants to make the enemy come to her and while Mitsuru can just AAA into mixups use of your sweep can catch her since sweep lowers your hitbox enough to dodge it (I believe). Awakening will give you a high risk / high reward reversal known as Brutal Impact A, this move makes people respect doing anything unsafe since its fast enough. Random Mitsuru 5B's to catch throws will eat this and this can also be an option if Mitsuru like to Coup' Midscreen in response to Asterius starting any move. Be patient, you have alot of disadvantages in this match and you will eat dp's if you start airdashing in hoping Asterius can cover you. Don't instantly try to throw tech after AAA since 5B has throw invul. and that can lead to many FC 4K in the corner, just wait and test out dp, AOA, or evasive action...but don't try to tech until you see the exclamation point.

Shadow Labrys player just looking on what other character threads feel about this match-up... I play often with a buddy who mains Akihiko, this match is about patience for both sides. Long range and midscreen you are at a disadvantage since Slab's 2C with stop most attempts to airdash in and aside from EX's, supers, certain follow-ups from 236 A/B, and C attacks you will have more difficulty breaking Asterius. Upclose you are at a great advantage since B-hook is either even or frame advantage (?) and if the Slab tries to press a button your 5B will FC them. You want to get in or break her persona so spaced 5C and j.C is useful to just make your opponent have to go in to protect Asterius or not try to use him as often. Once you are upclose this match is VERY uncomfortable for Shlab because she can't match the speed of your normals, outside of Burst, DP (Very unsafe on block...should convert that to a 4K+ FC combo, or as I call it "I got FC'd and I have 60% life...well there goes that round"), or evasive action she'll have to block until an opening shows up. Meter generally should be used to either kill before she gets to awakening or be saved in awakening to control her usage of Asterius. Maziodyne will stop anything Asterius does, whether its EX or Tetrichondria super, so if you can OMC maziodyne to get in be mindful of Guard Cancels to stop any mixups you might try. She doesn't have your raw damage so just keep within range to tag her persona with j.C and find a window to where you can overwhelm her with frame traps and this match will turn into just one Fatal Counter into death. You've been practicing your combos right?

I might give it too much credit as far as it simply shutting you down, but its like that street fighter mentality of "the opponent will try to do something after the third fireball", you want to get in because once she rushes down with orgia its very hard to stop her since j.B, j.C, and the spinning fire move are very hard to stop and all three let her get in and pressure. Honestly this fight will go either way since you want to stay on her so she can't use orgia or let it recharge but 2B halts most approaches (so airdashes are often tagged by a bullet) and without Asterius your pressure has holes in it so its not airtight. I play a decent Aigis but not on a consistent enough basis to develop proper strategies so please correct me if I have the wrong impression on some aspects in this matchup.

214 CD is really good in the corner on knockdown and is used personally in these two situations: 1) An opponent that doesn't respect wakeup and likes to dp or press buttons. Simply empty jump and block just outside of throw range, if they press buttons, they get hammered. If they try to throw you, it'll whiff and they get hammered. If they jump, they will get 2B'd and put back into knockdown. If they evasive action, they'll get thrown. If they do super, you can block...or do BI A if awakened to punish it. 2) An opponent that does respect your oki and tries to block or react to you. If they won't (or don't have a suitable) do anything you can do the unblockable setup back into knockdown. If they try to evasive action, throw. If they will dp your jump, double jump to bait it. Its a really strong oki since once its out people will be very cautious since unless they super or hit you it will finish and the EX ground bounces so it can become good damage into knockdown.

Its not her zoning that is the issue, 2B is the only thing that I would honestly respect as her zoning. As long as the Aigis player throws out 2B Asterius is effectively out of the fight for you. Evasive action is key since it will let you approach and if you can make her block then you can start doing persona attacks. Its a hard matchup for these reasons: 2B zoning makes Asterius unable to do most attacks, 8C is an option but approach should only be done with evasive action as a single bullet will stop you and break a card. Orgia, this makes her rushdown and damage absurd as just two combos will likely kill you...and it doesn't help that her bnb sets up a mixup. Do not DP on that wake-up. While Orgia is recovering she can go back to 2B and D zoning until it is filled up enough. This match you will have to be the aggressor since your primary tool Asterius will be limited by 2B...and she'll always have more bullets than you want.

Aigis players that like to start a round with 2B into orgia get a rude awakening when they thought that the bullets would stop an approach, add laser or 2C and you can convert to a combo or start your pressure. Same thing to note in Akihiko players that try to break your persona with C moves, reaction DP when Ceasar shows up to protect Asterius and likely get the CH wall bounce.

At least in America the most seen in tournament, not online, is as follows: Mitsuru, Aigis, Yu, Chie, Teddie (This is just frequency, not tier placement) A few other are seen like Kanji, Labrys, and Yosuke but on average aren't seen as much. So for usage, and considering its been only about a month here in the States the usage is around this: Highly used / Used as a sub Mitsuru, Yu, Chie Seen often Aigis, Kanji, Yosuke, Teddie, Akihiko Sometimes seen / only a few players are known Yukiko, Elizabeth, Labrys, Naoto, Slabrys Not a tier list since new things are being learned with some characters and some people still don't know things about characters like Slabrys. One example is a bi-weekly in New Jersey at an arcade called [The Break] I played Slabrys and most players had to be told this after the match: 1: Buffalo Hammer (214 C/D) hits low. 2: The command grab (4--6 C/D) was a command to begin with. 3: EX persona moves can only be broken, outside of hitting Slabrys, with supers. 4: Tetrichondria(?) (214214 C/D) grants all persona moves guard points as if it was an EX. Excluding the Top character people agree on, The tier list in the US isn't really concrete yet, new tech can be learned to make some match-ups be seen in a new light. Though some like Elizabeth vs Mitsuru will always be a hard matchup if the two players are at equal level.

If you are trying to zone in this matchup be very careful of slabrys' Brutal Impact when she is in awakening, the A version is a very powerful, very unsafe on block, reversal. don't risk dropping traps if she is less than midscreen from you since any traps, rising fangs, gunstance, or D moves can be reacted to with BI A version. Getting the knockdown is the trick here since slabrys' wakeup isn't strong and use of traps can lock her down and let you use your faster normals to catch her.

Shadow Labrys player checking people's impressions when facing her... Treat this match to an extent as a mirror match with a few differences: You have more health, actual chains, and higher burst damage She has stronger mixups, Better screen control, and strong oki Breaking the persona now makes it like you're fighting a blue axe labrys so just watch out for 2B since it is very close if not similiar to your own. The entirety of Slabrys' strategy is to get the knockdown, this match is good since your DP is not a strong answer so the command grab WILL be used especially if you are in the corner. Awakening gives you a powerful super (B. Impact) and Gears but unless you have 100 Meter the gears are baitable and very punishable on whiff. To put it simply, get in, get the knockdown, don't let her get away since her wake-up is as poor as yours but she can't afford to make as many mistakes in the fight or else red axe + 50 meter = 50-70% life lost. Oh and before I forget, simply saying "get the persona break" as a strategy is the same as saying "just snap phoenix in" in marvel...Its not the answer its just a part of the solution.

That so...I'll have to practice that to see how consistent that is. I figured that his hitbox would be too large and the j.A would catch him...I'll look for some match footage to see it in action. If thats true then oki is back in action and that also results in a card break for Kanji as well isn't it?

This matchup is a pain, not unwinnable or any real disadvantage, just a pain. Getting shocked can easily cost you the round since Slabrys' wake-up isn't all that hot and it really becomes a 50/50 guess: will he throw or will he DP? Luckily outside of Counter-Hit, Kanji's combos don't add up to much without meter or OMB. Every Command throw hurts and a 2K health difference is really felt in this match. Getting the persona break is really good in this match as all of his options outside of just blocking go away so you can now start your pressure. Slabrys' best strength, the oki, is crippled in this match since his DP will stop asterius if he touches him and you can't even safe jump it...only empty jump. Luckily its air-blockable but its heavily advised to spend some time in training mode to really learn when the active frames for that end as one mistake can really cost you in this match. 2C is useful but I have seen Kanji's j.B trade or beat it out if it isn't done before he jumped, some serious disjointed hitboxes or something. It feels like you need to be the smarter and more patient player in this match as his DP can shut down most of your aggressive options and if you don't punish a whiffed command throw he can go to DP faster than you'd expect. EX's and Tetrochondria might be very useful here since his DP won't stop them and his supers aren't an option if you keep just out of his throw range.

I haven't had too many matches against Labrys but I picked up on a few things. For the most part treat Labrys as you with more flexible chains, more health, and a persona that isn't as vital to her strategy as yours is. Chain knuck will break your persona unless its EX, so either stay in front of it or don't use if the opponent is knuck happy full screen. For the most part her normals are your normals...until red axe where any hit can a 1/3 or even 1/2 of your life before meter is involved. 2B beating j.B goes both ways to baiting it is your best option since getting caught can give her an axe level, you don't want her to get axe levels. Knockdown is the goal here since without meter she can only block or DP, both of which are easy to get around. The command grab is great here since she has little on wake-up and at best she can try to DP (and either hit asterius, and then get counter hit...or gets eaten regardless) or use the gears once in awakening (will hit asterius, but without another 50 meter is free to punish on whiff). The general plan, like most match-ups is to get knockdown and avoid getting hit. Labrys doesn't have the best rushdown or mixups so it is like Akihiko, high damage from punishes so DP is not a good wake-up.

This matchup can be annoying since once he hits the skies, catching him is a real chore. 2C is your best friend since he'll be airdashing towards you alot, I don't have any experience against a Yosuke using the glide technique so he might dodge it but the mixup from that is lessened to a degree. Air kunai are annoying but he can't kill you with those alone and a bad kunai can be punished with 8C, combine your persona's raw damage with Yosuke's bad health and two of those will easily take out half of his health. If you get knocked down, DO. NOT. PRESS. BUTTONS. Yosuke players have you beaten clean in terms of speed and either mashed crouching A or staggered will catch you and lead to a fairly painful punish. The same can be said once he Sukuja's, either keep Asterious blocking or use an EX to armor him and let the Yosuke risk going in while Buffalo is there or when the laser is going. Once you have knockdown on Yosuke though, you have to deal with perhaps the second most annoying DP in the game aside from Kanji: The trip. In reality this move is only practically punishable on whiff, even if your persona triggers it the entire animation is invulnerable. As what you should do against any opponent you don't know, the first knockdown you should empty jump simply to see whether they will just DP to stop oki. Its really important here because if you get tripped you now have to deal with wake-up and your DP is not a good option since on block or whiff Yosuke can do severe damage off of 2C Fatal Counter. Just as always with Slabrys, Be patient and get the knockdown. You don't want to lose and then scratch your head asking, "Why was I rushing down on him when he has that 2B?"

One word of warning in this matchup once awakening happens for both players is to mind how much meter he has. Attempting to use Tetrochondria (?) full screen to start your pressure is not an option if he has 50 or more meter. If he's not in the air or in blockstun he can do Maziodyne as a reversal to not only hit Asterius, but you'll get caught if you did this on the ground. I don't recall if you can block or have recovery if you do it in the air but on the ground you'll take some damage, lose a card, lose the super, and be shocked! I don't know if Akihiko players in general know this but at least he can do the super in response full screen and hit you. Some characters like Yu, Chie, Yosuke, and maybe a few others can do a super to at least stop the persona but at full screen you'll be able to block. This may be a duh thing, but its something to keep in mind.

Honestly this matchup is really good for Slabrys, provided you don't get hit. 2C stops airdashing so Akihiko's options are even more limited so it comes down to patience. Akihiko generally reads the opponent and baits something so he can 5B fatal counter into real Caesar damage, he needs to get close to you or have you make a mistake for him to capitlize. Be patient is the best advice since his persona doesn't help him get in so he has to come to you and his few options are able to be covered with 2C.

Yu feels like he has the advantage if he gets in on you, hope you can block mixups well. Like most matchups Slabrys wants the knockdown to start her mixups. I've found that 8C and 236C are useful mainly because Asterius isn't as exposed to getting poked and you getting persona broken. EX's are good ideas to help you start pressure since as long as you don't get hit only supers can stop him. This is a fight where you can't just try mixups because of that dp so empty jump to block and double jump over him to bait wake-up dp is worth doing if the yu player likes to dp instead of blocking.

This matchup feels wierd simply because of Aigis' 2B...even though it doesn't cause a loss of a card Asterius gets stopped by one bullet. I'm more of a defensive player pre-awakening so not being able to use 2C to stop air-dashing makes this hard. Of course that said, if you think the Aigis player will 2B at the start of the round, dash dp can catch her and once she gets knocked down her only real option without meter is to block or dp. Once she has 50 meter be careful of her shield skills super. Orgia mode 2B into rushdown makes this hard since getting hit can equal 4K health lost, 2 bad guesses and she can kill you before you can awaken.