Mitsurugi

Against Testament, it think it is a game of patience and zoning, erase traps and dodge trees/EXE Beast, but when you get a hit and close the gap, unleash all the pain on him. Do not try to outpoke him blindly with 2D. His 2H beats it. Better do that in a gatling. Use a lot of j.S to erase the net and don't forget to FD if you have to land on a tree. They have a bigger hitbox than before, so beware. If you are fast on reaction and spot or predict a Zeinest or Hitomi, a MS~JcK might help you to get in and get a free combo. Good TE will play the distance and do the above special out of range. If there are no net or tree just in front of you, MS~dash~JcK may help to travel the distance, but it requires to know exactly where you'll land, otherwise you'll eat every traps he put. Don't do it on guard, cause you are at disavantage, only when you are sure to hit or can RC it. Most of the time, when TE just put traps everywhere and stay to the opposite side, I prefer to destroy the net, make the trees disappear by jumping over, jumping, late double jumping (in case there is an EXE besat), but also stay at distance and let the TE coming to me OR I see a breach for JcK to hit. But I won't rush or attack, he has too many traps already put in his corner. Better play the zoning game, IMO Godd knowledge of the range of all your pokes and specials is important when far away. j.S to destroy the nets or jump forward, falling j.S as close to the ground then if hit confirm > Ensenga then close the gap. Once you are on him, do not let him go, keep the pressure. His counter move might be a problem, but MC helps. On wake up, if you throw a coin, don't do it too late or his 2H will go through it. Otherwise, know to defend yourself against his EXE Beast FRC rush high/low mix up, then punish when you can (2H RC, 5K in a small gap in his pressure). Careful though as nets can absorb 1 or 2 frames of hit, meaning he has a net over him and you 5H or 6H hit for instance, it will "whiff" even though the blade will cross him. This is because of the net. He has a free combo afterwards, since you can't MC it. JO's Overdrive really helps when you spot a laggy move on your wakeup, such as a 6P (infamous overhead that looks like a low, a move you imperatively have to recognize), an EXE best not FRCed yet etc.

Try to 1-hit Dizzy, she is one of the if not the easiest to pratice on, to get a feeling of it : corner throw, j.KSDE(1) 1-hit usually requires to delay the Ensenga. Force yourself not to immediately cancel the j.D by the 41236H. Some setups needs a delay before the j.D, before the Ens or for both. As for crossups with DB, I find it kinda awkward to do. Most of the time, the pillar of flame will miss when you cross the point of crossup (the vertical line where your opponent has to change the direction of his guard), because DB is not straight below JO, but a little forward. Nevertheless, it works on bigger sprites or if the opponent tries a move that extends his hitbox. I sometimes use IAD over the opp. then cancel it by a "reverse" DB as soon as you cross him. The cancel will automatically make JO facing his opp even if the IAD is not finished. Though I find this crossup kinda slow and easily predictable (at least against the good players I play with), it sometimes work. You could also do some fancy throw feint with a DB that will whiff on purpose, but only just, so that the opp will guard then you land > throw him. In AC, i find DB on okizeme weaker than before, due to the plummet factor. I use it now against predicted OD, just to land some damage and have another knockdown. Or against a good opp that I know will guard the pillar of flame then do some classic mix-up (AD stuff, land 2K, land throw, j.K overhead, falling j.H > Ens etc). Most of the time though, I prefer to use other okizeme, such as spaced 3H (really good against people with dragon punch moves), tick throw, building the guard gauge and such. Well spaced and timed KJ (from KJT or not) works pretty well, specially since it is faster than DB and tricky to spot if well done. If you do it slightly earlier, it is a normal guard, a little later, a crossup. Besides, with an FRC you can combo from it. It is also be possible to combo without Tension, if done close to the ground and depending the character, with a c.S > aircombo. I think throw invincibility is only for a certain amount of time, not necessarily through all the move. Check the frame data here on Dustloop (quick reminder : http://dustloop.com/data/ac/select.html ) For instance, Baiken's 6K is throw invincible from 1~11F while having a 12F startup, 9F Active, 6F Recovery so if you SB it, you may throw her. Some character can't be hit by a falling j.S. An obvious example would be Zappa. Same goes for crouching. By the way, given you talked about DB as a crossup, keep in mind j.K and j.S allow it, but you must be deep enough in this opp. j.P toon in theory, but is too hard to use in real.

By the way against Millia, despite the j.S thingy if she also tries to zone, I wouldn't suggest to jump that much. Staying on the ground works better for me, since except the zoning with j.S (she can run under), she seems to beat me airborne with her AA. It is more a (having a Lv2) CH poke > combo of the death or CH 2H > RC > win (or most of her lifebar gone). Most of the time, I would prefer to stay on the ground and either do some pressure or wait for a flaw on hers and capitalize it. Faust, no idea. Just a random hint, JO's 6P beats his 41236K (the scalpel - "Come Here" special). For OS, don't know yet either, having played some too few times. Against his j.H, maybe IB, backdash, 6P or airthrow (though those two may ask to act faster reaction) ?

Thanks for the feedback everyone ! DumJum, how does the Millia player hit you with the jumping Dust ? The one I play usually does that either in combo with ADC (AirDash Cancel) or as a zoning tool. If it is the first, there is nothing to do, obviously, since you are already eating the combo. This new ADC addition really helps her putting her opponent in the corner. If it is while zoning, since I know the Millia player ofter does random jump > j.D or SJ > AD > pin, I usually do some vertical (or not, depending on the distance) jump, my finger ready to push the j.S. Otherwise, just before landing, I still press the button, since the recovery is nullified by the landing (on a side note, MI can do the same, late j.D just before landing, so don't rush blindly). On hit, just cancel the j.S into Ensenga for some more damage. Sometimes, Millia runs under me, waiting to score a 6P or a 6H for a free juggle. DB FRC or KJ FRC, once again depending on the distance, should help. Airdashing may be a bad idea since Millia can run fast and jump > airthrow. Otherwise, defense is the key, knowing to react when you spot a 6K, a TK Moon (2369P), when she does the cross-up on top of you Front AD > Back AD. 2H really helps, during her pressure, her roll (214K) etc, just don't mash it everytime, as she can bait it. But then again, that may not be true for other Millia players. EDIT : MF-P seems to work less than before, as the pin can go above or below it. I still got that feeling that Mist Finer level 2 have a "thinner" hitbox (along the blade), but it may be just an impression.

Against May's horizontal dolphin, 6P works pretty well and is easier to do and faster than an MF on reaction, in my humble opinion. Besides you can combo for good damage out of it, with or without Tension. Be careful with short dolphin, as you might get thrown ([4]6S, land, 63214K as a feint to score a throw) or with dolphin FB, as you might get hit by the dolphin, May running or airdashing behind for huge combo if it hits, meaning a lot of pain. EDIT : While we are on May, one bad habit I have to stop is to try to punish her 3K on reaction when I see it coming. JO's 2D, 2S and maybe 2H, can't remember for this last one, get beat by it. I also tried dash over it then throwing, a la Slash Ground Viper, but either I mistimed it, either the 3K is actice too long making it impossible. It seems blocking (or IB/SB) then punishing is better than trying to hit it during the animation. Instant KJ FRC then combo might also work, but it is harder to do on reaction. Maybe against a predicted 3K. Same goes for Instant DB, if you don't have Tension and/or want to knock her down. I also tend to be CH or clashed a lot by her HS normal hits (or maybe others) whereas I thought to outpoke or to be at advantage, for instance Frame Trap. In fact, some "basic stuff" that worked on Slash don't anymore (not May specific), I am just discovering, but it surprised me. Any good thoughts about beating Johnny's fellow shipmate ?

Stagger links according to recovery level is sweet, thanks ! Scrubby question, what do you mean with "mid screen 1-hit" ? Is it from a throw or from any launcher (MF-S(2), 6P, 6K) ? As you state "dash jump", it seems it is after a throw. Either case, could you put just a few examples ? Out of curiosity, I tried, from the middle of the screen and on AX, ED and KY : throw > dash jump, j.P, aircombo but the timing to connect the j.P is pretty strict and hard, making me fail numerous times. I guess practice is needed, since I never knew you could do that hence never tried before. When you dash jump, you do have to hear the dash noise, even if JO doesn't seem to have move forward (early JC), don't you ? Maybe old, still middle screen on PO : throw > j.PPSDE(1) throw > j.PKSDE(1) Piece of advice, if delay there is, depending on your rhythm of pressing the buttons, it should be between the j.S and the j.D, not the Ensenga or it will whiff.

Indeed you can, I just managed to SB a 2H from Ky. Though it is really risky (Kiske), since if you time it too late, you eat it while on the ground, you could hold (normal guard) or tap back (Instant Block) first, then trying the SB as late as possible. For Slash Backing, too late is better than too early, since there would be no punition after a missed timing.

Amazing job, thank you, the New Johnny Bible is being written right now ! It may not seems like it, but all of this hardwork is really time-consuming, so having some good players dedicating their time to share their wisdom is generous from all of you. About the Forum rules : So true about "most of us dudes in the Johnny forum are nice", he is a gentleman after all, so are his players. I haven't understood your question about the character specific feedback, but it looks fine as it is right now. For the match-up thread, if I may, a list of all the characters (each one a link to the appropriate post) as a first post, then alphabetically one post for each character, both matchup suggestions and punishes/direct counters/poking game would look better in my humble opinion.