Balguna

Teddie players found ways to open people up even having only one high, Rise can do it too. j.A is still a high after all.

The Bearscrew nerf is pretty sad. I get that they are trying to make SB Bearscrew better but it adds so much proration to combos it's not worth it most of the time, and you won't really be using it to pile damage onto combos because of the startup time. Teddie has enough trouble doing damage compared to the other high tiers most of the time as is. If you're doing SB Bearscrew early on in a combo (assuming the combo allows for it), anything following will suffer in damage because of the P2; if it's late in the combo, it probably won't connect unless it's a FC. At higher level play I guess you won't see too much of it outside of corner/FC combos, so in the long run it doesn't hurt too bad, I reckon. Two notable upsides at least. Puppeteddie wallbounce is really sweet. FC 214A combos might actually be a thing now, especially since Puppeteddie is already invul to lows. j.2C is also really good, it was what I always expected it to be when it was first announced, and I presume we can use it as an anti-anti-air now since it suspends Teddie's momentum. With it being special/super cancellable we might even be able to do super jump > j.2C > 236A or something. Not sure how air AoA is going to work on grounded opponents if it doesn't go into All Out Rush. If it spins them that might prove interesting. Wondering how S.Teddie is gonig to change. It might be possible to get some cool midscreen combos with Frenzy using the new 214A or j.2C, but I guess we'll see.

That's actually a nerf; as it stands, if the opponent gets the keys the bike appears and has a chance to hit THEM once. The keys are always advantageous for Teddie. The rage drink is going to be very interesting. Rage drink set-ups are still possible if you force the opponent to block low. The most gimmicky set-up I can see for it would be 5AAA into drink > Sweep > OMC > unblockable (if they block low)/combo (if they get hit by sweep). Mystery Food X doesn't seem as good now, unless we have a forced crouching move (236A CH might be one, my memory's fuzzy right now). Reports that some characters lost their FCs, so we'll have to see if 2C kept it.

Spin state nerfed, RIP Throw > OMC > Risette: Live on Stage.

j.2C might make it possible to go Hop > j.2C, to beat out lows/command throws and get a FC. Not sure how much use the cancel from j.B might be, since 2C isn't really used that much outside of starters. The hitbox on Teddie Warp might be helpful or harmful. I tend to use it for throw mixups myself, so if the hitbox is going to interfere with throw/2D Teddie cancels, I might not be as pleased. It's also possible to get spin state from Motorcycle Key, but doesn't matter too much with the changes. Autocombo nerf doesn't affect us too much, since the only time Teddie makes use of that is 5AAA > 236236C or 5AAA > Nihil Hand; 5AAA jump combos don't get the SP bonus as is already. Bear in mind we haven't received news of nerfs to any characters, so that might be coming soon.

I do need more matchup experience against Yukari, but one thing I've figured might be important is that SB Bearscrew is projectile invul, which should allow you to slice through the Persona and hit her at the same time if she's in the midst of an arrow move. Decide between that and SB Teddievision (since she can just avoid it by jumping or Feather Flip) to keep her on her toes and don't let her out of your sight once you get in. Also agreeing that tossing items when you can find gaps in her pressure can help; Smart Bomb discourages her from flipping or jumping too much, and Bike Keys and Oil Drum are great as always. It's possible to missile her when she's doing 236A/B, but the call-out has to be pretty precise.

I'll also say long range item pressure should not be your go-to tool; between 2D FC, Deathbound and his item-reflecting bats, Junpei can turn that on you if you give him the chance. Harass him from mid-range to 5A range, keep an eye out for 2C, and he shouldn't give you too many problems. Junpei really hates fighting throws since he gets an out even if he techs them, so a healthy throw game will make him wary. If you've conditioned him to fear 2B/2C, Sweep can be a very effective tool to harass Junpei with as well since it beats out 2C and outranges almost anything else he has.

Head/Foot/Body/Chest is completely different from overhead/mid/lows. Most air attacks are head attribute, regardless of whether or not they're overheads (exceptions exist, like Chie's j.C). And an attack can be a Head move even if they're on the ground (again, Chie's Rampage).

Head invul is head invul, as long as an attack has the 'Head' attribute, head invulnerability would kick in. So 2B will have invul against Adachi's j.A (an air overhead Head), Chie's Rampage (a ground mid Head), and Teddie's j.A (an air mid Head), but not Akihiko's 5C (a grounded overhead Body) or Chie's j.C (an air mid Body). Adachi's j.C is (presumably) Head attribute, so 2B blows it up.

Learning to fuzzy jump is good, saying that fuzzy jump makes Minazuki pressure borderline free would be misinformation.

Charge motion, hold 6 then 4+A/B when an attack would make contact. Think of it like an inverse of Makoto's parry motion.

Any confirmation on how to get each of the narrators yet? I believe it's an unspecified number of network matches for Liz, Nanako and Dojima in order, and Marie has something to do with the DLC characters? Also heard Margaret was an option.

Grounded A version is -4 on block, so it is punishable if they don't reversal. B version resets both players to neutral.

If you do 6A+B during 5AAA, you will automatically cross the opponent up with AoA. It's still pretty baitable, so don't get predictable with it. It will beat some DP mashers, like Marie's and Rise's. Also, you can do 5AA 2B t.k.236A 236236C/214214B instead of the 5AAA series for more damage at the expense of corner carry. 5AA 2B 236A 214214B will also do more damage than the standard autocombo. Just keep in mind that 2B won't connect at the tip of 5A's range.

Keep in mind that Naoto's DP will reach you, and Yosuke will recover fast enough from his DP. If you don't IAD back, I believe Rise's can hit you as well, and possibly Mitsuru's and Yukari's. A few reversals that will reach fairly far, so keep them in mind: Rise's Hysterical Slap Yukari's Hyper Feather Shot Teddie's Nihil Hand Yu's Cross Slash Akihiko's Maziodyne Junpei's Super Vorpal Bat Naoto's Raid Only the first two are available outside of Awakening, so if you can Rage reset kill them outside of it, that limits their options.

It's pretty standard with SB Arrow Rain - it tracks, but it's essentially a tornado; there's an eye of the storm in the middle where it's safe. It's still a good roll bait, however. I think character with larger hitboxes, like Kanji, will still get hit if they stand still, but I haven't actually tried it. Not sure how helpful it is either, but here's a very long Yukiko vs Rise set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkDMZfipl8E

Mitsuru would be the closest to Amane - she uses charge motions, which are a whole different ballpark, but if you like those long whip attacks she's an okay fit. Alternative would be Yukari if you like faphops/flips. As for Kagura, Adachi would be the closest to a stance character as far as I'm aware, but I wouldn't really say there's anyone that very closely mirrors his style. Maybe Akihiko, but you don't get that huge range or projectile. There's a reason Mits/Chie/Naoto are considered good shadows; most of their combos involve near seamless super chaining, which can't be bursted out of. Also having that 100 meter puts your opponent into a mindgame situation - are they going to save their Burst for when you enter Frenzy? Then just whittle them down with normal combos. Or bait the burst. It's far easier for Shadow characters to rebuild that 100 meter than for a character to rebuild their Burst. Some characters, like Junpei, also really love their OMB combos, so you're also forcing them to choose between two uses of that resource.

The closest character that I think fits with your style would be Shadow Labrys. Ken is a closer fit to Carl, but Shabrys has more interesting mechanics with her puppet, such as being able to have it guard and using its limited super armour for some matchups like Yukiko. There's also a lot of mixup and tricky tech potential there. Ken isn't a bad idea to sub either. Not many characters have armour on their moves, but otherwise some other possibilities are Naoto (very morphing style gameplay), Marie (lots of setplay options, but she's fairly common right now til the hype dies down a bit) or Rise (similar to Marie, with some really interesting setplay and mixups). Shadow characters are just generally very different. Losing Burst is generally considered the biggest factor - you're losing a pivotal defensive tool, a combo extender, or a gimmicky way to refill meter and cards. Also losing Awakening's defense boosts. Some characters are considerably worse than their normal counterparts (Kanji, Aigis, Yukari), but quite a few of them are usually adaptable if you can make use of the Shadow Fury mechanic well. Just experiment really. You do have to play a better neutral game since you can't just rely on Bursts and Awakening for a defense mechanic, I think.

Fear ender is very good for maintaing pressure; Teddie's tick throw game can be very scary with Fear on since it can't be teched, especially if you can obscure it with something like Vanish Ball. You can do Sweep/236B with missile and using the explosion into j.C > 2B > j.B for more traditional item oki. This is the option for damage. As for what makes them 'better', it's a bit situational. I personally prefer damage since I'm not the best executor of 214B combos, but it's a potentially more rewarding ender if you can pressure your opponent into a FC starter after that. Personal opinion is to end with 214B if you'd have around 30+ meter and are confident since a FC can lead to a lot of very hefty damage with a super and execution, but your mileage may vary.

You can do it with items (Ball Lightning or Amagiya Buckets, for instance), but otherwise as said the amount of recovery and the distance it pushes you back means you're giving your opponent a lot of distance to escape corner pressure. It's also why you'd rarely even end with Puppeteddie A in the corner without missile or items. Mystery Food X would be my preferred option for Fear if I had the option since it also inflicts Silence, but that's not always available. I could still dig up some combos that can end with it (I know S.Teddie can just do 5AAA 214B).

Note that you are allowed to cancel a dash into a jump, so you can dash > upback to airblock.

Some midscreen Fatal Recovery/Fear combos: 5A/2B FC 5C d.c. j.A j.B j.A 2B j.A j.A j.B/j.236A ~2k (5A starter), ~2.5k (2B starter) (236A FC) 5A (FC) 5AA 2B t.k.236A 214214B ~3.8k, ~4.5k with 236A starter 2B (FC, ground hit) t.k.236B 214214B Note that if you do 2B very close, 214214B will whiff; you'll either have to do 2B t.k.236B 214214A or 2B t.k. 236A 214214B instead. j.236A/236B FC (ground hit) 214214B ~4.6k

'Easy' midscreen Shadow Yukiko combo: 5AA > 5BB > 5C > 2C > Shadow Fury > 2C > 214AB > 5C > 214A > 214214D > 214CD > 236236D > 214CD > 214CD > 214CD Does around 4.5k and gets Fire Boost 8. You can also do it off a throw (straight into Shadow Fury then continues as above). You can also omit the last 214CD to try and set up instead. Works off a lot of stuff and relatively burst safe. Haven't really gotten anything worthwhile in the corner - it feels like she really prefers midscreen starters since Maragidyne > Agidyne is better for damage and getting levels than Agidyne x 2.

Dog or Bear Abel or bust.

As you said, Yukiko is one option; you can use Shadow Yukiko instead if you want, since she benefits much more positively from Fire Boost because her Shadow Fury combos means she'll actually get to the point where she can pull off Phoenix Flame Swirl. Other options I can think of are Ken (Mediarama to heal yourself and Koro), Teddie (items oki might not be exactly what you're looking for, though), Aigis (for entering/exiting Orgia Mode) or Rise (offensive set-ups with 2C/Arrow Rain/notes, or defensive set-up with Tetra/Makarakan). There's also Adachi since Magatsu Mandala doesn't need to land for the buff, but that's Awakening only and you need Heat Riser to land for that to trigger a buff.