Balguna

I would have preferrd Shariadne, but that's just me. There really isn't an easy method unlike the Shos.

She got the Fool card, it doesn't explicitly mean she has the Wild Card. It's likely, but not concrete. It does mean she likely has a new unseen Fool Persona, but we probably won't see it in gameplay. Then again Aigis is still considered Fool despite using Athena, who's Chariot.

That's definitely interesting. I've looked over the video and paused it, and there should be no way Junpei could've hit the scooter key - it was on the ground below 5B's hitbox, and it was behind Teddie, as he gets pushed into it a second later, and the Firecracker hasn't reached Junpei yet. Logically speaking, there should be no way the key should have counted - I''m not even sure if it's classified as a projectile, as it does nothing by itself and no damage, unlike Dry Ice. If Junpei can hit items before they reach the ground, that could make for some very interesting counters. Can he bat the bucket as Kintoki-Douji is throwing the initial one? Vanish Ball and Mystery Food X shouldn't be battable, they're considered projectiles, but who knows what Junpei might end up being able to do with them (whether intended or not). My best guess? If you pause the video, as Teddie's blocking 5B, Firecracker just reaches the tip of 5B's hitbox, which might have caused the projectile, but the game doesn't register it as destroying the Firecracker. A split second after that Junpei's finished 5B's animation and the Firecracker has traveled away, which prevents it from being reflected again by the same attack. Also unrelated, but Junpei gets knocked out by buckets, but the game does the fireworks and confetti display as if he was knocked out by an SP skill.

None yet, but NA version isn't region locked, so no reason not to get that one if possible.

5 Persona cards, so Yukiko or Teddie levels of Persona usage. Can someone translate what it says under 'Persona' in the VS screen?

Kunai are still an option if you want to keep Yosuke in the air while the opponent recovers to do things like crossups or glides, or even a Mirage Slash fake-out. Otherwise, V-slasher into Mirage Slash seems like the more popular knockdown option, and you can convert it into a Sukakaja combo with meter.

Adachi and Marie will likely be on the top row - with the exception of Rise, the top row seems to be for P4 characters and the Shos, while the bottom row is for P3 characters and Rise. Course that doesn't make it a hard and fast rule. Still, Margaret is definitely not confirmed yet, so there's no need to create a lot of speculation on where she'll end up.

It should be noted that Teddie's DP got nerfed; it's now blockable and I believe Teddie is at a disadvantage if it's blocked. Koro also recovers from getting knocked out faster than Kintoki-Douji. Teddie does have fantastic normals, it's all a matter of using that Persona wisely to land the damage where it counts. The question is if Koro can low-profile bat with 2C; if so, if Ken can play a zoning game Teddie could have a difficult time coming in without EX Teddievision.

Teddie's only overhead is AoA anyway so it's not like you're missing out on any mix-ups by using hops.

So, a couple things we can pick up: -Bag swing is a skill, since Marie has a SB version in the air. -Kaguya is huge. Carelessly throwing her out is asking for easy lost cards. Not sure if her hitboxes are going to be as large as Caesar's though.

I believe you do have a point about Yosuke. There's still Dash Spring to add to the equation (I imagine SB will be able to blow through Koro, but that's speculation), but I guess it might not be as simple as I thought. Garudyne only tracks on SB version though I believe, so it's really going to come down to Yosuke managing his meter well. I definitely agree on Ken being a potential thorn in Teddie's side, considering how much I already dislike fighting Mitsurus as him. I don't think it's an impossible matchup, but it's going to depend greatly on what tools each character has on their side (items vs. dog). Teddie does have ways to hit Ken from a distance (TVs, potentially Bearscrew), but most of them are Fatal Recovery or might cost Teddie a card. 2D Teddie might be useful for forcing Ken to whiff a move and then punish, but it might not be as useful if Koro is covering Ken. What Will Come Out? will likely be the safest way to get items out provided Ken doesn't hit Kintoki-Douji in the 5f of startup, even if it costs 50 meter. I do think the matchup leads slightly in Ken's favour from what I can tell, but it'll be easier to see once the game actually gets proper playtesting.

So, what are people's thoughts on matchups so far, both good and bad? Right now, I can see Yu being a potential thorn in Ken's side - he has quite a few ways to stuff Koro, and DP both shuts out Koro pressure and anti-airs Ken if he tries that during pressure. Yosuke might be another tricky matchup, since he can dance in the air all day and rain kunai on both Ken and Koro while being able to get in close fairly easily, where Ken seems to suffer. On the flipside, as mentioned, Kanji seems to buckle pretty hard against Ken pressure, and I imagine Junpei might also have issues. I might suspect Akihiko might have a hard time too, but can't really tell about that yet. Don't know how the zoners will fare, but I'm guessing Yukari will fare the best, while Yukiko the worst, but it's all speculation right now.

That's why you have Adachi.

It would still mean you'd have to give every Shadow character something, and I really doubt Shadow Chie/Mitsuru need anything else right now. And giving specific Shadows buffs would just then be buffing for the sake of buffing and wouldn't be unbiased. It's just going to have to be that there are going to be different tier of Shadows and any changes are either going to mean a Shadow-wide buff or a character-wide buff (so buffing S.Yukiko would buff Yukiko unless it only relates to their old autocombos).

Probably mention that her ground throw at the very least inflicts Charm. Her j.A looks fairly good, it's kind of like Teddie's with its multiple hits and long hitstun. Might be worth checking it out.

Any opinions on her new autocombo? 5AA being a low is nice, but otherwise how does it stack compared to the old/Shadow version? And how're the changes to her Sweep and AoA working out?

"Contents of her bag"? If she plays like Teddie and has a Mary Poppins-like bag that'd be... interesting. Also I hope at least one of those distraction techniques involves poetry.

Well her boss fight is weird, but I believe primarily it has lightning-based attacks and moves that drain SP (though with self-inflicted damage)... so Charm-type mechanics?

SHO does have one, the data's on the wiki. It just doesn't have any frame data listed yet.

Worse autocoombo, no Burst, no easy unblockables, and no really powerful Berserk combos to make up for it aside from getting Fire Amps. Shadow Yukiko isn't good, her only real advantage is easier access to Vermillion Bird and constant access to Maragidyne. Yes, her damage can beat normal Yukiko, but she practically has to go through Shadow Berserk once first.

Personal candidate is still Shadow Yukiko. Then again, I haven't seen any Shadow (normal) Labrys yet, so who knows. There should be a system for differentiating between Shadow Normal Labrys and Shabrys.

Some quick Kenmaru questions then: -IK properties would be nice. -How does Koromaru attack for j.C/j.D/2C/2D? -Can SB Mediarama heal Koro if he's knocked out? How much health do each versions of Mediarama heal, roughly? -Does the long chain whip have a dead zone, like Mitsuru's D series? -Any good reversal options for Ken so far, or is he going to struggle close range? -Does Shadow Kenmaru have any increased health on Koro? I doubt it, but you never know.

Idle speculation here, but is it fair in assuming anything that Yukiko's Dia is invulnerable to, Junpei can bat? I mean, it could lead to some hilarious yet potential useful ideas, like batting Teddie's Circus Bear. Heck, almost all of Teddie's items could be nulled by Junpei's bat if that were the case.

Does anyone have any idea how long the charge time is before the double detonation for Agi? Just curious if there was a way to set it up mid-combo for a nastier oki.

I personally think of Shadows more like Street Fighter style characters (carrying meter between rounds, no way to burst out of combos), but with a generalized BBCP Overdrive.