Kyoku

I think that throwing him out of his attempted escape and putting him right back into butterfly pressure would be more scary, allowing you to establish a little fear mess with their mind. Its like throwing during butterfly pressure then going for another throw after you set the butterfly again.

Thats certainly true. I'll reiterate, I hate Slayer :P Arc studios made him too buff this time around. So buff I don't even feel right using him anymore.

I suppose your right about the back dash. But that doesn't sound like a great option for Slayer to do as a start up, often. He would have to mind read the back dash, otherwise I don't see why he would want to start with that. I also forgot about the bite. The seems pretty ballsy though, I would think, if said Slayer doesn't have the tension to break the pressure, they would rather try to get out.

I hate this match =/ I'll say that first off. I wouldn't say that I have a lot of experience with it, but I will say that I've played some very good Slayer players. My favorite opener for this match is to just back dash. To me, it sounds like the best idea. Its safer to do this instead of trying to counter him off the bat, considering his 2D will beat pretty much everything you do unless you are specifically trying to stop that, in which case 3S or 2HS could work but will get you trashed if he did something else. If you back dash and he does do a 2D as a starter, you get a free combo out of it, which can lead to KD into momentum in your favor (which is easy to lose in this match.) This match is similar to vs Chun in 3s for me. Very dangerous with bar, but still annoying without it. Anji's unsafe pokes and Slayers huge damage make this a match you definitely want to play safe. One wrong move will allow Slayer to use his speed and power to take massive chunks out of your life. Best pokes against him, I would say are 6S and 2S at max range. Another useful move is 6P in my opinion. If used correctly will beat out mach punch and I also believe it will beat dandy follow ups (maybe not the FB one though). One thing I learned (the hard way) was that you pretty much can't do anything when he jumps in on you. His J.HS reaches far enough down to beat 6P and if you fail to auto guard it, you will eat stupid damage from CH combos. When using butterfly pressure, make sure to watch out for: back dash, DoT, and BBU. BBU will go through butterfly if he wakes up with it and the butterfly isn't already on him. Back dashing will allow him to safely get out of pressure and counter you as you run in. Always watch Slayer's bar when you are executing butterfly set ups. I've found it possible to bait BBU with red butterfly set ups. In which case, I will just throw the red butterfly and just stand there (if I am close to him) or do a short dash break. If he BBUs, you block and punish, if he back dashes, you can HS fujin if you are close enough and catch him. This is a strictly safety match only in my eyes. You can lose the lead and the match quickly if you aren't careful and aware at all times. So, I advise to always look at his meter, try to play as safe as possible, and try not to get too comfortable when you have lead/momentum. That's just about all I've got at the moment, that I can remember. Hope some of it helps.

Do you think it would be a better idea to just take the ground throw over On though? Both of them can lead to mix ups/pressure, but On will pull more damage, right?

I have little input on this match that hasn't already really been discussed. But I do remember a trick I used a few times before. You can throw him out of warrant if you bait it. Example of that is KD into butterfly > short dash as if you are going to start pressure > dash break > throw as he appears on you. I suppose that takes some real mind reading skills, or if you are going up against somebody who is known to use that against butterfly pressure =/ Though I don't think its a good idea unless you are already in his face attacking.

I wish I had more experience with this match up. I've honestly only played a couple good Mays. First time I got trashed for various reasons, the biggest one was me having no idea what was happening in the match. Just played the rule of thumb for matches I don't know, random and unsafe. But honestly I can't remember any details about this match up aside from 6P CHing non FB dolphins, which probably doesn't happen often enough to be a good note. Nice info though Kyle, I'll have to remember to play this match slow as if it were Slayer. I'd like to sit down with a high level May player someday just to mess around with this bad match though. Too bad nobody plays this game where I live :O

Thats cool to hear, considering I play on pad aswell and have been hounded for it and seen as uncool for it for the last like, 6+ years. Pads seem a bit more accepted nowadays though, which is awesome. Still no pads at SBO though, can't even qualify with em.

Hehe, fuujin through the part of the attack that hits. She if left opened unless she FRCs it. Would use similar timing to punish with a stomp. And yeah, we could probably write a book about this match up :P

Hmm, in the corner. If you are too close the 236H will bounce em out, and likely too far away for you to On them back into the corner. In some cases you can though after a bounce away from the corner On them back into the corner and catch them with 236S(D) and go from there. It is likely better to go for the 236S(D) while deep in the corner. But usually if you got them in the corner you want to keep them there. Usually with pressure into a CH that bounces, or pressure into 2D 236S(D) into the combo I gave you earlier which will work off of any bounce near the corner. But yeah corner is a good place for Anji to make pressure and mix up until the opponent messes up and gives you the round :P It is good to practice block strings against opponent who is cornered, butterfly stuff, etc. Some cases you will land a hit in the corner and not really have to option to do a big combo, in which case you should just go for the KD (236S(S/HS). CH is probably your best friend in the corner though (3K, 2147P for TK orb, S follow up after fuujin.) all of which can land you a nice air combo and reel in some more damage. Quick Edit: didn't include anything about heavies in the corner. Since you can't pick them up with Rin after 236S, you might as well just go for pressure until you get a CH then combo. And if you do land a 236S just go with the S follow up for KD and start over. Also, don't forget that red butterflies are your friend vs heavies :P

They don't need to be on the wall, just near the corner so the J.D doesn't push them too far away for the 214P to hit. So yeah, basically just a corner combo. I believe certain characters bounce differently after the 214P and have time to tech before the J.s landing. Its not really important to the combo but sometimes it allows you to catch people who are desperate to get out of the corner. I usually just set the tech to random in training when I am playing with tech traps. Sometimes you just have to predict where they are going to tech and SJ in that direction for the air throw, its not exactly something that you can be punished for if they 1. Don't tech, because you will land again before they get up or 2. Do tech, which can just lead to a air throw break unless you mess up your air throw timing/positioning and get hit or something.

The combo I usually go for in the corner (depending on character) would be Pretty much the same set up, or slightly altered (minus the 2D actually); so 5K - 5S - 5HS into 236HS(D) - 236HS(nothing) - "5K - 5S - Sj.K - j.S - j.D - 214P - j.S (while landing)" - Land - Watch the tech direction into Air throw and do the "ed combo again. Its a more damaging set up, but On leads to knockdown leads to mix ups, etc. I personally don't really use the 2D - 236S(D) very much unless I have to. Usually if I get confirming hits on a 5k/5S/HS I will just go for 236HS(D) which usually does more damage. Not to mention 2D - 236S(D) doesn't work on heavies. Not saying its a bad option, but I only really use it if I have the confirming hit of 2D only.

Its not a directional problem. What you want to do with that specific combo is do a "nothing" fuujin. Fuujin being your 236S/H. But instead of doing one of the follow ups (K,P,S,HS,D), you do nothing. You just need to wait a little longer. Most of Anji's basic stuff (maybe even advanced stuff) you have all day to follow up on. But this combo here, you are doing another fuujin after the Rin, which should bounce off the wall. All you need to do is wait for the fuujin attack to be over, then follow up with your KS. Its just a matter of getting used to timing. As for following up with KS after Rin, most of the time you should be able to do that pretty easily. It might involve a little running to catch the body, but there isn't much timing involved in that.

Uh, I can't really remember anything about this match. I do remember auto guarding attacks that I knew were going to be high, aka her dashing at you and attacking = almost a free autoguard attack in my opinion. Also good to do that against oki that doesn't involve notes, but do involve dashing, since her only options (as far as I know) are air to ground which is auto guarded or beaten, land into low which 6K should beat before she lands, or land and dust/throw which should also both get beaten by 6K. Pretty sure her "low hitting thingy" can be beaten by a properly timed P stomp into free combo, or you could always fuujin it. Oh speaking of fuujin, it probably isn't a great idea to fuujin through a note that is thrown as an attempt to get in. And thats all i've got on this =/

IMO it is a little easier and less risky to counter puffballs with 2D into whatever weird combo/oki set up you want to do. Fuujin works well also unless you do it on reaction of the puffball startup which could lead to that split kick thing beating fuujin and eating damage. And 6K is hardcore to beat puffball, not really as rewarding as 2D or fuujin into combo, so I personally don't attempt it. Especially considering fail = death, or at the least momentum in the wrong direction.

More random stuff: Pin can be auto guarded with 6K if timed properly, gotta be able to tell which pin is thrown, the slower one of the faster one (risky but rewarding overall.) Depending on what she was trying to do (usually get all over you), you can occasionally autoguard the pin into P counter and catch her attempting to get in. From there you can either try to put some pressure on her, or just guard the pin. I would say that any Oki disk if placed right (not just the FB) will make fujin pretty useless. Since the disk is wide enough to hit you even after the invincible frames of fujin, if she places it at the right position, even reversal fujin will get stuffed into a free combo (especially if in the corner). I don't recommend attempting to fujin out of Oki disk unless you can blatantly tell that she is putting it on you too close, and even then you will get hit at the end of fujin unless you input fast enough at the end of it, preferably into HS follow up to autoguard the disk and maybe do something cute. Doing any other follow up (even the K or the patented "nothing" I believe) will reshape your hitbox and you'll end up getting hit by the disk in the end. Anyhow, the best option to "get out" in my opinion would be to reversal time 6K the disk and hope you aren't getting hit low. Much safer to attempt when she is jumping on your wake up. Not sure if P counter beats her 214P, or either of the counters actually. That option of hers' seems to kill the wake up 6k. Otherwise you can just block, really well. (but anybody could do that, gotta show off some of that Anji flair :P) The only semi good thing about this match is, with tension you probably only need to get 2 combos off and the round is over. Wish I had more to say about this match. I will have to do some more research. Not a whole lot of people seem to know much about this match up, so I'll try to do what I can.

Yeah, fujin vs sol is terrible. Trying to think of who else fujin is pretty bad against. Oh yeah, Axl... but I usually try to avoid that match. Doesn't seem to work too well vs RK either, but maybe thats just me.

I was being as vague as possible :P I am not good at explaining stuff that doesn't happen often enough to me. Especially Eddie fights, usually so fast paced. But fujin is helpful as always against Eddie from my experience.

They are still high tier characters, meaning they still give trouble but Anji has niches in those fights I'd say. Eddie - Fujin everything (big drill unblockables, small eddie pressure, etc), be very safe until small Eddie is gone, then rush down ftw if possible :P Oh yeah, don't forget about 3K autoguarding the puddle unblockable >.> Pot - Be safe, very easy to escape unblockables with 6K wake-up, time 3K to take care of busters when possible for free damage, and use butterfly pressure accordingly (he doesn't like that, unless he flicks, then find ways around it.) Baiken - Is maybe sometimes... bait counters if possible. Strings ending with 2D or 2S will go under ouren, 2D will go under the P counter, if none counter attempt to punish 2D or 2S blocked can possibly Fujin on reaction. Mostly another play safe fight =/

He isn't ranked the worst, I think he is actually 3rd worst by the current chart, though I consider him better than that, maybe 5th worst :P I usually find myself pondering the same thing, but I suppose it comes down to things like... He is VERY dependent on bar to do damage, auto guard can be good but can be risky, he tends to lose to zoners and people who do more damage to him or easier damage (isn't that like 70% of the cast?), maybe a lack of good normals or incredibly safe moves (like 2 decent normals he has, I'd say.), mix ups are good but predictable, anybody who has played alot of Anji or someone who uses him can usually see through the tricks, ability to do good damage off of normal hits (without bar) isn't very good, and just the overall work you have to put into a match to win, being safe, unpredictable, and precise (its like the Chipp syndrome.) Don't get me wrong, I think Anji can be very good if played right (really safe or really unsafe :P). And he does well against some of the better characters (Eddie, Pot, Baiken maybe sometimes.) I mean, he has an unblockable that leads to KD that can lead to another unblockable :P Thats too good to be bottom 3. I duno, there are probably things I left out, but all in all, I have alot of fun playing Anji. I don't know if its the challenge or what, maybe its the fans.

I'll have to try your variation miracle pizza. It sounds a little easier to pull off. I am so used to starting my air combos with J.k so now it is hard for me to start with anything else =/ I did the P stomp a few times when I was testing, but I seem to land more air throws than I do P stomps. It is a nice starter though, but for some reason I tend to get air thrown out of P stomps (Maybe it is just that predictable when I do it? :P) I wonder if this combo works on another other characters? I tried ABA after Johnny and failed, but I didn't try other heavies (RK, etc) Maybe it is just Johnny's oddly shaped hitbox that allows this combo?

A small thing I found out about Anji combos on Johnny. It seemed that all of my SJI combos could be ended with orb no matter where they were done on the screen. I was catching his foot with it after a J.D ending my SJI combos. Pretty sure the combo was air throw > C.s F.s SJI j.k, j.s, j.p (jump) j.p, j.k, j.s, j.D, orb. I was messing around with alot of different variations, so I duno if that was the exact one. But I remember being able to do the same combo and from anywhere on the screen and land an orb at the end by catching the foot. Its a little extra damage if anything.

Thanks for the info. I jumped into training mode yesterday to test the fujin vs 6HS to find exactly what you said. I had a feeling it would still hit because of how long the move stays active. I was only actually able to get a hit 1/10 times. The others were double whiffs or just plain me getting beat. I found it easiest to just auto guard it with 6K into K counter. I think that would be better than just blocking if you could pull it off on reaction. Unless the Faust has experience with Anji... then I think he can actually just cancel out of the attack once it is AG into pogo, item, or whatever that might beat a counter.

I usually try to be bold about attacks like Faust's 6H by trying to Auto guard it or Fujin it >.>; Might not be the BEST idea, but I'd likely try to Fujin it on reflex when I saw it coming out. Thinking about it, if you could Fujin it, I think that would be the best idea considering you can't always punish it since he can cancel 6H into pogo or item throw.

Would you call this a decent match up in Anji's favor based on the combo options on Faust? Thinking about it, I can't really think of too much that would give Anji a hard time with this match. I would think Anji could deal with Faust's poke game pretty well, then the fact that Faust doesn't deal well with pressure, once you get it on you should be set aside from DAA and FB (FB can probably be baited into an Auto Guard) I think as long as you don't try to go air to air with him too often, you should rule the ground game. I think I'll run some tests on this match to attempt to contribute some more info. There seems to be a few matches with no info (Millia being one of the matches on my mind.)