Hi all, dedicated May player here, though I want to get good with Sin also (later). I've only owned Isuka back in the day and I played mostly May then too (I've played GGX prior which made me buy isuka), though I never bothered to learn combos and the such, and was mostly a button masher. I mean back then they didn't have a challenge mode, or at least I never went to it not knowing it was a good way to learn simple combos.
Either way, I'm making a serious attempt this time around, although as far as challenge mode combos go, I can do about half of them, not counting the regular commands portion. Her aerial combo into ensenga? comes easy to me at this point and I don't have trouble pulling of skills when I want to. My latest feat is being able to consistently pull off a 5P>2D>SHD>RC>AD>j.HS>j.S>j.HS>j.D>Ensenga? combo when I have 50% meter although, I'm learning that's no where near good enough. I'm trying to play smart, but when the rubber hits the road I'm not button mashing per say, but I'm trying to hit people with very specific things and basically I'm finding it very had to convert any little poke I hit my opponent with into anything I can use.
Okay some questions. First, how should I act in the neutral game? In neutral game, or being on equal footing with my opponent (please correct any misuse of fighting game terms), I basically just try to get any type of knock down. However I do find this pretty hard. I feel like if I'm at a distance and hit with a 5K or a long range S, I literally can't do anything to get a knockdown. Even if I HSHD, they will just guard it. I know Ky is a terrible matchup and I can see why, closing in to do anything worth while is next to impossible, and that's the bad ones. I think the best thing I pull off in neutral is punishing a bad aerial with a combo leading into ensenga?, but halfway decent players will literally never put them selves into a position where I can do that.
Second, what are some options when I get the knockdown? There is a post earlier that mentions using the applause move. Do I need meter for that to work? I was almost afraid to yrc applause when I was playing because I feel like it would just be a waste with my inexperiance of what to do next. At the moment I basically just rush people and alternate 5D and 2D, but unless I have 50% meter it's pretty pointless for me to even land a 2D. If the player is decent and does reversals consistantly, the I am quite literally at a loss. More than likely they are a player who can beat me 9.9 out of 10 times. Ditto with people who use throws on wakeup. If I can't at least press some advantage when they are knocked down, I just can't get any type of damage off and ultimately won't win against those players outside of dump luck with meter combos/supers.
Third, how the heck am I supposed to use OHK? I've spent blood and tears learning those combos for hours in challenge mode, and I can finally do them without much trouble, but getting an OHK in a match is next to impossible for me. I know the theory, do an empty hop, fake them out with a whiff, conditioning, ect. Please just tell me there is more to it than that. I don't know how to get close to people, and I'm guessing this is where my play falls apart because May does her best damage up close. Honestly, I think this may be a general mechanics question, because I feel like I'm seriously missing something when it comes to grabs. On one hand I can't grab to save my life, even a regular grab, in a real match. I've stopped trying altogether. But on the other hand I'll have my attacks interrupted by good players if I'm even remotely close to them with a grab.
I guess lastly, do we have any good guard pressue? Maybe I'm just not good defensively but when I'm guarding I feel like I'm a misread mixup away from losing a big chunk of health to a 8-14 hit combo. I think it's just the character, but off the top of my head Ramlethal, Venom, Ky, Sol, Leo, I-no, and Millia all just seem to pound away at me, and seem to have no problem with me guarding their attacks while they look for a chance to get a hit and combo off. Ky might be the only one who doesnt belong on that list but it feels like even if he's done with his pressure, I can't really do anything. I'm still in a corner and one wrong move and I'm in a combo. If they guard the one 2D/5D I can throw out, they've basically brought it back into neutral.
Just a note, I do watch vids with good May players. That's how I learned the RC combo from earlier. Aside from the crazy applause setups I see sometimes, I can DO what they do. I guess I can't properly analyze what I'm seeing because imitating them just puts me into a worse position than I already am. I guess it's just wishful thinking, but I hope answers to these questions my click something in my head and I can get over this wall I keep bashing my head into.
So sorry for the long post, I truly didn't mean for it to be this long ... I guess I had a lot held in.
TL;DR
How should I act in neutral? ATM I just throw out anything that'll let me get close enough to score a knockdown. Even then I have trouble vs decent players.
What are some options once I get the knockdown. Do I need a yrc applause to do anything. Even then how to you really pressure someone?
How do I land OHK. Outside of meter and a punish, this seems to be the only way get any type of real damage off.
Do we have good guard pressure? At them moment I usually just throw out a P>S>5D or 2D and either dust combo or hit them with HSHD/applause. I guess this question is the same as question 2, but seriously. I've heard that May is really good in the corner (aren't all characters?), but I'm just not able to push any type of advantage.
