Ryd'

Careful with that. At certain heights, some characters (namely Mitsuru for now) can block a fan in the air, and tag you with a falling attack before Maragi can come out. Fucking jA being active for days. Not that she gets anything huge off it. Except momentum, which could technically be huge since Yukiko vs a Mitsuru that really knows how to space is one of the most aggravating matchups in the world. Not as aggravating as Chie's existence in the game, but still pretty high up there.

This is why you never really got anywhere with Bridget =T I swear I told you that 2B CH converts into Maragi loops ages ago. This is why I so seldom make serious attempts at character discussion!

Holy crap, you think your character is bad? Akihiko getting one good read isn't something like Arakune/Tager getting one good read vs Nu. He isn't nearly as easily contained as the aforementioned characters because, in addition to the tools that everyone has for movement (jump, super jump, double jump, air dash, ground dash, evasive action), he does get his own options (ducking, heavy lunges like sb kill rush) with an invincible gap closer (sb corkscrew) that leads to a lot of pain, à la Jam's FB puffball and Slayer's BBU. For reference, look at how Slayer/Jam vs Testament matches went in GGAC; they can get zoned a lot, but "one good read" can easily be the end of the match for Testament, and it's a hell of a lot rarer for characters with a kit like that to be completely shut out than it is for them to close in at least once (or more, as is often the case). Akihiko is a close-quarters brawler, so the name of the game vs a zoning/spacing character like Yukiko is to play some serious footsies with their ranged options, work your way in and land a hit once or twice and win. No, you don't get something to do the job for you like Yu's slide/dive (still a gamble) or Chie's meteors (a move that should never have been given to a character like her); but that's how it's supposed to be when you have a character with Akihiko's frame data (dominates just about everyone when he gets in). Just to clarify things, you understand that Yukiko's attacks are either slow to startup or have sluggish recovery (especially on whiff!), right? Her fastest poke is her 7f 2A, everything else she has is 10+f to startup, with things like 236C, 5D, and 2/jD being particularly slow. Fans outside of 5B (5BB, 2B, jB) and 236D have noticeably bad recovery. 236A/B, she has some flexibility with, and how it's dealt with depends on the situation it's being used in, but a held Agi goes away on hit or block, and keeping one dormant prevents her from using the corresponding button while the flame is stored. Her zoning is good if she can read her opponent, but she falls flat if she can't due to the recovery on whiffing, and she can't instantly fill up the screen with fans or go into something else reasonably quickly if she whiffs one (except 5B). Since I'm still getting a vibe that the majority believe Akihiko is largely helpless in the matchup, here's some ways to get around Yukiko's zoning options: 5B: jumps of all sorts, air dashing, ducking, evasive action, parry 5BB: double/super jump, air dashing (not iad!), ducking, evasive action, parry 2B: same ground options as 5B as well as simply running up to her (depending on the angle), air options depend on your position, but jumping or airdashing (forward or backward) to avoid are all possible jB: pretty much same as 2B, except ducking/parry may be stuffed depending on the angle the fan is thrown at (not guaranteed, she has to anticipate the duck/parry; there is no one fan trajectory that covers everything) Maragi: evasive action, jumps of all sorts, air dashing; because she can activate the pillar manually, you should be ready to block if you're over it 5D: evasive action (depends on spacing), going over it, punch it (5/2A) if you're close enough (not necessarily close to Yukiko) when she throws it out (37f startup; jab should stuff this for free unless you're asleep), or block and jab the recovery if Yukiko won't make it to you in time (if she throws a fan, it's worth it to eat a fan for a persona card). The startup is the same regardless of how far it pushes you; only the persona's dashing speed is affected. 236[A]/: go around the area if it's not set on you, or make Yukiko block something if you're close-ish 5C: I believe Akihiko's C moves will win if you're spacing yourself well (even if you just nail her persona, she's stuck for a while due to the recovery) Minor note: Maziodyne beats out many of her options as well, but it's not listed as it's not always available. Seriously, go back and watch the concept match set again. Akihiko isn't helpless in this matchup, nor is one who has good fundamentals particularly handicapped. Yukiko's options at neutral can be baited, and each time you successfully do so, you're gaining ground; once you get close enough, everything becomes a huge gamble for her. If she's actually connecting with the majority of what she throws out (or everything, as may be the case?), then Akihiko is being read like a book she's read dozens of times before, and why shouldn't he be free if that's the case? If Yukiko can't get a read on Akihiko at all and whiffs fans at a bad time, he's in, and she's probably going to die. You have options to maneuver around what she can throw out, and there's a limit to how quickly she can get things out. You're not supposed to just blindly cannonball in each and every time; that kind of mindset is almost a guaranteed loss. Dealing with her offense? Unless you're in the corner, she's really limited here. She doesn't have particularly good or threatening blockstrings midscreen; she lacks any reliable overheads without a knockdown+Agi set for the common high/low unblockable (if you let her set up 2D+2A without that kind of prep, you're sleeping at the wheel), and at worst, she can kind of crossup with iad jA. With some hefty and/or risky setup and generally some meter, she can do crossups with Agi, but that's dangerous as she's moving into your range to do so. As for her (very limited) defense game; her reversal supers are very lacking, and her DP isn't even particularly good in this matchup. At 22f to start up, not even having true invincibility (it has the auto-guard everything property), and having pretty miserable horizontal range, it's not that difficult to work around unless you level yourself with baiting and trying to punish it before the attack portion goes off. Regarding the 9-7 thing; it means a lot more than you guys seem to appreciate. Team Akihiko came out on top vs team Yukiko (granted, only one win, so pretty damn close to even) with some of the best players for each character. That should tell you a lot about how the matchup is expected to go at high level play. And while 16 matches isn't a huge set, it's large enough to see how things should play out when all's said and done. Yes, Akihiko has to work to get in, but getting in is supposed to be the majority of the fight because it can end really quickly once he gets to where he wants to be. It looks bad in the neutral game? Why? Because he can't immediately go to town on Yukiko? Then in your mind, how exactly is a match between a close range fighter vs a long range fighter supposed to go? Is he supposed to have an option to safely get in no matter what Yukiko does? Not much of a fight in that case, is it? Is she supposed to have a guaranteed way to push him out no matter the circumstance? No, that's not very fun either. As it happens, neither is really the case here. There are ways around everything, and it's up to each character to play around the other's game. If Akihiko never gets close, it's over. If he gets in, it's probably over for Yukiko because her close range game is terrible when she hasn't had time to setup shop. She's not Nu; she doesn't get to cover multiple angles in quick succession, nor does she have a good escape tool if things start looking bad. Hell, she doesn't even have any air unblockable attacks, or even anything that gives her "head invincibility" (the "untouchable by aerials" property that is attached to every single other character's 2B). Akihiko is also nowhere near as sluggish as Arakune or Tager; I'm not sure why people are so fond of this kind of extreme comparison. As you should have picked up (but apparently everyone except Dacidbro failed to), Akihiko has tools to get in. His options aren't omnipotent, but neither are Yukiko's. The concept set really showed that. There isn't a single Akihiko who failed to win matches, while Whistler (Yukiko) went 0-4. The matchup being 6-4 or worse? If it's worse than 6-4, those'd have to be some mediocre Yukikos for that to be true, but seeing as 2 of them made it to SBO (one of whom made top 8), that clearly isn't the case; and there isn't a single Yukiko that went without a loss, either. If it's somewhere between 6-4 and even, then it's nowhere near being a sufficient disadvantage to warrant the kind of talk there's been here. The worst 3 matchups in the game are considered to be Liz/Mitsuru, Yukiko/S.Labrys, and Kanji/Liz at 3-7; and high level vids of those matches don't strike me as genuinely being as bad as advertised (though the disadvantaged character does indeed seem disadvantaged, and generally comes out negative in sets). No offense to the people here, but I somehow doubt that you know more about the game than people who've been playing it a lot longer, and probably have a better overall feel for it. I'm not simply bowing blindly to Japanese superiority here; their top players have had a good deal more time to get real experience with the game, and the situation over there makes it a lot easier to gain real experience with matchups (large quantity of players in a substantially smaller area, better overall netplay quality, etc.) This matchup isn't listed as being one of the terrible ones, and it really doesn't look it, either. As for Akihiko "not being that good", no offense, but I really have to laugh. What're you comparing him to? Mitsuru/Aigis/Chie? So he doesn't have as ridiculous options as those three. That doesn't make him bad (or at least "not good") by any stretch of the imagination. He's a solid character (and incidentally, ranked higher than Yukiko), and from what I've seen of him at high level play, he really doesn't have any glaring weaknesses like Kanji or Elizabeth (and even those two can still be a very real threat in their worst matchups). The balance in the game isn't bad enough to warrant that kind of talk.

Akihiko isn't the only one relying on reads here; Yukiko's attacks have to connect in order to keep Akihiko out. She can't just be chucking things blindly; one whiffed fan at around mid range (which is not that hard to navigate to as long as you're not eating everything sent your way) is enough for most characters to get in on her. Most of Yukiko's options are either slow on startup or have sluggish recovery; she's not Nu, who could spam relatively fast projectiles and had a near full screen teleport to reset distance once you got close enough to be a threat. Similarly, Akihiko is not Tager; he actually has mobility options and isn't slow as all hell, so getting to his desired range doesn't require the stars aligning or a seriously retarded decision from Yukiko. Which means she's going to have to play more conservatively in order to not eat every SB Corkscrew thrown her way. Being forced to play more safely translates to less crap to wade through once Akihiko reaches mid range, which improves his chances of getting in. Not that it's impossible for him to close before then, but it makes it a lot easier. And, of course, once he hits awakening, 100sp is practically a free ticket in from almost anywhere. A matchup isn't decided on the neutral game unless said neutral game is damn near impossible to win for a character (the apparently popular Nu vs Tager being a pretty good example of a truly nightmarish neutral game). Neutral at midrange+ isn't fun for Akihiko, but that's always the case with a close quarters character vs a zoner; you have to do a lot of blocking and slowly make your way in. Being forced to play extra carefully at certain ranges doesn't make it a flat-out bad matchup (otherwise what does it say that the situation is completely flipped once Yukiko loses momentum and Akihiko gets close?) unless said close-range character has crap for mobility and severely limited ranged options (most grapplers, which Akihiko is not). Dacidbro oversimplified his approach to the matchup (and admitted as such), but he's not wrong about it not being horrible; there are ways around everything Yukiko does, so it's entirely possible (and quite likely, assuming skilled players) that Akihiko will close in at least once in a round. Looking at the concept matches, the players' ability to read their opponents was the deciding factor. There were some rounds where people just got bodied, but there were a lot that came down to the wire, too. I can see the matchup possibly being slightly in Yukiko's favor just given the range she can command and Akihiko needing to get in his opponent's face to really do anything, but I really don't see her holding a substantial edge here. Her pressure is not airtight, her zoning isn't flawless, and a relatively minor mistake can easily cost her 50%+ of her health. Once Akihiko gets in, the match is almost completely out of Yukiko's hands, as she can't safely push any buttons (a 7f 2A is her only sub-10f move). Not to say that Yukiko's offense isn't scary (it is; multiple unblockables, range, extremely tight pressure under the right circumstances), but Akihiko is far from helpless in this matchup.

Speaking as a Yukiko player, the matchup feels pretty close to even. One good read is all it takes for Akihiko to get in at midrange once he hits 25SP, and 2 good hits is all it takes for him to destroy Yukiko's health bar. It's scary as hell for Yukiko to be dancing around Akihiko once he has meter because you can't make mistakes without losing a huge chunk of health if Akihiko is on point. Of course, if the Yukiko player makes better reads every step of the way, you're going to lose without ever getting close enough to touch her, but that kind of thing is true for every matchup. As for the concept matches, I suppose one could argue that team Akihiko seemed more well-rounded compared to team Yukiko (Whistler was the only player on either team who went 0-4), but that's splitting hairs since everyone else was packing a mix of wins and losses.

Be careful with Mitsuru. If they catch on to you (ab)using 2A excessively, you might end up eating FC 5B, and you really don't want that.

You need to fix the crouch combo to 5B instead of 5BB; second fan will miss and whatnot. There's also corner combos and the fan-spam variety (5AA 3B 5BB 3B 5BB etc.)

Everyone's meter gain goes on cooldown when they burn SP, it's not a penalty exclusive to Liz. No, everyone does not have a reliable reversal super. It's a lot more likely that most of Liz's options have a lot of inherent risk and are difficult to land reliably because of the huge potential payoff.

I never knew Ray was tsundere...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD-ftDeZjD8&feature=youtu.be

You can get both hits of Maragi to connect in corner combos, but you have to really get a solid handle on when you need to pop Agi relative to inputting Maragi, as well as which Maragi you need to use; all of which is relative to how close you are to the opponent. Going for higher juggling and single Maragi hits is just easier and a lot more stable for anyone who doesn't want to make a science project out of it for a little more damage.

Akihiko is fine. He has solid tools to do his job as someone who wants to get in and skullfuck you, and if he opens you up twice with anything that's not an A normal, you're probably going to die. He can close a gap quickly, has solid mixups once you've taught your opponent some respect, and can deal with the majority of zoning/spacing tactics; but a player needs to have either godlike reflexes or good reads to succeed with him. He is what a cqc character should be (unlike Chie, who was given a move from a completely different style of character to do her job for her.) Concerning grapplers; I'm repeating myself, but the only things really keeping Pot out of S tier in GGAC were the existence of Eddie and Testament HS Beast, who, in all fairness, kept a number of other characters out as well. Gravy, your pic is perfect for that post.

Kanji being in my face actually scares me a lot more than Chie does. With a character like Chie, I know that it's usually over for my preferred zoning/setup-style characters if they get in; the options are usually such that I know I don't have any reliable ones for retaking momentum (R.I.P. HS Beast). "Oh, they got in...well, that's probably the round; let's see how this goes". There's an extra sense of unease with grapplers because you do have options, but if you guess wrong, you're going to die. Chie pisses me off more than any other character though; she has more shit that I find way more aggravating than anything Mitsuru, Aigis, Yu, etc. have.

Ted, don't you dare ever compare Kanji's dive to Chie's "sit your ass down and take this" option. Those two moves are nowhere close to being in the same league. Also, if you're going to try to play Mitsuru and Yukiko, just play Mitsuru. Less effort for a lot more reward. Grappler -> someone who is good close up. Pixie -> someone who is good close up. Both types of characters are supposed to be scary as fuck if they can get in your face, but they're supposed to have to work for that huge payoff. Chie breaks the standard conventions of the archetype because she has an "imminent rape" option, which no pixie should ever have. Imagine if Jam had a super that covered huge segments of the screen and kept you in blockstun long enough for her to casually walk up and start running her train on you. If someone thinks it's okay for that kind of character to have an almost guaranteed ticket in, there really is no reason for a grappler to not have one.

You said the term "grappler" implies a character a character that is only good close up. The same could be said of pixie-type characters; they have to work their way in to do anything, but they decided to give Chie a full screen "sit the fuck down and take my foot up your ass" move. Considering they gave her that kind of shit (seriously, why would anyone do that for that kind of character?), it apparently isn't impossible for a grappler to have something similar. Fixed that for you.

A lot of Yukikos will use Fire Boost depending on the matchup. If it's one where you're playing the spacing game all day, there's no reason not to, and it makes the round end a lot faster when you land a good hit. If it's someone with no health, there's no point since they're dead in 2-3 good combos anyway. If it's someone you need to keep pinned down, then you probably won't have time. Yukiko's damage really isn't bad. The one caveat to her better combos is that the opponent needs to be in the air for her to get "real" damage; if she has 25 meter and is catching you mid-jump with fans, 5C, or you're getting tagged by Maragi (or CH fans when grounded), and you're not losing 1/3+ of your health, then she's doing something wrong. Her obscene damage (5-6k+ @lv 0) should never be seen since it comes off FC 5D, which is blatantly obvious. Her damage is deceptively lower than average because she (like SLabrys) relies on resets; the main difference being, Yukiko's resets come in the form of straight up unblockable attacks, and not mixup off insane oki setups. Ted, Liz is a high-risk/moderate~very high reward character. You make the right read, you're getting ridiculous damage; if you mess up, you're going to get lit up. You can't give solid mixup and oki setups to a character that can get crazy high damage off a variety of hits and can instantly control a horizontal plane. That character is all about making the right reads for huge payoff. Yukiko is actually somewhat similar in principle, but with a smaller risk:reward ratio in exchange for a little more safety and control. Ray, tell that to Chie. Pixies aren't supposed to be effective at full screen, but that doesn't stop her. Edit: Pot really only lost hardcore to Testament's zoning HS Beast. The only things really keeping him out of S in AC were the residents of S: Eddie (get knocked down once and die) and Testament HS Beast (shit stuffed everything!) Other characters attempts to zone him would give him a zoning game of his own, and there was always Slidehead to worry about. There weren't any other zoners who had a "gtfo" option that was anywhere near as good as HS Beast.

A set Agi does not make you safe until you have conditioned your opponent to respect it, Ted. That I see Kanji in that post makes me think you were doing things you shouldn't have been doing. Also, (this is mostly in reference to Tempered/H-F) don't expect anyone who's played MBAA with me for any length of time to respect a set Agi if they can do something about it, because they learned from F-Akiha that bad things happen if you get complacent under that kind of pressure

Ted, forever be unable to settle on a character.

Curse is curse, poison is poison. FB Phantom Soul will curse on block. It also has homing. For extra lols, it will not hit crouching opponents, but will hover above their heads. Testament basically forces you to block it by tossing out an overhead since just getting cursed is generally better than eating a combo and then getting cursed anyway. This shit's gonna be retarded once Testament players really start working perma-curse in with teleport mixup and the new dual Beast corner game. Testament's defense game is weaker, but his offense is going to be scarier than ever.

The changes make Testament seem a lot scarier to me. The EXE Beast changes killed off the old braindead pressure game, but all the new stuff seem like they more than make up for that old brutal efficiency. The new teleport makes him slipperier and gives him ranged mixup off EXE Beast/crow attacks (and in the corner with S Beast's push), and being able to have 2 delayable Beasts on screen at once coupled with damn near perma-curse status make his options kind of nuts if he's able to really set up shop. He'll have trouble if he gets pinned down, but it seems like once he's able to get moving, it'll be a nightmare for most characters to make him stop.

So to all those people who hated GGAC Testament, I hope you're happy with the changes, 'cause I know I sure as hell am. They made him dirtier to the point where I almost feel unclean at the prospect of playing him. Who thought it was a good idea to let him curse on block?

All three have throw invincibility on startup, which doesn't matter where frame traps are concerned since they'd fall under the throw protection window you get on leaving blockstun. The D version gets full invincibility from 3-27. I don't know about fucking with that.

I hope to god I'm misreading something or there's a typo in there, but it seems someone thought it was a good idea for Mitsuru's jA to have 12 active frames.

Don't listen to Ruben; MB had some seriously messed up hitboxes.

I'm not being biased or anything; I main Yukiko, so I'm aware of the characters' strengths and shortcomings. It needed to go because it wasn't working the way Fire Break was intended. If it was supposed to provide the unblockable status to consecutive uses of a move on a single cooldown, it would've worked that way with everything. As it is, Yukiko can already get back-to-back Fire Break unblockables legitimately; it takes a little more work, but it's about as rewarding and uses less meter.