well, a lot of makoto is guessing right in the wake up games to keep you standing, and your opponent on his back. you just gotta make sure to properly assess all your options and ranges. The idea is that all the guessing games are in your favor, because if you guess right, they take damage, if you guess wrong, they block your hit. Rarely do you ever put yourself into a position to take damage, and if you do, it’s usually minimal.
on wakeup, you should think of your options like a tree flow chart. say you directionally throw, and you end up right on top of their prone body, you can 1). meaty s.strong 2). karakusa 3). tiger knee ex axe kick 4). dash back 5). parry their wakeup attempt.
primarily, I like to drop the meaty s.strong, since it sets up a lot of things for makoto. You can karakusa (they have to jump to avoid), c.roundhouse if you think they’re gonna jump, c.short (which links with the s.strong and needs to be blocked low), or ex overhead. I’m sure there’s more options depending on your super too. What I like about this option is that it extends the guessing game, while making the other guy feel like he’s being attacked, when in reality, you want him to block it. This forces him to react to the situation, whereas you are dictating it since you know your available options after the s.strong, yet he is forced to think of it right after realizing the s.strong was thrown out.
I like to karakusa on the wakeup simply because it keeps them honest. They have to respect that option at all times, and make them feel like blocking simply is not a viable option.
tiger knee ex-axe kick hits option select wakeup. If they try to low parry/tech throw they get hit by the axe kick, causing them to think that a relatively safe wakeup is no longer viable.
dash back is ok, it keeps you at just inside her c.fierce sweep range which is nice. you can kara-karakusa, sweep the wakeup throw attempt/high parry, or ex overhead. The thing is, the timing at which you dash back is very important. If you fake like you’re gonna crowd the wake up, and dash back at the last moment, you can sweep, or if you’re reactions are good, c.strong xx hayate to hit whiffed throw attempts. if you dash back a little bit earlier than last minute, giving them enough time to recognize the back dash, you can then kara-karakusa. The idea here is that the guy’ll be thinking, ok, I can block safely since she can’t throw me from that range. Bam, kara karakusa and you get free damage. lastly, you can always ex-overhead at max range.
I really don’t like parrying wakeups. I think it’s almost useless except against people you know are gonna wakeup dp/super/anything invincible. IMO, it’s defeatist in every other circumstance, since you end up making yourself the guesser.
That’s about it, makoto is all about the guessing games in neutral situations (wakeup, after s.strong, after hitting a hayate, etc.). But, also, it’s her ability to force you into these situations all the time and one after the other that makes her dangerous.
Oh yeah, to answer the original question, EX axe kick or a meaty s.strong works. To maintain pressure, just start off doing nothing and when you can, sense an opening, dash in. once you’re in, follow up with any of the above, and keep them either grounded, or in hit stun.
