Beam assists
Airthrows
Jumpback Airthrow OS
I think the best part about it is still being able to attack/use skills while invisible. Because if someone’s blocking your normal attacks you can go right into the S for free unless they pushblock you. If you do get hit, X-23’s location is revealed so long as she’s in hitstun. It’s funny when people wind up punishing her for mashing S but still wind up getting hit by the S because their combo didn’t run the timer out lol.
Personally I dont think Dirt Nap/Silent Kill lasts long enough to warrant just like using it from a distance and then just hoping the opponent doesn’t spam projectiles or runaway from you to burn out the invisibility. You can use it during block strings off of hard knockdowns or resets to make it more probable that it will land. Right now the best set up seems to be using it against an incoming character after the last one was KO’d which seems to be a pretty much inescapable set up that leads to another super. This works well against characters like Phoenix who have slow start up on all of their specials and you’re generally not able to attack or move for a set of frames as you come in where it’s easy for X23 to turn on Silent Kill and meaty S them into 400k.
The nice thing about this also is that if Phoenix turns into Dark Phoenix she takes an extra 20 percent damage whenever she’s hit. Which means normally Dirt Nap only does 400k which only almost kills regular Phoenix but if she turns into D.Phoenix people usually store her away until the other 2 characters are dead. When you kill the other 2 and D.Phoenix comes out she is locked into a situation where she pretty much has to eat Dirt Nap. The big issue is that with the 20 percent damage differential Dirt Nap will end up doing 480k to D.Phoenix which will one shot kill her as soon as she gets on the screen.
On the topic of X23’s dirtnap.
I’ve actually been air grabbed right out of talon dive M when I was doing it on a character coming in, preventing me from linking it to dirt nap.
Am I doing the setup wrong or is it really not as guaranteed as I thought?
Well I would imagine M talon attack is easily air thrown any way so if you’re doing some set up where you kill them from halfway across the screen then try to force them into a block stun then you might just be doing too much work. You’re better off just killing them then wave dashing as close as possible to them and when you know the next characters is going to come in just jump up and start mashing on S.
If you’re using dirtnap outside of an assist lock, or neckslicer, you’re asking to get raped.
None of her approaches (talons, slicers, feints) are safe. The only thing that’s Kind of safe besides wavedashing, is l.talon. Stop forming bad habits because shitty players allow you to get away with it.
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this is a proper dirtnap set up.
yeah, that’s one of the only ways I use dirt nap just insert pendulum assist to replace dante’s
but I mean if people want to use it to do invisible combos or whatever application they have
I won’t try to discourage them from it
Wow, people really just mash cr.l? Granted, my win loss in ranked is TERRIBLE and I can’t do long combos to save my life, but even I’ve never thought of using such a…well…lame strategy! (not gonna start now either) 
I haven’t really used her air game too much either, mostly ground stuff and lvl 3 X factor.
I mean this in the best way possible, but your outlook is the reason your win/loss is as bad as you say. Mashing cr.L is called hit-confirming, which is the easiest way to start a combo, and if you know your opponent is about to do it you can usually punish them for it (or at the very least, block it). The air game is absolutely necessary for MVC3, if you have no air game then you are going to get blown up. It’s not SSF4, jumping is encouraged, that’s why you can block in air. 
Just keep at it, and watch what the top players do. Obviously you won’t be doing it overnight, but you can pick things up here and there and eventually you’ll be better.
I’m being completely honest when I say that holding d/b > x-23. Unless of course you’re Sent or someone that get’s instant overheaded easily.
Only thing you would have to worry about after that is her M mirage feint.
If she’s on point it’s likely that she’s there to initiate DHC trick, in that case kill her as soon as you tag her, which shouldn’t be too difficult since she’s pretty squishy.
That’s probably the best advice for fighting any average X23 online. If they don’t know how to utilize her left right dive mix ups, frame trap with her MFC’s or set up command grabs with assists you can pretty much get on your Balrog SFIV shit and deal with most of what she’s trying to hit you with. Her M mirage feint doesn’t even work without specific setups from an assist since it doesn’t create a physical attack at the end like Wolverine.
I’m not sure what left right dive mix ups are. But since it’s safe to say they’re in the air she can get air thrown for free. Air throws are really dumb in this game btw. The hit box for them is so huge and most of the popular (top tier) characters get huge ass damage off them. And x-23 needs to be at the right height for her ankle slash to be able to otg in time.
Her frame traps ARE effective but like I was telling the guy, hold down back. You can’t get hit if you aren’t pressing buttons. But to add in my .02 about frame traps I feel doing delayed s.L’s or c.L’s are far more effective than MFC’s. Mostly because her L’s have to be push blocked almost instantly, if they push block a second late an attack comes out and that’s where you get your opening.
At that point (if she doesn’t want to get airthrown) for mix ups all she has to rely on is M mirage and command grab + assist of course. Both of which are easy to see.
Now the problem that most people have playing against x-23 is that she’s just so damn fast and you want to get her off of you so you push block which leads to counter hit set ups or try to attack back.
In my experience x-23’s hardest match up would have to be mag/tron.
Nah X23 has harder matchups than Magneto with Tron assist. Zero with Tron assist or any assist period is easily more difficult. X23 beats Magneto’s pokes pretty free once she gets in and with an assist and the fastest wave dash in the game she has plenty of time to get in. If she forces Magneto to block and he doesn’t get Tron out it’s pretty over. She can’t do anything about Zero other than pray he whiffs something.
A good X23 you dont really want to just sit on down back especially with the new uncross up stuff that doesn’t push her away at all even if you happen to push block at all. If you sit on down back against the uncross up shit you will get hit because you have to somehow see 3 different types of cross ups. You have to stand up to protect yourself from a three way cross up as long as you’re mid screen which sets you up for lows. If you’re in the corner where it doesn’t work she can still M feint behind you and then set it up. Instant talon dives are almost immune to push block and will catch any attempt to counter hit easily.
Most of the stuff that X23 uses to blow up low block and push block requires some type of execution so that’s why you won’t see it much online. She has the most anti advance guard tools of probably any one in the game it’s just no one uses them. She has even more of an emphasis on left right mix ups than Wolverine it just requires more work than doing a special move and calling assist.
Even if you just wanna stick to basic shit Tatsu was one of the original adopters of just 1 frame throwing people who sit on block too long. Anytime X23 ground throws you she sets you up for big mix ups including wave dash left rights which are impossible to react to and meaty H feint or command grabs.
Explain these uncross ups and 3 way cross ups. I’d love to implement them to my game :).
But anyways as far as why I feel Mag/Tron is her hardest match up.
It’s very very very very hard to get in. L disruptors control the ground too well, and they blow up any assist you may have to cover you. If you take to the sky because her jump is so floaty he can just run back to the corner again, or shockwave. Regardless if x-23 blocks or gets hit by the shockwave she ends up back on the other side of the screen again. Add in Tron and it’s a hell of a task to get in. And if he touches you? Dead.
Yeah if he has a lot of meter shockwave is an issue but nothing insurmountable. Unless X23 has no health she can take the chip and unless they have a safe counter or activation super to cancel into you can bait the shockwave and then Weapon X through it if need to since it has 60 frames of invince. On my team of Dante/X23/Doom, Dante is usually out first fighting Magneto any ways and he can fight him without an issue. If I have to get X23 in to fight Magneto, Doom’s beam has more durability than Magneto’s disruptah and can blow up all 3 drones if he’s using Sent drones to cover. The way I have my team set up if Dante is alive and I touch Magneto…DHC glitch starts up and he’s gone. If Dante is dead then I’m most likely going to take advantage of X23’s level 2 XF at that point and then kill him off or DHC into Doom’s sphere flame level 1 super which does 600+k by itself in level 2 XF. I’ll probably end up doing more straight level 2 XF activation so I can set up Dirt Nap easier with more meter on the next opponent.
Doom beam plus TK M talon attacks do enough to get me in against Magneto most of the time. X23’s talon dive/attack game works well at crossing up the Tron assist to get around it and her c.H can hit under the fire. If he rushes you down with the assist obviously it’s another story but if he’s just using it defensively it’s not that big of a deal. Haggar assist is more problems for X23 than Tron assist since dives/attacks wont work at all against Haggar. I always end up getting in against Magneto somehow. I think Trish is arguably harder to get in on than Magneto. Her stupid ass cancellable dive kick plus traps will keep your offense rather predictable for her. If you can get in against Magneto literally all he has at that point is shockwave or assist call and he’s most likely going to have to burn another meter to not die or you can easily Weapon X through it provided you already landed on the ground when he started it. All you need is a strong projectile assist that will shoot you in through his fireball game and you’re good.
You’ll eventually find out that Zero is her worst matchup. Even when you get in there’s almost nothing you can do but pray he does something wrong. Unlike Magneto every single one of his normals will beat any of yours and his charged buster shot makes it so even if you catch him whiffing something he can cover it up with a move that will hard knockdown and set you up for death combos any ways. He’s just retarded. I’d rather fight a character that takes a bit of work to get in on but you can actually do stuff once you get in. Zero even without Tron assist…very little you can do that doesn’t revolve around getting lucky. I feel people having trouble with Magneto is more due to lack of knowing how to get in than the actual matchup. Actually fighting him is not that difficult once you get the right assists to get you in.
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Check out my tutorial thread to see the entire series of videos. Should find some other things that help your game also.
See the thing about Mag’s disruptor vs assists that have higher durability is that his disruptor comes out waaaaaaaaaaay quicker. A Magneto just throwing out disruptors will eat out any assist as soon as they pop out on the screen. M talon doesn’t work too well across the screen because the hit box ends like a little less than 3/4’s of the way through. I’ve gotten thrown out of it many times to the point where I only do it if I super jump. Against Mag in this case if I super jump and do that he can just wave dash under me to the other wall, and start with his disruptor bs again.
I used to main a x23/sent/phoenix team. It was largely based around building meter for Phoenix until Sent was nerfed. By the time he was nerfed though DHC trick had been out so I stuck with the team. Fighting against the team it was pretty gay to die as soon as you got touched, and if your characters didn’t die right away you had to deal with DP.
BUT…
Two of the players I play against most are Genghis and Chris King. Genghis runs Mag/Dante/Task and Chris Mag/Sent/Tron. I would do VERY well against them until they started figuring out that running away is really effective against x23. x23/sent absolutely CANNOT do anything against a turtling Magneto throwing out disruptors all day. It eats up drones, keeps x23 from advancing on the ground, and builds meter for him anytime it hits or is blocked.
So I switched to Wolv/x23/akuma. Works wonders against Magneto. burdurker slash goes through/around disruptors. Also full wolvie/akuma combo dhc to x23 kills magneto. Which then leaves x23 with one bar and in the corner to mix up the incoming character (who if gets hit dies).
I also use Wolv against Zero too. He can catch zero in the air better.
But this is an anti x23 thread so lets get back to that :).
The uncross up stuff is interesting but still loses to d/b because of air throw. As soon as she leaves the ground she can get air thrown, even if it’s instant L talon. And if it’s against characters that get full combo after air throw, she’s dead.
I’d also like to add that a task/tron holding u/b all day is also a bitch to deal with for x23. his airthrow is too good, and his j.H and j.S come down at angles that make it hard for x23 to wavedash under.
And when I say d/b or u/b all day it’s not literally the entire match. It’s to the point where it forces her to unsafe options and open her up for your attacks.
Yeah X23 is one of those characters where you basically need ANOTHER projectile assist on top of drones to get in. Otherwise you’re forced to just kinda wave dash your way in. Her only other real desperate way to get in is to call Sent drones then jump forward in the air and do H talon attack to get around them and in. I’m not really sure why people think drones does anything for X23 other than set up rushdown for her. It’s a really shit assist for helping you get in unless you already have a projectile yourself or some wave/air dash game. You need to have a strong beam or cold star covering your approach or just any type of really cheap projectile.
Another tactic I’ve been using a lot against Magneto if you’re afraid of the M talon attacks getting air thrown is to use her wall jump to help you get in. If Magneto is turtling with the disruptahs and sent drones whenever you wall jump off the wall and then jump forward you travel a great distance across the screen very quickly. What this also does is force the camera closer to Magneto so you can move in on him more easily. Keep wall jumping off the wall as he keeps moving backwards till he moves himself into the corner. Then he has to do something now that his back is to the corner and one wall jump off the wall into L talon attack will definitely get you in on the recovery of another one of his disruptahs. If they keep turtling against your wall dives the camera will push them into the corner eventually. They have to move forward at you so they can push the “wall” away from you to keep you from utilizing it for a short time so they can zone again.
You must play against some ballsy ass players if they’re trying to reaction air throw your instant dives. That shit would get blown up quick by X23’s L attack, MFC or ground throw pressure. Your block string game has to be on some real predictable shit to get reaction air thrown out of that shit. They’re better off using s.L as anti air for it and that will also get blown up by block strings. You dont wanna play around with that uncross up shit with an X23 that has a strong block string game unless you like getting hit. Not worth the risk. Once X23 gets in they should have no reason to do anything offensive. Something is wrong with your offense if they can get away with offense. Once you get in if they dont have Tron/Haggar that should be it for them pressing buttons. It’s not really surprising I guess since no one’s block string game with X23 is really on that higher level yet.
Task running up back plus assist is annoying for a lot of the cast really. It’s just something you’ll have to sit and be patient for and bait the assist. You can still easily air throw him out of abuse of it and force him to the ground or turn on XF if you have XF2/3 and get rid of him. If he hasn’t already gone for the j.H/S with the jump back you can s.H MFC anti air him pretty easily also.
It’s not that they’re reacting to instant dive kicks (which aren’t really instant) they “react” to jumps. They’re not using offense to get away from my offense, they’re holding u/b and pressing H. The range on air throws in this game is so stupid. The only way to beat it is to tech it. The angles that x23’s air attacks hit only work if she’s above the opponent, at the same level or below she gets thrown. After xfactor and dhc trick, air throws are the next dumbest thing in this game, they’re way too lenient.
When it comes to frames the MFC stuff is REALLY good (+12???) but the problem is any continuation after L gets pushblocked way too easy. At most I do L…wait…L. Or L and then instant divekick.
I’ll see if I can get some matches recorded of me somehow this week. If not The Box Arena is throwing a tourney this Friday that will be streamed, and if I do get streamed you can see it there. Though I’ll probably be using Doom teams early on.
Well that’s the thing. There’s no way they can be reacting to you doing instant dives. The un cross up you have to jump a tad over them first but you can always fake that with one that doesn’t uncross straight in front of them which you can do so ridiculously low to the ground that there’s no visual jump to see to reaction s.L or air throw. They have to do it basically on a guess. With improved block string pressure the last thing they’re going to be trying to doing is reaction air throw you out of shit that will blow up their jump start up frames. I would be shit scared to air throw an X23 with a strong block string game plus the instant dives. If I try to go for an air throw and she is pressing strings i’m gonna get blown up out of my pre jump frames and eat a combo.
Holding down forward during the instant talon dives will OS throw break any throw attempt any way. They’d have to have eyes of god to do what you’re talking about with any consistency since there’s almost no way to see the start up of an instant dive.
I’d like to see your play though and see what you’re doing.