Huge ass post incoming.
Close/Far LP - Area from neck and above is invincible against air attacks
Pretty nice buff, gives Asuka a reliable normal AA (as if she needed one anyway), 3f st.lp with a nice hitbox for AAing, we’ll be using this a lot I reckon and possibly juggle to st.mk xx falling rain or st.hk xx oni > cr.hk if we can hit them high enough, sick buff.
Close/Far MP - Reduced frames by 7(+6F on hit/+2F on block)
This is really really good, it’s -1 on hit and -5 on block now, it’ll give Asuka a proper frame trap normal without resorting to her AC bait strings, on CH, we can link st.mk > cr.mp, we can combo on hit and we can pressure on block, this is a really really good buff. Really helps out with her pressure and reduces one of her flaws by having to resort to strings to stay in.
Close/Far HP - Counter hit causes crumple
Hmmm ok, maybe we can find some use for this I guess, nice to have.
Close/Far HK - Startup 11F->9F
Would make the st.hk a reliable AA from further ranges, the hitbox on it is pretty nice to AA with and it being faster is cool, also makes her BnB easier (pfft)
Reduced frames by 4(0F on hit/-5F on block)
Don’t really see a use for this with st.hk, don’t really use this outside combos or AA
Far LK - Hurt box reduced
Sweet, I use this as a way to get in with st.lk > st.mk > cr.mp chain, should be useful.
** cr. LK - Startup 5F->4F**
Pretty nice, gives her a faster low option, and more useful in frame traps.
cr. MP - Reduced frames by 4(+7 on hit/+3F on block)
Basically what I said about st.mp above, also sick buff.
cr. MK - Now +1F on hit
Up from -4 on hit, we use this to make reversals whiff and to tripguard AA, nice to have it at + on hit I guess.
Hurtbox after 1F adjusted so it is lower
LOOOOOOOOOL, this move is already so gdlk because it goes low, we should have more success with tripguarding and making reversals whiff. Pretty good buff.
cr. HP - Startup 9F->7F
Can be canceled
Blowback on hit same as heavy attacks
Hurt box reduced
Damage 90->80
This is a nice buff, we can use cr.hp to fish for CH since it crumples on CH, and we can charge oni a little to confirm whether it CH’ed or not and dash in for a combo on hit or dash in/out on block. Not sure what blowback means, I assume it means it causes a slip on CH, damage nerf is w/e
cr. HK - Hit box enlarged
** Damage 90->75**
Hit box buff is nice, we can use this to whiff punish now although it’s a tad slow for that purpose but still something, damage nerf is a bit sad since this is our ender for the combos, I think this will put emphasis on using falling rain combos for oki.
j. HK - Damage 60+40(100)->60+60(120)
Adds damage to our usual BnB, grand.
** Dragon Wheel Kick - No longer will only do 1 hit sometimes**
1~9F are invincible against air attacks
This is fucking amazing, Dragon Wheel Kick is her f+lk, now that it’s a reliable AA, we will never trade with this move anymore, it fucking crushes jumpins and we get like 300-400 damage off this, this is her best buff
Whiplash to Toe Kick - Hit box enlarged
** Reduced block stun by 2F (+1F on block)**
** Increased forward movement distance**
I don’t really use this move a lot, but the distance buff is nice and the hitbox fix was needed, sometimes the st.mk followup will whiff for a punish, blockstun nerf is a bummer but it’s pretty w/e
Raging Storm - Increased push back on block
** Reduced block stun by 6F (-4F on block)**
This is the followup move to her exocrisor, depending on how good the pushback on block is, we could use this as a safe move to chip, but I don’t really see any reason to use this over oni to chip. I guess if we mess up on reading a fireball, we’ll be safer 
** Tsuwabuki - Reduced hit stun by 2F(+5 on hit)**
NO MORE UNPLINKABLE 1f LINKS ANYMORE, we can connect so much more shit now with meaty f+mp, st.mp will be a lot more reliable now, really sick buff, I’m thinking meaty f+mp into st.mp into st.mp > st.lk xx hk upkicks
Thunder Fall Kick - Damage 40+40(80)->60+6(120)
LOL ok, this is her f+hk overhead, 40 extra damage, thank you very much!
Leg Cutter 2nd Hit - Increased block stun by 6F (-6 on block)
Reduced push back on block
Now we were bound to get a nerf somewhere :/, this is one of her main ways to get in, df+hk xx 2 cadc’ed will leave her at 0 on block and with a 3f st.lp, that’s pretty good. Now it’s not looking like a reliable way of getting in but compared to all the buffs she got, we had to get a nerf somewhere.
Double Lift Kicks - Damage 20+40(60)->30+40(70)
More damage in our BnB, thanks!
Falling Rain - Damage 40+40(80)->70×2(140)
This is probably one of my favourite buffs, we had to choose if we wanted oki with falling rain or damage with oni in our BnBs, but now we can get BOTH with st.mk xx falling rain after j.hk in BnB, this is a really useful buff, our BnBs are going to be changed, we should be going for this ender instead of oni (unless we want to tag cancel) because oni damage got nerfed.
EX Falling Rain - Damage 60+60(120)->90×2(180)
More damage on one of the best AAs in the game in terms of reliability, but we have f+lk now so this becomes less useful, but still useful for this with weird jumpins that’s tricky to AA with f+lk, I think we could get like 200 damage with cr.hk ender, but now we’ll probably get something like 230-240 (guessing).
Sweep Throw - Damage 170->200
This doesn’t affect me at all, I never use the normal version of sweep throw, it’s pretty ass but I guess ok thanks for damage.
EX Sweep Throw - Damage 170->200
This is great for me, I use ex sweep throw a lot, the situation where I use this move to kill someone and they end up with a sliver of health always happens, so damage buff is great!
** Onikubigari - Damage 90->80**
This is w/e, we’re gonna be ending combos in falling rain anyway.
** EX Double Lift Kicks - Damage 60+50(110)->60×2(120)**
Full invincibility extended to 12th frame
Pretty damn good buff, Asuka’s reversal was always susceptible to trades/stuffs but now this is non-existant, it’s fully invincible on startup and one active frame, damage increase is nice too.
Hyakujitsuko - Reduced block stun by 3(-4 on block)
This kinda sucks, this was one of her main ways to get in, she could do st.lk > st.mk > cr.mp and be in there face at -1, but she had a 3f st.lp so it was a good frame trap on most characters without 3f normals, this is an ass nerf.
** Heron Dance - Can be canceled**
** Heron Dance - Hurt box reduced**
** Hit box enlarged**
Don’t really see a use for this, but I’m sure we’ll find something with this.
Cloud Taste - Damage 120->150
** White Mountain - Damage 120->150**
OMG, max damage throws, this will make her now better frame traps even more scary.
Asuka is going to be so much stronger, she’s going to rely less on her strings thanks to her normal advantage buffs, and everyone’s meter build nerf is an indirect buff to her, they’re going to have less meter to AC and Asuka will be able to cling onto people longer, she got meter buffs on a lot of her special moves, so she’s going to have a lot more meter to play with now.
Special move meter gain:
• Exorcisor: whiff 10->15
• Mist Palm Thrust: whiff 5->10/On hit 10->25
• Raging Storm: whiff 5->10/On hit 5+5(10)->15×2(30)
• Attack Reversal: whiff 15->20/On hit 40->80
• Falling Rain: whiff 15->20/On hit 20+20(40)->30×2(60)
• Sweep Throw: whiff 15->30/On hit 60->90
• Onikubigari: whiff 15->0/On hit 40->50
Pretty nice buffs, she didn’t really need meter at all, even less now with f+lk AA buff (less reliant on ex falling rain), counter, falling rain and oni meter buffs are pretty sick.
Asuka is looking to be really strong in this version, her main flaw of being AC bait is less of a problem now because of her normals advantage buffs, so we can avoid using strings to stay in, and people are going to have less meter in general meaning Asuka is going to stay in on people for longer. Her neutral game is slightly improved with buffs to her AA and normal buffs, but it’s still going to be pretty bad but we get so much more reward off that single hit when Asuka gets in.
All the blood and sweat and tears we had using her in the first few months are going to work out now, she’s going to be really strong in 2013 and all our work is going to pay off.
