Discuss your thoughts and tactics for this match up here -
Birdie’s sweep is very hard to deal with in this match-up. We can’t punish it on block from max range and we can’t really whiff punish it with sweep. So I like to use f mk for that. be careful though because f mk still whiffs from birdie’s max sweep range.
His slide is hard to deal with because you can’t punish it on block from most ranges, but stay mobile and you can whiff punish it with sweep. If you are in its effective range and you think it’s coming then you can neutral jump to whiff punish it with jmk.
For the armoured shoulder charge, anytime you block it you should do cr mp boom. This will punish it from most ranges and if not it should be blocked and you’re at advantage. I don’t think you can punish it from max range but you can whiff punish it, so again - keep moving.
Apart from whiff punishing, avoid using sweep as much as possible. On block Birdie can full combo punish from any range (I think). If they like to walk back then sweep is an option, but cr mp or cr mp>fmp might be better.
If you see the can or banana(they shouldn’t be using the banana though), I believe you can react with ex boom for a punish. Otherwise lp or hp boom depending on the range, so that they can’t get a good setup from it.
Flash kick is throw immune so if you have down charge it’s usually easier to react to the jumping throws with that. If you don’t have down charge then neutral jump is the way to go.
St mk doesn’t seem to be that effective as an anti-air, but df hk is if you can see it coming. Birdie’s jump arc is tiny so you when zoning will have to use f hp as an anti-air more often. Because of his tiny jump arc you should also be able to get a lot more v skill booms out.
f mk and b mk are very good in this match up, b hp is solid too. st hk is nice.
Remember that Birdie has no reversal except super, so make sure you pressure on wake-up. He also doesn’t have an anti-air special. so j hk is a good option.
I think this match is slightly in guile’s favour but not by much, just play patiently and keep your distance.
If you v skill within Birdie’s chain range then he can use the chain to punish the v skill boom. If you block the chain you get nothing unless you’re close, so stick to regular booms if you are within his chain range. When you aren’t in range of the chain, there isn’t a whole lot he can do about it, so go nuts with the v skill booms.
Be careful of the ex chain as you follow a boom in. It’s quite fast and it destroys all projectiles in range plus it can catch you mid-jump too.
Punishing EX Bull Head: