"Don't Forget About Me!" Michelle Chang Thread

Classic Fighting Games Tekken Tag Tournament 2
1

SRK Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Forums Presents:

Spoiler

http://brutalgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Michelle-Chang.jpg

MICHELLE CHANG
[LEFT]Michelle Chang is a character who has not been present as a playable character since the first Tekken Tag Tournament. Chronologically speaking, Michelle has been absent since Tekken 3 seemingly refusing to enter in more Iron Fist Tournaments. Michelle might still linger around… Probably keeping in touch with her adoptive daughter well known as Julia (or Jaycee this time around). After such a long time, Michelle finally makes a comeback in Tekken Tag Tournament 2 with many new tricks up her sleeves… and for the record, Michelle looks really adorable in this game. I personally like the changes. Very nice…! [/LEFT]
[LEFT]As of Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Michelle is a DLC character and is considered to be a particularly strong character. Michelle utilizes Kung Fu as her preferred fighting style… as of now, it would be more advanced than Julia’s. [/LEFT]
[LEFT]Michelle is known for crushing her opponents with her nasty mix-ups game. She is going to have quite a few moves from T6 Julia as well. If you have played Julia many times before, adjusting to Michelle should not be much of an issue, though there are quite a few aspects and changes that must be taken into account while conducting game play with her. Please be sure to utilize her speed - according to a few videos and the talk of other players, Michelle is a very fast! In order to be successful, understand that Michelle’s speed is going to play a pivotal role in her game play. [/LEFT]
[LEFT] [/LEFT]
[LEFT]For Homing Moves: [/LEFT]
[LEFT]b,4 = Michelle performs a painful looking roundhouse kick. A staple for negating side steps. [/LEFT]
[LEFT]tap d, 3 = Another roundhouse. Another useful tool.[/LEFT]
[LEFT] [/LEFT]
[LEFT]For Bounds: [/LEFT]
[LEFT]b, 1 (Back, Left Punch) [/LEFT]
[LEFT]1,1 (Tap down, Left Punch) [/LEFT]
[LEFT]1+2 (Press both punches)[/LEFT]
[LEFT]Tap d, 2,2[/LEFT]
[LEFT] [/LEFT]
[LEFT]Some New/Noteworthy Moves/Techniques:[/LEFT]
[LEFT]f,f 2,1,2 = The third hit of this move will cause a huge launcher… but, you might want to try to use this… nearby a wall. According to what the guys at LevelUpYourGame said, be sure to set your opponent up so that you can combo after this move. [/LEFT]
[LEFT]SS, 1 = Most likely a good tool for poking the opponent and whiff punishing the characters linear moves. [/LEFT]
[LEFT]SS, 2 = Hits low and there seems to be a follow up after it. (Michelle also seems to have multiple low hitting moves as well, so take this into account so that you can win). [/LEFT]
[LEFT]You can also use Crouching dash, 2,1 for baiting counter hits and providing even more mix-ups. [/LEFT]
[LEFT]The key role for Michelle here is speed-based mix-ups and hard hitting attacks. Those of you who are interested in Michelle can post information and insight on her here on the SRK TTT2 thread. [/LEFT]
[LEFT]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/LEFT]
[LEFT]SOURCES:[/LEFT]
[LEFT] [/LEFT]
[LEFT]http://www.tekkenzaibatsu.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=123786[/LEFT]
[LEFT][media=youtube]Mhz7wnUmI2g[/media][/LEFT]
[LEFT][media=youtube]KrM-gxVCksg[/media][/LEFT]

2

Michelle Change - TTT2 - Move set, capabilities, and analysis
PROS:

  • Provides very good CH game
  • Operates extremely well on an open field
  • Very good defensive maneuverability
  • Proficient at whiff punishing
  • Does Intense Wall Damage
  • Solid mix up game
    CONS:
  • Linear/several moves do not track that well
  • Many of her noteworthy moves will have slow recovery
  • Does not have a lot of safe launchers or natural strings outside of CH

— Punishers—
i10, 1, +1, +8, 9
i10, 1,2, -1, +5, 19
i11, 4, -12, -2, 19
i12, d,df1, -6~2, 0, 18
i12, 2~b~1+2, -2, KND, 37
i12~13, ff1, -2, +4, 10
i12~13, ff1,4, -8, KND, 32
i13, b2,3, -14, -3, 34
i13~14, ff3, -14, Launcher, 27
i14, df3, -9, +6, 21
i14, f2,1, -13, -3, 22
i14, ff1+2, -6, KND, 45
i15, uf4,3, -18, Launcher, 23
i16, df2,1(~5), -18, Launcher, 31
i16, d1+2, -12, KND, 36
i19, f3~1, -9, KND, 33
i21, b1+2, -13, Launcher, 31

Reference: Tekkenzaibatsu: http://www.tekkenzaibatsu.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=124799
Notes:
All of these punishers are cut and dry. Normally, I resort to sniffing out counter hits because her CH game is
pretty devious. Hell, some of moves with the use of CH tend to get on the other players nerves, because of the mix-ups
and the follow ups that come afterwards. For some moves with laggy recovery, I use d+1+2 to shove the opponent a good
distance away from me - now would be a good time to either KBD or plan for the next move - Michelle’s mix up game
is fantastic. Her df+4,3 will jail the opponent if the first low kick hits (HOWEVER, the last kick is a high hitting move
so the opponet crouch after guarding against it). To speak about these punishes - I am guaranteed to use the majority of
these, especially if my opponent gets too reckless. It becomes quite easy for Michelle to get some guaranteed juggle
combos and maximize damage accordingly.

-Solo Combos-

uf+4,3 > d,df+1~4,1 > d,df+1~4,1 > b+1 B! > f,f+1, 4 = 66 damage
uf+4,3 > d,df+1~4,1 > d,df+1~4,1 > d,df+1~4,1+2 > f,f+1,4 = 74 damage
(CH) db+2,2 > d,df+1~4,1 > d,df+1~4,1 > b+1 B! > f,f+1,4 = 85 damage
df+2,1 > f,f+1 > d,df+1~4,1 > b+1 B! > d,df+1,2 = 72 damage
b+1+2 > d,df+1~4,1 >d,df+1~4,1 > b+1 B! > f,f+1,4 = 76 damage
(CH) db+2,2 > d,df+1~4,1 > d,df+1~4,1 > d,df+1~4,1+2 B! f,f+1,4 = 91 damage

-Natural Combo Strings-
Strings that are natural combos:
(CH) 1,1,1
(CH) db+2,2 (Launches)
b+2,3
(CH) d,df+1,2
WS+2,2
uf+3,4
1,2
(CH)d+1,3
(Wind Roll)~(CH)3,1
df+2,1
(CH) 3~1, 1
f,f+1,3
(crouching)df+4,3
(CH)f+1+2, 3

3

I WANT TO SEE A QUOTE IN THAT THREAD TITLE! >:(

4

Gotcha! :smiley:

5

:eek: Hate to be picky, but can we get that extremely large (and horrendously cute) image in a spoiler tag, please?

I am playing Michelle actually, so I’ll try to drop some stuff in here when I can.

6

:eek: Alright, let’s get down to business.

So from my limited experience (full disclosure), Michelle is a mostly linear character based on conditioning your opponent and taking advantage of it with beefy launch starters. Her whiff punish game is decent, but her best punishers usually lead into guaranteed damage. She’s got a decent throw game and a few tight oki options. She has some critical moves that are extremely fast and safe, but almost everything else is a risk, so you need to be on point and looking out for sidesteps. What I’m going to discuss here are basic tactics and mixup options; because Michelle is a mixup character, you do not want any of these options to be a regular choice for you, not even her staple approaches and openers. Her staples are more staple in the sense that they’re mostly safe and faster compared to her other stuff, but almost anything she does is steppable and walkable, so please be careful.

Make them stand

[details=Spoiler]Michelle’s offense seems based around dem bowz a.k.a. Party Crasher (f, f+1). This move is fast, safe and mid. It covers good distance and has an NC followup (f, f+1, 4), which is essentially the same thing as having an elbow that does massive damage. Beware, though because the followup is delayable enough to not be NC and the followup is also high, so if your elbow is blocked, you can get launched. You also need to be careful because, like most of Michelle’s great moves, this can be stepped pretty easily if it’s easy to see coming. This move is basically your “stop right there” button, holding your opponent in place while you close in and start setting up your mixup. You want to use this primarily at the beginning of your tactics to force your opponent to stand. Once you’re able to take advantage of that, you will be coming back to this move later on when your conditioning has set in (talking about this later).

The concept of making someone stand might seem odd, especially at the beginning of your tactics, since the first thing people say about Tekken usually is to stand block instead of crouch block. The beginning of most characters’ tactics, however, usually revolves around quick safe highs, i10 jabs and sidesteps. Many people like going for high crush launchers, crouching into WR stuff, and CH setups OR just blocking. Party Crasher stops ALL of that, leaving stepping their only REAL way to get around it since you’re safe on block. With Party Crasher, you want to tell them to stand block because you WANT them to stand block and that if they don’t, they’re going to eat it.
[/details]

Make them crouch

Spoiler

Once you have your opponent standing, you get more use of risky, but more rewarding options. CES (d_u+3+4) is the main mixup stance for Michelle, but you have to be smart about using it. When get aboard the CES Express and start spinning, you have to be able to act fast because she can be jabbed and thrown out of it against a seasoned opponent (there is a way around this, don’t worry), so please experiment with this move until you’re comfortable calling your opponent’s bluff. Your main CES options are: a high (CES 1) that is used in combos but grounded leads to a stun on CH, a mid (CES 2) that knocks away, a mid (CES 3) that has a shoulder followup on CH for those trying to d/b+1 you (CES 3, 1) and a low (CES 4) that is pretty fast and has an NC shoulder followup (CES 4, 1+2). Michelle has more moves out of CES, but these are just the main basics. Michelle isn’t limited to CES stance moves, however; she can also buffer in moves to use once the spin is done. Most notably, she has Mad Axes (d, d/b, b, f+2) which is going to be your mainstay for quick easy damage. Mad Axes is a 45 damage throw that leaves the opponent in standard oki position. Michelle also has some crouch throws (d/f+1+2_d/f+1+3) that you can experiment with. Keep in mind these are throws so they can all be broken if your opponent knows the escape. You can go into CES either by itself or through jabs (1, 2, CES) or the infamous shotgun (d, d/f+1, CES), which is another great fast mid option. When going into CES from an attack, you only have to press 3_4 instead of doing the entire input. The idea here is when you’ve started forcing your opponent to stand, you get a broader range of moves to choose from and the ability to go into CES. With CES, you then take advantage of your opponent standing with Mad Axes and her low option. You can catch mashers with her CH options out of CES as well. Your goal here is to then make your opponent start guessing when you stand block and when to crouch block.

Make them scared

Spoiler

Now that your opponent is deciding which block to use instead of always going into stand block, the true guessing game begins. Outside of CES, Michelle has some interesting options to enhance the guessing game. Here is where you will want to go mostly mid or low with the occasional safe high. If you’re going to use elbows and this point, be careful as the chances of catching hits becomes a little more scarce outside of whiff punishing, so you don’t want to just dial your followup in without being aware of what’s going on. For her basic low game, Michelle has Jamming Kick (d+3) which is quick but slightly negative on hit meaning you give up some momentum unless your opponent is clamming up, War Drum (4~2) which hits low and high and has a NCC followup (4~2, 1) that you can actually make an NC followup if you only hit with the low part of War Drum, Bow and Arrow (FC d/f+4, 3) which is going to be your most annoying NC option to punish someone for standing and it also sets the opponent up for War Drum oki, which is hot. Michelle has some generic lows and double spins (b+3, 4_d+4, d+4) and these you’ll want to pepper in occasionally or use them for CHs. Her FC and WS game is pretty beefy, though. Her basic FC options are Bow and Arrow, which was noted earlier, and a great mid elbow rush (FC d/f+2_WR 2) that goes a little longer than her Party Crasher…as you can see by the notation, you can also do it out of a running state. Her WS options are her launcher (WS 1) and Tequila Sunrise (WS 2), which has an NC followup (WS 2, 1) and a beefy NCC followup (WS 2, 2, 1+2). All of these options presented in this paragraph are mixup options to keep your opponent guessing. The good part here is that if you’re sniffing them out properly, there are tons of moves to use as CH bait to net you beefy damage.

I’m going to take a small break for now because I haven’t even talked about her oki game, her launchers or her sidestep and whiff punish stiff yet UGH she’s so cute~! <3

7

Michelle is a better BR Julia.

So… she’s really good too. Dat wall damage.

8

I disagree about her being a better BR Julia. If anything she is a slightly toned down BR Julia, but with a better throw game. Still an extremely strong character, but BR Julia was better than both Michelle and Jaycee.

9

:eek: I want to dedicate this post to Death Valley Bomb, one of Michelle’s better throws.

DVB is a normal 1+3 throw. The damage is extremely average (37 points, I believe), but the real spice to this throw is the position it leaves your opponent in. At first glance, it looks like your opponent is left perpendicular to Michelle’s axis of movement, but if you look closer, the opponent’s body is face up with their feet tilted away slightly. Technically, this means that the opponent is FUFA (face up feet away, not to be confused with FUPA), but the angle at which they’re lying makes them extremely vulnerable when attempting to get up.

First and foremost, Jamming Kick (d+3) is guaranteed under every situation (EDIT: except back rolls). If they try to move, get up, attack, or do nothing, Jamming Kick is in there with your free damage. The window to snag opponents is extremely tight, so please practice this and plink it if you really have to.

The next option is what most average players will default to when they’re in an awkward position on the ground: neutral wakeup. The technique of getting straight up off a hard knockdown and preparing to block low if necessary is usually a safe bet in an awkward situation. You can still get caught, however, and fortunately for Michelle, this is a pretty rewarding trap for people who try to stand on this throw. When an opponent is getting up from a FUFA position, they will get up facing away from you. This essentially leaves the opponent backturned and vulnerable to guaranteed damage, but just for a short while. The most consistent damage I’ve found is with Mountain Crusher (d/f+4 > 2 > b, f+1); especially good since the string starts with a beefy decent range mid, you can be sure your opponent will be unable to attempt to duck this on reaction.

Back rolling is typically recognized as the worst wakeup option possible, but it still has uses. Back rolls at this distance are actually a little harder to catch with Michelle because of the speed to range ratio of many of her moves. If you want to style, you can use her WR 2+4 or keep it simple with WR 2 to snag back rolls.

I’m still working on trying to find out what tools she really has available for her oki game; Michelle is so potent until people get knocked down, LOL. I’m sure she has tools to use and I just have to find them. I also need to work on her tracking moves, of which there probably aren’t that many. That’ll probably be my next post.

10

Thanks, Yannick! This is very good information you share. I have not posted much here because I can’t really play her yet. But, all of this information will be huge help for fellow Michelle players.
So according the implications, Michelle could probably fit in best if her tag partner had a good oki-game. The options after knock down would probably be to wait for an to actually get up… then either conduct another mix-up input after baiting a counter or laggy move from the opponent, or Tag out quickly for capitalization.
As Yannick provides research information on Michelle’s tracking moves, I’m going to seek out strings that will actually combo and provide good punishing tools. A few noteworthy combos were are already highlighted but I’m going to research her punish strings (that which will register as a combo as they hit) and juggle’s/set ups.

11

I recently witnessed another Michelle player online! I was so pleased to see her up close in order to see what she is really capable of - the fact that it was a 5 round match helped quite a bit, and the costume edit was pretty awesome too! (For once).
Michelle apparently has her own unique item move! This item takes form of an ax which can be used to pressure opponents or for element of surprise (the start-up is ridiculously slow as usually but it is unblockable and covers a lot of range - it appears to work like Devil Jin’s High Pounce special move - Michelle takes her ax, leaps into the air and slashes downwards. This would be useful after a knockdown or wall hit perhaps).

The player was coincidentally playing Jaycee as Michelle’s tag partner. This particular was pretty impressive but did not seem to be too… “combo savvy” but fundamentally speaking - the player knew what he was doing - kept using KBD’s, basic mid/low combo strings, and spacing himself appropriately… Very nice game play. As he played Michelle, he resorting mostly to safe strings or strings that would jail me on contact - this Michelle was playing mostly safe but got caught off guard by several counter hits and throws (I was playing Jin and Yoshimitsu). Her mix-up game was as monstrous as I expected… came in contact with that Jamming Kick at least twice, and Michelle switched out usually after a knockdown… This might because of what Yannick said earlier - Michelle is better if her opponent is standing… This player probably already knew that.
Even though I still won, I was still ecstatic about seeing another Michelle player online. The player himself actually stated that he intends to main her later, but he still needs time to practice.

12

:eek: Frame data GET

http://rbnorway.org/michelle-ttt2-frames/

13

sigh I am still waiting for Michelle to be DLC… So, starting tomorrow, I am going to see if I can gather information based on news articles, videos, and the frame data that Yannick proudly posted. I got a lot of work ahead of me… I want to play Michelle so badly.

14

:eek: Despite how much I love the character, she doesn’t fit my style, but I will still play her from time to time.

You have to be pretty aggressive with her; giving anyone breathing room is a bad choice, but you also have to be incredibly smart with your aggression. Staying on top of people all match while you’re spinning and crushing is generally the gameplan with her, or so it seems. I am better suited to poking, but I will almost certianly never hesitate to bring Michelle out when I know someone is terrible at the matchup.

Also, I made a terrible error earlier when posting about DVB. Jamming Kick (d+3) is not guaranteed when the enemy rolls back. Actually, almost nothing is (in my limited testing so far). Don’t know how I didn’t put that in there.

15

Finally… FINALLY! I got my hands on Michelle! Now I am in business!
I immediately went to the training mode - playing Michelle was exactly what I expected out of her:
It was cool, liberating, and satisfactory. The first thing I immediately noticed is that she had loads of powerful
poking tools from high, mid, ad low hitting moves. That fact is vital for playing an affective Michelle. I tested her multiple times in a coffee shop (Warrior’s Cafe) with with soldiers and my friends. I have not got around to Michelle’s damaging combos but the sample combos did help me get an idea of what she IS capable of. (I played a Michelle/Lee team) Michelle’s f+1,4 works just like Jaycee’s - a very good punish tool and smacking players for utilizing moves with laggy start up. SS+1 is very fast - uf+4,3 is a two hit hop kick that also has a follow (just press 1 after the kicks) - it lows crushes very easily (The Capo players are NOT going to like this at all).
Once again I did not focus on combos very much but I did manage to actually utilize a few… like…
b+3,4 (two low hitting kicks), WS+2,2 (Bound), f+1,4… or…
uf+4,3 > 1,2 > b+1 (Bound) TA! Lee double kicks > f,f,f+2+4
Oh yeah, Michelle has a running power bomb. And, she has A LOT of throws (Michelle seems to just… IGNORE
the opponents weight. Or, she’s just stupidly strong. And, I like that in a women for obvious reasons).
There is definitely going to be more tech and combos to come! Playing Michelle is really fun indeed!!

16

I’ve never really liked Julia in Tekken games before, but Michelle is such a babe I had to give her a chance.
She’s so much fun. :slight_smile:

17

I’ve played Michelle since release, shes really fun to use once you get Shotgun down. Also some of her old stuff is pretty cool…except for wonky ass df3+4…

18

I found some pretty good technology for our babe Michelle! Let us get to work!
First of all… Michelle has a move where she practically Goomba Stomps the opponent. The notation of this move is uf+3+4.
From this move, it might be possible to get cross-up set ups after a combo or Tag Assist. You may also finish this combo
with uf+3+4 because she will bounce off of the opponent. There is a preset distance between where she jumps, so you can
utilize you tag partners TA! moves to set the opponent up for a cross-up. Don’t rely on this move too much,
because it isn’t safe. But, keepthis move in mind in case you got a trick up your sleeve. In fact, use this in moderation.
I find Lee/Violet to be a good tag partner for Michelle. They can whip out some good damage on their opponent easily and
they are both fast. A good TA! filler for someone like Lee when Michelle bounds the opponent would be Lee’s
b+2,4,3. It is far more damaging than his defaul4t TA! filler and it leaves the opponent in mid air long enough for
Michelle to destroy the opponent.
Here are a few ideas I have developed:
Michelle/Lee(Violet):
uf+4,3 > d+1 > WS+2,2 (TA! Lee: b+2,4,3) > Michelle: f,f,f+2+4 or 1+3 = 80 damage.
(CH) db+2,2 > 1,2 > b+1 (TA! Lee: b+2,4,3) > Michelle: f,f,f+2+4 or 1+3 = 96 damage.
b+1+2, (dash forward), b+1 (TA! Lee: b+2,4,3) > Michelle: f,f,f+2+4 or 1+3 = 84 damage.
df+2,1, f,f+1, f,f+1, f,f+1, b+1 (TA! Lee: b+2,4,3) > Michelle: f,f,f+2+4 or 1+3 = 88 damage.
Other good combo finishes would include things like
I know there are better things to utilize as combo finishers, however a running air throw is a guaranteed hard knock down
and it will provide Michelle with some breathing room so if you wish to tag out. If you are towards a wall however,
you could make use of Lee’s… 4,3,4 and then Michelle’s 3,3,d+3 to get good damage on the wall instead.
Another aspect that sticks out about Michelle is that she has a lot of good punishes, which will be provided in post
#2 along with other moves and combos that are worth talking about. Stay in touch for more adventures of Michelle in
TTT2!

19

:eek: A few things.

u/f+3+4 is generally not something you use when Michelle has so many more moves that are so much better. If I actually use it, I use it just like a Goomba Stomp…only when I feel like playing Mario a.k.a. having fun. Unless your opponent is randomly free to moves where you’re flying in the air, it’s not even close to advisable to keep in your mind outside of the most remote circumstances.

At the wall, you either want Mountain Crusher (d/f+4, 2, b, f+1) or Buffalo Charge (1+2, 4, b, f+1+2). Mountain Crusher has more initial range if you can’t dash up in time. You were probably referring to 4, 4, d+4 at the wall which is okay, but she has infinitely more damaging options.

As far as combo finishers, using her air throw is actually oftentimes her most potent finisher if you’ve gone even remotely close to maxing her damage scaling. At lower rates of scaling, Shotgun > 2 (d, d/f+1, 2) does more damage, but this is typical of wall carry combos and not combos meant to deal D.

In terms of actual combos, you want to try to use Shotgun > CES 1+2 (d, d/f+1, CES 1+2) when you can for carry and damage. Using elbows (f, f+1) is good for confirming if you’re having trouble maximizing damage off the juggles, but they scale combos down terribly since they do so little damage on their own. So a sample combo might look like:

d/f+2,1, f+3~1, d/f+3, f,f+1, d,d/f+1, CES 1+2 B! …
or
d,d/f,f+2, f+3~1, 4, d,d/f+1, CES 1+2 B! …

However, since most of Michelle’s finishers don’t leave her in an optimal position, if your oki game is strong enough, you can end a combo in b+1 or Shotgun > CES 1+2 for a spike and try to mix people up with relative safety.

20

I never actually used uf+3+4 in a match - Might intention was to see if there were cross-up scenario’s, which is
apparently not going to be for any good cause anyhow.
I did get more play time with a friend of mine offline (and several others online, one of whom used Michelle as well).
Michelle’s speed definitely plays a major role in her game play - Just make sure you KBD properly because Michelle does
have a backflip in her move set. Michelle’s CH game is also good. In fact, several of her moves outside of CH (like b+1+2)
will cause the opponent to crumple so that Michelle can get a free combo.
As long as your able to utilize Shotgun proficient, you can get some good damage.
df+2,1 is a guaranteed combo on the first hit, tag bufferable, and sends the opponent flying backwards. Very practical,
especially if the opponent gets in too close.
Several ideas for partners -
Yeah… Mishima’s… they are very strong in this game but not exactly an “instant win” situation
for obvious reasons. (According to several tier lists, Kaz, DJ, and Hei are top tier). So you can get away with these
characters as tag partners. It is well understood that Michelle can get a lot of juggle damage, even by herself, so
it should be an easy task to gets good… 90+ damage combos in. Angel also qualifies.
We also have Jaycee and Lee/Violet.
For my next update on post #2, I am going to include practical combos and a few tag partner specific partners (which are
going to concern the likes of Angel and Miharu/Xiaoyu for now).
I will continue to look for tech on Michelle.
And, just so everyone knows - Michelle has a character specific item known as the Tomahawk. The item move itself
has a ABSURD start time, but it does two hits and is unblockable.