EDIT 4/7: I added a section to the match analyses called “SA2 or SA3?”, located after the “Advantage/Disadvantage” section. I’ve updated all the matchup analyses I’ve done thus far with this section.
EDIT: You can view all matchup analyses on Elena’s page on the wiki:
http://www.shoryuken.com/wiki/index.php/Elena_(3S)
Character matchups finished:
3/28: Yun
3/30: Makoto
4/7: Alex, Chun-Li
I know I’m not the only person who plays a lot of Elena…I’d like people to contribute to matchups discussion if at all possible…I’m using NKI’s method of organizing matchup data, just cos I think it’s effective.
I’m gonna start this one off with Yun, since I think I have the most practice with this matchup (and believe me, I’m very grateful for that).
Vs. Yun:
Advantage/Disadvantage: Arcadia says that Yun wins this one 7/3, but perhaps because I’m biased, I’m gonna say this one is more 6.5/3.5. The match is a little more even, perhaps even tilted in Elena’s favor, until Yun gets Genei-Jin.
SA2 or SA3?
This could go either way. In this match, Elena will always be aggressive, and can easily punish Yun without much meter. In this case, SA2 is a great asset because you can deal a crapload of damage to Yun in the middle of your rushdown, or use it to counter Yun’s SA3. On the other hand, when Yun begins to rush you down via SA3 or corner traps, it can be very easy to make opportunities for SA3, and gives Elena the option to play this match like an Attrition war. Personally, I prefer SA3, because I play this match with the mindset of “don’t lose” rather than “win first.” (as opposed to winning second, I know couldn’t think of a better choice of words.)
Yun’s Game: Without meter, Yun is gonna try his best to trick you out with divekicks until he gets Genei-Jin - even better if he can get Elena cornered, because its very hard for Elena to deal with the divekicks in the corner. Once he gets Genei-Jin, he can do what he normally does.
Elena’s Game:
Fighting Yun is a three part game: Before SA3 (or, Not in the corner), SA3, and Post-SA3 (or, In the corner).
- Before Yun has SA3 - you’re going to want to make Yun’s life hell. The first step to doing this is to check out what Yun does…
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If Yun stays on the ground, take to the air on him, because he doesn’t have a lot of great anti-airs that are going to stop you; you could also fish for a Slide Kick knockdown, but I don’t like trying this on Yun very often, because most Yun players WON’T stay on the ground. You’re gonna want to try and get a knockdown, and deal as much damage as you can from that.
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If Yun takes to the air, you’re going to want to stay far back enough to use B+Hk to hit his divekicks. If you’re too close (i.e if Yun hits you higher up), he’ll beat B+Hk clean; however, if you’re far enough back, you can beat his divekicks clean. If he does get really close, you can switch to using neutral J.Hp to hit him right out of the air.
Either way, the main idea is to create as large of a damage buffer as you can before Yun goes Genei-Jin on your ass.
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SA3 - When Yun is about to get SA3, you need to try your damndest to keep him out - you want Yun to try and activate SA3 cold-turkey (rather than from a blocked combo). This might sound obvious enough, but Elena can keep Yun out surprisingly well in these circumstances. Remember - Elena can stop divekicks and shoulder tackles pretty easily with her B+Hk. Not much can beat the lunge punch, but you can punish a blocked Lunge Punch with a throw. Just run away as much as you can without jumping!
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Post SA3 - Whether you took a lot of damage or not, you’re probably in the corner. The only thing Elena wants to focus on here is getting OUT of the corner. Yun can control the space in front of him very well in the air, and there’s not much Elena can do about it from point blank. Your best bet when you’re in the corner is to either dash under Yun at some point, parry a divekick and throw him, or reversal EX Scratch Wheel him if he doesn’t try and divekick you too much. You could also use an ocassional Neutral J.Hp or J.Mp -> J.Hp, but I wouldn’t do this too often.
Anti-DiveKicks:
There’s not much you CAN do from close up except parry…it can be risky, because Yun can use his divekicks to crossup, so you’ll have to pay close attention.
From far back, there’s one very clear answer: B+Hk. If you’re far enough back to hit him with this move, it will never trade - you will always win this transaction. Learn the spacing.
Anti-SA3:
Ohhhh boy. So, if Yun activates SA3 cold turkey, there’s a lot Elena can do:
- For starters, if you use SA2 with Elena, you can beat out pretty much anything Yun does after he activates Genei-Jin; hell, if you’re close enough, you can hit him with SA2 before he even recovers from the activation frames! The only thing that will stop SA2 is a Lunge Punch, so far as I know.
- You can stuff his attempts to close the gap via divekicks with B+Hk very easily
- You can beat his Shoulder Tackle attempts with EX Scratch Wheel or B+Hk
- You can easily punish blocked Lunge Punches with a throw
- If Yun isn’t doing any of these, you can just walk backwards until he tries one.
If he tries to activate off a combo, there’s much less you can do, but here’s a few things to try:
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If your opponent likes to activate off a target combo (Lp -> Lk -> Mp, or Lp -> Lk -> Mp XX Shoulder Tackle), you can learn to red parry the last hit. If your opponent uses any version of Shoulder Tackle except for the jab version, I believe it won’t combo, so parrying that could be very easy. From there, you can easily reverse him right away with EX Scratch Wheel and get far away.
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If SA3 is activated, and you’re being forced to block a bunch of stuff, pay close attention to the times when Yun walks towards you, because he’s either going for a throw, or is feinting a throw attempt. If you think he’s going for the throw, B+Hk his ass, then go back to turtling. If you think he’s gonna feint, get up immediately and kara-throw him, then either run away by dashing back, or you try and use an EX Rhino Horn to cross over him if you fear getting cornered.
Summary:
- Beat the crap out of Yun until he gets SA3
- Force him to do something dumb with SA3, or block like there’s no tommorow
- When cornered, get OUT of the corner and repeat step one until Yun gets SA3 again.
Misc Notes:
- During Genei-Jin, the popular Crossup Throw XX Rising Kicks (sorry Yun players, I don’t know the names of the moves!) does not work on Elena, so, when fighting inexperienced Yun players, it might very well be a GOOD tactic to get caught by the throw.