Advantaged: Bison, Sim
Even: Cammy, FANG, Guile, Juri, Karin, Laura, Nash, Rashid, Ryu, Vega, Urien
Slight Disadvantage: everyone else
Alex (4.5 - 5.5): Can be tough match for Ibuki. I don’t think it’s bad enough to be 4 6 for her yet as she can really tear him apart if he falls on his back and he doesn’t have a real threatening low game to not make it a good idea to stand block vs him. Command grab game is also rather predictable compared to a Laura or Mika and he has to condition you more with things like f+HP (which you can V Reversal) to set up. Not much need to jump at him since he will easily just s.LP your terrible air buttons and you get put in 50/50 command grab set up. If you are going to jump you better really mix it up with kunais to bait something. c.MP can be tough for her to poke at, but if he’s abusing it you can throw V Skill back at him to knock him back and build meter for bombs. f+HK of course is really important in this match. Don’t throw too many kunais or reload too often if he’s charging as he has good charge special punish options.
Balrog (4.5 - 5.5) Can be another struggle match for Ibuki once he gets started as he has a lot of really good buttons like s.HP, s.HK and c.MP that are longer than most of her buttons. V Skill is not quite as effective vs him as it is vs Alex as he can turn his dash punches into V Skills which pass through projectiles. He keeps you pretty honest in neutral once he has meter as he has a lot of safe fast options that force you to block low immediately or block high (if you don’t stop his overhead with a jab first). His V Trigger is also pretty scary and can turn the match completely back around for him. The idea in this match is just to get started first and keep him pressure or on his back so he’ll be forced to burn V Reversal. If you can force Rog to burn V Reversal then you’ll have a leg up in the match and may not have to deal with his V Trigger as quickly if at all.
Birdie (4.5 - 5.5) Interesting matchup. This initially seems tough for Ibuki because of his long buttons and being able to charge the EX headbutts when has meter, but once you learn spaces to use s.HK, f+HK and V Skill in the mid range you can keep him a bit more honest. Just have to be ready to anti air him if he resorts to jumping as his j.MP can be annoying to deal with if he gets too close. The main thing I think Ibuki really does in this matchup is shut down use of his V Skill. His V Skill is generally what makes him harder to approach and sets up stronger command grab/command dive setups. As long as you have a kunai he should never be able to use a banana or can as you can reaction stuff the start up with a HP kunai and have time to reload that kunai before he can do much. This forces him to play more straightforward and allows you to move in to rush him down easier. Other than his decent throw range you should be able bully him with pressure once you get close to him. Use meaty b+MP since its two hits to stop his armored wake ups.
** Cammy ** (5-5) I think this is pretty even. You both have low health and she has even lower stun so it definitely behooves you to rush her down after landing a LP raida combo or f+HK crush counter. Anti airing her is a bit difficult since she has a dive kick, but late s.HK’s or b+MP’s usually do a decent job with the s.HK’s having crush counter potential. Once you can find a way to keep her on the ground then its just continue use of f+HK and V Skill to build bomb gauge and keep her honest with her pokes. If you can move close enough then you can try to counter poke with c.MP and start a combo. If you get to a bad situation where she’s pressuring you with frame traps or V Trigger don’t be afraid to V Reversal as it will save you taking more damage than you need to.
Don’t bother jumping at her unless you’re going to EX kunai as her AA game is too strong. Jump in at her when she has super and you will probably die. Her V Reversal is short ranged and unsafe on block (minus 8) if you remember to switch and block the other way. Remember to bait her DP as you pressure her as that’s a free crush counter into heavy damage and most likely very close to stun. If you end up blocking her V Skill and your stun is high enough make sure you V Reversal it so you don’t deal with a frame trap that could be deadly.
** Chun ** (4.5 - 5.5) This will be a bit of disadvantage I think. Better buttons, EX SBK covers most of her normal left/right mix up shenanigans and slide into V Trigger can prove to be dangerous with Ibuki’s lower health. Luckily Chun’s jump is pretty bad so she’ll only really be jumping at you with IALL and her regular jump ins should be pretty easy to AA. You’ll have to get a bit more crafty with your bomb setups as the Sako dash stuff will just get EX SBK’s if they ready you’re going to go for it.
** Dhalsim ** (6-4) I’ve explained it before, just comes down to f+HK dealing with a lot of his buttons, kazekiri does a good jump preemptively stuffing some of his air options and MK command dash heavily threatens his regular fireball which he needs to control space and set up offense safely. Dhalsim always has trouble vs characters that can cover the horizontal extremely fast and pretty much all of the DLC characters except Guile are good at that. Jab or s.HK any abuse of offensive teleports. If you knock him down with a raida for meaty expect him to try to teleport on wake up sometimes. It will be attacks but still loses to throws and there probably is some option selects for it. You can also just read and follow with MK command dash or EX kunai.
** FANG ** (5-5) Interesting matchup. Not as easy as Sim since he has good moves that cover the horizontal space that Ibuki would normally use MK command dash to get in with. Arcing poison balls means she can’t as easily air EX kunai or HK command dash to sail in either. Just have to be patient and see if you can find a space to sweep an attempt to ground poison and get in. If you land a CC sweep you’ll get hard knockdown and then have an in to pressure him with. I believe his EX command dash is attack invincible so you’ll have to throw him or follow it with a command dash or EX kunai. You’ll want to use kunais to check him and stuff the start up of his balls or ground poison while reloading to keep stock. Just have to be careful of command dash as it’ll pass through the kunais.
** Guile **(5-5) Just kinda who gets momentum faster. If you can get in quickly early in the round before he gets started you can give him trouble. Once he starts to build meter then it’ll be more of a struggle for you to get in. Can get interesting because his ex booms can threaten your ability to recharge kunais and he also has solid buttons to keep you at bay with. Air EX kunai is threatening for him though if he can’t immediately get a flash kick charge ready.
** Juri ** (5-5) Seems like even matchup. Don’t have a lot of info on it yet, but her s.MK can be pretty good vs Ibukis buttons. Just have to be good with her f+HK’s and V Skills until you get can get in and pressure her.
** Karin ** (5-5) As long as you can anti air her jumps ins and don’t get caught with her being too close to you with EX DP or V Reversal you should be ok. f+HK and V Skill threatens a lot of her good ground buttons and with her 900 health you can make things hurt for her more than other characters. Not a huge deal since she will of course tear you up if you get hit by her stuff too many times. Definitely play to bait EX ressenhas as you will do huge damage to her if you can CC punish one.
** Ken ** (4.5-5.5) This match can be a pain just because of how versatile and damaging he is. I don’t think it’s really bad if you play it right, but he can definitely eat up whatever advantage you got in a couple combos or V Trigger activation. Main thing to remember is to watch out for poor use of s.HK or abuse of his runs. s.HK if not spaced perfectly is easily punishable with s.LK into HK kazekiri. Doesn’t do huge damage but at least deters him from abusing it too close. s.LK/s.MK or throw punish any bad button into run or raw run setups. Air MK tatsu can be annoying, but there’s a sweet spot where you should be able to AA it with a c.HP. EX dive just try to bait and block if you’re afraid to anti air it. He’s burning a bar to use it any way.
Learn which button into VTC strings are negative on block. If he does c.MK or DP into VTC he’s usually at least minus 4 for a s.LK punish. His MK and HK overheads are also minus 4 on block for a s.LK punish. Generally you’re only going to see the MK overhead as it starts 2 frames faster and is visually harder to see.
** Laura ** (5-5) Feels evenish enough. Has 3 frame buttons to keep you in check a bit at close range, but no reversal so you can pressure her tightly once you get in. V Reversal knocks you back pretty far but can bait it with grabs and takes a way a chance to activate V Trigger. You’ll have to use V Reversal against her sometimes as well as her block string pressure can get pressure can get pretty nasty especially if she has meter or V Trigger. Like Ken, you’ll have to watch out for her dash and command dashes as they usually will have grabs or command grabs coming after. Be ready to tech grab or backdash to escape. Jumping can work, but wouldn’t recommed it a lot as her HP bolt can immediately anti air any bad jump and Ibuki has a pretty floaty jump like Chun.
Laura players like to jump so be wary and anti air accordingly. If they try to jump at closer range be prepared to walk under or jump back with button/air grab.
** M.Bison(Dic) ** (6-4) He has a lot of good buttons, but again another character where you can use your f+HK and V Skill to fend off buttons. If he does start pressuring you have a V Reversal ready as a lot of his pressure loses to V Reversal. As you get in on him he’ll have to burn V Reversals himself to not die to pressure so it’s not a bad offset. Most Bisons usually take to the air at some point so be mindful of his different air options. If he does a non EX aerial special have one of your anti airs ready. You can anti air his EX air options, but it can be riskier so if you’re afraid, don’t be afraid to block and then just EX DP or V Reversal later.
After playing this more I realize V Skill specifically is very important in this match since he mainly spends a lot of time on the ground pressing buttons. Mainly because he doesn’t have the walk speed to really do anything other than wall you with buttons if he’s not in the air. This also helps build you the V Reversal meter quicker to back him off of you once he makes you block his plus buttons.
** Nash ** (5-5) Think this is pretty even matchup. Nash has a lot of options to keep you at mid range and can close the gap quickly, but your kunais are good at stopping early attempts to throw fireballs and can force him to play without it. That’s basically how you play the matchup. If he backs up to throw booms, try to check him with a kunai before he throws the next one to stuff him and reload. Once he takes enough kunais he’ll be forced to move in as your kunais travel faster than his booms. Have your anti airs ready vs the moonsault flips if done from range without a fireball coming. If you feel he may do a LK or MK moonsault and he’s really close to you, you can just walk under it and punish the whiff. Just have to be quick as the whiff recovery is very short.
MK Scythe can be annoying if spaced well, but if he makes you block it anywhere inside of max range EX raida can punish or HK kazekiri if he’s a bit closer. Practice in training mode to see the range where it’s unsafe and have those options ready. If it’s possible for you to hold on to super then that can help you as it will punish it on block from all ranges. He can’t use it on block anymore once you have super. The overall goal in this matchup is just to get in and stay in. Has no 3 frame button or invincible move so once you get in you can just wail on him for a while and force him to burn V Reversal or V Trigger.
If he does try to V Reversal this document has a list of options you can use to punish.
His overhead is minus 6 on block so you can punish with s.LK, s.MK, c.MP or c.MK. A lot more options compared to the standard minus 4 overheads.
** Necalli ** (4.5 - 5.5) Interesting matchup. His light and medium buttons generally outclass yours so he really forces use of f+HK and V Skill in the mid range. His walk speed and dash are pretty decent too so you can’t sit long or he’ll close the gap and force you to deal with his plus buttons and overhead/command grab pressure. Check abuse of his V Skills with MK command dashes or HK command dashes into regular or EX kunais. Some of his button into stomp strings aren’t true block strings and can be reversaled so that’s worth researching as well.
Main idea is to not let him get V Trigger too fast. Which means not getting blown up by his CC’s or blocking getting hit by too many V Skills. If you let him get V Trigger too early he can end the round very quickly on you. Stay close and pressure, but be reserved enough to bait a DP so you can get a strong punish and build V Gauge or set up V Trigger combo.
** R.Mika ** (4.5-5.5) This can be an annoying matchup just because her buttons are pretty solid and with one EX meter there’s a lot that you have to be careful about using or you will get punished by EX peach. s.HK is a good button to have vs her as most of her strong buttons that convert in neutral are standing buttons that it can hit. Her crouching buttons are just there for pestering unless she’s pretty close so it’s a good bet to s.HK out to catch crush counters on her scary stand buttons and force her to go for the crouch buttons that you can compete better with. Of coruse f+HK and V Skill typically in the mid range as well.
The ultimate goal in this matchup is to get in and start putting her in meaties and resets as she has no real reversal. Once that happens you can start to go to town on her. Just be careful of her V Reversal as it’s quick, long ranged and puts you in soft knockdown state. Mix up your strings with light attacks or well placed mediums so that you can block her V Reversal if she goes for it.
** Rashid ** (5-5) Seems even enough. He has better mid range buttons including a much better low checker with his c.MK and a c.HP that can stuff most of your buttons, CC’s and activates 5 frames faster than your f+HK. Unless he hits you with a heavy button though his damage mid screen is pretty modest so its kinda just playing against his options with your kunai, V Skill and f+HK until you get room to get in. His spinning mixer stuff can be annoying as its difficult to punish if spaced right. Haven’t really figured out exactly what to do at all the ranges, but I usually just try to tech throw or LK kazekiri depending on what I feel he may do next.
His tornado strings have gaps in them usually at the point where he cancels a button into the tornado. I ould imagine a LK/HK kazekiri could punish during those gaps. If he tries to throw out V Trigger mid screen and you have room try to walk up and block it to negate it before he gets started throwing stuff behind it. You can also throw a kunai at it to remove one or 2 of the hits from the tornado.
** Ryu ** (5-5) This matchup is one where you should be able to fight Ryu’s buttons. Well spaced f+HK and V Skill being your main tools. Use s.MP, c.MP and s.MK as you are able to move in closer to him. Just be weary of stronger Ryus that will try to parry abuse of your buttons or V Skill. You’ll want to get EX meter pretty quickly in this match as instant air EX kunai (jump forward input EX kunai immediately) and EX raida are strong tools vs his fireball game. Instant EX kunai being the best option since you can LK or MK command dash in on hit and go for a combo into meaty pressure or reset.
Most Ryus will either get aggressive at the start of the first round or move back and shoot fireballs. If they move back and shoot remember that MP or HP kunai can angle under his fireball and stuff him. If you’re far enough away you’ll most likely have room to reload that kunai also. This will usually deter him from abusing fireballs from range as he takes stray damage trying to fireball chuck you and force him to get aggressive. You also have other tools like f+HK, df+MK slide and f+MK to hop or slide under the fireballs. Make sure you have your anti airs ready if Ryu decides to jump forward at you. Which include s.HK and c.HP from farther ranges or b+MP or jump back air throw at closer ranges.
** Urien ** (5-5) Seems even so far. Has really long buttons that can really stop a lot of your cancelable light/medium buttons, but f+HK can hop over his s.HP which otherwise beats most of the buttons in the game. V Skill of course important for counter poking his other buttons. Kunai again useful for checking abuse of fireballs to force him to move in. If you get in on him, EX headbutt is the slowest reversal in the game at 12 frame start up and doesn’t have any 3 frame buttons so he’s pretty easy to pressure once you get in. You can meaty him on wake up with a jab and still be able to block EX headbutt. It also requires charge which limits when he can use it. Just make sure you time MK command dash mix ups on his wake up properly as down charge reversals will auto correct against left/right stuff.
Be wary what type of V Gauge use the Urien player uses. Some Urien players aren’t afraid of letting go of Aegis for a bit and burning it on his long ranged V Reversal. Scout players trying to V Reversal and light tick/throw punish them. Those that sit on their Aegis be ready to V Reversal after blocking normal into VTC or V Reversal being forced to block Aegis. If you already burned your V Trigger recently then you’ll have to block it out, jump out or EX DP guess out.
** Vega ** (5-5) Feels pretty even. He controls the mid range pretty decently, but you can check a lot of his buttons with the typical f+HK, V Skill and kunai stuff. Important thing to remember is to watch your feet as you’re playing mid range vs him. Most Vegas are looking to take advantage of you walking in footsies too long with a low sweep that’s hard to react to. Just try to check your low block occasionally as you’re in the mid range with him (especially if you’re both being passive and not doing much). Any blocked sweep should be a free s.MK into target combo and then start meaty/shimmy shenanigans.
General idea in this match is to get in and pressure him to the point that he burns a V Reversal. Getting him to burn a V Reversal is important as once you do this you limit his chances of using his V Trigger which is his main comeback tool and makes his pokes a lot scarier. If he gets a chance to use his V Trigger early in the round you probably didn’t do a great job getting in and pressuring him. Ideally he’s most likely going to be saving meter for super so he can turn any button into 500 plus damage and get free oki to come back with. Stopping him before he gets to this point and forcing him to burn EX meter on EX dive and command grab shenanigans is what you generally want.
If you can push him into the corner this is where your pressure strings can really shine and things like EX kunai can be really dangerous against him in the corner. He definitely doesn’t want you with meter and V Trigger ready in the corner as he pretty much has to eat shit other than mashing EX roll out of your bomb setups. Remember that his aurora spin edge claw specials are negative on block. The LP which you have to block low is minus 7 and the MP one is minus 6 so have your HK DP or EX raida (LP aurora only) reversal ready depending on the situation. Also watch out for button into claw switch “mix ups” as there is usually a gap that you can press in and he’s usually trying to set up command grab or frame traps during these.
** Zangief ** (4.5 - 5.5) Can be a pain once he’s sitting on full super, but other than that pretty fightable. Big 2 things to worry about in neutral are c.LP and s.HP. People complain a lot about his c.LP, but it really doesn’t go into much and loses in priority trades to your medium and heavy buttons. Lights are weak in neutral due to heavier buttons winning on trades so don’t be afraid to poke back at it or space f+HK against it. s.HP is the other button to worry about, but it has no lower body armor so you can chuck kunais at it, c.MK or sweep it if you’re close enough. Best thing to do is just use your back walk speed to make it whiff and then you get a super easy whiff punish with s.MK into sweep target. If he’s forcing you to block the charged one too often just V Reversal and get out of a bad situation since he’s plus 1 after. V Skill flex can be an issue if he reads you are going to press a button from too close a range so try to bait that and use walk or dash up throw to punish.
Most Zangief players aren’t really good at using his other buttons (not that they’re amazing to begin with) which means they usually resort to jumping as that’s the easiest way for them to close the gap and set up a command grab. Most of his jump buttons are easily AAable with s.HK or b+MP. He really shouldn’t be jumping at you unless he’s trying to play shenanigans with his air command grab or super. You can meaty him on wake up pretty easily and he has no true frame one armor or reversal other than super. Just be careful as if you mistime your meaty at all you will get destroyed by Gief’s options which all hurt bad if you screw up. Make sure to go in training mode and make sure your meaties are on point before touching him on wake up.
When he’s stocked on V Trigger and Super that’s where the problems really begin as all it takes is one mistake while he’s sitting on both of those things and you can lose no matter what life lead you had. He has a lot of shenanigans where he can bait you into playing mid range with him, such you in with the trigger then mash in super before you get a chance to realize that’s what he’s setting you up for. The suction can put you in a weird state where you can’t do certain actions, but I believe you can still last minute jump to escape a grounded grab. Have to mess around with it. He’s also much harder to pressure once he has super as his super starts on frame 1 and can even punish things that are normally safe like your overhead. Just have to play real safe once he has super.
Older write ups.
Cammy: The average Cammy you fight online will most likely take to the air with dive kicks. If they are jumping forward at you from a range have s.HK or c.HP ready for a jump in or wait if they plan on diving early to try and make your AA whiff. Regular dive kicks that are done too high in the air are punishable on block. If you’re worried about whiffing AA you can stick to something with quick recovery like b+MP and fish with that.
If you’re fighting a more grounded Cammy just make sure you have your f+HK and V Skill ready for their button approach. Most of her buttons can be taken care of with those 2 options. Which then gives you room to move in with your shorter, comboable buttons or throw in an EX kunai and start pressuring. As you’re pressuring her, be mindful of her meterless DP and fish for crush counters if she gets blocked or whiffs. Be mindful of her V Skill and try not to throw too many kunais or V Skills at a range where her V Skill can pass through and land. If you do end up having to block her V Skill, remember to V Reversal it so you don’t have to take the free frame trap. You can also try to stuff it before it starts if you know she may try to cross you up with it or just use it really obviously.
Chun Li: She has a lot of options and is generally a strong character so you’ll need to be mindful of them when fighting her. Firstly you’re going to need to know how to deal with IALL. If you can’t deal with IALL you’re already half way to losing against her since it’s basically the best “dive kick” in the game and most higher level Chuns will know how to do it. The main thing to note is that when done precisely its definitely plus on block so it’s not something you want to try to and V Reversal as she’ll most likely block and punish you.
Your best option is to crouch when you figure its coming to make your hurt box shorter and give you the most time to prepare with hitting a button. Then when she goes for the IALL react to it with a c.MP or c.LP anti air depending on what you have time/reaction to do. If you do it successfully she’ll reset and you walk forward and meaty her with a s.MP when she lands. By the time she starts announcing the name of the air legs you need to have a button out and she clearly stalls in the air for a second to make it more telegraphed.
From there you are dealing with her fireball and buttons. Her fireball isn’t really that scary since it doesn’t do much damage and only the HP one travels fast and has short range. Try to pester her with a MP/HP kunai to get her thinking about something else. Otherwise just use your other anti projectile options to move around it and get in. Once you get an EX meter she should’t be able to throw them much anymore as instant EX kunai will blow it up and get you in. s.HP is one of her main mid/far range buttons so have f+HK or V Skill ready for that. You can also try to walk outside of the range of it and c.MK or sweep under the hurtbox of it as it’s starting. Be mindful of her 3 frame buttons (c.LP/c.LK) and make sure your meaties are tight so you don’t get blown up by them.
Her c.MP can slide under f+HK so watch for abuse of that button. V Skill blows it up pretty nicely though. Whiff punish it if you bait it and she whiffs.
Dhalsim: Should be pretty good matchup for Ibuki. You walk and generally move way faster than him and you have a lot of options that blow up his regular fireball. Which is rough for him because he depends on his opponent’s character being one that has trouble challenging or punishing the fireball from a range once he gets space. Any bad fireball is pretty much a free MK command dash in to punish so he’s most likely going to be throwing out a lot of standing buttons instead to keep from being punished. I imagine like usual, f+HK and V Skill will be good vs a lot of these options.
Generally you want to get at least one EX meter as fast as possible. Once you do you I believe you have a big up in the neutral game over him. One bad poke can be blown up with an instant EX kunai into dash in and any bad attempt to regular fireball will be MK command dash in to free pressure. Punish any raw teleports that go near you with s.MP, b+MP, HK Kazekiri or s.HK. He has pretty good throw range so you’ll have to be mindful of throw mashing to escape as you’re pressuring him. As long as your shimmies and frame traps are solid though you should be able to blow that up as well.
Especially characters with a strong groundgame like Chun-Li, Nash, Balrog, etc. You never get in, and you have nothing threatening in the neutral.