I use her as my anchor in N-Groove. (So does Buk.) Using her as an A-Groove anchor isn’t smart, but since N-Groove is all about rushdown, meter isn’t all that hard to come by and you’ll always have it when you need it. N is also nice because if you miss a chance to land a Level 3 while activated, you can just get another stock (the same amount as half an A-Groove bar) pretty quickly and get another go at it.
About the vitality, I figure it’s better to solidify a weaker character with the R2 and be really careful about it, than to make a stronger character stronger and get away with being more reckless. In the end, the better player still wins.
Here’s all the knowledge I’ve picked up against the chea… erm, “top tier” characters.
vs. Cammy:
This is definitely Hibiki’s toughest fight. Thankfully, Cammy is also a 60 stun, meaning that if you can land a short-short-short chain super, you can stun her with a wake-up crossup running slash and slash back. If you’re in N, you’ll have enough meter to burn another super, so after doing roundhouse, running slash into super, she’s pretty much dead. This means that Cammy can’t risk a Cannon Drill too close or it’s over for her (provided you can get that extra stun after wakeup, it’s worth the risk).
Cammy loves to play footsies, so if she’s far enough away, throw out the HP distance trip slash. You only need to land this once, because after that, the ball is in your court. If she tries to anticipate another slash, her two options are rolling through it (which isn’t going to happen), or more likely, a jump-in dive kick. Since Cammy doesn’t have any other jump-in that’s useful, you can assume that any jump from her towards you is going to be the dive kick, so the moment you see her jump, throw out the counter. Free damage. If she tries any other type of jump-in after that, it’s :hp: everytime.
Hibiki’s weakness is when Cammy is in close working on that stupid standing HP. This is when you’ll want to use that Counter Attack (AC) and get Cammy out of her best range. You’ll always hit it, and even though you’re going to lose a good chunk of your guard bar, it’s worth it, especially when you’re in the corner. For N-Groove, I find the counter movement back step extremely useful for when Cammy is closer to the corner than I am, since that frees me up to punish her when she most likely whiffs the follow up c.RH.
For when both of you are outside your poke ranges, any time Cammy begins moving forward into her c.HK range, stick out your c.MP. The tip of Hibiki’s sword is outside her hitbox, it won’t trade. You need to do it early, though, so don’t hesitate to stick it out there. If you whiff, you’ll usually be far enough away to recover before she storms in. If she’s coming and you don’t have enough time to stick it out again, dodge and hop back to keep the space between you. Also send out the occasional MP distance slash to keep them honest. But don’t do the trip slash again unless you’re damn sure you’ll land it.
Never do any distance slash of any kind when Cammy has a Lv3 ready. She can hit you with the super, hit or miss on the slash.
vs. Sagat
Also a tough fight, but not as hard as against Cammy since there’s more of this oaf to hit. Then again, it hurts if you screw it up. For this fight, standing :mp: is your eternal friend. This move can keep Sagat on the ground and far away from you. Do not use distance slashes of any kind, since Sagat’s roll is really annoying. Also go easy on the crouching roundhouse, since it’s a laggy move that can also be rolled through.
Against a small-jumping Sagat, there’s really nothing that can be done except to react to the close empty jump-ins with standing jabs. If he insists on it, you might be able to sneak in a counter, but the safer thing to do if you see one coming is to dodge and hop back.
Getting in offensive opportunities is hard to do too. I tend to rely on faking a lot of running slashes to get free run-ins, not forgetting to sprinkle in some running slash whiffs and blocked hits. Don’t go too deep with them, but don’t always release them at the same point, either. Be extra careful that they don’t try an anticipatory roll when you try to go for the running slash, which is why you also want to stop your runs way early with moves to see if they bite on first movement. That’s good advice for any Hibiki player, really.
vs. Blanka
This one is pretty easy, except that Blanka is one of the few characters that can overpower Hibiki’s standing fierce anti-air quickly enough to cause some hurt (his jumping roundhouse). Use those anti-air running slashes, too. Since Blanka can’t do Blanka Balls (punish with distance slashes or running slash), as long as you’re inside his max ball ranges his only means of getting in close is jumping. If you can handle that much of it, you’ll be fine.
I love playing an electric-crazy Blanka with N-Groove. If they try the wake-up elec (RC or not), I go for the counter movement back step. They’re still recovering from electricity while Hibiki’s cold steel slices through them. If they fake the elec and stop just before wakeup, they’ll be greeted with the butt of Hibiki’s scabbard (cl.MK when MP+MK are hit simultaneously). Otherwise, I don’t mind taking it once or twice.
Once he’s close, just keep blocking his pokes until he finishes off the block chain with a crouching fierce or roundhouse. Step forward to close the gap again, and high jab him out of any hop or dash-in attempts if he comes back in. Also be careful here with the laggy pokes and slashes, since he can hop back and leave you vulnerable.
Never do any distance slash of any kind when Blanka has a Lv3 ready. He can hit you with the electric ball super, hit or miss on the slash.
