[media=youtube]NBygSv9xY7E[/media]
This video was pretty helpful for her trials. As mentioned in the description for the upload, the idea behind trial 4 is to use HCB, f+C --> HCB+A/C as a shortcut for the Crow Bites --> Freeze Execution cancel.
Some notes regarding Counter Shell:
-all versions cause counter wire (not just EX)
-causes ground slide, which can’t be recovered from with safe fall (recovery possible with hit by counter wire or reflected projectile)
-reflects special, EX special, DM, and SDM projectiles alike; works on multi-hit projectile DMs like Ash’s Thermidor and Saiki’s Tokoyami no Fune, but not Elisabeth’s SDM Noble Blanche
-shard from EX version hits 3 times, as opposed to the usual 1
You can get away with some stuff using Kula, but at a higher level (when everyone understands how to fight her specials), you have to really use the game’s mechanics to cross-up, mix-up, and score setups alot. Otherwise, you’ll need to do a lot of high low and poking to get some damage. Without her invincible EX Layspin, she’s still a really solid character.
That used to be the case in the older KoFs (though it would typically lead to eating a Chain Drive anyway in XI, since the shard would miss him in that one). As of XIII, it no longer appears to be possible.
Kula’s far standing C is cancellable. This wouldn’t be a big deal except that normal reaches like a third of the way across the screen. st. C x qcb+D, dp+C works anywhere on screen and is 242 damage. It’s a little hard to hit confirm, but qcb+D is pretty safe on block if I’m not mistaken. If they’re in the corner, st. C x qcf+A, qcb+D, dp+C is 290 and qcf+A is totally safe on block, though it doesn’t combo at the very edge of st. C’s range. You can also do qcfqcf+PP for 407 (midscreen only), or hcbhcb+P for 379 instead of the DP on the end, or just go to the neomax for 497. Maybe not the most efficient use of meter, though. That brings me to the second thing:
How does one use meter with Kula? I’m thinking of putting her on my regular team, and she’d probably end up second (with Ash on point and claw Iori as anchor). Using EX special moves in my BnBs adds a little damage, but I feel like I’m not really using resources effectively with her.
I assume Kula mainly relies more on the drive bar than the actual power meter itself. Sure she can use her EX moves to squeeze out a little more damage in her BnB’s, but from what I’ve seen a lot of her damage comes from juggles utilizing drive cancels. If I’m wrong feel free to correct me.
cr.B cr.B st.B qcb.BD is a good way of using meter so you can start a combo. Also in a corner, cl.C(1-hit), f.A xx qcf.AC, qcf.A… is a good way to get some solid damage in a corner combo for not a lot of meter spent.
In general, Kula doesn’t rely much on meter to do decent damage for BnBs, so it is usually safe to save it for DM/SDM/Neo Max use (most of the time, Ray Spin is the only move I bother to EX with her when I have meter to spare, and even then that’s mainly for carrying a launch combo from midscreen to a corner after a Drive Cancel, but that’s me). Regarding close s.C --> One Inch, you’ll usually want to let both hits connect instead of canceling after the first hit to maximize damage. Though spacing after a jump-in might be viewed as a concern, something like j.C --> close s.C --> f+A --> qcb+B --> f+D --> dp+C will connect if you walk her forward just slightly before hitting with the close s.C (310 damage for an early cancel of close s.C vs. 320 damage for letting both hits of close s. C connect). You can substitute j.D if you want a jumping normal that’ll come out faster, but it does 2 points less damage than j.C (68 vs. 70).
However, if comboing into SDM Diamond Edge (j.C --> close s.C --> f+A --> qcf,qcf+AC), canceling into One Inch after the first hit of close s.C is the way to go in order to do more damage; they’ll be pushed too far away for all 4 hits of the ice to connect otherwise (439 damage for an early cancel vs. 378 damage for both hits of the close s.C).
Since I brought up j.C earlier, a random note is that it does an extra 2 points of damage following a regular jump than it would following a hop (72 vs. 70).
@Hace: Better damage for the corner combo you mentioned if letting both hits of close s.C connect also applies (261 damage for an early cancel vs. 273 for both hits). You could also go with Diamond Breath C after the EX version instead of Diamond Breath A for that combo for even better damage (273 damage for the A version vs. 281 for the C version, both still assuming both hits of the close s.C connect).
Just to add on to this (as many may not know) J.A and J.C both change their hitbox due to the type of jump you do. At least if the hitbox doesn’t change, the ice shard is bigger/smaller. so basically:
Short hop A = tiny small ice shard (smallest of them all)
J.A = normal ice shard size
short hop C = j.A’s ice shard size
J.C = biggest ice shard size
Thanks for the info, I always figured that damage scaling would make the second hit not really worth it, and also since sometimes the second hit whiffs for me, if I it at a weird jump-in angle. Usually in the heat of a match, I probably won’t catch that tiny distance that lets you score both hits. But yeah, good stuff.
Also when you’re midscreen, do you pretty much just want to combo into her dp.C off of cr.B/st.B?
Pretty much your call, but it would do a bit more damage than Slider Shoot (if you can land it consistently, go for it). Though it doesn’t do as much, comboing into Slider Shoot (df+B) is still a viable alternative.
Though not cr.B/st.B-related, for something that’ll hurt in the corner, this will do 406 damage without meter or Drive (to put this in perspective, a raw Neo Max from her does 420 damage).
qcf+C --> j.C --> close s.C (both hits) --> f+A --> qcf+A --> qcb+D (or qcb+B --> f+B; don’t add the follow-up if going with the D version) --> dp+C
I’m actually more consistent with her dp than I am with her slide for some reason, so I’ll probably just stick with that haha
Also I noticed that you can actually hit twice with qcb.D after you drive cancel it from dp.A at a certain distance. Is there a reliable setup for this? The most common way I found to get it was just:
cr.B cr.B cr.B xx dp.A (DC) qcb.D (on Iori)
I know you don’t net that much more damage from it, but it’s still interesting.
After trying it out for myself, the most consistent way I was able to get it was to substitute the third cr.B for s.B (cr.B --> cr.B -->s.B --> qcb+D). They both do the same amount of damage (165), but replacing the third cr.B with s.B eliminates the risk of pushing them out of range. It even lets you hit a target as small as Chin, too.
So far, Kula gives me the most trouble during matches, but man - When I beat someone whose using her? I feel like a frickin’ boss. I might try her out at some point as well.
the key to playing against a kula who is rushing you down is really just knowing when you should roll and when you shouldn’t. the high/low mixup and throw game she has to offer is actually really weak. once you see someone rolling well against a good kula you will see that the risk/reward scenarios she sets up aren’t really too much in her favor.
now this is provided you have decided to respect her pokes and defense instead of getting hit by 523490762 j.Bs/j.Ds/j.CDs/st.Bs/cr.Bs/st.As/cr.Cs/cr.Ds trying to outpoke her
