Well, you have point. Putting Mai on point could be viable… there is this player who runs a Mai/Athena/Andy team in that order and his screen name is Hayabusa-Ryu or something along those lines. He plays a very good footsies and zoning game with all three and he also puts Mai on point. He actually defeats two of my characters because he knew exactly how her normal moves worked and her keep away game.
We should get around to discussing which character go well with Mai, based on her team positioning. For now we should assume she is a battery or anchor character sense she does exceedingly well with meter.
Okay guys - Here are a couple of one frame corner combos that will be worth learning. This might actually help her damage ratio quite a bit. These were highlighted by t3h mAsTarOth of Dreamcancel
0 meter - j.C, cr.C, qcf+A, cr.C, qcb+A = 301 dmg
1 meter - J.C, cr.C, qcf+A, s.A, qcb+AC, qcb+C, qcb+C, Air Throw = 502 dmg (468dmg if you start from cr.C)
Yes, i think i remember that Hayabusa guy, i have faced him a couple of times, sadly most of the time i got a 1 bar conection against him so we don’t play that often, and yeah he is so annoying with that team.
Anyway, based on my very little play time with Mai, i’m daring to say that she works well on point with characters like Shen on the back, i also like to put Yuri or even Ex Iori, but that’s just me since i already use this characters.
Also for Mai on second, characters like Mature or Kula could work pretty well, in fact a decent team could be Kula on point, Mature in second and Mai as anchor.
Hello! I’m back again from a nice week long trip to Edelweiss! I have spent about an hour in Practice mode with Mai (along with Yuri and NESTS Kyo as well - I did manage to get some 1v1 versus matches with me playing Benimaru - I find him pretty fun to play. My opponent was a Kim player. A… OVERLY cautious but very good one).
Here a sample of how to use Mai’s HD corner combo, without the need for super stocks. You’ll keep whatever stock meter you have.
(This will support MadSnake1 and Shiranui Ninja’s background on playing Mai as a first or third character - after all, there is a lot the player can get away with in this game, even during a tournament session).
These also add as good punishes and they become easier to execute after a few minutes of practice.
If you wish to save up some super stocks, then here…
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[media=youtube]QIo82dayupQ[/media]
0 stock HD Corner Combo 22 Hits, Hard Knockdown, 597 damage
Target Combo B>D (HD Activate) s.D, HCF+D (HDC) air QCF+C, HCF+D(2-hits (HDC)QCB+C, HCF+D(2-Hits)(HDC) QCB+C, HCF+D(2-Hits)(HDC) QCB+C, QCB+C, Air Throw. (The HD Activation timer should run out right after the last Ryuenbuu loop).
If you have meter and end this combo with a EX Chou Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi, you will get 680 damage instead, thus technically making this a two stock HD combo. The former HD combo is good if you wish to keep your meter and still dish out a nice punish.
Meter-less HD combo:
(Corner) j.C, s.B, s.D [HD], s.D, hcf+D [HDC] air qcb+C, qcb+C [HDC] qcf+A, qcb+C, hcf+D (2 hits) [HDC] qcb+C, hcf+D (2 hits) [HDC] qcb+C, qcb+C, Air Throw:
630 damage
NOTE: You can use this combo from just about a mid-screen away from a corner because Mai “pushes” her opponent backwards during a lot of her her HD combos (or BnB’s) anyhow.
For the fan toss (Kachousen) towards the beginning of this combo, you need to delay that last Ryuenbuu (trying to wait till the opponent…barely half towards the ground, then use the Ryuenbuu to hyper drive cancel into Kachousen. The Kachousen will whiff if timed poorly and you will drop the combo. Then the following Ryuenbuu should launch the opponent higher in the air in corner for you to use HCF+K special to continue you combo.
Remember. If you replace the last Ryuenbuu with a Neo Max you get 809 damage - thus making this a 2 stock HD combo. This why saving meter for the likes of Mai is imperative.
It is possible to get a 645 HD combo for no meter, but it seems to require the player to “late cancel” into HD mode and then use the HCF+K much sooner to get two Ryuenbuu’s in, instead of one.
This video showcases the said scenarios:
[media=youtube]lmDdRvmab-c[/media]
Thanks to a fellow Mai player well known as Sprint, here is another meter less HD combo worth trying out. With this Mai can cap her damage up to 671 without meter!
Then you will have the options to conduct a air throw, qcb+C >d+C > wall dive, Instant air EX DM to qcb+C the air throw. During the last few Ryuenbuu’s of most of these combos, you can HDC into Mai’s Neo Max as well for a KO.
Just recently discovered something during an intense 1v1 match Mai vs Mature in a casual match:
Mai’s EX air Musasabi no Mai (the diving attack)… Ya’ll remember that the EX version of this move has invincibility properties, correct? That means it will go RIGHT THROUGH a lot of attacks - such as Mature’s Neo Max, among other things. The EX air Musasabi no Mai is pretty safe on guard. The Mature player nearly caught me off guard with her raw Neo Max. I decided to perform EX Musasabi sense I thought I was going to get hit anyhow but instead, Mai ignored the attack altogether… The match ends with a throw.
So guys, please keep the EX air Musasabi no Mai in mind when you are in a defensive position.
mai is sooo dirty…
her annoyin moves and quick 2 frame neo max
online players abuse mai so much, theyll keep throwing the fan and wait for you to jump or roll
than instant neo activation…
great tip, i didn’t even know that move had invincibility properties. all the shit i try with my mai’s ex’s just felt like it was only meant to be combo’d into not really performed raw. which is fine since all her normals have such damn good priority. only time i would do that ex dive is in certain situations where i would hop B, down B, into that ex for a juggle/make it safe if i see the guy has meter to get on the damn ground as quick as possible. might fire up practice mode and just start doing random supers/neo maxes with diff char’s see what beats what and if i can just bust it out on reaction. last thing i need is to dive right into a super during a tournament lol. waste a meter & the health. sometimes though you just gotta take those risks.
EDIT: should have taken a good read at the wiki. can’t believe i completely missed the info about her ex.
nobody is making you jump or roll. you see mai has full HD/3 Bars she’s throwing out them fans just advance slowly and block. gotta be patient with zoners man. i play rush down despite using mai. well…depends i mix it up and see how the opponent deals with it. but spamming fans bores me. quick 2 frame neomax is just a waste of HD and meter if you’re not on your last char. even if im 3/4’s away from the corner one HD bar one EX is all i need to knock out half your health and time. blow all that HD/bars on just raw neomax could be problems depending on her position/situation.
A very nice tool Mai has at her disposal. The best part is that you cancel into air Musasabi from her air d.B Ukihane. If the regular Musasabi hits the opponent, you can drive cancel that into a EX air Musasabi for some extra damage, leaving a nice window for a juggle combo.
As for the ground version of Musasabi no Mai, you can use that to simply jump a much further distance. This is trustworthy for averting fireball wars and counter attacking your opponent as you can cancel into Ukihane. After the ground version of the Musasabi you can even utilize Ukihane as a cross-up and should the opponent block you, you’ll still have to input a air Musasabi/EX Musasabi in there. These things alone will provide the player with a lot of set-ups and mind games to play here.
I meant to post this a while ago. The point was made clear that Mai has several easy methods of dealing over 800+ damage with just two meters and a full HD gauge.
My personal favorite would be:
j.C, s.B, s.D HD Activation, s.D, hcf+D HDC air qcb+C, hcf+D (2 HITS), qcb+C, qcb+C, qcb+C HDC qcf+A, qcb+C, qcb+C HDC qcb,hcf+AC (Neo Max) = 801 damage
This is only one of the easier HD combos for just two bars - Mai will only use the said two bars for the sake of her Neo Max towards the very end when the meter runs out. Mai’s damage cap for her meter-less HD combo’s are at 671 damage.
Please remember that Mai’s normal moves can easily tip the scale in your favor. Also keep in mind that she has multiple options in mid-air. Wall kicking, j.CD (it is extremely fast and has a nice horizontal hit box). Also HER d.D is WHIFF CANCELABLE, just like her CD attacks are. The majority of her EX moves are safe on guard except for anything below two frames. All will be known as soon as her frame data come out so that people will now what to do when they play as Mai altogether. As for her EX DM (qcb,hcf+BD), I suggest you either use it as a punish move, for beating out air to air attacks, and as a combo finisher as it does a considerable amount of damage and it is possible to follow up after the move is finished. Make sure you guys periodically report to Mai Shiranui’s DC wiki page for instructions on how to play her well. There are also a few match up situations worth knowing about should you play as Mai.
So… There ARE ways of doing more damage with Mai even without meter. Her combos in themselves at mid-screen are have low damage output. The point is made clear that she can do far more damage in the corner or if she has meter at disposal.
Some good ideas might stem from her Kachousen (qcf+A/C projectile). Under good circumstances and set ups, you can combo from her projectile… or come up with very good block strings in order to break the opponents guard and conduct another combo.
Kachousen > Target combo = 3 hits (if you have HD meter, fire away with an HD combo!)
Kachousen > j.C, d.B, s.B, s.D = 5 hits
Kachousen > DM/EX DM/Neo Max
Kachousen > j.C, d.B, s.B, s.D, some DM/EX DM/Neo Max
Kachousen > CD/j.CD (LOTS and lots of push back and you whiff cancel her CD if you wish)
Kachousen > (ground) Musasabi no Mai (d charge u (forward) P)
OPTIONAL: Ukihane > Air Musasabi no Mai > EX Air Musasabi
(Don’t bother too much with hcf+B or D version as they are not safe - you can, however, utilize that as an pseudo-anti air or during a combo - otherwise steer clear from this move unless the opponent happens to somehow roll or hop over one of you Kachousen projectiles).
Somewhere during those block strings you could probably utilize d charge u (backwards) A - an opponent is more likely to mash out some sort of laggy reversal - Mai can cancel this out with her air d.B Ukihane (AND guard) - even then she will be a little too far for the opponent defeat her.
Making use of Mai’s normal moves are VITAL. They have RIDICULOUS priority and the more I play, the more this becomes very clear. Her j.A is extremely good for constantly interrupting opponents attacks, as air-to-air’s.
I am also under the impression that her A version Musasabi no Mai does not have that much recovery after all but she will still be exposed to moves that are probably less then… three frames or so. I did manage to block a lot of attacks consistently while testing this out on multiple characters. As for… Midscreen HD combos, a fellow Mai player provided this footage:
[media=youtube]a6CLRadzemc[/media]
I love the amount of work you put in here dark hero.
I have a lot of mai tech to share myself.
Recently I discovered how good ground musasabi is in pressure. Since it starts up faster than a normal jump you can literally fly out of pressure.
Tested it on Kyo’s cr.b st.C frame trap. You cannot jump out of this as you will get hit. However musasabi flies straight out! (ITS DISTANT DEPENDENT)
If you’re too close you will get counter hit airbourne. So you should only try it where the maximum distance for close C would link in.
Gonna test more pressure tools against it tonight and I doubt it will be abusable but its good to know.
Another combo to expand on the above video’s for 4 bars…
j.C>st.BD>HD>st.BD>HK bachi>air qcb.P>HK bachi(2hits)>qcb C> x3>DC qcf A>qcb C x2>DC qcf A> (HD mode ends)qcb C x2 >TK ex super x2>qcb Cx2> cr.C
it does 920.
if you omit one of the supers it does 803
Would really like to know how much she can get max from one bar in the corner. If you have any ideas?
Without the use of one frames or fireball starters.
I think you posted a combo where she does an EX ryuenbu mid HD combo but I cant find it =_=.
I apologize for the late reply. Thank you for your contribution! The Musasabi no Mai… now I’ve learned something new! Apparently, the ground Musasabi is more trustworthy than I anticipated. I never thought about this at all - it is known that Mai gets weak under pressure, but this could change that altogether - I still don’t see other players using this ability despite how noteworthy it really is.
4 bars and 920 damage HD combo is certainly not a bad idea at all. However, who would be good meter builders to fill that role?
On the other hand, what I should do is go to the training mode and then conduct Mai’s BnB’s combos… in order to see which ones build a good amount of meter… Mai CAN build meter by whiffing air Musasabi, Ryuenbuu, and Hittsatsu no Bachi. So… getting a Max from one bar is…
… I think the video you refer to might be on… post number 26. That was more of a run down on her general game play rather than a true combo video but there might be few things to elaborate on from there.
Here I will post recent game play video of myself conducting Mai’s game play, post local event from Europe. The videos will focus primarily on Mai’s technology and game play as a battery character -
Later on, I will also post videos of what Mai can do as a point character. Sort of like a mini-tutorial.
Also… Mai’s Ryuenbuu provide her with a slight invincibility towards low hitting attacks, much like her CD attack does. Mai’s j.B also provides a very lengthy hit stun for continuing combos and one of her better cross up tools. Please, be sure to continue applying corner pressure when you are on the offensive, while keeping caution of reversals… baiting them out appropriately.
Good point character for Mai (when she plays a battery position)
would consist of things such as… EX Kyo! The majority of his special moves help him build meter on whiff and his meter less combo’s are impressive. You can not really go wrong with the regular Kyo either. Joe is a good start but you are going to have to play tricky with him. For point characters, Yuri and King will suffice as well because they have good meterless tools to work with and they give Mai a lot of leverage for making the players job easy during the match. Yuri requires a lot more execution for her more damaging combos however, but it should be noted that she as a 100% combo from her butt loop during HD mode. I did use Leona a lot as a point character and I often resorted to using a lot of drive meter from her. EX Iori, Athena, or Kula are not bad choices either…