Now… It is time for get a load of Shin Kensou’s Mai game play: (This was on his stream a little while ago) -
We also have Sprint’s Mai as well, whom was playing Mai/King/Athena sense the beginning of KOFXIII:
List of noteworthy Mai players to be on the look out for:
Mario E, Naoki, Luffy, Shin Kensou, SprintGod, MadKOF (Mai tends to recur a lot for him in casuals and he does not have a problem playing her at all), Air Lancer, t3h mAsTarOth, Pako, Reden, and UndyingMage.
(This list will continue to be updated overtime)
Now having posted noteworthy Mai players…
I just visited Juicebox's stream once more and realized something: A lot of players don't REALLY know about Mai's actual game plan!
The only thing that people DO actually know about Mai are her normal moves and Neo Max. NOTHING ELSE.
I can go as far as to say that might be a good thing, however (Especially as far as Mario E is concerned according to our most recent conversation).
Here are a lot point’s that need to be made clear when playing Mai: Mai is not MEANT to be a big time damage character. Mai’s general game plan revolves around mobility, air control, air mix ups at close range, pokes, and short term combos. The ONLY time the player should EVER worry about Mai’s damage is if she has AT LEAST… a full HD drive. She can net over 650+ damage easily off of a HD corner combo which is relatively simple to do. Mai’s special moves and her tools in general become safe if they are Mai’s mobility plays a pivotal role in her game play: Fast walk speed, fast run speed and her high (yet not so floaty) jumps. She also has a wall kick! Players need to USE this to their advantage and stay ON the move! She IS a ninja (well… specifically a Kunoichi). So it would only be natural! The players need to make active use of d~charge~u+P - that motion causes Mai to move very quickly across the scene. Mai can move forward AND backward during that motion but the player is the one who can control it. A lot of players (even supposedly good ones or even top level players in general) DON’T USE IT.
Mai's recovery upon landing on the ground is non-existent so she is free to do whatever she needs to do immediately after landing. The main purposes of that move is to either start an offense, get out of a bad situation after finding a hole in the opponents offense, or playing keep away. Starting an offensive would suggest Mai using her d~charge~u+P for a mix up option and baiting out anti-airs (cancelling it into Ukihane in the process). That also applies to closing the gap between Mai and the opponent if they are too far away (if the opponent has a projectile, Mai will have a easy time punishing it). For the same of keep away, Mai can use d~charge~u+P for keeping distance and drawing the opponent out for a whiff punish. Mai will still have the options to cancel into Ukihane, do a wall dive Musasabi attack upon the player HOLDING the punch button while next to the wall, or just fall for the wall altogether.
To speak about Mai's tools in general. Again, they essentially become a lot more safer to use. With meter Mai has two choices:You want the reversal options or you want better offensive options. Mai's reversal stems from her Neo Max and her EXDM. That's self explanatory. The offensive options apply to frame traps and damage output. Again, the only time when Mai's damage is relevant is with a full HD meter (an in, Hyper Drive meter). Sense Mai would have meter, she can elaborate a bit more by either EX qcb+P (which is +7 frames on block), EX air qcb+P (which is 0 frames on block and can lead into frame traps when done towards opponent who are nearest to the wall), or EX hcf+P which is safe on block sans 1 frame command grabs. Last, Mai can net 800+ damage for two bars! For example > Towards the corner: j.C, s.C [HD] s.C, hcf+D [HDC] air qcb+C, hcf+D, qcb+C, hcf+B [HDC] qcf+A, qcb+C, qcb+C, qcb+C > Neo Max = 811 damage two bars. That's just one example, as you can get away with other HD combo corner combo variant and net around the same amount of damage, as long as you confirm the hits upon starting the combo.
Now in terms of fundamentals - close st.A, st.C, j.A, j.CD, and air throw are Mai's anti-airs - j.A and j.CD sticking out the most.
Mai’s j.A has a lot of active frames and can beat the majority of others characters air to air normal moves. One of Mai’s primary weaknesses is that she does not have a true a reversal outside of two meters. So, Mai doesn’t have a DP? IT. DOESN’T. FUCKING. MATTER. Get over it! To a good Mai player, that wouldn’t even be an issue! Because, if Mai actually had a DP motion in her move set she would be considered broken! That’s like giving King the ability to use her air Venom Strike while back dashing! Don’t worry about reversals until you have meter for that application AND if you find a hole in the opponents offense as they are pressuring you! Otherwise, preemptive j.A’s (especially in the corner) should be used to stop your opponents from jumping… this works extremely well if you accompany that with the rest of her normal moves (Mai’s close st.A has 3 frame start up. Remember this when the opponent staring hopping towards her too much). Mai’s j.B should also be used towards grounded opponents while applying hop pressure or attempting a cross up. If Mai is cornered (which the player should not be anyway unless they were do a mix up), Mai can use her close st.A, st.C, and her wall kick to get out of dodge (outside of fundamentals). Mai can also start her own offense from the said wall kick! Control the air with her normal moves! Don’t spend meter on EX qcf+P projectile (Kachousen) so much either - use that in moderation as it will only do 120 damage and the advantage it offers you is very temporary. Use it if you’re going to kill a character off!
If Mai corners the opponents, she should go out of her way to keep them there as she puts herself on the offense (Offense and rush down is pretty much the general consensus of this game while FG fundamentals still strictly apply… this is the part where you start bullying the opponent eith whiff cancels, st.A, far st.C/far st.D, jumping normals for smacking opponents out of super jumps - do all of this while spacing yourself in such a way where the opponent runs out of even universal options. THIS IS WHAT NINJA’S DO. MAI NEEDS TO BE ANNOYING, CUNNING, AND SNEAKY IN SCENARIO’S LIKE THESE. Mai also provide enough lead way for the player to employ his own play style still because of how KOFXIII is constructed. She can do this by keeping a short distance from the opponents! Mai can issue some safe jump set ups with her Ukihane and conduct high/low mix ups. Mai can keep the opponent from jumping with j.A as it is one of her fastest air normal moves and she can bully the opponent with st.A while searching for a visual hit confirm. Mai’s st.CD into Kachosen OR Ryuuenbu also helps, EVEN IF THE OPPONENT IS BLOCKING (Mai’s stand CD by itself is +4 frames. Mai can also whiff cancel her cr.D into specials, much like a lot of other characters can). When playing Mai on higher level, continue to be on the move! Use her speed! Mai is a fast character and KOFXIII (and the series itself) is a fast paced game! Take advantage of it! Don’t think that you can sit back on just Mai’s Neo Max because most (albiet intermediate/pro ) players who also play Mai or are familiar with the MU, will not fall for it. Mai needs to focus on outmaneuvering the opponent as she is more than likely to be faster than them anyway (actually, Mai might be one of the fastest characters in the game). The Mai player needs to resort to short term combos and pokes as she is moving around. Mai needs to dominate the air as well! When trying to control the air against characters who also have viable air options, especially with meter, Mai will have to be more cautious and proactive while avoiding taking damage or getting punished in the air. When Mai has the meter, that’s when the player will need to take initiative and start trying to bait the opponent out for a whiff punish or catch them using an unsafe moves or getting the hit confirm into a big time damage combo.
Otherwise, if Mai has some meter she still has her reversals to consider as well - two choices: Reversals or the offensive safe pressure/damage output. The very moment Mai gets a chance to the punish or hit confirm into HD, Mai should be able to net 600+ (no super) or 800 (with two bars) damage for without any problem… And… as with every other character… Meter equals options - Another thing that needs to be understood is that, Mai is very good at baiting characters out for a whiff punish thanks her fast and trick movement in general - Mai is also very good at dealing with players that are reckless or overly offensive! After getting a good insight on the games fundamentals, the player can worry about Mai’s ability to maintain the players game plan as they develop applications for meter and her purpose on the players team. Mai is not a beginner friendly character as she actually requires KOFXIII fundamentals to play correctly in mid/high level play.
There will be more to follow for Mai’s game play and information
Start at 03:56
Notice that Mature is building meter on Mai’s behalf. Mai pushes her way through EX Kyo to save as much meter she can. All it really takes is her mobility and her normal to take care of a lot of problems. Notice that the Mai player continues using j.B against a grounded Saiki - the hit box on the move very nice and it is relatively easy to follow up with. REMEMBER: Mai can only cancel into her j.d.B (Ukihane) from NORMAL or HIGH jumps -NOT hops/hyper hops. 06:10 - This is how you use d~charge~u+P as an offensive maneuver - punish those badly timed projectiles. Mai vs Saiki is an even match up, but she needs to stay a little more towards the ground, especially if Saiki has meter because he has a lot of anti-air options (close st.C, vertical j.CD, qcf+C, preemptive/back dash qcfA, qcfx2+K DM, DP+B, cr.C, and even his st.A)
Woo apparently IS known for having a competent Mai. A rather passive aggressive/smart Mai at that. Japanese are known for playing a little more passively than… say U.S. or Mexico for instance.
Woo’s Mai seems to utilize a basic air mix ups and hit confirms. Uses st.B as a method of stopping hop pressure from EX Kyo.
Woo also plays Mai as an anchor - hence he will usually have around 1 or 2 meters leftover if the second character is KO’d. He will frequenly make use of wall jumps, NOT so much as to get out of pressure but to attempt another form of offensive
(POST wall jump, j.d.B Ukihane, then air qcb+P. j.d.B Ukihane into qcb+P is NOT a natural block string even if you use the EX version. The EX version is safe on block - The regular air qcb+P is only safe if you aim towards the opponents legs, so the Mai would probably best go with air qcb+A (light punch version). j.d.B used in FRONT of the opponent will cause the opponent to be pushed back a further distance. Just enough for her to be safe… (safer).
Woo will also press a button while being further away from Reynald (something you might see in a CVS2 match up) to draw out a mistake on the opponent behalf.
Mai appears at 8:25, 20:49, and 41:42. Pay attention to how Woo plays her. His play style matches the general consensus of Japanese KOF game play.
Let’s take a look at Luffy’s Mai!!
Luffy plays a very tricky yet aggressive Mai - Mai is meant to be tricky character in this case anyhow and her mobility supports that.
Luffy’s Mai makes continued use of early j.CD. Mai’s j.CD is really nice to utilize, much like King’s and Duo’s. He will use that to keep the opponent from jumping at her or resorting to hop pressure. You will notice that Luffy is MORE than willing to raw Neo Max. Though, theoretically, raw Neo Maxing in high level play is a bad idea, Mai still has one of the best Neo Max’s in the game - punishes nearly anything.
(Around where I live, Mai is sometimes referred to as “Mrs.Don’t_Jump” by the Germans - that’s a rough translation of what I often hear when there are ranbats or casuals going on). Throughout the video when Mai is on showcase, you notice that Luffy is periodically throwing far st.C out. Mai will just swipe her fan downwards hitting opponents all in front or above her in an angle. Great hit box, great priority.
Found some brand new Mai technology: (Shout outs to MKSWOLF and Hyun Sai)
This is the 2 bar HD combo that I utilize:
This is Hyun Sai’s video input on Mai’s cross up. You can actually make this safe on block if time either of the versions of hcf+K
correctly and you don’t have to start off from EX hcf+K - it mainly any move that would cause a knockdown state.
This was posted on DC.
Shout outs to t3h mAsTarOth…!
I got another short term Mai HD combo. This is a corner carry:
How to do this:
Upon starting the HD combo, the player needs to input hcf+D qcb+C VERY quickly. BUT, then you need to leave the control stick neutral for a moment then input hcf+D, qcb+C again to continue Mai’s wall corner, without expending any super meter. The player should notice a rhythm while conducting these inputs overtime.
Shout outs to t3h mAsTarOth…! and AirLancer
Mai Shiranui Combo Video: By DarkChaotix
Mai Tutorial in Progress!
If you can look for matchs from naoki according to fox (french top player living in japan now) he has a mai which forced him to remove his karate from his team to win against him.
Still tracking those matches.
Adding some new stuff to Mai Tutorial: Using the system neutral game to Mai’s advantage, combo starters, and corner lock down/mix ups/(speed based) mind games.
Mai Tutorials Part 1 and Part 2 are UP: