Posting specific questions about match-ups is much easier to respond too…
Hugo
play passively and abuse your long ranged pokes. Its much easier for you to get in when you need/want to then it is for Hugo so you should make Hugo come to you. Anti-Air with back/neutral jump rh, st forward, c rh and dash under whatever. This is a match-up you really need to play to your opponents tendencies.
post karakusa just take the kd option so either s fpxhayate or super if you do not feel comfortable pressuring him post hayate due to 360.
post knockdown you cannot just let him get up for free all day you need to either presure actively with a meaty or more passively with a bait of some type.
instant air ex tsurugi is pretty good although if they parry/red parry it can hurt also his back breaker usually will grab it.
late jump back fwd/rh/fp can beat backbreaker, punished whiff 360/throws and depending on timing beat wakeup SA3.
s.fp x ex orochi is nice to mix in once in awhile as the orochi is a red parry (unlike ex hayate), safe on block and hugo cannot duck st fp.
okay, so i finally beat urien!, after a little more searching i found some tips in the match critique thread, that and it just boiled down to waiting and not pushing buttons, here is a recent set of three i did. i suck i know but i’m trying to learn. i beat him but, i know i could of done alot better, that said doesn’t mean i’ll beat him in the future i just better understand what i can do, witch is all i’m looking for. i guess what i’m looking for here is where could i have have pushied him better. i know i don’t do anything fancy here, advice is always appreciated.
bad beat down for me
[media=youtube]6_2AHW1qiIs[/media]
That Urien was pretty bad… But here’s some advice on Makoto, keep moving at a fast pace. Good usage of the c.MP counter poke which you should always cancel to HP Hayate, not LP or MP, they may or may not reach depending on how far away you were. Dashing under jumping opponents is a good mind game. I usually dash under opponents and c.MPxxHP Hayate SAI link if I have the meter. Dashing under opponents for sweeps to start a mixup game is great to. Walking with Makoto is a no-no in most cases. Walking into dash distance is a good thing though as most good opponents will throw out pokes to keep you from dashing in so you can rush in and throw after they whiff. That Urien was using Tackle as a counter-poke pretty much, gotta watch for that.
You use the dash under technique as an alternate to an AA since Mak doesn’t have great ones against Urien. Careful against characters like Hugo and Dudley though who can deal some serious damage if they connect because your dash was too late.
You have to play Mak with more speed and pressure.
Check out Mimora’s Mak. Arguably the best on the planet, maybe not a good tool for an amateur but it does give you an example of how fast and aggressive your play style can be with her.
Mak has great tools, you just have to play fast, have good reactions and know your opponents well. Also, against an Urien who doesn’t parry much, abuse c.MK. That shit stuff A LOT of his options. It’s faster than c.MP too but can’t cancel into anything.
Hopefully you can get fancy eventually, anti-air LP, dash under reverse Karakusa, HPxxSAII for a 100% stun = Swagkoto. Makes Old Spice commercials look like High School Musical.
thanks for the advice araider08, there’s a lot to chew here, but the dash stuff i didn’t even think about as an anti air. I usually do c.MPxxLP Hayate/c.LKxxLP Hayate, because alot of players will let me get way with 2 reps, but lately it hasn’t been working for me. i will try c.MPxxHP Hayate instead, my only worry is i’m not so great at hit confirming so it’s the punish after block that scares me away from it. but again thanks for the feed back, there’s a lot to try here. as for the “That Urien was pretty bad…” lol goes to show you how bad i am if i get owned by it. shoutouts to being a scrub! lol one day i’ll get fancy, but for now basics. gotta work my inner tomboy first!