I will come back and do a more detailed breakdown after I have experienced the matchup more myself.
For now our tips are generally:
He is very difficult to Anti Air. Try to use Wingless when you can, or get out of the way if possible. You can easily lose a c.mp or s.hp to him…
Disrespect his wake up game. Obviously his super is something to play around, but you can generally win everything else. So once you get him down, keep him down.
Slash Elbows are -4, -6, -7, and -10 on block. LK version is only punishable if Alex hits deep. MK and HK need to be spaced at max range to be safe (Alex should only be making contact with his swipe, and not his arm) otherwise Mika can punish with reversal EX Shooting Peach or Passion Press. You can also punish Slash Elbow with neutral jumps if you want a better reward, though Alex can punish that with reaction AA Slash Elbow if he’s fast. I’ve also found that cr.MK is quite good for stuffing Slash Elbow because of its low hurtbox.
Since I have not played this match very much yet, please share your thoughts on this: What are his wake up options to beat a meaty Lady Mika, and what are his options to beat a s.lp s.mp frame trap / tick throw mix up?
Also, the pun is also a piece of advice. Wingless airplane is one of the most effective anti air tools against Alex. I recommend avoiding other anti airs as his hit boxes will generally beat yours.
His shoulder special is -4 and is fairly difficult to punish, especially without wasting meter. At some ranges you just have to let him get away with the meterless one.
Slash Elbows are -4, -6, -7, and -10 on block. LK version is only punishable if Alex hits deep. MK and HK need to be spaced at max range to be safe (Alex should only be making contact with his swipe, and not his arm) otherwise Mika can punish with reversal EX Shooting Peach or Passion Press. You can also punish Slash Elbow with neutral jumps if you want a better reward, though Alex can punish that with reaction AA Slash Elbow if he’s fast. I’ve also found that cr.MK is quite good for stuffing Slash Elbow because of its low hurtbox.
I’ve had some experience in this matchup. Couple things I’ve noticed:
Passion press great in the neutral for stuffing slashes and elbows. Just throw it out sometimes if you see him downbacking or walking back and expect a slash, it’ll get CH and you’ll get the rope throw.
as others have said, his flash chop is -4 and his st.hk is also -4. You can st.lp xx EX peach this if you’re fast and close enough, very good way to knockdown and get pressure back. Many Alex’s will use st.HK as a meaty to CC on wakeup, just block and punish, or at least start pressure.
Don’t abuse splash too much in this matchup, his main AA is st.lp and it has short range so if you whiff it in front of him, he’ll be able to still do st.lp expecting to AA, see mika whiff a body splash, and then punish you.
Soooo I’ve been playing Alex, but I haven’t forgotten about Mika:
Alex is no chun by any means; has no wakeup.
What you want to do: be Mika. Bully him. Mess with his charges by switching sides, etc. Pressure him.
What you don’t want to do: Get frame trapped. Get in his preferred footsie range.
Mika has: Very quick responses, if Alex tries anything slow, a passion press/ex wingless/peach should beat it. Your grab beats his. Hell, normal grab beats his.
Alex has: Frame traps. Very meter dependent. Low damage/High Stun. Range. ex elbow has armor but not on first frame - Prepare accordingly. Situational anti-airs(change up your strategy if you’re going airbourne, alex players have like, 3 anti-air buttons they need to pick). A good v-reversal(he’s very plus on vreverse)
I gotta say Alex is one of the few characters in this game so far that I have found myself using her standing heavy punch as a response to stuff. He can be slow. That being said his V-Trigger is pretty doom, especially since it can both parry AND shield break. I haven’t found a good solution to that other than try to bait him to use it, making him wiff with a jump back and nicking him with air heavy kick.
I am seriously suffering in this match up. I can fight pretty much any character in the game around my skill level, except Birdie and Alex. They have range, with throw mix up, so I feel it really takes away from any game I can push. Their combo potential with their mix up is just killing me -_-
From this thread I gather that you have to knock him down, but I can’t even do that. From the start of the game he can pressure instantly, safely, and it’s all downhill from there. I can’t mange any momentum…
What do you do to actually get him down? Do I have to play specifically to counter something? Or is there some actually vulnerable move he would use? Because right now it seems I can’t get a slap in edgewise.
I haven’t gotten a chance to play since season 2 patch, but the advice in this thread really helped me with Alex. I think the biggest two factors were 1) Planning around his parry during v-trigger, and 2) playing reactive to his neutral, but going HAM on any opening.
Any new advice for s2 is certainly appreciated I’m still practicing combos so I don’t wiff everything in real games lol
Lol I hear you. As for S2 alex, he is certainly a tougher match up in neutral. But the Alex in turn gets more predictable. And in essence that was always his biggest weakness, match up knowledge makes him way more predictable than other characters. He got really buff though. So I’m hoping i can encounter a wider variety. It’s still one of my funnest match ups as mika
I’m still practicing combos so I don’t wiff everything in real games lol