Necalli seems quite unpopular which is odd because he is quite fantastic. I rarely enter a mirror match online and he seems to place very low to dead last in who are you maining polls across the web.
I realize this is not 100% on topic but the lack of mirror match experience is somewhat relevant.
our standing LP is quite possibly our most effective tool vs Nash. His moonsault is safe on block but if you react fast enough you can jab him out of his startup and establish pressure. Having a 3 frame LP with a solid hitbox gives us a tool that quite a few characters lack in that matchup.
I definitely have the greatest challenge when facing Nash.
His projectiles cause me to hesitate often at the start of the match and I am very wary of jumping due Moonsault Slash and Sonic Scythe. Up-close his throw range seems slightly more than Necalli’s so I’m tempting often to mash more buttons than I need to.
In general, I find that Nash draws a significantly high read requirement out of me which causes me to be more cautious and technical than most other matchups.
Agreed on Nash being trouble. He is don’t jump the character, your are not safe anywhere in the air as his toolset covers just about every approach. He can also Sonic then punish V-skill with moonsault all but removing that as an option outside of combo.
I felt like Karin vs Necalli was pretty even. She has some cheap shit but its nothing that feels too overwhelming like some stuff ive seen in SF4. You have to have a really good defense with Necalli because typically i am finding against any character there are very specific ranges you need to be in to fight. You just get completely destroyed if you aren’t. Gotta learn to block, tech, and escape because 1 whiffed DP usually will cost your life lead.
So I am a Honda player in SF4 and I used to use EX Headbutt all day, I love reversals. I am quite good at placing them but the punishment for guessing wrong is far worse (aside from the few characters than can punish with Ultra in SF4) for the entire cast across the board. I am finding the really good players are very good at baiting the DPs so it is very hard to resist the urge to DP people! Feels amazing to be able to dash across the screen so quickly and DP someone in the air though, especially in V Trigger.
Count me in on the Nash problem. Nash has pretty amazing buttons with good range, making mid range very frustrating and something that should be avoided. I even have trouble when I finally get him to the corner because his V-Skill and Trigger allow him to escape rather easily. I would imagine Nash gives quite a lot of characters trouble based on everything he can do, but yeah, I’m having a hard time against him with Necalli.
Agreeing with this. So far it seems like you need to have your defence on point if you want to play Necalli.
Chun is also kicking my ass. You have to use st.mp against her almost exclusively and it doesn’t convert well. Mixing up your jump timings with the divekick serves me well though, as she has to be on point with her anti-airs.
I do divekicks with varying timing and fish for sweeps to get pressure going. Sadly divekick doesn’t easily combo to a knockdown. If I score a CC sweep I’ll do immediate dash up, cr. lk, neutral jump hp to safejump ex bird and then you’re in. I try to save super in that match since super is fantastic for going through fireballs and can stop that pesky neutral jumping. Its also nice to have it stocked and ready to combo into, since you gotta make every hit you get against Chun count.
These are the characters I’m having the most trouble against:
Turtling backdash happy ryus
Turtling Kens
Turtling Bison
Turtling Nash
Nash in general
Karin
Chun
Vega
Bison
Birdie
Nash
Karin’s stand MK and cr.mp body counters anything Necalli tries to do. You’ve gotta just block and hope the Karin messes up their pressure that way you can punish and get the knockdown. Once you get the knockdown it gets a bit easier to deal her because she needs meter to get you off of her.
Nash is a wall. Can’t jump, can’t counter poke, can’t slash through booms cuz he’ll just backdash and punish your whiffed slash, difficult to get him off you.
Chun out pokes everything. Necalli’s normals can’t reach her. She can whiff or throw out a blocked sweep and Necalli can’t punish it. Cr.mk, st.mk, f.mp all body Necalli’s footsies. Match becomes bearable if you can get a knockdown and bait the ex sbk if she has meter. Divekicks can help by screwing up anti air timing.
Basically if all the characters I listed turtle the almost nothing Necalli can do. How can we open up turtles?
I think Necalli bodies Ryu. Maybe bodying Ryu is too strong of a term, but Necalli does really well in this match up.
You can negate Ryus fireball game with his v-skill. You can also discourage him with disc guidance. Necalli outfootsies Ryu and Ryu has to respect his standing HK.
Against those characters with really strong normals you really want to get V-Trigger active as soon as possible to have any hope of playing footsies with them. Once you have V-Trigger your whiff punish ability gets so much better. You have access to standing strong and low forward buffered into MP disc. Not to mention your dash. In V-Trigger dash up buttons or dash up command grab is REALLY good.
Doesn’t sound like you’re having an issue with turtles but with footsies. Necalli’s footsies are weak, you have to be using your st.hk at a far distance and your st.mp when you’re closer in. St.mp will beat a lot of pokes due to its hitbox (basically anything that doesn’t low profile honestly), although converting without VT can be tough. You can also use cr.mk, but it’s a lot more risky as it’s slower and there’s a plethora of anti-low poke moves in the game. Whiff punish with your sweep if you don’t have charge. Your sweep is really freaking good, although you don’t want to put it where it’ll get blocked.
Basics against Nash: Your st.hk is better than his long range pokes. Your up close game is better than his. He has a fireball he can walk behind; don’t let him get it out or you’re eating pressure. Do not be afraid to just hold charge in neutral. If you see him Moonsault or jump under cover of a Boom, DP him. You can also go air to air with a j.mp. Do not let him pressure you with Booms!
You can punish pretty much any Karin sweep with a st.hk.
Walk Bison to the corner. It’s a good idea to stay right outside his cr.mk range and force him to either do special moves (which require charge) as pokes or his st.mk. You can beat his st.mk with st.mp. You can whiff punish Blasts with st.hk. Blocked SKs give you frame advatange. Don’t use cr.mk too heavily, it loses to his st.mk. Do not try and neutral jump his projectile or jump over it early.
You have better footsies than Ken. Punish his fireballs, DP his jumps, and rush him down. At range your st.hk beats all his buttons. Up close you really just have to worry about his DP when you’re on offense. React to his Run with a jab, know that his b.mp is -2, and that after a st.mp if you’re out of his sweep range you can do a st.hk and beat anything safe he presses.
Not enough Birdies to give advice on, and I’ll get back to you when I have an idea about beating the other three. I’m using a lot of divekicks against them to screw up anti-air timing as they tend to need to be on point with them.
After playing a lot of the Necalli vs Karin matchup last night, I definitely feel its in Karins favor. You’re just not going to be able to outpoke her. S.HK loses to sweep, and the sweep doesnt seem punishable at the range she wants to do it, and so you’re forced to get in, get a knockdown, and then basically deal with reversal EX DP or her crazy throw range. I feel like I just dont have the advantage when I do score a knockdown. I guess I’ll need to learn some safe setups and frame traps.
We spent most of the match at the range where Karins sweep hits me but s.HK doesnt, and then if I get closer Im getting c.mk into combod. S.MP is a key button because it wins a lot of the poke wars. But I really felt lost how to actually close and keep the pressure on.
Was theorizing that at the range where I’m just out of her Sweep, maybe v skill for knockdowns is what the gameplan is, to allow me to get in on her.
Now that I think of it, I rarely use st.mp in footsies. I always go for either cr.mp or cr.mk. I always thought his st.hk or sweep was useless cuz I always got punished for using them, but I realize now I wasn’t using them at the right ranges.
Karin can just walk up and do whatever she wants to Necalli. None of her pokes can be whiff punished by Necalli. You just have to get a knockdown sometimes. Karins really love to press buttoms constantly, so I just dp, dash up, and apply pressure. Once you get in on Karin it’s an easier matchup. Getting in is the difficult part imo.