Standing Medium Kick is your best bet homie. Dat and jump and body splash, down+MP in air, to bait an SRK. If Necalli scores a knockdown in the corner or activates Super Saiyan mode and scores a knockdown you’re pretty much fooked.
Best counter Laura options:
Play keepaway. Srsly mang, it’s your best bet. Try to keep her out with MK and cr.LK. Force her to do something retarded.
If she does LP Bolt and you block, either throw her or do MP and then another MP. It’s one of the few times where you can do that and she can’t Jab you out of it.
If she charges her mario fireball, DO NOT GO FOR THE CHARGED HK. The Laura Army (led by the grand master of the black racists Wolfkrone) have adapted. The charged HK has too much startup. Instead, go for the Slide as a punish.
And don’t forget if Laura tries to frame trap with MP or MP into Fireball, you can backdash out and you can crouch Jab her after the fireball and that includes EX. Crouch Jabbing doesn’t work if the Laura is in V-Trigger.
So I originally posted this in the SFV Balance/Matchup “Discussion” thread where it seemed to get buried a bit/ignored by idiots and I was wondering what the thoughts of others who play the character are:
I wouldn’t even say it’s about solutions but rather that this topic has been largely lacking in actual discussion and analysis. I would love, for example, as this would likely facilitate both if those who are knowledgeable about their character could create simple lists of ‘What makes this character good’ and ‘What makes this character bad’. Tragically I’m probably only qualified(-ish) to talk about R. Mika but here goes!
What makes R. Mika good?
One of only two characters in the game with both a standing and crouching 3f normal (Necalli is the other because of course he is; Claw-off Vega has two standing 3f normals)
Large variety of resets ensures that those who lack both an invincible reversal AND who haven't done their homework are likely going to get run over
Excellent Oki
Can use target combo AND command grabs to dictate screen positioning
Decent combo damage
Excellent corner carry on most combos
One of the best V-Triggers in the game
Best V-Reversal in the game; long animation makes the stun reduction aspect of VR more useful and she gets legit Oki off of a successful V-Reversal
What makes R. Mika bad?
Much of her gameplan goes out the window or requires significant adjustments against characters with invincible reversals
Outside of V-Reversal her defensive options are poop
Anti-airs are inconsistent; some characters really can't jump in on her while others can do so for free
The "Excellent corner carry on most combos" from the 'Good' things list comes at the cost of meter and is something that many other characters can mimic without having to spend resources
Any move that's fast(-ish) and has reach ends her "turn" on block, can't be special cancelled or both.
Even with counterhit (not Crush Counter) she only has one medium to heavy link (s.MP, s.HP)
One of the worst V-Skills in the game
One of three characters in the game who cannot chip their opponent out; Zangief and Laura are the others
Honorable Mentions!
EX Shooting Peach has ~1/2 the startup of comparable specials and moves Mika forward very quickly making it able to punish some things that others character might not be able to reach; while cute this honestly isn't usually a great use of meter
Critical Art is both relatively easy to combo into and an excellent punish; Mika needs meter for EX Shooting Peach =(
s.MP; s.MK and cr.MK all have decent reach and startup allowing Mika to not get steamrolled in most footsies situations; see 'Bad' list for why these moves aren't on the 'Good' list
cr.MP is an OK anti-air but also has some interesting properties in general that are still being fleshed out
jf. d.MP is a thing...sort of
I need more filthy setups. The amount of games I’m down on life lead, backed into the corner and I’m just thinking “Lmfao, if I catch you with f.mp, it’s game over”. Every single person that gets caught, gets hit by the V Trigger and the reset, stunned, etc.
Excellent analysis. I just wanna add some new stuff, both positive and negative:
Good things:
*She builds bar faster compared to half of the roster
*Mika is a favorable char to get a comeback in a match, due to the intense damage of her combos and tons of mix ups/resets
*Perhaps she’s the char who got more unblockable options thus far
Bad things:
*She has no overhead
*Despite having one of the best v-triggers, it takes lot of “time freezing” animation
*All of her special moves are highly punishable
*Her c. hk is the worst in the game (it demands a lot frames of startup)
I kind of view overheads and commands grabs as interchangeable (-ish) when it comes to a character having a viable mixup.
Are there other characters that have actual unblockables?
I also, upon reviewing my list, my add to the (+) side that you’re starting to see better players avoid cornering Mika as they don’t the situation to get reversed on them. I feel like more and more players are going to begin adopting this sort of approach against her. This is nice for the Mika player as being cornered blows.
I agree that her cr.HK is the worse in the game (and LOL @ morons who think it’s actually a good move) but would add that Vega and M. Bison cr.HKs aren’t much better. Their cr.HKs while faster don’t go under fireballs. Also eventually that weird shenanigans where R. Mika cr.HK blows up EX SBK is going to swing a match. I can feel it.
In theory the top it was supposed to be a little transparent to show the swimsuit under it.
You can even see it on the pic on the shop, but as you said and can see, the jacket is full solid.
So dunno if it is a glitch or if capcom simply sucks as usual.
Glad do see her getting so high!
It doesn’t mean she is op or whatever. On the contrary, she still needs some few buffs. And, of course Fuudo, is a genius.
Mika coming out a re-balancing with a net loss would be some Grade A bullshit. That said, you should all be very worried as I have a bad habit of maining female grapplers that later receive crippling nerfs in Mila (DOA5) and Rachel (DOA5:LR). -_-
If Mika gets hit by the nerf bat, I’'ll probably drop SFV. My interest in this game has been waning and there are few enough interesting characters as it is. So far none of the new characters have clicked with me. Maybe that will change with Juri and Urien but I’m not getting my hopes up.
I think that Mika’s tools set will probably keep her decent in SF5 no matter what i think, unless Capcom decided to go for some insane over the top nerfs. I am honestly not worried that much about the tournament results as much as the casual bitching from people here and on EH and stuff like that.
I would like to receive some changes so that she isn’t as scrub friendly to be honest. The clap probably need to be more -ve on block as it is pretty abuse-able right now.
I wouldn’t put it past Capcom to do that. Their track record for patching has been spotty at best. I doubt things will change with SFV, which has many puzzling balance decisions.
Why do Ryu and Necalli, who both have DPs, also need 3f AA st.LPs that beat crossups while Bison gets a 10f AA and Zangief gets a 7f AA st.LP? Why does Alex, who doesn’t even have an armored move without charge or an invincible reversal without full meter, have a V-Reversal that starts up in 23 frames when characters with meterless reversals have V-Reversals that start up in 15 frames or less?
Regarding Passion Press, -2 and -27 on block aren’t negative enough for you?
Ryu can easily convert a s.MP, which into a crapload of damage too and nobody seems to care. By the way, his s.MP is +6 on hit and +1 on block, and it’s easy to end a combo with a tatsunaki for instant corner carry. So I still don’t know why so much bitching about Passion Press.