Hey, just getting back into Cvs2 and ive been using Mai since the beginning. Here is how I play her. (She’s my R2. Today, with her, I took out A groove Vega and Sakura(almost…), and I would consider the player I fought as semi-pro/pro as well, because he plays in some major tournies and wins. (Tyram, if you know him.)
The Beginner’s Guide to:
C-Groove Mai.
(Note, Air Blocking comes into play with alot of her jump-ins.)
First and foremost, I would like to direct you here. http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=28423
It should answer all of your non-groove related Mai questions and some groove related ones, so read there first.
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A good Jump in combo. j.hp, land c.hp., qcb.hp. THis should come out to be a four hit combo which involves to fierce fan hits and then follows up with Ryu En Bu (that attack where the tails of her… outfit catches fire and Mai whips the opponent with them.) Attack gives significant knockback once connected and can act as a reset if timed properly. Also deals significant stun. Move recovers quickly
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Rarely Mixup the jump-in combo with the flying squirrel attack (in air press qcb. p.) Jump Super Jump onto the wall and bounce off. if your opponent expects the jump in hp and tries to snuff it, the squirrel will cause them to whiff the attack resulting in free damage.
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If distanced, Spam the Kacho-sen. (qcf-p. her fan throw projectile.) it builds significant meter, deals a bit of chip damage, and if connected, knocks back some. Of course, don’t abuse it, because its a SLOW projectile and your opponent can easily roll through it or jump over it. Also Spam the Ryu En Bu (qcb+p) Quick recovery, attacks quickly, good damage, easy to pull of. Prolly one of Mai’s best moves.
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Once your meter is full to anywhere between 1 and 3 attempt a special. DO NOT use Swan’s Fandango (the fan special.) unless your opponent is stunned, or roll-happy. The third fan of the special will hit any rolling opponent If you have previously stunned your opponent, go for it. The attack deals good damage, but its predictable, comes out slowly, easily dodged, and easily knocked out of. Instead try using the Crimson Firebird Diver (double qcb. - p. in air.) or Super Deadly Ninja Bees (QCB-HCF + K). The Firebird diver is recommended against characters that frequently use jump ins (vega gets caught quite often). It also has great priority and deals good damage. ESPECIALLY the level 3 version. Deadly Ninja Bees is pretty unique. Use it at your own risk. If you don’t know the special or when to use it, your asking to get punished.
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Since you are using C-Groove, I would say Mai’s best advantage is the Dodge Roll. (lp.+ lk. if you don’t know…) Her roll doesn’t cover the most room, but Mai is damn fast. which has saved me more than once. Try using a dodge roll, and while rising press QCB. + P. The first hit of the move comes out fast and is often a crossup if timed right. Also, very fast recovery if whiffed, so go ahead, try it.
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Try this combo c. lk. —> c. lk ----> Deadly Ninja Bees. Someone else on here insulted me and told me to use this instead, it works really well, so everyone send thankful PM’s to xx_Deus_xx.
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There are two types of wall dives. One is mentioned here earlier. Its the in air, qcb-punch. There is also another wall dive, Charge down and press up then punch. It shares properties with the other dive, ut has many special features that make it much smarter to use.
To read detailed info about it, go tho this link http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=25312 -
A big factor in playing as Mai is actually the fact that alot of people that play CvS2 dont play as Mai, or against Mai. They don’t know what to expect, and that in itself is advantage.
Here, to save you the trouble I found some of the most Relevant Mai Data.
OFFENSE
With her speed, a variety of moves and pokes, and the second best roll in the
game, Mai is best played as highly offensive. As one of the fastest
characters, she can usually dance around others, constantly pressuring with the
diverse amount of moves at her disposal. Constant pressure and hit-and-run
style suit Mai well.
Mai has good poking abilities but not the best. Know when you’re outmatched up
close. Since the last game, she has improved her poking / footsie game,
though, with the addition of two moves – her crouching MP and her standing MK.
The crouching MK can be occasionally effective. Crouching HK buffered into
Butterfly Fan makes an excellent finish to multiple light pokes. And though
Mai still has no overhead, you can master the hop to act as such (P, S, N, K
grooves).
Butterfly Fan is fast but leaves Mai wide open when whiffed. It is usually
safe when it connects though (hit or block). The exception is when the
opponent is in the corner, as hit or blocked, it will not push her foe away far
enough for her to avoid retaliation.
Flame Twirl has ultra fast recovery time when whiffed. Great to throw out at a
distance to stop anything short of a super and to build meter.
The Wall Dive increases in effectiveness the closer Mai’s back is to a corner
and the opponent is to Mai. The less distance Mai has to cover, the faster
this move will be. Lightning fast at point blank range, with fast recovery to
boot.
Do not rely on any of Mai’s supers. As opposed to Ryu, Blanka, Rock, etc., the
opponent has little to fear when Mai has a level 3 super at her disposal. Her
two ground supers juggle horribly. If your opponent is not firmly grounded,
you will get minimal hits and measly damage. The Super Air Dive juggles but
not cleanly, usually doing less than full damage. The number of hits depends
largely on your position in the air and relative to your opponent.
Fortunately, Mai builds meter quickly in offense oriented grooves, and her
supers lend themselves easily to combos.
DEFENSE
Defensively, the speed concept equals the old adage “the best defense is a good
offense.” Mai’s speed helps you avoid moves entirely, plus her roll is short
and sweet. Her biggest problem area is anti-air – she has three limited
anti-air moves, the standing HP, the Flame Pillar, and the close standing HK.
Her best anti-air is the standing HP, with great priority, reach, and damage.
However, if you don’t react fast enough, it will sometimes trade hits with some
extremely high priority and long range attacks, such as Blanka’s Bastard
Jumping HK. A bigger problem occurs when an opponent jumps in at a sharp
angle, as Mai will instead pull off her close standing HP, which is horrible
anti-air. Still, nail the angle and timing, and this is the anti-air of choice.
The Flame Pillar is quite the opposite. It will usually stuff just about any
steep jump-in or cross-up attempt (not to mention close rolls), but wide angle
jump attacks will usually trade hits. Additionally, despite being a charge
move, the Flame Pillar comes out slowly.
The close standing HK is something you may want to fool with. It has horrible
reach and priority, but it comes out quickly and stops almost any steep jump-in
or cross-up attempt. It shares the problem of her standing HP, though, in that
the far HK, which will leave you wide open, comes out if you press the button
early. With some practice, especially against the comp, this becomes decent.
There you have it. The guide to C-Groove Mai. I guarantee you, if used correctly, Mai isn’t bad at all. If you like this guide, let me know. If I get enough whiners saying “But you didn’t say this…” then add it yourself and if agreeable, I can make the necessary changes to this guide.
Just know this: No character in this game is invincible. Even the “god” tiers lose and even the “mid” tiers win games. I’ve recently been winning matches with a team of Sagat, Akuma, and Mai C-groove against teams like Bison,Sakura, Vega A-groove. (Can you say 54 hit custom combo!!!) Good luck, best wishes, and realize Mai is more than just a character meant to distract the opponent with her… fighting assets.
For those of you that can make sense of it, frame data as well
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Frame Data:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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Normals:
Close Standing:
LP: 400 +7/+7 x/o/o
3/4/6
MP: 800 -3/-3 x/o/o
6/2/23
HP: 1200 +0/+0 x/o/o
7/3/24
LK: 300 +6/+6 x/o/o
4/6/5
MK: 900 -6/-6 x/o/o
5/7/21
RH: 1200 -6/-6 x/x/o
6/6/24
Far standing:
LP: 300 -3/-3 x/x/o
5/6/14
MP: 800 -3/-3 x/o/o
6/2/23
HP: 1000 -4/-4 x/x/o
7/5/22
LK: 400 +1/+1 x/x/o
5/5/11
MK: 800 -5/-5 x/x/x
10/6/19
RH: 1200 -4/-4 x/x/x
12/10/20
Crouching:
LP: 200 +2/+2 o/o/o
4/4/9
MP: 700 -2/-2 x/o/o
4/8/16
HP: 1000 -4/-4 x/o/o
4/8/20
LK: 200 +3/+3 o/o/o
4/4/8
MK: 700 -11/-11 x/x/x
8/9/22
RH: 1100 down/-5 x/o/o
5/6/23
Jumping:
LP: 500 4/22 o/o
MP: 700 5/4 x/o
HP: 1100 7/3 x/o
HP: 1000 7/3 x/o
LK: 400 4/22 o/o
MK: 700 6/8 x/o
RH: 1000 5/8 x/o
Throws:
HP: 1600 52 pixels 3/1/13
RH: 1800 52 pixels 5/1/13
(air)HP: 1800 23 horizontal pixels, 62/70 vertical
Command Move(s):
f+MK: 800 -4/-4 block mid parry high x/x/x
10/5/18
Dodge Attacks:
HP: 1200 +0/-3 x/o/o
7/3/24
Animation: Far st. HP
RH: 1200 down/-6 x/x/x
6/6/24
Animation: Close st. RH
Alpha Counter:
600 down/-12
7/10/17
7 frames of fullbody invincibility
==================
Special Moves:
Fan Throw: QCF+P
All versions:
Block mid, parry high, airblockable.
14/43
LP: 600 -14/-14
MP: 700 -14/-14
HP: 800 -14/-14
Dive: charge D,U+P, (midair)QCB+P
All ground versions:
down/+13, block mid, parry high, airblockable.
airborne: 0-landing.
Initial leap back to wall: 14/31/14
Dive: 8/landing/10
LP: 1200
MP: 1300
HP: 1400
All air versions:
down/+3, block mid, parry high, airblockable.
airborne: 0-landing.
30/land/20
LP: 1100
MP: 1200
HP: 1300
Skirt Flame: QCB + P
All versions:
Block mid, parry high, not airblockable.
LP: 1100 down/-12
17/10/17
Note about flame? Need someone to translate: 18-32
MP: 1200 down/-12
17/10/17
flame note: 18-32
HP: 300+1200 down/-15
5/2/11/10/20
flame note: 19-33
Need to know, does the flame have some special property?
Sonichurricane.com lists the flame as being a stationary
projectile, so I’m guessing the flame note tells how long
it sticks out as a fireball nullifier.
Rushing Elbow: HCF + K
All versions:
down/-22, block mid, parry high, airblockable.
10/3/9/35/11
airborne: 7-57
LK: 300+900
MK: 300+1000
RH: 300+1100
Mai set herself on fire!: Charge D, U+K
All versions: Block mid, parry high or low, not airblockable.
LK: 1300 down/-32
13/57/48
MK: 800+600 down/-43
25/64/54
26 frames of above the knees invulnerability
RH: 600+500+400 down/-43?
25/83/50
26 frames of above the knees invulnerability
===========
Supers:
Flaming Charge: QCB, HCF + K
All versions:
down/-3, block mid, parry high, not airblockable.
Lvl 1: 2500
4:4/3/8/5+5+10+5+10+1/26
8 frames of fullbody invincibility
airborne 6-54
Lvl 2: 3800
4:4/3/8/4+4+8+4+8+4+3+1/26
14 frames of fullbody invincibility
airborne 6-54
Lvl 3: 5300
4:4/3+2+2+4+2+4+2+4+2+10+1/25
22 frames of fullbody invincibility
airborne 6-43
Multiple Fans: QCFx2 + P
All versions:
Block mid, parry high, not airblockable.
Lvl 1: 1800 down/-43
5:4*/18*/18*/72
9? frames of fullbody invincibility
Lvl 2: 2700
5:4*/18*/18*/72
13 frames of fullbody invincibility
Lvl 3: 4800
5:4*/19*/21*/72
20 frames of fullbody invincibility
Dive super: (midair) QCBx2 + P
All versions:
down/-2, block mid, parry high, not airblockable.
5:12/landing/16
airborne 0-landing.
Lvl 1: 2100
9 frames of fullbody invincibility
Lvl 2: 3600
15 frames of fullbody invincibility
Lvl 3: 5000
23 frames of fullbody invincibility
THE END!!!