The Penultimate: an X-23 Compilation Thread

[Merkyl999x]

Preface:
Before we even get started I want to acknowledge all of the hard work Karsticles put into “The Ultimate Dormammu Thread.” This thread is borrowing liberally (see: stealing) a lot of the layout and overview directly from there and I don’t want there to be any confusion on that point. Thanks in advance for all the hard work Karsticles did since it has provided the groundwork for our thread. With that out of the way, let’s get down to business.

A Word:
I want to make this a one-stop spot for all inquiries regarding X-23. Please do not hesitate to suggest changes/additions or alert me to errors in the main thread or via private message. A brief overview of what is contained in each section:

•The Basics: General character information, such as X-Factor and health values, along with the legend for notation that will be used throughout the guide. Each move is listed, along with the frame data for that move as well as how to make effective use of that move in a various situations. If you are looking for strategies on how to make one of X-23’s normals, specials, or hypers useful in a variety of situation, read the “Discussion” portion of that move’s section.

•Strategy: First, a general overview of what it means to play X-23. Then, a breakdown of general methods of approach, mix-ups, creating resets, and X-Factor usage, etc. is provided. This section is purely with regard to X-23, and does not involve considerations of team functionality.

•Team** Building****:** I have presented a general overview of what it means to make a team in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. This is followed by a section for each character in the game X-23 can pair with, along with the various synergistic abilities between X-23 and the given character. As often as possible, I will include videos of any claims made.

•Matchups: A specific section exists for each potential opponent in the game; within these sections I will try to list effective strategies against each character in the game, especially options X-23 has to directly counter specific abilities each character has. Be sure to read the Legend so the information is intelligible to you.

•Gameplay and Combos: Here contains an archive of videos showing excellent X-23 gameplay or concepts, and also a listing of combos possible with X-23. If you would like to contribute to this section, please be sure to read the rules for video submission. This section does not deal with team-based combos. If you want to see what X-23 can do with a particular assist, consult that teammate’s section in the Team Building part of the guide.

Please do not hesitate to contribute! All assistance in making this guide as comprehensive as humanly possible is welcome; please do not hesitate to suggest changes as well.

Table of Contents:
The Basics – Overview, Table of Contents, General Information, Legend
The Basics, Page 2 – s.L, s.M, s.H, s.S, c.L
The Basics, Page 3 – c.M, c.H, j.L, j.M, j.H, j.S
The Basics, Page 4 – Throw, Dashes, Falling Claw, Mirage Feint ( :l:,,:h:), Mirage Feint Cancel
The Basics, Page 5 – Ankle Slice, Decapitating Slice, Neck Slice
The Basics, Page 6 – Crescent Scythe ( :l:,,:h:)
The Basics, Page 7 – Talon Attack ( :l:,,:h:)
The Basics, Page 8 – Snapback, Rage Trigger, Weapon X-Prime, Dirt Nap, Assists

General Strategy
General Strategy, Page 2
General Strategy, Page 3
General Strategy, Page 4
General Strategy, Page 5

Team Building – Introduction and Legend
Team Building, Page 2 - Akuma, Amaterasu, Arthur, C. Viper, Captain America, Chris, Chun-li, Dante, Deadpool, Dormammu
Team Building, Page 3 - Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, Felicia, Firebrand, Frank West, Ghost Rider, Haggar, Hawkeye
Team Building, Page 4 - Hsien-ko, Hulk, Iron Fist, Iron Man, Jill Valentine, M.O.D.O.K., Magneto, Morrigan
Team Building, Page 5 - Nemesis, Nova, Phoenix, Phoenix Wright, Rocket Raccoon, Ryu, Sentinel, She-Hulk
Team Building, Page 6 - Shuma-Gorath, Spencer, Spider-man, Storm, Strider Hiryu, Super-Skrull, Taskmaster, Thor
Team Building, Page 7 - Trish, Tron Bonne, Vergil, Viewtiful Joe, Wesker, Wolverine, Zero

Matchups – Introduction and Legend
Matchups, Page 2 – Akuma, Amaterasu, Arthur, C. Viper, Captain America, Chris, Chun-li, Dante, Deadpool, Dormammu
Matchups, Page 3 – Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, Felicia, Firebrand, Frank West, Ghost Rider, Haggar, Hawkeye
Matchups, Page 4 – Hsien-ko, Hulk, Iron Fist, Iron Man, Jill Valentine, M.O.D.O.K., Magneto, Morrigan
Matchups, Page 5 – Nemesis, Nova, Phoenix, Phoenix Wright, Rocket Raccoon, Ryu, Sentinel, She-Hulk
Matchups, Page 6 – Shuma-Gorath, Spencer, Spider-man, Storm, Strider Hiryu, Super-Skrull, Taskmaster, Thor
Matchups, Page 7 – Trish, Tron Bonne, Vergil, Viewtiful Joe, Wesker, Wolverine, X-23, Zero

Gameplay and Combos – Gameplay and Combo Compilation Videos
Gameplay and Combos, Page 2 - Combos

Special Thanks

General Character Information:
X-23 Biography
X-23 Fan Art
X-23 Color 1
X-23 Color 2
X-23 Color 3
X-23 Color 4
X-23 Color 5
X-23 Color 6
X-23 Alt. Color

General Statistics:
Health: 830,000
Chain Combo Archetype: Hunter Series (Zig-zag)
Level 1 X-Factor Bonuses: 120% Damage, 120% Speed, 11 Seconds
Level 2 X-Factor Bonuses: 140% Damage, 130% Speed, 16 Seconds
Level 3 X-Factor Bonuses: 160% Damage, 140% Speed, 21 Seconds

Notation:
:l:- Light Attack
- Medium Attack
:h:- Heavy Attack
:s:- Special Button
:a1:- Assist Button 1
:a2:- Assist Button 2
:atk::atk:- Any Two Attack Buttons
(Air) - Performable While Airborne
(Low) - This Move Must Be Blocked Low
(High) - This Move Must Be Blocked High
(OTG) - This Move Hits Prone Opponents
(Charge) - This Move Can Be Charged
(Mid) - This Combo Requires A Mid-Screen Opponent
(Corner) - This Combo Requires A Cornered Opponent
(Assist) - This Combo Requires An Assist
(Reset) - This Combo Requires A Reset
(XF1) - X-Factor Level 1 Damage Levels
(XF2) - X-Factor Level 2 Damage Levels
(XF3) - X-Factor Level 3 Damage Levels
c. - Crouching
s. - Standing
j. - Airborne
sj. - Airborne Via Superjump
(MFC) - Mirage Feint Cancel
(WXP) - Weapon X-Prime
(XFC) - X-Factor Cancel
(DHC) - Delayed Hyper Cancel

[Merkyl999x]

The Basics, Page 2

Normals:
Standing :l:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 40,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 4
•Active Frames: 3
•Recovery Frames: 11

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -1
•Frame Advantage on Block: -1

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Chains into s.:l: and cr.:l:
[]Can be rapid fired.
[/LIST]

Standing

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 2
•Damage: 54,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 5
•Active Frames: 2(2)3
•Recovery Frames: 19

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -5
•Frame Advantage on Block: -5

Discussion:

Standing :h:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 68,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 9
•Active Frames: 4
•Recovery Frames: 21

•Frame Advantage on Hit: +1
•Frame Advantage on Block: -3

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Knocks Down
[]Can be followed up with a Mirage Feint :h: for combo extension.
[]MFC turns the -3 on block into a +11 when performed perfectly. This gives X-23 a very strong frame trap and allows pressure even after being advancing guarded.
[]Advanced MFC usage allows s.:h: to be rapid fired.
[/LIST]

Standing :s:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 80,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 8
•Active Frames: 4
•Recovery Frames: 27

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -
•Frame Advantage on Block: -9

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]As with most characters, her :s: is very unsafe on block or whiff. Be sure your opponent is being hit before using it.
[]Launcher.
[*]Not Special or Hyper combo-cancelable.
[/LIST]

Crouching :l: (Low)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 35,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 5
•Active Frames: 3
•Recovery Frames: 13

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -3
•Frame Advantage on Block: -3

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Can be chained into s.:l: and cr.:l:
[]Can be rapid fired.
[/LIST]

[Merkyl999x]

The Basics, Page 3

Crouching (Low)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 2
•Damage: 50,400

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 6
•Active Frames: 7
•Recovery Frames: 17

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -2
•Frame Advantage on Block: -3

Discussion:
[LIST]
[*]c. is one of X-23’s stronger pokes. Cancelling into it from a dash is a very good way to punish whiffed or unsafe attacks.
[/LIST]

Crouching :h: (Low)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 63,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 10
•Active Frames: 4
•Recovery Frames: 20

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -
•Frame Advantage on Block: -2

Discussion:
[LIST]
[*]Knocks down.
[/LIST]

Aerial :l: (High)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 40,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 4
•Active Frames: 3
•Recovery Frames: 16

•Frame Advantage on Hit: +9
•Frame Advantage on Block: +9

Discussion:

Aerial (High)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 50,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 6
•Active Frames: 3
•Recovery Frames: 22

•Frame Advantage on Hit: +16
•Frame Advantage on Block: +15

Discussion:

Aerial :h: (High)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 70,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 11
•Active Frames: 3
•Recovery Frames: 22

•Frame Advantage on Hit: +18
•Frame Advantage on Block: +17

Discussion:

Aerial :s: (High)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 70,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 11
•Active Frames: 3
•Recovery Frames: 22

•Frame Advantage on Hit: +18
•Frame Advantage on Block: +14

Discussion:
[LIST]
[*]Causes hard knockdown if used in launcher combo.
[/LIST]

[Merkyl999x]

The Basics, Page 4

Throw - /:f: + :h:

Details

Spoiler

•Hits: 3
•Damage: 80,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 1
•Active Frames: 1

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Hard knockdown
[]X-23 does not have very damaging options off of her throws. From her air throws it is possible to follow up into a combo with an OTG assist or X-factor but it’s very unlikely to combo off of her ground throws. It is much better to use the knockdown to force your opponent into a mix-up.
[/LIST]

Ground Dash - /:f: + :atk::atk: or /:f::f:

Details

Spoiler

Frame Data:
Forward Dash: 16
Backwards Dash: 21

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]X-23 is a highly mobile character and has one of the fastest ground dashes in the game.
[]Mastering her plink (kara) dash makes her an absolute speed demon and allows for some tricky mix-ups.
[*]Her backdash has great range that you can use to bait your opponents into whiffing attacks before dashing back in with a c. to punish.
[/LIST]

Command Normals:
Falling Claw - (In Air):d:+:h:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 68,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 8
•Active Frames: Until Grounded
•Recovery Frames: 10

•Frame Advantage on Hit: +7
•Frame Advantage on Block: +6

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Can be cancelled into a TAC attack or any of her Talon Attacks.
[]Very useful for changing your air trajectory unexpectedly.
[]Very unsafe on whiff. If you become too predictable with it your opponent can very easily dash out from under it and punish you. If you think there’s a chance you might whiff the attack cancel into a Talon Attack to correct your trajectory or get away safely.
[]Counter-intuitively, this attack does not hit overhead.
[]Can be a very strong tool for creating ambiguous cross-up by dash-jumping over your opponent. At certain distances it is very hard to visually tell whether you must block this attack left or right.
[]Used low to the ground, this is a very powerful tool in her pressure game.
[*]By using :df:+:h: instead of :d:+:h: you can use Falling Claw as an OS for air throws.
[/LIST]

Movement Specials:
Mirage Feint :l: (Charge)- :qcb::l:

Details

Spoiler

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 3
•Active Frames: -
•Recovery Frames: 14

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Charging state starts on frame 4 if button is held. Pressing :s: during charge cancels the feint and returns X-23 to neutral.
[]A small forward hop that does not pass through your opponent.
[*]Works very well at countering advancing guard and has the same start-up animation as Mirage Feint so it can be used to create 50/50 mix-ups when used with assists.
[/LIST]

Mirage Feint (Charge)- :qcb:

Details

Spoiler

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 3
•Active Frames: -
•Recovery Frames: 25

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Charging state starts on frame 4 if button is held. Pressing :s: during charge cancels the feint and returns X-23 to neutral.
[]One of the fastest cross-ups in UMVC3, this is X-23’s main tool for creating mix-ups. It is unsafe when used by itself so be sure to call an assist to make it effective.
[]New in UMVC3, X-23 can now cancel her Mirage Feint into a Talon Attack. This allows you to create Berserker Slash style mix-ups. This is relatively safe, though her feint has no invincibility and it is possible to be hit out of the initial cross-up.
[]Cross-up works in corner.
[/LIST]

Mirage Feint :h: (Charge)- :qcb::h:

Details

Spoiler

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 6
•Active Frames: -
•Recovery Frames: 7

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Charging state starts on frame 7 if button is held. Pressing :s: during charge cancels the feint and returns X-23 to neutral.
[]Performs a small jump that allows access to her air attacks (normals and specials.)
[]This is used mainly as a combo extender but, coupled with Falling Claw and Talon Attacks, does a good job countering advancing guard, as well.
[]While not terribly fast, Mirage Feint :h: into her air normals is one of the only ways to realistically land an overhead attack against a crouching opponent. It’s very spacing-specific and doesn’t have much practical use in matches since it’s much more effective to go for X-23’s left/right mix-ups than her high/low mix-ups.
[/LIST]

Mirage Feint Cancel (MFC) - :s: during the charge period of any of the Mirage Feints.

Details

Spoiler

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]MFC is somewhat of a controversial topic among X-23 players. It is definitely not a requirement to being successful with the character, but it does dramatically change her play-style. Most likely, it will be required to be successful with X-23 at the highest levels of play since it drastically reduces the recovery time of any normals it’s used after. This allows for combo options that would not be possible otherwise, sets up effective frame traps and negates advancing guard since you have time to dash back in and continue pressure.
[]There is an input lenience in the game that allows you to perform MFC’s more easily. If you are already holding :s: during a feint, as soon as it hits a charge frame it will immediately cancel it. If you press and release the :atk: for the Mirage Feint before it hits a charge frame it will perform the feint normally.
[/LIST]

[Merkyl999x]

The Basics, Page 5

Specials:
Ankle Slice (Charge) - :qcf:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1~3
•Damage: 85,000 ~ 135,400

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 22~39
•Active Frames: 4~7
•Recovery Frames: 22~19

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -3~+27
•Frame Advantage on Block: -4~-3

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Low Attack
[]Fully Charged version causes stagger and is OTG capable.
[/LIST]

Decapitating Slice (Charge) - :qcf::h:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 3
•Damage: 120,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 26~45
•Active Frames: 8
•Recovery Frames: 23

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -
•Frame Advantage on Block: -

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Command Throw with combo follow-up.
[]Knocks down.
[]Charging increases the range of the grab.
[]This has no invincibility frame so you can easily be hit out of the pre-frames.
[]All of the slices share the same basic start-up animation. The only way to tell between them is by watching X-23’s claws.
[]Decapitating Slice only becomes effective once you’ve trained your opponents to block and even then usually isn’t the best tool at her disposal at any given time. It can easily be punished by mashing so you want to be frugal and choose your times to attempt it, if at all.
[/LIST]

Neck Slice (Charge) - :qcf::l:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1~3
•Damage: 85,000~135,400

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 18~37
•Active Frames: 9~12
•Recovery Frames: 14~11

•Frame Advantage on Hit: 0~+30
•Frame Advantage on Block: -1~0

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Fully charged version staggers grounded opponents and causes spinning knockdowns on airborne opponents.
[]Coupled with an assist, this is a great way to close the gap on your opponent but it is susceptible to throws on guard. Using the fully charge version leaves you at 0 on block which leaves you time to jump away from a throw attempt and drop back down on your opponent with a Falling Claw or Talon Attack into a full combo.
[*]Couple with an OTG assist, a fully charged neck slicer can be use to extend higher hitstun combos and to combo into X-23’s Weapon X-Prime super.
[/LIST]

[Merkyl999x]

The Basics, Page 6

Crescent Scythe :l: (In Air OK) - :dp: :l:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 85,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 5
•Active Frames: 8
•Recovery Frames: 33 (In air - until grounded)

•Frame Advantage on Hit: +1
•Frame Advantage on Block: -19

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Knocks Down
[]New to UMVC3, Crescent Scythe can be cancelled into any of the Talon Attacks. This is a very important tool for making Crescent Scythe safe.
[/LIST]

Crescent Scythe (In Air OK) - :dp:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 2
•Damage: 104,500

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 5
•Active Frames: 11
•Recovery Frames: 40 (In air - until grounded)

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -5
•Frame Advantage on Block: -25

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Knocks Down
[]New to UMVC3, Crescent Scythe can be cancelled into any of the Talon Attacks. This is a very important tool for making Crescent Scythe safe.
[*]When using Crescent Scythe in combos against 2 characters it will only hit 1 time. Keep this in mind during your air portions to avoid costly dropped combos.
[/LIST]

Crescent Scythe :h: (In Air OK) - :dp::h:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 3
•Damage: 119,200

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 5
•Active Frames: 12
•Recovery Frames: 59 (In air - until grounded)

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -23
•Frame Advantage on Block: -46

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Knocks Down
[]New to UMVC3, Crescent Scythe can be cancelled into any of the Talon Attacks. This is a very important tool for making Crescent Scythe safe.
[*]When using Crescent Scythe **:h: ** in combos against 2 characters it will only hit 2 times. Keep this in mind during your air portions to avoid costly dropped combos.
[/LIST]

[Merkyl999x]

The Basics, Page 6

Talon Attack :l: - (In air):qcf: :l:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 90,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 15
•Active Frames: Until grounded
•Recovery Frames: 11

•Frame Advantage on Hit: +10
•Frame Advantage on Block: +9

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Hard knockdown when used in an air combo after :s: launcer
[]Can be cancelled into from any aerial special move.
[/LIST]

Talon Attack - (In Air):qcf:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 90,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 15
•Active Frames: 13
•Recovery Frames: 13

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -3
•Frame Advantage on Block: -4

Discussion:

Talon Attack :h: - (In Air):qcf::h:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 90,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 15
•Active Frames: 13
•Recovery Frames: 13

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -3
•Frame Advantage on Block: -4

Discussion:
[LIST]
[*]Can be cancelled into from any aerial special move.
[/LIST]

[Merkyl999x]

The Basics, Page 8

Snapback - :qcf: :a1: or :a2: (1 Bar)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 50,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 2
•Active Frames: 4
•Recovery Frames: 21

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -
•Frame Advantage on Block: -3

Discussion:
[LIST]
[*]On hit, snap back forces the opposing point character to be replaced by an assist. Opposing assist calls or tag out are also locked out for 4 seconds.
[/LIST]

Hypers:
Rage Trigger - :qcf: :atk::atk: (1 Bar, Mashable)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 13~26
•Damage: 245,400~294,600

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 13+2
•Active Frames: 16(13)24(10)10
•Recovery Frames: 44

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -12
•Frame Advantage on Block: -29

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Frames 1-19 invincible.
[]Can be mashed for additional hits.
[/LIST]

Weapon X-Prime - :dp: :atk::atk: (1 Bar)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 14
•Damage: 280,900

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 24+1
•Active Frames: 33
•Recovery Frames: 38

•Frame Advantage on Hit: -
•Frame Advantage on Block: -50

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Frames 6-64 invincible.
[]This super was used to start the ‘DHC Glitch’ in vanilla MVC3. While it no longer resets damage or hitstun scaling, it still puts your opponent into a spinning knockdown state when DHC’d into non-hitting supers.
[/LIST]

Silent Kill / Dirt Nap- :qcb: :atk::atk: with :s: Follow-up (3 Bars)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 400,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 20+9
•Active Frames: 33
•Recovery Frames: 38

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Frames 6-29 invincible.
[]On Activation, X-23 becomes invisible for 600 frames. Pressing :s: when near the opposing character activates a special unblockable attack that ends Silent Killer.
[]The :s: follow-up is not considered a throw and will connect even if the opponent is in hitstun or guardstun.
[]When invisible, X-23’s :s: hitbox is the same as her :l: hitbox when visible. (Proof)
[*]It is possible to relaunch after a Dirt Nap with your opponent in the corner. Against a grounded opponent you can follow with a s.M(1 hit)>c.M or s.H. Against an airborne opponent at low jump height you can sometimes follow up with a dash>s.L or s.M but it is very height and spacing specific. (Proof against a grounded opponent.)
[/LIST]

Assists:
A: Neck Slice

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 80,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 42
•Active Frames: 7
•Recovery Frames (This Assist): 119
•Recovery Frames (Other Assist): 79

Discussion:

B: Ankle Slice (OTG)

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 1
•Damage: 80,000

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 44
•Active Frames: 4
•Recovery Frames (This Assist): 114
•Recovery Frames (Other Assist): 84

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Low Attack
[]OTG-capable
[*]Useful for setting up Hi/Low Hard-to-Blockable when pair with characters with air dashes or strong overhead options.
[/LIST]

C: Crescent Scythe :h:

Details

Spoiler

Attack Data:
•Hits: 3
•Damage: 108,300

Frame Data:
•Startup Frames: 29
•Active Frames: 9
•Recovery Frames (This Assist): 154
•Recovery Frames (Other Assist): 124

Discussion:
[LIST]
[]Knocks Down.
[]Has invincibility when used as a crossover counter can can lead to a full combo in certain situations.
[/LIST]

[Merkyl999x]

General Strategy

A Word:
TL;DR: MOBILE, FAST, FUN, DIRTY, RESET, TRICKY, GUARANTEED DEATH SETUPS. Now read the long version.

X-23 is a incredibly fast mix-up character with strong options to create frame-traps and punish her opponents bad choices. She is a very mobile character with the tools to be very unpredictable in the air and on the ground but you have to be smart in utilizing them as many of them are unsafe or punishable when used poorly. On point, she has a few combos and team builds that can generate damage in the millions but she is built to be a reset/oki-monster and, as tempted as you might be to go for those high numbers, the faster you come to grips with this fact, the faster you will start to see success with her. (As a collective, we’re still finding the optimum way to play her and are actively discovering new tech so don’t feel like anything I say here is set in stone. I will gladly eat my words and change this guide if someone finds a more effective way to play her.) She has the ability to guarantee dead characters on incoming with 3 meters, can often kill 2 characters with a single X-factor guard punish, and has some of the fastest and dirtiest mix-ups and resets in the game. As a whole, she hasn’t seen a lot of use at top tier levels which means most people aren’t familiar with the match-up and are more likely to make mistakes against her and, with a few exceptions, her tool-set isn’t incredibly hard to learn but you will have to spend some time in the lab to become consistent with some of her more powerful options. However, having access to all of these great options comes with two main downsides… First, her health is abysmal for a game where single combos can easily break 1 million damage and, secondly, she doesn’t have the greatest tools for dealing with characters that can attack from sj. height which creates some tough match-ups for her. This all being said, she is an incredibly fun and rewarding character to play and it’s my hope that this guide, which is intended to be a constantly updated compilation of tech from the forum’s best and brightest, will help you get to the fun part as fast as possible while avoiding the pitfalls we all discovered along the way.

2013 update: So here’s me eating my words. I now believe that X23 is a potent threat with with double relaunch team options that allow her to do full Thor TODs and in a game like Marvel it is almost always better to kill off one touch when you have the option. This along with the addition of infinites into the meta games also opens up options that allow for 1 touch - 1 TAC - 3 dead characters. She still has a very strong reset and oki game, but it’s quickly becoming unnecessary as her more optimal combos are being discovered. With the ability to TOD on point without X-factor and meter neutral in many cases putting her 2nd isn’t as much as a requirement for success which is a huge improvement since the strength of incoming mixups in this game combined with her low health would often leave you without a chance to play her at all.

Table of Contents:
Playstyles
Approach Methods
Hit Confirmation
Ranged Options
Cross-ups, Mix-ups, and Setups
Resets
Air Juggles
Running Away
X-Factor
Team Aerial Combos
Incoming Character Setups
Team Order

[Merkyl999x]

Playstyles:
X-23 is a very versatile character that can be used in multiple ways depending on her position and her team members. I’ll try to break her options down into general archetypes but keep in mind that like many other characters, X-23 is constantly evolving so don’t be afraid to branch out and try new teams or styles. Regardless of the playstyle you choose to employ, you will want to remember to keep an eye on the big picture. This means always being aware of remaining time, health, meter, and team order for both you and your opponent. Knowing this will let you make the best choices at any point in a match. Depending on circumstances this could mean spending meter to go for the kill, snapping in a troublesome character, or putting your opponent in the optimal position for a reset. You should never be on auto-pilot with X-23, as this is fastest way for her to end up dead and you will miss every opportunity you get to win matches.

Huntress

Spoiler

Under the hunter archetype, your main objective will be to track your opponent while waiting for them to leave an opening. Once the opportunity presents itself, you will spring your trap and go for a clean kill with a single strike.
This is one of X-23’s most straightforward options and, while it doesn’t utilize her strongest tools, is a good choice for players that are new to X-23. The idea is to use her mobility to avoid your opponent and punish them once they finally over-extend themselves. Rather than going for a tricky reset or mix-up, once you get the hit you will try to use any assists, meter, or DHC necessary to kill them. This archetype is very good at capitalizing on 2-for-1 situations since you won’t always have to use x-factor to guarantee both characters fall.
Team synergy is very important with this option since utilizing DHC’s will alter your team order and you need to be sure all characters have strong DHC options and can utilize the other character’s assists. This usually means having an assist that can allow X-23 to relaunch her opponents for maximum damage and DHCing into a strong vertical hyper such as Hulk’s Gamma Crush, Taskmaster’s Vertical Arrows or Dr. Doom’s Sphere Flame in an attempt to kill your opponent in one blow. With certain setups you can get 1 million+ damage off of the first hit in a match with only 2 meters but this doesn’t play to X-23’s strengths and is very meter intensive so you may find yourself short on assets later on in a match.

When building this team you will want to make sure the 2nd character has a strong DHC option from Rage Trigger with a secondary requirement of having an assist that can help X-23’s neutral game. Some of the strong choices would be: Hulk, Dr. Doom, Taskmaster, Iron Man, Super Skrull, and Nova.

In the 3rd spot, the first thing you will usually want to look for is a character with an assist that allows X-23 to relaunch her opponents after a hard knockdown. It’s not required, but it’s usually a plus if they have a strong DHC from your 2nd character. Strong Choices for this spot would be: Felicia, C. Viper, Iron Man, Wesker, or Nova.

Rogue

Spoiler

Assassin

Spoiler

Berserker

Spoiler

Approach Methods:

Dashing

Spoiler

X-23 has a very quick ground dash. You will want to learn how to wavedash ASAP, since it allows you to cancel the dash and block when you need to while moving much faster than normal dashing. For anyone new to UMVC3, you can wavedash by alternating between dash ( :atk::atk:) and :d:. This is almost a basic requirement for playing X-23 and one of her primary means of approaching opponents. The other alternative to wavedashign is learning how to Plink (or Kara) dash. You are essentially cancelling a dash with an attack (usually :h:) and dashing again before the attack has a chance to come out. There are a lot of different ways this can be done so do some youtube searches and find a way that works for you. Here is Maximillian’s dash/plink dash tutorial as a staring point since it shows both dash options somewhat briefly.

Mirage Feint

Spoiler

Mirage feints are X-23’s command dashes. Each one has a specific range and usage. As a whole, you’ll want to use Mirage Feint to get in or cross-up an opponent and :l: and :h: will be used in pressure strings and to negate advancing guard before you get used to utilizing MFC (if you choose to utilize it at all.) Mirage Feints don’t have any invincibility so it’s important to cover them with assist outside of combos.
Mirage Feint :l: is a small forward hop (maybe 2 character lengths) that is mainly used to negate advancing guard. I does not pass through your opponent so it can be used to fake crossups once your opponents begin to wise up to your Mirage Feint attempts.
Mirage Feint makes X-23 hop a large distance horizontally (roughly equal to X-23’s backdash length) and can pass through your opponents when used close enough. This is one of the main tools for her mix-up game when used with a fast horizontal assist as well as one of the fastest left/right mix-up tools in the game. You are now able to use Talon Attacks in the middle of Mirage Feints to create a safe faux-Berserker Slash.
Mirage Feint :h: is a small up-forward hop (maybe 2 character lengths forward but at a low jump height). You’ll mainly be using it for combo extension but you can use it to negate advancing guard and mix in some overheads into your pressure strings, as well.

Neck Slice

Spoiler

Neck Slice is strong approach option since it covers a lot of ground when charged while have decent priority. It doesn’t have invincibility and is very unsafe on whiff so take care when using it and always try to back it with an assist when possible. On block is relatively safe but you can still be thrown out of the recovery by savvy opponents. You have time to jump to avoid the throw and you can use a quick Falling Claw to punish their whiffed attempt so keep that in mind if you can’t cover it with a assist for some reason. If your opponent tries to punish your Neck Slice with a hyper combo you can cancel into Rage Trigger or WPX at any point as a counter.

Neck Slice becomes much stronger when fully charged since it covers almost 3/4th of the screen. On hit, it guarantees a combo on hit and will often catch poorly timed assist calls, leading to 2-for-1 situations. However, you are very vulnerable when charging the attack so be sure to cover yourself with an assist whenever possible.

X23 is at 0 frame advantage and point blank after using a charged neck slicer (or -1 when uncharged) and as such, can be thrown easily by your opponent if you don’t have an assist adding some hitstun behind it. This being the case, doing this unassisted will usually lead to death and should be avoided at all costs.

Talon Attacks

Spoiler

The Talon Attacks are multi-angled flying kicks that serve as X-23’s primary way to manipulate her air movement. You can only use one per jump but they can be used at any height and can be cancelled into from a Crescent Scythe, Falling Claw, or Mirage Feint or :h:.

Talon Attack :l: can be used like a traditional dive-kick to help yourself get in. It is safe when blocked on the ground but like most dive-kicks can be punished by chicken blocking. Like many of her options, it is unsafe on whiff so be careful when using it. It remains active until grounded but you it’s not very effective from high up since it’s not difficult to dodge.

*Talon Attack makes you fly across the air horizontally, which is great for getting in and can be used to escape the corner at times. And Talon H sends you upwards at a 45 degree angle, which is useful for getting at people in the air, as well as escaping corners in some situations, as well as running away. Like said before, all versions can be tiger knee’d, so they can be done close to the ground.

*Talon Attacks also don’t have invincibility, despite their active hitboxes, and also, you can’t block whilst performing them, leaving you vulnerable to projectiles and other stuff. Again, best to cover with assists, if possible, especially M Talon.

Wall Jump

Spoiler

Wall jumping is one of X-23’s most valuable and underused tools. It is great for escaping corners and imparts much more forward momentum than a normal forward jump. You can perform a wall jump by normal jumping :ub: towards the wall and then jumping :uf: once you are near the edge of the screen. The game counts the edge of the screen as a wall regardless of your position on the stage. This means you are almost always just a back-dash length away from being able to wall jump which can make for some really ridiculous movement options.
For general movement, wall jumping is slightly better than her Talon Attack options since she has the option to block, normal attack, air-throw, call an assist, or cancel into a special at any point during the jump. This allows you to change your trajectory in many more ways than just using the Talon Attack xx Falling Claw option which means your opponent won’t be able to prepare a counter option as easily. If you’re near the edge of the screen and you need to get in without committing to a full attack, wall jumping is often your best bet.

Hit Confirms:

[Merkyl999x]

Ranged Options:
LOL…Sorry…Your ranged options are to not be at range, sadly.

Cross-ups, Mix-ups, and Setups:
XvE’s Auto-correction/Option Select Video
X-23, the dash-through: solo 50-50 mixup
X-23 Tech Chase Option Select (aka “Tatsu” Select)
X-23 Corner Oki Examples (Featuring a Shopping Cart)

Resets:

[Merkyl999x]

Air Juggles:

Using Tiger Knees and Launcher Cancels to extend combos

Spoiler

Just a heads up, this is gonna get really nerdy, so I’ll try to explain it as best I can. Most of you probably know this but I’m sure someone can get some use out of it.

First part is explaining the number notations (just in case anyone hasn’t seen it already), 2nd part is explaining Tiger Knee’ing, 3rd part explains launcher canceling, and the 4th part is putting it all together for combo building.

Number notations for directional inputs:
7 8 9
4 5 6
1 2 3

If you see someone write 214 L they’re saying do a Mirage Feint L (2 = down, 1 = down back, 4 = back)
623 L would be a dragon punch L. (6 = forward, 2 = down , 3 = down forward)
2369 L would be a Tiger Knee’d Neck Slicer or Tiger Knee’d Talon Attack L depending on how fast you press the L.

Normally, Tiger Knee’ing is when you do a special move but end in a up-forward (9) or up-back (7) direction so that you can do an air special move as low to the ground as possible. This only works because the game has some leniency in reading the inputs. When you put in 2369 L, it read the 236 as a quarter circle forward and stores that, then reads the 9 as a jump, but once it gets the L input, it will give you a very low talon attack instead of a j.L. The reason this is useful is that it’s much faster to do 2369 L than it would be to do 9 to jump and then a 236 L just because of the physical motion. (TK TA L is really great for pressure since there’s so much hitstun on the Talon Attack and it’s much harder to react to close to the ground.)

So now, Launcher Canceling:
Normally, You can only superjump after a lauch but with how the game handles jumps (the first 3 frames of a ‘jump’ you’re actually still on the ground) if you tiger knee a motion fast enough the game will register the up-forward as a jump, but then cancel those 3 pre-jump frames into a ground special move (if you’ve messed around with Dante any, this is how his Bold Cancel options work). Sometimes you’ll see this called launcher cancelling if you’re using this to do something after an S. I don’t know if there’s an official term for it, though, since it’s not used that often. This only works on hit since you can’t super jump out of an S on block or whiff.

So now some random S xx TK Neck Slicer ammy combos:
s.LL+Ammy, s.M, cr.M s.S xx TK Charged NS (2369 L or down, down-forward, forward, up-forward L) will let you ‘launch’ them with an S while Cold Star keeps them near the ground, then hit them with a charged NS. You can just as easily use a s.HxxCharged NS, though. I was just being dumb, Lol.

You can see the difference if you do the s.LL+ammy, s.M cr. M S xx TK MF H (2147 H) j.MS and it will spike them to the ground into a hard knockdown even through you’re really low to the ground. If you just used cr.M s.H xx MF H j.MS they would be left in the air like normal.

You’ll very rarely use this technique as X-23, but there’s a few assists like Tasky’s vertical arrows or Striders Vajra that she can use that to extend a bit. Launcher cancelling with assists like that lets you abuse the fact that S launchers have a ton of hitstun on them and do stuff like S+vertical arrow (arrows hit them at the top of the launch and knock them back down to X23) xx TK Charged NS to get a spinning state into another launch. Dormammu uses this all over the place in his advanced combos for stalking flare juggles since it lets him teleport up the them and get a hard knockdown into a 2nd super.

Seperate from ALLLLL this nonsense, I highly recommend learning how to Tiger Knee X23’s Crescent Scythe (62369 H) attacks since the game has a wierd thing where it will let you cancel into a Talon Attack from a TK CS faster than if you did a regular CS. If you do a TK CS H you can actually cancel at any point rather than having to wait for the full animation.

** Running Away**:

** X-Factor:**
UMVC3 Crescent Scythe :h: XF2/3 Loop

[Merkyl999x]

Team Aerial Combos:

** Incoming Character Setups**:
Welcome to Futillity…Assistless X-23 Dirtnap

** Team Order:**

[Merkyl999x]

Team Building

A Word:
When building a solid team, there are six questions to be asked in no particular order of importance:

1. What assist-based synergy exists between the characters.
2. What DHC-based synergy exists between the characters.
3. How able your team is at handling a variety of opposing strategies.
4. Whether the structure and order of your team is solid (point/battery/assist/anchor/etc.).
5. Whether your THC synergizes well; this is generally an afterthought.
6. Whether special TAC opportunities exist.

If you are new to building a team in UMvC3, you may find Karsticle’s team building guide helpful:
Team Building Guide

The character sections below cover, to the best of my ability, 1, 2, and 6. The others are too team-specific, rather than partner-specific, and are thus beyond the scope of this guide. These sections are ever-evolving; please do not hesitate to contribute, as it is a massive task to take on alone.

All DHCs are performed after a basic magic series combo for testing. If there are special considerations given to a DHC outside of a combo situation, then it will receive the necessary notation as listed below.

Hyper Combo Synergy Legend:
(+) - The DHC can occur in full with either no or little damage lost from most positions.
(~) - The DHC requires strict timing, is inconsistent, or may not function under heavy hitstun decay.
(-) - The DHC is not possible without sacrificing considerable damage on one of the hypers.
© - The DHC only takes place when the starting hyper combo takes place in or near a corner.
(b) - The DHC can allow a hyper which would normally not connect alone due to travel time to do so.
(f) - The DHC does not connect on its own, but a second DHC can make the hypers connect.
(u) - No direct damage-based connection takes place, but your new point is left in a profitable situation.

[Merkyl999x]

Team Building, Page 2

Akuma(Partner)

Spoiler

Akuma Assists:

Akuma to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Akuma DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Amaterasu(Partner)

Spoiler

Amaterasu Assists: [media=youtube]icp0YJu5cT0[/media]
**
Amaterasu to X-23 DHCs:**

X-23 to Amaterasu** DHCs:**

General Tips and Tricks:

Arthur(Partner)

Spoiler

Arthur Assists:

Arthur to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Arthur DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

C.Viper(Partner)

Spoiler

C.Viper Assists:

C.Viper to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to C.Viper DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Captain America(Partner)

Spoiler

Captain America Assists:

Captain America** to X-23 DHCs:**

X-23 to Captain America DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Chris(Partner)

Spoiler

Chris Assists:

Chris** to X-23 DHCs:**

X-23 to Chris DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Chun-li(Partner)

Spoiler

** Chun-Li Assists:**
*•*Kikoken: Slow moving fireball with low durability points.

•Tenshokyaku: Could be used as an AA?

•Hyakuretsu Kyaku: Multi-hitting assist which locks the opponent down in place. Can be used to relaunch after an Ankle Slice OTG. Probably the best assist to use for X-23.

X23 to Chun-Li DHCs:
Rage Trigger -> Kikosho
Rage Trigger -> Hoyokusen (-)
Weapon X Prime-> Kikosho (+)
Weapon X Prime -> Hoyukusen (~)

Chun-Li to X23 DHCs:
Kikosho -> Rage Trigger (+)
Kikosho -> WXP -> (-)
Hoyokusen -> Rage Trigger (+)
Hoyokusen -> WXP ©

General Tips and Tricks:

• Use Hyaku Retsu Kyaku to relaunch after Ankle Slice OTG
• Use Hyaku Retsu Kyaku to pin down opponents for your offence and also, to pin down opponents for Silent Kill
• You can TAC into Chun and land the infinite: [media=youtube]c6KTqDFOVQA[/media]
• X-23’s Ankle Slice grants Chun a low-hitting assist to use for unblockables. Possibly too slow for OTGs

Dante(Partner)

Spoiler

Dante Assists:

Dante** to X-23 DHCs:**

X-23 to Dante DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Deadpool(Partner)

Spoiler

Deadpool Assist

•Quick Work :l:: Can be linked with a simple ABC combo into charged ankle slicer, which can further be comboed with her 2 hit string. Cannot be used to OTG with her (requires more testing?)

•Katana-Rama! :h:: Allows X23 to relaunch from anywhere. When used with a charged Neck Slice will allow relaunches even at very high hitstun levels.

• Trigger Happy :h:: Can be linked with a simple ABC combo, then jump to do another ABC combo into Talon Attack :l:. You can further use her 2 hit string from when you land off Talon Attack :l: and continue the combo.

X23 to Deadpool DHCs

Rage Trigger -> Happy-Happy Trigger (+) (-)
Rage Trigger -> Cuttin’ Time (-)
WXP -> Happy-Happy Trigger (-)
WXP -> Cuttin’ Time (-)

Deadpool to X23 DHCs

Happy-Happy Trigger -> Rage Trigger (-)
Cuttin’ Time -> Rage Trigger (-)
Happy-Happy Trigger -> WXP (+) (-)
Cuttin’ Time -> WXP (-)

General Tips and Tricks:
Since X-23 becomes a much more complete character with an OTG you should almost always be using Katana-Rama!. No amazing DHC options outside Happy-Happy Trigger but they still work well together.
Deadpool also has some meterless level-up setups for Frank West whose Shopping Cart assist works amazingly well for X-23.

Dormammu(Partner)

Spoiler

**Dormammu Assist: **

•Dark Hole: Allows X23 to relaunch almost anywhere mid-screen but is character specific when completely in the corner.

•Purification: Good for cornered Silent Kill setups but not much use anywhere else.

•Liberation: Can OTG anywhere, but ONLY off certain formulas. Not useful outside of that.

3 Power of Destructions (OTG anywhere)
3 Power of Creators (just don’t use this…)
2 Power of Destructions, 1 Power of Creator (can OTG)
2 Power of Creators, 1 Power of Destruction (can relaunch, but the timing is very strict off the last hit of the meteors)

X23 to Dormammu DHCs

Rage Trigger -> Chaotic Flame (+)
WXP -> Chaotic Flame (+)
Rage Trigger -> Stalk Flare (+)
WXP -> Stalk Flare (+)
Rage Trigger -> Dark Dimension (-)
WXP -> Dark Dimension (-)

Dormammu to X23 DHCs

Chaotic Flame -> Rage Trigger (+) (-)
Chaotic Flame -> WXP (+) (-)
Stalking Flare -> Rage Trigger (+)
Stalking Flare -> WXP (+)
Stalking Flare -> Silent Kill (+)
Chaotic Flame -> Silent Kill (-)

**General Tips and Tricks: **Dormammu is probably one of the top 5 character pairings for X-23. Generally, you’ll want to stick with Dark Hole since X-23 can use it to relaunch. Liberation isn’t very practical since there aren’t many chances to tag out with power-up with this team. However, Dark Hole has a spaced hit-box so you will need to take care to keep him safe during assist calls. Purification isn’t very practical mid-match but it is possible to use it to set up reliable Silent Kill attempts on incoming characters when near the corner. Dormammu DHC’s well with X-23 and his supers deal a large amount of damage, even on chip. With the right combo, X-23 can manage 600-700k damage paired with Dark Hole.

Like all flight characters, Dormammu can abuse the temporary hitstun reset during TAC’s leading to extended combos.

[Merkyl999x]

Team Building, Page 3

Dr. Doom(Partner)

Spoiler

Dr. Doom Assists:
[LIST]
[]Plasma Beam: As expected, a great tool for outside of combos. Can be used to help X-23 rushdown with its long blockstun, create left/right mixups and negate some of the more difficult matchups, either by countering zoning attempts or by allowing X-23 to get away safely. Most importantly, Plasma Beam can cover some of her risky or unsafe specials, such as Talon Attacks or her slice attacks. Thanks to her Talon Attack and wall jump, she can complement the space covered by the beam as well as protect the assist. A random beam hit can easily lead to a low damage combo thanks to X-23’s fast ground dashes - she can even wavedash fullscreen starting from the assist call to the end of active frames on the beam. Inside of combos, however, it has no particular use, does not allow relaunching nor help tagging WXP instead of Rage Trigger. When using this assist to start combos Mirage Feint :h: puts you at a great height to combo off the beam.
[]Molecular Shield: Because of the positioning taken by Doom when called, it’s hard to use it as a pressure assist. Molecular Shield covers quite a bit of space when the rocks get launched but, in general, is not as useful as Plasma Beam. It’s better for combos, however, allowing her to combo into WXP (which does slightly less damage than Rage Trigger, but is easier do DHC out) and dealing less hit-stun scaling than the other two assists.
[]Hidden Missiles: A nice assist to cover X-23’s moving specials, allowing a little bit of recklessness and some good pressure, as well as disrupting the opponent’s zoning or keepaway. Since they OTG and leave the opponent on hitstun for a considerable time, with proper combos she can relaunch or even finish a combo with Silent Kill. Also allows for Silent Kill setups outside of combos fairly easily, with some planning.
[/LIST]
Dr. Doom to X-23 DHCs:
[LIST]
[]Sphere Flame -> Rage Trigger (-) (doesn’t connect)
[]Sphere Flame -> Weapon X-Prime (-) (doesn’t connect)
[]Sphere Flame -> Silent Kill (+)
[]Photon Array -> Rage Trigger (-)
[]Photon Array -> Weapon X-Prime (-) (b)
[]Photon Array -> Silent Kill (-)
[]Air Photon Array -> Rage Trigger (+)
[]Air Photon Array -> Weapon X-Prime (+) (b)
[]Air Photon Array -> Silent Kill (~) ©
[/LIST]
X-23 to Dr. Doom DHCs:
[LIST]
[]Rage Trigger -> Sphere Flame (+)
[]Rage Trigger -> Photon Array (-)
[]Rage Trigger -> Doom’s Time (-)
[]Weapon X-Prime -> Sphere Flame (+)
[]Weapon X-Prime -> Photon Array (+)
[]Weapon X-Prime -> Doom’s Time (+) (~)
[/LIST]
General Tips and Tricks:
[LIST]
[]It’s generally best to have X-23 backed up by Doom than the other way around. He can make use of her assists (Ankle Slice, for example, allows easy hard-to-blockables on the ground) but X-23 is able to get in and start pressure with almost any of Doom’s assists.
[]As stated, some assists can be used to help fighting against zoners. Not just as assists, but also as Crossover Counters! People pestering you with projectiles might get surprised by a timely Plasma Beam counter when they least expected an assist.
[]Doom’s assists are incredibly useful, but are also fairly slow. For specific mixups, it might require some forethought and some actions planned in advance to get timings right (for example, Plasma Beam and then M Mirage Feint leaves a great gap in timing that allows the opponent to easily react. To make these fit together better, they need something in between that takes some time, even if just a simple dash). Therefore, it’s easier to make good use of these assists to help her movement and neutral game rather than to use them for her mixup game. Call them, spam them, make the opponent completely annoyed with this duo.
[]Random gimmick: Plasma Beam, instant Falling Claw and then Silent Kill catches people off guard and is hard to avoid (but not guaranteed). The blockstun on the beam even allows X-23 do dash back in if the FC gets push-blocked.
[*]Random gimmick 2: Full screen Air Photon Array DHC into Silent Kill does create opportunities for full screen unblockables, provided you can assuredly move to any point of the screen invisible and on time (full dashes and M Mirage Feint help covering lots of ground space without losing yourself). Just don’t do it against teleporters.
[/LIST]

Dr. Strange(Partner)

Spoiler

Dr. Strange Assists:

Dr. Strange to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Dr. Strange DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Felicia(Partner

Spoiler

Felicia Assists:

Felicia to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Felicia DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Firebrand(Partner)

Spoiler

**Firebrand Assists: **

•Hell Spitfire: Excellent assist and arguably the best assist for X-23. Depending on combo length, this assist leads to an OTG relaunch, allow for WXP after an Ankle slice, or set-up the enemy for a reset. When Firebrand is in Luminous Body, this assist can OTG on its own without the need for Ankle Slice.

•Demon Missile (M): Poor-man’s one-hit beam assist, except Firebrand is not invincible nor has any durability points.

•Demon Missile (H): Trajectory is similar to Pendulum (Log Trap), except this doesn’t wall-bounce nor is it unbloackable. Might be good for zoning if you need to cover some vertical space for jump-happy enemies.

X23 to Firebrand DHCs

Rage Trigger -> Dark Fire (-)
Rage Trigger -> Luminous Body (u)
Rage Trigger -> Chaos Tide (u)

WXP -> Dark Fire (+)
WXP -> Luminous Body (u) [on hit only]
WXP -> Chaos Tide (u) [on hit only]

Firebrand to X23 DHCs

Dark Fire -> Rage Trigger (-)
Dark Fire -> WXP -> (-)

**General Tips and Tricks: **

tl;dr version

• Get opponent to the corner using Firebrand
• Use Firebrand assist for the reset or combo extender
• Save that meter for Silent Kill

Looking at the DHC options above, your options are very limited when Firebrand is on point and you want to DHC into X-23. Dark Fire, which does good damage on its own, pushes the enemy up and away from Rage Trigger or WXP’s range if not DHC’d early enough. Even when X-23 is on point, the only time you’d get a decent DHC combo is if you end X-23’s BnB with a WXP.

What Firebrand excels at is taking the enemy to the corner, which he can do from almost any hit-confirmed normal from mid-screen. From there, I usually TAC to get X-23 in, which can you have at least 3 opportunities from any FB BnB. From the corner, his Hell Spitfire assist really shines. His spitfire assist actually has pretty heavy hit-stun decay but that actually benefits X-23 because the assist serves three functions for her in different scenarios.

After a decently-long combo, hitting Ankle Slice and the FB assist will cause the assist to hit twice, and the opponent teching almost exactly after the second assist hit. This gives X-23 three options:
a) jump and air-throw after the reset (will catch them teching forward, back, or neutral),
b) jump and start a new combo (j.M, j.H, qcf+L, ground BnB) , or
c) finish the combo with a WXP (must be done as soon as Ankle Slice hits).

The go-to choice is the air-throw since it’s at the perfect height for X-23 to Ankle Slice with another assist for a relaunch combo. This leads to the exact same situation for X-23 where she can call the Firebrand assist again!

Unless Luminous Body is active, you can only OTG relaunch on shorter combos with the help of Ankle Slice(no MF loops). With Luminous Body on, you can use Head Slice instead as the assist will come out fast enough before the opponent can recover. You’d want to mix-up with short and long combos to keep the opponent guessing whether he can tech after the FB assist.

Ideally, you’d kill the opponent in the corner with X-23 and have at least 3 bars. With Firebrand, this scenario happens often enough. This allows you to activate Silent Kill which almost guarantees a dead character coming in. If the enemy has only one character left, and it’s NOT Sentinel, you’ve pretty much won that round if you don’t mess up the Silent Kill setup.

Flip-note: Firebrand doesn’t get much from X-23 aside from the TAC exchange. However, there is the off-chance that you hit an assist and take them along for Firebrand’s BnB. In that case, X-23’s ankle slice assist can allow FB to relaunch both characters if done after the air MMHS. Otherwise, Firebrand can control space better with a beam-assist character.

Frank West(Partner)

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Frank West Assists: [media=youtube]ud_kTZIgq7Y[/media]

Frank West to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Frank West DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks: [media=youtube]2gr6xANOmLw[/media]

Ghost Rider(Partner)

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Ghost Rider** Assists:**

Ghost Rider** to X-23 DHCs:**

X-23 to Ghost Rider DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Haggar(Partner

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Haggar Assists:

Haggar to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Haggar DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Hawkeye(Partner)

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Hawkeye Assists:

Hawkeye to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Hawkeye DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

[Merkyl999x]

Team Building, Page 4

Hsien-ko(Partner)

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Hsien-Ko Assist
Senpu Bu - Pendulum Swing. Allows X-23 to relaunch from anywhere. This becomes rediculously good when powered up.
Henkyo Ki - Projectile Reflector. Doesn’t help X-23 excel at anything, and can maybe used on approach against zoners.
Anki Hou - Weapon Toss. Different items have specific properties now:

Knife: Dmg
Beach Ball: Dmg
Star: Causes stun state
Snowman: Dmg, slight stun delay from freeze
Owl?: Dmg
Bombs: Dmg, some explode faster than others
Oil Bin?(Log?): Dmg
Meat: Dmg
Anime Toy?: Dmg
Electric Bottle?: Dmg, slight stun delay from electricity

There’s more, but as a whole, they’re not very practical to use for X-23’s game.

X23 to Hsien-Ko DHCs

Rage Trigger ->Chireitou (-)
Rage Trigger->Tenrai Ha (+)
WXP -> Chireitou (+)
WXP -> Tenrai Ha (+)
WXP ->Rimoukon (u)

Hsien-Ko to X23 DHCs

Chireitou ->Rage Trigger (-)
Chireitou -> WXP (-)
Tenrai Ha -> Rage Trigger (-)
Tenrai Ha -> WXP (~)

**General Notes: **X-23 and Lei Lei are an odd pairing. Both need teams built around each other, but Lei Lei’s game shockingly works well with X-23. Generally go with Senpu-Ba assist for relaunches and setup free Gold Armor Assist from the WXP. As you can see, always try to keep X23 in front of Lei Lei for the DHCing options. After you’ve powered her up, Senpu-Ba is arguably one of the best assists in the game and can really help X-23 terrorize your opponents. I’ve tested it some and I think Senpu-ba + Ankle Slice is unblockable. If it is, Lei Lei can gain something from X-23 should the opponent try to snap her in and rid the gold armor. It can take some time, but this pairing can certainly work well together if given a chance.

Akuma(Partner)

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Hulk Assists:

Hulk to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Hulk DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Iron Fist(Partner)

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Iron Fist Assists:

Iron Fist to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Iron Fist DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Iron Man(Partner)

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Iron Man Assists:

Iron Man to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Iron Man DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Jill Valentine(Partner)

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Jill Valentine Assists:

Jill Valentine to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Jill Valentine DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

M.O.D.O.K.(Partner)

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M.O.D.O.K. Assists:

M.O.D.O.K. to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to M.O.D.O.K. DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Magneto(Partner)

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Magneto Assists:

Magneto to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Magneto DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Morrigan(Partner)

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Morrigan Assists:

Morrigan to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Morrigan DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

[Merkyl999x]

Team Building, Page 5

Nemesis(Partner)

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Nemesis Assists:

Nemesis to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Nemesis DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Nova(Partner)

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Nova Assists:

Nova to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Nova DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Phoenix(Partner)

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Phoenix Assists:

Phoenix to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Phoenix DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Phoenix Wright(Partner)

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Phoenix Wright Assists:

Phoenix Wright to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Phoenix Wright DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Rocket Raccoon(Partner)

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Rocket Raccoon Assists:

Rocket Raccoon to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Rocket Raccoon DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Ryu(Partner)

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Ryu Assists:

Ryu to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Ryu DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Sentinel(Partner)

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Sentinel Assists:

Sentinel to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Sentinel DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

She-Hulk(Partner)

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She-Hulk Assists:

She-Hulk to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to She-Hulk DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

[Merkyl999x]

Team Building, Page 6

Shuma-Gorath(Partner)

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Shuma-Gorath Assists:

Shuma-Gorath to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Shuma-Gorath DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Spencer(Partner)

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Spencer Assists:

Spencer to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Spencer DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Spider-man(Partner)

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Spider-man Assists:

Spider-man to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Spider-man DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Storm(Partner)

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Storm Assists:

Storm to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Storm DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Strider Hiryu(Partner)

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Strider Hiryu Assists:

Strider Hiryu to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Strider Hiryu DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Super-Skrull(Partner)

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Super-Skrull’s Assists:
•Stone Smite: Gives X-23 access to a wall bounce that can be comboed into with a charged Ankle Slice. It can work everywhere but there are certain ranges where it can be difficult to follow up off of the wall bounce.

•Orbital Grudge: Allows X-23 to combo into WXP off a charged Ankle Slice in the corner. This is possible anywhere but the timing gets trickier outside of corners because of hit-stun deterioration. You will have to cancel the WXP on the FIRST frame hit of ankle slicer, and even then, you still may whiff. Somewhat unreliable and as such, is not highly recommend. It is, however, good for setting up air-throw reset attempts.

•Tenderizer: Allows X-23 to relaunch off a charged Ankle Slice in corners but will force an air tech at higher hitstun ratings. In situations where it forces an air tech they will still be locked in blockstun long enough for you to follow up with a Silent Kill. This is also one of the few assists in the game that can almost guarantee a Silent Kill against an incoming character. As with all incoming Silent Kill setups, be wary of x-factor>air throw attempts and characters with invincible air hyper combos (Sentinel, Morrigan, and Phoenix.)

X23 to Super Skrull DHCs

Rage Trigger -> Skrull Torch (-) (+)
Rage Trigger -> Inferno (-)
WXP -> Skrull Torch (-) (+)
WXP-> Inferno (-)
Rage Trigger -> Death Penality (-)
WXP -> Death Penality (-)

Super Skrull to X23 DHCs

Skrull Torch -> Rage Trigger (-)
Skrull Torch -> WXP (-) (+)
Inferno -> Rage Trigger (-)
Inferno -> WXP (-)
Inferno -> Silent Kill (+) (-)

General Tips and Tricks:
It is better to have Super-Skrull behind X-23 since he has stronger DHC options and X-23 gains more advantages from his assist. Super-Skrull is a strong choice for anchor if he has X-factor lvl 3 but he benefits greatly from a strong horizontal assist as some of his offensive options are unsafe on whiff.

Taskmaster(Partner)

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Taskmaster Assists:[media=youtube]wwcJMFQ4V-s[/media]

Taskmaster to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Taskmaster DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Thor(Partner)

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Thor Assists:

Thor to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Thor DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

[Merkyl999x]

Team Building, Page 7

Trish(Partner)

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Trish Assists:

Trish to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to TrishDHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Tron Bonne(Partner)

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Tron Bonne Assists:
Bonne Strike: Tron does a short drill attack. Generally unremarkable, no special attributes other than multi-hitting - but basically everything it’s good for, Gustaff fire works as well.

Gustaff Fire: While it no longer retains the godlike invincibility from vanilla, this assist is still very useful since it comes out fast, has good range, and a good angle. Works well for M-feint mixups, corner pressure, and incoming mixups. Not too great defensively, except when used as a Crossover Counter, which retains its Vanilla invincibility.

Bandit Boulder: Unlike Tron’s command special, this assist has her throw the boulder fullscreen. Works well as a general projectile assist, as the boulder actually has relatively high durability (10 low durability points). Since it’s a two-part move, the startup for the actual projectile is a bit slow. Can be used to relaunch from a fast air combo midscreen (like Unibeam), and allows X-23 to OTG into WXP.

Tron Bonne to X-23 DHCs:
Lunch Rush -> Rage Trigger ©
Lunch Rush -> WXP (+)
Lunch Rush -> Dirt Nap (+)
King Servbot -> Rage Trigger ©
King Servbot -> WXP (~)
King Servbot -> Dirt nap (+)

X-23 to Tron Bonne DHCs:
Rage Trigger -> Lunch Rush (-)
Rage Trigger -> King Servbot (f)
WXP -> Lunch Rush (+)
WXP -> King Servbot (f)

General Tips and Tricks:
Tron Bonne herself can benefit greatly from X-23’s ankle slice assist to both set up unblockables, and allow for high damage combos.

A DHC from Tron’s hyper into Dirt Nap gets you very high guaranteed damage, but is generally a poor use of meter unless going for the last kill. A very notable exception is against Phoenix: If Tron can kill Phoenix using Lunch Rush, Phoenix will be stuck in blockstun after transforming into Dark Phoenix. Take advantage of this by DHC-ing into Dirt Nap for a guaranteed instant-kill.

Vergil(Partner)

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Vergil Assists:

Vergil to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Vergil DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Viewtiful Joe(Partner)

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Viewtiful Joe Assists:

Viewtiful Joe to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Viewtiful Joe DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Wesker(Partner)

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Wesker Assists:

Wesker to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Wesker DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Wolverine(Partner)

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Wolverine Assists:

Wolverine to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Wolverine DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks:

Zero(Partner)

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Zero Assists:

Zero to X-23 DHCs:

X-23 to Zero DHCs:

General Tips and Tricks: