CvS2: Mai thread

[SaiYuk]

I read that "read this first" post and didn't really see a Mai thread in there. so I guess I'll start one.

some things to say:
most people think (I used to as well) Mai's far standing HP is her best anti air. I just found today her standing LK actually works even better (even though it might not be as much damage). higher priority and can beat more moves (as well as more angles jump ins). also it doesn't 'transform' into another move when close, making it more reliable.

question: any good regular combos for her? i usually use jump in HK, cr.HP -> ryu en bu (flame move). 4 hits if the jump in is deep, 3 otherwise. pretty nice damage i think. if cr.HP is blocked i cancel into HP fan instead, to prevent punishment. (blocked ryu en bu gets punished bad)

also any good super combos? i realized close st.HP or st.HK can be comboed into either super of her. anything else?

also is there any use for her air super? to be honest i just remembered she has an air super today... never used it since the first day.

[WYLDFYRE]

a practical use of her air super would be to do it as you jump over a fireball. make sure you jump right as they throw it though, so that theres less chance of them blocking it. but, i believe a jump in hk, crouching lp, crouching lk xx super ninja bees will do more damage and is very easy to do. as for aa, her standing fp is good, even if it changes into that close punch. both work reasonably well, and im too afraid to use a lk against blanka or sagat or vega. the thing about aa's is that they should always be done early. well, imo. that way, theres less chance to trade hits, since people like to hit deep so that they can combo. never use her flame power up as an aa, since it wont cut it. she does have an air throw which i believe is her hp. thus, in air to air combat, an hp will do just fine. also, i havent tried it yet with her, but her air throw can be used as aa, but you have to time it right.
as for pokes, standing fp and rh are pretty good pokes. i use fp all the time. i abuse the hell out of it.

[GalzPanic]

you can use the close st.mk if they try to cross u up. close st.roundhouse is pretty good also. I don't really use the air super at all, unless the other guy is really jumpy and low on life. Otherwise I just look to combo the super.

[Mr-K]

Mai's triangle hop off the wall and doing her dive is a very good run-away tactic. Believe it or not .. some people (me too) in TO abuse it and turtle the heck out of other players with it. Of couse there's ways around it .. but since this is the Mai thread ... have fun pissing people with it. :D

[bleyl]

yeah, i just started using this fine bitch. is it just me or is she hella powerfull? her j.mk works as a good crossover and it has alot of priority. i like to jump in with mk and follow with fp-qcf+fp(fan) because if they block its unpunishable. also after everytime you sweep throw a fan right after it, so ir they block it pushes them off leaving you free. the best thing about my is that she is really really easy to learn.

[Burningfist]

Annoying walk in shorts.

[Lovely Kitsune]

You can see Mai's ass when you do her jumping roundhouse.

Thank you.

[GalzPanic]

Yah, the walking shorts are really good. But you can only do like 2 and u have to do something else. And yes, j.rh is asstacular, along with close st.rh...ASS.

And I remember Gunter always saying how good air to air jumping jab was, OMG he's so right it like beats lvl 3's! u know what i mean.

[Akelexre]

Finally, a Mai thread. I was wondering how long it would take before one was started...

"some things to say:
most people think (I used to as well) Mai's far standing HP is her best anti air. I just found today her standing LK actually works even better (even though it might not be as much damage). higher priority and can beat more moves (as well as more angles jump ins). also it doesn't 'transform' into another move when close, making it more reliable."

I'll have to try out standing lk even more...I knew it worked as an aa, but I never felt comfortable enough with it to seriously give it a shot (especially against the likes of Sagat, Vega, etc.).

Don't forget, for aa's, she also has the ryu en bu and her up/down kick charge [the Sun Fire Samba]. I use ryu en bu occasionally only for shallow jumps [you *must* space it correctly], and the SFS might be a good alternative to the fp when someone is jumping close to you (and you risk getting the wrong fp). It's also nice for punishing the occasional stupid poke, since people tend to forget she has that move.

Has anybody succesfully used the SFS to defend against cross-ups?

"question: any good regular combos for her? i usually use jump in HK, cr.HP -> ryu en bu (flame move). 4 hits if the jump in is deep, 3 otherwise. pretty nice damage i think. if cr.HP is blocked i cancel into HP fan instead, to prevent punishment. (blocked ryu en bu gets punished bad)"

Standing Fierce into Ryu en bu [a jab version of the ryu en bu will push them farther away, but the fan is still safer by far]. If you're just looking for a bit of variety, standing fierce into roundhouse deadly ninja bees aint bad. Of course, you will be slaughtered like a pig if this is blocked. Jumping roundhouse into air super. You can also do a far away fierce (her aa fp) into her fan super.

"also is there any use for her air super? to be honest i just remembered she has an air super today... never used it since the first day."

Yes. Good for punishing AA. I use it all the time. You're not the only one who forgets she has that attack. And takes damn good damage if roundhouse then level three. [Just screwing around in training, with a enraged Mai in K, it takes 6850 hit points from Kyo....]


"as for pokes, standing fp and rh are pretty good pokes. i use fp all the time. i abuse the hell out of it."

I use aa fp as a poke and her standing roundhouse...both occassionally. They don't feel that safe to me. Though perhaps I'm underestimating them. Standing jab is a decent poke, crouching strong is a better one since it's bufferable into fan.

Oh yeah, jumping short and jab rock. Use those.

Anybody got any good links with Mai? I wouldn't mind a link or two that would help me put pressure on my opponent, but everything I've been able to think of so far is shitte...(cr. jab, jab, short; or some lame variation.)

Later,
Alexander Harris

[Strike]

I don't know if she even has any good links.

For B&B, I like to use: crouching LKx2, HCT+LK (4 hits)

It's more practical than the crouching HP, QCB+HP one most people list, because landing a LK is gonna happen more often, plus you have lots of time to see if the LKs are hitting before you go into her LK Ninja Bee.

[GalzPanic]

Originally posted by Akelexre
Finally, a Mai thread. I was wondering how long it would take before one was started...


Anybody got any good links with Mai? I wouldn't mind a link or two that would help me put pressure on my opponent, but everything I've been able to think of so far is shitte...(cr. jab, jab, short; or some lame variation.)

Later,
Alexander Harris

There have been like 20 Mai threads, but they only get like 12 posts at the most and then they sink fast.

Mai can link close st. short into low strong or low fierce pretty easily. add fierce fan and it's good damage or good guard crush. Beware lvl3's though.

[Mr-K]

Originally posted by GalzPanic
There have been like 20 Mai threads, but they only get like 12 posts at the most and then they sink fast.

You know why? Because noone is interested in her strats. Everyone is interested in her stuffs. :D

[GalzPanic]

Originally posted by Mr-K


You know why? Because noone is interested in her strats. Everyone is interested in her stuffs. :D

:lol: Exactly, but to get technical, her strong and shapely ass cheeks help to propel her into the air, and her big boobs bring her back down really fast.

Mai is all about mobility. Keep jumping around and eventually you'll get opportunities to crossup j.short, low jump rh, run/walking sweep, and throwing fans they won't be able to read. You can even get running low jabs! Although, you should only do it like twice a round because they're really slow.

[FINAL SHOWDOWN]

GalzPanic......

were are those poke strings bitch?? =p

[GalzPanic]

Originally posted by FINAL SHOWDOWN
GalzPanic......

were are those poke strings bitch?? =p

:lol: fukin A man, I guess I should do those sometime, er I'll do it when I have time.

[Judgment Day]

I read on the SRK boards awhile ago, and I forgot who or where it was (possibly an 'anti-strat' thread), but someone said that Mai does a very good job of handling Sagat in CvS2. Can someone validate this testimony?

[GalzPanic]

Originally posted by Judgment Day
I read on the SRK boards awhile ago, and I forgot who or where it was (possibly an 'anti-strat' thread), but someone said that Mai does a very good job of handling Sagat in CvS2. Can someone validate this testimony?

She can. Besides P, Sagat can't jump in on her. Basically it's all about fans and st. fierce, baiting rolls and running away when Sagat gets into fierce range. Naturally there's also a bit of controlled rush down hehe. The thing with Sagat and other top tiers is that it's easy to lose your focus against them and then you end up losing a lot of life FAST. Mai is a really good character but she doesn't have obvious weapons like Sagat Cammy do.

[GalzPanic]

Ok by popular request, sort of, I'll do some pokey stuff with Mai. Keep in mind that what I say should definitely not be interpreted as the be-all-end-all of poke pattern strategy for Mai. There aren't really many other Mai players where I live, so if you have anything to add please do.

Anyway I'm not going to over everything right away, it'll probably be spread over several posts (or 2). Right now I'll talk about my favorite button, short.

Ok, short is a mad button for Mai. Everyone talks about fierce and roundhouse but it's really short that starts everything off for me. To be specific, close st.short.

cst.short
----throw
----cr.short, cr.jab, st.jab --combo
----cst.short
--------cr.strong
------------qcf fierce
------------dash back
----------------qcf punch
----------------wait for jump/roll
----------------running/walking cr.roundhouse
--------cr.fierce
------------qcf fierce
--------u/f short
------------cst.short (start over)
--------dash back
------------qcf punch
------------wait for jump/roll
------------running/walking cr.roundhouse

ok this is really the rudimentary stuff. Basically off the cst.short, you do a lot, including combo. A lot of times the 2nd cst.short will be a counterhit, which makes the link into low punch even easier. It's also really good for crushing guard. You do a bunch of short short jump short, then do the low fierce and you'll be really close to breaking their guard. Don't forget to dash back sometimes. You have a lot options after, and if things get hot u can always super jump back and run away.

I'll add more later.

[GalzPanic]

ok bumpy bump. One tidbit tactic I'd like to mention with Mai...for lack of a better word I'll call it the "NUKI". If you've seen Ohnuki play, from either videos or evl, you'll notice that one thing he likes to do with Blanka (and a little with Sagat) is small jump straight up several times from long range. Basically what this does is freeze people by ruining their focus on what they think he will do, whether it's jump attack or fierce slide/punch etc. Well Mai can do it too! So you jump...i'll indent

LJump 1,2,or 3x
----qcf punch
----super jump jab, or roundhouse
--------cst short!!!!!
--------crossup jump short
--------low jump u/f
--------dash back
------------Ljump 1,2, or 3x (start over)
------------qcf punch
------------wait for jump
----run/walk/dash forward
--------low roundhouse
--------st. jab
--------wait for roll/jump/fireball
--------dash back
------------Ljump 1,2,or 3x (start over)
------------qcf punch
------------wait for jump

From the low jump, you're also watching what they're doing. Some people just like to walk back and forth and wait for you to jump or throw a fan. In that case you should do the run/walk/dash forward and go from there. If they jump at you right away, you do your own jumping attack. I recommend jab because it beats EVERYTHING. After you hit with jab, you can go into jumping short or cst short! to put pressure on. You can also just dash back and begin the game again. I put "wait for jump" in the flow because people like to jump in as soon as you dash back, because they're thinking fireball when you create distance. I also noted low jump forward, but I didn't attach any flow to it because I'll be getting to that later. Same thing goes for st.jab. I'll do a mini post on st.jab later.

[GalzPanic]

ok time for some forward low jump stuff. What I'm going to talk about deals mostly with PSNK grooves but C and A can also use it, albeit a little more sparingly.

From the previous post I said that a good time to low jump would be when you outpriortize their air attack with your own jumping attack. Other good times would be after a knockdown (risky) or after they block a fan. For me the best time to do it is after a standing jab or cst. short!!!!

Here are a bunch of mini charts :D

air to air jab, blocked fan, knockdown, cst.short!!!, st.jab, jump short/roundhouse
----EMPTY fwd LJump
--------cr.short,cr.short, qcb hcf K super
--------cr.short,st.short,cr.strong, qcf fierce
--------throw
----fwd Ljump roundhouse
--------throw
--------cr strong/fierce/roundhouse
------------qcf punch
------------dash/walk back
----------------qcf punch
----------------wait for roll/jump
--------fwd Ljump roundhouse again!!!
--------cr. short
------------throw
------------cr. jab, st.jab combo
--------EMPTY fwd LJump
------------cr.short,cr.short, qcb hcf K super
------------cr.short,st.short,cr.strong, qcf fierce
------------throw

ok that was a little messy. Anyway with low jump roundhouse I don't really expect to connect with it, so the low attack xx fan is mainly for guard crush damage. If you do connect you can do an immediate fan super, but only if you connected pretty deep.

The empty low jump is a real gem to use...it's pretty hard to read, especially off your jumping/cst.short!!!! game. For ex you do jump short, cst.shortx2, EMPTY low jump, cr.shortx2 xx super! You can also do the link combo, but it takes a little practice. I still can't do it 100%. As for the throws I've inserted in the flow, you should really only save those for near the end, like when a throw will kill them.

[FINAL SHOWDOWN]

*clap clap*

[Eternal Blue]

that shit that was just posted is so useless...did ANYONE actually bother to read that? lol...

all u need to know is that s. fierce is anti-air, her trip is bufferable into fan, and that she can runaway like a whore...and her roll has 3 frame recovery (best there is)...other than that, figure shit out on ur own.

[GalzPanic]

Originally posted by Eternal Blue
that shit that was just posted is so useless...did ANYONE actually bother to read that? lol...

all u need to know is that s. fierce is anti-air, her trip is bufferable into fan, and that she can runaway like a whore...and her roll has 3 frame recovery (best there is)...other than that, figure shit out on ur own.

Talking about Mai stuff makes me a better player too; it helps me think more about my options.

BTW thanks for being an ass. If there's one thing that runs counter to the exchange of ideas in a STRATEGY AND TACTICS forum, it's people ATTEMPTING to verbally pee on the ideas of others. Since you are so good with Mai, and since you think this is all useless, I expect you to NEVER post in this thread again.

[cheese_master]

Originally posted by Eternal Blue
that shit that was just posted is so useless...did ANYONE actually bother to read that? lol...

all u need to know is that s. fierce is anti-air, her trip is bufferable into fan, and that she can runaway like a whore...and her roll has 3 frame recovery (best there is)...other than that, figure shit out on ur own.

Ummm... why don't you go posting that in every thread? I mean everyone of them is just spoon fed thoughts or basic shit that everyone knows like you posted. I mean if your gonna be an asshole... might as well be a consistent asshole.

[Eternal Blue]

Originally posted by cheese_master


Ummm... why don't you go posting that in every thread? I mean everyone of them is just spoon fed thoughts or basic shit that everyone knows like you posted. I mean if your gonna be an asshole... might as well be a consistent asshole.

I'm sorry... i shouldn't have been an asshole, it's just that i don't like long stuff like that... it's too robotic. Anyway, here's my little Mai input (this is probably already known):

throw a fan from far away, and do HCF + Kick move...if they roll through it they will get hit by that kick move!

i learned this from js master...

and now...Mai runaway:

wait till opponent gets close, then sj back, triangle jump off the wall, then QCB + punch move to go to other side of screen...very hard to stop.

Fuck, u dis and then post that...:confused:

DAmn guy, u really should be nice.

[Eternal Blue]

Originally posted by mixup
Fuck, u dis and then post that...:confused:

DAmn guy, u really should be nice.

How about this...

Her forward firewall move has startup invincibility and is pretty much the perfect anti-air if they jump on it. Her j. rh trades with uppercuts.

No, the point i'm TRYING to make through sarcasm is that she is really easy to use. Her main thing is her runaway. And she has a slutty roll. That's basically the only noteworthy thing she has.

[Mr-K]

Originally posted by Eternal Blue


How about this...

Her forward firewall move has startup invincibility and is pretty much the perfect anti-air if they jump on it. Her j. rh trades with uppercuts.

No, the point i'm TRYING to make through sarcasm is that she is really easy to use. Her main thing is her runaway. And she has a slutty roll. That's basically the only noteworthy thing she has.

Dead Wrong! Her main thing is not her runaway ... maybe it's because you don't know the trick to break that .. but ask JS if he ever want to try that shit over and over against the DT guys .. It's all about her irritating fans.

[Eternal Blue]

Originally posted by Mr-K


Dead Wrong! Her main thing is not her runaway ... maybe it's because you don't know the trick to break that .. but ask JS if he ever want to try that shit over and over against the DT guys .. It's all about her irritating fans.

Yes, how stupid could I have been. It's all about the fans. Them high-priority, sickly damaging, inescapable, and invincible fans of hers. :rolleyes:

[Gunter]

Originally posted by Eternal Blue


Yes, how stupid could I have been. It's all about the fans. Them high-priority, sickly damaging, inescapable, and invincible fans of hers. :rolleyes:

You, sir, are an idiot. The fans in and of themselves don't need to do any damage. They merely set up for counters, since the opponent has to avoid them.

BTW, your first post in this thread gave away your scrubbiness - "all u need to know is <week 1 stuff that is beaten by top players>"

Any post that attempts to describe "STRATEGY AND TACTICS" for a specific character, that begins with "all u need to know is" and only lasts that long is OBVIOUSLY written by a scrub.

That being said, I'll add to GalzPanic's good shit -

From close up, close s.short IS extremely good, but from further away use her s.jab as an annoying poke.

Use Jab Turn & Burns to build meter like crazy from far away. If they choose to jump in and attack you from that distance, it's a great anti-air.

When you're knocked down, wake up with a RC Turn & Burn. It's extremely easy to do.

[cheese_master]

Since this thread is getting pretty cool...

Let me start out by saying... I really really think Mai is very very very good in this game. The only problem I ever find with her is... she does no damage. I mean so often... I find I am totally outthinking/outplaying a Blanka player, it seems like I hit them 2343242 times, then they trade two FPs w/ me, and somehow we have the same amount of life.

I guess it has alot to do w/ Mai not doing damage in addition to her best pokes being weak attacks... hence... random CH don't do much.

That being said.

Mai has alot of shit going for her. IMO she has one of the best footsie games. Her cr FP is like shield against alot of pokes... Blanka's cr FP and his slide lose to it... catch is... it has no range... so u gotta bait them to poke.

Her st MP is also a high priority counter poke... it covers a good range of area to stuff. It also stuffs Blanka's slide.

Her st MK, goes over lows. Take it for what its worth... tho, I wish I could combo off it.

St jab and st cl short both been mentioned.

st far RH... now... this is a decent poke to continue the pressure. Think of it like Ken's f + st RH or even like Ryu's rushing FP. It isn't to be abused... cuz of the semislow start up... but its long... so use it wisely.

cr RH... cuz it is... ummm really really fast and recovers too well.

st far FP is an AA for far away stuff. st cl MK, st cl RH for close up stuff, and crossup attempts. j back FP works too. Air throw w/ Mai is too good. Cuz she jumps fast like Vega... so it is easy to air throw people who try and do deep jump ins or late crossups. Props to all the Mai players who air throw Blanka out of his cross screen ball in match play.

As for strategy. I find that in A and C groove... being more turtly works better for her. So in those grooves... you tend to zone more w/ fans and look for oppurtunities to land ur CC or supers. She is more meant for frustration in those grooves. Frustrate them... then when they do something dumb... blast them.


In N and other Run oriented grooves. U can basically play her as a "I wanna be a Shoto and Blanka" character. Running jabs. her low jump game is awesome as well. In low jump grooves... u can basically use low jump RH as people would use a hopkick back in A3 days. cuz low jump RH is so fast and high priority. Then when they try to start blocking that... open up the empty jump games. And you can also turtle w/ Mai in these grooves. But I don't feel as comfortable doing it because her jump isn't as fast as before (due to the low jump).... this really prevents me from abusing j back FP and air throw to force people to stick to ground games... where she excells.

Thats my thoughts on her.

[GalzPanic]

St.Jab is really good. A lot of ppl underestimate Mai at that range and get stuffed a lot, so you have a lot of options after. You can also use it as a fake into low jump....kinda lazy see u later bump!

[S cLuBBeR]

Hey GalzPanic. I met you before in a tourney at SVGL a while back.

Anyway, I'm starting to use Mai in S-Groove. Do think running crouching shorts is an effective tactic for her? I usually mix it up the runs and pokes with dodge then out of dodge standing punch canceled into fans for pressure.

[GalzPanic]

Originally posted by S cLuBBeR
Hey GalzPanic. I met you before in a tourney at SVGL a while back.

Anyway, I'm starting to use Mai in S-Groove. Do think running crouching shorts is an effective tactic for her? I usually mix it up the runs and pokes with dodge then out of dodge standing punch canceled into fans for pressure.

They're alright. Both her low jab and low shorts have relatively longer recovery time than say Ryu. You can do it, but I wouldn't do it more than three times in a round and not more than 3 jabs or shorts. Any more than that and a good player will out-prioritize your shorts. But like anything, you should do it to mix things up. That way you can get throws and low jumps etc. to connect.

[Legendary Gokou]

I just want to say, that her fans aren't as safe as they seem. Cr. rh into fan can be rolled right before the fan. Its happened to me.

Something else .... it can be punished on hit too. By lvl 3 supers. I used cr rh (Blocked) into fan, that hit, but Benimaru's (Did I spell the name right?) lvl 3 super hit her before she could recover. Thats crazy ....

[Southtown'King]

what is her crossup?

[Zero']

j.short. I'm not sure about cross up with j.rdh.

[Southtown'King]

thanks

[iKlEiTlH]

god damn joe
i always end up trying to pick up one of your characters from like three years ago
maybe i'll go from beni->mai->rugal

[GalzPanic]

god damn joe
i always end up trying to pick up one of your characters from like three years ago
maybe i'll go from beni->mai->rugal

Dood I been tryin to change my team forever, but I feel most comfy with those bitches.

[Xenomic]

Even though it's 2 years later......


Mai's my best in CVS2....no question about that. However, after reading this thread, I see that I'm still not the best with her as I'd like to be. So, my question to anyone who's still reading this thread is: What are Mai's best and worst match-ups? Anyone know this at all? Also, is it better to try and bait your opponent with LP Kacho San or SP Kacho San, then go for a counter if they Roll or Jump over (that counter being Ryu En Bu, a Throw, or a Super)?