Mature (Console)

[jinxhand]

Yeah Mature is a great battery of course... Put her up front, unless the matchup doesn't seem to go in her favor. Even then, I'd keep her at point, because she can consistently replace whatever meter she used, and you'll at least have full drive and meter when Mr. Karate is up at bat...

You can't restrict yourself from using meter, especially with her. Mature is one of those characters who shines when using meter, so use it when you can. Don't be too conservative with it. At the very least, use it when you have a successful hit confirm... Sure, there's EX Ebony Tears setups and such, but if you're trying to hold onto some meter, just using it on hit confirm will work out... Use everything the game engine gives you, because she needs it imo, not in a "she's low tier" way, but she has alot of tools and tricks and is a resourceful battery, so use 'em...

[serious]

I do think Mature can sit well anywhere on a team, and I personally play her as anchor right now, but I agree that she's best on point.

I play her anchor for a few reasons.  Personally: she's the only character I truly feel capable with so far, and I also don't use other characters that are more meter-dependent (Mai and Billy, but that'll change).

Having Mature come in with some meter is helpful, though.  She has a pretty good reversal in her EX Despair if I need a panic button,  She has great 1d1m options with decent damage, and her Neo Max is nice to have in your pocket if you're fighting anyone with a projectile.  Maybe I just haven't fought people familiar enough with Mature, but I manage to catch a lot of people with Neo Max on reaction to moves with some startup.  I'd imagine that even if someone is familiar with her, though, that having meter would just make someone that much more hesitant to approach her, giving her a little more control over the match.

[Diavle]

Been messing with her in practice and was wondering, why do ppl keep supercanceling her rekkas into QCB HCF+K? Noticed that QCF QCF+A is the one whose final hit doesn't scale (always does 100 dmg, like Takuma's ranbu) so you will always end up getting more damage out of it no matter how long your combo was prior to activating it.

I'll be running her in my team this week, lets see how it goes.

[Sharnt]

Hey guys, was wondering if someone could help me with my team strategy regarding Mature.

I play Mr.Karate / Mature / Joe. And i play with the philosophy that the first character SHOULDNT be a battery, he should build AND use meter/drive, which Mr.Karate excelts at in my opinion so that aint a problem. I believe the 2nd char (in my case, Mature) should be the battery character, and i was wondering if you guys think Mature is well suited for that.

I don't know that, but what i'm certain of it's joe is better in first overall because he has trouble against some char when they get meter. And his hadotrap/pressure game his really really good. And meter gives solution against him who are really powerful (like reversal invincible SDM in the hole between the f.B and the hcb.A).

Plus he excells at doing very high damages via his stun combo with a very few gauge, thus it's the perfect char for building meter easily and use it in the most efficient way.
Moreover Joe has a hard time to do a very damaging combo easily, however in 3 karate is very well suited since he can build meter quite fast to get is lvl 2 if he hasn't it yet and if he land a combo his hd is damaging enough to finish someone with 2-3 most of the time.

For Mature positioning I think she is well suited in 2 and can do well anywhere, she needs meter to have a reversal and she can convert meter in damages quite easily by her frametraps. And thanks to her pressure game she builds meter rather fast. Although she might have trouble against some projectile users.

I'm not playing the char so it's just a feeling from what I have been seeing of the few players playing her so far.

hmm, I'm having trouble getting a second qcb.B out of that "classic" juggle, which I've been practicing a ton and have down pretty solid, aside from that second qcb.  And when I hit the qcb.b I can't connect the last s.C.  Am I going too slow.

You must do both qcb.B at a timing reversal, so buffer them (If you don't know by doing a special move and keep the button will make it comes out a the first free frame for it (while a few frames window), thus you buff the move while the previous one is still on the screen and keep the button push).

[Saitsuofleaves]

Been messing with her in practice and was wondering, why do ppl keep supercanceling her rekkas into QCB HCF+K? Noticed that QCF QCF+A is the one whose final hit doesn't scale (always does 100 dmg, like Takuma's ranbu) so you will always end up getting more damage out of it no matter how long your combo was prior to activating it.

I'll be running her in my team this week, lets see how it goes.

Corner carry.  It always carries to the corner, which is where she's deadliest.

[Diavle]

Corner carry.  It always carries to the corner, which is where she's deadliest.

Hmm, I think I prefer the damage boost. This is especially helpful when starting with lows since she starts scaling quite a bit.

They can get out of the corner in many ways, especially if they have meter, but they ain't getting that health back.

[Shin Oni]

There's also hard knockdown (which is her only one) which IMO helps Mature's oki game greatly (especially with any ebony tears).

If you're looking for damage off hit confirm>rekka, you're better off spending 1 bar and half a drive on EX rekka x4>DC>hcb+D>cl.C>Rekkas or Rekkas>DC>hcb+D>hcb+B>hcb+B>cl.C.

If you're letting opponents out the corner against mature, then you're not pressuring the opponent enough with her. (which she does easily.)

[NeoTrinity]

Trying to learn Mature at the moment and I have a few questions.  Mainly how am I supposed to play her.  I made the mistake of not realizing how gross she was when I first got the game so she's on my secondary squad.  Also I got really good with Vice(also on secondary squad) when I was searching for more characters after getting a good setting with my main squad, and I tend to play them somewhat similary(with normals atleast XD ).

I know that this character can be a beast but I need a little footing.   I've taken her out to battle offline and I have hit, and dropped, several HD combos and a few dirty setups with Despair and that Nocturnal(?) Tears move.  But I still feel uneasy with her.  Any help would be appreciated.

[Diavle]

I like her EX Despair so very much, so fast and excellent horizontal reach to boot.

Is s.C the optimal follow-up mid-screen? What about the corner?

[Shin Oni]

most use s.C. Personally I like using s.A mid screen and if I catch them at a higher angle than me, I generally do short hop A, B or D.

corner s.C would be the best option for the damage. can't really get much of a left/right mixup in the corner.

[Diavle]

^Thanks man, I'll stick to mashing C.

[jinxhand]

Trying to learn Mature at the moment and I have a few questions.  Mainly how am I supposed to play her.  I made the mistake of not realizing how gross she was when I first got the game so she's on my secondary squad.  Also I got really good with Vice(also on secondary squad) when I was searching for more characters after getting a good setting with my main squad, and I tend to play them somewhat similary(with normals atleast XD ).

I know that this character can be a beast but I need a little footing.   I've taken her out to battle offline and I have hit, and dropped, several HD combos and a few dirty setups with Despair and that Nocturnal(?) Tears move.  But I still feel uneasy with her.  Any help would be appreciated.

My general playstyle with Mature is rushdown with a bit of mixups, capitalizing on how Despair works now compared to how it was in older KOFs. She can zone at times, but please know she's no Kensou or Athena. I'll use Ebony Tears on knockdown, so they'll have to block it, or at times roll, most likely into a grab at least. EX Ebony Tears has some uses, I'll try to use that for shenanigans if I have enough meter to use it and can build it back quick enough.

You don't want to whore out Despair; while it's a good move, there are characters who have setups just for that first part at least. It leaves you open until you decide to attack, and even still, there are some characters who have moves that beat that out.

Metal Massacre is great, as it helps you close in on the opponent. I personally only use the B version for that, the D version I'll use in combos.

Speaking of combos, if you're having trouble doing HD combos, just do this one instead:

s.C, (HD), s.C, qcb+Px3*, (HDC), dp+A,A, [qcb+B, (HDC), dp+A,A]x2, qcb+B, Neomax

*When doing the first rekka, don't HDC into dp+A,A until the opponent is in a juggle state. Other than that, you should be able to buffer in the rest of the combo without any real issues. The timing isn't hard at all; infact, you should feel the rhythm as far as timing goes. There are other combos that she can do that are stronger, but this one is easy and only takes up 2 stocks of meter and 1 whole drive. So if she's your point character, it can be done, especially if you're proficient at building meter at a rapid pace.

I can't think of anything else at the moment, but I hope this helps. Do you have any other questions regarding Mature???

[NeoTrinity]

I can't think of anything else at the moment, but I hope this helps. Do you have any other questions regarding Mature???

So I'm just now reading your and first I would like to say thank you for your advice.  I've been playing her extensively and have been getting better with her.  I've learned to not use despair cross ups so much as my opponents have been catching on to it.  I'm just now learning that HD combo you suggested and it's getting there.  I still drop her [Qcb. xx Qcb. ] HD loop sometimes when it comes time cancel into super(I get lost in the rekkas :P) but it's getting better nonetheless. 

I guess my question is now, how to use her better on rushdown?  I've been abusing her St. xx Qcb. frame trapish thing and have got a few HD combos off it.  But other than that I can't seem to do much else.  I can't find any good normal cross up setups and her hop/in options seem lacking.  I most go in with hop with  and go from there.   

I'm kind of inclined against zoning(not a rule or something, I'm just bad at it lol).  I play King and I rushdown for the most part with her and it's surprising effective, atleast the way I go about doing it.  I know her  button is good for zoning and using her fireball given space is also key.   Her jumping  destroys Benimaru's advances in the air given a proper read.  As far as zoning goes I believe I can develop that on my own should I need to.

[jinxhand]

The thing with Mature is that you can "technically" develop a rushdown technique that looks continuous, but there will always be holes in it no matter what. The object more or less is to cover those holes up or constantly switch them up, so that the opponent can't truly tell when to strike back with a reversal.

You already know the tools to use: rekkas, qcb+B, cr.B, cl.B, s.B, sometimes far s.C, cr.A, s.A to name a few. You have to develop your style or rushing down, while putting fear into the opponent, so he/she won't attempt to reversal, GCCD, or GCAB.

When you conceal these holes within your rushdown, keep in mind that you can start developing good reads on when your opponent attacks, as you can use Heaven's Gate to beat out whatever they attempt. While that's not a necessity, it's something to think about - it was more needed in the older KOFs imo, but she doesn't need that, because she can punish pretty well, especially with HD combos and EX combos that can go into HD if desired.

Speaking of combos, I might have mentioned this before, but it's because it's essential- master her cl.C to EX Metal Massacre link. I kid you not, with a couple of bars, you can simply do that loop twice, and link that with a cl.C and go into HD if you like, or just finish with rekkas or whatever. It does a huge chunk of damage, and you don't have to spend drive if you don't want to. Personally, depending on amount of life left, I'd spend it, only because she is capable of building whatever meter she used.

Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about zoning with her. Again she's no Kensou, but whenever you do need it, it's there. At the very least, it allows you to close in without doing too much, per sé. But the thing with that is you have to read your opponent and see what they do. If they roll, then you've got good options, starting with a throw at the minimum. If they just sit there and wait to jump, you use Despair, cr.C, or even a s.C if timed right, which becomes cl.C. Essentially, you're not zoning to keep away, you're zoning with the intent of closing in.

[Shin Oni]

I can't stress this enough but please abuse st.D. It's such a unused move of Matures for both stopping short hops, jumps, people jumping out of corners, etc. Does good at stuffing a few ground buttons too.

This normal has made my Mature more of an ass to deal with because people can't jump around all willy nilly and have to respect her ground pressure even more.