Mai Shiranui (Arcade Version)

[Kazuhiro]

In Mai's case, cr.C is a better move to whiff cancel because it gives her more ground and distance. I find whiff cancelling cr.C into A Ryuuenbu very useful if you want to apply corner pressure your opponent when you're just out of her st.D's range. It pins your opponent down to place and A Ryuuenbu is pretty safe on block.

[Ben Reed]

In Mai's case, cr.C is a better move to whiff cancel because it gives her more ground and distance. I find whiff cancelling cr.C into A Ryuuenbu very useful if you want to apply corner pressure your opponent when you're just out of her st.D's range. It pins your opponent down to place and A Ryuuenbu is pretty safe on block.

Yeah, that's my favorite dog-training Mai trick too. Mix up the spacing and timing on crouch C to try and bait whiffs or rolls, and just needle them with safe qcb+As until they decide to jump or do something else desperate. Plus if you space it out to tip range, qcb + A will avoid pretty much every sweep in the game. You're usually out of CD counter range, regular rolls are total crap even when psychic, and guard cancel rolls can be easily baited with the cancel window on c. C (if they roll, don't cancel and throw them back into the grinder). About the only things you have to watch out for are jumps and reversals (mostly jumps, because you can space out many reversals).

[Ironreaver]

Mai is probably my favorite character next to Andy and Yuri, thats my team atm.  anyway I like her aerial pressure also.  you can jp.Hk into Ukihane then slightly delayed Musabi no Mai such trickery and sometimes I only do jump HK into Ukihane.  most ppl arent aware she can pull off 2-3 moves in the air so they stop blocking and once they do know you can switch between 2-3 moves they get confused since they dont know what you gonna do. empty jumps into whatever BnB u want or free throws.

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

after my first session yesterday with a lot of people playing the game, Mai became my favourite battery in the game... she might not be top-tier... but damn she is a bitch...! and a really sexy one at that... lol... i got a few OCVs with her... favourite freaken corner combo...

j.C, (cr.C or cr.B, cr.A), qcb+AC, qcb+A, qcb+C *1 hit*, DC, qcb+AC, qcb+A, qcb+C, air throw = 578 dmg

man she's freaken awesome... she has so many fun tricks... favourite things about her...

- s.A or s.B or cr.B or cr.C or s.D or cr.D or C+D as standing pokes... j.C+D or j.D or air throw in the air... her normals win sooo often it's not funny...

- A Ryuenbu and A Kachoshen is freaken amazing... soo good...
- qcb~hcf+BD is completely invincible and punishes really well... the jump version is also sick...
- man that j.B into Ukihane into qcb+A in the air is also tricky as shit...
- d~u+A/C is awesome for running away...
- cr.B, cr.B. s.B, s.D target combo is such a sick ass poke...
- j.B cross-up is godly... cause you know the amount of mix-ups you can from after it...

best hit confirms i've been getting with her is cr.B, cr.B, s.A... still not good with cr.A, cr.C link...

[Kane317]

The new SNK combo video from their blog reveals something new that I'm sure wasn't in the arcade.  You can do: (hcf D {1hit}, [HDC] qcb C {1hit}), xN
EDIT:  Oops, must be tired, I thought it was 2 hits of hcf D, and he was canceling the beginning of qcb C for some reason.

[Ash]

The new SNK combo video from their blog reveals something new that I'm sure wasn't in the arcade.  You can do: (hcf D {1hit}, [HDC] qcb C {1hit whiff}), xN

qcb+C is 1hit. Not sure what you mean by whiff.

[The Fluke]

The new SNK combo video from their blog reveals something new that I'm sure wasn't in the arcade.  You can do: (hcf D {1hit}, [HDC] qcb C {1hit whiff}), xN

qcb+C is 1hit. Not sure what you mean by whiff.

No, C ryuuenbu hits twice, once before the fire comes out but with short reach.

[Kane317]

The new SNK combo video from their blog reveals something new that I'm sure wasn't in the arcade.  You can do: (hcf D {1hit}, [HDC] qcb C {1hit whiff}), xN

qcb+C is 1hit. Not sure what you mean by whiff.

Oops, must be tired, I thought it was 2 hits of hcf D, and he was canceling the beginning of qcb C for some reason.

[Ash]

The new SNK combo video from their blog reveals something new that I'm sure wasn't in the arcade.  You can do: (hcf D {1hit}, [HDC] qcb C {1hit whiff}), xN

qcb+C is 1hit. Not sure what you mean by whiff.

Oops, must be tired, I thought it was 2 hits of hcf D, and he was canceling the beginning of qcb C for some reason.

Yeah just saying it's not a whiff. That would be something like K's qcb+K twice in a combo where a move actually misses.

[Kazuhiro]

Glad to hear that a lot of people like her as much as I do. Mai is indeed a very solid battery when she's played correctly and she is by far the character I enjoy playing the most since she fits my play style perfectly (Footsie/ runaway/pokes).

I play Mai on point as a battery character (like most people using her), so my mentality when playing her is to maximize damage while using the least meter I can. That said, I'm not a fan of burning 2-3 meters on corner combos when I know my 2nd and 3rd character will use them more efficiently and deal more damage with them (Unless I'm on the verge to OCV, then I don't mind  ).

I also use: cr.B, cr.B, st.A/B as a starter string as it is really easy to confirm a hit (or block) and go from there. From the starter string I either go for hcf+B off the st.A if I see I'm close enough to the opponent to land it or directly go to st.B xx st.D which is the easy target combo. cr.B, cr.B, st.A xx hcf+B is definitely my preferred BnB as it does more damage (only 1 point higher, but still...) and brings the opponent closer to the corner. The only bad thing with this BnB is that the hcf+B sometimes whiffs if you're too far from the opponent and we all know what happens when that move is blocked. So, if I'm unsure about my range, I do the Target Combo BnB for similar damage without the positioning advantage. Also, If I see that my starter string is blocked, I cancel st.A into qcf+A which make the whole thing pretty safe.

When my opponent is backed to the corner, I use the same starter string and If I have some meter to burn I go for: cr.B, cr.B, st.A xx EX Ryuenbu, C Ryuenbu, C Ryuenbu, Air throw. Only a single meter used for pretty good damage. If I don't want to spend meter but have Drive meter to burn I do: cr.B, cr.B, st.A xx hcf+A(DC) air qcb.C, C Ryuenbu, Air throw . I believe this one does less damage than the first one, but you save a meter at the expense of a drive meter and a little less damage.

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

Made up a practical combo list for Mai based off of her being a point character...


Mid-Screen Combos -

(0 Meter + 0 DC) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, (s.B, s.D) or (s.A, hcf+B) = 193/194 dmg

(1 Meter + 0 DC) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, s.A, hcf+BD, far s.D = 286 dmg

(1 Meter + 1 DC) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, s.A, hcf+B *2 hits*, DC, qcb+AC, Air Throw = 344 dmg


Half-Screen Away From Corner Combos -

(1 Meter + 0 DC) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, s.A, hcf+BD, Air Throw = 313 dmg

(1 Meter + 1 DC) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, s.A, hcf+BD, qcb+C *1 hit*, DC, qcf+A, qcb+C, qcb+C, Air Throw = 419 dmg


Corner Specific Combos -

(1 Meter + 0 DC) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, cr.B, s.A, qcb+AC, qcb+C, qcb+C, Air Throw = 437 dmg

(0 Meter + 1 DC) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, cr.B, s.A, hcf+B *2 hits*, DC, air qcb+A, qcb+C, Air Throw = 397 dmg

(1 Meter + 1 DC) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, cr.B, s.A, qcb+AC, qcb+C, qcb+C *1 hit*, DC, qcf+A, qcb+C, qcb+C, Air Throw = 497 dmg


HD Combos *Can Be Started Nearly Half-Screen Away From Corner* -

(0 Meter) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, s.B, s.D, HD, s.B, s.D, hcf+D *2 hits*, DC, air qcb+A, hcf+D *2 hits*, DC, qcb+C, qcb+C, qcb+C *1 hit*, DC, qcf+A, qcb+C, qcb+C *1 hit*, DC, qcf+A, qcb+C, qcb+C, Air Throw = 638 dmg

(2 Meters) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, s.B, s.D, HD, s.B, s.D, hcf+D *2 hits*, DC, air qcb+A, hcf+D *2 hits*, DC, qcb+C, qcb+C, qcb+C *1 hit*, DC, qcf+A, qcb+C, qcb+C *1 hit*, Neomax = 784 dmg

[Kirah]

Yesterday found an ambiguous roll setup in the corner, after her throw you can do roll and cross up in the corner and your 2B will hit meaty. In order to further mixup you can delay roll to fake crossup and 2B meaty.

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

Yesterday found an ambiguous roll setup in the corner, after her throw you can do roll and cross up in the corner and your 2B will hit meaty. In order to further mixup you can delay roll to fake crossup and 2B meaty.

Good find... Also finishing corner combos with Air-Throw is optimal as it lets you do a meaty A fireball... You also recover in time to do a jump-in C/D or run in cr.B while they are STILL stuck in block stun...

Furthermore, Mai can juggle the opponent after they get hit with her A fireball... This is scary near the corner as you can bait the opponent to jump out, and neutral jump C+D... If you catch them on a counter hit, you can A fireball, run in and juggle with qcb+C and finish with Air-Throw...

[Kazuhiro]

Yesterday found an ambiguous roll setup in the corner, after her throw you can do roll and cross up in the corner and your 2B will hit meaty. In order to further mixup you can delay roll to fake crossup and 2B meaty.

Yeah, found out that you could crossup with a roll after a throw in the corner when I first started playing because I always wanted to go to the other side in training mode when the dummy was cornered, lol. Never thought it was unique to her. I believe you have to roll right after the throw for it to crossup properly. If you roll a little too late, she's gonna stay on the same side.

(1 Meter + 0 DC) - j.C/cr.B, cr.B, cr.B, s.A, qcb+AC, qcb+C, qcb+C, Air Throw = 437 dmg

I believe you can tack on an extra qcb+C in that combo, but the timing for it is pretty strict. You have to time the 1st pretty early after the qcb+AC for the 2nd and 3rd one to hit properly. I can't remember what the damage was, but I remember doing it 4 to 5 times in-game.

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

Ya i hate the timing for the third qcb+C > air-throw... So i left it out... Much more reliable...

Also besides rolling passed the opponent, you can even Throw the opponent in the corner then time a jump-in and j.B either cross-up or not depending on when you jumped... This is very hard to tell and will beat wake up 1 frame throw attempts... Also if they try to roll and get away then you'll be able to recover, run up and throw them back into the corner...