Mai Shiranui (Arcade Version)

[Ironreaver]

Been playing her since this morning and I also had trouble with this particular link. In matches, if I want to go for this link, I usually cancel the cr.C with either A Ryuenbu or C Kachosen to make the whole string safe at the end (C Shinobi Baichi is the most damaging move to cancel into, but if you miss the link it's really unsafe). By doing this, I either get a bootleg frame trap if I miss the cr.A, cr.C link or I get a full combo with A Ryuenbu/C Kachosen. This is only until I can get that link down 100% of the time, but it's not a bad thing to do.

Right now, my main meterless BnB is cr.B, cr.B, cr.A/st.A xx A Shinobi Baichi for 154 damage. Anyone has something better that is hit-confirmable? I sometime go for the simple cr.B, cr.B, st.B, st.D but it does less damage (1 point lower and doesn't carry the opponent to the corner).

I like cr.lk cr.lk st.lk st hk...st.lk to hk is a target combo...can add a jump HP or HK also

[Kazuhiro]

Yeah, that's basically the last combo I noted in my previous post. I like it too because it's guaranteed damage off a low since there's no way someone can miss this combo.

But yeah, I guess the most damaging meterless BnB would be the cr.A into cr.C link, so I need to practice that to at least make my Mai a little bit scary once she lands a hit.

[SAB-CA]

So, her Ukihane can pretty much be used as an instant-crossup hard knockdown on anyone of height, now. She gets into it so fast, that her knees are pretty much IN the opponenet as soon as the move activates!

I also love her pokes. Standing D is one of the best jump punishes I've seen in this game, it rarely ever trades, so it seems very high priority.

Her A's and B's leave oppoenets in such a great range to get stand D'd. Mai overall just seems great at poking, escaping to full screen using her charge Musasabi jump, and then forcing opponents into a dangerous game of trying to get close to her again.

I think she pairs with Leona well, as the change in playstyle between the 2 will force the oppoenet to approach you differently. A quick projectile VS a slow one, easy jump normals for ground combos VS more difficult ones, strong, single hit ground normals VS double hit, more open ones... 2 flavors that go great together! XD

[Diavle]

A very nice hit and run style character, not very orthodox I would say so the character overall tends to feel unpredictable.

The new target combo is great, fast and does very decent damage. Too bad you can't cancel it into a super etc., I would have gone all Hokutomaru on people's asses.

Her movement speed is nice and swift. I think regular, tick etc throws are a good part of her plan as well. Haven't experimented with her air throw yet but if its anywhere near as good as a lot of the ones in MOTW then watch out.

[Shiranui_ninja]

To see some changes in console version of Mai you can watch this. It's in french but youtube videos are quite understandable, I think. As you see NeoMAX is a lot of faster now, and can be comboed after cr.C, probably now will enter in a lot of combos where it couldn't before. Crouching C and then cancel Charge in Ukihane is a nice ninja trick too :D

http://www.signedbyr.com/fr/videos_i/kof-xiii-les-changements-de-la-women-fighters-team-par-frionel-sur-elive/

(the same goes for Yuri and King, but well, that's Mai's thread :D)

[FreeRunner]

I been playing her alot ever since I got the game.

She's so fun to use, think I might pick her up officially (Still main random XD).

[Diavle]

Okay, just played a butt load of matches with her starting off each time.

So.freaking.fun.

Standing D is a godly poke. They are coming towards you? Standing D. They are jumping towards you? Standing D. You think they might breathe? Standing D.

You know what else is godly? The chain combo you can do thanks to the new target combo. Instead of just doing sB, sD you do cB, cB, sB, sD for a 4 hit combo. It is really fast and has excellent range, a wonderful poking combo. Starts low and very safe (from what I saw), excellent for catching rolls as well. Love and abuse.

To see some changes in console version of Mai you can watch this. It's in french but youtube videos are quite understandable, I think. As you see NeoMAX is a lot of faster now, and can be comboed after cr.C, probably now will enter in a lot of combos where it couldn't before. Crouching C and then cancel Charge in Ukihane is a nice ninja trick too :D

http://www.signedbyr.com/fr/videos_i/kof-xiii-les-changements-de-la-women-fighters-team-par-frionel-sur-elive/

(the same goes for Yuri and King, but well, that's Mai's thread :D)

Thanks but those elive vids never work for me, the picture gets stuck.

[Blood Feast Island Man]

Does her cr. C still eat lesser normals?

[Ben Reed]

Crouching C is still pretty nuts. Not sure exactly how fast it is, but since it links from c. A, and advantage on hit isn't very big in this game, it's gotta be damn fast.

More than the frame data, I'd kinda like to see the hitbox data on that move. How soon is the vulnerable hitbox projected forward? How soon does it retract on whiff? How high does the vulnerable hitbox extend? Spaced properly, the move still seems like a really great bully move, both for blockstrings into A Kacho Sen/A Ryuu Enbu and for whiff cancelling to bait an approach. Honestly, the move is so fast and relatively safe I'd rather use it than her crouching B for ground offense. c. B will open people up, but it's really hard to convert to good damage. c. C won't break low guards, but it's a good safe pressure tool to make the opponent try to respond to it, and if you get a random or not-so-random hit, it's trivial to convert to a real combo.

Far D is good but I don't think it's godlike. Nice active frames, decent height, but a little slow to start and recover on block. Not really a spammable move, but it seems like it might ultimately beat s. B in the same anti-air situations just for the more favorable trade, and the recovery is fine on hit. s. B seems to have a bad habit of getting stuffed if you don't do it predictively. Far D seems marginally slower for much greater reward if you succeed.

For spaced-out anti-air, far C is growing on me. You have to be careful of the spacing so you don't get a whiffed too-early close C, but the vertical range and speed still seem pretty damn good. So much better than her far Cs from older games (the crappy backfist with no speed AND no range) that it's not even funny. Definitely the best stand C she's had since, uh...CvS2.

[Diavle]

She seems kind of um... infectious? Either I'm very annoying with her and ppl want to get back at me by picking her as well or they really like what they see, hopefully its the latter.

I definitely prefer sD to sC, I don't like the range on sC. sD is good but not stupid good (i.e. broken) so of course you gotta time it, but time it right and its pretty amazing.

Tried cC on above suggestions and pretty damn good, nice priority and a sweet low hit box (gets Mai all nice and low to the ground).

Her standing and jumping CD is pretty sweet too.

As suspected her air throw is really good, excellent for meeting ppl in the air. If they jump at you you can super jump into a throw, making it a good anti-air.

Playing her like a footsie character overall and its been highly effective, not big combos thanks to my pad skills but she has been winning a ton of matches for me. I really feel in control with this character between her fast movement speed and safe pokes. I feel that I get on my opponent's nerves though lol.

[Judge Fudge]

Mai has always been most effective as a footsie character, so I don't really think that busting out crazy big combos would be worth it for her.  She can do some damaging stuff sure, but the meter she would use would be better spent by a Kyo or a Liz.  More bang for your buck.

Anywho, I share Diavie's sentiment.  sD, chain combo, cC, A Ryu Enbu, and air throws all day, erryday.

[mightfo]

mai's neomax is insane for punishing jumps, fireballs, and sometimes rolls. i feel like when she has 3 bars her zoning suddenly becomes really strong

[Ben Reed]

Her raw NeoMAX is insane. Really fast, tracks well, and completely invincible once she's off the wall. It's expensive, but if Mai's lived long enough to build that much bar, you should definitely consider it. Full-screen 50% damage because your opponent threw a random fireball can be a powerful psyche-out.

The only things it seems to lose to are other moves that are completely invincible until Mai lands on the ground (at which point her invincibility instantly goes away). For example, if Athena does a NORMAL Shining Crystal Bit, you can just blow right through her shield with your NeoMAX. But if Athena does an EX Shining Crystal Bit, you have to wait until the shield goes down to punish, because Athena is completely invincible until the shield goes away. Mai will just fly right through her, and usually land right inside the shield for a faceful of deadly sparkles.

EDIT: Whoops. Forgot about autoguard, too. Tested raw NeoMAX on reaction against Maxima C Vapor Cannon and it lost. So watch out for that, too.

Lost cleanly to Maxima s. CD and C Vapor Cannon (hit on landing recovery, I had Mai recorded to block down-back all through the NeoMAX animation). I tried to hit it with EX Blitz Cannon (dp+AC), but it seemed inconsistent. The autoguard activated, but Maxima didn't seem to be in a good position to grab her (and possibly COULD not because Mai was probably invulnerable to throws as well as strikes).

[sage]

I'm going to be honestly and say I'm an absolute scrub at the KOF
series but I really want to get into XIII.

I haven't even progressed far into the mission trials...

Nonetheless, does Mai have kara-moves?
And would kara-moves even have in impact? Possibly in drive or punish pokes?

http://youtu.be/kLzfszhGQp4

[Ben Reed]

"Kara" moves do exist in KOF as whiff cancels, but they're generally not used the same way as in Capcom games. You generally don't get a massive immediate forward projection like a good Capcom kara-cancel, and you can't generally exploit the range boost on command throws due to the lower projection and stricter rules on tick-throwing. (There are very few moves in KOF where your character's axis suddenly leaps forward if you cancel the normal before the active frames.)

Whiff cancels in KOF are mostly used as baits (and possibly ghetto option selects, depending on the character). You can whiff Mai's c. D, for example, and whiff-cancel it into Kacho Sen or Ryuu Enbu to catch the opponent's reactive (impulsive) jump. Or you can whiff-cancel c. C at range into Kacho Sen when zoning, teach the opponent to expect the whiff cancel, and take advantage of them when they try to jump in on an imaginary fireball.

So yeah, same concept, but very different practical applications in KOF.