Mai Shiranui (Arcade Version)

[krazykone123]

Okay template is up

[Kane317]

Ok it's confirmed that j.B, j.D, j.CD all can be followed up into a wall jump with the aforementioned conditions.

On a separate note, Mai is really becoming a beast IMO and I'm starting to really get the flow with her.  She (sadly) kicked off Leona off my team and is my permanent 3rd.  She zones SO well, vertical D makes up for her lack of an anti air, her walk speed reminds me of '98UM Extra mode coupled with her poke mixups, makes her throws a nasty guessing game.  She's good in and almost unconventional KoF way. =)

[Shiranui_ninja]

She (sadly) kicked off Leona off my team and is my permanent 3rd.

That's not sad at all :P  

She zones SO well, vertical D makes up for her lack of an anti air, her walk speed reminds me of '98UM Extra mode coupled with her poke mixups, makes her throws a nasty guessing game.  She's good in and almost unconventional KoF way. =)

cool!

[Shinra Shiranui]

I wanted to ask how her matchups are looking. Is there a specific char she has trouble against? or she fair really well against?

[Kane317]

I wanted to ask how her matchups are looking. Is there a specific char she has trouble against? or she fair really well against?

Well the characters that I've had trouble in the past, off the top of my head and but no means a definitive list:  King, Leona, Ralf, Ryo, Mai, K' (but who doesn't lol).

King's j.CD is really effective against Mai because of it's swooping anti-air arc, Leona coz of her air-air normals and her V-Slasher which shuts down Mai real well.  Ralf coz of his huge hit boxes for his j.normals but also coz of his qcb+P stops Mai real well.  Ryo coz of his Parries and his DPs.  Mai coz of her own jump arcs.  K' for being K' lol (ok his qcf+P~f.D).  I suppose Chin would be a pain as well.

Otherwise she holds her own against other players well.

[Rex Dart]

To Mai players:

Do you find the air version of her DM to be very useful?

I ask because in a match I had last week, I playing Mai, low on health and trapped in the corner. I went for a triangle jump, my opponent went for a j. CD to end the match, and I got him with my DM, ending the match.

Now, there was obviously a lot of luck involved in that. But it occurred to me that better players might be able to use this technique to good effect. But I don't usually play Mai, so I'd like other opinions.

[Kane317]

In short, her air DM isn't that good unless done pre-emptively.  Many times I've used it on a chasing opponent when I'm jumping back and he hit me out of the DM.   I suppose if you do it early enough she has invincibility coz in the beginning she has none.

In the same situation, I think the Ex Air Dive would be safer IMO.  The Ex Air Dive also allows for follow ups if done correctly (I use s.C a lot) but hcf K should work too.

[t3h mAsTarOth...!]

imo Mai really needs her d/f.B... that would solve ALL her hit confirm dilemma... that and she needs the mix-ups she had in the air... her d.D ass dive, d.B cross-up mix-up... besides that she doesn't need anything else...

and for air-air i guess her EX DM would beat out almost anything else...

[Shinra Shiranui]

imo Mai really needs her d/f.B... that would solve ALL her hit confirm dilemma...

I agree with this statement.

When playing 2k2um her df.B allows her to get in closer and the first hit can be canceled into DM's or SDM's. And i personally think that all her problems with hit confirming was solved with this original attack. Question is why would they remove one of her best tools that she use for most of her Bnb?

[Kane317]

and for air-air i guess her EX DM would beat out almost anything else...

Problem is, you can only do her regular DM in the air.  Ex DM is ground only.

I agree with this statement.

When playing 2k2um her df.B allows her to get in closer and the first hit can be canceled into DM's or SDM's. And i personally think that all her problems with hit confirming was solved with this original attack. Question is why would they remove one of her best tools that she use for most of her Bnb?

The only thing I can think of is they wanted to mix her up from the cookie cutter form she used to be in.  I never used her seriously in any of the KOFs before this.  Now, I actually find her interesting, different and now on my permanent team, go figure.

[Shiranui_ninja]

Problem is, you can only do her regular DM in the air.  Ex DM is ground only.

I didn't know this. Sad to read. Has any other DM of the game which can be done in air too the same properties?

The only thing I can think of is they wanted to mix her up from the cookie cutter form she used to be in.  I never used her seriously in any of the KOFs before this.  Now, I actually find her interesting, different and now on my permanent team, go figure.

Mai seemed to be better in early beta tests. I think they terribly nerfed her during devoloping process. Hit comfirm is not her uinque handicap. I think she need a safer RyuEnBu (flame attack) and speeder Musasabi (air dive, that so vertical angle ruins this move) and more options/combos in mid-screen. And probaly a anti-air could help when she is trapped in the corner. I think Mai is not really complete as char in this game. SNKP announced her to keep fans happy but in terms of gameplay they didn't take care enough of her. I hope to see a better Mai in future titles.

[Rex Dart]

I didn't know this. Sad to read. Has any other DM of the game which can be done in air too the same properties?

Yeah, a couple. Kim's EX Hou'ou Kyaku can't be done in the air, same for Kyo's Orochinagi.

In fact, I think the only air-EX DMs in the game are Athena's Shining Crystal Bit and Leona's V-Slasher. Lots of NeoMaxes, though. I do think it was a bit strange that they didn't give every DM an EX version, since almost every special move got an EX version.

SNK may have made her a bit on the weak side, but she's still quite fun. But I especially like her because she's DIFFERENT. Compared to Kula, who feels almost copy-pasted from 2K2UM, I think Mai got better treatment.

[Shiranui_ninja]

SNK may have made her a bit on the weak side, but she's still quite fun. But I especially like her because she's DIFFERENT. Compared to Kula, who feels almost copy-pasted from 2K2UM, I think Mai got better treatment.

I totally agree with you. I'm very happy with this new Mai, don't misunderstand me. I love they tried to go back to FF version of Mai, and from now on they could add new moves to her instead of just give her the old ones. i think it's the same case like King. They implemented a new start point for them. It's a change and I like it. but the problem is that in terms of gameplay she quite limited and weak.

[Kane317]

I wanted to ask how her matchups are looking. Is there a specific char she has trouble against? or she fair really well against?

Well the characters that I've had trouble in the past, off the top of my head and but no means a definitive list:  King, Leona, Ralf, Ryo, Mai, K' (but who doesn't lol).

King's j.CD is really effective against Mai because of it's swooping anti-air arc, Leona coz of her air-air normals and her V-Slasher which shuts down Mai real well.  Ralf coz of his huge hit boxes for his j.normals but also coz of his qcb+P stops Mai real well.  Ryo coz of his Parries and his DPs.  Mai coz of her own jump arcs.  K' for being K' lol (ok his qcf+P~f.D).  I suppose Chin would be a pain as well.

Otherwise she holds her own against other players well.

Add Beni to the list.  I explained it on the socal thread but the reason Mai excels so because she has a different jump arc than most ppl; Beni has the same jump arc and he has the air Raijinken (air.qcf P), air throw and air command attack just like Mai, plus, he has a real ground dp.

[MUSOLINI]

command move and her old 95/98 dp would have been great additions to mai. an aidtional super wouldnt be too bad, but hers is already pretty much a do it all dm.