I've just discovered the magic of AAing with df+D. It's absolutely GDLK. Her body hurtbox drops down so low she avoids pretty much everything airborne, and gets a free combo. Also, I had no idea qcfx2+A was invincible. I thought only the EX version was!
Awesome find! I keep forgetting about using crouching lows to shrink hurtboxes, and the slide's no exception - going to run that through tonight's training mode time for sure.
Also as far as the HD combos go, that's cool you can continue from hcb+D with air EX Venom Strike. I also know for 3 bars you can get an ender of (dp+B [HDC] hcb+B)x3, Double Strike, EX Surprise Rose, though you sacrifice the earlier hcb+D for an hcb+B and the air EX Venom Strike for that. I'll check which variations work best for the 1, 2, and 3 meter cases - though you may have already figured that out.
EDIT: nvm, checked the wiki and the pathway you listed always does more damage.
Yup. HD combo into Double Strike, EX Surprise Rose ender is harder to time + weaker. Doing hcb+D HDC EX Venom Strike at the beginning of King's combos usually yields the best damage. This goes for even her 2 bar 50% corner combos too!
While I love King, I have some anti-King questions :P
1.) What are the best ways to escape the corner if she does a block like cr.b, st.b, d/f b, venom strike? she is far enough to catch rolls, and jumping isn't the best idea :S
2.) Is the best way to deal with her fireballs mid-screen to roll through the fast ones and neu. jump the slow ones? or eagle eye with moves?
3.) Are there any other strats/shenanigans to help with the matchup?
1) On King's end, corner pressure boils down to will they jump/won't they. King's main AAs (st.C, st.D) have very high hitboxes which make it easy to cover jump space in front of her. The main weakness of this pressure is that King can't cover both jumping and rolling simultaneously, even if she waits . If King thinks you'll jump, she hits st.C/st.D because it HAS to be done preemptively. Because of its hitbox, her feet are vulnerable to sweeps and cr.Bs. Rolling at this point is also great, because her attacks aren't the fastest and she can't punish you. Some Kings, myself included, use B Tornado Kick in addition to st.C/st.D to catch jumps + start a combo. If you do nothing and crouch, the second hit of B Tornado Kick whiffs for a full combo.
2) King, unlike Kensou/Athena/Mai, can't chase her fireballs well. If you roll through a fast fireball (this version has the most recovery), she usually can't punish you. This is probably distance dependent, but try it out. Jumping is actually Venom Strike's biggest weaknesses. It's pretty bad on recovery, and you can get full combos if you anticipate it. The obvious problem here is that she can fake it and AA you, and then recycle this strategy until you die. Her strength is her zoning, but she has poor defense. You have to make good reads with a combination of rolls/jumps/invincible moves to break through it and take advantage of that. I wouldn't recommend rolling through the slow Venom Strikes...as I'm sure D Tornado Kick can punish you from miles away.
3) Rush that shit down. She is free on defense with no meter, ala Rufus from SF4. Her only reversal options are Surprise Rose and EX Trap Shot. You can use this to your advantage and work on her guard gauge until it depletes.
These are simply opinions on what I'd do if I were facing a King. Feel free to watch videos or experiment in training mode+record to find better answers yourself.
