Topic: Maxima (Arcade Version)

[CCVengeance]

I really like using Maxima...using him as my 3rd has won me some matches.It's always satisfying to GP through people's attacks.
One serious problem I have with him though: It's hard for me to get close to zoning players. While I can hop and jump over most projectiles, some like Ash and King's always get me and finish me off.

[Reiki.Kito]

Something I'm going to be spending time doing is hyper hopping into EX Air Vapor Cannon. It's relatively safe on block and it has 360 degree guard point. It's going to be the #1 option for neutral game getting in as you can punish people a lot more from a Maxima press.

I was talking to Isaiah, friend and very good player up here, this morning about my approach and he basically noted I used EX Maxima Press like it's the best thing since sliced bread. I do, and I admit it, but in hindsight, I am trying to take a calculated risk to get big damage. Now, the argument is that you aren't wasting meter as you can successfully get in with EX Air Vapor Cannon and you're not taking any risks because the moves safe on block. At best, you're in "HUGS" range. You'll need to delay it because blockstun makes people invincible to grabs, but you're really, really close. Plus, if you hit someone, it's a soft knockdown which is GREAT!

[Raynex]

That sounds awesome. I'm a bit wary of throwing out bar for approaches only. If it's blocked that's a bar gone that I could have used for a 40% BnB. But from your description it sounds loads better than randomly throwing out EX Press and hoping for a hit, only to get punished afterwards.

I'm loving CH df+C / j.CD into EX Press. It feels SOOO GOOD! Btw, is anyone having problems with cr.Ax2, df+C whiffing? Unless I have bar to confirm cr.B, cr.A xx EX Vulcan or Press I'm finding it hard to do meterless combos as they rely on df+C connecting. What should I do?

[Reiki.Kito]

I've been toying with it, but it's a bit easier to confirm d.A, df+C => rather than d.A. It's also better than trying to hit d.A x2 into EX vapor cannon, especially since the damage on it was nerfed a bit. Kane had mentioned that to me when we went over my older matches.

[Raynex]

So you're saying omit the second cr.A and go straight for df+C? I'll give it a try. df+C only whiffs on crouchers that are too far right? So if I do j.C, cr.A, df+C it won't push them too far / whiff on crouchers?

A few more questions if you don't mind:

-What should I use for air-to-air?
-Is comboing into B Press important? I'm never close enough to land it.
-I didn't know that Maxima couldn't HOP cross-up splash. Is that new downwards punch useful for jump ins?
-When I land a meterless press, is my only option Press Plus xx (EX) Super?
-Does his meterless DP+K have invincibility? Can I use it for standard AA?
-I can't find ways to land the command grab after a j.A/cr.A (blocked). Everyone just presses buttons! Is there anything I can do to punish them for being predictable?

[Reiki.Kito]

To your first question: Yes, it will land. It's actually very reliable. I use it a lot in tournaments and I'm a pretty "auto-pilot" sort of person as some people call me.

-What should I use for air-to-air?
The most horizontal hitbox Maxima has in the air. That's going to be j.B and j.CD. Those are your best air to airs, especially jump CD.

-Is comboing into B Press important? I'm never close enough to land it.
It's not important as much as just landing it. It's easy to get it off and if you want to set-up corner pressure, that's an option. You can get it to combo off of 2 d.As if you're really close, close C, or close D. Don't limit yourself to combos. You can hop or roll into it too. It's a nice mix up.

-I didn't know that Maxima couldn't HOP cross-up splash. Is that new downwards punch useful for jump ins?
His hop C and hop D have very vertical hit ranges. C is good because it has fast start-up (in comparison to hop D) and hurts a lot. It's also easy to set-up stuff, but not easy to set-up st.D, df+C which is your most damaging combo starter. Hop D hurts a crap ton and when timed right, can easily get you st.D, df+C because the start-up for it is so slow. The trick is timing the hop D because, as I mentioned, its start up is wicked slow. Nice stuff to consider is you can, on hit or block, throw out an air vapor cannon from a hop A or hop C, which is pretty good.


-When I land a meterless press, is my only option Press Plus xx (EX) Super?
Yes, you can't do anything else.

-Does his meterless DP+K have invincibility? Can I use it for standard AA?
No, you have to throw it out before they attack or after the active frames of their jump-in fizzle out or you'll trade. On hit, it does no damage if you trade.

-I can't find ways to land the command grab after a j.A/cr.A (blocked). Everyone just presses buttons! Is there anything I can do to punish them for being predictable?
You don't have to land command grabs. If you know someone is going to press buttons and you're close, you can guardpoint them. It's not going to work like before where people can poke A then block. You have an option too! Cancel your GP into EX Maxima press when you see the guard point and it'll immediately cancel. You can also do EX Vapor cannon. Give it a shot.

[Raynex]

Thanks for the detailed response! It cleared up many of the big questions I had. I'll have to try doing blockstrings like cr.A -> cr.C/st,C (guardpoint) xx A Vapor to check if they're pressing buttons. Does that hop A/C xx air Vapor count as a double overhead? If so that's amazing haha.

I've had a great degree of success with st.D (guard point a projectile) xx EX Press punish. Maybe you guys should try it out?

[CCVengeance]

To your first question: Yes, it will land. It's actually very reliable. I use it a lot in tournaments and I'm a pretty "auto-pilot" sort of person as some people call me.

-What should I use for air-to-air?
The most horizontal hitbox Maxima has in the air. That's going to be j.B and j.CD. Those are your best air to airs, especially jump CD.

-Is comboing into B Press important? I'm never close enough to land it.
It's not important as much as just landing it. It's easy to get it off and if you want to set-up corner pressure, that's an option. You can get it to combo off of 2 d.As if you're really close, close C, or close D. Don't limit yourself to combos. You can hop or roll into it too. It's a nice mix up.

-I didn't know that Maxima couldn't HOP cross-up splash. Is that new downwards punch useful for jump ins?
His hop C and hop D have very vertical hit ranges. C is good because it has fast start-up (in comparison to hop D) and hurts a lot. It's also easy to set-up stuff, but not easy to set-up st.D, df+C which is your most damaging combo starter. Hop D hurts a crap ton and when timed right, can easily get you st.D, df+C because the start-up for it is so slow. The trick is timing the hop D because, as I mentioned, its start up is wicked slow. Nice stuff to consider is you can, on hit or block, throw out an air vapor cannon from a hop A or hop C, which is pretty good.


-When I land a meterless press, is my only option Press Plus xx (EX) Super?
Yes, you can't do anything else.

-Does his meterless DP+K have invincibility? Can I use it for standard AA?
No, you have to throw it out before they attack or after the active frames of their jump-in fizzle out or you'll trade. On hit, it does no damage if you trade.

-I can't find ways to land the command grab after a j.A/cr.A (blocked). Everyone just presses buttons! Is there anything I can do to punish them for being predictable?
You don't have to land command grabs. If you know someone is going to press buttons and you're close, you can guardpoint them. It's not going to work like before where people can poke A then block. You have an option too! Cancel your GP into EX Maxima press when you see the guard point and it'll immediately cancel. You can also do EX Vapor cannon. Give it a shot.

wow,I'll really need to try all this!

[Raynex]

I'm trying to make Maxima my main character, and all that advice is really starting to pay off. The magic of air EX Vapor Cannon! So gaawdlike.

I'm facing a dilemma though:

My team right now is Kensou/Maxima/King, but King isn't a very good anchor based on what I know. I want to switch the order up so that it's King 1st, Kensou 2nd (Kensou has more viable uses for bar than King), and Maxima at the end. Only problem is, I keep seeing Maxima run on 1st or 2nd position and never anchor. Is there a reason for this? Does Maxima have a hard time running anchor position?

Reiki what position do you run Maxima in? I'm so frustrated that my favourite characters can't cooperate, that I'm considering swapping out King for Kim as anchor. : (

[LouisCipher]

His Guard Points make him a really good 1st character, trust me . He's very anti-rushdown, and if his C Vapor Cannon counter hits, it's an easy setup after they wall bounce into his DownFoward C and Air Grab.

[Reiki.Kito]

I'm trying to make Maxima my main character, and all that advice is really starting to pay off. The magic of air EX Vapor Cannon! So gaawdlike.

I'm facing a dilemma though:

My team right now is Kensou/Maxima/King, but King isn't a very good anchor based on what I know. I want to switch the order up so that it's King 1st, Kensou 2nd (Kensou has more viable uses for bar than King), and Maxima at the end. Only problem is, I keep seeing Maxima run on 1st or 2nd position and never anchor. Is there a reason for this? Does Maxima have a hard time running anchor position?

Reiki what position do you run Maxima in? I'm so frustrated that my favourite characters can't cooperate, that I'm considering swapping out King for Kim as anchor. : (

I run Maxima last. I put a lot of emphasis on using meter to run people over. He doesn't have a hard time as long as he has atleast one meter. He's able to do near 50% with just one bar.

[SAB-CA]

My team right now is Kensou/Maxima/King, but King isn't a very good anchor based on what I know. I want to switch the order up so that it's King 1st, Kensou 2nd (Kensou has more viable uses for bar than King), and Maxima at the end. Only problem is, I keep seeing Maxima run on 1st or 2nd position and never anchor. Is there a reason for this? Does Maxima have a hard time running anchor position?

Personally, I love running Maxima as a 2nd or 3rd. While Maxima is a great Point, I think his Neomax gives him too many "shut the opponent down!" options to not be aware of, atop of how amazing he is with meter in the first place.

Most people like to spam projectiles and concentrate on keep-away and running with their points, so I find using someone who can keep up with / match this is a better point.

I like King as a point, personally, and with your team, I think she and Kensou are so great at switching from close-up fighting to keep-away, with excellent jump-ins and Air-to-Airs, that keeping Maxima as a meter-swelled 3rd should work very well.

Guardpoints are fantastic for those who are willing to approach you, but for people who just wanna sit back and turtle, Maxima's forced to play *THEIR* game for the approach phase, for a lot more time than they're forced to play HIS. I'd rather face a Takuma fireball spammer with King or Kensou, than Maxima.

King does such a good job in early positions, that I wouldn't want her for anchor. It's very nice absorbing limb attacks with trap shot (It catches as many sweeps on reaction as DPs!), but when the other 2 people on your team have superior, meterless anti-approach options, or superior "open up!" options (command throws, better crossups, etc), I'd rather keep those tools for "down to the wire" moments, y'know?

All that said, I think Maxima is an even better anchor now, than ever before. Being able to EX Press off counter hits opens up so many options. His hop attacks are also much easier to open up with now, and EX Air Vapor's Absolute Guardpoint VS normal Anti-Airs gives him a great way to not get controlled and silenced.

[Raynex]

Louis/Reiki/SAB, you guys are the greatest. I really appreciate all the awesome feedback. I went to local KOFXIII weekly today and tried to get into the mindset of Maxima as an anchor...and it's amazing. He feels like a completely different character with all that bar. Any hit translates into at LEAST 40%.

Where I'm at right now:

He still feels a bit clunky, and hard to manage against other anchors (Kyo, Iori, Shen). I find myself getting beat air-to-air alot, even with my j.B/j.CDs. When it comes to AA, it feels like guard point is the way to go. I've been cancelling st.C into EX DP for AA (I think non-EX DP is too slow). Is there something more efficient I could be doing?

Oh, and I can never get cr.C low guard point to work. It gets stuffed by everything!

[Reiki.Kito]

Louis/Reiki/SAB, you guys are the greatest. I really appreciate all the awesome feedback. I went to local KOFXIII weekly today and tried to get into the mindset of Maxima as an anchor...and it's amazing. He feels like a completely different character with all that bar. Any hit translates into at LEAST 40%.

Where I'm at right now:

He still feels a bit clunky, and hard to manage against other anchors (Kyo, Iori, Shen). I find myself getting beat air-to-air alot, even with my j.B/j.CDs. When it comes to AA, it feels like guard point is the way to go. I've been cancelling st.C into EX DP for AA (I think non-EX DP is too slow). Is there something more efficient I could be doing?

Oh, and I can never get cr.C low guard point to work. It gets stuffed by everything!

cr.C should be something you do on anticipation. If you know someone is going to go low, you get free anything if you GP or hit. For your st.C options, you have a lot of stuff. On hit, you could do super for free damage too. You can also do EX Vapor Cannon and EX Maxima Press will snag them out of the air.

[SAB-CA]

Louis/Reiki/SAB, you guys are the greatest. I really appreciate all the awesome feedback. I went to local KOFXIII weekly today and tried to get into the mindset of Maxima as an anchor...and it's amazing. He feels like a completely different character with all that bar. Any hit translates into at LEAST 40%.

Glad to have helped:) It's amazing how quickly he can END a match at that point, It's really quite satisfying, haha. And If Kyo's get projectile-goody, it's BEAM time! Flames Iori is gonna hate this, too...

Where I'm at right now:

He still feels a bit clunky, and hard to manage against other anchors (Kyo, Iori, Shen). I find myself getting beat air-to-air alot, even with my j.B/j.CDs. When it comes to AA, it feels like guard point is the way to go. I've been cancelling st.C into EX DP for AA (I think non-EX DP is too slow). Is there something more efficient I could be doing?

Neutral Jump / hop CD is a great "Stop jumping at me!", but really, I wouldn't try to Air-to-Air with him much. Standing Jab and Guard points ARE your AA. Make them fall on that far D! If a character does a single hit move, going into that EX press off the guardpoint cancel is great, or just the regular fall.

I do have suprising success with Full jump D in Air-to-Air, but it's... awkward.

Oh, and I can never get cr.C low guard point to work. It gets stuffed by everything!

Remember, first off, this isn't a true "low" GP, it's like an anti-air to Deep jumpins, and to standing normals. Low attacks (Like Crouch Bs, and Sweeps) will totally destroy it. But it has great range + can be cancelled, so it's a calculated risk.

Speaking of Risk, I enjoy occassionally using Maxima Press on opponent wakeup. If they do anyting that has any startup / or foward or backroll, they're gonna get grabbed. It's a nice mixup to On-wakeup VAPUH KANNUN / Stand D, as opponents like to start rolling through those, to punish his laggy attack / foward step momentum.

Pointer for Maxima Wiki: Guardpoint detection /absorbtion area and startup speed should really be noted under each of his normals / specials that have it.

The only one that is full body is his Air EX vapor, right? I'm pretty sure even his EX DM doesn't have low GP (which is kinda sad, lol.) However, I'm NOT sure if the DM and EX DM GPs behave any differently, as I don't believe it's ever been documented? The SRK Wiki says his EX DM is fully invincible on startup, have to test that myself... I thought I remembered being sweeped out of it before.