The King of Fighters '98 UMFE/Saisyu Kusanagi/Matchups

Matchups

Disclaimer: This page is about the discussion of character matchups, and will inherently contain some writer bias. While the information is useful, it can be slightly inaccurate at times, so please do not take the writing this page as definite fact, unless it discusses frame data or genuine tech such as punishes. If you have any issues, or want to discuss matchups further, the '98 UMFE Discord server is open for discussions, and for Saisyu in particular, there is also the #saisyu-kusanagi channel. Thank you.

EX Andy Bogard

Moderate Disadvantage ~ 35:65

• He zones you, and you die. His fireball is amazing, and he has a fantastic DP to complement.

• Despite EX Andy's lower placement on the overall tier list, he is a very, very strong counterpick against Saisyu. The main advice here is to stay patient. Remember, you have some of the best pressure in the game, but also remember he has a DP with ludicrous hitboxes. Bait his DPs hard, and make those Quick MAX conversions count. The number one thing you need to do here is to condition him to stop using DP and sit there and block. Remember to be patient, and you can just about overcome the matchup.

• There's not really much to say about his Quick MAX mixups other than block and pray.

Choi Bounge

• f.C whiffs on Choi standing, so you will have to do the much harder microwalk 2C combo for optimal punishes.

Eiji Kisaragi

Slight Advantage ~ 55:45

• Eiji thrives on bulldozing '98 UMFE's zoning meta with a hefty selection of counterzoning tools and ways to punish lackluster offence. You, however, playing as Saisyu, don't have to worry about counterzoning, and your offence is among the scariest in the game. Ever so slightly, you win here. Despite this, there's still a bunch of stuff you have to remember to put him to bed.

• When approaching at a distance, the best option is to patiently walk Eiji down, dealing with his zoning as you normally would. Saisyu in particular doesn't fare very well against Eiji at a distance, with poor poking normals and a fireball that starts up slightly slower than most others.

• Throwing an A fireball at Eiji from fullscreen can be very useful, as at a distance where superjumping cannot punish them, the situation will always be in your favour. If he blocks or uses dodge/roll, you get to run in. If he reflects or uses Kikouhou to get rid of the fireball, you get to hop towards him. If he teleports, he'll either get hit by the fireball, or you can punish him on reaction. Also, if the Eiji is prone to using his reflector, you can use the C fireball on occasion to throw off his timing. Beware: Do not try and fireball against an Eiji with meter. His projectile super has the fun ability to punish most of your moveset from fullscreen, and will go through anything and everything to blast you away.

• Eiji's projectile super loses quite well to simply walking down Eiji and blocking. On reaction, you can roll past the DM version, but there is a 2nd projectile on the SDM version, so you have to block it to avoid being punished.

• Saisyu can use his DP to punish Eiji's cl.D on block, or if he's extra confident, 236236C. Most of Eiji's blockstring tools are also incredibly minus on block, so if he wants to do them, he risks either getting pressured or punished.

• During offence, keep everything as tight as possible so Eiji doesn't have time to use a teleport or Kasumigiri as abare. Use high blockstun tools such as 6B and j.CD to keep him blocking, then use your strong mixups to punish him for guessing wrong.

• Using 63214D as a GCCD bait is crucial here, since Eiji will use GCCD a lot for defence, especially in Extra mode where he will get free supers in red health and be able to spend the meter he gets from blocking on GCCDs.

Geese Howard

• You can use 623A/C, 236236C and 63214D in between the first and second hit of Double Reppuken to interrupt Geese.

Joe Higashi

Advantage ~ 60:40

EX Joe Higashi

Slight Advantage ~ 55:45

• Mostly similar to regular Joe in neutral.

• The main difference here is TNT Punch - He loses his overhead in exchange for some extremely tight pressure and extremely damaging combos. Make sure you keep it safe to avoid being on the receiving end.

EX King

Severe Disadvantage ~ 20:80

• This matchup is painful for Saisyu because not only does he struggle against King's zoning, she also has various tools to shut him down when he actually does get in, especially compared to most zoners. It's definitely worse than Eiji, and arguably his most difficult matchup.

• Even without meter, and even when you get in, King has 3D, an absolutely amazing slide that low profiles all of your air normals while also being free cancelable if done raw. To compliment this, her 5CD also has incredibly generous low invulnerability that even beats your 2A. Both of these tools beat 2A, which completely destroys your pressure game. Stick to using 2B and cl.C to beat slide and 5CD respectively. When using cl.C, you need to make sure you blockstring into either 6B to continue that pressure, or a fireball to keep safe (although, this will unfortunately return you to neutral).

• When she DOES have meter, you will suffer. Surprise Rose, her reversal super, has 2f of startup, requiring a frame perfect safejump to beat while still continuing pressure. Arguably, this isn't even the most egregious part of this super, which is most likely its behaviour on block. When you block this super, simply holding back will most likely make it safe. It is -2 on block normally, which would make it punishable by your cl.C's 1f of startup. However, the A version will space itself out of this range, requiring you to run or roll under her inbetween the hits and punish her as she lands. This is rather tight, and Saisyu's own size makes him particularly vulnerable to being crossed up. Provided you do land the punish, go ahead and do whatever you like to punish, but make sure it hurts. The C and MAX versions are much easier to punish, as while they still require a frame perfect input of cl.C, they put King right in front of you. Any EX King worth their salt will never even touch the C version, but the MAX version is still there, so beware that you CAN punish it.

• This matchup is heavily favoured towards EX King, potentially being Saisyu's worst matchup in the whole game. He loses in neutral, but unlike Eiji, he also loses during his own pressure. Making every single hit count and denying EX King's access to meter is crucial to even having a chance towards '98 UMFE's queen of zoning.

Ryuji Yamazaki

Disadvantage

EX Ryuji Yamazaki

Moderate Disadvantage ~ 30:70

Saisyu Kusanagi

Even ~ 50:50 (It's the mirror)

• It's good to think of this matchup akin to the Order-Sol mirror in Guilty Gear +R - This mirror is stupid, because your character has answers to literally everything he can do.

• 623C and 2A are your best friends, and they're the defining part of this matchup - Both players will throw them out a LOT, since they're ironically fantastic tools for stopping Saisyu. This matchup is pretty much a reverse quickdraw - the first one to play loses. Whether it's a baited DP or a stuffed approach, Saisyu mirrors often end spectacularly and in a burst of flames. A lot of fun, if you can stomach it.

Orochi Shermie

Dodge, Step: Disadvantage ~ 65:35

Roll, Run: Even ~ 50:50

• Orochi Shermie's zoning and abare are incredibly potent against Saisyu, and so when you're not in her face with massive amounts of frame advantage you're going to have a hard time.

• Ideally, you should focus on going straight into tricky mixups to cash out on meter or hard knockdowns, or wait for O. Shermie to do something punishable and punish it. Her best abare options are usually punishable with the right move, so being patient during the rare chances you do get to establish pressure is paramount to avoid being put into electric kiss zoning.

Terry Bogard

Advantage ~ 65:35

• Lots of advancing mids and semi-decent pokes in neutral. Overcoming advancing specials such as Burn Knuckle using dodge or roll makes fighting Terry a lot easier.
• Regular Terry's Power Wave can actually stop hops, so be wary when approaching.
• Rising Tackle isn't the best DP, but it works. Make sure to be wary of it, and punish accordingly.
• Terry struggles to pressure or mix you up. Take advantage of this and get back on offence.

EX Terry Bogard

Slight Advantage ~ 55:45

• Almost identical to regular Terry bar three changes: Power Wave, Round Wave and Fire Kick (Slide).
• Power Wave now goes fullscreen, but can be hopped over.
• Round Wave is cancelable, which allows for gimmicky pressure. Learn and punish the gaps.
• Fire Kick is a low profile slide with a cancelable first hit, often the most common choice for Round Wave pressure.
• Mostly the same matchup as regular Terry, but with the added risk of a low profile slide, and more notably, an Extra mode combo that does some insane damage.

Yashiro Nanakase

Even ~ 50:50

EX Yuri Sakazaki

Moderate Disadvantage ~ 30:70