The King of Fighters XIII/Chin Gentsai/Strategy

Spacing

Far range

Let's start with far range.  There's not much you can do here except prepare to hcf+K any whiffed moves.  The D version goes about 70% of the screen and of course if they have mid fireballs, which roughly 1/3 of the cast do, remind them not to mess around with you.  If they have a ground fireball like Terry and Kyo, only his Ex version will be suffice but there are still ways around it (note, Ryo, Robert and Takuma's HSKK projectile is still consider a mid fireball despite the size).  You can either qcb B the fireball and cancel into hcf D, go into the kick stance and tap forward and you carefully skip over the fireball if you time it correctly (tap fwd in kick stance). In the meantime, while near full screen away, steal drinks when you can.  After one or two drinks usually, the opponent will approach you to prevent you from drinking.  

Another useful tool from fireball happy opponents is to use his qcb+B counter to prevent any block damage (Chin triggers his counter but neither party takes damage and the projectile is negated). Eventually opponents will wise up and will try to punish you if you go for the counter.  Against characters like Robert or Andy, use his punch stance (d x2+P) to crouch under the projectile, if they use any attack afterwards like Zaneiken or Robert's Flying Kick HSPK, cancel his stance into his qcb+B counter--punish them at will.

Often times you can bait them to throw a mid fireball without them really thinking.  e.g.  Try hcf+D (blocked), qcb+B...  Chin will proceed to walk backwards.  You'll be surprised how many people try to punish you which is when you remind them about your hcf+K or qcb+B (again).

Mid range

Now we enter more of Chin's comfort zone.  df B covers good horizontal distance but make sure you don't abuse it too much because a blocked df.B can be punished despite it leaving you at -2F (unless done at point blank range, -3F, which is never recommended).  Of course if used preemptively, it's a good anti-air and another good anti-air is his vertical j.CD.  Play around with his Far C into df+B and you'd be surprised how effective it is against hops.  Against jump-ins use his qcb+B counter. If they are baiting your counter with empty jump ins do an early j.CD and drink immediately when you land. Essentially you want to being doing j.CD a lot be it vertical forward or backward depending and drinking a lot. On the offense use Far C into df.D, good reach and deceptive.  Sometimes, it's even good to use hcf+K to escape underneath your opponent as they jump towards you. Be prepared to punish with hcf+K or the Ex version.

Close range

Chin's sweet spot.  Here's when the mix up games begin.  Crossup C and jump B mixups, d.Bs with overheads loops mixups can seriously drive your opponent mad.  When they are tired of your barrage of attacks, let loose a well timed Ex counter and let them think again about attacking.  Don't forget Chin's d x2+P now has a foward+C followup which is a normal C throw. Using his d x2 punch stance is a great anti air.

• Since, Chin will not correct his direction for the follow up throw if the opponent is behind you (he'll whiff the throw grabbing forward even if you hold back+C), you can do the overhead db.D if they are behind you. Alternatively, cancel his punch stance into any of his specials like df B, qcb C (seems to have a decent amount of invincibilty), qcb B all the opposite direction of course.

So you start with a Crossup C, they block it, you can either go for a d.B into overhead, or s.C into overhead, both are relatively safe but they can still throw you if they're paying attention.  If your d.B connects you can go for s.A x1~2 into qcb+A... or just go for another overhead.  If they block your d.B, d.A/s.A, you can do the overhead feint (df.D and hold the D) into d.B combos.

If they start blocking high too much, sweep them with a down D and start the crossup/overhead/d.B/counter mix ups again.  Don't forget, holding df.D or pressing D again does Chin's overhead fake so you can do d.B combos or just throw them.

Sometimes when they wake up it's good to go for his punch stance and either Quickie Punch them/ throw them/ or cancel into his counter.  Don't forget both of his stances cancel into any special.

Let's say they block your overhead, tack on at least one set of Quickie Punches (coming from an overhead, you just tap C but mash d x2 and P after the first set if you wish to continue).  If they block your quickie punch you can go for another overhead (!) or cancel into his kick stance (d x2+K) and jump over them and start attacking once more.

A more advance block string is j.C, s.C, kick stance, cancel into crossup C.  

Far C is an extremely abusive normal, it has decent range, cancelable into his df B, and cancelable into specials. Far C --> d x2+BD pressure is very hard to deal with, just make sure you walk slightly forward to make them block the second Far C. Far C into hop cancel into j.CD is very hard to deal with (Far C, d x2+K, Hop immedidiately j.CD). The aforementioned hop cancel leaves the opponent in a staggering 17F of block stun making him have only a couple of frames of movements before having to block the j.CD. Note: If you do the Far C, d x2+BD cancel you recover faster but so does the opponent.

Coming from a Chin user, Chin is real annoying to fight against once you really understand how many different options you have at your disposal.  After some reflection, what's annoying about Chin isn't necessary his damage (which is pretty high relatively speaking) but simply coz he makes you play HIS game. Playing against an experience Chin user definitely makes you have to play differently.  If you factor in his different options to administer this torture, and you're grinning from ear to ear.

Tips

I've spent most of the time talking about block strings and mind-game mix ups since you can read the combo section about what to do if it connects. Basically...

-Try to drink whenever you can but remember you are pretty vulnerable during the drink so do it after j.CDs, qcb+As and drink super.

-As long as I have one drink, I'll try to finish the df.B combos with his qcb~hcf+A. Burning a meter for the ender: Ex df K, hcf D, df B~B, s.C does more damage but the drink super does a hardknock down so you can drink some more. Drinking cannot be overstated how useful it is in console because it takes no penalty for doing so. Even if you have 5 drinks, it'll still meter for drinking.  

-If I have only one stock, I'll save it for his Ex qcb P (his qcfx2+P DM is pretty much not worth using, and will not connect after his df.B anymore (unlike XII). I'll even go for an Ex hcf K starter (which can only be started from a strong hit or QP) into hcf B -->

-Make sure you have 1 drive gauge otherwise it severely limits his options (s.C, df.B, qcb+A, [DC], hcf+K...) hence Chin as a 2nd or 3rd character is generally wiser than being first although you can kinda compensate the lack of drive by drinking.

-If you find yourself without drive or gauge: s.C, df.B, qcb+A/s.C, Drink (after knocking away the opponent sneak some drinks in)

-If you lack a drive cancel but have stocks go for Ex hcf K starters, or raw Ex qcb P and drink some more.

-Anytime you connect with qcb~hcf+A, drink away safely (even in the corner).  

-Don't under estimate 5 drinks = 150% damage.  A normal 40-60% combo is now 60-80% best illustrated here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mplBTuiJOc8#t=0m22s)

-Under too much pressure and have 3 stocks?  Ex counter, hcf+B, df.B, Ex qcf x2+AC.

-If I have more than 3 stocks I'll either save it for combos or if I'm playing someone I better finish off, extend your df.BD, hcf D corner loops.  e.g. df.B, qcb A, [DC], hcf+D, (df.BD, hcf+K)x 1~3, df.B x2, Ex qcf x2+AC.

-Full drive gauge and if the opportunity arises, go for his HD which is good considering he does 60%+ damage with no stock.

-Quickie Punches only combos off strong attacks or 1 light hit; exception is d.A / s.A, d.B, QP because the d.B moves him slightly forward.

-Due to damage scaling, do as few QP as possible before continuing your combo.

-Only do 3 sets of QP if you don't have any stocks and want to build meter.

-The timing for Ex hcf K after the QP is real tight, basically as fast as you can. When you do the first hit of the QP start inputing the motion. Better yet, work on your stance cancels such as QP, s.C, s.C or Far C variants into Ex hcf K

Frame Traps and Links

• L = Link, can be a frame trap as well.

• LO = Link only, not a frame trap.

• "(n) frame gap" = The amount of frames that opponent has to counter a frame trap.

1.) st. A > far C - 4 frame gap between st. A and far C.

2.) st. A > cl. C (L) - 2 frame gap between st. A and cl. C.

3.) st. A > cr. C - 4 frame gap between st. A and cr. C.

4.) cr. A > cl. C - 4 frame gap between st. A and cl. C.

5.) st. B > st. B - 2 frame gap between st. B and st. B.

6.) st. B > cr. B - 3 frame gap between st. B and cr. B.

7.) st. B > cl. C - 2 frame gap between st. B and cl. C.

8.) st. B > cl. D - 3 frame gap between st. B and cl. D.

9.) d, d+A/C > d, d+D (LO)

Character Matchups

Andy Bogard

Ash Crimson

Athena Asamiya

Benimaru Nikaido

Billy Kane

Chin Gentsai

Clark Still

Duo Lon

Elisabeth Branctorche

Goro Daimon

Hwa Jai

Iori Yagami (Claw)

Iori Yagami (Flame)

Joe Higashi

K'

Kim Kaphwan

King

Kula Diamond

Kyo Kusanagi (XIII)

Kyo Kusanagi (NESTS)

Leona Heidern

Mai Shiranui

Mature

Maxima

Raiden

Ralf Jones

Robert Garcia

Ryo Sakazaki

Saiki

Shen Woo

Sie Kensou

Takuma Sakazaki

Mr. Karate

Terry Bogard

Vice

Yuri Sakazaki