I was bored and I was procrastinating on my essay. I figured I should give back to the community once in a while and also see if I could learn anything by receiving some possible criticism. Here's my analysis of Yukinose (Akiha) vs. Buta (Sion) in the GAMESKY 5on5 tournament. Yukinose is regarded as the top Tohno Akiha player and Buta is a competent Sion who has been sighted a couple of months before SBO '07 in Daruism's videos.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QKapzKeQ9LMRound One[00:03] Akiha lands an air throw on Sion, getting a knockdown but placing herself in the corner.
[00:05] Akiha uses a superjump tigerknee ribbon on okizeme, reversing their positions; Sion blocks it, Akiha capitalizes on the major frame advantage and gets a successful mixup, setting up her flame pit.
[00:10] Sion blocks Akiha's B pillar and is put at a minor disadvantage. Sion blocks low and Akiha staggers all her ground normals and ignites the pit. The flame pit makes Akiha's corner game much stronger and gives Akiha multiple chances for mixup.
[00:12] Akiha gets a successful IAD mixup but fails to confirm into a combo. If Sion had tried to escape or poke out at all during Akiha's pressure, Akiha would have gotten a counterhit, scored a free combo, and ideally would have reset into the same exact setup.
[00:18] Akiha has been pushed out too far to effectively continue pressure and Sion escapes the corner and connects a combo on Akiha.
[00:20] Sion does a blockstring into her slide and Akiha instinctively jumps out because this is a textbook tick throw setup for Sion. It may not always be a good idea to jump as the slide is effectively a mixup. IIRC, Sion's slide has lower body invincibility (so don't try to poke low), could predict your jump and effectively punish, or be using the other slide which leads into a kick.
[00:23] Sion attempts to continue pressure but her j.A clashes with and loses out to Akiha's 2B. Akiha's 2B can help you win some battles because it has clash frames. It is also low shieldable only and its use discourages high shields.
[00:28] Akiha dashes up and uses a B ribbon on okizeme which is excellent for baiting pokes and heats. Sion heats and Akiha starts pressuring.
[00:32] Akiha gains a minor advantage and a reset in her blockstring options by using a 214B. She checks for possible pokes and ticks with a 2A which connects but goes for a throw.
[00:35] Akiha goes for the low which gets blocked and continues a blockstring into a 214B to regain the advantage. Having trained Sion not to jump out after a blocked B pillar, Akiha gains a major frame advantage by getting Sion to block a TK ribbon. If you've scared the opponent enough from escaping early and poking out of your pressure, you can use ribbons, throws, and pillars to get back the advantage for more mixup opportunities.
[00:39] Akiha safely dashes in under the cover of a blocked ribbon, goes for the low, and takes the round.
Round Two[00:50] Akiha gets off an EX pillar and follows through with an air combo. Was this a bara cancel? I'm not even sure myself. EX pillar is pretty slow though and you don't have invincibility frames on startup. Getting hit out of this means you get put into CH2 hitstun. A pretty risky move but I think it worked because 1) it was a bara and 2) Sion was too far/slow to punish with a 5A or 2A.
[00:53] Akiha goes for the low but gets blocked and continues her blockstring into a 214B, gaining a minor advantage. She dashes in to continue pressure and gets Sion to block another TK ribbon. Sion guesses right this time and is able to escape the corner.
[01:00] Akiha escapes Sion's pressure by backdashing her whip and the two start zoning and fishing for openings. Akiha whiffs a few 214A pillars and a 2C which really leaves herself exposed. Whiffed 214As and 2Cs in the worst case will let the opponent score a free combo on you. If used at all, use with caution.
[01:17] Sion has taken advantage of Akiha's status and gets in with an overhead but drops the combo because she didn't have enough meter for an EX Whip. Akiha takes control with an air throw.
[01:20] Sion backdashes into the corner and Akiha punishes with 2As confirming into a wallslam combo and sets up the EX flame pit. As Akiha falls, she uses a ribbon to catch possible escapes or reversals. Akiha can punish backdashes with 2A or 2C and it is especially easy to do so in the corner. Backdashing can be great if you make your opponent whiff a heavy move but the risks are much higher in the corner.
[01:25] Akiha goes in for the low and staggers into her best tick throw setup but fails to execute. 623B cancelled into 41236C is an awesome tick throw setup but if you don't execute it properly or cancel it to 236C at least, it's a free ticket to the pain train.
[01:37] Sion starts pressuring Akiha in the corner and baits possible heats. They have a quick scuffle but both get nothing but air. Sion starts to rain down with some j.As but Akiha takes advantage of the gaps and surprises Sion by shielding one and takes the cake.
Further analysisAkiha's options in her staggered blockstrings are awesome and if you've scared the opponent enough, ground throws, pillars, and ribbons can reset the options and lead into opportunities for more mixups.
Notice how Yukinose always sets up the flame pit in the corner. He's sacrificing damage but the opportunities he gets for further potential damage are much greater. Sure damage is always good but what if your opponent guessed right on your one mixup attempt or even turned the tables around with a reversal?
j.22C into falling j.236A is a very safe setup which punishes escapes, stuffs pokes, keeps you out of range of most reversals, and gives you a major frame advantage on block. If they guess right, you can still reset the options by staggering into ribbons/pillars/throws, and/or go for the sure advantage by igniting the pit. Akiha gets at least two mixup opportunities using the flame pit and it even drains their health and meter. In my personal experience, there's been several times the flame pit drained enough meter so that the opponent was unable to use heat or EX moves to reverse the situation which let me safely pressure even more.
Yukinose dominated Buta with his pressure but if Buta hadn't dropped those combos, he at least would have been able to put up more of a fight.
If you didn't understand something, you should read Psylocke's guides on Tohno Akiha and blockstrings. If it's not covered there, go ahead and post.
Topic: Analysis of Yukinose(Akiha) vs. Buta(Sion) (Read 4351 times)