User:Kalki/matchups-new

Akuma

• u/f+4 > d/f+1 anti-airs Demon Flip
• Sidestep or use 4 when Akuma does Demon Flip
• Pressure when Akuma has no meter
• Escape when cornered at wall (play keep-out)
• Punish shoryuken heavily (use u/f+3)
• Use b+4 to punish d+2 and d+3 on whiff
• u/f+4 and u/f+4,4 OS ws2 even if Akuma cancels into DFLIP
• Be careful when throwing out 4,4,4 since shoryuken OSes it and its extensions

Alisa

• Alisa can evade CH HAR 1 > f,F+3 > d+3+4 using her special getup. Use u/b+4 instead of d+3+4.

Anna

• Abuse FC d/f+4 since Anna cannot launch it

Armor King

• AK can punish b+3+4 and f,F+4 with f+1+4 (i13, 28 dmg)
• AK can evade and punish all HAR moves with b+1+4 > f+1+4, making it a poor tool to use without proper conditioning. Options to beat the b+1+4 from AK are listed below. A video demonstration can be found here.
  • HAR cancel into block and punish, since b+1+4 is -13 on block
  • HAR cancel > ws1,1 will counterhit AK out of b+1+4
  • HAR cancel > FC d/f+4 will evade and punish b+1+4
  • HAR cancel > 4 will CH for a full launch
  • HAR cancel > SS whiff punish

Asuka

• u/f+3+4 has good risk/reward against Asuka since it is only -10, giving Asuka a 7 dmg punish, but gives Kat ~40 dmg with the guaranteed u/b+4 follow-up. Asuka can parry the second hit of u/f+3+4, so chickening it is recommended.
• d/b+1,2 beats every move from a minus ob transition to HAR (4,4,4F, 3,3,3F). You cannot even crouch cancel into block fast enough to block the d/b+1. The move crushes and punishes HAR 1, and is faster than any other standing HAR move (you'll get CH). It can't be low-crushed using HAR u/f+3/d/f+3 since it is a true mid (you'll get floated). Of course, if the Asuka knows and is using this frequently, simply bait it out by not transitioning to HAR. You will either get +7 if you block the d/b+1, and if they're sharp enough to hit-confirm and not do the follow-up, or duck and launch if they commit to the follow-up.
• d/b_1,2 loses only to HAR 4 from a plus ob transition to HAR (d+2,F, b+1,F). You can crouch cancel into block in this situation.

Bryan

• Kat's FC.df+3 will low profile Bryan's orbital, especially after d+4
• 2,2 always punishes df+2,3
• Katarina lacks a very good punisher for qcb+3, so try to low parry it if you expect it instead of blocking
• Katarina's FC.df+4 consistently goes under Bryan's f+3

Claudio

• b+1,2 is a good tool in this match-up - closes distance against his push-back moves, and he doesn't get a strong mixup even at +8.

Devil Jin

• Devil Jin's u+4 evades Katarina's d/f+4 at >= +5. Be cautious when using it after getting frame advantage a frame advantage of +5 or better (e.g., after HAR d/f+3 on hit, 1,1,2 on block).
• When Devil Jin is not in rage, use b+1,F to check u+4 usage. Confirm the float, and pickup with ws4 into float combo. If Devil Jin is in rage, this will get beaten by RA
• It will not evade at +4 (e.g. after d/f+4 on hit)
• Use u/f+3 (not u/f+4; whiffs if there's no flight transition) to option select Devil Jin's u+4 if he goes into flight transition or not (no combo on the latter though).
• Devil Jin can punish Katarina's f,F+4 with df+4,4

Eddy

Your main strategy against Eddy is poking with d/f+1. He has a really hard time dealing with that move; he can't step it, and it tracks his auto sidestep punch that Eddy uses instead of step. It'll also float handstand very consistently, and can float RLX, but is not consistent in S2.

Probably the two most important things in this match-up are not giving him breathing room and knowing your punishes. 4,4,4/1,1/f,F+2,4 have limited utility in this match because of how often Eddy high crushes, but d/f+1 is much faster than most of what Eddy wants to throw at you. Once you teach him to respect it, you can play a more normal game against him, but you've got to keep it on the table to keep him honest. You can also backdash out of RLX mixups on HIT. :-P

Fahkumram

• Fahk can punish b+3+4 with b+1 (i14, 49 dmg including follow-up)

Feng

• Feng can punish b+3+4 and f,F+4 with b+1+2 (i13, 30 dmg)
• Feng can OS -1 transitions into HAR using b+4 or uf+2
• Some common Kat+Feng scenarios analyzed -

Kat df+1 on hit, Feng answers with uf+2

interrupts: d+4, df+1, 1 jab, 4

doesn't: b+1, df+2, b+3+4, d+3

in short, anything i13 or faster will interrupt.

Feng df+2,2 on block into 1+2

wins: ssr, any kicks faster than snake edge, df+2

loses: ssl, punches faster than i16 (maybe i15?)

Feng df+2,2 on block into uf+2

wins: ssl, everything i13 or faster, df+4 (no CH, why?), uf+4,4

loses: ssr, 3-string, b+4, df+2, b+1

SS.4 is a weird one to lab because he can get it either direction and he can either cancel the SS with it, or do it after the SS In general, all your fast lows beat it, mids beat it but are subject to regular tracking (b+1, df+2, b+3+4 seem to track no matter what).

Ganryu

• Max damage punish for Ganryu's spring roll is ws4 > d+3,4 > u/b+4 (48 dmg)

Gigas

• Gigas cannot use SSR as an option against the HAR mixup.

Heihachi

• After d+4, Kat's FC.df+4 will evade Heihachi's df+1. However, Heihachi's f+3 will counter it.

Hwoarang

Because Kat has a generic d+4, she can OS after a blocked RFS f+4, including if they finish the string. it will hit him if he does anything other than RFS 3, in which case he low crushes and you high crush, he gets frame advantage in LFS.

Jack-7

• use 1,1 ub+4 as a punish on a blocked df+1,2,1. If Jack-7 does the 2-extension, it will jail, so your 1,1 input will be eaten and you'll get an ub+4 punish. If Jack-7 stops at df+1,2,1, you'll get a 1,1 punish.

Jin

• Remember to be conservative with your attacks due to parry. It's almost impossible to punish it on reaction, don't even put energy into it. Use a lot more moves which are safe even after parry - df+1 and d+4 are your best friends here. 4 is also good
• be ready to use d+4 and df+1 after Jin does f+4~ZEN on block. Only press upon reaction to the stance transition. Otherwise, our df+1 will whiff and can be punished by electric or rage art.
• Avoid usage of df+3+4 - it is seeable and launch punishable. Ditto for FC.3.
• Use FC.df+4 to beat 2,1,4, we will pass under 2,1 and if they press 4 we CH them. Specially useful after a situation we might duck (df+4 ob, df+1 ob)
• After df+1 many situations to face -
  • If he does 2,1, he beats us - we need to duck into FC.df+4, or SWL.
  • If he does 4, he loses to our 4,4,4 but wins vs step. Sometimes, I (Ghirlanda) like to do df+1 df+1 in order to bait the 4 (I did it vs Book too, I think), because 4 beats our second df+1, duck the 4 and launch them. But this requires a very strong mindgame. Too much, perhaps.
  • d+4 is a great option after df+1, beats a lot of stuff.
• If he does b,f+2,3 always do df+1