Lidia counterplay (Tekken 7)

Strings

1

• 1,1 ends in a mid, launches on counter hit, and is -11 on block. It's a natural combo but only if it isn't delayed. Because it can be delayed, the 1 on its own gets too much mental frame advantage if you try and wait first, so you're gonna have to eat the counter hit sometimes.

• 1,2 is a standard jailing jab string. It's fast, tracks well, is -2 on block, and has good extensions, so you'll see it a lot.

• 1,4 ends in a high and is a natural combo. It can be delayed, so you can't fuzzy guard it and the mid. It's -8 on block with low payoff, so it's not used much.

You could practice ducking for 1,4 and blocking 1,1 on reaction, but it's hardly worth it given how rarely 1,4 is used.

1,2

• 1,2,2 ends in a mid and is -10.

• 1,2,4 ends in a low and can be parried even when the jabs hit.

• The low is slow enough that it can be parried on reaction. Otherwise, a fuzzy guard also works.

• The low can be delayed and has counter hit properties, so it's also used to steal turns. With maximum delay it trades with i16 moves.

• 1,2,4,4 ends in a high launcher. It interrupts attempts to punish the low, so parrying is essential.

• 1,2,3 ends in a high. It's the same speed as the low and has no counter hit properties, so it's rarely used outside of combos.

3:2

• 3:2 is a natural combo and leads to Lidia's highest damage combo route.

This one is a notorious noob killer because the payoff on hit is massive and its quick recovery (r20) makes it difficult to launch punish without practice. Extra difficulty arises from:

• The active frame on the second hit being much earlier than it feels to the defender.
• The blue sparks making it feel like the active frame is later than it really is.
• The attack itself being quite fast (,i22), as it must also be reacted to in case Lidia doesn't finish the string.

The blue sparks don't change the frames at all. They only add 2 damage.

4

• 4,2 ends in a high and at r23 can be easily launched when ducked.

• 4,3 ends in a mid and is -10. It looks like it's got a low profile recovery and that jab punishers don't work, but they do.

Lidia must commit to one of these extensions to combo off a CH 4, so it's usually safe to assume she'll do one of them. They're slow enough that reacting is possible, but the animations are similar so this isn't easy. A fuzzy guard is possible but probably not worth it because without reacting to the high you won't launch it. Guessing also works fine.

Just make sure you launch 4,2 occasionally so she's always taking a risk to get a combo.

d/f+1

• d/f+1,2 ends in a high and is a natural combo. It's r21 so it can be launched off a hard read. However, if you're reacting to seeing the high first, punishing with anything slower than i11 is a stretch. The d/f+1 on its own has bad frames, and it's her main mid check, so she's likely to use this a lot.

• d/f+1,3 ends in a mid, can be delayed, and the last hit is a counter hit launcher. It's -13 on block with a lot of pushback, so using the right punisher is essential (i.e. not jabs, unless you're Gigas). Because it can be delayed, the d/f+1 on its own gets too much mental frame advantage if you try and wait first, so you're gonna have to eat the counter hit sometimes.

• At some wall positions, the pushback from d/f+1,3 is big enough that on some characters even the proper punisher whiffs. The main position to look out for is if both players are against the wall and the wall is to Lidia's left.

• The mid is slower than the high, so both can be beaten with a fuzzy guard. Doing this, the high is instead punished by a standing move on reaction.

f+4,3

• f+4,3 is two mids and a natural combo that deals good damage. It's -10 on block.

• f+4,3,1 ends in a mid and is -12 on block.

• f+4,3,4 ends in a high and leads to a huge combo on counter hit.

The payoff on the mid extension isn't that good and the mixup is easy to both fuzzy guard and react to, so the main threat is the high, making it risky to punish f+4,3.

The extensions will combo if the second attack gets a counter hit.

Stances

Lidia's stances present a multi-level mixup from 4 key transitions. All of them are forced and can't be cancelled.

• 1,2,2 transitions to +8 CFT on hit.

• d/f+2 transitions to +12g CFT on hit.

• f,F+2 transition to +15g CFO on hit.

• R.f,F+2+3 transitions to +27g CFO on block. If she moves straight to HAE, it's +7.

It's better to analyze the transitions, rather than the stances in isolation, since the right strategy changes depending on the frame advantage.

General concept of the stances:

• She can't block, but she can cancel into a jump backwards.
• They last for 20 frames, after which she recovers standing.
• Attacking without a read is generally a poor choice, since she has good counter hit options.
• However, if you don't attack, she can move to the second stage for a stronger mixup.