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.
Bob
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
Dragunov
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