GGACR/Millia Rage/Okizeme

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 Millia Rage


Introduction

To start, a basic thing to understand is your combo will always affect the quality of your knockdown and that, in turn, affects the kind of setup you can get. More information on the different types of enders can be found in the combo page, though what enders lead into which types of oki is generally referenced on this page when relevant.

On top of knockdown advantage, your choice on a given setup should consider, on some level:

  • meter / burst advantage
  • any character-specific defender options
  • spacing
  • screen position
  • past choices of both you as the setplayer and theirs as the defender

Mixing up your options often with respect to these considerations is key to running stronger okizeme. In other words, it is an expression of user skill, creativity and will.

The rest of the page will deal with the nitty-gritty mechanics of Millia's setups, upon which you build the foundation for such expression.

H Disc Setups

Millia's most common and recognizable setplay tool is H Tandem TopGGACR Millia 236H-1.pngGuardAllStartup60RecoveryTotal 32Advantage-, henceforth referred to as H Disc. Generally, H Disc can hit in one of two ways: meaty or non-meaty.

Non-meaty H Disc

Prominently, all of the following discs are largely non-meaty:

  • 2D > roll or dash> disc
  • 6H > roll or dash > disc
  • Combo > Bad MoonGGAC Millia j236P.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup11Recovery22 after landingAdvantage-15 ender > disc
  • Airthrow > run > disc
  • Air hit Lust ShakerGGAC Millia 214S.pngGuardAllStartup10Recovery8Advantage+5 > roll or dash > disc
  • Midscreen j.2H > dash > disc, unless you control your dash well
  • CH DAA > dash > disc


These comprise the majority of your combo enders for both neutral conversions and optimal damage confirms, so this should be your most familiar setup.


A note about Bad Moon endersBe aware of higher variance
Easy


Bad Moon is an inevitable combo ender in a lot of matchups. Unfortunately, it has a ton of variance due to the extra recovery and the number of hits being a function of your height.

Off most setplay confirms or a regular 2H combo, you reliably get a setup that plays the way that we usually expect -- the way it should play out as written in the following document. However, off very long confirms or weird neutral confirms, a Bad Moon ender can be a little fishy. In those cases, it would be prudent to make use of reversal settings in training mode to test its stability.

Generally a disc sequence will look like:

The First Layer; BnB Offense

Since the H disc is non-meaty, there is a gap between the opponent waking up and the disc actually hitting. It is up to Millia herself to cover the gap. Depending on your advantage, there is some risk involved in doing that.

The exact window between their wakeup and Millia’s meaty can vary a lot by character / kd quality / dash time especially on random neutral conversions. These, in turn, determine what responses are viable for your opponent. Some defender options are more dangerous than others but generally the risk-reward of these options are against the defender.

Window of Advantage Needed Defender Option
Large (>4F) Fuzzy options
Raw Abare An attack during the opponent's pressure, intended to interrupt it.
Immediate upback
Most counters
Reversal (1-2F) Char-specific reversals
Backdash
Throw
Gold Burst
None needed Blue Burst (especially OTG)
Dead Angle Attack (provided they get to block)

The ideal frame advantage lets you meaty TK Bad MoonGGAC Millia j236P.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup11Recovery22 after landingAdvantage-15 or meaty with Iron SaviorGGAC Millia 214P.pngGuardLowStartup17Recovery18+8 after landingAdvantage-13 (also called "haircar"), which greatly reduces the defender’s options. It forces them to either block correctly or use something invulnerable like a burst or a reversal to deal with the situation. Off a j.2H knockdown, this is the ideal timing you should be aiming for.

In less ideal i.e. less plus situations, it starts to get messy, especially if the defender is sitting on resources. In practice, both you and your opponent will have a sense of when a disc looks sloppy or bad, and enforcement of the setup boils down to your own mastery of the fabled “mind game”. At this point, you need to call out specific defensive options with specific offense but disc (and remember that it persists on block) still makes the risk reward in your favour.

Major Choices on First Layer Disc Offense
Offensive Angle Move Defensive Option(s) Covered Notes
Overhead Fast TK Bad MoonGGAC Millia j236P.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup11Recovery22 after landingAdvantage-15 Throw, backdash Stricter followup
Slow 6KGGAC Millia 6K.pngGuardHighStartup18Recovery8Advantage+5 Jump, backdash, some crouch normals, reversal gold Burst Faster recovery, better pressure/confirms
Tricky Iron SaviorGGAC Millia 214P.pngGuardLowStartup17Recovery18+8 after landingAdvantage-13 whiff FRC j.K Throw, reversals, Burst
Low Fastest 2KGGAC Millia 2K.pngGuardLowStartup5Recovery7Advantage+1 DAA, Burst, fuzzies, raw mash, some reversals Mashable low to check defensive habits
Fast 2SGGAC Millia 2S.pngGuardLowStartup9Recovery15Advantage-5 Some reversals, fuzzies Better proration/pressure for only 2F more startup
Slow 2DGGAC Millia 2D.pngGuardLowStartup13Recovery12Advantage-1 Fuzzies Best proration starter from all of Millia's mixup tools
Slowest Iron SaviorGGAC Millia 214P.pngGuardLowStartup17Recovery18+8 after landingAdvantage-13 (haircar) Throw, backdash (without FRC), reversals (with FRC)
Mid Pressure 5KGGAC Millia 5K.pngGuardMidStartup5Recovery14Advantage-10 Jump, raw mash Quickest, most versatile pressure button
Active 6PGGAC Millia 6P.pngGuardMidStartup7Recovery20Advantage-9 / c.SGGAC Millia cS.pngGuardMidStartup7Recovery17Advantage-6 Backdash, jump, fuzzies Most consistent options to cover jump / backdash
Crossup iad / TK Turbo FallGGAC Millia j236K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryUntil landing+12Advantage- / RollGGAC Millia 214K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 24Advantage- / TK air FB DiscGGAC Millia 236D.pngGuardAllStartup13RecoveryTotal 21Advantage- Potentially any option that isn't direction agnostic
Tick Throw 4 / 6H within range Block input as 6S+H to naturally cover jumps
Do Nothing Backdash / jump FD / iad FD Any option with active frames The low-resource defense check

The Second Layer: What To Do After A Blocked Mix

If the defender successfully blocks your first layer, advantage varies greatly with which option you chose.


Advantage On Block Option Picked Notes
Minus HaircarGGAC Millia 214P.pngGuardLowStartup17Recovery18+8 after landingAdvantage-13 FRC variants are plus
6PGGAC Millia 6P.pngGuardMidStartup7Recovery20Advantage-9 / c.SGGAC Millia cS.pngGuardMidStartup7Recovery17Advantage-6 anti-synergy with disc timing; still have cancels
Plus TK Bad MoonGGAC Millia j236P.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup11Recovery22 after landingAdvantage-15 about +3 on block
6KGGAC Millia 6K.pngGuardHighStartup18Recovery8Advantage+5 about +5 on block
Very Plus 5KGGAC Millia 5K.pngGuardMidStartup5Recovery14Advantage-10 / 2SGGAC Millia 2S.pngGuardLowStartup9Recovery15Advantage-5 can jump / iAD j.SGGAC Millia jS.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup9Recovery12Advantage- after
2PGGAC Millia 2P.pngGuardMidStartup5Recovery6Advantage+2 / 2KGGAC Millia 2K.pngGuardLowStartup5Recovery7Advantage+1 can blockstring into overhead
TK Bad MoonGGAC Millia j236P.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup11Recovery22 after landingAdvantage-15 FRC 6FRC6 into j.SGGAC Millia jS.pngGuardHigh/AirStartup9Recovery12Advantage- is a blockstring

To summarise: unless you spent resources or conceded the first layer mixup, you have just enough advantage for a regular pressure situation and your usual fundies apply.

About FD

About FDAdapting to your opponent's block
Medium

FD most cleanly affects TK Bad Moon, pushing Millia away enough that she has to commit longer on the redash attempt, making space for the defender to mash or jump to keep Millia off.

FD does affect the spacing after any other options, but Millia is generally able to compensate with some minute dash adjustments.

Simplifying The Midscreen Situation

Midscreen H Disc setups are a fine balance between your dash timing, opponent throw range, opponent wakeup timings and the spacing of the disc itself for the ideal followup. All these variables could be a lot to handle at first. If you’re starting out and looking to simplify the whole thing, you can condense the midscreen situation to “am I doing TK Bad Moon after Disc?"

Simply defaulting to TK Bad Moon covers the most situations:

  • Still a difficult overhead to react to
  • Combo of disc and TK Bad Moon should cover all system defensive options, most prominently the reversal ground throw
  • Even if the meaty TK Bad Moon is a little mistimed for whatever reason, they would need a fast enough attack, a reversal, or a perfectly executed instant air throw to actually beat you cleanly
  • Behaviour on hit / block is completely agnostic to your disc spacing; TK Bad Moon usually makes the best of it, near or far.

Thus, the mind game ends up becoming whether you should be baiting their reversal (should they have one) and whether you have conditioned them enough for you to go for your other less throw-safe options.

About TK Bad Moon Timing

About TK Bad Moon TimingPerfecting your most important post-disc option
Hard

236H > 2369P
TKBM has to be pretty cleanly executed to ensure that it hits completely before disc.

Generally this means:

  • executing 2369P ASAP after disc recovery
  • getting a clean, pretty low TK i.e. a maximum of 2 hits only

There's a little bit of leeway on height while still getting the hit order correct, but generally this is what you should aim for.

Meaty H Disc

Off better knockdowns, Millia has the luxury of choosing between meaty discs or non-meaty discs. These include:

  • Any clean j.2H kd (mostly corner, but can rarely apply midscreen)
  • A very close air 6H ender in the corner
  • CH / low air Pin hit
  • CH j.H
  • CH or low hit j.D

Since the disc is meaty, it naturally accounts for all non-invulnerable defensive options. Then, you can position yourself somewhere safe and completely eliminate the risk of invulnerable options on their wake-up while still forcing a difficult offensive sequence.

As a trade-off, the post-block situation is a lot more straightforward than non-meaty disc. You have used your disc for the initial wakeup, so there is no second layer. You’re just as plus or minus as your regular frame data, which is relatively lackluster; you play from here like a regular pressure situation.

Mixes

FD Jump into High/LowA starter reversal-safe sequence
Easy

corner j.2H KD > immediate H DiscGGACR Millia 236H-1.pngGuardAllStartup60RecoveryTotal 32Advantage- > jump FD and react to their block
Time a jump as your opponent wakes up and hold FD during the reversal window. Then once you confirm they are blocking, fall with j.S which leads to a basic airdash high/low sequence.


Neutral Jump Mix With Instant Overhead OptionChanging the basic setup to include a possible instant j.K
Medium

corner j.2H KD > immediate H DiscGGACR Millia 236H-1.pngGuardAllStartup60RecoveryTotal 32Advantage- > neutral jump > airdash j.K OR land 2S OR land, j.K
A mixup that works in IOH j.K into the offensive option set.

The corner j.K confirm requires K Pin and a fairly specific spacing / jump angle to work appropriately. This is one example of how to make this work.


Turbofall FRC 50/50An example of a more advanced mixup sequence
Hard

corner j.2H KD > immediate H DiscGGACR Millia 236H-1.pngGuardAllStartup60RecoveryTotal 32Advantage- > iad back Turbo FallGGAC Millia j236K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryUntil landing+12Advantage- > 6FRC6 j.K OR land 2S
Just to give an idea of how one can weave something a bit more complicated into the same mould of the meaty disc setup. Baiting reversals here is not automatic, unfortunately and requires a commitment.

H Disc FRC

Some example use cases for H Disc FRC.


Forcing Discs on KD trades / scramble KD situationsMake the most of trades
Medium

Any KD trade > dash > H DiscGGACR Millia 236H-1.pngGuardAllStartup60RecoveryTotal 32Advantage- FRC > ...
This primarily occurs on 6H or 2D trades, but theoretically can occur on really any trade where your opponent gets knocked down from an air CH or chooses not to tech an air button like any air button trade or an anti-air trade.

In a situation like that, it usually takes players a bit of time to react and understand what occurred. Thus, accounting for that processing time, H Disc FRC is very capable of giving you a Disc play off that interaction.


Tech Trap DiscDisc for the delayed wakeup
Easy

any corner KD > OTG 2K > H DiscGGACR Millia 236H-1.pngGuardAllStartup60RecoveryTotal 32Advantage- FRC > ...
A specific application to get a safer Disc against characters that can delay their wakeup like  Bridget or  Robo-Ky which can simplify / diffuse the immediate offensive threat on your knockdown.

This writer doesn't consider it a very good way to fight it -- not with Garden around. However, if the resource situation or the knockdown just doesn't permit it, this is still a feasible play to make.


Midscreen TKBM DiscAnd other Disc FRC followups
Hard

any midscreen KD > dash H DiscGGACR Millia 236H-1.pngGuardAllStartup60RecoveryTotal 32Advantage- > 236[P+X+X] > 9 > ]P[
For the record the recipe is H Disc FRC and negative edging TKBM from the FRC input. For 25% instead of just getting a regular, naked RPS wakeup situation, you buy a throw-safe, unreactable overhead and very good reward from it.

Plays well with the KD trade situation above and any less ideal KD situation that requires a long dash for you to chase the knockdown. The more universally applicable option for a 25% midscreen disc setup over FB Disc.

This general concept of negative-edging the special from the FRC input can apply to all other Millia specials: Disc FRC Haircar for a throw-safe low, Disc FRC roll / TK Turbo Fall for a crossup, etc. etc. However, TKBM is still a primary lynchpin in this set of plays as it is the fastest throw-safe option to go active.


Scramble DiscWin the neutral another way!
Easy

Not exactly an okizeme-related situation, but this writer already went ahead and put most of this together before thinking about that point. So have a freebie.

Disc FRC is only about 20-21F total to recover, which in the grand scheme is not a very long time. There are an endless variety of ways that one can weave it into a neutral situation where you are jockeying with the opponent for an advantage and may use this to outright win an interaction at best or force respect from your opponent at worst.

The clip is but one example of such a situation.

236D Ground FB Disc

FB Disc is generally more straightforward to pilot over regular H Disc. For 25% meter, it comes with a number of advantages.

  • It starts up faster and should meaty defenders on its own
  • It lasts long enough it covers system options naturally on wakeup
  • The vacuum means you get a much stronger post-disc situation on hit or block regardless of FD, anywhere on screen
  • Together, this means you get a confirm from a first layer mixup and cover for a second mixup attempt, if they block the first.

In the corner all of this is pretty much a given. At midscreen, however, the story is a bit more complicated. To keep it brief, you have a few very specific ways to get a well-spaced FB Disc midscreen that catches backdashes. Most enders force you to dash, which unfortunately, does not play well with FB Disc. Anything but the shortest of dashes makes Millia fly out of the animation and the resulting momentum pushes opponents out of the right range.


Best FB Disc MidscreenHow to account for the best backdashes naturally
Easy

any low airdash string > land > 5H(1) > 2D > RollGGAC Millia 214K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 24Advantage- > FB DiscGGAC Millia 236D.pngGuardAllStartup43RecoveryTotal 33Advantage- OR air j.2H > Bad Moon > slight 2366DGGAC Millia 236D.pngGuardAllStartup43RecoveryTotal 33Advantage-
The most consistent ender for an ideal midscreen FB Disc. This Disc along with any mixup commitment will catch every wakeup backdash in the game.

Required to tighten FB Discs against  May,  Zappa,  Millia,  Justice,  Potemkin,  Testament,  Baiken.

Due to wakeup timing and/or weight variance, the 2D > RollGGAC Millia 214K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 24Advantage- ender does NOT meaty immediate upback from  Sol,  Order-Sol,  Ky,  Millia,  Justice,  Bridget or  Slayer. For them, the layer 0 offense is to meaty with a quicker normal like 2K or 2S to catch their jump startup.


Other Midscreen Ender FB Discsfor others their backdash still sucks
Easy

For other characters, a perfect setup isn't that necessary. Most of the time, this means their backdash isn't good enough to escape a less optimal FB Disc placement.

You may still run an FB Disc on the characters with good backdashes listed earlier. Just be aware heir backdash avoids the 50/50 high/low attempt + the less-optimally spaced Disc. Thus, you will have to make a decision and hard read their defensive choice.

Defensive Plays and Counterplays

OTG FB Disc playsFor delayed wakeups and magic pixels
Easy

any corner KD > OTG 2K > FB DiscGGAC Millia 236D.pngGuardAllStartup43RecoveryTotal 33Advantage- (FRC)
Turn on Closed Captions on the clip!

After OTG > FB Disc, an immediate tech button is too late to make it disappear. So defenders must tech double jump or tech airdash out.

Additionally, an FB Disc FRC here can immediately allow you to airthrow their tech and get a real confirm. Somewhat expensive to do all the time, but a pretty powerful play still to force  Bridget and  Robo-Ky to hold a Disc on their wakeup. On others, use it to finish a round on an antsy defender on their last dregs of health.


FB Disc vs Anjifighting autoguard
Easy

FB DiscGGAC Millia 236D.pngGuardAllStartup43RecoveryTotal 33Advantage- > meaty 2K / 2S
The important thing to keep in mind is  Anji's low autoguard can't block mids and vice versa. Thus, an effective layer 0 is to simultaneously layer the mid FB Disc and a meaty low.

Keep in mind if the yomi progresses past that and you commit to a proper overhead, he can punish it with a high autoguard.


FB Disc vs BaikenWall of Text Incoming
Medium

Turn on Closed Captions on the YouTube clips!

 Baiken and FB Disc are a big bag of variable outcomes and interactions condensed into one little moment. It is a lot of extra thought rather than simply not running FB Disc, but if you're considering it, go ahead and keep reading.

Early in FB Disc,

  • If Baiken has < 50%, OurenGGAC Baiken 412H.pngGuardAllStartup19~Recovery14+16 after landingAdvantage-15 can punish TKBM and Haircar. However, any other grounded mixup option Millia has will avoid it or recover in time. FB Disc naturally punishes all other counters.
    • If Millia has another 25%, she can FRC the unsafe Haircar or TKBM (if blocked) to block OurenGGAC Baiken 412H.pngGuardAllStartup19~Recovery14+16 after landingAdvantage-15.
  • If Baiken has 25%, she may do MawarikomiGGAC Baiken 412K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 34Advantage- FRC to simply reposition and force a later RPS on her block. A partial BakuGGAC Baiken 412D.pngGuardMidStartup11Recovery20Advantage-3 eventually gets clipped by FB Disc.
  • Once Baiken has 50%, a full BakuGGAC Baiken 412D.pngGuardMidStartup11Recovery20Advantage-3 beats most buttons Millia presses.
    • However, if Millia has another 25% she may FRC Haircar or TKBM (if blocked) to block it in time.

Later in FB Disc,

  • Baiken doesn't need the full 50% to be threatening. Since FB Disc's active frames are running low, Baiken may preempt any mixup attempt using a naked MawarikomiGGAC Baiken 412K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 34Advantage- or BakuGGAC Baiken 412D.pngGuardMidStartup11Recovery20Advantage-3 .
  • Additionally, if Baiken successfully blocks Millia's mixup here, she has the full range of guard cancel options to use as she pleases.

Mixes

Unfuzzyable 6K vs 2DPeak safe setplay
Easy

If you came from Xrd this sequence should look very familiar.

The main idea:

  • backdashing through the reversal window will avoid reversals
  • FB Disc goes long enough that it will confirm an immediate 6K after backdash recovers
  • one may use (a delayed) 2D for a low at about the same time the 6K would hit

This forces defenders to guess / react correctly or DAA/Burst to avoid the situation completely.

One can apply this idea to meaty H discs but it would require extra resources to confirm there. A more efficient option is to apply this idea with Secret Garden.

Secret Garden Setups

Some of Millia's strongest okizeme is tied to Secret GardenGGAC Millia 214H.pngGuardAllStartup56RecoveryTotal 74Advantage-. It is more difficult to pilot with a higher execution barrier and a higher character / matchup knowledge requirement to properly enforce it in game.

However, for your effort, it rewards you with the longest lockdown for mixup and it deprives the most counterplay. In ideal spacing, once the defender blocks the start of Garden, they can be locked down for a full ~2 seconds or so until Garden finishes, leaving only DAA or Burst as their options to challenge you.

Preface

This section will recommend patterns that the author uses personally, but keep in mind there’s a lot of room for creativity here. Different patterns can cover different defensive habits while enabling different offensive options or mixup timings, so feel free to explore. Treat these offerings merely as an amuse-bouche.

For simplicity, this document writes Garden patterns as "214H~XXXX" where X has the usual substitution meaning from high school algebra. E.g. "214H > 2H 8H 2H 8H" is simply denoted as "214H~2828".

Unlike the disc gallery, this is about giving a rough sense of variables and timings that you can play with. Garden’s the closest thing you have to simply compose and riff a unique mixup / pressure sequence, so you don’t need to follow this very strictly.

Some General Piloting Pointers:

  • Most enders into Garden leave a gap between the opponent waking up and Garden going active. Gaps can vary by the pattern chosen.
    • Gaps here can be large enough that unlike Discs, the defender’s option set isn’t restricted to quick or invulnerable moves
    • When labbing out a character’s options against each set / pattern, be sure to check as many combinations of movement and moves as possible
    • The button / timing to cover the gap varies matchup to matchup, it’s usually some variation of 5P, 5S, 2S or even j.K
    • Players more experienced with the Millia matchup understand the initial gap is the best chance to challenge the setup so don’t sleep on it
  • It should be noted that there is usually a gap in the middle of a garden set, determined by pattern and spacing. Most of the time your mixup timing can cover it, but keep it in mind once you start experimenting with different mixups.
  • Be sure your mixup timing is compatible with whatever your Garden is doing -- if your mixup timing is out of sync then Garden won't help confirm or cover you properly.

6H > Garden

Either because of history from #Reload or some innate immutable truth of the universe, 6H enders are the most common place Millia players start to grind Garden setups.

Generally, it is a fair introduction to the nuances and advantages of piloting Garden setups along with the possible counterplays that opponents might attempt against them.


Pin > 6H > GardenMost Millias' baby Garden setup
Easy

any juggle > airdash cancel > j.2H > j.214S > land > 6H > 214H~XXXX
Height of the 6H hit greatly affects your advantage here and usually from jump height the juggles this route don't leave them very high, which translates to okay advantage on the wakeup.


j.D > 6H > GardenBetter on average 6H ender
Medium

...j.D> land > 6H > 214H~XXXX
Most j.D confirms can make a good height for more advantageous 6H Garden setups. j.D confirms also have the luxury of being pin agnostic. In most instances, you can make a choice between pin or 25% tension to transition into this ender.

Defensive Plays and Counterplays

Fuzzy 5P vs SolAn attempt to control Sol defense
Medium

6H > 214H~XXXX > hold 4 > late 5P
Sol has the option to bust out of most 6H Garden setups by doing run DP. This block OS seems to be most consistent at keeping control of the situation.

Off a 6H > Garden setup, Sol can't run or DP much further or he risks getting clipped by Garden naturally. The 5P still checks a naked run jump or run mash (at least, for buttons that aren't Sol 2D...), and it helpfully trades in your favour against Grand Viper.


Justice FB Dashplays to compensate for Saperia Trance
Medium

6H > 214H~XXXX > f.S meaty OR neutral jump, react air backdash to FB flash
To get meaty f.S to tag the startup of Justice 236D, you need the highest possible 6H hit, which seems most consistent off the routes in the clip. One can get it off the usual j.236D > double j.D confirm, but it's a lot harder to control for maximum height.

An alternative play is to immediately neutral jump and air backdash on reaction to the FB flash or confirm their block and airdash forward.


Dizzy RPS on close setsanother example of character specific adaptation
Easy

6H > 214H~1646 > 7j.K
On a close 6H ender, if Millia tries to meaty with 5K, Dizzy can force an RPS between an immediate dash throw or dash jump FD.

The correct meaty normal in this situation is back jump j.K, which accounts for all of Dizzy's options.


Optimal Anti-jump PunishesSome Combo Video Shit
Very Hard to Borderline Impractical

6H > 214H~2828 ; react to opponent jumping, then j.K > jump cancel > j.D into dustloops
Most prominently against 2D / 6H Gardens, defenders may choose not to jump block the Garden setup but instead jump and eat the Garden hit, gambling some health and checking if the Millia reacts in time. If you can react in time, it's relatively easy to get a regular juggle right back into another setup.

However, the most optimal punish possible, since the Garden is very active, is to use it to setup a dustloop. The problem is it requires a very quick reaction and very specific delays and adjustments for each character / jump timing. This is a considerably niche situation to research but 200 damage to punish their gamble is nothing to scoff at.

2D > Garden

Arguably the most volatile ender for Garden setups. To summarise:

  • The gap between the Garden meaty / Millia's recovery and the opponent's wakeup is generally the largest, thus giving more room for opponent counterplay
  • Still, the opponent's option set is restricted enough that it is generally enforcable
  • The farther mixup / engagement range and at least the look of a different play from 2D > H Disc is enough to add to your opponent's mental stack, at least.

Both midscreen or corner sets vary according to what range you land 2D, so you need to discern between using a 1xxx, 2xxx or 3xxx set for it depending on distance.

Defensive Plays and Counterplays

Playing Around Corner 3XXX Patterns
Easy

2D > 214H~3XXX > dash > any air button
A very far 2D set is usually followed with a 3XXX pattern. Characters with good mobility or some ability to stall can choose to IB / SB the stray (3) Garden hit and try to avoid the situation.

Generally, a quick reaction and a short chase with an air normal is enough to bring them back down.


Midscreen 2D Patterns
Medium

2D > 214H~6264 OR ~2682 OR 1646
Turn on Closed Captions on the clip!

2D > Garden midscreen is a completely RPS situation if they have regular mobility. That said, a vast majority of players default to giving Millia space after seeing 2D > Garden, which weighs the 6xxx sets to be a lot more valuable than the others. Run it until your opponent proves they can behave differently.


5P 2K whiff OS vs Millia
Medium

close 2D > 214H~xxxx > 5P > whiff cancel 2K
Against the long gap on a 2D > Garden~2xxx set, the defensive Millia is able to run, run jump/superjump, roll, or dash roll to try to avoid the Garden completely.

The offensive Millia can cover most of these options with an immediate 5P whiff cancel 2K. There seems to be a goldilocks window Millia may still run superjump out but it seems inconsistent.

Pin > Garden

A familiar setup to players coming from Xrd. Unlike Xrd, however, you can actually get Pin Garden setups off juggles midscreen.

This ender comes with a number of offensive advantages over the other Garden setups:

  • in the corner, it can consistently and properly punish wakeup upback, meterless
  • also in the corner, you have access to a broader range of options for your mixup -- pretty much anything that isn't haircar whiff FRC j.K or crossups are on the table
  • at midscreen, Millia is able to get two covered mixup attempts and very good corner carry even on block


Default Pin Garden RouteThe most universal route
Medium

any jump height juggle ... j.H > airdash cancel > j.2H > S Pin > land > Garden~XXXX
If j.2H height + opposing hurtbox is low enough, throwing pin will knock down on its own and you can set Garden directly from there. You can actually knock down from a little higher than the regular j.2H knockdown height, especially off longer confirms, but it's a fairly accurate heuristic to start from. Because it simply attaches to j.2H, it follows any setplay starters or regular jump height juggles very easily.

In the corner, reversal throw safety can be a little problematic on certain characters, especially on short combos. Usually, if you can aim your pushbox during j.2H directly into the opponent's pushbox, it will give you enough room to walk back out of throw range, but some characters may still wake up too fast.

Additionally,  Chipp,  Justice,  Potemkin,  Testament,  Jam and  A.B.A are meatied by a 1XXX set from this ender.


Easier Burst-Safe Pin Garden RouteAn easier adaptation if you smell a burst
Medium

any jump height juggle ... j.H > airdash cancel > j.2H > S Pin > land > backdash > Garden~XXXX
The only change from the route above is the addition of the backdash before setting Garden. This very easily avoids any blue Burst timing to try and prevent your setup, for a very minimal adaptation from regular Millia combo theory.

Be aware if your opponent does blue Burst, you have to react with a Garden cancel, otherwise they can land and punish you before you recover from a full Garden set.

On the flipside, should they withhold their Burst, the frame advantage here will be pretty similar to a regular 6H > Garden ender, so you will have to expect that set of counterplays will be possible once they wake up.


Hard Burst / Throw Safer Pin GardenChanging your entire corner combo structure to keep yourself safer
Medium to Hard

H DiscGGACR Millia 236H-1.pngGuardAllStartup60RecoveryTotal 32Advantage- hit > c.S > jump cancel > j.K > j.P > j.2H > S Pin > land > Garden~XXXX
The recipe indicates a Disc hit starter and a basic launch as an example, but in theory there should exist many other variants that are yet to be fully explored. Some of them were compiled in this playlist here, but more routes are out there.

The route packs a few more chances to bait Bursts. c.S on its own can easily bait Bursts either by OS or reaction. j.K > j.P is also safe if they Burst at j.K. Bursting the rest of the air combo is possible but a bit more specific than regular j.H adc confirms. Then the Pin > Garden set is either out of range of Burst completely or is only vulnerable past the point that Garden will still persist.

Unlike the previous route a 1XXX pattern here meaties more characters on its own either because of better frame advantage or better spacing on the Garden pattern itself. Additionally, this route ensures throw safety much more consistently than the starter route, which is problematic against  Potemkin,  Zappa,  Venom,  Anji or  Justice in particular.


Defensive Plays and Counterplays

Midscreen 3646/3828 vs good backdashesyet more adaptations for Zappa
Medium

... j.2H > S Pin > land > 214H~3646/3828
A number of characters, namely  I-No,  Johnny,  Zappa, and  Millia are capable of backdashing the default midscreen 2XXX pattern and avoiding the setup.

One possible counterplay is to vary between 2XXX and these patterns.


Corner -- meaty 5K safetydefault meaty for corner pin garden
Medium to Hard

214H~xxxx > walk back 5K
5K here will meaty an immediate upback. Ideally, you have enough advantage to walk out of throw range and 5K to catch jump startup, but it’s a little finicky to get very consistently off every confirm and every char, which is partially what the burst-safe routes automatically account for.

Not reversal safe, but fortunately defenders can't usually escape the setup even if you don't commit. And if you are fighting a character that gets naturally meatied you don't have to commit at all.


Offensive OS vs AnjiControl the monke
Medium

... 214H~XXXX > meaty 2K > whiff OS 4H > ...
Building on the understanding from the anti-Anji FB Disc sequence, we know we just have to layer a low over a mid simultaneously to negate autoguard. Anyway, reversal Fuujin pretty easily glides through Garden to punish the regular 5K meaty, so 2K is just the premier choice either way.

Additionally, 2K recovers a lot quicker and lets us time a throw input that only comes out on whiff -- i.e. when Anji makes it whiff via Fuujin -- and punishes the Fuujin before it goes active. 2K here also does not sacrifice any offensive mixup potential.

Patterns and Mixes

Midscreen 2928/2628 j.Kgetting ioh midscreen
Medium

214H~2928 > iad > land > j.K > ...
Same principle works for any corner pattern as well.

The only drawback is it technically does not force the opponent to block high first, it merely threatens a high. That said if the defender really has the balls of steel to keep crouching then simply press any button on the way down on the next iteration.


Midscreen 2834example midscreen crossup / throw sequence
Medium

214H~2834, THEN delay iad j.K > Turbo Fall ; OR run 2K > throw
The general idea for both mixup options are:

  • using a Garden pattern that has a bit of room in the middle and,
  • a quick button to further crack that gap open.

Additionally, for the crossup to work you need to give the defender a reason to stand up; otherwise, crouch block will trigger crossup protection.

Elegantly, Turbo Fall > Roll immediately picks up Pin while still allowing you to get a confirm.


Corner 1646/1464/1919 -- 5K unfuzzyable mixDouble true 50/50s on block
Medium

214H~1646/1464/1919 > walk back 5K > 6K OR delay 2D > delay RollGGAC Millia 214K.pngGuardStartupRecoveryTotal 24Advantage- > hold 2 slightly > 6K OR delay 2S/2D
Pioneered by Nakamura in the dying days of arcade Japanese +R, this is an incredibly optimised sequence that is a complete blockstring from start to finish, forces two unfuzzyable high/low 50/50s and picks up Pin on hit or block.

The mixup idea is the same principle as the FB Disc unfuzzyable high/low: you can delay 2D so that it hits in exactly or about the same time 6K does. Garden enforces the 50/50 by locking them down where usually there would be a long gap between 5K > 6K or 2D. Garden keeps them locked in place while Roll picks up Pin and repositions for another timed 50/50. In the end, your opponent is forced to outright guess, react, DAA or Burst out of two consecutive 50/50s that can't be fuzzy guarded or mashed.

You may substitute TKBM for 6K at any point, but it performs best on the first layer hit. There's no efficient way to pick up Pin if TKBM is blocked while having an optimised second mixup attempt.

For characters that don't need to be checked with 5K, you may run a backdash variant that performs similarly. You may also substitute 5K with 2K for better reversal safety without any effective loss to offensive power, other than needing to manually link the mixup after.


Midscreen unfuzzyable adaptation
Medium

214H~2928 > delay dash 6K OR 2S/2D > Roll > forward jump > falling j.S
The first layer is essentially a similar mixup as the ones above. You have a pretty large window to vary the timing of the first layer and have it still work.

However, a second attempt at 6K vs 2D doesn't have very good / consistent reward midscreen once the Garden has finished. Instead, you can setup a j.S airdash sequence, which gives you a ton of corner carry and good pressure at least.


Corner 1646 / 1919 tick throwAn example of weaving throws into Garden offense
Medium

214H~1646/1919 > walk back 5K > delay 2K > dash FD OR walk > throw
The delay 2K gives the game away if they know. Specifically, you're timing the 2K so that it hits AFTER the Garden hit in that moment, which opens up space for a tick throw.


Corner 4346/4373 -- immediate TK Bad Moonmostly for reversal throws
Medium

214H~4346/4373 > 2369P
An adaptation if you have trouble spacing the regular setup for throw safety. Unfortunately is rather inconsistent because TK Bad Moon isn't quite quick enough to catch the best Throw OS normals, but Garden should still have your back.

Getting Back Pin

Picking up Pin is technically a little inefficient, since either the crouch or a Roll would necessarily eat up some time.


No Pin pickup mix
Easy

214H~XXXX > 6K OR 2S > 6K OR 2S > 6K OR 2S
Garden in theory gives you this sequence letting you pummel 3 consecutive 6K/2S attempts back to back. It is the highest amount of raw mix per second.

The main problem is if the defender understands how to fuzzy guard, then this should be a no-brainer to block. If they are not fuzzy guarding then this is technically the most efficient use of your Garden time.

That said, as the previous section demonstrates, one can get very good offense that picks up Pin, to the extent that it isn't much of a sacrifice. Any grounded mixup cancels into Roll at no real cost to offense. In the corner TK Bad Moon and the instant j.K sequence allows a Pin pickup on hit. The only option that categorically excludes a Pin pickup is the tick throw, but if you have them cornered and in the vortex, it's not much of a cost to pick it up through the next setup.

FB Secret Garden

The main pulls of FB Secret GardenGGAC Millia j214D.pngGuardAllStartup34RecoveryTotal 68Advantage- are:

  • much lower startup, the Garden meaties on its own off nearly every possible knockdown Millia has. Thus, confirming their block and running offense is a much easier reaction.
  • better safety, usually, because Millia naturally creates space during the animation, placing her much farther away than regular Garden sets -- naturally avoiding DAAs, Bursts, and most reversals.

But it comes with a few caveats:

  • lower startup means a smaller window for inputs, thus demanding even better execution on programming patterns than regular Garden.
  • a much worse startup - recovery ratio makes Millia more vulnerable if the defender has a way to bypass the Garden pattern and hit Millia. Millia is generally unable to enforce the setup herself if required.

Defensive Plays and Counterplays

About Bad Moon > FB Garden
Medium

Previously, this writer felt Bad Moon was not a great ender for FB Garden as it had a very consistent counterplay -- if the defender knew. However, it turns out it was a symptom of a bad pattern. Bad Moon > 214D~2XXX patterns could be consistently avoided by reversal run forward.

But 1XXX catches jumps and the reversal dash forward, forcing respect as it should. Compared to other FB Garden setups, it is still weaker -- something that starts very quickly and is low profile like  Robo-Ky 2KGGAC RoboKy 2K.pngGuardLowStartup7Recovery9Advantage-8 or  Ky Stun Dipper can still challenge and sometimes completely avoid the setup. But the new pattern shuts down the more universal counterplay.

Patterns and Mixes

This section will mostly cover viable / possible patterns. As a consequence of faster Garden startup, your mixup sequences are also a little accelerated.

Corner patterns are quite literally the same options as the corner enders from 2D, 6H or j.2H for non-FB Gardens, so we won't be repeating them here.


Midscreen Close 2D / j.2H patterns
Hard

close range 2D OR air juggle > j.2H > 214D~XXXX
Turn on Closed Captions!

Unfortunately, 214D~292X patterns are glitched and do not work -- the last hit of Garden simply disappears. These clips compile various alternate patterns that perform pretty similarly.

Patterns shown, in order:

  • 2646
  • 2934
  • 2916
  • 2834


Midscreen Far 2D / 6H patterns
Hard

far range 2D OR ground CH / air hit 6H > 214D~XXXX
Turn on Closed Captions!

These are bound to give you some free damage until your opponent understands that an FB flash means a guaranteed meaty even at this range.

Patterns shown, in order:

  • 3646
  • 3928


Example corner FB Garden offense
Hard

214D~XXXX > immediate 6K OR delay 2D > dash > 6K OR delay 2S / 2D
The timing of Garden gives you just enough time for 2 straight unfuzzyable high/lows.


Example midscreen FB Garden offense
Hard

214D~XXXX > immediate 6K OR delay 2D > dash > jump > falling j.S
You can run very similar basic offense like this midscreen Pin Garden offense. In this case, you can run the same first attempt at an unfuzzyable 6K vs 2S, then go into a j.S airdash string.

The spacing and faster startup of the FB Garden does throw off anything a bit more complicated, so anything like crossups or tick throws will need to be modified appropriately.


Midscreen 2916Example Crossup Sequence
Hard

214D~2916 > immediate jump, late airdash > falling j.S > Turbo Fall


Midscreen 2834Example Tick Throw Sequence
Hard

214D~2834 > dash > fd > walk throw

Longinus > Garden

Corner-only, using 25% for a LonginusGGAC Millia 214D.pngGuardAllStartup5Recovery6Advantage+7 wallstick to knockdown. Mostly used if:

  • you don’t have pin
  • you can’t j.2H alone for the KD
  • you want Garden oki with very good reversal / burst safety


Low hit-count routeBasic KD route
Easy

any jump height juggle ... j.2H > land > c.S(1) > 214SGGAC Millia 214S.pngGuardAllStartup10Recovery8Advantage+5~214DGGAC Millia 214D.pngGuardAllStartup5Recovery6Advantage+7 > 214H~XXXX
Works off most air juggles, usually at relative heights where j.2H won't knock down on its own.


High hit-count route
Medium

any jump height juggle ... j.2H > land > 214SGGAC Millia 214S.pngGuardAllStartup10Recovery8Advantage+5~214DGGAC Millia 214D.pngGuardAllStartup5Recovery6Advantage+7 > 214H~XXXX
Works very late into the combo. The main issue with using the default Longinus ender late into a combo is it adds a lot of extra pushback, enough to require a change in Garden pattern.

The key is:

  • time your adcs such that you land immediately after the last hit of j.2H
  • opponent needs to be higher than you i.e. j.2H certainly won’t kd naturally

However, for the better space, the resulting frame advantage mirrors the close 6H > Garden knockdowns, making this a bit of a liability for the extra effort. Your mileage may vary.


Patterns and Mixes

By and large, one can run the same offense as the corner FB Garden setup. An example of that can be found here.

Setups for Sticky Situations

If for whatever reason, you judge a knockdown too minus to go for any of the above setups, there are a couple of options that are much quicker to fire. Generally these don’t have as intricate plays to follow as the setups above, but they are an upgrade over a meaty raw button.

A non-exhaustive list of options where these situations may arise:

  • Knockdown trades in messy neutral situations
  • Midscreen Longinus confirm
  • Getting a knockdown while a projectile is on cooldown
  • Far DAA hits
  • Midscreen j.D hit that doesn’t wallbounce

Meaty S Disc

Meaty S Disc
Medium

Millia's S DiscGGAC Millia 236S.pngGuardAllStartup11Recovery15Advantage-1 has some utility for oki due to its beneficial frame data:

  • S Disc has 13f active frames and is -1 on block
  • thus a meaty S disc is in the window of 0 to +12 on block.

In essence, you can use this as a way to get some good plus frames. You're still not plus enough to completely cover an overhead or any extended jump mixup, but it's much more plus frames than you’d usually get. Not usually reversal-safe.

In the clip, the meaty S Disc is plus enough that dash c.S catches Jam in her jump startup.

TK / Low / Airdash FB Disc

TK / Low / Airdash FB Disc
Medium

For 25% tension, air FB Disc is quite reversal-safe since it crosses up, is naturally throw-safe and is extremely plus on block.

Unless you give the opponent a good reason to stand block, you won't usually hit someone with a cross-up due to crossup protection. Often, it scores a hit baiting a defensive option, not through the crossup.

j.S Safejumps

j.S SafejumpManually timing a safe jump? As Millia?! It's more likely than you'd think.
Medium

A well-timed falling j.S covers multiple defensive options and can lead to airdash cancel pressure on block. Also plays very nicely with air FB Disc as another offensive option.

In the clip, the DAA hits Axl so far away that dash H Disc leaves Millia very close to neutral frame advantage and any overhead attempt has a gigantic gap. An alternative play is to time a j.S to safejump their wakeup.

Projectile Cooldowns and You

Millia’s projectiles have a hidden cooldown, which prevents you from using another projectile before the cooldown is finished. Which is to say, your most important setplay or combo tools interact with this on some level. Thus, it is very important to understand this limitation as you play the game.

This restriction applies to most projectiles:

  • S and H Discs
  • Ground FB Disc
  • All versions of Secret Garden

The exceptions are:

  • any version of Pin, which has its own separate resource and cooldown
  • Disc Super or Emerald Rain, which can be used at any time
  • air FB Disc, which can be used at any time and does not force cooldown on itself (though it does force cooldown on others)

This makes things a little complicated, as different projectiles have different uses. S Disc / air FB Disc are often used as pivotal combo tools while H Disc / ground FB Disc / Garden are big okizeme tools. So you might stumble as you flow between okizeme setups and confirms and back into okizeme. As far as the actual system / character limitations go, one is generally able to compensate for these cooldowns and have a working solution. Some very common situations where cooldowns come into play are discussed below.


Second Layer Mixup Confirms
Easy to Medium

Turn on Closed Captions!

Generally speaking, if you are using the blockstun of a projectile to cover a mixup attempt, you are probably gonna be in cooldown and are unable to use a new projectile to continue the confirm.

The key conflict here is usually S Disc (236S), which is an extremely common way to route and get a launch from a grounded mixup. Your alternatives here to substitute it require either meter or tighter execution:

  • haircar (FRC)
  • Longinus
  • Disc Super
  • from 6K specifically, link f.S then 236S to wait out the cooldown

Keep in mind that on some characters, 6K link f.S 236S either requires running momentum ( Sol /  Order-Sol) or doesn't work at all ( Chipp,  Anji,  I-No,  Millia).

Any previous example that clipped or listed a second layer mixup naturally accounted for cooldowns, so you may look those over again for more examples.


Air FB Disc Hit Sans Wallbounce
Easy

Neutral gets messy and sometimes you get this hit but the corner is too far away or some weird physics happen and you don't get a wallbounce. As a result, Millia is locked out of her projectiles well past the point you would try to set a Disc on their wakeup.

Thus, the only options that remain are raw ground meaties, a safejump j.S or another air FB Disc.


Okizeme After A Corner Combo Air FB Disc
Easy

Air FB Disc is a very important tool to correct combo height and get a knockdown off random neutral hits.

The important thing to remember is that if you do j.236D > 6H, Millia is still within the cooldown period at that point. Your options here are either:

  • 6H > Roll > H Disc -- the Roll waits out the cooldown
  • relaunch with something like 2H or j.D instead and continue the combo, which will eventually give you the full breadth of setups at your disposal


TK Bad Moon After H Disc
Easy

Cooldowns can add complications to TK Bad Moon in 2 ways.

The first is mistiming a TK Bad Moon so that it hits after Disc. It happens to the best of us. The more difficult thing is to recognise that you got it wrong and not press buttons the same time you would to combo (which would OTG, by the way). If you do recognise the situation, Disc is still on cooldown right after you recover. Wait a beat before setting a new Disc.

The second is H Disc > TK Bad Moon midscreen and it DOES hit correctly. Millia generally doesn't get a combo here, but she does get another H Disc setup. It's very possible to chase and rush the H Disc input, thus wasting the opportunity. There's not much advice here except to grind and know the proper timing for the next H Disc.


Dropped Disc Super
Easy

Millia's Disc Super is notoriously difficult to use consistently midscreen after #Reload and was never fixed again until Revelator 2.

While Disc Super can be used regardless of other projectiles, the move itself does put other projectiles on cooldown. And unfortunately, the cooldown lasts long after the 3rd hit leaves the field. Thus if the 3rd hit whiffs, you're simply on cooldown well past the point you can set something on the opponent's wakeup.

Once again, the only options Millia has here to pressure the wakeup is a raw ground button, a safejump j.S or an air FB Disc.

Fighting OTG Blue Burst

A relatively common way to blue Burst Millia is to Burst the okizeme setup rather than her combos. Generally speaking, this was more prominent in vanilla AC; changes to her combo routing in +R make it so Millia is more vulnerable to Bursts at the beginning of an aircombo. However, Millia is still able to either hard bait or slightly change her routing to make it difficult to know where she is vulnerable, so the most consistent Burst point is still the okizeme setup. Because of the OTG property, Millia does not get a real punish even if she baits the Burst.

Unlike Xrd, there doesn’t seem to be a resourceless air combo route that naturally places her outside of Burst range on the corner knockdown. All possible cases off air combos use tension or pin.


About Burst Timings


The following counterplays revolve around blue Bursts once opponents hit the ground and enter OTG state.

However, in many instances, a slightly earlier Burst can effectively counter your okizeme as well. The key thing to remember is that these early Bursts are very punishable if you simply wait that window out. Knowing and identifying these timings on the fly is extremely important to have a solid hold on this element of the game.

Adaptations for Disc

H Disc FRC
Medium

Unfortunately, the regular H Disc animation extends her hurtbox quite far forward and there isn’t a range where the H Disc gives the right coverage for setups AND leaves you out of burst range. Thus, to get the best of your setup while still giving some options for safety, we need to use the H Disc FRC.

This adaptation can work for both meaty and non-meaty Disc timings, but the non-meaty version is obviously a lot tighter, as it is much closer to the active frames of the OTG blue Burst. That said, you have just enough time to FRC the non-meaty Disc on reaction, if they are timing their Burst on reaction to your Disc animation.


Early FB Disc
Easy

Turn On Closed Captions!

FB Disc was nerfed quite specifically in +R to weaken this interaction. In vanilla AC, FB Disc would persist from very early into the startup, which allowed Millia to get the best of both worlds. It was the ideal FB Disc timing for setplay with the full breadth of offensive options. And if the opponent tried to OTG Burst, the Disc would stay and still give Millia a turn.

Now there is something of a tradeoff. The regular timing FB Disc that gives Millia a reversal-safe unfuzzyable 50/50 dies to a quick OTG blue Burst. As an adaptation, you may set an earlier FB Disc to cover the Burst timing, but it is a riskier mixup for Millia.

Adaptations for Garden

Most 2D / 6H Gardens are naturally OTG Burst-safe. The big exception is the starter j.2H > pin > 6H route, which very frequently leaves you within burst range especially if you are flush in the corner.

For Pin Garden, some counterplays were previously covered in its section here and here.


j.2H FB Garden vs OTG Blue Burst
Medium

Any regular j.2H knockdown can be followed by an FB Garden. However, to make it properly safe to OTG Burst, there is a much larger room for error here compared to vanilla AC's FB Disc.

For this purpose, the window for variance on the j.2H knockdown is quite big. Two things have to align:

  • Your relative height against the opponent should be as low as possible
  • The height of you and the opponent at the last j.2H hit should be as high as possible, without sacrificing the knockdown

At worst, the frame advantage is bad enough that the OTG Burst interrupts the Garden before it comes out and your meter is wasted. Most of the time, you can get an incomplete Garden pattern which still gives you a turn after their Burst. The best result is a full 4-hit Garden pattern which invalidates their Burst and gives you cover for a mixup right away.

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