BBCF/Mu-12/Starter

Welcome to the Mu-12 Starter Guide

Before reading this page it is advised that one reads the characters Overview page, and for more info the Strategy and Combo pages.

Quick notes

Before reading this page it is advised that one reads the characters Overview page, and for more info the Strategy and Combo pages.

Specific notation used by Mu players:

sod - 63214CGuardMidStartup17~39 [40]Recovery22Advantage-10 [-8]. sod(wiff), sodw, sod(w) means wiffing an 63214CGuardMidStartup17~39 [40]Recovery22Advantage-10 [-8], usualy used on oki.
iku/ikutachi/tachi - 63214BGuardAllStartup31Recovery16 (7)Advantage+2.
yata - 632146DGuardAllStartup5+(90 Flash)+33RecoveryTotal: 52Advantage-. Refers to Mu's D super.
omo - 632146CGuardAllStartup5+(25 Flash)+5Recovery42Advantage-31. Refers to Mu's C super.

Use Your Normals!

New Mu players often ignore her normals in favour of using her steins, but don't let yourself be fooled! Mu's normals are amazing and a key part of her gameplan in neutral. Knowing when to use her normals and abusing their strengths is key.

Ground Normals

2B
Fast, great range, 0 on block, a lot of gatling options.
5C
Big, disjointed, oppressive.
6A
Main anti-air, and pretty versatile.

These normals are great to enforce Mu's space control, and are very hard to contest for a majority of the cast. When possible, it's advised to use microdash 2B instead of 5C, due to its better gatling options and smaller recovery, although don't be scared to press 5C.

While 2C has a bigger vertical range than 6A, it's regarded as a "high risk high reward" option (due to its lesser invulnerability frames and bigger recovery); therefore, 6A is often more important in Mu's neutral, as well as working as a solid ground button.

Air Normals

j.B
Main jump-in and crossup.
j.C
Disjointed air to air and covers massive horizontal space.
j.2C
Slower, but huge hitbox all purpose normal.

DO NOT IAD An air dash performed from a standing position as quickly and as low to the ground as possible from a jump. Done by inputting 956 754, and depending on the game, using a dash macro right after a jump. j.2C IN NEUTRAL FROM HALF SCREEN AWAY (it's easy to react to and since you lack air options it's going to be anti-aired)

Mu's air normals play a big part in her space control game, j.C in particular controlling a large amount of screen space, and j.B acts as a useful jump-in, as well as mixup tool, remember to gatling it into j.A on block for more plus frames and potentially catching the opponent off-guard.

Steins in Neutral

Probably one of the reasons why one would choose to play Mu, her steins can be a tricky tool to use in neutral, but extremely powerful when used correctly. The objective is to use steins to aid you in space control. A few seconds after they are set Steins will shoot in the direction they are aiming in, which can cover a lot of angles in neutral, provided you don't block anything before they fire (since they become inactive).

Setting Steins by themselves in neutral can be risky in a lot of matchups, especially if the opponent has access to a fast-moving fullscreen projectile (e.g. Es), or has long normals that can hit you while setting steins (e.g. Amane). So often using the aforementioned normals is important to be able to set up steins for later use. 5C > 6C > xD is a safe way to basically set whatever you chose.

It's important to know what options Mu wants to do after setting Steins (in neutral):

Stein > Jump - Allows Mu to move quickly out of the stein spawn position, especially with a superjump, as well as to set air steins for zoning against slower characters, altho not advised for most matchups. Jumping is useful to let you block after setting a bad stein, or to sandwich yourself and the opponent with a stein, or just generally moving out of the opponent's way to make sure they don't deactivate.

Stein > C normal - Critical for ground control with the use of 5C, and situationaly anti air with 2C.

Stein > Stein - Extra stein on the screen, risky unless it's off of a 6C hit, or the opponent is very far away.

Stein > Special - Most situational of the bunch, cancelling into 236A can be useful depending on the matchup, to 63214B when you need a quick burst movement option, or even 623C as a last resource option to stop yourself from being hit, altho you usually don't want to need to resort to this.

Wich Steins I Should Use?
Generally speaking, there is not an "incorrect" stein to set at any given scenario; however, you should consider that some steins take longer to cancel than others. 4D is the fastest to cancel, followed by 5D, 6D and 2D beeing the slowest. As for how their position is relevant, it can be relative to your playstyle, where you want to move, where you think your opponent wants to move, whether they are placed charged or uncharged, etc. There're a lot of factors to consider and as said there generally isn't a "wrong" choice, so experimentation depending on the matchup is advised.

Uncharged VS Charged Steins

xD
Uncharged.
x[D]
Charged.

Uncharged Steins - Are faster and safer to set and spam; however, they only track once while being set, so if the opponent moves their shot probably won't hit. They also have shorter range than charged steins. Useful for when you want a quick set, don't want to rely on the stein shot, but want to quickly use Mu's D specials.

Charged Steins - Slow to set but with much bigger reward. Their shot goes fullscreen and has more hitstun/blockstun. They also aim 2 times, upon being set and right before they fire, so they are usually more accurate at pinning the opponent. Always useful regardless of if your neutral gameplan is hard zoning or based around movement. Although hard to set in neutral without a considerable distance, after a 6C two charged steins can be safely set.

Stein Specials
As the title suggests, Mu has 2 specials that interact with her steins, and they both serve different purposes:

236D
Fires a laser from the newest to oldest Stein then homes in on the opponent.
214D
Sends all Steins flying in the direction they are aiming.

236D - Very useful for locking down the opponent, use it when they are between steins you have set for massive + frames, recommended to use with at least 2 but preferably 3 or 4 steins. Can also save you from a combo in some situations since it stays on hit.
214D - Controls a lot of space in neutral and leads to big reward on hit, can hit the opponent when they least expect if you have offscreen steins, and stays even on block.

Hit your opponent! What now?

As a new player, 2B > 5C > 6C is your friend. After the 6C you have the opportunity to set steins, steins and 214D, charged steins, steins and 236A, a lot of different options depending on the matchup and your playstyle. Instead of setting steins there's also the option of doing 6C > 63214B to get yourself closer. You then can meaty with 5C, or run deeper and hit them with 2B (altho it does not meaty). If after 6C ikutachi they hit the corner, it wallsplats and you get to do a corner ender, so its usualy the preffered option when a bit after midscreen.

When closer to an opponent, Mu can confirm into 6B, allowing her to do an air combo. An easy one without steins would be 2B > 5C > 6B > 2C > Super Jump A higher than normal jump, usualy done in Arcsys games by inputting down followed by jump in quick sucession. > j.C > j.B > dj > j.B > j.C > j.2C.

It is recomended that a new Mu player reads the Begginer Combos page for more information.

Ikutachi

63214B
"Abuse responsibly" - Every single Mu player in unison.

Ikutachi is a double edged sword. When used correctly its an extremely powerful tool, but when used poorly its extremely easy to punish. It's a move that is abused by Mu players at every level.

Combos

Ikutachi is a free sideswitch in combos, using 6B > 2D > 2C > 63214B > etc, or 6B > 2D > 2C > 6D > 6C > 63214B (in overdrive). Also a key corner confirm (6C > 63214B > dash under > 5C etc). However, a lot of times Mu doesent want to actualy hit it in a combo (it has bad proration). It's very powerful when it whiffs. 6C 63214B (whiff) > corner combo are extremely damaging midscreen to corner conversions that give Mu her best oki.

Neutral

Ikutachi is a very fast burst movement tool, and has practicaly no recovery, after whiffing it Mu can keep moving or press buttons as soon as she lands. Not only that, since it's a special, you can set a stein and Ikutachi to move quickly. When using it like this be careful not to be intercepted, particularly by ground pokes. Ikutachi has 5 frames of landing recovery, which can be canceled into dash or buttons, making her +2 on block letting you run pressure, but if not canceled she is -3(not canceling means doing nothing, backdash, jump or block). Unfortunately, it's -1 when IBd,-6 when not canceled, which at some distances can get you punished by a jab.

Pressure

Ikutachi shouldnt just be thrown out in pressure, it's 31 frames startup, so pretty reactable as a crossup, can be intercepted by a jab, anti air, or IB. Its strength lies when used in tandem with steins. Steins can make you always + after ikutachi hits, regardless of the opponents response, and also they can hit before you cross up, or after you cross up but before the hit, leading to ambiguous left/right mixups. An example of both things shown in the video, there are other safer ways of setting such thing of.

Oki

Content taken from Combo page, for what to do after this please check that page this section of the page.

SOD 5D 3C SOD 2D SODwCorner Ender C

Medium

The end of Middle C without the proceeding combo. You do this when you're unsure how much time you have left in a combo but want to get setplay. You can also do this off 214D, but some adjustments may need to be made - see examples. You're probably better off doing ender A or B. Similar to Ender B, you can replace SODw with 5Cw to check some options while being less minus.

This setup is pretty good for how easy it is to perform and also confirm off of. It checks all tech options outside of a precise delayed neutral tech to make the stein whiff, but loses to character specific tools such as Mai flip or low profile attacks. You can do many of the same options as Ender B, such as skipping SODw to jump cancel and take advantage of respect for better mixup. Since you're skipping the middle portion, you don't have 4 steins sitting on top of them for 236D, which is the main advantage of Middle C over other routes.

You will probably be using this and corner middle C a lot.

Double jab starter: 2A 2A 2B 5C 6C SOD 66 2B 5C 6C SOD2 66 5C 6B2 dl SOD 5D 3C SOD 2D SODw - 2243
214D -> Corner ender C: 2B 5C 3C SOD 66 2B 5C 6C 5D 2C 5D jc9 j.C jc8 j.C j.2C j.4D j.2C 6C 214D SOD2 5D 3C SOD 2D SODw

Using Meter

Using meter might be confusing for new players, which often just sit on it. Spending meter mostly boild down to: Using it for mixups, making yourself safe, winning neutral, or killing.

Mixups

Mu has acess to powerful mixups with 50 meter, notably using 6BGuardMid, HighStartup16Recovery26Advantage-13. 6B VS 6B(1) > RC > 2B is a true 50/50 mixup that forces your opponent to guess on block. Be careful when using it if they have overdrive because 6B is very succeptible to ODR.

Another notable use is with 63214CGuardMidStartup17~39 [40]Recovery22Advantage-10 [-8] or 6CGuardAllStartup18Recovery42Advantage-27. Both of these moves offer a lot of blockstun and when rapid canceled, its usual to follow with up with a hard to see 6B(2) (which also catches their jump startup if they are fuzzy jumping), or into a low if they are predicting this option, like 662B or 3C.

Making yourself safe

Mu has a DP Dragon Punch A move that has invulnerability during its startup, long recovery, and a rising motion. in 623CGuardAllStartup14Recovery37Advantage-26, on defence with 50 meter, DP > RC is a powerfull + on block option, and on hit can let you combo into 5C > 6C. Dont rely on it too much tho, because it IS spending meter (wich is an importat resource), and Mu's DP is easely baited. Meter can also be used like this, for example, to make a 63214BGuardAllStartup31Recovery16 (7)Advantage+2 advantageous on instant block, wich is one of its weaknesses.

Winning Neutral

Mu can use her resources to win neutral "for free" sometimes. 632146DGuardAllStartup5+(90 Flash)+33RecoveryTotal: 52Advantage- in combination with 3/4 steins is incredibly advantageous and extremely hard to avoid. Using OD in neutral can achieve a simmilar resource, since OD steins are incredibly powerfull at winning neutral. Take note that both these options use resources if you consider to use them or not, or win neutral in other ways.

Killing

General rule in BBCF, is to not use supers in combos unless they are going to kill, because finishing a combo with a super usualy leads to considerable worse oki, or spending meter one could use for mixups wich lead to higher damage overall. When going for the kill, default to 632146CGuardAllStartup5+(25 Flash)+5Recovery42Advantage-31 if you have 50 meter.

Mu has easy acess to double super combos, wich make her have very high damage when sitting on 100 meter ( combos into . She also has some of the highest double super damage in the game (1456 minimum damage normally, 2468 in overdrive).

Moves you should stop using

Mu has some moves that begginers fall into the trap of using or abusing, but can be punished very hard if you face stronger opponents, let's take a look at why.

(Note that this isnt telling you to completely stop using each, they have uses, just to be aware not to abuse them and what their weaknesses are).

5B
6C
j.xD
236A

5BGuardMidStartup8Recovery20Advantage-9 - For some reason this move has been nerfed almost every version to the point it is now. This move could idealy work as a neutral poke that hits at head level, potentialy catching some jumps. However theres a glaring issue: 20 frames of recovery. For basicaly the same ammount of recovery you could use 5CGuardMidStartup12Recovery22Advantage-8, wich has much more range, not to also mention that 5B's hitbox can be easely low profiled and is prone to missing or having decreased range against moves that lower the opponent's hurtbox.

5B is best used as a punish tool against moves between -8 and -11, since the damage you get off of it is slightly higher than 2B. It is also used in pressure since its jump cancelable on block, but be carefull because it is very succeptible to ODR.

6CGuardAllStartup18Recovery42Advantage-27 - One of begginer's favourite moves, who wouldnt want a fully disjointed half screen normal, that is also a fatal counter! However dont let this fool you, you should NOT use this move in neutral. For starters, 18 frames of startup dont do it any favours, but it has 42 frames of recovery! Wiffing this normal is a death sentence. In most cenarios where you could use a 6C, microdash 5C is almost always a better and lower risk option, wich also doesent have the risk of wiffing opponents due to a deadzone. Be also careful gattling into this in pressure, its a natural frametrap from 5C, wich is nice, but its very vulerable to ODR, and with those 42 frames of recoverry you are gonna recieve a big punish.

With all that said, 6C is one of Mu's most important combo tools, and if you can land it as a fatal counter punish its insane damage. It can also be used against characters setting up projectiles or doing something risky far away from Mu, like against Rachel, but use it with caution.

j.xDGuardAllStartup151RecoveryTotal: 43Advantage+18 - This move is a very big begginer trap. Begginers will often jump in the air and spam this move like there is no tomorrow, then jump again and use it some more. If you find yourself doing this you will find that it is a very ineffective strategy against more experienced players, that is because air steins leave Mu stationary for too long, so the opponent can close in easely on her, and also they have quite a bit of recovery, so Mu players will cancel it into a jump, however that exausts Mu's air options (since she double jumped already she cant do it again or airdash), wich make her much easier to pin down. Using j.2C or j.214D after using this move to hit people on the ground or baiting anti airs is asking to get air thrown (it will happen), or atleast hit by a j.A (wich most characters can convet into some sort of knockdown). When using Steins in neutral PRIORITY GOES TO GROUND STEINS, since they can be canceled into many more options and are safer.

j.xD should be used tho, but with care. Its great to bait anti airs (jump j.xD(air stall) j.2C(counter hit)), and is a key part of Mu's zoning patterns (5[D] 5[D] j.5[D] j.4[D] j.2C(wiff) for example).

236AGuardAllStartup15RecoveryTotal: 51Advantage-13 - Unlike the moves mentioned prior, this move doesen't have anything agregious. Its just incredibly mediocre compared to alot of Mu's other options, so often this move kinda has no use, specialy in alot of matchups, where other tools are prioritized. 214D is also a good "fireball" type move wich has much bigger reward, her C normals and Steins offer good space control. The main problem with 236A is, again, long recovery. 51 frames is a lot, and mobile characters can easely weave trough it and pin you down. In oki 236A is used in some legacy setups, however new setups that dont use it are usualy prefered. It also doesent offer much reward.

236A does have use in air stall sometimes, as a pressure reset when reasonably far so that its +, or after a 6C hit into 6C > Steins > 236A for extra aid in neutral. It is also useful in some matchups against midranger type characters with average movement, since its angle covers alot of the space they want to be in, and it can also be usefull to clash with projectiles(since its projectile level 2). In whatever situation you want to use it just be aware of its long recovery, and if you are covered or not.