GGACR/Ky Kiske/Matchups

NOTE: Old matchup subforums can be found here: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/index.php?/forums/forum/49-ky-matchups/. Most matchups for Ky can actually be found here: http://www.dustloop.com/forums/index.php?/forums/topic/4133-my-ky-trade-secrets-thread/

Take general ratios with a grain of salt, these are opinions averaged from competitive active Ky players and not necessarily fact.

A.B.A	6:4	Bully her with midrange normals to keep her out of Moroha mode. Dash 5K can shut down both her low profile slide and her low crushing overhead. Once she does enter Moroha, Ky can still secure knockdowns, and use his extremely fast Instant Kill to end the round. The threat of IK can cause ABA to back off early and spend blood packs to stay safe. Dash 5K beats both slide and overhead. 2D is amazing for stealing knockdowns. Basically everything Ky does knocks down, which is scary for ABA. Restricted access to high damage means you need to steadily weather her storm.
Anji Mito	5:5
Axl Low	5:5
Baiken	4:6	Ky is very good at making people block, Baiken doesn't have to block.
Bridget	5:5
Chipp Zanuff	5:5
Dizzy	5:5
Eddie	5:5
Faust	4:6	Faust plays in Ky's ideal range better than he does, can duck under CSE, all air normals, and j.D crossup oki. He isn't terribly deterred by Stun Edge zoning, and can OS Vapor Thrust with 2K. Ky can combo Faust from 2D to j.K/j.S, giving him a damage boost.
I-No	5.5:4.5
Jam Kuradoberi	5:5
Justice	4:6	Not necessarily a bad matchup on paper, but can easily snowball badly for Ky if he does not play with precision. Very different from Ky's usual "footsies and fundamentals" gameplan because Justice can out-footsie Ky easily. Stun Dipper and Greed Sever do absolutely nothing for getting past nukes that have already been set. The nuke either explodes automatically from being close to Ky or manually because the Justice player released the button. Sacred Edge does nothing to nukes. Save your meter for Stun Edge FRCs or Force Breaks. Ky is much more mobile and flexible than Justice, which lets him (threaten to) contest nukes consistently. Stun Edge FRC, Stun Dipper, and dash > poke do this well. Ky can easily spend 25 meter to add decent damage to a combo and still secure a knockdown (Lightning Sphere, Stun Edge FRC). Thus, he can be more liberal when spending meter to win neutral (Stun Dipper FRC, FB j.D, etc.) Ky's okizeme using CSE and (force break) j.D can beat Strike Back Tail, Justice's high profile "reversal." 5H and 6H are also plus on block moves that will hit Justice out of Strike Back Tail. Ky is also generally safe to reversal Michael Blade even when not doing those options (for example, if he decides to try 3H meaty). Force Break j.D is a large, persistent multi-hit projectile that limits how Justice can poke. Does little to nukes but can shield Ky from other attacks if placed close to the ground. Hitting P nukes with the tip of f.S explodes them without knocking you down, at the cost of a small amount of health. TK H Stun Edge can hit Justice through the P > K nuke set.
Johnny	5:5
Kliff Undersn	5:5	A strange matchup: Kliff can murder Ky easily and his normals are impossible to out-footsie, but he has very limited movement. Kliff's low stun resistance can be a real liability in this matchup because Ky will often be scoring small but repeated counter hits. Be very careful about airdashing: Kliff only needs a single counter hit to convert into an enormous combo. Kliff 2D is a 7f low sweep that reaches about halfscreen. This makes it very difficult for Ky to frame trap Kliff with distance (2S > 2S) because he can challenge almost any gap. However, Ky 5K is disjointed enough to go over top of Kliff 2D, although the reward is minimal. 2S will beat many of Kliff's pokes if done from just outside their range because it's disjointed. The same is true of 6H and 5H but those are much larger commitments. Pre-emptive low height j.D at about 3/4ths screen will counter hit Kliff if he tries to pole vault as a gamble. May also work against Kliff doing IAD > buttons. Stun Edges are extremely useful in this matchup because Kliff is often expanding his hurtbox whenever he attacks. Air CH Stun Edge has a ton of hitstun and will often knock Kliff down. 2H is a good AA because it lets Ky combo even on trades. Not as useful against Kliff j.D because that will groundbounce Ky on CH. Kliff j.D is -2 at best, but much worse if Ky blocks it early (when the tip of Kliff's knife hits around Ky's head). Simply blocking and punishing is more reliable than trying to gamble with an AA. Kliff 214S is -6 on normal block. Can be safe if done from far away, but in other cases 5K will let Ky punish reliably. IBing makes the punish better and more consistent, as usual. 3H may be less useful for okizeme because its long active frames are a liability against Kliff's sidestep reversal. Consider safejumps, CSE, and j.D so that you can better react to Kliff doing the sidestep and attempt to throw him. Kliff's tiny ground hurtbox can make it difficult to combo into 5H and/or Stun Dipper reliably.
Ky Kiske	-:-	Read heavy matchup. 236S beats a ton of things, 236K and jumping beats 236S. You can follow a 236S in for pressure. 623H hits on both sides, good for denying crossups and initial strike/throw mixup. Jumping is really risky in general due to 6P and 2H. 6P beats or clashes with 623H if timed properly.
May	5:5
Millia Rage	5:5
Order-Sol	5.5:4.5
Potemkin	5:5
Robo-Ky	5:5
Slayer	5.5:4.5	Moves that can beat Slayer: j.K - beats all of Slayer's air normals for free. air throw/2H/623H - beats Slayer's j.H. 2H must be done early however. stun dipper - can beat out dandy step greed sever/5H - beats Slayer's 2H and 2D 5S/5H/6P/2S/2H - beats Mappa Slayer's moves that require special attention: 2H - comes out really fast, has lower body invincibility, leads to pain on both normal and CH. j.H - has a really large hitbox and can beat out mistimed 6Ps and FB shine if done early enough. It can also clash with 6P. Causes floor bounce on CH which leads into big damage. BBU - really fast, goes through stun edges, leads to omgwtfbbq damage. Very unsafe if blocked though. Must be FDed in the air. 6K - overhead, can be used as a feint for mixups. Leads to big damage if connected. Dandy Step - leads to Pile Bunker Cross-wise Heel Under Pressure --It's Late (overhead) Be wary of the dandy step where he ends up behind you. 5P - amazing anti-air. Can beat IAD. j.S. 2S - This move will most likely tag you if you're not careful when trying to cross him up. It's JCable so it can go straight into his dreaded air combos. 2D - Good range and pretty safe on block. DOT - Comes out really fast and causes wall stick. If it connects as a CH, consider yourself done. If baited, he can consider himself done. A pretty risky move to use but will significantly change the pace of the match if it connects. Matchup Overview Slayer is one of the undisputed top 3 characters in AC and for good reasons. As seen above, his moves have good properties and many of them can lead into his monstrously damaging combos which always bring you to the corner and end in a knockdown. Midscreen, he can try crossing you up multiple times with his dash which can lead into some ridiculous 4-way mixup if your reaction time isn't up to par. However, this matchup is still very winnable for the following reasons: Zoning - this is quite possibly Ky's biggest strength in the matchup. His ability to control space with j.D, FB star mines, and stun edges can give Slayer a hard time from getting in, which is where he wants to be. Slayer can't really do anything to you if he can't get within his own attack range. Slayer's big hitbox - Slayer's big hitbox is really good for Ky's combos and as a result you can rack up damage pretty well while regaining your meter at the same time the longer you keep your combos rolling. Air-to-air - Ky's j.K slaughters all of Slayer's air normals for free. Other attacks can too but j.K is the most reliable. If Slayer tries to fight you air-to-air, he is at a severe disadvantage because j.K leads to air combo and knockdown every time he gets beat out. Pressure - Ky has a much easier time maintaining pressure than Slayer does thanks to his superior pokes and zoning abilities. Slayer under pressure can't really hurt you without taking risks. The fewer chances he has to land a hit, the better. Most of Slayer's blockstrings have a very noticeable rhythm, so get into the habit of IBing his blockstrings. Be very careful about throwing stun edges when Slayer has meter because he can BBU through them if you're close enough and don't have the meter to FRC (or you miss the frc point). He also has the dreaded DoT which comes out ridiculously fast and causes wall stick. If it connects as a CH, say goodbye to a big portion of your lifebar. Matchup Summary (pros and cons) Pros: -Ky dictates the pace of the match because of his superior pokes and zoning abilities. -Ky is superior to Slayer in air-to-air combat. -Ky has an easier time maintaining pressure than Slayer does. -Ky has a really easy time comboing Slayer. Cons: -Slayer does more damage than Ky, and has more ways to lead into his damaging combos. -Slayer has moves that come out relatively fast and have either invincibility or large hitboxes which lead to pain and suffering if you're not careful. -If Slayer lands a CH DOT, GGPO. -Slayer can bait reversals using his dash. Unless it's really obvious what he'll use for meaty attacks, blocking his strings is safer.
Sol Badguy	5:5	Classic risk/reward management, Ky is better at neutral and has more tight offense but Sol can kill you fast and is slippery on defense. Things can get heated as you read each other. 662S > 2D is great, goes under IAD normals, stuffs 6P/2D/Gunflame, can recover in time to avoid Bringer punishes. Stun Edge is risky since he can get under it or over it (2D/GV/Bringer/IAD j.H). Don't get CH by 6P/Bringer/Sidewinder/Gunflame, stick to lower risk options and pay attention to how he's approaching you. j.D crossup oki can mess with his DP inputs.
Testament	4:6
Venom	4.5:5.5
Zappa	4:6