[AC] Johnny vs ABA

[4r5]

A.B.A. MATCHUP INFORMATION

Poking Game

While ABA is in Moroha mode, poking at ABA can be extremely difficult. For every three moves you have, ABA has one move that will cleanly beat out your three. Provided you can get in range to use it, 5K is your best poke against ABA. It's quick and has good range. It'll stuff many of her moves in their startup, while being difficult to punish on whiff. When poking at ABA you always want to be prepared to MC, OD, 1-frame-jump, or Jackhound out of trouble, such as a Danzai. Outside of your everyday normals, you're going to need to be quick on the draw with tkEnsenga and your Level 2 Mistfiners. Ensenga and Mistfiners have much more range and speed then your longest reaching normals, but also carry their own set of obvious pitfalls. You don't want to whiff either, Ensenga or your Lv2 MF, so you generally will use these to whiff punish. Bottomline, poking at ABA is a risky endeavor and should be avoided if possible.

While ABA is in normal mode, not too much to worry about.

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Strategy

When ABA is in normal mode, do NOT let her into Moroha mode.

When ABA is in Moroha mode, do NOT let her out of Moroha mode. (As odd as that sounds.)

When ABA is in normal mode, do NOT play defensively.

When ABA is in Moroha mode, do knock her down.

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Specific Punishes

The Rekkas

a.k.a. Masshou>Fukumetsu>Dangoku a.k.a. 236S>46S>63214S

- Between the 1st and an undelayed 2nd strike, you have, at worst, 1 frame which you can use to backdash or OD the 2nd strike. IBing the 1st strike will widden the window to 4 frames.

- Likewise, between the 2nd and an undelayed 3rd strike, you have, at worst, 2 frame which you can use to backdash or OD the 3rd strike. IBing the 2nd strike will widden the window to 5 frames.

SBing Rekkas is fairly easy.

Danzai

Window of opportunity between blocking the 1st strike and the 2nd strike is anywhere from 5 to 10ish frames.

Generally, the closer you are to ABA when you block the 1st strike, the more frames you have to work with.

From close to mid range, a 2D or 2HS.

At max range, your options are reduced to trading with a 2HS or OD.

Regardless of range, backdashing the 2nd strike is a fairly easy thing to do, as well as SB.

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Setups/baits

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Knowledge

Danzai

a.k.a. Purple Shit a.k.a. 623HS

Danzai will absorb one non-super attacks, at half damage, during the first portion of the move. Force Break Danzai will absorb an unlimited amount of hits. For both versions, the absorption effect ends when the key head turns from upward to a downward position.

The Keygrab

a.k.a. Ketsugou a.k.a. 63214HS

The keygrab starts as a throw. If there is nothing for it to throw, it becomes a strike; which you can block. The air version starts up faster and recovers apon landing.

Moroha Mode

While ABA is in Moroha mode all her attacks deal damage to herself when they connect, on both block and hit.

When ABA enters Moroha mode, a Moroha gauge appears under her name, similarly to Eddie's Shadow gauge. This gauge decreases gradually over time. When ever ABA goes through her wakeup animation, such as from a knockdown, a little under 1/3 of her bar is subtracted. When ABA's Moroha gauge reaches zero, her key does a sort of burb animation, called Suka motion, and during this time ABA is vernurable to attack.

Moroha to Normal mode transition

When ABA uses a bloodpack to go back in to normal mode she gains back 120% of self-inflicted damage.

When ABA uses the keygrab to go back in to normal mode she gains back 80% of self-inflicted damage.

When ABA is forced to normal mode, due to zero moroha gauge, she gains back 00% of self-inflicted damage.

When ABA switches between modes, either through bloodpack or the Suka motion, she has about 4 frames of invincibility somewhere in the middle of the animation.

Standing Punch

ABA's 5P has 3 frames of upper body invincibility and is very spamable. This makes crossups and shallow air to ground difficult against ABA.

The Butt

a.k.a. Houshoku a.k.a. 421HS

Must be FD blocked in the air.

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[YanisDLooper]

I was in a casual against a guy playing as ABA. It was not a pleasant experience. I didn't know how to break out of pressure and I was constantly pinned down in the corner. I was a newb though and I think it might of been possible to break out. But getting my but handed to me so forcefully was all the occupied my mind at the time. Any tips about breaking out of her pressure?

[4r5]

prevention is key aba's pressure is really good. Can't give much in the way of tips. You really just have to know where you can punish and where she's at disadvantage. And you can't hesitate or second guess yourself, 'cause if you do, then you've already missed your opportunity. Her pressure is just good. It kinda has to be, since she hurts herself as she does it. Also, bursts and DAA. particularly during her special moves like the rekkas. don't let her Danzai you

[Moroha]

Johnny vs ABA is total suck for Johnny. For starters, blocked Ensenga is punishable by her 5S, which means big damage combo. If you whiff a Killer Joker or Cheesestick FRC, you will most likely also be eating big damage. Her ground game also completely overpowers his, and Danzai says no to the whole 'should I 6P airborne Johnny or shouldn't I' thing. That being said, it's not unwinnable, but you really need to play smart. Be wary of f.S, it shuts down any of Johnny's pokes from its max range. I would absolutely learn 1hit ensenga xx mist setups on ABA, because if you do run into one, it can really change the entire pace of the game. Make sure you have a throw combo that knocks down, 4r5 does Cheesestick into FRC combo. When you do have her pinned in Moroha, it's tough for Johnny to keep her locked out forever, but be aware that she has slides, 5H, 2H, and jumping/IAD options available to her. Plan for them. There's also like a million vids of us online so check them out to see what works for him and what doesn't.

[Killerwatt]

Johnny vs ABA is total suck for Johnny. For starters, blocked Ensenga is punishable by her 5S, which means big damage combo. If you whiff a Killer Joker or Cheesestick FRC, you will most likely also be eating big damage. Her ground game also completely overpowers his, and Danzai says no to the whole 'should I 6P airborne Johnny or shouldn't I' thing.

That being said, it's not unwinnable, but you really need to play smart. Be wary of f.S, it shuts down any of Johnny's pokes from its max range. I would absolutely learn 1hit ensenga xx mist setups on ABA, because if you do run into one, it can really change the entire pace of the game. Make sure you have a throw combo that knocks down, 4r5 does Cheesestick into FRC combo. When you do have her pinned in Moroha, it's tough for Johnny to keep her locked out forever, but be aware that she has slides, 5H, 2H, and jumping/IAD options available to her. Plan for them. There's also like a million vids of us online so check them out to see what works for him and what doesn't.

Thanks Moroha; really appreciate the advice as this is a matchup I have quite some difficulty with. Sorry if this is a noobish question, but what exactly is the Cheesestick?

[Mitsurugi]

Cheesestick = Divine Blade da ze !

[reaVer]

Cheesestick = Divine Blade da ze !

Mitsu: pm:(

[Killerwatt]

Cheesestick = Divine Blade da ze !

LAWL God I should have known that. Cheesestick...you gamers and your silly nicknames.

What are some good tactics for getting a KD on ABA in Moroha mode sans Enkasu combo? I can't quite land an Enkasu on her 100% yet...

[4r5]

I get alot of my knockdowns from throws. All the others is just being in the right place at the right time, or plain luck. this is the combo Moroha was talking about: throw, j.K-S>dj.S-HS>KJ(frc), HS>DB

[10stars]

The best advice i can say for this matchup is to learn your enkasu combos, and learn knockdowns out of every throw. Clutch moments against aba that can end a match: DAA is a knockdown, if Aba is in moroha mode with 1/3 of a bar and the DAA lands, she's knocked out of moroha, giving you either a free IK, or a free combo. tk ensenga is a knockdown if it hits, same as above for moroha mode. air throws are free knockdowns, if Aba goes into the air, it tends to be her weakest pressure point, throwing her is a risky, but pretty good option. 2D is pretty nice against a few things aba has, such as her slide in normal mode. Never open a match with a coin, Aba can react to it off the start, slide under you and get a free keygrab, or throw > dash keygrab to push you further into the corner. You can walk under the second hit of Danzai. Air to ground is hard for Johnny no matter what form aba is in, her 2p seems to beat out j.h and j.k alot. Better to DB frc if you think theyre going for an anti air (knockdown if it hits!) If you're in a tight spot and want to make a dash throw attempt while Aba is in moroha mode, ive had more luck throwing two coins before the dash to scare aba into thinking i dont care about my coins. Thats my name is a knockdown as well, so if you're in pressure and you know that another attack is comming, it can give you that IK or free combo hope sometimes. Abas are ruthless with pressure, so they often tend to walk into wakeup overdrives. Always keep in mind that if jackhound hits and you can land a 5k from the stagger, you can in most situations 2d for a knockdown, into a mist > mist finer for 2/3rds of the moroha bar. Aba seems to wakeup slower than other characters, for example if you enkasu > mist frc > 3h, most of the time 3h seems to whiff because she's slow. I've gotten away with mists without frcing against all the abas ive played at tournaments minus seth, because i had no matchup experience when i played him.