[CSE] Litchi vs Tager

[Lord Knight]

[General Thoughts]

Something like 6-4 for Litchi. If you play perfectly, he really shouldn't be able to touch you. Picking up on their habits is especially important in this match.

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[Round Start]

-Jump back jC > airdash back jC. He has no answers to this, and you'll create the space you need in order to set the pace of the match.

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[Fullscreen Neutral]

-Tager will probably be either super jumping, jumping forward, simply walking, or charging for Spark Bolt. You should try to position yourself in front of wherever his super jump arc ends.

-If he has Spark Bolt, your goal is to not get hit by it. At this range, you can't do anything to stop it besides jumping over. When jumping, make sure you barrier jump. You can try to be cute and 2B under it, but if you have the staff you pretty much have to guess and it's not worth it. If you're staffless (which yuo really shouldn't be), you can do it on reaction.

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[Midscreen Neutral]

-Where the majority of the match should be played.

[Foundation]

-The foundation of this match is 6B[m]. 6B[m] > 6C[m] has extraordinary pushback and will push him out very far away. The trade off is that you're giving him a small amount of meter (should they IB). If they IB your 6B they should be able to jump over the 6C, so be careful, and try not to get too liberal with your 6B > 6C (as in, don't use 6C much unless it's a tip hit. Along with 6B, feel free to use Itsuu, either hold or cancel. Try not to follow up the guard point unless you actually get touched. Sledge WILL beat Itsuu follow up if you poke with it, but if you guard point Sledge, you should be fine. Tager can coun0-ter by doing Sledge follow up, if they do that, just hold the guard point until the second hit, then counter.

-I shouldn't need to say it, but just to be clear, when you do 6B[m] > 6C[m], you should buffer an IAD in case it hits.

[Tager's super jump]

-As stated above, you want to be in front of wherever his super jump arc is. His normal jump obviously doesn't reach as far, but is not as immediately threatening as his super jump. Basically, if you do something wrong when he super jumps, he's in, so that's the situation you should make sure you're really on point to handle. Tager will likely use JD, J2C, or JB as his attacks from a SJ. Itsuu will beat all of these if they super jump. 5B will beat JD if you're spaced right, but will lose to J2C and JB. 2C will beat JD and JB, but not J2C. In the end, you really want them to fear Itsuu. Itsuu is safe, so if they block it you can choose to drain their barrier, or try to do a cute mixup while he's falling down. If they fear Itsuu enough, you won't have to pre-emptively go into the stance, and can simply use 5B > 2C > 5C or something to force them to the ground and push them out. Alternatively, you can airthrow him or jAA > Puprle throw (for TRM) as well. If he super jumps, it's free pickings for you.

[Tager's Normal Jump]

-If he jumps, you can try to reposition yourself, or push him out with 5B > 6C or 6B > 6C. Be aware that he can GETB normals when he lands, so using AA's are encouraged here. If you've gone into stance as he goes up, go ahead and use A followup.

[Ground to Ground]

-His ground normals are pretty much no threat. Use 6B, 5B or Itsuu. Again, if you want to use Itsuu, guard point the hit, then follow up with the counter. Itsuu is the one you want to use the least, but it does have it's place in this matchup.

-If you're playing against a Tager that is playing safe, it'll be very hard to score a counter hit on him. However, their safe play (as in, they know 6B is coming, they won't super jump very often, etc) leaves them open to approach. Take advantage of this to run in a bit and try to get a offense in. Peel off if he blocks one or two mixups and return to neutral.

[i got magnetised!]

-Itsuu ignores magnetism. At this range you can spam Itsuu and you won't get pulled in and you don't have to worry about any random pokes. If you have the read on a charged 6A, do a dash 2B > 6C or use 3C for a CH. Against Sledge, you're just going to have to move out of the way, or you can try to hit him with 6B or 3C.

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[Litchi's back to the corner neutral]

-Honestly, if you're here, you probably messed up somehow, but escaping this situation isn't impossible. A smart super jump > airdash out, or running under Tager's super jump, or hitting him out of a move will get you out. Burst/Gold Burst if you have to.

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[Tager's back to the corner neutral]

-Great for you. You can tag jump outs easily. Try to tag the end of his backdash with 6B, it's really worth it. Not much he can do here unless he guesses right. If he has Spark Bolt, you should be cautious.

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[Tager's pressure]

-Honestly if he's pressuring you, you fucked up. You can try to RPS Tsubame/Mash/Jump, try to mash backdash, or use CA on a move with a lot of frames (that isn't jump cancellable!). CA is the safest way out. Although it's easier to jump out than to backdash, I encourage using backdash to escape since some Tager's try to yomi Collider jump outs. Barrier defense isn't very effective.

[Litchi's pressure]

-Generally, you want to take it easy because he can churn 360/720. 5A is +3 on block so you have a bit more freedom with what you can do.

[Gadget Finger]

-RPS = 5A/Block or move/DP. If you don't have the staff you might want to be a bit more passive, because it'll probably be the round if you're wrong. Tager can OS gold bursts with something but I forgot what... but you don't want to Gold burst gadget finger.

[Litchi Okizeme]

-Litchi has a couple of options that are safe. JB > dj7BC > land Kokushi is safe to pretty much everything. For Kokushi mixup, use rising jC/6A/3C. JC's p1 is 90 so you can squeeze a little more damage and meter out of the follow up combo than if you tagged a 6A.

-As far as your meterless options go, if he has meter it's a little rough... I personally like ending in xx > ItsuuC > j7C > [D] and watching what he does. If he doesn't have meter, you can use ItsuuC > Hatsu Chun and set up a meterless instant overhead against him, that you should be able to convert into Kokushi. Use J9C > JD > falling JB > 6B > 2C[m] > etc for the high.

[DoobyLovah]

Nice work as always, LK. I will go out on a limb and say it is never fun to fight vs. a power grappler. It rather seems like a chore.