[P4A] Yukiko vs. Kanji

[Warhound]

I just...naturally didn't think the best way to stuff an air to ground move would be to...crouch.

[MikelAL93]

Because it is incredibly unsafe and easy to punish. It whiffs if you are crouching and he typically lands right next to you for an easy punish.

I never noticed this myself, but I tried it and it works. This will easily ease my frustration and nervousness when fighting Kanji players online.

Thanks a bunch for that tip, I have noted that in the OP.

[susano]

Why is it that every Kanji I run into has a terrible connection?

Anyway, they keep getting lucky or smart with their aerial tackle grab thing. I think my problem is that I'm using 3B, which that tackle seems to shoot right over. Should I be prioritizing a 2B for grapple-happy Kanjis? I'm watching some pro vids against him, and I hardly ever see Kanji use that tackle, they must be afraid to use it, but I never see the reason why.

Good Kanjis would never throw that move out on its own because like Toan said, it whiffs once you crouch. I'm not amazing at this matchup yet but I am avoiding that tackle move more often then when I first started playing this game. And yes, some Kanjis online do have crappy connections.

[toanenadiz]

I never noticed this myself, but I tried it and it works. This will easily ease my frustration and nervousness when fighting Kanji players online.

Thanks a bunch for that tip, I have noted that in the OP.

You probably should thank megamonk4 more since he mentioned it in like the 4th or 5th post of this thread.

I wasn't aware of his leaping grab missing against crouching opponents. I would always try to anti-air it or just dodge passed it; most of the time missing my opportunity to punish it afterwards.

[Miracleknight]

What about his j.B? I easily become a turtle when he is jumping at me with that at close range.

[Ciddypoo]

2B, Airthrow, j.A

[farplaner]

5C seems to work really well against Kanji when he's in the air. When timed well it seems to beat his j.B, j.C and his dive grab.

[choysauce]

i feel like i've mentioned this before in a different thread (combo thread), but if he does his flying squirrel grab. go for a 2D fatal combo (like the one that gli created)

[farplaner]

Nice! Sure is the most optimal counter to that move.

[zankoku]

Is the OP of this thread accurate...?

I feel like breaking Kanji's Persona is entirely unrealistic most of the time, since he shouldn't be just tossing out C, D, or 236C/D against a zoning character anyway.

For the most part it seems like careful zoning and using Yukiko's mobility to leave the corner if she ever gets close to it, along with her usual fullscreen pressure games, and waiting for Kanji to pick an impatient option (DP or j.214A/B) are the key to playing the matchup. Up close Yukiko's in a bit of trouble since Dia only wins against really close options (maximum range 5A, among other things, will hit the guardpoint but not be in range for Dia to knock Kanji back), and she can't afford to guess the wrong wakeup option too much due to her 8500 life, so getting knocked down and hit with 236a/b at any point is always potentially a major turning point for Kanji.

5C is pretty strong as an anti-air, especially since Kanji's j.B is fairly slow and his j.A is rarely, if ever, a threat to grounded characters, but its recovery leaves you in standing state (which is always dangerous against Kanji's j.214A/B). Similarly, Agi and Maragi can open you up to j.214A/B, so it's important not to be at that range when setting them up. With the threat of 214214C/D, I would generally just avoid being on the ground near Kanji when he's in awakening, but before then throwing in the occasional 5A or quick pressure isn't a terrible plan; just have to be sure to mix up when to end the string and get away from any grab or DP attempts.

[Pyry Von Quies]

This match is fun because I like to Instant Kill through a lot of Kanji's moves and win the match. Scummy? I know. But I just loooove Yukiko's IK in many ways, it's so good lol

You see, Yukiko's IK can go through and beat out a lot of Kanji's moves, since he has a lot of poor recovery on most of them.

With precise timing and good reads, Yukiko's Instant Kill can beat Kanji's supers (both normal and Awakening), DP, 2A+B, j.236A & j.236B, 214D, 5C, 2C, and j.5C iirc

As for the actual fight itself, Kanji can be really scary at times because in a way he's a like Yukiko in a sense he's Persona dependent and has some clever zoning tools that allow him to get close to you. Try to watch your position (stay in mid range is my best bet, in that regard you're out of his shock range), fans galore to keep him checked, and use extreme caution when fighting closeup.

[Pyry Von Quies]

Alright...so it's been like 4 months since I last came here, and I'm back here again because well--I need help in studying this matchup.

You see, I fought a Kanji online and no matter how hard I tried, he just kept beating me. Consistently.

The worst part is that all of these matches were close. Extremely close. Our very last match resulted in a time-out that he BARELY won.

 

Urgh...in any case, it looks like I need help with this matchup because I feel like I get the gist of his style, but not enough to overcome him.

 

One thing that really bothers me with Kanji is his 2D. It feels very frustrating because no from mid-to full screen, no matter where you are, he can use it to keep you in place, run up to you and then proceed to do that shitty frame trap command throw. If I try to roll the lightning attack, he meets me halfway. If I try to summon my persona to help me out, it's broken. Out of desperation, patience, and wit's end I've done an AoA that successfully connected, but I suspect it was thanks to netplay because there is no way I could ever pull that off offline lol.

 

I DO NOT enjoy fighting Kanji up close--it's just ridiculous. His normals are surprisingly faster than Yukiko's, his grabs are stupid, and I fucking hate his wakeup/reversal supers that basically spell death for you. But what I REALLY hate is the feeling that I get no trade-off for waving off a move or dodging an attack only be bombarded with another one. For instance, when Yukiko uses Dia to stop Kanji's frame trap command throw, it works, but it leaves Yukiko in a bad position because Kanji recovers from his throw a lot faster than Yukiko does from Dia. Not only that, since it a whiffed move on Kanji's part to begin with, Yukiko cannot cancel into a super, so it basically feels like--either deal with Kanji's stupid frame trap shittiness and face that much damage, or Dia and find yourself in another unsafe situation.

 

Another thing I need help on is aerial game. For some reason I find myself always trying to battle Kanji in the air and getting blown up by his easily spotted, but hard to punish (for me) j.5B. I think I always keep trying to go for air throws and that's why I keep fighting him in the air, but as much as I realize it barely works, I continue doing it anyway.

 

I don't know. I feel like this match is no problem, but I foudn myself constantly making small stupid mistakes that really screwed me over in the long run against Kanji and I've had enough. Is there any advice you guys can shed to let me know how to deal with Kanji? I don't want to go through the hell I went through tonight again.

[MikhailLuca]

Relax, this matchup is free 6-4 our favor woo.

 

The thing about Kanji lightning is the fact that it has deadspots. You do not want to be all the way on the other side, so position yourself between the end and around 3/4s of the screen away or something. You should never fight Kanji close up in the first place, you wanna keep him at a good spacing, 5a max range, sweep, and 5C are good tools to keep him out just right. Kanji's 5A is 6f startup and our fastest move is 2A 7f startup so if he's he's going for 5A 5B stagger pressure an IB will let you jump out or poke back (beware of throws though). Also I think the aerial game is really in our favor, this is one of those matchups where airturn j.C is really useful, It hits far out, above, and around you. This tool will break Kanji's persona and force him to block if he's coming in, our j.A is also much faster than his j.B and has a goof hitbox, or throw him? Kanji's air game isn't that scary to be honest.

 

Don't be afraid of his wakeup supers, Yukiko can easily option select any wakeup he does with a properly spaced fan toss or Persona move. j.B, j.D, 5D, 5C, Personas will catch chair super and a spaced fantoss will catch command grab super. Just relax and don't panic.