[Xrd] May vs. Ky

[Grimsley-San]

Discuss match-up here.

[Kyle]

Do have any specific questions at this time?

[Grimsley-San]

Do have any specific questions at this time?

 

 

Not at the moment, I'm still trying to figure out how to counter Ky properly.

[Mr. Psilocybe]

I found that when air dashing in over the charged stun-edge, you can usually bait the vapor thrust with 5D (the little air hop) if you tap it just short of range.. 

 

 

I generally like to play these ones pretty close to the corner... lots of 3k > 6p(charged)  if you can manage it to bully them into the wall.

 

I know how obnoxious this particual match-up can be with Ky just hiding full screen trying to put out puddles of projectiles.

 

3k (the slide trip)   is also pretty useful for dodge his greed sever, as well.

 

As far as stun dipper goes, block it when you see ky going for it, just keep him tight so he can't try to out-range her. Or, if you have the tension, block the first low and try to reject the second hit.. might leave him open for some punishment and scare him from trying it again when you have tension.

[raisedbyfinches]

snip

 

Greed sever can beat 3k clean and with its counterhit until recovery status its gonna hurt. The best way to deal with greed sever is to just IB it. 

 

 

The Ky matchup goes like this: 

You have basically no neutral game to speak of, use your high mobility to move around his stuff and score the knockdown. Be cleverer than your opponent and make them guess wrong on wakeup until dead. 

Rinse. Repeat. 

[Kyle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTbeAV94MW0

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTGEn8wZFsE

[TeeJay]

So what is the game plan versus Ky because I may be struggling against him much more than Ram? I get really predictable because I really don't know what to do besides run away or jump in. I'm trying to force myself to play some 5k, 5S footsies but I don't want to mess around in that range. lol, my short bait jump-ins even got run up 6P'd. 

[Kyle]

Be defensive & only approach W / a BeachBall or a hoop-set. This plan will have you in the right direction.

[raisedbyfinches]

Exactly what Kyle said. Some other points to note:

• Don't try going air to air with him without a summon there to back you up. You won't really win much in a direct battle like that. 
• I'm pretty sure that stun dipper can always be punished by 3k on block. Just in case the distance is misjudged in a combo [rarely]. 
• The videos on the gameplay discussion showing the iad oki options off of 2d shd works as a great safejump against vapor thrust. As does doing
  ohk, 5s 2h [2]8h, 5s 2h [2]8h, OTG f5s jc.iad.s. 
• Its really pretty hard to punish greed sever unless its point blank. 

Watch these matches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTGEn8wZFsE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTbeAV94MW0 

[Ben Reed]

I play this matchup probably more than any other, partially because my brother plays Ky, partially because half of Florida plays Ky. To add on to what Finches said:

 

- When in doubt, stay on the ground. I know it sucks and you need YRC to get dolphins/beach ball on screen without getting stabbed and he gets to jump back basically for free, but that's the nature of the beast. You need to preserve your life and slowly corner him so that you can get the life lead, start turtling, and force him to take risks that you can punish. If you have the life lead, don't be a hero. Just dodge Stun Edges, maintain a good neutral spacing, and be ready to anti-air if he air dashes at you.

- Even with YRC, don't try to summon stuff randomly when Ky can try and whiff punish you. Try to treat summons like a "whiff punish" -- bait Ky to throw something out with long recovery that you can't reach to punish (say an air H Stun Edge for the hell of it, or a jump back jD) and summon on reaction (without YRC, use a dolphin, they whiff slightly faster. Otherwise chuck a beach ball and YRC.)

 

- Blitz Shield is your friend. It costs meter that could go towards a YRC, sure, but the conditioning aspect + the potential punish power can't be ignored. Plus, if you're scared of counter-Blitz, you can do an empty jump or something towards them and throw or OHK them if you think they'll down-back after a failed counter-Blitz. Just be sure that your punish combo ends in knockdown so that you can do oki afterwards.

 

- Do NOT IAD at him at neutral. Ever. Ky's anti-air vs IAD is completely brain-free and very painful. All your opponent has to do is have 2H waiting in the lane and you will pay for your hubris. Do not IAD at neutral unless you know for a FACT that your opponent can't handle it.

 

- I would go farther than Finches and tell you to pretty much never try to challenge Ky air-to-air by jumping AT him. His aerials outgun May's so hard it's not even funny. You jumping at him only makes it easier for him to reach your hurtbox at minimal risk of a trade. I would use aerials pretty much strictly for zoning in this matchup, using single vertical jump or jump back jH at MAX range. It doesn't do much to keep Ky out, but it keeps you from getting counter hit, and you can at least watch how Ky reacts to see if he does something stupid & punishable.

 

- 3K is the most consistent max-range punish on Greed Sever and Stun Dipper. It just sucks because you have to use meter to get a combo and oki will be shit without YRC since 3K takes 5 years to recover. But any knockdown is precious vs Ky, so figure out some stuff with YRC. (I'll have to do that later this week, I guess.) Just keep that in mind if you have ANY doubt if you're spaced for a better punish.

 

- He can pretty much jump back jH for free when you're on the ground. You don't really have any safe normals to challenge it except early-ish 6P, which sometimes hits but may not reach. You can dash to go deeper and be guaranteed to reach his hurtbox, but mistiming it is dangerous. 

 

- Despite the temptation, avoid using 2H as anti-air unless Ky air dashes at you. Really, a forward air dash is pretty much the only situation in which you can expect to beat Ky's air game consistently. So if you notice that the Ky player is air dashing like clockwork in a given situation/spacing, make them bleed for it. (And of course, use 2H only if you expect them to be above your head or too high up for 6P. Otherwise, use 6P instead.)

- Learn to safe jump Vapor Thrust from combos ending in [4]6S. It's fun, easy, and can be very rewarding against Kys who otherwise don't give you a lot of openings. This is one of the first things you should grind out in this matchup.

 

- You can 6P his 5S quite easily at its max range. If you know you can get Ky to 5S you on cue, get your fill. Even if you can't combo afterwards, a knockdown into dolphin or free approach is valuable enough. And of course it is scientifically verifiable that getting hit with frequent enough May 6Ps makes people stupider. Believe in the psych-warfare power of 6P.