Lambda vs Kagura

[Monarch]

Discuss the Lambda vs Kagura matchup here!

[Monarch]

Some footnotes:

- 6C and 3C beat out Wyvern (6D > 5C) the latter normal on CH can lead into a nice combo which, depending on how many resources you want to spend, can put him in the corner.

- Our standard D's can destroy his A orbs, but it cannot destroy B orbs. For B orbs, use 214D.

- Frequent use of gravity wells paired with 236D can keep him stuck fullscreen, which is ideally where you want to be.

I feel that Lambda has the advantage in this matchup

[Butterduck11]

Can anyone explain his mixup a little bit? For instance when he 6D > 5C's at us what can we do when blocking it? Is there a gap that can be exploited before he goes into mix up? If not what mixups does he have before there is an opening to retaliate/escape? 

[Monarch]

Kagura's pressure/mixup game can be confusing if you don't know what to look for. There's not much you can do about 6D > 5C besides ODRing the first hit and punishing the second, but his other drive attacks with stance have quite a bit of start up on it which allows you to mash out of certain parts of his blockstrings. Some threats include: 

5D~A - Has super armor to prevent mashing, can be beaten with a fast low (In our case 2A or    2B.

5D~B - Command grab, very short range, good damage. Because of its short range, it's pretty deliberate when the opponent wants to set this up, use a quick attack like 5A to hit during its start up.

2D~A - Overhead, signified by him leaping towards you. The animation will give it away and you'll need to block in time. 

2D~B - Low sliding attack, has two hits so don't forget to block both. 

6D~B - Cross up overhead, this is tricky because he disappears before he comes with the overhead strike. Him disappearing is also the giveaway though, by that logic. Don't confuse this move with 6D, as the animations themselves are the same, minus the crossover animation. This can be a pain when spaced just right too.

 

These are the main tools Kagura will use to open you up, while using Wyvern (6D~C) to approach. To answer you question, Kagura has to go back into stance to initiate his pressure again after he chains 3 stance moves during a blockstring. You can try your luck by hitting him during one of his stance startups (if you're comfortable enough with all of his moves) or play it safe and block until he cancels into a Dragon Spirit orb or has used all three chain stance uses.