Noel Vs. Hakumen

[LunaKage]

Discuss the Noel Vs. Hakumen matchup here.

[BlackYakuzu94]

Welp, may as well post the document yours truly and Lunakage wrote up last year. Its from 1.1, but most of the data still applies.

Document Link

And I'll write out most of the information here:

At the match start range, she will more than likely back off as most of her normals will get stuffed by things like 3C and 5C, and anyone can tell you that letting Hakumen hit you with a C normal will hurt. You can either call it out with and instant air dash j.C, or just let her back off as she'll have to come in eventually. Also, don't do match start 4C, its pretty easy for her to punish.

 

If you do try to get in range, while you have superior normals, Noel still has tools that can catch you if you aren't careful. Her 4D can be used to catch most poorly timed jump ins, namely things like j.B and j.A and the like. She can also use it as a defensive option on the ground as well, but it has a pretty lengthy startup before its active, so you can probably 3C it on reaction for a free Counter Hit. I heard it was nerfed in Extend, I just don't know in what way. if any Noel player can clear that up, that'd be appreciated. Her 6A is a pretty good tool, for both a poke and an Anti-Air at about 12f, but it has a lot of recovery and can only be cancelled into 6B, which is also pretty slow. You can use Agito, but the hitbox of 6A is pretty high(Super or Double Jump) so you might want to be a little higher if you want to approach with that.

 

On the defensive side of things, I know blocking her drives can be a pain, its not as bleak as it seems. She only has two overheads, 6B and d.6B and the former takes a long time to come out. The second one might be a bit harder to block due to its similar animation to her d.6D(her low in drive pressure). If you aren't really sure about which to block in drive pressure, you can always use Yukikaze. You can also use 2D(it being as fast as Yukikaze) but be aware, she can bait it with her d.4D and punish with d.6C and the latter will lead to extremely high damage. This might have changed given how Zanshin interacts with projectiles now, but if you plan on taking that risk, make sure you have a burst.

 

As long as you can keep Noel at bay, you can dominate this matchup; she wants to get up close and personal and Hakumen is built to prevent that. However, its pretty easy for her to turn a match around when she gains enough momentum, so its important to stay on point if she actually does get in and just stay calm. 

If any Noel or Hakumen player has their own thoughts, feel free to post them. I don't feel the matchup has changed much at all from 1.1, but I want to hear a second opinion.