I-no vs Kliff

[Essay]

***I figure it's about time we started some discussion around here on the new matchups, so, to try and replicate Honnou's format...***

KLIFF MATCHUP INFORMATION

Poking Game

Don't.

Strategy

The key to this match-up for me so far has been positioning. I kind of look at Kliff like a bizarro Potemkin-Axl hybrid that I constantly have to slip under to keep from getting cornered, and out-space until I can mount pressure. I end up using HCL's conservatively; he'll naturally punish them from most ranges, so I save them for halting low airdash approaches and zoning him out at super-jump height. Notes, on the other hand, I'm pretty liberal with in this matchup. They force him into predictable movement and let me better pick my battles. Be warned that once he gets in he does a good job at naturally chasing down our backdashes and 74'ing, so think in terms of establishing space in advance.

Specific Punishes

214S (aka. Skull Crusher, DRILL-CRAW): My go to punish has been to instant block him in as close as possible for an air-CH 5P > 5H > tk.HCL/[j.S-j.H xx HCL]/FB.Dive. Regardless of what the wiki says, my testing leads me to believe this move is NOT -12, but rather -7 (for air-hit punish) or -8 (standing-hit punish), so I say error on the side of caution and punish with our fastest move when possible, unless you're godlike with 2-frame SB's and links.

214K (aka. Nape Saddle, pole vault): Jump and instant block. (?)

6[H]: If you manage to cross him up while he's holding this move WAIT and punish the coughing recovery. If you hit a button while he's charging he will automatically turn around to hit you (glitch?). This is also the case with his charged 6P.

Setups/baits

214P (aka. Two Steps Forward, counter-stance): Don't let him think this is a free ticket out of your pressure/oki. When your hover normal wiffs through him, you want to be option-selecting a throw with c.S or 6P. Every time he performs the stance in a round, it becomes more and more likely to fail, and, if that happens, your hover normal > c.S/6P will naturally connect instead and you'll get your BnB. Sometimes you want to be safe-jumping, in which case I recommend something like: [hover j.S (hold block) > (1K >) 6P+H...]. If you end up blocking his chop follow up, punish hard before he recovers and throws you. If he stances but decides to wait, you'll (wiff 2K and) throw him before he can recover to throw you.

632146H (aka. Sole Survivor, random-ass dragon's teeth): This is what you're safe jumping for. Remember to block in advance since it's it's frame 0 after the flash. If you block and you're lucky, you'll get pushed out fast enough to place a note on his head before he recovers (notes pass through the spikes). Just error on the side of caution because spikes can appear pretty far out. Understand that, once in a blue moon, the super will launch you behind Kliff on hit and you can punish him with whatever you'd like; however, more often than not, it'll land you in front of him and he'll get a free OTG for even more damage.

Knowledge

- Gatling hover dash normals never hit him crouching. Even 66 j.S/K xx Fortissimo will get absorbed into the ground before it starts up if he wasn't standing.

- Make sure you can tell his crouching hit animation from his standing one if you want to combo into S.Stroke (it looks like he's standing with his head flying back even though he's crouching)

- Be skeptical about using Longing Desperation when he's in your face on wake-up as he has a 2-frame window to counter-stance and punish after the flash

Corner BnB's I go to that allow for P-Dives:

[1-hit opener]6P-5H xx tk.HCL 6FRC6 j.S xx ffVCL, j.S-j.H xx P.Dive, 66 j.H xx P.Dive, 66 j.S-j.H, c.S xx VCL (208 off j.S)

[1-hit opener]6P-5H xx tk.HCL 6FRC6 j.H xx ffVCL, c.S sjc j.S-j.H xx P.Dive, 66 j.H xx P.Dive, 66 j.S-j.H xx K.Dive (219 off j.S)

I'd love to hear what the rest of you have been experiencing with this match-up, so don't hesitate to chime in.