[P4AU] Yukari vs Shadow Labrys

[Shinsyn]

Please use this thread to discuss and contribute to this matchup. Information will be added to the main post as information comes. Keep in mind that strats will be changed as the game evolves.

 

The Neutral Game

• Long Range

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• Mid Range

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• Close Range

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Offense

• Your Offensive Options

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• Her Offensive Options

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Defense

• Your Defensive Options

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• Her Defensive Options

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Match Summary

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[mixedmethods]

I'm a pretty shabby Shabrys, but I've fought this MU quite a bit and I did some testing, so I thought I'd share what I've found:

• I'm not 100% confident in this number, but testing (lots and lots of testing...) suggests that when Asterius blocks Magarula with Shab, you lose ~42 active frames. Long story short, your mix-up time is drastically cut. The frame loss applies even if you interrupt an Asterius attack (which nets you a card, at least) because Asterius immediately returns to Shab afterward, so all Shab has to do is start holding D once he returns. If Shab is fully separated from Asterius (for some reason, he's blocking on the other side of the screen) or Shab is persona-broken, Magarula runs normal length.

  You can use Magarula D to lock Shab down if you're fullscreen (though the risk there is Shab moving away from the pillar entirely and letting Asterius block it while taking no chip damage), and at closer ranges, Magarula C should give you enough mix-up time to start something. Not sure what exactly you can do with the time available, as my testing suggested it was pretty spacing dependent (point-blank vs. max range for Magarula C to make contact on block), but I'm not a Yukari main.

• Non-IB meter gain off Magarula: 5 with Asterius; 3 without Asterius. Somewhat relevant, as Yukari gives Shab a lot of meter during the match, so that extra 5 can go toward another Titano, EX Challenge Authority (TV Punch super), etc.
• Buffalo Hammer and Flame of Hades will both hit you post-flash, when you lose invuln, if you go for Magarula, unless you time the invuln to beat the projectile quake from Hammer. 2C/Hammer Uppercut is dicier -- if Shab punches 2C and you go for Magarula in response, you'll invuln the uppercut and take a card, but some timings allow 2C to counter-hit you out of the super, post-flash, before it's active.
• From the high-risk/high-reward category, all versions of Shab's Brutal Impact go through Magarula and will hit if you're already committed to something (particularly AoA) and don't OMC or block in response. Probably not going to happen, but Awakening CH Brutal Impact A damage is 2.2k, so it'll probably kill if you give Shab the punish opportunity.
• Magarula during Titano is high-risk, due to the lack of invuln -- either Shab or Asterius can hit you before the super becomes active. If Shab activates Titano at range, it's a better option; if Titano is activated off Guillotine Axe SB, a CH DP, or another legit starter, then you're going to have to Burst, pray the sequence drops, or take the damage. Titano with Brutal Impact B off 5AAA > Guillotine SB is well over 5k, so it's pretty easy to die pre-Awakening if you aren't careful.
• Once Shab hits Awakening, having the meter to OMC in response to a Titano activate is recommended. At range, 236x will lose to the Titano input invuln and leads to a CH Asterius attack into pre-Awakening death. (It happened in a match, so.)
• Silence is your best ailment as it completely removes Asterius. Charm is dicier, in my experience, as whatever meter lost is usually quickly regained due to all of Yukari's attacks being projectile attribute, which is food meter for Asterius.
• If you DP as Shab activates Titano, the DP completely whiffs while Shab inputs the bull commands. I need to test this more, but it happened in a match -- the DP just completely whiffed, no side-swap, and Titano went off without a hitch.
• [2]B in response to a jump has caused strange outcomes, including a kill punish with Challenge Authority. This shouldn't happen unless you release the arrows or just fail to block; start-up for the [2]B is 16f, TV Punch is 18. Challenge Authority C is -25 (plus landing recovery, if airborne), D is way too slow to use unless you really commit to a bad idea (over 30f start up) and -4 (plus landing recovery if done in the air), and EX is 18f (same as C: 4+14) start-up but only -4. Invuln until recovery, but not OMC/OMB cancellable, and you can OMC off Asterius.
• Challenge Authority starts from Asterius's position, not Shab's, and has a good number of active frames (6). The hitbox is always bigger than you think, so if Shab has 50-75 meter, just be aware of a super sniping you.
• [2]8x is the anti-air grab, which does crazy amounts of damage and sends you bouncing. If Shab moves from downbacking to standing block in response to a Feather Flip, that's an option. (Getting it to hit is dicier, but beware.) You can be swept into the grab.
• Short of catching Shab not blocking, you don't have many ways to break Asterius. All D attacks, j.C's second hit, your sweep, Feather Shot, HyperFeatherShot, and Magarula will take a card if the bull isn't blocking and/or you interrupt a move with those. Naturally, some of these options are more viable than others.
• Any successful throw or throw tech while Asterius is active breaks a card.
• Terra's Eruption/8C (formerly 2C) seems to break your cards. The good news is that it cannot hit grounded opponents, so treat 8C as a cue to stay grounded or get back -- the combo juggle into the fire will do 3k. Buffalo Hammer is another cue to not jump (or block if you're already airborne). You can jump the quake. Running into the fists is going to hurt, so don't.
• Stay nimble. 2C (formerly 8C) is Hammer Uppercut, the move where the bull locks on to you, then comes out of the ground and punches you to the sky. Once the bull is underground, Shab can block and the move won't be interrupted, and that thing does 2.2k on CH (pre-Awakening) into stuff. If you like to stand in one place while fine-tuning your set-ups, this will hit you clean out of them. If you block it, the blockstun gives Shab time to dash in and start offence; try to evade it if possible. Do not Burst this. I don't know why people do, but Bursting a CH 2C leaves you hanging out at the top of the screen, now without your most valuable resource, while Shab gets to cancel 2C into a bull special or super and maintain offence.
• You take off about a quarter of Shab's health with an airthrow, so learn an airthrow combo and be prepared to use it. Mix it up with other offence options (if you do nothing but airthrow, you will get teched each time), but, yeah, your airthrow is good and Shabs tend to abuse the air, so any time you can land one, go for it and follow up. Be wary of Shab's airthrow, though, as it'll send you to the other side of the screen. Same story with j.2B, off a hop or a 2B -- it's j.BB in isolation, it wallbounces, it's a great tool.
• Delay tech or Gold Burst if you're in the unblockable bite set-up (ground command grab + Shab priming j.A > stuff).
• Shab has the best airdash in the game, so watch out for her quickly closing gaps from above. Due to frame data changes, she gets more damage off her IAD j.A, and IAD 2A is still a thing.
• 2B and 5B always Fatal on CH, so know the range and timing on those buttons and avoid, avoid, avoid. Particularly if you're going for Magarula.
• Watch out for Asterius commands while Shab is blocking. If Asterius disappears, it means 2C is coming, so move. EX attacks will armor through everything but supers.
• Shab's DP always hits further in front of her than it appears. Just jump it or cross it up, and stay alert in case Shab goes for a super-cancel if you go for a punish on a blocked DP (assuming Shab has meter).

It feels like a battle for real estate most of the time. Once Shab is in, it seems like there's not much Yukari can do but try to DP or throw, but if you're baited, good game. Running or rolling out of the corner is pretty damn risky because Shab can now charge 5C/Knuckle Train, and there's a slight backward hitbox on that thing that catches people for trying, or you could just get CH grabbed. Lasers (C, D, and EX) let Shab control a good amount of the stage; Buffalo Hammer works as a disruption; 2C keeps you from staying in your sweet spot; 8C and [2]8x contest some of the airspace; 5C is big and groundslides on hit (and on whiff or block, it can be cancelled into anything); and of course no one wants to deal with Titanomachia. Shab's meterless damage is easily 3k into oki, so once she gets going, it's tough. Unfortunately, because so many of Yukari's attacks are projectiles, Shab doesn't have to take too many risks if you're playing passive/long-range only: just block and hold D, maybe send Asterius out if you forget to keep moving. Otherwise, Shab has to inch her way in, but once she is in, it's ... not fun.

If you're in on Shab, her escape options are relatively limited. Bait the DP, watch out for the bull disappearing on block, and remember she has GCA and GCR if things are truly dire. Her GCA has a slight backward hitbox, so if you're attempting a cross-up, GCA is actually useful. Because most of Yukari's attacks are projectiles and rolls are frame 1 projectile invuln, it's ... an option, but only if the Yukari is content to stand there mindlessly firing off various arrows. Otherwise, you're probably going to have to turn on rushdown mode more than you would in other MUs. Shab only has 8k health, so once you get a hit, make it count -- those 4k+ combos with EX bombs are nasty and if you can add silence to make it unburstable, even better. It's not pleasant to be on the receiving end of Yukari's damage-- I've been there.

Knowing how Shab works and being familiar with the MU are critical, honestly. Once you're familiar with the bull's animations, it should be easier. It's why I picked up Shab -- I'm an Aigis main, so, yeah, I've been there with the "my projectiles do nothing" problem. When playing Shab, once a Yukari turns on RTSD, my life becomes much harder, but the longer you fire off various arrows across screen, the more meter I accumulate and the fewer risks I need to take, as I can simply frustrate you into making mistakes and snipe with 2C. It's a tough MU, no way around that, but if you can start a kill combo before Shabrys Awakens, you can avoid the comeback factour via Titano -- burst-safe combos are your friends.

ShinSyn played BananaKen recently, so he probably has more insight. In no way am I an expert -- this is just what I found in the lab and some observations after playing a lot of Yukaris in lobbies. And dive-slam told me to post my lab results, so... there you have it.

[vegta12]

I think this match up is kind of tough for yukari because of that damn bull, from the matches ive played i kinda just run around and watch the animal and throw arrows to try and get hit confirms and yes using the wind super is a waste when her persona is there 

[Shinsyn]

After playing BananaKen in a recent session, I'd have to say this MU is not that bad, More than likely; Slightly in S-Lab's Favor. A lot of what mixedmethods says is right, but as Shabrys has a ton of things to deal with Yukari, Yukari has tools that work as well. As stated before, if you know what Shabrys can do, this makes the MU go much more smoother.

 

The round opener is the most important in this MU, but Yukari has a simple answer; 2C.  This forces Shabrys to block herself and the Persona needs to block or, she loses a card, and luckily, you can jump cancel it on block so you can get away. If you happen to hit her, you can combo Shabrys and gain the life lead.  This will force S-Lab to make an approach and you can stop her with a 2B/j.B and if she happens to be entering with j.B, that's a CH and you can get 3K for following up with a combo.

 

Most of your combos SHOULD end in Silence against her. You limit Shabrys from using her Persona based Moves, along with her not being able to burst. Doing this favors you a lot since the Persona does get in the way of Yukari's offense. You can rush her down and open her up easier doing this, be sure to cross Shabrys up in the process. If you bait a DP and she has no meter, punish her. If get it to whiff, HURT SHABRY!

 

When you have the life lead, Shabrys is forced to go on the offensive. Shabrys will try to break your Persona if you're zoning her out effectively so you have to be careful of placing 5D/2D, but if you don't want to risk your Persona, you can throw out Magarua (214C/D) or jumping Magarula and zone from that.  Bombs are your friend here. Shabrys will more than likely approach with IAD~j.B so if she takes the risk of jumping in at you, trigger the bomb and that's a FC if she's swinging.  Pick the combo up since there's so much untech time for it and make it hurt.  If Shabrys is Persona broken, that's the time to rush her down. Just be aware of her normal and approach quickly yet, cautiously.

 

When Shabrys has Titano available, it's quite frankly, her turn to play the game. Look at the count to see how many inputs you have to worry about. If she's low on cards and you have 75 Meter in awakening; challenge Titano with SB Mahagarula, It will take out the persona, and force Shabrys to block and allow you to mix her up. If you have not met these conditions, your movement and defense will be tested. Keep a safe distance from her to avoid a possible cross up from the ender. Even if you defend yourself from her onslaught, but get tagged by the ender, it takes a significant amount of health away from you.

 

Another note: *If you use Mahagarula Super and both Shabrys and Asterius are blocking it, the duration of the Awakening super is HALVED!*

 

Unfortunately, if you don't have a life lead, things get hard. A good Shabrys will lame you out which forces you to go on the offensive by taking risks. If you need to go offensive:

 

- Do NOT IAD~j.A her! She can 2B you for it and get a FC combo that hits for about 3.5K + Knockdown + positioning.

- Be aware of where Asterius is on the screen. If you're not paying attention to the Persona, you can get hit or even CH by something and Shabrys will pick it up for another combo into knockdown and favorable positioning.
- Toss bombs on the screen to create dangerous space in the air so it's risky for Shabrys to approach you from the air.

- Silence her if you hit her and keep the pressure going. Bait the DP or get a knockdown and place a Garu on her to keep the advantage, especially if she's in the corner.

 

So far, this is what I came up with and it's gotten me a lot of success against BananaKen, I'm positive there are other things I may be forgetting since I'm at work ATM, but this is the brief summary I came up with on my break.

[vegta12]

i agree once you have the lead i feel like its game. then you just have to be patient with your space and knowing how to block 

[mixedmethods]

Belated notes:

• Yukari's DP beats the grab unblockable (Massive Slaughter + j.A > j.B).
• Even if you go straight from applying Silence to Magarula, the ailment will wear off in time for Asterius to return and cut the super short.