[P4AU] Aigis vs. Sho MINAZUKI

[mixedmethods]

Please use this thread to discuss and contribute to the Sho "yes, this is the one with the teleport" Minazuki matchup. This post will be updated as information arises.

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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• His Offensive Options

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Defense

• Your Defensive Options

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• His Defensive Options

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Match Summary

[Claxus]

I play a friend who mains Minazuki... I usually play Junpei or Yu, but I've been trying to main Aigis, and I'm finding the matchup very difficult.

 

I really struggle in neutral, since Aigis' normals are very short, and I'm used to characters with good j.Bs. I know j.C is key for her neutral, but more often than not, Minazuki's sheer range and active frames breaks my Persona at any attempt I approach. I'm not sure what to do when they teleport, either. 2B works sometimes, but the lack of head invulnerability makes it risky if I don't react precisely.  Zoning doesn't exactly work against him, and I can't really tone down his offense with 5D or 2D because his range tends to just hit all the way through Athena and to me, or he just teleports or uses Tsukiyomi to break it from behind. Sometimes he'll just mash 5A when I approach and it seems nothing can beat it out.

 

I'm just not sure how to deal with the matchup, despite how much experience I have fighting him, and usually being able to counter all his tricks, Aigis' range and Persona just seems to get completely schooled.

[mixedmethods]

Well, Minazuki is Aigis's worst MU (Anne pretty much summed up why).

Teleport: you can't reliably 2B or go air-to-air to challenge it, so other than "block and accept that he's +4," your choices are a delayed DP (it takes practise to get the timing down) or 2C... I've heard rumours that Anne has a 2C FC combo that's a OHKO against Minazuki. If you react early enough to the teleport, you can also try to dash or roll to move out of range of the actual attack. Make sure you're able to ID skill boost teleport, as Minazuki retains air actions after that one (C and D versions he's committed to the attack).

2D and 5D have a lot of recovery; if you're hit during start-up, you lose a card. So they're not moves you want to mash on when he's in 5A range (... when isn't he in 5A range).

When dealing with his pressure, try to instant block the first hit of his sweep. On IB, his sweep becomes unsafe, so you can hop + C to land a CH j.C. (Be very careful to let go of 2 after the hop or you'll do j.2C.) Otherwise, you generally have to hold a lot of Minazuki's shit, as trying to poke out isn't going to work if the Minazuki is even halfway competent (out of range), 5A isn't going to work (again, range), and strings as simple as 4A4A > 5C crush Fuzzy Jump. And then he can command throw you. If you're in Awakening and you catch him hitting a button, you have Heavenly Spear; SB is approximately 5f start-up, so as long as he's committed to something, it's a FC and a chance at getting out of the corner. In Orgia, Orgia backdash isn't disabled on wake-up; if you have the gauge, don't be afraid to use it to get out of his pressure... just make sure you can actually make something whiff and/or don't backdash into a persona move.

[Claxus]

Thanks for the advice. I've gotten a little more used to it. Mostly just accepting I have to play more defensive than ever against him, and focus on instant blocking and waiting until he tries other methods to break my guard. Orgia backdash helps a bunch, too. I did end up mostly just DPing his teleport if not blocking, but that's kind of iffy sometimes because of the forced mode switch. With 5D and 2D, I meant more in neutral, it's just he has so many options to bypass the shield it makes it kind of pointless. So it's mostly the neutral game I struggle with, I rarely feel like I'm playing at my own pace. But I find that it's not that bad if I find a moment to go into 22A Orgia and just forget conserving, and burn meter to boost around into a good opening or bait.