[P4A] Yukiko vs. Akihiko

[MikelAL93]

Discuss the matchup between Yukiko and Akihiko here.

Matchup Summary

Yukiko's Tools

Her 5B/2B/JB Fans: Yukiko can use her 2B fans to counter against Akihiko's j.C Persona attack and even her 5B or JB fans against his D Persona attacks. Fans can even end Akihiko's Kill Rush followups if it doesn't connect to you.

Dia: Yukiko can only protect herself from two of Akihiko's projectile attacks, Maziodyne and Earth Breaker. She can also use it to bait against his C and D Persona attacks, Kill Rush, his DP, and even Assault Dive.

Agi and Maragi: When Akihiko's Kill Rush is in the position of your A or B Agi, you can detonate it easily to prevent Kill Rush from happening. Place it accordingly. As for Agi, you can use the detonated pillar to counter against his j.C and D Persona attacks.

Akihiko's response to them

Her 5B/2B/JB Fans: Akihiko can easily weave, crouch or counter against her fans. Just watch how you throw them, it will help once you know the pattern of his weaves and webs.

Dia: Akihiko can easily shut down Dia with all of his moves, even his Persona attacks because they are all physical.

Agi and Maragi: Akihiko can easily evade Agi with his weaves and webs.

Akihiko's Tools

Kill Rush: Akihiko charges in and throws a fury of punches once he reaches the opponent, regardless of their vertical position. A has low distance but faster startup; B has longer distance, and more un-tech time; and SB covers the most distance and more un-tech time than the B version. This move can be followed up with Ducking, Corkscrew, and even Boomerang Hook.

Webbing/Weaving and Ducking: These moves gives Akihiko upper body invulnerability, so her 5B and 2B fans are rendered useless against this attack.

Maziodyne: Akihiko's full-screen lightning attack is annoying to deal with, it is unsafe on block and will paralyze Yukiko if she makes contact with the lightning from this attack.

Earth Breaker: An unblockable instant kill, if you make contact with this, you are screwed.

Yukiko's response to them

Kill Rush: 2A can easily shut down Kill Rush. Adjust it accordingly because it will help you on your zoning and keep-away games.

Webbing/Weaving and Ducking: Because these moves have upper body invulnerability, 2A can easily shut these things down, as with Kill Rush, adjust it accordingly to improve your zoning and keep-away tactics.

Maziodyne: Summon Dia to protect her from this devastating attack, it will also heal her while it is active. Remember to break Akihiko's Persona, it will prevent this move from happening and will give you a better chance to rush in on him. This same tactic can be applied for Earth Breaker.

Earth Breaker: See Maziodyne for more information.

The verdict of this matchup

While Akihiko's attacks cause great damage, this matchup is all in Yukiko's favor. Zoning is Akihiko's weakness and will make him much less of a threat from full-screen, 2A shuts down Kill Rush almost easily, but you should adjust it accordingly. Dia can instantly protect her from his full-screen lightning and instant kill attacks. Unlike other characters, all of Akihiko's standard moves do not require his Persona.

Once he gets into awakening mode, you may have to respect Akihiko from full-screen or from any big distance, and thanks to Maziodyne, he will be much more dangerous. If you make contact with it, you'll be paralyzed.

[gli]

This match-up is definitely in Yukiko's favor. Zoning is too strong against Akihiko who doesn't have much threat from full-screen. Only in Awakening do I find myself respecting him from that big of a distance. However, once he gets in he is definitely dangerous.

2A stuffs Kill Rush (I think that's what it's called... 2A can low profile under it). So while you are zoning you can also feel out when your opponent wants to get in with this. Adjust accordingly.

[Superkenon]

Just from preliminary impressions, Akihiko does have trouble from a distance. On the other hand, he seems to have health for days, so I (playing as an Akihiko) found I could afford to suffer some hits when attempting to close the gap. Then it's suddenly a bad day for Yukiko.

I think it is safe to say that this matchup hinges on how well Yukiko keeps control over the range. Naturally her 236C/D is a key component of this.

[bbq sauce]

stuff I learned playing a shit load of games w/ sogos (unban sogos!)

general/obvious

If he has meter, EX kill Rush (i think it's this one? I'm not familiar w/ move names yet) can blow through fans at certain distances. On IB when he did it predicting fan throw I was able to 2A him.

If he has awakening super he can do it on reaction to fans or any persona attack. if he has 100 meter just respect him when he's on the ground because full screen super > RC is coming.

Dead angle out of it if he's close, just to keep him honest. But keep in mind that universal overhead can SA through it.

His game plan is obviously to get in on you. To do that, he has to sac some life here and there, and he has a good def modifier/high health or w/e. Then it's the hard part. When dealing with his pressure you have block, BD, roll, jump, back step as your main options. you might be able to mash 2A out of certain set ups on IB, but, I can't say for sure yet, until I test some stuff. generally just mix up how you escape. don't give him free pressure/mix up. and don't get scared.

My game plan as of now is to try and maximize off every hit, but most importantly end with a B-Agi to knock him away > safely up my fire level and go back to zoning/being annoying. The higher you up your level, the more you convert off random confirms and even consequential small hits like, random agi releases/maragis add up faster, which makes life a lot more diffcult for him as the match goes on.

Once you've got a corner knockdown on him > unblockable xN, occasionally baiting BD/awakening super/etc.

[Thelo]

One thing I've found pretty useful to keep him out (and this goes for a bunch of matchups really) is midair A Agi. That move has a deceptively good hitbox near the bottom! I time it such that the Agi barely catches the head of the opponent as he rushes in, then hold A to let the Agi stay there if they didn't rush in. This puts the fireball just at the right height to cover both air and ground approaches, which is pretty frustrating for Akihiko as he doesn't have good ways to force you to block and erase the fireball. Then you can use B Agi / Maragi / Fire Boost / Fans / D moves at your leisure, protected by the A Agi's fireball.

Stand C is also really good against Akihiko's approaches, I mostly alternate between stand C and neutral jump -> midair A Agi at round start.

[Thelo]

A fun zoning trick with fans is to throw fast fan -> slow fan (6B4B) to cover the maximum extent possible. The first fast fan locks him down before he can jump, then the followup slow fan gives you plenty of time to prepare the next phase of your zoning (and sometimes works as anti-IAD once in a while).

[Robawtninja]

Dude what is webbing for Akihiko? Spiderhiko.

[choysauce]

i think a key for this matchup is how you deal with aki's pressure when he does get in.

i heard that his sweep is not cancelable on block so you have to be patient enough to wait for this or the overhead or throw to get out of his upclose pressure. and then make sure he stays out.

[744Dante]

This matchup is in Yukiko's favor but only slightly in her favor. Akihiko really doesn't have a answer fullscreen against Yukiko's pressure without taking a risk or making a good read and he has to burn meter in order to make himself safe with he does something really reckless to get in. I always use Maragi and 4D in my blockstrings to push him away and create space to start zoning or I would just IAD j.B . Once he's in awakening mode this is where he becomes very dangerous because he can take way more risks then before and then once he's in then this matchup becomes very difficult. I recommend not using DP a lot in this matchup because without burst you will more than likely be dead or close to death just make sure not to get baited when attempting to DP. Once you land a DP start trying to keep out and push him away but be careful because after a DP he can EX corkscrew to get right back in so just watch out from that. Also if it's not meaty Akihiko's Maziodyne will outbeat Yukiko's Maragidyne so I wouldn't throw that out while he's in awakening unless I know I can make it safe.

Don't get counter hit by j.C that move can be annoying to deal with at times and if it lands it leads into massive damage but since the start up is slow a well placed fan can outbeat it. Another move that can be somewhat annoying is j.B and weave

A key thing for this matchup is to adjust to the Akihiko player as well see how he reacts to your zoning and learn his habits and use them to your advantage and to stop his momentum from getting started. Once he gets in you will have to find a way to escape his pressure or you can die quickly and once you escape you have to keep him out. Also take advantage of all of your hits and get as much damage as you can.

To be honest I think this one of the fairest matchup in the game aside from Akihiko's damage there not much I can complain about when it comes to this matchup. Both players will have to play the matchup well in order to win Yukiko has to have strong zoning and spacing while Akihiko has to make good reads and be patient in order to get in it's pretty fair on both sides and represent both characters very well.

[Pyry Von Quies]

In my opinion, having fought my fair share of Akihikos both good and bad, this MU is very slightly in Yukiko's favor. I read on the opposing thread that Dacidbro claims this MU is very easily in Aki's favor (due to a concept match vid where Team Aki beat Team Yuki 9-7), but I really don't see how he even got to that conclusion lol.

That's not saying I'm downplaying his claims completely, though.

This match is heavily dependent on reads. Fortunately for us, it takes a lot less work for us to do than Akihiko. When you have him from afar, this is pretty much smooth sailing for you since he has little options to close in on you with--but don't get sloppy and just start throwing out 5BB, 3D>5C>2C, Maragis, etc. in a nonchalant manner, Akihiko can (and will) capitalize and use (EX) Dash or super jump to gravitate towards you. Sometimes, if they're feeling bold and if they have meter, you can expect an EX Corkscrew which is a very, VERY unsafe move on block for them and a free combo for you stemming from 2A/5A. I find that most Akis use EX Corkscrew in an attempt to dodge projectiles and land a powerful blow on Yukiko, but I find this rarely happens and instead it does exactly the opposite.

Midrange is kind of dead heat. Ideally you want to steer clear of him with a back j.5B/j.3B, and be extra careful of what he might try to pull off. You also want to be careful of what certain moves to throw out at this range, because most of Yukiko's attacks have some poor recovery, and if Aki dodges them, she's in grave danger. If Akihiko comes at you with a jump dash 5B, an evasive roll should work just fine, as well as against his j.5C. If he dashes towards you, a simple 5A shall work in your favor. For an EX Corkscrew, just block it and begin your assault after he is left wide open. Dia is also a viable option for all of his rushdown tactics so feel free to use them if an opportunity presents itself. Be aware, though--some Akihikos I've noticed will try to bait your Dia with a jump dash but no 5B and instead block it, proceeding to shoot your life bar to shit, so try not to Dia as much when he's in the air.

Unless you're like me and like to randomly close in on Akis, I think the only time you should ever be at close range with him is in the corner. I mean yeah, there are things of Aki you have to respect, like his DP and roll and supers, but with proper distance you can shut out most of his attacks and rely on your longer ranged attacks (5C, 2C, 2D, etc.) to force on the defense and swallow the jagged hard pill that is your pressure. If the role is reversed, though, you're kind of in a tight spot. It's quite dangerous because they know you want to Dia or burst, and boy do they look out for that. If rolls don't seem to help your situation, a risky thing to do is to take a hit and let them start out about 2 or 3 hits into their combo, then burst when they proceed to initiate a move in their combostring they can't quickly recover from (Aki's 5AAA, j.5B) and welcome him to full screen hell. For an even riskier read to save the burst, you can attempt to read their moves and Dia before their hit lands on you, and you'll still be in the same position.

If Akihiko is in Awakening, you should take that into mind. He has Maziodyne now, and that is a threat to your zoning abilities. What makes is worse is that on block, it helps Akihiko by putting him on equal ground with you (cancellable with OMC) and it automatically beats your Agidyne and Maragidyne. Once again, Dia can protect you from this. Otherwise just block and if he cancels and approaches you, just do your best to defend yourself from his attacks and get away from him when given the chance.

As much as I love to advocate other Yukiko players to use Fire Boost in your matches, against Akihiko it really isn't needed unless you want to match his damage output in which you need a solid Lv. 6. Not worth it lol. Fire Break is good to use, too, to disrupt your pressure strings and catch him off guard. Dia may be your friend, but it isn't your crutch. Do not use it incessantly, as Aki players will catch onto this. You should only use it when you know it's going to work, like his dashes or poorly recovered attacks.

If you take nothing from this, the main key to success against Akihiko is distance. The more distance you have, the more better of a position you are in of seizing this match. Even Yukiko herself says it to Akihiko when they fight ("Stay away!" She says to him in her 5AAA hit against him). Good luck and have fun! :D