Videl
General Tactics
Videl is a rushdown character that can switch between being evasive and aggressive depending on the situation. Equiped with strong solo pressure, a high number of mixup options and extremely strong lvl 3 okizeme, she can become a nightmare to block while her defensive tools make her a threat even when she's blocking. Her combo structure is unorthodox but she can do some serious damage, rarely needs assists and has excellent corner carry and good meter gain. She also has multiple ways to stop the opponent from zoning her with 5S and 6H going through ki blast property moves while jS can stop approaches and even beats superdash. On top of that 236H and j.236H give her great mobility both offensively and defensively to run away from an opponent. These tools make her a difficult character to approach in neutral but also very difficult to keep away. She will really shine if her team provides her with assists and some meter.
Team positioning
Point
Videl point can work but isn't as effective as most standard point characters. She usually struggles to reach her full potential because she truly becomes scary when she has some meter to spend to be able to threaten her opponents with 236H, 214H or her metered reversals. As a result she becomes a point that might be at a disadvantage against points that don't require meter to function while also not providing enough meter for the rest of her team because she will be using it herself. However if she manages to win neutral though she will absolutely open her opponents with her pressure and mixups. Her Dodge followup can also be used to tag in an other character which is a much stronger version of doing reflect > tag, this can be strong way to "safely" save your point and bring in a fresh character. Overall not a terrible choice but not her best place and easily overshadowed by multiple other characters in this role.
Mid
Easily her best spot, she can fully express herself when given meter and assists. It's very easy to bring her in on a kill or with lvl 3 to force the opponent into a "spark or die" situation. At this point she's in her favorite spot, meter and assists enable her to do almost anything she wants, she can be aggressive and become a pressure monster or play more defensively and punish her opponent for approaching her. 236H and especially j.236H give her amazing mobility, and since she continues to build meter she can continue to put her opponent in lvl 3 okizeme. She also gets access to her counter level 1 which powers up her saiyaman and level 3 damage by a lot. An other interesting thing about videl mid is that she can function as an "emergency point" and replace the point character if took too much damage early in the game or got KO'd. Because she's so difficult to keep away and isn't afraid of zoning she doesn't mind having to move forward when behind even in a 2v3 situation where some more defensively oriented characters could struggle. Absolutely her best position.
Anchor
Generally speaking you want the anchor to be your most valuable assist simply because bringing that character earlier in the match would mean you don't have access to that assist. And sadly videl's assists are good but will rarely be your most valuable one. However she can absolutely hold her own by herself if she needs to. Her already fairly high damage goes even higher with Limit Break and she can even meter dumb with double super combos. Her neutral is still strong solo, especially if you still have meter, 2S can function as a built in assist and you can even do 2S > vanish to catch an opponent about to land. You get a combo if the vanish hits or can start pressuring and even mixing thanks to 2S acting as a delayed assist. Her pressure is also very self sufficient even without assists. Not her best position but she will still function if she finds herself there and using Gohan as an "assist". There are room to be creative.
Picking Teammates
Videl can work with pretty much every assist in the game but she still has a few preferences. Pop-up assists could be considered "slightly unoptimal" because it forces them into an air combo which doesn't deal a lot of damage with her. Barriers actually don't do much for her as she's usually very safe and they don't protect her during her more "risky" mixups. She likes having at least one neutral assist to follow/protect her during her explosive movement with 236H and they also work well with her saiyaman calls.
Her A and B assists are pretty good but are very common variations of bardock A and bardock B assists so when building a team you might end up with multiple copies of a similar assist.
One of the most important thing to remember when picking teammates for videl is that her super damage is actually quite low and she likes characters that can make up for that. Pairing her with characters that also have low super damage will result in a team that struggles to finish of its opponents.
Blockstrings
A lot of videl players might feel like they need to mix as much as possible but that's actually not the case. Her universal pressure is extremely strong. Her L buttons have a lot of reach and are great for staggers while her mediums have a uniquely long cancel window (especially 2M) giving her some extremely deep frame traps. 5S is incredibly safe on block giving her a lot of freedom to reset, mix and frame trap. 5H is an other great button, especially when paired with 5S since the spacing can make her 5S + on block. 236X is also an interesting reset point. The frame data might not be advantageous but because of it's multiple followups it's very easy to force the opponent into respecting it. On top of that 6M animation looks a lot like 214L which will grab a standing opponent.
Overall her pressure might look like it's full of gaps but she thrives on making her opponent interact with her and punish them for it. Her frame traps make her incredibly difficult to mash on while she has many tools to punish reflect with multiple moves coming back after being reflected and a command grab.
Okizeme
It's tempting to look at videl's j.2S and use it to cover sliding knockdown okizeme, but the truth is it's usually better to simply use j.H as a safe jump instead. Her j.H is big enough to cover up tech and normal tech and lets you be ready for a delay tech. It also leads into a full combo on hit unlike j.2S. j.2H can be used instead of j.H but isn't an overhead, however it will convert into a combo if the opponent doesn't block after up teching while j.H would simply send them on the ground with a soft knockdown. Meanwhile j.2S can be inconsistent if mistimed, doesn't give you more + frames that j.H and technically can even lose to a well timed delay take mash.
On level 3 okizeme she is almost evil in the corner with multiple 50/50s, and a vast array of options using both universal tools and her unique ones like her command grab. She also has access to the super jump IAD 50/50 where you float jL for a high option and fast fall 2L for the low, both of these hit meaty and the j.L is a safe jump.
Tips and Tricks
- The most important tip is to keep it simple, it's very easy to get lost in the sauce, overcomplicate combos and mixups. But videl is extremely effective when played simply.
- Her flips are extremely overrated as a mixup tool. The flip themselves aren't that difficult to block, offer low reward on hit and worst of all put YOU in the corner if they're blocked. Being +5 on block is nice but except with
some specific setups the post flip situation is actually not very interesting.
- Over mixing isn't very effective. Her unique mixup options work extremely well when used WITH the universal mechanics, for example using both 6M AND 214L together in order to keep the opponent guessing.
Fighting Videl
- Her pressure naturally invites interaction but if the videl player isn't paying attention they will leave themselves open to being disrespected
- Her flips might have invulnerability on startup and act as a reversal but you can still 2H them during the second half of the move.
- For some reason her wake up level 3 with Saiyaman doing a kamehameha is actually safe on block, be careful.
- Her j.S and j.2S have a good amount of landing recovery, you can punish her landing if she whiffs these buttons.
Videl