JAGTHEGEMINI
[12] Conqueror
Hi there.
Just for clarification, I am a former Asta tourney player who is also a passionate Maxi veteran since the early days of SoulCalibur on Dreamcast.
I even mained Maxi n SC2 aka "the good old days". So I kinda know what I am talking about.. I guess. haha
But that´s enough of an introduction, this is about SCVI Maxi and the things which make him a good but maybe not really competitive character in this game..
Sounds strange? Ok then, hear me out pls, this is gonna be rough!
First I´d like to say that this might be, after SC2 Maxi, the safest and probably most versatile Maxi of all time.. at least on paper.
What many people do not get about Maxi is that he is a character which requires almost double the effort other characters might need if you want to be succesful at high level gameplay. Why is that so?
Although this Maxi is safer on paper, in reality it´s a constant guessing game. Even if you are on the offense, you have to constantly behave like you are in a defensive situation due to the use of his 2 auto GI´s out of his stances. ´Cause this Maxi NEEDS his stance game to be a viable character, which was always the problem of this character excluding his SC2 version. But this is a problem many Maxi players should know.. What are the other problems?
Well with each and every knew SC-iteration you have new mechanics. And as always, some characters benefit more from those than others.
Problem number 1: Maxi has, in reality, a subpar lethat hit game.
Lethat hits are the new "go to hipster launcher" in this game and compared to others, Maxi gets most of his lh moves out of his stance game. While some of them look good in theory, like RC K or LO K, the problem is that moves out of stances are almost always not as abusable as standalone moves in fighting games and in Maxi´s case, it get´s even worse since his only REALLY good lethal hit, which is BL B, is gonna get hit by the nerf bat soon. Thus leaving him with a few ok lethal moves in stances and a rather mediocre 3A and an OK 44B lh move.
This generates problem number 2: Maxi has in generell less meter in matches, here is why.
Other chars like Nightmare, X, Ivy, Mina and even astaroth hit far more often with there lethal hit moves thus getting a lot of meter every time. You have to constantly GI or RE the opponent to nullify that difference but in my experience, as a Maxi player you climb an uphill battle to get as much "super" moves as your opponent does due to the missing meter energy.
Problem number 3: Inconsistent wall combos.
Since the introduction of wall combos in SC3, these have been a vital feature of characters who were seen as "competitive" ones.
In SCV Maxis wall combos were in generell consistent and easy to do, but in this game.. It´s difficult.
The consistency CHANGES in certain stages. The forest for example is the worst example of all my wall combo tests.
If you do not believe me, look:
In other stages, the succes rate of these combos is up to 95%, but here it is almost a gamble!
Problem number 4: Moves and certain stances are NOT well thought out
I know this might be a never ending problem for Maxi, but it is rather irritating to see it happen again since one of the battle testers? of the SCVI dev. team was none other than the famouse japanese Maxi player Oosaka. And yet we face the same problems.. not including SOUL CHARGE STATE
LI KK is USELESS since it has NO variation anymore. Just step after the first move on block to Maxis right and punish him!
LI B way to unsafe
LI A anti step, but again extremly unsafe without PSL and a high.
RC B Mid guard crush, good against GI/RE, but is actually one or maybe the ONLY!? guard brake in the game which is NEGATIVE on block.
RC K Ok move.. kinda underwhelming but can be lethal hit and hits mid.
RC AA/AB are good move variations but they do not connect in certain combos like they did in SCV. RCA has either a tiny hitbox or enemies get pushed out to far away after certain moves hit on counter hit like LO B.
Speaking of LO... this is a more complete and well thought out stance.
You have a good mid with LO B
A strong high kick with LO K wich guarantes a combo even on NH
And LO AK, which hits low first and then mid, although dmg. is kinda weak.
RO is kinda OK in this game.
You have the old RO A which is a high anti step move
The old and more or less trusted RO B which is your mid variation which can lead on CH into a nice combo
And the jumping high kick RO K, which gives frames and hits hard
Last but not least.. we have BL
BL B is,, like I already mentioned, until now Maxis best lethal hit move. But that might change soon..
:(
BL KK is the typical signature "low to high kick fear" combo Maxi is so well known for
And BL A, the old and trusted retreat anti step high move
Add these not optimal stances with some really USELESS moves like 236B, 22/88 KKK, 22/88B, 66A, 1AB, wrA, wr B+K(which was awesome in SCV) which are only the tipp of the iceberg. SCVI Maxi has options, yes.. finally you are not always unsafe, but unlike SC2 Maxi, you are FORCED to use the stance game and unlike SCV Maxi, who was unsafer but a REAL powerhouse, you struggle to do damage as easy as other characters like X, Kilik, Groh, Sophie, Asta, Nightmare, Mina and others,
And you have no bullsh*t OP panic button moves like Ivy´s CE, Zas CE, Nighmares armor moves and Mitsus 12 frame CE...
And at the moment, it seems that the SCVI dev. team doesn´t understand what is really off with this character, albeit he IS kinda strong, but imo not really competitive.
If you read all this until now, even if you might disagree, I THANK YOU for your time and commitment.
JAG
Just for clarification, I am a former Asta tourney player who is also a passionate Maxi veteran since the early days of SoulCalibur on Dreamcast.
I even mained Maxi n SC2 aka "the good old days". So I kinda know what I am talking about.. I guess. haha
But that´s enough of an introduction, this is about SCVI Maxi and the things which make him a good but maybe not really competitive character in this game..
Sounds strange? Ok then, hear me out pls, this is gonna be rough!
First I´d like to say that this might be, after SC2 Maxi, the safest and probably most versatile Maxi of all time.. at least on paper.
What many people do not get about Maxi is that he is a character which requires almost double the effort other characters might need if you want to be succesful at high level gameplay. Why is that so?
Although this Maxi is safer on paper, in reality it´s a constant guessing game. Even if you are on the offense, you have to constantly behave like you are in a defensive situation due to the use of his 2 auto GI´s out of his stances. ´Cause this Maxi NEEDS his stance game to be a viable character, which was always the problem of this character excluding his SC2 version. But this is a problem many Maxi players should know.. What are the other problems?
Well with each and every knew SC-iteration you have new mechanics. And as always, some characters benefit more from those than others.
Problem number 1: Maxi has, in reality, a subpar lethat hit game.
Lethat hits are the new "go to hipster launcher" in this game and compared to others, Maxi gets most of his lh moves out of his stance game. While some of them look good in theory, like RC K or LO K, the problem is that moves out of stances are almost always not as abusable as standalone moves in fighting games and in Maxi´s case, it get´s even worse since his only REALLY good lethal hit, which is BL B, is gonna get hit by the nerf bat soon. Thus leaving him with a few ok lethal moves in stances and a rather mediocre 3A and an OK 44B lh move.
This generates problem number 2: Maxi has in generell less meter in matches, here is why.
Other chars like Nightmare, X, Ivy, Mina and even astaroth hit far more often with there lethal hit moves thus getting a lot of meter every time. You have to constantly GI or RE the opponent to nullify that difference but in my experience, as a Maxi player you climb an uphill battle to get as much "super" moves as your opponent does due to the missing meter energy.
Problem number 3: Inconsistent wall combos.
Since the introduction of wall combos in SC3, these have been a vital feature of characters who were seen as "competitive" ones.
In SCV Maxis wall combos were in generell consistent and easy to do, but in this game.. It´s difficult.
The consistency CHANGES in certain stages. The forest for example is the worst example of all my wall combo tests.
If you do not believe me, look:
In other stages, the succes rate of these combos is up to 95%, but here it is almost a gamble!
Problem number 4: Moves and certain stances are NOT well thought out
I know this might be a never ending problem for Maxi, but it is rather irritating to see it happen again since one of the battle testers? of the SCVI dev. team was none other than the famouse japanese Maxi player Oosaka. And yet we face the same problems.. not including SOUL CHARGE STATE
LI KK is USELESS since it has NO variation anymore. Just step after the first move on block to Maxis right and punish him!
LI B way to unsafe
LI A anti step, but again extremly unsafe without PSL and a high.
RC B Mid guard crush, good against GI/RE, but is actually one or maybe the ONLY!? guard brake in the game which is NEGATIVE on block.
RC K Ok move.. kinda underwhelming but can be lethal hit and hits mid.
RC AA/AB are good move variations but they do not connect in certain combos like they did in SCV. RCA has either a tiny hitbox or enemies get pushed out to far away after certain moves hit on counter hit like LO B.
Speaking of LO... this is a more complete and well thought out stance.
You have a good mid with LO B
A strong high kick with LO K wich guarantes a combo even on NH
And LO AK, which hits low first and then mid, although dmg. is kinda weak.
RO is kinda OK in this game.
You have the old RO A which is a high anti step move
The old and more or less trusted RO B which is your mid variation which can lead on CH into a nice combo
And the jumping high kick RO K, which gives frames and hits hard
Last but not least.. we have BL
BL B is,, like I already mentioned, until now Maxis best lethal hit move. But that might change soon..
:(
BL KK is the typical signature "low to high kick fear" combo Maxi is so well known for
And BL A, the old and trusted retreat anti step high move
Add these not optimal stances with some really USELESS moves like 236B, 22/88 KKK, 22/88B, 66A, 1AB, wrA, wr B+K(which was awesome in SCV) which are only the tipp of the iceberg. SCVI Maxi has options, yes.. finally you are not always unsafe, but unlike SC2 Maxi, you are FORCED to use the stance game and unlike SCV Maxi, who was unsafer but a REAL powerhouse, you struggle to do damage as easy as other characters like X, Kilik, Groh, Sophie, Asta, Nightmare, Mina and others,
And you have no bullsh*t OP panic button moves like Ivy´s CE, Zas CE, Nighmares armor moves and Mitsus 12 frame CE...
And at the moment, it seems that the SCVI dev. team doesn´t understand what is really off with this character, albeit he IS kinda strong, but imo not really competitive.
If you read all this until now, even if you might disagree, I THANK YOU for your time and commitment.
JAG
Last edited:
