Chai Xianghua matchups

Someone earlier was asking about an X vs Setsuka match up, so I thought I'd just share my knowledge. My bro and I play Soul Calibur very well (offline of course). He mains Sets and I main X, and I have come to learn a few things.

Like someone said before, Sets is excellent at pressuring and if you block too much, your SG will diminish.

Use high attacks like 4K, 6K and 6B sparingly, because most of Setsuka's moves tech crouch because of her two movements 236 & 214, and if you whiff, you will get Umbrella punished. Along with X's lows, use them sparingly also. Setsuka's mid attacks beat out X's, and Sets can cover good range with b:a. If the Sets player uses her A+B counter alot, be aware of X's vertical attacks and make use of SXS, leaving different time frames between the cancel and the execution out of SXS. They will most likely go for a counter, so set them up.

Don't EVER lay on the ground as X against Sets, because Sets has a crazy wake up game. Sets will throw you in the air if you're on the ground and combo your a**. Setsuka beats out X vertically, but Setsuka's horizontals and lows are predictable and that's where X comes in. Also, take advantage of X's ability to evade verticals with 1B+K, B+K, 66A+B, and her parry/GI game, Which is great at faking Sophie punishers.

Setsuka has many strings that end with a horizontal (44B A, 6A A, 66B A) and if the Sets player decides to throw them out, X can auto-GI the 2nd horizontal hit with 4A+B. Other Sets move that X can 4A+B GI includes the 2nd hit of: FC3BB, Umbrella (yes it GI's the umbrella),

Xianghua can also punish certain Sets moves with a low grab on reaction:
11A, 3A, 11K,

Also Set's 33_99B covers good range, so it's nice to use X's 44B+K every once in a while to retreat in hopes of a parry to tech roll, low grab tech trap. As for SXS, I say use it sparingly if the Sets player is well aware of X's move set, for the stance can be stopped with 2A.

Considering range, I don't think X has a range issue with Sets. Overall, I'd say that X can definitely hold her own against Setsuka. It wont be extremely easy nor extremely difficult. X has the tools to help her play defensively and moderately offensively, plus she has her mind games and mid/low mixups to play off of.

One more thing: Never try to punish Sets with one of X's high's unless you are absolutely certain the next move is not going to be a JF or even regular umbrella. Hope this helps.
 
Concerning Xian vs Setsu:

I dont have any experiences in this match-up (except for some online matches, but they don't count ;)), but I would agree with almost everything you said moua64.
Against 66BA (but no good Setsu uses this move in a fight), I wouldn't 4A+B, but FC 3B, because of the damage.
You can also 4A+B Setsu's 1A:A. Block the first A and then let 4A+B go. Don't know whether there's any stronger punisher, maybe iFC 3B.
Generally, I'd do Step B as well, but you have to be careful not to run into some counter hits which hurt A LOT.


But my REAL intention for this post was the matchup Xian vs Asta. :)
With X, I have always problems against our golem. This pushback and this damage are quite annoying.
Well, I think 44B is absolutely useless, cause Bullrush >>> 44B. 1B+K is an option, but delayed Bullrush will take it anyway. You cant always rely on iFC 3B, too. So I'm a little troubled against him.
What do you suggest? How to fight Asta with Xian?
Need some infos about it, to prepare myself for the German Nationals where I'm going to face MANY MANY Astaroths (and I dont wanna always switch to Ivy, but make it with my Xian ;)).
Thanks in advance.
Greets, Kalas
 
Yea...44B would be a bad idea. X is faster than Asta and I found the most success by applying her many pokes. I try to avoid her stance game because many Asta players use that pause to bullrush you. I always wait after the first bullrush because they might throw or they could just...go for another bullrush! Sorry if this is a bit too general. Will give a specific one a bit later.

I still would use 1B+K since it can poke him out of bullrush. Will test further of course.

Okay so more stuff...

Knee is obviously unsafe, punish on block with AA

Command throws: JI if you're crazy/good. Otherwise, it's basically situational but 634B+G is the nasty one since it can lead to many bad things. Ringouts, wallsplats...stupid amounts of damage. If he wants to do that, you can 3B+K him or any TC move. Just be prepared to break B a bit. Of course there are those A throws...

4A: Kills step. Kills step. Safe as well! If you go AA, eat ch Knee. I'd just go with good ol' BB after blocking this. Or use a move that TC (3B+K...among others) to make him pay.

4B: Safe, puts you in crouch...though a bit far to be crouch thrown. Play it safe or step it...though he can just 4A you for your troubles.

I would still use iFC3B because it's safe and has good push back...mind the i there, lol. Linger in crouch and get tossed.

There is more but in my sugar/caffeine induced state, I can't focus, ugh. More later!
 
Yea...44B would be a bad idea. X is faster than Asta and I found the most success by applying her many pokes. I try to avoid her stance game because many Asta players use that pause to bullrush you. I always wait after the first bullrush because they might throw or they could just...go for another bullrush! Sorry if this is a bit too general. Will give a specific one a bit later.

I still would use 1B+K since it can poke him out of bullrush. Will test further of course.

Okay so more stuff...

Knee is obviously unsafe, punish on block with AA

Command throws: JI if you're crazy/good. Otherwise, it's basically situational but 634B+G is the nasty one since it can lead to many bad things. Ringouts, wallsplats...stupid amounts of damage. If he wants to do that, you can 3B+K him, stuffing any options he tries after a safe move *coughbullrushcough*...beware though! He can step it and hit you with 22/88 B...though that seems to be the case if he had enough pushback/positive frames to commit to something. He could also step and toss you so...yea. Duck too much and eat knee.

4A: Kills step. Kills step. Safe as well! If you go AA, eat ch Knee. I'd just go with good ol' BB after blocking this. Or use a move that TC (3B+K...among others) to make him pay.

4B: Safe, puts you in crouch...though a bit far to be crouch thrown. Play it safe or step it...though he can just 4A you for your troubles.

I would still use iFC3B because it's safe and has good push back...mind the i there, lol. Linger in crouch and get tossed.

There is more but in my sugar/caffeine induced state, I can't focus, ugh. More later!

Why would you ever sit and wait after a bullrush, it does not give Frame advantage even at max range and full charge. X is one of the few character that don't have to feel pressure from a blocked Bullrush take advantage of it. Your X with a 11 Frame Jab and a 15 frame mid, you should not be waiting unless the asta realizes that your gonna to interrupt him and starts Gi'ing, and then he is in serious trouble.

And Ji'ing a grab? Your going to react to a 13 frame JF grab? Then you should never ever get hit my any lows not even X 2k, block it on reaction everytime. If you fighting Asta you should be buffering B break esp against walls. Once you break it enough we will be forces to use the weaker grab option, also if asta is in grabbing range he is in your playing field. You should be pressing him with fast poke and frame traps and forcing him to want to space out from you, illumination his grab game, so X grab game is very nasty as well, we should want you out of his face at all times.

If someone is SS happy 4k is much better than 4a imo, not only because its -2 on block and has superior range than 4a, but if 4k hits your get a guarantee 3b follow up plus ground game pressure or you can dash in after 4k and set them up from a low grab tech trap. Plus 4k is alot faster, and even if 4a hits it pushes them to far away and guarantees nothing. Yes 4k is a high put there in the middle of a step. 4a give them to much time to step guard
 
JIing a command grab? That was complete sarcasm. I'm completely aware you should be inside poking him to death, it was stated up there.

Right, try AA after a blocked bullrush, eat another bullrush. If he knows you'll attack, he can GI and good luck with the followup. Better just to see what his tendencies are. He is safe after bullrush.

Asta's 4K is better as a SS killer as opposed to 4A? More range? No.

Some of that info that I posted needed correcting however.
 
JIing a command grab? That was complete sarcasm. I'm completely aware you should be inside poking him to death, it was stated up there.

Right, try AA after a blocked bullrush, eat another bullrush. If he knows you'll attack, he can GI and good luck with the followup. Better just to see what his tendencies are. He is safe after bullrush.

Asta's 4K is better as a SS killer as opposed to 4A? More range? No.

Some of that info that I posted needed correcting however.

I was referring to X's 4a and 4k. My point for bullrush was that you should be pressureing him, he is safe but you have the advantage and in his face, why are you sitting there waiting? Your showing the asta player that your afraid and he can start grab mixing you up. You should be doing something. 44b 1 b+k, 2k, ect anything to keep him honest. Of course you mix it up, maybe wait sometimes or do low this time or do a slow attack if you anticipate a gi ect..
 
I'm aware you were referring to X's 4A and 4K but my original post was stating Asta's tools and how you can deal with them.

Why wait? It's safe and pushes you back. I already noted you can 1B+K him out of bullrush. 44B against Asta after a blocked bullrush? You're asking for trouble. Go low, risk bull rush/low throw (If that's possible. Will test). In my experience, play if safe after a blocked bullrush. This is all in regard to a blocked bullrush. I'd prefer to just sidestep it or just keep the pressure on him so he can't really get it off. He will bullrush you but I love to limit the times he can and just frustrate the player into doing unsafe stuff.
 
Remember when I was doing a study on Ivy? I just realized I never finished! I'm studying Coil Stance right now and the notable moves I wanted to look at included:

214B
A+B, A+K
B
1B, B+K
6B
3A
A, A+K
4B
33A
33B
22_88B
WS AA
3B
1A
6A,K/A+K
6A+B

Did I miss any? Only thing I'll say for now is that she has great movement in this stance, great mixup (Since she can switch to her other stances after every move) and punishes darn well. Oh did we mention great soul gauge damage? Will explore later...
 
I think you missed CL 66A. it's a high that catches step iirc

anyway, a+b, a+k sometimes misses against X. she gets put out of range for the last hit, so if you're blocking it correctly, it's pretty easy to get a fc 3b.

and 214 can also give you a free fc 3b, but it's tricky since it's max range and ivy can sometimes back dash out of it.

a, a+k can be ducked on reaction if you're looking for it it think, her a,a can so i a,a+k should be duckable too.

22b leaves her at minus frames so X's 2a should beat her's

same with 33Bbbbbbbb

6a, k the second hit can be ducked, but if you block it I think ivy has + frames
6a, a+k, the last hit can be ducked for a fc 3b
same with ws a,a i think

ws a+b can be punished on hit with 3b if you're in range iirc

all the other moves I'm not sure about.

haha, maybe i should test this stuff out before I post next time
 
That and 66BA, thanks.

From what I tested as well, after 22B, it does seem like her 2A beats out anything Ivy tries after a blocked 22B except 9K, lol. So thanks for that. As for 33BBBforever, if I mash out the B afterwards Ivy seems to be safe enough to block or GI. Probably doing something wrong there so I'll keep trying.

WS AA, yea you can duck it after blocking the first two hits...I think.

6A,K Duck the second? Duck it all for fun! The Other variation, you can duck the first and last hit but not the second.

66A does catch step but unsafe and high so it's possible you can hit her with iFC3B...not sure on that one.
 
not sure if its been posted yet but while practicing with X against Kilik i found that you can crouch throw him out of the first part of asura. so we have a couple of options against asura with this info and 4A+B. not sure if the throw is actually a crouch throw or a back throw as i don't remember but will check again and post.
 
Looks like a back throw to me. And yes I will confirm it seems to work. If this is consistent enough, good find.
 
cool i thought it was a back throw but i did it last nite and i've slept since then so lol. anyways with this find then no part of asura is safe against X as a move in general except as a auto GI. the more i play against Kilik with X the more i think she has the advantage in this fight. she has lots of great stuff to counter his arsenal of moves.
 
after you block mitsu's 2k b, what's the most damaging option? so far, i've gotten 25b, 44aa, 3b+k but I was wondering if there was something easier/more damaging.
 
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