@IRM @SC_Yin @Saitoh @Hot Rod Dave and anyone else with a good understanding of Maxi in SC6.
Hey guys, so I'm working with a YouTube content creator called
@Scallywag-93 to make beginner introductions guides for SC6 and one of the videos that's being worked on is a introduction profile of each character to hopefully get it out near or on release date.
Looking just to get abit of info from you guys aswell to ensure the Maxi part of the video is accurate.
Please could you answer these questions: (doesn't have to be in detail)
1. His stand out strengths?
2. His stand out weakness?
3. Any important stand out moves and why these are important?
4. Easy/Intermediate/Hard in terms of execution?
5. Easy/Intermediate/Hard in terms of gameplan and complexity?
6. Overall archtype / what kind of player the character will suit?
Thanks again.
I'm not on the list of people you said but i do know Maxi pretty well (SCIV 8way maxi mod, SCIV UK tourny player, SCV Hater etc) i think some of the older members might vouch for me (at least i hope so lol).
I did a basics of maxi post a little while back. It needs a bit of updating as more and more gets discovered, but you might find it useful.
https://8wayrun.com/threads/maxi-general-discussion-the-dandy-of-the-seas.20063/post-765238
Please read that post it give a good breakdown. After you have read that I'd say the answers go something like this.
1) Maxi is mainly a mind game character he has 6 stances that you can swap and control and will change every 0.2 seconds, and all of them have a whole plethora of moves. His strengths come from having options at most points to take your moves in to a different stance causing a different move than expected, this can be done from natural shifts, forced shifts (pure soul loops) or held buttons (which force different stance). This requires a good Maxi player to know all the options for a maxi as well as what the enemy has to counter. You must think ahead and have the enemy scared of the basic strings to be effective. He has some good damaging combos and a lot of guard crush options as well as a great ring out game. He can apply pressure very well once he is "in" on a character and his CE is a great whiff punish and can also be used to extend combos.
2) His stances are also his weakness, whilst in this game you do get some auto GI properties you do also have to understand that you cannot go direct to block from a lot of moves you have to cycle through one more stance before you can guard. This can leave an inexperienced player in poor situations with either the wrong stance or no available guard, as with his strengths this means the Maxi player must have knowledge of all of Maxi's moves and then the opponents moves. Another one of maxis Weaknesses is obviously range, he has some closing tools but getting in on a particularly rangy character can be a really painful experience, even for people that are used to him.
3) Probably the most notable of maxis moves is 6A+B it is his go to punish, its fast and tech crouches under highs from very early frames. other moves of note are:
33B series (33B~BL, 33bA~RC, both are good to close distance especially 33bA and have good combos).
22_88A, again a ranged CH fishing move that leads to his biggest combos.
Withering lights stance, pressing B+K in any stance will enter Withing lights, this stance has auto GI properties vs all vertical attacks and has a fast 2 hit low, a strong 2 hit vertical and a lethal hit horizontal after auto GI it is one of the safer way to end a move that has left you in stance when you don't really want to be.
4[A+B] slow guard crush that causes auto launch on block
I would say his pressure stance will probably be right outer (RO) as it has good tools for catching opponents and keeping them on their toes.
4AbAAB catches all step and is 80 ish damage combo.
4) Execution terms i would put Maxi in maybe the intermediate tier. Whilst you can button mash maxi and get wins if you face someone with knowledge you are going to get absolutely destroyed. On the whole i would say he isn't the most technically difficult character to play with regards to inputs (he only has a couple basic just frames (22KK:K B+K
B
A and they are not really required to play him effectively) where is execution skills are required are using his Pure Soul Loops which will require some use of timing especially if you are using for multiple shifts or some of his slides might be considered tricky but you cannot really compare him to someone like Setsuka where you had to have a lot of just frames down to be able to effectively play her.
5) game play complexity i would say he is one of, if not the, most complicated characters in the game, you must know all his moves, what stance they lead to and from as well as any variations that force different options. You need to know when to apply pressure and how to work your way in. Learning Maxi is probably one of the most daunting tasks for a player to fully learn, I have head Voldo players (another very complex character) say that they don't understand Maxi. He has his basic no stance self then has 6 other stances (Right Outer, Right Cross, Left Inner, Left Outer, Behind Lower, Withering Lights) each with its own moves, each of which can be changed with his pure soul loops. you need very fast reaction times and thought process times.
For example you a basic 6A this leads to RO, you have to see what has happened before and this time, was it CH if so 6A~ROAK is combo, did they block it, if they did block what did they do last time, did they block the ROAK follow up or did they duck it, if so is it better to ROB this time to catch it, did you catch them with a ROB last time and if you did should you use the stance change at ROA~BL to do BLKK a delayed low Kick, did they try and counter with a vertical, should you stop with B+K~WL and try to catch it. Every move has countless potential for variation and it all depends on the person you play, the way you want to play, they way the match is going, every little detail even down to where in the ring you are as Maxi has great ring out potential.
6) In my opinion He will suit the strategy based player, he is a pressure character but only when you have the knowledge behind him and you like to mind game the enemy, He is defiantly not for someone that just wants to pick a character and have an easy time. I don't want to put people off as playing Maxi is fun and rewarding but to really play Maxi takes a long long time to learn and a longer time to play effectively, I have over 4000 hours in SCIV Maxi and I'm sure there were still things that i did not know and with this version coming out its almost like starting over. Another thing worth noting is that whilst he is a "legacy" character his moves have been moved and altered so if you try and perform a Maxi staple (A+B) from older games you wont get A+B you expect, you will get his standing "universal" guard crush, his old A+B is now his 6B+K so whilst your legacy knowledge of Maxi might help a little you are going to have to re learn where the moves are you want to perform.
"It's Not Enough"
