Question - Mileena Mileena's weaknesses?

[Sulfur]

^ Piercing has a strong fireball game, only helps her wreck the zoning types even harder.
Very situational variation though.

 

[TheGabStandard]

Just my opinion though. I'm not even good at the game. I even think her variations from best to worse are Ravenous, Ethereal then Piercing. Unless piercing gets changed, it will forever be last for me. I think Ravenous and Ethereal are almost even with the slight advantage to Ravenous.

I'm quite curious to know why you think Ethereal is better than Piercing.

 

[Lulzlou]

I'm quite curious to know why you think Ethereal is better than Piercing.

Other than the low projectile thats -8 on hit, faster b1 and a bit more damage on some of her normals, I do feel like Ethereal has better sitituational tech.

There are a lot of strings you can and safely cancel into Fade Towards/Away. Not even a throw can beat it out unless you hold it or use the fade where you stay in place. You can even blow up throw attempts if you do towards fade and quickly punish with 21~roll. You can 123~roll but the timing is strict. If your opponent is aware you know how to use fade, you can simply mix them up with not fading. Walking back and blowing up any button press with a roll or jumping and land a jip 123. I think 123 is her best string to use fade because you can easily hit confirm it into roll or ex telekick for a combo.

I'd put Ethereal above Ravenous if you didn't have to work so hard in a match. It feels like Ethereal has so much more sitituational advantages compared to the other two. Ravenous is just the safer variation out of the 3.

Like I said before, I'm not good at the game. This is just my opinion about Mileena.

 

[TheGabStandard]

Other than the low projectile thats -8 on hit, faster b1 and a bit more damage on some of her normals, I do feel like Ethereal has better sitituational tech.

There are a lot of strings you can and safely cancel into Fade Towards/Away. Not even a throw can beat it out unless you hold it or use the fade where you stay in place. You can even blow up throw attempts if you do towards fade and quickly punish with 21~roll. You can 123~roll but the timing is strict. If your opponent is aware you know how to use fade, you can simply mix them up with not fading. Walking back and blowing up any button press with a roll or jumping and land a jip 123. I think 123 is her best string to use fade because you can easily hit confirm it into roll or ex telekick for a combo.

I'd put Ethereal above Ravenous if you didn't have to work so hard in a match. It feels like Ethereal has so much more sitituational advantages compared to the other two. Ravenous is just the safer variation out of the 3.

Like I said before, I'm not good at the game. This is just my opinion about Mileena.

As someone who has been maining Ethereal I like that you see quite a few positives, just a few things to be aware of.

In addition to Piercing's B1 being faster it has quite a bit more range as well making it her best footsie tool. Also damage wise Piercing hits harder.

The number of strings that can cancel safely to Fade depends on the character you face. Someone like Cassie and Kung Lao have really fast reversals so you will find some strings cancelled to Fade are not safe at all.

Now Fade dodging throws, it is possible to dodge throw attempts and punish accordingly. However, a big problem I have with Fade, especially Fade Towards is the sai. Because you can see where the sai landed the opponent doesn't need to throw. When my friends got used to me dodging throws what they did is see my teleport and wait. Because you can't cancel your teleport you are committed to where you appear next and since the recovery of the move is not great you can get full combo punished as soon as you appear. You might not have experienced this yet but it's something to be very aware of as you play better people.

Keep working with the variation though and hopefully you will find some good stuff

 

[Lulzlou]

As someone who has been maining Ethereal I like that you see quite a few positives, just a few things to be aware of.

In addition to Piercing's B1 being faster it has quite a bit more range as well making it her best footsie tool. Also damage wise Piercing hits harder.

The number of strings that can cancel safely to Fade depends on the character you face. Someone like Cassie and Kung Lao have really fast reversals so you will find some strings cancelled to Fade are not safe at all.

Now Fade dodging throws, it is possible to dodge throw attempts and punish accordingly. However, a big problem I have with Fade, especially Fade Towards is the sai. Because you can see where the sai landed the opponent doesn't need to throw. When my friends got used to me dodging throws what they did is see my teleport and wait. Because you can't cancel your teleport you are committed to where you appear next and since the recovery of the move is not great you can get full combo punished as soon as you appear. You might not have experienced this yet but it's something to be very aware of as you play better people.

Keep working with the variation though and hopefully you will find some good stuff

Yes b1 is faster and extremely good but the negative frames aren't worth the risk. You might as well just throw out a roll, its the same risk/reward lol. If her Frame data wasn't trash then Piercing would be the best. The frames she has to deal with is a huge problem in that variation.

Fade Away does not get blown up by Kung Lao. Cassie can Akimboshot it on reversal but if you read that you can simply not fade away, hold it for a tad or fade towards. Not even reptiles dash can blow it up. When I was talking about fade away, I meant instantly reappear. Holding it is only for reads or mind games. The simple answer to your problem is to not fade towards unless you want to take the risk.

However, I did not say people will get shutdown with what I talked about. You still have to deal with a lot of bullshit on top of the risk/reward she has. Mileena has to constantly fight an uphill battle.

 

[TheGabStandard]

Yes b1 is faster and extremely good but the negative frames aren't worth the risk. You might as well just throw out a roll, its the same risk/reward lol. If her Frame data wasn't trash then Piercing would be the best. The frames she has to deal with is a huge problem in that variation.

Fade Away does not get blown up by Kung Lao. Cassie can Akimboshot it on reversal but if you read that you can simply not fade away, hold it for a tad or fade towards. Not even reptiles dash can blow it up. When I was talking about fade away, I meant instantly reappear. Holding it is only for reads or mind games. The simple answer to your problem is to not fade towards unless you want to take the risk.

However, I did not say people will get shutdown with what I talked about. You still have to deal with a lot of bullshit on top of the risk/reward she has. Mileena has to constantly fight an uphill battle.

I haven't looked at the frame data to see if it has been changed but B12 in Piercing is shown as -20 on block when it's actually -4 so it's faster, more range and completely safe.

As for Kung Lao I found EX Spin due to its speed can interrupt instant Fade Away on a number of strings during the move's start up, though some are still safe. Same with Cassie's Getaway Flip.

Not trying to have an argument or anything, just stating the things I have found out that makes using the variation quite hard compared to the other two.

 

[Yes_Zir]

I play a pretty aggressive mileena. I'd say get comfortable with her combos. She has a couple that are tricky and can mix up opponents, especially with corner pressure.

I don't look at frame data or anything so I get lost there. But my current record in Ranked with her is 238-21

 

[Sulfur]

I don't look at frame data or anything so I get lost there. But my current record in Ranked with her is 238-21

And my current rank is 0 because High Voltage forgot how to program leaderboards lol.

 

[Yes_Zir]

And my current rank is 0 because High Voltage forgot how to program leaderboards lol.

Oh no T-T lol

 

[Sultani]

What is the recovery frames on fade? Because like.... there's running in this game and its immediately cancellable. Forward fade? Why not run instead? Avoid a projectile? Cool. The recovery isnt going to let you wiff punish anyway.

Back fade? Alot of her strings can be poked out of the startup because her best strings are neutral and pokes are faster. Not to mention back dashing has invincible startups so its a better option imo.

With OS blocking in this game, you will get poked out of a string cancelled to fade every time against anyone that knows about it.

 

[Sulfur]

What is the recovery frames on fade? Because like.... there's running in this game and its immediately cancellable. Forward fade? Why not run instead? Avoid a projectile? Cool. The recovery isnt going to let you wiff punish anyway.

Back fade? Alot of her strings can be poked out of the startup because her best strings are neutral and pokes are faster. Not to mention back dashing has invincible startups so its a better option imo.

With OS blocking in this game, you will get poked out of a string cancelled to fade every time against anyone that knows about it.

The only time i can see fade being useful is to escape the corner from characters such as Jax, Sonya and Raiden.

Most matchups though i'd go piercing or ravenous.

 

[Sultani]

I could see it being useful against SZ in the corner sort of in grandmaster.

But i want to test if forward fade just puts you in the clone if he stands right in front of it..

No matter, that matchup is broken since blocked ex tk can land right in the ice clone and she totally ignores it.

 

[Sulfur]

I could see it being useful against SZ in the corner sort of in grandmaster.

But i want to test if forward fade just puts you in the clone if he stands right in front of it..

No matter, that matchup is broken since blocked ex tk can land right in the ice clone and she totally ignores it.

Oh man piercing is the OBV choice against sub, the low sai ruins his iceball when you time it right.
Mileena forces him to move in which shes astonishing at punishing from what i've played- you whiff once and mileena gets free damage.

 

[tatterbug4]

I haven't played much of her other than practice and playing against. She doesn't seem bad but also not great. She is awesome though.

 

[Sultani]

The only thing he can do that isnt extremely risky is F4 xx clone. He can get wrecked for anything else.

I feel like ive considered every option at this point. I hope you guys figure out some things and she gets the bugs worked out and the buffs she deserves in order to bring some synergy to her playstyle, but ive jumped ship.

its too bad.. oh well.

 

[cHAncEman1292]

I think she is a very momentum based character. She is about constantly changing your approach - fireball, roll or tele. I usually spam fireballs. If the opponent replies and has a better projectile game then its time to ROLL. Are they jumping? TELE . Most of her combo finishers put her about mid screen away from the opposition. She's weak up close in my opinion. But that's the price she pays. That and her strings are pretty awful. The name of the game is to frustrate your opponent. Be random. Roll five times. Walk up and grab. Roll five more times.

 

[Sultani]

If i fight against a mileena, i just turtle... then she cant do anything at all.

 

[Law Hero]

I think she is a very momentum based character. She is about constantly changing your approach - fireball, roll or tele. I usually spam fireballs. If the opponent replies and has a better projectile game then its time to ROLL. Are they jumping? TELE . Most of her combo finishers put her about mid screen away from the opposition. She's weak up close in my opinion. But that's the price she pays. That and her strings are pretty awful. The name of the game is to frustrate your opponent. Be random. Roll five times. Walk up and grab. Roll five more times.

I like your approach, but I think it's more important to make your opponent think you're being random while taking calculated risks and reads.

When your opponent thinks you're being random, it's harder for them to catch onto your patterns and you can instead dictate the pace of the match and hopefully annoy them to make mistakes. I definitely don't think a mindless approach is good for Mileena, but if your opponent thinks you're just throwing things out and being risky, then you can make a big read and catch them off-guard.

 

[Sulfur]

If i fight against a mileena, i just turtle... then she cant do anything at all.

I hope you enjoy being thrown, or chipped the f*ck out with sais.

 

[cHAncEman1292]

I like your approach, but I think it's more important to make your opponent think you're being random while taking calculated risks and reads.

When your opponent thinks you're being random, it's harder for them to catch onto your patterns and you can instead dictate the pace of the match and hopefully annoy them to make mistakes. I definitely don't think a mindless approach is good for Mileena, but if your opponent thinks you're just throwing things out and being risky, then you can make a big read and catch them off-guard.

Mindless? No. It wasn't my intent to imply to play her such. Hence "Roll 5 times > Walk Up in grab" . When you play such quick matches, you have to condition your opponent quickly and adapt quickly. I'd actually argue that Mileena's playstyle at its very core is about conditioning and psuedo-randomness. She's a crazy bitch!

 

[Sulfur]

She's a crazy bitch!

But she fucks so good, I'm on top of it

 

[Sultani]

I hope you enjoy being thrown, or chipped the f*ck out with sais.

Well, i didnt mean i wouldnt punish her.

 

[Sulfur]

Well, i didnt mean i wouldnt punish her.

Which character do you main, and what can you possibly do to punish a full screen low sai?

Most characters cant, then when they walk forward I have options
a) Throw more sais
b) Forward 4
c) Ball

and if you're close enough
d) Gamble on the Overhead for a 38% combo if it connects.

 

[pdog305]

Which character do you main, and what can you possibly do to punish a full screen low sai?

Most characters cant, then when they walk forward I have options
a) Throw more sais
b) Forward 4
c) Ball

and if you're close enough
d) Gamble on the Overhead for a 38% combo if it connects.

Also if opponent tries to counter with projectiles of their own you can ex teleport kick for a full combo punish.

 

[Sulfur]

Also if opponent tries to counter with projectiles of their own you can ex teleport kick for a full combo punish.

EX ball is a really solid full screen punish as well.