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General/Other - Mileena Ravenous Potentially Her Best Variation?

Mileena's Best Variation

  • Ravenous

    Votes: 9 25.0%
  • Ethereal

    Votes: 17 47.2%
  • Piercing

    Votes: 10 27.8%

  • Total voters
    36

D7X

EMPEROR | D7X
This thread is a discussion of our opinions on each variation. With my opinion I am NOT saying the other two are bad or far behind. Every variation covers different MUs.

After the ex Roll nerf, I found Ethereal and Piercing to be a lot less scary. I just felt people respected OH attacks a lot, expecting that ex Roll leading to great DMG. It may be me, but the ex Roll provided her with scarier mixups especially in F12B4, 21, F44, and low sai in Piercing. I have seen many pro players use these strings into ex Roll but now I see it less. I just block low now not being afraid of the 10% roll. Unless using another bar to get the launcher, I have not found a reason to use it. Even in Ethereal she needs the bar for the ex fades so spending 2 bars on around 28% is useless. F3 is a great tool, but it is very reactable and slow. I realize Piercing and Ethereal rely on spacing and mind games more and overwhelming the opponent and makibg them impatient, but Ravenous can do the same, and is MUCH safer. Her pounces are very overwhelming and safe. Ravenous does not need that ex Roll when she has the pounces. Her DB4 catches people blocking low off of some strings. Her pressure is very solid too. Ending in DB4 extended, if the opponent pushes a button they will be punish the DB3.

Overall I think Ravenous is stronger than the other two.

Ethereal - Best pressure out of the 3. I honestly think Ravenous is on par or not too far behind. Her pressure is true with meter which makes sense, and Ravenous' pressure is mainly used meterless. Ravenous is also very good with mind games like Ethereal

Piercing - The best zoning out of the three. Of course, Ravenous has good zoning too, just not AS good. She gets her b12, a great forward advancing stagger. I feel Ravenous is better due to her mixups again. Piercing in my opinion has the hardest time opening people up out of the three in my opinion. But it trades with her great tools and staggers and great damage. Ravenous has her db3 to use in the neutral, taking up a good amount of space. F2 is also an option. A forward advancing mid. With Piercing's damage, you need a good neutral to open people up, while Ravenous plays it safer and plays with the opponent. Her damage from her pounces add up... A lot.

Conclusion - All of her variations are very good. I feel as if Ravenous does better over all. Ravenous covers the best mixups and is the least meter hungry and gains bar very quick. Piercing covers counter zoning and Ethereal covers traps and mind games. Ravenous covers these very well too, even if it is not as strong as the other two, plus all of Ravenous's up sides.

Remember this is my opinion. I am NOT a Mileena expert and this is from what I think. Please correct me and discuss your opinions

@A F0xy Grampa @SaltFace NS @Wolverine32 @Baconlord @leoj89 @other mileenas

I want all of your thoughts :p
 
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x TeeJay o

Canary Cry Gapless Pressure
Very Nice Overview. I Personally Think Piercing Is Better But I Do See Your Point On Ravenous. It's Fucking Annoying
 

Skedar70

Noob
I think Ethereal is the best just because she got to keep a 1 bar sort of launcher (ex fade). The other two are very good also. I think Mileena is still the best character in the game since she has tools for every situation.
 

Damaja325

Stylin' & Low Profilin'
Its a toss up between ethereal and piercing. Ethereal has ex fade which is possibly the best defensive tool in the game. However, piercing is a very defensive variation as is and is still very strong. I don't agree with piercing having the hardest time opening u up at all. A good neutral and footsie game rewards the player highly. As for ravenous, its prolly her best mixup variation and the high pounce is great for closing space and making minus strings less minus, but mixups aren't really integral to her gameplan imo. Ex roll needing two bars isn't a big deal either if u have good meter management. But for real, mileena builds meter like a tank so needing two bars for a full combo ex roll isn't really a problem.
 

TheGabStandard

The anticipation is killing me
Pretty good overview of the variations.

In terms of which is the best variation there is so so little between them that all three of them have a valid case of being the best.

As for your points, if you play those who relied on the Ex Roll mixup then yes Piercing and Ethereal seem less scary, but in actuality they are still pretty scary. Whiff any normal against Piercing and B1 is almost a guaranteed whiff punish into 30-33%, on top of the zoning and space control she has.

Ethereal still does decent meterless damage (30ish%) and the use of Ex Fade to get out of frame traps, corner pressure, or as a OS for armoured wakeups makes it invaluable. You just need a strong neutral and good meter management to get the best out of it.

Ravenous has the mixups if you want to play offensive, with even High Pounce being a decent footsie tool as well. it can be very annoying and overwhelming, forcing mistakes from an opponent.

I guess due to how my style of play has changed in this game (from a very offensive player to more defensive/countering) my preference is more to Piercing/Ethereal than Ravenous but there is a valid argument to say any one of them could be the best
 

Ninjaguy446

all I have is the Green
Yeah using low pounce off of strings to open people up instead of MB roll would be great if only you could tick throw off of moves that would actually be useful. :confused:
 

God Confirm

We're all from Earthrealm. If not, cool pic brah.
i dont think that there is a single combo starter in the game that doesn't get whiff punished by EX Fade. Possibly Sub's B2. I think that variation is very strong.
 

YoloRoll1stHit

Publicly Educated
I'm trying to find the Foxy's Ethereal and Ravenous downplaying comment lol
IMO, 3 variations are equally good and can do pretty the same in every matchup. Picking whom is just personal preference
 

Eddy Wang

Skarlet scientist
Judce (Angolan top player) seems to have a thing for better characters, he was showing me yesterday how annoying ravenous is lol.
 
Reactions: D7X

D7X

EMPEROR | D7X
Pretty good overview of the variations.

In terms of which is the best variation there is so so little between them that all three of them have a valid case of being the best.

As for your points, if you play those who relied on the Ex Roll mixup then yes Piercing and Ethereal seem less scary, but in actuality they are still pretty scary. Whiff any normal against Piercing and B1 is almost a guaranteed whiff punish into 30-33%, on top of the zoning and space control she has.

Ethereal still does decent meterless damage (30ish%) and the use of Ex Fade to get out of frame traps, corner pressure, or as a OS for armoured wakeups makes it invaluable. You just need a strong neutral and good meter management to get the best out of it.

Ravenous has the mixups if you want to play offensive, with even High Pounce being a decent footsie tool as well. it can be very annoying and overwhelming, forcing mistakes from an opponent.

I guess due to how my style of play has changed in this game (from a very offensive player to more defensive/countering) my preference is more to Piercing/Ethereal than Ravenous but there is a valid argument to say any one of them could be the best
I do realize that dont rely on the ex roll. Ravenous still has an amazing neutral and F2 is also nice. I can see your points
 
Ravenous is a beast online, with those random frame advantages, I have seen so many noobs mashing pokes after her -3 move, and beating my Kitana 6f d3, damnnnn online :)
 
Reactions: D7X

Wolverine32

PSN: ADM_Wolverine
This thread is a discussion of our opinions on each variation. With my opinion I am NOT saying the other two are bad or far behind. Every variation covers different MUs.

After the ex Roll nerf, I found Ethereal and Piercing to be a lot less scary. I just felt people respected OH attacks a lot, expecting that ex Roll leading to great DMG. It may be me, but the ex Roll provided her with scarier mixups especially in F12B4, 21, F44, and low sai in Piercing. I have seen many pro players use these strings into ex Roll but now I see it less. I just block low now not being afraid of the 10% roll. Unless using another bar to get the launcher, I have not found a reason to use it. Even in Ethereal she needs the bar for the ex fades so spending 2 bars on around 28% is useless. F3 is a great tool, but it is very reactable and slow. I realize Piercing and Ethereal rely on spacing and mind games more and overwhelming the opponent and makibg them impatient, but Ravenous can do the same, and is MUCH safer. Her pounces are very overwhelming and safe. Ravenous does not need that ex Roll when she has the pounces. Her DB4 catches people blocking low off of some strings. Her pressure is very solid too. Ending in DB4 extended, if the opponent pushes a button they will be punish the DB3.

Overall I think Ravenous is stronger than the other two.

Ethereal - Best pressure out of the 3. I honestly think Ravenous is on par or not too far behind. Her pressure is true with meter which makes sense, and Ravenous' pressure is mainly used meterless. Ravenous is also very good with mind games like Ethereal

Piercing - The best zoning out of the three. Of course, Ravenous has good zoning too, just not AS good. She gets her b12, a great forward advancing stagger. I feel Ravenous is better due to her mixups again. Piercing in my opinion has the hardest time opening people up out of the three in my opinion. But it trades with her great tools and staggers and great damage. Ravenous has her db3 to use in the neutral, taking up a good amount of space. F2 is also an option. A forward advancing mid. With Piercing's damage, you need a good neutral to open people up, while Ravenous plays it safer and plays with the opponent. Her damage from her pounces add up... A lot.

Conclusion - All of her variations are very good. I feel as if Ravenous does better over all. Ravenous covers the best mixups and is the least meter hungry and gains bar very quick. Piercing covers counter zoning and Ethereal covers traps and mind games. Ravenous covers these very well too, even if it is not as strong as the other two, plus all of Ravenous's up sides.

Remember this is my opinion. I am NOT a Mileena expert and this is from what I think. Please correct me and discuss your opinions

@A F0xy Grampa @SaltFace NS @Wolverine32 @Baconlord @leoj89 @other mileenas

I want all of your thoughts :p
I honestly think all the variations are relatively equal with piercing only slightly trailing ravenous and ethereal from my time with all 3 variations. They all have their own strengths,

Ravenous having tick throws (DB4 is technically a throw and ticks off her low pokes and several normals and a string.) with db4, which also acts as an 8 frame overhead, which is great as a counter poke and can condition your opponent to block standing making it easier to open people up with f4. Her offense in Ravenous is more explosive and allows for plenty of creativity and mix ups. I choose ravenous over piercing and ethereal when I would much rather be on the offense then holding the opponents offense and trying to play defensively, giving up her defensive tools (b12, and the ex fade) for the mix-ups and overall annoying offense of ravenous. Some of these matchups are hellfire scorpion, cassie and smoke.

Ethereal has the best defensive options of the three with ex fade being able to exploit any gaps in strings for a bar still is huge in this version of the game, she can also os gaps in her own strings with ex fade. Similarly to her armor os with ex fade, if someone tries to armor the gap in b22 for example, doing b22 ex fade can os their armor for a combo. Ethereal is also her most mobile variation and is almost impossible to pin down seeing as mileena almost always has a bar. Matchups where I favor ethereal would be matchups like HQT to escape pressure or setup type characters like Cyber Sub or Hunter Predator.

Piercing has the best zoning and the best "footsies" game with b12, although her offense is no longer as strong with b1 being a high, it still outranges a plethora of normals in the game and is one of if not the best aa normal in the game. I use piercing purely as a zoner and defensive in matchups like GM Sub, Kotal, and BRC and Jax, where zoning them out and keeping my distance is what I am trying to do in the MU. Piercing is my counter pick for characters who struggle against zoning and need to come in.

All of this on top of mileena's great base tool set, including all her godlike pokes, AA's, great damage, meter build, low profiling ability and female hitbox.

As much as Id like to give a definitive "_____ variation is the best mileena variation" I can't unfortunately. I still believe they're all great and all have their own uses. Mileena is one of the few characters who is viable across all three variations.
 

Cashual

PSN: Cansuela
Can anyone think of another character in this game where there is legitimate argument to be made that all 3 variations are the "best"?

Sort of says it all, lol.

On a serious note, can anyone direct me to an in depth ravenous guide or even a very long set of saltface playing ravenous in the current version of the game?

I really like the gameplan of ravenous and the concept of the pounces. Sort of a hybrid command grab character with easier execution, relative safety and a lot of other tools that make mileena great. Plus, I like her visual design and animations.
 

UGL Preon

The Casual God
Can anyone think of another character in this game where there is legitimate argument to be made that all 3 variations are the "best"?

Sort of says it all, lol.

On a serious note, can anyone direct me to an in depth ravenous guide or even a very long set of saltface playing ravenous in the current version of the game?

I really like the gameplan of ravenous and the concept of the pounces. Sort of a hybrid command grab character with easier execution, relative safety and a lot of other tools that make mileena great. Plus, I like her visual design and animations.
Ermac. Potentially Liu Kang if you're willing to make a stretch. That's about it.
 

Cashual

PSN: Cansuela
Ermac. Potentially Liu Kang if you're willing to make a stretch. That's about it.
I see what you're saying to an extent, but I don't think anyone would argue seriously that MOS is ermac's best variation across the board. Not in the current version of the game. I mean maybe one or two variation diehards would say so, but in terms of a meaningful consensus? I don't think so.

MOS is good in some matchups as a counter zoner with soul ball winning trades in a big way and is easy to pick up and apply 50/50s with, but at the highest level that's not really viable (I'm not saying MOS isn't viable, im saying he's not better than his other two variations and that the unsafe 50/50 play style isn't viable at the highest level). And honestly, ermac's base tools make him an effective counter zoner as is with tele on reaction to almost every projectile in the game, and hover and stomp.

Basically, the other two variations have tools to do what MOS does, if slightly worse, but on top of that have other better tools. Ermac doesn't need to rely on 50/50 into a capture move to be successful with all his other tools.

That said, I do think ermac is very good across all 3 variations.

Liu kang? Nah. Not even forever elite would argue dualist is his best variation. Just not with you on this one.

Jason maybe? Big maybe. But a contender.

Kitana? I don't think too many people would say mournful is her flat out best though. They are all good and as a character as a whole, she is great for a character loyalist because her variations do compliment each other very well. So mournful is better than RS and assassin in a few matchups, but don't think anyone would seriously argue mournful is just the best hands down.

Back to my other question though: can anyone help me with a great ravenous guide beyond just combo inputs? Or even long sets at the highest level featuring salt face or someone else dirty? Thanks.