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Guide - Ethereal TakeAChance's All In One Ethereal Guide - Updated with Yomi Saltface's Summer Jam Matches! 9/2/2015

Genei Jin

Genei Jin

Mortal
i think i'm gonna hop on the ethereal bandwagon.

i was always intrigued by this variation (and mournful kitana but thats another story) before the game even game out yet she was deemed bottom tier and her worst variation.

now with all the new buffs and techs (especially zerroeffects) and this awesome guide, i'm gonna grind it out and make her formidable.

i wish her vortex only took one bar and safer on block but alas, can't have everything.
 
Jeffrey Wolf

Jeffrey Wolf

YouTube: Jeffrey B Wolf
@TakeAChance, as I've said before, thanks for all the Mileena tech you've grinded.

Under the Neutral portion, for A2As, you might want to add that she can combo someone if she uses EN Sais. Not saying it's the best use of meter, plus it's a hella hard read, but it's there. Also, B22 is interruptable and the second hit doesn't move her forward, so F23 can be a bit superior in those areas. Lastly, B22 seems to get beat out a lot more than F23 does, or even B12, so while I definitely like the move, and planned to use it as a staple part of my neutral game due to the frames, forward movement, and Fade options, it often doesn't work as well as I'd like it to.

Just my two cents.
 
Jeffrey Wolf

Jeffrey Wolf

YouTube: Jeffrey B Wolf
It is a bit of a bummer, but since the move doesn't perform as well in action as it looks on paper, I don't think it's that big a loss. Also, since it's only two hits, and it's not the only forward moving string you'll be using, even if an opponent has done their homework, they won't be able to react that fast too often. As for the number of gaps she has, it's fairly standard:

21*U4
B2*2
B3*4
F4*4

On a positive note, B3 crushes High attacks, due to her lowered hurt box, so can be used to net decent damage in a scramble, since most character's fastest string starters are Highs, and when employed as an anti-air it does more damage than Roll based combos.
 
MadeFromMetal

MadeFromMetal

Heart From Iron, Mind From Steel.
Just picked her up a few days ago and I'm already having too much fun. I'm using her as a character to learn hitbox with and its going great. She kind of reminds me of my main man Smoke in the way she can be all over the screen, so it's a nice feeling. Looking forward to getting better with her.
 
ZeroEffect

ZeroEffect

Warrior
Jeffrey Wolf said:
On a positive note, B3 crushes High attacks, due to her lowered hurt box, so can be used to net decent damage in a scramble, since most character's fastest string starters are Highs, and when employed as an anti-air it does more damage than Roll based combos.
Click to expand...
I guess I've seen so many characters with either no gaps or 1 string gap to exploit. Her having 4 strings with gaps, 2 of which are important in 21u4 and f44, is a shame.

I did notice I'd randomly beat out jabs with B3, so maybe that's worth testing vs jab pressure. I can never get B3 out as an Anti-Air though. Maybe it's just my own fault, but it feels way too slow for me at the moment.
 
Jolt

Jolt

Uprise
ZeroEffect said:
I guess I've seen so many characters with either no gaps or 1 string gap to exploit. Her having 4 strings with gaps, 2 of which are important in 21u4 and f44, is a shame.

I did notice I'd randomly beat out jabs with B3, so maybe that's worth testing vs jab pressure. I can never get B3 out as an Anti-Air though. Maybe it's just my own fault, but it feels way too slow for me at the moment.
Click to expand...
I have the exact same issue with b3 as an anti-air. It just seems to either be too early and whiff, or get beaten. Sonyas devilish ji1 comes to mind
 
ZeroEffect

ZeroEffect

Warrior
Afk Skinny said:
Cool thing about Ethereal (last time I checked) if someone try's to armor between B2~2 Vanish's invincibility saves her ass leaving them open
Click to expand...
Yeah but the idea of spending bar just to make B22 safe sounds unnecessary to me. Vanish is so useful in other places.
But I don't claim to be an expert on Ethereal just yet as I've only started trying to develop a gameplan for it.
 
Afk Skinny

Afk Skinny

3D Krusader
ZeroEffect said:
Yeah but the idea of spending bar just to make B22 safe sounds unnecessary to me. Vanish is so useful in other places.
But I don't claim to be an expert on Ethereal just yet as I've only started trying to develop a gameplan for it.
Click to expand...
I feel you on that, but I mostly use it once every so often to say "Hey, I'm not afraid to spend a bar of meter just to make a string safe!" Fortunately for me a good amount of people that I play had that, "oh let her hang herself" mentality, so with blockstrings, fading away and chuck a couple sais, I always had a good amount of meter
 
TakeAChance

TakeAChance

TYM White Knight
I honestly can't see any situation where the gap in B22 could be exploited.

It's 13f. No one can react to that.
 
Jeffrey Wolf

Jeffrey Wolf

YouTube: Jeffrey B Wolf
Delaying the B3 is key if you want to use it as an anti-air.

As for the B22, since she has other options, the gap shouldn't end up being that big a deal.
 
GQJ

GQJ

Noob
TakeAChance said:
Updated The OP With Mileena's True Reset/Vortex available only in Ethereal.

54% 1 bar combos midscreen.
Click to expand...
@TakeAChance @ZeroEffect Thank you for taking the time to make this guide/videos. Ethereal was the variation that I wanted to play with Mileena from the start, but my inexperience prevented me from understanding the strategy behind the variation.

Questions and observations.

the 54% vortex seems deadly, but isn't the f4 mixup unsafe (if blocked)? I understand that certain mixups in the game are risky, but I want to make sure I understand the risk.

Also, I don't know if any one has seen this, and this could be because my reactions are slow, but if you ~EX Fade Towards a "safe string" (as indicated in OP) you will still get caught by some of their reversals (I tested throw with Raiden) unless you hold the fade. I tested this with F23 and F34. The fade has to be held to wait for the reversal to complete. Doing the same thing with "unsafe strings" (e.g., F12B4) will not leave you open to that, and you do not have to worry about holding the fade.

The only time I see this would matter if you made a great read and wanted to punish a safe string (on block) with ~EX Fade Towards, otherwise what incentive is there to EX an already safe string.

Feel free to correct as I could be missing something, and am excited to unravel more about Ethereal.
 
Baconlord

Baconlord

Proud follower of the church of Cetrion
GQJ said:
@TakeAChance @ZeroEffect Thank you for taking the time to make this guide/videos. Ethereal was the variation that I wanted to play with Mileena from the start, but my inexperience prevented me from understanding the strategy behind the variation.

Questions and observations.

the 54% vortex seems deadly, but isn't the f4 mixup unsafe (if blocked)? I understand that certain mixups in the game are risky, but I want to make sure I understand the risk.

Also, I don't know if any one has seen this, and this could be because my reactions are slow, but if you ~EX Fade Towards a "safe string" (as indicated in OP) you will still get caught by some of their reversals (I tested throw with Raiden) unless you hold the fade. I tested this with F23 and F34. The fade has to be held to wait for the reversal to complete. Doing the same thing with "unsafe strings" (e.g., F12B4) will not leave you open to that, and you do not have to worry about holding the fade.

The only time I see this would matter if you made a great read and wanted to punish a safe string (on block) with ~EX Fade Towards, otherwise what incentive is there to EX an already safe string.

Feel free to correct as I could be missing something, and am excited to unravel more about Ethereal.
Click to expand...
You use ex fade after strings to be plus and to remove the gaps in some strings. For instant 21u4 and f44 has a gap in it so you would do 21 ex fade and f4 ex fade. There are some strings such as f14 ex fade that are plus enough to jail into s2 if you time it right. And while the can reversal out of her pressure they have to reverse there inputs and if mileena does f1 then she can beat most reversals and she's still safe if she chooses to just block there reversal.
 
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