Before I get 100 people in here telling me Mileena doesn't need buffs, please read this first. I am not asking for a safe 50/50 launcher! I am asking for a tool that is 100% punishable on block and fits her high risk high reward arch type.
Here is my proposed buff along with my reasons as to why it would round out the character in all three variations:
1) Make her Low Sai + on hit (around +5 to +7), while keeping it punishable on block. (high risk/reward)
2) Make it available in ALL varations.
Whoa whoa whoa, all variations, am I nuts!?
Just check out this breakdown for all three which I have spent time in.
Piercing
By far the most competitively ready Mileena variation. This variation DOMINATES the other two as far as usage and for good reason. She has access to low sai to low profile projectiles, has greater range, and in general is much easier to jump in and play. (you don't have to worry about positioning reversals as much as ravenous)
The only issue with piercing is that every single person is now learning that after blocking the lows in her string (mind you the ex overhead and the low portions are a 50/50) to stand up and negate all of her offensive pressure. Most of her strings at the end do leave her negative with the exception of 123 (which is high mid mid).
Well what will the + on hit low sai do? Plus on hit low sai adds another dimension to her mixups. It's not going to give you a combo, but it could guarantee you a d4/ex overhead mixup. For instance. Her 214 string which is high low oh is currently one of her main mixup strings. If we introduce the plus on block low sai her mixup potential turns into 2 -Ex Roll for a combo, 2 - Low Ball roll for a combo, 214 for the overhead ender or 21~low sai for the + on hit non comboable ender. The follow up to this would be a d3/d4 check, ex roll, or a string check. All of the options above end her pressure if guessed correctly, and in 3/4 of those situations nets you a full combo punish. Fair no? The plus on hit low sai simply gives her a way to maintain momentum.
All of Mileenas strings are quite slow in regards to other characters. She has her fastest high (2) at 10f and her fastest mid b1 (11f). She isn't going to get any mileage out of her one string overhead which is over 30f of startup.
You can see how this will help her neutral and pressure game tremendously without having to alter ANY of her normals.
Ravenous
By far the largest benefactor of plus on hit low sais being added to the variations.
Ravenous is an enigma to me. We have this great tool (low pounce) which we can use after conditioning opponents to block low...except we can't really condition opponents to block low AND use it in the neutral.
Some of the tick throw setups to actually land the pounce are:
d1 (11f)
d3 (10f)
f4 (12f)
2~tick (10f high but the next hit in the string is a low. The best mixup she has for pounce)
F12B4
B12
Now, the problem is. On all of those options the opponent literally has no reason to ever be blocking low. You can't condition them to. Even off of her poke tick setups, if you hit, the pounce whiffs, if it's block the opponent just has to counter poke as they normally would. There is no threat of the pounce. With the exception of 2~low pounce, you are never in a viable position to land the pounce. Even if F12~pounce tick throwed it would help tremendously, but it doesn't. I have no viable way to keep someone blocking low during a combo and have the pounce connect. The fear of EX ball is to great.
Well, what will plus on hit low sai do? Plus on hit low sai gives me a conditioning tool to FORCE opponents to start blocking low. For instance lets look at F12b4. The low hit in the b4 will force an opponent to block low, however afterwards they are free to start pressure or simply stand block and blow you up for attempting the pounce. If we added low sai into her mixup potential, the opponent now has to respect the option that at any point in my strings I could cancel into low sai and on hit be at plus frames or on block get blown the fuck up. It is an option to open up the pounce which would greatly aid the variation.
So instead of the setups above, you could have:
F12B4~low sai into another pressure string.
F12B4~Ex roll
21~low sai into pressure string
21~4
B12~low sai
B12~pounce (B12 becomes a great neutral tool)
etc.
Her whole game gets opened up and the character is allowed to breathe.
Ethereal
Ethereal while suffering from other problems gains from this as well. Being able to cancel into either the sai (which would force opponents not to press buttons) or the tele to get away/in would help her tremendously as well.
The low sai on hit+ would give her a F4/ex roll mixup or allow her to maintain block pressure into teleport run aways.
The low sai would also give her stronger zoning option within the variation. She wouldn't be just limited to a high projectile and could low profile projectiles being tossed at her while zipping around the screen. It would round out her variation and make it a hell of a lot more viable.
Those are my thoughts on why + on hit low sai (punishable on block) added to all of Mileena's variations would fill in her hoels and create a MUCH more well rounded fair and balanced character. She still has no safe 50/50, she is still high risk high reward, it fills in the wholes that pounce needs, it opens up more Ex ball mixups, but everything is still a hard read.
What do you think? Is this change fair and reasonable?
Is it not?
@colt Would you please consider?
