So I use Kim but there’s a lot more hisako players out there so I’m looking for some Perry best practices because the recovery time seems roughly similar although I haven’t specifically checked frame data to compare. What are some good fundamentals anyone wants to share with Perry parry? Again not necessarily in a Kim versus Sako matchup… just generally when do you see success using Parry in your experience
Well, Hisako and Kim have functionally different parry abilities, as does Arbiter (who only gets a parry during Instinct) so they have different uses.
Usually, if you get a heavy knockdown on a player somehow, and you notice they do a lot of stuff on their wakeup, like invincible reversal dp, wake up mash jab, etc., then don’t be afraid to take a guess on them based on their patterns and go for it.
Also, depending on your range away from the opponent, like not point blank, maybe a 1/4 screen away, your enemy may try to throw out a longer range normal fishing for a hit into combo. If you watch old school SF3 matches, you’ll see plenty of people doing these kinds of “footsies” games, hoping to get a stray hit or two for that little bit of extra damage or setup. It’s no different on KI, people do footsies just the same, and the closer you get, the more likely it is to happen. If you play enough, you start to develop intuition on these kinds of strikes, and those can be good parry moments, and no enemy is capable of punishing every empty parry. You just gotta balance it out and not do it too often or risk becoming predictable.
Unlike Hisako, Kim’s parry works against projectiles (most of them). But all of Kim’s parries grants her a dragon as a resource, and Kim with dragons is much more dangerous than on her own. At close range, a parry can stun them for combo opener, but even parrying at a distance on a fireball provides a valuable advantage to build up her dragons and to go in for heavy offense.
Jump ins are also a great way to use them, because I think it grounds them for combo (Hisako’s does anyway), but this is where smarter enemies will start mixing up with empty jump ins.
Kim is also fortunate enough (I think) where her parry beats both high and low attacks, whereas Hisako has to parry accordingly based on attack height. So a little less pressure (I think), so at the right distances, crouching MKs usually have incredible range to poke the opponent with, so you may have some success trying to parry an opponent going for those low pokes.
Overall, as you go from point blank next to your opponent, to about 1/2 screen away, the likelihood of needing parry, or getting a successful parry diminishes. There are always exceptions, but this is a general guideline because the closer you get, the enemy goes usually from specials and long range pokes to shorter range normals that are also quicker. Those quick normals are probably too risky to really go for, with a good exception being on wake up. Usually on wake up from hard knockdown, most opponents are kinda antsy to want to get in a counterattack and it’s usually fairly easy to see coming.
I would also try practicing them a little as anti airs and getting your timing correct, as you’ll kinda want to wait a little late on their jump in to parry.
I’ve played a good bit of Hisako, but not much Kim, so that’s the best I can honestly muster. I’m sure there are those with more expertise and intuition on the matter, but that’s what I’ve learned thus far from my time with Hisako.