Edited to reflect recent events and the fact that I haven’t faced a Thunder for a while
I only have 3 characters to get ranked achievements with now, if my memory’s correct. However, Thunder players (might even be constantly facing the same guy) is making my KI career an absolute joke. How?
Jumping, using heavy punch/kick (probably punch but can’t be sure) hit confirming and then getting a full combo on me. Even when I try to use tremor to zone with TJ, daggers/qcb+k to anti-air him, or pretty much anything else, he nearly if not always gets the drop on me and can win with minimal effort because thunder’s damage is so high.
Any tips to deal with this so that I can move on with my KI career more easily?
That said, TJ and Mira have difficult-to-apply AA options. With TJ, though, you’ve got a bunch of options for tricky trip-guard punishes, with Powerline Cancel, Backstep, and Roll. He’s also got his Uppercut and Tremor for niche AA options - and if you’re being made a fool of by jump-ins, I would recommend not using Tremor to zone so much, as you’re just encouraging the jump-ins, and thus your own demise.
For Mira, you’ve got cr.HPxHP Reaper for a recap, but the cr.HP can be tricky to time. Practice practice practice on that front. You can also Mist-out to attempt a trip-guard punish, but that’s a little trickier and commits to the blood expenditure, where if you fail with cr.HP you don’t necessarily commit to the Reaper expense.
And for Maya, you’ve got the right idea. You just gotta make sure those DP’s connect. Her DP’s all have pretty significant differences in angle, with LK being the steepest and HP being the most shallow. Again, practice makes perfect.
Mira and TJ have somewhat wonky anti-airs, but both can probably work well enough against all but extremely deep jump-ins from Thunder (TJ can also roll under jumps). Thunder has one of the more aurally distinct jumps in the game, so with a bit of practice you should be able to tag his jump-ins. Maya’s down+HP is one of the best AA’s in the game though, and you should probably rely on that if your leap kicks aren’t doing the job.
Thanks for keeping me in check, again… 
- I don’t mean to insult everyone so I’ve edited the post to reflect that the player or players don’t necessarily have no skills, but the fact that they can due to Thunder’s high damage output appear to defeat me with minimal effort.
Also, thanks for the tips, I’ve got Mira’s achievement now so that’s fine. Just Maya, TJ and Rash to work with and the maya tips will certainly help. If Maya’s C.hp is anything like Mayas, it’ll be good to tag Jagos and any other happy jumpers who try to ambush me. Does C.HP with maya use a dagger though? Just wondering while it’s in my head.
1 Like
Thanks for the tips. The thing is, I can see Thunder jumping around, but tagging him thus far has been problematic to say the least. Not impossible, just very difficult. Thanks to your tips, Maya shouldn’t have a problem, TJ might be able to work with something and Rash… well I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.
It’s been a while since I played with Maya, so I can’t recall which dagger(s) it requires, but yes - you do need daggers for her cr.HP AA. On the upside, her cr.HP with daggers is notably more reliable than Mira’s, so if you were having success with Mira’s, it’ll be a cakewalk with Maya. It doesn’t drop the dagger on use, you’ve just gotta be holding it/them.
Yeah, Maya’s down+HP requires that you have both daggers. You don’t lose them or anything though for doing it.
You’ve got Mira’s achievement so I guess you’re good there, but it occurs to me that her anti-air embrace would also do the trick. It doesn’t do any damage, but restores a significant chunk of silver life, and would probably condition the opponent away from jumping.
Rash’s down+HP is also a serviceable anti-air, and shadow big boot shuts down like half the screen if you have the meter and really want to land that AA.
1 Like
All 4 characters you mention have recaptures, too. If you can bait them into jumping to catch them in a recapture, they may double think spamming those jump attacks.
I know TJ has one but I can’t seem to get it to work reliably. Didn’t know Rash had one that would allow for proper combo continuation. Does Maya actually have a proper recap? I know Mira has one but couldn’t get that to work reliably either - always got hit even if I tried to read the jump as it happened).
Sorry for putting all those questions in a line, just felt like it would help
TJ’s Shadow recap is pretty reliable if you have trouble recapping from his normal Tremor.
To recap with Maya, I think she needs both daggers, but it’s just her F+HK during a a dash/roll.
Mira’s can be tough because of the spacing. You need to be a little further a way than it seems, since she moves forward such a large distance when swinging the scythe.
Out of those 4 players, I’d say Mira’s is the hardest for me personally. Rash is the only character I don’t use, so I can’t say much about his. I thought it was just his double-ax handle punch thing though.
I’m completely offended… all of this jumping and not one gripe about Sadira!
When I see a post about issues with characters jumping, I expect at least one complaint about Sadira. 
Then again, I’m sure you will probably create an entire thread just for having to deal with her.
If that’s what you want, I’ll do it. Reason I don’t mention her here is specifically as it was Thunder who was giving me problems. Sadira, depending on who I’m playing and my opponent’s strategies as Sadira, can go either well or horribly badly in a small amount of time. That’s not for here though
The only one of those characters whose recaptures can be used defensively or semi-reliably in neutral is TJ with his tremor. Mira gets her recap off AA down+HP, Rash gets his off his own offensive juggles, and Maya’s is typically also used off an offensive juggle or in pressure. You won’t be getting raw recaps with any of those characters except maybe TJ, and even his has to be done on a read as opposed to reaction.
Pssshh. The easiest one on your list. Tongue out of the way (yes, I know it doesn’t work on wakeup). LIght Boot is amazing, I’ve won a match almost exclusively using that to anti-air. Shadow Boot is basically a get-out-of-jail-free card. Down+HP is your best bet for a combo. I’ve found that Back+HP also works if spaced well.
1 Like
My best TJ advice would be trying to time the light tremor on Thunder’s landing to get a hard knockdown… Annoy your opponent with tremors as much as they annoy you with the jumping. You can also get in a shoot toss if you know that a Thunder is spamming the the jump with heavy kicks while airborne (a tactic I see alot from Thunder players).
Yeah, Thunder jump spammers give me absolutely no trouble COMPARED to Sadira.