Melty Blood/MBTL/Aoko Aozaki/Strategy

Overview

Combos

Matchups

Strategy

Resources

Data

Match Database

#MBTL_AO

Gameplay Overview

As stated on the main overview page, Aoko is an extremely flexible character overall with a broad variety of moves for a broad variety of situations. Generally speaking, using her effectively is a mix of fear-based zoning and leveraging knockdowns for orb setplay. Orbs in general help to create pressure or okizeme threats in tandem with her normals or some of her other specials, and though it takes some getting used to using them, they will greatly expand your ability to dictate the pace of the match once you do.

Held Orbs (421X) and Slide Holding

Negative edge orbs (Or "Held orbs", "Nedge orbs", etc.) are foundational to every aspect of Aoko's play, including her pressure, okizeme, and to some extent, her neutral too. It is crucial that you learn how to properly negative edge her orbs. This is a breakdown of how they work.

Doing 421X will spawn an orb at one of 3 distances from Aoko. The orb won't detonate unless no attack buttons (A, B, or C) are currently being held. While on the surface, placing an orb seems like a give-and-take trade where you lose access to an attack button in exchange for keeping that particular orb active, through proper negative edge micro-management you can have access to her entire moveset while keeping a held orb active. This greatly expands your options for pretty much all aspects of her play and allows her leverage the threat of throw combos in addition to giving her somewhat persistent screen pollution that only truly goes away when you get hit or let go.

As a quick sample of what this would look like in numpad notation, here's a corner combo with and without an orb placed.

2A > 2C~C > 236A~A~[A] > tk.236B > 5B > 623B~B > j.236C > Setup.

(421A~[B]) > 2A > 2C~[C] > ]B[ > 236A~A~[A] > ]C[ > tk.236B > 5B > 623B~[B] ]A[ > j.236C > Setup.

Both of these sequences result in the same combo, but one maintains the orb. This is called "Slide Holding". being able to control orbs to this extent is not required to start playing Aoko, but practicing sequences like this will help you get a feel for the kind of negative edge shenanigans that will help you access your entire moveset in pressure and combos, in addition to sneakily swapping which button you're holding when using her other specials in neutral.

Unique Movement and Interactions with Moon Drive

Aoko has 2 airdashes and 2 double jumps. One could say her default movement is comparable to a normal character in moon drive. There are nuances to this unique freedom of movement, however.

• You can freely airdash in the same direction twice, alternating directions, etc. There's no restriction.
• You have 2 double jumps. Your second double jump takes away one of your airdashes. This means combinations like dj > dj > j.66 > j.66 won't work, nor will j.66 > dj > dj > j.66, the last airdash won't come out.
• However, your second airdash has no effect on your double jumps. dj > j.66 > j.66 > dj is possible. As is j.66 > dj > j.66 > dj
• It does not make any difference if your double jumps are super double jumps or not, they function the same way.

When Moon Drive is activated, Aoko slightly bends the rules imposed on the rest of the cast. Here's how Aoko changes in Moon Drive.

• Aoko gains 1 extra airdash that she is free to use however she sees fit. That is to say, you can now airdash in the same direction 3 times with no restriction, unlike the rest of the cast.
• The extra airjump granted by MD consumes 1 of your airdashes, just like your double jump. That is to say, provided you haven't airdashed yet, when you burn your 3rd double jump, you'll still have 1 airdash left.
• Upon activation of moondrive, all of your previously spent airdashes are returned.

This means she's unmatched in potential airtime if she has MD to spend. j.66 > dj > j.66 > dj > MD > j.66 > j.66 > j.66 > dj is possible, for example. So, by weaving her jump cancellable specials into this, sequences like sj > j.44 > j.214[A] > sdjc > j.66 > j.214[B] > djc > j.236B > MD > j.44 > j.44 > j.66 > 214[A] > sdjc are possible. Long sequences like this are more for running away for a timeout than anything, but its a good showcase of the movement ceiling for this character.

Neutral

On the ground, 5B and 2B are decent enough pokes; 5B may be slightly slower than 2B but still has good reach, while 2B gains a bit more range due to a slight slide forward and is a little faster than 5B but tends to lose out to people that like to jump a lot. Farther out than that, 2C and 5C have the most range, and 5[C] in particular can be useful for shutting down air approaches once your enemy is further away than midscreen but should be timed carefully since it shoots at a fairly wide angle and has a fair bit of startup.

In the air, j.A serves as a general quick air-to-air. j.B is one of your workhorse buttons, it acts as your longest air-to-air with a great hitbox for anti airing, and has a slight crossup hitbox to boot. For air-to-ground, you can go for j.C if you want to just reach straight down. j.[C], j.236X, or j.6B+C all have fairly steep angles and change your momentum in some way, but refrain from using j.[C] too much, since you can't MD cancel it on whiff. Using j.236A maintains your current velocity, and j.[C] preserves your horizontal velocity, so be a bit more careful with those two if you're suspecting someone will be especially twitchy in netural. j.236B will always move you backward, as will j.236C and j.6B+C, and if j.236C is shielded you can always try to shield cancel if you think it's needed.

Though it's tempting to use them every single time your opponent is far away, use 236B sparingly on the ground. It has enough windup that it can be shielded on reaction if the opponent is looking for it. On hit, you can cancel into 236C for a knockdown, or use 236[B] immediately afterward to techtrap anyone who techs forward. 6BC is unreactable on the ground but punishable from almost anywhere on the screen if shielded, and has dreadful frame advantage on block. Always cancel it into 236C regardless of whether it was hit/block.

22A is a GIGANTIC anti-air that is active for 6 frames and has a hitbox so large it doesn't fit on the screen, even with the zoomed out fullscreen camera. All the while, it can be converted meterlessly on most hits with its superjump cancelability on hit. Goated move. 22B rarely sees use in neutral as it's more of a pressure tool, is much smaller than 22A, and is overshadowed by 2BC. Speaking of which, 2BC is the goated panic button, it comes out in 10 frames, has a massive hitbox in its own right, has MD clash, etc. Just don't overuse it - running out of moon is bad and getting it shielded is worse.

Do not use 214X like a "Pseudo-Fireball", you'll just be giving away resources for free since the opponent can shield them. Oftentimes the best way to use 214A/B in neutral or at a distance is not necessarily to hold it long enough to get it directly into the opponent's face, but just to place an orb on screen and let it sit as a general threat. j.214X is used to put out a threat at awkward angles and sort of add risk to common approaches in neutral, but how and where you should use them are extremely MU Dependent and will require some of your own experimentation (one day they'll be documented in the Matchups section...) - An example of the utility they can provide to a MU can be found versus Shiki. In midrange, he has a lariat-esque move that goes really far in 236B, and a low profile in 214B/4BC. tk.214X beats 236B at most spacings, and beats 214B/4BC cleanly every time. This restricts his options to approaches that beat the orb flat out while still applying threat to Aoko (6BC), fly over it with his mediocre movement (sj j.C, etc), or to run up and shield it.

j.214[X] can also be used to place an orb while also stalling yourself in the air. It's a godlike tool to mixup your landing due to the backward movement combined with the jump cancel point to continue mixing your landing. Leveraging her extra airdashes with this can make your landing feel impossible to pin down. Depending on the MU you'll either be doing a lot of stalling like this, or little to none (Vlov).

421X is the main crux of what makes a lame Aoko scary. In isolation, 421A is a fairly good pre-emptive anti air you can pop as someone is coming down on you, while 421C is an alright midrange tool with fairly low recovery. Once out, they function as semi-persistent screen pollution that the opponent can't do anything about without hitting you, which will be difficult due to the constant threat the detonation poses. If you can safely get two orbs out and sort of hover around them, you can use your movement and zoning to bait the opponent into a reckless approach, like a spider's web. This is the main strength of Aoko's zoning - each of her options are fairly easy to deal with in isolation, but if she's got a negative edge orb on the field, the dynamic to all of them changes drastically due to the crazy advantage she has during Shield interactions taking place in range of the detonation.

1BC technically has all of the same advantages as 421X, but they can be hit by the opponent's attacks similar to 214X orbs. Don't discount the threat they pose however, since the opponent will be in recovery for using a normal to hit it away you can opt for 236B, 6BC, 623A, etc or replace the orb they just broke with a real 421C to graduate to a standard orb.

Once they're safely out, orbs can be used for a combo extension off throw, netting you around 2.4k~2.5k metered and allowing you to begin snowballing.

Offense

Pressure

Schrodinger's Plus Frames

A common misconception about Aoko's pressure is she's like Akiha or Kohaku in that she forces you to hold dirty mixups and then loops the situation. Apart from CPB setups in the Oki section, this actually isn't the case more often than not. While hard, 4C can be reacted to, or at least anticipated due to its poor range. What makes Aoko scary is a case of "Schrodinger's Plus Frames" combined with the unreactability of throw at close range.

That is to say, If Aoko does a string like 2AA 5B 2C 5C 5A(w), the pressure reset here isn't quite as scary as a character like Shiki, because she's out of 2B range and has a rather slow 2C at 11 frames. If you want to keep your turn without taking risks, you have to special cancel then EX cancel that special for plus frames (For example, 236A > 236C.) instead of rebeating. But what happens when Aoko has an orb out? She can pop it at any time to create a frametrap in situations where that normally wouldn't be possible, so think about it from the opponent's perspective. If you pressed on her minus frames and she detonates, you get hit. If you jumped on her minus frames and she detonates, she can AUB you with 5B/5C after you block the orb. If you DP'd and she just did nothing but wait, you just die. Because of how heavily this situation is weighted in her favor, the opponent decides to respect the orb, and from that she gets back in and resets pressure without detonating it, keeping the threat alive. Get it? Because she has this orb that is entirely disconnected from herself, it's kind of always her turn until the orb is gone, at which point she returns to standard melty pressure. That fear is what makes her so strong however, because pushing the mental stack is what allows 4C, 6[C], and IADs to work. So when thinking about Aoko pressure, think of orb as a tool to scare the opponent into letting you get away with way more than you should instead of something that drastically recontextualizes how each one of her tools work.

Offense

Aoko's midscreen pressure is alright. Without an orb, it's just typical melty pressure, but fundamental melty pressure is always solid. Something like 2AA 2B 5C 5a(whiff) leaves you -1 at a range to jump or IAD over most abare to punish, 5C/2C to whiff punish B-normals, or just redash in for another 5A if they're conditioned not to mash. Throw is always unreactable if you're in range, so 2A > tickthrow, 2A stagger 2A, or 2A > jump all give you data about how the opponent responds when you're in throw range.

Assuming you have it on, you may rapid beat a lot on accident when learning to Slide Hold. If you ever accidentally rapid beat, try 22A when midscreen (-2) and 22B in the Corner (+5), both of these leave you at the right distance to pester with 236A, which in itself has fairly effective frametrap potential with its followups.

236A is mainly used as a "Diet Roa Needle". You can stagger the first hit when you're outside the range of most/all of the opponent's normals (like after 22A midscreen/22B in the corner) and see how your opponent reacts, then start incorporating the second hit as a frametrap, cancelling into 236C for plus frames to buy your pressure back should they not fall for it.

236B is +9 but has 26f startup. It can be used as a pressure reset in the corner on less shield-happy opponents.

4C is +0 on block so the situation afterwards is actually pretty good for you. you can choose to rps 2A, delay throw, or IAD. 5[C] is a 5f gap from B normals, and a 3f gap from 2C, additionally it blows up low shield and travels pretty far forward, but requires a different hitconfirm on crouching or standing hit, so you may opt to use rapid beat 2 for more time to react and confirm.

A note on 6C pressure, while all of them are punishable on paper, they all leave you outside of jab range. This means 6C and 6CC are safe, 6CCC isn't and should be cancelled into one of the two followups, and 6CCCC is punishable with throw so you should buyback pressure with 214C. 6CCC4C is jump cancellable on hit and block, which opens the door to Aoko's IAD pressure.

Aoko has way more options from IAD than the rest of the cast due to her plethora of air actions. Most of it requires a lot of respect to get going, but Aoko can do stuff like j.B > j.A > j.214A > land Throw to create a tickthrow from any IAD height j.B. She can also try IAD j.C > j.IAD > j.BA, which actually combos on counterhit.

Common pressure buybacks are ...236A > 236C and ...623A/B > 214C.

With all of that said basic strings look like
2A dl. 2A dl. 5B 2C 5A (whiff)...
2A dl. 2A 2C 5A...
2A 2B dl. 5C 2C 22A/B...
IAD j.B > j.A > dl. 2A...
IAD j.B > j.A > 214A > land throw...
2A 2B 5B 5A (whiff) > redash...
2A 2B 5[C] 5B [hitconfirm] | (on block) 2C 5A(whiff) | (on crouch fatal) 2C > Big punish.

More specialized strings that see some use are...
6CC > 421A (10F gap that's safe from jabs, plus on trade with B normal, 0 on block, and only ever really bad for aoko if she eats a raw abare sweep)
IAD j.8~[6] > j.[C] > j.AB > dj.BCA > land throw/2A
236A~A~[A] (9F gap, then +0)

Okizeme

This oki guide is going to be roughly divided into each common knockdown with setups for each.

Airthrow

Airthrow Safejumps

3C > AT > 9jc > IAD > dl.8dj~[6] > falling j.C > land > dl.1A...	Midscreen safejump setup.
3C > AT > 9jc > IAD > dl.8dj~[6] > falling j.C~[D] > land > 2A...	Midscreen safejump OS setup.
3C > j.BC > AT > 9jc > w.j.A > dj8 > falling j.C > land > dl. 1A...	Corner safejump setup.
3C > j.BC > AT > 9jc > w.j.A > dj8 > falling j.C~[D] > land > 2A...	Corner safejump OS setup.

Aoko's midscreen safejump can be a bit finnicky but it's the best she's got.

Airthrow Orbs

While AT plus frames aren't enough to give you guaranteed orb oki, there's a lot to be said for placing a held orb on the opponent's wakeup and seeing how they react. Due to your ability to detonate the orb whenever you please, placing a 421[X] orb post-AT (preferably a low AT) creates a pretty good "Fake Oki" situation. That is to say, there's too many options you have to cover to realistically secure pressure every time when compared to just safejumping or spending meter, but having an orb out on their wakeup is so strong that at best, it gives you access to a unique mindgame off AT that no other character has, and at worst it returns to neutral with the threat of an orb right on top of them. Whether it's worth playing this mindgame for oki when compared to the risk/reward of a safejump is up to you.

Typical Metered Enders

623B~B > j.236C > 421X

Here you can set 421X, usually 421C midscreen and 421A in the corner. While it is possible to get a 4C to hit meaty off both these knockdowns, it's pretty hard to do midscreen, so you'll mostly be opting for 2A > 2C to catch backdashes. Depending on the MU, 421C can catch backdash on its own, but versus characters with long backdashes like Vlov it's better to do the 2A > 2C OS because the window to pop the orb is very strict. In the corner, 421A is preferred in spite of its higher recovery than 421B because you can time the orb pop to beat Shield > B if the opponent shields your meaty while still being able to combo 4C/Throw into orb should they get hit. This will be your most common knockdown so be sure to get comfortable with your options here.

High j.C > j.236C > 1BC

The frame advantage with high j.236C varies so just for reference this is about j.BC > sdj.AC > dj8.C > j.236C. This nets you a really easy safejump with orbs intact and can be done at the end of pretty much any combo in the corner, just do 1BC > j.9 > falling j.C. It beats 5f reversals while giving you orb pressure in the corner. Cheap!

Crossup Protection Breaks

6C~dl6C > 236AA > 236C

Here we can harness the power of Dead Apostle Noel to muster up a CPB that is fairly weak to heat but is otherwise is the real deal.

XX > 6C~dl6C > 236AA > 236C > 1[B]C > SJ j.A(w)...	Beats	Loses to	Notes
...Land > 4C > ]X[...	Mashing, 2D, Jump, Backdash, BE Heat	DPs, Heat, MD	Same Side High, BE Heat is shielded on reaction.
...Land > 2C > ]X[...	Mashing, 5D, Jump, Backdash, BE Heat	DPs, Heat, MD	Same Side Low, BE Heat is shielded on reaction.
...Land > SJ > ]X[ > ABD > j.C...	Mashing, Most DPs, Jump, Backdash	Shield, A very select few DPs, Heat, BE Heat.	Crossup, breaks Crossup Prot. See below. Ciel's DP in particular can be troublesome.
...Land > SJ > ABD > j.C...	Backdash, Shield	Very specific buttons, A very select few DPs, Heat, BE Heat	Hard callout for shield where you SJ as if to cross up but don't pop the orbs. DAN 5B and Ciel's DP can be troublesome.
...Land > Meaty Throw > ]X[...	Mashing (If you sacrifice the orb combo), MD, Shield	Mashing (If you wanted the orb combo), DPs, Heat, BE Heat	Hard callout for MD/Shield where you throw and then pop orbs before the opponent's 5A hits you.

There's a lot of nuance to it, but the super basic gist of how the crossup break works is you knock the opponent down, place "Same Side" orbs, then cross them up. If you then superjump over them to be same side again and they are hit by meaty orbs on wakeup while Aoko is on the same side that the orbs were initially placed, they have to block the direction the "Same Side" orbs were placed. If you practice this and you find you can block both ways, the orbs either weren't meaty, or Aoko wasn't on the same side the orbs were initially placed when they hit. There is video of this in the Resources section if this text explanation was confusing and you just want to see it in action.

With that explanation out of the way, this ender doesn't work off every combo and requires a fair bit of untech time so study up on the routes you can/can't use this ender for.

623B > j.214C

XX > 623B > j.214C > 421A > IAD over...	Beats	Loses to	Notes
...Land > 4C > ]X[...	Mashing, 2D, Jump, Backdash, BE Heat	DPs, Heat, MD	Same Side High, BE Heat is shielded on reaction.
...Land > 2C > ]X[...	Mashing, 5D, Jump, Backdash, BE Heat	DPs, Heat, MD	Same Side Low, BE Heat is shielded on reaction.
...Land > SJ > ]X[ > j.8 > j.[C]...	Mashing, Most Metered DPs, Jump, Backdash, Heat, BE Heat	Shield, Most Meterless DPs	Breaks Crossup Protection. Meterless DPs will cause your j.[C] to whiff, then they can recover and punish. It's kind of a weird situation if they manage to block it but you can special cancel into j.214[X] and jump cancel to maintain air options for the ensuing scramble.
...Land > SJ > ]X[ > ABD > j.C...	Mashing, Most DPs, Jump, Backdash	Shield, A very select few DPs, Heat, BE Heat.	Breaks Crossup Protection, see below. Ciel's DP in particular can be troublesome.
...Land > SJ > ABD > j.C...	Backdash, Shield	Very specific buttons, A very select few DPs, Heat, BE Heat	Hard callout for shield where you SJ as if to cross up but don't pop the orbs. DAN 5B and Ciel's DP can be troublesome.
...Land > Meaty Throw > ]X[...	Mashing (If you sacrifice the orb combo), MD, Shield	Mashing (If you wanted the orb combo), DPs, Heat, BE Heat	Hard callout for MD/Shield where you throw and then pop orbs before the opponent's 5A hits you.

Compared to the other one which requires a bit of untech, this one takes a LOT of untech. We're pretty much leveraging the fact that 214C has a ton of untech time and pops up a little bit to get a wakeup that's in the ballpark of ~+105 - ~+108 so we can place an orb, cross up, and run the mix. Very low damage going into this from 2A (~3.4k) but the damage you can slowball from here is pretty good.

Post Throw & Arc Drive

Throw/AD > IAD > j.66 > 8dj.A > falling j.C > dl.1A...	Midscreen Safejump. The whole sequence should be buffered. This beats 5F reversals due to rising dj.A giving you a little less airtime.
Throw/AD > IAD > j.214A/B > land 5A(whiff) > 5A > 5[D]	Finnicky to get used to but OSes both heats. You want to 5D minimum 2f before the 2nd 5A recovers fully or the frame directly after. Questionable usability but it's here for posterity.
Corner Throw/AD > 421A~B/C > Meaty Throw > ]X[	Calls out wakeup MD and Wakeup Shield with a meaty throw. You want to release the orb just before a wakeup 5A would hit you, because orbs go away on hit but their explosion doesn't, so even if aoko gets hit by 5A she gets an orb counterhit and can continue her combo.

Throw and Arc Drive have the same frame advantage, but AD leaves you slightly further out.

(More to be written)

Defense

Aoko's defense is alright. You've got a 6F metered DP in 623C and a low 5A. You're going to want to get very familiar with fuzzy mashing, and all of the vital defensive OSes the game has to offer though.

You're mainly going to be using 2A, 2B, and 5C for abare. 2A is the average low jab and has longer range than 5A, 2B is 7F and functions as a mini Tohno 2C but loses to jumpers. 5B is okay at catching IADs but not stellar, 5C is better but its 10f. Don't use 2C on defense 11f. 2BC is fairly potent for defense due to its size and speed (10F, 9F with MD) and is probably your best moonskill to utilize the clash frames for, not that you should, you'll just get jump cancel shielded.

(to be written)

One Aoko specific OS is to rising j.A > j.214C out of pressure. On whiff nothing will come out and you're free to do whatever, on hit or block you'll get j.A > j.214C and are +13 on block or get a combo on hit to snowball with.