Melty Blood/MBTL/Kouma Kishima/Matchups

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Match Database

#MBTL_KI

Specific Matchups

Shiki Tohno (Even) [character page][match videos]

Overview: A tricky match-up for Kouma. You'll likely be playing at about ¾ screen distance and slowly inch towards each other into the kill zone. Once you get a hold of Tohno, it's not much different from most of the cast. Neutral: This will feel very different from most matches. Both players will mainly stand outside of Tohno's 236X series looking for an opportunity to approach. It's like playing half screen footsies. Tohno's unique double backdash will mean committing harder to chase him down. However you can easily leverage charge and your various anti airs with the life lead Offense: Due to the misfortune of his birth, Shiki’s wakeup animation is especially vulnerable to Kouma’s variety of ambiguous mixups and okizeme, so your main goal is to overwhelm him. Tohno's DP doesn't have much horizontal reach, so well spaced pressure can take that option off the table. Beware of trying to spacing trap him. His 2C is very fast and has great range Defense: Stay patient as many of Tohno's pressure gaps are frame traps. His long range normals are excellent spacing trap tools against most of your abare buttons. But he can be especially vulnerable to Kouma’s various defensive tools due to his necessity to stay in

Arcueid Brunestud (Even) [character page][match videos]

Overview: Queen and King of the gorillas face off. While Arcueid has excellent mobility and air buttons, Kouma can be a wall with good use of 3C and 2B. This is like the unstoppable force meets the immovable object. Neutral: Have your anti-airs at the ready and look to stuff run ups (which are very quick) with 3C. 2C, 5C, and 2B have a habit of just missing due to her IADing over them or her stopping short to use her excellent 2B as a poke. Be keenly aware when blocking her dash elbow (214X) as it can be plus at some ranges Offense: She can be quite a bit scarier near the corner, so try to keep her midscreen until you can finish the job. Her DP is a 22 input so your left/right mix needs to be extra tight Defense: Rekka mix, strong normals, and speed. It's like blocking Kouma but with the ability to chain air normals. It is difficult to not be overwhelmed by this but Kouma is more equipped than any other character to bruteforce his way around Arc’s various gaps and spacings

Akiha (Kouma Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: A game of cat and mouse that can switch who is the cat very quickly. Look for an opening in neutral and stay patient on defense. Neutral: Unlike most characters that can play keep away well, Ahika's tools to do so are non threatening to Kouma. The rings just kind of sit there. Find an opening in her ring sets and just go for it. 3BC can be an excellent way to call out her ring set in the air. Her jB and jC hit very far below her so that can be tricky to anti-air with 2B so start presenting options like 22A/22B or feel comfortable to just continue to play a game of patience and slowly collect more resources with charge Offense: Her DP is more an anti-air than a reversal. Her Arc Drive is a 0-frame post flash command grab, but the high cost prevents this from being a common option. You're not a cat here. You're a tiger Defense: Now it's her turn to be the cat. She has no reason to engage with Kouma. She can let the rings do the work while standing at a safe distance. Get a feel for when she wants to challenge your wake-up before going too crazy

Ciel (Even) [character page][match videos]

Overview: While Ciel has some of the best run-away, her options to mix you up in neutral are fairly limited or low reward without resources. This match-up will feel the most like a traditional “walk-and-block” grappler vs zoner fight Neutral: Be prepared to block/shield a lot of keys. Look to run under her jump key attempts. Even then she can vary her landing timing and position. Her stagger window on ground keys is very large, so always be aware that another set of keys could be coming out Offense: Ciel's 236C can hard call out a ton of options, but is high risk. Her stubby normals makes it easy to space out rekkas and a variety of other special cancel options. Her DP is a 22 input so your left/right mix needs to be extra tight Defense: Ciel mostly relies on stagger pressure once you block something. You can get brave and break out or wait for her to commit to one of her slow mix-ups or get in range of your reversals in her attempt to throw you. Additionally, some of her buttons can be a bit stubby so it can be difficult for her to space herself out of some of your best abare options

Hisui (Kouma Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: As long as you don't get knocked down, you're in a good spot. Her lack of reversals and long ranged neutral options leaves her extremely vulnerable to your gameplan Neutral: Keep an eye out for some of Hisui's “neutral skip” options like 5[C] or j[C]. Hisui's lack of fast projectiles and overall stubby range makes it difficult for her to keep you out nor does she have particularly stellar options to run away outside of universal movement options. Stay patient and find a clean opportunity to pin her down Offense: With only universal defensive mechanics protecting her, you are in control. Smother the Hisui player with your variety of mixups and armor Defense: You blocked something? Sucks to be you. You'll have to deal with some very long, gapless block strings. Her dust (623C) pressure, bento oki (22X), and air-throw left/right require equal parts patience and bravery. Kouma's high health will come in handy to help tilt the risk reward and give you more opportunities than any other character to get out.

Kohaku (Kouma Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: Despite her large arsenal of long ranged normals and specials, this MU is ultimately tilted in Kouma's favor. Her strong options suffer from longer recovery times and limited cancel options that Kouma's stellar whiff punish game can easily exploit. Her weak defense is just the icing on the cake. Neutral: Her Battou series (236X) and long normals will force Kouma to play around half screen. Look for a whiff or her to get anxious and approach. While Kohaku's air to air presence is phenomenal, Kouma has no reason to directly engage with her, stay patient and choose spots that force her to take risks that might get her killed Offense: Kohaku primarily relies on universal defensive mechanics to protect her, with her only reversal being criminally slow at 23 frames of startup. While it can be difficult to punish, its an easy option to work around, and outside of it Kohaku has to take massive risks to even try and attempt to get out out Defense: Most of her plant setups don't have the plant hitting meaty. This is an invitation to get wild, but don't get predictable. Her block strings are fairly tame unless she is willing to spend her precious meter

Hisui & Kohaku (Kouma Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: Lower health, lower speed, and only a minor increase in shenanigans against Kouma's own. You can pretty much refer to the section of whoever is on point. Neutral: While Kohaku still has great normals and specials, alongside Hisui's item toss assist and bento setups to make certain interaction riskier, Kouma still gains a lot from playing patiently and getting the maids to get within his best ranges to really initiate any real offense. Slowly collect resources and try to call out their attempts to switch around Offense: With Kohaku losing her invincible wake-up, both maids are stuck relying entirely on universal defensive mechanics to get out. Combined with their low health, Kouma can easily close out rounds against them by getting one good knockdown. They cannot afford to hold any sort of offense from Kouma nor do they have great answers to his 22C Defense: This is where the real difference lies. Hisui gaining access to plants and Kohaku gaining access to bento with the perk of neither going away when they're hit has troubling implications for Kouma's variety of defensive options. Stay patient and make the correct read to make them regret ever trying to interact with you

Kouma Kishima (Even) [character page][match videos]

Overview: This will likely get wild. It's not unusual to see both Kouma's have armor installed (22C) and just run at each other or Arc Drive whiffing because 214B has a ton of throw invul. It is rarely a picture of safe, sane, and/or solid gameplay. Neutral: This is where most of the shenanigans happen. His strong anti approach tools combined with Kouma's weaker movement means taking big risks to open up your opponent. Offense: Kouma's offense is not well suited to safely deal with his defense. The oki game is dice rolling incarnate. It will be a test of smart resource management and capitalizing off any of your potential hits in the ensuing chaos Defense: Kouma's excellent defense is a bit too good at adapting to Kouma's wide variety of offensive options, outside of safejumps there isn't a lot for Kouma to worry about when put on defense. Avoid the trap of recklessly tossing out resources that could be more useful in neutral or when you start running your own offense

Miyako Arima (Kouma Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: Miyako has a tough time navigating Kouma's buttons. Kouma's strong horizantal range and strong anti airs makes it especially hard for Miyako to capitalize on her great jump ins Neutral: Playing Neutral vs Miyako means you're going to be on the ground most of the time as this is where you are at your strongest in this match up. Pokes like 2B, 3C and 2C are really good to use. Your reason to be grounded is that Miyako does have really strong air normals and while your air normals are also pretty good as well, your air movement and how you use your buttons in the air are much more committal than hers. If you do end up in a situation where you have to be in the air, jB and jA are really good options to stuff air approaches but mainly your best bet is to be on the ground due to Kouma's ability to stuff out her more direct air approaches Offense: For your offense, your typical stagger pressure and rebeat pressure will do just fine. Basically you're gonna be running basic strike throw and the eventual 22A into 22C armor install for pressure, at specefic ranges Miyako 5C and 2C cannot hit you so you want to take advantage of your superior range (Example: 2A > 2A > 2A > 2B > 2C > w5A walk back will make Miyakos furthest reaching buttons whiff and that you can whiff punish easily.) Defense: Miyako mixups and offense are strong but her obligation to stay close due to her relatively stubby range and goal of throwing you constantly leaves her especially vulnerable to your wide suite of defensive options

Noel (Even) [character page][match videos]

Overview: Noel's reward, range, and flexibility can make it difficult for Kouma to be more active in neutral. Be patient, think twice before pressing anything and be sure to abuse Kouma's reward to the fullest. Neutral: Having great normals, such as 2B being an amazing two-hitting 8f normal and jA/jC being excellent interception tools that can net an Air Unblockable, Noel can easily keep you in check, both on the ground and in the air. However, Kouma has more than enough tools to deal with these options alone. The real reason you need to think twice in Neutral against Noel is her Keys. They are generally fast and safe, either moving Noel backwards or stalling her in the air, and can be canceled to Ex Keys, which breaks Armor. This is, pretty much, a perfect option to beat Kouma's commits, often needed to deal with her pokes. Considering that, being extra patient remains the best option. Check habits and patterns constantly to punish her with a good read. If close enough, shielding either a key or a normal creates a RPS scenario which Kouma can abuse pretty well. Take your time, as you can kill her with one touch or read Offense: Since she can RPS you by having a 22 meterless DP and varying with Charged Heat, left/right oki options lose some value as you don't want to go back to neutral again. Abusing specific combos to get more corner carry and using 22C in Oki/pressure should be your go-to in this matchup. Her 2B is also a strong abare button in post 22A scenarios : your 2B/jab whiffs, your 5C clashes and anything slower loses. Be cautious Defense: Strike/throw is mostly her only option to gain advantage, but she is extremely competent at that because of her normals, frame data, and 5C's vacuum property. Being active with reversals can either net an awesome reward as you skip the neutral part of the game or punish you heavily as her blockstrings can be pretty safe against them. Be patient, punish habits and be sure to capitalize if she tries to throw you. The match can easily change with one good read. Noel can also threaten restands and some shady resets, so remember these options

Michael Roa Valdamjong (Roa Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: While not usually as oppressive as other zoners, Roa has access to easy air unblockables and plus frames with the same move (214C). His ground dashes (236X) and great airdash pressure often means he decides when it is time to throw hands. Neutral: Don't tunnel vision on the lightning options. While it can feel like a “walk-and-block” match-up, Roa has the option of closing the gap at any time. His dashes (236A/B) can be made safe/plus at certain spacings. Getting the hit will likely take some good movement and sheer bravery Offense: A bit more difficult to convincingly run than expected, your main goal will be to get Roa to the corner and abuse armor to stuff out his variety of abare options. His DP doesn't have much horizontal reach, so well spaced pressure can take that option off the table. Roa's 236A into EX cancels can call out attempts to 22C during blockstrings, but is potentially high risk. Roa's 2C is very active and can stuff out a lot of spacing traps. Be wary of his backdash midscreen due to its extremely fast recovery coupled with his great abare options. Defense: Be prepared to hold some oppressive plus frames, IAD double overheads, and strange double jump pressure. Be patient and look for opportunities where Roa gets impatient and attempts to go for more greedy attempts to open you up

Vlov Arkhangel (Vlov Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: Vlov controls the whole stage except for that tiny portion right next to him. You get to play a mini-game to get to that one spot and start actually playing. Then he enters ice mode. Neutral: As much as this game state actually exists, it is not in your favor. Powerful zoning and strong mid-range buttons/specials make it so you aren't in neutral. You're on defense. Find opportunities to run towards him and take advantage of the variety of options shield gives you both in the air and ground. This is an MU that'll force you to take lots of risks but Kouma is rewarded more than any other character for making the correct ones Offense: The one saving grace of this match up. Vlov does not have a 5f button. No invincible reversal. Just system mechanics. Installing armor (22C) at the end of combos is a great way to keep the pressure up and give just those few seconds where the (big) shoe is on the other foot Defense: Vlov is going to want you far away quickly. He has the tools to do it too. If you are blocking there isn't much you can do to stop it either. Be on the look out for Vlov's 6[C] or half charged 6[C] into his low hitting rekka. This can be very difficult to block. Also don't block the projectiles in the air around midscreen. This is a great way to get air unblockabled

Red Arcueid (Warc Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: Her rings make you want to jump. Her jB makes that a bad idea. Along with her ability to convert off of evasive actions, can make this a frustrating match. She'll likely spend a lot of Moon Gauge on her fireballs. Popping Moon Drive when she can't counter pop can lead to some big wins. Neutral: She has a ton of ways to stop predictable approaches. You'll have to fake/delay your jumps to alter their mental stack before committing to a j[C], empty jump, raw run up, or a dive kick. Your normals have a slight advantage in range, but her C buttons are very disjointed and armored just like yours if she’s willing to commit to charging them Offense: You'll need to keep your oki and pressure tight. If given an opening, she can 7BC (jump > j4BC). Which puts her at double jump height and she can still jump cancel which is a difficult thing for Kouma to actively contest. 22C is vulnerable to Warc's 623C when done during a blockstring if you try to continue after. Kouma's offense is still powerful however once you account for these options due to a lack of a meterless reversal on wakeup and her overall reliance on system mechanics due to her slower than average normals Defense: She has plenty of disjointed frame traps, but not a lot of plus frames. If you decide to press in the gaps, be prepared to live with the consequences. She also has a few meaty fireball setups, but some of them can leave her close enough and negative enough to be DPed.

Saber (Even) [character page][match videos]

Overview: Saber's variety of long ranged pokes, fast movement, and strong jump ins will make it difficult for Kouma to catch or contest her once she has you spaced out. However Kouma's own anti approach tools still work excellently Neutral: Saber's excellent pokes and high mobility specials mean that it'll be on you to approach. Once she has stopped spamming j[C] of course. Force her to approach you on the ground after successfully anti airing more greedy attempts to directly jump in on you and use your variety of equally good pokes to tussle it out. Offense: Her 623C is slower than even your non-metered reversals, but that doesn't mean she'll never use it. If you have the health to spare, getting caught by Avalon should be considered a win. It's harder for her to impose her will without meter Defense: Saber's main tools are her plus frame pillar (22C) and the variety of rekka mix she has. Respect her safejumps and be prepared to call out any mixup attempts with your large arsenal of reversals. If Saber decides to constantly chip away with rekkas at a safe distance however, you will have to rely on riskier options

Aoko Aozaki (Aoko Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: It's not really the beams. It's the orbs that make this match up hard. In neutral and on defense. Also her access to an extra jump and air-dash make anti-airing he be real pain Neutral: Prevent her from setting up orbs as much as possible. Especially the remote detonated ones. The proximity orbs are less of a pain because they are a known quantity. Her great range, not just from her projectiles but great normals as well, makes playing footsies a challenge Offense: Her DP (623C) is pretty stubby when it first starts up. Pressuring from a range can give you extra time to recover and block. Aoko is also meter hungry and with no non-metered invincible options, keeping her under control is your best bet at winning Defense: Once you have a remote orb on top of you, it is no fun. She can make much of her high/low mix safe or even plus. She can punish your shield recovery. She basically turns off the majority of Melty's system mechanics. If you've got a read, you may be able to bust out with Kouma's 236C or 214C.

Dead Apostle Noel (Even) [character page][match videos]

Overview: On paper it looks like DANoel should crush this match up, but Kouma's unique defensive options and high reward can swing this match in his favor quickly. You'll spend a lot of the match chasing down the butterfly, but her keep out has plenty of gaps. Neutral: Her projectiles don't cover much of the screen. In fact her ground flat projectile can be run under. Her large buttons, bell traps, and decent anti-airs are what make approaching tough. Her 4BC is excellent at creating space and a strong overhead Offense: Her DP is a little slower than most, but is a pillar of hitboxes. It also moves her backward which can make it awkward to punish. Her ability to sway backward makes rebeats or frame traps extra tough midscreen Defense: The key to beating DANoel is being comfortable with her 3 bell oki. When she drops EX bells (236C) as a combo ender, she'll make you guess. Meaty low, IAD high, left/right, do nothing, it goes on. All while you are stuck blocking bell pops. There are many resources for how to do this mix and how to escape it. It would take far too much space to write it out here. You really just have to experience it

Mario Gallo Bestino (Even) [character page][match videos]

Overview: There are a ton of frustrating things about this match up. Nun summons while in the air, his strong anti-air, the nuns having collision boxes, and Mario's strong oki. Despite that your superior normals and plethora of offensive options once you get him knocked down can make getting through this possible Neutral: On the ground Mario can pressure with nuns and stuff any predictable air approaches. In the air Mario can summon his “extra” nuns. He cannot command the nun that is always with him. He also loses access to all his air options when summoning a nun. If you evaded this summon, now would be the time to put on the pressure Offense: This is where Kouma thrives. Mario doesn't have frame 1 invul outside of his 3+ meter options. However in Moon Drive his 2BC counter can activate on clash frames. If you sniff out the 2BC, a throw or armored option will give you the upper hand. Overall outside of universal mechanics and these gimmicky options, Mario isn't well equipped to deal with Kouma's offense due to his underwhelming normals Defense: Mario has plenty of ways not to engage on your wake up. His counters can make for a strong oki tool. In the corner, chakram/axe nun will beat most of your options while Mario is holding down back. Kouma's 214C is a powerful tool for forcing Mario to take less risky but also less threatening okizeme options however

Powered Ciel (PCiel Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: Arguably Kouma's most miserable matchup. She outdoes Kouma in his niches of being able to out trade, out clash, or armor through opponents. Do not attempt to initiate such interactions unless you are ahead on resources or if you are in 22C mode. Her long range presence and lack of commitment on offense will make this a MU that forces Kouma to play patient and inch his way towards a knockdown, and even then PCiel has great answers for some of his offensive toolkit Neutral: Her 5C, jC, and 2C are the main ranges you have to be aware of. If you cannot maintain the threat of potential IAD jC over her 2C or as a reaction to a whiffed 5C, she will run all over you and be ready to abuse air momentum on hits. Her air normal kit is uniquely awkward, has dead zones but is very effective at covering the spaces it does cover. Kouma airthrow uniquely interacts against her jC (makes her grabbable hurtbox wider) and her jB (moves her forward). 236C while expensive and risky can be a highly rewarding way to call out attempts to retreat with air normals covering her. Represent options like these occasionally so that she doesn’t take her air time for granted. Notice her ability to low commit with 3BC, 623A, and 236A in terms of forcing you to respect even on whiff. Some degree of whiff punishing/reaction movement is necessary while also understanding when you can potentially dash under or towards her Offense: Being able to safely threaten with 2B (even on whiff) and 3C is very important to keeping her respectful. Her close range buttons aren't the best and can be awkward to convert. She's heavily incentivized to go for bigger gambles because of how awkward her kit is when she isn't able to keep you at 5C/2C range Defense: Do not be tempted to reversal super or shield her rekka series, they are very easy to MD and super cancel on reaction on PCiel's side. In comparison, try to aggressively use backdash i-frames when she's trying to touch you with the tip of attacks like j[C] or 5C, this works a lot worse against rekkas that she can follow up on. Because of 2B and 3C, you actually have a decent shot at interacting if she's trying to do j8C or TK j3B

Neco-Arc (Kouma Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: You have high health. She does low damage. Can I make it any more obvious? Actually I can. She has low health and you do high damage. Neutral: Bully her. Her horizontal beam is slow. Her summons aren't that dangerous to you. Her buttons are stubby. If you get an armor install, it's 66 o'clock. If she gets an armor install, it's 236C o'clock Offense: Her B DP has less throw invul than strike invul. Using your armored command grab (214B) will stuff this out. Forcing her to challenge with 623C (or some other EX). Bar she won't be able to summon with Defense: Defense? What do you mean defense? If you aren't hitting her, the screen is now full of cats. That's just neutral. Because of the limited control she has over the summons, shield will be a good fallback

Mash Kyrielight (Kouma Favored) [character page][match videos]

Overview: Mash is a straightforward character with a nice well rounded toolkit. While her offense and air presence can give Kouma trouble, none of her options are threatening enough to outweigh the sheer risk reward that Kouma presents in all gamestates. This is a fairly standard MU with numbers that are tilted in your favor Neutral: Her 236[B] has clash frames after the green flash, travels most of the screen and is safe on block. Have your clash reactions on point. Her air specials (dive and shield slam) are safe as well. While her normals have similar reach and speed, her ability to directly anti air Kouma's powerful jump ins directly can be tricky. Play patient footsies and find opportunities to get a clean hit Offense: Her DP is quite good and she knows it. Her ability to TK 4BC against your rebeats is fairly unique. In fact her excellent TK air special options make going for command grabs extra dangerous. If you've noticed a tendency to up back, try ending a string in 22B > 2B to catch them jumping Defense: Her game plan is pretty straight forward. Her 4BC has an overhead in it and can be jump canceled on block. Other than that, down back will be your default position. Wait for her to do something negative so you can take your turn back. If you block an aerial shield slam (j214X and j4BC) you will be popped up and have your air options. She has a purpose built normal (5B) to stop any aggressive actions, so mix up what you do here before going gorilla

Ushiwakamaru (Placeholder) [character page][match videos]
Overview Neutral Offense Defense

Monte Cristo (Placeholder) [character page][match videos]
Overview Neutral Offense Defense