Melty Blood/MBTL/Neco-Arc/Matchups

Overview

Combos

Matchups

Strategy

Resources

Data

Match Database

#MBTL_NE

Specific Matchups

UNDER CONSTRUCTION. Though if you expand the boxes you will find certain pointers to look out for.

MUs will usually follow a "Zone" or "Rushdown" gameplan suggestion, moves to look out for, and some pointers. 22 DP Cons are there since Neco does not get L/R on oki vs such characters, as well as making OSing more mandatory.

Shiki Tohno [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Zoning Overview Good Beam zoning keeps him out and he usually has little to do against summons, not to mention the lack of a projectile. Would actually be pretty good for Neco if not for his high damage potential. Pros: Has to approach you, with no fireballs of any kind No crossup from Eight Piercings Cons: Can finish rounds with 2-3 openings Long legs cover backdash Zone and aim to take little risk in pressure, as Tohno-kun can end the game in 2-3 interactions and clip your jumps with his long legs. Offense Defense Get good at Shield RPS, you'll need it for the Beam Shields and Shielding his unblockable. Probably avoid backdashing most of his buttons. LOOK OUT FOR SINGLE STRIKE (the neutral skip slash) AND DONT BEAM RECKLESSLY IF HES CLOSE TO YOU.

Arcueid Brunestud [character page][match videos]
Suggested playstyle: Zoning Overview Pros: No fireballs Arc players gamble a lot Semi-clear pressure end-points Cons: Has neutral skips Coverts off of anything into huge damage and oki Has a 22 DP Full screen Arc Drive punishes you for breathing (though thankfully it's easy to punish if you guess right) Neutral Offense Defense

Akiha Tohno [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Start Zoning and then Rushdown Pretty alright for Neco even when accounting for the possible snowballing damage and setplay. Outmaneuver, Shield and Zone to get in. Pros: Brilliant Phantasm low profile with 2B, BC version whiffs on standing Neco Has to approach but doesn't have a flawless neutral skip like Shiki, Arc or PCiel Cons: Painting the Moon Some of her low normals are rather long for some reason Several specials and 5[B] can beat Neco Rocket Neutral Offense Defense

Ciel [character page][match videos]
Suggested playstyle: Rushdown after stuffing her Keys in neutral Overview Pros: Air game easy to anti-air (assuming you know what you're doing) Black Keys can be stuffed by a preemptive Beam Cons: Full screen 236C is annoying Air Keys can be annoying Has a 22 DP Neutral Offense Defense

Hisui (Winnable, but the items are annoying) [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Rushdown Overview Pros: Lowly defense when out of Moon Drive. Once you're in, you're in for good. Regular normals are backdashable One her strong suits, neutral, is rather downplayed in this matchup Cons: Items are very annoying. She can actually be carried by her items alone Scary oki, considering how slow Neco's DP is Has mix with high reward in the form of damage, plus oki MD Ladle cannot be OS'd for and is generally really strong, not to mention it covers backdash Neutral Offense Defense

Kohaku [character page][match videos]
Suggested playstyle: Either works Overview Pros: With good timing, you can backdash her otherwise oppressive lows Semi-low damage, Neco has many chances to turn the tide should you guess correctly on oki Like, no defense Cons: WILD anti-airs and long pokes Is a vortex character, so by nature you may get into a bind due to Neco's poor defense Neutral Offense Defense

Hisui & Kohaku [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Either works Overview On paper, you could be fighting Kohaku with Hisui's items and more mix for less health, or Hisui with Kohaku's okizeme and more mix for less health. The health trade-off coupled with their natural lack of meterless reversals is pretty good for Neco, but the cost for getting caught is greater. You will be playing either lead the same way, but for for Koha point you'll want to keep a close eye on her to snipe the items. Pros: Weak defense, although the MD Sturdy Ladle is to be considered Again, you don't have to interact much with their neutral due to Neco's mobility options and summons You can snipe the assist calls with Beams and summons Low Health, less guesses for Neco Cons: The Items... Vortex gameplay can be cruel vs Neco. Add the Tag mix on top and we got some trouble Kohaku's anti-airs Neutral Offense Defense

Kouma Kishima (Very Hard) [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Zoning Overview Pros: Uhh (shuffles through notes), you can knock him out of Armor pretty easily with Ex moves He's tall(?), so he'll have to spend resources or take risks to leave a zoning situation untouched Cons: Huge normals, huge damage It takes 2-3 stray hits for him to win Can withstand the Neco Rocket with his Armor 3C covers backdash and anti-airs Takes millennia to take down due to incredible defensive options and huge Health total. Ostracizes you again should you lose to him Neutral Offense Defense

Miyako Arima (Even-ish) [character page][match videos]
Suggested playstyle: Zoning, remember to IAD the ex stomp Overview Pros: No crossups for you Can struggle with zoning Cons: Stomps murder all Necos including yourself May gamble you to death, and you have no health Neutral Offense Defense

Noel [character page][match videos]
Suggested playstyle: Start Zoning and then Rushdown Overview Pros: Hard for her to play around Beams, they erase her projectiles if you hit her Cons: Crazy damage Can pressure Neco forever with her long normals Has a 22 DP Neutral Offense Defense

Michael Roa Valdamjong (Very Hard) [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Start Zoning and then Rushdown Overview Pros: Lacks mix, and his low IAD can be hit out of with Neco's very active DP Cons: Scary at every position: can threaten with a 236C from fullscreen for a call punish, plus frames and range on his normals, needles, command dash that traverses most of the screen, and a fullscreen Arc Drive DP that can made plus on block through meter usage His BnBs do like 4k. For perspective, Neco has 10K health Neutral Offense Defense

Vlov Arkhangel (Hard-ish) [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Start Zoning and then Rushdown. Pressure like a mosquito Overview A battle of wits, and projectiles. Truthfully, this matchup is just a mexican standoff between you and Vlov, in which your goal is to hit Vlov with a Beam or summon before he hits you with one of his projectiles. The problem here is the reward difference, since you get much less for tagging Vlov than he does for tagging you. This might actually be the simplest matchup in the game, for what it's worth. Pros: Gameplan is very straightfoward, it comes down to guessies He has limited defense options and struggles in scrambles Slow jump-in can be anti-aired and low profiled with ease Cons: You are outgunned and outdamaged by him Full screen Arc Drive Annoying unblockable Moon Skill Big Shoe beats most RPS options, specially during Moon Drive 2B sucks vs him Neutral Vlov will sit fullscreen, you sit fullscreen. Beam him preemptively with 6BC to attempt to outspeed his projectiles. STARE HIM DOWN AND DO 236C ONCE YOU SEE HIM LOAD UP A PROJECTILE. This will give you some time to summon or to approach him, in which case the matchup becomes far simpler due to his lackluster defense and Neco's closed-quarters arsenal of plus frames and frame traps. You can do this with 4BC also, but it's liable to being MD Shielded. If he approaches you instead, look out for his 6[C], aim to punish Burya Tigr through backdashing the later strikes, block low, and 3C any IADs you may spot. When Ice Mode kicks in, you will quite literally do the same things but you'll be further taxed for making mistakes and respecting him too much. Offense Aim to punish his projectiles to get in. You're not looking for much outside of Shield once in. Defense Be ready to Shield a lot.

Red Arcueid (Even-ish) [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Rushdown Overview Annoying fireballs and big damage. You can Beam her like you would Vlov, but her oki is far scarier than his so be ready to guess. Even still, you can manage. Pros: No meterless options for defense; pretty slow 2A Weak midscreen throw, leaving only a high-low on the mind for defense away from the corner (this is barely a perk for Neco though) Some of her pokes hit in awkward angles that enable rocket clashes Cons: Large sweep and anti-airs make it hard to evade her for a whiff punish Fireballs rule the pace of the matchup, making you call and Beam less often Damage is REALLY high with resources to spare and she has Neco-specific combos Neutral It pays to get good at 421B>236C to swat attempts at punishing your calls. Superjump over the fireballs and keep calls to a minimum. Offense Defense If you hear her cackling/see her charging the overhead, press 623C to Armor Break her.

Saber [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Zoning Overview Very frustrating matchup. Reward difference is HEAVLY weighted in Saber's favor, taking turns back can feel undoable at times, and Saber has Avalon - which can be used to counter summons and deal unblockable, fullscreen damage to Neco-Arc and to invalidate her okizeme. Pros: Always approaches you like a yandere due to no fireball, so you get mileage out of zoning at least Strike-throw only mix, get ready to tech some throws No meterless defense option Cons: Neutral skips! Finicky rekka and target combos auto-correct on Neco's weird hurtbox If she gets away with a Heat activation, you might just have to stall the clock due to Avalon invalidating your very being Her combos hurt a lot. Combined with above average HP, it can be very frustrating to fight this character Neutral Offense Defense

Aoko Aozaki [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Rushdown Overview You can outmaneuver Aoko in the air and air dash over the lasers. If she gets a laser off on you and knocks you down, you may be in for the long haul as a lot of her blockstrings are unpunishable by Neco. Similarly to Vlov, get summons in at appropriate times and punish the lasers, or low profile them with teleports. The Tire is pretty good in this mu since her means of going over it are quite telegraphed. Pros: You can easily coerce the Aoko to spend resources on you for pressure, which can limit her damage in combos Defense is not great, she must gamble Random orbs can be cleared with ease Cons: High conversion ability Full screen Arc Drive Pressure lasts forever if you have low resources Terrifying oki, you have to risk backdashing the orbs at times Neutral For reasons known to Neco-Arc alone, you can disable Aoko's orbs with a charged jC, 3C, 22B/2BC Necos, or any rocket Necos that you may get from summons. Inexplicably, you can also disable them with the Eye Beam portion of 22[A], even though the initial laser nor the individual 236 Beams affect the orbs. Offense Defense

Dead Apostle Noel [character page][match videos]
Suggested playstyle: Depends on the DAN Overview Pros: You can outzone her with good RPS and patience Crawl crossup protection Cons: Oki, yeah Big normals can be annoying, and her projectiles can interrupt the gameplan if you're not careful Neutral Offense Defense

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

Suggested playstyle: Start Zoning then Rushdown Overview Debatably Neco's best matchup (?). Feroce is easily punishable by well-timed Beams and 623B, his counter is very unreliable, you can block Phantasm while air dashing, Neco summons can swat his nuns, and most of his stubby normals can be backdashed, leaving his offensive game mostly at the mercy of oki and strike-throw. Further, his damage reward is not the highest, meaning that Neco may get more chances to turn the tides than she should against other characters. Pros: If a Tire is out between Neco and Mario, the nuns will trip on the Tire and dispawn (this goes for any summon, but the Tire is notable since it does not dispawn upon interaction) Beam stops Feroche, trades, and Neco recovers before Mario for another Beam Strike-throw mix only Air-blockable Phantasm during airdash Subpar defensive counter can be OS'd or stuffed with 623C Cons: Long pressure strings Loopable setplay can prevent Neco from basking upon the benefits associated with this matchup Defensive 2B is less effective than usual since the nuns can block it He can spawn a nun on you for a bar with 214C, but he only gets a meaty from the knockdown at least. If he does this often, play it slower with the summons and you're good. Neutral Offense Defense

Powered Ciel (Very Hard) [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Start Zoning then Rushdown. Pressure like a mosquito Overview Essentially the Saber mu in terms of reward frustration, but she peddled Avalon for range instead. Pros: No Projectile, liable to being zoned If you somehow manage to get in, she has no meterless reversal Cons: You are not getting in. This character has just too many good pokes and damage to back it up Has tons of gorilla neutral skip options that either clash or armor through your stuff Pressure lasts forever and you cannot punish her without gambling first, so you most often are forced to disengage Neutral Offense Defense

Neco-Arc (Unwinnable) [character page][match videos]

Suggested playstyle: Gap Overview Easily the hardest matchup in the whole game. No matter what you do, Neco-Arc will always come out on top. Pros: Neco damage Neco life You have plenty of tools to punish calling and Beams Cons: Wtf is happening on the screen Can be annoying to play since you get long periods of "nothing" Only one player gets A-Luck summons at a time Neutral Similarly to the Vlov matchup, your main goal here is looking at the other Neco and whiff punishing accordingly. There's no real reward difference here, so just aim to play rock paper scissors with the opponent through Shields and Beams. If you get a knockdown, summon once and try going in. Offense Defense

Mash Kyrielight [character page][match videos]
Suggested playstyle: Zoning Overview Pros: Mix is not very complex No projectile Air-to-ground charge is easily stuffed with the Neco Rocket/236B/Random-ass neco Cons: Crazy damage clash Ground charge can beat the Neco Rocket Neutral Offense Defense

Ushiwakamaru (Even-ish) [character page][match videos]
Suggested playstyle: Play reactionarily Overview Pros: No crossup due to crawl Low Health, and no defensive options Cons: You should not be getting zoned by Neco-Arc High damage Arc Drive means that you can't call when she has resources Oki mix can be daunting Neutral Offense Defense

Monte Cristo [character page][match videos]
Suggested playstyle: Either can work with due patience on zoning Overview: This is Vlov but better Pros: Tall, may have trouble going around summons Slow abare Cons: 3C His lasers are really annoying, play around them the same as you would with Vlov or Warc High damage and safejumps if he tags you Large normals are annoying Neutral Offense Defense