Rivals of Aether/Maypul

Overview

Strategy

Resources

Matchups

Story

Maypul is the self-appointed Guardian of the Aetherian Forest. Her fellow tree-dwellers live in insular strongholds in the forest canopy - the quarrels of Aether quite literally beneath them.

Yet Maypul senses something rotten in the world of Aether. Only she listens to the whispers of distress amongst the trees. And so, Maypul patrols the forest seeking out threats to her home. She parlays with the surface dwellers, much to the dismay of her treetop clan. However, she commands fearful respect throughout the forest for her unhesitating vigilantism. She uses her agility to trap any unknown intruders before they even realize she is there.

Gameplay

Playstyle

Maypul is primarily a rushdown character with incredible speed and amazing combo game. She thrives in getting in on the opponent and never letting up, but her movement also makes her difficult to catch.
Pros	Cons
Agility: Maypul's overall speed is excellent, with the best ground speed in the game. This combined with her unique movement options, such as side special, aerial down special and the ability to stick to the wall, makes her a master of mobility. Great combos: She has quick moves with low knockback and scaling, such as down tilt and nair, that make her combos starters amazing, further complimented by her movement, tether and Lily. Exceptional punish game: Her amazing combos and speed alongside her abilities to tether and wrap opponents means that she has the potential do serious damage or take your stock off a single mistake. Turf controller: Despite her stubbiness, her stage control is deceptively great with the combination of her swiftness and her combo-enabling ground and air normals, alongside the threat of Lily on a platform. Can't counterpick me: Maypul's game plan is well complimented by most of the stages in the game, a luxury most characters in the game don't have. She will rarely get counterpicked to a stage she dislikes.	Bad Range: Outside of the extremely slow up and forward strongs, Maypul easily has the worst reach in the game, with stubby hitboxes, few disjointed attacks, and a projectile that doesn't do hitstun. Maypul's attacks will often trade or lose to that of other characters. Spacie Syndrome: Maypul is a lightweight with the hitstun gravity of a midweight and the air friction of a heavyweight. This stat combo means that she dies earlier while potentially being more prone to big combos. Exploitable offstage disadvantage: Maypul's recovery is not bad, but if she is caught offstage without a double jump or airdodge, there is very little she can do to make it back. Lily - Friend or Foe?: While Lily is an invaluable asset, she can become a liability especially if separated from Maypul, granting opponents free parry invincibility or a risk-free way to remove mark. This weakness is at its worst against characters like Clairen and Ori, who both have moves that can seriously punish bad Lily play.

Unique Attributes

Watcher's Mark

Zetterburn inflicted with Watcher's Mark

Maypul's neutral, forward, and aerial down specials inflict the opponent with Watcher's Mark (or simply "mark") on hit. This is visualized by two leaves spinning laterally around the opponent as well as the opponent's percentage having a green outline. Mark allows Maypul to be far more threatening through two unlocked abilities: Tether and Wrap.

Tether

Maypul can hold up special to tether towards a marked opponent, allowing for combo extensions and a better KO game. By default Maypul will tether to the top of the opponent, but holding left or right allows Maypul to go to the corresponding side of them instead.

• If the opponent is in hitstun and you tether to the sides, Maypul can cancel the usual 7 frames of tether endlag into an airdodge, any aerial, or any special except up special.
  • if the opponent is not in hitstun or Maypul tethers to the top of the opponent, the 7 endlag frames can only be cancelled into the aforementioned three special moves.
  • Tether cancelling into up air causes up air's knockback scaling to be doubled, allowing the opponent to DI up to escape the strong, final hit.
• The time it takes Maypul to get to an opponent depends on multiple factors.
  • Tether time scales with distance, including any additional distance added when choosing which part of the opponent to tether to. The farther away Maypul is, the longer it will take to Maypul to reach the opponent.
  • If Maypul tethers to an opponent in hitstun, the travel time is 3 times faster.
• When Maypul reaches an opponent in hitstun via tethering, their knockback will be completely nullified, allowing for easy follow-ups.
• If the opponent dies while Maypul is tethering towards them, she may be instantly teleported back to the Respawn Platform location. This is a failsafe to prevent unpredictable self-destructs.

Wrap

Zetterburn wrapped

If Maypul hits a marked opponent with any strong attack, or hits a marked opponent into Lily, they will be wrapped in place by vines for a brief period of time, being unable to do anything. This often gives Maypul more than enough time for any follow up desired.

The amount of time the opponent wrapped is scaled with the opponents percentage and, as of patch 2.1.4.0, the distance between Maypul and the opponent. To be more specific:

t = 34 + (d × (0.13p))

t = Wrapped time in frames, rounded to the nearest whole number

d = A multiplier determined with Maypul's distance to the opponent. This number can be as low as 0.75 if the distance is 0 pixels, or as high as 1 if Maypul is about a half screen away from the opponent.

p = Opponent's percentage after the hit

• Maypul can tether towards any wrapped opponent with the properties applied as if they are in hitstun, but this is rarely useful outside of niche situations.
• A wrapped opponent can be re-marked with neutral special, however they cannot be wrapped again until they have been removed from the wrap state for at least 4 frames. This is to prevent an infinite.

Mark is one-time use, meaning that tethering or wrapping will remove it from the opponent.

• Other things that remove mark:
  • Maypul getting KO'd
  • Successful parry
  • Lily's bite whiffing (Including airdodges and rolls)
  • Clairen's down special

Wall Cling

Maypul is the only character in the game besides Ori that can stick to the wall by holding wall jump. She can do this for a full second (60 frames) before being forced to jump. This can be used to make her recovery much more unpredictable and greatly improve her edgeguard game.

Maypul
The Sylvan Watcher
Stage
First Appearance	Alpha 6.16.2015

Notable Players

Name	Color	Activity	Notes	Contact
Soulrifle211		2018-present	#4 in the RCS 7 season; Considered the best Maypul main in the world	https://twitter.com/soulrifle211
Forrest		2016-2020	Also known as 4est/Mr. Lz
Elkiies		2017-present	Also known as Hoppy/Hoppyknitz
Lattim		2018-present		https://twitter.com/Lattimmm
Zorasknight		2017-present	Also known as Zora

Moveset

Jabs

Jab Combo

Attack > Attack

Jab 1

Jab 2

Jab 1

Jab 2

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

Maypul's jab is a great close-quarters-combat option with it being her fastest attack and, by extension, the second fastest normal in the game at 3 frames of startup. It's stubby, but is still a decent option for grounded approaches against parry-hungry opponents. Reacting to parries is key, however, since this is a two-piece jab and cancelling into jab 2 puts you in parry stun.

Jab 1

fer_jab1

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
3	4-5	14	361	4+0
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
3			6	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
4	Normal	2
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	1	Y

Jab's first hit. Like most jabs, it keeps grounded opponents on the ground due to the force flinch value, allowing for easy tilt cancel follow ups

• Cancels into jab 2 and all tilts frames 7-14

Jab 2

fer_jab2

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
3	4-5	13	30	5+0
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
3			6	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
0	Normal	1
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	-	Y

Jab's second hit, which weakly knocks opponents away. Maypul's jab has the unique property of allowing jab 2 to be cancelled back into jab 1, creating a loop. Not a bad option against low percent opponents that like to DI in.

• Cancels into jab 1 frames 7-10 and all tilts frames 7-13
• Surprisingly disjointed for a jab, both above and in front of maypul

Dash Attack

(while running) Attack

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_dattack

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
3,5	9-14,20-23	13 [20]	30,70	8+0,9+40
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
8			0	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
7+10,6+50	Normal	2,1
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	2,-	Y

Maypul slides across the ground hands-first, then flicks her upper body upwards.

The startup is subpar for a dash attack, but don't let that fool you: It's still great. It especially shines in approaches and techchases. The upwards hit greatly sets up for up air and nair followups, or tether combos at kill percent.

• Maypul's hitbox is very flat and low to the ground during the first hit, meaning it can slide under many attacks when timed well. Some examples include Clairen's Jab, Absa's F-tilt and Ranno's tongue
• DO NOT OVERUSE THIS MOVE!!! While it is great at what it does, it is very predictable and parry-able if it is the only thing you do. Mix up your timing and also throw in wavedash jab and tilts into your game as well.
• First hit is untechable
  • This is primarily to prevent situations where the opponent techs the floor before the second hit, but it can be taken advantage of in niche edgeguard situations where you can send opponents offstage at a very low angle
• In rare cases, if you do dash attack close to the opponent and they DI down and in, the second hit will whiff. If this happens Maypul will be in frame disadvantage and you will be really sad

Tilts

Forward Tilt

Forward Tilt

Forward + Attack

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_ftilt

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
8	5-8	11 [17]	361	6+50
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
4			6	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
6+60	Normal	1
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	-	Y

Maypul lunges her hand forward, knocking opponents away

Forward tilt is decent in the grounded neutral game due to it being Maypul's longest tilt, mildly making up for her lack of range. It doesn't often lead to combos (except against a marked opponent at high percent) but the angle puts the opponent in a bad spot, especially offstage.

• While long, the move is barely disjointed. In neutral it may often trade with other attacks
• Maypul slightly moves forward during the attack

Up Tilt

Up Tilt

Up + Attack

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_utilt

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
8	9-12	10 [15]	80	8+50
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
8			6	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
6+50	Normal	2
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	-	Y

Maypul slams her hands into the ground, summoning two roots at her sides striking straight up

Maypul's best grounded anti-air. Great for starting a combo off of landing opponents. Also decent for covering techchase options.

• Disjointed vertically as the roots have no hurtbox
• Maypul crouches low to the ground, making the disjoint more pronounced and making it harder for opponents to hit Maypul with a landing aerial
• There is a small blindspot between the roots. Narrow attacks can sneak through and counter-hit Maypul

Down Tilt

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_dtilt

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
7	5-7	10 [15]	70	7+35
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
4			0	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
5+35	Normal	1
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	-	Y

Maypul swipes her tail across the floor.

Very fast startup for the type of attack it is, at frame 5. This move is a great option for combo starting. It pops opponents up and away, allowing for aerial follow ups on DI in and potential techchase situations on DI out.

• VERY disjointed for Maypul's standards. This move is pretty good for beating long-reachers in neutral

Strong Attacks

Forward Strong

(Forward/Back +) Strong

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_fstrong

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
11	21-23	17 [23]	361	7+100
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
20			0	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
8+70	Normal	7
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
		Y

Up Strong

Up + Strong

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_ustrong

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
11	23-28	17 [26]	90	7.5+120 {6.5+110}
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
22			0	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
8 + 70	Normal	7 (5)
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
		Y

Down Strong

Down + Strong

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_dstrong

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
10	13-15,21-23	13 [20]	361	7,110
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
12			0,5	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
8+70	Normal	7
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
		Y

Aerials

Neutral Air

(while airborne) Attack

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_nair

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
8 {4}	9-10 {11-15}	9 [14]	361	7+50 {5+30}
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
9	4 [6]		6	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
7+45 {4+20}	Normal	1
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
		Y

Forward Air

(while airborne) Forward + Attack

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_fair

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
8	13-15	14 [21]	-50	5.5+65
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
12	6 [9]		0	0.8x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
5+20	Standard	2
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
		Y

Back Air

(while airborne) Back + Attack

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_bair

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
4,5	7-8,13-15	8 [12]	90,361	5+25,6+50
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
6	4 [6]		6,5	1

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
6+25	Normal	2
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
		Y

Up Air

(while airborne) Up + Attack

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_uair

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
2x2,5	9-10,13-14,21-23	6 [9]	60x2,90	3+10 (3+20)x2,7+70
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
8	4 [6]		4x2,0	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
5+0x2,7+80	Normal	2{1}x3
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
		Y

• When the move is cancelled into from tether, it has higher knockback scaling, allowing opponents to DI up to avoid the strong third hit of the move.

Down Air

(while airborne) Down + Attack

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_dair

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
5	11-18	24 [33]	361	5+40
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
7 (Maypul)+3 (Root)	4 [6]		0	1

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
5+0	Extended	3
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
		Y

A very unorthodox aerial. Maypul will raise her hands, summoning a root to the ground directly below her. This move is an excellent way to annoy opponents that attempt to catch your landing. The fast startup, extremely low hitpause and the Sakurai Angle can very often force your opponent in either a difficult-to-react-to techchase situation, which Maypul thrives off of, or a combo if the opponent DIs up and in.

• Down air is completely interrupted only if Maypul is hit in the first 7 frames of animation.
• This move is purely air-to-ground. If down air is used with no solid ground below Maypul, Maypul will enter the animation but no root will spawn
• Down air can be done on any floor except for Kragg's and Shovel Knight's rocks. If Maypul uses down air over rock, the root will ignore the rock entirely and search for any ground below it.
  • If down air is used over Mobile Gear, the root will ride the gear while active until the gear hops off a ledge, in which it will then float in midair.
• The root is not a projectile, so moves that would nullify projectiles won't destroy it, however, the field of Clairen's down special will.

Specials

Neutral Special

Seed Toss

Special (Air OK)

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_nspecial

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
2	7-...	13	55	-
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
6			-	0.4x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
6+0	Reflect	2
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	-	Y

• Applies Watcher's Mark on hit

Forward Special

Watcher's Dash

Forward/Back + Special (Air OK)

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_fspecial

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
4	9-16	9 [18]	120	6+30
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
8			0	0.8x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
5+0	Normal	2
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	-	N

• Applies Watcher's Mark on hit
• If the opposite direction is inputted before the move comes out, Maypul will instead move backwards a small distance, allowing her to sacrifice burst range to take further advantage of the backwards knockback
• Whifflag applies despite being a special move, but is ignored if the move is reversed or performed in the air

Up Special

Up Special

Up + Special (Air OK)

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_uspecial

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
2,8	10,11+18	14	95,90	8+50,8+100
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
9	10		7,6	1x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
8 + 0,8 + 80	Normal	2,8
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	-	Y

• If the opponent is marked, this version of the attack can be performed by either tapping the special button or by pressing dodge alongside the regular input.
• If done over a platform, pressing down immediately after the first hit connects will cause Maypul to cancel it into a platform drop. This is Maypul's Up B Cancel which allows for more depth in her combo game

Down Special

Watcher's Dash (Downward)

(While Airborne) Down + Special

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_dspeciala

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
4	14-21	11	90	8+20
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
13	8		0	0.85x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
5+0	Normal	2
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	-	N

• Applies Watcher's Mark on hit
• Cancellable into side special starting from the first three frames of endlag
• Holding down while over a platform causes Maypul to go through it

Place Lily

(While Grounded) Down + Special

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_dspecialg

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
-	75-555	3 (Maypul) / 12 (Lily despawning)	-	-
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
29+45			-	-

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
-	-	-
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	-	-

• Lily stays on stage for 480 frames (8 seconds) before burrowing into the ground
• Only one Lily can be on screen at a time. Using grounded down special while Lily is on screen will do nothing.
• Throwing a Neutral Special projectile at Lily will cause her to spit the seed straight up and eat it
  • The 8 second life timer resets if the seed is spat is spat out OR eaten

Lily's Bite

Hitboxes Off

Hitboxes On

fer_dspeciall

Damage	Active	Endlag	Angle	KB (Base+Scaling)
8	9 (4)	42	361	6+30
Startup	Landing Lag	FAF	Angle Flipper	Hitstun
8 (3)			3	0.9x

Hitpause (Base + Scaling)	Parry Stun Type	Priority
5+0	Special	3
Hit Lockout	Force Flinch Value	Kills Projectiles?
-	-	Y

() denotes data when the opponent is in hitstun

• If a marked opponent in hitstun crosses Lily's bite range, she will instead wrap the opponent. The time wrap is in effect depends on the distance between Maypul and the opponent upon the wrap being applied
• If Lily's Bite is parried, she will be dizzy and unable to attack for 240 frames (4 seconds) before burrowing into the ground. While Lily is in this state, Maypul can't plant a second Lily
• If Lily's Bite whiffs against a marked opponent, the mark will be removed

Alternate Palettes

Default Colors

Unlockable Skins

• Custom Color 2: Beat story mode.
• Abyss: Reach Abyss level 10 with Maypul.
• Ranked: Reach Gold rank with Maypul.

Default

Alt Blue

Alt Red

Alt Yellow

Alt Grey

Alt Purple

Custom Color 1

Custom Color 2

Abyss

Ranked

Seasonal Colors

Current seasonal skins rotate every 3 months in the following order (hemisphere dependent):

• Valentines (Feb-Apr)/(Aug-Oct)
• Summer (May-Jul)/(Nov-Jan)
• Halloween (Aug-Oct)/(Feb-Apr)
• Christmas (Nov-Jan)/(May-Jul)

Genesis Old (removed)

CEO Dreamland 2017 (removed)

Frostbite 2018 (removed)

Valentines

Summer

Halloween

Christmas

Premium Skins

How to Get

• Champion: Obtainable via the developers.
• EA: Purchase a Steam key for RoA via Humble Bundle.
• Arcade: Obtainable via the Steam Store.
• Panda: Obtainable via the Steam Store.
• Ragnir: Obtainable via the Steam Store.
• Golden: Purchase a Maypul plush from Symbiote Studios.
• GoTE: Obtainable via the RCS compendium during RCS seasons.
• Early to Bed: Support the Rivals 2 Kickstarter before December 15, 2023

Champion

Early Access Promo

Arcade (Blue)

Arcade (Green)

Arcade (Pink)

Panda

Ragnir

Golden Promo

Gamers On The Edge

Early to Bed