Liu Feilin (FHD)

Liu Feilin

Overview

Commonly ranked as one of the worst characters in the game, Feilin has a lot of weakness that drag her down, such as her lack of safe, bufferable special moves in neutral, weak damage output and lack of any real offensive momentum. However, that doesn't mean that it's impossible to be competitive with Feilin, you can still win plenty of matches with her, you just have to put in a lot more effort!

Pros

• Great anti airs in sHK and Crane Strike.
• Good defensive abilities, as she gets access to her most powerful moves with downback charge.
• Can punish most fireballs with Sliding Crane Strike, which can hit most dizzy spots.
• Has an instant overhead which can be very useful in some situations.

Cons

• Has very weak special move buffers: her fireball cannot combo from normals and it is also too slow to be a true blockstring.
• Her fireball also has lots of startup and is generally only useful for some light zoning.
• Weak damage output, even weaker if she doesn't time to charge her Sliding Crane Kick.
• Prone to being dizzied easily, as most attacks hit her dizzy weak spot.

Moves

Normal Moves

Note: I'm only going to list normals that I find useful for at least 1 purpose, even if it is niche.

• Light Punch

Standing (Far) - Decent for tick throwing.

Crouching - Mashable light punch. In some match ups, you can do your combos as crLK, crLP instead of crLK x2, as crLP will hit some lower weak spots and potentially dizzy some characters quicker. However, don't do this at any range except point blank, as crLP doesn't have a lot of range.

• Strong Punch

Standing (Far) - Ok poke, good in some match ups, not much else to it.

Crouching - You will use this to combo into Sliding Crane Strike. Not much else to say aside from that.

Jumping - This is your only crossup. Use this for crossing up and also for comboing into crHP xx Sliding Crane Strike (start charging mid air on the direction in which you expect to land).

• Light Kick

Standing (Far) - This has extremely long range for a light normal, and great priority to boot. Plus, it hits many dizzy spots, so you'll find yourself using this normal a LOT.

Crouching - Decent range. This will be your main tool for comboing into Sliding Crane Strike.

Jumping - Has decent priority and stays out forever. If you land this, prepare to do crLK x2, crHP xx Sliding Crane Strike (it will be easier if you're already charging as you jump in).

• Strong Kick

Crouching - Thankfully, Feilin's sweep has excellent range. This will be your main poke in neutral.

Jumping - This has the most range out of all her jump ins, so use this if you jump in from afar.

Jumping (Neutral) - Same as her other jumping strong kick.

• Command normals

Forward + Strong Kick - Another decent poke, has slightly longer range than stHP.

Special Moves

• Mantis Claw (Quarter Circle Forward + Punch): It's a fireball. However, unlike most other fireballs, you can't blockstring or combo into it, making it far less useful than it could be. It also has tons of startup and recovery. However, it's still decent from fullscreen, and you can still throw it in mid range, but ONLY if you know that your opponent is not going to punish you for it.

• Air Mantis Claw (Back, Down-Back, Down + Punch in mid air): This is an air fireball that travels in a very steep downwards angle towards the ground. It is sometimes useful to throw out in neutral, as it can stop the opponent's approach on the ground and may even hit a limb from them. This attack can also be used as an instant overhead if you do Back, Down-Back, Down, then press jump + Punch, and this is extremely useful for killing opponents who are near death, and also dizzying opponents with flashing head weakspots. However, this attack has a LOT of recovery, so if it fails to kill or dizzy the opponent and you recover close to them, prepare to eat a VERY painful combo... It's best to use this attack sparingly and only in the situations I mentioned, as otherwise it is very unsafe and risky.

• Crane Strike (Charge Down, Up + Punch): Your main invincible reversal and anti air tool. The LP version gives you good oki if it lands on the ground, and it has good invulnerability during its first few frames. The HP version hits twice on the ground and goes higher up in the air. If blocked, the LP version leaves you kinda vulnerable while the HP version leaves you very vulnerable.

• Sliding Crane Strike (Charge Down, Down-Back, Down-Forward, Forward, Up-Forward + Punch): This move has two main uses: first, it is your main anti-fireball tool in neutral, as the HP version goes like 3/4ths of the screen; second, it is your main combo ender after crHP whenever you have charge ready. The only thing that sets this move back is its weird motion, but your should definitely practice it because it makes Feilin's combos a lot stronger.

• Flying Kick (Down + Strong Kick when at the apex of your jump): Feilin does a divekick which bounces back on both block and hit. You can do this move from any jump arc. The kick is unsafe against most if not all of the cast even ON HIT. Use it if you're expecting to dizzy with it. For some reason, the input for this move is extremely picky, so it is a good idea to ALWAYS do the input as Down + Both kicks, the reason for this is that if the Flying Kick doesn't come out, a jLK will come out because of the input priority, so you won't fall to the ground defenseless; you may even be able to combo the opponent if they fail to anti air you.

Gameplay

Feilin's tools seem to benefit playing defensively, reading your opponent's habits and countering whatever they're doing with the right tools. Feilin gets access to her most powerful tools and combos whenever she has charge; whenever she leaves down charge she's way more vulnerable, has less damage potential, and will generally be limited to using pokes in neutral. For this reason, turtling with Feilin is generally not a bad idea, especially if you have a good life lead, as your punishes can do more damage.

Being smart and choosing your battles wisely will give you a greater chance of winning. For example, you will not win a fireball war with Feilin, but you can punish predictable and slow fireballs with Sliding Crane Strike, however, as it is unsafe on block, you will also need to know when not to do it. Because her own tools are not worth all that much offensively, it is better to let your opponent make mistakes and capitalize on them.

It's all well and good until Feilin needs to be offensive herself, and this is her main downfall. Feilin's pressure is one of the weakest in the game, and she has practically no combo potential if she has to move forward. On the ground, you will be looking to play an IMMACULATE footsies game (if you're good at whiff punishing, use crHK for that, then close the gap after they're knocked down). Once you're in, you will be looking to do 2 things: tick throws, and crouching lights into either sweep, or crHP xx Sliding Crane Strike if you've managed to get the charge for it. If you haven't managed to win the neutral game, it may not be a bad idea to try and jump in on your opponent; your jump-in of choice will depend on the angle, and always remember to charge everytime you jump, in case you manage to land your jumping attack. Feilin's jump is high but quick, so if you're unpredictable it's a good way to approach your opponent and hopefully land a combo.

Feilin's weakspot is her chestplate on her torso. Ducking while being comboed will generally shrink and lower your weakspot hurtbox, so you should generally always do it save for the few instances where it's obviously not a good idea (For example, vs. Jean or Zazie).

Combos

• crLK x3, crHK (without charge, this is the best combo you can do on someone. You COULD cancel the sweep into her fireball on block, but most characters can just jump over it and punish you).
• crLK x3, crHP xx Sliding Crane Strike (you will be looking to catch an opponent standing or doing something so you can land this combo!).
• jHP (crossup), crHP xx Sliding Crane Strike (jHP is Feilin's only crossup, so every time you try to crossup the opponent you'll be looking to land this combo).
• jHP, crLK, crHP xx Sliding Crane Strike (your most damaging combo. Practice this a lot, because as Feilin you wanna get as much damage as you can).

Matchups

• Vs. Feilin (Mirror):

• Vs. Clown:

• Vs. Karnov:

• Vs. Jean:

• Vs. Lee:

• Vs. Marstorius:

• Vs. Matlok: Not too bad. Take advantage of Matlok's terrible anti airs by jumping at unexpected moments. On his wake up, you can bait his flash kicks and then get a full combo punish on him. Your instant overhead fireball can be particularly useful in this match up as Matlok has a head weak spot. Read Matlok's sonic boom patterns and punish accordingly with Sliding Crane Strike, but you have to anticipate a fireball from him, as otherwise he will have already recovered by the time you're doing your move. You can also use your Flying Kick to counter a bad sonic boom from him, especially if he's about to be dizzied. Be careful when throwing fireballs in this match up, as Matlok has plenty of options against them. If he does Overhead Kick at any point, Crane Strike will hit his weak spot. Finally, I want to talk about what to do while being comboed: if he cannot charge during his combo, your best strategy is to stand up, as none of his normals will hit your dizzy spot; however, if he's doing a punish or dizzy combo on you, it's best to crouch in order to avoid his most dangerous normals from hittng your weak point.

• Vs. Mizoguchi: This match up is frustrating because Mizoguchi is one of those characters that can definitely random you out and kill you off of 1 or 2 mistakes. First, know that if you happen to get caught in a combo, crouching is ALWAYS a good idea, as his attacks will no longer hit your weak spot. Now lets get into punishing his special moves: his fireball is very slow, so if he's chunking them out for some reason, don't let him get away with it and use your Sliding Crane Strike to punish it, or you could also jump in and get a combo punish; LP Koryu Sai is very hard to punish, so if you're midscreen the best thing you can do is just backdash the hell out of there, but if you're in corner it's a bit of a coin flip... your sweep and LP Crane Strike seem to be your best bets for punishing it; HP Koryu Sai is very punishable, you should definitely do your crLK x2, crHP xx Sliding Crane Strike combo; LK Tatsu is duckable, so just crouch and get a full combo punish; HK Tatsu is best punished with throw, so as soon as you see Mizoguchi doing HK Tatsus very close to you, start mashing throw; however, his HK Tatsu is safe if he's not within your throw range, so the best thing you can do if you're not in the corner is to backdash (if for some reason he does the full 5 kicks of his Tatsu, they're always combo or sweep punishable). His jump is quick and low to the ground and his air normals are great, so you wanna stick to doing LP Crane Strikes to anti air him; if for some reason he starts jumping at you like an idiot and you block one of his jumping attacks, you will have to get him out of the air with stHK, which usually trades with him. At footsies range, it's best not to sweep at all and instead stick to fHK for your pokes, because Mizoguchi's HK Tatsu has the annoying property of going over lows. Finally, it's good to know that your instant overhead will hit Mizoguchi's headband weakspot. All in all, you wanna play defensively against Mizoguchi, but don't corner yourself because that's a very bad place to be at.

• Vs. Ray: This match up is awful for several reasons. Ray has better pokes, better special moves, and the ability to dizzy you instantly with his Thunder Dynamite Tackle. Read your opponent's fireball patterns and punish accordingly with your Sliding Crane Strike. Don't jump at Ray unless you have a read on a bad fireball, in which case have your combo prepared. Pressure the fuck out of Ray with crLK on wake up if you manage to get a knockdown, as his only reversal option whiffs on crouching opponents. Always be ready to punish random Wheel Kicks in neutral, as this could be the opening that you need. Be very wary of Dynamite Tackles, as they will hit your weakspot, and always check if Ray is charging, because otherwise he won't be able to do his Thunder Dynamite Tackle; Dynamite Tackles are safe, but you may be able to walk up to them and grab them if they're blocking afterwards, or sweep them if they press buttons. The key to this matchup is to get a knockdown and pressure Ray until he's dead.

• Vs. Ryoko: Definitely in Feilin's favor. Ryoko needs to get in in this match up, but she doesn't have great means to do so. Feilin bodies Ryoko in the neutral game with crHK and fHK, so use those pokes to keep Ryoko out. From fullscreen you can throw fireballs with impunity, but stop if she gets any closer than that. If she jumps, Crane Strike and stHK will take her out of the air everytime, and there's nothing she can do about it. Ryoko has to take risks, and you will play to capitalize on those risky plays by playing a solid defensive game.

• Vs. Samchay:

• Vs. Yungmie: Not a great match up for Feilin, especially if the Yungmie player is good. This is one of the few fights where you have you go in yourself, as Yungmie will wear you down with her fireball spam. Using your Sliding Crane Strike to punish her fireballs is ill-advised; instead, neutral jump fullscreen fireballs and close the distance little by little. Once you are at footsies range, she will most likely try to sweep you, the answer to which is to whiff punish her sweep with your own; she might also try to keep chunking fireballs at you from that distance, which will beat your sweeps, however, your stHP will hit her out of her fireball during its startup frames; basically, at this distance it's a matter of guessing between these 2 options. Finally, if the Yungmie player misses her fireball input, she will most likely end up jumping towards you defenseless, which you can capitalize on by anti-airing her or by doing a full combo on her as she lands.

• Vs. Zazie: This is a terrible match up. Use your sweep to punish all of his Hell Fires (though the timing is very tight). Crane Strike will whiff punish his ABCD punches special, and you can also mash crouching jab to an extent to beat it (both the risk and the reward are lower). Don't use your fireball at all unless he's at fullscreen distance. Jumping at Zazie isn't a terrible idea, as his anti airs are slow and a bit unreliable, and you should be able to hit his weakpoint at least twice in that combo. This is also one match up where your instant overhead will prove to be very useful, as Zazie has a headband dizzy spot. Other than that, play VERY defensively and hope that Zazie makes mistakes that you can capitalize on. Don't make mistakes yourself, as he has the potential to drain your life bar in one combo.