Free Step Dodge

Very few people play her seriously. I think only @KasumiLover69 @Nikotsumi on FSD play her.

And it's not easy either XD, you have to take some risks since people expect her to play a certain way, especially against the faster characters. I fought a Honoka a few nights before that took a while to bring down, and that Christie and Zack Niko fought I'm sure was a doozy

Hmm I'm curious what specific playstyle people expect Naotora players to adopt when against faster characters. So let's say someone plays Kasumi, an extremely fast character, against Naotora, how would the Kasumi player expect the Naotora to play? Rushdown? Zoning? Mindgame-oriented?

The same general way: rushdown and using her K and 6K kick string, which doesn't work at all. XD mind games and zoning are definitely what she's better suited for, although I guess against slower characters she can play closer because of her 11is and 12 framer.

That's how I actually expect almost all of Naotora players to play. A speedy character would destroy a rushdown Naotora because speedy's have less startup frames which counter hit most of Naotora's strikes. I think a zoning Nao would be better in this case, as most speedy's don't actually have a lot of range (with the exception of Mai).

I agree with you that Nao can afford to play more agressively when dealing with slower characters. However, she always has to look out for crushes. Helena and Lei for example have mediocre speed but plenty of crushes to beat Nao's high kick strings.

When I play Mai, I always try to crush Nao by using Mai's 4K or any of her lows. I just always find it annoying when I get stunned by Nao. I get so confused by her mix-ups, probably because I don't know all of her strings' hit levels. One stun into launch gets Nao massive damage with her deadly K6KK. And I'm always afraid to hold because her 66T does so much damage! >_<

I might give your Nao guide another read me thinks, because I need to know how to deal with certain movestrings better. xD

Yeah, once you know exactly what she can do from her strings, it'll make things alot less scary and complicated XD.

Dang, do I not exist?? Mostly you just have to block > throw punish or disrespect Naotora's "pressure". Because, as of now, most of anything she does up close isn't necessarily honest. Some things can be interrupted as well, so utilize that.

Yeah, against Nao you just have to block and throw punish. her lows are crap except for 6H+KK, I really have a hard time against people who block all day xD