Codemaster's Pai Tips

Codemaster92163

Well-Known Member
Hey, folks! If you don't know me (though you should by now if you're on these forums), I'm a Pai player. I've been using her since vanilla, and I'm constantly working on new tech, setups, optimizations, and all other bits of information on her. I've written a mini-guide before (which I'll likely need to revise by now), and Timasty, Bokuho, and other members have made their own guides/data archives for you to look at. In this post, I am strictly offering tips; things I typically do when fighting, little-known facts about move properties for crushing, advantageous setups, etc.. If this isn't something you're looking for, feel free to disregard this entirely. I'll probably update this as I recall more things, but hopefully this helps you add a few things into your style that you may not have otherwise considered!

44P is great. It's a relatively fast move that stuns on NH, leaving you BT and at -2 on block. Now, note that it is not the same as the last punch in PP4P. That leaves you at -1 on block, doesn't stun on NH, and isn't quite as effective despite being 1 frame better on block. 44P creates some distance on block, allowing you to quickly back dash away and avoid most retaliations. It's a great poke, great at creating the perfect distance for Pai (you'll be expecting the difference in distance, your opponent won't) which can easily be followed up by 3KP (more on that later), 66H+K, 66P+K, or whatever. Or you can just space with it. It also leads to her BT mixups and her tracking BT P that also leaves you at +1 on block, so it's a really useful move on both block and hit. The stun is deep, allowing you to backdash and still land a hit in if you want (I typically go for 66K). Just mess around with the move. Give it a go, see how it functions.

Pai's BKT stance is far better than we ever gave it credit for. Sure, it's not on par with Helena's, but Pai has some weird hitbox properties while in it. It's pretty good at crushing moves that aren't true mids, and even some that are. Take note of how she looks when entering it. She shifts her entire body back, with only one foot far ahead. You will crush a lot of moves if you use it at the correct distance, or in the correct stance (crushing can be open/closed stance dependent). You also have access to her amazing BKT P.

BKT P is incredibly useful. It functions like a CB, so the damage is high, the stun is deep, and it's safe at -4. What makes it amazing is that two of the followups are both jailing and unholdable. That just means that they're forced to block both hits and can't interrupt you, and they can't hold them when in stun. These two moves are BKT PK and BKT PP. The damage you rack up from BKT PP can usually lead to a pseudo 3 hit CB. An example of which is 2P+K > BKT PP > 66P. 2P+K is the first stun, then the BKT PP counts as the second (since the second punch cannot be held in any way), allowing you to get the CB of faster and easier than usual. BKT PK is also great since it leads into PPKK which I now find to be one of her best enders. Oh, and the move crushes quite a bit, so there's that too. Again, test this out. Give everything a few goes to see how you want to implement it, or watch my own videos.

3KP is a great poking tool. It covers a decent amount of distance, it jails, and actually has what I believe to be unique jailing properties that sets it apart from most others. After testing, I've found that there's one frame, just one, on all jailing moves in which the opponent is freed from the guard lock, but unable to do anything else. 3KP just so happens to hit this frame without needing to be timed. What happens is that the opponent can block the kick but still get hit by the punch, something that jailing usually prevents. If they try to crush, hold, counter, or duck the punch, it will hit them. You can test this out with her BKT PP actually if you want. But anyways, this string is phenomenal. Unique jailing, long distance, -3 on block, relatively quick.

PPKK is now my favorite string ender. I know I've gone through a lot of favorites, 6KP7K, 33PK, PPP7K, etc., but here is why I usually always end strings with PPKK now. It leads into an unholdable 3P setup, and 3P has plenty of followups and options from the string. So you'll either hit a grounded opponent with 3P and send them flying back, giving you room to breath, hit their feet for some unholdable damage, have it blocked but be risky to punish since it has followups, or allow you to continue the pressure by using the rest of the strings like 3PP4P, 3PK, 3PK_, 3PP9P+K, or my absolute favorite, 3P4. I use 3P4 for a few reasons. One, it makes the move unpunishable by spacing Pai out from the opponent and making low throws whiff. Two, it has all of the benefits I mentioned of Pai's BKT stance.

1P is good, but WR 4P is better. There will be a lot of times where you've been hit by something, or you move was blocked and you're at too high a negative to really continue the pressure. 1P can be slightly evasive, crushing some highs, dodging some short range moves, and launching the opponent. WR 4P is better since the crushing is more consistent, it always beats out highs, often beats out mids, and stuns on NH You'll often get WR 4P from the most random of situations, such as trying to use 1P on WU, after breaking Bayman's throws or holds, and other oddities. You'll piss a lot of people off, but it really helps to limit what the opponent can do after their own general setups. Think of it like the poor man's version of Lei's 4P+K, just less consistent and more difficult to pull of (as well as it only being available to use in situations where the game considers you having just been ducking).

P+K should be used a lot. It's a great SDS, better than most, and lets you get a free launch or extra hit in. Often I'll use a stun > P+K > 4K, then choose between the 1P, 3H+K or 66H+K (depending on stun threshold), CB, or throw. Use it often to create urgency within your opponent to bait a counter, and mix it up with 66H+K or 4P+KP.

4P+K does not always need to be followed up. Sometimes, forcing the block ro the counter in anticipation of the P followup can be just as useful as the followups themselves.. You'll be in BT, giving you 9K (+3-5 based on distance), 4P (+3) P (tracking +1) or you can quickly turn around and throw. Think of it like a powerblow feint. Using the full move is great, but there's use in cancelling it for other options.

PPP should be used a lot. If you're punishing a whiff or whatever, PPP is a natural combo that deals 30 damage in its entirety. It also has the pesky 7K followup or 9P+K followup that are both delayable by quite a lot, sometimes forcing a block to let you get in a quick throw.

7H+K is her most effective round-ender, spacing tool, and anti-pressure move. It is fast, has a lot of active frames, crushes all highs, creates a ton of distance on block and hit, and has a deceptively large hitbox during the active frames. When the opponent is low on health, it's no secret that I use this move a lot. I back up, throw out some 7H+Ks to intimidate the opponent, mix them up with 4K or 4H+Ks, maybe some low sweeps, but the crux of my spacing game and my round-enders is this move. It will not let you down, only surprise you when it hits someone from seemingly halfway across the map because their move fell prey to the long active frames of her kick. It will not get you in trouble, only out of it. It is dependable, reliable, and probably my favorite move.

Please stop relying on 2H+K stuns. If you're playing someone you know is bad at reacting to stuff, that's one thing, but I've seen so many of you use it a ton to get your stun. I did that once too, but it's fairly slow, and can more easily be reacted too offline. Her sweep (1H+K) is fine for the frames, but really, use 2H+K very sparingly if you really want to improve your game rather than rely on online gimmicks. It's useful to retrack sidesteppers, or crush highs, but you have better options. This also applies to 66P+K, though that move is safe, so it's not as unjustified as 2H+K. Also, use her 66P+K cancel more! Bait the low hold, then throw. So, again, emphasis on decreased reliance on 2H+K for stuns. You're playing a fast character with lots of crushes and throws that guarantee hits, so why are you relying on a slow low for a hit?

2P is very useful. More than most characters' 2P. Hers can be linked into 6_P to actually continue the stun, so bear that in mind. Pai's damage is low on NH, so you can cancel your stun and go for a throw, or trick them into attacking and raise your stun to CH for more damage. As a recommendation, I usually go for 24T as my throw option, or 46H+K as my attacking option. The second gives you +frames on block and hit, so there's no real downside to using it other than it potentially whiffing. If you worry about that, go for 3KP or 6P.

Mind your negatives! Pai can be a flurry of attacks, but try to keep yourself above -3 (or sometimes -4) if you plan on playing that particular style of hitting lots of buttons, which just so happens to be my favorite. Don't mash out of -6 just because you can. Do it only if you expect a throw or something really slow. But you have an i9 jab and loads of high crushes, so if you stay at -3 and above, your jab can be considered i12, fast enough to beat out most moves still, and your crushes can be used to take care of the faster highs you may anticipate.

4K doesn't need to go into 2 if you don't want to. 4K2 into BKT often makes the opponent guess for the H+K launch or the CB. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but using 4K by itself confuses people since you're left with a lot more options after it while still having the belly stun it provides.
 
Last edited:

Lulu

Well-Known Member
I didn't read it but I haven't totally written off Pai yet so.... ya never know.
 
ALL DOA6 DOA5 DOA4 DOA3 DOA2U DOAD
Top