Intro
Many years ago, the man named Carlos attempted to create human weapons known only as “Ash Children” -- Haiji Mibu is one such human weapon. After their creation, Carlos forced all of the Ash Children to fight each other to the death. Haiji was the sole survivor. He would eventually escape the clutches of Carlos’s criminal organisation, and some years later, would try to build a new life for himself working as a bouncer. He is aggressive and sometimes reckless, haunted by a dark past he cannot truly escape from.
Haiji is a fast phased character focused on pressuring the opponent and dealing tons of damage. Has a lot of mixup tools, corner pressure, long strings on hit and on whiff, can convert soft pokes into high damage combos. Good for starters but hard to master type of character.
Attributes
Forward Walk speed: 2.5 Back Walk speed: 2 Forward Dash: 16f Back Dash: 18f Prejump: 8f Neutral Jump: 31f Forward Jump: 30f Back Jump: 29f Forward Super Jump: 30f Back Super Jump: 29f
Strategy
As Haiji you'll always want to be the one attacking rather than the one reacting. Lots of his pressure comes from jump-ins, his jump is the lowest from the entire cast making him a constant threat for a quick overhead into full combo. He deals a lot of guard damage too, so even if your opponent blocks, you can guard break them and still convert into combos. He has good anti-air tools but you need to be properly spaced for them to work as intended, if you can't manage to control space then your anti-air game will fail. He has the highest guard regen of all the cast (Except the 2 bosses) so don't be afraid to turtle a bit if you need to. Using HK to switch into reverse stance so you get access to r.HP which is the move you'll always want to connect before launching any other special or super, keep in mind that HK-HP string it's unsafe depending on the MU forcing you to adapt to a new approach instead. Strong against the lower tiers, struggles against the upper tiers but with the right approach Haiji will always perform well in any MU (More info on the MU section)
Movelist
Extra movements
LP-LP: This move adds another jab allowing you to poke further and extend your pressure. It's not that useful on it's own but it has a pretty decent setup after knocking the opponent, if you time it right the 2nd punch will guard break the opponent as soon as they get up blocking, allowing you to combo after the guard break, pretty hard to pull off on a real match but it's a nice gimmick to know.
6HP: Hook to the body with overhead properties, can be comboed into 236P making it a real threat against crouching opponents, can be reacted so use with caution, some characters are able to punish this on block.
Special Attacks
Left-Handers Baby 236+P
Haiji leaps forward and delivers a punch to the gut launching the opponent in the air. This is your BnBs combo finisher without meter, opponent is able to air-tech out of it but if he doesn't you can follow up with a 3+HK once he's knocked down, if the opponent decides to air-tech, depending if you're in midscreen or corner you can follow up with some moves like: HK - 623HP to get some damage out of it, remember if you commit for one option, you won't be able to 3+HK after, so it's a mindgame between your oppponent and you. Guard breaks on block, but recovery doesn't allow to combo after so using it as a way to keep the pressure going is not as smart as you'd think, it's unsafe on block depending on the MU and also resets the guard meter of the opponent. Damage does not change but distance covered does between LP and HP.
Exterminator's Trumpet 214+P
Haiji twists back and charges forward with a deadly punch. This move has almost infinite armor. LP version will fly right away but HP can be charged making this move a real threat which cannot be ignored. The armor can eat every hit (Except for throws) and the damage applied + hard knockdown followed with 3HK makes this move a solid one when you're getting overwhelmed. If charged completely Haiji will glow red for a little bit, applying max damage and making the move unblockable (Can still be parried/dodged). Solid defensive option and works as an anti-air with proper timing, always hard knockdowns except (not 100% but it can happen) if you catch the opponent recovering from a dodge. Very unsafe onblock and on whiff so use with caution.
White Lamentation 623+P
Haiji's dp. The power of this move is not the anti-air property it has, but rather the invul frames at the start of the move (expanded on framedata section). First of all the move is strict to be ended in diagonal input, you can't 6236 to make it work so be always sure to end up with diagonal input. This move has 2 ways of working, if the opponent is closer to you, they'll get impaled with the punch getting knocked, if they're high enough they will be launched out of the punch allowing you to continue a juggle but it can be air-tech so keep that in mind, on the corner air-teching this move can end up on a death loop making this move a serious threat. It's not a great anti-air but more of a invul move to trade hits on the ground, remember if you trade this move the opponent will always get launched allowing you to juggle. Doesn't have low invul. Guard breaks on block.
Iron Moon 236+K
Haiji leaps forward with a front kick. Horrible move on it's own. Slow startup, pretty decent active frames but awful recovery making it unsafe on block and on whiff. On hit this will hard knockdown the opponent allowing you to 3HK but the best use this move has is in some combos (Always the LK option) or after super. Try to don't use, can be used as an anti-air but it's more of a coincidence because you're always hard-commiting after using it, you'll end up using it by missing your super input (Later explained). Bad move, try to don't use.
Super Moves
A Subway Train Called "Despair" 236236+HP
This super it's the same as 214P but with new properties starting with invul frames then getting armor and adding a lot of hits instead, good as a reversal, deals tons of damage if you can get the 7-8 hits out of it does not hardKO the opponent, and that makes the super bad, even if you hit the opponent is able to air-tech while you're recovering to full combo you instead, the super is hard to combo due to startup and also if you manage to get a combo out of it unless you're in corner the damage output will be lower than using it as a reversal, still pretty flashy, has a voiceline attached and looks amazing, great to finish with style but also a bad super overall. Use with caution.
The Reaper's Sunglasses 2141236+HK
Arguably one of the (If not the best) super of the game. This super is used as a launcher turning your already damaging combos into deadly ones, the launch can't be air-tech so you can combo 214P 236K 623P (Can't combo 236p) or any normal after launching the opponent. Best use it's to pair it with an early 623P to re-launch the opponent once again and then play by the rules 623p offers (listed above) Solid super but with just 2 downsides: Invul frames are almost inexistent + doesn't have low invul, and number two: the super can whiff on hit, that happens because of spacing, sometimes r.HP will hit twice creating a gap of distance between you and your opponent and this super has poor range and will whiff as a result. Still it's your go-to option and it can be used as an anti-air. Guardbreaks onblock and allows you to frametrap if the opponent tries to punish it. Diagonal inputs have to be perfectly executed if not, you'll end up throwing a 236K by error and getting punished.
Bread and Butter Combos
j.HK, LK, HK, HP, 236+HP, 3+HK
j.HK, LK, HK, HP, 2141236+HK, 623+P, 236+LK, 3+HK
Match-ups
Yurian: In this MU your goal is to don't get knocked down if she manages to do so you're going to suffer from her drop knee cross-up mixup. She has the lowest guard of the entire cast so keep up the pressure and try to force guard break, jump a lot challenging and forcing air/air situations, your rising HK does more damage than her drop knee so take that trade everyday until you can land a combo. You can't punish her hit grab on block (Sometimes you can if you have POW and she doesn't) and also she can use that blockstun to use her cmd throw on you, getting a knockdown and starting her mixup pressure, also she can punish on reaction your HK HP string with the same cmd throw so don't over-use it. 236HP is unsafe onblock against her because of the cmd throw. Hard MU
Yurien: He's the fastest character of the entire cast, just block until you get POW so you can dodge away from his pressure, as long as he has POW any hit could be deadly as he can turn it into an infinite as long as his POW gauge remains. Just block and play by your strengths, one of your combos can be deadly, if he doesn't land a hit he can't go for the infinite. He can combo dodge+HK into low and then the infinite. Everytime he dodges, challenge it with HK-HP string or just high block and then low, you can also try to grab him out of it. You can't punish his 236HP, it will always trade if he goes for 5A or 2A, he can also side switch when you're getting up with his HK-HK combo so keep that in mind and be aware to block in the opposite way. Don't be predictable with your jump-ins because he can trade air/air and then recover fast enough to air throw dealing a nice chunk of damage. If he's pressuring he doesn't deal too much damage to the guard so you'll always be able to reach POW before getting guard broken, using 623HP invulframes can turn the tides to your favour so you can get your pressure going. Hard MU
Taro: He's slow, very slow, he has more hp than the rest of the cast so you won't be able to kill him as fast as the others. The idea of this MU is just rush in with jump-ins, he also has a bigger hitbox, so your cross-up will be more effective and sometimes it will hit on the back making some of your jump-ins literally unblockables or unpredictables for Taro to block so just spam jump-ins get your damage in, you're done. He can pressure with his knees and you can't punish his rekka effectively so be aware because he can go for frametrap using super after the rekka dealing massive damage. If he gets you with the rekka you can air-tech after the last hit of the 2nd rekka to throw HK, that will preemptively stop his super, if you don't manage to stop that super your hp bar will be depleted. He can combo double knees into double knees into super, that's almost your entire hp, so respect the knees and block when you're on the ground. Also he can go to dodge state with a lot of moves so be aware of the hit after the dodge. You can recover from the last hit of the standing super allowing you to go for a full combo, you have to air-tech HK and then continue with your bnb. Easy MU
Torao: He's really fast and he's deadly with his no brainer touch of death combo so NEVER use 236P on-block because he will always punish, one of his punishes being the TOD if he has meter. Be aware of the distance because his 236K can stop you from getting in DONT CHALLENGE IT with air-tech because he can keep using it dealing a lot of damage (it's the same as your dp in corner), you should try to bait him into using his 236P mash (As long as you have meter) and then dodge away while he's throwing punches in the air, that way you get a turn to combo. You're able to punish his 236p mash with HK-HP string but doesn't work 100% of the times and that can be risky, always try to poke with 5AA after his 236p. Just remember he lacks tools to get a clean hit to combo, can't combo from a low, and his overheads are not that good, as long as you're not getting yourself in danger the match favours you. Easy-Medium MU
Haiji: Mirror match, well this is tough. Don't use long strings as he can access to 214p and destroy you with the armor, always try to dodge away his jump-in attempts and don't block too much because he has enough damage to guard break you and convert into combos. You're able to punish 236p with HK-HP string but as long as he's not in POW. You can also bait him into jumping into you to stop him with 5HK (I don't approve this strat but it works!). The 1st one getting the hit in will always win, just evade his pressure and try to start your own. Medium-Hard MU
Roche:
Harry: This MU is hell for you. What's wrong with this MU? Harry is the character with the highest effective HP of the entire cast. So you'll be needing like 2 or 3 full combos to kill him (You need 1 and a few hits with the rest of the cast) This is a problem because you won't be getting too much of them, his dp and 5HK covers a big part of the screen making your jump-in attempts useless, your strat is to bait him into using his dp to get a clean jump-in punish. You can't stay too close to him because he can use his cmd throw or even his super cmd throw dealing a lot of damage, he has a good 50/50 between overhead + hitgrab or just a low with a lot of hitstun and also safe onblock, also he can use his rockets full-screen to stop your jump-ins if timed correctly. The strat is to get close to him, but always forcing him to commit to something, don't stay side by side bc of the cmd throw and always try to NJP (Neutral jump) into HK to get some pressure going, also if he tries to wake-up super, or throw a random super, if he gets you mid-air you can air-tech and interrupt the super with HK. His super deals tons of damage if he has all the rockets so keep that in mind. He also has an empty cancel making a lot of his moves a death sentence, it's hard to pull off for Harry so it depends on the player but keep that in mind as well. Don't challenge his dp kicks or you'll get into a juggle same as Torao and same as your corner dp. Hardest MU
Cool: Try to identify how Cool likes to play, if he spam projectile or not. If he does, just block until you can aling yourself for a super jump-in, once you're in his face he's done for. Ok remember about how cool likes to play? Well here's the deal, if he doesn't throw a lot of projectiles then you have to be wary Cool normals and air pressure are really good, he has a good antiair with his 2HP if he gets you in mid-air you'll be launched leaving you in juggle state, even if you air-tech or not he will combo you, his rising HK is good, his side dashes are fast and cover a lot of space so he can get away or close the gap pretty easily, he doesn't deal too much damage but he can get annoying and control you easily if you're not prepared. Keep in mind his 2LP is pretty good and he can punish your 236p on block everysingle time with it. If he doesn't over-commit you're in for a rough time taking every single advantage you can get, if not, just bait him into using his dp and then he's done for. You can also dodge one of the projectiles to mess up with his charge timing because he cannot use another special if the projectile it's still on screen. Be wary of his 3HK, covers a lot of space and he can combo 2 of those, also cool players like to tick throw a lot, use your 5A when he's close to stop those attempts. Medium MU
By: JoacoAshura