The King of Fighters 2002/May Lee

General Info

Crouch height: Medium
Jump: 4/39/1
Hop: 4/29/1
Dash: 3/10~∞/3
Backdash: 3/12/3
Wakeup: 25 frames
Recovery roll: 32 frames

	Stand	Crouch	Jump	Backdash	Grab	Run
Normal
Hero					N/A

Colors

Movelist

Normal Mode

	Frames	Advantage	Cancel	Block	Hitbox		Notes
Standing Close
	3/3/5	+4/+2	R,S,Su	HL
	3/5/6	+1/-1	S,Su	HL
	6/2+3/21	-6/-8	S,Su	HL
	5/3(4)5/18	-6/-8	S,Su	HL
Standing Far
	4/3/5	+4/+2	R,S,Su	HL
	7/3/12	-3/-5		HL
	10/3+2/18	-3/-5		HL
	8/3(5)2/11	-1/-3		HL
+	21/10/22	KD/-10	S,Su	HL
Crouching
	3/3/4	+5/+3	R,S,Su	HL
	4/3/5	+4/+2	R,S,Su	L
	5/3+3/21	-7/-9	S,Su	HL
	8/2/19	KD/-3		L
Jump
	2/8/-	-/-		H
	4/7/-	-/-		H
	9/4/-	-/-		H
	7/3+2/-	-/-		H
+	15/5/-	KD/-		HL
Neutral Jump
	2/4+5/-	-/-		H
	4/3+2/-	-/-		H
	5/8/-	-/-		H
	7/6/-	-/-		H
Hop
	2/7/-	-/-		H
	2/6/-	-/-		H
	7/6/-	-/-		H
	7/7/-	-/-		H
Special Moves
qcf +	12/14/4+12			HL			Lightning Needle - qcf + K May Lee does a two hit kick having decent priority
qcf +				HL
>	13/3/33			HL			Spinning Edge - K (after Lightning Needle qcf + K) another kick forward, doing one hit supercancellable
>>	1+3+9+6/6/23			HL			Approaching Beetle - K (after Spinning Edge K) May Lee does a forward kick similar to her stand CD(N). She slides forward a slight bit while doing this move, and it comes out faster than her CD knocks the opponent over, but doesn't combo and the opponent cannot be juggled after
> u +	18/15/22			HL			Into Sky - u + K (after Lightning Needle qcf + K or Spinning Edge K) a two hit high kick that comes out fairly slow it is possible to juggle the opponent after this move. Big combos are very possible after this move, but it is too slow to be of practical use
> d +	17/3/12 + 6[腰上M] + 15			L			Dinosaur's Footprint - d + K (after Lightning Needle qcf + K or Spinning Edge K) May Lee performs a slide attack, knocking the opponent over hits low it is possible to juggle the opponent after this move, by changing to hero mode
> df +	15/3/27			H			Leaping Swordfish - df + K (after Lightning Needle qcf + K or Spinning Edge K) May Lee performs a fast overhead kick
> uf +	12/3/24			HL			Surprise Air - uf + K (after Lightning Needle qcf + K or Spinning Edge K) May Lee does a two hit kick in the air, lifting the opponent off the ground
>> d +	11/4/11			H			Surprise Air Finish - d + K (after Surprise Air uf + K) does a kick in the air having the same animation as her jump CD very high priority and excellent recovery time overhead hard knockdown
hcb + or > b +	6/16/22, 40/19/18			HL			Blazing Intercept - hcb + K or b + K (after Lightning Needle qcf + K or Spinning Edge K) May Lee goes into a counter stance can be done with hcb + K by itself, or b + K if done after the above two move reverses air, high, mid and low attacks, as well as most special moves and some DMs. If the counter activates, May Lee does three kicks the counter is not guaranteed to hit the opponent even if it activates. The three kicks she does are blockable, thus the opponent can block them if they happen to recover first it is possible to juggle the opponent after this move. You can set up some big combos with this move, refer to the combo section
DM
qcbx2+	8+6/3/17			H			Gauze Tail Tinkerbell - qcbx2+K May Lee jumps doing an overhead scissors kick overhead hard knockdown has startup invincibility, can also evade low attacks
qcbx2+				H
SDM
+ , + + +	7/6/4+18			HL			Disposition Frog - AC BD ABC May Lee does an anti-air kick similar to her crouch C if it connects, she does a long combo on the opponent and ends up in Hero mode

Hero Mode

	Frames	Advantage	Cancel	Block	Hitbox			Notes
Standing Close
	3/3(4)3/11	-2/-4	R,C,S,Su	HL
	2/3/11	-2/-4	C,S,Su	HL
	8/6/28	-3/-5	C,S,Su	HL
	6/5/18	-3/-5	C,S,Su	HL				Lower body Invincible: Startup and active period.
Standing Far
	3/3(4)3/13	-4/-6	R,C,S,Su	HL
	2/3/11	+1/-1	C,S,Su	HL
	8/6/28	-3/-5	C,S,Su	HL
	8/6/22	-8/-10	C,S,Su	HL				Lower body Invincible: Startup and active period.
+	32/5/43	KD/-	A + B+C	-				Unblockable. Negates fireballs. Counterwire. Hard knockdown.
Crouching
	3/3/6	+3/+1	R,C,S,Su	HL
	2/3/5	+4/+2	R,C,S,Su	L
	6/3+2/18	KD/-5	C,S,Su	HL
	9/3/15	KD/0		L
Jump
	4/6/-	-/-		H
	5/4+5/-	-/-		H
	6/6/-	-/-	Su	H
	6/5/-	-/-	Su	H
Neutral Jump
	4/6/-	-/-		H
	5/6/-	-/-		H
	6/6/-	-/-	Su	H
	6/5/-	-/-	Su	H
Hop
	4/6/-	-/-		H
	6/6/-	-/-		H
	8/6/-	-/-	Su	H
	7/5/-	-/-		H
Command Normals
f +	3/5+11/19	-/-	S,Su	-				First active period: Full body guard point Second active period: Guard point above knees
df +	13/6/20	KD/-8	S,Su	L
Special Moves
qcf +	(11, 2+2, 4+22)			HL				Full Swing Chop - qcf + P May Lee does a chop attack in front of her. qcf + C does a bit more damage than qcf + A but takes longer to come out it is possible to juggle the opponent after qcf + C but not qcf + A qcf + C has autoguard qcf + C is supercancellable if qcf + A hits relatively close to her, and it counterhits, it will do double damage since it will hit twice. This does not happen if it hits from too far away. The first hit of qcf + A does not push her back
qcf +	(26, 2+2, 5+21)		Su	HL
qcf +	(14, 10, 20)		Su	HL				Shining Thunder Blow - qcf + K May Lee leaps forward with her fist. qcf + B knocks the opponent down, while qcf + D keeps them standing. qcf + D keeps traveling through the opponent after it hits him qcf + B does a little bit more damage than qcf + D. qcf + D goes full screen length while qcf + B goes about 3/4 screen qcf + B extremely difficult to punish if done from a distance. There is no reason to use qcf + D unless punishing opponent from full screen away qcf + B is a hard knockdown and counterwire supercancellable into her qcfx2+P
qcf +	(19, 19, 21)		Su	HL
qcb +	({6+7}[全身M] + {2, 2, 3}[腰上M] + 5+ 24)		Su	H				"May Lee Cho~p!"(H) - qcb + P May Lee jumps into the air with a chop attack. qcb + A comes out faster than qcb + C but recovers slower. Both moves do not knock the opponent over if they hit on the ground, qcb + C does slightly more damage than qcb + A it is possible to combo after qcb + C with ground normals, as well as juggle your opponent qcb + A is an overhead, but whiffs against crouching opponents besides Chang. qcb + C whiffs all crouching opponents. qcb + P is useless outside of combos supercancellable into her May Lee Dynamic(H) qcfx2+P(air). The DM connects with the opponent if qcf + D was used, but it whiffs if qcf + B was used unless it counterhit
qcb +	(8[全身M] + 17 + 4[腰上M], 3[膝上M], 2[腰上M] + 1+ 9)		Su	HL
hcb,f +	(0, 5[全身M] + 13 + 30)			Grab				"May Lee Break!" - hcb,f + P - command throw - hard knockdown
DM
qcfx2+	( 1[全身M] + 28[暗転] + 5, -, 41)			HL				"May Lee Dynamic!" - qcfx2+P(air) May Lee flies through the air. If the move connects, she does a combo on the opponent. Otherwise, she does nothing and can be easily punished
qcfx2+	( 1[全身M] + 28[暗転] + 5, -, 41)			HL
SDM
qcfx2+ +	( {3 + 28[暗転] + 2}[全身M] + 3, 1, 1 + 2[全身M] + 31)			HL				"May The End"(H) - qcfx2+AC uses the same animation as her Full Swing Chop qcf + P, except it comes out very fast, faster than the qcf + A if this move connects, May Lee performs a damaging attack on the opponent. If it's blocked or whiffed, she does nothing
HSDM
f, ,, f,	( {0 + 28[暗転] + 2}[全身M] + 7, 1, 1 + 2[全身M] + 32)			HL				Key of Victory - f B C f C can be cancelled into from any normal at any point, even if it whiffs

May Lee's Bugged Mode

• f + A
  • May Lee does a little splits kick attack similar to the animation of her jump D(N)
    
  • takes off 50% of an entire bar of health the first time it connects. If it hits again, it does 25%, then 12.5%, etc until it only does one pixel of damage
    
  • it is possible to juggle the opponent after this move

• df + B
  • May Lee does a weird dance as she slides about 1/3 of the screen. This seems to have no use

• qcb + A
  • May Lee does a little hop in the air. It builds some stock, and can be used with her hcb f + P glitchy move

• qcb + C
  • two anti-air kicks which send the opponent into the air. Then she does some other kicks which whiff the opponent

• qcf + A
  • May Lee does 3 kicks forward, then a low kick

• qcf + B
  • one kick, followed by a weird dance that does nothing

• qcf + D
  • May Lee does a two hit kick similar to her Lightning Needle qcf + K (N), then flies across the screen

• hcb f + P
  • must be done up close like a throw. The opponent becomes stuck to May Lee
    
  • the opponent stays stuck on May Lee if she repeatedly dashes (if she keeps running without cancelling the run, the opponent falls off), or backdashing, doing qcb + A or doing close A/Crouch A. Repeating qcb + A will build stock and keep them stuck to you
    
  • when the opponent does fall off, they get damaged as if they were thrown

• DM air qcf qcf + P
  • May Lee flies/teleports across the screen, doing some kicks. These kicks do not actually damage the opponent, but they send him into the air for a juggle

• SDM qcf qcf + AC
  • you lose two stocks, and this move does nothing but some weird dance animation

• HSDM f B C f C
  • she goes into a stance similar to her Blazing Intercept hcb + K counter, then performs the three kicks after it, sending the opponent into the air
    
  • if the first kick connects, then May Lee freezes in the air. The opponent cannot damage her in any way. If you wait for about 10 seconds, she goes back to normal

Short Movelist

All Modes

• ABC (N/H) (Change from "Normal mode" to "Hero mode" and vice versa. All ground non-super, non-throw attacks may be cancelled into this move on hit/block and normal attacks may also be cancelled into this on whiff.)

Normal Mode

• hcb + K (N) (Counter: any.)

• qcf + K (N)
  • [FOLLOWUPS-1]
  • K
    • K
    • [FOLLOWUPS-1]

• [FOLLOWUPS-1]:
  • b + K (Same move as hcb + K (N).)
  • u + K
  • uf + K
    • d + K (Overhead.)
  • df + K (Overhead.)
  • d + K (Low.)

• DM qcb qcb + K (N) (Overhead.)

• SDM AC BD ABC (N)

Hero Mode

• f + A (H) (Parry.)
• df + B (H) (Low.)

• qcf + P (H)

• qcb + P (H) (A: Overhead.)

• hcb f + P (H) (Throw.)

• qcf + K (H) (B: Counterwire.)

• DM air qcf qcf + P (H)

• SDM qcf qcf + AC (H)

• HSDM f B C f C (H)

Notes

Cancellable moves

• Close: A (N), B (N), C (N), D (N; 2), A (H; 2), B (H), C (H), D (H)
• Far: A (N), A (H; 2), B (H), C (H), D (H)
• Crouch: A (N), B(N), C (N), D (N), A (H), B (H), C (H), D (H)
• Jump: C (H), D (H, High only)

• CD (N) is cancellable into specials and DMs

• CD (H) is unblockable, counterwire and negates projectile, but is cancellable only to mode switch (ABC).

• df + B (H) is cancellable. But nothing will combo after.

• f + A (H) is cancellable if autoguard is triggered.

• She can cancel all normals and special moves (that connect when she is on the ground), into the modeswitch (ABC). She can cancel all whiffed normals into the modeswitch (ABC) but not whiffed command moves or specials.

Super cancellable moves

• qcf + K (N) > K
• qcf + C (H)
• qcb + P (H)
• qcf + K (H)

Free cancellable into moves

(none)

Free cancellable out-of moves

(none)

Moves with Invincibility

• st.D (H) / cl.D (H) (Lower: startup & active.)
• DM qcb qcb + K (N) (Full: startup.)

Moves with autoguard

• qcf + C (stratup (??).)

Other Notes

• May Lee cannot block in hero mode. Because of that she cannot use guard cancel in hero mode either.

• May Lee cannot use j.CD in hero mode.

• Her cr.C (H) whiffs if used against crouching opponents

• To enter May Lee's bugged mode, the opponent must do a free cancel which must either be blocked or whiff. She cannot block in the bugged mode and only has access to the commands of her Hero mode moves. If she is hit, or she uses the modeswitch (ABC), the bug goes away.

Combos

Basic Combos

• st.C (H) / st.D (H) >
  • HSDM f B C f C (H) {Max Mode + 1 stock}
  • SDM qcf qcf + P (H) {Max Mode + 1 stock}
  • qcb + A (H) >> DM air qcf qcf + P (H) {1 stock}
  • hcb f + P (H) (Close.)
  • qcf + A (H)
  • df + D (H)

• cr.C (H) > qcb + C (H), qcb + A (H) >> DM air qcf qcf + P (H) {2 stocks}

• (st.B (H) / cr.B (H)) x N >
  • HSDM f B C f C (H) {Max Mode + 1 stock}
  • SDM qcf qcf + P (H) {Max Mode + 1 stock}
  • hcb f + P (H)

• cl.D (N; 2) >
  • DM qcb qcb + K (N) {40%} {1 stock}
  • qcf + K (N,1) > ABC, st.D (H) ...
  • qcf + K (N,2) >
    • K (N) >> DM qcb qcb + K(N) {55%} {2 stocks}
    • K (N) >
      • uf + K (N) > d + K (N) {33%}
      • df + K (N) > ABC,
        • st.D (H) >
          • qcb + A (H) >> DM air qcf qcf + P (H) {75%} {2 stocks}
          • qcf + A (H) {50%}
          • hcb f + P (H)
          • df + D (H)
        • j.D (H; Buffer: qcf uf + D) > DM air qcf qcf + A (H; Buffer: qcf + P) {55-60%} {1 stock}

• cl.D (N; 1) > ABC, cr.C (H) >
  • qcb + C (H),
    • j.D (H) {42%}
    • DM air qcf qcf + P (H; Buffer: qcf uf qcf + P) {55%} {1 stock}
  • qcb + A (H; Delayed) >> M air qcf qcf + P (H) {55%} {2 stock}

• qcf + K (N; Blocked) > K (N; Blocked) > d + K (N) > ABC, qcb + A (H) >> air qcf qcf + P (H) {48%} {2 stock}

• hcb + K (N; Counter),
  • j.CD (N)
  • > ABC, DM air qcf qcf + P (H; Buffer: qcf uf qcf + P) {50%} {1 stock}

• cr. C (H; Opponent in air) > ABC, qcf + K (N; 1) > ABC, qcf + B (H) {24%}

Corner

• cl.D (N; 1) > ABC, cr.C (H) >
  • qcb + C(H), wait split second, qcb + A (H) {43%}
  • ABC, qcf + K(N; 1) > ABC, qcb + A (H) >> DM air qcf qcf + P (H) {60%}

• hcb + K (N; Counter) > ABC, qcb + C (H),
  • qcb + A(H) >> DM air qcf qcf + P (H) {70%}
  • ABC, qcf + K (N) > ABC, qcb + A (H) >> DM air qcf qcf + C (H) {72%}

Maxmode

• Corner: cl.D (N; 2) >> BC, run, cl.D(N; 1) > ABC, cr.C (H) > ABC, qcf + K (N), SDM AC BD ABC (N)

• cl.D (N; 1) > ABC, cr.C (H) >> BC, cr.C (H), wait until she recovers, qcf + C (H) > ABC, qcf + K (N; 1),
  • SDM AC BD ABC (N)
  • ABC,
    • DM air qcf qcf + P (H) {60%}
  • ( qcb + A (H) >> DM air qcf qcf + C (H) {75%}

• cl.D (N; 2) > qcf + K (N) > K (N) > df + K(N) > ABC, cl.D (H) >> BC, st.C (H) >
  • SDM qcf qcf + AC (H) {85%}
  • HSDM f B f C C (H) {85%}

Counterhit

• Counterhit: CD (N) > ABC, qcf + B (H) {15%}

• Counterhit & corner: CD (H) > ABC, qcf + K (N, 1) > ABC, qcb + A(H) >> DM air qcf qcf + C (H) {55-60%}

• Counterhit: qcf + B (H),
  • DM air qcf qcf + P (H) {35%}
  • qcb + A (H) > DM air qcf qcf + C (H) {50%}

Attack Strings

• (cl.D (N; 1) > ABC),
  • cr.B (H) x 2 >
    • qcf + A (H) > ABC
    • df + B (H) > ABC
    • cr.D (H) > df + B (H) > ABC
  • cr.B (H), cl.D (H) >
    • qcf + A (H) > ABC
    • df + B (H) > ABC

• cr.D (N) / st.D (N) > ABC, st.C (H) >
  • qcf + A (H) > ABC
  • df + B (H) > ABC

• cl.D (N; 2) > qcf + K (N) > K (N) > df + K(N) / d + K (N) > ABC, st.D (H) >
  • qcf + A (H) > ABC
  • df + B (H) > ABC

• cl.D (N; 1) > ABC, cr.B (H) > qcf + A (H; 1) > ABC, move forward slightly, use any of above strings

Strategies

May Lee is one of the strongest characters in the game, once you get past her execution barrier. Her gameplan involves massive pressure with her long attack strings, which involve repeated switches between her two modes. All of her normals and special moves (that don't make her go into the air), can be cancelled into her ABC modeswitch, even normals that cannot be cancelled into special moves, like her Far D(N). Cancelling a move into the modeswitch has negligible recovery time, so most of the time the opponent would either get hit if they tried to do anything between your mode switch strings, or would be in blockstun. That said, only some hits should be cancelled into the modeswitch - mainly hits that do not push May Lee far enough to prevent her from following up with another move quickly enough.

She doesn't have any particularly fast anti-airs that would be useful for her on wakeup. Her crouch C(N) is probably her highest priority (and fastest) anti-air, although it should not be attempted to be used on your wakeup, when the opponent is already coming down and about to hit you, as you'll get stuffed. It is best used for opponents that high jumped in and are relatively high in the air when you decide to anti-air. Her far D(N) is good for stopping opponents close to you that are attempting to jump. And once again, this is a relatively safe thing to do since you can modeswitch at any point during the move, including on whiff. Her crouch C(H) is also noteworthy, although it is a bit slow to do on reaction to a jump. It is better to do this move in anticipation to a jump, and cancelling into the modeswitch, whether it connects, or you guessed wrong. Crouch C(H) also has a juggle property, allowing you to combo after (even if it didn't counterhit an opponent in the air). The usual combo to use is cr.C (H) > ABC, qcf + K (N,1) > ABC, qcf + B (H), with better options available if in the corner (refer to combo section). May Lee has no reliable anti-air for when the opponent is about to hit you with an air attack and you haven't gotten up yet. It is best to block in this situation.

May Lee has a great mixup with her unblockable stand CD in hero mode. If timed right, it can hit the opponent just as they are waking up, giving them little opportunity to counter with a fast wakeup move. It is also able to counterhit people out of some wakeup moves, such as Iori's dp + P, and counterhitting will result in a counterwire which can lead to some big damage. If the opponent attempts to roll out of the way, this is even worse since May Lee can cancel the CD into her normal mode at any point during the move, thus allowing you to combo or throw them. This move can be used for mindgames by making the opponent think he can counter it, then cancelling to her normal mode in the last instant, blocking and punishing the opponent if they did decide to do attack or roll.

May Lee is also one of the few characters that can cancel her CD counter (N). It can only be cancelled into her hero mode (ABC), and you should always do this to keep the pressure on, preventing the opponent from taking advantage of recovery rolling the counter. In the case that the CD counter (N), you can actually combo after. Outside the corner, the only thing that can combo is qcf + B (H). In the corner, you can combo her qcf + A (H) or qcb + A (H).