The successor of Shiranui-style ninja arts. A charming kunoichi who is as dedicated to love as she is to training. Loves cooking, Japanese dressmaking, flower arrangement, and traditional Japanese dance.
Pick if you like:
Avoid if you dislike:
A zoning game that can be converted into a strong offense when executed correctly
Oppressive and simple damage routes that can be generally started halfway through any given round
Forcing opponents to respect your fireball game when you have a chance to charge them up
A fast divekick for clearing fireballs and changing midair trajectory
Easy-to-manage multipurpose normal moves
Low-resource corner carry off of hitconfirms or otherwise, and even better corner carry when you're willing to dump resources
Committing to your fireball game to apply pressure safely
Lacking large damage cash outs without access to empowered specials
Lacking plus frames on block without Drive Rush
Classic & Modern Versions Comparison
List of differences with Modern Mai
Missing Normals
Standing Medium Punch (5MP)
Jumping Light Punch (j.LP)
Jumping Medium Kick (j.MK)
Jumping Heavy Punch (j.HP)
Missing Command Normals
N/A
Shortcut-Only Specials
Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi (2S)
Light/OD Only
Assist Combos
A[L~L~L]: 2LK ~ 5LP ~ LK Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi
On Block: stops at 5LP
A[M~M~M]: 2MP ~ OD Ryuuenbu ~ SA1
No SA1: 2MP ~ OD Ryuuenbu ~ M Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi
On Block: stops at OD Ryuuenbu (very unsafe at -12)
Burnout: 2MP ~ L Ryuuenbu (relatively safe at -4 oB with high pushback)
A[H~H~H~H~H]: 5HP ~ OD Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi ~ j.MP ~ L Ryuuenbu ~ SA3
Burnout: 5HP ~ H Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi ~ SA3
On Block: stops at OD Ryuuenbu / H Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi
Miscellaneous Changes
5LP is only available as the 2nd hit of L Assist Combo
Flame Stocks
After activating her Level 1 Super Art, Mai builds 5 Flame Stocks. These stocks are automatically consumed when using a special move or SA1/SA2, giving Mai increased damage and improved move properties. Activating a Flame-enhanced SA1 will refill the stocks to 5 regardless of how many she started with. Flame Stocks do not carry over between rounds.
To take advantage of these Flame-enhanced attacks, your gameplan should consider how to incorporate her Super. Midscreen combo routes are very limited, requiring either OD Ryuuenbu or a direct cancel from close-range normals. Corner juggles can tack on SA1 without making major sacrifices, assuming you can win the screen position battle first. You can use SA1 defensively as an anti-air or a reversal, but this is a less solid strategy that depends entirely on your opponent's decisions. Note that if Mai's SA1 is interrupted before the active frames (such as with a meaty projectile), she will not build any Flame Stocks.
The most important Flame enhancements are to Mai's Kachousen projectile and her SA2. Kachousen becomes a 2-hit projectile that cannot be swatted away, making it much better in projectile wars. The held and OD versions become especially strong in combos and oki scenarios. Flame-enhanced SA2 is one of the game's best anti-projectile tools, and can single-handedly flip the script against characters like Guile and Akuma.