Mauru is a tricky Character to play against most of the cast as he doesn't have any favorable MU, which makes him struggle a lot. Even then Mauru is perfectly capable to play the game and even against Rai the best character in the game. Your main job is to get in and stay in as long as you can.
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Select a character icon from the table below to jump to their matchup info!
| Serious Advantage |
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|---|---|
| Advantage | |
| Even | 
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| Disadvantage |  
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| Serious Disadvantage |
  
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Arina
2.
, 5.
, 2. 
, 236
/+
- 2 .
: Quick and good button for Arina to just throw out at close ranges, as it has 5F of startup and can be link into itself on block and on hit, when block her 2.
is safe as you don't have anything that could contest once she links at least 2, 2.. You as a Mauru will have to respect that and try to whiff punish with 2A but that's it, 2A at the whiff punish range can't combo into 5D so you just get to poke her.
- 5. : Really good poke and whiff punish tool, Arina when aproaching is going to use this a lot, as it is decently fast, has good ranges and can be used to hit confirm in it's second hit that will wallslam you if you are not ready to tech, sending you to the other side of the screen can be a really bad spot to be with as you have to work your way in again, both hit of this move are -4 on block which is not punishible unless it's a point blank and you 5. which on hit will always go to 5D if you are ready to do it. securing a KND that can be exploited easily with Mauru strong Oki game. Arina doesn't have to think to much when using this move, as it she is the only character in the game with 2 throws and when throwing this while running at it can happen that she will throw you instead.
- 2. : One of the best sweeps in the entire game, Arina as explained early can link her 2. into itself to make this move not punishible, this is only outclassed by Rai 2.. This move KND's on hit and even when the damage is not that great it can add over time due to her consistent ability to hit confirm into it. However if she does it close to you you can punish with a lot of moves, including your 5., be ready to punish this into a full combo or a basic KND depending on range.
- 236
/+
: Arina main zoning tool, this fireball has multiple states depending on how much she charges it, so be aware of how much range every fireball can have. There's a problem with this fireball, is not bad but is not great, she can try to zone with this but bc she has to spend more time into charge this it can become quite easy to get in and in lower charge levels it doesn't KND. the move is also really telegraphed and there's not a real threat unless you don't know how to dash block once up close.
J.
, J. 
, 236. J.236
/
- J. :This move is great as an Air to air and also jump in, it can crossups thanks to it's second hit even when it doesn't look like it should. This move is also bugged bc it will KND at random when it hits, is not undertood why this is the case but is something to take in count. your best way of dealing against J. is by using 5., EX DP or meeting them in the air with a J. as you can OS it to air throw instead.
- J. : Best jump in Arina has, you have to take a lot of cautions to not get hit by this if Arina has 2 bars, as it is her most consistent way to stun in a single combo. unfortunately you don't have a great answear to this meterless, as 5. will lose if do it on reaction, however if you have the meter EX DP will win every single time and punish for huge damage, due to it 23f of invincibility you can react most of the time, you can also use Super Mode as frame 1 invincible and will stop her, Super Mode is not going to do much damage but it will cause 50 of dizzy on hit and you will have the advantage of the KND, damage and defense buff which will win you the round or the game if you can capitalize off of it.
- 236 : Arina fireball aims upwards in an angle, so this is mostly used as a read to jump ins, it can get you a lot if you are not paying atention to the Arina player, you can air block this so is not as annoying as it might seen in the first place. Also in a bad read of the Arina player on your approach you can close the gap probably punish her.
- J.236 / : Air Fireball can seems even more annoying to deal with but most of the time if she decides to do the version you can just run and meet her in the way down with a complete combo punish, as with all the fireballs just be patient, get used to when you can approach her.
, When down, [8]
- : Arina SuperMode is extremely fast, the fastest in Vanilla Waku, with a 4f of startup you are going to have this move on your mind a lot, it's 1~64F: invincible which in theory should make it easier to punish once it ends but the recovery is only of 11f, it will take a time but get used to punish this move if you block it, Most Arina players are going to use this move a lot, baiting SuperMode will get you a lot of punishes, the problem being most of them are not going to be high with high damage as SuperMode buff defense, remember that Arina SuperMode also has the downside that it last less than others, not bc is shorter but the timer for SuperMode starts right when is activated which means that being one of the longer ones comes with less time for the Arina player to actually abuse this as other characters.
- When down, [8] : Rissing Attack also known as WakeUp Attack are easier to deal with that it seems, is an overhead with a decently fast start up, if you are aproeaching from afar get used to cancel your run into a down input and then stand block, this will give you enough time to block this overhead and punish quite easily. If you are close to the opponent and think they will use this move you can inmediately jump and use J. to cross up and go for a combo, the hitbox is not that great vertically so is not a huge threat if you jump early.
- Using your current knowledge you want to rush her down, and lock her in the corner, to archieve this using Mauru's poke efectevely is the key. 5., 2. and 5. are your general best ways to contest her in the ground, 5. range is specially good if used right as you will be able to make longer KND's the more pokes you do before something like 5. to get the advantage.
- Once you KND her you want to take mental notes on how the opponent likes to wake up, doing roll chase and punishing Wake Up attacks are key for Mauru presure. your goal is to archieve as many KND's as you can, not letting the other person play with the mix. Mauru can have a hard time trying to aply his Throw as Arina can usually just mash to hit him when Mauru intent to approach, first you will need to make Arina respect you, doing a slight delay between buttons will catch her trying to press.
- Be ready to AA Arina players as they tend to jump a lot, once you have meter using EX DP will make them jump less which will benefit Mauru a lot, eleminating the risk of getting comboed to death in a single touch.
Rai
This is the most frustrating part of this MU, as Rai Fireballs can be really hard to work around, most specifically Air Fireballs which are highly spammeable, if you are on a defecit of health Rai players are going to spam fireballs. How do you deal with this? first of all Mauru running speed is actually really fast and the run can be canceled with a 2 input that will carry a bit of momentum and let you block Rai air fireball and advance more than you might expect. Even then is going to be a bit of a frustrating process, is not easy to get in if Rai just spam all day but is completely possible.
The process of getting in change significantly once Mauru has meter, as you get access to EX DP and SuperMode, EX DP has at least 23 full invincibility frames, why is this so useful? because Rai once he gets to the corner will try do a wall jump and go away making the process to get in more tedious as you have to chase him down once again (And i'm not even counting that he can SuperJump!), because you have meter the initial wall jump frames Rai is not able to block and you can abuse that to punish him for big damage is also worth nothing that you might want to throw EX DP if you time it with the startup of whatever he's doing in the air as it will punish him as well.
5.
, 6[6]. 
, 2. 
2
- 5 . : This move is not dangerous in a way of hurting you but because it can be spammed it lets Rai build meter really fast, just like in Third Strike character in Waku can whiff normals to build meter and Rai is really good at doing that via spamming this move, you don want him to do it as much as he wants or that can become a real problem.
- 6 [6]. : Similar to 5. this move is not dangerous by itself but this time in combination with Rai best air normal J.2 because he can combo after a J.2 with 6[6]. which will cause a Wallslam that you can tech. But it becomes harder the closer you are to the corner, always be prepared to tech this move if you get hit to negate most of it's damage. Teching if you are prepared and close to the corner can have it's uses, like doing a full combo in Rai, see here.
- 2 . : Similar to Arina Rai can link this move into itself on block and on hit creating enough distance where his 2. is not going to be punishible, you will have to respect this move, is even faster than Arina 2. which makes it even more dangerous, Rai players are going to use this a lot once you are close bc it will most of the time stop your throw attempts.
- 2 . : Very annoying sweep, if you are not cautious you will get hit by this a lot. is -20 on block so if a Rai player doesn't space well this move you can punish for big damage.
J.2
, J. 
, 2. 
J.214
/
- J.2 : Starting with the Elephant in the Room, Rai J.2 is absurd, it has the ability to crossup and it will stop all of rai air momentum which makes it really annoying to deal with specially after a SuperJump where you are not sure in which side he's in creating some unnintentional mix ups just by throwing this around. You have to get used to block this, is not punishible by itself after you block as the Rai player can use other good buttons on landing so is important to react at what the Rai player will do next.
- J. : One of the best Jump in buttons for Rai, decent range and leads to a full combo on hit. Is actually weird that Rai just jumps in at you because of how strong all of his other options are when dealing with all the cast, but if good to note that is best if you don't get hit by it, using EX DP and SuperMode will stop this from happening.
- 2. : To top it all Rai has an amazing Anti Air so jumping at him is not risk free, he doesn't get to much out of it but is something to take in count when jumping at him.
- J.214 / : This special move is only available on SuperMode but is incredible problematic to deal with, it has a 4f start up and 2f if it is EX, Rai can actually TOD from this if he's ready to confirm into another EX one, if you see Rai activate supermode be aware than 99% of the time he will be using this move.
Slash
and Teleport which can take its time get used to.
Slash main gimmick is his teleport and is a really complex tool to work around. Slash counts with 8 variations of his teleport, 4 per button and the other 4 depending if he is on the ground or in the air, even when he has so many of those teleports the main one to watch out is the Ground version. Important things to consider are:
- 5~22F: invincible.
- TELEPORTS for 18 frames.
- No attacks or inputs can be done after Slash appears again in the air.
But most importantly "Opponents moves that are inputted during the teleport will autocorrect". This is extremely important as it lets you press buttons while he teleports and punish him for teleporting right in front of you.... Now this is not as easy as it sounds, reacting to the teleport and pressing a button often leads to him catching your startup frames but also what can happen if you try to block on reaction is him using his 214 +. That move in particular is problematic because if you try to block on reaction this you need to block it before the superflash or you will get hit 100% of the time, and the startup of the move is 4F, so get used to be hit by this a lot. Slash also has the option to Command grab you if he's closer enough (And even do an option select with his command grab!), which can be really problematic taking in count there's not throw invul frames in pre jumps frames which can make certain situations really bad.
What you as a Mauru player want is to not get put in a situation where you have to guess or react to one of this teleports up close but you will have to and really often, if you want to react to them the best button to use is 5. because of having 4f of startup making it your fastest button to contest pretty much in general, 2. is also great but is also the one that will get you getting hit on reaction the most, is not a secret that is hard but with practice you can start contesting on reaction, you have to make sure you are doing it when Slash doesn't have meter to eliminate the threat of 214 + and 641236 + that is a 0f super which also means that you have to block it before the SuperFlash or you are getting hit as well for huge damage!.
There's multiple ways of dealing with Slash non sense however non of them are definitve and most of them require the use of meter for safety, most of them are:
- J.8 : One of your best moves to throw out in neutral, it has good range, good damage and top it all you can combo out of it on hit, doing Neutral jumps against Slash and using this button from tiem to time is a good way to hit him out of his teleport or if it hits in the air to get HKND, just don't get predictable with it as you can get AA or contested.
- 5. : Main poke tool that can be link into itself for checking the Slash and combo into DP.
- SuperMode: SuperMode is a great tool to abuse in general and also against Slash teleports, if done on reaction or on a read you can punish slash with the SuperMode hitbox, giving you a buff in damage and in defense in the process so even if you for miss time it and the Slash punish you for it the damage you receive is going to be quite low.
- 623+ :Probably your most risky option to use, if you miss time this it can get punish really bad but on the good side the damage on a read for using EX DP is huge, is not really recomended but is an option that you might consider when playing.
- 360+ : your best and safest option to use but also the hardest to aply in general, 360 is great, it might seems situational but 360 is one of the most useful supers for Mauru just below his HaraHara, not only you can control its trajectory to make it safe once you see they block it but on hit rewards you with a lot of damage, it comes with its downsights as well because of being a 360 super it can take time to get used to even do it in general, even worse doing it on reaction to a teleport.
5.
, 2. 
, 6. 
6.
, 236 / 
- 5 . : Slash crouch cancel button, most Slash players will try to spam this move in order to build meter and combo you on hit. Luckily for you it doesn't have the biggest range.
- 2 . : Great mid range poke tool, Slash players will check you with it, on succesful hit it can combo into itself at close range and into 2. to guarantee a Knockdown. You can't punish it at max range so be careful to press buttons. It cancels to 2. even on block so be aware of frame traps, even then that's a really bad option for Slash as it is an easy punish for you.
- 6. : Yet another close to mid range poke, 0 on hit so don't try anything fancy if being pressure by it as most Slash players will keep pressing it until you get hit, backdash should help you here.
- 6. : Now this is your biggest problem, this moves Wall slam's on hit, you defenitely have to be prepared to wall tech if you are hit by it if not you will take a lot of damage. Not punishable on most ranges unless is at point blank, 5. will help you there however, it doesn't hurts to use it even if Slash blocks the move. be pacient and react for a follow up if you get a hit.
- 236 / : Decent zoning tool but Slash has to commit in order to use it, if a Slash is being to predictable with it a jump in will do the trick, just be mindful and don't forget to dash block them.
J2.
, 2. 
, J2. 
J.
- J2. : Slash air to air and decent jump in, not much to say for this one.
- 2. : Slash main ant air tool, this is a great move that will stop any of you buttons every time unless Slash does it to late. Don't be predictable with your Jumps.
- J2. : Probably best Slash air to air move, this move hits twice and will Wall slam on hit, remember to block both hits and punish right after.
- J. : Slash main Jump in tool, try not to get hit by it to deep or Slash will get a free combo. A well timed EX DP will always beat this and any Slash jump in, always remember to react with EX DP, the invul frames will win you matches.
Tesse
Dandy J
Politank Z
- Don't.
