General/Other - Mileena The Mileena General Discussion Thread (All Variations)

[EMPRESS_SunFire]

I'm very confused at the moment. I just found out yesterday that 90% of the cast can punish Mileena's F12 or at least take away her F12B4/F12~EX roll mix up after sadistic ways and like 50% of the cast can do the same against a naked F12 (not after sadistic ways) which makes me so mad, I thought it was only against some characters :/ I'm making a thread soon because if they don't fix it I swear.... I will be so pissed.

That also made me doubt Piercing even more lol. But idk, Ethereal is kinda even more meter dependent, even tho after I realized the F12 thingy, piercing might as well be her worst variation, it's her main string and it has tons of holes.

 

[Yoaks]

I'm very confused at the moment. I just found out yesterday that 90% of the cast can punish Mileena's F12 or at least take away her F12B4/F12~EX roll mix up after sadistic ways and like 50% of the cast can do the same against a naked F12 (not after sadistic ways) which makes me so mad, I thought it was only against some characters :/ I'm making a thread soon because if they don't fix it I swear.... I will be so pissed.

That also made me doubt Piercing even more lol. But idk, Ethereal is kinda even more meter dependent, even tho after I realized the F12 thingy, piercing might as well be her worst variation, it's her main string and it has tons of holes.

What do you mean by take away? That your opponent can wakeup and f12 won't break their armor after Sadistac Ways ender?

 

[EMPRESS_SunFire]

What do you mean by take away? That your opponent can wakeup and f12 won't break their armor after Sadistac Ways ender?

Nope, some characters can make the whole 2 part of F12 whiff which means ther oly option is to complete the string into F12B4, she won't be able to cancel F12 into EX roll because the whole thing whiffs.

 

[Yoaks]

Nope, some characters can make the whole 2 part of F12 whiff which means ther oly option is to complete the string into F12B4, she won't be able to cancel F12 into EX roll because the whole thing whiffs.

Is this done by crouch blocking? Or is it different for some characters? Like Raiden?

 

[ExpiredCodes]

IMO

1. Ravenous
2. Piercing
3. Ethereal

It should be noted though that I only just started seriously playing Ethereal. I'm not sure on exactly which match-ups this variation excels in and I'm probably playing it wrong to be honest. But I think it's very clear at this point that Piercing is inferior to Ravenous. F12 is garbage in Piercing and Sadistic Ways loves to whiff. Ravenous has better mix-ups, better damage, better Oki, healing, relatively safe High Pounce, and an overhead albeit psuedo, that can tick throw. Maybe if Piercing's F12 and Sadistic Ways are buffed then it might be arguable that it's the best but I still believe Ravenous would be superior. Ravenous' pounces and Quick Taste are better tools imo than Low Sai and the strings Piercing gets.

 

[EMPRESS_SunFire]

Is this done by crouch blocking? Or is it different for some characters? Like Raiden?

Yeah, you have to crouch block the 3rd hit with some characters, it whiffs against others even if they stand block it.

 

[Yoaks]

Yeah, you have to crouch block the 3rd hit with some characters, it whiffs against others even if they stand block it.

Wellll... fuuuuuuccckk.

 

[ZeroEffect]

So lately I've been thinking about all the variations & what they offer vs EVERY character in the game & I've actually come to the conclusion that if a Mileena played only one variation that Piercing is her worst compared to the tools the other two variations offer vs the cast.

My rankings go as follows.

1. Ravenous
2. Ethereal
3. Piercing

Now this is my opinion & is subject to change at any point if patches or something new gets discovered that changes my mind on this. Tell me what you guys think & remember this is ONLY MY OPINION.

Lol, opinions are fine. I think it's not so much which is worst, (and I can see why you'd put Ethereal ahead of Piercing), but it's more about which one to use vs certain character archetypes.

Ethereal seems good for those ridiculous rushdown traps, so characters like say Liu Kang, Shinnok, Scorpion, Cassie, etc would fall under that category.
Piercing is best vs projectile zoners and for ranged block punish. So like FA Jacqui, Kitana, Sub-Zero, Kenshi, etc.
Ravenous probably works best for the current meta vs most everyone else with the extra dmg + low pounce OVH.

Keep in mind though, this does NOT mean that I think Mileena WINS these MUs by using the right Variation, just that this is my opinion on what toolset would be best. Obviously subject to change.

I saw a while back in one of the other Character forums, (Maybe Takeda's??), that they organized their MU discussion based on recommended variations for each MU. I think it's a good idea that we should probably use more.

 

[ZeroEffect]

I'm very confused at the moment. I just found out yesterday that 90% of the cast can punish Mileena's F12 or at least take away her F12B4/F12~EX roll mix up after sadistic ways and like 50% of the cast can do the same against a naked F12 (not after sadistic ways) which makes me so mad, I thought it was only against some characters :/ I'm making a thread soon because if they don't fix it I swear.... I will be so pissed.

I'd need to see this. If this is true, this def needs to be looked at asap. Is it possible to show us a vid?

 

[EMPRESS_SunFire]

I'd need to see this. If this is true, this def needs to be looked at asap. Is it possible to show us a vid?

Yeah, I will make a video and thread soon. This needs to be a thread, otherwise NRS migt never patch it lol.

 

[Nu-Skoool]

Is there a option select were if they block f12 but they get hit b4 a role comes out but if they block b4 you don't get a roll. And if so what are the inputs.

Yes it works just like any other option select. Only difference is the block/hit cancel window occurs much later on b4, than most normals. The window is shortly after Mileena stomps her foot down.

The timing does take some lab time to learn but it's worth it because it makes her low safe to mixup with.

 

[YoloRoll1stHit]

I don't think there is any "rush down trap" in Ethereal. You can block low all day, react to 21U4 or F3, waiting for Mileena to waste 3 bars and the max damage she can do is small chip plus 12% throw (which you can tech as well). The gimmick you get from regular fade can be blown up by many characters. The problem is that ex fade doesn't do chip damage which hurts her pressure game a lot, while Kitana ex glaive does decent chip (I mention mournful as an example). To me, Piercing is still better than Ethereal

 

[ZeroEffect]

I don't think there is any "rush down trap" in Ethereal. You can block low all day, react to 21U4 or F3, waiting for Mileena to waste 3 bars and the max damage she can do is small chip plus 12% throw (which you can tech as well).

I meant it was good AGAINST rush down traps.

 

[TakeAChance]

I don't think there is any "rush down trap" in Ethereal. You can block low all day, react to 21U4 or F3, waiting for Mileena to waste 3 bars and the max damage she can do is small chip plus 12% throw (which you can tech as well). The gimmick you get from regular fade can be blown up by many characters. The problem is that ex fade doesn't do chip damage which hurts her pressure game a lot, while Kitana ex glaive does decent chip (I mention mournful as an example). To me, Piercing is still better than Ethereal

Here is the thing that a lot of people don't understand about Ethereal.

Sometimes the threat of your options opens up other options.

For instance, Lets say I start using Ex Fades in my block strings. For example, after something like F24. Well, after that Ex Fade I am left at plus seven. My quickest mid in this situation is a B2 which is 13f. This will crush anything 6f or higher.. However, smart players know that if I do B22, my pressure is essentially over as her ex fade after that is minimally plus. This means I can start doing things like 12,123 staggers, but these options are beat by low pokes due to the high starters. However, if they start tossing out low pokes, they will get crushed by my b22.

See the mind games you get to start playing?

A lot of players will start backdashing as a universal tactic against some of this pressure, but if you gamble with the ex roll mixup (like you said everyone will just block low) you blow both options up.

I find when I play, everyone just respect the fades, and when that happens I usually get a F12B4 Which builds back half of the bar I just spent on the ex fade and gives me a 50/50 within the string.

Her mind games are about what you THINK she is going to do and how you are going to start to counter it. Low blocking everything can lead to 30% of your life being taken away, High blocking everything gives me free pressure, blocking everything in general gives me free throws, and backdashing gets beat by me reading you blocking low...

See the situations here? In every sense she is in control and has options. What's important is that she is left in your face with several plus frames. She is never in that situation in any other variation.

 

[YoloRoll1stHit]

For instance, Lets say I start using Ex Fades in my block strings. For example, after something like F24. Well, after that Ex Fade I am left at plus seven. My quickest mid in this situation is a B2 which is 13f. This will crush anything 6f or higher.. However, smart players know that if I do B22, my pressure is essentially over as her ex fade after that is minimally plus. This means I can start doing things like 12,123 staggers, but these options are beat by low pokes due to the high starters

Honestly I have just used Ethereal for 1 week, I didn't have that much experience. I'll take her into the lab and point out more cons of Ethereal. But I don't deny everything you said completely. I understand that she's at plus from using ex fade, and the more plus she gets the better guessing game for her. To me she still needs more help in this variation, the reward form each bar used is too low

 

[TakeAChance]

Honestly I have just used Ethereal for 1 week, I didn't have that much experience. I'll take her into the lab and point out more cons of Ethereal. But I don't deny everything you said completely. I understand that she's at plus from using ex fade, and the more plus she gets the better guessing game for her. To me she still needs more help in this variation, the reward form each bar used is too low

I think her ex bar rewards are fine tbh, I think her regular teleports are what needs work. The startup on them are way too large.

 

[TheGabStandard]

I think her ex bar rewards are fine tbh, I think her regular teleports are what needs work. The startup on them are way too large.

100% agree. How much faster would you make the startup and/or recovery of regular fades?

 

[TakeAChance]

100% agree. How much faster would you make the startup and/or recovery of regular fades?

Quick enough to guarantee their safety off of F12B4 so she can 100% reliably build meter against the entire cast.

I would say 5-8 frames would be fair.

 

[JerzeyReign]

Question: How do y'all time the ball roll for punishment? Getting caught so often in offline games mistiming it. Do I start it right before the last move finishes or wait until it finishes? I currently wait until it finishes but whiffs with like 17+ recovery are still getting to block with me sitting right outside poke ranked range.

I've also started to try to confirm d3 and go immediately into 123 njp tasty combo for punishment. Am I using d3 correctly in this case? I know there are other punishments but I'm slowly building to them. Right now I like my 31% lol

 

[Baconlord]

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Question: How do y'all time the ball roll for punishment? Getting caught so often in offline games mistiming it. Do I start it right before the last move finishes or wait until it finishes? I currently wait until it finishes but whiffs with like 17+ recovery are still getting to block with me sitting right outside poke ranked range.

I've also started to try to confirm d3 and go immediately into 123 njp tasty combo for punishment. Am I using d3 correctly in this case? I know there are other punishments but I'm slowly building to them. Right now I like my 31% lol

If your punishing on block I just mash it out as a reversal. For a whiff punish I dont let the animation finish. Roll typicaly will win it that case because it had good prioritie and low profiles so it's hard to get hit out of it. Plus even if it trades you can still conversation off it. And after d3 I typically go for 21u4, throw, or a crossup to test there anti airs.

 

[JerzeyReign]

Thanks. Testing the guys I play with in the air will lead to a punish lol. One or two crossovers will work but they know how to block Mileena so well I don't have the time to gamble. Lose one and I'm getting punished and pushed into the corner.

I'm losing a lot but improving quickly. Learning what not to do

 

[Baconlord]

Thanks. Testing the guys I play with in the air will lead to a punish lol. One or two crossovers will work but they know how to block Mileena so well I don't have the time to gamble. Lose one and I'm getting punished and pushed into the corner.

I'm losing a lot but improving quickly. Learning what not to do

You shouldn't be jumping every time but when someone gits hit by a d3 there typicaly blocking so I like to test them unless it's like Lao or cassie. But s2 leads to a 50/50 on block so I normally go for it.

 

[Nu-Skoool]

D3 is +15 on hit so you can jail with 1, 2, b1 and f2. Your opponent must block and cannot neutral crouch. F1, f4, and b2 are safe from everything but armor because of the 4 frame gap. Can you jump here? Yes, however understand you leave guaranteed chip/mixup for a jump in that can lead to a knockdown, better damage or give your opponent momentum, or punished. It's not a bad idea to try it every so often to give your opponent a new look.

D4 is +21 however the pushback means aside from b1, f2, and f4 you have to run in afterwards to continue pressure. As far as I know running in after a d4 is safe from checks. However spacing and reactions can change this and your opponent can try to check your advance. This is where jumping becomes useful because in MKX it works as an effective whiff punish with its quick jump arcs, and moves staying out for relatively long durations. It also lets you reset your on screen position due to d4's pushback.

Jumping is actually a legitimate form of offense during pressure and footsies in MKX due to AAs not being that strong and how the game is designed. Do not misunderstand though,
They're not free!

 

[Rickyraws]

After grinding this MU rigorously for about three weeks now I've come to the conclusion that Erron Black is an adversary that poses more threats to Mileena than she does to him. While the MU is by no means unwinable, it seems to be one riddled with a cavalcade of obstacles that we need to maneuver through to stay afloat and secure a victory. I've highlighted the main concerns in this online set.

@SonicFox5000 @xGunShow

 

[Chongo]

I feel bad for the people who don't know who rickyraws is and think this is a srs thread