Valkyrie Match-ups (Extended)

VALKYRIE EXTENDED MATCHUPS

WARDEN:

+Back dodge FB, despite the nerfs, can still create helpful spacing against Shoulder Bash on a hard read.
+Crushing Counter lights give his Zone a hard time
-Top light attacks don't work well against a 55 damage top crushing counter
-Side/Back Dodge bash makes it harder to not get punished when using the heavy/bash mixup
-Fullblock from neutral is much easier to crack for Warden's neutral offense

PEACEKEEPER:

+Dodge OS and Fullblock OS make navigating the heavy mixup much simpler, despite the GB soft feint
+PK's lack of UB pressure means she has a harder time against a Valkyrie dedicated to stalling using tools like FB stance
-Her dodge attack is very high damage, making all of your heavy mixups risky for yourself by a strong margin

CONQUEROR:

+Bashes break a lot of his defense options that rely on blocking
+His personally low damage gives you some forgiveness
-Having a dodge bash that pauses stamina for 2000ms is going to really wreak havoc on your stamina economy
-Higher health means you must run him for longer

LAWBRINGER:

+Fragile stamina makes reading against him more effective at putting him too low to defend
-Dodge shove blows through all of your options when whiffing a bash mixup and all of your chain finisher mixups
-High light parry punishes and ability to drain extra stamina off of all parries puts your stamina down very quickly
-High health and high damage really makes you run the clock while attempting to survive him

CENTURION:

[Fullblock OSing needs testing]
+Dodge lights can inconvenience Cents who try to open you with Legion Kick
+No meaningful answer to dodging your heavy-bash
-Abuses your stamina very badly
-As of writing (6/25/2020 or 25/6/2020) there's no "special" counters to his Jab game for Valkyrie

GLADIATOR:

+Dodge attacks give legitimate punishes to correctly read bashes or skewer commitments
-Dodge attack that chains and dodge bash that chains give him a powerful anti-mixup against your whiffed heavy-bash
-His insane stamina regeneration makes it impossible to see him OOS unless you parry skewer, but he still spends =no time OOS
-His parries give him access to stamina draining options that will keep you strapped

BLACK PRIOR:

+Undodgeable heavy can be easily Dodge OS'd
+Slightly more forgiving to punish his bash with your dodge attack
+Heavy/Bash Mixup "works" against his Bulwark use
-Can still flip Heavy and Bash on the same timing
-Can put pressure against your Fullblock stance with his bashes and his unblockable, especially since he can flip the FB bash
-On a read he can flip or CC your options out of a whiffed heavy-bash

RAIDER:

+Can OS his Storming Tap with Fullblock Stance
-Dodge attack can punish your whiffed heavy-bash
-Quick startup HA in chains and soft feint to GB heavies produce problems when trying to punish him

WARLORD:

+Can punish headbutt easily
+Can try to "game" his Fullblock thanks to dodge OS and your bash
+Zone is a free superior block
=CC lights and HA give him a relatively even ground for dealing with one another after whiffing a heavy-bash
-HA can bully you out of your options
-Extremely high damage and his own CC lights mean you need to be especially careful as your mistakes run the meter much quicker
-Strong defense and high health make him a lengthy, difficult brawl

BERSERKER:

+Dodge lights are easy to deal with, for anyone really
+Can OS feint light mixups with fullblock
-HA bullies your options for initiating offense

VALKYRIE MIRROR MATCH:

+Can Dodge OS neutral heavies
+Dodge attack punishes heavy-bash
+Can pressure neutral FB stance with bash
=Not very effective at initiating offense against herself

HIGHLANDER:

+Dodge attacks make Offensive Stance harder to use
+Celtic Curse's side mixups are Superior Blocks waiting to happen
-Can punish whiffed heavy-bash with a kick (?)
=All characters have the ability to backroll his Offensive Stance equally as effectively

SHAMAN:

+Can FB stance OS her heavy soft
=All characters can punish her whiffed bash
-Powerful dodge attack can neuter heavy-bash

JORMUNGANDR:

+Able to punish whiffed openers without much fear of chain options, thanks to dodge attack
-Already bad stamina economy combined with Jorm's many stamina pauses can seriously put strain on Valkyrie's turns
-HA can bully neutral options
-Neutral bashes make using FB stance harder

KENSEI:

+Can FB OS opening heavies, although pommel still exists it's very slow
-Fullblock OS is especially unsafe against UB mixup due to long range and multiple GB timings
-Dodge attack punishes heavy-bash and gives UB mixup

SHUGOKI:

=All Characters can equally backroll him
-Variable timing on heavies that can become unblockable make it difficult and very unsafe to FB OS him
-HA makes neutral initiation hard
-Large healthpool and higher damage than you on basic attacks make him very hard to deal with, and take a long time

OROCHI:

+FB easily OSes Storm Rush
+Properly baited, his dodge attack is easy to Superior Block or light parry, giving him a beatdown in the process
-Dodge attack is very powerful at countering your heavy-bash and your chain finisher pressure
-Painful deflect makes you reconsider using attacks, period

NOBUSHI:

=Strongly reactable attacks make her easy pickings
=Kick is easy to punish for the whole cast
-Hidden Stance allows her to pick and choose how to kill you after avoiding your heavy-bash
-Strange behavior on chain lights can cause attacks to whiff (if you have HA)

SHINOBI:

+Ineffective neutral game makes stalling easy
+Top light momentum makes him unable to escape
-His deflect game will make you cry
-His heavy parry game will make you cry
-His punishes in general will make you cry
-His dodge kick will work against your heavy-bash

ARAMUSHA:

+FB can OS Deadly Feints
+Can't effectively punish your heavy-bash on whiff
-Blade Blockade allows him to ignore your light chains
-His damage makes all of your mistakes horrifically costly

HITOKIRI:

[Needs testing to see how effective FB OSing the kick is.]
+Hitokiri no longer having neutral HA makes it easier for Valkyrie to deal with
-Valkyrie is one of the characters who cannot backstep attack to OS Hito's mixup

TIANDI:

+Dodge attacks allow you to get damage off of a whiffed, committed Dragon Kick and Palm Strike
+Dragon Dodge can't directly punish your whiffed heavy-bash
-Delayed Tiger Dodge can though.
-Dragon Dodge is tricky, and countering it often involves playing the standard game most characters play to counter it

JIANGJUN:

+Wide hitboxes and quick top lights allow you to push back against his dodge attacks
+Can't directly punish your whiffed heavy-bash with his ice skates
-Stamina drain ability and Sifu stance give him an unbreakable advantage between your two stamina economies

NUXIA:

=Blockable deflect
-No meaningful, character specific counter to her chains
-Dodge attack allows her to give your Chain Finishers and Heavy-Bash a really hard time
-Traps put functional pressure against your FB stance

SHAOLIN:

=Blocking his 400ms light is the most basic form of making his life hard
+Trigger happy Shaolins can fall victim to using their undodgeable heavies on movement when you use FB stance
-No real character specific tech to trick his Qi Stance
-Dodge attack punishes whiffed heavy-bash (true? not true? it's very slow, needs testing)

ZHANHU:

+Fullblock from neutral makes his ineffective neutral game even worse
+Zone is blood in the water to your Superior Block