Tekken and all the characters in Tekken are copyrighted by Namco. This
guide is written by me, but if you want to distribute it or print it or
whatever, feel free to do so as long as you don't alter the content. If you
have to alter the content, to be included in your web site, or publication,
or whatever because my grammar sucks and I can't spell, just e-mail me. If
you want to make a profit out of this FAQ... e-mail me for my written
consent, but if you don't, I probably will not find out about it, but if I
find out, I don't know, we will find out when that happens. But if I see a
crappy version of my guide being passed around web (because you have some l
ame comments or technique, and you want to add it to my work) I will not be
very happy about it... Not that I'll hire a lawyer and sue your ass or
anything, because I won't, but if you post on Zaibatsu, I'll treat you like
shit :)
***************************************************************************
* Table of Content *
***************************************************************************
Introduction (READ THIS or DIE... well... maybe not...... but read it!)
- Why Do I Write This? Why Play Michelle? What you should know
- Strength and Weakness
- Michelle is NOT Julia
Movelist
- Grappling Art
- Special Art
- Unblockable Art
- String Hit Art (movelist straight from Zaibatsu)
Movelist (in depth)
Movements and Position
Okizeme
Tagging
Custom String
Juggles
Having Fun (How to entertain yourself on the expense of other people...)
Conclusion
Credit
Why Do I Write This? Why Play Michelle? What you should know:
Well, it has been a year and a half since the release of Tekken Tag Tour-
nament, and it must have been almost a year since the last time I wrote a
FAQ. I don't really play much tekken anymore. Once in the past 2 weeks,
and a total of 10 times or so since before the summer. I'm rusty, and
everyone is kicking my butt now, but I still know how to play Michelle,
and I think I can still write a FAQ. I am certainlly much more qualified
than I was when I wrote Nina (which is crap), Heihachi (which is crap too),
and Kazuya (which is funny... hehehe...). Anyways, no one plays this
game anymore, and SHGL players are not pumping out any new strategies any-
more. None of the great Tekken players seem to care much about this game
anymore. But my girlfriend, Nancy, is playing Final Fantasy 9 (great game
by the way)... And I'm bored. There are always those people who started
late, and I KNOW that not everyone play in SHGL... So here we go, my
Michelle FAQ. Bare in mind, this is MY WAY of playing Michelle, which is
heavily borrowed from MIC, but this is definitely the ONLY way or the
RIGHT way to play Michelle.
Why play Michelle you ask? With all the crazy Electric Wind God Fist
(EWGF) and Wave Dashing (WD), why bother play anyone besides Jin, Kazuya,
and Heihachi? Well, for one thing, EWGF and WD aren't invincible. Two,
they are fucking boring (watching those Koreans WD to the center, then
one person wiff EWGF, the other person EWGF, finish the juggle with 4, or
bf+2,1,2, df+4,4 makes me want to puke...). Three Tekken isn't about
winning, it's about fun. Four, Michelle kicks some serious butt, and I
guess that just contradicted point number three. But that's ok, I can
contradict myself.
Before you continue reading, or ask me a question. Here are some things
that I expect you to already know. You MUST know how to cross reference
this FAQ with Zaibatsu (www.tekkenzaibatsu.com) if you are not already
familiar with that web site. All of my factual informations are taken
from Zaibatsu, and that include movelist, frame data, combo list, etc.
I also expect you to understand the conventions. I will be using the
same conventions that Zaibatsu use, which is the standard. If you don't
understant my conventions, check with Zaibatsu. You must understand how
frame data work, and that means knowing how to utilize frame data, and
use it to help you determine how to set up attacks (or when to stop).
Last but not least, you have to know the basic game play of Tekken. I
know you think you do, and you'll argue to death that you're fairly good
player already. But I'm here to tell you that you're not. If you're
not familiar with the temple, the technique (like when to tech roll),
already, you should get VERY familiar with them. You will benefit
more from that than anything else as far as Tekken goes. Oh yeh, if I
talk about juggle and damage, they're just rough estimates.
Strength and Weakness:
Michelle's strength is her quickness and mobility. Her 8 frame jab can
lead to simple juggle that does 70+ percent damage. With a simple jab,
Michelle can easily turn the situation around when time is running out.
Michelle is also incredibly mobile, more so than Julia. Her SS+1 and SS+2
comes out fast, and recovers quickly as well. That and her ability to
perform triple side-step makes her very mobile. Her 10 frame ff+1 elbow
gives her initiative on normal it, and garanteed juggle on counter hit.
And it has so much priority that you can mix up ff+1, ff+1,4, and basic
1 and 4 for very effective poking. Michelle does not have any apparent
weakness. Her weakness comes from the lack of things that other charac-
ters have. She has the lowest possible stamina in TTT. She lacks an
instant juggle starter that she can abuse (like EWGF). And she lacks
two button escape throws (like Mad Axe). And last but not least, she
lacks a second cool outfit... That's terrible because if someone else
pick Michelle in 3rd outfit, I can't play Michelle anymore... But that's
probably just me.
Michelle is NOT Julia:
People tend to have this attitude that Michelle is just like Julia, worse,
people tend to think that Michelle is just a weaker Julia. That's absolu-
tely FALSE! Michelle is nothing like Julia. Their gameplay is completely
different, perhaps more so than the Mishimas. Julia is not as mobile as
Michelle. She can't move around as freely as Michelle. Besides hop kick,
Julia has no other juggle starter that would work without a CH, and that
makes Julia too CH dependant. Michelle can dish out MUCH more damage with
her poke, mainly the ff+1 elbow, and SS+2 that hits low (I swear it's not
but Zaibatsu says it is, so I'll stick with that...), and Michelle also has
df+3+4 and SS+3,4, which means Michelle doesn't need to depend on CH as
much. Sounds like Michelle is better than Julia, and many good Tekken
players would argue that, while some would say Julia is a better (not by
much, but better). I personally think they're a close tie, with Michelle
being a little bit better... However, Michelle lacks 2 button escape
throws, which Julia has. And Julia's Mad Axe happens to be the best throw
in the whole game. And Julia's FC,df+4,3 is also more consistant. Both
Julia's FC,df+4,3 and Michelle's share the same property, but Michelle's
second kick tend to wiff more, leaving her open to retaliation.
1+3 front Front Suplex 30 1
2+4 front Fisherman Suplex 30 2
b+2 [~5] front Arm Whip [tag] 12 d #1
= d+1+2 = Rear Suplex 45 d
d/f+1+2 front Arm Lock Suplex 37 2
(1+3_2+4_2+5) left Blizard Suplex 40 1
(1+3_2+4_2+5) right Southern Cross Suplex 40 2
(1+3_2+4_2+5) back Rear Suplex 45 n/a
#1 Special Tag Throw with Julia only. Julia finishes with a Running
Bulldog. Total damage is 12,24.
Special Arts
Command Name Damage Range Properties
1+2 Twin Arrow 25 m GB
f+1 [~5] Flash Uppercut [tag] 15 m JG
d,d/f+1 Flash Punch 18 m
1~1 G-Clef - Club Fist 10,5 hm
= 1 [~5] = Flash Uppercut [tag] 21 m JG
= 4,3 = Bow & Arrow 12,15 Lm
d/f+1 Club Fist 8 m
= 1 [~5] = Flash Uppercut [tag] 21 m JG
= 4,3 = Bow & Arrow 12,15 Lm
1~2 G-Clef - Gut Punch 5,8 hm
= ~1 [~5] = Skyscraper Cannon [tag] 21 m CH #6
= 3 = Low Kick 10 L RC
= 4 = High Kick 20 h
f,f+1 Party Crasher 10 m
= 4 = Skyscraper Kick 15 m JG
SS+1 Pusher 15 m
1+4,3 Club Fist - Bow & Arrow 12,12,15 mLm
d/f+2 Gut Punch 10 m
= 1 [~5] = Skyscraper Cannon [tag] 21 m JG #7
= 3 = Low Kick 10 L RC
= 4 = High Kick 20 h
2+3,1 [~5] Ultimate Cannon [tag] 8,9,25 SMmm JG #8
f,f+2 Hunter 25 h
FC,d/f+2 Flash Elbow 20 m FSc
d,D/F+2 Flash Arrow 20 m FSc
SS+2 Snake Step 12 L RC
SS+2~1 Inner Palm Crush 25 m
(b+2_2~b) Arm Whip 12 h OB #1
= 1+2 = Back Push n/a n/a #2
(WS+2_3~2) Tequila Sunrise 15 m
= 2 = Flash Elbow 22 m FSc
= 1,1 [~5] = Club Fist - Flash Uppercut [tag] 5,21 mm SH #3
= 1,4,3 = Club Fist - Bow & Arrow 5,12,15 mLm
= 4 = Razor Sweep 12 L RC
= 4 = High Kick 23 h
= d+4 = Low Kick 10 L RC
= 1 = Razor's Edge 21 m JG
SS+3~4 Scissor Cut 16,18 mh JG
d/f+3+4 [~5]Launching Shuttle [~5] 14,21 mm JG GB #4
u/f+3+4 Earthquale Stomp 35 M
3+4 Counter Clockwise Spin n/a n/a #5
d+4 Razor Sweep 10 L RC
= N+4 = High Kick 23 h
= d+4 = Low Kick 10 L RC
= 1 = Razor's Edge 21 m JG
4,4 Spinning Razor Kicks 20,12 hL RC
= 4 = High Kick 23 h
= d+4 = Low Kick 10 L RC
= 1 = Razor's Edge 21 m JG
WS+4 Skyscraper Kick 15 m JG
FC,d/f+4,3 Bow & Arrow 12,15 Lm
u,u/b Evasive Backflip n/a n/a
#1 The Arm Whip needs to hit for Michelle to spin around the opponent.
#2 Causes Special Tag Throw with Julia, see the Grappling Arts.
#3 The uppercut does not juggle, but you can buffer in a tag.
#4 When blocked low the Launching Shuttle will cause List Stun.
#5 Chains into Spinning Razor Kick Variations. First kick will do 20
damage.
#6 The 3rd only occurs if the 1st hit was a counter hit or the 2nd hit
connected on the opponents side.
#7 In the d/f+2,1 string the damage of the d/f+2 is 15. And has to hit from
the front to work.
#8 Can also be done by d+1~n+3, 1
***************************************************************************
* Movelist (in depth) *
***************************************************************************
Michelle's special moves fall into 9 groups.
1. Moves that lead to either Flash Uppercut or Bow & Arrow, started
with jab.
2. Moves that lead to either Razor High Kick, Low Kick, or Razor's Edge.
3. Moves that requires CH.
4. Moves that must be performed from FC.
5. Moves that RC.
6. Moves that lead to garanteed hits.
7. Moves that lead to Stun.
8. Moves from side step.
9. Moves that act like power hits.
10. Basic moves! (most important of all!!)
Some moves belong to more than 1 group, and some belong to none, such as
the unblockable. Most moves that don't fall into any of these group are
pretty much useless.
Group #1.
Group one is Michelle's bread and butter. But at the same time, you should
never finish the whole string, except if you see the Bow connect and upon
reflex, finish the Arrow. If you finish with either Flash Cuupercut or
Bow & Arrow, and they are blocked, Michelle will be punished because of the
terrible recovery time. Many people are not aware of the retaliations, and
that makes it very tempting to abuse this string. Don't! This is a great
poke to use once in a while though. Especially if you retrain from abusing
it. The Bow will catch people by surprise, and will do tick damage that
eventually adds up. If Bow hits, Arrow is garanteed, except against a few
people where Michelle would wiff, or if Michelle is too far away. On CH,
The whole string is always garanteed. 1~1,1 does great damage, and plus
the juggle that follows, will do roughly 70 points of damage, and 1 only
takes 8 frame to come out... The sheer evilness. 1~1,1 however, will not
juggle big characters, but 1,2,1 that end in Skyscraper will! And will do
roughly 1,2,1. Which brings me to my next point. For the occasional poke,
1~1,4 works great. But if that's blocked, or if 1~1 is blocked, Michelle
would be in great disadvantage. 1,2, in most cases would be safer. Even
though the frame data suggest otherwise, and the truth is, 1,2 only seem
safer. But against human opponents, that's what matters. Idealy, you
would only perform 1, which leaves Michelle in great advantage. And that's
how your game should be setted up. Only safe moves like 1, 4, WS+4, ff+1,
and SS+2.
Counter Hit is a different story though. 1,2,1 does much more damage than
1~1,1, and 1,2,1 will juggle ALL characters. The problem is, it's simply
too hard to see if 1 CH or not, and perform 1,2,1. To remedy that problem,
Michelle (Julia too) players have the habit of doing 1~1 or 1,2 instead in
their poke. By the time second hit comes out, you would know if you CH or
not. So having established that it would be impossible to do 1 alone, and
depends on CH or not, finish the string, which one do I use? Well, 1~1 and
1,2 both have their advantages. Against smaller characters, I would use
1~1, although some people would call 1~1 scrubby, I use it because 1) you
can tag after 1~1,1 for HIGHLY damaging juggles. 1~1 leaves me with more
option then 1,2, and 1~1 is not any more dangerous than 1,2. 1,2 wouldn't
be that great by itself, because if you don't get CH, opponent will get a
free hit, possibly juggle upon blocking 1,2 since it does have a 15 frame
disadvantage. But the high kick somewhat remedies this problem. If your
opponent try to attack you after 1,2, you can often catch them with the
high kick CH. Free juggle afterward, but if you get predictable with it,
high kick will be ducked (after all, it's high...). And Michelle will be
serverely punished.
Group #2.
Group 2 attacks should generally be avoided at all cost. once that start
with d+4 are simply suicidal. They come out way too slow, and the action
Michelle takes are simply too exaggerated and obvious. Most decent players
would see it coming, and low parry it, ouch. 4 alone is a juggling round-
house. Upon CH, you get a free juggle, and it's also very safe. 4 should
be part of your basic poking arsenal. And if you don't abuse it, you can
use 4,4 once in a LONG while... It'll leave Michelle in FC, which is the
best position to play Michelle. Most decent players will also see 4,4,
and parry accordingly, but if you can work it into your game and pull it
off unexpectedly, you will do some tick damage and RC! The key is to not
get caught doing it. And if you use 4 alone alot, there are times you can
get away with using 4,4. I use it, and I get punished a lot for using it,
but hey, sometimes it works.
Forget anything that ends in high kick, or Razor Edge... They simply don't
work...
Group #3.
Group 3 is the ESSENSE of Michelle (even more so with Julia...). Counter
Hitting deals out A LOT of damage VERY quickly. You cannot force oppoent
into doing something and allowing you to CH, but you trick opponent into a
CH or be really careful and watch out for 1(CH).
There are basically 4 CH attacks that juggle, df+3+4 juggles on normal hit,
but I'll cover it here as well since you would want to CH with df+3+4.
1) 1~1 and 1,2 strings. If 1 counter hits. 1~1,1 AND 1,2,1 are both ga-
ranteed. Both leads to BIG juggle. 1~1,1 can be tagged, and 1,2,1 juggles
big characters. 1 is to Michelle what 112 and EWGF are to Mishimas. All
characters can poke and deal out tick damage some way or another, but not
all characters are blessed with reliable ways to deal out BIG damages.
Like I said earlier, it'll be impossible to see 1 (CH) on reflex, that
means you'll have to do 1~1 or 1,2 sometimes. With 1~1, you can use 1~1,4
and with 1,2 you can use 1,2,4 to keep opponent honets. Keep in mind, even
though it puts Michelle in great disadvantage when blocked, 1 is only 8
frames, and it CH VERY easily. Even more so than Mishima's EWGF. And that
makes doing 1~1 and 1,2 worth while. Because Michelle would be relatively
safe, and the pay off is so great.
2) 4 is another basic move that juggles on CH. It's 10 frames, 2 slower
than 1, but 4 is much safer than 1~1 or 1,2, and you WILL know if it CH or
not. This should be part of your basic poking patter, or defensive CH
manuever. Either way, just throw it out as often as possible, unless oppo-
nent start ducking it (yeh right... maybe three times a day...). So there,
completely safe, come out fast, rewarding, abuse it!
3) Michelle's ff+1 elbow, unlike Julia's does not knocked down on counter
hit. Most people say Julia's is better because of this. Well, it appear
so, but that's stupid. People say that because they don't understand how
important having frame advantage is. If you knock down opponent, they get
up. You get nothing. But if you hit opponent, and they DON'T go down, you
get frame advantage, which means you can choose what happen next, and oppo-
nent will have to defend it. To make this all better, after ff+1, Michelle
can finish the ff+1,4's rising kick that's garanteed, and you even get the
annoying ff+1, ff+1, etc juggles for free. Even if you can't do those
juggles, you get a free d+4 and you'll be in the best position for okizeme.
4) df+3+4 is great, but it's DAMN HARD to get used to it... The reason is
because it's too unpredictable. If both kick connects, it pushs opponent
away and leaves Michelle safe, but if only one kick gets blocked, you'll
be right in front of opponent waiting for punishment. You can practice and
experiment and get comfy with this move. But no matter what you do, there
will be those times when it screw you over. The beauty of this moves is
the way it ducks. It'll go under high attacks, giving you a CH, you can
tag after it, but you don't have to. And even if you only get minor count-
er after ducking, it'll leave you close enough that you don't have to worry
about it.
This is one of the advantage Michelle has over Julia. Julia doesn't have
a juggle starter that doesn't require CH. Therefore, if opponent plays
smart and turle, that would reduce Julia's game greatly. Learn df+3+4 well
and it'll become your friend... But only after hours of frustration on how
this move screw you over. And keep in mind, even after completely under-
standing the property of this move, it's still one that you have to use
very carefully on teh right time. Nothing like EWGF where you can just
throw it out for the hell of it.
Group #4.
CH and juggles are great, but let's face... Against good opponent, you
can't rely on it because you won't get a lot of juggles, and you can't get
juggles when you want it. Majority of damage will come from poking, and
solid play. And Michelle is most dangerous from FC. From FC, she has many
options, FC,df+4 and WS+4 are great mix ups. As long as you don't abuse
FC,df+4, it's the move that will save the day when it counts. Bow and
Arrow combine for 27 points of damage, nothing spetacular, but considering
that if you're opponent is almost dead, that'll kill them. WS+4 will leave
Michelle safe, should be used whenever appropriate. It doesn't give you
garanteed juggle or anything, but you can always try d+4. Even better,
WS+4 leave you in great position for okizeme.
FC,df+2 is a good move, but if it's blocked, it does leave Michelle in
very vulnerable position. The best position to start it is at the very
end of it's range where it would barely hit. From there, opponent tend to
counter FC,df+2, but once FC,df+2 gets started, there's not beating it
(of course you should know your frame data and know when NOT to use it).
Sometimes it's also not a bad idea to mix up FC,df+2 with FC,df+4. It's
slow enough that ppl can defend it on rection, but if you're getting your
FC,df+4 parried, it's not a bad idea to throw FC,df+2 out.
Group #5.
Having said that Michelle is lethal from FC, it's great that Michelle has
so many options to get into that position. There is the crappy, but as
long as you don't abuse it, it's ok, 4,4 string. There's FC,df+4, and
the best of all, SS+2.
SS+2 is even better than Julia's Mad Axe at high level. It hits low, and
it gives you CRAZY advantage on normal hit. On blocked SS+2, Michelle ends
up in FC, without losing any initiative. When SS+2 hits, CH or not, WS+4
is garanteed, and you can either start setting up your okizeme, or throw
in a quick d+4. If SS+2 is blocked, WS+4 will beat out just about every-
thing other than jabs. FC,df+4 does great tick damage, and leave you in
FC. If FC,df+4 connected, you can always finish the whole Bow & Arrow
string. And since Michelle has 3xSS, you can work it into those huge SSs.
you can do u, 3+4, u+2, that will get you almost to the back of opponent,
and as long as SS+2, WS+4 is garanteed. And thanks to SS+1, you can really
abuse SS+2, by throwing out occasion SS+1. Both will leave Michelle safe.
Well, truth is, even without SS+1, SS+2 is just as abusable because it's
so safe.
44 string and FC,df+4 will also do the trick in putting Michelle in FC, but
neither should be used as a tool for such task. The reason is because both
can easily be seen and parried. after 4, the only follow up is a low kick,
and most people understand that and will parry accordingly. FC,df+4 is a
little bit too slow to use on regular basis. So if you're using either one
of them be careful. But you should DEFINITELY use them though. If you
never use either of these, then you're missing out great chance for tick
damage, and a chance to get into FC.
Group #6.
Moves that lead to garanteed hits are SS+2 and Low Parry (kick only), and
Bow & Arrow (If Bow hits, Arrow is garanteed).
Anytime Bow in Bow & Arrow hits, Arrow is garanteed, but there's a catch to
it. Michelle can't be too far away from opponent, otherwise she would wiff
and go right over opponent. Julia is more predictable in this department.
Anthor problem is that the second kick will wiff more often against some
characters, and I believe Ling and Ganryu are two of them (of course I can
be TOTALLY wrong here, hehehe, check the forum at Zaibatsu for most updated
and accurately information... Well, be careful, some people like Analquin,
I meant Annaquin will tell you some funky weird crap. Just remember, they
are just crap, nothing else...).
SS+2, if hit, which is easy since it's fast, and hit low, will give RC, and
WS+4 is garanteed. I highly suspect that ff+1 juggle after WS+4 is garan-
teed in some cases, depending on your position. But I can be wrong, it is
very possible that ff+1 after WS+4 is never garanteed... But it does work
sometimes. You can always try to d+4 them for extra tick damage, but the
best thing to do at this time would setting up for okizeme. 3xSS is a very
good option. It goes around opponent, if they move anytime, you can catch
them with another SS+2, or ff+1. Jumping over is another great option.
The fact that SS+2 can do all this, do it on consistant basis, and still be
totally safe everytime you use it makes it Michelle's most solid special
move.
Another move that give you garanteed follow up is Low Parry. It's not a
move, but it garantees df+2,1 for some huge juggles. Most people have a
bad habit of relying on low kicks for damage. Let's face it, good players
don't fall for CHs all day... They don't even give you free hits all day.
So assuming you're a good player, peopel will want to hurt you with low
kicks. And when you parry it, df+2,1 juggle wil do roughly 70 points of
damage. By far one of the best low parry follow up in TTT.
Group #7.
Stuns. Stun in TTT can be fairly easily escaped, but when they don't, it's
great. Michelle has two stun moves, FC,df+2 and d,DF+2. They look the
same on paper, even the convention look similar. However, they are very
different with very different properties. And they are not inter-changable
at all.
FC,df+2 is already covered in Group #4. The trick is to either throw it in
after a few FC,df+4, or do it at the very outter edge of this move's range.
It does leave Michelle vulnerable if blocked, but it's not terribly bad,
and most people will not get more than a free hit after that. EWGF and
hop kicks, etc. will juggle Michelle, so use this move carefully.
The other stun move is d,DF+2. The major difference is that this move must
be performed standing, and FC,df+2 must be performed crouching. The great-
est thign about this move is the 12 frame disadvantage. That's great be-
casuse at 12 frame disadvantage, it's fairly safe. No hop kick, and no
EWGF. It also pushs far enough that most moves at 12 frame won't hit her.
With its excellent range, you can CH easily from far away. If you fail to
stun, as long as you hit, you still get 1 frame advantage. ff+1 is a great
follow up if that does happen. If you stun, df+2,1 and it deals up roughly
70 points on follow up juggle alone. uf+4 hop kick will also work after
stun, but it's much harder, and isn't more damaging.
Group #8.
Michelle has a great selection of moves from SS, none them are bad. SS+1
is a quick hit, does good damage, and recovers fairly quick. It has simi-
lar properties to power hit, except it is a little bit quicker, safer, and
comes from SS. If there's anytime when you're at the side or back of your
opponent SS+1 is a great option.
But of course SS+2 is better, strategically speaking. SS+2 and WS+4 does
decent damage. Follow up to that can be very damaging. And SS+2 on normal
hit also give you 11 frame of advantage. That means FC,df+4 and FC,df+2
are uninterruptable. If opponent does anything but block correctly, you
get a free hit (2 in the case of Bow & Arrow). The truth is, after SS+2,
it's hard to defend between WS+4 and FC,df+4,3. And in this case, this
mix up is almost abusable. Another great option after SS+2 hits is her
df+3,4. Usually, Michelle would be close enough that both kick will be
blocked if opponent choose not to do anything. And if they move, Michelle
will get a free juggle.
SS+3,4 is a great move, but it's even more unpredictable than df+3,4. Most
of the time, SS+3 will hit or get blocked, and second kick will completely
wiff. Which is not really a problem, as long as you're familiar with this
move, and know that you should stop after SS+3 most of the time. If either
one or both kicks are blocked, this is a fairly safe move. At 10 and 11
frames of disadvantage, there really isn't much opponent can do at all.
The only problem with this move is when you wiff the second kick and oppo-
nent has all the time in the world to do anything they want. Another way
to use this move would be class 1 juggles. For example, Angel does SS+2,
you tag in Michelle, and you can do SS+3,4, ff+1 juggle, which is fairly
damaging even compared to the UF+4 generic juggles. And it looks a lot
better.
Besides her special SS moves, Michelle's ff+1 elbow is also a great move
off side step. It's fast, hits mid, and if you can anticipate opponent
trying to block low, throw out the elbow. If it's blocked, Michelle would
be safe anyways.
That's all Michelle's options from standard SS, but like all characters,
SS can be canceled. To cancel SS, tag f or b during the SS to cancel it.
ff and bb are more consistant, but if you don't want Michelle to throw out
her elbow, cancel with f. In Michelle's side steps and 3x side steps us-
ing her 3+4, there will be a lot of times that you will get to opponent's
back and side. And you can inflict much more damage than SS+1 and SS+2 if
you go for 1~1,1 instead. But to do that, you'll have to cancel the SS,
otherwise, SS+1 will come out. Since opponent can't block, the juggle is
free. df+3,4 is also great for this purpose if you're ever behind or next
to your opponent.
Group #9.
Well, there are the famous Paul's Deathfist, Jin's ff+2, Nina and Anna's
f+1+2, Ling's db+1, etc, etc... Well, Michelle, unlike Julia has power
moves of her own. Michelle has TWO power moves. SS+1 and d,df+1. Neither
does a hefty damage, but they are completely safe when blocked. They do
good damage, and should be used whenever possible. For example, free hits,
anticipated a slower power move, opponent getting up, etc, etc. You know
how to use a power move.
Group #10.
Basic attacks, like all characters are Michelle's most important and useful
attacks. 1 is a 8 frame jab. Fastest in TTT, and upon CH, give you garan-
teed 1~1,1 and 1,2,1 juggles. 2, on the other hand isn't as great. It's
10 frames, and not much you can do except when it hits you get more advan-
tage than 1 alone. 3 is your typical roundhouse, you only use it when you
get a free hit, and nothing else is quick enough. But most of the time
that happens, you're better off with ff+1 elbow, and take the frame advan-
tage elbow gives you on clean hit. 4 is the typical juggling roundhouse
many characters share in TTT, like Law, Julia, Ling, etc. On CH, it will
juggle all opponent. Given that it's 10 frames, and it's extremely safe,
this is a move that you want to abuse. But watch out for people who duck
roundhouse (that's when you used it too many times...).
Michelle lacks 2 button escape special throws, and that's one of Michelle's
major weakness. df+1,2 is a good throw, only problem is that its range is
very short, and unless you're extremely close, it'll wiff. If possible,
use df+1+2 instead of 2+4, it comes out one frame quicker, and is harder to
escape. And to make sure you don't wiff, you should only do it when you
blocked opponent's move, and you have enough advantage to throw, and you
are very close. Or if 1 hits on a normal hit, no garanteed juggle, but
leaves you very close to opponent.
uf+4 is the standard hop kick, except that it has horrible recovery time.
It should be used whenever you get a free hit, but if you're not sure if
you get a free hop kick or not, don't use it. The recovery is simply too
horrible.
df+1 and df+2 are both special moves. df+1 isn't that great, but df+2,1 is
great after either low parry, or stun. df+4 isn't as good as Julia's, but
it still has great range for a quick poke. Throw it out once in a while to
keep opponent honest.
d+3 is your typical low kick, nothing special here. Good for hitting those
opponent on the ground, but recovery is terrible just like all d+3, and you
should never use this on standing opponent. Even on grounded opponent, d+3
isn't that great. d+4 and FC,df+4 would often serve you better. d+4 isn't
a bad move, except that it doesn't come out quick enough. good free hit
after WS+4, etc. But once again, this should never be used on standing
opponent because it's simply too slow.
Anyways, 1 and 4 are Michelle's most important attack by far, and those two
are the most abusable moves there is. Yeh, they hit high... So what, they
are 8 and 10 frames respectively, and they are just to either poke, or CH.
How do you duck when you're getting CHed? You don't. The point is, many
decent players don't use basic jab and roundhouse enough. All the talk a-
bout is how certain moves are so great, and how certain moves are really
powerful. Well, that's true, but none of that will win you the game. It's
not going to be the special moves that makes a player good. It's how well
that player use his/her basic poke, and how well that person sets up his/
her offense using those basic poke. That has always been true in a real
fighters game, regardless if you are playing Tekken, or Stret Fighter. All
quality fighters will rely on basic poke. Think of it as basketball. Slam
dunks and 3 pointers are sweet, but championship is always built on solid
gameplay and good defense.
***************************************************************************
* Movement and Position *
***************************************************************************
Michelle is one of the characters who has special movements that are useful
and adds to her mobility. She has the typical evasive backflip, and 3+4,
and useless looking side step. 3+4 looks crappy, but it's actually very
useful. If you link it between two side steps in the same direction, you
get triple side step. Granted, it's not as quick as Hwoarang's triple SS,
but it's just as useful when used at the right distance. The trick is to
start at roughly two character distance away, at this range, you can CH
with 4,4,1, which will either knock down at a very good position for oki-
zeme, or juggle if CH. At this range, it's also near impossible for oppo-
nent to counter Michelle. Although Michelle's 3xSS isn't that fast, it's
fast enough to SS most counter attempt at this range. And it's also near
impossible for opponent to turn around facing Michelle without subjecting
himself/herself to your 441 CH. This alone with SS+2 and SS+1 makes 3xSS
very effective. Spin around your opponent and bust out a SS+2, SS+1, can-
cel SS into 1~1,1, 441, etc. All of these leave Michelle relatively safe,
and all of them can inflict major damage. That and the fact that you'll
often find yourself either to the side or behind your opponent, making your
hits unblockable. Michelle also has ff+1 that can be incorporated into a
dash, which means opponent can't blinded attack Michelle in motion, because
Michelle's elbow is only 10 frames, and since she's already dashing, it'll
come out really fast. And whenever Michelle's in trouble, she can always
backflip away. Backflip is actually not that safe, but use it wisely and
it can save your butt.
So Michelle's movement and gameplay basically revolves around 3xSS and her
forward dashing, oh, and the canceling of her SS. In those movement, mix
in 1, 4, ff+1, ff+1,4, SS+2, SS+1, SS+3,4, df+3+4, 3+4 or SS 4,4,1, and SS~
cancel 1~1,1 and that's the solid Michelle. You jab, and if CH, it will
juggle, if blocked, you have initiative, and if hits, give you initiative
and a great position to either throw, or setup next attack. Occasionally,
you throw in 4 or if you anticipated your opponent in doing anything but a
jab, throw out 4, and you have a pretty good chance in getting a CH. ff+1
is basically her a forward moving jab, except more damaging, has more range
and 2 frames slower. That's not bad at all considering that Mishimas only
have 10 frame jab. Upon CH, ff+1,4 is garanteed, and you can follow that
up with MANY elbows, which Michelle is so famous for. Her SS game is very
good, among the best if not THE BEST in TTT. From her big SS (multiple SS)
you have a choice of mid and low hits. And since she's not limited to a
single SS, it's not difficult to get around opponent for free hits. 4,4,1
is great, but don't abuse it, since it has the nasty recovery time, and you
should know if it'll connect or not by the time low kick comes out anyway.
The best position for Michelle (as well as everyone else) is to the side of
opponent, or behind them where they can't block. And Michelle is blessed
with 3xSS that make getting into that position very possible. Another way
to get into that position is to hit opponent in either FCD or PLD as they
move or try to get up. If you hit them, they will stand up back-turned.
More on that later in okizeme section.
So there's Michelle's movements and position. Keep in mind, Michelle is
very mobile, and her foot speed is incredibly fast. You should keep that
in mind, and use her jabs and roundhouse and elbow to keep her on constant
offense. That's how I play Michelle. But the sad reality is... A very
defensive/turtling Michelle is even better. But that makes the game VERY
boring. If you just stand around, and wait for opponent to screw up, and
CH, or do 1~1,1/4 over and over and over. Michelle is incredibly hard to
beat. Assuming that you're as good as opponent, you can parry low kick and
escape throws. Turtling Michelle is impossible to beat. If you block all
the high/mid attack, which is simple since you're turtling, and you parry
low kicks, shich isn't that hard since you're turtling...... You get the
point. Low parry, df+2,1, juggle. Anything but jabs, 1,2,1/1~1,1, juggle.
Michelle can be very disgustingly difficult to beat.
Okizeme just simply means hitting people while they are on the ground, it's
a term some old school Tekken people, like Tragic and Mr. Wizard or some-
thing decided. Anyways, not all character's okizeme are equal. Michelle
happens to have some of the best okizeme tools.
There four different scenarios for okizeme in Tekken. 1) When they stay on
the ground. 2) When they stand up. 3) When they roll on the ground. 4)
When they tech roll (quick recover).
When they stay on the ground:
You have two options here. Either you settle for a quick ground hit, or
you wait for something to happen. The beauty of a quick ground hit is that
you'll be completely safe, you do a good 12 points of damage, or something
like that. If the game is close, and time is running out, this is what I
always do. On top of that, you kill a few seconds off the clock. Every
character in TTT can do this. Everyone has a d+3 that does decent damage.
Mishimas have Hell Sweep, Yoshi and Kuni have FC,df+3 and db+3,3,3, etc.
Changs, both Michelle and Julia have d+3 like everyone else, but I never
used that because their d+4 and FC,df+4 is much better.
d+4 is basically used the same way d+3 is, except you'll be left in FC po-
sition, and if they stay on the ground or get up, you can go for FC,df+4.
If opponent decided to move or roll after you executed d+4, d+4,1 will both
hit them for good damage.
FC,df+4 is usually the better option in this situation. FC,df+4 does good
damage as far as single ground kick goes. But it's better than her other
options because depends on how your opponent react, it can lead to other
possibilities. If opponent stay on the ground, like d+4, you get a single
low kick, and remain in FC. Depends on opponent's action, you basically
start the whole okizeme over. If they get up, both FC,df+4,3 will connect
and you'll knock them down. If they roll, FC,df+4,3 will juggle them, and
if they don't tech, usually you get get a few elbows in there. If they do
tech, there's nothing else. Back to standing battle.
ff+1 works well, but it's risky. If they just like there, you can't hit
them, unless they are one of the big characters. But if you perform it far
enough, you can bait them into a low rising kick or mid rising kick, in
which case you can either go for ff+1 for a free hit and initiative, or you
might be able to pull of a CH with the second part of ff+1,4, which will
juggle.
3xSS and UF jump over is the BEST option for this situation. In 3xSSing,
you can usually evade opponent's while rising attack, and get a free 4,4,1.
If opponent rolls, you also get free 4,4,1. If opponent stands up, and you
end up on their side or back, that also give you free 4,4,1. If you are at
the back when opponent stands, you can do ff+1,4 and some mean okizeme to
follow that. UF jump over is even better sometimes, but must be used with
extreme care. When you jump over, opponent would be in the PLD (play dead
position, check with Zaibatsu to find out what that is). In that position,
if they attempt ANYTHING, and you hit them with a d+1, they will stand up
backward. You can get a free backthrow, but you can get a uf+4 juggle for
free, which is the MOST damage you can do on okizeme. If opponent roll in
PLD position, d+1 will sometimes juggle them, and you end up with a free
FC,df+4,3 combo, also rewarding. PLD and FCD position is the MOST desir-
able position because of the d+1 possibilities. Also in PLD position, your
opponent cannot juggle you with rising low kick. And you can also try to
trick opponent by doing standing jab which recovers faster, than watch your
opponent very carefully. If they do mid kick, you can either 1,2,1(CH) or
block and retaliate, or SS and retaliate. If they do low kick, low parry
and df+2,1. If they stand up, like most good players would, throw.
When They Stand Up:
Most of the time you can't do a whole lot more than mid/low mix up and/or
throws as they get up... Which means stand up is a really good way to get
up if you're ever grounded.
When They Roll:
There are very specific times when you want to roll, but other than that,
rolling on the ground leaves you most vulnerable. FC,df+4,3 and ff+1 will
both juggle people rolling, and both do good damage. If you don't hit them
early during the roll, you would miss your opportunity, so watch out for
rollers and hit them!
When They Tech Roll:
Tech roll is the best way to recover from a juggle or knock down, and there
isn't a whole lot you can do. You can pretty much mix up mid/low attacks,
and you'll have some momentums and possibaly initiative. Besides that, you
don't get much. And if you are in a middle of a juggle, watch out for tech
rollers. If you are a step too slow, opponent can escape and punish you!
Well, this IS Tekken Tag Tournament. So it' would be silly to write up a
whole FAQ and not mention tagging. With that said... There are TWO aspect
of tagging. Offensive tagging, and defensive tagging. Offensive tagging
is when you tag juggle, tag throw, or tag dive/slide. Defensive tagging is
when you tag to save one character, tag to switch in a better character to
fight your opponent.
There is not much to offensive tagging, very basic stuff that you'll have
to figure out yourself. Couple key thing though, when you buffer in tag
(~5) for 1~1,1, it'll juggle higher than regular 1~1,1, and pretty much
allow same juggles as EWGF. but if 1~1,1~5 is blocked, the disadvantage
increase to 28 frames, and that's REALLY bad. you can tag after 1,2,1 on
counter hit, but I don't know if you can do anything after except maybe tag
slide. I'm not even sure if tag slide would hit. Tag throw is hard to es-
cape, abuse it when you can.
Defensive tagging is tricker, Michelle has evasive backflip. Backflip by
itself it fairly ok as far as avoiding getting hit tagging in goes. But
tag cancel is MUCH better, the problem is it's near impossible to tag can-
cel with backflip characters. If I remember correctly, it can be done, but
I am not good at tag canceling at all, and I very well might be wrong.
And sometimes you HAVE to take a hit tagging in... and if you do 1 or d+1
hoping to CH instead, you'll usually get CHed, and that's not worth it. As
long as you can afford to take a hit, do a backflip instead. You'll take
one hit, but you won't be juggled. But don't hurry and tag when your
health is down, that'll get you killed, be careful and patient.
No there will be NO custom strings here. I don't believe in pre-determin-
ed custom strings, and it's something you'll have to figure out.
If you can't even figure out your attack pattern (I don't even want to call
it string), you got bigger problem at hand. Strings are handy sometimes,
but it's a REALLY bad way to learn Tekken. You get into this really bad
habbit of using strings, and strings are simply terrible.
So no, I will not write any strings.
By the way, I am too lazy to take out old custom strings in my other older
FAQs.... so if you are going to read those, remember NOT to read string
sections!! They are EVIL, and they will make you TERRIBLE Tekken player!
There are FOUR ways for Michelle to initiate a juggle. 1) Regular juggle
starter. 2) CH juggle starter. 3) Rising Low Kick. 4) Tag juggles.
Regular juggle starter:
These are uf+4, f+1, and df+2,1. They don't require CH, and as long as
opponent isn't blocking, they will juggle. uf+4 is the standard hop kick,
and it comes out relatively fast. But unlike other hop kicks, you can't
abuse this one because the recovery is simply horrible. If you know you
will not get blocked, by all means, use this, this is Michelle's highest
juggle starter. Many juggles are only possible using this juggle starter.
df+2,1 is the most damaging juggle starter that doesn't require a counter,
and the juggles you can do here isn't THAT damaing, but that and the dama-
ge from starter itself make juggles using df+2,1 the most damaing among
Michelle's non CH juggles.
f+1 is underrated by some, and over used by others. The trick is use it
when it's garanteed. Or when you anticipated high attacks as it ducks re-
latively low.
The list of juggles are taken from Zaibatsu, but not all are listed, only
ones I actually use or find useful either in terms of damage, convenience,
or style.
These are 1~1,1 and 1,2,1. 1~1,1 is a GREAT tag juggle starter, whenever
you can, go for tag juggle, it'll eliminate red bar, and when partner's
netsu is on, you can deal out crazy damage.
1~1,1 allow the same juggles as hop kick and f+1. 1,2,1 allows the same
juggle that df+2,1 allows, mostly elbows.
Rising low kick:
All (can't think of anyone who can't) characters have rising low kick that
juggles when you're feet is near opponent. That's FCD and KND position (
face down feet toward and knocked down position). The only time you should
use this is when opponent misanticipated and wiffed a move or if you are
very sure it'll hit. If you wiff, get blocked, get parried, you'll die...
And if you use it a lot, you'll wiff, get blocked, and get parried.
After Michelle's rising low kick FC,df+4,3 is garanteed, and you'll be in
good position for good okizeme. I never bothered experimented, but i am
quite sure that ff+1 juggles after rising low kick will work just fine.
Tag juggles:
Michelle's tag juggles are more or less the same as her regular uf+4 and
1~1,1 juggles, except you can do ff+1, BT(4). That's a great juggle, why?
Because it does good damage, and opponent can't tech recover since they're
no longer in KND position in relationship to you. They are now in PLD po-
sition, and if you can ff+1 or jab them as they move, they will stand up
backturned! Well, useful once in a long while...... but definitely don't
abuse that, Michelle has better more damaging juggles.
For more complete list of juggles, check on Castel's Web Site:
www.tekkenzaibatsu.com
***************************************************************************
* Having Fun *
***************************************************************************
Part #1.
This would simply be RUDE... I do it, but still, it's very rude. Her jab
is the fast 8 frame jab, that's FAST, and you can beat out A LOT of stuff
with it. Use one hand to eat, chips, burger, whatever, hot dog is my fav-
orate! Lick it, suck on it, etc, etc, etc... and do nothing but 1~1,1.
When it CH and juggles, do 1~1,1 for juggle. If you MUST move, use 3+4 SS
to move. This is really interesting because it goes to use you how overly
overpowered 1~1,1 is. And when you lose, just get up and say, "I was just
fucking around..." And leave. Meanwhile, laugh your ass off, talk really
loud, smell really bad, whatever, be as offensive as you can possibly be...
Most of the time, you can get by doing just 1~1,1. So you don't really
have to worry about losing.
Part #1.
Well, before you try any of this, of course you have to be MUCH better than
your opponent. And your opponent must suck pretty badly... If you try any
of this on your friend, and it worked... Rest assure, your friend sucks...
And likewise, if any of this stuff works on you, you probably suck too...
That's ok, you'll get better... Maybe...
You can do this while opponent is up, or when opponent is grounded. Much
easier and more fun when opponent is standing though.
Against grounded opponent, Michelle can do ff+1 infinitely. This is REALLY
fun... More fun in actual game than on paper. The reason is most average
players don't tech roll, and they have to either stand up, or roll, or do
one of the rising kicks. And the beauty is Michelle's elbow will either
hit them, juggle them, or CH them. Any case, just repeat when they are on
the ground again. This can be pretty mean, as they will try EVERYTHING to
stand up again, but nothing will work, and they'll get very desperate. If
you laugh hysterically, or pound on your button like you're doing it to
save your dear life, that will send the fun factor straight through the
roof. After you kill your opponent like that, be sure to drop on the floor
and roll around on the floor while laughing your butt off! Throw in some
d,df+1, FC,df+4,3, SS+2, etc and opponent will hate your guts!
Against standing opponent who are all that good, Michelle has TWO very mean
strings, 4,4 string and 1~1 string. Just 3xSS around your opponent all day
and pull 4,4,d+4 and 4,4,1, or 1~1,4,3 and 1~1,1. Since they're not that
good, they can't possibly defend on reaction, and they won't low parry, and
they sure can't get their free hit/juggle after successfully defending. I
think this is extremely cheap, and should not be done unless you just want
to fuck with your opponent and have a good laugh, which I do, and it's fun,
but I admit, it's very mean! And if I'm a new beginner, and that's done to
me, I would be very upset, but it's so much fun, I don't really care. Both
4,4,1 and 1~1,1 juggles...... Well, you get the point.
Well, Michelle is definitely one of the best characters behind the Mishima
family. T.Ogre, Michelle, and Julia come very close to a second. I know
I have the tendancy to say whatever character I'm writing a FAQ on one of
the best characters, if not THE best. Well, Kazuya and Heihachi are the
BEST charcter alone with Jin. Anna is ok, somewhat stuck to the middle,
and Nina is definitely one of the worse character in TTT. Well, having
learned a lot of stuff in the past year or so at SHGL, and having seen
some of best TTT players in the world. I'll be fair and honest this time
and say Michelle is not the best character in TTT, but among the best, and
definitely a top tiered charcter.
But playing Michelle isn't always about winning, she is one of the most
mobile charcter, and she is a FUN character. Her moves all have so much
priority, you can afford to take some risk once in a while and not be
punished too severily.
I would write a vs section, but that would simply take too much time. I
never intended to write this FAQ, so those of you who enjoyed it have my
girlfriend Nancy to thank for this. She's playing Final Fantasy 9, which
is a great game, and I have nothing to do, so I sit here and type up this
FAQ. And no, as many of you have realized, I prolly won't come back and
edit this FAQ to update it. If you have questions, feel free to e-mail
me, or post it on Zaibatsu's forum. If I don't respond, someone else
usually will. But keep in mind, there are complete retards in that forum,
such as Annaquin whom I usually refer to as Analquin. Don't ever listen to
a single word he has to say on Zaibatsu or elsewhere.
