vs. Necalli

Neutralizing Necalli

Necalli is weak to anyone with a strong mid-range game. His best mid-range attack is standing , but it can’t be special-canceled and it’s not particularly fast. He’s also weak to certain jump-in angles, especially if you can jump in with a cross-up attack. His invincible HP Raging Light does not cover the area directly above his head, and he doesn’t have something like Cammy’s + vertical anti-air attack. His main strength is in his frame traps and command throw setups at close range. However, he doesn’t have a decent follow-up to LP and MP Mask of Tlalli command throws, so it’s okay to eat one or two in order to escape his more damaging Valiant Rebellion frame traps. Mask of Tlalli isn’t as effective as other command throws. When compared with Laura’s and Zangief’s, it’s considerably worse. It starts up at eight frames and doesn’t have the reach that Zangief’s command throw boasts. This means it’s much easier to back away from. A solid strategy in defending against Necalli in your face is to block low initially, then immediately start holding to get away from his throws. Besides his crouching canceled into LK Valiant Rebellion, he doesn’t have an exceptionally good low hit-check combo, so simply just walking away from him is an even more attractive option.

Although his ++ ground pound doesn’t reach the farthest edge of the screen, it will still clip you if you use any kind of advancing projectile attack. For instance, Ryu and Ken take a step forward with an exposed hurtbox when they perform Hadoken, so they will actually step into Necalli’s ground pound range and get hit.

Necalli relies heavily on his Torrent of Power V-Trigger transformation. He becomes a completely new character with several enhancements for the remainder of the round. You’ll have to play cautiously when he’s powered up, especially from mid range. He can cancel his standing HP into HP The Disc’s Guidance (the lunging claw attack) without the charge requirement. He also has access to more damaging combos, much faster mobility options, and a better reversal with his HP Raging Light extending much farther forward. However, his V-Gauge is the three-stock variety, so if you can pressure him enough into using his V-Reversal, you can diminish the threat of his V-Trigger. Otherwise, you can attack him enough to bait out and block his invincible Raging Light, scoring a Crush Counter combo opportunity on him.