Aoi mindset question

Hi, newbie here playing Aoi.

Firstly, many thanks for the quality of posts here, they're very useful to me as a newish player (though with the game *finally* becoming available in the UK for PS2, hopefully I'll improve)

I'm playing three characters at the moment; Pai, Vanessa and Aoi. Pai has a fab FAQ, and, while the Vanessa FAQ doesn't yet exist, there's a great thread on this. Aoi doesn't seem to have many players, or even much energy around her. Checking the usual media sites for examples of play doesn't do much more than highlight that she could be truly extraordinary

So, whilst all tips and tricks are most welcome - let me ask just the one question:

Should you try to play Aoi like Pai, majoring on the fast poking, elbows, whatever; or like Jeffry/Akira, majoring on throws and reversals? What's the right mindset to approach Aoi with - especially if reversals really are harder to do in VF4 than in VF3?

cheers

 

Aoi is much more throw-based than either Pai or Akira, because that's the only way she does real damage. To this purpose, she's got lots of G-cancels, etc. (so she can get in a throw when the opponent is blocking the expected mid hit). YY stance is there to keep the opponent blocking or doing moves you can interrupt with her best friend, the b,df+P. While she's got great reversals, they're too risky to be used unless they become predictable. Aoi has also got a strong mid game once they start crouching or attacking to avoid the throws, and a sweep to get them crouching if they're going on the offense.

 

My mindset with Aoi is... extremely flowchart based... Going from sequence to sequence, option to option.... Applying pressure at times, and then zoning (baiting) the opponent for setups.

IMO, Aoi has a decent poke set, decent throw set, and decent combo set. Can't say she excels at all of them, but she is intimidating when all are combined. The G-cancels emphasize the flowchart-like mindset when I use her. The YY stance also emphasizes that further.

My style of Aoi is to mix up pressure with some machi play. Sometimes I'll poke a lot, or use her sabaki to reinforce the poking, and mixing in G-cancels to create an expanded pressure game... And then I'll start using more of Aoi's defensive or counter-offensive abilities when the opponent starts taking the initiative or is susceptable to delays.

-Chanchai