Most important character-specific skills to train?

Looking for what I should be working on Aoi- I know I should be training to buffer TE's with reversals, but what other things should I emphasize with Aoi?

Are the multigrabs important? Those seem to be the hardest thing in her movelist.

 

The multigrabs are very easy, you can buffer them as early as possible and they'll still come out. Her moves aren't especially hard.

With Aoi, I'd say the most important thing is to learn what moves work well at various disadvantages. She has sabakis, but also moves with general evasive properties. If you use a couple of these in place of guarding, you can make your disadvantage situations a lot less scary in knowing the opponent is afraid to try to throw you, and press some heavy offense with elbows.

 

What Siyko said is a very good starting point toward using Aoi.

Mix in those elbows with the move along with standing jabs and the occasional low punch. Get acclimated to using move as well when getting into quick-strike exchanges from close range with an opponent. Become so familiar with the way Aoi's Tenchi stance works -- and the many things you can do out of it -- that it ends up being second nature to you to pull off on instinct. Practice pulling off + quickly and consistently, as this is Aoi's best launcher move. + is also a decent move to use from long range, but don't get too reliant on it as it's easy for a seasoned opponent to see coming.

Also, Aoi's multi-link throws are awesome and it's great if you're able to execute them on a consistent basis. However, the better players will manage to escape them throws more often than not. So I recommend you to become diverse enough to mix in other type of throws without relying on those particular ones.

Kruza

 

I have to agree, multigrabs are not that hard (just do all the inputs really fast, basically), and honestly not all that high on the list of useful moves.

Tenchi stance, all the ways to get into and out of it, particularly, is super important. Learn when you can followup a knockdown with a ground throw, really great for getting your average damage higher. And learning how to deal with opponents that dance around at long range. Above tips are good, I particularly find 66P+K useful, especially if you learn the range at which the first hit will whiff, but the followup P will still connect.

And if you want to get a little more technical, learning all the guard-cancels off her elbows, and immediately inputting a throw off of them is also super useful for frustrating your opponent and increasing your damage.

 

I'd say the only other thing important to add would be Vs side steppers. Much of her offensive press is linear. A good opponent who has has experience vs a LeiFei or an Akira might start dodging on reaction or after the 2nd hit so knowing when to throw her half circular kicks in the mix will keep them guessing. Keep on practicing.