Naoto
Gun is cheat
Combo notes
Health: 8,500
Midscreen SB combo doesn’t work normally on her - keep her as low as possible before spike hits, with dash 5A and late sweeps, otherwise must end with sweep immediately after [5B]
Unique responses and punishes
j.C
You cannot compete with this move, get out the way or read the future if you want to 2B
5D
Upback j.A/B as it passes Labrys (if attacks, breaks it, otherwise it should whiff)
5AA jump cancels
If she tries to go over you with jump cancel air turn backdash j.A, you need a slight delay upback grab or 2B (she needs to get over you so you turn, so immediate attacks whiff)
DP
Either hard bait by not attacking or 5A > jump cancel to OS the shot counter (works better if spike is down)
SB roll
Often done if cornered, jump back air turn j.B will catch it, air turn might not be necessary if spaced enough. Not invuln to meaty.
Bullets (block)
On close range block, jump towards after 4th bullet to get past and around the ricochet, then punish with j.B
Traps
2A is your only good move for grounded trap, 5C nice for clearing areas of ground and air, just careful with the dash slide
Anti-S SP Pistol
If Naoto can't OMC, beast works against all versions
Raid
Actually very awkward to punish given her ability to shoot and/or kick at any time. SB chain can deal with the shots and keep range if she starts full screen. In the midrange, wait until she almost enters kick range, then roll behind her and 5C to punish. If she's already in kick range, you're playing RPS, but consider throw as it's your fastest move. Not punishable by letting her stance end.
Overview and tips
Dustloop page here
Naoto not only is a great zoner with tools to punish you for your every mis-step (including not taking any openings you're given), but she does what you do best better than you with her j.C. Saying that, played perfectly, fighting normal Naoto can be just about manageable, although the shadow variant kills you far too quickly for you to even get a chance. Learn the MU inside out, then pray that you can outplay them when it matters, and you might just survive.
Naoto has a unique set of neutral tools, which are unique because they cover literally every situation. The main difficulty is her gun, which can cover literally all your entrance angles (and even if she chooses wrong she gets to adjust her shots after the first), gives you no advantages if you block it, can't be rolled, and gives her excellent payoffs on hit. Not only that, her j.C has 7 active frames, hits high, has a massive hitbox, and is 3f faster than Lab j.B. When she's not attacking, she can lay traps which Labrys really struggles to disarm, as well as send out j.D to almost guaranteed win neutral. She also has mutliple good anti-airs.
If this sounds awful, it's because it is. Labrys does have one saving grace which is orb, which you can send out and follow as it will disarm traps and protect you from bullets, just be careful finding gaps to send it out. It also gives her a guaranteed DP target to counter (but if she does the ranged counter, consider using chain winch or sweep to invuln through it). It is very possible to slowly push Naoto into the corner, but it requires very careful positioning, disarming of traps, and wariness of any attempts to approach you (usually with j.C which is unreactable for Labrys).
Make sure to take advantages of periods where Naoto doesn't have bullets and if you can stay in range to prevent her setting traps safely then do. Any frames spent not applying pressure or moving forwards is time that Naoto is using to actively win neutral through her setup.
Her pressure is also decently strong against Labrys, with a 6F 5A and strong 5AA, both of which are -2 or -1, her stagger cannot be contested. Watch for crossup attempts or pressure resets, but note that her only highs come from her being aerial or using double fangs. She can DP if you DP her, but you win the DP war if you hold your DP, which is a decent consolation prize.
Her defensive options against your pressure aren't all too amazing. Her DP is very good and makes her immune to safejumps (due to the backdash option), but you can block the counter attack via meaty 5A > jump cancel or just blocking if it's done slowly. Raid's kick is a very real risk if she's in awakening (or is a shadow), and combos into another raid, so be wary of it if she has it available. The DP is also just very good, but allows for a strong punish on hard bait, so make sure to make it count if the situation arises. She does have SB roll (25SP aim where she rolls) which is invuln from frame 4, but you can jump into an (airturn) j.B to bait if you need to, or just meaty to beat it. Expect it if she's cornered and has the meter or it looks like you aren't going to meaty.
Some final quirks that you'll notice in Naoto players that you can exploit:
Watch the reload indicator for a decent indicator of when she's going to use bullets.
The higher her SP, she greater the chance she might use SB shot after using all of her bullets.
Some Naoto players will attempt to DP your orb - if you put yourself at about 40% screen distance away at normal jump height, neither counter will be able to hit you, and you can dash in to attempt a punish
At high SP, attempts to roll out of the corner with SB aim are common, so upback airturn j.B or meaty to deal with it.
Main adjustments to make
Orb is pretty great here as you can follow it in and it will destroy traps for you. It is slightly hard to find a gap to send it as her bullets travel fast, but it's doable.
Safejump will work against Naoto DP counter options if you j.B low enough, but it's best to just not attack if you want to bait DP cleanly.
DP isn't great against Naoto given her fast attacks and ability to both jump cancel and DP back on a lot of her attacks. During bullets it's generally decent though as it takes her a while to cancel stance. Against Naoto DP, you can technically 5A > jump cancel to block all counters, and this is even better if you have a spike down. Her backdash may still work but it's a hairy situation for her.
Oki tends to work alright as her DP and reversals don't move her, although remember that on triggering the counter, she can also backdash, so you can never guarantee a punish unless you don't do anything to hit her on wakeup (spike/safejump/meaty). This makes things a bit tricky, but not impossible, and she doesn't get that much from DP.
j.B is alright, but has multiple major downsides. Both her anti-airs (2B and blight) are effective against it, blight will cover pretty much all angles too. She also has multiple buttons that beat you in the air, including j.A, j.B, and j.C. Also note that j.B moves your hurtbox forward, so be very careful if you're using it to clear traps. Basically - be more careful than you usually are, but it's not as if you have the option to not use it as a tools to close gaps and make space.
Your use of SB chain here is critical in limiting the effectiveness of bullets, as it's your only way of effectively punishing it, and there is also the only way you can dissuade her from using it. Remember, bullets beats everything, including all except the wildest of approach angles, so you need to convince her to not use it. Also on block, you can winch in and destroy any projectiles on the way due to the projectile invuln, just don't break early, and if she has a trap directly in front, that will catch and punish you. Some players won't be expecting you to be able to bypass the traps, so throwing after you winch in works well.
Gears isn't great, and on reaction she gets a full trap punish that both really hurts and will eat all of your fate guage. Does require some work to do, and she doesn't have many other good answers though.
j.D works well here to stave off approaches, although in general you aren't the one who wants to make space, so probably don't bother unless she's already in the corner.
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