Yukiko
Through the fire and flames (and fans)
Combo notes
Health: 8,500
You cannot [5B] > dash cancel > 236A consistently as her sliding hitbox is very strange - 236A must be done immediately.
Technically a fuzzy target, but is very inconsistent
from what I can tell, you need to be frame perfect and jump ASAP for the high to hit, but honestly I've never had it work properly in a match
Unique responses and punishes
j.D
j.C
5D
Pre-emptive j.C IB and forward j.A If combined with fans, sweep can go under the fans to hit the persona (or just in general)
DP
On hard bait, block then 2B ASAP (don't wait for the move to end) 5A instead if she has meter to avoid super cnacels 5A meaty > jump cancel towards block > 2B CH (or as above, 5A to avoid super cancels)
Repeated persona spins
On hit, you can burst somewhat safely On block, rising j.A is safest
Agidyne
DP (if she can't OMC) SB chain, or any super You can attempt to roll behind, but only if you're deep and will go far through her (and she can hold it spinning close). You can jump over if she holds, just be careful IK at up to 70% screen distance
Maragidyne
Be aware that the flames stay out even if you hit her Gears Grab IK against SB only
Overview and tips
Dustloop page here
Honestly, doesn't feel as bad as it should for a rushdown vs zoner MU, that is until your opponent picks the shadow version, where they can pretty much kill you with immunity. Your ability to navigate neutral and be patient will be tested here, so don't get caught lacking. Very much a question of how consistent you are are slowly making progress forward and taking cards, then seizing the time to strike.
In neutral, this means gracefully going under and over fans. Yukiko's lack of true anti air means she'll likely either be throwing fans, or going air to air with her j.A/j.C. Superjumping puts you at a decent advantage as she's not too great at dealing with threats above her, but remember that being too obvious will still get you CH and full combo'd into some pretty scary setplay. Her DP will also put you right back at the other end of the screen, so remain vigilant for it.
When doing pressure, staying ranged will keep you safe from the DP (unless they start microdashing it), as will jump cancels due to the fact is has guard point (but sadly unlike Lab's no hitstop). She does sadly have good supers, and both are effective reversals, so watch her meter carefully. Yukiko pressure is relatively odd, and not that threatening. What you'll find is she'll maybe try to put some space between you and then return to neutral, so looking for the gap to move forward again is key. Just watch for the 2C low, and you're mostly fine.
Final point - fire break setups, where she can make moves unblockable. Not really much you can do about these, apart from keeping your resources in mind, and spending them when you have to, or taking risks. Sometimes it's best to risk a DP or super over letting them take their expected hits/confirms. Just a fact of life at this point.
Some final quirks that you'll notice in Yukiko players that you can exploit:
DPs tend to be quite common due to the difficulty of punishes. Be ready with your responses, and remember that 5A > jump cancel block is effective.
Full screen firebird is common if it will kill, or at least once after she reaches lvl 3 fire boost
Maragidyne is the more common reversal, be aware of your punish options as they're tricky
AoA is common if it'll kill, it's slow but can be unexpected, so be ready
Main adjustments to make
Orb is generally too slow here, and doesn't really achieve what you want to be doing (moving forward). Effecively, not a good use of time, and kind of risky against 5D/j.D.
Safejump does work, just remember that you can't just press 5A once you hear/see a hit, and her DP is guard point (effectively you still have to bait the DP).
Lab DP is awful as normal, even more so if she's doing 5C/2C due to how many hits they have. Also tends to stop working due to distance, so if you're doing to do it, do it early. Will interact if she DP's back, so be ready with supers.
Oki becomes strange because her DP blocks all projectiles, so even if you bait it, spike/orb won't punish, you'll have to do it yourself.
j.B is your main tool here, and no AA 2B to stop you! You will get hit by fans or air normals if you're too obvious though, so keep things varied where you can.
Chain knuckle tends to just hit a persona here, but can sometimes work against retreating fan usage, or raw 5B/2B. Keep in mind, but don't use too often.
Gears can be ok here, including D gears. She does have a fairly trivial fatal counter punish after super flash, and can easily enough get a single hit on you if she needs to. Use with care.
As with orbs, j.D just isn't a great use of time. It might block a persona or a fan, but you won't be where you want to be, and have a decent chance of getting hit and/or losing a card. Focus on closing the gap instead.
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