Tekken Tag Tournament 2/Ling
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Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Character Select
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Introduction
Fighting Style: Various Chinese Martial Arts
Nationality: Chinese
Background: Ling Xiaoyu was relieved to hear that Heihachi Mishima was still alive. She later learned that Jin Kazama, who had become the head of the Mishima Zaibatsu, was out to eliminate Heihachi. Xiaoyu intended to persuade Jin to stop, but she was unable to approach him due to the Mishima Zaibatsu's military buildup.
The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 was announced just as the world fell into chaos in the wake of the Mishima Zaibatsu's war declaration. Xiaoyu decided to enter the event for a chance to make Jin change his evil ways.
Character Data
Strategy Guides
- Use Armor King as example
- for path and link structure
- Use Armor King as example
- for path and link structure
Gameplay Summary
Writeup By Shauno
Pros:
She is pretty good at all around, block punishment. 1,d_D+2 is ok for -10 and -11, she has a f+1+2 knock down shoulder charge for -12 and -13, for -14 her b+4,4 does only decent damage but has range and leaves her close with +4 frame advantage. Optionally she can go after -14 recoveries with b+2,2 to end up in Rain Dance (BT) with a +3 advantage.
Her pride and joy for punishment is launching -15 opponents with d/f+2~1~5, one of the rare, i15 mid-hitting tag launchers in the game (pretty awesome for anti red bar juggles). If that wasn't good enough, it also hits grounded, is only -12 on block, and has deceptively long range. She can easily launch a Law WS+2 no matter how far it pushes her back for example.
From FC she knocks down -11 through -15 block recoveries with the long ranged WS+4, which got a damage boost in TTT2. Optionally she can also use the i11 WS+1 for a third less damage and no KD, but it gives her +7 frame advantage (plus it tracks better than WS+4). At -16 she can launch with her somewhat slow but decently ranged u/f+3 hop kick. For heavy sweeps, she can launch -22 and higher with the taggable WS+2*~5 (it also got a TTT2 damage boost).
For whiff punishment, d/f+2,1~5 is pretty standard for obvious reasons. It is easier in a pinch to use b+4,4 as well since it has really good range, is a frame faster than the launcher, and you may be already holding 'b', so the input is easier to execute vs., say, a whiffed jab. u/f+3+4 excels at punishing whiffs from even greater distances (plus it is one of the most effective low crushers because of the distance it travels), and SS+3's evasive, high crushing sweep can launch linear strings or slow recovering power moves for good combo damage (SS+4 is a sweep that executes faster, but needs a CH to launch - it also got a damage boost).
The rarely used Hypnotist 2 is pretty good because it has decent range and it high crushes as the stance side-walks to her left (with variable plus frames on block). When in Rain Dance, her RDS 4 Mistrust is a very good, long range i13 launcher for misses. Lastly, of course the shoulder charge at i12 is her fastest KD option at range 2 or closer.
One of Xiaoyu's overall strengths continues to be her up-close poking game. She has good options at all height levels to keep the frame advantage on her side, and her special evasive skills can take advantage of quick retaliations when she is at a mild disadvantage. She isn't as good as this as she used to be because of continual poking nerfs since T4, but she still does a decent job at controlling the flow.
Poking from range 2 isn't too bad. She has safe, advancing mids like XMTS (now nerfed to -7 on block) and f,f+3 raccoon kick (-4 on block), and a (TTT2 damage-increased) d/b+1 death fist. d+3 is an under rated poking tool from range. While it is a slow low kick, it tracks really well, high crushes, and leaves her at +4 on hit/CH. A bit faster but more linear is d/b+3, a low kick that is more linear but at i18 comes out faster. It is +6 on hit and KDs for a juggle on CH.
Defensively, she has quite a few tools to work with that can also get her in trouble if used too predictably. Everyone knows about Art of Phoenix stance, which not only high crushes, but its built in SSR (when done from standing) also evades a number of mids. In fact, a SSR, d+1+2 into AoP continues to be a very effective dodge for a lot of attacks as she gets her free AoP launcher. Her fastest sweep is in AoP. It doesn't juggle but it also doesn't get launched on block.
AoP as a stance got a nice boost in TTT2 with the addition of the mid hitting AoP 1+2. It's still early, but the properties on this move are very good IMHO. Yes, it is a bit slow at i18 even after dropping into the stance, but it isn't supposed to be used in close anyway (she has faster, more evasive AoP tools for that). The range on the move is very good, it knocks away on regular hit (with a wall splat) and crumple stuns on CH. When used at range (i.e., not too close), it tracks side-steps and side-walk really well in both directions unless dodged a few frames before impact. On block it is a mere -3 with push back.
Improved for TTT2 is the evasiveness of b+3+4 into Rain Dance. It dodges laterally better than her normal SSR, and while in BT besides additional sidesteps she has access to a RDS b+3+4 fox step, spinning her away from incoming attacks for a Mistrust~5 launch. Most of her other evasions are gimmicky, so I won't mention them here.
One little poking defensive move that deserves a mention is b_B+1 (the former ends in BT on hit). While the range is weak, at i9 it is the 2nd fastest interrupt after Yoshi's i6 1+4 flash.
High and low crush choices are good, especially when poking. Besides AoP into options (AoP 2,1 is a great, i12 high crushing string that now has an optional RDS cancel), the i14 d/f_D/F+1 Belly Chop is a fantastic high crushing mid. It almost instantly goes into it's evasive frames and tracks well to her left, stopping evasive setups like all of the Changs' shotgun spin options and Steve's Flicker setups. On hit she gets a +7 advantage which she can use for standard followups or BT followups. Too bad it was slightly nerfed on block in TTT2 (-5 instead of -4), but it is still a nice move to establish or re-establish flow.
In RDS, her California Roll into the optional Roo Kick~5 launcher can be risky, but is is pretty evasive against highs and some mids (like standard d+1s). For low crushing she has the aforementioned u/f+3+4 flying triple kicks, a hop kick (since T6) as primary KD weapons.
When it comes to partner juggles, she is really good with starting red damage combos using a lot of stuff mentioned above (especially d/f+2~1~5). Also, she has a really strong B! attack in the double hitting XMTS, which really adds to the combo damage inflicted by a B!~5 filler partner.
For throws she has all escape types. Oki afterwards is minor (some free, mild damage after 1+3). A final comment on her throws should include her gimmicky but deadly f+2+3 hop over grab, which ends with both characters in BT. It can be escaped with a 2, and if not, then the opponent can drop to the ground by holding ~D or block impending punishment by tapping forward twice. If they do none of these, she can get MASSIVE damage against her target with a ~5 Tag partner coming in (including death combos if her partner comes in fully Raged).
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Cons:
She is a linear character. Xiaoyu players have to focus on homing moves (her best is an i14 b+2 that hits mid, is -6 on block in BT and has a optional ~2 low NC followup.) or other decently tracking attacks to try to keep dodgers honest. Even her advancing, f,f~ mids mentioned above have tracking issues.
Her arms are short, which means her throw range and some pokes whiff more than other characters.
Most of her offensive skills are in her high and mid attack options. She has trouble forcing her opponents to crouch, especially since her only sweeps are from stances or are slow and see'able from a sidestep. The Miharu clone coming soon addresses this weakness with a FC d/f+4 sweep that us XIao fans are looking forward to using.
She is a bit too heavily poke oriented (as opposed to power oriented) compared to a lot of characters. And as I said above, she isn't as good of a poker as she was in T4 or even T5 because of slower move options and poorer frame data recoveries on block over the years.
Xiaoyu's solo juggle damage is pretty low. If she wants to open up oki options she has to cut her damage even further by ending in post B! spike attacks. As a TA~ combo filler in open ground, she can be average at best, often barely getting in a solid three hitter f+2,1,4 to work. As a TA combo finisher she is also average with damage, needing a good effort and plenty of practice to finish with that same power string, though her f,f,f+3 slash kick auto-ends in AoP, allowing her to instantly chase down back rollers with AoP f+3+4 for mild mixups.
Back turned does not have a quick poking low, and her RDS mids are almost all unsafe. The RDS sweep is slow and does not high crush.
Against the wall, like I said earlier XMTS is an awesome B!, but I don't care so much for her B!~5 filler options or TA! finishers for damage (though ~f,f+1~D is a nice finisher into AoP oki). Other characters get easier, more punishing damage in these situations.
Together, these cons really keep her from being anywhere close to being top tier. She has to use a variety of moves while tossing in misdirection and occasional parlor tricks to keep opponents on their toes. Often times, one solid, mid hit in an opponent's arsenal keeps her from using any of her dodging skills, forcing her to be more of a "straight up" fighter, which is definitely not her strength. She takes a lot of work just to be decent, and she is one of the most unfriendly characters for newbies to pick up.
Strengths and WeaknessesStrengths
Weaknesses
Top Moves
PunishersStanding
Crouching
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