First off Ray I'm not much of a mileena player, I know from messing arounda little, pro matches, and personal fighting experience. So sorry if some of the things I mention are slightly incorrect or impossible if I throw out an idea. As some of my thought process might be theory based so If I ask you to thinka bout an option and you know it doesn't work. Point it out to me so I know for future reference. And I can perhaps come up with another idea.
Video#1:
[@:14] Dunno why it whiffed but it costed you some damage. It's either your combo was too long and the gravity was too strong for you to catch them, or your 1,1,2 hit too late. But yeah the neck leap is a move you cannot whiff against people with really quick wakeups. You had full momentum at that point, the kitana had a chance to reverse it cuz of that. Such a small mistake can lead to a huge disadvantage. I'm sure you know this, but I'm just pointing out if you're going to go for laggy moves that end, be careful. I've dropped combos and whiffed a laggy ender myself, which resulted in a full combo back at me. It happens to everyone no sweat.
[@:20] She was at the peak of her jump when you whiffed Down3, and moving away. why did you D4 after? but then again I didn't expect the ass attack right then either. which is really as far as I can see the only real thing kitana could have done against you besides jumping back in with a kick into fan. I'm gonna chalk that up to the guy using random ass attack at you. It's hard to predict a move that is usually a pretty stupid idea to use in a specific situation. I shouldn't say stupid I should say risky.
[@:37] jumping is risky, but It's a high risk high reward. When you have the lead Ray I would avoid doing high risk/high reward options. a jump back, and IMMEDIATE kick at that distance would have been safe. You got greedy for combo damage I think. Just be careful being airborne when you're in the lead. Kitana is the one panic'ing because she's behind. Don't let kitana nail a chance to come back by doing risky things. I would say a down jab is usually a good choice but kitana was going for a crossover jump. realized you were jumping too the punched early. so a Jab probably would've gave kitana a full punish. So a jump away was smart, you just chose the optimal damage routine instead of the safe option. besides if you landed the retreat kick which you should've because it has more range. I don't know MUCH mileena but i'm sure you can combo a tele-kick off it probably, or at the very least use the tele-kick after you kick kitana away, to get back ON her for pressure.
I want to say only make 3 mistakes round 1 is pretty damn good. But I'm working with what I got. I'd say you are playing Mileena VERY well at this point. Very smart in most of your decisions. and your punishments are really on que.
[1:05] Man did you see how far away kitana was? You could have on reaction to seeing that from the distance she started, just walk backwards the punish her whiff. be mindful of kitana's distance. She has some nice range on that cutter, but it's not fast enough to reach slightly farther than midscreen. A backdash/walk back would have gave you a free punish. Even if it's something as simple as a trip, You could probably roll her there in her recovery frames.(Not 100% sure)
[1:07] Ok, this is the second time this kitana jumps after you block her cutters. Take note of that pattern. This is kitana's second time punishing you for jumping after a blocked cutter. an immediate jump back instant kick is pretty safe(Unless kitana jumps backwards herself or throws a projectile(Unsafe because she has to commit to doing it IN YOUR FACE if you chose not to jump back.) If kitana jumps backwards, could you use teleport mid-air during your whiff kick to avoid a retreat air fan? (Not sure if mileena HAS to connect the kick on a player's block or hitbox to initiate instant teleort.
[1:11] this is theory. Is D4 the best punish you can do to kitana? what about reversing the input of roll on reaction and right when she passes by you start your roll and catch her as she lands? Wouldn't that be more beneficial? atleast from the distance kitana went for that. if she did that in your face, I'm not sure if roll would reach her in time let alone go far enough. But in that particular situation couldn't you roll? Asking.
[1:36] ok I wanna say you caught on to kitana's patterns of jumping after cutter on your block and went for that as a punish? Good stuff reading. But kitana apparently decided to mix it up now and went for jab. but once again. A jump back kick I think would've left you safe. I think she nailed you with that counter attack right after because since sai's stop your momentum and jab ends faster than your sais. You had to eat a punishment. I'd use the life lead excuse again but when you are both so low on health a single combo can kill you. That SAFE rule is a little more unreliable.
[1:48] Do you think it would've been wiser to start spamming low aimed instant air sai's right then? If kitana goes for a projectile you win. If she makes one small error in her dash crouch you win. I think you could've had her if you spammed sais (build more meter in the process) kitana has no teleport. If she tried to square wave out you'd obviously punish it with enough time to spare. Kitana's best bet at that point would be to dash in and duck and try to approach you w/o taking a sai hit. Then when you go for your EX kicks, She's out of the corner and you won't hit her at some weird angle because of stupid corner physics. Just my 2 cents. Obviously if it was someone with a teleport, sai spam is a dumb idea.
[2:11] Once again, kitana goes for a cross up jump after her blocked attack. Pattern.
[2:15] **** YES! Dude you finally called her out on that BS. Good stuff and full punishment as well
[2:31] To be fair, considering the kitana is a somewhat smart player. I ALSO would've assumed kitana would wise up after a full punish. but apparently not. I've learned when dealing with the unknown. Keep on punishing until THEY change it up. So kitana ONCE again went for a jump after cutter.
The losing hit. Jump back INSTANT kick. and use teleport to escape fans? once again not sure if you can teleport instantly out of kicks. But if your retreat instant kick whiffs and kitana is in the air. Why not tele kick.
I'll critique the others anothe time this took alot of my energy for one vid lol. If I said anything incorrect. Please let me know. I told you before mileena is my weakness so I'm not 100% sure about ALL of her stuff. So I gave general advice, and ideas