Quote Originally Posted by SoWL, 12/4
Her base range is very poor, but the range of her Persona is very long on both specials AND normals. Because all her moves are Persona-dependent, she can do absolutely nothing when her Persona is down (even worse than Carl, I suppose).

S-Rush is a graceful dance with the fan, you can end it with Agi.
Her B normals are her fan tosses, with 5B tossing the fan forward, jB tossing it very far downward and 2B tossing it upward. Pretty much the only option you have without Konohana-Sakuya.
5C makes Konohana-Sakuya rush forward and attack with her wings in an upward arc. A Fatal Counter move. A very good reach on this move, you can follow it up with 2C, 3C and other Persona normals. She can get very far away from Yukiko just by spamming C and D, but it leaves her very vulnerable.
5D makes Konohana-Sakuya perform a small jump and attack with the wings in a downward arc. This one probably counts as an overhead.

Special Moves
Dia (B+D) - Yukiko deals a single invincible hit, blowing away the enemy and making some breathing space for good old healing. You can hold the buttons down to heal more health. Very dangerous when the enemy blocks it.
Agi ((j)236A/B) - Yukiko makes a fireball appear before her, dealing a second hit if the enemy is too close to Konohana-Sakuya. A version makes it right before her, B version makes it a bit farther away.
Maragi (236C/D) - Yukiko laughs and shoots a fire wave that runs on the ground, turning into a pillar of fire. C and D versions have different range, EX version tracks the enemy down.
Fire Boost (214C) - Yukiko's Fire gauge is raised by 1, with a maximum of 4. It's supposed to power up her fire moves, but the exact way they are powered up is uncertain.
Fire Break (214D) - The next fire attack becomes unblockable. This buff has its own gauge and disappears if you don't use any fire attack before it runs out.
Fire Boost High (214C+D) - an EX version of Fire Boost (uses 25% of SP gauge). I suppose it simply gives you 2 levels of Fire gauge instead of 1.

Super moves
Agidyne (236236C/D) - A very big and fast fireball is shot across the screen. If you hold the button down, Konohana-Sakuya spins upwards, dealing many hits before shooting the fireball midair.

Awakening super
Maragidyne (214214C/D) - Two great waves of fire are shot on both sides of Yukiko. C version shoots them away, while D version shoots them towards Yukiko instead. This move combines both offense and defense and can be used in many different ways.

Yukiko Amagi

I didn't play get to play Yukiko, mainly because I was actually focusing on Naoto and Aigis (surprising for a guy who loves to play everybody), and mainly because we had a newcomer into the group. Was a pretty female-type named Mayu Yukio (called her MaYucchi, for you select few who get the reference.) and apparently had experience in the ArcSys games. Wasn't about to deny her game time, and went pretty even in the Naoto v.s. Yukiko fight. Things went more in my favor when Aigis took the stage, which I'll elaborate a bit more later.

So you guys are reading that she's familiar to Lambda or Nu from BB and it's pretty accurate. Yukiko doesn't have full screen control bullshit like BBCT Nu-13, but a lot of her KS (Konohana Sakuya) normals act a lot like the android's 3C, 5C, and 6C respectively. What adds to the fact is that her persona isn't that slow, at least to the levels of Izanagi when he comes out. It makes sense too, because there's not a whole lot of attacks that Yukiko has with a generous amount of hitstun.

Her A attacks aren't that impressive, especially for what she's meant to do. The animations are the same, with the fan jab and lowkick. Unlike other zoners, her light attacks aren't very impressive in that her standing jab has such a retardedly small hitbox, that I've seen many a times where they almost have to be in molestation range in order for it to hit. Her 2A is better, but still a deceivingly small hitbox. I'd judge maybe about midway down her lower leg? It's mashable, so that's nice? Her series combo from it is pretty simple too, but if you're letting your opponent that close without a plan, then you're doing something wrong.

MaYu was saying that unlike the androids of BB, she doesn't have a command normal which serves as an overhead. Her command normal (the one with the spiral fan spin) isn't one, so that's a bit disappointing. She does have fan throwing normals, which I think is what her B normals are dedicated to. 2B throws it upward at a 45 degree angle, and j6B is the same except downwards. Her air to air with just herself is also lackluster, with no real good hitboxes without Konohana Sakuya. Makes me wonder what exactly does she have for mix-ups, and it's noticeable too. As Naoto, I didn't really feel that threatened by a potential mixup as I did from a heavy punishment from one of KS's normals. It maybe the reason why KS has a much larger range than imo, what Nu or Lambda ever had for their C attacks.

Oh, and lol to the fact she can gatling throw her fans. They don't do a lot of damage or hitstun, but it's enough to pester you and maybe tag'em with KS on CH. It's a lot easier than it sounds. You can HJC them too, or at least 2B. I think I saw the aerial and 5B also JC'd, but it's a bit fuzzy there.

As I stated before, Fire Boost is super important. You wanna keep that active on Yukiko so that people can respect your punishment capabilities. Lvl. charges on Fire Boost also alter the properties of her Agi attacks, either by giving them bigger hitboxes, knockback, better vaccuum capabilities (Maragi), or more. I think it also boosts speed, but I didn't notice anything else. Definite on damage, and hitboxes. It's not like it's gonna kill you to get it out there too. Pretty fast start up, low cooldown until lvl.3 boost. I found it easier to punish it, whether it was because of habit or heavy cooldown/startup. We'll see when it comes to the release date.

So about that KS, she has the 5C-> 6C chain which pretty much acts like a non-low hitting Lambda 3C -> 6C chain. Gigantic hitbox and keeps them out. KS is vulnerable from the bustline up, where her feathers don't cover, which is like a godsend for Aigis, Yosuke, and other overhead masters. For that matter, a lot of KS's moves on the ground are exposed at that point. Yukiko players deadzone in zoning seems to be right above the 45 degree line, where KS doesn't cover unless she's in the air. MaYu didn't have a problem with it though, so long as she kept moving. 5D also remedies this a bit, as does 6D, since KS jumps upward to hit the opponent in different fashions. One with a spin upward, and another as a jump forward. Both can chain into Agi. I think her spiral one works better as a close range GTFO me, but can't say for sure.

Her throw range is the pits. Further showing that she's a long range fighter. Kinda makes me wish she had a teleport or something for potential mix-ups. She can get a combo off that throw too.

IMO, Yukiko is also a meter hungry child. Both Maragi EX and Fire Boost EX is stupid good, for their own purposes. One for field control and forcing either chip (a sizable amount, but nowhere near Chris level) or option limitation; and another to get her boost game going to further strengthen her potential. Awakening mode Maragidyne is a very flexible hyper and something that Yukiko players will enjoy. Imagine having a Magnetic Shockwave super that can go repel or attract, and doesn't scale too much in terms of damage like other Awakening supers. Stocking meter for that will definitely make sure that any opponent who gets tagged by KS while Yukiko is awakened is sure to eat up a potential 50 percent combo, with an easy corner carry. Agi is also much better now, since it's start up got reduced. I still would like it to knockback more, but a las, no deal.

Fire Break is also pretty nifty, if you can ever get it off. Not too difficult, though it is slower than the other buff spells. I think of it as Yukiko's main mixup tool for an okizeme attempt, which MaYu did a couple times. Score a knockdown, scare'em with a meaty 5C-6C ->5D into an unblockable fire break Agi lvl.2. You can get a combo off that I think, or I just fucked up my tech timing. Hehe?

Dia is fast and blows them far away, but DON'T hold it down. The healing portion is a gimmick and not really worth it unless you managed to stun them. Even then, I'd prefer to take the damage opportunity than to regain health. She doesn't have attacks that cost health per say, so it's kinda stupid to be healing up so often. She's not TvC Roll.

You cannot use buffs to cancel your chains and go into more after that for retarded blockstrings all day. Sorry fellas and gals, seems ArcSys doesn't want that sort of stuff in this game (else Chie and Akihiko would be even more ridiculous than they kinda are already.)

Overall, MaYu said Yukiko is pretty easy to pick up and may gain popularity by beginners to the series; much like how the online craze of Nu was when she first came out. A lack of command mobility, gates of babylon-esque supers, and total reliance on KS will make them realize how to play P4U's game of managing your Persona's safety very fast. Unlike Kanji or Yu though, KS doesn't have long cooldown times until she retreats, so that's nice. The only real concern is how to safely build up meter to get access to Maragi EX, or open up the foe with a Fire Break spell.

^ Forgot to post up, but long range zoning tactics also eat up Yukiko pretty bad in addition to close range blockstrings. Which is probably why Aigis was having an easier time dealing with Yukiko, as was Naoto if I could get that silence hit in. Yukiko's zoning and punishment game is reliant completely on KS, so whatever you do...DON'T LOSE HER!