Ling Xiaoyu, a character known for her intricate stances, takes center stage. In Tekken 8, she capitalizes on her stance-heavy playstyle, particularly leveraging the potent Art Of Phoenix (AOP) stance. AOP not only enables her to gracefully evade a plethora of moves, especially mids, significantly limiting her opponent’s toolkit. However, its strength goes beyond evasion, offering a rich array of mixups and pressure tools, solidifying its status as one of the game’s premier stances.
Xiaoyu, a franchise legend, is celebrated for her extraordinary okizeme game. When the Xiaoyu player makes the right calls on their opponent’s wake-ups, they can relaunch foes and secure guaranteed hits, showcasing exceptional awareness. Her compact hitbox provides an added advantage, weakening certain combos against her.
With an expansive repertoire of mid and low poking moves, including formidable Counter Hit (CH) launchers like WS2, Xiaoyu frustrates opponents by restricting their movelists through AOP. This strategic limitation prompts opponents to second-guess overextending on pressure. Xiaoyu seamlessly integrates other stances, such as Rain Dance Stance (RDS) and Hypnotist (HYP), for substantial mixups, especially in heat, where she thrives. Her damage output ranks among the highest in the game, contingent on the player’s execution and awareness.
While Xiaoyu’s poke damage may be on the lower side, making comebacks without heat poses a challenge.
Pros:
- Exceptionally high damage output
- Outstanding okizeme capabilities
- AOP nullifies pressure and situations
- Dynamic mixups with HYP stances
- Arguably the best utilization of Heat in the game
Cons:
- Range is somewhat limited
Recommended for players who appreciate:
- Stance-based characters with intricate gameplay
- Exploring lab scenarios and unleashing creativity in okizeme
- Commanding presence with strong poking capabilities
Difficulty: Advanced
Perfect Legend 