Maxima - KOF2003 gameplay tips? (firebomber)

firebomber, I'm practising with Maxima right now. I see that you're using him, and I wonder if you have anything to add to what have already been said in this thread:

fierceslash.com

I'm only using him at home now and I'm sure it will take me a LONG time to use him properly in arcades. any tips

As much as I love Max he doesn't have much going for him in 2k3. He's bottom tier and not really suited for tourney play. That said he can be fun to play and somewhat effective if you know what to abuse.

The two biggest things he lost from 2k2
-f+A doesn't chain anymore. This takes away his best combos like sC, f+A, qcb+P/hcbX2+K
-The counter wire on qcb+P vapor cannon got raped.

He did gain a bit though.
- Lots of autoguard on cC and close/far sC
- hcbX2+K grab DM has awesome range and priority.
- Damage on Bunker buster seems better this year.

cC's autoguard beats almost everthing in the game. It will even beat out Kusanagi's dp if you time it right.
Use it for everything; an anti-air, offensive wake-up, combostarter for qcb+P
Understanding the auto guard on this move and sC is the basis for his game in 2k3.
sC is not as good since the window for auto guard isn't as long but it has good reach. Works as a decent AA against some moves. You can use it as sort of a slow poke since it has decent recovery and is pretty safe.

df+C has high reach so it is useful against high jumpers like Malin.

hcbX2+K DM has an ungodly amount of priority and range. I don't remember ever having a move trade or null this DM when I do it.
Not only that but it can grab hop moves. For example, you can grab Terry out of midair when he does the crackshoot!

Since max has a command grab he automatically has a pretty good offensive wake-up game.
When the opponent is knocked down mix up with cA, qcf+AX3 SC hcbX2+K / hcf+K command grab / hcbX2+K DM

Against a teleporting Duo use cC and it will nail him as he appears on the other side of you.


Other than that there's not much. Other than the qcf+A chains he doesn't have any real combos. You are forced to rely on his autoguard because of this. It makes him very predictable which is IMO his biggest downfall (besides his slow speed in such a fast game).
As far as team placement, he's useless as Leader. LDM is not that good and rarely hits. I recommend bringing him out first so he can use the 3 stocks for his grab DM.

thanks. that was be very helpful.

Forgot to mention jC is still a really good cross up although his options after it are more limited this year. Still useful though.

Geez, it only took 2 posts to make a great thread. I'm hoping to have '03 MVS in a week or so, and I like Maxima, so this will be useful. Thanks.

SouthtownKid said:

Geez, it only took 2 posts to make a great thread. I'm hoping to have '03 MVS in a week or so, and I like Maxima, so this will be useful. Thanks.

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yup, firebomber is the man here when it comes to KOF2003.

too bad we have many KOF experts here, but rarely see them talk about 2003. the link in my first post is a rich gameplay strats mine.

firebomber also postsed great info in 2 of my previous threads (one of them being about Shen), so try the search engine here as well.

I don't think Maxima is as shitty as people say he is, based on Kaillera though.

The LDM is useful as a counter-projectile super, should be used like a haohshoken in that regard. I think it might even stuff the haohshokens

his DP+K seems to be a bit better at grabbing then it was in 2k2 also.

Lower mid maybe, but not bottom.

Maxima is not a bad character. But he is 100% bottom tier. In 2k3 even the bottom tier are useful but Maxima has too many bad matchups.
If you have any strategies for beating a good duo, ash or malin etc. please share them because I honestly don't think they exist.

Max relies on chance this year. The only real damage from Max is made from punishing or countering certain moves by the opponent. Once they get wise to that he has nothing. There's simply no good/reliable way to get damage.
You have his offensive wake up game (which is weak compared to other grapplers) and his grab DM. Everything else he has is defensive/counter based.

Maybe he could do well like this if it was a different year but with 2003's incredibly fast, offensive based game it's hard to win with defense alone. Especially when Max is so slow this year. He lacks the high priority pokes, specials, traps that the good turtles of 03 have (daimon, ash, malin, king). And all of them can play offensive when they want to, Max on the other hand can't do that very well.


Now despite all of this trash talk against max he can be played effectively. But only if you realize that the opponent will control the match and not you. You just have to flow with that I guess. Just don't expect to dominate any of the top tier. But keep playing him anyway, he's fun as hell.