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Winnie's Filia Guide (Warning: contains updo)

winnie

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Filia Double
PS3 Version is out so I'm back at it hopefully it won't take to long to finish this but don't get your hopes up because I'm lazy.

EDIT: added a lot to the guide now but still have not revised any of this so bare with me. I still got a long way to go before this is done.


Table of Contents:
1. Overview
2. Normals/Specials/Supers
3. Team Synergy
4. Combos
5. Offense/Defense
6. Match-Ups


Chapter 1 Overview

Filia is one of the strongest characters in Skullgirls, she has many strengths and few weaknesses. This guide will try and show you everything this character has to offer and help teach you what you need to know to overwhelm and crush your opponents. First off lets start with a list of Pros and Cons for Filia.

Pros:

+Very Fast can chase down your opponent and never let them escape.
+Great mix-ups with one of the fastest overheads in the game.
+Has great team synergy either on point or with an assist.
+Her j.hp has large hit-box making it a poke tool as well as a pressure tool.
+Has the best IAD (instant air dash) in the game being both fast and moves her forward.
+Updo, her main reversal tool that can punish your opponent if they are not careful.
+Multi-hit normals that can cover your assists and can’t be push blocked easily.
+Strong defensive game allowing you to slow down the match when things are getting to crazy.
+Can capitalize off of any hit and get strong damage or a reset.

Cons:
-Low range, Filia’s normals have low range forcing you to get close to your opponent. (not always a bad thing)
-No safe super.
-No safe way to get Filia in without hitting them first.
-Very susceptible to anti air moves.
-Damage output is average not to high not to low.
-Ringlet Spike is a bad projectile.

As you can see the Pros greatly out way the Cons making Filia a strong character in my opinion.


Chapter 2 Normals/Specials/Supers

This section will go over all over Filia’s moves and tell you when and how to use them.


Normals:


S.LP – Filia’s jab is not bad but is rarely used because it can be ducked and her LK is much better. Though LP is very last and can be used to stuff your opponent from pressing buttons.

S.LK – This move is also not very useful out side of combos but can be used to prevent your opponent from jumping back.

S.MP – This is an ok poke but I never use it outside of combos, it has good range but is a little slow on start up compared to other moves.

S.MK – A fast normal with good range only problem is it can’t be chained into launcher from anything but close range. Basically don’t use it too much.

S.HP – This is Filia’s launcher and for some reason it is safe on block. It’s a good move to end your block stings with and a half decent anti air if they are right above you.

S.HK – This move is wired because it moves Filia back before them. Can be used for wonky frame traps but I would try and only use it during combos.


Cr.LP – Can be used the same way as the standing version but the only difference is it can’t anti air.

Cr.LK – This is Filia’s main combo starter or block sting starter. It is her only crouching light normal that hits low making it’s the main low move to start your stings.

Cr.MP – This move it pretty crappy the only use it has is for combos other than that you should never use it.

Cr.MK – This move is amazing it’s a multi hit low that gives you plenty of time to call an assist that doesn’t have invincibility like Cerecoppter. Other uses include hit confirming into full combos or just use it as a poke to catch your opponent of guard. Needles to say this is Filia’s best low hitting normal.

Cr.HP – There is nothing wrong with this move except that it leads to nothing in the neutral game. It ok on block but it main use is just for combos.

Cr.HK – This is Filia’s sweep and as such is useless. The only use is to move you forward for an updo but even then I Find it useless.


J.LP – Its fast but that’s about it. The range is crap but that does not mean its bad. IAD j.lp is a very good tool to catch them off guard and its fast enough to beat most jump normals your opponent might spam.

J.LK – Good for IAD pressure because it hits the area below Filia better than j.lp but not useful outside of IADs and combos.

J.MP – This is one of Filia’s best jump moves. It’s a multi hit normal so it’s harder to push block and has a good hit box for a jump in. Using it for IADs is also very useful.

J.MK – Though some people think its good I cant find much use for it. Its not good for IADs because it gets push blocked to early and its just not as good as her other jump normals.

J.HP – Filia’s best jump move. Has a huge hit box and it great for IADs or just strait jump ins. This move is your go to for most of your neutral game. Though it can be push blocked easily it still give you a lot of pressure and stuffs most of their options. Just be prepared to get anti aired because it can get blown up by uppercuts.

J.HK - Great move to end your IADs this because of its block stun and damage and can be used as an instant overhead without having to air dash. This is a very strong move for mix-ups.


Specials:


QCF+P (Ringlet Spike) – This is Filia’s projectile and it really bad. Only use it to try and catch your opponent pressing buttons form far away and hit confirm into super but his strategy is really hard to pull of and very susceptible to punishment when done wrong.


F.QCF+P (Updo) – Filia’s DP and reversal should be used as much as possible but be warned it is punishable even if you super afterwards so be careful and use it when they do something stupid.


QCB+K (Hairball) – The ground version is ok but unsafe on block so be careful. The air version is good for movement and can trick you opponent if they are not ready for it.


QCF+K (Ringlet Psyche) - This move is great, it allows you to recover faster from moves like cr.hp and s.hk and its great for burst baits. You won't be needing this move for neutral but its very helpful for pressure and burst baits.

Supers:


QCB+KK (Gregor Samson) Level 1 – Good for combo extensions and DHCs. Can be used after an updo to make it harder to punish or a free combo is the updo hits. Just remember to stand still until they bounce of the wall or they wont wall bounce at all. Gregor Samson is also Filia’s air reversal so be sure to use it as such.


F.QCF+PP (Fenrir Drive) Level 1 – Has great damage and should be used to finish your combos for max damage. Even with the impending damage fix its still your go to combo ender because of how far it pushes them to the corner and how well it can DHC into almost any super.


QCB+PP (Tricobezoar) Level 3 – This is possibly the worst level 3 in the game. It dose not damage at the end of combos and can only be combed after in the corner. It’s unsafe on block and unsafe on whiff, which will happen a lot because its hit box is crap. The only use it has is to DHC to kill someone.

Chapter 3 Team Synergy

Filia has some great team synergy with the ability to play any position on your team with great assists and a super you can combo after the only thing Filia lacks is a safe DHC.


Lets start with what Filia can bring to your team:

Filia has 2 good assists the first being the ever so popular Hp Updo and the second being Hk Hairball. Hk Hairball is a good assist but there is only one reason to use it, that reason being if you already have Napalm Pillar on your team. Updo should be your go to Filia assist because without it your defense will suffer. Basically if you don’t already have Pillar then use Hp Updo.


With Updo backing your team you gain the ability to do the ever so over used strategy of call your assist and block their approach. With this strategy they can’t just go crazy on you and they are forced to bait assist calls to get in.


Hk Hairball strategies are a lot simpler, all you need to do is make them block you assist and you get a free mix up.


As for Filia’s DHC potential you are left with a small problem, none of her supers are safe on block. This will force you to play a bit differently than most teams due to the fact that mashing a reversal super with Filia behind you is not safe. In my opinion this actually help the player to develop a play style that doesn’t need mashed supers to win. The only way to get your character out safely is to get a hit first then Filia’s DHC options become much more useful. Because Filia can combo off of Gregor Samson you can get a full combo off of a DHC and get your point character out clean. Its also important to mention that DHC into Fenrir Drive or lvl 3 at the end of a combo will add a lot of damage and its always worth it to burn bar to kill a character.


Now lets talk about the best place to put Filia on a team:

One of the things that makes Filia good is that you can put her in any position on your team and she will do great, but you already know this so I’m going to tell you which one is best.


I will start with point Filia, this is her second best position on a team. From here she can dish out a lot of damage to your opponent and build a good amount of bar for your next character. Filia with a strong lock down assist such as Double’s Hornet Bomber or Cerebella’s Cerecopter is enough to win matches on it own.


Next we have the second position this is by far Filia’s best spot on a team. The reason for this is simple, the more meter Filia has the less she needs to rely on a defensive assist and the more she can capitalize on a offensive one. A well-timed lp updo into Gregor is Filia’s defense so having a reversal assist is good but becomes redundant when you have a lot of meter. Plus Filia has great incoming defense and is not afraid of crazy incoming mix ups especially when you have an anchor character with a safe DHC.


Moving on to Filia’s worst position we have the anchor spot. Though the anchor position if possible for Filia you are practically throwing away this character. Without an assist backing you up Filia’s resets and neutral game become very gimmicky. Pretty much your only hope with solo/ anchor Filia is to wait for your opponent to win the neutral game and reversal out of a mix up. Then pray that you never drop a reset because you will lose the neutral game every time to a player who knows what they are doing. Of coarse if you can get them into a 1v1 situation then you have just as good a chance as any other character. I strongly suggest you don’t play anchor Filia unless you have to.


I think that covers all the general things about Filia’s team synergy so lets move on to the best buddies section. I will divide this into two parts, what assists work best for Filia, and what characters work best with Filia’s assists.



Filia’s Favorite assists:

I’ll start with my personal favorite Double’s Lk and Mk Hornet Bomber. Both of these are very good for Filia and depending on which you prefer will dictate your play style. Lk Hornet Bomber is a great tool to back up Filia because it can be used both offensively and defensively. You can either use it for counter assist calls/ a reversal assist or you can use if to make your block strings safe and give you safe mix ups. Mk Hornet Bomber is a little different. Due to its low start up invincibility you can use it too much for defense but the offensive petechial of Mk Bomber is much greater than the Lk version. If you use Mk bomber I suggest that you use it as a projectile to cover your approach and help you get in or try and force them to block it and go for mix-ups.



Now for Filia’s other best assist we got Cerecopter. This assist should be used if you want to rush down your opponent and never let them escape. With the immunes amount of lock down this assist provides lets you get a mix up almost every time they have to block this assist. Unfortunately Copter is not very useful to just throw out but when you use this assist right your opponent will be mashing whatever reversal they have to try and get out of the endless pressure you can put on them.

You can also use Hp Lock and Load if you want to boost your neutral but why do that when you can put people in a blender :).


After these assists your best bet it to pick the best assists for the characters you want to play with. I’ll just make a short list of your best options for the rest of the cast:


Parasoul: Pillar or Mp Shot if you want more offense

Valentine: cr.mk, Throw, or Dead Cross

Peacock: s.hp or George’s Air Show

Painwheel: cr.mp or mp stinger

Ms.Fortune: Hk Fiber Upper

Squigly: Drag n Bite or cr.Hp

Big Band: Hp DP, Hp Brass Knuckles, Hk Giant Step


Who works with Updo:

Everyone, this is what makes Filia such a good character no mater who you put in front of her she can always help out.


I think all that’s left for this section is DHC synergy but I will leave that for you to find out because that’s more fun and there is nothing major to discuss just make sure you hit them before DHC’ing into Gregor.

Chapter 4 Combos

Here I’m going to list all the combos you need to know, if you want more I encourage you to find your own more damaging versions so that we can all get better.


Basic Filia mid screen: cr.lk > cr.mk > s.hp > j.hp > Air Dash > j.lk > j.hk > cr.lk > s.hp > j.mk > hk hairball > Air Dash j.mp > j.hk > s.lp > s.mp > cr.mk > cr.hp > hk hairball > super


For all corner combos make sure to re-stand them after s.mp to get the full hits of cr.mk. The timing is tricky but it gets the most damage.


Corner combo: cr.lk > s.mk > s.hp > j.hp > j.hk > Hk hairball > Air Dash j.mk(x2) > j.hp > dash s.lk > s.mp > cr.mk > s.hk > hk hairball > cr.lp > s.lk > s.mp > cr.mk > s.hk > Hk hairball > super


Counter-Hit Corner Combo: s.hp > j.hp > j.hk > Hk Hairball > Air Dash j.mk(x2) > j.hp > s.mk > cr.hp > Ringlet Psyche > Dash s.lk > s.mp > cr.mk > s.hk > Hk Hairballs > cr.lp(x2) > s.lk > s.mp > cr.mk > s.hk > Hk Hairball > Super



Combo off of Gregor with otg: work in progress just do cr.lk > s.hp > j.mk > hk hairball > Air Dash j.mp > j.hk > s.lp > s.mp > cr.mk > cr.hp > hk hairball > super



Combo off of Gregor without otg: work in progress just do dash s.hp > j.mk > hk hairball > Air Dash j.mp > j.hk > s.lp > s.mp > cr.mk > cr.hp > hk hairball > super



All of these combos are universal and have many strong reset points that I will go over in the offense section of Chapter 5.

Chapter 5 Offense/Defense
 
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Winnie, you know the post length limit is removed, right? So you don't need to reserve so many posts.

c.MK is incredibly unsafe and gives out free PBGC's.

c.HK lowers your hurtbox immensely while moving you forward, which can get through zoning if done properly.

j.LP is Filia's only aerial horizontal disjointed hitbox. It has better range than almost all her other air normals. I object to everything you have to say about this.
There's no way you can talk shit about j.LP's range and then recommend j.LK.

j.MK's utility is that the initial attack sends you downward, which is more useful as a movement tool than as an attack. There are crossunders and combos that rely on this to ground you faster than the opponent. You can also get mixups the same way by landing way before your opponent thinks it's even possible and going for c.LK.

j.HP is not that good. The active hitbox is ONLY above you, and it greatly extends your hurtbox. Good opponents can just jab you out of it. People are mostly afraid of the damage and hitstun; once they stop respecting this move it never hits again.

j.HK has an additional quirk in that it still maintains your horizontal momentum while halting your vertical momentum, so you can use it for easy cross-ups. Its hitbox is best described as "the opposite of j.HP," meaning that it's entirely underneath you while you have a larger than normal hurtbox above it.

Ringlet, in addition to causing knockdown (which allows Gregor to hit from fullscreen), is a high-priority projectile. This means that it eats most enemy projectiles without losing durability.

In MDE, grounded Hairball causes knockdown on hit. This is a huge difference from SDE where it was essentially useless.

MDE Tricho got a damage buff for those people foolish enough to use it after the 4th hit in a combo, it also got a damage buff for when you use it point-blank, and it's also somewhat safer. People have yet to experiment with the new version of it, but it's way better than before.
 
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1. didn't know that post thing
2. everything you said is right and I have nothing against j.LP its really good but her other jumping normals are better when you are at a distance because they have more active frames. Up close j.LP is a great idea.
3. J.HP is always going to be Filia's best jump normal, but that dose not mean its the only good one. All of her jumping normals can be used for different situations except j.MK I just don't like that move outside of combos.
 
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c.LP is +8 on block which makes it a billion times better as a pressure tool than s.LP

s.HK not only moves you backwards but is also lower body invincible, making it dodge pretty much every low attack in the game (still hard to utilize, but I'd still note it)

c.HK is actually pretty darn good for a sweep, one of the few that I use. Sweeps break armor, and Filia's is the best at it with a good hitbox and quick startup.

j.LP has the added benefit of being one hit earlier in the chain;;
- j.LK on block you can either do j.HP(whiff) into mixup, or j.HK for crossup
- j.LP on block you can either do j.HP(whiff) into mixup, or j.HK for crossup, or j.LK to stay sameside and then again either do j.HP(whiff) into mixup, or j.HK for crossup

Ringlet dodges most projectiles due to Filia crouching down; it's imo rather useful to battle Parasoul at long range
 
Im probably going to add a section describing everything you can do off of an IAD so I tried to depict the use of Filia's normals in the neutral game showing how they can be used to hit the opponent not what you do after you get the hit.
 
A few thoughts...

= I sometimes use Gregor as my "get out of the corner" move.... ie whiff/fly under them as they're in mid-air.
= Gregor can be used to counter random Argus Agony (block the beam before activating)
= With the latest patch, Gregor cannot counter Squigly's Daisy Pusher (I tried it yesterday), but it CAN be tiger-knee'd if you're expecting a raw daisy pusher to come out
= Gregor can counter an opponent's random Gregor.
= As Broken Loose has already mentioned, cr.MK is unsafe; I've been punished for it enough that I've stopped trying to poke with it
= cr.HP has awfully good horizontal range for a normal, and I've used it sometimes to anti-air or to keep someone in the corner
= I've used cr.HK to get out of corners before.... ie if they take to the air for a deep jump-in, I would cr.HK slide out of there
= I've used the LP ringlet spike to anti-air before... it works if the opponent doesn't expect it
= Everyone seems to forget this, but is there going to be a section / mention of the Ringlet Psyche (that's the fake ringlet spike)? I read somewhere it was supposed to be able to cancel large recoveries (like Squigly's stancels), but I have yet to find a good use for that move....
= Is there any reason to use the LK / MK version of hairball (ground), aside from potential mind games?
 
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I'm fairly sure fake ringlet takes longer to recover on hit/block then just letting any of filia's attacks play through the entire animation, except maaaaaaybe c.HK.
 
I'm fairly sure fake ringlet takes longer to recover on hit/block then just letting any of filia's attacks play through the entire animation, except maaaaaaybe c.HK.
Yeah, I came to that conclusion as well.... which is why I have no idea what it's there for, except maybe for mind games
 
Just some observations playing against filia:

In mirrors, if one filia has a read on the other filias iad j.hp... Then her st.hk COMPLETELY OBLITERATES the other filias iad... There's like little ranging or timing needed... It's that easy of a counter.

Obviously use an assist to make it safe if you have one. This is much better than just trying to raw updo an opposing filia out of the air and allows for more aggression rather than just mirror iad spacing games.

Filias j.lp is ridiculously good, especially when using it like parasoul uses doubles lk Bomber... Ie j.lp plus assist xx lk airball, or just jump lp wiff xx airdash jump attack... For those times when an iad j.hp may not be fast enough but your opponent might also choose to just do nothing...

Iad j.mp against people that like to anticipate and pushblock the first hit of j.hp.

Use cr.lp as a standalone tick throw since it recovers so quick.
Use cr.lp x2 as a hitconfirm after jumpin and as a way to space yourself for dash up tick throw or iad j.lk xx j.hk (aka the mike z special)


Use lk airball and cancel into random forward and backward dashes to get in or run the clock or outrun doubles cats.

Use mk and hk airball to get in against peacocks and /or against highly defensive players, just make sure that the airball recovers in the air so its super hard to punish.

If using anchor filia, try and stay away from low confirms, just use super safe high confirms and tick throws into resets.
 
Yeah, I came to that conclusion as well.... which is why I have no idea what it's there for, except maybe for mind games
That's exactly what it's there for.
 
Trying out the basic Filia midscreen combo and I'm having a problem.

cr.lk > cr.mk > s.hp > j.hp > Air Dash > j.lk > j.hk > cr.lk > s.hp > j.mk (1 hit) > hk hairball > Air Dash j.mp > j.hk > s.lp > s.mp > cr.mk > cr.hp > hk hairball > super

Once I get to the j.HK the opponent will ground tech since I used an OTG during the underlined part of the combo (cr.LK > s.HP). Can anyone explain what I'm doing wrong or give me any tips? Also is the j.MK supposed to be 1 hit or 2?
 
I managed to do the relevant part here :
http://www.twitch.tv/bombad1/b/549693101

The j.hp j.hk is supposed to hit the opponent while she's on the ground and restand her. It seems that it worked best when I delayed the j.mk (yes it's is supposed to be 1 hit, by the way) after the cr.lk > s.hp.
 
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I managed to do the relevant part here :
http://www.twitch.tv/bombad1/b/549693101

The j.hp is supposed to hit the opponent while she's on the ground and restand her. It seems that it worked best when I delayed the j.mk (yes it's is supposed to be 1 hit, by the way) after the cr.lk > s.hp.

I think you typoed and meant to say j.HK instead of j.HP, but yeah thanks a bunch for the tip! Definitely the delayed j.MK makes it much more consistent! :D