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Filia Compendium

Pickles

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Pickles (/id/shamanlord)
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Filia Double Painwheel
Welcome to the Filia compendium! The purpose of this thread is to compile useful information about Filia in one place for easy reference. Just click the spoiler tag of the section you want to read.

Filia is a very fast rushdown-oriented character. She can have some difficulty getting in but has a multitude of very fast mixups once she's in your face. Her defining trait is her airdash, which is not only the fastest in the game but can also be done lower to the ground (and therefore earlier) than anyone else. She can use her airdash for very fast overhead attacks as well as in neutral for approaching the opponent.

Pros:
-Very strong meterless reversal, as well as having one of the fastest reversals in the game
-Tied for fastest s.lp in the game
-Highly mobile with a very fast airdash
-Fast, hard to block resets/overheads/crossups etc
-Good assist options
-Both air and ground multihit normals help her vs armor

Cons:
- Air-to-air normals are low-range and she can have trouble contesting air-to-air with many characters
- Straightforward approach can be stuffed easily
- Low damage compared to rest of cast, relies more heavily on resets
- No safe super/dhc
- Needs meter for a fair number of conversions
-Filia's basic ground chain ender is s.lp s.lp s.lk s.mp c.mk c.hp H Hairball but if you're having trouble the 2nd s.lp can be removed and the c.mk changed to s.mk for a more consistent combo at the cost of damage. You can delay after smp a bit to give them time to land before using c.mk, but of course if you delay too much you'll drop the combo. Also the c.hp can be replaced with s.hk for a bit more damage if the opponent is in the corner by the time you get to the ground chain ender.

-In the first string of combos I list s.mk because it results in the most damage and c.lk s.mk is safe if you confirm the 2 hits, however s.mk whiffs at ranges that c.lk does not, and in fact off some starters like crossup IAD j.hk, c.lk s.mk will rarely be possible. c.lk c.mk(1) s.hp is a good string and is relatively pbgc safe despite being 3 hits, c.lk s.mp c.mk(1) s.hp is also very good and it's very easy to confirm c.lk s.mp, however this adds an extra hit to your string which scales your combo.

*ADC = air dash cancel
*TK = tiger knee (basically to TK Airball do QCFupback HK (2147 HK) so that when the move comes out you're in the air and you get the air version and not the ground version)
*All combos here are universal, but some maybe be finnicky/tricky on certain characters, this will be noted


Midscreen:
-------------------
Beginner-friendly combo that still has many uses at high levels of play.
c.lk s.mk s.hp
j.hp adc j.lk j.hk
otg c.lk (s.mk) s.hp
j.mk (2 hits) H Airball adc j.mp j.hk
s.lp (s.lp) s.lk s.mp c.mk c.hp H Hairball Fenrir Drive

-Against cerebella, omit the s.mk and the 2nd hit of j.mk
-Against PW omit the 2nd s.lp in the ground ender
-combo will sometimes switch sides
-Replace the 2nd line with (j.hk adc airthrow) for a guaranteed universal sideswitch if you want characters in the corner for a doublesnap for instance

This combo is your best for antiair s.hp confirms since at the heights AA s.hp usually hits at, s.hp j.hk can be really hard to downright impossible on some characters.

Highest damage of filia's easier combos
c.lk s.mk s.hp
j.hk adc j.lk j.hp j.hk
otg c.lk s.mk s.hp
j.mk (2 hits) H Airball adc j.mp
s.lp s.lp s.lk s.mp c.mk c.hp H Hairball Fenrir Drive

-On beowulf and double you have to be very sure that you are at the same height as the opponent when you do the 2nd j.hk in the 2nd string or it will whiff.

Notable for a very reset-friendly starter and for preserving OTG
c.lk s.mk s.hp
j.hk adc j.lk j.mp j.hk
c.mp TK H Airball dash cancel s.hp
j.mk adc j.lp j.mp
s.lp s.lk s.mp c.mk c.hp H Hairball Fenrir Drive

-Tricky against light characters, TKing the airball will make it come out too low so you will have to actually jump and then quickly input QCF HK (214 HK) so it comes out a bit later than TKing it. Also make sure to delay the j.lp j.mp on lighter characters just enough so that they have enough time to fall so they don't recover before your s.lp in the ground chain.
-This combo is the one that IMO you have to make the most adjustments to your ending ground chain depending on opponent's height, especially against light characters expect to use s.mk instead of c.mk until you get the timing really down. Also note the lack of the 2nd s.lp, only do 1x s.lp or the combo becomes much less consistent.

Old combo, otg-less and more consistent against everyone
c.lk s.mk s.hp
(delay) j.lk j.mp j.mk adc j.mp j.hk
c.mk s.hp
(delay) j.lp j.mp j.mk H Airball
s.lp s.lk s.mp c.mk c.hp H Hairball Fenrir Drive

More damaging but harder, uses OTG
c.lk s.mk s.hp
j.hk adc j.lk j.hp j.hk
OTG s.hp TK H airball
dash cancel s.mk c.hp ringlet psych IAD j.mp
s.lp s.lp s.lk s.mp c.mk c.hp H Hairball Fenrir Drive

Corner:
-----------------
Corner BnB
c.lk s.mk s.hp
j.hp j.hk H Airball adc j.mp j.hk
s.lk s.mp c.mk s.hk H Hairball
otg c.lp s.lk s.mp c.mk s.hk H Hairball Fenrir Drive

Winnie Corner Combo
c.lk s.mk s.hp
j.hp j.hk H Airball adc j.mk (x2) j.hp dash
s.lk s.mp c.mk s.hk H Hairball
otg c.lp s.lk s.mp c.mk s.hk H Hairball Fenrir Drive

-basically same as previous but a bit harder in exchange for more dmg

Off of ground throw:
---------------------------
HP Ringlet spike, ground dash 2x IAD j.mp j.hk
c.mp TK H Airball dash cancel s.hp
j.mk adc j.lp j.mp
s.lp s.lk s.mp c.mk c.hp H Hairball Fenrir Drive

HP Ringlet spike, Gregor Samson
dash up s.hp
<stuff>

Off of air throw:
----------------------
If airdash was not used and you're close enough to the ground:
H Airball dash cancel s.mk s.hp
<stuff>

If airdash was used (i.e. airdash -> airthrow) or you are too high off ground:
H Airball Gregor Samson
dash up s.hp
<stuff>
Off of s.hp:

-s.hp IAD j.lp: puts you on the ground before the opponent so you can go for left/right, low/high, airthrow, whatever, this is a cool reset. Sometimes if you do the OTG c.lk s.mk s.hp, the opponent will be too high, but if you omit the s.mk from that chain they won't be, it's character specific.

-s.hp j.hp IAD j.lk: you're plus after using j.lk and you land before them so you can do stuff from there

-s.hp j.hp IAD j.lk delay j.hk: if you delay enough j.hk will crossup, if you don't it won't. Character specific timing and really hard/impossible on some (who?)

Off of restand:

-j.hk restand, jump forward j.lp: after doing this you can either delay j.hk for a crossup or airdash backwards for sameside. Only works on characters tall enough to get hit with jump forward j.lp

-j.hk restand, c.mp, IAD j.lp j.lk: again you're super plus off j.lk and you land first so you can do stuff off that. Instead of the j.lp j.lk you can also do airthrow, it'll whiff and you'll fastfall for mostly the same result.

Fastfalls:
Filia has a bunch of fastfall resets, where you cancel some move into something that drops you to the ground quickly and allows you to act well before your opponent.

j.mp fastfall: use j.mk during j.mp when you're near the ground and you will cancel the j.mp into a fastfall, where you can go for low/throw/high/whatever

j.mk fastfall: cancel the first hit of j.mk into a whiffed j.hp and you will fastfall, same concept as before but used at different combo points cause it's a different move.

Other:

j.mk: dash cancel the 1st hit of j.mk into either throw, to get a throw reset you can combo off of with H airball into gregor, or instead of throw use j.mp to stuff the opponents throw, confirm into j.hk, and keep the combo going.

(Corner only) j.hp j.hk IAD j.lk j.hp: Puts the opponent airborne as you land, so you can do high/low/throw when they land or jump and airgrab.

Tick throws/delayed lows also work as well with filia as with any other characters.
Because of her fast airdash you can basically do any air normal that would trigger IPS right after a launcher, then air backdash, and it's a burst bait. Usually this'll be j.hk because it's consistent and it gives you oki stuff if they don't burst (you cannot ground tech after a soft knockdown that triggers IPS unless otg has already been used), but other normals can be used as well. That said she has some other neat burst tricks too.

-s.hp IAD j.lk (when it would trigger IPS, of course): Same as one of the earlier resets except with j.lk instead of j.lp. Good because even if they don't burst you get the crossunder as usual.

-OTG s.hp (when it would trigger IPS): Because you can jump cancel launchers on hit, if you do s.hp OTG then jump back you will dodge the burst. Downside is this only works midscreen, and the only followup is airdash j.mp j.hk into combo, which will scale the followup considerably.

-(normal) into s.hk ringlet psych: shoutouts to WAAAAAAAAAHNIE. Popularized in the corner with c.lk during the corner combo, this is a bait that will almost certainly catch people that don't know about it. Basically you use a normal that would trigger IPS, chain it into s.hk to move yourself back to avoid the burst, then use ringlet psych to cancel the s.hk before it actually comes out so you don't move forward back into the burst. As mentioned it was first introduced in the corner by using c.lk to start the last ground chain in the corner combo, but can also work midscreen after a gregor wallbounce.
Filia does not have any way to cause a hard knockdown exactly. However, if you do a burst bait with j.HK (without having spent otg), the opponent cannot ground tech because hitting a button would cause a burst, so she can imitate a hard knockdown in this way. Some examples of Filia's options after a "hard" knockdown:

-run/jump and block: self-explanatory bait if you think they're mashing
-c.lk/throw/IAD j.lk: simple high/low/throw
-tick throw
-jump over and j.hk: Crossup, relatively easy to see coming but you can quickly airdash backwards during the startup and do a 2nd j.hk to make it same-side.
-jump over and call assist: Crossup, same as previous and can be made fake with an airdash backwards as well.
s.lp: Tied with Ms. Fortune's for fastest jab in game (5f startup). Range is ok but it will whiff vs many crouching opponents so it's mostly used for punishes/stuffing. Can be a decent AA against IADs since it's fast and the hitbox reaches a bit above the hurtbox, and dash under s.lp can be useful for punishing a lot of otherwise difficult to punish air normals (such as double j.hp) on the way down.

s.lk: Mostly combo filler. Not much reason to use over c.lk

s.mp: Good range but slow. Hella plus on block but pushes back so you can't take advantage of this quite as much as you'd hope. Good in confirm strings, s.mp c.hp can be confirmed with gregor from quite a distance away (including roundstart).

s.mk: Combo filler. Use in blockstrings over c.mk because c.mk can be PBGC'd easily.

s.hp: Main launcher. Safe on block (-4) so you can end blockstrings with it. Hitbox is disjointed during move startup, making it filia's best non-DP antiair.

s.hk: Moves you backwards on startup and allows you to avoid some lows. Used mostly for combos and resets.


c.lp: 1 frame slower startup than s.lp but it won't whiff. +6 on block/+5 on hit so it's good for tic throws, and low blockstun makes it a decent pushblock bait tool. Also recovers the fastest of all of filias moves so in situations like tagging assists where frame advantage on block doesn't matter, it's the safest option.

c.lk: Main combo starter and Filia's best low. Pretty fast (7f startup) and very plus on block.

c.mp: Useful for resets/combos and not much else. On paper its a mediocre antiair but in practice you're more likely to just die.

c.mk: Multi-hit low that keeps opponents in blockstun for a long time, but can be punished with pbgc pretty easily and is -7 on block anyway. Scales your combo to hell so don't use it in your blockstring.

c.hp: Mostly used in combos, can be an ok poke at slight range since you can make it safe with ringlet psych and can also be used to anti-air low opponents. Launches airborne opponents as well.

c.hk: Filia's sweep. Mostly useful due to the fact that it moves her forward; you rarely want to actually connect with this move. Can be used for situational crossunders and a movement option due to it moving her forward while allowing her to low profile.


j.lp: Decent hitbox and very fast, one of Filia's better pokes. IAD j.lp j.lk at slightly longer than point blank range (since IAD j.lp whiffs up close) is a really easy to confirm 2 hit overheadstring that's less vulnerable to land cancel punishes than IAD j.lk j.hk. Good hitbox for air-to-air as well, confirm with j.mk.

j.lk: Used mostly after IAD for an instant overhead because j.lp will whiff sometimes. j.lk j.mp c.lk fastfalls you after the j.lk and not only combos but is also a blockstring, much safer point blank instant overhead than j.lk j.hk and will beat upbacking as well.

j.mp: One of filia's best air normals, hits below her. Airdash -> j.mp is one of your best approach options. Multihits as well and is easy to confirm, which is useful but also will scale a combo heavily.

j.mk: Really good for resets, a lot of Filia's tricks involve canceling the first hit into something. More recently, its become popular as an IAD tool; j.mkx1 (fastfall with j.hp) is easily confirmable, works from a fair distance away, and safejumps a lot of reversals.

j.hp: Really strong air normal, commonly spammed by newer players but that doesn't make it bad. Solid air-to-air, good for enemies at or above your level.

j.hk: Even though it doesn't hit overhead anymore it's still a good normal. Good for crossups and it's her only move besides s.hk that causes knockdown. Also used for confirming instant overheads (but this is punishable by land cancel so be wary)
Updo (dp + P): Filia's reversal and a pretty good one too. Can use Gregor to convert off of it. Gregor can also sometimes be used to make it safer but it's pretty unreliable and if the opponent stands up they will be able to punish it. LP is fastest, MP isn't used much but has the most active invuln frames so maybe it could be better against higher air normals, HP is slowest and most punishable but has the most total invuln.

Hairball (qcb + K): Filia turns into a ball and rolls. On the ground, only use the H version and only use it in combos, never use it in neutral. The air version however is MUCH better. Button strength determines trajectory: L moves her upwards, M keeps her at the same level, H moves her downwards. Useful for movement, the H version can also be TK'd after ground chains to combo off it since you can dash cancel the recovery of the air versions.

New in 2E+, filia can dash cancel airball (air hairball) on block. Makes airball (especially H version) stronger as a pressure tool, but use with care as it's vulnerable to pbgc/being reversaled out of the dash

Ringlet Spike (qcf + P): "Projectile" of sorts. Each version summons a spike at a distance from Filia (lp is right next to her, hp is about 3/4 screen, mp is between them). Used to be mostly useless, but was changed to stun the opponent on hit, stunning longer if it hits OTG, so now it is useful for approaching zoners (since you can confirm it on hit into gregor for full combo by using your otg), converting off ground throw without spending meter, extending combos, etc.

Ringlet Psych (qcf + K): Same startup animation as Ringlet Spike, but recovers immediately instead of actually doing the projectile. Used mostly for baits/combos and can make some things (e.g. c.hp, s.hk) safe(r) at certain ranges.
Gregor Samson (qcb + KK): Super version of Hairball. Used for combo extensions and conversions. Having meter available for this lets Filia go into a full combo off of a lot of things she couldn't otherwise (updo, max range ringlet spike, IAD airthrow, etc.). Usefulness as a reversal is a point of contention; Gregor is invulnerable for the full startup but goes active quickly so a lot of things will beat it, however it does beat meaties and is also Filia's only air reversal. Sometimes randomly crosses up too. Also worth noting is since it wall bounces, you can combo it into itself as long as you have meter, or combo it into fenrir/level 3.

Fenrir Drive (DP + PP): Super version of Updo. One of the fastest startups in the game (4 frames), making Filia one of the few people able to punish other "safe" moves. Also your main combo ender since it does the most damage when scaled.

Trichobezoar (QCB + PP): Level 3, fires a projectile at a diagonal. Does damage in a single hit so scaling hurts it a lot, and does significantly less damage if it's not a direct hit. At max scaling it does less than gregor->fenrir, but still does good damage as a DHC as well as doing TONS of damage to an assist and on counterhit to a point. You can follow it up in the corner if you have OTG.
-Air Dash: As mentioned, filia has an airdash. Moves her straight ahead (not up or down at all) pretty fast. By pressing up + airdash (or upforward 2x) Filia will do an air dash as soon as she reaches the minimum vertical height to do so (which is pretty low, so it comes out fast) (aka an Instant Air Dash (IAD)).

-Ground Dash: Filia's ground mobility is pretty good, her forward and backdashes are pretty fast and cover pretty good ground. The real strength in Filia's ground dash is her ability to wavedash. Because her ground dash moves faster during the begnning part, canceling the dash after it begins with a crouch and then repeating allows her to move across the ground quickly.

- Airball: Due to the nature of Skullgirls and the fact that Filia has a good ground dash, ground hairball's use as a mobility tool is pretty nonexistent. Airball, however, is much more useful for mobility. As mentioned in the specials section, using L/M/H airball allows Filia to move forward and up/neutral/down (respectively), making airball a good tool for getting in against zoning. Superjump -> airdash -> L airball can get you over a lot of things, but depending on the zoning pattern H airball can be useful as well. M airball is (relatively) safe and can easily be confirmed into airdash j.lp j.hk -> combo, or gregor if you don't have your airdash.

-Fastfall: More useful for resets/combos than neutral, but I think it's worth noting somewhat. Filia has a number of fastfalls for resets (more to be explained later), but in particular her whiffed airthrow causes her to fall quickly, making it her only fastfall that doesn't require you to land a hit first. This is used in neutral much less frequently than the aforementioned movement techniques however.
Filia has 3 moves that are most commonly used as assists: updo (generally HP version), HK hairball, and c.mk

Updo: It's a DP assist, helps your defense. Use it like you would use other DP assists.

Hairball: Lockdown assist, also can be used as zoning since it covers a lot of ground.

c.mk: 5 low hits mean it can be used as a low assist for high/low mixups, and if they block they're still stuck in blockstun because of the multihit. Doesn't provide much at neutral however.

Assists for filia: Pretty much any assist that gives her offensive pressure is useful. Double bomber, fukua drill, bella LnL, BB brass, etc. are all moves that pressure the opponent and give Filia a chance to get in. Filia can also make good use of lockdown assists such as bella's Cerecopter to let her set up tricky resets.
Filia: can you defeat yourself????

Cerebella: Weird hitboxes force you to adjust combos, OTG c.lk s.mk s.hp will sometimes drop after the s.mk and it's usually safer to only do 1 hit of j.mk on her. s.hp IAD j.lp also doesn't reliably cross under her and s.hp IAD j.lk burst bait will not always dodge the burst.

Parasoul: Filia's worst matchup by far, play cautiously and try to approach from the ground if possible. Sweep will go under tears and can be canceled into ringlet but this is a tool to be used sparingly because it can be easily punished if Para expects it. Can also do j.lp instant overhead against her (see Double)

Peacock: IAD gets you into the dead zone in Peacock's item rotation. L airball can also be used to go over her stuff and it doesn't lock out assist calls like superjump or doublejump would. IAD j.mp/airthrow whiff also lets you land fast to dodge her stuff.

Painwheel: j.mp is your best anti-armor normal but it can get stuffed by a lot of PW's air normals. It's more useful as an air-to-ground to break PW's charged ground armor normals and can also safejump deathcrawl.

Ms. Fortune:

Valentine:

Double: You can instant overhead her with j.lp and from there do either j.hk or crossup j.hk for a very ambiguous reset after a restand that's harder to mash out of than just doing j.hk/crossup j.hk after a restand normally.

Squigly: She can low profile j.lk with her c.lk and punish you. IAD j.lp j.lk doesn't work on her either, and neither does IAD j.hk.

Big Band: Boy you'd better know how to dashblock. Grounded dashblock is your best way to approach since it doesn't leave you vulnerable to cymbals, a-train, or brass.

Eliza: See double for the instant overhead j.lp thing, works on her too.

Beowulf: See double for the instant overhead j.lp thing, works on him too

Robo-Fortune:
 
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