Vhozite

Manon is grappler and highly momentum-based character due to her medal system. While most of the attention goes to her SPD-esque command grab, it is important the you take note of Manon’s other tools. Most notably she has target combos that can suck the opponent in to close range on contact for mix-ups. Manon also has a robust arsenal of normals which allow her to poke, anti-air, and whiff punish with the best of them. Many of her buttons have long range or move her forward, giving her deceptively far reach and better neutral presence than most characters of her archetype. This is a character that excels at blowing up mistakes.

Her biggest weakness is her momentum-based mechanic acts as a double-edged sword. The longer you can deny Manon medals, the easier it is to beat her down the line. Manon’s combos are not particularly impressive, and without medals or burning lots of meter her damage output it relatively low. Offensively speaking Manon has 0 plus frames on block without extra advantage from drive rush or meaties, and several of her knockdowns leave her fairly far away. This combined with using her decent OD moves means Manon can be pretty meter hungry…she will struggle if you can make her burn resources to fight you. Lastly, Manon’s reversal ability is below average. She has no DP from drive gauge and her SA1, while strike/throw invincible, is slow at 10f startup.

Probably the main reason you are here. There are 3 main things you can do to help yourself avoid her command grab;

Back-dashing instead of jump out when you expect a grab: Back-dashing is less risky than jumping as it takes fewer overall frames to recover and it leaves you relatively close to punish a whiff. Jumping is easier, however it can make punishing awkward if you jump away and it’s much easier to blow up if baited or you make the wrong read.

Make the Manon player condition you/prove they actually have combos and pressure: You should only be getting scooped if you know the other guy is capable of punishing you for trying to escape. Early on without medals or resources Manon’s damage output isn’t super high, so it’s important to test the waters early. You might eat a small combo trying to escape grabs, but it’s important that you show your willingness to escape and the Manon player shows they can tag it, because it influences the guessing game going forward. If the Manon player has sloppy pressure or no combos don’t give them the respect they need to land command grabs.

Understand the risk/reward when guessing in a mix-up: Mix-ups are often called “50/50”, but in a real match you can make observations that help move odds in your favor or pick options based on what puts you at the least risk even if you do pick wrong. For example, if Manon has you in a strike/throw mix-up but she is low on meter, you might opt to back-dash out since it will avoid a throw and even if you get hit you know her combo won’t do a lot of damage. If you are sitting on meter and the Manon player has never attempted to bait a reversal, it’s probably worth it to DP. Of course, there is never an answer that will get you out 100% of the time, but it’s important to understand that people are not robots and real matches have circumstances that will tilt outcomes one way or another.

Manon has 2 target combos that will vacuum you in on contact to that she can force you into a mixup; st.mp>mk and st.hp>hp. On hit both of these target combos leave Manon at slight advantage right next to you, however on block both target combos are punishable. It is important you blow up any player not hit-confirming into these options. On block both Target Combos are always true blockstrings.

• St.mp>mk (+2 on hit/-5 on block): The lesser of the two; less advantage on hit and much harder to confirm into. If you are in burnout it becomes safe on block at -1.
• St.hp>hp (+3 on hit/-8 on block): One of Manon’s best tools. St.hp is far reaching, safe on block, and can be easily one hit confirmed into the target combo. If you ever eat this on block punish it, as its always on unsafe (even in burnout). However, since any decent player will be confirming into this, you will mostly be fighting back by countering her st.hp. This button is on the slower end at 10f startup, and has pretty high recovery at 20 frames. At maximum range if it counter hit’s an extended hurtbox sometimes it will not have the range to pull you in, which can make it worth trying to challenge against a player who throws it out a lot

Unless you really have a read on something (grab, st.hk, etc.), jumping against Manon is very ill advised. She can AA just as good as any character in the game with multiple ironclad anti-airs that grant her enormous reward on hit. It cannot be overstated how much feeding you can do recklessly jumping at Manon.

• Cr.hp is the first half of a target combo that will splat you on the ground right in front of Manon and immediately puts you into a 50/50.
• Df.hk is a normal similar to Dee Jay slide. It has very high active frames and on hit it side switches, allowing Manon to escape the corner and turn the tables.
• Rond-point (wheel kick special) is functionally a DP for AA purposes. The OD version actually allows Manon a juggle combo on hit which she can easily convert into a hit-grab and medal.
• SA2 is fully invincible, has an absolutely gigantic AA hitbox, does big damage, and corner carries a little under half stage.

It might be tempting to try jumping in some mix-up situations to avoid the command grab. However, you must be careful trying to jump out of her mix-ups. As mentioned in the “Avoiding the grab” section, get into the habit of back-dashing out of mix-ups if you expect a grab. This is safer than jumping out and still leaves you in range to a punish a whiffed command grab.

• L/H/OD Dègagè mid-screen “mix-up”: Manon is capable of tagging you with either a low or an overhead at pretty much any time from mid-screen. The low is super unsafe but knocks down, the overhead is slower and very minus (but hard to punish w/ spacing), and the OD overhead is slowest, but safe on block and can lead to a modest combo on hit if done deep enough. Occasionally block low to dissuade random slides while staying on the lookout for the overhead.  
• St.hk: This is Manon biggest button. On top of the enormous range, it also moves Manon forward and when spaced it’s very much safe on block. However, it has very slow start-up (15f) and very long recovery (26f), making it incredibly minus on whiff (over -40 on whiff). This combined with no cancelable properties means it’s very susceptible to Drive Impact. Lastly, the reward on hit for Manon is poor, as without a punish counter the move leads to nothing and is actually slightly minus on hit (-2).
• Advancing Normals: Manon st.mp, st.mk, cr.mk, b.mk, st.hp, b.hp, st.hk, cr.hk, and df.hk all move her forward. This gives her buttons deceptively long range in neutral and it makes her great at whiff punishing. However, this same strength can also be a weakness, as these same buttons are also easier to punish if she does whiff them.
• Amazing anti-airs: see the “Stop Jumping” section for more details. TLDR Manon is very capable of protecting the French skies.
• Renversè against projectiles: Renversè is Manon’s anti-projectile tool. She can hold the button to briefly spin around a fireball, but she also has a kick follow-up with far reach that can be used if she catches you slipping. The OD version of this move is full upper-body invincible, which makes it capable of countering certain non-projectile attacks (coughHondacoughHeadbuttcough).
• Whiff punish goddess: St.lk, st.mp, st.mk, st.hp, cr.hk, SA1, and SA2 are all very capable whiff punishers due to their relative range and speed.
• Dealing with SA1: Be aware that this move is a low, so make sure you crouch block it. Outside of that this move is strike/throw invincible and it has 10f start-up. While that is fairly slow for use as a reversal, take note that in those 10 frames this move travels roughly 75% of the screen. Be on the watch for Manon players buffering this to catch you slipping. However, it is not projectile invincible.

Weak defense/wake-up options: Manon has poor options on defense. She has no OD reversal, and her SA1 is slow at 10f startup, making it susceptible to safe meaty light buttons from numerous characters. This list includes:

-

cr.lp>st.lp xx Ballet

• Light confirm/4f punish
• End in L.Ballet (1370/+21 KD) for okizeme, M.Ballet for corner carry and damage (1530/+33 KD)
• First light can be swapped with cr.lk for a 5f low starter (slight dmg decrease)

s.lk xx H.Wheel (1020/+37 KD)

• Fast whiff punish/buffer with decent range

st.mp/cr.mp/st.mk xx L.Ballet (1600/+21 KD)

• Whiff punish/buffer from your longest cancelable buttons

b.hp xx M.Spin>HG (2200-2800/+15 HKD)

• 8f punish for meterless damage and medal

st.mp>mk (1100/+2)

st.hp>hp (1400/+3)

• Vacuum effect target combos into strike/throw mix

cr.hp>hp (1100/+16-20 KD)

• anti-air target combo

Spin>K, Ballet

• L.Ballet: 1800/+23 KD

• M.Ballet: 2000/+33 KD

• Conversion from an anti-fb tool
  
   

(PCH) DI, b.hp xx M.Spin>HG (2580-3000/+15 HKD)

(PCH) DI, CG (2560-3920/+19 HKD)

• Punish Counter DI combos to gain medals

(PCH) st.hk, L/M.Ballet

• L.Ballet (2080/+21 KD) - oki
• M.Ballet (2280/+33 KD) - damage/corner carry

(AA) OD Wheel, Spin>HG

• AA conversion into a medal

cr.lk>st.lp xx OD Wheel, L.Ballet (1810/+23 KD)

• Low, light conversion burning a couple bars.

   

• L.Ballet can be swapped for M.Ballet for corner carry and damage, but no oki midscreen if they backrise. L.Ballet ender has small frame advantage, but leaves the opponent much closer

   

cr.lk>st.lp DR st.lp, b.hp xx M.Spin>HG (1860-2166)

• Expensive light confirm path to a medal

   

St.mp/cr.mp/st.mk DR cr.mp, b.hp xx M.Spin>HG (2480-2834)

• Medal conversion path from your main cancelable pokes

st.mp DR, b.hp xx Spin>K, df.hk (2262/+2)

• Side switch combo

b.hp DR, cr.mp, b.hp xx M.Spin>HG (2680-3034/+15 HKD)

• Max damage drive rush route into medal

OD.Ballet, s.lk xx H.Wheel (1600/+37 KD)

• Range dependent combo, but works if it hits crouching or standing

OD.Ballet, st.mp>mk (1630/+2)

• Crouch dependent combo

OD.Ballet, s.lk DR, st.lp, b.hp xx M.Spin>HG (2213-2465)

OD.Ballet, s.lk xx OD.Wheel, M.Ballet (2320/+33 KD)

OD.Ballet, s.mp DR, cr.mp, b.hp xx M.Spin>HG (2630-2882)

Cr.lk>st.lp xx SA

• SA1: 2070/+7 KD
• SA2: 2630/+32 KD
• SA3: 3470 (you can add a H.Wheel here to make it easier, but it does less dmg)

s.lk/st.mp/cr.mp/st.mk/*st.hp* xx SA1-3

• Whiff punish stuff

   

b.hp xx SA3 (4600)

• SA1: 2800

   

• SA2: 3500

   

• SA3: 4600

   

  (adding a HG before the SA3 does less damage [4000]due to scaling

Spin>K, SA1 (2800/+7-11 KD)

• SA conversion from an anti-fb tool

(PCH) DI, SA

• SA1: (PCH) DI, b.hp xx SA1 (3000/+7 KD)

   

• SA2: (PCH) DI, b.hp xx SA2 (3490/+32 KD)

   

• SA3: (PCH) DI, b.hp xx SA3 (4200)

(PCH) st.hk, SA (3080/+8 KD)

• Punish Counter conversion with super
• SA1: (3080/+8 KD)
• SA2: (3780/+32 KD) - does not combo from max range

Cr.lk>st.lp xx OD Wheel, SA1 or SA2

• SA1: 2510/+11 KD
• SA2: 3000/+34 KD (you get 3 more frames of kda if you link SA2 instead of canceling into it)

Starter xx OD Wheel, OD Wheel, M>Spin>HG

Starter xx OD Wheel, OD Wheel, M. Ballet, SA1/SA2

Starter xx OD Wheel, OD Wheel, PDR, b.hp xx H.Spin>HG xx SA3

Normals/Target Combos

-

Specials

-

Super Arts

Anti-airs:

• cr.hp(>hp)
• b.mk
• df.hk
• H.Wheel
• OD Wheel
• j.mp (a2a, knocks down)

Pokes:

• Special/SA Cancel: st.lk, st.mp, cr.mp, st.mk, st.hp (SA only)
• Target combo: st.hp(>hp)
• No cancel: cr.lk, cr.mk, st.hk, H.Ballet, OD.Ballet

Whiff punishes:

• Special/SA Cancel: st.lk, st.mp, cr.mp, st.mk, st.hp (SA only)
• Target Combo: st.mp(>mk), st.hp(>hp)
• No Cancel: cr.mk, st.hk, cr.hk

Anti-projectile tools: Spin (either alone or with k followup)

Parry Drive Rush

• st.lk: fast and good range with a couple plus frames
• cr.mk: low, s.lk link combo if hit deep enough
• st.mp: very plus ob, forward movement of st.mp gives extra range
• cr.mp: very plus ob, extremely plus (+10) on hit
• b.mk: target combo becomes a true blockstring

Other Neutral Stuff

• Use light ballet as a check for people who don’t block low
• OD.Spin is upper body invincible. Very useful to go through some attacks on reaction or as a hard read. Very unsafe on block if followups are used.

True Blockstring: cr.lp x 2 (-2 on block)

• PDR cr.lk>st.lp (-1 ob)

• PDR b.mk>mk (-11, but cancelable)

• St.mp DR>st.mp (+3 ob)
• St.mp DR>s.lk (+2ob)
• b.hp DR>cr.mk (+2 ob/low)
• b.hp DR>b.mk (+1 ob)
• b.hp DR>st.hp (+1/>1 block DG drain)

-

Frame Traps

• Cr.lp>st.lp
• St.lp>st.lp
• cr.lk>st.lp
• b.mk>mk (-11 ob, but cancelable)

• PDR st.lk>any light

• PDR st/cr.mp, any light
• st.mp DR>b.hp

-

Other mixups

• st.mp>mk: +2 on hit with Manon right in their face for strike/throw mix
• st.hp>hp: +3 on hit with Manon right in their face for strike/throw mix
• Opponent exists in neutral: L.Ballet/H or OD Ballet high/low mix

TLDR this section: Mid-screen sweep, L.Ballet, and H.Wheel are your best knockdowns for real pressure alongside cr.hp>hp anti-air. In the corner pretty much anything but HG, CG, SA1, and SA3 gives great oki. DR can help in several situations but often it can be reversal'd for free. St.mp and b.hp are you primary meaties due to their high active frames and advantage when hit meaty.

-

Throw (+16): TLDR – use back throw instead or get a PCH. If they backrise there is no real pressure. You can meaty st.hk to force them to block but other than draining some drive you don’t get anything off it. Even with PDR there is no reason for them not to block as you cannot get close enough to force a guess without being unsafe, and any character with a DP (frames?) can tag you for free. You are in range for the good ole slide/overhead midscreen mix but otherwise if you want real oki here you want the hard knockdown from punish counter or the corner.

• NR/HKD/corner: Walk up meaty (st.mp,b.hp) or throw

-

B.Throw (+18): If they backrise midscreen you don’t get any pressure unless you PDR. However, using PDR Manon can force a strike/throw mix, as L.CG will scoop a wakeup jab if done immediately and you can get a real meaty off things like st.mp (+4 ob and close enough for another 50/50). However PDR does again lose to DP’s here for free. Otherwise with a hard kd/corner you’re close enough for regular walk-up meaty/throw mix. If you are bad at timing pressure you can whiff either jab to make yourself +2.

• NR/HKD/corner: walk up meaty/throw; whiff jab, +2 strike/throw mix
• BR: (if no DP)PDR into L.CG or meaty st.mp (+4 ob and in 50/50 range)

-

Sweep (+29 HKD): dash>meaty cr.mp (+1 ob/+8 oH) or dash>L.CG (beats wakeup button) 

-

Cr.hp>hp anti-air (~+18-20): walk up manual meaty/throw mix

-

Command Grab (+19 HKD): no real oki. You can drive rush to get close enough to counter hit a wakeup jab or gimmick the opponent with a high/low but really they can safely block whatever you throw out.

-

L.Ballet (+21): walk up manually timed strike/throw

-

M.Ballet (+33): no oki if they backrise midscreen due to distance. In the corner, you are +12 after a forward dash, which makes b.hp auto-timed to be +2 ob. Alternatively, you can whiff a st.mp to frame kill and close a bit of distance…this will leave you +9.

• Corner: dash>meaty b.hp (+2 ob/+8 oH)
• Corner 2: whiff st.mp (+9), meaty st.mp (+2 ob/+5 oH) or L.CG (beats buttons)

-

Wheel (L/M/H = +31/+34/+37): Midscreen you want to combo into the heavy version as it leaves you the closest and also has the most KD advantage. After a dash you are easily close enough to force meaty/throw guess, as she is a whopping +16. In the corner you can use the medium version for the extra damage, at the expense of 3 less frames advantage

• Heavy: dash>manual meaty/throw mix

-

Spin>HG (+15 HKD): See oki notes under “Throw”. Meaty st.hk, drive rushing gets DP’ed for free. Corner doesn’t change the situation. Basically nothing here.

-

SA1 (+7): plus frames but too far for oki

-

SA2 (+32): weak midscreen oki on backrise…dash (+11) into meaty st.hp is about all you’re getting here due to distance. In the corner you can dash into auto-timed meaty b.hp or throw. Or you can whiff something to frame kill and still be plus enough for a mixup of your choice

• BR: dash st.hp meaty
• NR/corner: dash>meaty b.hp (+1ob/+7oH)/throw
• NR/corner 2: st.mk frame kill (+2), strike/throw mix

-

SA3 (+16 HKD): See “Spin>HG” oki section. Not much here

General

-

Blanka

-

Honda

-

JP

* 05/13/2023: Thread created (template)

* 06/02/2023: Thread changed to be Manon specific with relevant edits to the OP. Added some BnB's and a couple move breakdowns

* 06/05/2023: More notation added, finished move list breakdown section under Strategy.

* 06/06/2023: Started a modest tech section under Strategy. Added many more combos, added more version explanations for specials

* 06/08/2023: Added some corner combos, started "Neutral" section under strategy

* 06/10/2023: Added some combos involving EX overhead and spin>K

* 06/11/2023: Added another link, expanded neutral section and added offense section under Strategy

* 06/17/2023: Added okizeme under Strategy.

* 06/18/2023: Added "Fighting Manon" section. Guide is "complete" for the time being

* 07/19/2023: Small reorganization of the "Tech" section under Strategy, Added anti-jp tech, added link to Manon discord

* 01/27/2024: Added notes under "Fighting Manon" that I already had but never added to the thread. Added some text edits/spelling fixes

Official Movelist

Official Character Introduction

Footsie Handbook

Frame Data Explained

SF6 List of FGC Pros & Streamers, and their Socials (reddit.com) (thanks to user @-PVL93-)

Manon SuperCombo Overview

Manon Discord

The ideal Manon round

L - light

M - medium

H - heavy

OD - Overdrive

-

lp - light punch/jab

mp - medium punch/strong

hp - heavy punch/fierce

lk - light kick/short

mk - medium kick/forward

hk - heavy kick/roundhouse

-

s - standing

cr - crouching

f - forward

b - back

j - jumping

df - down forward

-

AA - anti-air

a2a - air to air

KD - Knockdown

HKD - Hard Knockdown

kda - knockdown advantage

CH - counter-hit

PCH - Punish counter-hit

xx - cancel

> - denotes a follow-up, such as from a chain or target combo (ex: Manon s.hp>hp target combo)

, - denotes a link (ex: cr.mp, s.lk xx L.Wheel)

DI - Drive Impact

DR - Drive Rush

PDR - Parry Drive Rush

SA1 - Super Art 1

SA2 - Super Art 2

SA3 - Super Art 3

-

Ballet - quarter circle back kick specials (Dègagè)

CG - Command Grab (Manège Doré)

Spin - Spin special with followups (Renversè)

• HG - Hit grab followup
• K - kick followup (Grand Fouettè)

Wheel - Wheel kick special (Rond-point)