I'm still a beginner MBAACC player, but I'm making this anyway in the hopes that it will help people who wanna get started with F-Len, considering that there aren't many docs like this out there for this character. I'm also writing this for myself, to help with my own learning.
Feel free to share this with whoever, wherever. Credit and feedback are very appreciated, but not mandatory.
Couple things I want you to keep in mind before reading any further:
I play F-Len because I read Kagetsu Tohya and thought she was cute. 👍
I mean, all jokes aside, there isn't much I can say here. She's not a very strong character when compared to the top tiers, and her strength relies a lot on having good fundamentals. Who on earth would want a character that requires you to think?! But still, even though she's not high tier, she's still very strong and fun to play.
Couple things that make her a fun character to play are, in my opinion, her mirrors, long-range normals and high damage. Mirrors and high damage are almost always linked together, but she can easily do 5k without them. And long-range (and considerably disjointed) normals are a godsend sometimes. For example, she doesn't have the most intuitive pressure game (can't rebeat, only one low, no standing overheads, difficult time being plus...), but her 5B, 2B and j.B really help her in that situation, and in neutral as well.
Also, even though the other moons have this: Catwalk. Cat freaking walk. It is so broken in some matchups it's funny. It really allows you to escape certain jump-ins as if they were nothing, and straight up steal the opponent's turn if they aren't ready for it. You can even duck Nero's 4C with it!
F-Len definitely plays differently from most other characters, and that's probably why I like her so much. Her neutral is very simple, her pressure is very simple, and she's still a strong character. I didn't pick H or C mostly because I wanted to try out an F moon character (I was playing C-Seifuku before), and those Len moons felt weird to me; F-Len just makes a lot more sense, and the mirrors are a very fun and rewarding tool/gimmick.
Anyway, let's talk some actual Melty.
WIP
If I had to summarize F-Len's archetype/gameplan, I'd say she's a neutral-heavy character with secondary zoning tools. Her big and disjointed normals allow her to easily limit the opponent's space, and her mirrors (also called "doritos", which I think is a terrible name) allow for both strong zoning and highly damaging combos.
With that said though, paying attention to what your opponent is doing is very important, considering that she has the 6th worst defense modifier in the game. Although she can do offense pretty well, her strength lies in baiting the opponent, and playing from far away, and that should be your focus (as long as you have a life lead).
214X and j.214X)Mirrors are a big part of F-Len's gameplan, so you should take advantage of them whenever you can.
A friend of mine said that the mirrors "increase your reward in neutral" due to their comboability, which is a great way to put it; Combo-ing into and from them is frequently a guaranteed 5k, or even 6k if you can do the fancier combos. In certain matchups, they have other important uses, such as reflecting projectiles, or limiting the opponent's space. They can also be used as a pressure tool when activated, but then you lose the big combo buff that they give you, so be mindful of that.
As a general rule, you'll mostly be using j.214B, since that's the certified combo mirror. If you need to favor pressure, 214A and tk.214A are your best options. 214C and j.214C are only ever used as meaties or meter dump. Both A and B mirrors cannot be shielded when activated.
As for when to use them... well, whenever the opponent is in a situation where they can't punish you (HKD, too far, committed to a (slow) move that won't hit you...), or when they're respecting you too much, which is not very common but it happens sometimes. Be mindful of your currently available air options when putting down an air mirror, because you will use them to reposition yourself.
With the lack of stable reversals, F-Len's defense basically amounts to waiting for the right opportunity to catwalk, jump out, backdash (when not in the corner), heat, bunker, shield, etc. Her most viable reversals are 623C and AD. AD is the most reliable between the two by a good margin, considering it has full invuln for the 16 frames, and the projectile will clash with everything.
If you feel like mashing, 3C is a fast move (6f startup) with a good range that will knockdown the opponent, so even if it trades, you might still have a chance of getting away safely.
TODO
WIP
Now to the fun part. Keep in mind that you don't need to learn all of these combos to be a good F-Len player! Learning the more optimized routes is important, don't get me wrong, but as far as F-Len is concerned, having good fundamentals and basic combos is preferable to having poor fundamentals and complicated combos. Try to learn new combos as you get better with neutral and pressure, or learn more about the character in general.
Also, don't be afraid to combine combos together to create an entirely new one. I'm just presenting the bigger ideas here.
Damage numbers are the average damage done on standing VSion, at full HP, with random reduce. Of course, random (50% chance) reduce isn't that realistic a way to tell how much damage a combo would actually do in a match, since most players aren't that consistent with reduce, but it's still more realistic than no reduce at all. Raw damage, without reduce, is written inside parenthesis, in case you're curious.
For more references, check out Arkhar's combo movie, or Taa's mirror combo video.
All combos listed here also work in the corner.
(2A/5A >) 5B > 5C(4) > 3C > 623A > j.BC > dj.BC > AT ~4.1k (4865) damage
Her BnB. It took me a while to get the 3C > 623A part consistently, and the best tip I can give for that is don't rush it. Sounds kinda silly, but focus on hitting the 3C first, then the 623A, especially if you're on keyboard like me (or similar controller), otherwise your directionals will get jumbled up and neither move will come out properly.
If you're too far for 5C(4) to hit properly, or hit at all, you can omit it entirely, or do 2B instead. 2B has terrible proration and using it will actually make the whole combo do less damage, but sometimes it can be the difference between finishing and dropping the combo.
Regarding the aerial, on most characters you can do sdj.BC instead just fine and still finish the combo. On Lens and Necos, however, you must do dj.BC, otherwise your j.B will whiff.
Like the header says, these combos are for when you got a hit, and have a j.214B set up within reach. It might not be very obvious, but the closer you are to the mirror, the more damage you can do out of it.
combo ending in AT. opponent gets hit by j.214B > microwalk j(9), delay j.66C > land j.BC > sdj.BC > AT ~5.1k (6003) damage with BnB combo, 2A starter
Mirror at little over half-screen distance. Simplest mirror combo; an extension out of AT. The delay in j(8) > delay j.66C essentially means "wait until you're at just below peak height before airdashing". If you airdash too early, your j.66C will whiff. If too late, your land j.B will whiff.
For an easier alternative, do dash j.BC > dj.BC > AT instead, after opponent gets thrown into j.214B. Does around 70 less damage, but isn't as cool-looking.
(2A/5A >) 5B > 5C(4) > 3C > 623A > j.A (opponent gets hit by j.214B) > delay j.214B, land 214B, j.BC > dj.BC > AT ~5.3k (6175) damage
Mirror at half-screen distance.
(2A/5A >) 5B > 5C(4) > 3C > 623A (opponent gets hit by j.214B) > delay tk.214B > land 214B, j.BC > dj.BC > AT ~5.4k (6219) damage
Mirror at 3/4 screen distance. Extension off of her BnB with tk mirror. Can kinda be done on Necos, but the initial j.214B would have to be set at a lower height, and you'd also have to delay your j.BC a little. In summary, not very practical on Necos.
(2A/5A >) 5B > 4B (opponent gets hit by j.214B) > 214B, j.214B > land tk.214B > 2B > delay 3C > 623A > j.BC > sdj.BC > AT ~5.9k (6793) damage
Mirror directly above you. Big girl damage. In fact, probably her best midscreen combo damage-wise. Does not work on Nero and Necos; j.214B never hits Nero, and Necos get hit by 214B as soon as it comes out.
Hardest part is probably the j.214B. You have to do it at around peak jump height. Or you can just find a rhythm for it, like I did.
You'll often see other F-Len players do this combo with a 2B before 4B. Personally, I advise against doing that, because 2B's bad proration of 65% will make the whole combo do around 200 less damage. It's not a big deal by any means, considering how much damage this combo does with or without the 2B, and I'm probably just nitpicking, but do avoid doing 2B if you can.
WIP
F-Len has two kinds of corner combos: damage combos, and okizeme combos. Depending on your playstyle, you might favor one type of combo over the other, but it is good practice to learn both routes. In some situations, the damage difference between both routes won't be that big, and in that case, going for the oki route will probably be your best option, unless if you need the extra damage to kill.
Her corner damage combo ender is 3C > delay 623A > instant/IAD AT > land 3C > 623B, j.ABC > dj.BC > AT.
Her corner okizeme combo ender is 2B > 214A, (5B >) 2B > 214A/j.214B/tk.214B
Here's a little table showing the damage difference between each routes when using different starters:
| Damage route | Oki route | |
|---|---|---|
| Throw starter | ~2.5k | ~1.4k |
2A starter |
~4.5k | ~2.1k |
As you can see, the damage difference between damage and oki routes when using throw starter is not that big as when using 2A starter. That should give an idea of what to prioritize when using either starter.
(2A/5A >) 5B > 5C(4) > 3C > 623A > IAD/instant AT, land 3C > 623B, j.ABC > dj.BC > AT ~4.5k (5444) damage
Does around 400 more damage compared to the BnB (going straight to j.BC > dj.BC > AT after 623A). Does not work on Necos; the land 3C after the first AT consistently whiffs on them.
Delaying the 623A a little will make hitting the land 3C easier, especially on smaller characters like Lens and Miyako. In fact, I think you can only hit the combo on those characters if you either delay the 623A, or do IAD AT instead of instant AT.
throw/raw AT, (5A > 2B)x3, delay 3C > 623A > j.BC > sdj.BC > AT ~2.5k (3081 with throw, 3294 with raw AT) damage
Funny 5A > 2B loops. Probably not worth doing more than one rep due to finnicky it can get, and the damage increase isn't that significant, but you can do it. On Lens and Necos, you'll only be able to do 2 reps at max.
Oki combos are essentially any combo ending in 2B > 214A, (5B > ) 2B > 214A/j.214B/tk.214B (shortened to oki ender going forward). They are mostly useful in the corner, but you can take advantage of 2B's HKD to setup a mirror in neutral as well. Here are some examples:
(2A/5A) > 5B > oki ender
throw, (5A > 2B)x2, 5A > oki ender
(2A/5A) > 5B > 5C(4) > 3C > delay 623A > instant AT, land 5A, oki ender
Note: The third one does not work on Kouma, Lens, Miyako, Necos and Satsuki; land 5A whiffs on them no matter what. Also, it isn't the most pratical oki combo anyway, but I'm listing it here just to show that you can use the oki ender with pretty much anything.
If you're having trouble cancelling 2B into 214A like I initially had, try completing the 214A input right after 2B hits. This kind of cancel timing isn't common for F-Len, but find the right rhythm and you're good to go.
The 5B after the second 214A adds a little more damage, but makes the combo harder to perform. It is totally fine if you wish to omit it entirely.
TODO
My go-to F-Len references are たー (ta- or taa), きつね (kitsune), and Arkhar.
たー is probably the best japanese F-Len player, and the standard of F-Len play in general. Does a little bit of everything, from oki setups to complicated mirror combos. His latest footage is from February 2023.
きつね goes for the okizeme routes more often than most F-Len players, and has terrific pressure by F-Len standards. Has 23 pages of footage listed on mbaacc.melty.games, so make good use of it. His latest footage is from October 2020.
Arkhar was the best brazilian F-Len player when he was active. Has footage against lots of top players from the LATAM region. His latest one is from April 2022.