I've played Touhou 10.5 and 12.3 for a while now, and it's definitely one of the more unique and refreshing fighting games out there with its unique card system and grazing dodges. Over the next few posts, I will highlight some of the general strategies for each of the characters and each of their more effective alternate skill cards and spell cards based on my experiences with the game. Please remember that everyone has a different play-style when it comes to fighting games, so my recommendations below may not suit your style and it is still best for each person to find out for themselves what works and what doesn't when it comes to configuring your decks.
First, this link is a great resource for both games. Throughout this post, I will be referencing a lot from this site. I learned most of the game's more advanced techniques here:
http://hisouten.koumakan.jp/wiki/Main_Page
So let's get to it!
Reimu Hakurei
http://hisouten.koumakan.jp/wiki/Hakurei_Reimu
The main character of the Touhou series, she's the happy-go-lucky shrine maiden of the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu has average stats in all categories, but her true strength lies in the fact that many of her melees and bullets are easily chainable, providing excellent pressure in the hands of an experienced player. Her bullets may not be as diverse as some of the other characters, but their density and speed more than make up for it. A good Reimu player is one who knows how to use her offensively and combos often to rack up damage, because her bullets alone won't do it.
Important Melee Moves
Close 5AAAA: Reimu's "Dial" combo is fairly decent, and is an important move in her arsenal.
6A: This shoving technique is a must-learn for Reimu. It has good range and wallslams upon contact, and then you can follow up with other fast hitting moves.
j.6A: Like her shoving 6A tech, her aerial drop kick, if timed correctly, can do quite a bit of damage and is easy to follow up with other moves.
j.8A: Her high kick is incredibly quick and will usually catch people off-guard, allowing for more follow-ups. A personal favourite of mine.
66A: Quick palm strike can easily catch opponents off-guard with favourable stun.
Important Bullet Moves
5B/j.B/j.2B: To use Reimu effectively, you must master different combinations of these three moves using her light amulet bullets. These bullets have fairly good range and are quick to boot, and once you are able to stun your opponent with them, then you can come in with more of her deadly melees.
5C/j.C: Her giant amulets are very good due to their homing properties and their density. Following up with this after her light amulet bullets can usually leave opponents open after grazing or blocking.
2C: A pillar of amulets are sent straight into the air. Good for countering pesky air opponents and causing stun.
Default Skills
Hakurei Amulet: Tosses two amulets similar to her 5C moves. Both home and is a good addition to her bullet cover. A decent default skill.
Ascension Kick: Reimu does a quick somersault that hits opponents high in the air. Has partial body invulnerability and is a great combo finisher, but outside of that, it's not very useful. Having some of these cards in your deck though can come in handy when you need to do reversals.
Cautionary Border: Reimu puts up a barrier that can act as a temporary shield and hits opponents if it comes into contact with them. Situational at best, this move, so I wouldn't worry too much about implementing it into her core gameplay.
Dimensional Rift: Reimu teleports and then proceeds to attack the opponent. Against experienced players this move is very weak and too easy to predict, plus if it misses you'll probably be in for some pain. Use with caution.
Recommended Alternate Skills
Youkai Buster: Much, much more effective than the Hakurei Amulet against experienced players. The pink amulets that are sent out do not home but are incredibly quick and can easily be used in aerial combos to cause stun for additional comboing opportunities.
Highly recommended, plus its damage output has been increased in 1.10.
Spread Amulet: Reimu fires a slew of blue bullets that cover most of the screen. I used to use this card a lot when I first began playing this game because it cleared enemy bullets with relative ease. Against advanced players though, this card does little to no damage and is easily grazable, so at best this card should only be used if you're under a lot of bullet pressure from opponents like Yuyuko or Patchouli. Keeping at least one of these in your deck is recommended.
Permanent Border: This would replace Reimu's Cautionary Border and its effectiveness really depends on the player. Personally, I find Permanent Border to be slightly more useful because it prevents additional ground movement against the enemy player, and if it hits it does quite a bit of damage. Ultimately though, it's a toss up between this skill and Cautionary Border.
Demon Sealing Dimensional Rift: Not as strong as her Dimensional Rift but it adds to her bullet and defensive capabilities. If you're in trouble you can just use this card to escape as Reimu teleports away from your opponent with a decent counter with her needles. Recommended for advanced players.
Recommended Spell Cards
Spirit Sign "Fantasy Jewel": Best used after a combo or stun for added damage. Recommended for use in the air since the space covered will be larger than if she was on the ground.
Border "Spreading Border": This card is great for mid-range reversal. It covers a wide area and start-up is fairly quick.
Divine Arts "Wind God Kick": Wind God kick indeed. Fast start-up and best used as a combo finisher for added damage and for close-range reversals. If the last kick connects, it sends your opponent ridiculously high allowing you time to re-position yourself for the next attack.
Divine Arts "Omnidirectional Demon Binding Circle": Reimu shoots a giant pillar of light straight up. Does massive damage upon contact and is fairly easy to set-up.
Holy Relic "Yin-Yang Sanctification Jade": Reimu casts a giant blue orb that moves quickly initially and then slows down as it hits the opponent. This spell has an absurdly large hitbox and the fact that Reimu is
free to hit the enemy within the orb after launch makes it a very useful card worthy of its high cost.
Divine Spirit "Fantasy Seal": A more powerful version of her Spirit Sign "Fantasy Jewel" spell card. Having at least one of these in your deck is useful for emergencies as it has high damage output if it connects, but for a level 5 card that is fairly easy to graze through, this card is not all that useful.
And I think that's it for now! Hopefully in the next few weeks or so I'll get to do the rest of the characters, but until then, practice hard!