Hey, guys, Sakura main here. I noticed this in the recent thread tab and hopped into it only to see you guys talking about the Sakura match-up! I have the good graces to live in Utah and play against Strider from time-to-time; so let me give you my basic thoughts on the Abel/Sakura match-up.
This is a tough match for Abel, but it’s completely winnable. What it really comes down to a lot of the time is who’s better at footsies/whiff punishing and by that their offense/mix-up game. This should go without saying, but, whoever gets the first knockdown generally has the advantage the rest of the match. Focus on knocking Sakura down and making her deal with 50/50s, (which all of you should easily know how to do), and make sure to bait EX SRK! That’s pretty much Sak’s ONLY tool for a reversal and hella punishable on block, unless she has two extra meters, in which case she’ll most likely start Tatsu Traps or something of the sort. Either way, if she doesn’t do anything on wake-up OR does a wake-up EX SRK, that’s exactly where you want her anyway: doing nothing or doing something you can punish easily.
Also, I can’t stress this enough… ** If she starts doing Tatsu Traps, I have one simple piece of advice: BLOCK. **I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started a Tatsu Trap with my opponent blocking, only to have them crouch tech immediately after one of my tatsus and get a face full of cr. fierce > tatsu > stand short > into either EX Tatsu > mix-up or SRK. If Sakura starts doing Tatsu Traps just be patient and look for an opening! If you get thrown after a tatsu or something equivalent, you should be grateful… well, in a manner of speaking. You should rather want to take a 100 damage throw, opposed to a 400 damage combo into a mix-up! We can’t do tatsus forever, unless we walk forward after a few of them and try it again with stand or crouch fierce, and by then you should have done something like a step kick into her or even just rolled away.
Now here are some general tips for you guys:
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[]If you guys don’t know by now, let me tell you straight out: ALL WHEEL KICKS ARE PUNISHABLE. It may be extremely tempting to use them to get in, but I HIGHLY suggest not using them unless you’re confident you’re able to punish something like a fireball, and then I’d probably just use a meter for an EX Wheel Kick anyway. LK Wheel Kick is -10 on block, MK Wheel Kick is -11, and HK Wheel Kick is -12 while EX Wheel Kick is -6. As Sakura I can literally punish any of those I feel like with a no-effort LP SRK if you’re too far, but if you did it closer… well… I’ll be taking a size-able chunk out of your life, I can assure you that much.
[]Mix-up your step kicks with something OTHER than stand fierce and TT. Abel’s stand fierce comes out in 4 frames, pretty nice, right? Well Sakura’s stand fierce comes out in 3 frames. That means if you use stand fierce after a step kick and I use stand fierce after a step kick, the majority of the time I should be beating your stand fierce out clean unless I’m doing it too late, and even then it might come out as a trade! Also TT comes out in 5 frames, (I believe), and I should be able to beat that out as well. My general tip for you is this: simply mix-up step kick with either regular grabs, a roll, or even a step kick fake-out! If you just do a step kick and don’t dash right after it you’ll be able to study your opponent a bit and see what they might do in reaction to the step kick.
[]Change of Direction is EXTREMELY PUNISHABLE! Sakura can literally RAW ULTRA 1 you just for blocking your first CoD if you decide to go into a second! CoD has some pretty heavy start-up, which is why she’s able to do this… but even so, CoD is -3 on block, (I believe), which means if you’re close enough, (which you probably are), we can punish the first, second, and (obviously) third with something as simple as standing short into EX Tatsu or even SRK for huge damage!
[]Air-to-air is your best friend in this match-up! Sakura has low-risk jump-ins into pressure or massive damage, what better way to stop that then by neutral/back jumping with your fastest normal? 9 times out of 10 if Sakura does a jump-in with fierce or roundhouse, jumping back jab or something of that equivalent, will easily beat me out and get you out of the ‘Tatsu Pressure Danger Zone’. Of course, I can do the exact same… If I want to fight air-to-air and I notice you do this a lot, I can easily throw out my jumping jab and beat YOU out. And that’s not someplace you want to be if I’m able to get in again.
[*]Finally word of advice: don’t be predictable! Aside from Strider we do have another Abel in Utah who suffers HUGELY from predictability. I always know when a TT is coming, I know exactly what he’s going to do after a step kick if he has two or more meters, and I know exactly how he’s going to wake-up and I’m ready to OS or completely punish accordingly. ** If your opponent already knows what you’re going to do you’ve already lost!** If you’re prone to waking up with a roll, try blocking! If you really like to go into a crouch short > TT mix-up after a FADC’d blocked CoD, try stand fierce! In this match-up, when either Abel or Sakura get in you have to guess right to get out and changing up your style of game plan in accordance with your opponent’s is HUGELY important. Generally saying: Don’t be on Auto-Pilot! Study your opponent and change how you play based on the way they’re playing!
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That’s it for a basic run-through, if you guys have any questions regarding that match-up feel free to ask. I’m sure Gus has some more things to say based on what I’ve wrote down or even correct me on a few things; some of that stuff he taught me, so I’m sure the teacher always has something new for the student to learn!
