In the spirit of helping out the forums and making information easier to find… this is a thread all about quite possibly one of the more misunderstood matchups of the game, and a place where BH players can share tips and what works for them.
I’m not going to mince words. Blackheart does not beat Cable. All other things being equal, BH gets pasted by him. But if you choose to play BH seriously, it is a match you will run into over and over again, and you don’t always have the option to DHC into Storm or someone who can handle the match better.
So what’s a BH player to do? I can tell you that many times I can handle this match just because my knowledge of this fight is so good, whereas my opponent’s knowledge boils down to “AHVB him when he Inferno xx HODs” and little else. But that’s not always enough. Here is what I keep in mind when I run into this fight:
DO: [list][] Try to stay directly above Cable. This is the position you want to be in, where you are safest from his AAA and he is in a poor position to hit you. The thing about this is that Cable doesn’t have a lot of good ways to KEEP YOU from doing this once you’ve gotten above him. If you can isolate Cable from his assist, you can get an offense going.
[] Remember: Cable can’t change the direction of his jump. THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS MATCH-UP. BH has more freedom to move up and down than Cable because of this. If you can goad Cable into superjumping, you get an opportunity to get in on him. Even if he jumps, if you can maneuver your way past his line of fire, you can get in on him. Remember - you don’t want Cable directly in front of you. He can stop your movement with jump fierce xx viper beam easily and chip some decent life to boot.
[] Use the ground dash. I used to try to superjump past a descending Cable to get in on him whenever I successfully made him superjump, but this just gives him a chance to shoot you. It doesn’t matter if you block it or not, it’s not what you want. The best way to close distance when Cable superjumps is to ground dash. You avoid grenades, you get in. Throw an AAA or some other roadblock for Cable to fall on and get above him, or superjump up and tick grab him. You can also use the ground dash to avoid stand fierce traps (although I’d be really careful about how you use this). The ground dash is one of Blackheart’s underrated tools, it should be used.
[] Save your airdash when possible. When fighting Cable, the tendency is to get a lot of random superjump shorts that don’t really go anywhere. If you keep your airdash, you can get a bit more damage off those hits, plus you have an easier time evading AAAs and actually getting in on Cable. Also if your shorts are blocked, you can go for a tick grab.
[] Try to have an assist that lets you hurt Cable. BH/Commando is a fairly common configuration, but it has problems on Cable because you don’t get anything more than an Inferno after a connected low short. A more beneficial AAA would be Cyclops (Armageddon hurts quite a bit), or A-Sentinel/A-Magneto (low shorts into judgement day). If you score hits on a grounded Cable
[] Rush a Cable without a viable anti-air. Blackheart has a way easier time on a Cable carting only drones or rocks as defense. Jump in relentlessly and get him to the corner where you can safely chip and get some damage in.
[] Follow connected roundhouse demons with a snapback. If you catch Cable out of the air with roundhouse demons, try to get close and snap in his AAA. This isn’t easy, because BH’s snapback sucks, but it is DEFINITELY worth it.
[] Get Blackheart out if you have someone better. If Storm is next, just get her in. Don’t even think about trying to kill Cable with Blackheart, even if you can do it. He’s much more useful to Storm as a HEALTHY assist.
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DON’T: [list][] Try to chip Cable out of the corner. It’s not worth it to give Cable an opportunity to zap you. I wouldn’t even try to chip a team with Cable on it unless they didn’t have the meter it took to hurt me. Using Inferno xx JD is crap too, since the chip it does isn’t enough to warrant using unless it’ll kill Cable (and if it hits, it does less damage). Just don’t.
[] Bait out AHVB. Also not worth it, unless you know the timing. There are only two ways I bait out AHVB with BH - calling Sentinel on a Cable that can’t kill him, and superjump rh xx airdash back. The latter is exceptionally risky unless you know the timing, and I’ve done it often enough for it to work, but the times I fail… I kick myself.
[] Throw demons on unguarded Cable. The rule I generally follow with people who can throw stuff down is, DON’T DO IT unless they’re blocking something first. This is exceptionally important with BH vs. Cable. Make sure they’re blocking Cyclops assist or possibly another set of demons before throwing them.
[] Lose confidence. After getting hit once, it’s easy to get into panic mode. Don’t, you’ll just die quicker. Don’t get nervous because it’s BH vs. Cable. If you know your opponent likes to stand still, you already have a good chance of pulling this off, so don’t back down because of nerves. You have to do it, so make the most of it. Confidence and bravery![/list]
Anyone else have any suggestions? Please… discuss.
