re: something fatboy wrote in the vega thread.
This is a first pass (ie unfinished) rough draft of a Blanka vs. Vega item.
Claw with capital ‘C’ = the character – skinny spaniard.
claw with lower case ‘c’ = the actual, pointy claw on his hand. This will mostly refer to it coming at you in the form of a crouching strong.
sac throw = sacrifice throw = When you get hit (typically by a jump attack) and then throw your opponent.
Blanka vs. Claw
version 0.9
by Harahi (tl: nohoho)
- Outlook for Blanka
With an anti-air with suspiciously big invincibility that’s charged back, fast normal attacks with good reach, quick movement and jumping all letting him attack or hold back as he likes, Claw is a tough opponent. His combined strengths are top class.
Nevertheless, one pillar of his strength – the wall dive – can be countered relatively easily with a vertical ball. Also in terms of sheer damage, Blanka has the edge. We can’t shake the fact that Claw has the advantage, however.
- Flow of the Fight
Because of the suspicious anti-air [flip kick], Blanka must suffer while being unable to launch a surprise rush. If you find a chance to rush that could be the fight right there, but Claw can just jump away. At this point we must rely on trading horizontal balls with Claw’s crouching strong and the fight can get really messy.
Claw is looking to use normal pokes, the slide kick, jab rolling attacks or a jump in rush (or jump in -> whiff -> throw.) He might just turtle up, too.
- How to Fight
Against the claw, you can score hits or trade by using the horizontal ball. So versus the crouching strong poke, use a horizontal ball to avoid being pinned down. Note that if you get carried away with trade=OK balls the fight can spin out of control, so be careful.
Blanka’s vertical jump is somewhat effective. You might get hit as you leave the ground or you could eat a slide kick as you land, so use it only sporadically.
When Claw hesitates with the crouching strong and becomes defensive, you can use a jab ball -> bite. If he’s able to react to the ball you’re better off holding off, but this is generally pretty effective. If Claw tries a slide kick the jab ball will hit him really nicely.
Electricity can also beat or trade with claw attacks. When it hits you get a knockdown which is really sweet, but there’s some lag when you stop and it gets beat by the slide kick, so you can’t use it too much. One trick is to bait a slide kick with electricity and then horizontal ball, but the electricity lag got longer [since earlier games] and this became less effective.
Isolated slide punches and crouching roundhouse kicks don’t work well against Claw. When he’s on the offense the slide punch will often get beat as it’s starting up. If you use it poorly he’ll jump in and hit you with a combo. You might want to use it here and there. Blanka’s crouching roundhouse is even more useless. Claw generally won’t be in range so just forget about it.
We want to avoid letting our opponent dictate the pace of the fight, so when you see him give up his charge [he walks forward] you should jump in as you see fit.
From that jump in we’re looking for an offensive rush but it’s tricky because Claw is so tall. When you jump at him it’s best to use strong punch and medium kick since weak jump attacks are vulnerable to sac throws.
Anti-air is vertical jump fierce. With the proper timing you should be able to knock him down. You might eat a claw sometimes, but with the proper timing you should be able to avoid this, I think. Blanka’s other anti-air attacks – vertical ball and standing strong – both get beat easily, so stick with the vertical jump fierce.
To take down Claw’s wall dive, the vertical ball is your main weapon. Also: electricity, vertical jump fierce and escaping jump jab or strong. Try to use a roundhouse vertical ball right as he leaps off of the wall. If your opponent stops you, mix up the timing of the vertical ball or use a horizontal ball to run away. Electricity is rather effective but note that Claw can grab you with the Izuna Drop if he’s really slick. Vertical jump fierce and escaping jump jab and strong attacks can be used on a case by case basis.
When you knock Claw down you definitely want to go for okiseme. It’s tricky [to cross-up] since he’s so tall but…
Also, using electricity to shave a bit is an option. If you do a horizontal ball after making him block the electricity you can catch him if he tries a slide kick. If your opponent becomes wary of that, you can use a “whiff electricity -> bite” trick, right?
nohoho notes:
Claw can usually block and counter the slide punch. It does, however, beat Claw’s crouching strong nicely. Blanka’s crouching strong and standing short work somewhat well against the claw, too. With some luck, standing roundhouse can be used to dodge slide kicks.
When you get knocked down, a wake-up horizontal ball either beats or trades favorably with most of Claw’s okiseme options (though the final hit of Claw’s rolling attack = no good.) Also, the horizontal ball generally works well interrupting Claw’s crouching strong -> rolling attack attempts.