Yawn. So this is what this board has degenerated to huh…
Rather than pulling teeth with CVital (who is a pretty decent player btw), why not develop strategy for our namesake character? For instance, Sim has a lot of antiairs. Why not work on developing what those are and what attacks they beat so as to encourage new players to pick up our character?
It’s been a while since I played, so feel free to correct me or to add on to what I say.
lp = jab; mp = medium punch; fierce punch = hp; short kick = lk; forward = mk; roundhouse = RH = HK
s. means standing as in keep the stick/pad in the neutral direction
cb. jab.mp means hold down-back then hit button
c. jab/mp/fierce means hold only down then hit button
Know your normals
This seems trivial, but it is not. Sim more than any character is a very situation specific character in that he has a counter for most things people can do, but you must know what he is going to do and what normal you can use to beat it/trade.
Outside of the typical 6 normal attacks, (lp, mp, hp, lk, mk, hk), Sim has extra moves. These are activated by holding the appropriate direction.
You MUST know the angle, distance, and speed of each of your normals. Also, you must learn to utilize the crouching version of the punches. That is, hold down, then press lp mp or hp. Each have their use. Of course you can go into training mode and turn the hitboxes on. Or you can go here:
http://kayin.pyoko.org/hitboxes/sim/
and study them yourself.
c. lp and c. mp are used to:
[LIST]
[] frustrate your opponent. As they walk forward, use them. Do not be deterred by the fact that they take nothing off your opponent’s life bar. This is not their purpose.
[] push them back, increasing the distance between the two of you
[*] hopefully get them to jump (but most likely they will try something else).
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c. hp is used to:
[LIST]
[]trade with Guile/Deejay’s projectiles (or cleanly beat them in ST)
[]punish jumpins by Sagat, Deejay, Blanka (except when he does late fierce or mk) and I THINK Dictator
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You MUST integrate these into your gameplay.
hold the stick/pad backward
Holding back on the stick as though you are going to block and then pressing a button while doing so allows you to perform 6 extra normal moves. These moves are not stretchy at all, but are vital in Sim’s arsenal and crucial to his gameplay.
[LIST]
[]b + jab gives you a move like Sim is swatting a fly near his head
[]b + mp gives you a move like Sim is stabbing the air upward
[]b + hp makes Sim do a headbutt
[]b + lk makes Sim do a quick kick upward
[]b + mk same animation as b + lk, but slightly longer in duration
[]b + hk makes Sim raise his knee to chest level
[/LIST]
Although each have their uses, the most crucial are b + jab, mp, lk, and mk because these are the anti-airs you will be using (though these are not the ONLY antiairs you will ever use)
hold the stick/pad in the down-back direction (or cb.)
In addition to his 6 normals, and the 6 extra moves he has by holding back on the stick/pad, 6 extra moves can be activated by holding down-back, then hitting a button while holding down-back. Don’t be too intimidated though, these are really just two moves, but with different durations on the move:
[LIST]
[]cb. jab/mp/hp Makes Sim crouch down and do a nonstretchy punch
[]cb. lk/mk/hk Makes Sim crouch down and do a nonstretchy kick
[/LIST]
The ones you will use the most are cb. jab/mp/mk. You should also make a note that Sim’s arm in the cb. jab has no box where he can be hit. It is an entirely red hitbox meaning that Sim can damage the opponent but the opponent cannot hit his arm and make Sim take damage. Obviously if Sim gets hit elsewhere on his body he takes damage.
Hold the stick/pad down-forward
Holding down-forward and hitting a kick button (no new punch button moves) makes Sim slide. Doing a RH slide has the added benefit of knocking the opponent down and will slide underneath fireballs.
If you are forced into a situation where you are close to your opponent, one option is to do lk or mk slides coupled with things like cb. mk/jab canceled into fireball, or repeat the lk/mk slide 2-3 times, or do slide into throw. Doing repeated slides over and over in of itself is not reliable and can be quite dangerous however, which is why you would mix them up with drills.
Jumping forward or jumping backward, then holding the stick/pad down (I think holding down-forward also works)
Doing this and pressing a punch button leads to Sim floating toward an opponent headfirst (Yoga Mummy, unofficial name as far as I know) while pressing a kick will lead to Sim floating toward an opponent feet first (Yoga Drill, also unofficial as far as I know)
This section almost needs its own post do do Mummys/Drills justice simply because it is so easy to use them incorrectly. Most of the time you use drills and even then it’s situation specific, and even then it’s difficult to use them without trading or worse leaving yourself in a bad position. This doesn’t mean they are useless though (they are particularly useful versus Dictator), but it does mean they should be used with a purpose. Why? Because it is so easy to use them incorrectly. By this I mean the following: When you drill/mummy, the sooner you do it the better. If you’re not jumping over a fireball, you should do do down-forward + kick immediately after you jump forward. Ideally, you want to do it such that Sim’s feet are hitting them below the belt or lower (the lower the better). Anything above the belt and the opponent will recover before you and punish you. You should NEVER jump, reach the peak of your jump and then drill/mummy at your opponent … EXCEPT if you jumped back/forward and they throw a projectile. Of course, if you jumped forward and they fireballed, depending on the distance, you’re probably better off just hitting mk in the air and not doing a drill. The kick will hit your opponent, and prevent you from falling for a split second. If you didi it right you will clear it. Of course if your opponent recovers in time they will punish you, but that is the lesson you learn: jump with purpose. This may seem trivial, but with Sim’s floaty jump it is crucial to keep this in mind.
I’ll get back to this later but the rule of thumb is: drill fast. drill low. drill soon.
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Antiairs
b + jab beats:
[LIST]
[] Honda: j. RH/j/ Forward/j. Short
[] Gief: j. RH/j/ Forward/j. Short
[] Hawk: Condor Dive. Sometimes people will Condor dive 5-6 times just to see if you have the timing down.
[] Dictator: I think this beat most if not all of his jump-ins.
[] Also, if Dic headstomps and tries to go behind you and follow up with Fierce, this will beat it. You have to watch as your character turns around to get the timing
[] Cammy: Hooligan Throw
[/LIST]
b + MP beats (well, cross-ups in general. You should never get crossed up as long as you’re not knocked down):
[LIST]
[] Chun: j. mk but she has to be above you and you have to time it right. If you don’t, you trade.
[] Honda: sumo splash. Same comments as chun. Expect to get knocked down if you trade.
[*] Deejay: useful when he tries to cross you up
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c. Fierce/c. mp beats:
[LIST]
[] Sagat: j. Rh/, j.mk. I forget if it beats j. short. If Sagat jumps and is far away, this is what you want to do.
[] DeeJay: j. Rh/, j.mk. Same comments as Sagat. Might lose to j. jab or j. mp… I forget.
[] also, I think in ST c. Fierce beat his projectile cleanly, but it trades in HDR.
[] Fei Long: j. Rh/, j.mk. Same comments as Sagat. I think j. Fierce beats it if Fei does it late. j. jab might beat it. I forget. Also, I think c. Fierce beats chicken wing.
[*] Guile: In ST you could c. fierce under sonic booms cleanly. Now it trades
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b + mk beats:
[LIST]
[] Hawk: Condor Dive (beats it if timed right. trades if you’re off?)
[] Guile: I recall this beating all his jump-ins cleanly except j. mk
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Sliding as an antiair
[LIST]
[] If for some reason you can’t do b+mp, or you realize you’re getting crossed up too late, or you just got knocked down and are getting up but will have “enough time” to crouch,… and they are attacking you, you can do LK slide, which reduces your hitbox and shifts you away from them. Since they attacked in the air, they will take longer to recover. You can then throw them.
[]Another thing that I have seen, but never really did is this: you slide with mk (or is it lk?), but then you combo it into a c. mk. NEVER do this with Gief/Hawk however as they will gladly take the hit in exchange for a command throw
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[LIST]
[*] RH slide beats:
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[] Ryu/Ken/Akuma/Sagat/DeeJay/Honda j. Rh, probably j. Mk, (forget if they can beat it if they time it late)
[] Fei: chicken wing
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Walking/sliding under as an antiair
Ok, its not really an antiair per se, but sometimes the best offense is a good defense. Sometimes, you will be in a position where you are in the corner getting pummeled with block strings and jump ins. So if the opponent jumps towards you while you’re in the corner, you can walk under them and slide (lk or mk slide. RH slide takes too long to recover).
This is particularly effective when cornered by
[LIST]
[]Blanka (when he has you close to the corner but not to where your back is against the wall, so he jumps in towards you)
[]Chun/Dictator (because of their high jump arc)
[/LIST]
jumping antiairs
This is a difficult concept to flesh out and deserves it’s own section, but over time I might be able to do this. Nevertheless, this is one that is critical to add an extra layer to your antiair game. You should notice that Sim has a floaty jump- that is, he remains in the air, probably the longest off all the characters. While this might seem unnatural and even annoying at first, you should realize this in conjunction with his stretchy limbs is actually an advantage.
Some scenarios (not exclusive)
[LIST]
[] One thing to do is to jump back when your opponent is close enough to where if he jumps at you he will not hit you but you can hit him, and tag them with mk
[] Another is if you anticipate them jumping at you, you jump straight up and do RH
[] Another is you jump straight up as they jump towards you, then you take advantage of the fact that they fall faster to the ground than you and punish with Fierce or mk
[] Another is for Dictator and he devil’s reverses toward you and you jump back and do mp
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Upflames (down, downback, back + kick)
Kind of an obvious one, but difficult to implement since you have to predict it in advance, especially for characters like Blanka and Claw who have a super quick jump. In general I would use the lk one since the startup is the least of the three and no matter which one you use you get a knockdown, although there are situations where you would want to use the RH one, but this requires anticipation on your part due to the large start up time.
A few (not exclusive) that come to mind:
[LIST]
[]Chun is in the corner and triangle jumps off the wall
[]Claw wall dives and you anticipate this
[]Dictator tries Devil Reversing towards you
[]Ryu/Ken mess up a juice kick
[]Honda does the RH sumo splash from far away
[]Whiffed uppercut move that is far enough away to get hit by it
[/LIST]
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Vs Other’s Special Moves
[LIST]
[*] Chun: New SBK. If they do it so that the move hits you in front, cb. mp will beat it. Note you have to hit her head.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*] Ryu/Akuma: Hurricane Kick. I forget the timing, but I think it was something like you block the first hit, duck, block the second hit, then b. Fierce them on their recovery. With Ken’s Hurricane Kick, this isn’t so reliable. If they pass over you and begin their recovery frames, you can do cb. jab. With all three shotos, if you predict they will do Hurricane, Yoga Flame beats it as long as the flame is out before they hit you. Versus Fireballs, you can RH slide under them. Given the appropriate drill distance, you can also drill over them, but Drills are a separate issue entirely.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Akuma: Air fireballs: Probably obvious, but if he’s not trying to cross you up with one, jump and do the appropriate limb. If he is trying to cross you up and you aren’t knocked down, slide and or walk underneath.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Hawk: Condor Dive. b + jab, b + mk or b + lk beat it cleanly as long as you have the timing down. If you blocked it in ST, you got a free hit with RH. In HDR this is not so. Yoga upflame also beats it but you must predict it and I think it only works up close.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Sagat: In HDR, Sagat’s tiger shot recovery frames have increased. So if he Tiger shots after you yoga fire, you get a free c. Fierce on his extended arms. Because of the length of his arms, you may even be able to trade c. Fierce with Tiger shot and keep your distance from him. Depending on the distance and how much life you two have, you can even consider drilling over it. Versus Tiger Uppercut, I never really used this much, so I’m not 100% sure on this, but j. mk pretty much stuffs it.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Boxer: Versus his rush punch ,obviously you can do fireballs to keep him away, but this may not always be viable. c. mk is one option, especially if he is close. c. jab or c. mp works as well. use c. mp if he’s further away. It might not seem like much damage, but recall that he needs to charge for a second or two in order to do another one, which helps you keep your distance from him.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Honda: It’s risky, but if he does his super from far away, you can cb. jab or cb. mp him out of it. Same applies to his headbutt. If you fireball first, and he jab headbutts through it, you can punish with limbs on recovery. Wtih 100 hands (HHS), you can cb. jab or a perfectly timed b + RH can beat it. With sumo splash, this is situation specific. If he’s in front and will not land on you, you can jump up and do the appropriate limb. If he will land right in front of you, you can either cb. jab him, or you can c. mk, or c. fierce him, but this must be perfectly timed so that he is in his recovery frames and the red hitbox on his buttspash is no longer active.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Fei: Chicken Wing. If he does it from far away, either do c. fierce/mp or if he’s a little closer you can do RH slide to beat it. If he’s really close and tries to do it, you can c. short slide under it and possibly fierce throw him after you recover. Rekka Kens can be countered with crouching limbs from far away, or c. mk if he is close.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Guile: In ST, c. limbs beats sonic boom cleanly. In HDR it trades. You can still beat them by RH sliding under them.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*] DeeJay: In ST, c. limbs beats his projectile cleanly. In HDR it trades. You can still beat them by RH sliding under them.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Dictator: It’s trivial, but s. mk will stuff his scissors (not sure about psycho crusher) on start up frames. It’ s useful when you have him in the corner. A trickier alternative from further away is cb. jab, which has to be timed properly. Versus headstomp, from far away, if you predict it, upflames will beat it. If he tries to go behind you and follow up with Fierce, b + jab will beat his attempt. You have to watch as your character turns around to get the timing.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Gief: Obviously, Fierce him if he is medium distance and does a lariat and you know he won’t recover in time. Another obvious thing is if he is far enough away, and you yoga fire and he does lariat, you can either fierce him, or if the fireball hits him, keep pressing fierce and you may get a 2 hit combo. Versus green hand, this beats your fireball, and I THINK it technically can snuff out yoga flame, but the timing has to be perfect, so you can use that to your advantage if they think you will do yoga fire and you know they will green hand, stick out yoga flame instead for a knockdown (at the appropriate distance). If you see them startup a running bear grab, and they aren’t in the corner, immediately jump over them and do lk drill without hitting them or you’re screwed.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Claw: The positioning is tricky, but if they do wall dive and land in front of you b + lk can beat it. If they’ll still land in front of you, upflames can sometimes win. If you’re in the corner and they try to wall dive and land on top of you, b + mp can beat it. You can also teleport, but I don’t think this is reliable. Still, it’s an option.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Cammy: b + jab beats hooligan attempt. I’m not 100%, sure but I think you could RH a blocked cannon spike.
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Dhalsim: b + jab beats drills, mummy, j. mk and probably all his other jumping limbs
[/LIST]
[LIST]
[*]Blanka: Obviously fireball/flame beats Blanka Ball, but so does cb. jab/mp. RH slide beats electricity, but puts you closer to him, so follow up with yoga fire/flame then push him back with c. mp or c.fierce. A cb. mp will beat his hop back ball as long as he’s landing in front of you. If he does super from a distance, you can punish it with fireball. In ST you can HP a blocked Blanka ball for free. I forget if this still applies in HDR.
[/LIST]
Throws
Sim has 2 throws.
Yoga Noogie
The Noogie is done by holding towards (or back) and pressing the MP button. This is the Yoga Noogie. It is a hold that does extra damage as a function of you and your opponent mashing the buttons and rotating the stick/pad back and forth. In ST one effective strategy was the tick throw known as a “Noogie loop.” One initiates this by first performing a Noogie, then your opponent eventually flips out of it, so what you do is walk up and do short slide in such a way that you are sliding before the opponent lands on the ground, but then land on it … AND, you get pushed back in such a distance that they are within your Noogie throw range, but you are out of their throw range. Since they can’t throw you, you do the noogie again and repeat. This was particularly effective against Dictator and Claw in the corner and was one of the best ways to beat them. In HDR however, the Noogie range has been shortened and this is not as great a tactic as it once was.
Regardless however, there are mixups you can do with the Noogie in the sense that you can vary what you do once they “flip out” of it. Some of these (not exhaustive) include:
[LIST]
[]lk slide into another noogie
[]lk slide into fierce throw
[]walk forward and do lk/mk slide such that it crosses them up. Follow up with c. mk
[]yoga fire/flame
[]drill
[]tick super for chip damage and the win
[/LIST]
Fierce throw
Sim’s other throw is simply towards (or back) and Fierce. This literally throws them over your shoulder in the direction you press.
Noteworthy points:
[LIST]
[]Since it throws them in the direction you press, if you are cornered and have the opportunity to throw, use this to reverse the situation and corner the opponent. This also has the effect of getting you out of the corner as well.
[]Unlike the Noogie, Sim’s fierce throw did NOT get it’s throw range reduced. So if you can tick slide at the right range where you are out of their throw range, this will increase your chances of throwing them
[/LIST]
======================
Special Moves
Yoga Fire
Standard fireball. Shotos can and will hurricane kick over it. Jab version is slowest but has least recovery frames. Fierce is fastest but has most recovery frames.
Notes
[LIST]
[]You should vary the speed of it when trying to keep people out to increase the odds of your opponent making a mistake and jumping.
[]After knocking an opponent down with Yoga Upflames, you can do a slow fireball so that they wakeup and are forced to block it, then since you recover the fastest on a jab fireball, you can do a second fierce fireball for extra chip damage.
[*]Jab and Medium keep the opponent in a flamed state whereas Fierce will lead to a knockdown.
[/LIST]
Yoga Flame
Breathe fire in front of you for a fixed amount of time.
Some uses:
[LIST]
[]After a knockdown. Learn the distance where the “tip” of the flame will hit an opponent on wakeup and always use it from that distance to get extra damage. Obviously don’t do it on Ryu/Akuma/Guile/Deejay if they have super.
[]If someone jumps at you from far away you can use this to score a knockdown. Learn this distance and realize that if they are closer to you than this distance, they can hit your head.
[*]Beats Hurricane Kick as long as flame is active
[/LIST]
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Super
In ST, you could cancel slide into super. In HDR, I THINK you still can, but it is unreliable in the sense that as far as I know, no one can do it consistently enough.
One thing you can do is slow fireball/flame them on wake up, then buffer the super to get extra chip damage.
If you anti-air them with the super, it can juggle
Will nullify Ryu’s super
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