how do you guys place your fingers when you’re charging zonk knuckle? are you guys having it charging up during rush down/defense. i know that you can combo into zonk but its just tricky when im wanting it to be charged down while im trying to do block strings for hit confirming or just plain ole rush down. do you guys have any tips or any things that you do as far as implementing zonk into your gameplan. im just starting to add zonk into my arsenal because i didn’t know how to really use it before but now im having a little sucess with it in my so called game plan. thanks fellas
index for lp-zonk. pinky for hp-zonk. middle finger for mp for ex zonk (+any of those two mentioned before).
it’s matchup dependent and situation dependent, it’s also somewhat player dependent:
which character do I face?
which matchup knowledge has my opponent?
do they like to high poke?
do they like to low poke?
throw out many midscreen fireballs?
do they “reversable” block pressure? [e.g rose c.mp xx spiral arrow; ryu c.mk xx hadoken]
do they throw alot?
have a scheme behind their wakeup game? (many meaty attacks)
which attcks/normals/combos do I lose whith the charged button?
etc etc etc
you’ve to adapt your opponent’s playstyle. think about balrogs Tournaround punch. it’s somewhat similar. it’s a nice tool in specific situations, but you don’t want to keep it charged all the time. due to the start up it’s also comparable with ex messiah kick.
Zonk actually isn?t very good despite what a lot of people say. It only comes into play in very specific situations and in very specific match-ups and overuse will leave you often getting killed. Reasons why this is, is because if you charge ex zonk, you either can?t tech, or can?t AA with back strong. If you?re using regular zonk constantly, you will have difficulty doing max dmg punishes because you can?t use your fierce. Also, just having to keep in mind when you have zonk held down often leaves you a bit flustered or you?ll end up getting random zonks when you don?t want them cause you forgot you?re charging. To deal with held zonks, throw a normal, jump or dash then release.
Whenever I?m using zonk to blow past fireballs, which is about the only time you should use it unless you know it?ll hit, use the fierce button for zonks. I charge it with my right ring finger and to release, usually throw a rock or dash. If you?re trying to combo into bingo, you have to either know when you?re only charging level 1 (or was it 2?) zonk and comboing with either strong and fierce cause jab doesn?t have enough hit stun for a true combo. If you get to a level 3 zonk, strong no longer combos into zonk either. So that means, to reliably combo into regular zonk, u have to zonk with jab and have the combo or setup in mind before you start it.
For example, if you really wanted to combo into zonk, you could jump-in, hold jab, press s.mp (hit confirming by now), c.hp xx zonk. This is the only real good way to combo without taking risk. The other methods you can use are use level 1 zonk and do things like, f+mp, c.mp xx zonk. I see sabr3 use a lot of zonk combos and its cause he?s committed to memory how long it takes to not overcharge it. This is pretty hard and requires lots of experience. If you?re just starting out, I recommend you don?t use zonk for much other than guaranteed max range situations, reversals against poorly thrown specials (against dash punch for example) or in fireball wars.
Once you get comfortable with all of cody?s combos, I recommend adding rh rk, fadc, zonk for hefty dmg. Cody gets probably 400+ dmg off this jump-in combo alone if you tack on j.rh, c.hp xx to the above.
I charge mostly a Fierce punch zonk with my right ring finger as well, and mainly only for certain match ups. I have gone into practice mode and practiced BnBs and fadc combos while holding the button down so I don’t miss the inputs during the match.
Unfortunately, when I play the match-ups where I hold zonk, I tend to get zonk happy, zonking unsafe things like jump ins when I shouldn’t. Its a hard habit to break so I suggest trying not to do that.
Also If you are charging a zonk and want to ultra punish, be sure to release zonk during the initial blockstun so you don’t miss a big opportunity. I stopped holding zonk all the time and only charge at certain distances during the match up.
If you want to ultra punish, you can also hold down jab+strong while already charging zonk with FP, then do the ultra with negative edge button release. So if you’re eating an ultra in block stun, press jab+strong, then let go of all 3 in the ultra reversal window.