I decided that this convo was best suited outside the combo thread.
Yeah if people like to walk out I like to just check them with cr.mk. And use my v trigger to fuck them up. Granted the pokestrings are way less effective against people that just walk backwards, but they aren’t useless at the right time, and also, not everyone really wants to walk backwards and corner themselves.
Like how are you guys opening anyone that walks backwards? Seems like if it’s that good then that’s all that people would do.
Granted I’ve played people like this and it’s always funny to see people get their shit blown up because I dashed up into cr.mk xx v trigger.
Chun has the same people at least for me. Like if you can’t hitconfirm her cr.mk then people just walk backwards and “shimmy” you all day.
IDK what the answer for zeku is, but the blockstrings do definitely become more powerful once he has v trigger.
So anyways… this begs the question? How do we open people up with zeku?
Zekus “mixups” once he gets a knockdown are decent so no problem there. He has difficulties with back rise but so do most characters.
Still though… how do we open people up with young and old Zeku?
The mixups afaik are:
High/overheads
Lows, to compliment the highs
Cross ups and non cross ups
Chip damage
And to a lesser extent, depending on the character, pressure.
So Zekus overhead is the same as anyone’s so nothing special there.
His lows outside v trigger are horrid
His cross up is only in old, and it’s not super ambiguous at all and is less blockstun on block. Ex flip stuff can work but the opponent can just walk out of most follow ups since the opponent is likely to just be backing away anyways.
Chip damage is actually a decent factor because his Koku does nice chip. The problem is the negative frames he gives himself to get that chip.
Which leaves us with pressure.
His flips and his run can both give pressure… but both seem super gimmicky outside of some specific setups…
So how do we open people on offense with Zeku?
Dash pressure maybe, with some flip stuff, some run stuff maybe. Idk.
Trying to find where the cheap shit is with this character and I can’t really find it. I’ve got lots of options for stuff that is variable, but no one thing that is cheap that can really open up his game and scare people into making mistakes.
Cheapest thing I know of is his slide and that’s LOL.
So… was at my wits end trying to figure out what makes zeku “good” in capcom eyes.
But I think I’ve found it, for YZ at least. We all know it and probably none of us are bad enough to abuse it… but I’m thinking maybe we should be.
Basically Zekus run slide hits from full screen. So ANYTIME is a decent time to throw this terrible on block shit out. But here’s the thing, we know we have to sacrifice health in this game. It’s just a fact of life. So knowing this, the slide seems less bad because with the input lag and it’s range and the fact that no one bothers blocking low on this game at all… it’s actually not a terrible option till your opponent is holding onto super meter. But that alone doesn’t make it good. Not at all. What makes it “good” is it gets zeku in with advantage on hit, and it sets up Zekus other run stuff. It’s basically high risk high reward in a nutshell. I’ve already found some opponents are so pre occupied with the run that they give me free jumpins. And when they are looking for the slide they get caught by the overhead, so that’s a lot of UNGA ass shit that he has at his disposal. Hell he even has a decent neutral jump counter with his airthrow and L shoulder.
The other thing is cr.lp or st.lp or st.lk xx H palm. Both make throws wiff and can make mashed jabs wiff as well.
Honestly i believe Zeku is EXTREMELY good for current meta. He is like something below top tier but up there. The Vtrigger is ridiculous. He will replace Ibuki in S3 imo.
Can anyone test the air command grabs of YZ hitboxes? i remember characters reducing their hurtboxes with airgrabs in the past, wonder if Zeku can do the same and avoid antiairs with that…
It’s funny, I can AA better with my super than I can with Zekus dp. Having super on YZ is pretty tight actually. Gives you a great AA and now people can’t jump against you so easily.
I think I might start spending more meter on ex dp.
So zeku vt2 seems confirmed worst v trigger in the game. Somehow it’s even shittier than kens shinryuken.
I think what’s happened here is capcom doesn’t yet know how zeku will turn out so they don’t want to give him an op trigger and break him.
It’s the only thing that makes sense at this time.
Ed’s vt2 by comparison looks amazing. Gets him in point blank on block with advantage, and on hit with a combo starter, plus iirc has 3 uses.
Other news about how terrible old Zekus jmk is? Yesterday played a URIEN that was AAing my crossup with his stand jab! Yeah the move that has no upward hitbox at all and uriens face is in front of the entire thing and this dude was AAing me with it, without even allowing the character to turn around. Some straight up necalli shit except it tended to trade (which is his favor because he gets out of pressure) I don’t think I stuffed the jab once.
My zeku is getting much better. If only because I’ve taught myself not to do oldschool “ride the buffer window” DP’s and instead just doing the dp motion crack monkey fast. I had an epiphany yesterday that the reason why I’m so good at AA super but not DP was because I crank the shit out of my super motions extremely fast where with my dp motions I take them slow.
But now that I’m using a much faster DP input I’m more consistent with the AA and more confident in it in general and that allows me to play at obvious jump spacings that previously were to dangerous.
That combined with a general flowchart of:
OZ to start match and slow it down. If opponent plays super defensive then switch to YZ. If the matchup isn’t bad for YZ I will generally switch to him once I get DP to hit or an LK Koku.
Once I have trigger then it’s just fuck with my opponents ankles. Using serps Vtrigger through the jumpin tech is nice. And also using v trigger dash>low chain is nice as well.
It’s all starting to come together but I’m still having mucho troubles with zoners in general.
an incredible vreversal. Remaining plus after the vreversal is something that was taken out of many characters for s.2. And zeku got it
tick throws (only a handful of chars got this, cammy got increased pushblock for s.3!)
YZ walk speed is incredible and so are his dashes. He plays SFV very well abusing the 7f IL with his runs and dashes in
two command grabs
a +3 normal (s.lk) and overall absurd frame advantage when he gets in karin style
his vtrigger is up there as one of the best 2bars vtrigger. The vtrigger has ridiculous value for this game engine. It is as good as laura 2 bars vtrigger in the sense that it changes the way the other player should approach you, even if for a single shot.
If zeku had all the tools in one character he would be top tier no doubt. It is up to the player to change according to situations and matchups and make him shine. OZ is kinda mid tier by himself and YZ is like high tier (top 12) by himself, but the sequences they got make them much more effective
Have you guys tried this sequence?
In the corner: end a combo with YZ into vskill. Then use hcb + LK with old zeku. You cover both wakeup recovery options with absurd frame advantage on block! No one know this, they will mash after the special. You get a throw for free and extra meter if they use late wakeup
My CFN is “dime_x” I actually just played a FT5 against another srk player. But tbh you aren’t going to get much from my games, I’m a lowly shit reactions gold. Though I’m stronger than gold… meh. Still though… I won 5-0 so… yeah. Either way I would peep Serpents games before mine.
That setup is “fake” If the opponent blocks then you are all good, but if they mash any crouching normal they will hit you clean. I do use the setup from time to time but only on my corner LK Koku enders because it works there as well from time to time.
Hey guys, always been curious about Zeku. I love his special that negates fireballs and even attacks after negating them. I’m thinking of picking him up. I haven’t looked over the discussion much, but is his biggest weakness getting in? Any other weaknesses?
I’m coming from playing Ryu so I know the struggle lol. In any case, he seems fun
