I have been playing Sagat for a while now. I think I have somewhat of a grasp of certain mathups… I just still feel like I am missing something. I struggle vs moderately good players. Just wanna see if anybody can check out a few of my videos… any input is appreciated. I wanna get better before I ever make a fool of myself playing offline. Thanks.
Tough to tell with just one match. First round is pretty much text book Sagat play, very controlled , nice button choices, good knee spacing, good shots, good AA - All good. After that I notice you go 360 for some reason -
- You waste too much meter, EX knee is ok out of the corner, but 3 x EX knee is literally pissing away meter - the gamble uppercut you took later could have been canceled but he baited and won.
- When you get a big lead, it’s ok to back off a little especially in the corner, given you might have been trying to go for stun but Yang has low health this is ok, but you lost control a bit in a good spot. After the throw I would have backed away a touch, but he EX dashes out (this is quite common Yang escape in the corner, so expect that and get a throw ready)
- Not sure if the step kick use is an AA attempt? If so it’s too hard to time that on a character that has a trajectory changing move and a shallow jump, try high tiger shot if you want to stop those further jumps.
- Pressing too many buttons generally- you need to block a lot with Sagat, especially against a great ground character like Yang.
Honestly the way you controlled the match at first I was surprised you lost.
Interesting fact to ponder -
In the first controlling round you threw 11 Tiger shots and Anti Aired twice for good damage.
In the full two rounds after that you threw 1 Tiger shot and Anti Aired no times.
thanks for the input. I remember being scared to throw shots the other rounds. Felt completely downloaded. That is where I struggle. I felt the first round that I won was just for him to judge how I play, I need help with playing Sagat outside the box… or is that even possible at higher level play?
He didn’t download you at all mate, he just pressure you and you cracked instantly. Most of his damage was because of your bad choices rather than his smart play. You should have just started the second round exactly the way you’d won the first IMO. Look at it another way, you decided that you wanted to be close to him, not the other way around. In the second round you throw him across the screen, but then instead of keeping that space you just won back, you close it down with a kara knee and attempt another overhead (he has 3 bars here and a DP is incredibly likely). Then use keep using EX knee to continually pressure him, you’re basically now playing rush down Gat, where as you showed in the first round that zoning/spacing Sagat was better suited to this match and you played much better yourself.
The thing with Sagat, is that it’s funny in way, to get better with him, you actually have to do less not more. Like the way in your first round, everything seems calculated, the button choices make sense in comparison to where you are standing, you use st.mk at the right range, st.lk at the right range, your knee spacing is pretty good, your shots and fakes are good, your AA is perfect. In contrast to the next 2 rounds where everything seems to just go out of the window and you start pushing lots of buttons and panicking for some reason. Like you can’t handle the other character being close to you.
Concentrate on playing exactly like you did in the first round, sometimes you might have to block a series of attacks in succession and tech a couple of throws, but get the space back and start again. You can’t take a character like Yang on up close with Sagat, at least not all of the time. His buttons and walk speed are just far too fast.
The temptation is always there to push buttons but you’ve got to hang back and wait for your spot.
Thanks for the input… Wanna play online sometime?.. I was under stress that match tho… it is jwong I mean…
Thats Jwong? Surprising. Wouldn’t have called that! I mean he’s not putting you in in any trouble, he’s not using any frame traps, or subtle movements but saying that he didn’t really have to, you kinda just collapsed. Love to play you mate but I don’t live in the US. If it was Jwong, I’d play him as much as I could if I were you, you’ll learn a heap as he’s obviously a great player. Big sets are where it’s at, learning spacing and what you can/can’t press will quickly become clear. Remember you only learn when you lose.
Also don’t judge yourself too harshly online. Offline you have better time to react and Sagat’s one of the tougher characters to play even in slight lag.Just use online as training ground.
That was a good match JrMint3. I agree with Highland about not being too hard on yourself. You played well and i have found myself in your situation many a time where the opponent walks up close and panic ensues. Been playing Sagat for a year now and I am still not complete comfortable up close. Your defensive game definitely has to be above average to be successful with the character.
Great advice as usual HF. Learned some stuff from this.