I’m more interested in this set of matches right here! I personally feel this MU is in blankas favor but everyone says no. I get blown up by blanka on a regular, I mean not as much as I get blown up by Honda but bad enough. a really good blanka doesn’t need to utilize balls in this match to win imo. the hops, jab electricity, and constant crossups make this a little difficult for me to deal with. how do you guys approach this MU???
oh, I agree about U2 being a VERY viable option in the sagat MU, if for no other reason than to stop him from throwing tiger shots all day.
I dont choose U2 vs fireball characters (including ryu).
They wont throw them when max range with U2 stocked, but even with U1, max range fireballs are not an issue.
Getting about f+HP range is easy with makoto with U1, and at that range, you cannot really react to a fireball except if you focus on landing your U2. I prefer focus on getting close, since, personnally, i find too difficult to focus on both at this range.
For your match vs sanford, ive noted some points:
you didnt use any stHK when he did crLK*n. It beats them clean (do it between 2 of them).
you missed some big punish opportunity. For example, when you are in corner and block a TU, just dash under and combo him into the corner
you feared wakeup TU too much. I think he didnt use it once
try to see what opponent does after getting hit by hayate. Ive noticed that sanford was pushing buttons 90% of time. You could punish that a lot.
crHK to punish upper tiger shot at mid range. You missed lot of opportunities
he didnt use a lot of crMP OS tiger shot. If you block a tiger shot at mid range and use f+MK~HK, it beats a second tiger shot
I always find whenever. I pick U2 I focus way too much on trying to land it instead of just playing my game. I rarely use it except in matches like Sim where it’s just blatantly better.
Outside grapplers,Sim and Gat, I don’t use U2 that much. I think it’s pure taste,some of us want an almost guaranteed damage with U1,others (like me) use U2 just to make the opponent afraid of it. I love getting closer to Sagat without worrying about his fireballs,but I understand Vryu and Citi reasons about this MU. With Ryu and the others fireballers I’m sticking with U1 too,even against Akuma. In Ultra maybe I’m gonna use U2 even against Juri and Gouken. Interesting discussion
I actually like U2. I use it against Ryu, Akuma, Viper, Sagat, Grapplers, Seth, Oni, Evil ryu, Vega, Dhalsim.
Sometimes against Gen, Ibuki and Sakura if they prove me their setups are good enough.
That’s a fair part of the cast.
Against fireball characters, sometimes I use it very recklessly in the beginning, just to put it in their head, and stop focusing on landing it in the next matches.
I’ve gone up against other makoto’s using ultra 2 and I have to say, the random factor of that ultra and the damage that it does is pretty scary. IMO, I still see ultra 1 dominating in ultra sf but the added fireball invincibility, grounded ex fuki and red focus gonna make U2 a more viable option this time around. besides any blocked dp can be ultraed with U2 for more damage than you’ll ever get with ultra one, and even more so in ultra sf.
Don’t jump against him,better fight Blanka on ground.
-Blanka need a KD to starts his offense,the best way to reach that is counter the opponent. We don’t need to rush him at the very start of the match,he waiting for this,try to stop his slide or counter his st.lp xx electricity. Without meter is FREE,that’s why you don’t see many Blanka push on offense at first. Make him guess which side to block,make him fear the karakusa. When you knock him down he can only try a backdash,block,mash lp’s into electricity or a crouch tech,Makoto can shit over all those option with a meaty Oroshi. Blanka wakeup is a bit tricky (iirc he stands up 1f after other characters),but since he’s without meter we don’t need to have mercy on him. Same on defense: cr.lp’s beats hops clean,even EX Karakusa can beat them with the autocorrect. Crossups? Still don’t know why many Makotos don’t give Fukiage a try:with fuki,Blanka can’t jump,plain and simple. If he goes for it during our wakeup FA+dash out from there and do another backdash to have room to control his movements. Our real goal is push Blanka into the corner,there he has few ways to get out.
Once he has meter:
-EX Vertical is Blanka main reversal,but he use that when he feels desperated under our pressure,be ready for it. Change side after a KD can force him to use that hail-mary,block standing and karakusa/punish the recovery. If you stay crouch the vertical send him on the other side and he’s able to recover in time even to do tech a grab so don’t try a 'kusa. If you feel hungry you can punish the grab attempt with a crispy tsurugi. Against Rainbow EX: if Blanka try that to escape from corners,beat them out from a safe jump OS st.mp/lp fuki,those options beat the rainbow clean. If he tries to hit you stay crouch and do cr.mk when the ball is close,still clean victory.
-Against jab xxelectricity: if he starts with a st.lp (far distance) try to counter from the right range with st.mp into hayate,if he’s close you need to block right and waiting for an hole in his offense to escape and reset the situation. With that he can beat your crouch tech attempts,that’s why is better don’t fall in that mini-loop. You can also control his offense with cr.mp from max distance,but pay attention at the hop-grab.
-Blanka U1 is beatable clean with lp fuki if we block crouch at first and do our up-fist once he’s in the air. He can combo from his overhead (tight) or from a jumpin (fuki if he’s high,st.mp if he’s in front of you,better quickly),U2 it’s only for chip damage (ground) or to blow up your air attempts.
-Try to save meter,ex karakusa can make him worry about trying hop tricks,cr.jab xxelectricity and ex hayate can punish all rolling attacks.
Don’t let him take the pace of the match,he wants you to commit bad decisions. Make him fear about your pressure making him worry about how escape from that.
Yeah, I know that MU,I play that every fucking week offline. Once you gain experience with it,Blanka isn’t a problem,he relies too much on trickery.
WOW. Haven’t seen vryu sensei footage in so long, and it’s a real treat! kara-karas, FFSS combos, SSS combos, FFS on opponent’s wake up… absolute fearless play. And NO ONE uses fwd throw like vryu; god damn does he make it look really sexy!
The french commentator Ken Bogart said it was unsafe when it happened and i wonder if Vaalmaster heard it and punished on the way. Btw Vaalmaster has shown his reaction skills vs MBR (guarded Akuma’s cHK punished with raw ultra1 twice and super once). He is also knows the matchup because of Lior (and maybe Vryu, but he seems less active).
wow luffy is so strong. he seems to get better and better every time i see him. definitely a player to watch out for in ultra considering rose is in general stronger. haitani just didn’t seem to know when to press buttons. he looked kinda indecisive on going in or not.
Luffy actually knows the Makoto matchup very well , he often plays against Vryu and Lior, whereas I doubt Haitani often comes upon a Rose, even less of Luffy’s level. Still I would have liked to see a longer set between the two, see how Haitani would have adapted to Luffy playstyle.
