Hi guys i see very little discussion on matchups so i guess ill be the one to start it ill start with my opinion scorps toughest matchups based on playing others with skill with chosen character. also any input on these matchups would be greatly appreciated if u find these aren’t working or something was wrong PM me and i’ll try and message some people for some games and their strategies to better improve on the thread thanks or viewing., feel free to post if you want.
Kung Lao: from what i have experienced never jump in on lao its way safer to just dash block your way in and soldier out the damage. dive kick can utterly ruin your day but since the air throw beats it if u can consistently counter it u can take out one his best tools. up close lao’s safe blockstrings can cause you a ton of chip but thats why you have ex spear which has one hit of armor doing this can net you an easy 35% combo. always expect a kung lao player to abuse the hell out of dive kicks, spin, and 1,1,2,1 its just gonna happen and it your job to counter it and make him pay for it.
also spin is punishable please make him pay for it cause if you don’t they will start to use it unmercifully and that easily leads into jump in dive kick-dash-1-ex hat- jump in FP-ex dive kick herp derp and you just dont want that. Your best tools to me in this matchup will be your FP.FP,-spear–>BP-FP cancel into teleport which grants you a free jump in and as a result more pressure. remember your overheads are <-FP and ->FK if u get a chance make sure they learn not to low block and when you see they have a high tendency to high block use your -> Bk-spear for a good 30 to 35% combo. btw teleport is not your friend on this matchup
Ermac is a tough guy to get in on I generally rely on getting in with block dashes. you wanna be close to ermac this matchup at mid range ermac can stop about everything you can think of and one bad move can easily give him an advantage. most of his normals are punishable so really punish his specials up close. Eramc is a defensive character and will counter most everything with a tk derp, your reward for his defense should be scorpion’s variety of good mixups. the -> BK can really save you this matchup as it can combo into spear also in absolutely every matchup use the ->BP-FP-cancel into-teleport as it grants a safe jump and more pressure and can reset your situation if need be this is also good because when cornered and ex teleport FP-FP-FK-FK- cancel into teleport-Fp-Fp-cancel into-spear which i think is around 40% and looks flashy as a bonus. hell fire is pretty good too cause u know for themost part ermac aint moving. off of a overhead i recommend using dash-Fk-Fk- cancel into-teleport- dash- FP-FP- cancel into- spear- jump over-BP–>BP-FP-cancel into- teleport cause it resets the opponent and gives u a free jump in from here just continue the mix up game and watch out for his TK specials cause i cant stress it enough that all he needs is one ground slam to reverse a bad situation. also respect ermacs wake up i think his wakeup attack is his TK push but I could be anyway all that does is put in a situation where you have to advance slowly through dash blocking or through safe teleport.
Not a really tough matchup but can be annoying to say the least. ON WAKE UP BLOCK ALWAYS BLOCK never test the power of the smoke ball. NEVER THROW A SPEAR FROM LONG RANGE shake will punish you everytime tom brady(patriots tom brady) not to mention smoke ball trade will be disadvantaged after it. now that thats covered the only thing smoke can threaten you with is with a punish on something unsafe that being said , it helps to know FPx3 is safe and FKx2 is also safe now heres where applying this comes in smoke is way to slow to punish your safe strings. FPx3 and most smokes will wanna FK-Down FP-FB- dashx2-FP-FB-Smoke ball- Jump kick-teleportpunch, and that puts smoke where he needs to be at full screen, but your FKx2 is way too fast for him to hit you with his wall carry combo so you not only have effectively made him second guess his punishes on your block strings now he has to resort to a heavy defensive game with an emphasis on ex shaking and teleports to escape your pressure. If u think smoke will ex shake u should sweep him or use any other low attack as it will knock him out of the shake and put you back on the offensive. BTW smoke ball does not chip so dont be afraid to block it make him realize the only way to beat you is for u to come to him or for him to come to you and he loses both ways just remember mix ups your bnb’s and your resets and he wont be that scary just really annoying.
also dont block low he has no mix up so there isnt any point to do so. dont set yourself up for that 2,3 smokeball
noob is one of the best zonig characters but most of his tricks rely on goon squad spam and throw setups. ex disabler will ruin you so watchout for it most likely he will combo into it, just chill and realize the only thing he did was flip your buttons when you realize this you can easily escape his follow up and avoid damage. never try to punish his anti air goon its totally safe and you will get hit for your troubles. running man goon chip will happen accept it and block it dont try ex spear it unless u know it will hit cause he will just send another and you really need that ex meter for the x ray or a definite ex spear punish. watchout for his <-Fp combo as the second hit is overhead and that can lead into a decent bit of damage the only scary thing about noob is his chip and nothing else dash block and pay attention to his running goon and sliding goon and you will be ok. always standing block teleport for punish of your choice.also never back noob into a corner he has too many setups for the corner that will kill you if possible make sure he stays in the middle of the stage so that you avoid giving noob his setups and advantages
Sub-Zero is a zoning character that cant deal damage with his projectiles the only real way for him to damage you is for him to freeze you and kombo. that being said instead of you running to sub make sub come to you his only good approach is his ice slide which is unsafe on block, they will often bait your spear to get in with this technique so just stay defensive until you get face to face. when fighting up close jump in are not advisable as his 2,2 is a great anti air and though im not sure i think he can freeze you after it for more damage. the other reason jump ins are bad for this matchup are because of the ice clone if you jump in expect to get frozen everytime. your basic strategy should be keep up pressure without jumping in and without being put in a corner of putting him in one cause he will troll with ice clones and block any attempt to get to him(yes you have hellfire but a smart opponent is gonna know thats your only real option at that point. to surprise the sub zero player occasionally use the ex spear to counter his freeze ball so he will start to second guess throwing them out. this matchup will go favorably for you as long as you keep sub-zero in the middle of the screen. Subs bet wake up attack is the ice slide so just watchout for it and dont reckless up close.your best friend in this matchup will be your hell fire, and and thing that leads to spear
This matchup is all about who is the better mix up master. good scorpions know not to throw spear outside of combo because in this match you can block the spear from full screen and counter with your own spear. also teleport only when hit is guaranteed doing so will safe you the pain of scorpions many high damaging combos. the game is still new and since most scorpions refuse to learn his vortex and mixups you can come up big if you use <-FP, ->BK, and using your overhead block strings. so really this matchup just comes down to who can mixup the best and who knows the character better.
Sindel is actually a very tough opponent for scorpion her instant fb’s can really cause alot of problems and she will destroy you with chip damage. the only real tool you have is your ex spear which will catch her coming down from an levitating fb, just make sure its not an instant levitate fb as she will block and you will have wasted ex meter. your biggest enemy here is yourself. try and be patient and block dash your way in remeber you have a vortex of damage with many mixups to follow it up. once you get in try and stay there watch out for her scream and her hair whip which can put u all the way on the other side of the screen and you dont wanna be there. safe porting can help here to as evading fb’s is an easy way to get one in (just jump and before scorpion lands teleport and he will go into the whiff animation which will make you able to instantly block or follow up with an attack. in training mode practice with any character the height limit for a safe port is usually at the opponents ankle keep trying it and eventually you will get it down.) safe porting makes this matchup way easier in terms of not taking chip and positioning just make sure to react appropriately after the port. Sindels best wake up attack is the kartwheel kick so be aware of it on wakeup and its an overhead so block it high
After some games with a good kabal player my advise for this matchup would be to really watch out for his dash not alot of kabal’s take advantage that it can be cancelled, this can easily catch you by surprise if you guess wrong. The best thing i can really recommend is to block high as his little command grab is an overhead. He can also Dash, Dash cancel, buzzsaw which at the right distance is a pretty decent bait. Kabal has the potential to zone and keep you out so remember to dash block to get your way in and always duck afterwards until you get into command throw range cause buzzsaws hits low. Its best not to get cornered as its easy damage for any kabal player.
That being said Ex spear was my tool of choice as it really save me alot of health having to deal with those buzzsaws. i wouldn’t advise you teleport to punish his Fb’s as they are pretty safe when done instantly be patient and wait for buzzsaw. hell fire stops alot his turtling and makes him come towards u which u want him to do just dont be reckless patience will go a long way wait for him to dash or do something unsafe and punish with the vortex. I’ll list it out in every post just to stress its importance as its easy 60% and puts you at a great advantage. anytime you spear ANYONE jump over and -->BP,FP, cancel into teleport, jump in punch, -->BK, cancel into spear and you can do this as much as you want or if your me your going to Neutral Jump, dash, <–BP, dash,FK,FK, cancel into teleport, dash, FP,FP, spear to reel them back in and continue your 50/50’s so that they are always guessing. if they are in the corner follow up with an air throw so that now they are heavily disadvantaged( only exception is noob as he is strongest when in corners). Some kabals will use dash as a wake-up attack i dont know if this his wake up or not but i can confirm his Ex dash has armor can catch you off guard. I will have my friend the kabal player post to see if can further explain any trick he might have and his overall strategy.
After playing a friend at casuals whose really good with reptile I can honestly say reptiles rushdown beats ours. His elbow dash closes in on space on any knockdown so fast that his pressure can almost seem inescapable. Also just talking out of my ass maybe but i think that after a blockstring you may not be able to punish his random force ball as any attempt at doing so brought about 30% of damage my way will test and edit this later. his slide is also pretty good cause just like sub-zero it will catch you off guard. also his Ex Elbow dash will go onto the other side of you regaurdless so you can either input forward forward and FK for spear on reaction for second hit or you can just block it and wait cause most reptiles will do that spinning mucus ball thing anyway I personally would chose the latter unless I the meter to spend on Ex spear. He can also escape any jump in thats not a teleport with his elbow dash so that he escapes your pressure and mount his own again. Oh and his x ray is full screen projectile punish so if your feeling like your throwing arm is good from full or mid screen Tom Brady(patriots) he will punish you on reaction.
As a scorpion player you already know we have a pretty weak wake up game with the only safe options being Ex teleport and Ex spear(if being pressured look for any movement). so the key here is to not be really defensive and punishing any mistake. your friend here is gonna be the breaker. reptile has many ways to get you into his combo and you really dont wanna end up on the ground cause he will just dash over safely and continue his pressure. most reptiles will slow forceball and run with it for free advancement don’t let him do that Ex spear him and put him in the vortex for his troubles (anytime you spear ANYONE jump over and -->BP,FP, cancel into teleport, jump in punch, -->BK, cancel into spear and you can do this as much as you want or if your me your going to Neutral Jump, dash, <–BP, dash,FK,FK, cancel into teleport, dash, FP,FP, spear to reel them back in and continue your 50/50’s so that they are always guessing. if they are in the corner follow up with an air throw so that now they are heavily disadvantaged( only exception is noob as he is strongest when in corners)). Remember he is top tier for a reason he does have zoning potential with the slow/fast forceballs, and can rush you down and easily escape your pressure just have patience and let him come to you.
Ugh Kano lets see ill list the patch changes first then go into his game plan.
Patch changes:
Up ball is now safe from what I can see
More Damage and speed to his butterfly knife projectile
He seem to have less recovery on knifes too
he also seems a bit faster on his normals
Kano is a zoning character and most of the time he will be throwing those knifes to keep you out and blanka balling to push you back. kano also has a wall carry to watch out for it remember you only viable wakeup option is Ex spear and wakeup teleport isn’t reliable so u being in the corner while he sit at perfect range to projectile and blanka ball your jump will end badly. So basically play Kano like you would ryu in sf for the guys coming from TYM just work your way slowly across and until projectiles are no longer a viable option, cause the knifes are whats gonna be killing you not the balls.
You wanna be close to kano at all times your pressure really needs to consist of safe blockstrings and 50/50’s that keep kano in the corner and guessing. Kano has a lot of damage potential and you really have to punish every wrong move he makes. its always advisable to instead of ending a combo with a air teleport kick which puts them at full screen where he wants to be; end your combo with a spear so that he is right next to you and in a position to be pressured. Kano has a excellent wakup game since his up ball is safe so dont really pressure his wakeup to often every once in a while is ok just to mix it up but a hit will put kano in a favorable position. when possible put kano in the vortex so as to turn the game in your favor, the vortex is game changing and deadly learn it, use it, and abuse it.(anytime you spear ANYONE jump over and -->BP,FP, cancel into teleport, jump in punch, -->BK, cancel into spear and you can do this as much as you want or if your me your going to Neutral Jump, dash, <–BP, dash,FK,FK, cancel into teleport, dash, FP,FP, spear to reel them back in and continue your 50/50’s so that they are always guessing. if they are in the corner follow up with an air throw so that now they are heavily disadvantaged( only exception is noob as he is strongest when in corners)
Kabal: updated
Kabal can be a very frustrating opponent in between his tiger knee projectiles, run stops, and his reset he pretty good tools to zone, confuse, and get good damage in. Kabal players will generally zone you with the tiger knee projectile because A. you cant punish it B. to get in chip damage. When you have gotten into close range run stops are going to be your main worry try and block high because his command grab is a overhead. On wake up expect either a ex run or a run stop.
Scorpion vs kabal
Scorpions best tool in this match is actually the hellfire technique as kabal cant out run fire. this will also stop his ex run so its pretty safe to use when you see him running and have time to input it, or when he wakes up. Scorpion i would say definitely has the better normals and a few pressure strings is decent chip and can lead into some damage when they decide to push buttons mine have always been 2,1 dash 3,3 dash ->4, spear it trains them to block high the first two are safe and come out decently fast. also 3,3 is scorpions fastest string and is completely safe take advantage of this to punish a blocked run b/c it also combos into spear for the reset which is devastating and can completely turn around or end a match. you are your worst enemy in this matchup patience and conditioning the opponent will get you a long way.
Advanteges:
raiden is the only character able to escape hellfire on wake up
nice mix up game
great teleport
Disadvantages:
Superman unsafe on block
can be easily predictable
Raiden only want one thing all the time teleport 3,3,4 combo into his little combo. you dont have to take this remember after the patch came out raiden is disadvantaged after that string and can be punished. Always be on the lookout for the superman as it is free damage for you if can block it. remember raiden doesn’t have to respect your ability to get guaranteed hellfire after a 3,3,4 string or any other time to be honest so use this move sparingly i actually found the spear to be much more useful and it actually will take raiden out of the superman; sets him up for easy damage and will somehow put some form of respect into him since he now has to see if you will random spear him even though that in itself is a bad thing b/c this may not be dependable. remember to use your reset if you get in a spear its great damage and easily scorpions best tool for damage.