General stuff
First off, remember that his limbs are controllable in ST. You can hold back to get the close versions of any of his normals.
In terms of fireball zoning, you’ll mostly be wanting to use LP yoga fires (with some exceptions) as they give you plenty of time to stuff whatever they try afterwards and they’ll hit jumping characters with large hit boxes. The occasional FP/MP fireball can be used to mess them up or to hit them on wake-up. Yoga flames are generally lousy anti-air, you just end up getting nailed most of the time.
Close up, c. MK and c. MP are usually your best friends. You can use slides to cross-up people jumping in close-up, or from farther away just to keep them from advancing on you. They’ll also go under fireballs and stuff like Balrog’s dash punches.
s. RH is good for early long distance anti-air. Also for punishing stuff like missed sumo stomps or boxer headbutts as long as you time it right. s. MK for stuff closer up or for people whose jump arcs go past s. RH.
s. LK for situations closer up where s. MK doesn’t work right. Back LK is good as a late close-up anti-air, as is his Back LP, which has godly priority, and can also be used to stuff certain cross-up attempts and things like Vega’s dive. Back MP is good for stuff that Back+LP won’t touch and also again for stopping cross-ups.
You can use low LK drills to go over fireballs (your best friend against O. Sagat), and nail them once (don’t try to follow-up, you’ll get stuffed or reversed). Close-up, a mix of RH and MK drills is good for pressuring, and in the corner, you can mix close crouching attacks with low drills and the occasional spear for keeping them from jumping. Well timed/spaced drills will also beat stuff like bison’s psycho crusher. Low RH/MK drills are also good for safely advancing on your opponent, or moving around in general since 'Sim’s walk/jump speeds are both lousy. When you do drill at someone, try to do it so you hit their feet, otherwise it’s very easily punished. They can also be used as a psyche out tool to get someone to jump, whiff something or back off.
His s. MP can be used to stuff a surprising number of moves. s. FP can be used as a late anti-air of sorts and to punish all sorts of moves. Yoga flames are good for pressure, and the occasional yoga blast for anti-air against high jumpers like Chun’ or Vega. If you get a knockdown in the corner and they have a large enough hit box, you can often LP yoga flame them to death as long as you’re far back enough.
I haven’t found much use for his back RH.
s. LP has great priority and can be used to stop pokes. Jump back FP can be good for punishing jump-ins or moves that are normally difficult or impossible to counter like Vega’s dive if he’s farther away, and jumping straight up with MK can stop Blanka’s jump-in among other things. I’ve seen people use jump back LP instead on occasion as well (maybe because it stays out longer?). Jumping forward with RH can also stop Vega players from getting onto the wall in the first place, just watch out for the bait and switch with the other wall move.
c. MP is probably your best poke for pressuring or pushing someone back. It’s got great range and priority and it’s cancel-able. Generally, if you want to get someone away from you, you can do something like close c. MK, close, c. MP, c.MP, s. FP/Yoga fire. If they jump-in and you can’t nail them out of the air, and you’re somewhat far away, just c. MP them as they land then push them back with a fireball or s. MP/FP.
Teleporting
His teleport I mainly reserve for getting out of the corner, because it’s not a good spot for 'Sim, especially against someone like Honda. It can glitch on occasion and teleport you into the same spot, which is a serious problem that is unfortunately unavoidable for the most part. 'Porting to the same spot can be good as a psyche out on occasion. You can also use the 'port to avoid chip damage on wake-up provided you can get it out in time.
Combos
The only combos you’ll probably be using are c. MK/MP > Yoga fire/flame and LK/MK slide > Yoga fire/flame/super. You can also combo a c. MK from a late RH drill.
Noogie
You can cross-up Chun’ or Vega after a noogie (very helpful since those are your worst match-ups), by using a properly timed c. MK and then follow up with db. MK x2 and whatever for the dizzy.
Other noogie follow-ups include: Walk forward, close c. MK, and then a series of pokes, walk forward c. MK > yoga fire, low RH drill > Throw, LK Slide > Throw, yoga flame, super.
Dizzies
If you do dizzy someone. The best thing to do is usually just LK drill after them and then throw them since you usually won’t have time for anything else, and there’s not much else you can do anyway. It’s good to remember that if you throw them and their life is low enough that they would’ve died if they didn’t tech, they’ll take full damage from the throw regardless.
I also see people do Yoga Flame > LK Yoga Blast > LP Yoga Flame to build meter instead on occasion.
First 3 seconds
The opening moments of a match can be very important for 'Sim. If you get off to a bad start, it can often be very difficult to recover against someone like Boxer.
Most people usually jump back and then wait to see what the opponent does. If they try something, stuff it and if they don’t, you can just land and you’re at a better starting distance.
The main thing to remember with 'Sim is to control the space. Zoning =/= turtling. Use drills to move around and try to find the optimal zoning distance for each character and then try to keep them there. If things get desperate, you can always try to drill/throw them death.
He also has one of the best supers in the game. It does great chip, goes through a ton of shit, and will beat just about anything on wake-up.
His main weakness is his lack of a reversal. As one of the only characters in the game without one, getting knocked down = bad. You can teleport, but that’s not reliable in the corner.
He may be top tier, but he’s far from being a brain dead character (most of the time anyway). All his match-ups play very differently, and a single knock-down can often spell disaster for him.
Specific match-ups:
VS 'Gief - Probably the easiest match for 'Sim. This is close to a free win, depending on whether you can keep him at arms length (Dhalsim arms). Stick with yoga fires and s. MP/FP to keep pushing him back. If he lariats, it’s a free FP for you. Be careful RHing or MKing him, since a lariat will beat it and knock you down, which could get you into big trouble. Watch out for the occasional banishing fist (green hand) past one of your fireballs. Keep in mind that his s. RH will beat your RH/MK and his c. LP will beat your c. MP.
His c. RH can also beat a lot of your pokes as well if timed properly.
VS Honda - A surprisingly difficult match. Don’t let him get in, because you’re likely fucked if he does. He’ll cross you up/tick/command throw you until you’re done.
Back LP and db. LP will stuff his headbutts and if he sumo stomps, jump up backwards with him and knock him out of the air or b. MP. s. RH can also punish it with proper spacing/timing but I wouldn’t recommend it. Use close normals if he does it closer up.
His jumping RH has surprisingly priority and it tends to trade with your s. MK so be ready with your close anti-airs. If he empty jumps or manages to land safe from a stomp, push him back with s. MP/FP. Watch out for headbutts, be patient, and remember to block HHS’ low.
One knockdown can mean death for you in this match, and whatever you do, don’t let him get you in the corner, or it’s command throw hell for you. The flame trap can however, be your best friend if you manage to knock him down in the corner instead, since he has such a large hitbox.
VS Chun’ - Probably your worst match-up next to claw. Her jumping MK stuffs everything you have, but will sometimes trade with back MP. The only real way to beat it is to do jump back FP (you have to be above her for it to hit), or early jump back RH as a precaution (this will probably trade if you do it too late). Jump back MK drill is also decent anti-air as long as you’re above her when you do it. Don’t try drilling over her fireballs too often. They move slow enough to hit you most of the time. Learning to slide under her fireballs consistently will help you out a lot since it puts you in a position to back MP under her jump MK or s. RH her jump-in attempt in advance.
If she lightning kicks from afar, spear over it or use s. MK. You can use RH at the proper distance to keep her from jumping, but once she’s in the air, it’s her game more or less. Low RH drills can be very effective on her, just watch out for the occasional reversal.
It can be hard to stop her jab/MP pressure. If she does manage to throw you, and you reverse, you can use standing MP as an option select (if she tries to counter throw, you throw her, if she tries to flip kick out, you hit her with back MP or if it misses, you still have time to block)
VS Blanka - You get a free FP off every missed or even successful roll attempt. You can use jumping MK to stuff his jump-ins (just watch for rolls) and a slide if you don’t see it coming early enough. It’s risky though, try to slide so you land behind him instead. That way you don’t get nailed by a late jump FP or cross-up LK. Don’t let him fluster you with jump-in pressure.
VS T. Hawk - s. RH any blocked dive attempts or jump-ins and otherwise zone him as normal. If he tries to dive short and tick-throw you, just throw him instead. Keep in mind that unlike 'Gief, he has a DP that will knock you out of your standing/crouching pokes. This match-up is painfully unfair. b. LP literally beats everything he has. Dives, his DP, you name it.
VS Claw - Likely your toughest match-up. One knockdown can again mean serious trouble for you, because he’ll start his ambiguos dive cross-up crap. Use jump back FP, back LP and yoga blasts to stuff dives (watch out for baits) and drill/tick throw his ass to death if you get a chance. If you’re advancing and he’s retreating, you may want to jump forward with RH to stop him from getting onto the wall. Some of your normals will go under/through his horizontal wall dive.
VS Boxer - Slides and c./s. MP are you friends here. RH to stop headbutts and far jump-ins, and MK for occasional closer-up one. If he manages to corner you, be patient. Otherwise you’ll probably get nailed with a headbutt. Teleport out as soon as you can and keep poking with c. MK when you get a chance. MP yoga fires are your friends here since if you trade, it’ll knock him down so you’re not stuck blocking his crazy rushdown. Watch your fireballs once he has meter just like you would with Ryu.
VS Dictator - Back LP to stuff reverse devil punches after a headstomp. It also beats his psycho crusher/knee clean. Yoga blasts can stop his headstomp, but you can easily get baited into eating a psycho crusher doing that. He’s very susceptible to drill pressure since he has lousy anti-air, but watch out for s. FP when drilling from afar.
VS O. Sagat - Be patient in this match-up and it’s in your favour. Low LK drills will go over his low tiger shots. His jumping RH can be stuffed by back LK or a slide. s. FP to punish any missed tiger uppercuts. Watch out for the occasional tiger knee, and remember his s. LK hits low and is combo-able. Be patient and use slides/RH/MK drills to move past his tiger shots. You can probably fireball war with him for a while before he beats you out, so you can use this to stall or build meter if necessary.
VS Ryu - Relatively easy match-up for you until he gets meter. LK drill over his fireballs, use RH to stuff his jump-ins. Watch out for the occasional air hurricane, and throw him as he lands. Be careful poking better players, as they can easily DP your limbs if you get predictable. Hurricane kicks will over your fireballs as well. You can punish missed hurricanes by blocking one hit, ducking to get out of block stun and then headbutting him before the next hit. Try to stay within range of being able to RH him when he tries to fireball. When he has meter, cool your projectile throwing and play carefully until he blows his meter. Try to bait him in to using his super without using moves that leave yourself too open.
VS O. Ken - Fast, invincible DP’s are a pain in the ass. Don’t get baited into trying to punish repeated LP DP’s. If you’re going to punish one, be very careful with your timing. Too early or too late = you getting knocked down. Patience is the key.
VS Guile - You’re gonna want to keep trying to c. LP/MP him under his sonic booms then block right after. Drilling over his sonic booms is dangerous since he’ll probably just flash kick you, and his jump-in goes right over 'Sim’s s. RH from the right distance so be careful and be ready to slide or whatever. Probably safer to use b. LK since it beats just about all his jump-ins.
Watch out for ambiguous cross-up LK if you get knocked down.
VS Deejay - Be careful using c. MP in this match-up, his slide beats it clean. s. MP does go over it though. You can c. MP under his fireballs just like Guile, but again be careful with your timing. db. MK to beat his slides. A lot of his normals badly out prioritize your’s so be careful. Slides will beat jump-ins that stuff your normal anti-airs.
VS Fei-Long - Slide under bicycle kicks or try to trade with back LP. Watch for c. FP’s since they can dizzy you fast, but other than that it’s pretty much your match. Just keep your cool when the bicycle/rekka rush down starts and throw him out of any badly spaced/timed rekkas. Otherwise, you might find yourself dizzied before you know what happened.
VS Cammy - Your pokes beat out every move she has. So figure out what beats what and the match is more or less your’s.
'Sim mirror I’m pretty clueless on, and I figure I’m not alone as even a lot of the mirror matches I’ve seen from the Japanese seem pretty sloppy. Then again, despite his tier ranking, 'Sim players are pretty scarce in most areas, so it’s likely not going to be a huge problem if you neglect it for a while (the lack of replies for this topic is also good evidence of that). From what I’ve seen and played, there’s a lot of offensive drilling involved.
Your worst matches are essentially Chun’, Claw, O. Ken and Honda.
Don’t rush reversals with Chun’ and Claw as they have fast walk speeds that make it seem like they can throw a lot earlier than they really can.
