It’s starting to look like my UMvC3 team is going to be something like Dante/Strange/Arthur.
I can’t figure out a place for Zero. 
I can try a mix of Zero Dante and Strange, but I can’t figure out an order that would make enough sense. And I don’t want any of those characters to be my anchor to be honest.
I got to try Strange at NYCC, and I’m really liking Zero/Strange/Doom. It’s an excellent team, and considering the fact that Zero and Doom will probably be S Tier due to all of their buffs, it can easily be a viable team.
Daggers of Denak is an amazing assist for Zero. It tracks ground and airborne opponents, so there is no real limit to how much space it can control. What I really like about it is that it has a delay before hitting making it useful fore some tricky mixups. If they hit Zero before the discs hit, then they get hit and Zero gets saved from a combo and starts his own. If the they aren’t blocking and the discs hit, Zero gets a combo, and if they are blocking, Zero can easily create some ambiguous mix ups. No one I played was able to block anything I set up with this assist. I didn’t get to try the Eye of Agamatto or Bolts of Balthakk assists, so I can’t comment on those. Rekkoha into Reading Rainbow hyper works as beautifully as expected.
As for Strange, the only assist he really needs is an instant beam assist. By the time they recover from blockstun/getting hit by the Plasma Beam, Strange would have already set up a trap. Doom’s beam is also amazing for teleport shenanigans, even from full screen. This leads to quite a few offensive pressure and reset opportunities. Putting together Doom’s beam, Strange’s fast teleport, and Strange’s off-screen fireballs is stupidly good. Zero’s uppercut works as an anti air for him, and will beat out a lot of jump ins due to its disjointed hitbox. It’s also nice to have the option of an invincible crossover counter for when Steven is getting pressured. Book of Vishanti can DHC into both Sphere Flame and Rekkoha.
That’s all I’ll put for now. I know it’s not much, but it stimulates thinking nonetheless. I could write a ton about Doom/Strange, but this isn’t the Doom forums, so I’ll save it to keep derailing to a minimum. I’ll be using this team on Day 1 for further exploration. Thoughts anyone?
uni-beam or plasma beam, which one is better?
Really depends.
In Ultimate Unibeam is faster and still holds the target in place, completely stationary. Plasma will probably still be a little faster and larger but pops them in the air a bit after hit.
I personally prefer Unibeam for the stationary blockstun, but Doom is a better character overall so I end up using Plasma Beam.
Yeah, doom is more fun to play anyway.
He does. I just never found drones to be as efficient or reliable in extending or adding damage to combos as compared to say calling taskmaster at the start of your ground combo for minimal damage buffering. Not to mention a lot of the combos i used with drones were dependent on screen position. And as my zero got better, i realized that zero doesn’t really need combo extensions mid combo and benefits more from assists that can function as extensions at the start or at the finish.
Lets not sleep on Hsien-ko’s broken pendulum swing assist. She can protect him well and the mix up potential is mind boggling.
They’re definitely both good for different reasons. Iron Man’s repulsor blast assist is definitely one of the best assists in the game also for its projectile durability and hit box that covers most of the screen space. Perfect for X-23 dirt nap kills.
I prefer plasma beam also because it comes with MR DR DOOOOOOOM. Plus Doom appears behind the point character making him less telegraphed and not as easily hit by other projectiles/attacks. Allowing him to more easily shield you from offense.
I never talk about my teams on here. I don’t really know why, maybe it’s because I feel secretive not doing it? LOL. Well I definitely don’t have much tech that isn’t widespread so I guess I’ll talk about my Vanilla team a little.
Zero/Dormammu [Trish]/Sentinel
Basically I am trading TODs (stupid I know) for some interesting set up and mix up opportunities. I initially started playing Zero because I am in love with the X- Series. I chose Dormmamu and Trish as his DHCs at first simply because I could tag Zero back in and mix them up as they fell. Also, if Dormmamu/Trish stays in post-DHC they can lay their traps (Pekaboo/Hopscotch or Flame Carpet/Dark Spells respectively) while the opponent is trapped in the DHC. Rekkoha gives Dorm/Trish, characters who are optimal when they can fill the screen up with “stuff”, the time they need.
Assist wise, Sentinel facilitates rush down and keepaway for my characters while Pekaboo (my favorite assist I must add) allows for incoming mixups, screen control, resets, and occasionally cross-ups. Dark Hole, on the other hand, allows for combo extension (Steb Ender) and some screen control. I generally prefer Dorm simply for combo extension (extra damage) but I love Trish enough to consider her on the main team as well.
For quite sometime I attempted Zero/Trish/Dorm. This team has some very unique tricks and can REALLY fill the screen up with “stuff.” In the end though, I missed having an assist for Zero that helped him mix up the opponent and dropped that team simply because it was more gimmick than anything :(.
I just gave a very short rundown of the team because I know all you veteran players can assess what I try to do with my team. The only really interesting premise of the team is that an opponent is at super jump height or higher post-DHC which allows for very unique/strong mix up and chip set-ups.
I’d love to hear your opinions and if you have some questions I’d love to hear them as well.
I think a general problem with most of the team threads is that people don’t actually talk about their teams. Characters need other characters to win and helps people understand how other characters work.
That’s why I posted mine XD. I figured on the eve of UMVC3 I’d get a little more active here. I’ve gotten a lot better at MVC3 in the last month, so I feel more comfortable posting my opinions etc.
You’d be asking me to write a novel.
Challenge accepted. Currently editing this post with my teams.
edit:
Okay here’s all the Zero teams I know.
Guide:
I play this team
I know someone who plays this team
Theory team**
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- Zero/Dante teams
As discussed many times, Zero/Dante is best in game. Picking the third character is what changes your “flavor” of Z/D. Sentinel gives you Zoning and Okizeme, Akuma gives you better rushdown and better combos off air throws, Ammy gives you longer pins and and a useful THC, etc.
Zero/Dante/Sentinel (The world famous) - This is what I consider to be the optimal Zero focused team. Touch of death is capable without ever losing meter, anything is comboable and safe. Zero/Dante DHC on deck of course.
Dante exists to ‘complete’ Zero with Jam Session assist. It gives him an assist for pinning, mixups, anti air, combo extending, chip setups, and safety. The character himself gives him the best DHC option he can get, ensuring the death of anyone when you have 2 meters. Can also DHC to Devil Trigger raw for a safe tag out, etc.
Sentinel gives Zero the assist that lets Zero control the entire screen at once. My entire neutral gameplan is based around this assist. Call drones, super jump, move forward in the air. Drones take care of the ground, while Zero dominated the air. If the drones hit, Zero gets pressure. If they avoid the drones, they have to deal with air Zero. Drones also give Zero a use for Raikousen H, as the Drones will combo after it well enough to get a full combo after. It’s the perfect move for incoming mixups and catching random jumpers.
Drones also shoot up Zero’s okizeme. Zero can keep an opponent cornered for the entire match using the drones to cover all tech roll options. There’s specific setups for this, and I think I listed them in the reset/option select thread in these forums. Go there.
The only major weakness is that Sentinel is not the world’s greatest anchor. He has the ability to run it back, but certain matchups are a pain. It’s no where near as bad as anchor Haggar though.
Zero/Dante/Akuma (Team Japan) - Mostly the same idea as above, but with Akuma assist. It serves many of the same functions as Dante assist, so it’s basically just like having two of them, which is surprisingly strong. It’s also better for Dante’s rushdown. Akuma is also a stronger anchor by most people’s standards.**
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*Zero/Dante/Amaterasu *- Amaterasu, again, serves similar functions to Dante, but is more potent in the pinning department because of the longer active frames. Combo extension works the same, etc. DHC’s are good, surprisingly good anchor, good for Dante, blah.
-Zero/Phoenix teams
As mentioned before in the main Zero thread, the Phoenix Factor is great for Zero. No one will waste the time to kill Zero upfront when they know you got a Phoneix in the back.
Zero/Phoenix/Arthur
Originally an experimental “two comeback character” teams, it’s turning out to be very strong. Zero has to play a more “flocker” style of defensive and patient neutral game, but he’s perfectly capable of this with two projectile assists behind him. Phoenix herself also gets great use of projectile assist with her teleport.**
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Zero/Sentinel/Phoenix
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Based on the popular someone/Sentinel/Phoenix model. Same gameplan as every other X/S/P team, but Zero has the uncounterable TAC on his side. Combined with the 2 extra meters you build with the Sentinel TAC, you can guarantee Phoenix in one combo.
I have lots more teams (I may be up in the 20’s now) but not all have Zero. That’s as much as I care to elaborate on my Zero teams at the moment.
I’d like to hear what you think about mine. I respect your word as a Zero player lol.
EDIT: Just for future note I think the absolute BEST team involving Zero (not FOR Zero, there is a difference) is Zero/Dante/Doom.
Zero/Trish, as I have said many times, has untapped potential that, no matter how many times I say, no one I’ve seen has attempted to tap.
[media=youtube]N6RWn8ioH9k[/media]
Video doesn’t work :|. I can assume what goes on though.
I have made a semi-useful tech. After doing Rekkoha --> Round Harvest I will tag in Zero, call Trish’s Pekaboo, and choose a mix up. This is pretty effective.
Man I wish I had recording equipment. Q_Q
No love for Zero/Dante/Dr. Doom? As I said earlier, this is IMO the best team with Zero on it but not the best team FOR Zero specifically. I agree that your main team is the most Zero-centric team. I think Dr. Doom compliments Dante excellently and is a better anchor than Sentinel.
I don’t really play Doom so it’s hard for me to know. I prefer Arthur when it comes to projectile assists. Zero doesn’t really need a beam IMO, but it’s nice.
Dante’s really the kind of character that can make use of almost any assist. Some are better/different uses than others and all, but still. I did run Zero/Doom/Sentinel before, which I think is the best team for a zoning style of Zero.
He definitely doesn’t need a beam. Honestly, despite what many believe, Zero doesn’t HAVE to have a horizontal assist to be effective. It obviously really facilitates his offense but he can open people up just fine with out that kind of assist. I am not a fan of Arthurs assist nor Arthur himself. I do like Mystic Ray though. It can really help Zero zone. Sort of like a faster Hidden Missiles.
If picking Zero is like having sex with a beautiful woman, picking an beam assist or any other one that gives horizontal coverage is like getting another girl and having a 3some. You’re already in a good situation. Anything else after that just makes things better.