Might want to go into more depth about normals.
I’ll write a basic analysis of his normals a bit later.
Agreed. Plus, when you try to charge flipkick to avoid the j. mk > kneebash loop you still get hit because you need to hold “down”. Frustrating as hell.
Your Throw Range exceeds his. Go for the reversal throw.
Basic Vega Normal Move Analysis:
:lp: Short range but has some uses.
When times correctly can and will beat Psycho Crusher, Blanka Ball and Torpedo aswell as similar moves.
:mp:
It’s basically a standing slower version of :d::mp: but has some minor uses due to it’s higher hitbox.
:hp:
Extremely long range normal. Mainly useful for establishing distance, for punishing and poking you have better moves.
:lk:
Suprisingly high priority. Very fast and is an excellent tick throw setup.
:mk:
Godlike normal. Wins matches on it’s own. The end of the leg has enormous priority due to it’s completely invulnerable hitbox. Completely shuts down Shotos in the corner. The close version of it is also probably your best Tick setup since it pushes you to optimal range.
:hk:
Very good Anti Air the entire upper front part is invulnerable and punishes jump-ins easily during the initial jump arc.
:d::lp:
Has 1 frame less recovery the more often used :d::mp: but deals alot less damage and has less range. Generally i have not found a situation where :d::mp: is not superior.
:d::mp:
The poke that defines Vega. Extremely safe and extremely fast. Deals good damage and can dominate some characters on it’s own.
:d::hp:
Very good Anti Air with massive invulnerability on the level of :mk: at it’s tip.
Will trade or beat most Jump attacks if placed correctly.
:d::lk:
Main use is being able to be comboed into Clawroll. :lp: roll will combo fairly consistently whereas the others are fairly position dependant.
:d::mk:
Your main close range normal when they are too close for :d::mp: since it will whiff against close opponents. Should always be linked into either :d::mp: or another :d::mk: - :d::mp: depending on positioning. If you want to be fancy at close range you can do :d::mk: into :hk: flipkick x2.
:d::hk:
The slide. The move is fairly special in that it will beat most things along as it is done when your opponent already has their move out. This is due to the hitbox having invulnerability at the tip which moves forwards and basically bulldozes your opponent. It’s an extremely good move and wins the match against Guile almost on it’s own.
:u::lp:
Nearly indistinguishable from :u::mp: other than having more hitting frames and doing less damage. It does have only 1 frame of startup though.
:u::mp:
Stops walldives clean and has great range as a jump-in. Always hold back or towards when you are doing it as an Air to Air as to have a chance of getting your air throw.
:u::hp:
The neutral version is indistinguishable from the other :u::p: besides doing more damage and have very few hitting frames. The forward and back version on the other hand are extremely good with extremely high priority.
:u::lk:
Pointless. Do not use this move.
:u::mk:
The neutral one has fairly high priority and can stop alot of things and the jump-in version hits at a very nice angle with quite good priority making it good at stopping hard to deal normals such as Fei:s :d::hp:
:u::hk:
Does not have as much priority as :u::hp: but makes up for it by hitting extremely low making it the ideal punisher for poorly timed Hadous and the like. Also has very high priority on the neutral version but with the foot part fairly vulnerable.
Unless he inserts a hp,mp,hk throw after the safe jump. 
Wrong.
I don’t know how many people use this, but I saw Damdai go for safe j. jab walk up srk. Particularly nasty if you’re looking to tech or maybe even flipkick the kneebash. Just turn on your turbos and reversal backflip. 
Yes that’s a very good tactic.
It really is no different than any other throw mixup though just more effective due to his SRK.
If they go for the throw go for the throw reveral. If not Block.
Sorry I mistook that. Yes a reversal throw would always win. Assuming the throw comes out on that 1 frame.
[media=youtube]0VdURSvCOLo[/media]
<3.
HAHAHAH!!! Great. It reminds me: have you all seen Street Fighter: The Later Years? I’m thinking to post a link for everyone but am unsure where to do it.
A ha! That was funny. “Anyone who opposes you will be destroyed.” Right . Got it. LOL
I played Heavenly Claw last night, he’s very good, he’s definately got the edge on me I have to admit. Although mirror matches are about my worst matchup - in my defence…
I did take one round, bizarrely I’d resorted to jumping around spamming middle punch, and for whatever reason I kept getting the oh-so-elusive air throw! It was quite wierd to watch…
Wish we’d video’d it, I’ve never seen a Vega round like it… Still can’t understand how it worked…
My strategy against Deejay has changed after playing Tschesae for a while yesterday.
Faking out walldives against upkick does not seem like a reliable strategy against high level Deejay players. :lk: upkick will hit walldives even on crossup.
My new gameplan which i have had more success with invovles st.:hp:
It beats or depending on your spacing trades with the majority of his normals including the godlike :d::mk: and snuffs maxout.
At the same max range you can easily punish maxout with jump-in combos.
I feel Deejay is probably a bad matchup for Vega due to his normals which shut down a lot of your ground game and relying on Walldive is very risky since one knockdown into crossup is all deejay really needs.
Any input on this would be very welcome.
[media=youtube]U8Or_C4ruGQ[/media] Here is a match between the arguably best players of the two characters for reference.
I played him a few weeks ago: I beat him (very closely) in a ranked game (first time I came across him) - we then proceeded to play about 15 player matches where he consistently beat me. Nice bloke.
I wish I could remember how I beat him in the first one - I got most joy out of pressuring him with high/low MK mixups / throw mixups when I was lucky enough to get in close.
I think I’m on the right path to building a good Vega, but the Ken matchup is SERIOUSLY crippling. I can’t walldive at all, pretty much, and I’m constantly forced to move back-and-forth so I’ll often lose my charge. Pretty much the whole match I’m looking for bad SRK’s to hit with cr. mp, and even then it seems like there’s a 50% chance I’ll hit into another SRK. I also use st. mk, but again it feels like its slow enough that it hits into the SRK.
I also have major issues with Chun-Li. I can get around the lightning kick, but her j. lk gives me problems when I AA. What’s the best flipkick to use?
…Shari? BTW - I have a request. Next time we’re in a large room I’m gonna pick Vega. Perhaps you can watch me play and let me know where I’m at so far. Keep in mind I started him 2-ish weeks ago. Thanks.
You’re not playing that matchup right. Do a search for ‘Claw’ in the Ken thread and search for ‘Ken’ here. Not that long ago, we were debating whether or not Claw is Ken’s worst matchup. You should seriously be able to win, provided that your poking game isn’t predictable. Ken’s only real hope in that matchup is catching you with a psychic DP and then outpoking/outzoning you with the ol’ meaty Hadouken/Shoryuken trap. Otherwise, you keep him out with your long-distance pokes (the fastest of which being cr.:mp:) all day long. You shouldn’t be depending on the Wall Dive, since that can be seen coming a mile away and Ken’s fierce DP is a zero frame startup move. If he’s crazy enough to throw a Hadouken while you’re on your feet, you get to jump it on reaction and hit him.
The main reason why I can give this advice is because I remember how my Ken used to get kicked silly by insta-jump CPU Claw back in the days of WW and CE. When I started playing Claw, I saw just how easy a time he had it…until he got knocked down.
So dependant on special moves you are. Crouching fierce and standing roundhouse you should try. Mmm hmm hmm hmm.
Ok…Yoda reference aside, those are two good moves to use when you’re not charged, but otherwise, the invulnerability frames on the Scarlet Terror will beat j.:lk:. I believe the :lk: Scarlet Terror has the most invulnerable frames, so start there. When you can time that properly, move up to the :mk: and :hk: versions. You’ll want to juggle him for three hits when you can.
And…when in doubt, use your 3:k: Backflip and then throw them when they land.
Against Ken: Hitting SRK is just a matter of timing. You don’t have to actually wait for him to hit the ground before throwing out :d::mp: you can hit him mid air as he is starting to go down and then follow up with :mp: roll for a meaty claw hit.
If you start moving back and forth and lose charge you still :hk: and :d::hp: as anti air attacks as well as tagging them with a :d::mp: or slide as they are landing.
If you can consistently punish SRK and Flipkick his jump-ins he has to resort to other tactics.
It is harder to do :mk: pressure against him since his SRK is a lot better than Ryu but it is still very much possible and effective as long as you keep moving in out to keep him guessing on when he should SRK.
In general you can react and punish all his offensive options so you can merely let him self destruct as you punish him and whittle him down from afar with pokes.
Against Chun: All jump-ins regardless of characters should always be dealt with :hk: x2. Flipkick in general has massive invulnerability and will not lose to any jump-in attack.
With practice you should be able to control your walldive so that you can go around or approach from above as they are falling if they start doing :u::lk: or similar jumping attacks aswell. A simple example is holding towards your wall after diving for a little while and then after that diving towards them.
If you want send me an invite and we can do some 1v1 so it will be easier for me to help you.
You’re right, I am dependant on special moves too much. I actually only use cr. fierce and st. rh against 'Gief, I should definitely use it more against other characters. I’ll try again with that Ken matchup, this time I’ll use normals to AA him.
EDIT: Sounds good, Shari. Thanks alot, either tonight or tomorrow we can do the Vega festivities.
EDIT2: I had my first “opponent quits out of sheer frustration” incident today. I must be on the right path 
Thanks ALOT, Shari. You is one cool cat. Feel free to tell me how I did, though I was hoping to face some more diverse matchups. I think my problems are:
- doing flipkicks too early, getting the timing right for reversals
- wall-dive directions, still gotta master that
- poking too much and eating attacks
…Anything else I’m missing?