Yeah, if they are hiding in the corner, then the “go behind them with the Wall Dive” strat isn’t gonna work, obviously. Then, yes, you’ll have to just pester him from the front as much as possible. The thing about Guile’s Low Forward beating your slide is… well, the ONLY way he can beat it is if he is just throwing it out randomly. Because he can’t see you slide and get it out in time to stuff it. He can only do it before you slide and hit you, and that pretty much is an invitation to die for Guile. You can stay out of his Low Forward range (which is still in range for your slide) and if he does the Low Forward so that it whiffs, THAT you can actually slide it back on reaction.
After he Blocks a slide, I am PRETTY SURE that Low Strong connects from that range too, and will stuff any Sonic Boom attempts he tries immadiately after Blocking the slide. So basically, if you stay out of the range of his Low Forward, Vega actually has the advantage in ground games. And, fortunately for Vega, if Guile manages to sneak a Sonic Boom in while you are waiting for a Low Forward, he can actually still get off the ground over the Sonic Boom because he jumps so fast, and there isn’t much Guile can do to stop your Jump, save for maybe trying to walk under you if you happen to be too close.
Watch the Gamespot championship video. Even though Paul Eath wins vs. Graham, you can see how he was FORCED to leave and attack and try to throw Graham a lot to win. But otherwise, Vega was destroying him.
I still think Graham threw that match away when he went for the wall dives when Guile was cornered. Maybe he knows something that I don’t about beating Guile in that spot, or didn’t expect Paul to counter it. But I’d never do that willingly myself.
What I have been doing is pretty much turtling my way out of this match.
If he likes them Horizontal Balls, poke him with a cr.MP after he blocks.
If he likes them Rainbow Rolls, try and flip kick him or just block some more.
If he likes them slides, block, and follow up with a cr.MP.
Lightning getting you down? Step back a little and hit him with the end of your slide, if you are too close his Lightning hitbox can hit you still and you will end up trading.
If he even tries to jump in, a flip kick to the face will put him out.
Just keep poking and sliding and flip kicking and whittle him down.
Quick Question…is there anything that flip kick can’t beat out?
Nope, that’s pretty much how the match would go if you score damage early and can go on the defense. Be wary of balls into throws, which are impossible to tell in STHD because there are no audio/visual cues for the various balls now. Also be wary of whiffed jumps and esp. dashes in/out/behind. The problem with this match is that if Blanka takes the lead early, it’s just as difficult to take it back from him. Wall dives can help, but only in certain setups.
Vega’s izuna drop, or whatever (off the wall grab). is it me or is online not so good with it. Because honestly, I’ve seen people already hit the ground, but then still get the grab on me, and I can’t react to what I don’t see. Meeting him in the air doesn’t work either, so I’ve started using moves that just move me over a bit, dictator slide, toga teleport etc.
Basically, what’s the best way to deal with an off the wall vega fanatic?
Blanka is worse just b/c you can pressure Dic from the air (jumping that is) and there isn’t too much he can do about it. With Blanka…there’s just too much he can do to you in the air. Not to mention it’s next to impossible to approach him. Your best bet against blanka is to turtle…Wall dives are not a option in this fight, no matter if you fake it… AA ball WILL hit you everytime anywhere on the screen…you just have to get your damage where you can get it and make him come to you…
Blanka is to my mind not one of Vega’s hard matches. Like Ouroborus said, harass with c.lp / c.mp at the tip of the claw. From there I look for slides and jumps to counter. Some Blankas will get antsy and try to slide under your pokes. If you poke and take one step back, the slide whiffs for free knockdown. If he jumps AA. Blanka shouldn’t even try to use electricity in this match. After the knockdown, test your opponent’s reversals. If he’s spotty with them, abuse the claw roll on hs wakeup. Do not go to the wall in this match unless you have no respect at all fot the opponent. It’s all ground games and outwaiting / forcing a good mistake from your opponent. It’s pretty much a grind, and patience is key. Don’t fight your opponent and yourself at the same time. Cultivate that patience.
Again, if you can, watch the Finals match between Tokido vs. Sirlin at this past year’s Evo. Tokido used Vega and Sirlin used Blanka, and Tokido didn’t have many problems at all. He played mostly a poking game and, while Sirlin admittedly wasn’t on his game that night, he had a really hard time with the fight. This hasn’t changed in HD Remix because Vega can STILL hit the Blanka Ball back, so he always comes out ahead after blocking the Blanka Ball.
Basically, don’t play the usual Vega shenanigans with off the wall stuff. You might as well pretend that move no longer exists, and play a ground game against Blanka.
Blanka balls own wall dives all day…pointless to use them against Blanka. Can anyone confirm that Blanka balls are not punishable or did they just make the recovery way better?
No knockdown on claw dives made me sad :sad:…but I’ve connected meaty claw dive, cr. mp on wakeup.
Barcelona roll, cr. mp, wall dive options for post dizzy…awesome