Okay, figured instead of complaining that nothing gets consolidated, I’d start the ball rolling with actually GATHERING all the info here.
C. VIPER:
PRE-AE:
ZodiacLucien says: "B.strong and RH ruffian beats out vipers flame kicks consistently."
S0viet says: "also i’ve used cMK to slide and stuff them kicks as well."
dallencore says: "i find that cmk messes with her spacing pretty well when she’s burn kicking, but a good viper applies so much pressure from so many directions i eventually forget which way to block and how to tech a throw and not to throw my controller"
ice_rei says: "I find the c.viper matchup is 5/5 . Reasons why are Cody has the tools to mess up vipers pressure. I use f.hk and ex rk to get around her seismo. Crack kick actually hops over her seismo allowing for a punish. There’s no real way to defend against her burning kick other than blocking the right way. However if you anticipate one a hk rk will beat it clean. I also find it’s useful to safe jump os ex zone viper. She has no option that can beat that os other than block. You can set it up oft a back throw but he timing is A bit different from usual so hop into training mode and get that down. But I honestly don’t have trouble with viper at all."
Pieguy says: "U2: OS jump-in ultra beats backdash+ex seismo, OS s.lk beats backdash + seismo, eats counter-hits often unless she suicidally throws out hp thunder knuckles, ex burning kick -12, U1 ain?t a bad choice though considering how often she?s airborne"
Dukefleed says that it’s possible to safejump HP TK after ending a combo with L.Ruffian, by immediately hitting LP and then neutral jump HP.
POST-AE (PRE-2012):
Otori says: "Crouch tech with cr.mp+cr.lp+cr.lk. Beats burn kicks and overheads. Careful with frame traps.
Always OS cr.hp. It beats backdash, EX seismo, burn kicks, covers everyone of her options on wakeup. Stuff like meaty cr.lp, cr.lp+hp is really strong.
In theory, Viper is really free to frame traps and stuff, but unfortunately all Viper players are extremely button happy and will always Thunder Knuckle, EX Seismo and burn kick every gap you leave, so my initial approach versus any Viper is to bait and punish. I also recommend you end your combos in this matchup with LK Ruffian, since she’s so easy to safe jump and option select.
Oh and cr.mk xx Thunder Knuckle is not a true blockstring. If the viper player is too happy with that, charge bingos to interrupt it. Unfortunately, the low TK will beat regular bingo, so you have to use EX. After blocking a TK don’t press anything, she has frame advantage. I’m surprised at the amount of pro players that still eat Wolfkrone’s “random” fierce TKs after a blocked TK.
Most of fighting Viper is fighting her regularly, so you start to recognize the mixups. If you want to dive into the matchup, go to the viper forums and check some of her setups. Unfortunately, I don’t have much experience against her myself so the best advice I can give is that, after a forward throw, her super jump HK will cross Cody up (dash forward) and DO NOT stay close to her when she’s backed in the corner. Statistics show that 11 out of 10 vipers will do the burn kick shenanigan that crosses you up and Ultra you.
cr.mk has mild usefulness for going under burn kicks. Toy with it."
Dukefreed agrees with the “cornered Vipers will try to crossup TK into Ultra” thing.
POST-2012 PATCH:
Canadian_Sk8tr says: "the OS EX CU off of back throw found by Packz is really helpful."
Solifidesoulja says: "Crmk goes under her flame kicks and crack kick F.HK goes over her seismos… those are some good things to know in that matchup. regardless the best way to get better at the viper matchup is to find a decent viper player and just continue playing against them… its just one of those matchups u gotta keep playing so u can start feeling a little more confident in your play. but of course be ready to get frustrated and beat up a little in the beginning. =)"
melovegames says: "Frankly I don’t have a problem vs viper. I feel like Cody handles her very well since having a DP vs viper doesn’t really help. Just recognize the ranges where she can go for a tick throw and recognize that her ground game is very weak and capitalize."
HeavensCloud tested the EX Ruffian J.HP corner crossup thing, and says it works on Viper.
And that’s it so far for Viper.
