Vega is a better character in season 2 for several reasons. The problem is, people in season 1 took the claw off as soon as the round started and played that way. All Capcom really did was make it so you have to utilize both of Vega’s stances. Yeah, claw off isn’t as strong anymore what with the jab counter-hit combos, and the increased startup of st mp and cr mp.
Claw on st mp is now +2 on block and claw on cr mp is now +1 on block, making claw pressure more effective for pushing people into the corner on top of all the grey health accumulated. People don’t realize the greatness of these buttons coupled with Vega having the best FORWARD and BACKWARD walk speeds in the game. They also buffed the range of his st lp a little bit, which is a great move for whiff punishing (PLEASE go check the hitbox on that move), as it will combo into ex fba or mp slice if close enough. This is Vega’s strength, whiff punishing. Couple that with his v-trigger, you have yourself a character who you don’t really want to whiff moves against (especially in the corner). They increased the hit stun on st hp that it now combos into itself on counter hit. St hp ch st hp cr mp xx v trigger ex slice (corner only) go try it.
His v-trigger was fixed in s2 as well. It does 150 stun up from 0. Vega’s mk and hk rolls also do more stun now. They also fixed the anti-air version follow up attack whiffing after the rose connects. He gets a legit 50/50 mixup if he hits you with lk roll while the claw off (which I actually thing is silly and should be removed to give him something else). Cr mk was nerfed becoming a 7 frame startup move to an 8 frame, but now on ch you can combo slide from max range, and it isn’t hard to do if you’ve practiced your one hit confirms (something a lot of people don’t seem to feel like practicing in this game) Speaking of one hit confirms, Vega can now combo claw off st mp into hk roll. So yeah, keep whiffing buttons in my face so I can hit you with 1) st mp xx hk roll or 2) if you’re standing, let me do my target combo into ex Barcelona.
So now cr hp claw off became a crush counter. Do you get much after it midscreen in footsies? Not really, but hey do you really want Vega getting v-trigger twice in one round? I sure as hell don’t if I’m fighting him. Another new corner only combo he got is cr hp crush counter xx stance switch v trigger, ex slice. They also increased the active frames of his cr lps (which is universal, but helps vega tremendously due to the range of his). The mere fact that this button is now a crush counter is tremendously good. The ex roll nerf. Yeah it sucks and I don’t know why Capcom decided to do that, but guess what? It’s still fireball invincible on frame 1 and can still be used to punish fireballs on reaction due to the hurtbox extension of fireball attacks. You also have the hk roll buff from st mp claw off too. The v-skill nerf was also a pretty rough one seeing as if you don’t perfectly time your turn anymore, you will get counter hit. I do NOT agree with that change.
Given the right resources, jumping at Vega is also not a very good idea. St hk crush counter, v trigger, super? Or st hk crush counter v skill v trigger super? Mad damage. If Vega isn’t wearing his mask? Even more mad damage.
There are some other things I am sure I’m missing like being able to juggle mp slice now after Barcelona slash or more active frames on hp slice. Does Vega take a lot of work to be effective with? Absolutely. You need to be able to determine between Vega’s two stances in the middle of a match given the situation at hand, you need to worry about identifying if your opponent is standing or crouching mid combo/hit confirm, and you need to make sure that your opponent doesn’t dictate when your claw comes of, because you lose half of your options then, you need to decide your anti-air buttons depending on space. You need to think about a lot when using Vega. You CAN’T just use one stance or another anymore (There are some exceptions in my opinion).
I think the problem is, most Vega players I’ve encountered personally, they just want to mash on slide (which they nerfed so I don’t know why so many people continue doing it. It’s another whiff punish button, or to be used on a hard read) and jump around all day (Like Nemo used to do). No. Stop. Vega has some of the BEST footsie tools in this game and in my opinion has the BEST tools for whiff punishing. Vega isn’t easy mode. But hey, why pick Vega when you can pick Urien, right? Just mash on st hp. You need definitely need to put in work with this character, but is he a bad character? No. Is he bottom 5? Also no.
@Vhozon