If your asking this question, may I suggest challenge trial mode, and press “select” to check out the command list.
You need to a) learn the opponent’s projectile origin (area just in front of their palm where they release the fireball), and b) Big Z’s start-up timings of each of the green hands to banish projectiles.
The MPGH and LPGH are the two best greenhands to use for fireballs. HPGH is garbage for this, but you could sneak it in against Dhalsim’s yoga fire.
With the LPGH, you want to use this as a shield, to place it on the screen, when the projectile is just beyond a body’s width in front of zangief
With MPGH, you want to be at around half screen, to react to the fireball start up cue (“Tiger”, “Hadouken”) and nullify the fireball at its origin, so that the speed of the fireball becomes irrelevant. Then sneak an SPD or Ultra 1. If you time it perfectly, the Ultra 1 is guaranteed. But the follow up SPD will only catch sleepers.
Easier to just blast through the projectile with EXGH or hit them with Focus Attack, or Focus Absorb dash through and grab them if they are snoozing.
SF in general is not the game for you if you don’t plan to gamble at least once in a while. Truth is, you’re going to have to take risks trying to predict what the opponent will do in some situations and even more so with this character since you won’t be doing things like kunai mixups that force the opponent to just block with ambigous timings. U2 is not only “a gamble”, it’s a punish in some situations, it limits things that U1 doesn’t, it creates huge 50/50 situations, it stops people from trying to get you out of the air with their Ultras or DP’s, etc…
As you improve you’ll learn that educated reads are not just gambles or guesses.
There is a critical zone when your descending where you want to activate U2, and not earlier. Because you essentially need them to commit before you commit.
But if you have to resort to that, then your not using it right.
The kamikaze U2 should be played as a mix-up between early apex MK and U2, in such a way that:
early shoryuken beats early MK, but loses to U2 (they have to spend frames to travel upwards and hit you with an early anti-air, thus allowing you to react and activate U2)
late shoryuken beats U2, but loses to early MK
early MK should beat all slower grounded anti-airs.
You essentially want them to commit early to the shoryuken by providing the threat of early MK.
That would allow you more time (start-up + vertical travel frames) to react to their reversal audio cue “Shor!” which occurs at the start of their move.
I have to disagree somewhat, depends on your kamikaze height. But if they throw a normal anti-air in there, then they got you.
U2 is powerful, because its the only thing that can answer jump/back dash/shoryuken/EX shoryuken on their wake up or after EXGH +1
I agree. Catching back dash and shoryuken is a gamble because of commitment. If they jump, you can always jump and commit after.
It gives them something to think about, and makes it risky if they don’t stay grounded.