[CP] Azrael vs. Hazama Match-up Discussion

[zeth07]

Discussion about the Hazama match-up goes here.

First post may be edited as important information arises. If any information seems wrong please feel free to correct it, hopefully with actual proof / examples. Anyone is free to post info as long as it is constructive and helps with the discussion of the match-up.

• Will post info later.
  

Notable Matches:

Dogura (AZ) vs. Udon (HZ)

Hazama vs. Tahichi (AZ)

Yuuki (HZ) vs. Yubou (AZ) Set

[Ice Cube]

Played some 60 matches against an awesome Hazama today, gained a lot of insight on the matchup. Some bullet points:

NEUTRAL

• You want to be on the ground, not in the air. For a few reasons.
  
  
  
• The chain blocking game. You will be blocking the chain a lot. You NEED to know how many chain follow-up he has left upon blocking the chain, and react accordingly.
  
  2 chain. Most dangerous Hazama, of course, since he can bait any button you press by cancelling his fly mid-way with j.D / j.6D, and the reward for a successful bait is tremendous. I recommend backdashing out, which is almost free and gives you great positioning to anti-air if he decided to risk a double follow-up approach (except for tricky stuff like 5D ~ D > j.D but the timing is tight, and there's only that setup I think, so be more careful with blocking 5D). You can do the below stuff as well, but be wary of his baits
  
  1 chain. The reward for baiting stuff is much less now (the chain will hit but that's it), so he may risk an approach. IB'd chain gives you an option to anti-air with 5A (beats ~D > j.A) or 5B (beats ~D > j.B/j.2C and ~C > whatever) or 2C (beats ~D > whatever). Backdashing is even safer, but you can't beat this match-up without taking some risk. Now, there's a risky option to just forward dash at his face, which is viable against A B C cancel but loses to D cancel > j.2C majorly, so you need a good read. It's a risk worth taking however, especially if he's in the air (where you can start your superior anti-air game) or you forward dash into his chain's low hitstun range (where you can start your superior ground poking game). IAD is a tempting but really risky option, don't bother. On normal block, Growler is about the only thing you can do to beat stuff, but really risky, so either backdashes out (somewhat free, on succesful backdash try to anti-air his approach) or be prepared to block stuff.
  
  0 chain. This doesn't happen since he auto regen 1 chain on block. Damn it.
  
  Note that if you block a chain in the air, you're sitting duck until you land. One reason why jumping is bad.
  
  
  
• The chain avoiding + approach game.
  
  This is what you're doing at full range when you're not blocking chains. Specifically, this is the portion before he starts flying in, just jumping around throwing chain like it's free (it's actually free).
  
  You can try to jump and wait for him to whiff a chain. Jumping around aimlessly nets you a chain > air throw, which is wickedly fast and often unexpected.
  
  If he's in the air, IAD > j.B is pretty good, since you can often hit him out of his chain start-up or his flight. Forward dash (double forward dash at times) is god, it puts you into position for your anti-air game, and sometimes can even dash through chain, jump canceling it into j.B is basically same as IAD j.B but covers more vertical distance and much safer. Most importantly, by forward dashing, you change the distance, which makes his chain whiff (j.6D for example), and you get the momentum. A successful forward dash is very important in this match-up. Finally, if he whiff a chain and has no follow-up, Gustaf / Forward dash TK gustaf can be used to force blocking.
  
  If he's grounded, forward dash is your best friend, mostly because Hazama's ground pokes are so much worse than his anti-air. You can even dash through 5D (not very reliable/ not sure if can be done on reaction but it's there)! Try to forward dash just outside of his 2A range. IAD > j.B against grounded Hazama is a real bad idea, since most of his anti-air beats you, especially 2C for major damage. IAD > barrier block, however, is okay-ish, since his 2C is minus on block and most Hazama jump cancel to confirm it, leading to your superior anti-air game. Do it sparingly, however, since he might switch to 5A and you will be forced into eating pressure.
  
  As always, watch his chain meter like a hawk. If he whiff a chain, 0 is your green light to do risky stuff like IAD > j.B or Gustaf
  
  
  
• The anti-flying game
  So Hazama is flying around randomly. Wait for him to run out of follow-up then start the chain avoiding game. If you could get into the correct position to start the anti-air game by backdashing/ forward dashing then do it. Jumping and throwing out pre-emptive j.B is good against flying Hazama as well. Be very careful with airdashing, however, since most Hazama expect you to airdash at them and have appropriate counter measures.
  
  
  
• The anti-air game
  Good Hazama fly around, which is exactly why the anti-air game is so crucial in this match up. You really, really want to get underneath him, optimally within the range where the only chain to hit you is j.2D, by playing the chain dodging game and forward dashing. 5A/5B if he's close to the ground, j.B if he's high up. Don't let him get away. This is where I got most of my first hit in to start my offensive game, or at least forces him to block until he reaches the ground. It's pretty simple, but getting into position is key here.
  
  
  
• The ground-poking game.
  This happens when you're inside his 5D dead zone, and somehow he's still on the ground, which means it doesn't happen a lot, probably after a forward dash through 5D. You can press 5B for free if within range. If out of 5B range though, Hazama will probably try to jump out due to inferior options, so anticipate that with forward dash > 5A
  
  
  
• The air-to-ground game.
  Above Hazama's head somehow? AIRDASH THE HELL OUT. Or barrier block. I can't stretch this enough, but seriously, there's nothing you can do since his anti-air are so damn strong. Divekick works every now and then, I guess, but don't abuse. 214D~B beats it cleanly for major pain.
  

OFFENSE

Go absolutely nuts and mix him up however way you can. Things to take note of:

His 5A is one frame faster than your 5A. Same for 5B. His 2A is 3 frame faster than your 2A. That means beware of mashing, particularly after Gustaf, 6C IB, 2C, those stuff.

Houtenjin still does ridiculous damage as always for a reversal super, on trade as well, and especially when he's cornered, so don't press button too freely after your +frame moves.

Punish his jumps with 3C / 6C / 5C, since Hazama's jump leads to him safely chaining out in most cases.

IAD during pressure is strongly discouraged, since he can 5A/2C on reaction into good damage (and especially when he's cornered). Get that mix-up in early.

5B > cross-up j.B is beaten by Hazama's 2A. Not all Hazama knows this, but he does have that option available.

Do tech punishes properly.

As always, don't be predictable.

DEFENSE

On oki, be aware of his stance mix-up. In general, Stance > dash forward > C (low attack) beats your wakeup backdash, while stance > dash backward > A (overhead) beats your growler. Both loses to mashing, so do take note if he's too stance happy.

Predictable backdashes can eat 5D for a full combo, so be aware of that as well.

During blocking, 6A is the biggest threat, so watch his meter like a hawk to prepare for it once he reaches 50. Do remember what cancels into it (2A, 5A, 5B), as well as done immediately after flying / jump-ins.

214D stance can be backdash'd out pretty safely, but again it can be baited similar to Hazama's oki, so switch up with Growler sometimes. Blocking is always an option, you can pretty much freely backdashes out after blocking, unless he yomi a risky 5D.

Abusing backdash in general is pretty good.

PUNISHES

There's only Houtenjin to speak of. Just remember that FC 5C > 236D won't work if you're too far away, costed me a few matches. It's actually negative enough on block that raw 236D would hit.

[Verimeloni]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojDMdsrCLlc

 

an hour long set of zekuso & mitsurugi duking it out

[Zyed]

If you master azrael movement this match up is even. Why? Because when you're too close to Hazama the snake projectiles become shitty. All you have to do it play around anti airs after that, then you play around 50 meter reversal. 

 

 

Also, be careful in the air to good hazamas they will use Barrier block and anti air in the gap for full combo its pretty frustrating but Hazama has some pretty godlike anti air capabilities