[Xrd] I-No vs. Zato-1

[Hollysmoke]

• Use this thread to discuss the Zato-1 matchup.
• If the matchup is giving you trouble, check to see if this post already contains info which will help you. If not, be as specific as possible when asking for help and others will be glad to give advice.
• Please focus more heavily on discussing how to play the matchup properly than who is at advantage/disadvantage.
• This post will be updated to collect useful info over time.

Round Start:

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Neutral:

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Offense:

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Defense:

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Punishes:

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Combo Notes:

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[AvariceX]

I'm new to GG but this is the one matchup I've played enough (with a very good Zato) to maybe give some insight (but take with a grain of salt because I'm a noob).  A lot of it is probably obvious but it helped me:

 

Round Start

Zato's job is to get Eddie out, your job is to either get to him before he does (you won't) or to kill Eddie and then rush him down.  Drill is a really common round start so make sure you are blocking low.  Shark is a really common followup and is air-unblockable and you won't have meter for FD at the start of the round so don't jump or dash just yet (edit: I didn't know when I wrote this that you can FD even if your meter is empty, still be aware that you really need to FD if you want to jump at the start).  If Zato doesn't start with a drill you can start moving forward to clip Eddie as soon as possible.  If he starts with a drill it's really risky to move past the puddle because if you get sandwiched between Zato and Eddie you'll probably lose 50% before you get out.  Wait at the puddle to take Eddie out and look for any slow moves you can IAD past before he has a chance to summon Eddie.  If Zato is being really hesitant to show his hand you can start throwing Anti-Depressant Scale (the note); aim it down and it will always take out Eddie, it's an amazing tool in this matchup; it doesn't matter if he reflects it you can hoverdash or IAD over it easily (especially if you aimed it down) and punish the reflect if you're fast enough.  Some matchups can be started with random 5D, this is not one of them.  If you start with 5D best case scenario is Zato jumps and doesn't get hit, worst is he starts with drill and you get counter-hit or he starts with Eddie who tanks the hit while he runs in to punish you for free.

 

Neutral

Building on what I said for Round Start, Anti-Depressant Scale is really really good here.  Zato doesn't have a true projectile of his own and reflecting the note doesn't really benefit him any.  HCL is not very good unfortunately; Eddie will often go under it and Zato can punish for free with drill or shark/buzzsaw depending on the position of Eddie/puddles.  2K and 2S are great for taking out Eddie if he gets too close for Anti-Depressant Scale, I prefer 2K because it has better chain options (2K to take out Eddie chain to 2S to clip Zato trying to approach behind Eddie).  It's seriously important to take out Eddie, you can't effectively rushdown with him around and you are a rushdown character.  Take him out and always keep an eye on his respawn timer, be ready to punish the resummon (90% of Zatos will try to resummon him as soon as he's ready).  The first Eddie summon is always the hardest to deal with because you don't have meter yet for FD, it becomes a lot more manageable when you can do TK note without being a completely free target for the shark.

 

Offense

Did you take out Eddie?  Good, go nuts.  Zato's defense without Eddie kinda sucks as far as I can tell.  If you took out Eddie with a normal (2K or 2S) at a safe distance then even better - cancel it into Anti-Depressant Scale and dash in behind it, if you aim it down he can't reflect it at your hoverdash, if he tries to hit you out of the dash then the note still hits him and you will usually be at advantage. 

 

Defense

Be really, really good at blocking.  Then get unblockabled and die.  Try not to be on defense.  If you know an unblockable is coming then Longing Desperation can get you out of it but sometimes Zato flies right over it so it's not the best option.  Counter assault (or whatever it's called in this game) will only hit one target so sometimes Eddie tanks it and you still eat the combo.  It's kind of a crapshoot getting out of this.  If you see Zato gaining momentum at the start of the round I would save your burst for this.  If you're the one winning at the start I would use the burst early to open up your j.D FDC mixups.  Apparently you can j.D FDC without bursting by holding FD first so yeah just save burst for unblockables.

 

Punishes

I don't know any of the specifics yet, what I know is that Zato is basically unpunishable when Eddie is around.

 

Combo Notes

Nothing special as far as I know.  If I recall correctly when doing 6P 5HS IAD j.KS on Zato you need to superjump the IAD, but I superjump it on every character anyway so I'm not sure.

 

As far as matchup numbers I think it's pretty even.  It seemed very difficult at first but after my opponent explained his gameplan and openings to me the gap closed a lot and he was definitely a better GG player than me.

 

Also this is my first post on the I-No boards so uh, hi.

[Antihero11]

This is one of Zato's toughest MUs in my honest opinion. I was talking with Marlinpie at Summer Jam, and he believed I-no, Millia, and Leo are Zato's hardest matchups. I would add Ram to that list too.

Anyways, I know neutral consists of getting the shadow out, but I-no's damn notes make it really difficult to safely maneuver him around. Any advice for neutral. Or any advice when you're on the defense against I-no? Like option selects to get out of her pressure. Her air throw resets and blockstrings make safely getting out nigh impossible.

[ivanchu77]

GGXrd 5/6/16 - Daru (I-No) vs TopGaren (Zato)