[XRD] Zato vs Elphet

[Braver]

I don't know what's going on against Elphet

 

She has a dive

 

She has a move where she charges at you

 

She has a grenade

 

She has unblockable setups

 

A gun stance(?)

 

What is Zato suppose to do against most of her stuff?

[Grim-reaper]

I abuse drills to clash with the bomb's first hit. Flight to escape the pressure and stall the bomb's explosion. And just pressure her to death in the corner.

She doesn't seem like a problematic matchup to me and i almost exclusively play against her.

Oh, and break the law is godlike in this matchup.

[Ryd']

For reference: Ogawa (Zato) vs Koichi (Elphelt)

 

This can actually be a pretty difficult matchup.  It's a lot like fighting Millia in that a knockdown can pretty much decide the match, but Elphelt relies on relentless pressure and heavy corner damage instead of nigh-unreactable mixup.  She's pretty obnoxious in neutral thanks to f.S, 5HS, grenades, and her ability to get knockdowns off just about everything.  My notes on the matchup:

 

-Her f.S is a lot better than it looks because her hurtbox stops a good bit before the end of the bouquet and is reasonably quick; it stuffs a lot of things if spaced well.

 

-Her c.S is worth mentioning, as it's fast/big enough to stuff jump-ins that are close enough to trigger c.S over f.S.  If you don't have Eddie providing cover, try to avoid going too deep or coming in from above if she's in a position to throw it out.

 

-Her j.S can crossup.

 

-5HS is fast, has reasonably long range, and leads to knockdown, so be careful about trying to do anything after a blocked 22S and the like; you don't want to give her free knockdowns.  On the positive side, it's a free knockdown for Zato if you crouch it and are close enough to tag her with 2HS.

 

-The grenade makes it really difficult to protect Eddie.  A drill can eat its initial hit, but you still have to keep him (and yourself) away from the explosion while keeping Elphelt contained.  I could be wrong, but I don't think they can be reflected; my attempts in matches haven't been successful, anyway.  Almost never worth it, but you can destroy them with Amorphous, though you still get hit by the explosion if it's too close.  Try not to let her pull them out for free in pressure or it'll never end.  These are especially obnoxious in this matchup because they can double as insurance for Elphelt; if she eats CH 2HS or 6HS while carrying a grenade, you don't get a knockdown.  If you ever find yourself sitting on a grenade while hitting Elphelt, do yourself a favor and jump cancel if you can, or cancel into Break the Law and YRC if you have meter/time.

 

-Air Bridal Express loses clean to 2HS, 6P, and Nobiru.  6P is generally easier to time and can be easily followed up, but 2HS will get you a knockdown.  Nobiru reward varies hugely on spacing.

 

-Ground Bridal Express is safe if you block it at range, but can be throw punished if she does it up close (which a good Elphelt will pretty much never do without an RC).

 

-Her only reversal requires 50% tension, and isn't particularly good, so she's going to be respecting your oki/pressure more often than not.

 

-Her rocket launcher overdrive should be respected at range; she can use it to punish drills/summons, so be careful.

 

-She can be thrown out of 2HS depending on spacing and if you have that read.  Might require IB beforehand depending on what she does to lead into it.

 

-It's dangerous to mess with her shotgun pressure in the corner.  DAA is the safest way to deal with it in my experience.  Watch out for her command throw if you don't want to die.

 

-Zato is apparently hard to combo with her unblockable setups, so you probably won't have to deal with them too much.

 

The matchup really comes down to who gets momentum.  If you can keep her on the run, good; if you can knock her down, even better.  Being pinned down in the corner by Elphelt is only marginally better than being cornered by Zato.  She doesn't have high/low unblockable bullshit, but she has great oki, good~ridiculous damage, and pressure that doesn't let up.  Making a mistake can cost you up to 70~80% of your life (shotgun loops...) without costing her any resources, so try not to mess up.  Neutral seems like it requires Eddie out just to keep it on equal footing, though it can be difficult keeping Eddie alive.  -H- can keep him safe from grenades while Nobiru can keep her from pulling free grenades in the air.  A very frustrating matchup if you can't contain her.

[Coffeeling]

AFAIK there's a Zato-specific air combo for setting up the unblockable that isn't balls hard like the standard one. So you'll have to eat your own medicine too.

[xXavierx]

GGXrd Ogawa(ZA) vs. Sharon(EL) FT10

5/22/15

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnV4QPlxOg8

[Antihero11]

The funny thing is that Zato doesn't technically have a bad MU or good MU. Just different ones depending on an individual's playstyle. If you have a lot of experience against a certain character, they tend to be easier. But if you lack the experience, it gets difficult.